by Emma Dawn
Diego lay slumped on his side, his chest . . .not moving.
Chapter 13
I hit the ground hard, my knees taking the impact as I dropped next to Diego. Inside the Temple of light, you’d think that there would be nothing but beauty by the name. So far, I’d seen nothing but death, blood and fear. But I wasn’t going to let it get the better of me, or Diego.
I splayed my hands on his chest and wove my magic into him faster even than I’d done for Rose. Now that I understood how to heal, I could feel it there waiting to be used. I couldn’t lose Diego now, not when I was so close.
The wounds in his body were grievous and festering with a poison that was deeply rooted in his blood.
I purged it, carefully pulling the infection from him a speck at a time, flicking it off my fingers as it poured up through his skin. I wove my magic through his heart and pumped it, restarting it as I prayed it would be enough.
The color in his face improved slowly, but . . .his chest still didn’t rise. His heart faltered and fought to work while his lungs stayed silent and unmoving. “Come on, Spanish, don’t leave me!” I slammed my fist against his chest, tears streaming down my face. “You can’t do this!”
“You can’t bring him back,” Lucas said softly, his hand on my arm gentle.
I shook him off. “No, I won’t give up on him!” This was my fault. I’d let him die because I’d been so sure I could get to him in time. I took all the power of my magic and pushed it into him. My life for his if I had to. I would not let him go so easily.
I closed my eyes and put my head against his as I poured my strength into him, giving him everything I was. I let the magic pull deep from my soul, from my heart and body, everything if he would just take a breath.
“Live for me, Diego.” The words were simple and yet they tightened the magic between us. His chest rose one, twice, three times.
His eyes opened and he smiled up at me.
I swayed, feeling my own heart stutter, and fell forward into the abyss of darkness that was death.
I opened my eyes, already knowing I was dead. I stared at the scene in front of me.
Rose ran toward me, her smile bright and her arms outstretched. Behind her were the shadows of men I knew without knowing how, but more than just warlocks.
“Dom!” She cried my name and then her arms were around me. I hugged her back, squeezing her with all I had in me.
“Rose, Rose. I missed you so much!” I sobbed the words. I pulled back and cupped her face with my hands. My sister, she was my sister!
“I know, right? I found out when they took me. Can you believe we have the same father?” She grinned at me and I grinned back but my smile faltered.
“Rose, you don’t have to be here.” I brushed a hand over her face. “I healed you, your wounds are gone.”
“I know. I just woke up.”
I blinked a few times. “Wait. You haven’t been awake this whole time here?”
She shook her head. “I could hear some things, but couldn’t move. I just woke up when you healed me.”
“Then you can find your way back to the land of the living,” I tried to smile, but it fell.
Rose tightened her hands on mine. “What is going on?”
“I died, Rose,” I whispered. “I died; that’s why I’m here.”
She slapped her hands over her mouth and shook her head. “No, no, then I’m not going.”
My shoulders slumped. “You have to.”
There was a tug on me suddenly and I felt myself jerked back a few steps. I twisted around to see a coil of magic made up of blue, red, green, and black wrapped around me.
“A life line.” A deep voice spoke behind Rose and I turned to him. A man who wore a cloak of blue not unlike Diego’s. In fact, he sounded more than a little like Diego.
“You are a warlock?” I lifted an eyebrow. “Related to my Diego?”
He laughed softly. “We are brothers. He knows how to make a lifeline to pull someone back from the land of the dead. He tried with me but I’d been dead too long. Go, they don’t have much time.”
I reached for Rose even as I was pulled away. “Rose!”
The warlock nodded. “We will help her find her way through the darkness. With pleasure.”
Around her ranged the figures of six men, and I knew as I looked at them that they were not all warlocks.
I blew a kiss to Rose. “I love you, sister.”
She blew a kiss back. “Save me some cake.”
Laughing, I was yanked back through the darkness and into the room where the storm had finally bled away. I blinked up from where I lay in Diego’s lap. He stared down at me as I smiled up at him. “Dominique, talk to me, mi corazón.”
Oh, I liked the sound of that. “I saw your brother.”
His eyes popped wide. “You what?”
“I saw your brother. I think he’s going to make a move on Rose.”
I didn’t think his eyes could get any wider but I was wrong. They about fell out of his head. “He swore off women.”
“Well, she’s fairly determined when she wants something. And maybe death has changed him.” I pushed to a sitting position as a soft laugh turned my head. Lucas held a hand out to me.
“Death ... can change everything.”
I let him help me to my feet. Sure, I’d been dead only moments before but I was hardly an invalid.
Sterling and Corbin stood to either side of us. “You four saved me.”
“It seemed only fair,” Corbin said. “Seeing as you not only saved us but the entire Temple of Light.”
My eyebrows shot up. “How?”
“The storm was tied into the building. That was why it was so strong, it pulled its power from the inner spells woven when this place was created,” Gavin said, his voice gruff as he strode toward us through the main doors.
I turned to him next. “Well, then you’re welcome. I’d like to go now.”
My four men circled around me.
“You have to be tested first,” Gavin said, his eyes narrowed and hard.
I took three steps and slammed my magic into him lifting him over my head. “Piss off. I’ve proven myself, saved your stupid temple and brokered a peace treaty with the unicorns.” Okay, maybe that last was a bit of a fudge. “You are going to let me go and do as I damn well please.”
His eyes narrowed. “Just like your mother. Wild and out of control.”
“Thank God for that.” I flicked my hands and sent him tumbling through the air. From the moment I’d been told that the man who’d raised me was not my biological father, I’d wanted to believe I would find something better with the man who had the same blood as me. Now, I saw the truth. Blood did not a family make. Love did.
“My father loved me, and even if it would have cost him, he would have stood with me against any storm.” I tipped my chin up. “And you stay the fuck away from Rose while you’re staying the fuck away from me.”
The four men around me didn’t so much as flinch as I spun and strode toward Rose. With a flick of my hand, I wrapped her in magic and floated her out ahead of us. There was no way I was leaving her.
“I’ll carry her,” Diego said softly. “Seeing as she’s shacking up with my brother.”
I had to catch the smile before it was full blown. Because Rose’s situation was far from certain.
We made our way out of the Temple of Light, up the ravine, and through the forest. I stopped in the shadows of the Hive. I could see it through the layers that separated our world from the human’s.
“I need to see Ally.” I lifted a hand and dropped it through the gauzy layers and stepped through. The men followed me, but I could feel their disbelief.
“You are far stronger than any of us thought,” Corbin was at my side first. “You spoke to the unicorn as if you could hear her.”
“I could. She told me I was not only a healer but a woman of divination, whatever that means.” I said the words and watched as my breath floated away on th
e cold air. I strode toward the stairs that led down to the opening of the Hive.
Buried underground, the lair of the vampires was far bigger than it looked from the outside. The stairs were large stones laid together and they dropped down a dozen feet before stopping in front of a massive set of double doors. With the light of the morning rising in the distance, I knew there would be no letting us in.
I wove my magic through the locks and sprung them so the doors popped open. There was shouting and then the six of us were through the doors and I shut them behind us.
The darkness was not complete, but even so, it took my eyes a moment to adjust. Three vampires faced us and I realized then that my men had pulled their hoods up again.
“Where is my sister?” I said with far more strength than I truly had. I was at the end of my energy rope and I still needed to settle Rose in and tell Ally what had happened.
Ally strode around the corner, her eyes going to Rose first. “You found her.”
I nodded. “She’s healed but we need to keep her body safe until she comes back to us.”
She motioned for us to follow her. “Come, we can put her in one of the bedrooms, and I will set guards both in and out of the room.”
I nodded again. Ally reached out and touched my arm. “You look exhausted. Come on, let’s get you a bed,” her eyes flicked over the four men and a smile touched her lips making her eyes sparkle, “big enough for you all.”
Corbin, Sterling, and Lucas shook their heads in unison. But it was Lucas who spoke. “No, we will stand guard. Diego and Dominique need to rest seeing as they’ve both made a trip back from the dead.”
Ally arched an eyebrow as her face paled. She reached out and put a hand on my arm, her concern flowing through her to me.
“I’m okay,” I said. “Honest. Just tired.”
She swallowed hard and the threat of tears trembled on the edge of her eyes. “If you’re sure.”
I nodded.
She didn’t let go of me, but slid her hand down to mine so she could grip it. “Okay. This way then.”
She led us back to the room I’d seen her in after she’d become queen. The room where she’d entertained her men as she’d tried to find the one who would be her mate.
At the threshold of the door, I stopped, turned and looked at my men. The terminology still made my mind stutter but I’d get used to it. At least until they had to leave me. My heart jerked inside my chest as I remembered their warnings. This was not forever. This was just for now until the bonds between us were done.
“I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet,” I said to them. “There were two more signatures in that storm.”
They exchanged glances and Ally tightened her hold on my fingers. “What are you saying?”
“That there may be two more warlocks looking for us,” I said. “For me and Rose.”
“Why?” The fierceness in Ally made me smile as she all but bristled where she stood. “Are you saying they might still try to hurt you?”
“Steal our power, and kill us, yes.” I nodded.
She flicked one eyebrow up. “Then they are in for a surprise if they show up here. Rest, and I will take care of the defense with your three boys.”
Corbin snorted. “We are all older than you.”
“And yet here you are, still trying to figure out your lives like children.” She snapped her fingers at them, making me smile. “Come, you can help with sealing things off. We also need to send a message to the Windrun pack so they can be prepared.”
I slumped as Ally, Corbin, and Sterling strode away. Lucas looked at me. “You and Diego should sleep. I’ll wake you in a few hours.”
Diego nodded, took my hand, and led me through the door.
Chapter 14
The palm of Diego’s hand was hot against mine as we stepped into the bedroom. I was exhausted and yet . . . I knew there was not much time left with these four men of my dreams and I didn’t want to waste another second of it. We’d both died; we’d seen the other side of death and come back.
“Diego.” I spoke his name softly. He turned to me, his dark eyes full of unfathomable mysteries that I would not have the luxury of spending years deciphering. I stepped up to him, lifted my head and pressed my lips to his.
He kissed me back, his hands slowly rising to settle against my lower back, holding me tightly to him. “I know you’re tired,” I whispered as our lips parted for breath, “but I don’t want to lose this moment.”
“Nor do I, my heart,” he whispered back. I put my hands to either side of his face and held him to me, relishing the taste of his mouth—like a spice I couldn’t get enough of even though it heated me from the inside out.
He groaned softly as the kiss deepened and I fought not to just rip his clothes off . . .I pulled back, made myself take a few steps backward.
We were both breathing hard and his eyes were dilated with his desire for me, his need. I had no doubt mine were the same seeing as my panties were already soaked, my body clenching with anticipation of the feel of his cock inside me.
I bit my lower lip and began to strip my clothes off, slowly, peeling each one away. “You know about the scars.”
He nodded. “They are not what you think they are. Auralee was trying to find your power.”
“I know now,” I pulled my top off and looked down. My mouth dropped open and I stared at my skin, smooth and scar free.
“How is that possible?”
He shook his head. “Unless she was killed by your hand, the scars would not have left . . .”
I blinked up at him, feeling the horror of what I’d done, of killing Auralee. She had been one of their mentors, perhaps even a lover.
“I did kill her.” I whispered my secret.
“Thank the goddess.” He stepped toward me and caught my hands. “Dominique, do not be ashamed. She was corrupt, twisted, and I don’t think there would have been any way to stop her short of death.”
I closed my eyes, “I didn’t want to kill her, but she attacked me.”
“I have no doubt.” His hands skimmed over my shoulders and down my back to the strap of my bra but he didn’t unclasp it. “We do not have to—”
I shook my head. “I want you, Diego. I feel something missing and you are part of that. I need you to love me hard and deep.”
“My heart,” he murmured, his mouth on the side of my head. “Your wish is my command.”
With a flick of his fingers, he unclasped the bra and it fell to the floor between us. His lips pressed into the soft spot just under my neck, sucking on the skin, nipping at it with his teeth as he made his way down to my collarbone. Each brush of his mouth on my skin sent shivers of anticipation shooting out from wherever his lips touched. His fingers tightened on mine, holding my one hand tightly to my side as he wrapped the other around my waist. With ease, he picked me up and carried me to the oversized bed, laying me down.
“Not bad for a previously dead man.” I grinned at him.
He laughed softly. “We shall see if all my skills returned, yes?”
I reached up and brushed my fingers through his long hair, marveling at the silky soft texture. How could it be that I’d not thought these men were real? And if they weren’t, if I was in some sort of mental fugue, I was staying. I was not going back to reality.
I drew a breath as his mouth worked over the top of my breast and to my nipple. He caught it gently in his mouth and then gave a long, slow suck of it, curling his tongue around the sensitive nub. He pulled back, lifting my breast and sending a shower of sensations along my nerve endings. I couldn’t catch the groan that slid from my lips, or the way my hips lifted to his, begging without a word for him to go further.
“I cannot believe we are here, that we have survived this far,” he mumbled as he kissed his way along my belly, pausing at the top of my jeans to flick his eyes upward. I stared down at him between my breasts, breathing hard. He raised his other hand and laid it against the base of my throat, then t
railed it down over my chest, between my breasts to the top button of my jeans.
“I’d like to keep surviving,” I whispered. “But even you have to admit our chances have not improved.”
He winked up at me. “No more shop talk.”
I laughed and nodded. “Agreed. Just fucking, yes?” I mimicked his accent and he gave me a lopsided grin.
With a snap of his fingers my pants disappeared and I was fully naked while he remained clothed. “Don’t worry, I’ll get naked soon enough, my heart.”
“Sure, sure. You just want me at a disadvantage.” I crinkled my eyes and nose at him and he shrugged.
“You call it a disadvantage. I call it a perfect moment.” He gripped my thighs, slid his hands down to my calves and then positioned them so they were hooked around the back of his neck. I couldn’t help the flush of my skin with the provocative position. The exposed position. He gave me that wicked lopsided grin as he slid his hands down the backs of my thighs. His eyes never left mine as he began a slow perusal of my pussy, running his fingers through the folds, gathering the slick heat into his palm and rubbing it over the entire region begging to be touched.
I tried to arch my hips higher, using my leverage around his neck, but he already had me high as I could hold myself off the bed. I clenched my fingers into the sheets as I struggled to breathe around the growing shivers that he induced with each swipe of his hands, each touch of a fingertip.
“Close your eyes. I want you to only feel, to let the sound and sensations fill you.” Diego spoke with the gentlest of commands. I let my eyes flutter closed and focused only on what I felt.
The press and roll of the pads of his fingers as they worked over my clit, driving my need higher as I gasped and moaned his name. The sounds of the slick skin as he swirled his hands over my pussy and when I felt the tingle of magic, I realized he was cheating.
I gasped, and groaned as his magic slid into me. “Cheating.” I managed to breathe the word as his power pressed inside me, touching my G-spot, making my pussy throb with a need that I’d not thought possible. I’d have never imagined.
