Dark Warrior Untamed (35 page)

Her dark eyes were worried. “What’s the matter, Grey? Having second thoughts already?” she asked.

“About us? No, never. I can’t imagine my future without you.”

Judging by the sudden tension in her body, his words, the ones meant to reassure her, had failed miserably. “Okay, then what are you having second thoughts about if it isn’t us?”

“My job.” He put several steps between them, needing space in order to say what had to be said. “I wanted to tell you first, but I’ll be offering my resignation to Kerry, effective immediately.”

He held his breath, waiting for her response. It didn’t take long.

“Okay, what’s really going on?” She put her hands on her hips and stared at
him as if he’d just sprouted a second head. “My sister needs someone she can trust to be her Chief Talion, and don’t try to deny that it’s what you’ve trained for your whole life. Why are you doing this?”

Okay, time to roll the dice. “Because, Piper Ryan, I love you, and I’m asking you to marry me—to be my wife. What I won’t do is ask you to spend the rest of your life living in fear.”

There, he’d said it. All he could do was wait.

What an amazing, sweet fool. There he was, offering to give up everything that he’d ever lived for just to be with her. No wonder she was head over heels in love with the man. She reached up to cup his face in her hands.

“Greyhill Danby, yes, I will marry you, but only if you promise to keep your job. I fell in love with you as you are—a man born to serve and defend our people. Yes, it will take some getting used to being the wife of a Talion warrior, but I’m strong, and your love will only make me stronger.”

Drinking in all the emotion shining there in his handsome face, she said, “So here’s the way I see it. I love you and you love me. All that matters is that we cherish each other and make the most of every day we have. God willing, we’ll grow old together. If not, no regrets ever, no matter what.”

Grey’s amazing blue eyes lit up with enough heat to melt her bones. His voice grew thick as he
answered her. “Piper, your love
is
my life, and every day I live is yours to share.”

Then he took her hand in his and held both of them over his brand. “Always together, luv. This I vow.”

They sealed the oath with a kiss.

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BOUND IN DARKNESS

Coming Soon from Pocket Star

“Are you hurt?”

He reached out to brush her hair back from her face, but jerked his hand back when she flinched. Fine. Her reluctance pissed him off royally, even if he understood why she felt that way.

The sooner he got her back topside the better. “Come.”

“You’re one of
them
, aren’t you?” Sasha shrank away from him.

He ignored how much her reaction hurt. “Right now, what I
am
is your way out of here.”

She backed away another step. “But where are we going? The elevators are back that way.”

He snagged her arm before she could take off and glared down at her. “So is the fighting, Sasha. Too many from both worlds are already bleeding and
dying, and I’d rather not kill any more of my people because of your foolish behavior. Now, follow me or not. It’s your choice.”

He let go of her, hating the fear in her eyes and hating himself even more for his part in putting it there. Then he walked away, stopping to retrieve his knife before moving on. Surely she’d show the good sense to stick with him. If not, he’d force the issue. But he really hoped she’d find it in her to trust him enough to get her to safety.

Sasha stared at the four bodies scattered nearby. So much blood. Too much blood, its bitter copper scent filling her head, overloading her senses. Her stomach churned and a foul acid burned the back of her throat. God, would this nightmare never end? She leaned against the wall for support and retched dry heaves.

Please, let it stop.
She needed to follow Larem even if he was one of them. Kalith, Other, the name didn’t matter. If she lost sight of him, her life might very well end right here in this hellish passageway. She tried to straighten up between heaves, but that only made the pain worse. After stumbling forward only a few steps, she had to stop and close her eyes to ward off the dizziness.

As she did, she felt someone beside her and panicked. “No, please no! Get away!”

“Sasha, calm down. It’s me.”

She sagged in relief at the sound of Larem’s deep voice. Despite everything, he hadn’t abandoned her.

“Hold still and don’t fight me.”

His accent was more pronounced, but his voice was far gentler than it had been before. His hand, cool and soothing, rested softly on her forehead, and his arm slid around her waist, supporting her weight.

He murmured something softly. The words were unclear, perhaps his native tongue, but their effect was immediate and miraculous. The nausea disappeared almost immediately, as did the cramping. When he removed his hand, she looked up at his pale gray eyes.

“Better?”

She nodded. “Much.”

The chill came flooding back into his gaze as he stepped back and picked up his sword. “Let’s get out of here.”

What choice did she have? She glanced back toward the other end of the passage, careful to avoid looking at the bodies scattered along the way, and then followed Larem around the corner. He was moving fast enough that she had to almost run to catch up.

She had so many questions, now that her brain was starting to function again, but she suspected she wouldn’t like the answers she got. Why had he let her think he was human? She’d known there were Kalith living among the Paladins, but no one had even hinted that they had the run of the place. What was Larem doing prowling around the lower levels?

But now wasn’t the time—not when her life depended on his skill with a sword. Her eyes strayed to the bloody blade he’d wielded with such skill and terrible grace. Would she ever get over the horror of seeing four lives ended right in front of her? Or the knowledge that she’d come so close to being … No. Don’t
go there. She slammed the door on that thought.

Larem came to an abrupt halt. “Quiet, now. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. Wait until I make sure the way is clear.”

Sasha froze, her ears ringing with the ragged sound of her own breathing and the pounding of her heart. Gradually, other sounds began to make sense. Horrible sense. Swords banging and clanging. Screams of pain and, worse yet, weak whimpers of agony. Larem moved forward a few feet, holding his sword out to the side as if expecting to be attacked any second.

Finally, he motioned her forward. “Don’t look.”

But of course she did. The ground was littered with bodies. She watched as a line of Paladins slowly pushed forward, forcing the ragged band of Others to retreat back across the barrier. Men in guard uniforms were dragging the dead and wounded Paladins back out of the way, leaving the Others where they’d fallen.

Larem fell back beside her. “Sasha, snap out of it! We’ve got to get the hell out of here. Those guards might not hurt you, but they’re likely to come after
me, given half a chance. I’d just as soon not die because of your stupidity.”

Larem all but dragged her along until finally he stopped outside of an elevator. As soon as she saw the number pad next to it, her heart sank.

“Larem, my code won’t work. We’re trapped down here until Devlin sounds the all clear.” Her voice went up an octave as she spoke, the thought of spending one unnecessary minute trapped in this hell absolutely unbearable.

Larem was already punching numbers into the security system. “This one will work.”

Sure enough, she felt the small blast of air from the doors announcing the elevator was on its way. She leaned against the wall, relieved beyond words. As fried as she was feeling, it still occurred to her to wonder why an Other would have been trusted with a high level security code.

The more she thought about it, the answer was obvious. It wasn’t his code at all. Someone had broken protocols by giving it to him, most likely one of his friends among the Paladins. Under the circumstances, she wasn’t about to complain.

She stepped to the back corner of the elevator. “Please thank whoever gave you his number to use. Tell him there will be no repercussions for the security breach.”

Her good intentions seemed to only make Larem angrier. “That’s awfully generous of you, considering he did so hoping to save your life.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I understand why he gave his number to a …” She stopped. She would do better to just keep her mouth shut.

But it was too late. Larem immediately snarled, “A what, Sasha? An alien? An Other? An animal? How about a monster?”

Each arrow-sharp accusation hit its target—her conscience. “I’m sorry, Larem. I was trying to do the right thing.”

He turned toward her, his eyes burning with fury. “The right thing would have been to stay the hell out of places you don’t belong. Because of the threat to you, my friend delayed his arrival below in order to share that number and the location of this elevator with me. There are damn few enough of the Paladins as it is to hold back the invasion. How many were placed at extra risk because he was late to the fight, or because they were concerned for your safety and not focused on the battle they faced?”

Dear God, she hadn’t thought about that. Stricken with remorse, she said, “I never thought …”

He stalked toward her, dropping his bloody sword to the floor as he cornered her. “Exactly. You never thought.”

“None of this was supposed to happen. I’m so sorry.”

“That doesn’t change a damn thing. Because of you, I betrayed my vow to protect my own people. Those males died at my hand, and I have to find a way to live with that.”

He was standing so close that she could feel the tension pouring off his body. This was no time to notice how long his eyelashes were or how they framed those intense gray eyes.

Her hand lifted to touch his cheek. “But you’re not like them.”

“No. I’m not. Because they were sick with the need for light. That’s the only difference.”

At her touch, he tangled his fingers in her hair, tilting her face up toward his. “One thing you would do well to remember, Sasha Willis. I might not be human—but I am a man.”

His angry mouth crushed down on hers. When she gasped in shock, his tongue swept past her lips. She’d never tasted pure fury before, but she had no doubt that’s what flavored Larem’s kiss. She should push back, should fight to wrest control from him—but rather than feeling threatened, she felt safe. Larem’s kiss wasn’t a claiming but a cleansing, washing away some of the fear and horror of the past half hour. A small voice in the back of her mind told her this was crazy, that she should be revolted by the prospect of kissing a Kalith.

Larem ripped his mouth away from hers and lurched back to the other side of the elevator, breathing hard. His mouth, which had felt so soft and forgiving against hers, was now a straight slash of anger.

He scrubbed at his mouth with the back of his hand as if to wipe away any taste of her. The soft ping of the elevator finally reaching its destination echoed in the heavy silence between them.

As the two of them stalked out, she said, “This didn’t happen.”

He smirked down at her. “Do you really think Devlin Bane won’t find out that you were down there? Or that you almost managed to get not just yourself, but me, killed?”

“Not that, you big jerk!” She waved her hand between the two of them. “I mean this—us.
This
didn’t happen.”

“Why? Afraid what will happen to all your plans if it gets out that you’ve been sullied by the likes of me?”

Okay, that did it. “Could you be
any
bigger a jerk?”

She marched away, her shoulders squared. Darn that man anyway! How had all of this gone spinning so far out of control? No matter how hateful Larem had been, he’d still risked his life to save hers. Her father might think all Others were a substandard life form, but she now knew better. Clearly he was a man of honor, one who was suffering because of what that honor had just demanded of him. All because of her.

Okay, so she’d try one last time. But when she looked back, he was already walking away.

“Larem? About what you did—thank you.”

For a second she thought he slowed down, but maybe she was only imagining it—because he never glanced back. It was surprising how much that hurt. She ignored it and moved on herself. She was done for the day. The stack of work on her desk would still be there in the morning. Flipping open her cell
phone, she texted her assistant that she wouldn’t be back today.

Without waiting for a response, she hurried out of the building and hailed a cab. With luck, she’d be able to hold herself together long enough to reach her suite. After giving the driver the name of the hotel, she leaned back and closed her eyes, glad she didn’t have far to go to where a stiff drink and a shower would be waiting.