CONCEPTION (The Others) (36 page)

He wrapped her legs around his waist and headed for the bed,
pushing back the day weariness that called him. “Do not cry.”

He tried to lay her on the bed, but she clung to him,
demanding the one thing that was always hers. His strength.

“I waited for you,” she whispered into the curve of his neck
like it was some dark secret too shameful to be spoken aloud.

“I know.”

“I cried for you.” Her nails gouged crescents into the nape
of his neck.

He opened his fingers over her spine in a vain attempt to
siphon off all the memories and the pain they brought. “I know.”

“I needed you so badly.” She pulled herself harder into the
shelter of his arms.

“I know.”

Her hands yanked on his hair as he cradled her in his arms
and sat back on the bed. “I don’t want to need you like that again.” Her tears
soaked his skin in a burning flow of truth. “I can’t.”

He tipped her face up, looking straight into her red-rimmed
eyes. “You must.”

Chapter Nineteen

She didn’t move, didn’t speak. Just stared at him, her big
blue eyes awash with tears. Her too thin cheeks were blotchy and her full mouth
trembled as she shook her head. Her “Don’t ask that of me” was a broken hiccup
of sound.

He wiped a tear from her cheek. It shimmered on his finger
like an accusation. “I am not asking. I am demanding.”

He felt the impact of his words in the flinch of her mind,
her body. She was afraid, not knowing what to believe, where to place her
faith. Such indecision could be deadly. “You must choose to believe in
something.”

Her lips flattened to a determined line. “Maybe I’ll choose
your Maker.”

He touched the corner of her mouth. “You do not believe in
him.”

“I don’t believe in you either.”

He closed his eyes and absorbed the pain of her words before
shoving it aside, opening his eyes, and bringing forth the truth. “You do or
you would not have brought my daughter here.”

Her cheek pushed against his finger as she grimaced. “I was
desperate.”

He shook his head at her attempt to distract him. “You are a
logical person, Edie. You think and you plan. Desperate or not, you would not
have brought our daughter here if you did not think I could keep her safe.” She
sucked in her breath and tried to pull away. He did not allow it. “The time for
hiding is over, mate.”

She shook her head, still holding that breath and his gaze,
as if to release it was to take a step there was no coming back from. And he
guessed in a way, there wasn’t. “Breathe, Eden.”

She did, letting her breath out on a hard push that told him
she was fighting for control. He released her chin and pulled her face into his
neck, wishing he could soothe her fear as easily as he could soothe the rush of
adrenaline that flooded her system. But she had to take this step alone. He
brushed his lips over the top of her head as she pressed her forehead into his
collarbone. “I will not fail you again.”

“I know that in my mind.”

He could hear the “but” as loudly as if she had spoken. “You
need to accept it in your heart, for our daughter’s safety as well as your
own.”

He rubbed her back, keeping her against him when she would
have pulled back. It was selfish, but he did not want to see the doubt in her
eyes as she fought with herself.

“I know that, too.” She patted his chest. He had the
strangest notion that she was comforting him. “I just need time.”

“You are out of time.”

“I know.” She shrugged, the delicate muscles in her back
flexing under his palm. “It’s just that knowing is not helping.”

“Maybe the loving will.” She went absolutely still against
him, even her breathing suspended. “You loved me a year ago, Eden.”

“A lot has happened in a year.”

“But you still love me.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what I feel.”

Her doubts beat at him, but he couldn’t let them sway his
certainty. “I do.”

“How?”

He touched his mouth to hers. “Because we are mates. Your
feelings cannot be less than mine.”

Again that stillness that could mean anything. And then a
very soft, very tense “Are you saying you love me?” breathed against his lips.

He rested his forehead against hers. “You have been my all
from the first moment I saw you.”

She shook her head, her fingers spreading over his chest.
“You wanted me when you first saw me?”

He smiled, remembering the flood of alien emotion that had
shaken his control that first time. “That, too.” He gathered a handful of her
hair and pulled her head back. “I have pledged my life, my happiness and my
soul to you, and still you doubt my feelings?” He could tell from her
expression that she did. It was the why he did not understand. “Explain.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You need to.”

Her stomach rumbled in the silence. “I’m too hungry to concentrate.”

He doubted that. “Then you must eat.”

Her little start of surprise was well concealed, but their
minds were too linked for her to hide it entirely. He sighed and shook his
head. “I have told you often enough mate, your needs come first.”

“Unless they go against your wishes.”

He reached for the tray Harley had left and moved it to the
bed. “That is untrue.”

Her full lips thinned to another flat line of disagreement.
He released her hair and smoothed it back from her face. “It is only when your
wishes endanger your safety that I must insist on obedience.”

He leaned back on the bed, giving her some space. She eyed
him warily and cautiously reached for the sandwich. “You’re the one who gets to
determine what’s safe?”

“Yes.” The soft T-shirt clung to her unfettered breasts,
enhancing their roundness and the softly peaked nipples. “You do not wear a
bra.” He patted her back as she choked on the mouthful of sandwich, easing her
through the spasm. “Swallow.”

She did, cautiously, clearing her throat, the redness in her
face increasing rather than subsiding. She blinked the tears from her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” And then red-cheeked, she said, “Marlika’s didn’t fit.

“There is no harm done.” He cupped her breast. “You are
still swollen.”

Her head dropped back even as she pressed her torso into his
touch. “Oh for goodness’ sake.”

“What?” The softness of the cotton shirt could not equal the
softness of her flesh, but it was close.

“That’s not something a man should notice.”

He laughed despite the day weariness tugging at him. “That
is the first thing any Chosen would notice.”

“You are a sick man.”

“No.” He weighed each breast, rubbing his thumb over the
tips and corrected, “I am a very appreciative mate.”

Against his groin, through the cotton of her shorts, he felt
her pussy flex. He brushed the tips again. Her moan drifted through his mind as
the scent of her arousal rose to embrace his senses.

“You need.” Her stomach rumbled. “And you hunger.”

She leaned harder into his hands. “I’ll eat later.”

He caught the hand holding the sandwich and brought it to
her lips. “You need sustenance now.”

She shook her head and her blue eyes narrowed. Her blonde
curls tumbled over her shoulder to wrap around his wrist as she tilted her
head. “If you think there’s any way I can eat now, you have another think
coming.”

The plumpness of her breast, the silky smoothness of her
hair binding him to her, called to his lust. His cock ached and strained
against her pussy, pushing up, meeting the downward press of her hips. This
time the sound of her pleasure filled the room. He gritted his teeth. “You
strain my control.”

She pushed her breast into his hand, not backing off even
though she winced. Her “Screw your control” contained the pleasure-pain of the
caress.

“I would much rather screw you.” He eased her back with a
hand on her shoulder. Her mental wail of protest mourned the separation. “But
you will eat first.”

“No way.”

He smiled at her determination. If he wasn’t touching the
too thin curve of her shoulder, he might have let her persuade him, but with
the reminder of her condition under his hand, he would not be swayed. “I must
insist.”

She put the sandwich back on the plate and grabbed the hem
of her shirt. Her “Insist away” was only slightly muffled by the thin material.
It caught on his hands, creating a moment of peek-a-boo when it stretched,
exposing her stomach and the undercurve of her breast.

Eden tugged. He let go, and then there was nothing between
his eyes and her breasts. Nothing except his duty to see to her welfare. It was
a sad realization that his resolve wasn’t what it should be in the face of
baser needs. Not when she sat before him, her beauty enhanced by the fullness
of her breasts, the hungry red color of her distended nipples and the seeded
curve of her abdomen.

The smugness of her expression as she watched him watch her
was the only thing that kept his desire under control. A mate’s desire was a
gift, but one a Chosen mate was duty-bound to control and not allow to
interfere with her health. Especially a newly seeded mate who had no experience
with the hormones flooding her system. It sounded so easy when lectured about.
It was a lot harder to remember when said mate cuddled his cock to her heat and
her scent enclosed him in a haze of demand.

“You will eat.”

She leaned toward him. “Later.”

“If you wish the pleasure of my cock, you will eat now.”

She cupped her breasts in her small hands, lifting them to
him. “What if I want the pleasure of your mouth?”

Lust rolled over him in a debilitating wave. He tightened
his grip on her shoulder, the bone pressing into his palm reminding him of his
duty. “Then you will eat.”

Her fingers slid up the high curves, tightening as they
reached the pouting tips. He could not take his gaze away. Desire shot through
his blood in staccato bursts that hammered with insidious query. What would it
hurt if he satisfied her need first and then insisted she eat?

She squeezed the tips, too hard, too soon. Her flinch and
surprise anchored his desire and his purpose. She did not know what she was
asking.

He brushed Eden’s hands aside when she would have tried
again, shushing her protest with a mental touch as he cupped her breasts anew,
pure pleasure at the feel of her skin and heat sliding through him in a
culmination that had his hips arching up into hers. He fought for his voice
when he would have much preferred to project his feelings.

“You need to learn patience, mate.” He thrummed his thumbs
lightly over her nipples. Her cry was sweet to his ears. As sweet as her scent.
“Pleasure is not rushed.”

He thrummed her nipples one last time before turning her
around. Her foot caught awkwardly. He held while she pulled it free, then
gently, ever so gently, he settled her firm buttocks against his erection.
She’d dressed in another pair of his shorts. The loose cotton was no barrier.
His shaft slid neatly between the tempting globes. The drive to take her
immediately almost overrode his common sense. Almost. He grasped her wrist in
his hand, the fine bones making him aware of his much greater strength and her
vulnerability. “No more tempting me until you finish eating. “

She tossed her head, her curls flying in his face. “Uh-huh.”

She wiggled her ass on his cock. The gesture almost as
defiant as the toss of her head. He tipped her chin back, the arch of her throat
a seductive curve that beckoned his lips. “Eat so we may play.”

The back of her head settled into the curve of his shoulder.
“I thought Chosen had to sleep during the day.”

“We do.” He ran his lips over the whorls of her ear, feeling
the hitch in her breathing as he did, pulling her just that much closer, unable
to believe she was here when he’d lived with the agony of her loss for so long.
“Which means if you do not hurry up and eat, I will be too tired to play.”

“All the more reason to play first.”

He skated his lips down the soft skin of her neck, listening
to the pulse beat in her throat, enjoying the heat from her skin, smiling as it
increased beneath his caress. Most of all enjoying the knowledge that he was
whole once again. “You will need your strength.”

“So will you.”

“That fades as the sun rises.”

She looked at the heavily draped window, harrumphed and took
a bite of the sandwich. Her cheek flexed against his as she chewed. He traced
the slide of muscle with his lips as she swallowed. He caught her hand before
she could put the sandwich down.

“Again,” he whispered against her throat.

“Bully.”

He smiled at the sass in her tone. He’d missed it too much
to reprimand her for it. “Mate,” he corrected.

He knew she felt the eager twitch of his cock as she took
the next bite. The way she rocked her hips demanded a reprimand, not the
encouragement of his hands but he gave it to her anyway, his control as nothing
against her wishes and needs. She was his miracle, his salvation. He could deny
her nothing. He waited in an agony of controlled anticipation as she ate the
sandwich. At first, he wasn’t sure, but by the time she was on her fourth bite
he knew. Edie was deliberately dragging out the meal, each bite getting
smaller, each swallow taking longer.

“A woman who teases her mate asks for trouble,” he informed
her calmly, as if his primitive side wasn’t salivating with lust.

She took another miniscule bite, chewed it and swallowed
before answering. “According to you, everything I do ‘asks’ for trouble.”

There wasn’t a hint of fear in her voice, or in the gentle
clench of her buttocks on his cock. He pressed up into the hot crease. “You are
very disobedient.”

The glance she sent over her shoulder had his heart picking
up the beat to match hers. The slow squeeze of her buttocks on his hard cock an
enticement that had his fangs exploding into his mouth. “Do you know what you
are asking for?”