Everlasting (Descendants of Ra: Book 2)

by Tmonique Stephens

  It was the way the man looked at her and then didn’t. She studied his stance, his athletic build, and the slight bulge under his arm. She tagged him for a cop.

  A growl sounded close to her ear and the temperature surrounding her plummeted. She jerked around, praying Reign hadn’t chosen now to appear. A lump formed in her throat. After everything they’d been through, she couldn’t lose him now.

  She closed her eyes and reached out to him. He was there, in her mind, an angry bundle of leashed energy waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  “Hey? You okay?” the vendor asked.

  Alexis snapped out of her trance. Customers gave her a questioning stare, but a tad crazy was the norm in NYC. At the back of the line, the undercover cop watched.

  Nibbling on her muffin and sipping her coffee, Alexis strolled down the street. Every so often, she studied her reflection in the store windows and the man yards away who kept pace.

  “What a freakin’ waste of time,” she mumbled.

  The police hadn’t a clue what they faced. Or who. The public had no idea they’d dropped a rung on the food chain. And the only thing stopping the human race from being the main course on the breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu was one warrior with a neon sword. Not the NYPD, not Seal Team Six, and certainly not her with just a nine millimeter and an attitude. And Daniel Nicolis. The food in her stomach threatened to crawl back up her throat. Nothing could’ve prepared her for the horror of seeing him.

  Though Roman Nicolis hadn’t killed Daniel, he did manage to stop him with an ordinary sword. The quimaera were hard to kill, not invulnerable. With Roman’s help and the rest of the Nicolis clan, they could find Daniel and finally put him six feet under. No trial. No jury. No appeal. Straight to a death sentence.

  Alexis forced herself to keep up her nonchalant appearance and continued eating. By the time she’d finished her food, she’d strolled into a shopping district. She entered one of those department stores which catered to teens and grabbed a pair of jeans and a graphic tee from the first table. A wave at a sales lady got the woman to unlock a changing room stall just as her stalker entered the store.

  She tossed the clothes on the bench and took a cleansing breath to steady her racing heart. She could do this. She had to. Adrenalin bled from her system making her weak. The weight of her decision threatened to swamp her. Her career, family, friends, she had to walk away from all of it because once she crossed that bridge, she’d have to burn it to the ground and never look back. When the fate of the world lands in your lap, you draw an ‘S’ on your chest, tie a cape around your neck and snap on your bulletproof bracelets.

  She plopped her butt on the bench. Her chin hit her chest and stayed there. To Serve and Protect, that’s what she signed up for when she joined the police force. And that is exactly what she would continue to do.

  “Reign, I need you,” she whispered.

  When she finally lifted her head, he was crouched in front of her, squeezed into the small space. His worried gaze didn’t waver as he drew her to her feet. She laid her head on his hard pecs and listened to the beat of his heart. A comforting silence stretched between them.

  “I’m ready to go.”

  “Where?” He stroked her back.

  “The factory first.”

  Reign folded her in his arms. The tug on her atoms didn’t frighten her. This time she welcomed the unraveling and opened herself to him. Mingled together, he surrounded every fiber of her being. They were one entity, shooting through space in the blink of an eye.

  Pain faded, anxiety disappeared, leaving a freedom she had never known before. Too soon, it ended. They flashed into the abandoned factory and took a head count. The same number of quimaera were missing and dormant. She’d take this as a good omen.

  A low-pitched keening spun her. Reign stood over a pit. His sword pulsed, turning the open space into a macabre dance club. His face was set with the same hard expression she had seen when he faced the police. At the edge of a pit, he leaned forward, ready to jump.

  “Don’t!” She raced over and grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

  He wrenched free and didn’t look at her. “It’s time we eliminate the threat.”

  “We can’t. Not yet.”

  “They hunted and killed. You and I are blamed for their destruction—”

  “I know, but we can’t kill them. Not until we discover who leads them.”

  “Alamut leads them.” He met her gaze.

  “We don’t know that for sure.”

  He whipped his hair back. His hard features slapped her. “We kill these and deal with Alamut later.” He leaped into the pit.

  “Damn it! Killing one may awaken all of them. You said that, not me. And even if you can kill all of them, we don't know if this is the only factory.” She climbed down the ladder, jumped into the greenish goop and stalked over to him. “You can’t kill and ask questions later.”

  “I almost lost you, Alexis!” Nostril flaring, he vibrated from anger.

  Speechless at the desperation in his voice, Alexis stared into his eyes. Loneliness and longing tore at her. Every fiber of her being sobbed in response. She held him tight. “You haven’t lost me. I’m right here,” she whispered.

  “It was my fault. Mine,” he mumbled into the crook of her neck. “I had him, could have ended it. But I did not. If anything happens to you because of my actions…”

  One of them trembled, but she couldn’t tell which. She brushed strands of his hair behind his ear and guided him to her lips. A shudder ran through him the moment they touched.

  “Let’s go home,” she murmured.

  The next moment they were dripping goop onto the carpet in her grandmother’s living room. And she didn’t care because Reign still held her close. The intensity of his gaze made all of her blush, and then run hot. His hands slid slowly from her body, leaving her aching for their possessive touch. There was a denied urgency to him that made her want to see him unrestrained, his passions unleashed.

  Reign stepped away, creating daylight between them. May as well have been the Grand Canyon.

  She took his hand.

  A war raged inside her. Fugitives didn’t have time for foreplay—but they needed this. She needed him. She could admit that now. From the moment their lives collided, he’d been in her corner, driving her nuts, but also supporting her, following her lead, listening. An ancient warrior from an uncivilized time listened to her when the men in her own time period wouldn’t. From the moment he set foot in New York, he saved her. Not just her body, also her heart.

  Alexis led the way upstairs.

  Inside her bedroom, she guided him to a rattan chair, which groaned under his weight. She backed away and toed off the soggy sneakers, then grabbed the tab of the zipper on her sweater. Slow and steady, the whiz of the descending tab was the only sound in the room. His hands gripping the arms the chair, Reign leaned forward, lips parted, eyes glazed. His gaze traveled with the zipper and then shot to her face.

  A wicked smile answered his unasked question. She turned, showing him her back. She shrugged one shoulder free and peeked over it, making sure she had his full attention. His gaze hadn’t left her. Another shrug and the sweater slid to the middle of her back.

  The chair creaked.

  She didn’t turn around. She let the sweater fall. The pants followed, pooling at her ankles. Maybe she should thank the NYPD for not confiscating her lacy underwear. Bending over, she stepped from the pile of clothing. When she straightened, she knew Reign no longer sat in the chair on the other side of the room.

  Heat radiated from him, warming her back. The straps of her bra dangled. She reached behind and with a pinch and twist; the bra fell to the floor. She hooked her thumbs into the sides of her string bikini and shimmied out of them.

  Heavy footsteps followed her into the bathroom and stopped when she entered the shower stall. The strip of frosted glass on the shower door hid enough to let the imagination run wild. By Reign’s strain
ed stare, tense body, and the vein pulsing in his neck, he imagined a lot.

  Alexis crooked a finger and invited him inside. She didn’t want him to imagine. She wanted him to see.

  ***

  Transfixed, Reign couldn’t take his gaze from her pert, coral-tipped ample breasts, which balanced above a narrow waist that flared to voluptuous hips and a fiery strip of hair shielding her core. Everywhere his gaze traveled, her curvaceous body took his control on a dangerous trip.

  Water cascaded from an overhead spout, plastering her hair into coppery waves, and streaked down a body built for pleasure. She plucked a container off a shelf and poured a substance into her palms. Whimsical jasmine-scented bubbles erupted wherever she touched. They glided down her breasts, playfully peek-a-booed with her rigid nipples, dipped into her belly button, curved over her hips, tangled in her nest, and finished the marathon by racing down her long, graceful legs. Gossamer suds clung to places he wanted to taste and touch, linger over, revere.

  She lathered her rear, cupped, and caressed her flesh. Foam cloaked her, then sluiced off leaving behind perfect skin. He tried to close his eyes to keep from lunging forward and claiming what his body demanded, but he couldn’t deny himself this pleasure. He had to see.

  Alexis stared at him. Beads of water clung to her lashes, making her eyes sparkle. He waited for her to order him away, something Nephythys would do. A sultry smile graced her pouty lips as she crooked a finger and ordered him near. Fully clothed, he stepped under the spray.

  She giggled and laughed…at him. A tinkling sound filled with mirth that carved out a hollow space in his heart. He was about to escape as far away as the tether would allow when she plucked the soaked shirt from his chest and slipped her hand beneath. His skin sizzled where she caressed. Her other hand skimmed down to his crotch.

  His world shifted from a dismal abyss to a carnival filled with carnal delights all centered on one woman.

  “I want you naked. Now.” She ordered.

  His throat dried and the clothing keeping her hand from his hard cock vanished. Her soft palm gripped him hard. Her thumb slid over the tip and spread his juices. Slack-jawed, the back of his head slammed into the wall. Ripples of pent-up passion spread from his cock outward to every part of his being. She cupped his tight balls. His breath became ragged, wheezing through his lungs, whistling through his clenched teeth. She stroked him; up, down, around. Pumping with a steady rhythm until thought ceased and his hips took over.

  She stopped, though her hand still fisted around the base of his shaft. He throbbed.

  Do not cease!

  She stepped away leaving him bobbing in the air and desperate for her touch. Water dripped from the tip of her nose to her cleavage and trailed down her abdomen.

  “Turn around,” she ordered.

  As he turned, she squeezed a handful of thick liquid into her palm from the same container. Jasmine and honey filled the air and he recognized it as the unique smell he always associated with her.

  “Arms up and on the wall, please.”

  Curiosity aroused as much as his body, he leaned forward and complied. Soapy hands shocked his nerve endings as she glided up the center of his back, over his shoulders and up his arms as far as her hands could reach, then scratched her way back down. A groan rumbled from his throat and he arched into the sensation.

  “You like?” Her breath fanned his skin.

  “Yes.” He panted.

  Alexis soaped his buttocks. She slipped a hand between his legs and stroked from his thigh to his ankle, switched to his other leg and slid back up.

  Torture.

  Never had a woman touched him so boldly.

  “Now for your front.” She stepped back as he turned. Her gaze traveled over his body. Heat ignited in her eyes. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

  Reign couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. He’d been called many things in his long life, beautiful wasn’t on the list. For the first time, he was afraid. A woman had brought him low before, he couldn’t chance it, not again.

  Fingers roamed his chest, teased his nipples, and eased down his abs. She took his hand and pulled him beneath the spray. On tiptoes, she leaned into him, her nipples teased and her breasts pillowed against his chest. Millimeters away from his lips, her tongue flicked out and licked his bottom lip.

  “What are you waiting for?” Her belly brushed his arousal.

  “You tease.” He didn’t recognize the strained voice that exited his mouth.

  “Never about this.”

  “You dangle what I want only to snatch it away the moment I reach for it.”

  She grabbed his hands and forced him to her breasts. Her nipples pressed into his palms. Every muscle in him turned rigid. He crushed his lips to hers. She slid her hand up the back of his neck, slanted her lips across his, and drew his tongue into her mouth. Lost in the feel of her lush body and heady scent he wanted to lose himself in all she had to offer.

  Reign yanked away. Rational thought was moments away from crumbling. “You don’t want this.”

  “I do. I want you.” She rubbed against him.

  Her slippery body drove him insane. And he adored it, loved that she made him want to commit a crime just to be near her, never wanted it end.

  Damnation. “I won’t be gentle. I can’t. Not this time.” He hated that his voice trembled along with his body.

  “I’m a big girl. I can handle you.” She shifted so that her curls teased his shaft.

  His fragile control snapped.

  Reign scooped her up and pinned her to the back of the shower stall. Alexis braced her feet on his hips and opened herself to him. He cupped her ass and slid home. He buried himself inside her tight, slick heat. Hot, wet, and so damn good, his seed boiled. He quivered from the strain.

  Alexis gasped. Her eyelids fluttered closed as her hips bucked and her nails dug into his shoulders.

  He hurt her.

  He started to pull out, but she locked her long legs and arms around him.

  “Don’t. Stop.” Her body clenched.

  Locking him inside heaven.

  She rolled her hips and her sheath glided up and slowly down his rigid shaft. Spurred by a frantic need, Reign thrust into her, long deep strokes that rocked her body. Her taut nipples scoured his chest. Her fingers gripped his hair and twisted, leaving his neck vulnerable to her wet tongue. Down the column of his throat, she licked, sucked, bit.

  His heart slammed in his chest. His blood roared through his veins as he came. Millennia of celibacy ended with a woman he could touch, kiss, love.

  Her breath caught on a sharp inhale. She groaned and writhed in his arms as her sheath seized his flesh and milked him. His knees threatened to buckle from the consuming pleasure.

  Soft breath tickled his chest. It was then he became aware of Alexis crushed between him and the cold tiles of the stall. He cringed, realizing he had treated her like a whore and took her like an animal in heat.

  “That was fun,” she murmured in a throaty voice and trailed tiny kisses along his collarbone and chest.

  She lied. No woman would enjoy how he used her. He tilted her chin to look into her face. A shameless grin curved her lips and mischief filled her eyes. Her head dipped to his nipple and she suckled. His cock jerked.

  Damnation! Still hard. Her low moan rumbled through him and ended on a sigh.

  “Are you real?” He breathed. “Tell me this is not a dream and I am going to wake up back in—”

  “Shhh.” A finger silenced him. “You're as real as I am,” she murmured and brushed those sexy lips back and forth, barely touching him. “I wish we had time for more, but we gotta go.”

  Alexis slid down his body and stepped back under the spraying water. He gaped at her, fascinated by her sensuous movements. The desolate ache, which had long settled in his heart, dissolved. A glimmer of hope sputtered to life in its place. Followed by the sweet rush of an emotion he dared not name. Not if he wanted to keep her alive. He didn’t love her.
He couldn’t. But as he faded away and left her alone, he damned himself for being a liar.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Alexis peered over her shoulder to request some help washing her back. White tiles faced her instead of a sexy wet man at her command. She turned the water off, pulled open the sliding door, and stepped out of the shower. Everything seemed normal; the drip of her bathroom sink, the drone of her heating unit. Then why had a knot wedged itself into her heart? Water dripped from her body onto the bath rug as she strained to feel Reign’s presence.

  Nothing.

  She shivered and cold dread settled around her. Alexis twisted a towel around her hair and wrapped another one around her body. She opened the bedroom door and paused to listen. The quiet house unnerved her. Where was Reign?

  She made it halfway down the hallway when his heavy tread sounded downstairs in the kitchen. Relief jellied her knees and she sank onto the top stair. Her thoughts tumbled around three words that had settled in her heart.

  Don’t do this, Alexis. Now is not the time to get gooey about a guy. Keep it simple. You need each other to deal with the quimaera. Dangerous men and dangerous situations lead to mind-blowing sex. But afterward, you put your panties back on and deal with reality.

  And the reality is?

  “Once this is over, he’s leaving.”

  An ache seized her, but she stood and marched back to the bedroom. With cold determination, she yanked on dark jeans and a black thermal tee. She pulled her hair back in a tight damp bun, grabbed a duffel bag, and started packing key items: toiletries, underwear, socks, another pair of jeans, a heavy sweater, and her Glock .357. The journals were on the dressing table along with the jewelry box containing the gold bracelet. They were the only things of her grandmother’s she could take.

  She walked back into the closet for a final look when her eyes caught on the blue formal gown Gloria had shipped to her for the anniversary party tonight. Her lips curled and she gingerly grabbed the satin material between the tips of her thumb and forefinger. As if she would actually wear the long-sleeved, boat neck, satin contraption.