Reaper’s brows drew down in concentration, and this time when he gazed at Kai, he searched for something that would explain his cryptic comment. It took him a moment, but when he understood what Kai meant, his eyebrows rose and he let out a low whistle.
“Got it. Even if it was less serious, brother, I wouldn’t encroach. You know that, right?” Reaper asked.
Reaper had been reacting to her teasing, especially when she called him out for not sensing that she had been in the kitchen. It wasn’t attraction on his part. She blushed as this realization dawned.
Kai relaxed his posture, and his hand loosened on her hip. Although he acted as if he were jealous, she knew better. For the most part, she was thrust into his life and had to be under his protection because of how she contributed to the weapon that could cause their destruction. But he would be able to walk away with his heart intact after this was over, while each moment she spent with him assured her that she wouldn’t.
She studied the two men. The difference was stark. Reaper could grace the cover of any romance novel that she loved to read, and she could picture him as a hero in any book because of his dangerous looks.
Kai, although dangerous and dazzling, had a quiet, intense presence that had drawn her from the moment they met. While she yearned to meet him and talk to him, to see whether it could be a mutual attraction, she settled on observing him, and spun daydreams around him. Those daydreams had expanded in the few hours since she had woken, but she still tamped down any hope of a future with Kai.
“Would you like some breakfast, Reaper?” she asked.
“That would be great. I’ve been traveling all night and didn’t have a chance to eat dinner.”
Kai and Reaper sat down at the table she vacated, and with low voices, started to talk. She didn’t want to pry, so she turned toward the window and noticed the brightening day.
“The sun’s coming up,” she murmured, knowing he would hear her.
He nodded in acknowledgment, but turned his attention back to his friend. She darted him a worried look, the first glance of him since he’d arrived downstairs. He had dressed in a pair of jeans and a dark-blue pullover that brightened his eyes even more. She smiled as he ran his hand through his hair as he spoke to Reaper in a low, intense timbre that she couldn’t understand from her distance.
When she turned back to the horizon, a flash of something caught her eye. Whatever it had been, it moved fast, and when she closed her eyes to see whether she recognized anything else, she remembered a flash of long, blond hair flowing between the trees. It was the only light among the darkness of the towering pines that were scattered around the mountain. Without thinking, she hauled herself on the counter and pressed her face against the glass, trying to catch another glimpse. But this time, there was no movement as she scoured the trees for the next few minutes. She hadn’t noticed the silence in the kitchen.
“Love, what are you doing?”
His voice jerked her back to the present, and she turned to find Kai and Reaper looking at her with curiosity. Scrambling off the counter, she stood and smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles on her sweats.
“Um, nothing. I’ll make breakfast now.”
As she beat eggs, cut up potatoes and seared bacon for Reaper, her mind wandered to what she might have seen.
She didn’t think that her old company would send a shifter after her. As far as she knew, they couldn’t control their experiment enough to make it viable. And based on the fact that they had to capture their subjects, it would be odd that they could get a willing immortal to come after her, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities. They could have offered money, a substantial amount, and put the contract up like the government had. But she had no evidence that it had been a person she’d seen, much less a shifter.
Her thoughts carried her through cooking, and when she set the plate in front of Reaper, she was no closer in finding an answer to what she’d seen. Unable to keep from one last look, she wandered back toward the window and scanned the area one last time. No one was there, and she started to think it had been a figment of her imagination.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” Reaper stood as she approached the table and hugged her, before he planted a kiss on her cheek.
“No problem, big guy.”
With a speed that left her momentarily speechless, Kai lifted her in his arms and rushed upstairs to his bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind them. She landed on her feet and drew a deep breath, taking a quick glance around, relieved to find the blackout shutters already closed.
“Worried about me?” he asked.
“You were cutting it close downstairs. What happens if the sun touches you?”
He winced at her question, and she stumbled over herself to rein in her curiosity. “I didn’t mean—”
His hands cupped her face, bringing her in for a breathless kiss, before he pulled back slightly and answered her question. “I don’t turn to ash, but it causes my skin to blister and eventually burn until my skin resembles charcoal. The older a vampire, the more tolerance you have for the sun, but I avoid it if at all possible.”
“Oh,” she squeaked.
A small smile touched his lips before there was another brush of his lips against hers.
“More,” she begged. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him closer. One touch, and she became addicted. One kiss, and she forgot everything but him.
She sucked in a breath as his hand skimmed over her stomach before lifting the hem and tossing the shirt aside. Each stroke over her sensitized skin drew a shudder, but she stood still and allowed him to explore, just as he had done for her.
His hand stilled near her breasts, and she blinked open her eyes to see him staring at her. It wasn’t his stillness, but the look on his face as he perused her body was something she couldn’t explain. It was close to awe, but it could have been wishful thinking, not a clear interpretation of his look. All she knew was how it made her feel, and her body blazed with lust.
His mouth found hers at that moment, stealing away all rational thought and replacing it with need. She smiled against his mouth as he removed their clothing in record time, and she found herself on the bed and his heavy muscled body draped over her.
The next few minutes were foggy as his touch drugged her, and when he entered her again, she melted against him. Each movement seemed synchronized and built into a steady rhythm that had them both breathless. Soon, she felt her body clench as he swallowed her cries of release. Her hands gripped him closer to her, and her legs snaked around his waist, trapping him against her. His release triggered as her inner muscles squeezed him, and he buried his face in her neck and roared his release.
It took close to a half an hour to get her breathing back to normal, but when she did, a thought fluttered around in her muddled mind. It wasn’t until he burrowed farther into her neck that she realized what it was.
“You didn’t drink from me,” she commented. “That’s twice now.”
He grunted something unintelligible, and refused to lift his head.
“It was just an observation,” she said.
There was a loud crash downstairs, and she blushed. Kai’s other house guest had enhanced hearing, and she hadn’t exactly been quiet as they’d made love.
“Hey, don’t even think about it,” he growled.
“What?”
“When I bit you, I claimed you. It’s temporary until we figure out who’s after you, but that tells the others that you’re off-limits. They will be able to smell my scent on you, and they will keep clear. For your protection, you have to promise that you won’t allow anyone else to touch you.”
Something deep inside her collapsed, and it took her several minutes before she could answer him. He kept his head buried in her neck, so she couldn’t even see how true his words were, but she determined that it didn’t even matter. He set out the terms of their relationship, and she would have to deal with them.
Tears welled in her
eyes, but she blinked them back. She had lectured herself that Kai had no strong emotions toward her, and his words had proved it. After gathering her composure, she nodded.
“Yeah, I understand.” She pulled away from him and stood to get dressed. “I’ll get back to work and I’ll keep out of everyone’s way.”
“I didn’t mean—”
Her hand slashed the air and she shook her head back and forth, rendering him silent. She remembered the clothes in her room, and blew out a grateful breath.
“I’ll go shower and get started.”
With his words still ringing in her head, she pulled on her worn clothing and left without a backward glance.
Relationships and people were out of her realm of understanding, and to her, it would seem that she had a good reason to avoid them. She knew several people were scheduled to arrive within the next few days, but like he so gently told her, it would be best if she avoided them, and so she would.
Over the past twenty-four hours, she had neglected the reason she was under protective custody in the first place, and she made a mental note to have it never happen again. Even if she wanted it to.
Chapter Eleven
Kai
For the fourth time in as many hours, he’d cursed as he walked back into the kitchen, tired of being ignored by Liv. He knew the difference between her concentrating on the task at hand and outright ignoring him, and she had been doing a great job of the latter for most of the night. He could feel her hurt, but more than that, her determination not to let him affect her. If he were honest with himself, each time he had spoken to her and it was met with silence, something pierced him in the chest, and he found himself rubbing the spot with annoying regularity.
After they’d made love for the third time and she left his bed, he tried to close his eyes and drift off, but he tossed and turned, unable to sleep without her in his arms. At first, he chided himself for being ridiculous—they had one night together; she shouldn’t have been able to affect his sleep patterns that quickly—but deep inside, he knew better.
Earlier that morning, he’d been aware that she’d slept next to him, and the moment he found her gone from his arms, he’d awoke with a start. He tried to pull her back to bed, but he couldn’t argue with her when she needed sustenance. But the moment he spotted her wrapped up in Reaper’s arms, fury unlike he’d ever felt rushed through his body. He had been prepared to tear Reaper apart, piece by piece, for even thinking about touching his Liv.
“Fucked up already, huh?” Reaper asked.
He scowled at his best friend, but his last conversation with Liv replayed in his head. He groaned aloud and dropped down on the chair closest to him. He buried his face in his hands, and chastised himself silently, before admitting out loud that he’d been a complete ass.
“I claimed her, and told her that it was temporary, for her protection only.”
“Wow. There are no words, man. That’s just fucked up.”
“It…slipped out. I never told you, but I’ve been watching her for a while now, even before the contract,” he mumbled.
“Really? How long?”
“Six months,” Kai admitted.
“Would you have carried out the contract, if she really created it?” Reaper asked.
He shook his head. “I would have taken her somewhere and protected her. At first I was unsure whether she had been telling me the truth when she said she hadn’t, but you’ve met her—she couldn’t lie or hurt anyone. Seth liked her immediately, and he’s more distrustful of people than I am.”
His mind wandered back to each time they’d made love, and his heart stalled in his chest when he realized that he hadn’t been gentle with her. It hadn’t even crossed his mind. She was human, and he’d taken her without a single thought to his strength. He could’ve easily broken a bone or bruised her, and he remembered early that morning, she had stretched and moaned as she did so. He knew that her muscles were sore. He’d hurt her without intending to, and then he’d taken her again.
“What’s that thing on your neck?”
At first, he thought that Reaper’s words were meant to be a joke. Despite his desire to have her marks endure through his healing process, he knew that he would heal, and there would be no sign of their lovemaking.
His hand shot up to his throat and he winced as his fingers brushed over the sensitive spot. He jerked to his feet and looked around for a reflective surface, settling for the chrome toaster in the corner. Lifting it to examine the area Reaper had pointed out, he spotted her mark on his neck, and growled as his body tightened in response.
“How is that possible?” He laid down the toaster and glanced at his friend. “She was able to mark me and it hasn’t healed.”
“You’ve already suspected it, man. She’s your mate. It’s virtually unknown with you bunch, but stranger things have happened.”
When he blurted out the statement about the legends, he’d been trying to prevent Reaper and the other shifters from getting close to Liv, from touching her. He didn’t know whether he truly believed the legends, but as he sat down and stared at the table with a blank expression, he allowed himself to admit that her being able to mark him had been strange, and unprecedented. It had been well over twenty-four hours since she’d done it, and he commonly healed in a matter of hours.
If it was still there, that meant her mark represented something significant. But before he could even contemplate what, there was a knock on his front door.
Passing Liv on the way toward the door, he watched as she continued working as though she hadn’t heard the loud knock and the raised voices on the other side. He found Hunter, Xander, Gunnar, and Axel on the other side, their arms loaded with groceries, and they argued about something he didn’t care to pay attention to.
“Are you going to continue to argue on my porch or come in?” he snarled.
They pushed their way inside, and Gunnar, the quiet one of the group, eyed him up and down. “You have a bruise on your neck.”
“Now you choose to speak?” Kai growled.
Gunnar shrugged and followed the other three making their way toward the kitchen.
Kai slammed and locked the door, and when he turned, the look on the four shifters’ faces made him smile. They stared, slack-jawed, at his Liv, writing more formulas to add to her already huge stack of paper. She mumbled something that even with their hearing, they couldn’t pick up. Nothing distracted shifters other than food and the hunt, but each of them stood speechless as they watched her work. Gunnar glanced at him, giving him a knowing smile, before he fixed his gaze back on her.
“Liv,” Kai called.
This time, truly engrossed in her work, she didn’t hear his call.
Axel, the flirt of the group, handed off the paper bags in his arms to Gunnar, and walked toward Liv, who sat cross-legged on the floor.
Without a thought, he darted forward and placed a hand on Ax’s chest, holding him back from getting closer to her. As he met the huge lion-shifter’s eyes, something that he read in Kai’s face made him pause, and Kai gave him a sneer.
Ax never paused—he never really thought about his actions; he just acted—but this time, the expression on Kai’s face triggered the man to back up. Ax grabbed the bags back, and headed toward the kitchen without a word. The other shifters followed, and soon, he was left alone with Liv.
Liv, unaware of the tension, kept working. Tired of not being able to speak to her, he reached for the pencil and paper, shoving them aside, before he picked her up and settled her onto his lap in the armchair. It took her a few moments to shake herself out of her work, and when she glanced at him, her body grew taut.
“I’m—”
“Stop ignoring me, love. It’s driving me crazy.”
“I’m working, not ignoring you.”
“I understand that I hurt you, but I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
Her brows drew down in thought, and he breathed a sigh of relief when she relaxed into his arms
. He knew that she hadn’t forgiven him yet, but everything inside him slid into place as he held her. His lips found her temple and he kissed her, as his hold tightened.
“I’ve put your things in our room. You’re going to sleep with me from now on.” Before she could argue, he continued. “And there has been a development between us.”
“What do you mean?”
Pulling down the neckline of his shirt, he pointed to the mark she’d left. She stared at the spot on his skin for several minutes, before she met his eyes.
“I don’t understand. Is that where I…”
“Marked me, yes,” he finished for her.
“I thought it would’ve healed by now. Did I do something that hurt you? Why won’t it heal?” she asked in a panic.
“We have a theory.”
“We? Who’s we—you and Reaper?”
“Yeah, and Gunnar saw it.”
“Who’s Gunnar?”
“That would be me.” Gunnar held a plate full of food as he walked back into the living room.
Her eyes widened as she took in the new shifter. Gunnar’s wise hazel eyes stared back at her unabashedly, before he ran his fingers through his light brown hair and forked some food into his mouth. Three other huge men walked in from the kitchen, and she started in his arms. She moved to stand, but he pulled her back down, and held her in a way that the others wouldn’t miss his possessiveness.
“When you become immortal, do the gods turn you all into male models or something?” she asked.
Laughter rumbled across the room, and he tucked his face under her hair and chuckled along with the rest of them. Reaper joined the group and she smiled at the wolf-shifter, causing his heart to lurch in his chest. He could feel her uneasiness at such a large gathering, but he whispered reassurances in her ear until she relaxed against him.
“So, you and the vampire, huh?” Xander asked her.
“I don’t…understand. Kai and I have come to an agreement. He promised not to kill me and I promised him that I would find an antidote for this bio-weapon.” He spotted her gaze travel to Xander’s shock of white hair several times, before her gaze settled on his face.
Kai (A Dark Assassins Novel Book One) Page 9