He stared at her, dozens of heated emotions raging in his eyes. “You humble me.”
“I—”
He put his finger on her mouth. “Don’t say anything more, Ana. I just want to stand here and think about the fact that you know exactly what I’m turning into, and what I’ve done, and yet you can look at me with those innocent eyes of yours and put yourself into my care and safekeeping. Despite all the hell you’ve faced and still have to face, you’ve hooked your hopes and your strength on me. Me. Just me.” His hand slid to her cheek, caressing her. “I might kill you.”
“I know.”
He closed his eyes. “And you could kill me, or send me so permanently insane that my team will have to kill me.”
Tears filled her eyes at the very idea of it. “God, I hope not.”
He opened them again. “It would destroy you to kill me. Send you over the edge into your worst nightmare.”
She couldn’t stop the shudder. “It would.”
“Because of the bond, we’re destined for exactly that path. There’s no other future for us.” His voice was soft, and he ran his hands down her arms. “And yet you stand here before me, holding onto me, anyway. You’re not protesting the bond. You’re not trying to protect yourself against me. You’re open. Hell, you welcome my touch.”
“You’re my strength, Elijah.” She gripped his shirt, wanting to pull him closer against her, needing his touch. “You may be my greatest danger, but you also give me courage and strength that I don’t have on my own.”
“Oh, sheva. You are so wrong.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You don’t need me in order to be strong. You have it all backwards. You’re the strength that keeps me going.” His lips slid down her temple. “You confuse me, sweetheart.”
She closed her eyes as the warmth of his mouth brushed over her cheekbone. “How?”
“I don’t know how to deal with you.” He kissed along her jaw. “The Calydon in me demands I shut you out of my life so I don’t endanger you. Protection of innocents.” He grazed his teeth over her chin, ever so lightly. “As your mate, the compulsion to protect you from danger burns so deep, which means I need to keep you far away from me, for I am such a danger to you.” He paused, his lips hovering over hers. “But as your mate, I also need to claim you on all levels and make you mine. Keep you by my side where I can watch over you. Make love to you the way I want to, instead of in some frantic moment on the floor to keep a madman from bonding with you.”
Ana’s heart began to race as his breath feathered over her lips, and her belly curled with heated desire. She could feel his emotion, his need for her filling her with such warmth and beauty, she wanted to cry.
“But as an Order member, I need to focus on stopping Ezekiel. Everything else must come second.” His hands slid beneath her shirt, his palms spanning her back as he ever so gently pulled her against him, so the hardness of his erection was pressed against her belly. “And as a male, I have this undeniable self-preservation instinct to keep myself from descending into a pit of insanity and hell, which means staying away from you and your illusions. Staying out of your mind. God help me, I need to stay out of your mind, yet the bond pulls me in, wraps me tighter around you.”
He lightly kissed her, and fire leapt to life within her as his warm lips caressed hers. “And then Ezekiel…staking his claim to you…” He opened his mouth and kissed her fully, his tongue sliding between her teeth, a heated caress of passion and desire, of total capitulation and ultimate control. He endangers you and encroaches on my territory, making me crazy in a way I’ve never been before. His hands slid beneath her jeans, kneading her bottom and bringing her tight against his pelvis as he consumed her with his kiss, his mouth hot and demanding, the kiss rising in intensity and need. I need to rip his mark off you, fill you with my seed until my scent permeates your body, so every male that meets you knows you are mine, knows I will destroy anyone who threatens you and defend you with my life.
His hands slid up her back, caressing her shoulders, lifting her shirt. And I need, more than anything, to kill Ezekiel before he takes you. Raw fury carved his voice, and his kiss grew more demanding, more intense.
His hand went to her belly and slid upwards, cupping her breast, his mouth taking hers more fiercely, a kiss of ownership, possession and need. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close, kissing him just as hard, just as desperately, embracing her need for him, and only him. Her tongue met his with equal commitment, her body ached for him, her breasts heavy and needing.
His body shuddered under her response, and some of his anger faded. All of these things are driving me. They are all a part of me. His voice was low and sexy, laced with desire that made her body pulse in response. They are all intertwined and mixed. Inseparable. And they conflict. God, do they conflict. I don’t know how to balance them. All of them are my instincts, compulsions I can’t ignore, yet to do one violates another. You tie me in knots, while our lives and our futures and that of so many innocents depend on us…on me…making the right decisions. He lifted her up to sit her on the railing, and she clutched at his arms, remembering how far it was to the ground.
He laughed softly in her mind. You actually believe there’s any possibility at all that I could let you fall? He dropped his head to her breast, his mouth closing around her nipple, while his arm went around her, holding her so tightly and securely. There is no time for this. No time for me to make you mine. To worship your body. To have you wrap those lovely legs of yours around my hips while I drive so deep, connecting us in the way of a Calydon and his mate.
She trembled as his hand slid along her thigh, over her jeans, as he scraped his teeth over her nipple, his biceps flexing as he kept her firmly planted on the railing. Make love to me, Elijah. It can be fast. I don’t care. I just need to feel close.
He lifted his head, his hand still rubbing on her thigh. “But I care. I don’t want it to be fast again. I want to make slow and leisurely love to you.” His green eyes pulsed with heat. “I want to touch every inch of your body. I want to tease you until you’re writhing with need for me to be inside you. And then I want to make love to you until we both can’t take it anymore.” His hand slid higher, to the inseam of her jeans. “And then I want to start all over again.”
She caught her breath, her cheeks hot, her clothes itchy, desire racing through her, like little flickers of fire building fast and furious. “Okay.”
He laughed softly. “My dear, sweet Ana.” He kissed her again, and this kiss was different. It was charged with an electricity and an energy that hadn’t been there before. A commitment, and she knew he wasn’t going to stop.
Ana felt a sudden crash of heated desire in her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he locked his arms around her back and lifted her off the railing, sliding them both to the floor of the balcony. Her shirt was off by the time she made it down there, as was his, his mouth on her breasts, his hands unbuttoning her jeans. His body was hard and muscled above her, his mouth stirring up feelings of such heat and such intensity—
He tossed her pants aside, and he shifted off her long enough to shed his jeans. He rolled onto his back, setting her across his hips so she was straddling him. The heat of his body pulsed against her, his skin flush against hers.
He gripped her hair and pulled her face down to his, his tongue demanding, his mouth hot and wet. He tasted like mint, like male, like erotic spices and danger. His erection was hard between her legs, pressing against her core. His hips were moving beneath her, creating hot friction and wetness between her legs, while his mouth continued to devour hers.
Elijah’s hands were clenching her hair in an unrelenting hold she knew she could break, even though it felt like she couldn’t. But she wasn’t going to pull away. She wanted to be held by him. She wanted to be locked against his body and feel his kisses and his hands skimming over every inch of her.
His hands slid over her back and down her butt, then slipped inside her.
Ana’s body jerked as desire spiraled through her, and suddenly, she couldn’t wait anymore. She sat up and lifted her hips, meeting his hooded gaze as he guided her down onto his shaft. He slid deep within her, and her body clenched at the delicious sensation of sinking so intimately onto him.
Elijah fisted her hair again, pulled her down and kissed her hard as he began to move his hips. He whispered her name in her mind, a sound of such heat and passion and need that her heart swelled in response. A whisper of a moan echoed from her and she sat up, pulling out of his grasp so she could sink even deeper on him and take him all the way into her. She braced her palms on his chest and began to move.
“God, yes, Ana.” Elijah threw his head back and grabbed her hips, his fingers holding tight as she controlled their movements.
She realized that he was allowing her to take control. This wasn’t about his domination, his power, his control. He’d given it to her, despite all that he’d been through, despite all the demons that chased him and his need to try to fight his way back to the warrior he used to be, despite the power she had over him to send him spiraling into hell…despite all that, he’d handed all control over to her.
He trusted her.
Something tightened in her heart, and little tremors began to shoot through her body, and she forgot about everything but the feel of him inside her, his hands cupping her breasts, his hips driving beneath her, the feeling of utter connection with him. Of safety and protection, but also more. Something so much more, and she realized suddenly that she trusted him, too, truly and completely. With her life, with her heart, with everything. He was stability, he was foundation, and he would be there for her.
“Of course, I will,” he growled just as he grabbed her around the waist, tossed her on her back and drove deeper into her, his chest brushing her breasts. Her body tensed, and the climax slammed into her. She shouted his name as her body arched beneath him, and then he was thrusting frantically. His body went rigid, and he gasped. Ana. My dear, amazing Ana.
Then Elijah collapsed on top of her, his face in her breasts, his chest expanding with his heavy breathing.
Ana wrapped her arms around his head and held him tight against the racing of her heart, knowing that what they’d just done had been more than sex, it had been more than the bond. It had been a connection, something dangerous and scary and truly beautiful in ways that words would never be able to express.
Elijah lifted his head to look at her, his green eyes dark with desire and satisfaction. “You are my world, Ana.” His voice was raw and naked and honest, and it hit her right in her heart.
“Elijah—”
He shifted suddenly, and she felt his erection spring up against her thigh, already prepared for more. Lust was boiling in his eyes. She saw his sudden determination and knew he was going to take her again. Right then. Hard, hot sex with no mercy. Excitement flared up inside her, and she shuddered in anticipation at the image of him pounding into her.
“God, yes.” She grabbed for him at the same instant he lunged for her, his erection hard and throbbing against her belly.
Jesus, Ana. His groan was loud and raw in her head, his mouth hot on her breasts, teeth, lips, tongue. He sank into her, and she screamed at the intensity of the connection. It was more than what she’d felt before. Intense. Darker. Violent. He thrust deep, and the orgasm tore at her instantly, ripping through her like a brutal storm, and Elijah bellowed as he climaxed just as violently.
Darkness pulsed over Ana. She heard the rumble of dark male satisfaction and hot masculine desire in her mind. She felt it reverberate in her soul.
And it wasn’t Elijah.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ana froze at the same instant Elijah went still, his erection deep inside her. “Elijah—”
“Jesus.” Elijah jerked his hips back, rolled off her, grabbed her pants and hauled them back up her legs so hard the material scraped her thighs. “Ezekiel’s here.”
Her heart was beating frantically as she fumbled for her fly, her hands bumping Elijah’s as he beat her to the zipper. “He’s here?”
“Connected to us. Fuck.” He finished getting her pants on, then jerked his own jeans back on. “He showed up to play voyeur. It was his lust that made us attack each other that second time. He was late to the party and wanted us to go again.” He roared with frustration as he yanked his zipper up, his face dark with fury. “Shut him out, Ana!”
She felt Elijah plunge into her mind, helping her erect her shields against Ezekiel. The relief was instant, like fresh air flooding her lungs, sweeping away the taint. “He’s gone.”
“For now.” Elijah grabbed Ana’s arm and yanked it toward him, scrutinizing the skin.
Her stomach churned when she realized what he was looking for. “Oh, God, please don’t tell me there’s another mark.” She searched her arm for a new mark, for one that didn’t belong, for a silver line creeping over her skin like a parasite. And as she watched, a line formed on her arm, outlining the handle of Ezekiel’s knife. “Oh, God. How is this possible?” She started to shake. “How is he bonding with me?”
Elijah’s hand closed over her arms and he swore again. “I think…” Elijah’s jaw flexed and he wiped the back of his hand over his forehead. His voice was tight and precise, as if it was taking all his self-control not to snap. “He was fully merged with both of us while we made love that second time. He was in our heads, driving us to make love again.”
Ana’s stomach dropped at the implication of his words. “You mean, to tighten my bond with him?”
“Sex by proxy. Long distance satisfaction of the bond.”
“Oh, God.” Elijah caught her as her legs started to give out. Her chest tightened and she started having difficulty breathing. “I can’t—”
“Trust me, I know.” Elijah’s face was grim, barely in control, as he leaned on the railing, gripping so tightly his knuckles were white. He swore again, slammed his palm against the iron, then grabbed her and kissed her hard.
She fought against the urge to melt into his body. “Stop! We can’t! He’s here—”
“Fuck him.” Elijah kissed her again, until she stopped fighting and let herself melt against him. I need to feel you respond to me.
There was a vulnerability in Elijah’s voice that made her throat tighten, and she fisted his hair and kissed him back until he groaned and broke the kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers, his hands tight around her waist. “We’re not safe from him, Ana. Anything we do that satisfies one of the stages of the bond will seal your bond with him if he’s merged with us. The only reason we felt him that time was because he got too caught up and we sensed his lust. If you call out my weapon, it’ll be the same thing as calling out his. If I kill to save your life, it’ll be the same thing as him doing it.”
Ana stared at him, the full impact of what he was saying settling on her. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard of this happening before between blood-bonded Calydons, which is one of the reasons most stay away from the blood-bond. Once they do, they’re in danger of meeting their sheva not only with the women they actually encounter, but any women their blood brothers meet while they are merged.” Every muscle in Elijah’s body was rigid, and his body was vibrating with energy and adrenaline.
Elijah was at war. She could see it in the focus on his face, in the readiness of his stance, in the coldness of his eyes.
“We’re out of time.” His voice was grim. “Ezekiel’s coming for us, and our only chance is to preempt him.”
“Dear God, how?” She felt like they were at his mercy, just toys for him to play with at will. How could they ever stop him?
Elijah kissed her again, a fierce kiss of ownership, as if he needed to stake his claim to her, and she was completely okay with that. “We go to him,” Elijah said. “Like I suggested at the mansion. We tell him we’re considering his offer, and we put ourselves in his home, in his life, in his fucking mind until I figure how the hell to kill hi
m.” His grip tightened. “And you’re coming with me. I will not leave you unattended as long as he’s alive.”
She swallowed. “We’re going now?”
“Soon. I need to talk to the Order and make plans. You have time for a shower if you want one.”
She looked down at the crusted blood on her and nodded numbly. “I always prefer a shower before I present myself to a psychotic killer who wants to make me his concubine.”
Elijah met her gaze, amusement flickering deep inside somewhere beneath his shadows, just before he cupped her face and kissed her, a deep hot kiss that made her insides crumble, a kiss of commitment and caring that made the panic fade, replaced by a determination and courage to do whatever it took to succeed. Elijah broke the kiss and ran his thumb over her lower lip, his gaze dark and intense.
He didn’t offer reassurance that they’d survive.
And she didn’t ask for it.
Empty words meant nothing.
***
Once Ana was in the shower, Elijah leaned his forehead against the bathroom door, listening to the rhythm of the water and the small sounds as she moved around. God, he wanted to be in there with her. Her eyes had been so shadowed when she’d walked in, and there were still faint bruises on her face. A jagged cut on her cheek. Ezekiel’s marks on her arms. He cursed softly.
God, the hell she’d been brought into.
He took a deep breath. I’ll make it safe for you again, Ana. I promise you.
She touched his mind. I don’t need safety. I just need you.
You have me. His priority was to the Order, but she was his life. Because she was his sheva? He suspected it was far more than that.
Elijah laid his palm on the door for a second, then willed himself to turn away. He strode across the room, reaching out for his team. Quinn. Gideon. You guys there?
We’re here. Recovered. The response of his teammates was instant, and he knew from the intensity of the connection that they were ready for war as well. He could feel their focus, the sharp humming of their minds.
Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) Page 27
