“Please. Do you still see him breathing?” Karmen’s husky laugh was the stuff sex was made of. He had to adjust his pants before it got a little too uncomfortable.
“If he had cheated on Karmen, I would have helped her deliver the best form of revenge possible. I would have pulled out all the stops,” Váli growled out as he pushed her hair to the side and pressed a wet, hot kiss to her neck.
Jerking in her chair, Karmen shot him a look so full of surprise and confusion, he couldn’t stop the heated grin that slid over his face. His hand still rested on the back of her neck, so he took advantage to slide his thumb over her pulse point. His little Keeper’s heart was fluttering so hard, it was damn near visible to the eye. His grin morphed into a full-blown smile packed with male satisfaction.
“Sorry, I was walking by and thought I heard you wrong. What type of revenge do you think you could have delivered?” Cipher popped into existence behind Karmen as if he used his grace to move across the bar.
Váli didn’t bother to look at Cipher, his gaze fixed on Karmen and the soft violet of her eyes which had locked on him. The fact she didn’t look at the Keeper of Sin at all pleased something deeply primitive inside of Váli.
The rapid rate of her pulse spiking played a soft tattoo under his fingertips. Cipher glared daggers at him, but Váli continued to ignore him. As long as Karmen had her eyes on his, he wouldn’t look away. The ripple of shock might have been insulting to a lesser man, but Váli knew his worth. More, he knew how much she valued him. Why else would she cast him in the role of best friend to keep him firmly planted at her side?
Even when Cipher captured her interest the first time, she’d never turned her back on Váli. And it had been Váli who had helped her collect the jagged bits of herself when she’d finally thrown off the jesses of the other Keeper.
“I asked you a question,” Cipher gritted out through clenched teeth as he continued to smile. The dazzle did nothing for Váli. Even better, Karmen didn’t so much as twitch in his direction. Zhan, on the other hand, glared daggers at Cipher. The issues between that pair had absolutely nothing to do with Váli or Karmen, but the desire for blood and retribution held a cloying appeal to Váli’s darker side. Tarus let out an exasperated growl as he gripped Cipher’s arm and hauled the other Keeper away from the table.
Seth mumbled something and Dahlia laughed, if a little uneasily. Girl was too sweet for their world. Váli didn’t envy those brothers at all. Still, the rest of the room might as well have faded completely away. Tarus had dragged Cipher across the room and, despite his brother’s attempts to separate them, Zhan followed, so now Justice faced down with Sin. Yet the damn Keeper’s rage radiated the distance to lash at Váli.
“I think they’re cute,” Dahlia said, her laughter ringing out. The sound dragged Karmen’s gaze away and popped the bubble. Váli didn’t curse, but he also didn’t let go of her. His hand remained firmly on her nape, and she’d leaned toward him, so he would take that win.
“Who is cute?” Karmen asked, but she almost didn’t sound like herself.
Before Dahlia could answer, a shout echoed across the room, followed by the splintering of a table and then a shocking crash of glass. Váli glanced up as every sense he possessed began to tingle. Seth swore as he launched across the room. Dahlia went to follow, but Karmen caught her arm. The newbie Keeper stared wide-eyed at Karmen.
“They’re fighting.”
“I know,” Karmen told her. “Let them. Zhan and Cipher have issues they need to resolve.”
Dahlia frowned. Váli didn’t give a damn about their rivalry, but when chairs began to fling across the room, he simply moved to block both women. He caught one that sailed across toward them and then gleefully threw it back.
It struck Cipher in the side.
Oops.
The need for vengeance perfumed the air, and while he didn’t feed it, the righteous anger rolling off Zhan for whatever perceived slight was damn delicious. Váli smirked slowly.
“They’ll be fine,” Karmen assured Dahlia. “Truly.” Then a soft hand scaled his back. The caress of it broke Váli’s attention, and he glanced back to find Karmen staring at him as she cupped his nape and then tugged his head down.
It took no urging at all, and the moment his lips pressed against hers, the fight, the violence, Justice, Judgment, Punishment, and even that damn Sinner himself, it all faded, taking the hunger for vengeance with them.
There was only Karmen.
A fierce, almost uncontrollable urge to sweep her up in his arms and spirit her away from all the interfering bastards in Sinner’s beat at him. Particularly one bastard, but he could happily leave them all behind to have more time with Karmen. More time to explore every inch of her delicious little body.
He refrained. Barely.
Instead, he let her lead the kiss, only taking what she was willing to give. For now.
The sweet press of her lips against his as she breathed him in had him trembling in her arms. Slowly, Karmen wound her other arm around his neck, holding him to her with a sexually charged grip so strong, he could feel every shuddered inhale against his chest.
Dropping back down into her chair, she turned her head as she tried to catch her breath. Good luck, Váli thought, because he couldn’t fucking breathe at all.
“What was that for?” he rasped as he brushed a few strands of ebony hair away from her face with the back of his hand.
“Fuck if I know.” She glanced up at him, her violet eyes so luminescent, the pupil was almost non-existent.
“You opened that door, gorgeous. Don’t think you’ll be able to close it.” Váli slid his hand to the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair, and gave her one more swift, hard kiss. “Because I’ll kick it open and burn it down if you even try it.”
The fight raged around them, shouting in the corner, objects flying overhead. It didn’t matter. As if powered by his grace, nothing touched them. Until a small, breathy voice broke their intimate bubble.
“Wowza. That was so hot.”
Váli snapped his head to the right, just in time to catch the baby Keeper’s dreamy sigh.
“What? It was. Now I think I need to collect my guys to finish what you two started.” She laughed awkwardly, and Karmen joined her.
Still cupping the back of Karmen’s head, Váli looked over his shoulder to see Zhan holding Cipher in a chokehold while Seth tried to pry him free. It shouldn’t please him so much to see Cipher’s face purpling from lack of air, but he wouldn’t die from it, so eh. Tarus was off to the side, arguing heatedly about the proper tea for crumpets with Time. Some Keepers egged on the fight, while others smashed chairs and glasses against the floor.
That whole situation devolved much too fast and without any interference from him. How long had he been lost in Karmen?
“Good luck with that,” he grunted.
“Váli,” Karmen slapped his chest, “that’s not very nice. As much as I’d enjoy watching Cipher get his ass handed to him, you should go break it up.”
“What? Why?” Váli truly was perplexed. This wasn’t unusual at all and happened more frequently than Keepers would like to admit. Even they had to let off a little steam by way of violence every once in a while.