by Austin, RB
Mine.
Gabriel’s head banged into the wall.
“Sshh,” Emma said, pressing herself tighter against him. “Look at me, Cade. Only me.” When he did, she leaned on tiptoe and pressed her mouth onto his. Fire spread through his body. “Hold me. Take me to your room.”
He growled. A low, throaty sound laced with desire. Cade loosened his hand only to remember what happened last time.
“Let go.” Her voice was low and soothing.
Emma made eye contact with someone behind him. Her eyes widened and an emotion close to fear passed over her face. A growl erupted. Then her gaze was back on him. The emotion gone. “Let go,” she said again. “Wrap your arms around me. Take me to your room.”
Cade snarled a warning at Gabriel who’d stopped struggling a while ago, his face void of expression. He let go of Gabriel, clasped a hold of Emma with both arms and moved them across the room from Gabriel’s falling body. Sarid caught Gabriel before he could hit the floor. Cade swept Emma into his arms and strode past Martha and Jeeves.
Emma held onto Cade’s shoulders as he raced down the hall. The walls and paintings were blurred. Her heart pounded. Even now he mumbled under his breath. “Mine, mine, mine.”
He'd never intentionally hurt her. Of course, intentional was the operative word. Shit. His room loomed ahead. They crossed the threshold and he slammed the door. Alone. Far from the others.
Cade stopped in the middle of the room and stared at her with his glowing eyes and long fangs looking every bit the animal he claimed to be.
“Mine,” his voice deep, guttural, possessive.
“Yes,” she said, not because she didn’t want to argue at this moment about his attitude and the fact that this was the twenty-first century not the caveman years, but because on some level she agreed. She was Cade’s. Forever he’d own a part of her heart. And she trusted him. No matter what face he showed, he wouldn't hurt her.
“You’re mine,” he rasped and threw her on the bed. Emma bounced before his body covered hers. His fangs sunk deep into her neck.
She jerked then moaned as pleasure bloomed. Clenching fistfuls of shirt in her hand, she suddenly remembered. The burn! Cool air blew over her bottom. Her pants and panties circled her ankles. Emma kicked out of one leg. Cade clasped her thighs, lifted, and thrust into her. His pants had already vanished.
Emma groaned. Arched to drive him deeper inside of her. He continued to take deep long pulls at her neck as he drove himself into her again and again. Her core spiked in pleasure and she screamed her climax as it drove her over the edge without any realization she was heading toward the cliff. Cade lifted his head a moment later and bellowed as his seed rushed into her.
Coming back to reality was slow. Cold air wafted across her body as Cade lifted from her. She opened her eyes and after one glance at his expression her postcoital bliss evaporated.
He was back.
“Who was that man?” Emma blurted, before he could say a word. Anything to distract him from what she knew was coming.
“Who?”
“The one with the darker skin and scars on his face. Scary looking.”
“Sarid. My brother.” His voice was low, filled with emotion not related to their subject. “Don’t go near him without me present. He’s not always stable.”
She pictured Sarid’s cold, empty stare and his severely scarred features and shivered. “Don’t worry.”
Cade leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. His breaths were long, slow, and deep.
“Don’t do this to yourself. Please,” she whispered.
With a harsh laugh he jerked to a sitting position. “Do what Emma? Be ashamed for the way I took you, with no regards to your desires. I wasn’t even like this after the ceremony. I was still able to think of your needs. This time, I wasn’t. I took. With no regard to the blood I’ve taken from you before. With no thought to your pleasure.”
“I—”
“Or perhaps I shouldn’t be upset I put Gabriel back in the infirmary. It was bad enough he was in there because of me the first time.”
She lifted a hand to him. “Cade.”
Too fast for her eye to follow, he skirted her outstretched hand and was on the other side of the room. “You shouldn’t be near me right now.” He gave a hoarse cry. “You shouldn’t be near me at all. I don’t know when it might emerge. It! It’s not an It. The It is me. That was me.”
“I know, but—”
“I saw him on your bed, sitting next to you, laughing with you and I flipped. I wanted to kill him. My own ach. I wanted to squeeze the life from him for talking to you. What kind of monster does that make me?” Cade sank to the floor, hands fisted by his temples.
Emma detached the remaining pant leg and pulled on her panties before walking over to kneel in front of him.
Without lifting his head, the plea tore from his throat. “Don’t do this, Emma. For once listen to me. You need to get away from me.”
“You’re not a monster, Cade.”
He shook his head. “Just . . . stop.” The last word emerged hoarse.
Emma’s heart lurched. “You haven’t drunk from a human in a while, right?”
Finally he raised his head, unmistakable anguish in his eyes.
“Maybe drinking from a human is what caused the reaction?”
Cade studied her for a long moment, hope began to bleed over the pain in his gaze, but then it stilled and retreated. “Lucas and Gabriel never had this reaction.” He stood and was next to his discarded clothes in two strides. “Whatever the reason, it makes no difference. I’m a danger to you and everyone else until these urges are under control. It’s best if you stay away. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Emma pushed past the deep ache in her chest and walked to her pants. “You didn’t hurt me.” Stepping into the legs, she pulled them up. “I never for one moment was afraid you would. Not when I stood in between you and Gabe or when you brought me in here.”
“Emma,” he began.
She whirled. “No. You can hate yourself as much as you want for hurting Gabe. I can’t stop you but I won’t let you continue to believe you’ve hurt me or were ever going to hurt me. I gazed into your eyes back in that room and I didn’t for one second fear for my safety. No matter what form you’re in, you’ll never hurt me. And for what we did,” she gestured to the bed. “I enjoyed myself. Immensely. I understand you need time to get yourself under control, so I’ll go, but don’t you dare start to use me as an excuse for another imposed isolation. I wouldn’t recommend using Gabe’s injuries either. I learned how bad he was injured and how much he’d healed in a short time. I’m sure by now he’s fine. You’d be a coward if you choose to use these events as a way to punish yourself instead of living up to what you did and going on in spite of it.”
Emma stormed from the room, not looking back. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. All the way to her room they bounced in her head like a runaway Super Ball.
What a stupid, ass! A stupid, tall, dark, and brooding asshat. She wasn’t far off the mark when she compared him to Angel. Seriously, how many times did Buffy want to slap Angel across the face with her wooden stake and yell at him to get over it!
Her shoulders slumped.
Cade hadn’t said one word when she left the room. Nothing to stop her from leaving. Didn't he know the rules? He was supposed to stop her. To apologize for being an asshat.
She sighed.
Cade took his responsibilities very seriously. How can she come in between that? Saving lives was more important than their nonexistent relationship. If his feelings were new to him it was understandable that he'd be going crazy. Time was all he needed. Despite the fact she wanted to comfort him—yeah, that was obvious from the way she ripped him up one side and down the other—she'd give him sp
ace. He'd realized she was right.
In her empty bedroom, she sank down on the bed. What if he took this distance and let it run cold? What if he didn’t come back to her? She was leaving. Why would he reach for her when he'd just have to let her go? Her throat began to burn and she swallowed the lump that formed. That’s why he hadn’t stopped her from leaving.
Yeah, awesome job storming from the room. Maybe she should've reflected a bit before ending the conversation oh so dramatically? She swallowed again, pressed her lips tight together.
If she accused Cade of hiding she should point that finger at herself. It was easy to forget she didn’t have a job and a stack of bills, with a zero checking account balance, waiting for her. Along with a life hidden behind denials and lies.
Her fists clenched. The tears would not fall.
Storming over to her box of supplies, she grabbed two items. Back on the bed, she began to draw.
Chapter 15
Cade stood in the center of his room. The sound of Emma's door shutting reached his ear. It was more of a slam actually. Stepping into the hallway, his stride was purposeful. No hesitation. Cade had been a coward ever since he buried Sarah and left his wooden house for good. Guilt has been his shield. His so smart Emma.
No. Not his.
He reached for the earpiece in his ear. The reason, he now realized, how Sarid had known what was going on. Shame washed over him. This time it wouldn’t rule.
“Sarid?” No response. Must be shut off now. Was it after Cade hauled Emma away? Did Sarid also believe he wouldn’t have harmed her or was Emma’s life not important enough to worry about? His teeth snapped together in an audible click. Even though she was leaving, he'd make sure everyone in the HQ understood she was under their protection. Cade wouldn’t do it himself, of course. Too risky. But his achs would. His hands clenched into fists. This possessiveness would be extinguished with her memories. There could be no other option.
Cade found Sarid on the main floor in the surveillance room. “Let’s do this while we still have some night left.”
Andrew hit a couple buttons. “You’re on the board.”
Sarid fell into step beside Cade as they walked toward the garage. “Lucas left the grounds.”
Shit. “When?”
“Before you were with Gabe.”
“Right after the conference?”
Sarid nodded. “I viewed the surveillance tapes. He left through the pool exit. Still in full weapon mode. No cell phone. No SUV.”
“So no way to track his location.” Double Shit. “Change of plans. We stick close. A mile apart. Lucas is priority. We need to find him before he goes off the deep end again.”
“We should take my Hummer.”
Roomier. In case they had to bring him back here unwillingly.
Hours later, the sun on its way up, they arrived back at the HQ. Alone. Cade’s mood had grown even darker. They'd no luck finding Lucas, any Fallen, or the UF who attacked Gabriel.
Cade removed the earpiece from his ear as they walked in from the garage and handed it to Sarid.
“I’m heading to the infirmary. See if Lucas has returned. If he has send him to my wing.”
Sarid nodded.
The hallway to the infirmary was quiet. Cade stopped inside the doorway, unsure of his welcome. He had an idea, though.
The room was empty, scrubbed down and put back in order.
He was on the stairs heading back to the main floor when his phone rang. It was Sarid.
“Lucas is here. Arrived at the HQ about an hour and a half ago.”
“In time to come back and pretend like he hadn't left.”
“Yes.”
“Where’s he now?”
“Heading to your library.”
Lucas sat in one of the large, black leather sofa chairs inside the library. He stood when Cade entered the room. “How’d the hunt go?” His voice was eager, high pitched.
Damn, he was good. “I was going to ask you the same thing.” Cade crossed his arms over his chest.
Lucas’s gaze darted around the room before meeting Cade's. “What do you mean?” His forehead wrinkled.
Cade smiled, but it held no warmth. The tribal designs on his ach’s arms were still red. “Lucas, we’ve known one another for centuries. Your blood flows in my veins. We’ve fought the enemy side by side. Are we not past pretenses?”
The confused expression lingered for a few seconds before it disappeared altogether. “No. I didn’t find anything.” The words held a touch of anger. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want an apology until you mean it. Right now I need you on the straight and narrow.”
Lucas lifted his head, eyebrows drawn.
“I’m taking Emma home. I’d like you with me. Can you handle it or not?”
“Yes.”
Cade didn’t have enough time to be one hundred percent certain. If Lucas flipped, Cade would protect her. At this moment, he could view his possessiveness in a positive light. “Be ready in fifteen.”
Emma sat in back of a black SUV, heart pounding. For what seemed like the hundredth time she met Lucas's eyes in the rearview mirror. Although he was driving, his gaze hadn't seemed to waver from hers since they left. She glanced at the back of Cade’s head. He hadn’t made eye contact since they entered the car.
Cade had appeared in the bedroom doorway ten minutes ago. Relief had poured through her until she saw his expression. The man who’d stood in her room was not the same one she’d been intimate with.
Emma hadn’t argued or protested. She packed and accepted the bottle of oral antibiotics and verbal instructions without complaint.
The car wove down a long winding driveway. It was morning. They’d driven about two miles before the driveway dumped out onto an empty road. Emma peered out the back window. A large, heavy metal gate swung silently closed behind them. In the midst of trees she spotted a ten-foot high brick wall. As safe as Cade promised. Never really a prisoner. She shifted back in her seat. Lucas’s eyes were on her. Again. His probing stare seemed to analyze every breath she took.
Why was he here? Did Cade not want to be alone with her? Emma scoffed, realized she made the noise out loud and covered it with a cough. She avoided Lucas’s gaze, keeping her own glued to the window.
Emma hoped for at least one more day with him. Obviously that wasn’t gonna happen. She wouldn’t make a big scene. No crying or begging. She simply wanted to say goodbye, though. Privately. Without the watcher.
They drove for twenty minutes before Emma recognized the scenery. With the numerous turns and twists she wouldn’t be able to find her way back. Not like she planned to return anyway. Biting the inside of her cheek, she swallowed the lump in her throat. Lucas’s gaze swung to hers again.
Too soon the car pulled in front of her townhouse.
I’m not ready. Her goodbye wasn’t worked out yet.
Lucas and Cade opened their door at the same time. Cade walked to the back of the truck, not even glancing in her direction. Lucas opened her door. Emma stepped out, her hand tight on the duffle bag strap. Her gaze roamed the parking lot, stopping at the empty spot under the carport where her beat up red four door Camry should be. Crap. It was still at the bar. The city would've impounded it by now. Plus she’d dropped her purse in the alley. A new license and her car. Both would cost money she didn’t have. At this moment she couldn’t find the energy to care.
Tomorrow. There was nothing better to do, although she wasn’t sure what day it was or if the places would even be open. Her shoulders slumped. Again, didn’t matter.
Cade had her door unlocked and opened. Keys from the inside of her jacket pocket were now dangling in the lock. At least she still had those. Her easel was back in the same spot. The box of supplies next to it on the f
loor. It was all still the same. Nothing changed. Except her.
Her gaze traveled to the closet.
“Emma?”
Cade’s quiet inquiry broke her spell. His voice, his words were aimed at her, a tone close to normal.
Emma walked in, allowing Lucas to enter and shut the door. Were they staying? Expecting her to offer drinks? The milk probably expired. She didn’t remember what else was in the fridge. Lucas wasn’t looking at her, though. Cade stared silently back at him. Could they communicate telepathically? So many things she hadn’t asked.
Her breath increased. “Would you like something to drink?” She pretended her voice hadn’t sounded like a mouse caught in a trap.
Cade shook his head.
“No thank you,” Lucas said.
The room fell silent. Did anyone else notice her chest jumping with every heartbeat? “Thanks for the ride,” she said lamely. Hating the silence. Wishing they’d leave. Trying not to beg Cade to stay.
Cade headed to the door.
“You don’t have to leave right now.” Oh. He was walking to her, not the door. Emma released a shaky breath. Cade wasn’t leaving yet. He also wanted to talk. It was going to be okay. He'd miss her. Maybe they'd see one another on weekends. A few times a month. They didn’t have to part for forever. Who cared if she was human? They could still be friends.
Stopping in front of her, he cupped her face and bent close. He was going to kiss her. More than friends then. She didn’t mind it, in fact she wanted it, but he should tell his brother to go wait in the car.
His lips never brushed hers. Cade stopped too far away. Should she reach for him? Crane her neck a bit? He stared into her eyes . . . like he was trying to see right into her mind.
Emma stiffened. Slammed her eyes shut. She began to struggle. “Cade. Stop. No.”
Lucas was behind her. His hands grasped the tops of her arms. A loose grip holding her in place.
