Close Obsession (The Krinar Chronicles 2)

He smiled at her. “Of course. It will be Loris’s turn to present – that should be particularly interesting to see.”

“Why does he hate you so much?” Mia asked, curious to learn more about Krinar politics. “Did you have some kind of differences before his son was accused?”

Korum’s lips twisted slightly. “Differences is one way of putting it. He had a company that competed with mine a few hundred years ago. His designs were far inferior, though, and he ultimately ended up having to close it down. His son – Rafor – worked with him at the time as one of his lead designers, and he lost a lot of his standing in society when the company went out of business. Loris had other ventures at the time, and he was deeply involved in politics, so his standing took a much smaller hit and recovered quickly. His son’s, however, never did.”

So Rafor was the Keith with the design background, the one who had provided the Resistance with K gadgets. It all made sense now. His designs had never been as good as Korum’s; it was no wonder that the Resistance had failed.

“And Loris hates you for that? For Rafor losing his standing?” Mia wasn’t sure she fully understood the standing concept, but it seemed to be quite important for the Krinar.

“He does,” Korum said. “He hates it that his son wasn’t good enough as a designer, and he blames me for Rafor never doing anything else productive with his life. And now that Rafor has also proven to be a pathetic traitor . . .”

“He blames you for that as well?” Mia guessed, staring up at Korum with a slight frown. “Is that why he intends to seek revenge?”

Korum nodded, his eyes glittering with something that looked like anticipation. “Indeed.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” Mia asked, trying to understand her lover better. He looked almost as if he were relishing the other K’s hatred. “That someone hates you so much, I mean?”

“Why should it bother me?” He looked amused at the thought. “He’s hardly the first, and he won’t be the last.”

Mia stared at him. “You don’t care if people like you? If they are your friends or your enemies?”

Korum laughed. “No, my sweet, why would I? If someone wants to be my enemy, it’s their choice – one that they will ultimately regret.”

“I see,” Mia said, another piece of the Korum puzzle clicking into place for her. She knew that there were people like that, individuals so confident in themselves – or arrogant, depending on how one looked at it – that they seemed to lack the usual drive to please others. And her lover appeared to be one of them. If anything, it looked like he thrived on conflict. She wondered if it was a K-specific trait or simply a part of Korum’s personality.

Before Mia could finish fully analyzing that thought, Korum stepped closer and lifted his hand to brush her hair back from her face. “That’s enough talk about politics,” he said, cupping her cheek with one large warm hand, his eyes beginning to gleam with familiar golden undertones. “I can think of far more pleasant things we could be doing right now.”

Mia’s heartbeat immediately quickened, and the muscles deep within her belly tightened, reacting to his touch and the unmistakable sexual intent in his voice. Such a Pavlovian response, the psychology student in her noted wryly – her body was now fully conditioned to respond to him this way, to crave the pleasure that only he could provide. The lack of control over her own flesh bothered Mia on many levels, making her feel even less in charge of her own life, her own decisions.

Bending down, he wrapped one arm around her back and placed the other under her knees, effortlessly lifting her up into his arms. Mia closed her eyes, burying her face against his shoulder as he swiftly carried her toward the bedroom.

As he’d said earlier, the labels placed on their relationship didn’t matter – at least not when it came to this.

* * *

When they got to the bedroom, he placed her down on the bed and straightened for a minute. Bemused, she watched as he placed a small white dot on his right temple.

“What is it?” she asked him warily when he leaned over her again.

“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously, with a wicked gleam in those amber eyes. And then he touched her temple as well. Startled, Mia raised her hand and felt a small protrusion. He had placed a dot on her also.

Feeling nervous, Mia opened her mouth to ask him again, but he kissed her in that moment and all rational thought left her head. His hand closed over her right breast, kneading the small globe, his thumb flicking lightly over her nipple, and Mia felt a surge of heat go through her. His other hand buried itself in her hair, holding her head still as his tongue invaded her mouth. She could taste the hunger in his kiss, and she wondered vaguely what had provoked him.

All of a sudden, she could no longer feel the softness of the bed beneath her and her ears were ringing from loud music, the pulsing beat

reverberating through her bones. Gasping in shock, she pushed at Korum, and he let her go, watching with an unsettling mixture of amusement and burning lust as she sat up, gaping at the scene in panic and disbelief.

They were on the floor inside what looked like a large metal cage. All around them, Mia could see gyrating bodies, grinding and pushing against each other. Stunned, she realized they were dancing. The flickering lights above them cast everything in shades of blue and purple, adding to the surreal feel of the situation.

“Where are we?” she yelled, jumping to her feet and staring at Korum in frightened astonishment. Did he teleport them somewhere, or was this some strange and new virtual world?

He laughed, rising from the floor smoothly. “Come here,” he said, pulling her toward him.

Angry and confused, Mia tried to resist, but it was useless, of course. Within seconds, he had her pressed against his body, and she could feel his erection pushing at her stomach.

“So I learned something interesting today,” Korum said softly, his voice somehow carrying above the music. His eyes were nearly yellow in the strange flashing lights of the dance floor. “My sweet little charl seems to have a thing for touching me in public places – when she thinks no one is watching, of course. When she thinks I can’t feel it.”

Mia swallowed, remembering her actions earlier, before the trial began. She’d played with Korum, secure in the knowledge that no one would ever find out . . . yet somehow he knew. Was he mad at her? Did he intend to punish her somehow?