Stygian Page 17

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

  “Oh, don’t be silly.” Hannah shoved Ryker’s wandering hands away. “My sweet, adoring husband sometimes forgets that we live with others.”

  Ryker grinned, then pinched her ass, which made her squeal and fall off the counter into his arms.

  She slapped his hands away as he continued to fondle her ass. “I’m so sorry about this morning,” Hannah said. “We’ve been aware of this group watching us, but it’s been months and they’ve done nothing to indicate an attack.”

  It was odd; they were so casual about what had gone down an hour ago as if nothing happened. “Was that what you heard earlier?” I asked.

  Hannah nodded. “Ryker was pissed off I woke him for a fight instead of something else. Weren’t you, sweetie?”

  Ryker grunted.

  Hannah leaned back into him and his arms settled around her waist. “We underestimated them.”

  I remembered the needle coming close to plunging into my neck. “Who were they? What do they want?”

  Ryker put his hand on Hannah’s arm when she went to answer.

  Hannah’s eyes avoided mine and her lips pursed together. Was she hiding something? Why? What did it matter if I knew about them?

  “Maybe we should call the police or something,” I suggested.

  Ryker laughed. Hannah punched him in the arm and he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. Damn, that man was totally in love with her.

  Ryker spoke, “We fight our own enemies. And we’ll go after them soon enough.” He raised his brows and grinned. “You met Kilter.”

  “Umm, yeah. Nice guy.”

  Ryker snorted and Hannah laughed. “He takes getting used to.”

  Getting used to? Yeah, I’d never like that guy. His name was in the dictionary under the definition of asshole. I was pretty damn certain the guy killed as a hobby.

  Hannah walked over to me and gently took hold of my wrist then placed a beautiful white pearled bracelet around my wrist. “It’s stunning. What—”

  She closed her hand over the bracelet. “It will light your way.”

  I didn’t have time to ask her meaning when Balen came in.

  “Danni.” He came up beside me and slid his hand down my arm then linked our hands. “We have to go. The plane is waiting at the airport.”

  We said our goodbyes to everyone except Kilter, who hadn’t appeared since he left the cave. I rubbed the bracelet on my wrist that Hannah had given me. The white pearls around my wrist glowed soft lavender, and a strange comfort encompassed me as we walked out to the car.

  “So, we have what, two hours of driving? Plenty of time to spill our deepest, darkest secrets,” I said. “How about a game?”

  “A game?” Balen raised his brows as he started the car.

  “Yeah. My father and I used to play it at the hospital when my mom was sick. I ask a question that requires a one-word answer, then you get to ask a question. I’ll start. And I’ll make it easy. Favorite food. So I have to answer first and then you. Mine is watermelon.”

  “You,” Balen answered.

  I laughed. “Not fair. A food, dingbat.”

  “Dingbat? What the hell, babe?”

  I laughed and he smiled. “Favorite food, besides me, and it can be anything in this world.”

  “Rippled sour cream and onion potato chips.”

  “Really? What about the thin ones? They’re thinner, easier to put more in your mouth at once than the rippled ones. But if that’s your choice . . .” I shrugged. “Now your turn.”

  Balen kept his eyes on the road, while his fingers tapped the steering wheel.

  “Oh, come on. Hurry up,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “Your favorite scent.” He turned toward me and said, “You first.”

  “That’s so not fair,” I protested. “But I’ll allow this, considering this is your first time playing and you’re perhaps shy about giving your answers.” I smiled when he flinched at the word shy. Well, maybe next time he’d step up to the plate and go first. “Cinnamon.”

  He chuckled and I smacked his arm. “Why are you laughing? I love cinnamon.”

  “Cinnamon is a sign that love is near.”

  “Really? Huh, well, I did think Sandor was kind of cute, so maybe—”

  His gaze darted to me, expression dark and intense. “Fuck that. We’re never going back there.”

  I put my legs up so my feet rested on the dash. “And yours?”

  “You.” I rolled my eyes. “You smell like Papaya with a dash of coconut,” Balen said.

  “Balen.”

  He chuckled. “Fine, the smell of your pulse beating beneath your skin.” He put his finger on my throat. “Right here.”

  “But that’s cheating. It’s still me and a pulse doesn’t have a smell.”

  “Oh, but it does. You forget I am a Scar. I can smell your pulse beating faster right this second. It releases sweetness from your pores when you’re hot for me.” He grinned and leaned over and nibbled my neck.

  I giggled then abruptly stopped.

  Terror barreled into me and I gasped then violently shoved him back, my hand rubbing my throat as the memory hit me—Ryszard biting my neck, pain, blood rising to the surface and then . . . Balen. He was walking toward me, his eyes filled with anguish, the words floating over my mind. “I’m sorry,” he’d said.

  My eyes met his. “No. Balen, no.”

  Balen reached for my hand and I snatched it away. “Fuck, Danni. I had to.” His voice was calm and quiet, but I heard the mild tremor in it. “Ryszard would’ve kept you for himself.”

  “He . . . he bit my neck and then you . . . Oh, my God, you drank from me.” I looked at him with horror. “I passed out. You nearly killed me.”

  “Jesus.” Balen swung the car over to the side of the road and threw it in park.

  I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face. “You bastard. You nearly killed me. How could you? How could you do that? You knew I hated it when he bit me. You heard me screaming for him to stop, yet you did it to me yourself.” I unclipped my seatbelt then fumbled with the door handle as my hand shook.

  I was suffocating, my head reeling with confusion.

  “Danni, no.” Balen grabbed my arm as the door flung open.

  “Let me go.” I punched him in the jaw and he grunted, releasing me. “I need a minute, okay? I’m not going to take off into the fuckin’ woods and disappear. I can’t—remember? We’re Bonded.”

  I watched her jump out of the car then kick at the gravel on the shoulder. She swore and gestured with her hands and, damn, she looked hotter than hell. I’d like nothing more than to throw her on the hood and fuck her on the side of the road. I’d do it, too, if I thought I might get away with it. Unfortunately, her anger was far past my ability to smooth over with sex.

  I got out of the car and leaned up against the side, crossing my arms. I should’ve told her. I knew her memories were returning and she’d eventually find out what I’d done.

  But there’d been no choice. Ryszard’s plan for me was to consume his blood then drink Danni’s to heighten my taste for it. It almost worked. I’d fought the craving every day. The memory of her sweetness on my tongue reminded me of exactly how my thirst could be quenched and the power it gave. But I survived it. I drove it from me until it disgusted me.

  After five minutes pacing back and forth on the shoulder of the road, she climbed back into the car and slammed the door. I said nothing as I got back in and started back down the highway, waiting for the words I knew were inevitable. Danni rarely remained silent on any issue.

  “Why?” she asked.

  Fair enough. “I’d already taken Ryszard’s blood. He had word that Keir and the others were coming and if they got to me, the chances of me turning would be greater if I’d tasted human blood.”

  “Turning?”

  “Drinking vampire blood changes us into one of them. Ryszard needed me to be rescued, healed, and
then to keep him informed of the Scars plans in order to get to Anstice. By forcing me to drink from you, it would heighten my thirst for blood, therefore, turning me quicker. Otherwise, it would have been weeks before I completely turned.”

  “Why did he want Anstice so badly?”

  “She’s a powerful Healer. More so than most. Not many healers have the ability to heal a vampire. Anstice does. Just like our mother.”

  Danni was silent for a minute, her gaze staring out the windshield. “Don’t do it again.”

  “That’s it?” I had meant to say it in my mind, but I was so surprised that I said it aloud.

  Danni nodded. “I hated it. I hate that you did it, but I get it. You saved my life. Sometimes we have to do shitty things in order to get there. Just, don’t do it again. So, what age did you have your first kiss? I was fifteen.”

  I shook my head, surprised she was letting it go so easily. “Twenty-five.”

  “Wow. Why so late? I mean, don’t all guys kiss a girl in high school?”

  I shrugged. “I was training to fight. I had no interest in girls at the time. Besides, there were no high schools when I was growing up.”

  “Right. Yeah, I guess not. So, what was her name?”

  I shook my head. “That’s two questions. Wait your turn.”

  We played the game for a while longer, then stopped to grab coffee and muffins before arriving at the airstrip where the plane waited on the tarmac.

  I was excited to fly on a private jet. When in my lifetime did an opportunity like this come up? Never. Besides, it was a hell of a lot better than thinking about what we were doing and who was after us.

  I peered around at the luxury of leather lounge chairs, a bar, and a flat-screen TV. I decided to sit in a seat facing backward; after all, when on an economy flight did you get to do that? He took the seat across from me; a low table sat between us.

  “No fear of flying?” he asked as the plane careened at a sharp angle into the air. He stretched out his long legs and I ran my eyes up the length of them.

  My belly whirled and I thought of running my hands along his tight hard muscled thighs. “Umm, no,” I said then tore my gaze from him to look out the window. “It’s remarkable. To think all this steel can actually sail through the air. I’m going to so hate flying economy after this.”

  He chuckled. “Then we shall always fly this way, little one.”

  Little one. I loved his endearments, the way they rolled off his tongue as though he’d been calling me that for years. What concerned me was how he spoke as if we’d be together forever.

  What would happen when the Wraiths caught up to us? Would they order his death? What then? It would be like my parents all over again. I could never live like my father, desolate and struggling to breathe as each day grew longer and more miserable without his wife. No, I promised I’d never allow that to happen to me.

  “And what about these Wraith guys?” I hated to bring up the subject, but the reality was that we were running. Balen was a wanted man and I was Bonded to him. He could be taken away at any time and I could die.

  I ran my hands up and down my arms. Balen took off his seatbelt and leaned forward, taking my hands in his.

  “Baby, we’ll get through this.”

  “I wish I knew what to expect. I mean, I used to live day by day, you know, not worrying what the future holds, but now—I mean after Ryszard—it changed. I hated how I couldn’t remember, and now I hate that I do. I feel seriously screwed up.”

  “Just confused.” Balen tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear.

  I took a deep breath and met his eyes. “I still feel his hands on me. The sound of the chains clanking. My wrists hurt sometimes, like they’re burning. I was constantly cold afterward. For weeks I sat in the tub trying to get rid of the feeling.” I lowered my head. “You’d think after going through something like that you’d appreciate life more, but I became scared of it. I was glad to have survived, but I’m tired of being scared. I hate how I panic at small spaces or how I freak out when I hear certain sounds or smell black licorice.

  His hands squeezed mine, but he didn’t say anything. “I feel selfish because I did live and you—you sacrificed yourself for me. You went through years of . . . hell.” I tried to slip my hands from his, but he tightened his grip. “When I flipped out at the blood thing, it wasn’t just because you did it. It was because I was ungrateful you did it. Guilt, I guess.” His finger came under my chin and he raised my head. “I hate that you saw what happened. That you heard me scream. I never heard you scream and he—”

  “Jesus.” Balen unclipped my seatbelt then pulled me onto his lap. “I can’t take away what happened to you, baby.” He stroked my back and kissed my forehead. “What you endured is a small part of us. Let it be a small part of us. Not all of us. We survived it. And we’ve grown into different people because of it.”

  He was right, but it didn’t make it any easier.

  Balen ran a finger down the side of my cheek and I looked up into his brilliant green eyes. “Beautiful,” he whispered.

  It was one word. And it filled me with warmth, not because of the word and what it meant, but how he said it, how his eyes looked and how he touched me. How could he think I was beautiful when inside, I was filled with fears, wearing a mask every day, pretending to be strong. But the reality was, I was terrified. Terrified of what I felt for this man.

  The only thing I stuck with my whole life was my painting, everything else I quit, including relationships.

  Would I quit him? Once this Bond was broken, would I pull away? God, I didn’t want to hurt him.

  “Stop thinking so much,” Balen said, his arms relaxed around my waist.

  I shifted in his lap to look at him and his eyes were closed. “Were you reading my thoughts?”

  There was a slight upward tug on his lips. “No, but you’re tense as fuck. Baby, I can feel everything about you.” He opened his eyes. “And if you don’t relax, I’ll find a way to make you.”

  Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “And that would entail?”

  “Fucking you.”

  My body instantly heated at the thought. Maybe that was what I needed. “I’ve never done it in a plane.”

  “Good to hear. I don’t want to think of another guy with his hands on you. Hold my neck.” I did and he came to his feet.

  “The pilots—” I wrapped my legs around his waist and glanced at the cockpit door.

  “Are flying the plane.” He strode to the back of the plane then placed me on my feet and backed me against the wall.

  “You drive me crazy, you know that.” His hands slipped under my shirt and my breath hitched as his thumb grazed my nipple over the top of my bra.

  Sweet moisture pooled between my legs as he nibbled my ear and his hand squeezed my ass. “This is not the Bond, Danni. Nothing can be this powerful to make me want you so fuckin’ bad.”

  I quivered as he lowered his mouth onto mine, his assault gentle at first then harder until I was panting and pulling his hair. Needing him closer. Wanting him inside me.

  He pulled back, but his body still caged me in. “Promise me, no matter what happens, you’ll do the transition into a Scar.” I tried to kiss him. I didn’t want to talk anymore. My mind was already reeling with uncertainty at what I was doing.

  He slapped his palm into the wall of the plane. “Promise me. I need to know if they take me, that you’ll be safe. You’ll be a Scar.”

  What if I transitioned and they killed him anyway? I’d still be a Scar. They had their own laws and rules and I had no idea what they even were. I couldn’t even commit to a man, let alone a way of life.

  What the hell was I doing? With him? With the Scars? I was contemplating doing something that would drastically change my life forever. My immortal life.

  Oh, God.

  “I have to go the washroom.” I ducked under his arm and ran down the aisle to the bathroom and slammed the door. As soon as it clicked shut, I reali
zed my mistake. Panic grabbed hold and I threw open the door then took off my shoe and placed it between the door and the frame so it wouldn’t close completely.

  I turned on the tap and splashed my face with cold water then looked in the mirror. Water dripped down my cheeks, and fear burned in my eyes. Fear. Afraid of hurting Balen, hurting myself. Of failing us both.

  Jesus, what was I doing here? How did this happen?

  I lowered my head and splashed more cold water on my face, trying to wash away the fear, but it wouldn’t leave.

  I jerked as hands rested on my hips. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ll make sure of it.” He reached forward and shut off the water. “I won’t let them hurt you.” He swept my hair aside, and his lips pressed on the back of my neck.

  My hands tightened on the edge of the stainless steel sink. “And what about you? What happens to you?”

  When he didn’t say anything, the fear heightened and I felt the pressure in my chest build like I was strangling for air. His hand reached around and slipped beneath my shirt, fingers splayed across my midriff.

  I looked up at our reflection. “Balen? What happens to you?”

  He swung me around, lifted me up onto the sink and moved between my legs. “I don’t know.”

  Before I could say anything, his mouth came down on mine. It was hard and possessive, the harsh bruising kiss like a statement that I was his. I stiffened at the thought, but he yanked me closer to him, and deepened the kiss until I gave in to him.

  He pulled back. “We have this,” he whispered. “That’s what we have. And it’s real.”

  I UNDID HER JEANS and slowly slipped them and her black panties down her legs. She was stiff and scared and I knew I was pushing her, but Danni was running. I felt her withdrawal, her resistance to my kiss. Fuck, I knew all this was a lot to handle, but we had one another. That was the one solid in all this shit.