Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) (35 page)

“I’ll make us some tea,” Nancy chirped and headed for the kitchen.

“We can’t stay long,” Leila called after the caregiver.

“Your parents are due their tea anyway. It’s no bother.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Aiden squeezed her hand in reassurance. She nodded at him, then slowly walked into the den. Her mother sat on the couch, staring at the TV, a soap blaring from it. Her father sat in his favorite armchair, folding a newspaper and putting it on a side table. He looked up and straight at her.

For a moment she stood there frozen in place, waiting. She searched her father’s blue eyes for a sign of recognition.

“Leila?” he suddenly said and rose hesitantly.

She ran toward him and threw her arms around him. He hugged her to him.

“Thank you, thank you,” she whispered. “Oh, Dad, it’s so good to see you.” She raised her head to look at him.

“You haven’t visited in a long time,” he admonished.

She decided not to tell him that she’d spent half a day with him and her mother only two weeks earlier. “I know, Dad. I’m sorry.”

“Well, at least you’re here now.” Then he looked past her, releasing her from his embrace. “You brought a friend?”

Leila turned. “That’s Aiden, Dad.”

Her father nodded. “Hello.”

“Sir, it’s a pleasure meeting you.”

“How is Mom?” Leila asked and cast a look at her mother who was still staring into the TV as if she hadn’t even heard the conversation that was taking place not five feet away from her.

Her father shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”

Leila took a few tentative steps toward the couch, then crouched down in front of her.

“Hi, Mom.”

Her mother stared back at her, then moved to the side to look past her at the TV.

“Mom, it’s Leila, I’m here to visit.”

She gave Leila an inquisitive glance before training her eyes back onto her TV show. Leila took her hand and squeezed it, trying to hold back the tears that started to well up in her eyes.

“They said Leila disappeared,” her mother suddenly said. “The TV said it.”

Leila let out a sigh, half relief, half pain. At least her mother’s words meant that she still grasped something. “Leila is here, Mom, I’ve come back. The TV was wrong.”

Her mother turned her head fully back to her. “Leila is back?”

Stifling her tears, she answered, “Yes, Mom, Leila is back, and she loves you very much.”

“Why doesn’t she come and visit then?” Her mother’s eyes stared right at her, but still there was no recognition in them.

“She will, Mom, she will very soon. Your daughter loves you. She wants you to know that.”

“I love her too.”

Leila released her hands and rose, turning away in order not to show her tears. Aiden put a comforting hand on her forearm.

“She might not know who you are, but she knows you love her. Isn’t that most important?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes. It will have to be enough.”

When she turned back to her father, he was sitting in his chair again, reading the paper.

“Dad?”

He didn’t look up this time, almost as if he was in his own world, too engrossed to hear anything else.

“I have to go,” she whispered, knowing he didn’t even hear her.

As they left the house only moments later, saying their goodbyes to Nancy, Aiden took her arm and led her back to the car. She lowered the window all the way and waved at the caregiver from inside the car, making sure Nancy would later recognize the fancy Ferrari.

Leila reached for the seatbelt out of habit, but Aiden’s hand stopped her.

“Maybe it’s better that way,” she mused, looking at Aiden who put the car in gear and drove off. “Maybe she’ll never find out that I died today.”

At the next intersection, the light was red.

“Time to go, baby,” Aiden instructed. “Hamish is waiting on the sidewalk for you. You’ll be cloaked all the way.”

She nodded and heaved herself out of the car window as they’d practiced the entire week. Then she gave Aiden another look. “Be careful.”

When the light turned green, he took off like a rocket. There was no other traffic. The Stealth Guardians had made sure of that. She watched as Aiden’s car ran a red light at the next intersection.

The crash could be heard in the entire neighborhood. Moments later, it was followed by an explosion. Aiden’s car had crashed into a gas truck that had come from the right. Everything went up in flames, the gas from the truck spilling everywhere, spreading the fire to engulf the entire intersection, incinerating Aiden’s sports car.

“Be safe,” she whispered. “Please be safe.”

“He can’t be killed by fire,” Hamish murmured behind her.

“Where is he? I can’t see him.” Nervousness crept up her spine. What if Hamish was wrong? What if an explosion could kill a Stealth Guardian after all?

“He would have dematerialized at impact and emerged behind the gas truck,” Hamish tried to calm her. “At worst he would have gotten singed a little.”

“But what if—”

Bare arms closed around her, pulling her into the hard muscles of a naked man she would recognize anywhere. Naked, because the fire had burned the clothes off his body, yet left him untouched.

“I’m here, baby.”

FORTY-ONE

Deirdre had organized everything perfectly. Nobody had gotten hurt. The Stealth Guardians had made sure no innocent bystanders were anywhere close enough to the accident to get injured. Yet the demons who’d followed Aiden and Leila from her parents’ house had seen what they needed to see: Aiden and Leila crashing into the gas truck and being incinerated.

A body that, thanks to dental records, would be identified as Leila’s, would be found in the wreckage. Deirdre had made sure there would also be a dead body behind the wheel of the truck. She had driven it herself, but gotten out the same way Aiden had escaped the flames. To ensure that the authorities’ investigations led to a dead end, the Stealth Guardians had transported a recently deceased man from a Middle Eastern war zone through the portal, guaranteeing there was no chance the charred body could ever be identified in the US. They’d placed him in the stolen gas truck and rigged it to explode when Aiden’s Ferrari hit it.

There was no body for Aiden. It didn’t matter what the police thought of that inconsistency, but the demons, who knew that Stealth Guardians couldn’t be killed by fire, would be satisfied. Add to that the eyewitness account of Nancy seeing them get into the very recognizable sports car, and the demons’ own observations, and Leila’s death would be believable.

For the first time in days, Aiden felt his body relax, the tension shedding like dead skin. There was only one thing now that was still on his mind. And he would take care of it now.

He put a hand on Leila’s lower back, making her turn away from his compound mates who were chatting in the great room. She smiled at him.

“Come,” he murmured only for her to hear.

Interest flickered in her eyes. “Where to?”

But without waiting for his answer she accepted his hand and followed him out of the room. He led her along the corridor leading to his quarters.

“Do you remember that my father took me aside after the council meeting?”

“Yes… ”

“He told me that the council knew that I had brought you to the compound. And no humans are allowed here.”

He sensed her pull in a breath. “Are they going to punish you?” She gave him a concerned look.

“They will, unless I rectify the situation.” Having reached his rooms, he opened the door.

Hesitantly, she stepped inside, and he closed the door behind them. He noticed worry on her face.

“It’s time for that now.”

She nodded, her lids lowering to hide the sadness that had crept into her eyes. “I have to go then?” She turned away from him. “I understand. I do. I knew it couldn’t be like this forever.” Her voice broke.

“I’m not asking you to leave. I’m asking you to stay.” He moved behind her and cupped her shoulders.

She turned her face to him. “But you just said I have to leave.”

He smiled. “I said I have to rectify the situation. But that doesn’t mean you’ll leave. I want you to stay. As my mate, my wife.”

Leila’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. “Your… you want to… ”

He stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “Yes, I want. I want very much.” He pressed a kiss on her lips. “The only humans ever allowed in any of our compounds are the mates of a Stealth Guardian. The council gave me time to decide. I didn’t really need all that time to know, but I wanted to give you time to get used to me, to see what life with me would be like. What life at the compound would be like, before I asked you. Leila, I love you. Will you be my mate, my wife, mine forever?”

Her eyes searched his, surprise and doubt still shining through them. “But… ” She bit her lip.

His heart clenched. Did she not feel the same for him? Had he misinterpreted her loving gazes, her caring touch, the sparkle in her eyes when she looked at him? He lowered his eyes, her rejection hurting more than anything else ever had. Every time they had made love since they’d defeated the demons in the cave, their lovemaking had become more intense, deeper, more connected. He’d poured
virta
into her so many times, his compound mates had started giving him dirty looks. Hamish had even pulled him aside one day and told him to give Leila a break.

“But,” she continued then, “you’re immortal. I’ll die in fifty years or so. I’ll grow old next to you while you stay young. You won’t love me then. It’ll never work.”

He lifted his head, relief coursing through his cells. “That’s your only objection?”

“Only? Isn’t that enough?”

“Tell me you love me.”

She hesitated.

“Leila, if you love me, please tell me now. If you truly love me, I need to know.”

“I love you, but—”

He cut her next words off by sliding his lips over hers and searing her mouth with a passionate kiss. She loved him. The confirmation of what he’d hoped for this entire time spread in his body, making it hum with pleasure.

Slowly he released her lips. “Are you sure? Absolutely sure?”

She nodded, her eyes suddenly brimming with unshed tears.

“Good, because if you aren’t, the bonding ritual will kill us both.”

Leila jolted physically. “What are you saying?”

Aiden brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Remember the first time I made love to you the Stealth Guardian way?”

When she nodded, he continued, “You collected the
virta
I poured into you, and you concentrated it on me when you put your palm over my heart. It was flowing through your arm. Had it reached my heart, we would have been bonded. And when that happens between a couple that doesn’t truly love each other, it kills them both. Not instantly, but within weeks or months, so they have time to regret their actions.”

“Oh my God!” she gasped.

“Yes, but if our love is true, you’ll feed off my immortality, you will remain young with me and age only fractionally, the same way I do.”

“But that can’t be. Science… ” she whispered, clearly fascinated.

“It’s within our powers, so we can choose our mates freely among both species. However, I still don’t understand how you could have known about the bonding ritual. It’s a secret.”

“I didn’t. I swear.” Then she shook her head. “But that night, I saw inside of you. I saw a bit of your soul.”

He didn’t think it was possible. “Only mated couples can sense each other’s souls.”

“But I saw it,” she insisted. “What does it mean?”

He pulled her head closer to his, looking into the depth of her ocean blue eyes, seeing his love reflected back at him. “I think it means that we were always meant for each other.”

“But what if we’re wrong? What if this isn’t love? We’ve only known each other for such a short time. People can’t fall in love that quickly.”

Aiden gazed deep into her eyes. “I’m willing to take that risk, because even a few weeks or months with you will be infinitely better than living eternity without you.”

“You’re willing to risk your immortality for me?”

There was only one possible answer to her question. “Yes. But I can’t make this decision alone. Your life it at stake too. So if you have any doubts about your feelings for me, you have to refuse me now.”

Her hand came up to stroke her fingers over the scar above his brow, then down his cheek and along his chin, her feather light touch leaving a trail of fire on his skin.

Then she smiled at him. “I already died once today. What are the odds of me dying again?”

He grinned. “If you put it that way… ”

Aiden slanted his mouth over hers, capturing her lips. Under light pressure she parted them, allowing him to delve inside her delicious cavern, while his hands busied themselves with divesting her of her clothes. It wasn’t difficult, because she was more than willing to help him in his endeavor.

“Eager?” he whispered between kisses.

Leila’s hands went to the waistband of his pants, snapping the top button open, then sliding down the zipper. When her hands found his hard-on and wrapped around him, he let out a groan. Her lips twisted into a smile.

“I doubt I could be more eager than you.”

He thrust into her hands. She had a point; he was positively bursting to take her, the knowledge that this time their lovemaking would culminate in a bonding ritual, making his body brim with anticipation. He’d never felt happier in his entire life.

The moment they shed their last pieces of clothing, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed, laying her on the crisp sheets. She looked perfect there, because it was where she belonged: in his bed, in his life, in his heart. He swept his gaze over her curves, savoring the moment his eyes traveled over her heaving breasts down to her long and shapely legs, those powerful thighs that had held him night after night as he’d thrust into her. The pure bliss he’d found in her arms every night made him dizzy even now.

“You know I don’t like to wait,” Leila purred and crooked her finger.

“I made a note of that when you told me back at the farmhouse.” He slid over her, bringing his raging erection to her core, her thighs spreading for him without any urging on his part. So natural, yet so exciting. So meant for him.