by Cynthia Eden
Few did.
“He…healed me, right? Is that something he can do, because he’s…from the light?”
No, it’s something he did because you are of the light, sweet Mina.
“And you were a dragon.” She gave a quick, nervous laugh. But she kept touching him. “You are the fiercest thing that I’ve ever seen.” She sounded admiring, not scared.
And Luke realized the truth. “You are the fiercest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Her smile notched up, its beauty nearly blinding him. How will I live without her?
He turned his head, caught her hand, and pressed a kiss to her palm. She’d been through so much, and blood still lingered on her clothes. That just wouldn’t do. He wanted to take away her pain. To wash it all away…
He took Mina to his bathroom. Soon the shower was on, blasting water down. He stripped Mina, taking his time, using gentleness and all the care he possessed. He wanted her to know how much she meant to him.
If he could, he would have traded everything he had for her.
Steam filled the shower. He slipped inside first, and Mina followed, their hands linked. She seemed so delicate and fragile. He wanted to protect her, to damn near worship her. Instead, he was going to lose her.
Fate was a cruel bitch.
He took soap in his hand and slid it over her body. Over her shoulders. Down her arms. On her stomach and up to the curves of her breasts. Her nipples were tight, pink, and he lifted her up against him, putting his mouth on her breast because he loved her taste so much.
She arched into him, moaning, as the water poured down her body.
His cock was hard, aching, and he wanted to drive deep and hard into her.
But he needed to make this memory, for both of them. Mina in the water. Him with her. Maybe…maybe she’d remember.
But perhaps not. Her kind had such short memories. Especially when they returned to the water.
He kissed his way to her other breast, laving the nipple, biting her lightly. Her nails sank into his shoulders and he loved that small flash of pain. He wished that she would mark him, that he would always carry her mark.
And I will, deep inside.
His hand slid down her body. Pushed between her legs. She was so soft and silky. He thrust two fingers inside of her and her sex clamped tightly around him. He kissed her neck, licked her skin. Pressed a tender kiss to her throat.
She’d offered her life for him. Did Mina realize that she was the first to make such a sacrifice? “I didn’t deserve it,” he rasped. He thrust his fingers into her again and loved the ragged gasp that she gave. That quick breath of pleasure.
His fingers slid from her and she moaned, protesting. Mina was so sensual. The water beading on her skin made her seem to glow with beauty. The blood was gone. Her pain—seemingly erased.
His hands moved to her hips. He lifted her against him, holding her easily and Mina locked her legs around his waist. She stared into his eyes, a sensual smile on her lips. His cock was wedged at the entrance to her body. One push, and he’d be inside. The pleasure would overwhelm them both. Make them forget everything else.
But he hesitated. He wanted this moment to last—Mina, clinging tightly to him. Mina, holding him, trusting him. Loving him?
A guy could hope. Even a guy like him.
“Inside, Luke,” Mina ordered, her voice the sexiest of demands. “You’re driving me crazy! I need you!”
And he would never deny her, not anything. He drove into her and sank deep. Her heels pushed against his ass as she let out another moan. The sound of her pleasure drove him wild. He eased back, then thrust into her, deeper, harder, pounding into her again and again.
Every glide sent his cock pushing over her clit, and he knew the pleasure was surging through her. He needed her to break. Luke wanted her control to splinter as she surrendered to him and to the fierce desire that raged between them.
He pushed her back against the marble wall of his shower. He put his mouth against hers, thrusting his tongue past her lips even as his hips surged against her. Her inner muscles clenched around him, her whole body went tight—
And Luke swore he could taste her pleasure. Mina erupted around him, her sex rippling around his cock, her body jerking and he let himself go. Luke emptied into her, the beast that he kept inside roaring his release. Mina’s hands were sweeping over his back, she was holding him as if she never wanted to let him go…
But soon enough, she’d walk away. The ocean would call to Mina, and she’d leave him. She’d go, and his world would rip apart.
Chapter Sixteen
Julian’s neck ached. He could feel the blood slowly dripping down his throat.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I-I never wanted this.”
Because she was turned away from him, the vampiress didn’t see his sudden flinch. “Rose…”
She looked back at him. He could see the tear tracks on her face. Her beautiful face—one that had been burned in his memory long ago.
“I deserve one hell of a lot more than just a bite from you,” he said. His voice gruff. She should want to rip him apart. After all, it was his fault that she—no, stop. Take it one step at a time. “How did you get here? How did these goons catch you?”
“I’d gone too long without eating.” She swallowed and he heard the delicate click of that movement. “Agent McAdams found me in Chicago. He said that he could help me. That he could…he could change me back.”
Julian took a step toward her. He’d ripped the chains right from the wall when she’d first come toward him. Apparently, he’d just needed the right motivation to break free. Now the battered remnants of those chains dangled from his wrists.
Rose threw up her hand. “No, stop it! Don’t come closer! I-I’ll attack if you do!” Her voice was sharp and desperate. “They’ve starved me. That’s how McAdams has helped. He lied to me. He promised that he’d help but he just wanted to use me.”
What McAdams wanted was a swift trip to hell. Julian would be happy to oblige the man.
“He’s starving me because he wants me weak. Weak means controllable in his mind. He’s going to use me, try to get me to turn into some kind of weapon.” Her laughter was bitter, wild. “I thought the FBI was supposed to be good! They’re just as bad as—” But she broke off, clamping her lips together.
As bad as I am? He eased out a careful breath and took a step toward her. His nostrils flared, pulling in the acrid scent of smoke that was drifting through the air. Before, he’d heard gun shots, distant screams, but all of that noise had died away.
Only the smoke remained.
“We need to get out of here,” he told Rose. His Rose. Holy fucking hell, what were the odds that he’d find her like this? He’d tried to find her before, searching desperately, even going to her asshole brother Michael, but the guy had turned him away.
And I thought she was better off without me.
He’d been wrong. Rose had been hurting, and he hadn’t known. With an effort, Julian kept his voice steady as he said, “In order to escape, you have to be strong. So if you need more blood, baby, drink up.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “Don’t call me that.” Her eyes—dark green and glittering—locked on him.
Julian lifted his hands in front of him. The chains dangled. “My mistake. A slip of the tongue.”
She growled.
“Rose?” It had been so long since he’d seen her. So long since he’d gone to Luke, desperate, and made the deal to save her life.
Or rather…the deal to bring her back from the dead.
“I never wanted this,” Rose whispered.
His heart slammed into his chest. “What did you think I was going to do? It was on me. My fault. I’m the one who—”
“You’re here because McAdams and his twisted group of agents have given me my first assignment.” Her brittle voice cut right through his words. Her face was as he remembered it—a soft oval, big, deep eyes, and full, sexy lips. Her skin w
as too pale though, and he could see the dark shadows that lined her eyes. “You’re that assignment.”
The scent of smoke deepened. It sure seemed as if that whole place was going down in flames. He could hear the shriek of an alarm now. One that seemed to be growing louder with every moment that passed.
“Agent McAdams told me that I was supposed to attack whoever was placed in the cell with me.” Her shoulders straightened. “He said…he said I was to kill that person.”
Shit.
“If I didn’t…” Her head tilted forward and the dark curtain of her hair—dirty and tangled because she’d been kept prisoner for who the fuck knew how long—swept down to cover her face. “Then McAdams said I’d be the one to suffer.”
He intended to make certain that McAdams suffered—a painful, excruciating anguish.
“I’m sorry,” Rose told him. Her breath rushed out on a sad sigh. That was the thing about vampires—they still breathed. They still felt. They still lived, just in a different way. A way that required blood and fangs. “But I don’t have a choice.”
She might not, but he did. Julian’s gaze flew around the cell. He ran to the wall and drove his fist into it, again and again, but the strange glass didn’t break. His hands bloodied as he punched, but the glass wouldn’t give.
Then he felt her touch on his shoulder. Soft, light, and sending heat flooding right through his whole body. He tensed, his bloody fist still raised.
That was always the way it had been between them. She touched him, and he wanted. He craved. He lost his sanity.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
And, through that glass, he saw Garrick McAdams and his men—armed men who appeared a bit singed and ash-covered—running toward the cell.
Julian’s jaw locked.
“I really hate,” Rose added, voice almost…wistful. “For you to have to watch me die again.”
What?
Garrick opened the cell door.
Rose locked her hand around Julian’s shoulder and she heaved him back—far away from the agents. His shoulders thudded into the back wall.
Too late, the words finally registered for him. Rose wasn’t going to kill him. She was going to sacrifice herself. No, no, no! He opened his mouth and the roar of his beast erupted, seeming to shake the cell.
“She should have drained the guy by now!” It was the redheaded woman behind Garrick who spoke first. Madeline. Yeah, he recognized her easily enough. She lifted her weapon, aiming it right at Rose. “You knew the assignment.”
Rose ran at her.
Julian lunged for them.
The agents fired at Rose—a barrage of bullets that slammed into her body and she jerked like a marionette on a string.
The change hit Julian right then, white-hot and burning. His beast literally clawed to the surface and shoved the man back. He hit the floor on all fours, his paws and claws scraping over the surface. Fur erupted from his body as he watched Rose fall.
Not again. It can’t happen again.
“Fascinating,” he heard Garrick say. “But I don’t have time for this shit now. The big boss is coming to meet us, and we have to move.”
Garrick aimed his gun at Julian. Julian saw him through the panther’s eyes. His prey. He surged toward the bastard even as Garrick fired, again and again.
The bullets thudded into him. Other agents were screaming. Shooting.
Julian didn’t stop. He slammed into Garrick, taking that bastard down.
“Shoot him!” Garrick yelled. “Keep shooting him! Stop him!”
Julian locked his teeth around the man’s throat. You’re done. His teeth sank into the bastard and—
“Time for my payback,” Madeline said, voice nearly purring with satisfaction. He felt the muzzle of a gun press between his eyes. “You and that little bitch should have left me alone. No one messes with my mind.” Then she fired.
His teeth shoved down hard in a last, desperate bite. If I’m going out, I want to take him with—
Darkness closed around Julian. A cold, final darkness.
And he wondered, if, in the next world, he’d ever see Rose again.
***
“You’re a dragon.” Mina was still trying to wrap her mind around that fact. Meanwhile, though, her body was currently wrapped around his. Her arm was curled around Luke’s stomach. Her leg was draped over his thighs. They were in his bed, their bodies twined so closely together. She felt safe. Warm.
Protected.
Almost…loved?
“I did not see that one coming,” she confessed to him and Mina pressed a quick kiss to his shoulder.
His hand slid over her hip, seeming to linger a moment on one of her scars. “There were things I didn’t want to see, either.”
His voice was thick with what she could have sworn was sadness. But why would the Lord of the Dark be sad?
She licked lips that had gone suddenly dry. A deep sense of foreboding swept over her. “What haven’t you told me?” She looked at his hand, the hand that was tenderly stroking her scar. The Eye of Hell still gleamed on his finger. “Luke?” Mina prompted when he remained silent.
His hand lifted. He, too, stared at the Eye. “You never needed this.”
Yes, she had. “Garrick has more resources than you realize. You saw that—that collar he put on me.” She didn’t want to remember the pain and terror that collar had brought to her. “We can’t underestimate him again. I do need the Eye. You can use it to take away my dark power and—”
“There is nothing dark about you.” His gaze slid to hold hers. “There never was. You are the most generous woman I’ve ever met. You’re brave and you’re strong and your heart isn’t tainted by anything.”
The heart in question seemed to warm.
“You were willing to trade your life for mine,” he continued and he—held his breath? How very unlike him. Then Luke asked, “Why?”
Why? “Because it was right,” she spoke, slowly, feeling her way. Her emotions were tangled. She didn’t even clearly understand why herself. She’d just known that she couldn’t let Luke suffer. That his death would not happen.
“Of course.” His hand slid away from her hip. He rolled from the bed. Stood there, naked, staring down at her. “I forgot that was the way Leo’s kind acted. Right and wrong. Good and evil. All that jazz.”
She wasn’t feeling so warm and safe any longer. Mina pulled the covers up to her chin. “Luke?”
“I lied to you, Mina.”
No. Automatically, she shook her head. She and Luke had a bond, she knew it. She might not be able to explain it, but Mina felt it. He cared about her. And she was completely tangled up in him.
“I’m not planning to wait for nightfall before I go after Garrick and the others. I just wanted to fuck you one more time, and then I’m walking away.”
Wait—what? Mina jumped to her feet, yanking the sheet with her and wrapping it clumsily around her body.
He waved his hand and clothes covered him. Pity he hadn’t used that same trick to cover her.
“We didn’t fuck.” Those were the angry words that jumped from her mouth. “Don’t you dare say that to me, got it?”
“Then what did we do?” His head cocked as he studied her. His face was a cold, hard mask.
“We made love!” Mina nearly yelled those words at him. “It was more than just physical. You know it was.”
“But you don’t love me.”
Silence.
Her lips were still parted and her breath heaved out. “I—” Mina stopped. She didn’t know what she felt. Was it love? She needed him, she wanted to protect him, she was so eager for those rare moments when he smiled or laughed and…
He’s the Lord of the Dark. He turned into a dragon and burned half of Key West. But his flames had never so much as singed her skin.
“Can you love?” Mina asked him, and she was desperate to know the truth.
He turned his back to her. “The beast that I became…that’s who I
really am. The man is just the mask I wear. Inside, my heart is black. I yearn to let my fire out. To rage and destroy everyone in my path.” He paced toward the balcony. Opened the doors and stepped outside.
She rushed to follow him, the sheet trailing behind her like a wedding dress train. When she stepped onto the balcony, the wind whipped at her, bringing the crisp, salty air of the ocean.
The ocean.
Her gaze was pulled toward that glistening water and she found that she couldn’t look away.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Luke mused. “I always enjoy coming up here and staring at the water. Pity I never realized it would be the thing I’d grow to hate the most.”
What? Mina tried to drag her gaze off those waves but they actually seemed to be calling to her. So beautiful.
“I have to always watch myself.” His voice was low, but it carried over the pounding surf. “Always be careful to contain my darkness. Because if I do let my control break, I can destroy the humans out there. All of them. My power will spread like a sickness, infecting them. Wiping out humanity until only my paranormals are left. And those who are mine? They are dark. They battle inner demons every moment. They don’t…they don’t love easily.”
Her eyes closed. It was the only way she could stop staring at the water. What was happening? The waves had seemed to mesmerize her.
“You asked if I could love.”
She focused on his voice. The deepness. The roughness. Luke.
Then she felt his touch. His hands were on her shoulders, holding her tight.
“I can.”
Her eyes opened.
But…
She and Luke weren’t standing on the balcony any longer. He’d moved them—used his power—and now they were on the edge of the beach. The waves came forward, tickling her toes, and a spark of pure joy slid through her.
“I’m letting you go,” he said and his smile broke her heart. “That should show just how fucking much I can love.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “See? My brother was wrong about that. Even in the dark, a little light can shine.”
Then he—he guided her toward the waves.
But he kept her sheet. She was standing there, naked, while the waves pushed against her body. No, they weren’t pushing against her. They were almost, wrapping around her. Hugging her?