by K.N. Lee
Without saying a word, he nodded.
She stepped closer to him.
With his eyebrows creased together, he stared at her with wide, wide eyes.
She placed her hands on his shoulders. “Go on, then. Go save Kara.” Gently, she turned him in a half circle and guided him out the door. She forced it closed, despite its pneumatic hinge. Then, she dropped her forehead to the door.
“You know that guy?” Ace’s voice jarred her back to reality.
“Yeah,” she said. “I do. Or, at least I did.” Straightening her shoulders, she pivoted. “Let’s get out of here before we get into more trouble.”
“Which way?” Ace asked.
“This way.” She gestured toward the window. “We know you’re good with heights.” She crawled out onto the ledge, avoiding the jagged glass lining the window frame. Then, she extended her hand to Ace.
He took it, deftly climbing out the window to stand beside her.
They both looked down.
“Are you thinking of down-climbing?” Ace said.
“Hell, no. This ride is first-class. Climb on. We’ll take our chances.” She pointed to her back. “Hopefully, there’s a lot of cloud cover. And no Drascatu fog.”
Ace climbed on her back, his legs wrapped around her hips.
She leaped from the ledge. They took off into the sky, into free flight, heading to the only place she could think to go—the closest and highest place she could find outside of Boston. She made a beeline toward the mountains.
17
“Where are we heading?” Ace called, as they soared above the clouds over Boston.
“To the highest mountain I can find—Sexsmith Mountain,” she called over her shoulder. “It’s about fifty miles away.” Every muscle of her wings strained with the extra weight. “I think I can carry you that far. This is all new to me.”
“You had me at the mention of sex.” He rocked his hips into Kara’s rump. “I’d love to go to sex mountain with you,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck with his nose.
She let out a silent groan. Flying over the Massachusetts landscape with Ace tight against her back was maddingly arousing. Especially since his arousal lay evident, pressed into the crack of her behind. And—she had to be honest with herself—not only was flying bliss, but flying with a hot guy on her back—with this hot guy? Ecstasy.
“The view up here is fantastic,” Ace said into her ear.
“Right? Who knew?” She swooped in a circle, the wind rippling through her hair, dancing along her feathers, giving them a view of the entire Boston skyline in the distance.
Ace let out a whoop. “This is awesome! Love flying with you!”
Less than an hour later, they arrived at Sexsmith Mountain. Searching for a place to land, she circled a few hundred feet up the two-thousand-foot-high mountain.
Flying was its own reward to dealing with life’s miseries. Having the wind ripple through her feathers and soar above the clouds with Ace was amazing. She grinned, feeling at ease for the first time since becoming a Valkyrie. Scanning the terrain, she found a rocky outcropping on top of a sun-soaked pinnacle. A few sturdy trees provided cover.
“You ever climbed up here?” She pointed to the peak.
“Sunset Pinnacle? Sure. It’s a stopping place for lovers.” He nibbled at her neck.
She held back from elbowing him in the ribs. “How many lovers have you taken up here?” she sniped.
“Are you jealous? They were mere warm-ups. Blips in the night, I assure you.” He fingered her long locks away from her face.
What’s wrong with me? Act like a Valkyrie, not a jealous lover.
“Of course. I’ve been up here, too,” she lied.
Jaidon had wanted to take her here, but they hadn’t done it yet. Now we never will.
When her feet touched the ground, Ace let go of her.
Her entire body seemed to ache from his absence, as if their energetic souls had been glued together and then snapped apart, like taffy. Flying together had seemed so effortless—so intimate.
She folded her wings and sighed, before settling into a seated position on the hard stone. “What am I going to do with you, Ace?”
“Oh, baby, have I got some great ideas,” he said. The comment was probably meant to be his playful, lighthearted sexual banter, but his voice sounded forced—strained.
She lifted her gaze and tensed.
Ace steadied himself against one of the trees pushing between the stones, his head bowed. His entire body shook.
“Shit. Not feeling so well now.” He grabbed both of his elbows, hugging himself. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, his dark brown curls clinging to his head and neck.
“You’re white as a ghost, Ace,” she said, scrambling to her feet.
“When I was pressed against you I was okay. Releasing you...well...” He looked down. A blossom of blood began to spread across his chest. “Maybe you can try that...healing thing,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Anything,” she said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive.”
Two days. I have two days until the blasted full moon. Plus, I…I’m falling for… She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. Any feelings she had toward Ace would compromise her judgment. She knew this from her training. But training never got close to touching the heart.
He lifted his head and looked at her, one of his eyebrows arched. “Because you...like me...or is there another reason?” He hunched over his abdomen. “Oh, Jesus. Fucking hurts.”
As if his legs couldn’t hold him up a second longer, he slid down the tree, his shirt making a raspy noise against the trunk.
“Holy crows, Ace.” She darted to his side, crouched, and seized his hand.
A jolt of fiery current passed between them, and she jerked.
Ace took a long, shuddering breath. His eyes met hers. He gave her a soulful, liquid gaze, tearing open her heart.
“You gotta...tell me.” He bit the words out. “You know more than you’re letting on. What do you, a Valkyrie warrior, have to do with that FBI agent? I saw the way you regarded him. You had a look in your eyes.” Grinding his teeth together, he uttered a single syllable. “Fuck.” He sucked in a breath and held it for a second. “And what do you have to do with me? Why are you here?”
“Shhh. Let me heal you,” she said. “And who says I’m a Valkyrie?”
His eyes rolled. “Please. I’ve read mythology. Wings? Flaming sword? All those muscles of yours?” He stuck out his shaking hand and waved it in a circle at her. “I’ll bet you have a crossbow somewhere.”
Glancing right and left, as if she might see dead Valkyrie raining from the sky, she raked her free hand through her hair. “I don’t know how much I’m supposed to say or not say. Apparently, I can destroy the entire race if I say too much.”
Extending his legs, he leaned back against the tree, gripping her hand tightly. “Who am I going to tell? And if I tell someone, do I lead with the ‘being tracked by Drascatu demons of doom’ part?” His head fell back against the trunk and his eyes closed.
Kara studied his beautiful, sculpted face.
His fingers dug into her wrist.
“Ease up on the hand, Ace. You’re hurting me.”
His eyelids sprang open, like yanking a curtain to expose the depth of his brilliant blue eyes. “What? Oh. Sorry.” His head tilted slightly.
He let his fingers relax a little, and regarded her, nibbling his lower lip.
Her insides seemed to part, as if wholly seen, heard, felt, and acknowledged by this strange and mysterious man. She let out a deep breath.
He closed his eyes again. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me. I’ll throw myself off this rock and let them take me.”
“You can’t mean that.” Her voice rose.
“I can and I do,” he said, keeping his eyes shut. “Now talk to me.”
The healing current surged through her arm, crackling like lightning. It grew hot a
nd intense, making it difficult to gather her thoughts. “Our people—the FBI—were after Cee-El. He’s a rat bastard,” she said, with more force than she’d intended.
“Scum of the earth,” Ace said, his eyelids still closed. His fingertips began to make small circles on her palm, increasing her pleasure, and his, if the blissful expression on his face was any indication.
“Then why did you do business with him? He traffics in human children, for God’s sake.” Her fingernails dug into his skin.
His eyelids flew open. He jerked his head away from the tree. “Look. I didn’t know who he was when I brokered the deal. All I knew was, I was hungry as hell, those fucking shade things were after me and I needed to keep my strength up. It was too easy. I got paid a huge sum of money. So, when the opportunity rose again, I did it again. I didn’t do it on and on like he implied. And I didn’t do it for pussy.
“One of his friends introduced me to a woman. I think she was a hooker. I felt sorry for her. She liked me. She told me more about who Cee-El is and what he does. She was one of the women he brought over from Russia—her and a bunch of other women—in a container on a ship, for Christ’s sake. No sunlight. No food. Trapped with their own stink and shit and piss. The ship crew didn’t know they were in there so they had to keep quiet or they’d be killed.
“Anyway, apparently, he took a liking to her and made her one of his. She was his ‘loaner’ gal. If he liked the job someone performed, she came after the deal went down. The others? Who knows if they’re even alive? When she told me all that shit...well...that’s when I got out. I swore, never again.” He took a deep breath. “Okay?” The word shot from his mouth as if propelled by a crossbow.
“Okay.” She nodded. The connection between their skin grew more intense.
“And he sells kids? That takes his depravity to a whole new level. He is the scum of the earth.” His lip curled in a wolf-like sneer.
Kara glanced at his belly. The blood now seemed dried. “It looks like you’re healing again.”
“Thank you,” he said in a low, husky voice. “I feel restored. So, tell me about Mr. FBI.”
She caught her lip between her teeth. “He’s my...he was my fiancé.”
Ace’s eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t seem to remember signing on with Valkyrie. When he looks at you, he looks confused.”
“He didn’t sign on with this version of me—the 2.0 version. He signed on with a human woman who looks like me in room 501.”
His face crumpled in confusion. “What? That doesn’t make sense.”
“And Drascatu trying to capture your soul does?”
He huffed his breath out of his mouth. “Point taken.”
“Let’s say I’m in some transitional phase...I think we both are. There are no guarantees either of us will make it out alive, but I’m trying. Crows know I’m trying. But you can’t resist destiny, it seems.”
His eyelids lowered and he cocked his head. “I like that about you. You’ve got a tenacious spirit.” He brought her hand to his chest and placed his palm over it. “I like you...a lot.”
Tingling all over, and not merely from the healing, she studied him for a few seconds, unsure what to say. Things between them seemed to be moving at a breakneck speed.
“This is where you’re supposed to say you like me, too, and you’re not simply doing this as a Valkyrie good Samaritan act. Tell me your purpose is not merely to send me to the good place in a few days, to hang with Odin.”
The heat in her hand, pressed against his heart, grew intense. Her body, however, was positioned in an unnatural twist. She straddled his hips and said, “Is this okay to do?”
“God, yes.” Placing his hands on her hip bones, he crushed her into his stiff erection.
Moaning, she lowered her forehead to his. For a moment, neither spoke. It seemed like they existed in one orb of energy. It pulsated through their minds, through his hands on her hips, through her core against his rigid heat. She thought about the question hanging in the air, weighted, like ripe fruit. Do I truly like him? Or is this merely the intensity of a fight for survival and sexual arousal talking?
Finally, she whispered, “I do like you...a lot. I honestly don’t know if its allowed.”
She lifted her head to meet his beautiful gaze.
“Don’t over think things.” He gave her a lopsided grin, gently rocking his hips into her. “I give you full access to my body. All access pass. It’s allowed.”
A surge of heat spiraled up her spine, making her head spin. “Holy crows, I could come like this. But what if I do it and the entire Valkyrie race is wiped out? There’s so much I don’t know.” She nuzzled his nose with hers.
“Ah, I knew it. So, you are a Valkyrie. You finally admitted it. Always wanted to kiss a super hero.” He reached one hand behind her neck and guided her lips to his. He kissed her gently, then pulled away. “I say we yield to the moment. What else is there? You follow this moment, and the next.” He lowered his full lips toward her again, slanting across her mouth. His tongue extended, exploring the inside of her cheeks, her tongue, and teeth.
Her tongue tangled with his, tasting, teasing, eliciting a husky moan from his throat.
His sumptuous lips burned against hers. Increasing his grip on her neck, he pulled her closer, as if wanting to devour her.
She yielded, giving her all to the connection. Her hands caressed his shoulders, memorizing muscles and savoring the heat.
His hands stroked her back, drawing a sensation like liquid heat flowing through her skin.
As she ground against him, her face brushed against the rough stubble lining his jaw. Her breasts ached to be sucked and nipped with his teeth. Overcome with need, she pictured them as two elements—fire and air, locked in combustion, igniting their souls. She rocked into his rigid heat and groaned.
“And then that moment gives in to the next,” he said, when he pulled away, panting. His gaze slid to her core, pressed snugly against his solid erection.
“Holy crows, Ace.”
“That’s a funny phrase,” he said.
“I know. I’ve loved it ever since I was little. My dad said it to me once and it stuck.” She smiled.
“You know the crows select the dead, too, right? That’s one of their main gigs.” He pushed her hair back with his knuckles, brushing them along her cheek.
“I’d heard that,” she said in a near-whisper. “Maybe I’ve known all along what I am, in truth. Maybe you have, too.”
He shook his head vehemently. “Stop. Joining the dead in hell was never on my to-do list.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
His brilliant blue eyes, shadowed with a fringe of dark lashes, seemed to search her soul. “Look, we’ll be facing more of the music soon enough. All I want right now is you. It could be my one and only chance. Can you give me that? Please?”
She sighed, sensing the wet longing between her legs. “Lay back. Stretch out.”
He complied, taking her with him. When he’d settled into a prone position, he winced.
She stiffened, her sexy mood screeching to a halt. “What is it? Where do you hurt?”
He pointed to his chest and belly. With gritted teeth, he said, “I think you need to lay next to me. Not sure if my internal injuries are healed yet.”
Gently rolling off him, she placed her hand over his belly and nestled her head in the crook of his arm.
“I wanted it to be go-time,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“I know. Me, too. But let’s get you healed and hope for another opportunity.”
“Okay, deal.” His eyelids fell shut.
She stayed silent for a few minutes, the warm surge of her healing touch finding its way into him. “I want to be more than your healer, Ace.”
He didn’t respond—he had fallen fast asleep.
Kara let out a huge sigh. She nuzzled his chest with her cheek. I’d had better stay awake and keep watch. Her eyelids grew heavy. Come on. Stay awake. She tr
ied. What if something happened while they slept? Those were the last words she thought as she fell into dreams next to the guy she was sworn to protect—and was also starting to love.
18
A night chill settled over Kara like ten-thousand icy fingers, shaking her awake. For a few seconds, she assessed herself. Hard stone surface beneath me making me feel bruised from head to toe—check. Warm body next to me—check. Feeling of bliss and contentment at being next to said warm body—check, check and double-check. She exhaled a soft hum and snuggled into said warm body. When her eyes opened, her breath lodged in her throat. She couldn’t see the starlit sky through the horde of ugly Drascatu circling them.
“Ace,” she whispered.
“Mm hmm,” he said in a groggy voice.
Her head was still nestled in the crook of his arm as if she hadn’t moved it while she slept.
Eyes closed, he fingered her hair, then let out a sigh, as if ready to fall back to sleep. “So nice…” he murmured. “Waking up next to you like this.”
“We’ve got trouble.”
His eyelids flew open. As he gazed overhead, his entire body stiffened.
“Shit. Looks like hundreds of them.” He scrambled to his feet and stood quivering as if being electrocuted in place.
“It does. I think they mean to get the job done this time.” Her jaw set rigidly.
With lips pressed tight, she rolled to her side, and stiffly jack-knifed to her feet. The cool of the night’s sleep along smooth stones still clung to her bones, making her sluggish and clumsy. Retrieving her sword from its invisible sheath, she softened her knees into a stance of readiness, waving the sword at the deadly demons.
They arched back, away from the flames, like a wave. Then, they gathered together and circled around her and Ace, letting off a freakish, sharp sound, like untrained violinists at practice.
The noise made Kara’s head hurt.
Ace stood as if he’d been flash-frozen. He blinked rapidly, eying the demon creatures. “It’s too late. There’s nothing you can do.”