Stone of Ascension

by Lynda Aicher

She followed him, not ready to let the subject go. She moved through the door and saw that there was a large walk-in closet to the right before the room opened into a large marble bath. Amber stopped dead as she watched Damian pull a black metal knife from a drawer in the closet. He slid it out of its sheath, flipped it side to side and tested the sharpness of the edges against his fingertips. She swallowed and retreated a step.

  “They’re to protect you, not hurt you,” Damian said keeping his eyes on the collection of weapons displayed in the large, cloth-lined drawer before him. His movements were efficient and knowledgeable. He handled the knives with practiced ease, a comfort that displayed a completely different side from the staunch CEO.

  He lifted a harness from a hook, slid it over his shoulders and settled the straps until the broad cross was centered on his back between his shoulder blades. He reached behind him and snapped two knives into the empty sheaths on the straps so they were inverted and easily accessible. With quick competence, he snapped and clipped more knives around his frame until Amber lost count of exactly how many weapons were on his body.

  The change in him was masculine and deadly. When he turned to face her, her breath caught at the lethal image he presented. The black attire, the harness straps that pulled his shoulders back and broadened his chest, the multitude of knives on his belt and strapped to his forearms all combined to transform him into the bad boy she’d thought of earlier. His eyes were dark, his jaw set, as if the addition of the weapons opened a door to another side of him. One he kept tightly hidden behind the fancy clothes and reserved demeanor.

  She licked her dry lips and released her trapped breath. Her body flushed in heat, as she tried to push back the elusive need that was building deep in her womb.

  A need she sensed only he could end.

  Damian watched, enchanted by the little pink tongue that darted out to lick over Amber’s soft lips, the movement both innocent and sexual. His cock tightened and responded almost instantly when her slightly larger bottom lip was sucked between her teeth to be tenderly nibbled. Hot flashes of the kiss they’d shared scorched his mind. The kiss had been relatively tame by most standards, but it had affected him more than any before.

  What was she doing to him? It was if he were waking from a long slumber and finding his entire world had changed. It had been a very long time since he’d responded so instantaneously, so fiercely to another. No, he wasn’t celibate, but after a few hundred years, the whole sex thing became more about basic release than true need.

  Desire.

  Another emotion he’d effectively blocked until Amber walked into his life.

  “Unless you’re ready to be kissed again, beauty, I’d stop that sexy little lip nibble you’ve got going on,” Damian bit out, his voice hoarse from the frustration tightening his vocal cords. The dragon twitched and stirred in agitation on the back of his hand, sending ripples of sensation over his skin.

  Her face turned an instant shade of deep red that fanned over her cheeks and down her neck. She slowly released her lip and dropped her gaze to the ground.

  Sucking in a breath, he brushed by her and reentered the bedroom, the confined space of the closet too tempting for his over-zealous libido. He was seconds away from shoving her against the wall and claiming a real kiss from her. Something he was sure she wasn’t ready for.

  “Why did you kiss me before?”

  The softly spoken words rang with doubt and had him wanting to murder the person who had put it there.

  He turned back to face her. She stood in the entrance to the bathroom, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of his oversized coat. Her cheeks were still flushed, but her gaze met his boldly as she waited for his answer.

  Damn. She was such an enticing mix of innocence and smoldering fire it was near impossible to resist. Fuck it. Three long strides and his arms were around her, her body clasped tightly to his chest.

  “I kissed you because I find myself so fucking drawn to you I can’t stop myself.” Shocked at his own harsh words, at the side of him that was slowly stretching and breaking free of the tight hold he’d clamped on it, Damian stiffened and waited.

  Amber gasped in surprise, but her golden eyes turned a dark, molten brown as she stared at his lips. That was the only invitation he needed.

  His mouth claimed hers with a demand tempered by caution. He sensed her desire mixed with curiosity and a touch of fear. His lips brushed over hers, tempting, sucking, enticing until she slowly relaxed and she shifted her hands up to rest on his shoulders.

  Damian’s erection rubbed stiff and hard against her lower stomach, and he was thankful for the padding offered by the coat she wore. He called upon every ounce of restraint he had to hold himself back and wait for her. Her lips were soft as silk and slowly becoming more confident with each brush. His hands crept up her back over the sleek strands of her hair to cup the back of her head. She moaned lightly in her throat and sank into him even more, pushing her soft breasts into his chest.

  Stifling his own groan, Damian brushed his tongue over the soft, wet crease of her lips. Her mouth opened, and the tentative touch of her tongue against his was enough to set his world on fire. The energy burned and flashed through him, igniting a longing for more. A possessive need fired, calling out to the primitive animal within. It was a need that set his skin aflame and shut down all thoughts but her.

  Every fiber of his being yearned to possess and claim her as the energy pushed and called for her.

  He skimmed over her tongue, enticing it to explore and dance with his own tongue. The feel of her confidence rising, of her strokes getting stronger, more assured and aggressive only heightened his own burning passion.

  She snaked her fingers into his hair, rubbed his scalp then pulled, driving his mouth down tighter onto hers. This time he didn’t try to hide the deep groan that rose in his throat. Damn, she was going to kill him. He had to stop. Now. Or he wouldn’t be able to. She was rising into her need, feeling the passion and opening to him, but she wasn’t ready for everything.

  Not yet. Not now. And neither was he.

  Gently, he pulled back and she whimpered in protest. Her eyelashes fluttered open to reveal eyes full of wonder and questions.

  All his life he’d been taught, been told, to listen to the energy, to trust the truth that it tells. But it was the energy that had betrayed him. Spoke falseness about him that had resulted in centuries of pain. A pain that still festered and stung.

  Could he trust this? Now? When so much was at stake?

  It was that doubt that had him dropping his arms and stepping away. The risk was too high. The energy flashed then dropped like a bomb, hard in his gut. She watched him, cautious in her appraisal. Slowly, she tucked her hair behind her ear and brushed it over her shoulder.

  He wasn’t ready to contemplate what his attraction meant or if it had anything to do with how his mark had changed again. The dragon that had cursed him for a millennium and was the root of his pain and torment had somehow changed from a wingless to a winged dragon between that morning and when Cronus had revealed his secret. And now, it almost seemed to purr with contentment whenever Amber touched him.

  Irritated at himself and the entire situation, Damian rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He flinched and cursed under his breath when his palm hit the hard, metal collar.

  “Would you like me to remove that?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not possible.” He gave it a hard tug as proof.

  “Why?”

  He sighed and dropped his hand. “Because it can only be removed by the person who put it on.”

  She cocked her head and furred her brow in thought. “Then why did that man allow you to put on mine?”

  He smiled and rested his hands on his hips. He liked that about her. The fact that her brain never seemed to stop. “Another good question. My guess would be that it was a small concession based on our past.” It would seem their one-time friendship did count for something.

  “Can I tr
y?” She looked so hopeful, he couldn’t say no. Hell, what would it hurt?

  He nodded and she stepped up to him. She tilted her head back and forth a few times, apparently trying to figure out the lock before she lifted her hands and grasped the collar. Her fingers were warm against his skin, and he inhaled at the flash of heat that raced through him. She fiddled and pulled at the lock, her brow creased in concentration. Her lip was once again clamped tight between her teeth.

  “It won’t work,” he told her.

  Her eyes brightened and she smiled right before a spark of sensation sizzled against his neck, then a soft click echoed through the room. Well, fuck, she’d done it. Impossible. How?

  She opened the collar and pulled it away. He stretched his neck and dropped his arms to his sides as the dampened energy fired back to life. It raced through his system, singeing the nerve endings and igniting the power. He stretched his fingers and reached out to the energy around him.

  “You shouldn’t have been able to do that,” Damian repeated, giving her a tight smile. “But thank you.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “It must be my soft touch.”

  Yeah, right. That was it.

  Unable to resist, he lifted his hand and focused on the leather jacket that hung from a hook next to the door. As if an invisible string connected his hand to the jacket, it sped through the air and landed in his grasp. The power vibrated through him as he remembered the thrill, the overwhelming sense of strength and rightness that came with using his gifted powers.

  “How’d you do that?” There was no fear in her words, only wonder and curiosity. That strange feeling of pride bolted through him once again.

  The woman who had slammed into his life only a few short hours ago and had so quickly changed everything he believed was one a man could truly come to appreciate. One a smart man would run from before he became lost in her. But then, something told him being lost in her would be the closest thing to nirvana he would ever experience.

  Chapter Eleven

  Amber swallowed at the sudden flash of desire that sparked in Damian’s hard gaze. How did he make her flush with heat with just a look? He shrugged on the worn leather jacket and rolled his shoulders to settle it on his frame.

  “Every Energen is born with an affiliation to one element,” he said in answer to her question. “We use the energy to control that element. I can control the element of air.”

  Her mind spiraled around that piece of information. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on a pair of scuffed, black leather boots. Finished, he stood. His transformation from stoic CEO to rebel fighter completed.

  Her thoughts blanked and her lip took another beating from her teeth as she took in the hard-edged image of pure masculinity Damian presented. Her heart accelerated and her nipples tightened. It was as if the relatively useless and unnoticed peaks were suddenly demanding attention after years of being ignored. Not to mention the speed-dial link they seemed to have directly to the other ignored area between her thighs.

  His kiss had turned her muscles to mush and seemed to have killed off some brain cells too. She should have resisted his touch, pulled away before his lips lured her back to trap her in this spell of lust. But it was virtually impossible to resist him. Her body responded to him, the energy, the pull he seemed to have on her despite the logic against it.

  “We need to get out of here,” he said, stepping closer to her. Her lip throbbed in protest when she bit down harder to keep from retreating. “We’ve stayed too long, and I’m certain the Guard will be tracking our trail by now.”

  “I need to go back to the shop,” she managed to insist through her parched throat.

  His face turned hard, the lightness that had previously lifted it gone. “I told you, you can’t. Not anymore.”

  The need for something normal made her push. “I need to check on my aunt. She’ll be worried when she returns to the shop and sees the destruction. She’s older, and I have to let her know I’m okay.”

  “You can call her.”

  She shook her head. “No. I need to see her. Please.” Amber was surprised at the quake in her voice. At how important this was to her. “After all that’s happened today, I need to see her to make sure she’s not hurt. Before I can go forward with whatever is happening to me, I need to know she isn’t harmed. I don’t want her to worry.”

  He looked over her shoulder, his lips compressed in silent debate. “You understand that by going to her, you could be bringing the danger to her?”

  It was risk she had to take. Something was pushing her to go back. It was the same something that had pushed her to New York City and to the stone. She nodded and added one final argument. “I think she knows something about what’s going on. About why I’m involved.”

  He exhaled through his nose and his fingers flexed on his hips. “Fine. I probably owe you this.” He looked back at her. “But we can’t stay long.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, feeling more vulnerable than she had since he’d kidnapped her from the shop.

  “You better hang on,” he said, stepping closer. His strong arms circled her and pulled her snug against his chest. The energy pulsed and burned between them with a strength that nearly buckled her knees. The absence of the collars allowed the flow to move unrestricted and the energy seemed to be growing stronger with every second they were together.

  Damian cleared his throat, his fingers tightening on her back. “We’ll need to energy hop again, just in case we have followers.”

  “Was that the strange rollercoaster ride of flashing in and out that we did before?”

  “Yes.”

  Great. Hopefully, her stomach would handle it better this time.

  She slipped the metal collar that she was still holding into her coat pocket. It clunked lightly against the wooden box, and she smiled at the small collection of oddities that was collecting in the pocket.

  Amber circled her arms around his waist and hid her face against the curve of his neck. His scent washed over her, and she tried to dispel the sense of rightness that settled within her. The energy sang a sweet, high tune that trembled down her back and wrapped her in its warm embrace.

  She acknowledged the stupidity of what she felt right before the prickling sensation started again. Just in time to block the acceptance that whispered at the back of her mind.

  They solidified in the alley behind the antique shop, the tilting, acidic burn in her gut a little less than the last time. Amber stayed within the tight, warm circle of Damian’s arms until her stomach settled.

  “There is something disturbing about that whole mode of travel that goes far beyond what it does to my stomach,” Amber said between breaths.

  His deep chuckle rumbled in his chest. “You get used to it after a while.”

  “I’ll take your word on that.”

  She finally loosened her hold and stepped away from him. The air actually snapped and popped at the separation with little sparks of static electricity.

  Ignoring the oddity, she turned and quickly opened the back door, the urgency to see her aunt pummeling through her now that she was there.

  “Aunt Bev,” Amber called. “Are you here?”

  “Amber?” Her aunt’s voice had a high-pitched, hopeful note to it and came from the recesses of the showroom. Amber hurried down the hallway and almost collided with her aunt as they met in the doorway between the hall and the showroom.

  “Oh, Amber.” Aunt Bev sighed, relief washing over her face in a waterfall of emotion. “I was so worried about you.”

  Amber hid her surprise when her aunt enveloped her in a warm, hard embrace. The rare show of outward emotion startled her and made Amber worry even more about her own predicament. Her aunt pulled back and rubbed her hands down the front of her sweater and over her wool skirt in a pretense of smoothing out the wrinkles.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried sick when I returned to find the back door unlocked, the shop destroyed and
you missing with your purse and phone still in the office.” Her aunt turned away and walked stiffly back into the destroyed remains of the showroom. “Thank goodness Joseph decided to escort me home from the island. If it wasn’t for his calm assurance that you were all right, I would’ve been a frazzled mess and the place would be swarming with police looking for you.”

  The tribal shaman stood calmly in the center of the room. His long hair had turned white many years before and was pulled back into a neat, single braid down his back. His face was creased with age and worn tough by the elements, but his straight back and almost regal carriage kept him from appearing old. The faded jeans and flannel shirt he wore were his uniform of choice during the winter months and added to his image of stability.

  “Why didn’t you call the cops?” Amber questioned

  “We will,” Joseph answered. “We were waiting for you to return first. The one who did this destruction is long gone and won’t be caught anyway. There was no rush.”

  “Who’s that?” Aunt Bev demanded, her face pinching in a look of disapproval.

  Amber felt Damian’s presence behind her, the energy moving to life even without his touch. It was comforting to have him at her back. Especially when faced with the rising ire of her aunt.

  “It’s all right, Beverly,” Joseph intervened before Amber could respond. “He is the one we’ve been waiting for.”

  Amber’s attention whipped to the shaman. “What did you say?”

  Joseph smiled. “The gentleman behind you. We’ve been awaiting his arrival for many, many years. I am relieved to see that he has found you.”

  Just when she thought her world couldn’t get any crazier, it did. She could feel Damian’s anger rising behind her, the energy pooling deep and frustrated at the shaman’s mysterious words.

  His hand on her back had her moving into the room, Damian intimately behind her. The stone flared to life at his touch and reminded her of what had started all the craziness that had invaded her life since that damn night in New York City.

  The reminder sparked her own frustration at the secrets and lies. The cryptic caginess from people she trusted.