Chapter 278: Chapter 278
Zaeryn watched them go for a moment longer than he needed to, and then he turned and walked out the way he had come in.
The Citadel was a large building, and the moment he was back in the upper concourse he had to admit that he had no real idea where Annalise actually was.
She told him to come and find her without actually telling her where she was. And he did not know where her office was, or whether she even had an office in this part of the Citadel at all.
He asked someone where Annalise was, and they told him they had no idea.
He kept walking anyway. He took the lift up to the level where he had last seen her, on the loose principle that if he stayed in the upper halls long enough, someone who knew the building better than he did would eventually point him in the right direction.
He was passing one of the smaller side corridors, half-considering whether to stop the next person he saw and ask, when someone came around the corner at his elbow and very nearly walked straight into him. They both stepped back at the same time and stopped where they were.
"Kira." Zaeryn said recognizing the person.
"Oh, hey Zaeryn." Kira’s green eyes lit up the second she placed him and looked him over the way she always looked him over, as though she were quietly tallying him against the last time she had seen him. The grin was already happening. "What are you doing wandering around the council halls? I was just asking Daphne about you yesterday you know," she said.
"Oh?" Zaeryn was a little confused, then he remembered that Kira had a lot of interest in him and she never hid it.
"Anyways, are you looking for someone?"
"I’m looking for Annalise." Zaeryn said.
Kira’s look shifted into something much more curious. "Annalise."
"Yes." Zaeryn nodded.
"As in Councilor Ilderweid?"
"That seems to be her full name, yes. Any idea where she is?"
The grin came back wider, and she pressed a finger on her lower lip with a thoughtful look in her eyes.
Then finally she said. "Lucky for you, I happen to know exactly where she is right now. I passed her on the way down." Her grin sharpened. "But I won’t tell you where she is,"
"Why?" Zaeryn asked.
A wave of genuine disappointment washed over him, and he didn’t even bother trying to hide it. His shoulders slumped heavily, and he let out a long, defeated sigh.
He had just spent the last twenty minutes navigating the corridors. The absolute last thing he wanted right now was to be dragged into a riddle. He crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want in return?"
His obvious misery only made her grin widen, clearly delighted by how easily she could get under his skin.
"Let’s..." Kira tilted her head, the depths of her eyes flashing with a bright, opportunistic spark as she stepped just a fraction closer. She completely invaded his personal space with the effortless, dominant confidence that seemed to characterize every woman in the Citadel, leaning in just enough for him to catch the faint, crisp scent of her perfume. "...make a deal instead. A little trade of information for a piece of your time."
Zaeryn rolled his eyes, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward despite himself. "A trade? I don’t exactly have anything on me, Kira. Unless you want three credits — that’s all I have on me."
"Oh, I don’t want your credits or your...clothes," she purred, sizing him up again.
Zaeryn raised an eyebrow. His clothes? "I didn’t offer my clothes, why would you...?"
Zaeryn stopped himself as he finally realized what she was implying.
"I know," she said, her smile sharpening. "But the thought did cross my mind. Don’t worry, that’s not the trade I’m proposing." She tapped a finger against her chin as she looked him up and down with an appreciative, lingering gaze. "I want a promise and something else. First, you owe me a proper hangout. No Daphne hovering over your shoulder. Just you and me."
A hangout with Kira sounded fun and she was harmlessly playful compared to some of the terrifying people running this place.
Zaeryn didn’t think about it too much. "Fine," he muttered, letting out one last exaggerated sigh of surrender. "A hangout. Next time I have a free afternoon between combat training and classes, it’s a deal. Now, please, where is she?"
"Not so fast Zaeryn. There is another thing."
"What?"
Kira tilted her head, the corner of her mouth lifting. "This favor, I want you to do now."
Zaeryn considered her for a moment. Whatever she had in mind, he assumed, was going to be something small. Something she would enjoy being able to claim later more than something that would actually cost him anything. That was just his instinct. He didn’t know Kira on that level but he felt like he knew her enough to guess.
"Deal," he said.
The corner of her mouth pulled, and her eyebrows climbed.
"Just like that?" she asked. "I haven’t even told you what I want yet, and you’re already agreeing? Zaeryn, I could be about to ask you for anything."
"I don’t really care," Zaeryn said.
He meant it. Whatever Kira was about to ask him for, the cost of agreeing to it was almost certainly going to be lower than the cost of wandering this floor of the Citadel for the next hour hoping to catch Annalise by accident.
"You don’t really care," Kira repeated, drawing the words out. "You realize that’s a dangerous sentence around me, right? It could be something genuinely difficult. It could be life-threatening."
That actually gave him pause. Life-threatening was a word with a lot of room in it, and he had walked far enough into this conversation already without checking the floor underneath him first.
"Wait," he said. "Life-threatening? You know what, on second thought, I think I do need to hear it first."
Kira laughed, and her whole face lit up with it. She was very clearly enjoying herself. He suspected she was going to talk about this exchange for the next several weeks, regardless of what came of it.
"Relax," she said. "I’m not going to ask you to do anything dangerous. Or hard. Or even particularly time-consuming."
"All right. Then what?"
She let the question sit for a moment longer than she needed to, watching his face for whatever it was she was watching for. Then she said it.
"I want you to kiss me."
He blinked. Whatever he had been expecting, that had not been on the list.
"That’s it?"
"That’s it." Her grin was something close to delighted now. "For the moment, anyway. That’s all I’m asking for today."
"Okay," Zaeryn said.
"One condition." She held up a finger. "Make it convincing. And good. Not some polite little nothing because you want to get out of the corridor. I want a real one."
"Sure," Zaeryn said. "And after, you’ll tell me where Annalise is."
He had to make sure she wouldn’t give him another demand after this.
"After," Kira agreed, "I’ll tell you exactly where Annalise is."
Zaeryn took a deliberate step forward, and Kira immediately took one to meet him. Without hesitation, he looped his hand around her waist and pulled her flush against his body.
Kira’s hands flew up to rest flat against his chest. Her breath caught in her throat, clearly startled by the sudden closeness. "Oh," she murmured, an excited flutter in her voice. "You want to get it done as fast as possible, don’t you?"
Zaeryn didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached up with his free hand, his fingers gently brushing her warm cheek as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He caressed her skin slowly, his gaze locking onto hers.
This close to her, Zaeryn realized just how beautiful she actually was. She had a face that was sexually magnetic, the kind of sharp, attractive features that made it incredibly hard to look away. But looking at her from this angle, he also noticed something else: she resembled her sister, Commander Charlotte Thorne, just a little bit.
"Stop hesitating and do it already," Kira muttered, her voice dropping as she grew a little impatient with the delay.
He looked deeply into her eyes, keeping his gaze perfectly steady. "You’re beautiful, Kira," he said softly, his thumb tracing her jawline. "I actually want to savor it."
Hearing him say that, Kira was at a total loss for words. She clearly hadn’t expected him to treat this as anything more than a quick transactional deal between them. She went perfectly quiet for a second, her green eyes wide as she searched his face, completely captivated by his focus.
"I want to savor it too," she finally breathed out. She looked up at him, her lips parting slightly as she waited.
Finally, Zaeryn leaned down and captured her mouth. He started slow, a deep, passionate exploration that sent an immediate jolt of heat through both of them.
He took it slow at first, keeping the pressure of his lips warm and passionate. Kira let out a soft sound , her hands sliding up his chest to wrap tightly around his neck. She leaned her weight into him, as she boldly deepened the kiss.
Her lips tasted sweet and delicious. When her mouth parted, Zaeryn slid his tongue inside, turning the kiss into a deep, searching exchange. Kira let out a soft, muffled moan against his lips, her own tongue eagerly tangling with his as she completely lost herself in the rhythm.
The uninhibited way she yielded to him, her body pressing completely flush against his, ignited a sudden heat deep inside Zaeryn. The intense contact made him grow slightly hard against her hip. His hand slid down from her waist, flattening over the firm curve of her full hips to pull her even closer into his frame.
They finally broke apart after a long moment. Kira lowered herself back to her heels, letting out a shaky exhale. Her eyes were dazed, her lips flushed and thoroughly kissed.
"Impressive," she whispered, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. "Now I know exactly why Daphne is so addicted to you." She smoothed her hands down his chest, reluctant to step out of his personal space. "We should definitely do this again. And I like where your hands went when you pulled me that close. You really do know how to make women feel special don’t you? Next time, feel free to go a little lower."
"Next time huh?" Zaeryn said with an easy smirk. He stepped back just enough to give them both breathing room. "We’ll see about that. But for now, a deal is a deal. Where is Annalise?"
Kira’s grin lingered as she pointed back down the concourse. "She’s in the senior atrium," she explained, giving it the proper Citadel name. "It’s an open-air cafe on the east wing. You’ll find her sitting at one of the tables there. It’s where the councilors and high-ranking people around here go to relax, hold casual meetings, and let the service drones bring them food."
