Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 (25 page)

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he responded as he took a step away.

Sighing, she brought her hands up and rubbed them over her face. “Oh God, I don’t want to do the polite thing, Caine. I really don’t.”

“Let’s not then.”

She glanced at him sideways and smiled in her little way. It nearly brought tears to his eyes. His heart clenched as if it was in a metal vise.

“You mean a lot to me.” Tears started to brim in the corners of her gorgeous eyes.

He took a step closer and grabbed her hand in his, clenching it tight, afraid to let go, but knowing he must. “I feel the same, Eve. You are an amazing woman.”

“But…” she breathed, as a teardrop rolled down her cheek.

Caine nodded. “But…”

She squeezed his hand tight, then let go, pulling it away and setting it alongside her leg.

“Don’t forget me.”

“I won’t.” He paused then surveyed her face. She was so damn beautiful inside and out.

A woman with guts and determination. A woman he could never forget in ten lifetimes.

A woman he loved as the moon loved the night. Connected eternally. “I can’t.”

Wiping at her tears, she nodded and leaned back into her pillows. “Take care of yourself.

I’d say don’t work too hard, but I know it would be wasted on you.”

He chuckled. “You, too.”

Chewing her lip, she nodded at him again. He could see her struggle to maintain her emotions. Not wanting to break down in tears in front of him. If only she knew that that would be all it took for him to change his mind and not let her go. But he was too stubborn to tell her so.

With a final tip of his head, he turned and started toward the door. Knowing he did more than just leave the room. He was leaving a big part of himself behind. A part he hadn’t realized he was missing to begin with.

He couldn’t do it. He had to try.

He paused in the doorway, then swiveled around. “Do you want to go back to San Antonio?”

“What?”

He coughed into his hand, nerves making his throat constrict. “We work fairly well together, don’t we?”

A small smile curved her lips. “Yes, I suppose. What are you suggesting?”

He moved toward her bed, his confidence building with each step. “A joint project of sorts.”

“Uh-huh, I’m listening.”

“Well, we both know that human and Otherworlder relations are strained. Working together as a team on this case, I believe, helped smooth those relations a bit.” When he neared her side, he took her hand. “Just think what we could continue to do together.”

She lifed her brow, her lips curling up. “Together. As in, a team?”

He nodded.

“Here in Necropolis?”

He nodded again.

“For how long?”

He lifted her hand to his moth, and pressed his lips to the back, nibbling on her smooth skin. “How about forever?”

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I love you, Eve. And I don’t want to go another minute without you at my side.”

Leaning forward, he kissed her lips. “How is that for being sure?” he whispered against them.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “I love you, too. You mean more to me than any man before.”

Weaving his hands through her hair, Caine brought her mouth to his. He kissed her with everything he had, everything he was. He needed her to know that she had become the most important thing to him. More important than the lab, more important than any case.

With one last nibble on her bottom lip, he rested his head against hers and sighed.

“What do you think Hector and Baron Bask will say about this?” Eve asked, a playful grin on her face.

“They’re both political animals, they know a good move when it’s presented to them. I won’t give either of them a chance to say no.” He smiled. “I can be very persuasive.” He kissed her again.

“Am I interrupting?” A voice sounded from the door.

Groaning, Caine glanced over his shoulder at Mahina as she leaned casually against the door frame. “Yes, in fact, you are.”

“Good. My work here is done.” She grinned.

“Shouldn’t you be in a hospital bed, too?”

She chuckled. “Damn, Valorian, they were just lead. I’ve had cat scratches worse than that. What about you? Are you up for another case?”

“What’s up?”

“We have another DB. Washington and Twenty-third Street.”

Eve sat back and sighed. Keeping her gaze, Caine raised his hand and set it on her cheek.

He ran his thumb over her lips. They were too soft to leave, too inviting to resist. He could imagine a lifetime of tasting them, and he didn’t want to waste one single moment for that chance.

“Call Monty. I’m taking the day off.”

“That’s a first,” Mahina remarked.

“Yup.” Caine smiled. “But it won’t be the last.” Leaning over, he captured Eve’s mouth and swallowed down her sigh of relief.

He knew Mahina said something before she left, but he didn’t hear it. All that he could discern, all that mattered, was the sound of Eve’s heart as it thumped in perfect rhythm with his own.

ISBN: 978-1-55254-957-5

BLOOD SECRETS

Copyright © 2007 by Tawny Stokes

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