Shades of Darkness (Redemption Series)

by Price, Melynda

  Olivia smiled up at him, dipping her fingers past the waistband on his low-slung jeans, and arched her brow flirtatiously. “You’re not gonna make me get on my knees and beg, are you?” She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue, unfastening the button, and bent to kneel. “Because I will…” she teased.

  Before she could go any lower, Liam grabbed her arms and lifted her up...and up, until her feet left the ground. He held her suspended in the air, where face to face, she met his burning sapphire gaze.

  “No regrets,” he rasped with fracturing restraint.

  “No regrets—” she promised again.

  The second the words left her mouth, Liam swung her into his arms and kissed her. Without breaking stride, he carried her to the bed and covered her body with his. Olivia abandoned all rational processes, no longer thinking, only feeling…feeling the heat of flesh-covered steel as his massive size dwarfed her, pressing her deep into the mattress. His reverb hummed inside her veins, growing stronger with each desperate stroke of her hands. He must have felt it, too, because he caught her wrists in his hand, trapping them above her head. “Don’t touch me,” he warned, whispering against her mouth. “Otherwise, I won’t be able to control it.”

  “I think you’re trying to torture me,” she purred.

  “Sweetheart, I haven’t even started yet.” He kissed her neck, dragging in a slow, deep breath. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, how much I’ve craved your scent in my lungs, your taste on my tongue… I love you, Olivia, always and forever.”

  She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck, to hold onto him and never let go. But she couldn’t move. His grip was gentle, but unyielding. “I love you, too,” she vowed. “Always and forever…”

  He stilled above her, lifted his head and looked into her eyes with a fiery intensity that ached all the way to her bones. “I want you, Olivia, but I’m so afraid of hurting you.”

  Did he mean physically or emotionally?—perhaps both? “I’m not afraid,” she whispered. “No regrets, remember?”

  Searching her eyes, he nodded briskly and took each of her hands, wrapping her fingers around the spindles of the headboard. “Don’t let go,” he instructed her.

  Olivia hung onto the headboard, watching as he unfastened the straps of her dress, easing it down over her breasts, past her hips, thighs…ankles. His touch was hot, but not burning. His furrowed brow was the only evidence of his struggle to contain his energy. Her dress hit the floor, and his hands slowly traveled back up her thighs. “You okay?” he asked, casting her an uncertain glance. For a brief moment, she was worried he’d change his mind.

  Her heart thundered inside her chest, making her breathless. She tried to answer him, but her voice failed her. “Uh-huh… You?” was all she could manage.

  “So far…”

  They both knew what would happen if his control slipped and he let his energy go. At the very least, she’d be burned by it. Worst case scenario, she could die. All it would take was for his control to fracture and a surge of his energy to transfer into her. They were moving into uncharted territory here. If they didn’t proceed with caution—

  Liam slipped his thumbs beneath her panties and slowly pulled the scrap of lace down her legs. The black thong joined her dress on the floor. His gaze darkened, raking over her like a caress as he rasped, “You’re so beautiful, Olivia. I should be the one on my knees for you…” The awe in his voice humbled her. Never had she felt more loved, honored, and cherished than she did at this very moment.

  “Th…thank you…” she whispered as he took his time crawling back up her body. His mouth met hers in a searing kiss, his spicy scent growing stronger, more dominant as his energy spiked. “What about you?” she panted when his lips moved to her jaw and began trekking down her neck.

  “Uh-uh, pants stay on. It’s safer this way.”

  Safer maybe, but a lot less fun—especially for him. She was dying to touch him, to explore his body as he was now becoming reacquainted with hers. But her protest died in her throat, turning to gasps of pleasure as he kissed his way down her stomach. The lower he went, the hotter his touch became. He must have known it, too, because at the last possible moment, he let go of her hips and fisted the sheets beside her waist. As he repositioned himself, she quickly realized that his mouth was the only place his energy didn’t travel, and that revelation would have brought her to tears, if his mouth wasn’t bringing her somewhere else entirely different.

  Chapter Fourteen

  By the time Haden got back to the car, Rowen was already waiting for him, looking even more surly than usual. Of course, that gash across the right side of his cheek probably hadn’t done much to brighten his mood.

  “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, climbing into the car, trying to drum up some give-a-shit concern in his voice. But then, it was hard to pull it off with him grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Damn, he wished he could have been there to see that.

  “What the hell do you think happened?” Rowen snapped. “That asshole cracked me with his beer bottle. Son of a bitch is really fast,” he grumbled sullenly.

  Haden laughed. Well, not really. He hadn’t truly laughed since Anya, but it was close enough. “Really? I find that hard to believe.”

  “That he’s so fast?”

  “No, that he was drinking a beer. Do they really do that?”

  “You know, your concern is really touching,” Rowen snapped sarcastically. “Maybe next time you can keep him distracted and I’ll go find the girl, since your awesome tracking skills seem to be lacking. Or did you find her? Is she here? Did you kill her?” The snark in Rowen’s voice told Haden he already knew the answer to his question.

  He paused for a moment before answering. Save his pride or tip his hand—decisions, decisions… “No, I didn’t find her,” he grumbled. “Let’s get a room for the night. I need to blow off some steam. There’s a place on the edge of town I like to stay at when I’m in this area—the House of Night.”

  Hopefully, the prospect of some female company would keep Rowen distracted from continuing his search for Olivia—at least for a little while. Perhaps a couple bottles of whiskey wouldn’t hurt, either. He needed to get his hands on that stone before Rowen nabbed the female. Maybe the bastard was too stupid to realize what hung around her neck, maybe he wasn’t. Either way, Haden wasn’t willing to take that risk. He had too much time invested in this to fail now, and without that stone, his revenge would be nothing but a pipedream.

  “Why don’t you swing into the liquor store on the way out of town. With a bottle in one hand and a honey in the other, I promise you won’t be givin’ a shit about that little nick on your cheek.”

  ***

  No regrets… That’s what they’d promised each other. And Liam meant it—every word. He just hoped the High Court wouldn’t make a liar out of him. As he lay there watching the ceiling fan slowly whirring above them, the stirring breeze teased his senses with a melee of heady spice and vanilla-jasmine.

  Would the court discover the boundaries they’d breached tonight? It was hard to say. How did they know half the things they knew? Only time would tell if there would be consequences to his actions. But lying here with his female sleeping in his arms, Liam was hard-pressed to work up a convincing case of remorse.

  He loved this woman—he always had—he always would. He’d die a thousand deaths for her, and in the last three years, being separated from her, watching her with another man, it certainly felt like he had. This night was about so much more than the physical, although the intimacy with her had been incredible. It had been about them reconnecting, recommitting their love, solidifying their bond.

  Walking in that bar and finding Haden within an arm’s reach of her, had nearly stopped his heart with dread. This wasn’t the first time she’d inadvertently put herself in danger because she was mad at him, but he was damn determined to make sure it was the last.

  Rowen was a very real threat, one that needed eliminated—
the sooner the better. He wasn’t sure where the rest of the legion was, but it’d be wise of him not to wait until the odds were tipped in their favor before taking him out. And Haden… That bastard had a shot at Olivia and hadn’t taken it. Why not? The Dark Court had commissioned the hunter to track her for Rowen. Surely he, too, intended to kill her.

  Just the thought of how close that POS had come to touching her last night spiked his temper, the primal male in him churned with contempt. Instinctively, his grip on Olivia tightened and he tucked her closer to his side. She stirred, her eyelids flickering open and she looked up at him. Not even the haze of sleep could hide the verdant beauty of her gaze.

  “Mmm…” Her stretch reminded him of a content feline that had fallen asleep basking in the sun. “What time is it?” she whispered.

  He threaded his hand into her hair and pressed her head back into the nook of his shoulder. “It’s still early. I’m sorry I woke you. Try to get some more rest.” Dipping his head, he pressed a kiss to the top of her silky hair and inhaled her scent deep into his lungs. He wasn’t ready for the night to be over, forcing them back into reality. He much preferred to lie here, holding her in his arms while pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist.

  Unfortunately, reality had a nasty way of sneaking up on a guy and kicking him right in the balls.

  ***

  Haden let out an exhausted sigh as he climbed off the whore and flopped onto his back, the last bit of his energy completely spent. The springs of the worn mattress squeaked in protest beneath him. The ceiling fan whined as it blew cool air against his sweat-slickened flesh. The naked woman turned into him, curling against his chest and using his shoulder as a pillow. He shrugged her off—he hadn’t paid the female to cuddle.

  She didn’t take the hint. Instead, she stuck to his side like a leech. With the last bit of his energy spent on the whore, exhaustion outweighed his desire to push her away. He thought about telling her to leave, but that, too, required precious energy he didn’t have. As sleep quickly overtook him, he was back to the only place he’d ever truly wanted to be…

  “Haden, stop it,” Anya giggled, reaching up to pull another flower head out of her long black hair. She missed it, just as she’d missed the last dozen or so wildflowers he’d tossed into her ebony tangles as he lay in the grass a few feet away. He watched her as she picked herbs and placed them in the basket looped over her arm.

  His predatory gaze didn’t miss a single movement, nor did he fail to notice the elegant grace in which she sifted through the flowers and the grasses, searching for whatever had brought them so far away from her village. The swoop of her slender back and the flare of her hips didn’t hide the subtle change in her not quite so narrow waist. The change was barely perceptible, but he’d noticed.

  He noticed everything about Anya. He knew how many times a minute she breathed while she slept. He knew what she wanted when she arched her delicately shaped brow and smiled at him just so. He knew the scent of her hair, the velvety soft feel of her skin…and he knew she was pregnant. What he didn’t know was if she knew it, too. She’d yet to tell him, and he didn’t want to deny her the pleasure. So patiently, which was not one of his virtues, he waited for her to tell him the wonderful news. At least he hoped she’d find it as fantastic as he did.

  The woman…this amazing woman, was his one chance to finally find true happiness and have a life he never dreamed possible. Unfortunately, to have the fairy tale, he’d need to slay the evil dragon. For months he’d been off-grid, ignoring his repeated summons by the Dark Court. Each day he delayed, he played with fire. If he didn’t report back soon, others would come—for him…for Anya. But damn if the thought of leaving her, even for a little while, didn’t just about tear his heart out.

  He needed to go back, to see Gahn, the closest thing he’d ever had to a father, to petition his freedom and Anya’s immunity. But before he left, he’d have to tell her the truth about who and what he really was. Perhaps that had been the cause for his delay.

  Pushing the unpleasant thought aside, Haden pulled the top off another wildflower and playfully tossed it into her hair. A rainbow of flowers decorated her locks. She sighed and turned to give him a look of mock annoyance. She couldn’t hold the glower for long before her lush mouth curved up into a radiant smile, and when her dark brow arched seductively, his preternatural instincts lit up like a bolt of lightning.

  Without a word, she went back to her search for herbs, and meandered several more feet away. Like a lion stalking its prey, Haden stood, rising out of the grass, no doubt looking every bit the predator he was. Silently, he approached, moving in closer, waiting for the right time…

  Anya, focused on her new find, paid him no mind. As she sat her basket on the ground and bent to pick another herb, Haden unleashed his predator instincts and let out a playful growl as he leapt for her. He caught her around the waist, being mindful to handle her with care, and pulled her to the ground.

  A surprised squeal tore from her throat, followed by laughter, as she fell down on top of him. Her hair flew forward, surrounding them in a veil of midnight silk and wildflowers. Staring up into her dark mocha eyes, he raised his hand to tuck some of her hair behind her ear and said the words he never thought he’d ever say in his entire life. “I love you.” The whispered confession brought a startled gasp from her lips and tears to her eyes.

  “I love you, too…” She hesitated, looking as if she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure if she should. Decided, she took a breath and rushed out the words, “Haden, I’m with child.”

  So, she did know… He didn’t miss the hesitation in her voice, or the uncertainty wrinkling her brows. Was she worried he wouldn’t be happy?

  “We’re going to have a baby,” she added when he didn’t say anything.

  Like an idiot, he just stared up at her. Even though he already knew it, hearing her say those words still rendered him speechless.

  She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down anxiously. “Haden, say something…”

  He tried. He failed. The dry click of his throat as he swallowed was the only thing that broke the growing silence between them. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Will… Will you marry me, Anya?”

  Now she was the one speechless. Tears formed on the tips of her lashes and rolled down her cheeks as she stared down at him in open-mouth shock. The brackish rain fell to his chest in giant teardrops. The radiant smile that lit up her beautiful face made his heart stutter inside his chest. Truly, this is what it must be like to look into the face of an angel. Perhaps God had not forsaken him, after all, because everything he’d endured, all those miserable years, had brought him to this point—to this woman.

  For the first time in his life, he knew the true meaning of happiness. Anya had taught him to love. He reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek, collecting her tears and rubbingthe moisture between his fingers, savoring her joy. He could always sense her, was always aware of her through the power of his gift, but when he touched her…her emotions flowed into him like an electric current, raw and unfiltered.

  “Yes,” she finally answered, bending down to kiss him. “Yes, I’ll marry you!” she cried, crushing her lush mouth against his.

  He swept his tongue past her lips to drink in her briny kiss, and a carnal growl rumbled in his throat as she ardently met his hungry demands. She let out a startled squeak when he rolled them, pinning Anya beneath him, her lush body pressed against the floral bed of grass. Haden didn’t know how long they lay there, kissing, touching, letting the sun blanket their now bare flesh—time seemed to stand still.

  Looking back, that was the single best moment of Haden’s life. And for a few brief minutes, his life was perfect. Anya loved him, she’d agreed to marry him, and they were going to have a baby… What more could a male hope for?

  Perhaps that was why his subconscious kept bringing him back here to this moment. Or perhaps it was to punish him with memories of what he
’d had, what he’d lost—because if he’d known that moment was the beginning of the end, he would have done things very differently.

  “Haden,” Anya whispered breathlessly as he kissed her throat, tasting the rapid tick of her pulse.

  He didn’t want to acknowledge the spike of fear breaking in through her desire, or the needle of dark energy prickling up his spine. It was easy to cling to denial that this world was not about to come crashing in around him when his female was held so safely beneath him, every part of her consuming his senses.

  “Haden, do you smell that?” she asked, her voice edging with fear.

  It hit him the instant she spoke, every one of his preternatural senses coming online. He froze, every muscle in his body drawing tight. Haden pulled his mouth away from her throat and drew in a deep breath through flared nostrils, parted lips, taking it in through clenched teeth, past his tongue and into his lungs. Dread instantly filled every cell in his body. “It’s smoke…” he growled, leaping off Anya. Bending down, he pulled her up so quickly, she stumbled a step before gaining her balance. His hand shot out to steady her. “Quick, get dressed,” he commanded, tossing her dress at her and jerking on his pants.

  She cast him a fearful glace and quickly pulled her dress on. Her fear rent the air. The tang of bitter almonds was muted by the heady, sulfurous burn of Hell’s fire and damnation. Spinning around to face her, he grabbed her arms and gave her a small shake to make sure he had her attention. “Anya, listen to me. You have to run. Now. Just go as far as you can, as fast as you can, just run!”

  “I don’t understand! What’s happening?”

  “They’re coming for you! I thought I’d have more time! God, I’m so sorry— I’ve gotta try to stop them. Just run! Don’t worry, I’ll find you!”

  “Haden, who are they? What’s coming?”

  The raw fear in her eyes sucker punched him in the gut. “Hell is coming! Just run, Anya!”