Stone of Ascension (13 page)

“What do we do now? It seems unlikely that I can just go back home and pretend nothing happened.” As much as she wished that could be true, the logical side of her knew it wasn’t.

Damian opened another drawer and removed a black T-shirt. “We run.” He turned back and looked her over.

“What?” His blatant perusal and the fact he’d caught her staring made her cheeks heat. “Why do we need to run?” Damn, she was beginning to sound like an insatiable two-year-old, peppering questions to the point of irritation. But she needed to know. Her mind refused to settle and just go along with whatever he had planned.

“We run because by now half the Energen Guard will be assembling to track us down. They can follow the energy trail that porting leaves behind, which is why I had to do all of that popping in and out to get here.” He pulled on his shirt, the dark cotton clinging to his chest. He rubbed a hand over his hair, setting the short, blond stands into a spiky disarray before he sat on the edge of the bed and slipped on his socks. “And it won’t be long before the others catch wind of what you are and begin to hunt us as well.”

Her attention yanked from his body and focused in on one word. “Others? What do you mean, others?”

“The ones who are truly evil. Who work for the Slanderer, Gog. The ones who will want to use you and the powers you hold to execute their plans. Which, trust me, aren’t very pleasant for the human race.”

“Oh, great.” It just kept getting better and better. “So we just keep running indefinitely? That doesn’t work for me. I have a life that I would like to return to at some point.”

Finished with his socks, he stood and rested his hands on his hips. “That’s probably not going to happen.”

Her chest constricted as the blank reality of that set in. “What does that mean?”

He walked over until he stood before her, forcing her to look up to meet his gaze. “It means that it is now my responsibility to keep you alive. To protect you until we understand what that mark on your hand means and your life is no longer in danger.” His eyes darkened, and his lips thinned as a look of determination settled across his features. “But the chances of you ever returning to your old life are slim to none.”

She swallowed, pushed down the panic that once again threatened to overtake her. She pushed herself up from the chair, keeping her focus firmly on his eyes. A person’s eyes always spoke the truth. Her new position put her within inches of his body, but he didn’t back away. Didn’t move at all. Except for the tic on his jaw which now jerked in hard, sharp twitches.

“I don’t want this,” she whispered.

“If it’s any consolation, neither do I.”

“Why do you care?” She had to know. “Why did you lie back there and say you put the mark on my hand? What made you change your mind?”

The tic jumped with the tightening of his jaw. His eyes darkened, his brow drew together and his muscles stiffened. But he didn’t look away. Amber held her breath and waited. His answer was suddenly more important than she had originally intended.

“You,” he finally admitted, his tone low, intimate. “Despite what the prophecies say and the mark is fabled to mean, I don’t believe you’re evil. That you would
choose
evil. There is too much innocence in you.”

“How do I know I can trust you? After all, you are the one who abducted me and turned me over to them in the first place.”

He brought his hand up and cupped her cheek. “As you told me before, if you listen to the energy, you will know I am telling the truth.”

His touch brought heat, hot and liquid through her system. The energy sang, whispering its soft melody of truths. This time, she opened herself to them and listened. They spoke of pain and betrayal—his own, not hers—of truth and commitment. And of that slow, building desire that tempted and pulled with its own tune of enchantment.

She felt the heat rise up her neck and over her face. She pulled her gaze away and found herself staring at the black, metal collar.

“How does the energy do that?”

His hand fell away from her cheek. “The energy doesn’t lie. It’s connecting us, speaking to us. Telling us things our conscious mind might ignore or miss. The energy communicates on a deeper, subconscious level that evades the defenses our minds erect. It’s all about feeling and sensing. Not logic.”

“Well, that just sucks,” she mumbled. For a woman who preferred logic, that bit of info was damn disturbing.

His deep, sudden chuckle had her snapping her head up in surprise. “Yes. Sometimes it does,” he agreed.

“So if the energy doesn’t lie, why do your people think you’re evil?”

“Good question,” Damian grumbled, the brief hint of lightness morphing to a hard scowl. He turned away and stalked backed to the bathroom.

She followed him, not ready to let the subject go. She moved through the door and saw that there was a large walk-in closet to the right before the room opened into a large marble bath. Amber stopped dead as she watched Damian pull a black metal knife from a drawer in the closet. He slid it out of its sheath, flipped it side to side and tested the sharpness of the edges against his fingertips. She swallowed and retreated a step.

“They’re to protect you, not hurt you,” Damian said keeping his eyes on the collection of weapons displayed in the large, cloth-lined drawer before him. His movements were efficient and knowledgeable. He handled the knives with practiced ease, a comfort that displayed a completely different side from the staunch CEO.

He lifted a harness from a hook, slid it over his shoulders and settled the straps until the broad cross was centered on his back between his shoulder blades. He reached behind him and snapped two knives into the empty sheaths on the straps so they were inverted and easily accessible. With quick competence, he snapped and clipped more knives around his frame until Amber lost count of exactly how many weapons were on his body.

The change in him was masculine and deadly. When he turned to face her, her breath caught at the lethal image he presented. The black attire, the harness straps that pulled his shoulders back and broadened his chest, the multitude of knives on his belt and strapped to his forearms all combined to transform him into the bad boy she’d thought of earlier. His eyes were dark, his jaw set, as if the addition of the weapons opened a door to another side of him. One he kept tightly hidden behind the fancy clothes and reserved demeanor.

She licked her dry lips and released her trapped breath. Her body flushed in heat, as she tried to push back the elusive need that was building deep in her womb.

A need she sensed only he could end.

Damian watched, enchanted by the little pink tongue that darted out to lick over Amber’s soft lips, the movement both innocent and sexual. His cock tightened and responded almost instantly when her slightly larger bottom lip was sucked between her teeth to be tenderly nibbled. Hot flashes of the kiss they’d shared scorched his mind. The kiss had been relatively tame by most standards, but it had affected him more than any before.

What was she doing to him? It was if he were waking from a long slumber and finding his entire world had changed. It had been a very long time since he'd responded so instantaneously, so fiercely to another. No, he wasn’t celibate, but after a few hundred years, the whole sex thing became more about basic release than true need.

Desire.

Another emotion he’d effectively blocked until Amber walked into his life.

“Unless you’re ready to be kissed again, beauty, I’d stop that sexy little lip nibble you’ve got going on,” Damian bit out, his voice hoarse from the frustration tightening his vocal cords. The dragon twitched and stirred in agitation on the back of his hand, sending ripples of sensation over his skin.

Her face turned an instant shade of deep red that fanned over her cheeks and down her neck. She slowly released her lip and dropped her gaze to the ground.

Sucking in a breath, he brushed by her and reentered the bedroom, the confined space of the closet too tempting for his over-zealous libido. He was seconds away from shoving her against the wall and claiming a real kiss from her. Something he was sure she wasn’t ready for.

“Why did you kiss me before?”

The softly spoken words rang with doubt and had him wanting to murder the person who had put it there.

He turned back to face her. She stood in the entrance to the bathroom, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of his oversized coat. Her cheeks were still flushed, but her gaze met his boldly as she waited for his answer.

Damn. She was such an enticing mix of innocence and smoldering fire it was near impossible to resist. Fuck it. Three long strides and his arms were around her, her body clasped tightly to his chest.

“I kissed you because I find myself so fucking drawn to you I can’t stop myself.” Shocked at his own harsh words, at the side of him that was slowly stretching and breaking free of the tight hold he’d clamped on it, Damian stiffened and waited.

Amber gasped in surprise, but her golden eyes turned a dark, molten brown as she stared at his lips. That was the only invitation he needed.

His mouth claimed hers with a demand tempered by caution. He sensed her desire mixed with curiosity and a touch of fear. His lips brushed over hers, tempting, sucking, enticing until she slowly relaxed and she shifted her hands up to rest on his shoulders.

Damian’s erection rubbed stiff and hard against her lower stomach, and he was thankful for the padding offered by the coat she wore. He called upon every ounce of restraint he had to hold himself back and wait for her. Her lips were soft as silk and slowly becoming more confident with each brush. His hands crept up her back over the sleek strands of her hair to cup the back of her head. She moaned lightly in her throat and sank into him even more, pushing her soft breasts into his chest.

Stifling his own groan, Damian brushed his tongue over the soft, wet crease of her lips. Her mouth opened, and the tentative touch of her tongue against his was enough to set his world on fire. The energy burned and flashed through him, igniting a longing for more. A possessive need fired, calling out to the primitive animal within. It was a need that set his skin aflame and shut down all thoughts but her.

Every fiber of his being yearned to possess and claim her as the energy pushed and called for her.

He skimmed over her tongue, enticing it to explore and dance with his own tongue. The feel of her confidence rising, of her strokes getting stronger, more assured and aggressive only heightened his own burning passion.

She snaked her fingers into his hair, rubbed his scalp then pulled, driving his mouth down tighter onto hers. This time he didn’t try to hide the deep groan that rose in his throat. Damn, she was going to kill him. He had to stop. Now. Or he wouldn’t be able to. She was rising into her need, feeling the passion and opening to him, but she wasn’t ready for everything.

Not yet. Not now. And neither was he.

Gently, he pulled back and she whimpered in protest. Her eyelashes fluttered open to reveal eyes full of wonder and questions.

All his life he’d been taught, been told, to listen to the energy, to trust the truth that it tells. But it was the energy that had betrayed him. Spoke falseness about him that had resulted in centuries of pain. A pain that still festered and stung.

Could he trust this? Now? When so much was at stake?

It was that doubt that had him dropping his arms and stepping away. The risk was too high. The energy flashed then dropped like a bomb, hard in his gut. She watched him, cautious in her appraisal. Slowly, she tucked her hair behind her ear and brushed it over her shoulder.

He wasn’t ready to contemplate what his attraction meant or if it had anything to do with how his mark had changed again. The dragon that had cursed him for a millennium and was the root of his pain and torment had somehow changed from a wingless to a winged dragon between that morning and when Cronus had revealed his secret. And now, it almost seemed to purr with contentment whenever Amber touched him.

Irritated at himself and the entire situation, Damian rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. He flinched and cursed under his breath when his palm hit the hard, metal collar.

“Would you like me to remove that?”

“Yeah, but it’s not possible.” He gave it a hard tug as proof.

“Why?”

He sighed and dropped his hand. “Because it can only be removed by the person who put it on.”

She cocked her head and furred her brow in thought. “Then why did that man allow you to put on mine?”

He smiled and rested his hands on his hips. He liked that about her. The fact that her brain never seemed to stop. “Another good question. My guess would be that it was a small concession based on our past.” It would seem their one-time friendship did count for something.

“Can I try?” She looked so hopeful, he couldn’t say no. Hell, what would it hurt?

He nodded and she stepped up to him. She tilted her head back and forth a few times, apparently trying to figure out the lock before she lifted her hands and grasped the collar. Her fingers were warm against his skin, and he inhaled at the flash of heat that raced through him. She fiddled and pulled at the lock, her brow creased in concentration. Her lip was once again clamped tight between her teeth.