Darkest Caress (5 page)

Nairne stroked a fingertip across the parchment, right over Neringa’s picture. “I’m finally coming to visit,” she whispered excitedly, almost able to smell the briny scent of the Baltic in the air.

Rolling up the scroll carefully, she took it back to Thomas.

“I’ll take good care of it while you’re gone,” he said with a fond smile.

“I’ve no doubt of that. Thank you.” She couldn’t wait to get on the plane and start the grand adventure ahead. The answers she sought were out there somewhere, just waiting to be found.

* * *

Throughout the afternoon, Aaron never returned Liv’s call. She tried him repeatedly all through the day but never got an answer.

At five-thirty she gave up and called Daegan. “I have to go to the house again. The guy might still show up.” She didn’t want him hanging around the property without supervision. “Can you meet me there instead?” She rubbed her temples to soothe the building headache away. It didn’t help the pain, but she had to go anyway. It was a point of professionalism for her.

“Sure. Everything okay?”

“Yes.”
No.
She didn’t want to see Aaron, but at this point she had no choice. The creep had probably chosen to ignore her message, would show up pretending he’d never received it. Her boss wouldn’t be happy if she left a prospective buyer waiting at such a high-end property. “I’m really sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, but are you okay meeting him there alone?”

His perception was spooky. “Actually, no, I’d rather not, but the friend I asked to meet me can’t make it.”

A pause. “Has this guy threatened you in some way?”

She was startled by the fierce protective note in his voice. His lovely, sensual voice. “No. He just makes me really uncomfortable.”

“Just stay in your car until I get there.”

“Really, it’s okay—”

“Promise me you’ll stay in your car.”

His concern was palpable, increasing her anxiety. “Okay.” Her heart rate increased in response.

By the time she arrived at the house a few minutes before six, the damned headache was digging its claws into her. Sharp, sickening spikes of pain drove into her skull. Her vision started to go slightly hazy, like it always did at the onset of a migraine. The aura, doctors called it.

Liv parked in front of the house, blinked a few times to help clear her eyes, but her vision didn’t improve. The pain relievers she’d taken weren’t helping at all. She closed her eyes and focused on taking slow, deep breaths to combat the first stirrings of nausea churning in her gut. God she hated this. The doctors had never found a reason for the headaches since they’d begun almost a year ago. The medication they’d prescribed barely touched the pain during a full-blown migraine.

The sound of tires crunching over gravel made her eyes snap open. In her rearview mirror she watched the blurry form of Aaron’s white Camry pull up. Her stomach grabbed. Damn him, he
would
be early tonight when he’d never managed to bring Melissa to a lesson on time.

Now what? She didn’t know how far away Daegan was.

Gathering her strength, she prepared to face Aaron alone.

He climbed out of the vehicle, a handsome man over six feet tall with an undeniable air of anger about him.

Her palms began to sweat. She wouldn’t get out of the car. She’d just crack the window, tell him the property was sold, then leave. Before the headache completely took over. Fumbling on the inside of her door, her fingers found and pressed the button to lower her window slightly. The pain swelled as he approached. Her vision became more unfocused, making everything around her shimmer like a colorful mirage. She grimaced, fighting through the haze of pain.

His footsteps crunched on the pea gravel. Drawing nearer. Each time his feet touched the ground it seemed to reverberate in her skull like a hammer blow.

Stop
, she wanted to scream as he came closer. The pain was unbearable, swelling along with the fear. Worse with every step he took toward her. She could hear the rasp of her own breathing, loud in the car’s interior. Her lips and fingers started tingling. Turning numb.

Stop
.

Aaron came up to lean his palms on the roof above her door, no doubt deliberately invading her space. She felt trapped. Her throat seemed to tighten, like an invisible hand squeezed it. Depriving her of air.

“Are you getting out?”

She blinked, squinting up at him. A fuzzy outline of dark orange light danced around his body. Her stomach rolled. She heard him speaking, but couldn’t answer past the pain in her head. Cold sweat broke out across her face and chest. God, she was going to be sick—

“Don’t you dare ignore me, you icy bitch. Think you can treat me like shit and get away with it?
Open
the
door
.”

The sudden malevolence rolling off him made black spots swim before her eyes. That strange orange color intensified around him. She shook her head, a tight movement of denial. Something was wrong. Horribly wrong. The keys were in the ignition but there was no way she could drive like this. She couldn’t see straight.

“I said open the damn door,
now
.” He gave an angry grunt and reached for her door handle. Thank God she’d locked it. His sudden rage shocked her. He yanked on it impatiently, rocking the car in his fury, and she knew he would become violent if she didn’t get out. Maybe even break through her window to get to her.

The hair on her arms stood up.

He
wanted
to get to her. Wanted it badly. She could feel the cruel intent rolling off him. He wanted to hurt her. Rape her. She was alone. No one would hear her screams.

Her throat clamped tighter. The fear ate at her like acid, burning through her veins.

Evil. He was evil. She could taste it in the back of her throat. It coated the inside of her mouth with a bitter film.

Liv groped blindly for her cell phone, tucked into the side pocket of her purse, next to her on the passenger seat. Her fingers glanced off the cool plastic cover. She grasped it, drew it out with a shaking hand, tried to make out the tiny numbers on its keys.

Aaron’s fist slammed down on the roof, his angry shouts hitting her skull like blows from a sledgehammer. His heavy hand thumped against her window. She braced for the sound of shattering glass. Any second now it would fracture, covering her in a hail of shards.
Hold on
, she ordered herself.
Daegan is coming. Hold on.

Struggling to see past the pain, her thumb found the 9 on the keypad. The numbers blurred before her eyes. A sob of frustration and fear choked her, searching futilely for the 1. Damn it, she couldn’t see.

She fought to breathe while the fear crashed over her like a dark wave. Aaron’s angry voice grew louder, adding to the cruel spikes driving into her head. The phone slipped from her trembling fingers, crashing to the floorboard with a sickening thud. She clapped her hands to her skull, swallowed back the bile in her throat. He was going to get her.
Help me…

“Get the hell away from her,” a deep voice snarled.

Someone ripped Aaron away from her door.

Daegan, she realized with a sob. He was here.

Liv gasped in a breath as her constricted throat opened up again. Sweet, cool air rushed into her aching lungs. The headache remained a crushing vise around her head. She couldn’t see. Was going to pass out. The pain was hideous, worse than it had ever been. She couldn’t stand it. Just wanted it to end. Distantly she heard the sound of fists thudding against flesh, Aaron’s outraged cries.

Then a sudden, deafening silence.

“Olivia?” Daegan’s voice.

A moment later her door jerked open, despite that she hadn’t unlocked it. Daegan cursed and reached for her. The instant he touched her, the pain seemed to lessen. His scent enveloped her, filling her burning lungs.

In the distance she faintly heard a car speeding away over the gravel. Aaron leaving. She shuddered in relief.

“Olivia, look at me, love.”

The endearment, the slight Irish lilt in his voice soothed her enough to unlock her frozen muscles. She took an unsteady breath and turned her head toward him, reaching out blindly. Still on his knees, he gathered her up in his arms and lifted her out of the car, settling her onto his lap. She clung to him, fingers digging into his muscled shoulders.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you.” He held her close, his arms strong and warm around her.

Safe. She was safe now. Daegan wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She shook in his embrace while the pain slowly faded to a more tolerable level. When it decreased enough for her to open her eyes, she found him staring down at her with a worried frown. His large hands cradled her head. The awful pounding subsided but a fuzzy blue aura remained around him, almost the same shade as his eyes. She blinked, but it didn’t go away. There was something wrong with her.

“Breathe, love,” he said softly.

She pulled in a few slow breaths, fighting back tears of pain and confusion. Her fingers dug into his hard shoulders. “Daegan…what’s happening to me?”

The fear on Olivia’s face stabbed at Daegan. His mate was huddled against him in a helpless, trembling mass, eyes squinted as though the light hurt. A primal rage ripped through him when he thought of that asshole trying to harm her. She’d been right to be afraid of the man. Whoever he was, the bastard was lucky to still be alive.

Exerting every ounce of his self-control, he forced the rage back and focused on providing safe, calming energy for Olivia. When her heart rate regulated and she seemed steadier, he sat her up, taking her pale face between his palms. The feel of her velvety skin seared him, but his concern for her overrode the continuous sexual need. “Tell me what happened,” he said softly, watching her eyes.

She squinted up at him, but her pupils weren’t constricted like they had been a few minutes ago. He maintained his hold, glad he seemed at least able to ease her physical pain. He’d do whatever he could to ensure the same for her emotional state.

Her dark lashes fluttered, as though her lids were too heavy to keep open. “The headache came back. Got worse when he showed up.” Her voice was hoarse, the words almost a mumble. “He wanted to hurt me. I felt it. So I stayed in the car.”

Daegan’s muscles tensed. “Thank God you did.” If he’d realized she was in physical danger by meeting the guy, he’d have risked the side effects and dematerialized to get here faster. He wanted to kick the bastard’s ass all over again.

“You took my pain away again.” She struggled to focus on his eyes. “How did you do that?”

For a moment he thought of telling her the truth, but she wouldn’t believe him. Not yet. Maybe never. So he tucked her head into the curve of his shoulder, enjoying the feel of her cuddled against him. The pliant feel of her body assured him she felt safe in his arms and it washed over him like a balm. “I guess I have a…gift.” One he’d never known he possessed until he’d touched her forehead that first time. In that instant he’d known she was his mate.

Olivia nodded as her lids closed. “I’m tired.”

“I know.” He breathed deeply of her scent. The fragrance was light and clean, almost like fabric softener. He wanted to bury his nose in her shiny hair and begin the bonding process, but he could never take advantage of her weakened condition and call himself a man. Impossible as it seemed, he’d have to wait, no matter that his body demanded otherwise. Right now she was in no condition to face any of it. “Come on,” he said as he scooped her up and headed for his car. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Her eyes snapped open, disoriented, alarm in their hazel depths. “No, not there. I’m fine now. I just want to go home.”

He hesitated. The hospital probably wouldn’t help because whatever was happening to her was beyond the realm of medical science. But he could get another opinion from someone he trusted. “I’ll take you home if you let my cousin come and look at you. He’s a doctor.”

“All right,” she muttered tiredly.

By the time he bundled her into the Porsche and got her home, she was fast asleep. After parking in front of her white single-story house with its wide porch, he glanced down at her peaceful face, wondering how in hell he was going to explain everything to her. He didn’t know her yet. Didn’t know if she had the strength to handle it all. He’d planned to take her for dinner to spend some time together and give the relationship a chance to form, then drop her off well before the sun set, before the nightly rush of oxytocin and dopamine took effect.

But none of that was going to happen now. The eye thing was going to be a problem. He couldn’t exactly wear shades around her house all night to hide the irrefutable evidence of his Heat Cycle.

But damn, his heart swelled at the sight of her asleep against the leather seat, her lush lips parted slightly. The logical part of his brain wanted to blame it all on the increased levels of oxytocin pumping through his veins, triggered the moment he’d met Olivia. But he knew there was more to this than mere chemical reaction. He wanted to know her. Find out what made her laugh, what she liked to eat, what she liked to do. Wanted to know everything there was to know about her. She looked so feminine, so beautiful while she slept. He wanted to lean over and thread his hands into the luxurious softness of her hair, kiss her awake. Give in to his growing hunger for her and let nature take its course.

He was out of time though. She deserved answers as much as he owed them to her. The transition was going to be hard for her. He hated that he didn’t know how to make it any easier. He’d never felt this helpless, so out of control. It shook him. He, who’d fought in countless battles and faced death more times than he could remember, was afraid he’d somehow screw everything up and lose this one shot with his mate.

He couldn’t fail. Their lives depended on it.

The continuation of the human
race
depended on it.

Shaking off the morbid thought, Daegan carefully lifted her from the car, took her to the door. She didn’t have an alarm system, he saw, making a mental note to remedy that first thing in the morning. Focusing on the lock, he picked it with his mind, turning the mechanism to slide the deadbolt back. Once inside, he locked the door then carried her down the hall.

He smelled her room before he saw it. Her clean scent drifted from it, pulling him like a magnet. His body hardened at the thought of joining her on the queen-sized four-poster, but he shoved his raging libido into its cage and settled her on the bed. Olivia sighed in response, snuggling deeper into the covers. She was still pale, but for her flushed cheeks.

He wanted to crawl in next to her so badly his muscles clenched. Instead he made himself step out into the hall, gently shutting her door before pulling out his phone to call Cade. “I need you here,” he said without preamble.

“What’s up?”

He explained what had happened. “Olivia almost blacked out from the pain, and I think her eyes might be affected. I don’t know if there’s been a previous head injury.” He refused to think it might be something more serious than a migraine.

“Shit. She all right?”

“Yeah.” He paused, staring out the living room sliding doors that led to the patio and backyard. The sun was starting to set. He was almost out of time. “I think I shield her.” That was exactly how it was supposed to work between mates. Each complemented the other’s powers. And minimized their weaknesses. Would be interesting to find out how hers affected him. “She was exhausted, so she’s asleep now.” He gave Cade the address.

“Keep checking on her every ten minutes. I’m on my way.”

Relieved that she’d get a thorough medical assessment, Daegan wandered through to her all-white kitchen and glanced around the tidy space. His gaze landed on the cappuccino maker on the counter. After giving her a few minutes more to rest, he found what he needed in the cupboards and figured out how to steam the milk with the machine. She’d seemed to like the foam best, he remembered, adding one sugar as she had that morning. When it was ready he put it on a tray with some fruit he found in the fridge then went back to check on her.

She didn’t stir when he opened the door, but her fragrance drifted up to tease him. Her breathing was quiet and even, the sheets rising and falling over the gentle slope of her breasts. His hands tightened on the tray. He thought about how it would feel to stroke the pads of his fingers over the lush mounds. Did she like to be teased slowly, or did she prefer to be taken hard and fast? He could almost hear her breathless gasp as he imagined cupping her breasts, lowering his head to suck on her hard nipples. She’d moan and lift into him, wind her fingers through his hair to hold him there. Needing him.

His cock swelled in his jeans, throbbing for relief. With a hard swallow, he set the food on her dresser and hunkered down next to the bed. “Olivia.”

She murmured and shifted, but didn’t wake up.

He used the excuse to stroke a hand over the crown of her head, trail his fingers through her silky blond hair. The only part of her he’d allow himself to touch. “Olivia, wake up.”

Turning onto her back, she blinked up at him sleepily. She stiffened, but he knew the second she recognized him because she relaxed and let out a deep breath. “Hi,” she whispered.

“Hey.” He didn’t like that she was still squinting. “How do you feel?”

“Better, I think.” She put a hand to her nape and rubbed, frowning.

Daegan folded his arms across his chest to keep from putting his own hand there. “My cousin’s on his way over, just to make sure you don’t need to go to the hospital.”

She nodded slowly, watching him with a thoughtful frown. “How did you take the pain away? And don’t cop out and say you have a gift. You did something to me.”

“All I did was touch you.”

It was obvious from the look on her face that she didn’t believe him.

“I made you some coffee.”

Her expression softened. “Oh. Thanks.” She sat up a bit, winced. “I think I’ll drink it in the family room.”

He wasn’t surprised she didn’t want to stay with him in here. Some part of her subconscious had to sense how much he wanted her. Moving away from her bedroom was definitely the wisest course of action. He didn’t know how much longer he could control his body’s reaction to the Heat Cycle. “Sure.”

She settled on the sofa in the room off the kitchen, curling her shapely legs beneath her. A tentative smile curved her mouth as she took the steaming mug from him. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” The banality of the conversation was starting to eat at him. The Empowered blood in him demanded he touch her, imprint himself on her in the most primitive way and worry about the rest later. But she was completely unaware of everything, even the reason why she was so attracted to him. He cleared his throat and sat on the opposite end of the sofa. Where did he even start something like this?

A knock on the front door saved him from jumping off that ledge.

“That’ll be Cade,” he said, getting up to answer it. He let his cousin in, relieved to have him there. “Thanks for coming.”

Cade nodded. “She awake?”

“Yeah. Come on.” He took him back to meet her. “This is Olivia.” He watched her silently assess his cousin through squinted eyes. “Olivia, this is my cousin, Cade.”

“Nice to meet you,” she answered.

“Likewise, Olivia,” Cade said.

She waved a hand. “Please, call me Liv. Both of you,” she added, glancing at Daegan.

Cade raised his brows in question, and Daegan took a deep breath. His body was restless, edgy with the start of the nightly torment about to begin anew. He wanted to pace. Instead he made himself sit down on the end of the sofa while Cade knelt in front of Liv.

“I guess Daegan told you I’m a doctor?”

“Yes. A GP?”

“General Surgeon, actually. Army trained.” He peered into her eyes. “How’s the headache now?”

“Pretty much gone.” Her gaze shifted to Daegan, but she didn’t say anything about how he’d taken her pain away.

“Is the light hurting your eyes?” Cade asked.

“A bit, but not as much as before.”

He took out a pen light, quickly checked her eyes. “Do you get migraines often?” he asked as he put it away.

She shook her head. “Just in the last few months or so. They come in clusters.”

“Any symptoms on the onset?”

“I get tension in my neck and shoulders, then the pain starts up at the back of my skull and spreads up around my temples like a vise is squeezing my head. Sometimes it’s so bad I get that aura thing, and my vision goes all wonky. But today’s the first time my lips and fingers have gone numb.”

Cade nodded and continued with his examination, feeling along the back of her neck. Daegan bit back a warning growl as he watched his cousin’s fingers exploring Liv’s skin. Cade flashed him an annoyed look. Daegan bit down hard and looked away, fighting his body’s need to shove Cade aside and stake his claim on his mate.

When Cade sat back on his haunches, Daegan exhaled then turned back to them. Liv’s hands fidgeted in her lap, nervous energy pouring off her. Because he couldn’t stand by and watch her suffer even that little bit, he immediately went over to sit next to her. She relaxed visibly.

His fingers itched to curl around hers to offer comfort, but he refrained. It was all he could do to stay in the same room with her and not put his hands on her. He was afraid of what might happen if he did.

“I’ve had the whole battery of tests,” she told Cade. “CT scans, EEGs, all that. They came back negative. The doctors don’t know why I keep getting the headaches.”

Cade grunted. “Besides the numbness today, did anything else unusual happen?”

Liv looked up at Daegan, then back at Cade. “I…” She swallowed. “The man I was meeting makes me nervous, and I’ve had headaches before whenever I’ve seen him.”

Daegan tensed. “You’ve seen him before?”

She rubbed her palms over her jeans. “He sometimes brings his daughter here to her piano lessons.”

So the bastard had been here, in her house. It made his hackles go up. If he’d known that he wouldn’t have settled for merely breaking his face.

“And you got another headache when you saw him tonight?” Cade asked.

She shook her head. “Before that. It started this morning when I spoke to him on the phone, then came back when I realized I had to meet him tonight. But nothing compared to when he showed up.” She bit her lip. “Do you think stress might be triggering them?”

“It’s possible. But back to tonight. Anything else?”

Daegan cast a curious glance at his cousin. Cade was fishing for something, like he sensed Liv was holding a critical piece back.

Liv lowered her eyes before responding. “I saw halos.”

“Halos?”

She nodded. “These weird outlines of colored light around him. That’s never happened before, but Aaron was livid. It was almost like I could
feel
it. He was going to hurt me if he got his hands on me.”

Daegan’s hands curled into fists as a pulse of rage emitted from him. Cade must have felt it because he shot him a warning look before turning his attention back to Liv. “And then?”

The look in her eyes was far away, lost in memory. “I could hardly see, but when I looked up at him there was a ring of dark orange light surrounding him. Fuzzy. Crackling like electricity.” She frowned. “Then he was gone and I saw Daegan. You had one too,” she said to him. “Pale blue, though. Almost the color of your eyes.”