Beastly Desires (15 page)

Kaisal placed his chin at the top of her head. “And that means…?”

“
You cry out like an animal, so I will make you one
,” she answered. “Bem and the survivors were made into a pride of lions. Aja’s plan backfired when they embraced it. They then had the ability to protect themselves from another attack and with a few experimentations with the local
aj
¹
,
or
witches,
they quickly adjusted their circumstances and regained their human sides.” Kamali ran her finger around the rim of her mug. “The gene spread and here I am.”

“Was your mother…?”

“No,” she retorted quickly. “She was fully human and promised to someone else but Enilo loved her enough that he was willing to fight for her. He did and he won.”

“But?”

Swallowing, she gave him what he was looking for. “But the gestation period for a cub is a lot shorter than that of a human baby. I grew too fast for her body to catch up and by the time my birth occurred…” Her voice trailed off.

Kaisal kissed the nape of her neck. “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t kill her.” That honor had gone solely to Kamali, and Enilo’s eyes had held it every time he looked at her. She saw it, she felt it. She was a byproduct of what he’d loved and lost; she was simply what was left behind. He resented her for it, tried to control her, manipulate her.

Large hands gently squeezed her own. “Your claws are out, princess.”

Kamali stared down at her digits and retracted them.

“You’re not the only one with an epic family history, you know,” Kaisal stated in a teasing tone.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“So…?” She waited.

“So…?”

Looking over her shoulder, she raised her brows.

He raised his own back and then said, “Oh!
I
don’t have an epic family history. I just thought you should be aware that you aren’t the only one with an epic family history.”

“What, pray tell,” Kamali questioned, “is wrong with you?”

“Wasn’t spanked enough as a child.” His smile was all sparkling teeth against burnished skin—the same way it had been in the deli. “Would you like to remedy that?”

“Depends on whether or not I get to use something sharp and spikey.”

He pouted. “Why do you want to hurt me?”

“Because you
irritate
me.”

“Heh. I now understand why Naresh told me to just lay down the law before I marked you.”

They both froze. Every muscle in Kamali went rigid. “I’m sorry…what?”

“Err…”

“Err?” She twisted around. “
Err?
”

He tucked in his lips. “Before we get irrational, let’s
calmly
discuss what it is I just said.”

Kamali would later admit that was the moment she got
really
irrational.

***

“Kamali just…
Hey! That was almost my head, unstable female!
”

“That’s the
point!
” Kaisal’s mate roared in response, rearing backwards with a plate in her hand, aiming for his skull.

“Wait!” He held up his hands. “Just wait!”

Kamali stilled, fire in her eyes.

“Marking you
wasn’t
planned.”

She grunted at him.
Grunted!

“I’m telling you it wasn’t.” His tone was soft and steady. “I discussed it—”

“See,” she interrupted. “
That
in particular is the issue here. You discussed it with two other people aside from me and one of them happens to be
Naresh!
The same idiot who told me my tits had a great bounce when I ran past him earlier!”

His brother was scum—correct about her tits but
scum.

“It was a suggestion made while discussing what to do to prevent Nico from being able to get anywhere near you or Callum. And allow me to once again point out”—he lifted his arm—“that you marked me
first.”

Another grunt. At least she wasn’t throwing things anymore.

“Think about it, sweetheart. There’s no way I could’ve planned what happened today.” He arched his brows a bit. “I call myself a god in bed, but even Zeus has to replenish his bolts before he can strike again. And you got hit by lightning way more than once…”

Her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit.

“Kamali,” Kaisal coaxed, stepping away from the corner of the kitchen. “I’m not attempting to control or manipulate you. All I want to do is protect you.”

Her jaw worked as she placed the plate down. “Do you know what my biggest battle with my father was?”

He waited.

“He always thought he knew better. He always thought he could anticipate what would be good for me but he never stopped to ask what
I
needed, what
I
wanted. Handing me things, sending me off, placing my name on businesses were his ways of wanting me to hide and pretend like he loved me, pretend like I didn’t have a price on my head simply for breathing.” She placed her hands on the table and leaned forward, her stare intent. “And we fought—we were
always
fighting—because I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t bend to having someone control every aspect of my life.”

Kaisal opened his mouth to respond but she held up a hand. “Staying here is a good decision, the
right
decision, but I won’t be treated like a child. I won’t bury my head in the sand. You’re
not
sending me away if and when Nico finds me. And the next time Naresh says
anything
about my tits I
will
hit him so hard that he begins to sing in old Hebrew.” Kamali sucked in a breath. “Understood?”

He blinked, then squinted. “I don’t really think I’m supposed to have an erection right now…”

“
Kaisal
.”

“Don’t blame me! Blame yourself!” He waved to his crotch. “It was the vicious growl!”

“Why do I talk to you?” She threw up her hands and turned to leave the kitchen but Kaisal moved faster than she could predict and grabbed a hold of her.

“I
heard
you.”

“But were you
listening
?”

Kaisal exhaled. “I can’t promise I won’t want to shield you from every little thing, and I won’t lie and say I’m not planning to attach a small, barely perceptible tracking device to every item of clothing you and Callum own—”

“Kaisal
.”

“—
however
,” he continued. “I’m wise enough to understand that you have weapons; weapons you use frighteningly well; weapons that look as though they’ve been recently cleaned. Therefore I’m either going to have to allow some things or find myself almost shot…
again
.”

She was silent for a minute. “
That’s
your response?”

“Umm…were you expecting something else? Something a little dark…poetic…romantic?”

When Kamali lifted her eyes and they were pure gold he had to bite back a smile lest he risk losing his throat. “You’re just a few scant seconds away from maiming me, aren’t you?”

“
Brutally
.”

“Ah, then I better speak quickly.” He lifted her and placed her on the edge of the table, pinning her in on either side with his hands. “Allow me to address all of your misguided rage.”

“
Misguided?
”

“Shh,” Kaisal placed a finger against her lips. “Your reigning lord and ruler of all you survey is speaking. Don’t interrupt.” He pulled away when she snapped her canines together. “I know who you are, princess. I know precisely who I’m dealing with, and I understand I can’t cage you. I don’t
want
to cage you. As dangerous as it is, as inconceivable as it may be, I like the way you seem to unintentionally pull my tail. I like the way you look at me when you think I’m oblivious.” She dropped her gaze and Kaisal tapped his biceps. “
This
is quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me, and do you know why?”

Kamali shook her head.

“It showed me I’m not the only one losing control. I’m used to my life being structured,
simplistic,
but you’ve changed that. You chose
me.
You trust
me.
And I’m not particularly sure you should.” He lifted her chin. “This is new to me. It’s fucking
terrifying
because I don’t want you to
ever
regret this.” Brushing against her mark, he watched the way her hands fisted. “I don’t want you to
ever
question why you allowed it to happen. And I sure as fuck don’t want to open my eyes one morning and find you standing over me with a pillow in your hand and a contemplative expression on your face.”

She smiled.

Kaisal twirled one of her curls around his forefinger. “I want to wake up to this on my pillow every day, imitating a mane. I want to watch Callum grow into his paws and be there to witness the first time he realizes how powerful he truly is. And I want to fight with you. But if we fight, it’ll be because I asked you to bury your head in my crotch, not the sand.”

Covering her face with her hands, she queried, “How…how do you manage to be so sweet and so infuriating all at the same time?”

He shrugged. “I like to say it’s a gift. My father likes to say it’s something I inherited from Lucifer. Which my mother takes exception to because apparently if she were going to commit adultery and have a child with another man it would’ve been with someone such as Yul Brynner and not Beelzebub.”

“If I wanted to run right now and never look back would you stop me?”

“Depends on if I were angled enough to watch your ti—”

She raised a hand, claws in full view. “You complete that statement and I will make you look like you stepped directly out of the circle of life.”

Kaisal’s mouth twisted. “Perhaps if my mouth was otherwise occupied…” He allowed his voice to trail off.

“I’m
not
kissing you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re wearing that ‘
I sniff you when you’re not looking’
expression which means the moment I kiss you everything will snowball and I will
completely
forget that we need to talk about what being mated means.”

“That’s quite simple, princess. It means you kiss me when I ask and simply stand still when I
am
sniffing you.”

“Kaisal, love.” Kamali ran her hands across his chest and looked up at him somberly. “I think you and I need to
also
discuss therapy.”

He blinked. “You’re insulting me instead of kissing me. I’m offended by the second more than the first and demand restitution.”

She opened her mouth to object but he leaned in until they were nose-to-nose. “Is it too much to ask for a little affection? A scratch beneath the chin? A nuzzle?” He rubbed his cheek against hers. “Just one kiss, Kamali? I won’t even use my hands.”

When he caught her ear between his lips a purr rumbled up from her throat. “
One.
And that’s all.”

“As you wish.” Kaisal dropped his mouth to her shoulder, found her mark with unerring precision and fastened onto it. When her breathing shallowed, he bit down harder.