Darkest Fire (5 page)
Ohio, of course.
She’d have to get on the phone pronto, make some calls, see if she could find someone to officiate. It was doable. Maybe. “Any chance you’d be willing to take a road trip today?”
God, this was awful, throwing together her wedding like this. As the oldest daughter of a single mother, she’d never expected to have a fancy wedding. But she certainly hadn’t thought it would be this pathetic. Married in a courthouse—hopefully. In her regular clothes. In a rush. To a stranger who was into kinky stuff she didn’t fully understand.
Yet the only part about her plan she really hated was having to leave the state without Lei. It was risky, but waiting three days would be even riskier.
“Road trip? Where?” he asked.
“My home state, Ohio.”
He nodded. “Did you want your family to attend?”
“Oh, no.” Outside of her sister, she had no family. Their grandmother had died several years ago, and as far as she was concerned, their mother was dead too. “It’s just that there’s no waiting period in Ohio. I remember some friends from school got married on a whim once. And I’m assuming you’re just as anxious to get this . . .”
Over with.
“. . . rather, anxious to move on to other things as I am.”
Over with.
“. . . rather, anxious to move on to other things as I am.”
Say yes. Please!
He frowned, eyebrows bunching, lips curling down. Even with his features all puckered, he was attractive. “Wouldn’t you rather have a nice ceremony? You know, with all those things you talked about yesterday? Dress, veil, church—”
“Oh, no. Not me!” she lied. “I’m a very practical person.”
“Or very desperate for money.”
No use denying it. “As the case may be.” For the third time since arriving, she held her breath. This was it. Her cards were on the table. She’d either walk away a winner or lose everything. Her insides twisted into a knot.
She’d never had the stomach for gambling.
4
H
e had learned from the best. He’d learned to hunt, to kill, to outsmart the enemy and to find a weakness and use it to his advantage.
e had learned from the best. He’d learned to hunt, to kill, to outsmart the enemy and to find a weakness and use it to his advantage.
He’d also learned to avoid vulnerability.
Now, after years of planning, of hating, and of living with nerves strung so tight with anticipation he’d thought they’d snap, he was free. And he was ready.
The first step: to set the trap.
The Black Gryffons had been created by Augustus, emperor of the Roman Empire, two thousand years ago. They served only one purpose—to guard The Secret, an ancient power source some ignorant son of a bitch a couple of thousand years ago had misused, almost wiping out the entire human population. It had taken the Chimera two thousand years to track down the Black Gryffons, to learn who they were and where they were hiding.
The Secret had been within their grasp.
And then they’d fucked up.
But now the Chimera had a new leader, a man who had vision, devotion, and determination. He would give humankind the gift that had been stolen from them. No action was too bold or price too high.
Shades of gray.
With the power source under his control, humanity’s reliance upon all other forms of power would be eliminated. No emissions from burning coal. No destruction of wetlands by oil drilling. No production of dangerous radioactive by-products. Man would have all the power he would need.
And he, The Serpent, as he’d been dubbed by the other members of the Chimera, would rule all the nations.
What was it going to take to lure the Black Gryffons from their hole? How would he defeat the Lion, the Eagle, and the Dragon?
The three brothers who were the Black Gryffons were mortal, but it wouldn’t be easy to defeat them. They were well trained, educated, and as determined to protect The Secret as he was to find it. The brothers would have to be subdued, separated, and then manipulated into revealing the location of his possession. There were a lot of details to work out yet. Practice runs. Unlike his predecessor, he would be prepared.
He figured by the end a few innocents would die. But if they could understand what cause they were about to die for, surely they would agree their life was a small price to pay.
The view outside the window, of acre upon acre of cornfield, was not even remotely as intriguing as the one inside the sleek black Mercedes they were riding in, but Rin was too lily-livered to turn and look at the man sitting beside her.
In a little over one hour, sixty-some-odd short minutes from now, she would be that man’s wife. Mrs. Drako Alexandre. And all her dreams, of falling head over heels in love with a dashing man, Mr. Perfect, and joyfully trouncing down the aisle in a white, frothy wedding gown, would be nothing but a silly childhood fantasy.
It won’t be that bad.
How many marriages between starry-eyed lovers started in bliss but ended in bitter, ugly divorce? At least she’d be spared the shock of discovering her husband spanking another woman; she knew from the start he’d be doing that and more. And wouldn’t it be easier to make a commitment last decades if it was built upon something more stable, more enduring than passion?
Mutual dependence, respect, and friendship had to be a more solid base for a relationship.
Her soon-to-be husband was still and silent as he drove, his eyes focused on the road, hands resting on the steering wheel, fingers curled loosely around it. When she stole a glance at his profile, she saw his expression hadn’t changed since they’d left to make the all-too-brief trip to Toledo. The Ohio–Michigan border was less than ten miles up ahead. Her heartbeat was speeding up a smidge with every mile that passed, not just because of what was to come but also the heavy, tense silence hanging over their heads like churning storm clouds.
She wouldn’t listen to the quiet voice in her mind, the one that kept whispering, “You’re making a big mistake.” That voice had been wrong before; it could be wrong now.
Another mile passed and one itty-bitty nerve, pulled too taut, snapped, and she blurted, “Tell me you won’t be a jerk and make me regret this. Tell me something, anything, that’ll give me some hope that we won’t make each other miserable for the rest of our lives.”
He looked at her, smiled, then turned his attention back to the road ahead. “I put the toilet seat down. And I do my own laundry. I wash windows. Oh, plus I don’t watch sports.”
She wasn’t buying it, but she was relieved to have finally broken the quiet. “Liar. No man is that perfect.”
“I’m not saying I’m perfect. But I’m telling the truth. I don’t watch football, baseball, hockey, basketball, or even the sports roundup on the news.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. And it felt good to release some of the pent-up energy crawling through her system. “You sound like a dream-husband, then.”
He shrugged. “Maybe to a woman who doesn’t like putting the toilet seat down, washing windows, or watching football.”
“Wouldn’t you know it, but that would be me. I guess we were made for each other.” She took the first full lungful of air since they’d left. “Thank you,” she said to his profile. “For making me feel a little better about this.”
The corner of his mouth curled up, and the skin around his right eye crinkled. “That’s not to say I’m not without my faults. You might want to know about those before you say ‘I do.’ ”
She was almost 100 percent sure she didn’t want to know what his faults were yet, but that didn’t stop her from asking, “And those would be . . . ?”
“Well, I’ve been told by one or two people that I’m as stubborn as a mule. I’m the oldest son of a demanding, disciplined, distant father. As such, I’ve learned to work hard and accept no less than perfection from everyone around me. I’m a perfectionist, so everything I do, I do flawlessly, or at least to the best of my ability. That works to my advantage sometimes, but not always. I don’t accept my own failings well.”
“You’re Type A. Me too. I’m the oldest of two. I have a younger sister, who is the typical second-born, attention-seeking, rebellious . . .” She cleared her throat, a feeble attempt at disguising the catch in her voice. “Our mother wasn’t much of a parent, and so I sort of stepped in at an early age and tried to take care of Lei. I can’t say I did a good job, but I tried my best.”
He glanced at her before responding, “Lei is very lucky to have had a sister who was willing to do that for her.”
“I don’t know. If you said that to her, she might disagree.”
After a semilong stretch of silence, he asked, “Why didn’t you invite your sister? To the wedding?”
“I would’ve liked to. But she’s . . . she’s sort of busy right now. There’s no chance she could make it, even if we waited a few days. But I’m hoping she’ll come to see us after the wedding, maybe stay with us . . . ?”
“She’s more than welcome to stay as long as she likes. My home—our home—is large. There’s plenty of room.” He flipped the turn signal, and Rin, realizing it had been a few minutes since she’d looked out the window, turned her head to read the sign approaching.
It was their exit.
Her life was about to change, and it wasn’t going to be a minor adjustment. It was going to be a major transformation. She would have a new home, new responsibilities, and a very different lifestyle. Her heart did a little fluttery hop in her chest. Her palms were instantly coated with sweat, making them itchy and warm. She dragged them down her thighs and tried to pretend like she wasn’t petrified.
The conversation they’d shared in the last few minutes had erased some of her worries, not that they were completely eradicated. No single five-minute chat would do that, especially not one as strained as that one had been. But at least her future husband wasn’t a complete stranger any longer. She knew a little about him, and he knew a little about her. So far, she’d neither heard nor seen anything—beyond the obvious, asking a stranger to marry him—to make her think he was anything but a decent, hard-working man who had a very realistic, if cynical, view of marriage.
“I think we’ll understand each other okay,” he said.
“I hope so too.”
He met her gaze again. It was probably only for a brief moment, less than a second, but his eyes really focused on her. “We both want the same thing—to make this work as best as we can.”
She nodded. “Yes, we do.” She didn’t say anything for the rest of the drive. There wasn’t anything to say, even though there probably should have been. After all, they were about to say vows in front of a judge, and enter into a binding lifelong contract.
After Drako put the vehicle into park, he turned to look at her. The tension between them was so strong, the air between them crackled. “If you don’t want to go through with this, all you have to do is tell me now. I’ll take you home, no hard feelings.”
“No, I’m ready.” As ready as she’d ever be.
“Are you sure, Rin?”
“Absolutely. What about you? Any doubts?”
“One.”
“Oh?” She hadn’t realized she’d looked away until he caught her chin in his hand and moved it to the left. Her eyes followed a fraction of a second later.
“I’m not convinced you’ll make it through the ceremony without passing out or throwing up.”
Her laugh was a nervous titter. “You might be right about that.” She patted her belly, which she had to admit seemed to be home to a whole swarm of wildly flittering butterflies, overdosed on super-heavy-duty flower nectar. “I’m hoping my stomach’ll settle down by the time we get into the courthouse.”
“Can I get you something before we go in?”
“No.” She felt her cheeks flushing and wondered if the heat gathering under her skin was from overwrought nerves or the embarrassment of being so freaking nervous in front of this man that she felt she might throw up.
Please, God, let me get through this without making a fool of myself.
When he released her chin, he gave her jaw the lightest brush of his fingertips. Then, while she sat there tingling, her face flaming and her hands trembling in her lap, he opened his door, exited the vehicle, and as she fumbled with the lever, he opened her door and helped her out of the car.
Standing next to him, she was very grateful for the fact that he was much bigger than she, strong and stable and capable. She looped one of her arms around his and held on, surprised and mortally humiliated by how wobbly her knees were.
She wasn’t about to face a firing squad. She was just going into a courthouse, for crying out loud.
The next bit of time seemed to rush past in a hazy blur. Her mind focused on Drako, his quiet strength a welcome comfort during the ceremony. They signed in, took a seat in a waiting area and, when they were called into the courtroom, took their places in front of the cheerful judge. The vows were over before she had fully comprehended what she’d promised, rings exchanged, papers signed, and congratulations given by the employees serving as witnesses.
She didn’t faint.
She didn’t throw up.
As they were about to leave the courtroom, as Mr. and Mrs. Drako Alexandre, the judge stopped them with an unexpected, “Wait a minute. We forgot the most important part.”
They’d said the “I do” ’s. Signed on the dotted lines. Mr. Judge had stamped and Ms. Notary had sealed and signed . . . and what important part was left?
“You may now kiss the bride,” the judge said, grinning.
Rin’s stomach slid to her toes, and the butterflies in her belly, the ones that had finally stopped flapping around like headless chickens, went back to doing dives and swoops and spins. She looked up into her husband’s face. Her brain registered his I’m-only-doing-this-because-I-have-to expression just before he tipped his head.
She slammed her eyelids closed, curled her fingers around his forearms, and waited.
His lips were warm, moist but not soggy, soft but also not timid. They slid across hers smoothly, like satin. The brief contact was enough to make her head spin . . . and a few parts of her anatomy blaze. He didn’t stop there, evidently deciding he needed to put on a believable show. His hands cupped her face, thumbs grazing across her cheekbones, and he kissed her more earnestly. His mouth tormented and teased hers until she parted her lips to drag in a deeper breath, which only opened her up to even greater torment. And pleasure.
When his tongue dipped inside to fill her mouth with his sweet, intoxicating flavor, she actually whimpered. Raw, unexpected desire flared in her body, igniting little simmering blazes along all her nerves. Driven by that desire, she slid her tongue along his, enjoying the taste of him, the scent that had filled her nostrils, and the gentle pressure of his hands as he held her head still, captured, so that he could taste and take and possess at his leisure. She was powerless to move away.
She didn’t want to move away.
But then that silly judge, the one who’d made a point of suggesting the kiss in the first place, cleared his throat, putting an end to what had no doubt been the most amazing kiss of her life.
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