Vaughn felt his throat tighten at the genuine empathy in her voice, and knew that Grace had just bought herself a free ride if he were forced to come back to the Order and make them pay for Drew’s death. “Thanks.” His voice was gruffer than he’d intended, but Grace’s smile suggested she didn’t care.
She was kind. Too kind to be hanging out with a bunch of murderous bastards. She was kind the way Nell had been. And Nell had been no match for the Order member who’d entered her life and fathered Drew. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Grace’s eyebrows went up. “Here where?”
“With the Order.”
She gave a quick shake of her head. “They’re good males. Quinn will stand by you.” Her tone had shifted, making it clear she’d accept no negative statements about the Order, and Vaughn capitulated. It wasn’t his job to rescue her. He had only one mission and that was Drew.
Grace gave him another smile, but this one was tempered, and he knew she no longer completely trusted him. “There are car keys in the kitchen. Help yourself to a truck and some food while I write down directions to the prison for you.” She frowned at him. “Do you need assistance getting down the stairs?”
“Hell, no.” He palmed the wall, leaning heavily against it as he made his way down the hall.
“No? Really?” She smiled then, a radiant smile full of laughter that made him blink. “You’d get along great with Quinn. Give him a chance, tough guy.” Still laughing, she tucked her hand around his arm and helped him toward the stairs, already giving him directions to the prison and filling him in on what had happened while he was recovering.
By the time Vaughn was on the road twenty minutes later, he knew he was playing in waters he had no business swimming in.
And he knew he had no choice.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The tension was vibrating off Elijah as he dropped his hands from the wall of the prison and stepped back. His muscles were rigid, and Ana could see the sweat beading on his forehead. “Drew’s in there,” he said.
“I know.” Ana had heard it all, including the panic in Drew’s voice, his desperation to get out. She knew what that felt like, to be trapped, and she felt so awful for him. “You’re really not going to let him out?”
Elijah frowned at Ana. “You heard that whole conversation?”
She realized that Elijah hadn’t been present as her sister and Lily had experienced the stages of bonding, and since all other Order shevas had been killed upon discovery, he might not know the details. “Yes. You weren’t trying to shield me, so I could hear it.” She eyed the prison wall, her heart breaking for the youth she knew was so desperate on the other side. “You think Ezekiel’s really in there with Drew? You really think it’s not safe to let him out?”
Elijah ran his hand through his hair, looking tense. “I don’t know. I can’t tell. But Drew wasn’t trying to manipulate me the way Ezekiel usually does. I don’t know how to interpret that.”
“So, you’re just going to leave him in there?”
“Maybe.” Elijah called out his throwing star with a crack and a flash of black light. He fisted it and faced the prison, his expression intent and focused. “The walls feel different now. Weaker.” He tapped one of the points of this throwing star against the wall, and bits crumbled. “My weapon used to bounce off the wall. But now—” He pressed harder and flicked more of the clay away. “Now I think I could dig right through it.”
Ana picked up a rock and tapped it against the wall. It bounced off as if she was trying to throw a rubber ball against a solid surface. She tried again, with the same result.
Elijah nodded at her. “Let me try.”
She handed it to him, her fingers brushing over his palm. Electricity jumped between them, and their eyes met for a second. Her heart fluttered, and something inside her leapt to life, desperate desire and sensual longing.
Elijah ground his teeth, then he took the rock and tapped it against the wall. It bounced off like it was made of rubber, exactly as it had done for her. “Same as you.” Without a word, he tried his weapon again, and another piece of the wall crumbled.
Ana took a breath, trying to focus on the situation, not on the broad lines of Elijah’s back. Why was she suddenly feeling so overwhelmed by her attraction for him? Her need for him seemed to burn in every cell of her body, and her fingers felt like they were on fire where they were resting on his forearm.
Elijah held out his throwing star to her. “Try it.”
Ana hesitated, staring at the weapon that defined him, the one that had chosen Elijah so many hundreds of years ago. No one else could wield that weapon, and she was sure no one had touched it besides him in centuries. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Elijah took her hand and then set the weapon into it, closing her fingers over it.
Her heart began to race as she traced her thumb over the intricate design in the steel. It felt heavy, as if the weight of the thousands of deaths it had caused were carved into the metal. It was cold in her hand, the blades sharp. So much power, so much strength, so much force in it. All the things that she hadn’t possessed in her life. If she’d had it, she could have defended herself, and no one would have had to die for her. “This feels amazing.”
Elijah grinned, a possessive gleam in his eyes. “It’s sexy as hell to see you holding my weapon.” He slid his hand up her arm, his caress decadently sensual as it slid over the mark in her skin.
She swallowed. “I like it,” she whispered. “I like how it makes me feel.”
“Yeah, me too.” His eyes were hooded and dark, his voice husky as he took her hand again. His fingers seemed to sear her skin. “Hold it like this so none of the blades dig into your skin.” He shifted the star in her hand, his grip temptingly strong as he closed her fingers around it. “Like that.”
Ana tested her grip on the star, and it felt right in her hand, as if it were a part of her. “I’ve never used a weapon before, but I feel like I know how to use this one.” Her entire body was vibrating with the excitement of holding it, of feeling it bending to her will. She could almost feel her spirit meshing with it, weaving it into the fabric of her being. It called to her, made her want to make it hers, to cement her connection with it. A small tree stood nearby, and she knew that was her tree, the offering from the earth to serve as the conduit to seal her connection with the weapon.
Ana tightened her grip, honed in on a knothole in the trunk, and then brought her arm back to throw it—
“No.” Elijah caught her arm before she could release it, his eyes blazing with lust. “One of the stages is my weapon recognizing you and allowing you to use it. Let’s not go down that path.”
“What?” It took her a full minute to pull herself back from the magic of Elijah’s throwing star. “Oh, wow.” The shiny metal felt alive in her hand, and she realized that was how it must feel to Elijah. The weapon was an extension of him, responding to his thoughts and emotions, taking direction not only from how he threw it, but also from where his mind wanted it to go. “I knew that, and I would have done it anyway. I would have thrown it.” The urge to throw it was still pulsing through her. “It wants me to throw it.”
A low groan erupted from Elijah’s throat, sending vibrations rumbling through her. “No, that’s me you’re sensing.”
Ana’s entire body throbbed at the intensity in his green eyes. “You want me to throw it? But you just said it was a mistake.”
“Sweetheart, it is a mistake.” He moved closer, his arm snaking around her waist. “Six hundred years of Calydon instincts are fighting hard to get me to bond you tighter and make you mine so no male can ever touch you or take you from me. I want to brand you with my mark and my scent and tie you to me so tightly that you can never leave. I want you to throw that star with every fiber of my soul.”
Ana’s mouth went dry as she stared up at him, his lips only inches from hers. “You do?”
“Yeah. But so far, I’m managing to resist. But if you keep fondlin
g my throwing star like it’s a certain part of my anatomy—” He grimaced.
She stopped sliding her thumb along the edge of one of the blades, her cheeks heating when she realized she’d been doing it and fantasizing that it was Elijah’s— “I see your point.”
He eased back from her, though he kept his arm firmly anchored around her waist. “Just tap it against the wall,” he said. “Let’s try to keep it at that.”
“Right.” Ana tapped the star against the wall, and it bounced off like the rock had. “It’s not working.”
“Hang on.” Elijah moved behind her and pressed his body up against hers so she could feel the heat of him from her shoulders to her thighs. He put his hands beneath her shirt and flattened them on her stomach and nestled his face through her hair until his lips were hot on her neck.
Heat pulsed between her thighs, and she felt his erection pressing against her backside. “Um, Elijah? How is this resisting?”
“Trust me, if I wasn’t resisting, you’d be naked by now.”
An image flashed through her mind of his naked body against hers, of his skin sliding over her belly… “Then what are you doing?”
“Testing something.” Elijah nestled tighter against her, and she could feel her breasts beginning to ache. Open your mind to me.
Even more intimacy? Super idea.
His amusement rumbled through her. Do you have any idea how arousing it is to get into your mind when you’re reacting to me holding you like this?
Yeah, I have an idea.
He chuckled again. Don’t worry. Having Ezekiel nearby is a serious mood-killer for me. You’d have to beg me for at least a tenth of a second before I’d take you. His voice started getting deeper and more sensual, and his amusement faded. Okay, so keeping connected with me, I want you to try my throwing star on the wall again.
Ana licked her lips, trying not to think about how muscular his arms were wrapped around her, how his forearms were brushing against the underside of her breasts—
Focus, Ana. I’m too tightly connected with you right now for you to be thinking about shit like that. His voice was a low growl, with none of the previous amusement. It was all lust, tightly contained, straining at its boundaries.
Ana quickly raised the throwing star and tapped it against the clay. The wall crumbled easily under the point, and excitement bubbled inside her. “It’s working!” She started digging harder, and then Elijah’s hand closed over hers, thwarting her efforts. She tried to get her hand out of his grasp. “No, let go. I can get through the walls—”
“Ana. Stop.”
His calm voice penetrated, and she suddenly realized what she was doing and released the throwing star into his hand. “What just happened?”
Elijah sheathed the throwing star back in the brand on his forearm and eased his body away from hers. “What happened is that my throwing star is all that’s left now to bring down these walls, and because of our bond, it also works for you.”
Trepidation rippled through Ana as she eyed the hole she’d started to dig in the wall. “And what about the fact I suddenly could think of nothing more exciting than carving a hole in the wall?”
“Because that’s what Ezekiel wants me to do. As I said, he can influence me, and now it looks like he can hit you up, too.” He scowled. “I gotta say, sweetheart, I’m not a real big fan of the idea of Ezekiel being able to connect with you.”
A cold chill went through her as Elijah’s hand tightened around her wrist. “So, I was feeling Ezekiel’s excitement? It became mine?” Oh, wow, that was just creepy. And scary.
He nodded. “I think so.”
“So, what do you feel from him?”
“Oh, I felt that, too. But I was ready for it.”
There was something in Elijah’s eyes, something dark, and suddenly she realized what he was afraid of. “You think Ezekiel’s connection to you is strong enough that he could turn you into his killing machine? That he could make your soul as black as his, and you’d…you’d kill the Order for him?”
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I think. That’s one of the reasons I want him dead so badly. I need to kill him before he breaks me down and starts to control me. And now with my mind the way it is, my defenses are even lower.” He grimaced. “No one’s safe with me, not even you.”
Ana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Elijah was so powerful and strong. How could Ezekiel control him like that? “Has he made you do stuff before?”
His jaw ticked. “Little things, yeah. I feel his emotions when I’m near the prison, and I connect with him. When I’m prepared, I can shield him, but with the walls weakening or with him outside, his influence will be stronger.” Elijah met her gaze, raw determination in his expression. “And the worst part is, I feel affection for him, like I assume Caleb did. Ezekiel and I share the same blood, and my spirit recognizes him as my brother. I don’t know if I’ll be able to kill him.”
“Oh, no.” Ana saw the grim truth in his eyes, and then her arm started to burn. She looked down at it, and saw a silver line creeping along the skin, outlining the third point of his throwing star. “Um, Elijah—”
He took her arm and lifted it, his grip tightening when he saw what was going on. “Trust,” he said. “The trust stage, in which I give you the power to destroy me, often by telling my darkest secret.” He traced the developing line with his index finger. “Damn, I like the sight of my mark on your arm.”
Ana’s heart started to race, and desire began to build inside her. “Elijah—”
“I know it’s bad news, but the male in me can’t help but like it.” Elijah brought her arm to his lips and lightly kissed the mark, his green eyes fastened tightly on hers. They were dark with desire. Unbridled passion swirled in them, the relentless need to possess her. “You are so dangerous to me,” he whispered.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Ana willed herself not to move closer to him, not to press her body up against his. “What do we do about Drew?” she asked, her voice strangled with the effort of keeping herself focused. “And the prison?”
Elijah kissed her arm again, not taking his eyes off hers. “We do nothing about them. We leave Drew where he is. He’s safe enough behind the walls. I’m the only one who can get to him.”
Fire began licking its way up her arm as his tongue darted out and traced the lines of his mark on her arm. “And Ezekiel?” she asked, her voice husky and breathless.
“We will go find Drew, or the physical manifestation of Drew and see who’s home. And then we make decisions.” Elijah’s arm snaked around her waist, and he hauled her tight against him, staring down at her. “God, you feel good.”
Heat was pulsing through her now, hot desire. “It’s the bond,” she whispered.
“Probably.” Elijah caught her hair in his hand, holding her immobile, his gaze riveted to her mouth. “Or it could simply be the fact that everything about you awakens the deepest part of my soul and makes me want to claim you on every level I can, including your body, your mind, your soul and your heart.”
Oh, Lordy. She wasn’t enough of an independent woman to be able to resist that. “Don’t kiss me.” The words were a sensual whisper on her lips, and her cheeks heated from the raw need so evident in her voice.
Elijah lowered his head until his breath was warm on her lips. “I want you, Ana. I want to be inside you and make you mine in the ways of the ancient Calydons. It’s so brutally wrong and dangerous.” His lips feathered over hers, his arm secure around her waist, locking her down against his unyielding strength. “And yet, my body is so hard, so ready, so desperate for you I feel like I can’t do anything until I lay you down on the ground, strip off your clothes and brand every inch of your body with my scent and my touch.”
Her heart stuttered. “Such a bad idea,” she managed to say.
“Yeah, I know. But right now, I don’t really give a shit.” Then he bent his head and kissed he
r, a full-on, deep commitment to consuming her very essence.
Ana was instantly lost in the feel of his lips, the sensual play of his tongue, in the way his hand spread over her bare back. The kiss wasn’t about domination or control. It was about sensuality and desire, a blatantly undeniable need for intimacy and bonding. It struck her very core, everything she’d been longing for her whole life.
Connection. Intimacy. Protection. Safety. Elijah offered her everything, and she wanted it. So badly. But even as her arms slid around his neck with a small groan, she knew she was lying to herself. The kiss wasn’t about all those things. The kiss was a prelude toward Elijah’s insanity, toward her losing everything that was important to her, to the utter destruction of both of them. But at the same time…it was about intimacy…intimacy with the warrior who touched her heart.
Elijah kissed her deeper, his hands sliding down over the curve of her bottom, pulling her against his erection, so it was pressing into her core. Then he moved his hands down her thighs, lifting her against him. He continued to assault her mouth with kisses of such heat and such need. With a sigh of willing surrender, Ana wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him, kissing him back with all the emotion and desire she’d kept wrapped up for so long.
This was their first kiss of equality, the first one where she was kissing Elijah, not the beast fighting to subdue his demons or a Calydon male reacting to his sheva being injured. His hands were still strong, his kiss still controlling, but there was a tenderness, an emotional presence that hadn’t been there before. This was Elijah kissing her simply because he craved her with every fiber of his being, and it was different. Better. So much better.
Elijah buried his hands in her hair, while he continued to kiss her, a heated, intoxicating kiss of desire and passion, as if he could stand there holding her and kissing her for the rest of his life and never stop. She could feel his satisfaction, the utter rightness in his mind. His confidence chased away her fears, and she finally gave herself over to the kiss.
Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) Page 18
