Out of Shadows

by N. J. Walters

  Then she’d be totally unprotected. Better to have her with him where he could keep an eye on her. He still didn’t like it. If he had his way, he’d put her on a plane for some tropical island where there was plenty of sunshine. Problem was, night always fell eventually. Plus the horseman had been adept at getting into her dreams. This entity, whatever it was, would be able to get to her no matter where Hadeon sent her. It was only a matter of time.

  She was going to be the death of him. He wanted her with an unrelenting yearning that threatened to overwhelm him. He had to maintain control. Otherwise, he’d be no good to her.

  He could still feel the imprint of her breasts against his chest and the heat of her jean-clad pussy pressed against his erection. He shook his head, trying to clear the memory from it. Taking a deep breath, he buried every emotion, every physical sensation. It took every ounce of discipline he possessed, but he did it. He was a warrior and he would not fail her.

  She tripped and would have fallen if he hadn’t been holding her so securely. He turned and noted her flushed face and fast breathing. She’d been almost running to keep up with him and he’d been so locked in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed. He’d forgotten she couldn’t see as well in the growing gloom as he could.

  “I’m sorry.” It was the first time in his long existence he’d ever apologized. For anything.

  She smiled at him and shoved a lock of hair out of her face. “I’m fine. I know we need to get in and out of the woods quickly.”

  He nodded. Search for clues first, talk later. Hadeon pulled his sword from the sheath on his back as they entered the woods. He was careful to keep hold of Dovina with his left hand, keeping her close to his side and slightly behind him. “Keep your eyes open.”

  Her eyes widened and she nodded. Once again, she reminded him of a serious little owl. She wasn’t wearing her glasses today. He frowned and the information he needed popped into his brain. She was probably wearing contact lenses. This modern world was filled with many amazing things, and just as many appalling ones. 61

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  They called his time barbaric. At least back then a man knew who his enemies were and could raise his sword to protect his family.

  Dovina squared her shoulders and followed him toward the bridge. They didn’t meet a single soul on the trail. That was unusual, but he wasn’t surprised. There was a feeling of foreboding surrounding the area. Even the most insensitive human would sense it and leave.

  “This isn’t good, is it?” Dovina whispered.

  He wasn’t surprised she felt it too. “We should leave. I’ll take you somewhere safe and come back.”

  Her fingers tightened around his. “No. We’re in this together.”

  His chest ached and his heart thudded so hard it was almost painful. Together. That word had never been associated with him before. He’d always been alone, even when he’d joined the Shadow Ryders. They were all warriors and tended to be suspicious of others, keeping to themselves.

  Maybe that’s what had allowed the darkness to almost overwhelm them. They had no connection to anything, not even one another, beyond their sense of loyalty to the Shadow Lord. It was something to think about.

  Even when they visited this realm, they were here to do a job and return to the Shadow Realm. It didn’t pay to get close to people you’d have to leave. People who would die. Anger and despair threatened and he shoved them away. Dovina wasn’t meant to be his. Not permanently. But she was his at this moment and he would protect her with his life.

  They reached the wooden bridge. Water gurgled, rushing over the rocks and riverbed, crickets chirped and a frog sent up an early evening song. All was quiet. Hadeon kept all his senses open. His hearing and sense of smell were much keener than any human and they were telling him all was not as it seemed. There was nothing specific, more of a feeling of something about to happen. Whether it was residual energy left behind by the horseman of legend or something more sinister, Hadeon didn’t know. Keeping Dovina close, he studied the ground where he’d first confronted the horseman.

  Taking his time, he walked the area. Back and forth, scanning the ground and the surrounding woods, he searched for some kind of sign. Anything that could tell him more about the entity he was facing.

  They went across the bridge. He made no sound, but Dovina’s sneakers thumped softly against the wooden planks. Hadeon’s gaze was immediately drawn to the tree where he’d sat with her in his arms that first time. So little time had passed, yet it felt as though it was a lifetime ago. Then he hadn’t really known her. Now she was the most important thing in his life.

  He could hear Dovina breathing softly as she stayed close. He could sense her fear, but she said nothing as she walked beside him.

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  Her courage humbled him. She was trusting him with her life. It was time to leave. They’d already been here too long. “Let’s go.”

  “You didn’t find anything?”

  He shook his head. “No.” He hurried her back over the bridge. “And I don’t like the feel of things.”

  He felt her shiver. “I don’t either.” Her words were little more than a breath. “The woods have gone silent.”

  Hadeon had noticed that as well, but hadn’t wanted to say anything to frighten her. But Dovina was intelligent and very astute and had missed nothing. “Stay close.”

  The air in front of them thickened, the shadows obscuring the path. Hadeon thrust her behind him. “He’s coming.”

  Dovina barely stifled a shriek. One moment the path was clear, the next the horseman was thundering toward them. Steam puffed from the large horse’s nostrils like smoke from a locomotive. The great beast charged toward them. They would be trampled.

  Hadeon raised his sword to meet his adversary. She stumbled back, stepping onto the bridge. At the last second, the horseman reined in his horse. The beast’s hooves flashed silver in the moonlight as he reared up.

  Again, it was like something out of a movie. She half expected the director to yell

  “cut” at any second. Except this was no movie and the sword the horseman had drawn was very real.

  “Step aside, warrior. Let me have the woman and you can live.”

  She blinked and realized that Hadeon had somehow shed his coat and was fighting bare-chested. When had that happened?

  The horse tattoo seemed almost alive in the moonlight. Its forelegs rearing up and its mane flowing.

  Hadeon laughed at the horseman. “If you leave immediately, I’ll let you live. For now. But your days are numbered.”

  “You Shadow Ryders are loyal to a fault. Or rather, the stupid ones are.” The horseman dismounted from his horse and glided closer to Hadeon. “Loyalty. Honor. What have those things ever gotten you?”

  “More than you would ever know.”

  The horseman swung his sword. Hadeon countered, his arm and shoulder muscles bunching. The two blades met in a violent clash, skating along one another. Sparks flew. Dovina jumped back and glanced around for a stray branch or rock. Anything that she could use as a weapon to defend herself and Hadeon.

  “I doubt that,” the horseman taunted. “After all these centuries of loyal service, what do you have? Nothing.”

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  “I have all that I need.” Hadeon went on the attack, driving the horseman farther away from her. His skin glistened with sweat as he fought the horseman. Taunting laughter filled the air. “Your Shadow Lord is weak. He’s allowed some of his men to slip into darkness, their souls lost forever.”

  Dovina’s heart hurt for Hadeon and his fellow warriors. She couldn’t begin to understand the desperation and sheer nothingness that they’d lived in for so long. The horseman was partially right. Their leader never should have allowed that to happen. Of course, that was easy for her to say. She had no idea what he or his men had faced over the millennia of their existence.

  “We are to blame for that,” Hadeon
countered. “Not him. We are warriors. It is our responsibility to take care of ourselves, to be ready when called to duty.”

  He believed that too. Dovina knew it, sensed it with every thrust and parry he made with his sword. Hadeon didn’t blame the Shadow Lord at all. He blamed himself. There was no more talking now as they fought, their swords swinging and swooping with deadly precision. It was like watching a ballet, she realized. Both men moved fluidly, their bodies barely avoiding being skewered by the sharp blades. Dovina kept her eyes on the fight as she scurried back to the far side of the bridge. She glanced away, desperate to find a weapon of some kind. Anything she could use to defend herself.

  She spied a branch just off to the side. It was about four feet in length. Not too big, but substantial. Dashing off the bridge, she grabbed it. It was thick, but not so thick as to make it too heavy. It wasn’t much of a weapon against a sword, but it could do some damage. She gripped it with both hands and carried it back to the bridge. The two warriors were still battling. The horseman was swinging for Hadeon’s head. Immortal or not, beheading him would most likely kill him. It wasn’t fair that the horseman had no head. Or did he? Maybe it was all an illusion. Swords met. Clashed. Hadeon spun around and drove his blade deep in the horseman’s chest area. He staggered back, but didn’t falter. The notion that the horseman’s form was nothing more than a trick grew stronger.

  “Swing at his head,” she yelled. “I think it’s just an illusion. I think it’s really there.”

  The horseman jerked around to face her and she could feel the evil, the pure fury rolling off of him. She shivered, wishing she were wearing something heavier than a sweater. Like maybe a suit of armor.

  While his attention was on her, Hadeon swung his sword in a wide arc. His blade whistled through the air over the horseman’s neck. The motion left him vulnerable and open to attack. But he believed her enough to take the chance. Dovina prayed she was right.

  A loud roar filled the night air. At the last possible second, the horseman jerked back, out of the path of the oncoming blade. But not before Hadeon’s sword seemed to slow in midair as though it had hit something and a dark liquid sprayed into the air. 64

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  Blood? She wasn’t certain either of the men could bleed in the conventional sense. But Hadeon had definitely injured him.

  The horseman let out a shrill whistle and his horse thundered to his side. Hadeon went on the attack, but the horseman wasn’t stupid. He danced out of reach. As the massive horse raced past him, the horseman grabbed the pommel and yanked himself on top. They leapt forward, disappearing into the shadows. The night went quiet. She sensed Hadeon wanted to follow his enemy into the shadows. But that was what the horseman wanted. It would be a trap. “Don’t go,” she shouted as she dropped her makeshift weapon and raced toward him. Hadeon frowned as she approached. He glanced toward the dark area where the horseman had disappeared. Already it was growing lighter as the shadows receded. The end of his blade was dark with what appeared to be blood. He wiped it on the ground and then sheathed it in the carrier he wore on his back. “Are you all right?”

  His words were stilted and she slowed as she reached him. He seemed closed off. Unreachable. Not the lover she’d shared her bed with the night before. This was the warrior, the mercenary who’d sold his sword to the highest bidder. “I’m fine.”

  “Good. We need to go.” In a blink of an eye, he was wearing his long, leather duster, his sheathed weapon hidden from view. He took her by the hand and all but dragged her down the path toward the road.

  They didn’t speak on the walk back to her car. Nor did they talk on the ride back to the hotel. Dovina was getting more and more nervous with each passing second. The silence grew, becoming a living thing, surrounding them, enclosing them. The closer they got to their destination, the more the suffocating silence changed into anger. What was his problem? None of this was her fault, yet he was freezing her out. The couple of times he’d look in her direction, it was to glare at her. The tension grew as he followed her into the hotel, past the front desk clerk and down the long corridor to her room. Her hands were shaking by the time she unlocked the door and stepped inside, flipping on the overhead light. When he started to follow her, she put out her hand and stopped him. “Maybe you should leave.”

  Hadeon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Leave?” he repeated, certain he’d heard her wrong.

  The horseman had attacked them, had threatened her. He’d had the chance to kill him, to finish him and eliminate the threat, yet he’d failed. He’d come so close to taking the horseman’s head. But the bastard was a remarkable swordsman. He’d managed to get out of the way of Hadeon’s sword at the last possible second. Then he’d gotten the horse between them and managed to escape into the shadows. If Dovina had been safe, he would have gone after his enemy, chasing him through the Otherworld, or Hell itself. Nothing mattered more than Dovina’s safety. The moment the horseman was gone, he’d wanted to drag her into his arms and lose himself in her heat. To feel her alive and moaning with pleasure beneath him. He needed that physical and emotional connection.

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  Only by maintaining the strictest hold over himself had he been able to keep from doing just that. He might not mind the cold ground and the public area, but he knew Dovina would. It was rigid discipline that had kept him from jumping her in the car on the ride back to her hotel. And now that they were here, she thought he should leave. He didn’t think so.

  Without a word, he put his hands on her hips and lifted her. Stepping into the room, he kicked the door shut behind him. It automatically locked. Not that locks would stop their enemy. But the wound he’d given him would keep him out of commission until tomorrow night at least. Hadeon was certain of that much. That meant he had tonight with Dovina without having to worry about an attack. He could take his time and sate himself with her. He could taste every inch of her body, explore every curve and valley. He was almost lightheaded at the possibilities as he lowered her until her feet were touching the floor.

  His rigid control deserted him. Lust poured through his veins, invading every cell in his body. His cock swelled, his muscles thickened. Her hands were on his chest, holding him away from her. He frowned down at her.

  He could see the confusion in her face. They needed to talk. But right now, he needed her.

  The urge to strip her, mount her and fuck her beat at his brain. But she needed more from him than that. She needed to know how much she meant to him. How much he cherished her.

  He cupped her face in his hands. She was precious to him. So beautiful. He loved the flush that came to her face as he lowered his mouth to hers. He traced her cheeks with his thumbs as he outlined her lips with his tongue.

  He found a discipline he didn’t know he had. Hadeon put aside his own wants and desires and focused solely on Dovina. She came first. Now and always. His chest ached with how much he wanted her. But more than that, he wanted her to want him back. She stood rigid in his embrace, not pushing him away, but not pulling him closer either. He kissed the corner of her mouth and then across her plump lower lip. “I need you so much.”

  He slid his hands down the curve of her neck and over her shoulders. He locked his arms around her, urging her closer. “Please,” he murmured as he continued to nibble at her lips.

  She sighed and her body softened, swaying toward his. Triumph flowed through him. She was his.

  Still, he waited, wanting her to come to him fully.

  Tentatively, she parted her lips, her tongue coming out to caress his. His control broke. He pulled her into the curve of his hard body, his hands anchored on her ass. His mouth took hers, stealing her breath as he kissed her. Tongues tangled, teeth clinked. He couldn’t get close enough to her. 66

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  Her hands slid over his chest and shoulders before tangling in his long hair. He loved the way she touched him. Felt every caress in his groin. His cock
pulsed. His balls were heavy and tight.

  “I need you now,” he ground out.

  She peppered his throat, his jaw with hot kisses. “Yes.”

  Dovina didn’t know what had happened in the past few seconds. They’d gone from stilted silence to out-of-control passion in the blink of an eye. His hands stroked over the curves of her ass, pulling her tighter into the cradle of his pelvis. His erection strained against his pants, pressing against her stomach.

  Her clothes felt too tight. Confining. She wanted to feel his skin beneath her palms, trace the muscles of his huge biceps and ripped torso. But more than that, she needed to feel the sense of closeness between them. This was more than simply two healthy adults having sex. There was a connection between them that demanded she touch him and strengthen their growing bond.

  She wasn’t stupid. In many cultures, sex was used in magic and various powerful ceremonies. That’s what this felt like. She knew that tonight would change her irrevocably. It was frightening and exciting at the same time. Hadeon slipped his hand beneath her sweater, caressing the small of her back. She shoved open his leather duster, placing her palms on his naked chest. Heat radiated from him. He captured her mouth, sliding his tongue inside. Her toes curled in her sneakers and she squirmed to get closer to him.

  “Too many clothes,” he muttered. He shrugged out of his coat. It fell to the ground beside them. He shoved her sweater over her torso and kept going. She raised her hands and he whisked the garment away, leaving her in her bra and jeans. His fingers traced the lace edge of the lacy garment. “Pretty.” His black eyes grew even darker and his nostrils flared as he traced one distended nipple through the silky material. She felt his touch throughout her body, like an echo of pleasure. A low whimper escaped her when he lowered his head and captured a puckered nipple between his teeth, tugging gently. “Hadeon.” She yanked at his hair, wanting, no needing him closer. She felt empty inside and needed him to fill her. Only he could drive back the fear, the darkness, the sheer loneliness that threatened to engulf her.