Burning Ember (Eternals)

by Evi Asher

  “I know what taciturn means and I’m not taciturn.” Archer kept his eyes forward.

  “”Puh-lease. You are the typical strong, silent type or a gambler, with your cards close to your chest. Pick your cliché.”

  He looked over at her. “You think you are such a great judge of character?”

  She shrugged. “With the life I’ve had, I learned to read people fast.”

  “You learned to read humans, belan. You need to re-evaluate everything you’ve learned, because you are on a whole new playing field, now.”

  Archer turned onto the freeway and started west, just as he’d said he would.

  “Humans and—”

  “Eternals,” Archer supplied.

  “I knew that. There can’t be that big of a difference.” Scarlet was curious. If Archer was correct, he had taken away one of her greatest tools. She’d always used her ability to read people and their motives to her advantage. Surviving had honed the skill.

  “For the most part, I’d say you can read immortals the same way you’d read humans, but an immortal’s motives might be different.”

  “Example?”

  “Me, I’m not taciturn. I’m watchful.”

  “Quiet is quiet.” She looked out the window again.

  His voice dipped lower. “Don’t insult my intelligence, or your own. You know what I mean.”

  “So, spell it out.” Scarlet was being obtuse on purpose. This whole situation had her itchy in her skin, and she wanted to share her discomfort. Spiteful, yes, but a woman should be able to be a bit spiteful every now and then.

  “You think I’m being quiet because I don’t want to give you information and I want to keep you at a disadvantage.”

  “Duh.”

  “I’m being quiet because I need my senses focused on our surroundings. The minute we left the building, we became vulnerable, and I’m an eternal male in protection mode.”

  “Protection mode, is it?” She threw his words back at him. “You can give me more of the plan and still protect me.”

  He laughed without real humor. “Belan, you have a lot to learn about immortal males.”

  His laughter caused her hackles to rise and Scarlet wanted to yell at him. She settled for a monotone. “So, educate me.”

  “Males will do anything to protect their females.” He didn’t even pause before saying, “Now sleep—we have a long drive ahead of us.”

  Her eyes flared at his words. No, she so wasn’t going to take those words to mean he considered her his.

  She opened her mouth to question him some more.

  He cut her off, leaned forward, and turned the radio on. Dubstep pumping through the speakers stopped her from saying any more.

  Maybe that’s for the best, she told herself as she leaned her head against the window and stared out at the passing scenery, watching the cityscape give way to fields.

  They traveled through the night. The radio prevented any chance for conversation—or was that interrogation—so Scarlet watched him as he drove, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the songs.

  * * * *

  When the first feint tinges of dawn painted the sky, Archer pulled the SUV into a motel truck stop combination.

  He parked in a space at the entrance of the office building. A dilapidated sign proclaimed Vacancies in sporadic neon.

  Archer felt like million buzzing insects were filling his body. The time in the car had been hell, her scent taunting his beast until he felt like the creature would go insane from wanting to take control of Archer. His damn inner wolf was restless because it was so close to the full moon, and he wanted to mark Scarlet as his. It had been an exercise in patience and calming to keep his beast in check.

  The fact that she wasn’t marked was something his beast wasn’t prepared to accept, but it was something Archer was not prepared to do.

  So the careful accord he and his inner monster had worked out all those years ago was teetering on the breaking point.

  “Come,” he ordered, and got out of the door.

  Scarlet’s eyebrow rose, but Archer ignored the expression. She should be damn glad she was getting ordered around instead of finding herself under him, filled with him and his name marking her collar bone, where he’d claimed her as his, for all to see.

  He suppressed a groan when that image hit his mind.

  “Are you sick or something?” Scarlet asked as she walked around the front of the SUV.

  He shook his head.

  “You just groaned and swayed…are you sure?”

  “It’s close to the full moon.” He climbed the three steps and pushed open the door to the office, with Scarlet right behind him.

  The old guy behind the counter stood and pushed his glasses up his nose while the TV blared in the background. “Good morning, and how can I help you?”

  “Single, please.” Archer smiled and put cash down on the counter. “One day.”

  “He means two rooms,” Scarlet told the old man.

  “No. I mean one room, for one day,” he told her, and turned to the old guy again.

  The old man looked from Archer to Scarlet, then to Archer again.

  “One day, you say. Well, sure thing. Here you go, just put your name and details down in this book. I’ll get the keys for you.” The glasses slipped, and the old man slid them back up his nose again.

  He turned and selected a key on a big paddle from the peg board behind him.

  “Room Thirteen, one of our best.”

  Archer suppressed the urge to snort. It was a flea bag motel, no matter which room you were in. He finished writing Benicio Del Toro into the book, then reached out to take the key from the guy and bumped into Scarlet, since she was leaning over him to read what he had written.

  “Last door on the end.” The glasses were pushed up again, this time with a smile.

  “Thank you.” Archer returned the smile, then snagged Scarlet’s hand before she could say anything about the name, and led her out the door to the SUV.

  “In,” he ordered.

  “Will you choke if you say, please?” she asked, then seemed to forget that question as he settled into the driver seat next to her. “Benicio Del Toro? Seriously? Isn’t that the guy who played the wolf man in that movie?”

  “Yes.” His monosyllabic answer must have annoyed her, because she blew out a puff of air.

  “Punny, I will admit, but why not use your real name?”

  He didn’t answer as he pulled into the parking bay in front of room thirteen. He went around to the back of the SUV and unpacked the duffels, taking three at once, then climbed the stairs to open the door to the room.

  “You need an invitation done in gold calligraphy?” Archer asked Scarlet who was standing next to the passenger side door.

  She walked to fetch her bag before going into the small dingy room. She eyed the double bed with apprehension.

  “I wonder if it has bed bugs.”

  “Don’t be so melodramatic. It’s not that bad a room. I’ve seen worse.” He deposited the last bag on the floor in front of an antiquated TV and went to lock the door. Then he did a circuit around the room, pulling the curtains closed, and checking the security of the place. “This will be fine for a day. One entrance means they can only come at us one way.”

  He made sure the small window in the bathroom was locked, then came into the room.

  “We’ll be leaving first thing at sunset. So get some shuteye.”

  “There is only one bed.” Scarlet pointed at the piece of furniture, as if she was saying the butler did it.

  Archer tilted his head, giving the bed an apprising look. “It’s a double bed. So you don’t want to share?” He was teasing her. There was no way he was going to let his beast share a bed with this woman. She’d wake up…well she’d wake up in an unexpected situation.

  Scarlet looked at him up and down as if deciding how much of a threat his massive body posed.

  “Relax, I’ll crash on the floor
,” he said before she could make up her mind to tell him no. He didn’t want her to reject him, even if it were for something as simple as sharing a bed with him.

  To sleep, he told his beast when heated images started playing around his mind. To sleep, you damn horn-dog.

  * * * *

  An hour later, Scarlet was lying on her back as stiff as a corpse in rigor mortis. She listened to the soft sounds Archer made as he rolled over on the sleeping bag he’d hauled out of one of the duffels he’d carried into the room.

  The presence of the sleeping bag confirmed her suspicions that he didn’t have any intention of giving her the privacy of her own room. It had to be that he felt guarding her meant he had to be in the same room as her when they slept. That was why Scarlet hadn’t pressed the issue of two rooms.

  She understood security was important and that was why he was keeping them moving. They were vulnerable now that they’d left the safety of Outsiders Inc. —and she hadn’t even told Archer about Geo’s dream intrusion. So she would shut up and do what Archer told her to do. She had to admit she felt safe with Archer near, but there was a problem.

  She was attracted to the man—no, male—in a in a way she’d never experienced before. She’d had a few lovers before, but the heat Archer created in Scarlet far overpowered anything she’d ever felt. Having to be in his presence constantly was awkward as hell.

  He rolled again, and some mean part of Scarlet hoped he was suffering with sexual frustration as acute as hers was. That thought almost caused her to laugh out loud.

  Who you trying to kid, chicky? He so doesn’t feel anything like that for you.

  She tried to point out to the voice in her head that he’d gotten hard around her more than once. She squirmed a little in the bed as the memory hit, causing a surge of wetness to pool at the juncture of her thighs. The voice in her head belayed that in a hurry, pointing out that Scarlet couldn’t compare a man’s natural instinct to real sexual attraction.

  “Spoil Sport,” she muttered aloud as she rolled, and punched her pillow, annoyed that her inner voice had just ruined an intriguing fantasy.

  “What was that?”

  Archer’s deep voice had goose bumps racing over her skin.

  “Nothing,” she answered, feeling her cheeks heat.

  “Sleep…you are gonna need it.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She decided not to point out that he wasn’t sleeping either, and curled up in a ball trying to relax her body so she could fall asleep.

  Scarlet was in a dreamscape that kept changing, first in the desert, then in an oasis, then in the mountains, with snow chilling her bare feet. Then the scape shifted again, and she was standing in the middle of a baseball diamond.

  She looked around trying to figure out what kind of weird dream she was having.

  “What’s with the musical landscapes?” Geo stood with his legs spread shoulder width apart, as if he were bracing himself for the shifting scenery. He had his fingers hooked in the loops of his belt, his blond hair blowing in an unfelt breeze.

  “You, again.” Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Didn’t I tell you to stay out my dreams?”

  “I’m sure you did, and I’m also sure I told you that wouldn’t be happening. So, how about answering my first question?”

  “Which question was that?” She was stalling, trying to wake herself up before Geo got a lock on their location.

  “Why are you shifting scenery?” As he spoke, the landscape changed again, this time to deep in the forest, a clearing that had her frowning with an eerie sense of déjà vu.

  “I thought you were doing it?” She plastered an innocent expression on her face and hoped like hell it worked.

  Geo’s response was to arch a perfect eyebrow, “You are lying.”

  “No. I’m standing.”

  “And that was childish, and beneath you.” He seemed to be getting annoyed.

  Scarlet was getting annoyed herself and put her hands on her hips to show it. “You don’t know me, so you can’t say what is beneath me. I never asked you to pop into my dreams and try and find me, and if you think I’d make it easy for you, you know even less about me than I thought you did.”

  His expression altered into something that made Scarlet take a step back. Not because he was scary, but because he looked like he was going to try to charm the information out of her.

  Geo was beautiful. Scarlet was not going to deny that, and as he moved closer, he oozed sex. His scent became something divine—a mixture of spices that made her body react even though her mind was screaming no.

  “You are going to tell me where you are, Scarlet.” He stalked closer, like a wild cat—all grace and boneless movement. “Focus baby, let me know where you are and I’ll reward you…”

  “With what?” She stepped back again. Had her voice just sounded breathy?

  She was going to bolt in a second, running as fast as she could, because if the angel touched her, Scarlet was afraid she might tell him where she and Archer were.

  Archer.

  With his name in her thoughts, his face appeared in her mind’s eye. The longer front of his dark hair caressing the sharp lines of his jaw re-ignited her courage. Geo would not win her over that easy. It wasn’t just her in danger—Archer was, too.

  “A kisssss.” The sibilant ess sounded elongated as Geo spoke the word.

  “Ha. More like a knife in my heart. No thanks.” Scarlet held her ground as Geo stepped right up to her, his body a breath away from melding to her curves.

  “Tell me.” Above them, the sky was dark with a million stars, and an icy wind blew off hard-packed ice at their feet. “Tell me where you are.”

  “No,” she said again, this time adamantly.

  Someone was growling. Scarlet could hear growling.

  “What is that?”

  Geo’s brow folded down into a dangerous frown. “I’m being forced away. How the hell is he doing it?”

  She watched Geo’s body get flung away from her, as if something had grabbed the back of his shirt and was yanking him backward at terminal velocity.

  “What the—”

  Scarlet woke up.

  Chapter Eleven

  Archer shredded the sleeping bag with his claws, sending PermaLoft flying all over the room. Then, he was up, his claw-tipped fingers curling, and his shoulders hunched. His beast was in full control as he scanned the room, searching for Geo. He could smell the Enforcer.

  Archer and his beast picked up the scent of Geo in seduction mode, and there was only one person Geo could be seducing.

  Scarlet.

  Archer found her on the bed where he’d left her, tossing and turning in the light. His glowing yellow eyes filled the room, and he could feel her fear.

  The beast launched Archer’s body on to the bed and straddled Scarlet’s form. He pinned her on her back so she couldn’t move. Archer lowered his head toward her neck.

  Geo’s smell was strongest right by Scarlet.

  “Dreams.” The beast spoke in a low growl thought Archer’s lips and then pulled forward a memory in Archer’s mind that he had forgotten long ago.

  Angels could dream hop, tracking their prey or charges through their dreams, and Geo was making full use of the ability to get into Scarlet’s head.

  Archer didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t as if he could climb into Scarlet’s dream and beat the shit out of Geo, something he was beginning to wish he could do as she thrashed with more violence in his arms.

  He was using a lot of strength to keep her still. He sent a fervent prayer up that she wouldn’t bruise, or she’d be wearing a nice purple and black shirt by tomorrow.

  “Mine!” his beast growled out. He kept using Archer’s voice, and that meant Archer was on the verge of completing the change to his wolf-man form. He knew he had his claws and he knew his eyes were glowing. He could feel his upper and lower fangs had shot out, and the skin itch was starting to get intense.

  Scarlet bucked under Archer, then said his name i
n her sleep.

  Archer wanted to scream in helpless frustration, which turned to panic as his claws disappeared into his fingertips, and his jaw got lighter as his fangs vanished.

  “What the fuck?” His beast was withdrawing, leaving him. This had never happened before in Archer’s life. Once his beast had started to emerge, he had to beat it back to get it to leave.

  He felt something rip inside of him. Archer’s back curved and his hands clawed at his breast bone where the intense pain radiated from, setting his skin on fire.

  Archer watched in awe as a glowing shape started to come out between his fingers. Shifting hues of blue raced through the creature as it took the form of the front half of a wolf. The back part of the wolf stayed buried in Archer’s chest as it paused and looked at him over its shoulder for a moment, its expression one of pain.

  Then, it turned toward Scarlet, its teeth bared in an ominous snarl, and Archer found himself pulled forward as the blue wolf dove into Scarlet’s body.

  He could still hear his beast in his head, its growl reverberating down his spine. With a sudden snap, the wolf emerged from Scarlet’s chest and disappeared back into Archer’s, leaving Archer to gasp in pain.

  Scarlet’s eyes snapped open and locked with his.

  There was shock in her gaze, shock that became heat as she looked down the length of her body and took in Archer lying on top of her. It was obvious she was getting aroused.

  He was still breathing hard from the pain of his beast’s return, but her sudden lust had him groaning and dropping his head to capture her lips in a kiss.

  God her lips are soft.

  He slanted his mouth over hers again. Unsure of his welcome, he was hesitant to force his way inside. Then, Scarlet opened her mouth with a soft moan that he felt all the way down to his cock.

  He didn’t wait for another invitation. He let his tongue start to explore the warm velvet of her sweet mouth.

  Soon, the kiss became almost frantic and he rolled onto his back. Ignoring the pain that still beat like a drum in his chest, he pulled her up into his arms. He’d never felt anything as wonderful as the feeling of Scarlet in his arms. It felt so right.