Dark Matter: SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE

by Jessica Loft

  “That smart mouth of yours is going to get you killed, just like Casey,” Brock snarled.

  Eve gasped, her eyes flying back to Brock. Pain laced through her. What she feared had been confirmed. Her best friend was dead. Pain turned to blinding rage, and she pushed off of the bed and lunged at Brock.

  “You son of a bitch! You killed your own sister?” Her nails raked across his left cheek, and he roared, wrapping his fingers around her neck. Eve clawed at his hand to no avail, and her vision began to blur.

  Damon could take it no longer. He stepped forward and grasped the hand Brock had wrapped around the woman’s neck.

  “Let her go,” he said. He applied crushing pressure to the man’s wrist, forcing him to loosen his grip around her throat. Eve collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.

  Brock’s shocked gaze dropped to Damon’s hand on his wrist and then up to his face.

  “What the hell are you doing, Hunter?”

  Damon struggled with the beast that wanted to emerge and rip Brock’s head off for laying a hand on his mate. She is not my mate; he warned his animal. He had to keep his cool. He had come too far to blow his cover now.

  “Let me do it for you, to further prove my loyalty. You are the leader there is no need for you to get your hands dirty.”

  Brock glared at him. A slow smile spread across his lips.

  “I’m on to you, Hunter.”

  Damon stiffened.

  “You want to have some fun with her, don’t you?” Brock bellowed out a laugh. “I think I like you even more now, you sick bastard. By all means, go ahead and have your fun, you deserve it, as long as you get information about where that baby is.” Brock glanced around the room.

  “It looks like she was telling the truth about the kid not being here. But, she knows something. Make her suffer,” he said with a grin and snapped his fingers. “Let’s leave Hunter to it, boys.” He gave Damon one last amused look and walked out.

  Damon waited until he heard the roar of motorcycle engines before he turned to the woman on the floor. His stomach churned at the thought of what Brock assumed he wanted to do with the woman. The twisted bastard. Brock’s perverse nature had worked in his favor, though. It had gotten the man to leave.

  Eve glanced up at the man towering over her. She rubbed her neck. “I won’t beg for my life, neither will I tell you anything, so you might as just kill me now.”

  His brows shot up. Grudging respect for her pushed forward. He could smell her fear before they had stepped into the room. But not once had she cowered before Brock, cried or begged for her life. He offered her a hand.

  “I have no intention of harming you.”

  She stared at his hand in surprise and confusion. Her features were twisted in contempt.

  “Oh, really? Then what kind of fun are you planning to have with me?” She ignored his extended hand and scrambled to her feet, putting distance between them.

  “Brock drew his own conclusion. I never implied anything of the sort.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “You can leave then. I don’t know anything about any child, so it makes no sense for you to be here. Run along and go back to your little biker buddies.”

  Damon’s lips curved into an amused grin.

  “So much sass coming from someone who is frightened for her life.”

  Eve glared at him. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? And that smile… oh God, it made her knees weak. Though he was no doubt a murderer like his boss, she couldn’t help her attraction to the man. There was something about him that called to her. She gazed into his eyes. They seemed so familiar. That’s because they are the same shade as Aidan’s. It had to be a coincidence. She froze. Aidan. She had to get the man out of here before the baby began to cry. Lifting her chin, she said,

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Is that so? You should be.” Damon took slow steps toward her and grasped her chin. He studied her intently, his gaze dropping to the darkening bruise on her left cheek. Remorse flickered across his face.

  “I’m sorry, I should have intervened sooner.” He released her chin to brush gentle fingers over the tender skin.

  Eve’s mouth open and closed several times. She frowned. Why did he care about what Brock had done to her? And why did she want him to lower his head just a few more inches and kiss her? Good grief. The trauma of the night had to be having some strange effect on her. Yeah, that’s it.

  Damon gazed at the woman’s full lips. Eve, that’s what Brock had called her. He felt the compulsion to taste Eve’s lips. His head lowered until his mouth hovered mere centimeters above hers. Her eyes widened, and he heard the hitch in her breath. Her lips parted in invitation. Damon’s mouth covered hers, moving tentatively and then more voraciously. Within seconds, the spark between them flared into a full blown blaze of passion. Pulling her closer, Damon teased her mouth open so his tongue could slide inside the warmth of her mouth to hungrily explore.

  Eve melted into the stranger who stole her breath along with her sanity. For some strange reason, she felt at ease in his arms, when in reality she should be terrified. He was supposed to kill her, after all. What am I doing? She placed her palms on his chest and shoved hard. Tearing her mouth from his, she backed away, stumbling so that he had to reach out a hand to steady her. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, trained on him in surprise and horror.

  Damon swallowed hard, knowing in that moment that he was in big trouble. He wanted more. He wanted to possess her on every possible level. She was his. The moment his lips had connected to hers and the electricity had sizzled in the air; he knew without a doubt that Eve was the woman he had been waiting for his entire life, the woman that was made for him. Holy hell, I don’t need this complication.

  “Er, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” he rasped.

  “You’re damn right you shouldn’t have.” Oh please, as if you didn’t enjoy every delectable second of his lips and hands on you. Her conscience berated. I did, but that is so not the point. The point was he was a threat to her, and she needed to get rid of him so she could grab Aidan and run like hell.

  “Please, if you’re not going to kill me, just leave me alone.”

  “Tell me about the child, Brock spoke of.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Liar, I saw you arrive here with a baby yesterday.”

  Eve gasped.

  “You were watching me? You led Brock here?”

  Damon averted her gaze.

  “I didn’t know he intended to kill you. I thought you were his lover, and you took off with his child or something.”

  She gaped at him, not sure whether to laugh at the thought of her and Brock together or to start begging him to let her and Aidan go. The need to protect her precious little travel companion won over.

  She rushed over to him and grasped his arm. It was time to shove aside her pride and resort to begging.

  “Okay, I have the baby with me. Please, just let us go. All I want to do is keep the child safe. If Brock killed his own sister, he’ll harm the baby too.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “He’s only four months old. I’ll take him and disappear, I promise. You can tell Brock that I never had the baby, and you killed me. Please, I’m begging you. You seem like a much better man than he is.”

  Damon clenched his jaw. He was about to risk blowing his cover before he could find out what happened to his brother. But Eve staring up at him as if he were her last hope broke his resolve.

  “Get the child and let’s go.”

  She let out a breath and moved to the closet. He watched her open the door and step up on a stool. His brows shot up when she turned around holding the baby. He should have detected the child’s presence with his superior senses, but he had been too distracted by the lovely Eve.

  Eve eyed Damon nervously. She approached him, carefully.

  “This is Aidan.”

  Damon froze. Disbelief coursed through him. He could sme
ll his brother’s blood running through the child’s veins. His eyes met Eve’s. Had his brother mated with his woman to produce a child?

  Chapter Four

  Eve eyed the man sitting in the passenger seat of her car. He seemed to take up a majority of space in her vehicle, making it feel smaller than it actually was. Suspicion seeped into her mind. Why was he going out of his way to help her? She had only asked him to let her and Aidan go. But, he had slid into her car and insisted upon joining them.

  “I didn’t get your name,” she said.

  “Damon.”

  “Damon Hunter. I-I heard Brock refer to you as Hunter. I assume that is your sir name.”

  “Yes.”

  Hmmm, fitting. The perfect bad boy name for a seemingly bad boy with way too much swagger. Goodness, he’s sexy. The way he walked, talked, and even the way he stared broodingly ahead was sexy. Focus Eve. She glanced in the rearview mirror at Aidan nestled in his car seat and smiled.

  “He is yours?” Damon’s deep, velvety voice grabbed her attention.

  “Huh?”

  “The child. Does he belong to you?”

  “Well, I guess he does now.”

  Damon sent her a perplexed look, a frown marring his handsome features.

  “What do you mean?”

  Eve sucked in a breath.

  “His mother is d-dead. So I suppose it’s up to me to take care of him. I’m his Godmother.”

  Damon felt ridiculous at the relief that washed over him. So his brother hadn’t mated with her, after all. His mood brightened significantly. Should he tell her he was the child’s uncle? I might as well. Maybe then she would stop giving him suspicious glances. He cleared his throat lightly.

  “I assume you knew Aidan’s father?”

  “Um, actually I never met him. Casey, my best friend, gushed about him all time, though. He was a part of Brock’s biker gang. I warned her to stay away from him. Anyone involved with Brock is bad news.” She glanced at him. “No offense.”

  He shrugged.

  “I’m not a part of Brock’s gang.”

  “Then what are you doing in his company.”

  “I guess you can say that I’m undercover.”

  “You’re a cop?”

  Damon grunted.

  “Far from it. I want to know what happened to my brother. He joined Brock’s gang six months ago. I stopped hearing from him two weeks ago. When I last spoke to him, he said he had found his soul mate. He was planning to take her to our home to hide from Brock. But he never came home, and I heard from him again.”

  Eve’s fingers tightened on the staring wheel. His tone reflected the pain she felt over discovering that Casey was dead. Damon turned to look back at Aidan.

  “Aidan is my brother’s child. I can tell.”

  Eve’s heart jumped, remembering the moment when she had first looked into Damon’s eyes and how she had thought they looked just like Aidan’s.

  “You can’t know that for sure.”

  “I know,” he said with conviction. He sighed. He couldn’t tell her that he was a tiger shifter, and so was his brother, and they knew their own.

  “That’s why I’m taking the both of you home.”

  “What?”

  “You and my nephew are going to my ranch in Colorado. I can keep you both safe there.”

  Eve remembered that she was supposed to be focusing on the road and stopped gaping at Damon. She weighed her options. Go home with Damon or risk facing Brock again. The hot guy, who seemed like he was more of a match for Brock than she was, won the battle in her mind. What the hell? If he wanted to kill me, he could have easily done so already.

  Fifteen hours later, after driving non-stop. They were in Colorado. Damon had insisted taking over the wheel when Eve began to fall asleep behind the wheel. She had resisted, claiming that she didn’t trust him enough yet. If Aidan hadn’t needed to be fed, she would never have given him the chance to drive. Now, she sat in the passenger’s seat fast asleep. He studied her for as long as he could take his eyes off the road. Her long, thick lashes fanned her cheeks, and dark circles marred the perfection of her fair skin. He could imagine how exhausted she was after being on the run for two weeks, always looking over her shoulder. All to protect a baby that wasn’t even hers.

  He glanced in the mirror at the sleeping child in the back. A wave of fierce protectiveness welled up in him for both woman and child.

  “Eve.”

  The gentle voice seeped into her mind. She had been dreaming about amazing sex with her sexy rescuer, and now she heard his voice. She sighed and smiled in her sleep.

  “Eve, wake up.”

  “Hmmm?”

  “We are here.”

  Remembering that she was supposed to be watching Damon’s every move, she jumped up and looked around frantically. Damn, how the hell did I manage to fall into such a deep sleep? Her gaze jumped to Aidan and then Damon. He smiled.

  “Relax, I haven’t taken the two of you to some far away land to dispose of you. We are at my ranch.”

  She glanced out the window. Wow. In the center of the generous expanse of land was a massive house, although mansion would be a better name for it. Damon exited the car and walked around to open her door.

  “Let’s get you inside before you collapse. You look worn out.”

  She finger combed her hair self-consciously. Great, I look a hot mess in front of the gorgeous man. She slid from the car and moved to collect Aidan.

  “I will get him,” Damon volunteered.

  Eve glanced at him nervously.

  “For goodness sake, Eve. I won’t hurt my nephew.”

  She almost mentioned that Brock was also Aidan’s uncle yet, he wanted to harm him. She sighed. She had fallen asleep for God knew how long and he hadn’t made any move to hurt either of them. It seemed he could be trusted, but she wouldn’t let her guard down completely, just yet.

  “Alright.” She watched him extract the car seat and then followed him up the stone walkway to his front door.

  Chapter Five

  Long after Aidan was fed and settled into a room across from hers, Eve stood on the balcony of her room. She made a note to ask him where the crib had come from. She had given him a curious look when she saw him carrying it to the room, but he hadn’t commented. She looked out over the ranch. A feeling of peace settled over her for the first time in two weeks. We’re safe here. She wasn’t sure how or why she knew, she just did. If Damon was indeed Aidan’s uncle, her Godson had no need of her. He had family and from the looks of the place, he would be well taken care of. A sliver of pain shot through her. If Aidan stayed, she sure would miss the sweet little guy. He was all that remains of the woman who was more like a sister to her.

  She and Casey had pretty much grown up together in foster care. They’d only had each other for a long time. Brock had disappeared as soon as he had turned eighteen. He never paid his sister much mind until about a year ago. Eve had been worried that Casey was getting closer to her brother, considering that he was the leader of a deadly motorcycle gang. Eve let out a breath. Now, Casey was dead. A sob escaped her lips and soon the tears ran freely down her cheeks.

  She jumped when a knock sounded on her door. Quickly wiping away her tears, she made her way back inside and called,

  “Come in.”

  Damon entered holding a tray with a cup of tea and sandwiches. She almost laughed, seeing such a big man holding a small tray. He set it down awkwardly.

  “Uh, I brought you a little something to eat.”

  “Oh, thank you, but I’m not hungry. Since you went through the trouble, I guess I can try to eat a little.”

  Damon stepped closer and lifted his hand to wipe at her tears.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Eve shrugged.

  “I’m just getting the chance to grieve Casey’s death.” She side stepped him and reached for the cup of tea. Taking small sips, she sighed as the warm liquid slid down her throat.

  Damon let ou
t a breath.

  “My brother is most likely dead as well.”

  She put the cup down and turned to him.

  “How do you know?”

  He paused, regarding her carefully.

  “I can’t feel him anymore.” Luke was his half brother, but they’d had a strong psychic connection. It was as if the path they used to communicate had been cut abruptly. The feeling of dread he’d had one evening two weeks ago must have been the time his brother’s life had ended. How did a strong tiger shifter like his brother meet his end at the hands of a human? Brock was big and strong, but no match for a being with superhuman strength.

  “I don’t understand. Was he like your twin or something?” Eve inquired.

  “No, we were just very close that’s all.”

  “If he really is gone, I’m sorry, Damon.”

  He swallowed and nodded. Now was the time to walk away and leave Eve alone, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot. His tiger moved, ready to claim the woman that belonged to them. Before he realized what he was doing, he had covered the small distance between them and his mouth had taken possession of hers.

  Eve’s arms wound around his neck, pressing her body closer to his. What am I doing? The logical thing to do would be to stop him. She barely knew the man. But, when he loosened the robe she had borrowed, and his palms touched her bare skin, logic flew out the window. His touch caused bolts of electricity to shoot through her. He raised a hand to bunch in her hair, gently pulling her head back. His released her mouth and carried his lips to graze over the sensitive flesh at her neck. When he lifted his head, she saw his eyes darken with rage. For a moment, fear seized her.