B Cubed #3 Borg (6 page)

Chapter Five

           
She
runs from me?

           
Dayen roared again as he
gave chase, unsure of what he’d do when he caught his mate.  Chastised her for
not obeying him, certainly. Punish her for running from him, definitely.

            Take
her lush body in the snow with the heat of battle still upon him? The beast had
final risen, finally taken over and it wanted its due. He burned with need for
her, to hold her and know she was safe in his arms once more.

            To
fuck her until she screamed his name in ecstasy.

           
Mine.
He put on a burst of speed, ready for the chase to be over, ready to catch
his prize.

            He
was only ten feet from her when she hit the bottom of the hill, the opposite
side from where they’d left the tunneler. She skidded, fell and was up on her
feet again, heading out onto what she must have thought was part of the valley
below.

            It
wasn’t. “Stop!” he shouted as fear for her safety overrode his need. 

            She
didn’t look back, arms and legs pumping. She slipped again, and got up, unaware
that the ground she traversed was really a frozen lake.

            But
how frozen? The volcano rumbled, a deadly reminder of how thin the crust was
here, of how soon the heat would combat the freeze in a deadly battle. Instinct
told him Sage was in danger, the lake wasn’t frozen through.

Though it took more strength than Dayen knew he
possessed, he stopped his pursuit. The beast’s instincts fought him, demanding
he catch her, and make her safe, to kill whatever threatened her. But the man’s
soul he possessed, Isaac’s soul knew he was her greatest fear.

“Sage, it’s not safe!”

There was a crack and a scream as the ice gave
way beneath her boots. She vanished from sight.

He roared again, this time with panic as he tore
after her, half hoping the ice would swallow him up as well.

            Her
panic clawed at him, deeper than the battle wounds he carried. He called her
name, looking for the spot where the ice had given way. More cracking, his
considerable weight straining the lake’s surface. Her terror washed over him,
pain as thousands of needles jabbed into her tender flesh. The thermal suit was
made for keeping out cold air, but was useless in water. He roared again, and
slammed his fists down onto the frozen pond.

            Fissures
spilt the ice and water pooled beneath his hands. He hit it again and again
until the ice broke apart beneath him, plunging him into the icy depths.

            Even
in water he knew where she was and swam directly for her. He could no longer
hear her thoughts, she must have gone unconscious. Fearful for her, he gave
himself over to the beast for the second time that day, needing the creature’s
strength and power to guide him to his mate.

            After
what seemed an eternity, he caught a hold of her arm.  He dragged her into him
and kicked for the surface. His head bumped against solid ice but he pounded
his fist against it with all the fury and desperation in his body. It shattered
and he pushed Sage up first, hoping she’d wake and breathe.

            She
didn’t.

            They
were about twenty feet from the shore. Dayen ruthlessly broke through the ice
with his claws, towing her behind him. Finally at the water’s edge, he rolled
her up onto the bank and pulled himself up after her.

            She
was so still. Her lips were completely blue and she wasn’t shivering.
            Air. He must get air into her lungs. As if from a great distance he
realized the beast’s features were receding, as the need for human hands and
mouth became clear.

            He
checked her pulse, found none and started chest compressions, as well as  mouth
to mouth resuscitation.

            He
called her name in between breaths and wished he had the medical supplies from
the shuttle. There was a defibrillator as well as thermal packs to help warm
her in the emergency kit. But he didn’t dare take the time to move her there until
she’d stabilized.

            Another
breath, another count of compressions. She was fading, he could feel her going
where he could not follow. Madness clawed at him, the beast’s his own, as icy
tendrils of fear snaked through his bloodstream.

           
Can’t
lose her.
“Don’t leave me,” he begged.

           
On the next breath she
coughed and regurgitated lungfuls of water. Dayen quickly turned her on her
side so she didn’t choke. The sound she made as she wheezed in air was terrible
and wonderful all at once because it meant she was still alive.

            He
didn’t breathe until he found her pulse, still too rapid but steady enough. She
still hadn’t fully awakened and wasn’t shivering. Still in danger, now from
hypothermia.  He lifted her into his arms and scented the air, searching for any
shelter that was closer than the trek back to the shuttle. His nose detected
the acrid tang of sulfur and he set of with his precious cargo.

            The
cave was pleasantly warm compared to the outside, the spring bubbling with
heat. He hurriedly stripped her down to her blue tinted skin, then shed his own
clothes before carrying her into the water. The pool was deep enough to reach
his shoulders and would have come up over her head, so he settled her on his
lap.  She was immersed up to her neck and her head rested against his shoulder
in a notch that seemed carved for exactly that purpose.

            He
had to touch her, to keep her safe and warm until she thawed completely.

            “Stay
with me,
mein Schatzi,
” he said as he cupped her cheek. The German
phrase he’d read in one of Aunt Cassie’s journals fit her. She was his little
treasure and he would guard her ruthlessly. “Give me a chance to make it all
right. I vow that I will not let you down.”

            The
shaking started then, her teeth chattering. He pressed her deeper into him, as
though he could meld them into one being. He shook too, adrenaline still
tearing through his system as he relived the events of the afternoon. She’d
been in so much danger, he could have died and then she would have had no one
to protect her.

            And
then she’d run. Not from danger but from him. What had she seen that made her
fear him so? Shamed burned through him as he recalled the thoughts that
prompted her to run.
He’s hideous.

            Before
he’d always fought the beast, been fearful of what the creature would do if he
handed over control. He hadn’t known that he’d transform into a monster, but
even if he had, he would have gladly done so if it meant he had the ability to
save her life.

           
“You
have what you need to save us,”
Aunt Cass had told him when he’d lamented
his multiple burdens. A beast, the memories of a dead man, and telepathy that
made him shun touch. What had he done to deserve such a mixed bag of misery?

            But
now he understood. The beast had the power and the determination to save its
mate when she faced danger. His telepathy gave him insight into Sage’s
particular needs. And Isaac’s ghost?

            It
taught him how to love her and her alone.

            For
her all the parts of him had come together instead of warring within his own
flesh.  With her he could be whole, not just a badly patched amalgamation of
abilities and voices. Now it was Dayen who shook, not from hypothermia, but
from emotion. He caressed Sage’s soft cheek, admiring the smooth texture of her
skin. She could have drowned or frozen to death or been ripped apart before he
knew just what she meant to him.

            Everything.

****

            Sage
snuggled deeper into the solid warmth of her bed.  It shifted beneath her and
large calloused hands smoothed over her bare back. The sensation startled her
awake.

            She
sat up and then gasped when she realized she was completely naked. So was
Berrick, who lay flat on his back under her. Green eyes were fixed on her face.

            “How
do you feel?” his rumbling voice jolted her into action. She sprang away from
him as far as the confines of the small space allowed.

            Cave,
they were in a cave. And from the looks of it, not just any cave, but one of
the Born inhabited ones. The firepit had been painstakingly carved out of the
rocky cavern floor, and tattered blankets were strewn over rocks, creating a
somewhat softer seat. The cave had long since been abandoned for more secluded
tunnels and burrows. This one was exposed on one side to the elements, thought
the snow had stacked up by the mouth of the cave, creating a barrier against
the howling wind. How did they get here?

            “You
fell through the ice. I pulled you out and brought you in here to warm up.”

            Her
jaw dropped and she swung back to stare at him. His ability to read her mind
had to be more than intuition—he’d done it too often. “How did you know what I
was thinking?” Was it really Berrick or was it part of that….thing he’d morphed
into?

            “Don’t
fear me,” his deep voice commanded. He reached for her, and she skittered away,
all too aware of her nakedness.

            “Don’t
tell me what to do,” she snapped. God, she was so fricking sick of every male
she met treating her like she was some sort of halfwit that needed to be
ordered around all the time. “And where the hell are my clothes?”

            He
pointed to a large rock beside the fire pit where her thermal suit had been
laid out to dry. His clothes—what remained of them anyway— were spread out
beside them.

            “Sage,”
he stayed where he was, his posture intentionally non-threatening. As if that
could somehow erase her memory of him, large and in charge, never mind bloody
and
befanged
. “I vowed I would protect you.”

            “Yeah?
Can you protect me from yourself?”

            His
eyebrows drew down. “I’d never hurt you.”

            She
looked him over, doing her best to ignore the fact that he was very naked. And according
to his anatomy, very aware that she was also naked. “You’re not Bred, are you?
I mean, the Bred can’t transform at will.”

            “Neither
could I, before a few hours ago.”

            She
frowned. Why was it the more questions she asked him, the less she seemed to
understand him?

            He
rose abruptly and her back slammed into the wall. Berrick scowled at the
movement. “If you believe nothing else, accept that I mean you no harm.”

            She
shook her head. “Sorry, but I’ve been told that before and it didn’t hold
water.”

            His
expression turned murderous. “Who was he? The Born who hurt you?”

            She
blinked at the change of subject. “Holy shit, you really can read minds! What
the hell are you?”

            “I
don’t know,” He looked away. It might have been a trick of the light, but she
thought she saw color rise in his cheeks, almost as if he were ashamed?

            “He’s
dead.” Sage spoke before she realized she was going to tell him anything. “The
man who hurt me. So there’s no point in talking about it.”

            “Yet
he haunts you.” His eyes were like lasers on hers. “I know what it’s like, to
have my every step dogged by a ghost.”

            She
shivered at the expression he wore. Memories fought to escape the vault she’d
stuffed them in, but she was too uncomfortably aware of him to give way to a
panic.

            Abruptly,
he strode to the rock, picked up his clothes and pulled them on. He reached for
her thermals and flipped them over. “These need a few minutes to dry yet.” He
moved toward the mouth of the cave.

            He
was going to leave her, just like that? “Wait!”

            He
paused, glanced at her over his shoulder. “I’m going to get Lily out of the
tunneler, as well as a few supplies. You’ll be safe enough here. Stay by the
fire and keep warm.”

            She
watched him melt into the darkness. Though his orders chafed, every part of her
seemed to ache and it was unbearably cold without her clothes.  Or without
Berrick to keep her warm. She moved to the floor in front of the fire and held
out her hands to the heat. They warmed slowly, then grew hot, even as her back
froze. She rose and turned around, trying to warm the other half of her, even
as her nipples puckered in the cold. The ultimate no-win situation.

Just like her life.

            The
life Berrick had saved. Twice. And was out braving the cold in what amounted to
rags to retrieve her dog. That wasn’t the kind of thing a manipulative bastard
would do, was it?