by Deanna Chase
“Woman, if you keep provoking me I’m going to pin you down and never let you up.”
“Ooo, is that a threat or a promise? Or maybe it’s just a wish.”
He stalked forward, crossed his arms over his stomach, and stripped out of his shirt, tossing it to the side. Adam was intentionally distracting me by flexing his pecs; I knew this because of the smile that stretched across his face when I was stupid enough to look at them. He had been working out.
“Did he teach you to rattle your opponent with that mouth, or does that just come naturally?” he asked. I smirked, because I guess that was just my God-given talent.
When he threw a fist out, I blocked it with my arm—we went through several maneuvers with our bodies moving like a dance. I swept my leg forward to lock around his and throw off his balance, but he sidestepped over it.
I came at him doing a mix of martial arts moves, and he countered every strike until I slapped him in the face to throw him off.
Justus said the best way to win the advantage is the element of surprise and finding your enemies weak points psychologically.
It worked.
Adam was so stunned he almost looked ashamed. I seized the opportunity and leapt around him, kicking the back of his knees.
He started to fall but caught himself and swung his leg around, causing me to do a limbo move to avoid contact. I crouched, ready to spring up and knee him. But as I lunged forward, he pivoted around and inadvertently struck me in the face with his elbow. I saw tiny little stars for just a minute.
I was too close to him, so I went for his throat, not hitting too hard, remembering that he could not heal as we could. It momentarily stopped him as he gasped for air.
I took that chance to move away, but he unexpectedly turned and grabbed the back of my neck, tripping me up with his feet and slamming me against the mat. His body fell over mine, pinning me hard as we were face to face.
“Winner,” he gloated.
We were both panting and laughing. I didn’t even last five minutes with him. My ego might have been bruised, but it put me at ease and stripped away some of the worry that I had been carrying over the challenge. His grip relaxed behind my neck as he touched my cheek where his elbow had struck, cursing under his breath.
Our chests moved together in one motion and I’d never felt more aware of his body against mine, feeling the weight of him. Feeling his life as our hearts slammed against one another.
Through my slightly raised shirt, I could feel his abs stroking against my stomach… this was too much intimacy for me to be in with Adam.
“Why are you challenging him?”
He delicately stroked my neck with the back of his knuckles. “I never fought for the right reasons.”
“They can come up with another plan; it doesn’t have to be this way. I can’t lose my best friend.”
“Is that all we are?”
“It’s what I feel in my heart, don’t you?” I felt a heartbeat quicken against my chest.
His fingers traced up my arm and found their way to my hand. I closed my fingers into a tight fist. “I can’t touch you, Adam, not when I’m like this.”
Whether it was hearing his name or the suggestion that I was charged up, Adam lost all control and gave me what was lacking the day we parted—passion. His mouth crushed over mine, devouring me with every stroke.
His tongue swept over my lips, requesting entrance, and when it was granted a fire sparked. A fire I knew shouldn’t be there, one I wanted to extinguish… but I was curious. Adam truly was the perfect man, and maybe I was foolish to not give it a chance. I wanted to feel what it could be like to be with him, but internally I was so conflicted.
His hand slid down to the bare skin of my waist, fingers pushing beneath my tank top. I gasped and he moaned simultaneously.
Bracing on one elbow, Adam’s lips never gave me the chance to have second thoughts. I was burning up all over and when I nipped at his lower lip, Adam groaned so deeply I imagined the noises he would make in the bedroom.
“Adam,” I whispered, “This isn’t right. We shouldn’t…”
His warm lips brushed over my neck as he pulled my tank top up on one side. When his mouth came over my breast and pulled in the first teasing suck, his tongue swirled and I began to have second thoughts about my second thoughts.
Whiskers scraped against my skin, sending the most basic need to my very core. I concentrated on controlling my energy, but it was distractingly difficult. All I knew was that I had to keep my hands safely away from him, and not touching was torture.
Adam slowly melted down my body and I watched with anticipation as he bit down on the hem of my tank top. Eyes locked on mine, he dragged his body upward, lifting my shirt completely and running his chest across my body. Pleasure hit me like heavyweight boxer and I was almost knocked out in the first round.
Something triggered within me when he rubbed against my body; it was a feeling so primal that it felt natural. I almost growled in response and rubbed my cheek against his as I leaned up from the floor. There was no sense of amusement on his face. Seeing this side of Adam was electric—feeding every insatiable curiosity I had suppressed.
“Adam, wait—I’m serious, we can’t do this.”
He settled on top of me once more.
“Woman… let me love you,” he breathed.
His slow, deep kiss sent me over the edge as he moved against me. I wanted desperately to touch him, to feel him, but was too afraid of what I could do. My body hummed like a generator, my fingers tingled, and I concentrated to keep it locked down.
All notions of stopping disintegrated when his hand moved down my shorts. His tongue stroked mine in the same rhythm that he stroked me with his other hand—slow, and deliberate. God, what if this was Adam’s last night on earth—could I deny him this?
I gasped and cried out, writhing beneath him, and he responded by slowing the rhythm. When his lips broke away, his expression quickly changed.
He was looking at my eyes.
“Don’t look.” I slammed them shut and turned my head.
When I was charged up, my pupils widened and took on an appearance that looked like liquid silver rimmed with the green of my eyes. There was no explanation to this reaction, but Justus guessed it might have to do with the fact I was a Unique.
“Silver, look at me.”
As he studied them, his breath began to slow. “Keep those on me, you hear?”
Adam’s mouth fell to my shoulder where his teeth scraped over my skin and then I heard a zipper.
That was the moment that I disconnected.
I wanted Adam, but that sound took me to a place I didn’t want to be. I struggled beneath his weight and my legs stiffened at the feel of hands tugging at my shorts. A cry pealed out of me like an animal screaming.
“What’s wrong?” he nearly shouted, cupping my cheek.
I lost sense of my vision and my legs began to thrash, kicking wildly as my arms came down, hitting him everywhere I could. Hot tears streamed down my face and my body shook uncontrollably with energy I needed to release, but I was still in there somewhere and I knew I couldn’t hurt Adam.
Kicking myself backwards, I met up with the wall and pulled my knees to my chest with my hands out protectively… threateningly.
He reached for me and I screamed.
Adam cursed and rose to his feet. I felt a lick of embarrassment for him seeing me that way. I was pissed off as hell that I couldn’t have any normalcy in my life because of Samil. He seemed to creep up in my mind when he was least welcomed.
“I’m going to kill that sonofabitch!”
He hurled a bottle of water that was resting on a bench and it smashed against the wall, sending a spray of water to the floor.
An army of footsteps stormed into the room. Justus flashed at Adam, it didn’t take much to figure out what happened with Adam’s zipper down and my disheveled tank top.
He didn’t put up a fight; Adam took those punche
s as if he deserved them before he threw a hard uppercut and knocked Justus off him.
“Why didn’t you tell me what he did?” Adam roared so ferociously the vein in his neck bulged.
Simon flashed ahead and knocked Adam to the floor with a hard blow, pinning him while Justus stood dazed.
It was Simon who replied in anger.
“Could you not keep your hands to yourself? It’s not even been a day!” Simon got right in Adam’s face as he hissed through his teeth, “What did you think you were doing, human? You cannot be with one of us. You had no right to impose yourself on her! She is in no position to make these kinds of decisions so soon after the attack. What the fuck did you think you were doing?”
Simon’s forearm pressed into Adam’s neck so hard that Adam turned to the side, facing away. I heard short quick breaths and focused my attention on Justus, who crouched in front of me.
“Silver…” Justus curled his fingers around mine, which were shaking. There was no judgment or blame in his eyes. He lifted his brows in a nonverbal request for me to release my power. It nearly knocked him over, but he took a deep breath and steadied himself.
When emotions were high and there was an exchange of energy, you could taste the emotions from the other Mage like a flavor.
Justus was sampling fear and shame.
My body shook from the cold loss of energy. Justus leaned in and scooped me up in his arms. He hesitated for a moment, letting out a sigh of relief before he finally rose up.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed.
“Shhh.” He quieted me as we moved up the stairs. He cut Adam a punishing glare.
Simon was now sitting up, but Adam was motionless on his back with his arm shielding his eyes.
“It wasn’t his fault—don’t hurt him.”
“Shhh.” There was intentional warmth that was penetrating through his skin to mine until my shivers began to cease. The bedroom was dark and he placed me on the sofa, tucking a blanket around me. I ran my finger along the soft fabric and enjoyed the coolness of my pillowcase. Justus knelt on the floor beside me—left arm above my head on the armrest and the other one on the cushion. His warmth surrounded me and I realized that Adam wasn’t home for me anymore—it was Justus.
“Give yourself time.”
“I don’t want him to die; he’s my friend,” I whispered. “He could die.”
“And he’s willing to; would you take that honor from him?”
I curled on my side to face him. By the wall was the faint flickering of a candle nearly spent. My fingers wrapped around his right hand and I pulled it to me as a child would hold a teddy bear or security blanket. He jerked a little, not expecting my gentle touch, but I held it fast between my hands and closed my eyes.
“I’ll never understand why you have done so much for me.”
While I had noticed how large his hands were, I had never really felt them—they were rough and strong, hands that could love just as easily as they could kill. I rubbed my long finger across his thumb and he settled on the floor.
“Remi called the other Mage the benefactor. What did he mean?”
“Whatever Samil is doing, he is not the one running the show. A benefactor would be one who is funding him. If he is collecting others who are made differently, we don’t know the reason behind it or what he may be planning. There’s always someone out there conspiring, Silver… someone up to no good. The more money they have, the more dangerous they become.”
“I want Samil dead. I would fight him if I could.” My heart quickened. “Please don’t let me go back, it’s the other one I’m afraid of. His beatings were brutal; I never felt pain like that before. He stole my light—they had some kind of a deal between them where he wanted me for himself.”
Beneath my fingers, Justus’s hand tightened into a massive fist and I felt the burn of his anger.
“He’s stronger than he looks— dangerous—and in some kind of position of power, even Samil was afraid of him. I’m scared of what he could do.”
A hand rested against my temple and his thumb slid down between my brows tenderly.
“Worry not, Silver. I am your Ghuardian and that means that I am your protector. I will never let him have you as long as I have watch on you. Sleep.”
Drifting between the waking world and darkness, I heard voices in the distance.
“Is she okay?”
“Leave us.”
A door closed.
Gentle fingers brushed through my hair, and continued to do so until I was out.
***
Adam was leaning in the fridge when I entered the kitchen, so I had a bullseye view of his ass. This was one of the few places in the house that ran electricity because of the appliances. Although I never quite understood the point since most days of the week Justus brought home burgers or barbeque. It was going to be my mission to have it running through the entire house except his bedroom by the time I was done with him. I suspected he just liked to get away from modern conveniences.
Then again, he had a sports car collection and a top-of-the-line garage.
The man confused me to no end.
“Hey.” I sighed. “About last night.”
“Don’t say it; don’t you tell me you’re sorry,” he said, waving a hand in the air. I spun around and fumbled with a package of gourmet coffee on the counter. “Well, I am.”
“Silver, I was way out of line. I had no right. Not after what you just went through. I didn’t know, but I should have kept my distance.”
“Just forget it. It’s past.”
He leaned over the counter and combed his fingers through his hair. I wondered what he was thinking, if he regretted starting that up with me or if he only regretted that we didn’t finish.
“Just try to forgive me, if you can.”
“It’s not your fault; we just got out of control. Must have been that kryptonite—I only had a sip and it knocked me out.” I fished a bean out of the package and retrieved a cup from the cabinet.
Adam straightened his back and chewed on his bottom lip. “You’ve had a hell of a year. I guess you have plenty more years coming, so I want to make sure they’re easy on you, feel me?”
“Nothing is easy. But I want to learn how to fight. I think it’s time I learned how to kick some ass for a change. I may never be on the same level as Justus because I’m not as physically strong, but I don’t want to go through life not being able to take care of myself, you know?”
I placed my elbows on the counter and dropped the bean in the empty glass. It clattered, rolling around the bottom.
“Give me that,” Adam scolded, taking the package over to the coffee grinder.
“I can’t be serious with anyone right now; I’m not ready for that. I don’t know if I ever was—I’m not a relationship girl.”
My back was still to him and I rubbed my wrist with my thumb. What I really meant was that it was him specifically. Adam wanted to get far more serious than I would have been willing to go, and it wouldn’t be fair to lead him on. He was a relationship guy, and I just wasn’t there yet. I also had no intention of ruining the friendship we had.
“I know. But I’ll still be here for you.” Before I could say anything, he added, “And there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it. It is what it is, woman.”
“You take good care of me.”
He came up from behind and crossed his arm around my shoulders, kissing me on the head.
“Someday, Adam, you’re going to find someone who deserves you.”
Chapter 28
“What if he doesn’t show?” I looked out the car window nervously, a random urge to fly into the road and run like hell was suppressed.
“Silver, you try my patience.” Justus stretched his oversized legs in the back of Simon’s car.
“But what if he doesn’t? They said that if he doesn’t show then…”
The leather in his jacket creaked and I knew as much as he wanted to yell at me, he was biting his tongue giv
en that I might break down crying.
“The Mageri have custody of him. We turned him in.”
“Oh.”
That was the other out—if Samil didn’t show then I would be removed from his custody.
I tucked my hands under my legs to calm myself. Adam was in the front talking to Simon, but all I could hear were the tires rolling along the pavement before we took a turn and ended up on a dirt road.
The engine roared off and the lights went black.
Simon and Adam exited the car, leaving their doors open.
Justus had a hard look on his face as he leaned in. “Listen to me when I tell you that you will not interfere with anything that goes on tonight. There could be consequences. Just keep your mouth shut, no matter what happens.”
“Is that supposed to be your best motivational speech? Because if it is, it sucks.”
I cleared my throat and watched my Ghuardian run his palms down his thighs as if he were rubbing off his anger.
“I’ll make sure this works out in your best interest, Learner.”
“And his. If anything happens to Adam, I’ll never forgive you for dragging him into this.” I got out and slammed the door for punctuation.
My combat boots crunched through the underbrush as we neared the clearing. You should dress for battle when appropriate and I sure as hell had no plans to dress for a funeral.
Through the trees, the figures of the Council became visible. My breath caught and my feet stopped working.
Samil was not facing the Council but facing us. The blistering menace of his gaze penetrated the darkness and seared my skin.
He lowered his head with a malevolent smile.
“Ready to beg?” I heard him ask in my mind.
“I’ll never beg for you,” I gritted through my teeth.
Adam turned and gave me a cold stare. Vengeance consumed him like a holocaust to which there was no salvation without the spilling of blood.
I wanted to rush into his arms because of that protective gaze and let him know how important he was to me. I wanted to tell him to turn back; I wanted to see him ride off in the distance on that big bike of his.
“Stay close,” he said.
