Psy & Changelings 10 - Kiss of Snow

delicate under his touch. “I’d like you to permit me to take care of you.” It was a raw craving, this need he had to ensure she wasn’t hurting herself. He didn’t understand it, had never felt its like.
    Lara shook her head. “I can’t do this.” Breath hitching, she pushed against him. “You can be my friend, Walker. But you don’t have any other rights—you didn’t want them.”
    “Lara,” he began, continuing to maintain his grip, but she shook her head again.
    “You were honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you. The kind of rights you want, the kind you’re trying to claim? They’re intimate rights.” Wet shimmered in the expressive depths of her eyes. “I can’t give them to you. They belong to the man with whom I’ll build a life, have children.”
    This time, when she pulled, he released her wrists, watched her leave.
    The spray of the waterfall was cold on his skin.
     
     
    THE day after running the surveillance search, Sienna found herself with time on her hands. Aware Hawke was busy organizing something with DarkRiver, she decided that rather than give in to her frustration at being shut out because of her rank, she’d make productive use of her time to go speak with Sascha.
    When she moved out of the woods near the cabin, it was to see the empath walking back and forth in front of the home she shared with Lucas. “Thanks for agreeing to talk to me.”
    “Hush.” A hand cupping her cheek for a warm moment. “You know you’re always welcome.”
    “Where’s Lucas?” It was a given that he wouldn’t be far with Sascha now only days from her due date.
    Sascha lifted a finger to her lips, then pointed up. Following the cardinal’s gaze, Sascha found a black panther draped in graceful sleep over one of the thick branches that supported the aerie the couple planned to move back into after Sascha recovered from the birth.
    “Wow,” Sienna whispered, having never before seen Lucas in animal form. “He’s beautiful.”
    The cat’s tail waved lazily.
    Sascha laughed. “He heard you—he’s just dozing. Stayed up rubbing my back most of the night.”
    “Shouldn’t you be sitting down?”
    A black scowl. “Sienna, don’t make me deck you.”
    “I don’t know much about pregnancy aside from the facts, or what I’ve learned from being around you,” she admitted. “I wasn’t there while my mother was pregnant with Toby.” No, she’d been trapped in a telepathic prison created by a master of mental combat. Awful as that had been, she wouldn’t change it—because Ming had trained her in his own image, taught her the skills to fight those who would hurt her brother, her family, her pack . . . her man.
    “Then we’re in the same boat.” One hand bracing her back, Sascha reached over to tuck Sienna’s hair behind her ear. “You wanted to talk, kitten?”
    Sienna looked up at Lucas, dropped her voice. “Can he hear us if we keep the volume low?”
    “I’m afraid so. He’s got bat hearing these days.”
    The panther made a low grumbling sound but didn’t leave his branch.
    Much as she respected the leopard alpha, Sienna wasn’t sure she was comfortable discussing this particular topic with him in hearing range. “It’s okay. You need to relax anyway.”
    “Talking to you is hardly a strain.” A chiding look. “Luc will be a Sphinx, won’t you, pussycat?” Her mate’s responding rumble made Sascha smile. “He’s feeling very grumpy this afternoon.”
    Needing answers, Sienna decided to ask her questions and trust in Lucas’s discretion. “With Hawke,” she said, walking with Sascha as the empath continued her easy pacing, “I . . . something happened.” Though it was in her nature to be private, she shared the gist of what had taken place between them the night of the attack. “He’s been busy since then, but even when we’ve run into each other, he hasn’t made a single move—it’s like his wolf is watching, but for what, I’m not certain.”
    “Hmm.” Sascha rubbed at her belly, her head cocked at a listening angle. “Oh, well, yes.”
    Sienna looked from the empath to her mate. “You have a telepathic bond?” Extraordinary.
    “It’s grown exponentially during the pregnancy.” Digging the heel of one hand into her back while cradling her abdomen with the other, she blew out a breath. “I think Lucas is right—he says Hawke is waiting for you to go to him.”
    “He’s not the kind of man who waits.” If Sienna knew one