“That would be great.”
My surprise must have shown on my face because he broke into a grin. The smile transformed his hard, cold features into something stunningly glorious that stabbed at my heart in an I must have him way.
Mine.
Shit, where had that come from?
His eyes flared, and then his smile wavered. “I’ll see you back here in a bit.”
That was my cue to leave, but all the way across the quad and to the exit arch, the rope binding us tugged on my solar plexus as if desperate to draw me back.
“No!” Lyrian slumped back on the sofa, his arm covering his eyes. “Again? You guys have got to be the luckiest kids alive.”
Gem gave him a stern look, but the twitch at the corner of her mouth gave away the fact that she was putting it on. “This game is about skill. There’s no luck involved.”
Bry sniggered. The sound was so unexpected and unlike my little brother that I couldn’t help but snort.
Lyrian’s attention landed on me. “So ladylike,” he said.
Gem giggled. “Echo likes to eat brownies with her mouth open.”
Oh, lord. “Gem, I don’t think Lyrian needs to know that.”
“And she likes to sing in the shower. Three whole minutes …” Bry leaned in to Lyrian conspiratorially. “She can’t sing very well.”
I shot my little brother a glare.
“Do you like my sister?” Bry asked. “Like do you want to kiss her?”
Lyrian looked stunned.
Oh, God. “I think it’s time for bed now.” I stood quickly and ushered the kids up, my face burning. “Wow, it’s so late.”
Gem arched a brow. “No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is. Go wash up, and I’ll be through to tuck you in, in a moment.”
Gem gave me a sly look, then took Bry’s hand and led him to the washroom. Now Lyrian and I were alone, and I needed to look at him.
“I’m sorry. They don’t understand about the scalemate bond, or that it’s … It’s not romantic.” But even as I said the words, there was an itch at the back of my mind.
Lyrian kept his head down. “It’s no problem.”
I blew out a breath. “Thank you. You’ve been so great with them the past couple of days.”
“They’re great kids. I enjoyed spending time with them, and I hope … I hope to do it again?”
I crouched on the floor in front of him, peering up into his face, needing to look into his eyes, for him to know how much this meant to me. How much his being here meant.
“I’d like that, Lyrian. I really would.”
His gaze was warm as it roved over my face. “Micha will be back the day after tomorrow. He called this morning. He’ll be back by the time you return with the orb.”
Joy bloomed in my heart, and then ice pierced it. “You’re leaving?”
He gave me a half smile. “I have a job to do at the Keep, and Micha will want to spend time with you and you with him.”
Yes. I needed Micha back. I needed his ember eyes and his strong arms around me. My bed had felt empty without his snuggles, but I needed Lyrian too.
He touched my cheek lightly. “Hey, don’t look so lost. We’ll figure this out. I promise. I’m only a radio call away, or”—his fingers trailed down my neck, stalling my breath, and then round to my collarbone and down between my breasts—“you can just call out to me with this.”
My mouth was dry. “My heart?”
“Yes. It’s a scalemate thing. The connection.”
Had the dream I’d had about Micha been real, then? Had I somehow connected with him? I’d have to ask.
And I’m here when you need me.
His words were in my head, jolting me because I’d almost forgotten he could do that, that we could do that.
“Why can’t I do that with Micha?”
Lyrian’s gaze was hooded. He shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll probably have connections with Micha you don’t have with me.”
There was so much to learn, but it would all have to go on the back burner for now, because tomorrow I’d be taking the kids back to Chamber H, and the next day … the next day, I’d be transporting the orb.
Bry wandered back into the room trailed by Gem.
I looked up. “I’ll be there to tell you a bedtime story in a bit.”
Bry looked anxious. “Actually … we were hoping Lyrian could tell us a story.”
Had I just heard right?
Gem stepped in quickly. “We love your stories, but Lyrian has dragons in his.”
Lyrian shot me an inquiring look.
I nodded.
“Well, dragons it is, then.” He stood, running his hand over my head in a gesture so natural and comforting it made my heart swell.
He followed the kids to their room, already discussing the kind of tale they’d like. How could this be? The cold, aloof Draconi was a pushover when it came to kids. And it suddenly hit me how important it had been for the kids to like him, because he was a part of me now in a way that I hoped I’d eventually come to understand.
Chapter 19
With the kids gone, the guardian chambers felt too large and empty; thank goodness Lyrian was there to fill the space with his presence. But no one stayed at the Hive without a purpose, and Harker had put him to work helping Emory in the hub. Damn, I missed working on the heart. Missed the smell of engine oil and grease, but when I’d asked to tag along, the answer had been no. Harker felt that being too close to the crystal might be overwhelming for me as a conduit even though I was more than just a conduit. It was an excuse to keep me away from Emory, no doubt.
So, it was training instead. Stamina today, because tomorrow I’d be transporting the orb. A quivering stomach and anxious mind were only natural. My father had died completing that act. He’d been left stranded outside the dead zone for too long, but that wouldn’t happen to me. Lyrian was coming with me. He’d be waiting for me when I got out of the dead zone. Everything would be okay.
I repeated the words as my trainers hammered the treadmill as I ran, sweat-soaked, toward nothing and everything. I’d survived two Genesis attacks. I could survive the unhallowed.
Movement at the periphery of my vision almost lost me my concentration. I hit the button on the machine, and it began to slow. The woman circled me, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and pale-skinned.
I came to a stop, bracing myself against the side bars. “Can I help you?”
She was studying me intensely. “You’re Echo?”
She sounded surprised, almost disappointed.
“Yeah, who wants to know?”
Her gaze was on my neck now, and then a small smile curved her lips. “I’m Lira. Deacon’s vein.”
She said it as if it should mean something to me, which it didn’t.
I shrugged. “Okay.”
She blinked rapidly. “You don’t know what that is? He hasn’t mentioned me?”
“Um … no.”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, of course. Deacon’s a private person. He wouldn’t want just anybody knowing about our relationship.”
Relationship? My chest tightened a fraction. “What are you talking about?”
She gave me a coy look and then ran her fingers down the side of her neck where the puncture wounds were still visible. “Deacon and I have a close bond. I feed him. I am his vein. Deacon only drinks from the vein. He only ever drinks from me.”
“Aside from the time he drank from me.” The words snapped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Her brows came down. “He was dying. He had no choice. I forgave him.”
Forgave him? She was a walking blood bag, and she was acting like they were lovers … Wait, were they, and why did she have marks? Why hadn’t Deacon healed her?
“You know …” She gave a breathy laugh. “I thought you’d be prettier.”
“Excuse me?”
She shrugged. “He’s been spending a lot of time with you, and I got worried. I can see now I was b
eing silly. You really aren’t his type.”
She was probably right. I mean, he’d basically just revealed he thought he was only attracted to me because I was somehow linked to Marika. And even though I’d shot that theory in the foot, the fact someone was telling me I couldn’t be his type made me want to be his type.
“No …” She continued. “I’m his type.”
“Oh, you’re his type all right. The right blood type.”
She blinked up at me in surprise.
The bitch crawled out of my skin and curved my lips. “Also … Deacon doesn’t like playing with his food.”
Her expression hardened. “You want him, don’t you?”
I really didn’t, but she’d interrupted my workout to tell me shit I didn’t need to know and insulted me, so it was my turn to play.
“Yes, I want him. He’s super sexy and hot with his I-don’t-give-a-shit attitude and his I’m-too-laid-back-to-get-riled-up demeanor. I want to get under his skin and drive him crazy, make him snap and lose control, you know?”
Her mouth worked, but no sound came out.
I stepped off the treadmill. “I want to slide off his Protectorate gear and run my hands all over his super tight bod.”
“You … You’re—"
“Horny for Deacon? Yep, yep, I’m super horny for him, and when I’m done with him, he’ll be like Lira who?”
Her bottom lip trembled, and I felt a tiny stab of guilt, but not enough to take back anything I’d said. She deserved every word for sauntering in here and acting like I was a smidge of shit on the heel of her boot.
“I knew it,” she said softly. “You do want him. You’re trying to steal him away.”
“You are so super perceptive. It’s why I’m getting all sweaty and stuff to release the sexy pheromones for when I see him later.” I leaned in. “We’re hanging out later, you know.”
Okay, so she looked like she was about to start bawling. Maybe it was time to drop the act and reassure her that I had no designs on Deacon. I opened my mouth to take back everything I’d said when awareness had my skin prickling.
“That’s all very good to know, Echo,” Deacon said evenly from the doorway.
Oh, shit.
Lira’s gaze flicked over my shoulder, and her eyes went wide. “Deacon.”
“What are you doing here, Lira?” he asked evenly.
“I … I wanted to see you.”
“And you thought you’d find me working out.” He said the last two words as if they were something dirty.
I guess Sanguinata didn’t need to run on the treadmill.
Lira tucked in her chin. “I’m sorry. I—”
“Leave.”
She ran from the room, and then it was just me and the Sanguinata.
I sighed and turned to him. “I was joking, just in case that wasn’t obvious.”
“Joking? You mean you don’t want to, let me see, what did you say?” He tapped his chin. “Oh yes, get under my skin and drive me crazy?”
Shit. He’d heard that. “No, I—”
“No?” He frowned and walked closer. “So, let me get this straight.” He held up a finger. “You don’t want to slide off my Protectorate gear and run your hands all over my super tight bod?”
He was so close now I could have reached out and touched him. “Very funny.”
He inhaled. “Good work on the pheromones.” His eyes darkened. “Very enticing.”
His tone had deepened to something purring and seductive.
I flinched as his finger touched my cheek and then froze as he ran it down the side of my face and into the hollow of my neck.
“Deacon?” My tone was lower now, huskier. “I thought we’d established your ex-lover is not inside me. This … this is just me.”
He moved closer, so my eyes were level with his collarbone, with the V of his black shirt. His sweat scent drifted over me, and then his lips found my ear.
“I know that now, Echo. Which is why you shouldn’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.” His breath tickled my skin. “It’s highly disappointing.”
And then he stepped back. “Lira was out of line coming here today. I’ll speak to her. She won’t bother you again.”
Shit, my pulse was still fluttering from his proximity, but he was cool and unaffected. Pull it together, Echo.
“Who is she?”
“A human I feed off. Not all Sanguinata can feed on bagged blood. I happen to be one of them. Lira is a volunteer.”
“Do you have sex with her?” Crap, why was I asking that?
His eyes narrowed. “That is none of your business.”
Okay, so that was a yes, then. So why was there a slightly hollow feeling in my chest now? “You do realize she’s in love with you.”
He frowned. “She understands our arrangement. It’s purely physical.”
“Please, tell me you’re not that naïve? What you have with her may be purely physical in your mind, but it’s much more for her. It’s a relationship. If you’re not going to reciprocate her feelings, then cut her loose. It’s cruel to keep her hanging on.”
He shrugged. “I’ll deal with Lira. You need to prepare for tomorrow. Wash up and meet me in the kitchen in half an hour. We’ll go over the plan.”
He swept out of the room, taking his delicious aroma with him.
Lyrian still hadn’t returned from his shift at the hub when I got back to my quarters. A quick wash and I was back out in the quad, intent on heading to the kitchens to meet up with Deacon.
A group of figures stood by the plaque. Harker, Bane, Ryker, and someone new. He was huge, even taller and broader than Bane. Too big to be real, his lower body was encased in tight-fitted trousers, more leggings than slacks. He had flat plimsolls on his feet, and his torso was encased in an almost see-through white material that did nothing to hide the bronze muscles beneath. His hair was long and dark but threaded with gold. It fell to his shoulders in messy waves. My feet faltered, and my trajectory altered toward the group.
The stranger’s back rippled as if in anticipation.
Harker’s gaze slid my way, and she shook her head so slightly I could have imagined it, and then Bane was glaring at me so ferociously it halted my progress. I made to turn away just as the stranger looked my way.
His face was bearded, his nose hawkish, but it was his eyes that stunned me. White, completely white. And then he blinked, and a spot of darkness bloomed in the white. The air around my ears hummed, low and inviting. I took a step toward him, but then Bane’s back was blocking my view. The hum stopped, and I was free of the strange allure to find my heart pounding way too fast. Fear … fear coursed through my veins like bitter blood. I turned and ran for the kitchens.
Deacon was stirring something on the hob when I entered.
“Who was that man with Harker and Bane?” I stood with my back to the door.
Deacon inhaled through his nose and then dropped the spoon. He moved so fast that he was in front of me in a blink, his hands cupping my face. “Did he look at you? Did you look into his eyes?”
My pulse was still racing. “Yes. Yes, I looked into his eyes and then there was this hum in my ears. Who is he? Why am I so … so scared?”
Deacon was forbidding and aloof and standoffish, and yeah, he could be scary, but right now he was the lesser of two evils, and the adrenaline coursing through me was playing havoc with my instincts. The urge to scream and run was pulsing through me. But my brain knew it wasn’t real. It wasn’t … I pushed off the door and wrapped my arms around Deacon, pressing my face into his neck and breathing him in. “Shit, shit. What the heck?”
Deacon tensed, and for a moment it was just me hanging off him like a quivering ornament, and then he wrapped his arms around me, holding me securely against the length of his frame, but the fear was in my mind, crawling through my brain matter.
“Shit.” Deacon said the word softly, more resigned than annoyed.
He reached for my wrists and prised me off him befor
e pushing me back against the door.
No. I needed him. I needed him to make the terror go away. My vision blurred. “Please.”
“I know,” he said. “This will help.” And then he kissed me.
It was chaste, firm, and cool, and my mind’s focus was torn between the irrational fear and this. This fact that Deacon had his mouth on mine. And then his fingers slipped into my hair, and his tongue licked the seam of my mouth. My heart lurched, and I opened for him, for the sweetness that coated his tongue, and with a ragged moan, he deepened the kiss. His fingers curled in my hair, forcing my head back so he could lick the inside of my mouth. He kissed as if he were devouring a bowl of strawberries and cream, alternating between leisurely licks and shiver-inducing sucking of my bottom lip. A coil of heat unfurled in my belly, and my breasts throbbed, calling for attention. We kissed forever, coming up for air in between in short gasps before diving in again. My hands were tangled in his silken hair. My body molded to his lithe frame. More. I needed more.
But his thumb was pressed to the side of my mouth, depressing my bottom lip as he pulled back. His gaze was hooded and unfathomable.
“Better?” His tone was cool and almost clinical.
My body was on fire with need, breath shallow and blood singing, and … And the fear was gone. Lust had replaced it.
Deacon released me and walked back to the hob, where he picked up the spoon and continued his stirring.
“I hope you like soup,” he said.
Chapter 20
Deacon
She stands against the door staring at me with those wanton eyes and that luscious mouth still parted and swollen from my attentions, and it takes every ounce of control I have not to fall on her again. Not to tear down her slacks and take her right there against the hardwood. Not to sink my fangs into her neck and taste her arousal in the nectar of her blood while I fuck her. There are no more excuses for this insane attraction aside from the fact that she is who she is. Echo. Desirable, brave, witty Echo. Marika is gone. There is nothing of her in Echo’s mind. Whatever she is hearing, it isn’t the voice of my ex-lover.
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