Lily sent Joaquin a wealth of her love, and prayed he would understand. His tender touch was a gentle stroke on her thoughts, warming her and letting her know she wasn’t alone anymore. She pressed on, patiently stumbling as best as she could toward what would most likely be her last stand.
* * * *
Empty space mocked Joaquin. Each stretch of his mind returned to him with nothing, no answer, no sense of her, but he knew she wasn’t dead. He knew it with a certainty. He felt it in a way he found to be completely unexplainable and new. At first, he hadn’t understood Diego’s meaning, but now it lay like the broad horizon on his conscience. There was a presence only his soul recognized. A light, a touch.
It could only be Lily. She was not dead. A snarl curled from his chest when he broke through the canopy hiding her from his sight and saw why she could not answer. Two soldiers held her arms locked behind her. She was immobile and deeply buried under the weight of the man’s sick mind standing in front of her.
“Lily!” A flicker of an answer responded, but it was weak. The unknown man facing her staggered, rearing unsteadily and clutching his head as she bored into his eyes with her own.
“Kill her!” the gasping man groaned, desperate to look away, trying to move, but it was too late. He would not escape. Joaquin’s attack was quick, ending his life with a rage-induced spike of lightning perfectly aimed as he launched for one of the men where they held her trapped between them. He tore her free, twisting one neck, then reaching for the other before the first found the ground.
Lily collapsed into his arms. Harsh, ragged breaths rattled from her body when she was free. With a rippled shudder sweeping over her, her sweet eyes closed and didn’t open again.
Lifting her into his arms, he braced her fragile body against his and soared upward again. Racing for the mountains, he dipped and turned, spiraling downward through a thermal vent, escaping the world behind. There wasn’t time to waste, sharing his predicament with Diego as he fled into the mountains, his only concern being the woman in his arms.
Tucking her protectively against his body, he traversed the cracks until he found what he needed. A hidden cavern deep in the mountain. Slivers of starlight bounced off the crystals embedded in the walls, reaching the depths of the cavern with a flickering, faint hint of a silvery glow. A single spring fed pool lapped against the farthest wall. It wasn’t as secure as he usually would have wanted, but there wasn’t time to find that perfect place. It would have to do.
Her body was shutting down, exhausted beyond endurance. She was running out of time. He had to give her strength. Praying became a litany in his mind that he wasn’t already too late as he found a shelf to rest against, to sit down on and cradle her within the steel of his embrace. Her sleek body was limp with fatigue. “Please Lily, don’t give up,” he whispered anxiously into her ear. “Don’t give up on us.”
Ripping the collar of her blouse from the pale creaminess of her neck, he bit, foregoing the tenderness that had always made their time such a loving delight. Drawing deeply, he felt the hard shudder of her body, the reaction of her senses awakening to his invasion even if she wasn’t physically participating. With every dragging beat of her heart, he reached out for her, called to her, to bring her back to him. There was only silence. Terror was slicing through him even as he licked at her throat to seal the pinprick wounds.
Tearing his shirt away, he sliced his chest. “Take what you need, lovely. Don’t leave me. Not now, not ever,” he quietly pleaded with a wrenched sound in his throat. He raised her until her lips rested at the break in his skin where drops flowed between her lips.
With firm control, he coerced her to take a few sips at a time until she was willingly obeying the command to swallow. He gave until he couldn’t spare any more, easing her to lay cradled in his arms. Warmth suffused her cheeks first, giving the pale cast of her skin a new glow. Her chest rose and fell with less strain, her breathing becoming less haggard as the moments passed.
He had no idea how long he had before the final exchange would need to be completed. It took time for the fear of losing her to subside enough for him to become perturbed with her for being outside. He sat for endless moments doing nothing but watching her, studying her, enjoying the beauty of the woman, of her heart and her strengths as he held her in his hands. All the time envisioning as she had once done to him—his hands around her neck in frustration.
“What were you doing? Haven’t you suffered enough by these imbeciles?” He wasn’t expecting an answer, not yet, but he would get one. “You have got to be the most headstrong, determined woman I have ever met.” It was a muttered complaint, albeit, a mild one, too happy she was strengthening in his arms while he held her. “You have got to quit scaring me like this. I can’t take it,” he rebuked her tenderly.
“I knew I could find Tenorio through him.” Her voice was a gentle whisper, flowing over his ears like the sweetest music with renewed strength filling her.
“You went after Hawthorne?” Stunned, he was washed in at least a dozen different emotions. He hadn’t paid much attention. They’d all been dressed in green fatigues and army wear. Until then, he hadn’t even been positive he’d been among those in the attack. “Alone? Defenseless?”
She attempted a shrug, but all it did was push her deeper into his hold. “It was my fight.”
Joaquin froze, realizing without a doubt why she had done it. He should have known, given the chance, she would, but it didn’t take away the urge to keep her at his side for the rest of their nights together, by force or not, if she kept up with this kind of headstrong behavior. She had been reclaiming herself from them, finding that part of her they’d never had a right to have. Her spirit and soul. Curling around her, he brushed a tender kiss to her forehead.
“He is dead.” His words were flat. She didn’t acknowledge them, but he felt her relief. “Why, lovely?” Pressing against her, the cinnamon hint in her hair rose into his senses and he inhaled, needing to have her close, under his skin, to feel her light and know she was all right. He wanted to hear it in her words.
“Because if he got away again, he would return. He knew about you.” She shivered once, snuggling into his body like a feline in the sun. “I had no choice.”
“What were you trying to do to him?”
This time, a sense of satisfaction rose from her. “I didn’t try. I did. I stripped his thoughts. Anything that had to do with Tenerio, every plan, every location. There are more like us, but he had his own trials and experiments he was in charge of. If there are more, they are not a part of his experimental system. Unfortunately, he didn’t know as much as I would’ve hoped. We’ll have to look deeper.” Disappointment caved her shoulders in.
“Not right now. I’m not letting you anywhere near them, or anyone else for that matter.”
Lashes fluttered and exposed sparkling buckskin eyes. “There is more, but if he’s dead, most of what he knew died with him. Tenorio will be left in the dark about us.” A deriding smirk lifted one side of her lush mouth. “He honestly thought he could capture and then report, brag to prove what a leader and irreplaceable part of the cloning operation he was. Tenorio knows nothing about the loss of the compound or us. He feared the repercussion for losing me again. Tenorio didn’t take losing us well, apparently. Hawthorne was his kicking dog.” She sighed, curling and pressing more to his body. “At least Tabitha will be free. Hawthorne was her guinea pig. That’s why they held her for so long. They have to infuse regularly for the DNA mutations to hold, or their bodies reverse the mutation. None of the subjects have kept a permanent mutation.”
“Really?”
She nodded, a worried crease appearing over her unfocused eyes. “The mutations were working, though. They found a way to merge the DNA strains. That is something the others need to know.”
“They won’t quit,” he surmised.
“No, they won’t.”
Shifting, he moved her body up higher, leaning back to let her weight pre
ss into his chest. The taste of her skin drew him closer and he licked at her, teasing the fragrant spot behind her ear. She shivered in wakening desire. She relaxed more in his hold as the blood he’d given her began to heal her.
“It’s not pitch black dark in here.” Surprise in her discovery made him lift from his foray, enjoying the wonder in her expression as she absorbed the beauty of the cavern.
“There are vents and cracks allowing the stars to shine through. I know you didn’t enjoy being left in the dark before.”
Pleasure at his thoughtfulness warmed her eyes more. “I am feeling better,” she told him with a saucy, teasing laugh, running a finger over the naked expanse of his chest, putting the thought of where they were for the moment far out of mind. A whisper of unease rose then disappeared in her thoughts when she realized why she did feel stronger, but she didn’t hesitate, didn’t cease the motions of her fingers on his body, weaving a fiery trail in the wake of her touch. He worried over the coming minutes, but the delicate ramble of her fingers over his skin was making it difficult to concentrate. Luscious and pink, her lips parted with a seductive curve. Golden lashes lowered, sending another shot of desire through his bloodstream. She was an enchantress.
The wealth of red and cinnamon hair flowing over his arm swayed with slow motions as she breathed, dipped, touched. The delicate silk of her stroke on his skin was drawing fires to blaze beneath the skin. Resistance was pointless.
The taste of her lips against his was heaven. Sweet, succulent and ripe, he picked ambrosia kisses from their softness. Her hand wound upward, encircling his neck, holding him closer as she opened up for him. The swell of her breast lay like an inviting gift inches from his own fingertips. Holding her close, he slid his hand up her ribs, letting her fullness fit into his palm with a gentle seduction of his own. A slow, shivering moan slipped from between her lips and she arched, craving.
“Perfect,” he whispered before he stole another kiss.
The playful seduction faded away when one of her hands clutched at her stomach. “I don’t feel good,” she murmured. Frightened worry extinguished the budding passion from her gaze.
Joaquin’s body tightened. He knew what was happening. Cramping, muscle shakes, heated, stabbing aches. Sadly, it wasn’t anywhere near the pain of the transition to come.
“Relax, lovely. Let me help you. Rest.” Her lashes fell under the compulsion, helping to distance her from the coming sensations.
As her body twisted and tightened in his hold, he felt her heart race, pumping fiercely, feeling it between them with her almost skin to skin in his cradled hold. After several minutes, she gradually relaxed into a deeper sleep. Knowing what she would face, keeping her asleep was the best thing he could do for her, knowing the pain. It went deep, into the bones, into the blood. He had suffered it without a single second of surcease or aid.
Lily would have anything she needed, the best he could give to help her through the coming change.
Tipping his head back, he sniffed, studying the night with a calculated stare. There was time to finish it all tonight. The next time he rose, he would be holding her, where she was meant to be. Next to him. For eternity. Running his fingers through the hair framing her face, he pushed it clear, exposing the delicate shape of her face, the clean paleness of cream glistening from the sparkled refracted light. Faint pink warmed her features, like the blush of a spring flower. With reverent care, he bent and kissed every mark along her jaw, stealing away her pain, destroying it for the both of them.
The rippled shocks of the first change were fading away, leaving only the beat of her heart, the slow rise and fall of her chest as she rested, gathering strength. With every touch of his lips to her skin, he sent her wave after wave of his love. She would know no other pain, know no other abuse after the change. She would be cherished in ways she had yet to be introduced to.
Burying his nose into her hair, he held her like the precious treasure she was to him.
Sending his voice out into the night, he asked his friend, “All is well? Everyone is safe again?”
“It is done. David’s death has been a shock to Titania and the others.”
Joaquin understood. The magnitude of his loss to them all was in the hollow replies. Joaquin had seen the shock of loss and devastation on Tani’s face before he’d left with Diego to face the attack.
“We will both return tomorrow night. Together. I know Lily holds no blame against him. Neither do I.” He said those words, then realized he meant them truthfully. If Lily could forgive David, so could he.
“Your words are a comfort to us. Hopefully his sacrifice and Lily’s has bought us time to ensure our security. She is a strong woman, brave. It is good she has found someone who will protect and cherish her spirit. It gives us all hope.”
A blessing of friendship faded as the last well wish for the discussion from Diego, leaving Joaquin once again in the calming silence of the night. Together, they would share the information Lily had risked herself for. She had risked everything to learn what she had about the mutation DNA cloning, and the revelations were chilling, to say the least. The girls in the house were in even more danger than any of them had originally suspected if there had been success in the experimental efforts. It was Lily’s won battle that had garnered the information. It was hers to share.
Rising from the rock shelf with her still embraced tightly in his arms, he carried her to a flat area in the cavern. Directly beneath his feet stretched several yards of rich soil, soothing and cool for resting. It would be a perfect healing spot after the next exchange for her.
Lowering to his knees, he envisioned a thick blanket to touch her skin rather than the bite and chill of the dry earth. He had only his faith in his love, in her strength, and in Tani’s existence as proof she could survive what he was about to attempt.
Like the others, until Lily, until finding this group of oddly mismatched, yet perfectly melded, friends, he’d had no idea bringing a female into the Brethren was possible. What he was attempting with her was an act he had never once thought to do on his own. He was also prepared to join her if she could not survive it. Living for another eternity a second time without his love was an insanity he did not want to face. He locked his fear and doubt away when he laid her on the blanket. He could only have one focus now.
Ensuring she was comfortable, he laid down next to her and brushed a kiss to her eyes, drawing her awake with a tenderness that shook him to his core. A love so deep, he burned as it poured through him.
She moaned, a purring sound of pleasure and wonder. Like the heated crest of the morning sun, her eyes opened with a slow rise of her lashes. A single deep breath made her chest rise. “Is it over? Did I die?”
He chuckled. “No, lovely.” He ran a hand through her hair, brushing its thick weight with a pleasure he would always desire. “It isn’t over, but soon. And I won’t let you die. You should know that. You are too precious to me to let this little thing steal you away from me.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Little? Did someone give you a different set of lines? Because this isn’t exactly a little thing to me.”
He smiled, knowing her anger wasn’t deep. “I know, corazón.” He pressed his lips to hers, a gentle, loving kiss that said what he was feeling so much better than words could have, wanting to strip her fears completely away.
When he released her, her eyes were clear. The only sign of her worry was the tautness in her body. “It’s time, isn’t it?”
He brushed a final kiss to her lips. “Yes, lovely.”
She swallowed, then nodded. Looking upward to focus on the ceiling, she said, “Okay. I’m ready.”
He could only shake his head at her bravery, to face the unknown head on. “I’m not going to let you face this alone, Lily. I’ll be here with you.”
She lifted a hand between them. “I’m not going to go insane with some kind of blood sickness, am I? Tani said you either do or you don’t when you first change.”
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Joaquin hadn’t been aware of the consequences of when he’d first risen, but realized it was absolutely true. When he smiled, he felt her relax again. “No, lovely. I’m here. As you ground me every night since we’ve met, I will hold you when you first awaken and every night thereafter. There will be no chance of you falling to the hunger.”
“That sounds wonderful,” she breathed, her eyes seeking his with their glistening warmth. And trust. Her lashes fell, and she licked her lips. “I still love you, Joaquin. No matter what happens. Thank you for loving me.”
“I do love you, Lily. And I will love you for many, many long years from now.” He lowered to whisper, a slight sound that was an enchantment. “Relax. I am here.” Sliding an arm beneath her to cradle her into his shoulder, he brought her closer, then swept the fall of her hair away. Caresses carried him up and down the column of her throat, enticing her, pleasuring her with his tongue and lips as he adored her. When she had fallen completely under the languid spell, he broke her skin once more, taking deliberate patience to not rush, to ensure nothing could go wrong. This was either the beginning, or the end.
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