Return to Me (Storm Lords)

by Nina Croft

  Torr looked away, and she knew he was contemplating whether to answer.

  “Torr?” she prompted.

  “They were drained of blood.”

  Her hand flew to her throat. The small wound had healed unnaturally quickly, but she could still feel the faint marks left by Torr’s teeth on her skin.

  “What are you?” she asked like she had the previous night.

  “Not what you think.” He sighed. “We are not evil and there are no such things as vampires, Bella.”

  “Maybe not. But most myths and legends have a basis in some sort of truth.” She shook her head. He wasn’t going to tell her more than he had already. At least not yet. “So you think your friend Bryce murdered these people?”

  “Not necessarily. I suspect someone may be setting him up, but we haven’t been able to contact him. So either way, he needs our help.”

  “And what if you find out he did do it? What if your friend is a murderer?

  “Then we’ll deal with it.”

  And she knew he would.

  Suddenly, she didn’t want to think anymore. They would be landing soon and this time would be over. Here, she felt cocooned against the worries of the world. Maybe it was a reaction from the drug, or the champagne, or a combination of both. Right now, she didn’t care.

  All she wanted was to forget for a while.

  Torr seemed to be waiting for her to say something more. Instead, she drew her knees up to her chest, rested her chin on them, and watched him.

  ***

  He’d probably told her too much. But she was bound to meet Bryce when they found him.

  If they found him. Cade had been unable to make contact. Either Bryce was ignoring them or someone had control over him. Or he was dead. Torr wasn’t sure which was worse.

  Yes, he was.

  He hoped to hell someone had Bryce, and the murders were a setup to lure him away from Bella. To distract him. The alternative—that Bryce had given in to despair and darkness—filled Torr with fear. What would happen if his own quest failed? He glanced at Bella, where she sat on the bed. She’d gone quiet, and he wasn’t sure that was an improvement. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, arms looped around, her small pointed chin resting on them while she watched him out of those big blue-grey eyes. He couldn’t read her expression. In the past, he had always known what she was thinking. Now he couldn’t see into her mind at all.

  Actually, Bella seemed to be taking the information remarkably well. But he reckoned, in her subconscious, she had always known there was more to the world around her than what was obvious. Her empathic powers had predisposed her to such beliefs.

  She even appeared to have gotten over his drugging her.

  Christ, he’d panicked when they couldn’t wake her. Until he’d realized that imbecile, Finn, had given her enough to knock out a demon. Cade said it was an understandable mistake. Torr hadn’t felt as inclined to be reasonable.

  He had five days, and she’d just slept through the best part of one of them.

  The empty glass dangled from her fingers. He lifted the bottle up and realized it was also empty. Maybe that was why she was taking this so calmly.

  He hadn’t meant to get her drunk. Not consciously anyway. But it would do her good to relax. Maybe it would open up her mind.

  He was in a constant battle to keep his fear from showing. If Bella could see how terrified he really was, she’d wonder why, and he couldn’t tell her. Maybe getting her powers back wouldn’t help.

  Jesus, maybe nothing would help.

  Maybe he was destined to lose her a second time. And perhaps he deserved to lose her as punishment for all the evil he had done.

  Waiting for her to wake up, he’d sat on the bed beside her and held her tight in his arms. For a brief while, he’d felt at peace. Now, he longed to hold her again. Wanted to touch her so badly, the need was like a physical pain clawing at his gut.

  He reached out, moving slowly as though she were a wild creature he didn’t want to startle, and took the glass from her fingers, placing it on the table besides him. Rising to his feet, he sat down on the bed beside her. He traced his fingers down the side of her face. When she didn’t flinch away, he cupped her cheek in his palm and tilted her head towards him. He held his breath as he leaned in close, every moment expecting her to reject him.

  “I told you not to kiss me again.”

  His mouth hovered inches from hers. “But you didn’t mean it.”

  “Yes, I did”—she leaned in toward him—“at the time.”

  The words whispered against his skin, and he closed the space between them. At the last moment, she placed a small palm on his chest and pushed. Disappointment slammed through him. He gritted his teeth and stared into her narrowed eyes.

  “One thing,” she said. “If you ever knock me out again, I will kill you.”

  He nodded.

  “Another thing—this means nothing. It doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with you again. This isn’t real.”

  Right now, he didn’t care. Right now, he would take any little piece of herself she’d offer. He lowered his head and took her lips with his.

  Her mouth tasted sweet. He ran his tongue along the full bottom lip, nipped the succulent flesh with his teeth, pushed inside, into the moist cavern of her mouth and his whole body constricted with need.

  He shifted to ease the pressure, as her tongue moved tentatively against his, and a flash of fiery pleasure sizzled along his nerve endings, settling in his groin, tightening his balls, and hardening his cock to steel.

  He wanted all of her, her body, her blood. His gums ached with the need to feed, but he kept himself firmly reined in. He knew he couldn’t risk taking her that way again. He had to stay in control, but how could he when every cell in his body was screaming with the urge to take her, make her his, show her what they meant to each other.

  But this was far more than he’d hoped for, and for long minutes he drank from her mouth, tasted her, letting his hunger build. He waited until she moved, her legs straightening, her body twisting to face him, her hands coming up to slide into the hair at his nape and drag him closer.

  His mouth hardened on hers, and he pressed her back against the pillows. He stretched out next to her, his body pushing against the length of hers so his cock brushed against her thigh, sending a wave of desire crashing over him.

  Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close, rubbing his body against hers, but it wasn’t enough. He reluctantly released her lips and pushed himself back until he knelt beside her. Tearing open the buttons of his shirt, he took hold of her hand and pressed her palm against his chest.

  “I can feel your heart.” Her voice was low and breathy.

  “It beats for you. Only for you.”

  He swallowed as she stroked his chest, trailed her fingers over his belly, dipped into his navel, tangled them in the line of hair that ran to his groin. Her face showed utter concentration, her small pink tongue caught between her teeth as she explored him with her fingertips. She moved lower, brushing against his straining erection, and his head went back, a moan erupting from his lips.

  She went still.

  Her eyes were half closed, her lips parted, pale pink flushed her cheeks. She took hold of the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, throwing it to the floor. She was naked underneath. Her breasts small and perfect, the nipples already tightened to hard little buds. He lowered his head and kissed first one, then the next. Her back arched, pushing her breasts upward, and he swiped his tongue across the tips until they glistened with moisture. He sucked one into his mouth, rolling the nipple with his tongue until she moaned beneath him, and her hips pushed up off the bed.

  He ran a hand down over her belly, flicked open the button of her jeans and pushed his hand inside, found the silky hair between her thighs, then lower to cup her sex, to feel the slick wet heat of her desire. He bit down on her nipple at the same time as he pushed one long finger inside her and she went still beneath h
im. He withdrew his finger and rubbed it up between the folds of her swollen sex, over the sensitive nub, and she spasmed against him, her breath coming in short sharp pants.

  Then the world tilted.

  A huge roar filled the cabin as an unknown force hurled the plane sideways. Torr was thrown across the room, Bella still clasped tight in his arms. He landed hard with her small body on top of him.

  For a moment, he lay disorientated.

  What the fuck…

  Bella struggled in his arms, and he tightened them around her instinctively.

  “Don’t move.”

  He was lying on his back, the window beneath him, as the plane angled down toward the earth. He twisted his head, so he could peer out. The wing was pointing downwards and the engine was gone, vanished, only a few flickering flames remained where it should have been.

  As he stared, the plane slowly righted itself, and he slid down the wall until he was back on the floor once more. He got slowly to his feet and set Bella down beside him. She stood, her whole body shaking, her fingers clenched around his forearm as though she were afraid to let go.

  They were once again level, but Torr could hear the uneven stutter of the remaining engine, the smooth movement now jerky and unsure. He needed to go see Cade, find out what had happened and how bad it was. He glanced down at Bella. “Are you okay?”

  She lifted a hand to her head. “No. What happened?”

  She was naked from the waist up, and she dropped his arm and hugged herself. Torr looked around for her T-shirt but couldn’t see it; the room was in complete disarray, so he stripped off his shirt and draped it around her.

  “Will you be all right for a moment? I’ve got to go see Cade, find out what happened.”

  She shook her head, frantically. “Don’t leave me here alone. I don’t want to be alone if…”

  Torr could hear the panic in her voice. She was close to breaking, and he couldn’t blame her.

  What the fuck had happened?

  He had to find out, but he couldn’t leave her, not like this. Besides, if he had to jump for it, he wanted her close by where he could reach her quickly.

  He forced a smile to his face and said, “I’m sure it’s fine.” That was a lie. The remaining engine was straining, spluttering. “Come on, put that on and we’ll go see Cade.”

  She struggled into the shirt, and when she tried to fasten the buttons, her fingers shook so much that Torr stepped up and fastened them for her. Her face was white, her eyes huge pools of fear. “Are we going to crash?”

  “No. Cade’s the best. He’ll get the plane down.”

  Another lie. He was guessing this was beyond Cade.

  Pulling her tight against him, he held her trembling body until a semblance of calm flowed into her. He put her away from him as the door was flung open from outside and Cade stood in the entrance, Phoebe hovering behind him.

  “Thank Christ, you’re both okay,” he said. When neither spoke, he looked from one to the other. “You are okay, aren’t you?”

  Torr nodded. “What happened?”

  Cade stepped into the room. He cast a pointed glance at Bella, and Torr knew he didn’t want to speak in front of her. It must be bad and his heart sank. Cade turned and murmured something to Phoebe. She nodded and came into the room.

  “Bella, will you come sit with me. I don’t want to be alone right now, but I’m feeling shaky.” She put one hand to her belly against the curve of her pregnancy and the other on Bella’s arm. She steered her toward the bed.

  “Let’s step outside.” Torr led the way out and stopped outside the door. He turned to Cade, keeping his tone low so Bella wouldn’t overhear. “Tell me.”

  “The engines blew. One of them was completely destroyed—the other is on fire and going to go at any minute.”

  “How did they blow?”

  “Some sort of explosive device. This was no accident; it was sabotage. Someone who knew we’d be flying out today.”

  “Christ.” Torr battled down the dark fury that rose up inside him. He needed to think clearly. “So chances are this whole thing is a set-up.”

  Cade shrugged. “We always knew that was a possibility.”

  “A probability more like,” Torr growled.

  “But it still doesn’t explain why we can’t get a hold of Bryce. My guess is they’ve taken him, so even if he didn’t commit the murders, we have to go find him.”

  “And if it’s a trap?”

  “He’s one of us.”

  “I know. We’ll get him back. Hopefully, they won’t have anyone waiting for us in Mexico City if they think the plane has gone down.”

  “Come on, Torr. They’re not going to believe that a plane crash is going to stop either of us.” He glanced across the room to where the two women sat talking quietly on the bed. “My bet is that this was planned to take Bella out.”

  His fury rose again and a red haze darkened his vision. He needed to lash out and there was nothing to lash out at. This was Lilith’s doing. She might have stuck to the rules of the Covenant and not interfered herself, but he could see her hand behind all this.

  If Bella died, he would make a wasteland of the Abyss.

  “I’m taking Phoebe and getting off,” Cade said. “You know how afraid she is of fires. We need to move quickly. The second engine could fail at any time. You should do the same.”

  Torr knew he meant to take Phoebe and fly her to safety, but that wasn’t an option for him. He couldn’t let Bella see what he was.

  “You know I can’t do that. It will violate the laws of the Covenant, and I’ll lose her.”

  “You’ll lose her anyway.”

  “Never.” Jesus, he was going to have to knock her out again. She would never forgive him. “You go now,” he said to Cade. “You need to get Phoebe to safety. I’ll follow once you’re away. ” He moved so he could peer out of the small window; the sky was clear and below he could see the smooth blue of the sea. “Have you any clue where we’re likely to go down?”

  “Just off the coast.”

  “I’ll wait for the last minute. Get Phoebe to safety then come find us. I’ll try to make it to shore.”

  ***

  Bella was quite sure she’d never been so terrified in her entire life. She wrapped her arms around herself and bit down on her lip to keep from whimpering.

  Even last night, staring into the eyes of pure evil, she hadn’t felt this scared. It was the total feeling of powerlessness. They were at the mercy of a useless hunk of burning metal, and she wanted off so badly she shook.

  “They’ll get us off,” Phoebe’s tone was so calm, so reassuring. She put Bella to shame.

  “How? How will they get us off? How can they possibly get us off?” Her voice was rising. She swallowed down her words. Her imminent hysterics were not helping. Perhaps they had parachutes or something. Her whole body quaked at the thought. However much she wanted off, she didn’t think she had the nerve to jump.

  Phoebe patted her arm. “They just will. You have to trust Torr.”

  “Trust him?” A wave of her earlier fury broke over her. “You’re kidding aren’t you? It’s his fault I’m here. He drugged me, kidnapped me and put me on this horrible plane then…” She caught sight of Phoebe’s expression, slightly alarmed and broke off. She took a deep calming breath. “Sorry,” she muttered. “But it’s been a weird couple of days. I’m not myself.”

  She was never, ever flying again.

  Something went bang, and she jumped and let out a small shriek. “What was that?”

  “Nothing, I’m sure. Look they’re coming back.” For the first time, Bella heard relief in Phoebe’s voice.

  As Torr and Cade came through the open doorway, she examined their expressions closely, trying to gauge how much trouble they were in. Cade looked calm, Torr appeared slightly frazzled, and her panic ratcheted up a notch. He must have seen her looking because his expression smoothed until nothing was reflected on his face. She wasn’t buying it.
>
  Phoebe rose to her feet and moved toward Cade. He wrapped his arms around her and murmured something in her ear. Bella strained to hear, but couldn’t make out the words. Phoebe nodded.

  She came back to Bella. “Everything will be all right,” she said. “Trust your instincts.”

  Bella had no clue what that meant. Her instincts were screaming at her to hide her head under the pillow and pretend this whole thing wasn’t happening. Instead, she nodded and watched as Cade led Phoebe from the room, closing the door behind them and leaving her alone with Torr.

  “Where are they going?” she asked.

  Torr sank down on the bed beside her. “Back to the cockpit. Cade’s going to bring the plane down.”

  “You mean land?”

  “Not quite, we’ll go down in the water, but it will be fine.” He reached for her hand and took it in his, stroking her palm with his long fingers. “Are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’ve never felt like this. I can’t seem to stop shaking.”

  He slid his arms around her and pulled her tight against him, his hand splaying at the back of her skull, pressing her head against him. He was naked from the waist up and her cheek rested against the smooth, warm swell of his chest. The steady thud of his heart reverberated through her, and for a moment, the panic subsided.

  A muffled crash came from outside the door and she jumped again. It had sounded so close. “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” he murmured, tightening his arms around her.

  She struggled, flattening her palms against his chest and pushing to open a space between them. “It didn’t sound like nothing.”

  “Probably Cade jettisoning the faulty engine.”

  “But if he jettisons the engine, what’s going to keep us in the air?”

  “The plane has two engines.” He stroked her hair. “We’ll be fine, Bella, just trust me.”

  His voice was soothing and she wanted so much to believe him.

  But she didn’t.

  She was going to die.

  She knew it, and the knowledge was playing havoc with her ability to think straight.

  They had another engine. They were fine.