“Yeah, we have to have . . .” She trailed off. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He gestured at the erection still tenting his pants. “Oh.”
She blinked at him, trying to decide whether to feel triumphant or moronic. “You mean I passed your test.”
He chuckled, folding his arms behind his head as he gazed up at her. “Honey, you knocked it out of the park.”
“I thought I had to beat you.” Kat frowned in confusion.
He snorted. “Not very damned likely. I’m an eighty-year-old vampire with sixty years of combat experience, and I once deadlifted a Cadillac off a pedestrian. You’re good, but you ain’t that good.”
Realization struck. “I never had a prayer.”
“You did better than I expected.” He grimaced. “Then again, I didn’t expect you to be able to throw a punch without detailed instructions and a map. Most new Majae can’t.”
Puzzled, Kat dropped to her knees on the mat. “So what the hell was the point?”
Ridge knelt in front of her like the sensei he could have been. “I wanted to know if you could think on your feet. If you’d panic when faced with overwhelming odds. Whether you could take a punch without running home to Mommy.”
She raised a brow. “And?”
“And you don’t panic. When you got pissed off, you controlled it instead of making stupid mistakes. Pain doesn’t stop you. And you kept fighting long after anybody with any sense would have thrown in the towel. What’s more, you just played me for a sucker, which is both embarrassing and seriously impressive.”
Her heart was thundering a heavy metal beat in her ears. “So you’ll make me a Maja?”
The humor faded from his eyes, leaving his expression grim. “Yeah. We need people like you. I just hope you don’t end up regretting it.” He rose to his feet. “Come on. I don’t know about you, but I could use a bath.”
Kat blinked, imagining Ridge naked and covered in bubbles. Oh, this is going to be good.
FIVE
She’d been right, Kat decided. You could swim laps in Ridge’s tub.
He was down on one knee, testing the water temperature and adding some mysterious oil that formed aromatic clouds of bubbles. His back looked deliciously broad, muscle flexing and working as he moved, and she contemplated it in happy anticipation.
When the tub was filled and fragrant, he stood and
turned toward her. He stood tall and impossibly handsome in the golden light of the candles that rested on every flat surface. They’d all burst simultaneously into flame when he and Kat walked into the room.
Ridge claimed the candles were magic, but she suspected they’d been ignited by the sheer lust in the air. You could almost see it, sparking and swirling around them like amorous fireflies.
He moved toward her, his eyes heavy-lidded with need. A long, distinct shape strained against the soft cotton of his pants. She wanted to tug down his waistband for a shameless ogle.
Ridge tipped her chin up for his kiss. If he felt the same impatience she did, he hid it well, taking his time with the slow mating of mouths, teasing, stroking, lip-to-lip, tongue dancing around tongue. Kat sighed, relaxing into his solid strength. His hands came to rest, one cupping her butt, the other on the dip of her waist.
The kiss spun on, lazy and drugging. The taste of him intoxicated—a hint of salt, a trace of mint, and over it all, that dazzling masculinity.
Deep inside her, something woke, responded with a hot leap of need. Something furious and demanding that had never risen for another man.
The Gift?
The thought shot a little shiver of mingled excitement and fear through her. Grace had given her a rough idea what to expect, but how was it going to feel? Magic igniting in her every cell, changing her, making her immortal. Something other than human. . . .
“Shhh,” Ridge breathed against her mouth. He drew back enough to smile into her eyes. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Ha. Showed how much he knew. That, or she was a coward, because she could think of any number of things to fear.
Mostly failure.