Page 83 of Smoke and Flame


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Kai’s body, liquified by the kiss, lay limp on the bed.Even after she heard the heavy door close, it took her a few minutes before she had the strength to wiggle back up the bed.

That man knows how to say good-bye.

After she drew the covers over her body, she closed her eyes and let her mind think of Aodh and the delicious things he liked to do to her as she drifted off to sleep.

~YH~

“What’s wrong with you?”Two hours later, Kai stared at her sister standing in the open door with unkempt short curls and a wrinkled tunic top.

“Nothing.”Morlie walked away and returned to the small suite bed.

Kai followed her.She watched her sister crawl back into the covers.“Are you sick?”

She hastened toward the bed.Once there, Kai reached out and placed it on Morlie’s forehead.

Her sister swatted it away.“No.I’m fine.”

Fine?“Then why are you still in bed?”Kai truly could not judge her sister for sleeping in since she had just crawled out of bed not too long ago.However, she had a massive man with a ferocious sexual appetite stealing her night hours.

“I’m tired?”The angsty sound of her sister’s voice gave Kai pause.

Morlie had always been the sweet, shy young girl.However, since she’d awakened, Kai noticed slight changes in her.But she chalked it up to latent teenage emotions.She’d often heard some of the older women on the collections team talk about their moody teenagers.Even though her sister was a year away from being out of her teen years, Morlie had been ill for much of that development time.So, she figured her sister was way overdue to be a grump.

“What time did you get in last night?”Kai had wanted to talk with her sister about her day last night.But Morlie had declined to join her and Aodh for an evening meal in their suite.Instead, her sister opted to join the new friends in the hall.

The covers shifted as Morlie shrugged.“I don’t know.”

Another thought crossed Kai’s mind.“Um, Morlie...you’re not...you know.”Kai swallowed, trying to find the right words to get out what she wanted to say.

She had zero experience with the conversation that was rolling around in her mind.Her parents had gotten sick when it was time for her to have ‘the talk’ about intimate relations.What she knew about them before meeting Aodh was what she had learned from overhearing conversations and the few health books in the archives that Kai had dared to peek inside when she was curious.

Kai decided it was best to force the words out.“Drahks can be very sexual beings.You’re not—”

“Eww.”Morlie shot up in the bed, a look of disgust distorting her features.“No, sissy.Now, I’m not blind.The men here are very hot, and I know they are liberal about who they get together with...but no one interests me.”

“Are they respecting that?”

“Yes.The guys made a bonfire, and we sat around it, drank juice, and laughed.”

Relieved, Kai exhaled.“Good to know.Take it easy on the juice.It doesn’t seem they feel the effects, but we do.”

“Okay.”Morlie laid down again.Moments later, she was pulling the covers up.

“Hey.”Kai tugged the blankets down.“I came by to see if you wanted to go with me and talk to someone.”

Morlie’s brow pinched.“Who?”

“Someone I need to get something from.”Kai didn’t want to tell her sister that she’d lost their parents’ rings.She felt stupid allowing them to get out of her sight.However, she wouldn’t let them go again once she got them back.

“Not interested.”Morlie shut her eyes.

“What are your plans for today, then?”

“Eilidh doesn’t have training today, so she’s going to meet me in an hour for the midday meal and then show me some cool places in their territory.”Morlie yawned.

“Oh.Okay.Be safe.Remember, the shifters have abilities we don’t.”

“Mmhm.Bye, sissy.”Morlie yanked the cover over her face.