“Exactly. That is why I should not have allowed myself to be distracted by my need for you. There could be consequences.”
“What kind of consequences?”
Did she have to press the matter? Pushing free of the covers, he slipped from the bed.
“Dariun?”
“I kissed you tonight,” he said with a sigh as he peered out through the window blinds into the night. “And not just once.”
“You did a lot more than kiss me tonight,” she reminded him, her sated smile reflecting in her voice.
“Granted, but the kissing should never have happened. I crossed the line.” In the hundreds of years he had been a shadow guard, he’d never once kissed a female he was sent to watch over. There had been a few he’d found pleasure with, but he’d always been able to keep away from their mouths. Tonight, he’d gone too far, had taken far too great a risk.
Elena sat up, her hair beautiful and wild from their recent lovemaking. “I don’t understand. How was your kissing me tonight crossing the line?”
He spun around to face her, his body tense. “Because I could have taken your life force from you!”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“That’s how the rogue shadows do it. They press their mouths to yours and suck the soul right out of you.”
She gasped, her hand going to her thoroughly kissed lips.
“That’s right, Elena. I could have easily taken your life force from you tonight and made you into what I am.”
There was a momentary flicker of fear in her eyes and then it was gone. “A shadow?”
“Yes. Not the black-hearted kind of shadow Brakkar and his kind are, but a shadow all the same.”
“But you were sent here to protect me. You wouldn’t do something like that,” she said confidently.
“You don’t know that.” Another shadow might have given in to the pull in the heat of passion.
“You’re wrong.”
“What?”
She slid off the bed to join him, curling her arms about his neck. Not one ounce of fear shone in her eyes as she looked up at him and, damn it, she should be afraid. While most shadows were beyond trustworthy. It only took one with a weak will to change a human’s life forever. Fortunately for her, he hadn’t.
“I know that you’d never hurt me,” she answered. “You’re the good guy, remember? My shadow guard. Nothing like the rogue shadows you protect humans like me from. My life force is safe with you. I know it is.”
Her scent surrounded him, stirring his senses. He wanted to drag her up against him and run his hands over every inch of her naked body, but he resisted the urge. He couldn’t let it happen again. Wouldn’t let it happen again. All he had to do was make it through the moon cycle and then he’d be out of her life forever, away from the temptation.
His gaze shifted to her mouth, to those full, pink lips, and his jaw clenched. It was going to be a very long moon cycle.
CHAPTER FOUR
Elena stirred from sleep to find Dariun watching her from across the room. “Morning.”
He stepped away from the window and walked over to the bed. “You slept well.”
How could she not after the intense night of lovemaking they had shared? Dariun wasn’t only a skilled shadow warrior. He was a very skilled lover as well. If only he hadn’t withdrawn from her afterwards.
“Did you?” she asked.
“Shadows don’t require sleep.” He started to reach for her face then pulled back much to her disappointment.
“Thank you for last night,” she said as she sat up and scooted back against the headboard, her body still languid from the night of pleasure he’d given her.
A nod was his reply.
She reached up to touch his face, to trace his mouth, and found him frowning. “Dariun, what’s wrong?”
He caught her wrists and gently pulled her hand away. “Last night I let desire overcome me when I should have remained in control of my passion.”
“I’m glad you let it overcome you. Last night was incredible.”
“You have no regrets?” he asked as if surprised by that fact.
“Not at all.” Truth was, she found herself wanting more of the hot, pulse-pounding passion Dariun offered. “That was the most amazing night of my life.”
He lowered his face to hers, his lips so close she could feel his breath. Not the rush of air in and out as humans did when they breathed. It was more of a teasing whisper of a breeze. One with a seductive warmth that made a woman’s body react. “For me as well,” he admitted with a sigh before pulling away. “If only you were one of my own.”
She looked up at him. “And if I were?”
“I would never let you go.”
Her heart fluttered wildly. “You probably have a whole collection of shadow women waiting for you wherever it is you come from.”
He gave a low chuckle, his mood finally brightening. “Hardly. I am a shadow guard. That doesn’t allow much time for socializing with females.”
“So there is no special shadow waiting for you back home?”
“Would I have spent the night making love to you if there was?”
She shrugged. “I know a lot of men that would have.”
“I’m not like your ex, Elena. When I finally choose a mate I will take care of her forever. And that means remaining faithful to her both mentally and physically.”
“Why can’t all human males be more like you?” she said with a sigh.
“I’m sure there are some out there.”
“You think? I’d like to know where they’re all hiding then.”
“Whatever you do, Elena, don’t give up hope of finding happiness. Let your past go and give the future a chance.”
“I’m not sure I can,” she answered honestly.
“I will give you time alone to dress, but leave the door open. We can talk more while you have your breakfast.”
She watched him go, wishing Dariun could stay with her even after the moon phase ended. While they could never have a normal go-out-on-dates kind of relationship, they could be together physically and emotionally in private. She could deal with that.
Dariun wanted her to move on. How could she? Despite his assurance that there were good men out there, she had no intention of getting into another relationship with any of them. And Dariun, being the loyal shadow guard he was, would be obligated to leave her when the time came. But it also meant she would have to prepare herself to face the loneliness once again.
* * *
“I hope it’s to your liking,” Dariun said as he slid the plate filled with a ham and cheese omelet and a sliced apple in front of Elena.
“You made me breakfast?” she said, staring at the plate.
“I understand ham and cheese omelets are a favorite of yours.”
She turned away with what sounded very close to a sob.
“Elena?”
“I’m okay,” she said, waving away his concern. “I just need a moment.”
What had he done to upset her? Dariun moved around the breakfast bar to stand beside her. “If you’d like me to make you something else...”
She shook her head, sniffling softly. “No, it’s perfect.”
“Perfect doesn’t make one cry.” He reached out to stroke her long hair.
Wiping a tear from her cheek, she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure where the tears came from.”
“I think you do,” he said, needing to know what he had done to bring about her sadness. “Talk to me, Elena.”
“It’s just that no one has ever done this for me.”
“Made you breakfast?”
“Or lunch or dinner for that matter,” she replied. “It touched me as corny as that may be.”
“It’s not ‘corny’,” he said, grinning at her choice of words. He settled onto the kitchen barstool beside her. “You should be taken care of this way every single day.”
“Thank you...for everything.”
He gla
nced at her plate with a grin. “I would save your appreciation until after you’ve tasted your breakfast.”
Reaching for the fork lying next to the omelet, she cut a piece away and brought it to her mouth. It was delicious.
“Mmm…” she moaned as she chewed. “For someone who doesn’t eat, you cook a mean omelet.”
He laughed. “I take it that it meets with your approval.”
“Very much so. Dariun...”
“Yes?”
“Where do shadows come from? Are you born that way?”
“Some are created between to shadow mates,” he replied. “Others are humans that have been ‘turned’ into shadows by necessity. Like my brother and I.”
“What do you mean?”
“Being ‘turned’ is what happens when a human life is compromised before fate intended it to be.”
“How can anyone know what fate intends?”
“A shadow knows. Most of the humans that have been ‘turned’ were ones caught up in the battle between the shadow guards and rogue shadows. If a rogue shadow causes a fatal injury to the human, the shadow guard must take that human’s life force before the rogue shadow can extract it for evil purposes.”
She shuddered at the thought.
“I shouldn’t be telling you this,” he surmised.
“No, I want to hear it. Need to hear it to better understand what’s happening to me.”
“Enough about me,” he insisted. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I thought you knew all there was to know about me,” she said as she plucked a slice of apple from her plate.
“I do,” he admitted. “But I’d still rather talk about you.”
“That’s not fair. You know everything about me and I know almost nothing about you. You mentioned having a brother. What’s he like?”
Dariun fell silent.
She paused mid-bite. “If you’d rather not talk about him, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s alright. Tebolt is younger than me, and the most...let’s say demanding of the two of us.”
“So he’s bossy?”
“Slightly, but that’s not always a bad thing. It will make him a good leader. That is if...” his words trailed off.
“You will find him,” she said softly. “I know you will.”
“I hope you are right.”
“Is he like you? Other than being bossy, which I might point out you yourself have a tendency to be.”
“He’s a little more jaded when it comes to relationships than I am thanks to his having had his heart broken when we were young Romans.”
“Romans?”
“We were once human like you. Both dying shortly after Marcus Aurelius took the throne in 161 AD.”
“AD?” she gasped in disbelief. “You’re that old?”
He chuckled at her surprise. “I’m immortal now so age means naught. But if it makes you feel any better I am the age I was when I died – thirty-one.”
“How did you die?”
“In battle. My brother died trying to save me.”
“How did you both become shadows.”
“Like you, I had survived a near death experience before the war. After months of recovery, I was more than ready to get back on my feet and fight by my brother’s side. Only when I joined him in battle, a rogue shadow attacked me. It was the morn after a Blue Moon and he was hell bent on stealing my life force. Tebolt couldn’t see the rogue guard just as no other can see me but you, but he sensed the need to protect me from things unseen. Angered, the rogue guard went after us both and would have taken both of our life forces had Andar not arrived to fight the rogue guard.”
“I take it Andar is a shadow guard like you.”
She was full of questions. But that was alright as she’d remember nothing once he left. “Was,” he answered. “Andar is the Shadow Warrior commander now.”
“Tebolt and I serve under his command.”
“I know your brother is missing. What happened, if you don’t mind my asking?”
He debated telling her, not wanting to frighten her with the possibility that things could and sometimes did go wrong. Then again, her being afraid might be a positive thing. Fear strengthened the will to survive.
“Tebolt was sent in to protect another human’s life force only days before I was assigned to you. Something happened. I don’t know what. All I know is Brakkar managed to vanquish my brother to his realm.
“And the human?”
“Her life force is undetectable.”
“Meaning Brakkar killed her?”
There was no missing the fear in her voice. It was what he wanted, yet now he regretted telling her. “He won’t get past me.”
How Brakkar had gotten past Tebolt was beyond him. His brother was good at what he did, recognized as one of the sharpest of the Shadow Warriors.
She turned, her gaze meeting his. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
Her faith in him had him wanting to gather her in his arms and kiss her. “I won’t let you down.”
She placed a comforting hand on his arm. “I can only imagine how hard it must be not knowing what happened to your brother, or if you’ll ever see him again.”
“I have not given up hope of finding Tebolt and Treynor. I know where Brakkar has taken them and when I finish here I intend to go in search of my brother and my friend.”
“To the rogue guards’ realm?”
“How will you get in there without getting caught?”
He was still working that part out in his mind. “Where there is a will there is a way.”
“What will they do to you if they catch you?”
He shrugged. “It matters not.” What mattered was that he would do his damnedest to get his brother and his friend back before they have been turned.”
“How can you say that? It matters to me. Dariun, what will they do to you?”
She wasn’t going to let it go. “Torture me,” he replied with a frown, “before finally trying to turn me.”
“Make you one of them.”
“Yes.”
“And if you don’t turn?”
“Then they will eliminate me. The same goes for Treynor and my brother.”
* * *
Anther day passed without any sign of Brakkar. Not his usual method of hunting down his victims Dariun thought with a frown. Brakkar liked to play cat and mouse games with the humans he was stalking before attempting to take their life force. Just as he had done on the beach that first night.
Dariun glanced across the room to where Elena lay curled up on the sofa watching television. A floral throw in shades of pink and green covered her beautiful body. The same warm, willing flesh he’d made love to the first night.
Somehow he’d found the will to keep from touching her sexually again. Maybe it was her reminder that Tebolt had failed his human. He didn’t want Elena to meet the same fate. And to do so, he had to remain focused on his duty. So they had spent their time talking and learning more about each other. Things he would always remember, unlike Elena whose memories would be wiped away. Maybe that was the reason he felt so secure in sharing parts of himself with her.
He watched her, trying so hard to keep her eyes open and failing miserably. He understood her refusal to give in to her exhaustion, but she needed her rest. Crossing the room, he knelt next to the sofa. “You’re tired.”
“No, I’m not,” she protested sleepily.
Ignoring her denial, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
“I don’t want to go to sleep,” she said, clinging to him. “If I do then tomorrow will come.”
“The morrow will arrive no matter, Elena.”
Her Shadow Warrior Page 4