Skin to skin, caught in the heat of each other’s gaze, they stood silent. All of the pain, the anger, the heartache, the distrust was gone. Washed away just like the blood. Danica pressed her hand to Zach’s belly, her gaze locked on his. She felt his body tremble beneath her palm. She smiled and pressed her other hand lower, brushing the tip of his penis. Zach hissed in a breath.
Liking very much the power she wielded over his body, Danica pressed her body to his. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lifted her lips to his mouth and brought him down to her. Her body surged at the heat of his lips, and his tongue, and the way he took over. His hands dug into her butt cheeks, pressing her harder against him, his passion hard and full against her belly. His lips ravaged hers, his tongue swirled in her mouth, tasting, tempting, wanting all of her.
Time stood still, their two bodies molded, meshed, a perfect fit. The water cooled. But their body heat climbed off the charts.
Danica pushed him back against the tile wall of the shower. His surprised look made her laugh. She grabbed the big sponge and lathered it up. “I’m not leaving. I’m going to lather you up.”
She began at his throat and rubbed the thick creamy lather over his skin. Each time his hands slipped around her waist, pulling her against him, she pulled away. “My way, Zach.”
Inch by inch she lathered his body, her hands swirling and kneading his skin. When she lathered his penis, and in bold up-and-down strokes washed him, Zach closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and stood rigid against the tile wall. In perfect cadence to her hand his hips rocked against her, his passion mounting. It was all Danica could do not to mount him right then and there. The hard thick heat of him coming alive in her hands made her feel more womanly, more seductive, more sexy than she’d ever felt. Hot sparks of desire pricked at her womb. Her hips undulated in response, slipping and sliding up and down his thickness.
It was more than Zach could bear as well. He turned the tables on her. Pressing her against the wall, he growled low and took the sponge she’d just tortured him with and lathered it up. His big hands ran over her body, reveling in the silky softness of her skin. Her full breasts came alive in his hands. He pressed his cock against her hip, and suckled one cherry-tipped nipple. Danica arched and moaned beneath him. “I missed you so much, Zach.”
His heart twisted. He’d been such a bastard. He didn’t deserve her. And she sure as hell deserved better than him. He kissed her hard, wanting her to forget everything but here and now.
She answered his call, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body harder against him. He let the hard spray of the water rinse off the soap. Then, not breaking the kiss, Zach picked her up in his arms. Leaving the water running, he stepped out of the shower and strode with them both dripping wet into the bedroom. He pressed her sultry body back onto the mattress. He paused, his gaze drinking in every line, every curve, every peak and valley of her body. He trembled as their gazes locked. Her eyes were soft limpid pools of love. She was his now and forever.
“Make love to me, Zach. Make love to me like there is no tomorrow.” And she meant it, because in her heart she knew they faced a foe of superior strength and cunning, and more than that, Mark Santos had no conscience.
“Danica, I promise on my life, by this time tomorrow we’ll have the star.”
Danica’s heart swelled and with every fiber of her being she wanted to believe him. She wanted a future with this man, but their present seemed so uncertain she could only live for each moment they shared.
She arched against his hands sliding up her waist to her breasts. His lips captured a nipple in his mouth. Danica moaned, unleashing everything she had to give to this man. His big hands cupped her breasts, his lips ravaging one then the other. Hot wet desire flooded her. Her fingers dug into his thick hair as she gasped for breath. Like two starved beings, ravenously they kissed, licked, bit and sucked, unable to consume enough.
He took her in one long fluid thrust. Danica cried out, the sublime experience nearly undoing her. The heat and strength of him filled her, electrical jolts like lightning sparked in her eyes, in her heart, in her womb.
Tied, bound together as one, Zach began the slow, long, deep fluid thrust of mating, a ritual as old and sacred as time itself.
Danica’s arms tightened around Zach’s neck, his lips pressed to hers, his kiss deep, protective, loving. This was where she was meant to be. Their bodies undulated; perspiration slicked their bodies, their limbs entwined.
Zach’s blood quickened, his seed erupted. “Danica!” he cried out. Her thighs quivered and she followed him with a shattering orgasm. The cosmic energy of it exploded inside of them, shocking them both with its intensity.
Danica gulped for air, her body shuddering as the waves of the orgasm rippled through her body. Zach gathered her tighter in his embrace, burying his face in her damp hair.
“Jesus, Danica,” he breathed, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
He felt her body tremble then her shoulders shake, her breasts, and then her hips.
She was laughing. He drew back to look at her ecstatic smile. Her laugher was music to his callused ears.
“Zach! We were damn good together before, but that was out of this world! Had I known, I would have had my way with you in the hospital!”
Relief flooded him. He rolled over onto his back and pulled her into the safe circle of his arms. He snuggled his nose in her hair and inhaled her sweet scent. “I’ve been trying to tell you…”
Danica chuckled and snuggled up tighter to him. She yawned, the toll of the day taking a sudden hit on her. “Let’s sleep, Zach, just for a minute…”
She closed her eyes and drifted off into the first peaceful slumber in three years.
Danica woke curled up in the circle of Zach’s arms. Darkness filled the room. It was still night. Not moving for fear of waking him, she lay still, listening to the deep, even sounds of his breathing.
Gently she pressed her fingers to the wound on Zach’s chest. It was gone! She raised up on an elbow and squinted in the low light of the room. Where only a few hours ago there had been a raw fatal wound, now smooth reddened skin replaced it. Amazing. Her brows knitted when she thought what they were up against. They had their work cut out for them. But instead of trepidation, righteous power surged through her veins. She and Zach were a team now and a formidable one at that. Mark Santos would have to pull all the stops to even come close to destroying them. She pressed a kiss to Zach’s lips then slowly backed off the bed, careful not to wake Zach.
For a long moment she stared down at him. The sheet covered his lower half, his chest rose and fell in steady rhythm to his heartbeat. She smiled softly. His sharp features were slack in repose. She smoothed away a lock of his dark hair from his brow and wondered how a mother could shun a son’s love. He’d always blown it off like it didn’t matter, but she knew the gaping hole in his heart would never close.
“My God,” she whispered.
With sudden clarity she understood his need to eradicate the streets of pedophiles and rapists. He wasn’t about being a vigilante or cowboy disregarding the law, it was about saving the children. If the system couldn’t protect them from the slimy bastards, then Zach would. Her heart swelled. The emotion bittersweet. Why hadn’t he told her? She would not have liked it, but at least she could have understand what drove him, and perhaps even why he had sacrificed their love. After all, if he were off the streets, who would protect the children from the monsters?
Danica stepped back. Poor Zach, he probably didn’t know himself. How could he tell her?
It didn’t matter. Whatever Zach had done in the past was moot now. For the first time in her life a sense of purpose filled her. And no matter which road she traveled, it would be with the man she loved by her side.
Instead of throwing her off balance, the thought comforted her. Despite their bitter past, he’d never stopped loving her, and because of that she could forgive a lot.
Ad
renaline juiced through her veins. They had their work cut out for them and she was up to the challenge. Quickly she went into Marcie’s room and rifled for the second time that night for clothes. She slipped on a pair of Marcie’s jeans and a lightweight sweater. On a mission, she went downstairs to Troy’s office and opened his gun case. She loaded two .357 Magnums and took two boxes of hollow-tipped bullets from the drawer. She pulled out a backpack from the bottom drawer and stuffed the weapons and ammo inside. She also took a hunting knife and a pair of binoculars. Wanting to be prepared for anything Mark could throw at them, Danica hurried out to the garage and the vast workbench there. She stuffed the bag with wire cutters, saw, hammer, nails, and a wrench. She stood back and perused the plethora of tools that hung like trophies on a Peg-Board behind the workbench. A girl couldn’t have enough tools.
After stuffing the bulging pack into the back of the Jeep, she couldn’t ignore the growl in her stomach. Danica realized the poor pizza delivery guy must have gotten pretty frustrated waiting for them to open the door. She headed into the kitchen. There must be something she could fix.
Less than thirty minutes later, Danica walked upstairs with a tray. Soup and crackers would have to be enough. Setting it on the nightstand, she looked down at Zach.
Although his body twitched and he softly moaned as if having a bad dream, he still slept. To comfort him she pressed her hand to his brow; it was cool to the touch and she was happy to see his skin glowed a healthy pink beneath his tanned skin. His body quieted.
Quickly she got back to work. She picked the bloody sword up from the floor and wiped off his blood. She debated whether to put it in the Jeep now or wait for Zach. It warmed in her hand when her gaze turned to Zach still asleep in the bed, so she set it beside him on a pillow. Then she hurried back to the master bedroom and dug through Troy’s dresser. While Marcie’s hubby was the same height as Zach, he didn’t have the bulk of muscles. She shrugged and took the largest T-shirt she could find, along with a button-down long-sleeved Ralph Lauren shirt and a pair of jeans. Gently she roused Zach. Time they didn’t have was wasting.
He started. Wide-eyed, he popped up in bed, fists clenched, ready to fight.
Touching his shoulders, she softly said, “It’s okay, sweetheart, it’s just me.”
Instantly his wild eyes cleared to lucid. “The lake. Raiden said the star is at the lake.”
She nodded. “Let’s eat then go.”
Thirty minutes later the Jeep roared down Highway 4 toward the main interstate then to Lake County.
The night was dark and moonless, yet stars twinkled high in the stratosphere. Nervous energy charged Danica’s cells. Her senses opened and she felt stronger, more capable, and more focused than at any other moment in her life. This was her purpose.
Zach reached over and took Danica’s hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed her.
“Tell me everything, Zach.”
“Promise me you won’t jump out and try to admit me to the nearest nuthouse?”
She laughed. “They’d take me right along with you. At this point there is nothing that will surprise me.”
Zach gave her a look that said, Don’t be so sure.
“When we crashed, I died, no thanks to Santos. I was on my way straight to hell. I could feel the heat of it. The pain was excruciating and terrifying, yet I didn’t fight it. I deserved it—”
“No, Zach!”
He smiled and squeezed her hand. “It’s true, I did, but sometime during that fall a hand reached out and plucked me from the air. I ended up in a room. I thought I was in an IA, but it wasn’t that, it was—someplace different. This guy who calls himself Michael, he knew things about me, Danica. Bad things. Then he told me I had a choice. Come back to earth and find the star and scabbard, protect the Starkeeper, and fight to the death to keep it from the Immortals. Or?” He looked at her. “Continue my descent to hell.”
“I’m glad you chose to come back to me, Zach. I would have died that day without you.”
“I couldn’t not see you again.”
“Was Michael the man who stabbed you?”
He shook his head. “No, that son of a bitch is Raiden, and I’m not sure who the hell he is, he just appears and tells me things. He’s the one who healed me at the hospital and gave me the sword. Only the sword can kill an Immortal.”
“What’s an Immortal?”
“Mark and the two cops with him tonight, to begin with. I can smell them, Dani, sulfur. They stink. They, the Immortals, are the guys who made a different choice. They’re promised immortality by something else. Something evil. They buy into it and fight for their lives to not go back to the flame.”
“Why were you chosen?”
“According to Michael, I come from a bloodline of people who have the power of the sword to kill Immortals. I’m also one of the chosen to continue the line of the Starkeeper.”
“What’s a Starkeeper?”
“You are, Danica. As your mother before you, all the way back, to the firstborn daughter. The Starkeeper holds the secrets of the Trinity.”
She shook her head, denial hitting her hard. This story—everything—it was so unbelievable. She retrieved her hand from his and pulled her knees up to her chest. She hugged her legs and shook her head. “I—I can’t explain it, but for the first time in my life, I feel as if I have a purpose. Is this it? Is that why only I could save your life?”
“Yes.”
“But my mother never told me—”
“Over the centuries the secret was lost. But the time has come for it to be resurrected. There are things happening I don’t understand. I fought it, Danica, thought it was a crazy dream. But then Raiden showed up in my hospital room. He put his hand to my throat and healed me, just as you did after he stabbed me. I can’t ignore that. Something is happening around us, and while I can’t explain it, I know we need to get that star back from Mark, and in the process eliminate him.”
Danica shivered.
“It’s not murder—he’s already dead. But I understand if you want to sit this one out. I can take care of Mark myself. In fact, I’d prefer you wait for me.”
Her heart screamed no. Her gut told her there was no other way. “No.” She reached for his hand on the steering wheel and squeezed it. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
Zach nodded. He swallowed down a huge lump in his throat and blinked back the hot sting in his eyes. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her. “I love you, Danica Keller, and if it’s the last thing I do I’ll protect you with my life.”
She moved toward him and kissed his cheek. “We’re in this together, and we’ll survive it together. I’ll be damned if I’ll lose you a third time.”
He flashed her a somber grin. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Tell me where we’re going.”
“Raiden said ‘the lake.’ I know Mark has a place up near Clear Lake. I have a general idea and hope once we get up there I’ll be able to pick up his scent.”
“I know where it is.”
Zach raised a brow and looked at her questioningly. “How is that?”
“He thought he had a chance with me and invited me up for a weekend. He wasn’t happy when I showed up with Marcie.”
Zach laughed. “I bet he loved that!”
“He ended up leaving us to a girls’ weekend, said he had an emergency to take care of and asked us to just lock up.”
“How far north?”
“It’s on the lake, a mobile home park.”
“Mobile home?”
“Don’t knock it, the park is gorgeous and his place is set up like a swank condo, with all the toys.”
“That kind of stuff impresses you?” Zach’s voice carried an edge of jealousy.
Danica laughed. “Stop being an ass.”
“Can we enter without being noticed?”
“Yes. There’s a steep circular road that leads down to the park. We can park up on the road, and go down the bank
, maybe one hundred feet down, and it’ll bring us right to the back of his place. Or we can come in from the other side. But coming down the embankment will give us more cover, and we can most likely go in through the back bedroom window undetected.”
Zach nodded. “I’m taking him out the minute I can.”
“Is he stronger than you?”
“I think we’re more evenly matched, but he knows his boundaries. I’m just learning what I’m capable of.”
Danica nodded, a feeling of unrest shivering through her. Could Mark, with his superior experience, overcome Zach? Could she stop him? Could they?
An hour and a half later the Jeep rolled to a stop at the top of the bluff overlooking Lake Vista Mobile Home Park. Lights twinkled in the early morning light, the tiny community quiet. As soon as Zach exited the Jeep his nostrils twitched. “I can smell him.”
Danica stepped up next to Zach and inhaled deeply. “Sulfur.”
Zach grinned down at her, a dim streetlight illuminating her features. He took her face into his hands and kissed her. “Good girl. It’s their stench. Whenever you smell it one is near. Remnants of hell, no doubt.”
Danica nodded then pointed down to the soft lights in the shroud of brush and trees that separated them from the back of a mobile home. “I’m not sure if that’s his place, but once we get down there I can get a fix on his unit.”
Carefully, like mountain goats, the two zigzagged down the steep embankment. They weren’t quiet as mice but they didn’t sound like a herd of cattle either. Besides, the residents of Lake Vista Mobile Home Park were used to the sound of deer foraging for breakfast in the early morning hours.
When they hit flat ground they were several units south of Mark’s. His stench was stronger.
A few minutes later, with the wire cutter she’d borrowed from Troy, Danica cut the thick screen open like a tuna fish can, then slid the window open. Easy. For a cop Mark wasn’t very security conscious. But then, he was so arrogant, he probably had no fear of death. When Danica made to go in first, Zach pulled her back by the hips. He put his fingers to his lips and shook his head. Me first he mouthed.
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