From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  I could feel Ryker’s heart pounding against mine, his breath heavy in my ear. I shut my eyes. You don’t see anything. You don’t see anything, I chanted in my head. Please, glamour, work tonight.

  “I can’t see anything.” Peter let out a string of swear words.

  “We know they are close. We’ll do a sweep of this area tomorrow,” Hugo said. “We better get back to the van. I don’t trust that fucking fae. The girl I can see; she’s needs Rapava. She’s good as dead, but why would he turn himself in?”

  “Good question.”

  “Let’s go.” Hugo’s boots shuffled over the floor.

  “Hold on a moment.”

  I heard the sound of a gun clicking.

  Oh. Fuck.

  Shrill wails of shots rang out, reverberating over the huge space, shredding through the huge plastic pipes we were in. Holes tore through the tubing like connect the dots. Ryker wrapped me tighter against him, but he couldn’t cover me completely.

  Piercing pain shot through my hip, my body jerked, my mouth opened to scream. Ryker’s hand slammed over my lips, covering the wail of agony my body wanted to express. The bangs of the gun covered up my muffled cry. The gun clicked again.

  “Feel better?” Hugo chuckled.

  “Yeah. You know. Just in case.”

  “Rapava wants her alive.”

  “She’s his weakness. She’s better off dead. I should have killed her a long time ago.”

  “Yeah. Well, next time we won’t make that mistake,” Hugo replied. “Let’s go.”

  Boots resounded over the floor, then disappeared. Ryker held me close, my breathing labored, his hand still over my mouth, the other brushing the back of my head softly. Liquid leaked from my eyes as I bit down against the pain. Another five minutes passed before Ryker pulled me out of the duct, a trail of blood following me. He sat me on the tube, tugging down my pants to check my wound. His finger was frantic as he tried to find the bullet.

  “I don’t feel sick. I think it’s a human bullet.” I flinched against his touch. My ear was already healing, and I didn’t feel any goblin metal effects from that either.

  “I think so too. It was also a clean shot. Went all the way through.” He let out an exhale, his shoulders drooping. “You’ve already stopped bleeding. It will be sore, but you’ll be fine.”

  Fine? I was far from fine.

  The realization Lexie and Croygen were truly gone slammed into me. I leaned forward, my head knocking into Ryker’s chest. Ryker brought me into him, holding me till my sobs went quiet.

  I welcomed Ryker’s silence. He didn’t give me platitudes or try to take away my pain. He shared it with me and held me tighter as I clung to his chest.

  Even if it didn’t help or change anything, I still needed it. I needed him.

  FOURTEEN

  The mood stayed bitter and defeated when we reached the garage. Amara jumped up the moment we walked in. Ryker held up his hand, telling her not to speak. It was for her own safety. My temper was on the cusp, and she would push me over. I staggered over to Sprig, who still snored on top of the table, gathered him in my hands and moved to the bench seat. I lay down with him on my good hip. He eased some of the pain storming inside, like a security blanket. When I felt his heart flutter against my chest, I let my eyes close.

  Laying there, the night’s drama flooded me. Losing Lexie and Croygen, my earlier death, and the demise of my human self finally soaked in. A hole drilled into my chest, forcing tears to my eyes. The urge to call for the stone traveled over me. Desperation for its power to get my sister or just to feel the numbness of its magic was hard to ignore. Now that I was fae, would my strength against it be stronger or weaker? I was scared to find out.

  An acute headache filled my forehead as my muscles twitched. Rolling into a tight ball, trying to combat the fervent craving, I shut down.

  Sleep came quickly, but it didn’t keep me. I skimmed the line between slumber and wakefulness. My mind tormented me with the memory of the fire when I thought I lost Lexie the first time. I saw her and Croygen being tortured. Rapava asking over and over where I was hiding. Lexie screaming. Needing me. Zoey, help me! Lexie’s voice called, then her face morphed into Annabeth’s. I whimpered, then gasped, my eyes shooting open.

  A hand came down and pressed on my thigh, immediately calming me. I twisted over looking at Ryker, who sat on the windowsill above me. Somehow while I slept he dragged the bench closer to the window so he could watch over me and the street. His hand drifted down to where I had been shot, the wound closed up but still a little tender. His thumb rubbed soothingly over the injury, like he was trying to make it disappear under his soft touch. I covered his hand with mine. Telling him without words I was fine. Being all fae, my healing time had doubled. I couldn’t say it wasn’t awesome.

  Sprig curled into me, and I shifted him higher on the hoodie I used for a pillow, careful not to wake him. Ryker looped an arm around my waist, helping me stand.

  “You really should try and sleep as much as you can,” he muttered quietly. “Your body needs to heal. It’s been through a lot tonight.”

  “I can’t.”

  Rhythmic breathing from Sprig drifted up. I glanced over my shoulder to see Amara curled into a blanket in the back of the truck. She appeared to be asleep, but there existed a good chance she was awake, listening.

  I recalled the tears brimming in her eyes earlier when she walked in on Ryker and me. Surprising as it was, I didn’t really enjoy hurting her, but I would not hold back with Ryker either. There remained no pretense anymore. No more staying away from each other because of a stupid oath or for Amara’s sake.

  “My mind will not let me sleep.” I scoured my eyebrow. “My sister, Annabeth, Croygen…. you.”

  “None of this was your fault.”

  “You know that never stops the guilt.” I licked my lips nervously, staring into his eyes, then down his torso. “Guilt consumes you even if you know there was no choice.”

  Ryker’s head shook. “Don’t…”

  “I have to.” I shifted my feet, his arms still holding me steady. “We’ve never talked about it. What I did to you. What I had been capable of doing. How can you ever forgive me?”

  “You did what you had to.” He brushed a strand of lose hair behind my ear. “Like you said, we are survivors. We do what we need to live and protect our loved ones.”

  “I didn’t protect you.”

  His gaze snapped to mine, taking in my meaning. He twisted, letting his legs drop over the sill and tugging me between them. “I could handle it. Lexie was your first priority. She should always be.” His rough hands skimmed up my thighs, lighting every nerve ending. The friction through my jeans sent a thousand tiny electric shocks through me. “If it makes you feel better, I would have done the same.”

  My eyebrow curved up in a taunting really?

  “Because you could have handled it. You are strong. Amazingly so... inside and out.”

  I didn’t feel strong.

  “They’re gone.” The thought stabbed at my heart just as cruelly. I still did not want to believe it. I twisted and slid down the wall to the floor next to the bench. Sprig snored louder. “Why would Croygen let her go? Why would he go with her?”

  Ryker slipped off the sill and sat down next to me, his arm brushing my shoulder.

  “I would have gotten the medication for her. She didn’t have to give herself up.”

  “She’s really sick, Zoey. She had to go back. You understand that deep down.” Ryker leaned his bent leg against mine. “She’s as stubborn as you. There would have been no way to stop her. Croygen understood as well as me that with you sisters, if you can’t stop them, you join them.”

  I wanted to punch Croygen, but I also wanted to hug him. “I can’t believe he did that. Croygen knowingly went back to DMG to be tortured and experimented on because he wouldn’t allow Lexie to go back by herself.”

  “I’m as stunned as you. I have known him for centuries and have
never seen him do anything so self-sacrificing for anyone. With Amara he always did it in hopes she would love him, or for the fame. This is completely against his personality.” Ryker rubbed his thumb over my knee. “Well, that was until you. He didn’t have to follow you either. But he did.” Ryker’s voice tightened at the end.

  “Do I detect a note of jealousy?” A small smile inched my mouth.

  “Should I be?”

  I threaded my fingers through his. “No.”

  We stayed silent for a moment.

  “He’s lost his freedom and risks death just to protect her. How does someone ever repay that?” I leaned into Ryker’s shoulder.

  “You don’t. It was his choice.” Ryker leaned his head back against the wall. “But dammit. He’s making me respect the fucker. I don’t like that feeling.”

  I laughed bitterly, dropped his fingers, and pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. “I’m supposed to be the one who protects her.”

  Ryker pulled me into him.

  “It’s my job to keep her safe.” I burrowed into his chest. “I have failed both Annabeth and Lexie.”

  “We will get them.” He kissed the top of my head. His arms felt like the warmest blanket. The love I felt for this man frightened me, but there was no way I wouldn’t leap straight in. It was too late for me to be saved. I wanted to drown in him. Whatever pain would come, I would be willing to take on. He was worth everything to me.

  “Her birthday is the day after tomorrow,” I said absently. “I had planned on stealing a birthday cake from the bakery a couple blocks away.”

  Ryker squeezed me tighter, perhaps knowing there was no need for a response. He held me until I fell asleep in his warm arms—the only place in the world I felt truly safe.

  ####

  When I woke up, it was still dark outside, and he was gone. The old reaction of feeling abandoned struck me but no longer controlled me. Ryker wouldn’t leave me. Not unless he had to. The sureness of my trust in him gave me solid ground to walk on.

  I wandered through the shadowy automotive repair shop. Looking through the window, the dimness of the sky told me dawn was coming. We would have to move locations today. We really shouldn’t be here now, the risk too great of being found. DMG would start searching a ten-block radius in all directions where they picked up Croygen and Lexie. It was protocol.

  Amara stayed asleep in the truck and Sprig on the bench. The overdose of sugar would keep him asleep till late morning.

  I continued to walk through the building and found the Viking holding sentry at a window overlooking the street at the far end of the building. He peered sideways at me when I entered the room but turned back to keep guard.

  I weaved around frames and car engines, positioning myself directly behind him. My hand reached out, roaming over his firm derriere. His back went straight at my touch, but he didn’t move away.

  “I forgot to say something earlier.” My fingers trailed up, crawling under his shirt, sliding up his back. His shoulder blades flexed. Without thinking I leaned in, my lips touching his spine softly. He sucked in sharply as my mouth moved up his skin, and my tongue traced the lines of his tattoo.

  A deep sigh pulled from his lungs, his head falling forward. “What was that?”

  I stepped around in front of him, my hands finding their way to his abs. My heart thumped in my throat, forcing me to swallow. “That I’m in love with you too.”

  His white eyes stared down at me with radiating light. The tattoo on his neck flickered. I loved it was back.

  “So damn you, Viking, for making me fall in love with you. Not that I had any chance. I was pretty much doomed the moment you tied me to a bathtub faucet.” I grinned mischievously.

  “I knew you liked it that way,” he muttered, a smirk inching up the side of his mouth.

  I reached up, running my fingers softly over his features. The scars, the lines in his eyebrows, over his lips. “Whatever is ahead of us, I want to be with you. As long as you want me.”

  He watched me as I traced the light emanating from his tattoo. His breath sounded clipped, the heat between our bodies sparking in the cool air.

  “Is forever good?” he whispered.

  “I guess that will do.” I shrugged, licking my bottom lip. His eyes locked on my mouth. I stood on my toes to come closer to his face. “No safe words,” I muttered.

  “No safe words.” He grabbed my face, pulling me to him. His lips met mine and the fire in my belly swelled. His tongue parted my lips, opening my mouth to fully take him. My entire body flooded with desire and need. The need to feel him overwhelmed me. His hands skated up to my ass, pushing me firmer into him. A low moan filled my throat when I felt him hard against me.

  The day’s situation only increased my urge for him. You never knew what tomorrow would bring. I might be harder to kill, but both of us could still die. I wouldn’t waste the time we had.

  Tonight we were alive.

  He lifted me up, my legs wrapping around him. His warm mouth devoured mine. Taking our time would have to wait. The raw passion consumed us, turning our thoughts primal and desperate. My ass slammed onto the hood of a Chevrolet Chevelle as he pushed me up. My fingers frantically gripped the bottom of his shirt. He sucked in air as I ripped it over his head.

  My fingers slid over a slash running over his heart. I did that.

  “Stop, Zoey,” he growled. “I’m fine.”

  “But…”

  “No. No more guilt or blame.” He shook his head, ripping my shirt over my head, taking my bra with it. He tossed them to the side and lay me back on the hood, the icy metal against my hot skin. He loosened the buttons, lowered the zipper of my jeans, and then drew them down my legs. The fabric and his fingers sending trails of desire over my skin. He tossed my boots across the room, ripping the jeans off me.

  I shoved guilt, regret, and anger to the background as his lips kissed my inner thigh, his beard tickling me. I sat up, grabbing him. “Foreplay can wait.” I wrapped myself around him, my hands pushing down his pants, my mouth not wanting to break from his.

  His pants and briefs fell to his ankles, leaving him naked. I couldn’t help but lean back and take him in. A blissful sigh escaped my lips. He was unbelievable. Seeing him so ready for me was the only thing that stopped me looking and pushed me to act. I reached for him. His hands grabbed the sides of my underwear, wiggling me out of them. Our mouths crashed back together. Biting. Sucking. Nipping. Our hands exploring, gripping, and tearing at each other to get closer.

  Nothing stood between us now when I wrapped my legs back around him. The couple of times we had sex before, I knew how dedicated he was to pleasing me first, but now was not that time. And I was glad. I moaned when I felt the tip of him. Hearing me only made his grip on me tighten. Then he drove in deep, filling me completely. I sucked in sharply. The unbelievable pleasure of him sliding inside sent me over.

  “Holy fuck,” he whispered hoarsely in my ear as he pushed in deeper. Then he started moving, his motions raw, rough, and desperate.

  I groaned and arched my back as he laid me back on the car, the hood creaking in protest at our frantic motion and weight.

  I pulled his ass to me. As he went deeper, ecstatic sounds vaulted out of me I never knew I could make. He grabbed my hips, picked me up, sliding deeper into me. He walked us over to a truck, ramming me against the grill. I laced my fingers through the grill, holding me in place as he pushed in. We both became wild and frantic. My climax rumbled in as my body tightened around him. A roar exited Ryker’s throat, and his fingers dug into my skin as he released, not relenting till mine followed right behind. Shattering me.

  ####

  We did not stop. Flipping between slow and exploring to rough and desperate. We were making up for lost time. Energy from him, pain and pleasure, continued my need for him. And he ruthlessly took it and gave it back.

  We used every car, bench, back seat, hood, and table in the room, and we were not quiet or shy. I had been afraid
someone living nearby would call the cops. I had no doubt Amara could hear us in the other room, but I couldn’t feel bad enough to stop.

  The sun was above the horizon before we slowed down, and finally exhaustion closed my lids for a moment, my head laying on his chest.

  He lay across the back seat of the four-door Chevelle, and I sprawled over him, breathing deeply.

  “Damn.” He kissed the top of my head. “That…that was…”

  “Insane, hot, incredible.” I slipped my chin up his chest to look at him.

  “Which time?” His eyes glinted, and he grinned. He cupped my face, pulling me to him, his lips soft, but the kiss was deep and strong. “I want you naked all the time.” He moved to my ear. “Straddling, bent over, under, on top, from behind.”

  “We would get nothing done.”

  “You call this nothing? I feel extremely accomplished.” He nipped my earlobe and my breath caught again, fire shooting through me.

  “We have to get out of here. It’s dangerous. We’ve already stayed way too long.” I sat up, tugging his bottom lip in my teeth, then straddled him. Hugo had said they would do a sweep of the area. We should have left hours ago.

  “Yeah.” His mouth found my breast. “We should go now.”

  I closed my eyes, taking a breath. “I’m not kidding.”

  “I’m not either.” His lips moved to the other one.

  “Ryker, you need to stop,” I said weakly, my breath spiking straight to the center of me. “We need to relocate. Make a plan to get Annabeth, Lexie, and Croygen and to shut down both Vadik and Rapava.”

  “Wow. That sounds like a lot of work.” He lifted me by the ass and, flipped me flat on my back. He leaned over me, kissing my stomach. “I think I need to eat something, have a solid breakfast, before I can do any of those things.” His hands pushed at my thighs, opening my legs, his mouth trailing down, kissing, and nipping.

  I sucked in sharply, clutching for the door handle behind my head.