Eliana

by Evey Brett

  He shoved Evan against the wall and stalked out.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Eliana was doing dishes in the kitchen when someone knocked at the door. Before she could move, one of her cousins was already racing to see who it was. Visitors to see her aunt were common, so she wasn’t particularly concerned or interested. The voices carried well enough to let her eavesdrop.

  “Are you here to see Auntie?” her cousin asked.

  A familiar male voice answered. “I’m looking for Eliana. Is she here?”

  She almost dropped the plate she was drying. Damn it. What is Dane doing here?

  Lenny, one of her aunt’s young adoptees, piped up. “Eliana’s our new sister.”

  “I’m glad she has a little brother like you. I don’t suppose you could run and tell her I’m here, could you?”

  Moments later, Lenny pounded into the kitchen and hooked a finger in her belt loop. “Ellie! There’s a white man at the door asking for you.”

  She dried her hands on the towel and let Lenny tug her to the door. By the time she got there, she had no less than four youngsters crowding around to see what would happen.

  She was prepared to be angry at Dane, but when she saw him, her anger turned to worry. He looked awful. His hair was unkempt, dark circles ringed his eyes, and he twitched as if deeply agitated.

  Even so, she kept her voice sharp. “Dane? You have a lot of nerve coming here.”

  “I’m sorry. I should have called first, but…” He nodded at the kids. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

  “Auntie’s study. It’s the only room in the house the children don’t go without asking. She’s on a house call and won’t be back for a while.”

  “House call?” Dane asked as he followed Eliana inside. Besides the four kids trailing them, they passed four more in the kitchen, all teenagers with heads bent over books.

  “She visits those who need her. When I’m ready, I’ll go with her.” She’d already experienced some of Joanna’s medicine, or perhaps it was simply the feeling of safety and belonging. She no longer used the cane unless she went for a long walk and had gained enough weight that her bones didn’t stick out quite so badly.

  Dane evidently agreed. “You look good.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled and held the door open for him to enter and shooed away the children. The room smelled of sage, sweetgrass, and dozens of other herbs her aunt kept on hand. She was comforted almost instantly, but Dane remained twitchy and nervous. “Now tell me why the hell you’re here. If Kon sent you to apologize, you can turn right around and leave.”

  “I have a question.” He rocked back and forth on his feet, clearly uncomfortable. “Have you been having dreams?”

  Her stomach twisted. Dreams. She didn’t want to think about them.

  “I mean…involving Kon. And me. Sexual dreams.”

  So he’s been having them too. She didn’t want to think about what that meant. “Spit it out, Dane. Why are you here?”

  “His father sent a package. Drugs. Kon’s been taking them and they’ve had some side effects. He’s projecting his fantasies while he sleeps. I’ve felt it, and I bet you have too.”

  This news just added to the certainty that Kon had powers she didn’t want to be a part of. Now he wasn’t only fucking in people’s heads awake—he was also doing it while asleep. “And this has what to do with me?”

  “He’s sick. Maybe dying. He needs you.”

  She couldn’t stop the shudder that gripped her from head to toe. “If you think I’d do anything for a pervert who digs around in people’s heads, you’re as fucked up as he is.”

  Dane unzipped his backpack and pulled out a thick manila envelope. “Don’t be vile. If you want to understand why he’s the way he is, read this.”

  She looked at the pile of papers. “I don’t have time to—”

  “Read it. I’ll wait.”

  Eliana seated herself on the stool at her aunt’s workbench and opened the envelope.

  Photos spilled out. Several were of a man in a Nazi uniform. One was of a beautiful teenage boy she recognized as Kon.

  Curious and even more uneasy, she removed the rest of the papers from the envelope and skimmed through them. Most of the information she found was horrifying, detailing the drugs and experimentation Kon had endured at the hands of his father.

  The notes and letters at the end truly tugged at her heart. Most of them were written by a woman named Luisa, who’d evidently been Kon’s teacher, mentor, and one of his few friends. One letter in particular caught her attention.

  Today is Kon’s eighteenth birthday. As expected, he asked where his father was. As usual, I wasn’t allowed to give him an answer. It’s no surprise as to what spurred this request. The boys marked his gym locker with another swastika, then jumped him and dragged him off to a linen closet for yet another beating, all the while shouting vile epithets about his father along with “angel face” and “son of a devil and a demon.” The offenders have been dealt with, but this is yet another blow to Kon’s psyche. He’s grown used to the idea that no one cares for him except me. I brought him a cake and candles. I saw the tears despite his attempt to hide them. He’s changed so much from the frightened, naive young man I brought here four years ago, though he still has a great deal to learn.

  I implore the Council to tell him the truth. Let him speak with his father and see what kind of a man Viktor Jäger is with the new perspective he’s gained. If you’re afraid he’ll turn into a criminal like his father, you needn’t worry. Kon has seen for himself the cruelties of mankind—of our kind. He wears bruises on his skin and heart. The former will heal. The latter will fester until he receives the answers he needs.

  For his sake and mine, let him at least speak with his father.

  Sincerely,

  Luisa Rosetti, Warden and Sensitive

  When Eliana turned over the last page, she looked up to see Dane dozing in a battered easy chair. He twitched as he dreamed, but the expression on his face worried her. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant. “Dane? Dane, wake up.”

  He jumped. He opened his eyes, shook his head, and rubbed his face. “Damn him.”

  “Another dream?”

  Dane nodded absently. “We were on a pirate ship. You were lashing him for some infraction or another while he gave me a blowjob, and then we were going to string him up from a yardarm.” He gazed at her and grinned. “You looked damn good as a pirate wench.”

  Mechanically, she put the papers into a neat pile, overwhelmed by everything she’d read and not wanting to think about being anybody’s wench. “I’m glad I’m still awake.”

  “Did you get through it all? Do you understand now?”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that he made me feel what he did.”

  “He’s a healer. He can’t make you feel anything. All he can do is restore the energy flow in your body to help it heal itself better. Anything you felt came from inside you.”

  For a moment, she felt the spark of hope that he was right. Then denial struck hard. “That’s not possible. The doctors couldn’t do a damn thing.”

  “That’s because your average doctor doesn’t believe in woo-woo stuff. Kon does. He lives it. That’s what he is, and bless his well-meaning little heart, he did it because he loves you.”

  The observation made her choke. It didn’t make sense. They barely knew each other. She came from nothing, had nothing to offer except a battered, broken body—a body Kon had evidently tried to heal. Her head might insist that all this—incubi, cambions, and Kon’s Sensitivity—was irrational, but once she paused long enough to think about it, her body knew the truth. She could feel. Kon had done what doctors, counselors, and others had told her wasn’t possible—and he’d done it without force or manipulation.

  Dane trembled as he rose and had to use the chair’s arm for support. He steadied himself, then walked over to her. “Look. I understand if you don’t want to come. That’s fine. But I have to get back and t
he sooner the better. I don’t like leaving him with Evan when he’s ill.”

  “If he’s so sick, how the hell am I supposed to help? I’m no doctor. I didn’t even finish high school.” She’d dropped out her senior year, both because her first pregnancy had made her too ill to attend and she’d had to scrounge money and food for her siblings.

  “Formal education isn’t always a good measure of someone’s intelligence. All you have to do is be there. Kon’s found something in you that he responds to. I know what it is. You and I have something in common, more than just Kon. I saw it in your eyes that night you watched us. I think you can feel it in the dreams too.”

  He was right. Other than the first, she’d hadn’t felt afraid or uncomfortable in those dreams. There was no violence, no anger, only pleasure and deep sexual satisfaction by the end. All three of them were happy. They fit. Some part of her wanted to experience such closeness in real life. “I can’t. I just found my family. Auntie needs my help.”

  “We’d never, ever keep you from your family. It wouldn’t be more than a few days, and I’ll bring you back. I swear.”

  If the dreams were anything to judge by, the visit would be longer than a few days. Kon’s longing for her had been palpable—and the feeling had been mutual.

  “Please, Eliana. I don’t know how long I—he—can hold on.” Dane didn’t look directly at her. His gaze kept darting to different parts of the room. His hands shook. Perspiration glistened on his cheeks, despite the room’s relative chill.

  His appearance reminded her of the times she’d see her mother going through withdrawal, only she doubted Dane’s symptoms were drug-induced. “Are you sick?”

  “Not sick.”

  She found herself inexplicably drawn toward him, needing to protect him from whatever bothered him. She rubbed his arm. A strange, electric tingle emanated from him just like it had the night he kissed her, only this time there was an active sexual undercurrent. “It’s your demon, isn’t it?”

  He flinched at her touch. “Don’t. Please. I don’t know how much longer I can keep it in check. If we hit the road now, I should be all right.”

  The enclave in Rapid City was nearly an hour away, and Dane didn’t look as if he could last another five minutes. “I’ll call Sam. Maybe he can find a Warden for you.”

  Dane shook his head. “A random surrogate is fine for some cambions, but not me. Since I’ve met Kon, I hate sex with strangers. It makes me feel so…used.”

  She could relate to that sensation. “What about me?” The offer was out of her mouth before she’d had a chance to ponder the consequences. She didn’t see any other options, and in a way she’d already had sex with Dane…and enjoyed it. She was more than a little tempted to experiment further.

  Dane gaped at her. “Eliana. The offer means a lot, but I can’t. You don’t understand what could happen if I lose control.”

  “Yes I do. Kon told me everything. I accept the risk. Besides, I can’t drive, and I’m not getting in a car with you in this condition.”

  A trickle of sweat glistened on his cheek. “All right. Fine. Where?”

  Sating a demon in her aunt’s study seemed sacrilegious, and she had no idea where she was supposed to find privacy in a house full of youngsters. Anxiety pounded at her. “Let’s go to your car. There’s a stand of trees at the end of the road. No one will bother us there.” She took his hand and led him past the children. “My friend and I are going for a drive. We’ll be back in a while, all right?”

  They went outside followed by a chorus of, “Oooh, Ellie’s got a boyfriend!”

  Before they got in the car, he grabbed her arms. “Why are you doing this? I want the truth.”

  She met his gaze, seeing once again the fiercely protective man. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

  “That’s all?” His voice cracked.

  It wasn’t all, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him how much he and Kon meant to her.

  “Eliana. If you don’t have feelings for Kon, I need to know, and I need to know now. He’s depending on both of us. Our love is his key to life. If you’re only doing this to prove yourself, then go back inside.”

  “Dane, I…” She knew what he meant. In the dreams, it was the three of them. She and Dane loved Kon…and each other.

  His grip tightened hard enough to leave bruises. “I know what he did wasn’t right, but you broke his heart. Made him question everything he is. If I wasn’t sure he needed you, I would have let you go.” He growled and slapped the side of the car. “Damn you.”

  “I was afraid.” It wasn’t an excuse, but it was all she had. She shivered, watching her breath form in the frigid air. “You want the truth? I want Kon so badly he’s in my head all the time, with or without the dreams. All I want is for him to touch me again but at the same time, I’m scared to death.”

  “And me?”

  Dane trembled, but it had nothing to do with the cold. Trails of steam rose from his sweat-slicked skin. Eliana stroked his stubbled cheek, feeling the tension within him. “I do this willingly because I adore and respect you. I do it for Kon, so the man he loves will be well enough to take care of him. At least, he will be if he gets in the damn car before he freezes his nuts off.”

  Grinning, Dane opened the passenger door for her before going around to the driver’s side. As he pulled out of the driveway, he said, “I’m a Dom. I feed on being a Dom. Though if it helps, it’s in my best interest to make sure you enjoy yourself. If you don’t, my demon can’t feed.”

  “If you think I can’t handle it, go jump in the river. It’s mighty cold this time of year.”

  Mouth tight, Dane nodded. By the time he’d driven to the trees and parked, he was trembling badly. He left the car running for the sake of the heater but double-checked to make sure the parking brake was on. They slid the front seats up as far as possible and climbed into the back. “What about your hip?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  Despite her admonition, he made sure she was situated so her bad leg was against the seat and less likely to be twisted around accidentally or otherwise. “Funny. I feel like we’ve done this before,” Dane said. He brushed her hair behind her back and traced the curve of her neck, sending a shiver of anticipation straight to her gut.

  “Me too.” Dane treated her like a treasure, seeing to her every comfort despite his growing distress. She clasped his face, bringing it close to hers so their foreheads touched. She’d lied to him a few minutes ago. This encounter was indeed to prove to herself she could handle intimacy, both physically with her battered body and mentally. She’d been afraid giving up control would be terrible as it had been with her stepfather—filthy, rough, and demeaning. But Dane was different. She trusted him. The last traces of fear faded. “Let go,” she whispered.

  He did. The barely contained sexual energy from earlier transformed into a torrent which drew an answering tingle from deep inside her. His eyes turned wild, the brown irises now shot with streaks of orange dancing like flames. His scent became sharper, almost intoxicating in the way it lured her closer.

  Dane merged with a demon was far fiercer than Eliana had expected. The comparison to a cat—a muscular jaguar in particular—became all the more evident in the way he sniffed and kissed her exposed skin and in the sleek movements surprising in the midst of such cramped conditions. He was hypermasculine, a purely sexual creature driven by physical need. Yet some part of his humanity remained to focus on her arousal.

  “Strip.” His voice was low and hoarse.

  Without question, she pulled off her sweater and bra, glad the windows had fogged up even though discovery wasn’t likely. Dane’s gaze roved across her skin, giving her the eerie feeling that he, like Kon, knew more about her than he said. “Are you a mind reader too?”

  He clamped a hand over her mouth and pinned her head against the window. “Hush. Do as I say. Remove the rest. Now.”

  Taking off her clothes was a difficult proposition
considering Dane didn’t let go. In the end, he had to help by jerking off her jeans and panties—though not so roughly to cause her pain. She sat naked and at his mercy, unable to hide anything from him.

  With his free hand, he caressed her bare skin. “Your aunt’s been feeding you well. You’re all…curvy.” He softened when he reached the scars on her belly, tracing each thick line before bending down to kiss it.

  She doubted a week of good food had made that much of a difference, but she was moved by his gentleness. He freed her mouth, but before she could speak, he covered it with his. Just as before, the kiss melted her from the inside out.

  Dane carefully slid her down until she lay on her back, knees together and bent. He knelt awkwardly between the seats and reached under her legs and caressed her thighs, fingers ticklish and warm. “Open for me.”

  Since she couldn’t stretch out, she had to settle for resting her good leg on his shoulder. His gaze lingered between her thighs. She closed her eyes, embarrassed by his interest. “How bad is it?”

  The words were barely out before he once more covered her mouth with his hand. “Don’t speak until I say. And don’t you dare ridicule yourself. You’re gorgeous. These,” he said, tracing her scars, “are beautiful. If you want to dominate, you have to accept your body as it is, flaws and all, and make them your strength.”

  She wanted to protest that he certainly didn’t seem to have any physical flaws, but he didn’t let go of her mouth. He stroked between her legs. A throbbing spike of heat radiated from deep within her body—the same thing she’d felt with Kon lying naked beside her.

  And since he wasn’t here, she couldn’t blame him for causing sensations she’d never expected to feel. They were hers and hers alone. Tears leaked from her eyes.

  Dane gently wiped away the wetness. “If we were elsewhere, I’d tie ropes so that every move would keep rubbing you right about…here.”