His head dropped down so his forehead rested against hers as she gazed at him with wide-eyed awe. She was his for the taking, and he was going to hand her over to never see her again.
Suddenly feeling more Savage than he’d ever felt in his life, he was hit with the impulse to sink his fangs into her, drain her to near death, and turn her. To make her his completely. The sharp points of his fangs pressed against his lower lips. The thump of the blood beating within the vein in the pale column of her throat called to him. He would make her the thing she hated most and he didn’t care, not if it meant he could be selfish and keep her for himself.
Then, her hand rose to pull her dress and bra back up, covering the breast he’d exposed. The tremor in her hand pierced through the demon to his more human side. He set her on her feet and stepped away from her before he lost control.
“I’m sorry,” he managed to get out. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
Kadence rested her fingers against her swollen lips. She longed to have him replace her fingers with his mouth once more, but they couldn’t continue this. A lump formed in her throat. If things had been different…
It didn’t matter, she decided. Things weren’t different and hoping for things that could never be was a fool’s game.
“Don’t apologize,” she said. “I wanted it as much as you did.”
To hear her say she wanted him too was more than he could tolerate. There was no point in denying either of them this. He would have her. He stepped toward her, not caring about anything anymore except possessing her.
“Ronan!” Killean shouted again.
His friend’s incessant yells cleared his mind, but he wouldn’t mind ripping Killean’s tongue out before they left here. “We’ll be right there!” he barked.
Kadence flinched at his words, but she didn’t move away from him. Turning on his heel, Ronan strode away from her. He removed his coat from the armoire and slid it on to cover his erection.
“Ronan.” He turned at his name. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being kind to me, for showing me that not all vampires are evil. I will tell the hunters that. I will tell my brother we have it wrong. They probably won’t listen to me, but I will try to make them understand. Thank you for giving me an extra day of freedom.” She paused as her fingers touched her lips again. “For showing me what it is like to be kissed. For letting me experience something I probably never will again.”
“Your husband will kiss you,” he growled, his fingernails digging into his palm and tearing into flesh at the thought.
“Yes, but he won’t make me feel like you do.”
Ronan let out a hiss as an invisible fist socked him in the stomach. A red haze shaded his vision as the demon part of him screamed at him to take her. When her hand fell from her lips and she edged away from him, he knew that what she saw of him rattled her.
The sight of her distress eased the turmoil of his emotions, and he was left to deal with the disbelief of what had thundered through him. He needed to get this woman out of his house and out of his life before he plummeted over the edge and became the thing they both hated most.
He couldn’t stand it if he ever hurt her or if she looked at him with disgust. If he stayed with her, both those things could come to pass.
Turning on his heel, he stormed across the room and threw the door open. Killean and Declan staggered away from him as the door rebounded off the wall. “Let’s go!” he spat.
CHAPTER 18
Now that they’d removed her blindfold, Kadence watched as the woods whipped by her at an extraordinary speed from the back seat of the SUV. Her skin was still electrified, the hair on her arms stood up from the lingering effects of Ronan’s body pressed against hers. Her lips tingled with the reminder of his kiss. She had meant what she said, even if it upset him, no man would ever make her feel the way he did.
That was why she almost felt bad about what she planned to do.
Declan sat beside her, his brow furrowed as if in deep thought. Occasionally, he would glance between her and Ronan. Every time those impossibly silver eyes swung to her, she felt as if he stared straight into her soul, and she prayed he hadn’t somehow figured out what she intended.
That was impossible. He would have told Ronan if he knew, and he’d definitely try to stop her, but he didn’t say a word. He probably suspected that something had transpired between them and was curious about it. She was only being paranoid.
She met his gaze head on as he peered at her again. To her surprise, his mouth quirked into a small smile. Before she could decide what to make of that smile, he turned away from her to stare at Ronan in the seat before him.
“Here,” Ronan commanded.
Killean pulled to the side of the back road. Kadence’s heartbeat kicked up a notch as, before Killean could put the car in park, Ronan threw his door open and climbed out. She barely saw him through the heavily tinted windows as he stalked past Declan’s door and made his way toward the back of the vehicle.
She jumped when the door next to Saxon swung open far sooner than she’d expected. Ronan stood outside of it, his large body filling the entire doorway.
Saxon slid out of the vehicle and shuffled past Ronan, who only moved back an inch or two to give Saxon the room to maneuver. Ronan’s eyes were more red than brown when they met hers. He stepped aside and gestured for her to climb out. Kadence clutched her coat to her as she slid across the leather seat and exited the vehicle.
The January wind howled down the lonely road, causing the barren tree branches to click against each other, and the dress to billow around her calves. The frigid air wasn’t cold enough to explain the ice creeping through her veins. Her hands trembled when she reached for the phone Ronan handed her. Most likely he would attribute her shaking to the winter night, but she knew it was because she had no idea how he would react to what she was about to do.
Ronan’s fingers brushed hers before he jerked away as if she’d burned him. Kadence studied his face, trying to find some hint of the man who had kissed her with such intensity. She was met with a wall of stone.
What she planned to do now would infuriate the most powerful being she’d ever encountered. With one hand, he could break her neck between this heartbeat and the next. He wouldn’t though, that much she knew. He might go on a tirade, but he would not harm her.
Kadence’s eyes inadvertently darted toward Declan. He leaned against the side of the SUV as he stared at the woods with a look that said he’d rather be anywhere but here. He didn’t look at her while he dipped into his pocket and pulled a lollipop free. She gawked at him as he opened it and popped the candy in his mouth before shoving the wrapper into his pocket.
What is a vamp doing eating a lollipop? She’d never seen anything so absurd as he twirled it in his mouth while remaining focused on the woods. Kadence had the feeling he was aware of her stare, but refused to acknowledge it.
Killean walked a little way down the dirt road, his eyes constantly searching the area around them. Saxon strode to the front of the vehicle and crossed his legs as he leaned against the hood. Lucien must have returned to wherever else he was staying, something she was grateful for now.
For the first time, she considered how they would all react to what she was about to do. They would be as angry, if not angrier, than Ronan. She looked back to Declan again. He turned toward her and gave a barely perceptible nod.
Kadence nearly dropped the phone. He did know! Somehow, he knew or suspected what she planned to do. That knowledge was more than a little unnerving, yet she found her confidence growing as her shoulders relaxed a little. He either believed it would all be okay, or he was trying to get her killed. Whichever it was didn’t matter, she was going through with this.
“Call your brother!” Ronan ordered.
Kadence scowled at him, not at all pleased with the command or the tone of his voice. “I’m not yours to order around!” she retorted and held his gaze when
a muscle in his cheek twitched and a vein appeared in his forehead.
After a minute of tense silence, Kadence turned away from him and flipped the phone open. Her fingers felt thick as she punched in the last number she’d had for Nathan. It took three tries before she finally got the number right. She stared at the screen as she waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Knowing she must have missed something, she searched the phone for the answer.
Ronan winced when he realized that Kadence wasn’t familiar with cell phones. The hunters kept her so sheltered that she only had a rudimentary knowledge of things that most took for granted. Before he could intervene to show her what to do, she hit the send button and lifted the phone to her ear.
Holding her breath, Kadence closed her eyes as she waited for her brother to answer. “Who is this?” Nathan demanded after the fifth ring.
Kadence winced at the raw anger coming across the phone even as love and sorrow swelled within her. She took a deep breath to steady her wire-taut nerves before plunging in. “It’s me, Nathan.”
“Kadence! Thank God! Are you okay? Where are you?”
Guilt burrowed into her at the relief in her brother’s voice. She would have given almost anything to ease the anguish she heard, to see him one more time, but she couldn’t, she wouldn’t, give up her freedom again. One thing she’d realized after Ronan’s kiss was that life was too short to continue to do as she’d always done. There were so many new experiences out there for her, and she wanted all of them.
She’d rot in the stronghold; she’d die someone far different from the woman she was now if she went back, and she couldn’t do it.
“I’m fine, Nathan, really.”
“Where are you? What happened?”
Kadence glanced over her shoulder. All the vampires were staring at anything other than her, but she knew they were listening to every word she was saying. “After what happened in the alley, I ran, and I kept running.”
“To where?” he demanded. “Where are you? Tell me and I’ll come get you.”
“No.”
The silence on the other end stretched on for a full minute before her brother spoke again. “What do you mean, no?”
“I ran as far as I could, and I’m not coming back!” she blurted before she completely lost her nerve. She had no idea what she would do with her life now. That knowledge should terrify her; instead, she felt like a baby bird spreading its wings for the first time, and she nearly laughed aloud from the free-falling experience of plunging out of the nest.
Saxon gawked at her as he turned toward her. Killean’s head swiveled on his shoulder, as he leveled her with the stare of a snake ready to strike. A small smile curved Declan’s lips and he tossed the lollipop aside. Ronan’s breath exploded from him as he whirled toward her.
“What?” Nathan yelled into the phone. “Have you lost your mind? Where are you? I’m coming to get you right now! You can’t survive out there on your own!”
Kadence grimaced and started moving backward when Ronan came toward her. His eyes became a more vibrant red with every step he took. She couldn’t let him get his hands on the phone; he would tell her brother everything if he did. He would make her go back.
“I’m not coming back!” Kadence gushed into the phone. “I’m sorry, Nathan. I can’t be what you need me to be, and I want to see, to learn, to experience. Please forgive me, and tell Logan this has nothing to do with him. I’ll call you as soon as I can. I’ll be all right. I love you.”
“Kadence!” Nathan’s shout resonated through the phone as she pulled it away from her ear and snapped it in half.
“What are you doing?”
Kadence jumped at Ronan’s bellowed words. He wasn’t mad. He was irate!
“Give me that phone.” The steady calm of Ronan’s command unnerved her more than if he’d yelled again.
Kadence shook her head, her hair flying around her face. “No,” she managed to choke out.
Shock briefly registered on his face before his wrath blazed back to life. He looked mad enough to strangle her.
“Give me that phone,” he growled.
“I… I broke it,” she stammered.
“Then you will give me his number and I will call him back.”
Kadence jumped back as he grabbed at her. She spun to flee, but his hand snagged her coat and he pulled her against him. The air in her lungs rushed out of her when her back crashed into his solid chest. His grip on her instantly gentled, though she remained firmly trapped against him.
She had no idea if he’d somehow be able to get the number off the broken phone. She released the remains of the phone and stomped them beneath her feet. The satisfying crack of the material sounded seconds before he spun her to face him.
Ronan’s face was inches from hers as he gripped her upper arms. His lips skimmed back to reveal the lethal points of his fangs. Despite his furious countenance and the lethalness of him, she still didn’t believe he would attack her.
Ronan had no idea how to react to what she’d done. Part of him wanted to shake her for disobeying him when no one else did. The other part wanted to hug her close. Had she told her brother that because of him? Did she want to stay with him?
He shut the hope down. It wouldn’t be possible, no matter what. His life was far too treacherous for her to stay with him. She had to go back, or at least go somewhere away from him.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
Kadence lifted her chin as she met his stare. She’d made her choice, she wouldn’t back down from it now.
“From the second I was born, my entire life has been plotted out for me. I’ve resented it, I’ve rebelled against it, but I still followed along with that plan. I succeeded in breaking free of the stronghold, and I was going to return to it. I was going to allow myself to be married off, to be caged again, because I’m afraid of what is out here.
“However, I refuse to be a coward. I’m letting my people and family down by doing this, but I’m free, and I have to see what is out here. Once the monster who killed my father is dead, I will go out and experience all the things I’ve read and dreamt about my entire life. Maybe one day I’ll return to the stronghold, but today is not that day. My brother has no idea I’m with you, he knows I’m alive, and believes I’m free, so the hunters won’t blame vampires for my disappearance. I made sure of that.”
For the first time in his life, Ronan had no idea what to do. Forcing her back to her people would destroy her, but so would keeping her locked up with him. He couldn’t just turn her loose on the streets. With her beauty and naiveté, the humans would eat her alive. He loathed all of the options, but she would be safest with the hunters.
He tore his eyes away from her and looked over her shoulder to Killean, who had retrieved the broken pieces of the phone. “Give them to me.”
Killean’s hand stretched over her shoulder and Ronan released her to take the phone. Kadence couldn’t bring herself to look at the device for fear she hadn’t destroyed it as badly as she’d hoped. Ronan stared at the pieces in his hand as she held her breath and waited.
“Shit!” he exploded.
Kadence jumped as he spun away from her and heaved the phone into the woods. The remains shattered off a tree with a crack of mechanical bits. Kadence stiffened her spine, refusing to be intimidated by him when he turned back to her.
“I am not going back there. You can’t make me, so leave me here,” she said coldly.
His hand swallowed her bicep when he clasped her arm and dragged her toward the SUV. Declan stepped toward them, but he didn’t try to intervene. Kadence dug her heels into the asphalt to stop Ronan as he pulled her onward.
Her attempt was as futile as a gnat trying to stop a raging rhino. “Stop it! Let me go!”
He didn’t stop. Without thinking, she kicked him in the back of his calf. Her mouth dropped open as he spun toward her. She couldn’t believe she’d done that, but she couldn’t take it back now. He stared at her with his f
ull lips compressed into a flat line and a look that said he might splat her like a fly. Despite her possible impending splatting, Kadence ripped her arm free of his grasp and glowered back at him.
Ronan took a step toward her, but she didn’t back away. Meeting him toe to toe, she stuck out her chin. Her insolence maddened him, yet he couldn’t help admiring her. She was strong, but nowhere near as strong as the vampires standing here. None of them would dare to stand up to him in such a way.
“You are going back to your brother,” he stated.
“No. I. Am. Not,” she enunciated clearly.
She didn’t think he’d ever been denied before if the look on his face was any indication, and she’d done it twice in less than three minutes. She could almost feel the breeze of the flyswatter over her head, but she wouldn’t back down from this.
“You are going to do what I tell you to do,” he said as if this would resolve the issue.
“The hell I am! You have no say over me or my life. And yes, this is my life; I finally get to have one! I don’t expect you to understand, but I am not going back there. I won’t give up this opportunity. I know it’s selfish, I know it’s insensitive to my people, but I must do this for me. This may be the only chance I ever have to be free, and if I waste it, I will hate myself for the rest of my life.
“The hunters will not come for you; they will come for me. There will still be a lot of them looking for Joseph, but once he’s dead, things will calm down again. I will not let you take this chance from me!”
CHAPTER 19
Ronan couldn’t deny the sway of her impassioned words. What awaited her at the stronghold wasn’t the life he wanted for her. He would prefer to keep her with him, but that would be impossible. If any of his enemies learned of her, they would go after her to take him down.
And then he also had to worry about himself around her. If he turned Savage, Kadence’s life may be the first one he took.
Eternally Bound (The Alliance, Book 1) Page 12