When he turned back, Tate was standing in the doorway staring at the mess on the counter.
“Sorry. I’ll clean up, but I wanted to get the guys fed and out of here in a hurry.” He filled two mugs with hot tea and set them on the table. “Come on and have a seat. I may not be the best cook in the world, but even I can make edible bacon and eggs.”
She sat down and wrapped her hands around her mug, absorbing the heat as he dished up the rest of their meal. She didn’t seem inclined to talk, and he was in no hurry to spill his guts. Not when it meant that he’d be back over at the apartment and packing up all his possessions five minutes after he was done talking.
Despite his claim to the contrary, his breakfast tasted like sawdust. He carried the plate to the sink and kept himself busy washing the dishes, all the while feeling the burn of Tate’s gaze boring straight to the heart of him. He knew she had questions, and he would answer each and every one of them to the best of his ability.
Her chair scraped across the wooden floor. He accepted the offering of her plate, the last excuse he had to avoid talking. As he wiped the last dish dry and returned it to its proper spot, it felt as if the seconds were counting down until the warden was going to throw the switch.
He turned to face her. “Want to take a walk?”
“No. I want answers.” To emphasize her plans to stay put, she sat back down at the table and refilled her mug.
Okay, a deep breath then. He flipped one of the kitchen chairs around and straddled it, resting his arms on the back as he faced her. “Ask away.”
“What are you?”
Ouch. Not who, but what. The distinction hurt. Did she think he was some kind of cyborg out of an old science fiction movie? He resented the inference, especially when she knew all too well just how human he was, but he bit back the urge to lash out.
“Okay, here it is in a nutshell. Our world shares a barrier with another one. When there’s an earthquake or volcanic eruption, the barrier goes down and that’s where the trouble starts. The crazies from that world come pouring across, out of their heads with the need to kill. Men like me fight to stop them before they can escape.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Sounds like a new series from the sci-fi channel on cable.”
He slammed his fist down on the table, causing the tea in her mug to slosh out on her hand. So that wasn’t his smartest move. He grabbed the dish towel and tossed it to her.
“Look, I know it sounds far-fetched, but that doesn’t make it less true.”
Clearly skeptical, she gave the scar on his forearm a pointed look. “So why do you heal like you do? And what’s all this about you dying again? Are you talking about some kind of out-of-body experience?”
Oh yeah, this should be fun. “At some point in the past, some of those beings from the other world managed to wade into our gene pool. My ability to heal, as well as my ability to come back from death, are gifts from my long-lost alien ancestors.”
Tate looked out toward the garage. “And your buddies out there—they’ve got that same gift?”
Okay, so now he was outing his friends, too. “Penn, D.J., and Lonzo all do. Larem is actually from Kalithia, the other world, only he didn’t cross over all crazy like most of them do. That trick he pulled last night was news to all of us, so I can’t say for sure what he can and can’t do.”
She nodded slowly, clearly still skeptical. “So that would mean Barak is an alien, too.”
He answered even though she hadn’t really phrased it as a question. “Yes, he is.”
Her expression was bleak. “And you really did die last night.”
He nodded.
“And before you came here, when your leg was hurt so badly, you died then, too.”
He shuddered at the memory. No way he was sharing those details with her. “Yes, but that wasn’t the first time, and it will happen again. That’s how it is for my kind. Eventually, though, we use up all of our get-out-of-jail-free cards.”
She flinched. “Is there a name for what you are?”
He straightened his shoulders, showing his pride in his answer. “To the few who know about us, we’re known as Paladins. No one knows for sure, but we suspect that some of the knights who bore that name were our ancestors.”
“I’m not saying that I’m buying all of this, but if it’s true, then how come no one knows about this stuff ?”
“Think about it, Tate.” He took a drink of his tea before continuing. “Most people couldn’t handle knowing that we all live under the constant threat of alien invasion. And if any government agency got their hands on us, God knows what they’d do. Some would want to breed us or clone us or some such shit. Imagine the power of having an army that is damn near impossible to kill. Just as many would want to exterminate us for not being completely human.”
She shivered. “So are you or Larem going to do some kind of mind meld and erase my memory of all of this?”
He set his mug back down with a bang and glared across at her. “Hell, no. First of all because no one has that power. Secondly, if I didn’t want you to know the truth—my truth—I would’ve just disappeared after putting you to bed last night.”
She met him glare for glare. “Don’t get all huffy with me, Hunter Fitzsimon. How do I know what’s possible and what’s not? You didn’t see Larem save your life by sticking a bloody knife in your heart. And you didn’t hear yourself scream when he pulled it out.”
“No, and I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know that you did see all of that. Of course, if you hadn’t followed me out there, none of this would’ve happened.”
She shoved her chair back from the table and closed her hands into fists. “And you would’ve bled to death out there without anyone to help.”
“I bled to death anyway,” he reminded her. “But I would’ve been all right.” Eventually. Maybe. He didn’t add that, or the part that if he’d come back out of his head crazy, he might have murdered everyone in Justice Point before D.J. or one of the others could track him down and kill him. “All you did was put yourself in danger for no good reason.”
She slowly rose to her feet and pointed toward the door. “I think you need to leave. Now.”
“Why?” he demanded, although he knew. “Because you don’t like my answers? I warned you to stay away from me. I never asked you to sit up there in that window and wait up for me every night. It’s not my fault you didn’t listen.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She stalked around to his side of the table and glared down at him, her mouth a straight slash. “But you let me think it was because of your problem dealing with your injury. If you’d told me the real truth from the start…”
This was getting them nowhere. He stood up, towering over her. He was petty enough to enjoy watching her back up a step to lessen the effect of his superior height. He followed right after her when she moved back again.
“If I’d told you the real truth, Tate, you would’ve never rented me the apartment in the first place.”
“Could you blame me?”
When she moved back again, she came up against the counter. He closed in, trapping her with one hand on either side of her. He was enough of a predator to enjoy this little game of cat and mouse.
Tate ducked under Hunter’s arm and looked around for a safe place to go. Definitely not upstairs. The porch was also out of the question. The last thing she wanted was to be a spectacle for the neighbors, not to mention Hunter’s friends. She circled around to the other side of the table. Hunter let her get a few steps away, but then he started prowling after her again. She should’ve been angry, but her traitorous body was reacting in a whole different way. Her breasts felt heavy and a familiar ache settled low in her body, growing stronger with each step they took.
“I didn’t advertise for some kind of freaky alien tenant, you know.”
She regretted the words as soon as they slipped out. Unless she was mistaken, that was hurt she saw flash through Hunter’s eyes before they
turned stormy.
In a sudden move, he trapped her against the table. He leaned in close, forcing her to arch back to keep any distance between them.
“I’m not some kind of freaky alien, Tate.” Temper made his voice sound huskier than normal. “You should know. You’ve seen, touched, and tasted damn near every inch of me.” His breath danced over her skin.
Oh, yeah, she had. And right now some of her favorites of those inches were pressing against her belly, reminding her all too well of how good they had felt.
“And I don’t remember you complaining about me being your tenant when I…”
His whispered reminder of exactly what he’d done to her—not once, but several times—had her skin flashing hot and then cold.
“Don’t!”
“Don’t what, Tate? Don’t talk about it? Don’t try it again? Maybe you should spell it out for me. We aliens don’t always understand what you humans really want.”
“That isn’t funny, Hunter.”
“I agree. In fact, I’m feeling pretty damned serious right about now—not to mention horny as hell.”
He was going to kiss her. She knew it. He knew it. And they both knew that if she let him, all bets were off. She gave his chest a shove, seeing if he’d grant her that much breathing room. When he did, still allowing her the final decision despite his anger and his desire, she knew all was lost. There might be no future for the two of them, but there was now.
She reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair none too gently. “This won’t change anything, you know.”
He cupped the side of her face and stared down at her for the longest time. Finally, he answered as he brushed his thumb back and forth across her cheek. “I know. But that doesn’t seem to keep me from wanting you.”
Then all chance for further discussion was gone. His mouth crushed down on hers, demanding entry, demanding surrender, maybe demanding forgiveness. She didn’t know if she could give him what he wanted but she did know that if she didn’t at least try, she’d never forgive herself.
God in heaven, the man knew how to kiss. After his initial assault, his touch gentled. She’d never been seduced by just the gentle sweep of lips against hers or realized that the soft brush of fingertips across her breasts could make her ache straight through to the heart of her.
She did some touching of her own, smiling when she heard the hitch in Hunter’s breathing.
“Like that, do you?” She trailed her hand downward, stopping just short of her intended target, waiting for his approval.
“Woman, you’ll be the death of me.” He rested his forehead against hers and sighed, then frowned when she laughed.
She sent her hand sliding downward to stroke him through the thickness of his jeans. He moaned and leaned into her, murmuring his approval and his pleasure.
“Want to go upstairs?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “Don’t think I can wait that long.”
Then he reached behind her and tested the strength of the table with his hand. Evidently satisfied with what he found, he grinned at her, his intent clear.
“Hunter?”
“Tate,” he echoed.
Scandalized, she sputtered, “Anyone could walk up on that porch and see us.”
He shook his head as he spanned her waist with his strong hands and lifted her up onto the table. “Your friends never use that door and mine know I’ll kill them if they set foot out of my apartment without my express permission.”
She should’ve objected, should’ve marshaled her defenses. But how could she concentrate on things like logic and common sense when he was busy peeling down her jeans and panties and unbuttoning her shirt? Maybe she could’ve come up with the right words, but then he was once again leveling the playing field. How was a girl supposed to think straight with him showing off that sculpted physique just for her?
Raising her arms in invitation, he stubbornly stayed just out of reach.
“Tell me you want this. That you want me, at least for right now. That’s all I’m asking.”
“You know I do.”
“Then say it, Tate.”
“I want you. I want this. And I want it now.”
Then he stepped into the cradle of her arms, all signs of gentleness gone, making it clear that this was to be a claiming. He undid the front clasp of her bra and pushed it out of the way. His hands cupped the lower curve of her breasts and plumped them, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples until they pebbled up.
“Sweet,” he murmured as he nuzzled them both before capturing one with his lips and suckling hard to a point just shy of pain.
“Hunter!”
She slowly lowered herself back to lay flat on the table, at the same time scooting closer to the edge of the table to wrap her legs around his hips. He held back, ignoring her unspoken hints. Instead, he knelt down on one knee as he spread her legs wide with a long, slow caress up the inside of her thighs. He focused his eyes right on the apex, leaving no doubt about his intentions.
Sensations came too quickly, overwhelming her—first his warmth, then his breath, then the merest touch of his tongue right at her core. When she whimpered, he pressed closer and smiled.
“Like that, do you?”
He kissed her again, this time more thoroughly, using his lips and teeth and tongue. It was too much and not enough. When she arched her back, he pressed her back down on the table, holding her in place with the weight of his arm. When he eased his fingers deep inside of her, the gentle invasion caught the first ripple of her climax.
“That’s it, come for me, Tate.”
Hunter took pleasure in watching Tate lose all control at his touch. Her mind might question how she felt about him, but on some level she trusted him. She wasn’t the kind of woman to let just anyone make love to her on the kitchen table.
Before she could gather up her defenses again, he was going to take her again, this time without holding back anything. He rose to his feet, leaning in over her to lift her legs high against his shoulders. Cupping her bottom with both hands, he settled his cock against her nest of curls and rocked back and forth several times. Tate bit her lower lip as she waited for him to plunge deep inside the slick heat of her body.
Hunter hesitated only seconds to let her adjust to the abrupt invasion before slamming into high gear, pounding into her with all of his strength. The old table creaked and groaned as he established a hard, driving rhythm. The two of them fit together perfectly, the heat they generated burning through him like fire.
The small noises she made each time he withdrew only to return again drove him crazy. He needed to slow down if he wanted this wild ride to last, but he’d lost all control. Faster and faster, deeper and deeper, until he no longer knew where he left off and Tate began. For the moment, they were one.
This time, when an orgasm ripped through her, she took him screaming across the finish line with her. Both of them shuddered and shook. She moaned. He shouted. They both rode out the waves of pleasure until he collapsed against her from the sheer wonder of it all.
Despite the beauty of what they’d shared, when he kissed her, he could taste the sadness and feel the good-bye. It damn near killed him to withdraw from her, to help her up, to step away.
As he did so, it suddenly hit them that temper and frustration had blinded them both to the need to use protection.
“Uh, Tate, we forgot…”
Her eyes widened when she realized what he was talking about, but she cut him off before he could say more. “It’s not a problem. I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
“I said I’ll be fine.”
She eased down off the edge of the table and picked up her clothes. With each moment, she gathered up more of her dignity and used it to distance herself from him. The separation hurt like a son of a bitch, especially after what they’d shared.
He yanked up his pants and tucked in his shirt. “I’d better get over to the apartment to see what D.J. and the others are up to.
”
He paused at the door, hoping she’d say something, anything. When she finally spoke, he wished that he hadn’t waited.
“I think it’s best if you find someplace else to live, Hunter.” Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry, but…”
He didn’t want to hear it. Not now. Maybe not ever. Stepping out onto the porch, he risked a final look back. “I’ll move into a hotel until I find something more permanent.”
He drew no comfort from the fact that she looked as shattered as he felt. She’d managed to put her jeans back on, but he noticed her shirt was buttoned crooked.
“You can leave your stuff in the apartment until you do.”
“Thanks.”
Then he walked away while he still could.
Could this day get any worse? Penn and D.J. seemed oblivious to Hunter’s foul mood, but there was no mistaking the sympathy in Larem’s pale eyes when Hunter walked into the apartment.
The argument about how to handle the cluster fuck that was Hunter’s life didn’t help.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what Devlin thinks. He has no room to talk when it comes to relationships the Regents might deem inappropriate. Tate needed to be told the truth. End of story.”
Then he gave Larem a long, hard look. “What did you guys tell Devlin about last night?”
D.J. frowned, while Penn avoided any eye contact. “Nothing yet.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way for now. God knows what the Regents would do to Larem after what he did.”
There was no mistaking Larem’s relief as he nodded to each man in turn. “I thank you.”
Uncomfortable with the gratitude, Hunter said, “Now let’s get moving.” He shoved his way past D.J., determined to take the lead in both the trip back down to the cave and the conversation. That way he could control the pace. If he left it up to D.J., they’d be at a dead run most of the way down the slope.
The two of them walked in angry silence until the trail widened out enough for D.J. to fall back into step beside him. Hunter did not want to be having this conversation, but D.J. was determined to continue the discussion.
“You know the Regents are going to raise hell if they find out you broke silence.”
Defeat the Darkness (Paladins of Darkness 6) Page 21
