‘As if they could cage me after I have your power inside me.’
‘My power?’
‘Yes, little sis. Weren’t you listening? By doing the blood spell, you will give me access to your power. It will make me stronger than ever. I will escape, taking you with me so I can syphon your power from now until the end of time. And if you don’t want to see your precious Were killed during my escape, I suggest you find some way of getting rid of them so they don’t get in my way. One way or another, I’m returning to Morrigan tonight.’
Oh Goddess! She knew their plan had to be bad, but that was worse than she thought. Grasping at straws, she said, ‘They won’t leave me alone with you. They don’t all trust me yet and they most definitely don’t trust you.’
‘That’s your problem, isn’t it? I don’t know why you’re so worried. You know they’re going to be killed anyway.’
‘No! They’ll find a way to stop you. They’ve done so in the past.’
‘That might be true, but their luck can’t last forever. Morrigan will find a way. Especially with you on our side.’
‘I will never be on your side. Besides, I think you overestimate my power.’
He laughed. ‘And you underestimate it. Even Morrigan did until just recently. But we’ve discovered you’re a Nexus. You have unlimited power, ready to tap at your command. And after tonight, it will be mine and Morrigan’s to command. I think you’ll find that with your power on our side, the Weres’ remaining time on this earth will be short.’
‘I won’t do it.’
‘Then shall I kill them now? I won’t get to kill them all, to be sure. But I can get a couple of hundred, surely, before I fade into nothing. Let’s start with this lot.’ She saw him then, Cain’s Shade, appear through the wall and drift across the space towards where Iain was standing with the two other Were. His arms lifted, reaching for them.
‘No! I’ll do it. I’ll do it.’
Iain and the Were snapped around at her cry.
‘Eloise? What’s wrong?’ Iain began to move towards her, but his path put him closer to Cain’s Shade.
‘No! Don’t move. He’s here. The Shade is here. You have to go. Get out now. He said he wouldn’t hurt you if you got out, but he’ll kill you if you stay.’
The other Were were looking around. ‘I can’t see anything.’
‘Shall I show them, sister dear?’
‘No! Leave them alone Cain,’ she screamed, flinging herself forward, wincing as she brushed up against him. ‘Go. Go now. You have to get out. He’ll kill you.’
Iain didn’t question her further, simply turned and growled in a sharp command, ‘Out. Do as she says. Now.’
They scrambled out of the room, Eloise right behind them.
‘Sister?’
Cain’s voice stopped her as she reached the door. She was achingly aware that Iain was waiting just outside the door—too close, too close to danger still—when she turned.
Cain stood there, a smile apparent on his Shade’s face. ‘Be back at midnight, alone. Don’t be late.’ He began to laugh.
Iain reached for her, pulled her through the door before she could answer and tore back up the hallway, pulling her close as he ran. The door slammed closed with a loud clang behind them, cutting off the sound of Cain’s laughter.
They made the lift, joining the other two Were. Iain pressed the button to close the doors—as if that could keep Cain out if he wanted to follow them. She sobbed out a hysterical laugh at the thought as the doors closed too slowly and the lift began to move towards the surface.
‘What happened, Eloise?’ Iain grabbed her shoulders, spinning her to face him. ‘Did he hurt you? What did he do?’
‘I can’t … he said …’ She couldn’t say the words. Not to him. Not to anyone. Because suddenly she knew what it truly meant. Knew what she had to do. She had to go through with the ritual, waken Cain with her blood. But she couldn’t let him have access to her powers. Couldn’t allow him to continue to tap into her life-essence. There was only one way to stop that from happening. In her dreams, her past self had sacrificed herself to save those she loved. And now Eloise knew she had to do the same.
She had to die.
‘Eloise? What is it?’
She looked up, her vision blurred through the tears, and saw Iain’s worried gaze blazing down at her. She couldn’t let him know. He’d stop her and then Cain would kill him. Better he live with the sadness of her loss than not to live at all. Trying to calm her roiling thoughts and the grief sweeping through her at what she was about to lose, she pressed her hands against her cheeks, took a deep breath and met his gaze. ‘He just frightened me, that’s all. It’s fine. It’s fine.’
‘Are you sure? You don’t look well.’
‘I’m fine. I accidently touched him. I’ll be okay. Just hold me. Hold me please.’ His arms went around her immediately, pulling her close, tucking her into the comfort of his warmth and strength. She was trembling too hard to do anything more than cling to his shirt; clinging as if the touch of him was the only thing holding her to this earth, to her sanity.
‘Hey. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.’
‘Does this mean the deal’s off?’
She flinched at the harsh voice behind her. She’d forgotten the other two were there. ‘No. He just wanted to make a point.’
‘What point? That he’s a mad fuck? I think we already know that.’
‘No. He just wanted to make sure I did what he wants. He was showing me his superiority. That’s all.’
‘Scared the crap out of me,’ the female said, and shuddered.
The doors opened behind them and they all stepped out, Iain’s arm tight around her, keeping her against his side.
‘What are we supposed to do now?’ the female asked.
‘You go tell Marcus what’s happened.’
‘Sure. Then we’ll come back with reinforcements.’
‘No!’ Eloise cried. ‘If you go back there, he’ll kill you. He will only let me back inside.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ the male Were began to say, but Iain held up his hand.
‘If Eloise says it has to be that way, it will be that way.’ He turned to her. ‘But we will all be on the other side of the door watching in case anything goes wrong.’
She nodded, knowing that was as good as she was going to get. ‘Of course. Cordy and the others will need to be there to cast the spell to keep him bound just after he’s woken anyway. But until he is no longer a Shade, nobody can be in the room with me.’ She wouldn’t be responsible for any more deaths. Except her own, of course.
Iain looked questioningly at the male and female. They nodded their agreement, although it was obvious the male in particular wasn’t happy. ‘Go report to Marcus,’ Iain said. ‘I’ll let Jason know what’s happened.’ Eloise knew he meant he’d use the Alpha-lieutenant bond to do that; he was probably doing it right now.
‘Marcus won’t be happy.’
‘He’ll get over it.’
The male grunted, but didn’t argue further, simply turned and, with the female at his side, left the barn.
As the door slammed shut behind them, Eloise closed her eyes. Icy cold gripped her heart. This was it. She was almost out of time.
She wanted to cry at that cruel, simple fact. A few weeks earlier she’d thought she had all the time in the world to explore the new life she’d made for herself. So many dreams. So many plans, all of which opened like a flower before her, full of possibility. And for the first time in her life, she’d been ready and willing and able to pick up that flower and leap forward into the possibilities. Her brother had killed that flower. In the matter of a few minutes, all the petals of hope she’d held so dear were scattered to the wind and she had nothing but one single course laid out for her to take.
Oh Goddess! She knew what she had to do, but she didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to miss out on the life she could build with the Were. With Iain. A life tha
t was suddenly so full of possibilities she never imagined being hers. She wanted the opportunity to be embraced by Iain, to feel his lips on hers again, to feel his heat and power sweep through her, filling her with that expression of sunshine she’d seen on the faces of Skye and Jason, Bron and River. She wanted the hot, sweaty passion of tangled limbs, of naked skin sliding against naked skin, of him inside her, possessing her as she possessed him.
One.
She almost laughed out loud at the thought. She was dreaming—she knew she was dreaming. Skye and Jason, Bron and River—they had that because they were mated. Iain wasn’t her mate. He was a Lone Wolf and she knew what that meant, no matter how much she knew he wanted her. They had no future, no true future. But she didn’t care. She wanted whatever they could have. Iain had already helped her experience things she’d never experienced before; had never thought to experience ever. He’d already brought her so much… feeling. It was overwhelming. And frightening. But even so, she wanted it, despite the fact that it could never be hers. She had to die, to save him, to save the others.
But she didn’t have to go without taking a little bit of something more for herself, did she? Iain was here with her now. She had until midnight before she had to do what must be done to stop Cain and Morrigan from attaining her power. This time, now, was her last ever chance to be with Iain, to feel the fever of him running through her veins before she consigned herself to oblivion.
Mind ticking over, she moved out of Iain’s arms. ‘Can we go somewhere? I want to be with you. I need to be with you.
Iain hesitated for a bare fraction of a second and she held her breath, certain he read on her face what she was truly thinking. But then he pressed a swift kiss to her lips, took her hand and said, ‘Follow me.’
Instead of heading outside, he turned to the left and led her up some narrow stairs tucked into the far corner. ‘What’s up here?’
‘Accommodation for visitors from outside packs. It’s hard for two Alphas to stay in the same house together. I’ve stayed here before with Jason when we were trying to build ties with the McClunes before Skye came back to us. It’s simple but clean, and there’s a kitchen stocked with food. We can rest and eat before you have to go back down in the caves.’
‘Sounds good.’
Upstairs was a corridor and along the corridor were three doors on the left and two on the right and one down the end. ‘Food or rest first?’
‘I want to go to the bedroom.’
He led her to the middle door on the left, opened it and pulled her through.
Inside was a king-sized bed, a side table with a lamp on it, a small gate-legged table and chairs in the corner and a dresser in the other. A large window was set into the far wall opposite the bed. Moonlight streamed through the glass, lighting the bed as if it were in a spotlight.
She stopped dead, grief cutting through her chest, stealing her breath. This was going to be the last time with Iain. The last time she would ever feel him with every part of her being. The last time she would have a chance to tell him about the joy in her heart. She loved him. She loved him. She had to tell him. It was her last chance.
She turned to him, mouth dry. ‘Iain.’
‘Eloise? What is it?’
She looked up into his gorgeous face, those beautiful amber eyes that she could drown in forever, saw the caring there, the heat of his passion for her, opened her mouth. The words she needed to express wedged in her throat. She couldn’t do it. It was selfish, given what she was about to do, knowing she was going to betray his trust and keep this final, important action from him until it was too late. He cared for her. It would hurt him. Knowing of her love would hurt him more. She couldn’t say the words. But she could show him; could share her joy with him in that final, intimate way. Grasping his hands in hers, trembling, she stepped closer. ‘Kiss me.’
His gaze roamed over her face, stopped on her eyes. ‘She’s with you again.’
‘I know.’ And she did. She could feel her past self at the back of her mind, whispering her want, her need, her love, her grief, her support. ‘She is here. But she’s not ruling me. She’s simply an echo. She’s not me. She feels something for the one who was part of you, it’s true. But her need isn’t my need. Her passion isn’t mine.’ She gripped his hands tighter, moved closer. ‘She longs for that other part of you, that ancient part of you, that echo. But that echo is not you, just like the echo of her is not me. She might be here in part, just as she has always been here, but it is not her making me say any of this to you. It is not her asking you to kiss me, undress me and take me in the moonlight. She isn’t the one asking to feel your skin against mine, revelling in the warmth. She isn’t the reason fire rampages through my nerves and veins, shivering along my skin, tightening my muscles, every time you are near. It’s not her lips that move against yours, seeking out the hunger in you, the deep, rich taste of you. She doesn’t thrill to the touch of your breath on her face, the scent of you wrapping around her. She doesn’t long for your hands to touch me where no other hand but mine has touched me before. Doesn’t revel in the sensation of you all around, the thick length of you inside, touching me deep, bringing me to ecstasy. She doesn’t feel this need here,’ she pressed one of his hands just under her stomach, ‘and here.’ She pressed his other hand over her heart. ‘All she knows is what I know—that you are the only one who can feed that need, the only one who can fulfil it. So please. Please, don’t turn from me. Not now. Not tonight. Not when I need to feel your warmth and hope and joy deep inside me where it can fuel me through what I have to do tonight. I’ll beg if I must. I’ll …’
He put his finger over her lips. ‘No. You never need to beg. You are too strong to beg.’
‘Then why aren’t you kissing me?’
He shook his head lightly, a small smile on his lips. ‘Because you undo me, Little Bird.’ And then his lips were against hers, one hand in her hair, the other pressing her against him.
Warmth. It slid through her with the soft caress then quickly fired to something more. Something deeper. Something that made her tremble against him, hungering for more. His lips angled over hers, sucking, sipping, teeth nipping, tongue licking. She gasped. His tongue slipped into her mouth, sliding along hers. She whimpered. He growled. Pressed her even closer before swinging her around to press her up against the wall.
So tight.
So close.
Not close enough.
She wanted… she wanted… she didn’t know what she wanted. But her hands clutched at his shirt, feeling the hammering of his heart in his chest, matching the hammering of hers. She whimpered.
He pulled back. ‘I’m sorry. I’m being too rough.’
‘No!’ She tightened her grip on his shirt. It wasn’t enough. She didn’t have enough of his heat. She needed the strength of it. Needed more, to help her get through. ‘More.’
He growled low again, his wolf in his eyes howling in her mind. She howled back at it in hers, felt the connection, the acceptance, then his lips were on hers again and it was all she could do not to howl out loud as his passion roared through her. Instead, she pulled her lips from his, pressing them against the column of his neck, and nipped, teeth sinking into his skin right over his pulse point. He growled, the sound buzzing on her lips. The sensation made her purr low in her throat.
‘Fuck.’ It was a low, sexy groan.
The sound of it gripped between her legs and stroked. Tremours broke out deep inside, chasing over her skin, filling her with the thrill of an expectation she didn’t understand.
She slid her hands up under his shirt, fingers gliding over hot, muscled flesh that trembled under her touch. She nipped his neck again, then licked. His hand was in her hair, gently urging her mouth away from his neck and back to his. Back to where it belonged. She smiled against his lips. His tongue slipped between hers and stroked deep, sliding and tangling with hers. Rocks bit into her back, but she didn’t care. All she could care about was the feel of him presse
d against her, the rigid length of his erection pressing into her stomach. She tingled. And writhed. And ached to press her core against that hot, hard length.
He seemed to read her mind, because he cupped her bottom and lifted. She wrapped her legs around him. She sighed into his mouth at the feel of him against her. It felt so right, and yet not enough, not nearly enough. She wriggled against him. He groaned. She laughed, triumphant that she was capable of causing that pleasure-pain desire in him. The same desire rampaging through her, taking her over, blanking her mind to everything but this moment. To the sensations. To the feeling of utter freedom. She was flying, her soul singing to the sound of his reverberating deep inside.
Home. This was home. She couldn’t have it forever like she’d recently come to long for, but she could have it for now and it would see her through to the end.
‘I want you inside me now.’
With a moan, he pulled her towards him and covered her lips with his.
Chapter 22
His mouth was hot and hard on hers and yet she could feel him holding back, holding on. He was trembling against her, his need for control warring with the voraciousness of the desire that flared between them, threatening to turn them both into ash.
He was still being careful with her, like he had the first time. But she didn’t want him to hold back. She wanted him. All of him. Because this was her last chance. Their last chance. She wanted it to be enough to carry her through the night, to carry him through the future without her. To have this night to remember where they gave everything. But they couldn’t have that if he was being careful.
She held his face in her hands and met his passion-darkened gaze. ‘Let go, Iain. Let go.’ Then she kissed him, an open-mouthed, tongue-tangling kiss, filling herself with his spicy fresh taste, the pine and ocean scent of him. Heat burst through her—his and hers—as their tongues met and as his control slipped a little more she could hear his wolf howling its joy somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind. Or was that her mind? She dug her fingers into his hair and pressed her body harder against his. ‘More,’ she whispered. ‘Touch me.’ His hands stayed on her face. ‘Touch me.’ She bit his lip.
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