The only sound in the cramped space was their breathing. Keva’s arm pressed against the sleeve of Viktis’s shirt, his warmth seeping into her skin. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the feel of air moving in through her nose and out through her mouth. A panic attack right now would not help them.
But gods she hated small spaces like this.
“Hey, you all right?” Viktis asked, lips millimeters from her ear, his warm breath caressing her skin.
“Not really.” Her whole body felt like it was a rock, tense and solid. She couldn’t move if she wanted to.
Kitty’s guards opened the door to the suite, arguing about what to do with the sleeping men as they entered. She picked out three separate voices. Okay odds if she and Viktis had to fight their way out. That option was starting to look better and better as the vent seemed to close in around her.
One of them headed straight to the bedroom, snapping on the light. She took a deep, shuddering breath as he marched further into the room.
Viktis took her hand, rubbing it gently between his. She let her eyes drift closed, trying to break free of the trap her mind was trying to weave. His hand drifted up her arm, stroking softly. She focused on the feel of his warm fingers, the clean scent of his skin in the small space.
“There’s no sign of anyone here,” one of the voices called from the foyer.
“Nothing in here either,” the man replied. “But damn, our Kitty has some good taste in clothes.”
“Hey ass**le, if she catches you looking at her underwear, she’ll cut out your eyes.”
She’d totally called that one.
There was the sound of the drawer sliding shut, and footsteps leaving the room.
“See. It’s going to be just fine.” Viktis moved his hand up to her neck, letting his fingers rub slowly at the base of her shoulders. “Besides, I’ll protect you.”
She opened her eyes at that, turning to frown at him, but he grinned. “Gotcha. You know I expect you to kick their asses if we need to fight,” he whispered. “You are the army lieutenant here after all.”
“That’s right. And don’t you forget it.” Her heart still felt like it was trying to escape, but at least Viktis’s bad jokes made it a bit easier to breathe. Their gazes met in the strange half-light of the vent and a shiver shot through Keva’s midsection.
Viktis’s fingers brushed a strand of her escaping hair from her face, his fingers grazing the skin of her jaw and making her skin erupt into goose bumps. They were so close she could see the flecks of green in his golden eyes, the way his skin shimmered in the light.
“Why do small spaces frighten you?” he asked gently, letting his fingers trail down her neck.
Keva stared sightlessly at the vent wall as a wave of terror washed over her. She thought she’d gotten over it years ago, but it came up periodically, sending her into a spiral of fear. “Coup attempt when I was nine. I was locked in a secret compartment in our manor for three days. No food, no water, pitch black. Only the sound of screams and whimpers to keep me company.”
Viktis’s fingers curled into her shoulders. “That must have been horrible.”
“Wasn’t exactly a vacation.”
“I watched assassins kill my parents when I was a kid,” he said softly, his tone nonchalant, but ending with a slight tremble. “I pretended to be a servant. Hooked up with the mercs afterwards so I could escape. They never knew the truth about my past.” He paused, his voice dropping slightly. “I found out later that one of my sisters made it out, too.”
He didn’t make it sound like a good thing, and Keva turned to look at him, interested despite herself. “What happened to her?”
Viktis’s hands were clenched tightly together in his lap, but his voice was perfectly calm. “Caught by slavers just outside our system. Cordoza’s men. Kitty got one look at Jillis and sold her to a rich Trezian who said he wanted an Ileth housekeeper. Her relation to a former President was an added bonus.” He took a breath. “Took me five years to discover she was alive, and when I found out, I went to the Cordozas to buy her back. By then it was too late.”
Horror burned the back of her throat and she slid her hand into Viktis’s. “Did her owner kill her?”
“No, he only raped her. The Cordozas killed her when she managed to escape. They tracked her down like a dog. He didn’t want her back. Too much trouble, and she’d already proved a flight risk. There was only one option. Kitty saw to it personally, since my sister had ruined a lucrative business deal.”
Keva sucked in a breath. “I’m so sorry.”
Trapped in his memories, Viktis didn’t respond.
Keva lifted a hand to his face, as if she could physically drag him away from the horror replaying in his mind. She gently forced him to look at her. “I promise you, Kitty Cordoza is a dead woman.”
“I don’t want her dead. I want her locked away for the rest of her life so she can live with what she’s done. That’s the worst thing you can do to a woman like her. Take away her power and influence.”
His eyes glittered angrily in the half-light of the vent and she nodded. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll avenge your sister.”
They stared at each other, both breathing heavily. Before she could blink, Viktis lowered his head and captured her lips with his. They were warm and demanding against her skin, his gentle caress sending tremors through her body. He tasted like champagne and mint.
Gods, it had been so long since she’d been kissed like that. Heat started to pool in her belly and she pulled him closer, their tongues warring. A moan escaped her lips as his hand lowered to her breast, and Viktis shifted so he could pull her half across his lap. Keva didn’t resist.
His hands traveled down her body, resting on her hips. She lowered her lips to his jaw, gently brushing kisses along it until she reached the sensitive spot on his neck just below his ear. Viktis let out a shaky breath as she stroked and kissed him, his fingers curling into her skin.
“We need to go,” he whispered. But he made no move to pull away.
Keva smiled against the smooth skin of his neck. “I know.”
He moaned and pulled her lips back to his. They fit together perfectly, even in the cramped space, and she shivered as his hands slipped beneath her shirt to tease her sensitive ni**les through her bra.
She arched her back, her insides feeling as though they’d burst into flame if she continued to deny her desire. She slowly lowered a hand to the stiffness pressing against her leg.