Darkness Seduced (Primal Heat Trilogy #2) (Order of the Blade)

by Stephanie Rowe

  Lust? Now? In the middle of battle, when Lily was barely hanging on, broken and battered? What the hell was wrong with him? He was here to do a job, to rescue Lily. Nothing else.

  It was time to focus. It was time to be the warrior he’d sworn he would be.

  Not the sensual, lustful male pulsating with hot desire that made him want to haul her against him and consume her until they were both too sated to move.

  Yeah, he definitely didn’t have time to be that guy, but damn, it was tempting as all hell. And then some.

  *

  “It’s time to go. Now,” Gideon said firmly, his hand tight around the handle of his axe.

  Go? With him? Fierce longing flooded Lily, chased by the icy chill of real terror. Dear God, what was wrong with her? Why was she responding to him like that?

  She forced herself to shake her head, her legs trembling as she willed herself to keep moving away from him, even though every instinct she had was screaming to run to him and take all that he offered, and more. “I’m fine here, thanks, now that I’m out of the basement. You go do your thing and I’ll call a cab.”

  Gideon’s jaw tightened, and she thought for a second he was going to simply grab her. She froze, awareness flooding her body at the idea of his hands on her. It was a dark, sensual awareness that terrified her.

  When he didn’t move for her, relief and dismay warred ruthlessly inside her, intense emotions fighting to be heard.

  “Ana told us you were here,” he said, his deep voice wrapping around her like strong arms and hot flesh.

  “Ana?” Lily paused in her retreat, her mind whirling as she tried to make sense of what he’d just said. “She’s alive?” Her mind flashed back to the woman who’d been imprisoned with her. She recalled with vivid clarity all the gashes on Ana’s body, and the fierce fire in Ana’s silver eyes when the two women had plotted Ana’s escape, a desperate attempt that had been their last chance before Nate and Frank had killed them both. “She got away? Is she okay? Is she hurt?”

  Gideon nodded, his blue eyes softening at her barrage of questions. “We retrieved her. She’s safe.”

  “Safe.” The word taunted Lily, laughed at her. God, she wanted to feel safe again. Just for a day. For an hour. For even a minute. Gideon will keep you safe. She winced at the unbidden thought, at the desire raging within her for him.

  She forced herself to meet his probing gaze, stunned by how utterly cold it was. For a brief moment, she thought she’d seen fire simmering in his deep blue eyes, intense passion that had awakened an answering response in her. But the heated desire was gone now, replaced by the impersonal visage of a warrior on a mission.

  Had she imagined it? Had she been so desperate for some kind of humanity that she’d created feeling and fire in this emotionless warrior? Or had it been there? Was he really both, stirring hot desire and icy cold fear deep inside her?

  She shook her head, trying to clear thoughts that made no sense. She knew what Calydons were like. She knew how dangerous they were in general, but especially to her. Oh, how terrifyingly dangerous to her, specifically. “Safe is an illusion.” She met his gaze. “No one is safe with a Calydon. Not even if that Calydon is you.”

  Frank knew she’d be worried about Ana. Frank would know that the best way to get her acquiescence would be to pretend Ana had sent the warriors. The fact that Gideon knew to use Ana’s name with her didn’t mean he was really on her side.

  Lily couldn’t be a fool. She had to count on herself. No one else. She couldn’t trust anyone, especially not a Calydon who had somehow awakened the sensual side of her that she tried so hard to hide from his kind.

  A muscle ticked in his cheek, and she saw a silent acknowledgement in his eyes, that she’d struck upon a truth he hated. A truth he couldn’t deny, that no one was safe from him.

  The glimpse into his vulnerability broke through her walls, and she suddenly wanted to cry for this warrior who could do no more than let out the merest flicker of humanity. Emotions crashed through her, too much to hold back after all she’d been through. She was losing control, losing sanity, losing everything. She steeled herself against the need to fall to her knees and offer herself into his protection, to show him that she trusted him, to heal him… God. Heal him? What was wrong with her?

  She needed to focus and stay firm in her goal to escape, even from him. She was almost to the kitchen door, almost close enough to slide inside…

  His gaze flicked to the doorframe she was reaching for, and he shifted slightly, readying himself to grab her if she bolted.

  Fear and desperation made her eyes burn. She would never get away from him. He would be too quick, too strong, and too determined. Freedom, so close, was nothing but an illusion. Her heart began to hammer again, panic setting in. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

  “Lily,” Gideon interjected, warmth rolling through his words. His brow was furrowed in concern, as if he could sense the panic closing in on her. “Ana said you told her about the stone. She said you could read the writing on it.”

  Lily paused at his comment, searching his face for the truth. “She did?” Lily had told Ana about Nate’s stone, and no one else had been present when she’d done so. She’d never believe Ana was weak enough to tell tales to people she didn’t trust. Disbelieving hope flickered through her. Was Gideon telling the truth? Was he really here to rescue her?

  She couldn’t believe it. After two years of praying for freedom, life was playing a cruel trick, teasing her with illusions of liberation. “No—”

  “Yes.” His voice was urgent, and he took a step toward her. “You can trust me, Lily. Ana told us where to find you.” He laughed softly. “She almost took my damned head off, demanding that I rescue you. She chose me to come get you. You think she’d send someone she didn’t trust?”

  Lily’s steely resolve faltered. His description fit Ana and how Lily would have expected her to behave, ordering Gideon to retrieve her. Was it true? Was he truly here to rescue her? To keep her safe? Was he the one Calydon she could actually trust, at least for now, for this moment, until she could get home?

  Lily’s defenses began to crumble and exhaustion pressed at her. She leaned her head back against the wall, too tired to hold it up any longer. “You’re really not here to hurt me?”

  “I’m not here to hurt you.” He started walking toward her, ever so slowly, like he was afraid to spook her.

  She noticed his approach, but she was too tired to flee. Too fatigued to fight her need for him, her desire to have him fold her into those heavily muscled arms, to let him chase the nightmares away with passion that would make her body come alive in ways she’d never dared try. She wanted Gideon, craved all he could give her, and she could no longer summon up the strength to resist her need for him. Her instincts told her to trust him, to turn to him for help, and she simply didn’t have the will to fight any longer.

  The strategic, logical mind that had kept her going for the last two years faded, leaving her with nothing more than the basic human need to be taken care of. She couldn’t talk herself out of trusting Gideon. She couldn’t muster the energy to assemble the facts and analyze them. All she could do was accept her trust for him, her need to stop fighting and let him help her, to simply let go.

  Lily watched him approach, using all her energy to hold herself vertical, her body prickling with awareness as he neared. Lily. He’s too dangerous to you. Resist him. “No closer,” she mumbled, fighting to find the strength that had kept her alive for so long. She couldn’t trust him. She knew she couldn’t. Even this amazing, powerful warrior who stirred things in her she hadn’t felt in so long. “Don’t touch me.”

  Fierce possessiveness glittered in his blue eyes, like hot sparks of lightening igniting a centuries-old instinct in him. “You’re under my protection now, Lily. No one’s getting another crack at you.”

  “Your protection? Meaning what?” God, she was so exhausted. Her feet hurt. All the cuts from the glass pricked at her. So te
mpting to just sit down. To let him take over.

  Stop it, Lily. You’re stronger than this. You know better than to turn yourself over to someone else.

  She pulled herself straighter, her body trembling with the effort. Anger flashed in Gideon’s eyes, anger that struck deep in her heart in the most beautiful way. It warmed her, because she realized it was anger on her behalf, fury at Nate for what he’d done to her. It was the same anger that she’d channeled for the last two years to keep herself from giving up. Her own emotions, reflected on the face of this handsome stranger. A man outraged by what had been done to her. A powerful warrior who was on her side.

  There was a sudden howl of rage outside, and she flinched, fear ricocheting through her. “There are more out there,” she gasped. “Who else is here?”

  “It’s a whole party, sweetheart. You’re one popular woman.” Gideon studied the wall, his brow furrowed as if he could see right through it. Then he cursed. “You stay here. I’ll be back for you.” Then he slammed his shoulder into the wall and plaster went flying as he burst through it and raced out into the night.

  I’ll be back for you.

  They were the same words Frank had spat at her when he’d left, words that had filled Lily with terror, desperation and the foreboding of a terrible death.

  But with Gideon making the same promise, Lily just felt vast relief. He would be back for her. To rescue her. To bring her to Ana. To freedom.

  Lily leaned against the wall as Gideon loped out into the night, his muscles rippling with a lithe grace. Then she saw one of Frank’s Calydons charge up behind Gideon, moving too fast for her to scream a warning—

  Gideon whirled around and sank his axe into his attacker’s gut. The warrior dropped to the ground, dead. Two more Calydons approached. They circled Gideon to try to distract him, then she saw one of them glance in her direction.

  The warrior caught her gaze for a moment, then he jerked his head toward her and charged Gideon. The instant Gideon turned toward him, the Calydon’s partner sidestepped the skirmish and bolted toward Lily, his knives clenched in his hand, deadly intention etched in the hard lines of his face.

  “Oh, crap!” She whirled around but he tackled her before she could even take a step, slamming her to the ground, pinning her beneath his massive body. He was instant dead weight on her. She struggled out from under him, her pulse hammering frantically as he lay inertly on top of her. She wiggled free and looked down at the back of his neck in time to see a double-sided axe work itself free and whip through the air back to Gideon’s palm.

  Gideon had saved her. Again.

  Gideon gave her a quick wink, as if slaughtering attackers was everyday business, which she knew it was for a man like him. Then he spun around to take on more assailants.

  Her stomach retched at the thought that a man had died on top of her, then a scream of death jerked her attention back out to the battle again. Gideon and another Calydon were back to back, defending against dozens of Calydons. There was no way Gideon and his teammate could win against such odds.

  Frank’s warriors would kill Gideon.

  For a split second, Lily felt such an unexplainable heart wrenching grief for Gideon’s death that her legs actually gave out and she fell to her knees, gasping for air. Her hands went to her throat as bile churned in her belly. Her body shook violently as the devastating image of Gideon’s death loomed in her mind and she pressed her hands to her head, gasping as she fought to keep herself from falling apart.

  God, Lily! Get it together! She threw up emotional barriers against the pain Staggering, she wrenched herself to her feet, taking one last glance at Gideon as he fought, his muscles bulging and blood running down his arm. His face was tight, coiled with deadly purpose as he took down another warrior, not even flinching as he claimed another life.

  “This is your truth,” she whispered to herself as she watched Gideon and his partner in their lethal battle. “He isn’t safety. He isn’t some passionate lover who will heal your scars. He’s death, destruction and violence, as all Calydons are.”

  Blood sprayed as bodies fell, the death screams hammering at her as the warriors succumbed to Gideon’s blade. He spared her no glance as he turned on another assailant. He was a warrior utterly focused on one goal, one mission. There was no mercy in him. Lily knew his passion would be nothing more than the typical all-consuming lust of his kind, sweeping any and all women under its spell. No tenderness, no emotion…with Gideon, there would be no safe place.

  Lily knew that. She’d known that, and yet she’d somehow still responded to him.

  Damn her and her foolishness. She knew better than that!

  Lily ratcheted her emotions back under control, forcing herself to turn away as his blade fell once again. If Gideon was killed—she stumbled at the idea before she caught herself—there would be no one to protect her from Frank’s retrieval team. Run, Lily. This is your chance.

  She spun back toward the house and sprinted into the kitchen, barely able to breathe through the tightness in her chest at her fear of what was happening to Gideon outside. Damn him! She didn’t even know him! How could he have affected her like this already?

  It was because he’d saved her from a fate worse than death from both Calydons. They hadn’t been planning to kill her. They’d been planning worse, so much worse, but Gideon had stood by her. He’d given her the first offer of protection she’d had in so long. He was her first breath of hope. How could that gesture not overwhelm her? It had been too long, too arduous, and too heartbreaking, her wait for freedom, for kindness, for someone to hold her hand and show her she didn’t have to fight on her own.

  It made sense, her reaction to Gideon, and she accepted her feelings as logical, not indicators of something more dangerous. Please don’t die, Gideon. I owe you my life.

  Able to focus on her escape now that she understood her intense attraction to Gideon, Lily grabbed the hammer from its place under the sink, and slammed it into the lock on the drawer next to the fridge.

  The lock stayed intact.

  Lily swung again, and still it didn’t break.

  She jumped at a loud crash from outside, the hammer sliding out of her trembling grip. She lurched for it, wrapped her fingers around it and swung. “Come on!” She slammed the hammer down as hard as she could, and the metal lock snapped. Dear God, thank you.

  Lily threw the hammer aside, ripped the broken lock off and tossed it. The metal lock clanged as it bounced on the tile floor, and she yanked open the drawer, nearly sobbing with relief when she saw the keys exactly where they were supposed to be. She grabbed the set of keys with the Hummer keychain, her hand shaking so badly the keys slipped free and landed with a clatter. She swept them up off the floor then bolted across the kitchen. Her fist clenched around the cold keys, she fumbled with the deadbolt to the garage, unable to get it open. “Focus, Lily!”

  She forced herself to slow down enough to concentrate and this time, she got the deadbolt to turn. She jerked the door open, holding her breath that Nate’s pride and joy would still be there, the vehicle he would never soil by taking it on his murder runs and staining the interior with the blood from each attack.

  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark, and she didn’t dare turn on a light. But she finally saw the sheen on its black paint and the outline of the huge SUV, and tears pricked her eyes.

  It was there. All her years of planning, believing that someday she would have this chance, it was really happening.

  Lily ran down the four steps into the garage, sprinted across the three empty parking spots and pressed the button on the remote to unlock the Hummer. She flinched as the beep seemed to bounce off the walls and ceilings of the garage, horrifyingly loud. Any Calydon within five hundred yards would have heard it, if he were listening.

  She hoped they were too distracted by the fight to notice, too occupied by their battle with Gideon.

  Sudden grief consumed her, terror for what was happening to Gideon
outside, and she screamed in frustration at the way he was affecting her. “Come on, Lily! You can’t afford to fail!”

  There was a roar and the clash of metal on metal from outside, and she scrambled up into the truck, praying no Calydon would come rushing through the garage doors for her.

  Her hands were shaking so much she missed the ignition with the key twice, then she stopped and closed her eyes. “Calm down, Lily. You can do this.”

  When she opened her eyes this time, she shoved the key directly into the ignition. She yanked her seatbelt on and whispered a prayer, knowing that once she turned the truck on, they would come running for her.

  She located the garage door opener incorporated into the visor. She poised her left index finger over it while she tightened her grip on the ignition key, getting everything ready before she took action that would alert the warriors outside. She wiped her forearm over her brow. The cuts on her arm burned as the sweat stung her skin.

  Emergency brake off, she knew where the gearshift was…she was ready.

  She took a deep breath and started the truck. The engine rumbled to life with a ferociously loud roar. She hit the button to open the garage door, then slammed the truck into reverse and floored it.

  The truck smashed through the half-open garage door, and she winced as the truck slammed into two Calydons who were running straight at the doors when she burst through, splintered boards flying. The truck lurched as the tires bounced over the warriors, and she stared in horror as they appeared on the ground in front of her, lit up by her headlights, men that she’d run over.

  Then one of them lifted his head and rolled to his feet, barely staggering.