Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (33 page)

“I believe you. I suppose I could
forgive you for acting like a jerk.” She picked the knife up from the bed and
held it a few inches from his nose. “But if you ever charge at me with a knife
in your hand again I will get even. I mean it. And don’t you dare doubt it. I
will retaliate. And it will be an unpleasant experience. Extremely
unpleasant.” 

“Nothing could be more unpleasant than
knowing my actions caused you to think that I believe you’re stupid.”

Still holding the knife in his face she
stared at him for several seconds. “You’re good, Eli. I’ll give you that.
You’re damn good.”

“I meant it.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“No you’re not sure. You can’t be. You
don’t know what you mean to me. You don’t know how very much I think of you. No
yet. But one day you will know.” He reached up and pushed the blade aside.
“Because I intend to show you.” He leaned in close to kiss her. The moment her
lips touched his desire, primal and explosive, caused every muscle in his body
to tighten and shudder with need.

She pulled back a little. He didn’t try
to stop her. It took great effort, but he knew she needed space. She needed a
moment to herself. And he needed a shower. She pressed her lips to his and gave
him one last kiss before she pulled back even further. He also needed to tell
her about her mom. He knew she would insist on seeing her mom the moment she
learned the truth, and though it would be a traumatic experience for her to
endure, he would take her. 

“Your leg is already starting to feel
better, right?” He lifted his hand. “It’s looking better, too.”

She looked down at her leg and was
amazed. It was healing so fast she could see the cut closing and bruise fading
away. She took his hand. He turned it and opened his fingers. In center of his
palm sat the sliver that had been embedded in her thigh and the knife wound was
entirely healed.

“That is one big ass sliver. I can’t
believe I didn’t realize it was in my leg.”

“It sure is. I’ve never seen a bigger
one. I’m positive you would’ve eventually figured out.” Laughing out loud, he
stood up and walked over to his closet to find her something to wear. He
selected a long sleeve button up shirt to make sure she was warm and
comfortable. He was lucky to find one. He seldom wore anything other than
T-shirts and jeans.  

 “You sure do have incredible
blood.”

“Among other incredible things.”

“I’ll admit you do have many
extraordinary qualities.”

He handed her the shirt. “I sent a few
of the guys to get you a change of clothes, but they’ll be a few hours yet.
This should keep you warm until then. I’m going to take a shower, and then
we’ll go downstairs and find something to eat.”

***

Kara
didn’t wait for him to get out of the shower. Once she put the shirt on and
buttoned it up she left the room and went downstairs. She felt too much for
him. She enjoyed being with him more and more with each moment they spent
together. She felt loved by him. She felt needed. And she needed him. The
thought of needing him, of falling in love with him, upset her.

She was already starting to fall in love
with him. Everything was happening too fast. She stood in front of the fire,
taking in its soothing warmth. Eli was a so strong and confident. He was kind.
He was the perfect combination of gentleness and strength. He was a powerful
leader. He would never turn on her. He would never betray her. She believed
that he would protect her with his life and that he would love and cherish her
with all that he was. With all that had happened, she questioned her judgment.
Closing her eyes she placed her hands on her belly as she remembered the first
time she ever felt her baby move. It wasn’t that long ago that they shared her
body. He was alone, in a cold dark grave, and it was her fault. She’d allowed
herself to believe in a man’s love and her baby paid for it with his life. She
should’ve known better. It was a stupid mistake considering she’d witness her
mother make the same mistake and pay for it with her life.

Circling her body with his arms and
clasping his hands together on top of her hands on her belly, Eli pulled her
back against his body and rested his chin on top of her head. In the midst of
his warm embrace she didn’t doubt his love for her. It forced the turbulent
winds of the storm of doubts and regrets in her heart to become perfectly
still. He wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t alone anymore.

“What if when you’d given me your blood
I’d been turned? Wouldn’t that mean you would be stuck with me for forever?
Tell me the truth, would you’ve been disappointed?”

“No. Not at all. I expect to be with you
until the end of time. What makes you think the transformation hasn’t already
started?”

“If it had you wouldn’t have had to cut
yourself to heal my leg just a few minutes ago.”

“You’re perfect the way you are, but you
have begun the process of turning. It can’t be stopped. I wouldn’t want it to
stop. I cut myself to heal you for two reasons. First, my blood is still
stronger than yours. In time your blood will be just as strong as mine. Second,
I didn’t want to take control of your mind again, as I did when you were
poisoned, to enable you to take it from me.”

She heard a knock at the front door. It
was loud and urgent sounding, but he didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge
that he’d heard. She knew he was completely focused on her and was determined
to comfort her. He would stand there all night holding her if that was what she
needed. “You should answer the door.”

Keeping one arm wrapped around her body,
holding her close, he reached up with his other hand and pulled her hair back.
Delectable tingling sensations raced over her skin when he bent his head and
nuzzled her neck. “It can wait.”

“What if it’s whoever you sent to get me
some clothes?”

Against her neck, she felt his lips
curve upward into a smiled as he lifted the hem of the shirt and caressed her
outer thigh and hip. “If that’s the case they can go away and never come back.”

“You sent them away to get the clothes.
Aren’t you worried you’ll hurt their feelings?”

“Not at all.” His teeth gently scraping
back and forth over her neck, he moved his hand to her inner thigh and ran his
palm over her mound all the way to belly and then her breast. “I love the
softness of your skin. I love to feel it against mine.”

As the knocking at the door became more
persistent, he turned her around in his arms. Resting her head on his chest,
his fingers massaged her scalp as she listened to his heart beating steady and
strong. His body felt solid against hers as the heat radiating from his flesh
seeped deep inside her.  After a moment, she lifted her head to look up at
him. “I’m truly the most fortunate man. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve
ever seen.” His glowing golden brown eyes and the expression on his face as he
stared down at her stole her breath away. “And you’re mine.” His lips slowly
lifted into a smile that nearly caused her heart to stop beating. “All mine.”
He wasn’t only looking at her with sensual hunger. He was also looking at her
with gentleness, with adoration, with love. “And I am yours. Wholly, forever
yours.”

It was apparent that whoever was at the
door was getting more impatient as the intensity of the knocking increased even
more. His words combined with the look on his face left her feeling dazed and
utterly bewildered. It was too much. He was too much. The hope she felt was all
wrong. Overwhelmed by powerful emotions, she turned from him to glance over her
shoulder in the direction of the door. “You should see what they want.”

Gently, he reached out and turned her
face to him. “Your mind will not take you where you desire to be, nor will it
allow you to hope or dream.  It won’t allow you to receive the truth in my
words or permit you to believe in my devotion to you and to all that matters to
you. Your soul is another matter. Listen to it, Kara. Listen to mine. Your soul
reaches out and speaks to mine as mine reaches out and speaks to yours. 
Let your soul defeat the past that haunts your mind with memories of doubt and
betrayal. It will overcome your fears. Let it guide you for it sees the truth
and it will lead you to me, to our destiny.”

He didn’t wait for her to respond. She
knew he didn’t expect her to say anything and for that, she was truly thankful.
She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t really know what she thought of his
words. She needed time to process them. “Now let’s go see who’s at the door.”
He wrapped his arm around her and held her close to his side as he turned away
from the fire and headed out of the room.

***

Eli
knew it was Cain at the door with a change of clothes for her and a pizza. It
would’ve been simple to use his mind to communicate with him and tell him to
get lost, but he didn’t. He didn’t care about the clothes at the moment, but
the pizza smelled good. He was hungry and he knew she was just as hungry.
Besides, he didn’t want to let any more time go by before he told her about her
mother and Max.

He didn’t waste any time. As soon as
they were done eating he took her back into the living room, added some more
logs to the fire and sat her down. 

“You’re making me nervous. Why do look
so serious?” she asked.

“I need to tell something very
important, but it’s going to be difficult for you to believe.” He sat down next
to her and took her hand. “Your mother is alive.”

“No.” Pulling her hand out of his she
shook her head. “I saw her, Eli. My mother is dead.” She stood up and took a
few steps away from him. “Max killed her.”

“Max saved her. He’s taking care of
her.”

“She can’t be alive. She would’ve come
back for me. She wouldn’t have left me alone for so long. She would’ve taken me
away from my father.”

He stood up and walked over to her. “She
couldn’t come for you.” He turned her around to force her to look at him. “She
would’ve come for you if it had been in her power to do so.”

“It isn’t true. Why are you lying to me?
Are you trying to protect Max because he’s like you?”

“Not at all. I would never lie to you to
protect anyone. It’s true. Your mother is extremely ill, but she is alive. I
saw her with Max.”

“Where?”

“Not far from here.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“The night you saw Max standing over
your mother she’d been attacked by Jeremy. I’m not sure how the vampire had
taken her or why it had targeted her, but by the time Max found her and took
her from the vampire it was too late, he had already forced her to digest his
blood. Max took her and hid her. He locked her away to protect her. He has to
prevent her from killing anyone for blood or she will become completely evil.”

Whirling around, she glared at him. “She
wouldn’t kill anyone.”

“She isn’t in her right mind. The blood
she consumed was tainted.”

“If this is all true what hope does she
have? Why does he keep her alive?”

“He’s her mate, Kara. He would never
give up on her.”

“Is there any hope for her?”

“Yes. If we kill the vampire who
poisoned her with his blood Max’s blood will heal her.”

“Why does Jeremy have to be dead in
order for his blood to heal her?”

“He was very old and equally powerful.
He was able to reach her and influence her through his blood that’s flowing
through her body.”

“I want to see her. Can you take me to
her?”    

“She might not recognize you. She will
likely have a violent reaction toward you.”

“I don’t care. I need to see her.”

“The pack is out scouting the area to
make sure it’s clear. We aren’t sure what Demetri intends to do. In the morning
I’ll take you to see your mother.”

 “I need to see her, but I don’t
want to do anything to hurt her or ruin her chance of getting better. Tell me
the truth Eli; do you think I should wait because I might lead Demetri to her?”

“The truth is simple. I need you to
trust me. We will go see her in the morning. We won’t go unless it’s safe. We
have a large, powerful and capable pack that will have no problem making sure
we get to her without leading the wrong person to her.”

“It will be wonderful to see her again.
Maybe she’ll recognize me.”

“Your mother will be well again.”

***

Leland
felt an icy cold presence approach him from behind. With his gun drawn, he
turned around in haste. “What do you want?” 

“What do you think you’re going to do
with that?” Demetri pointed at the gun. “Shoot me and you’ll only piss me off.”

“I didn’t know it was you following me.”

“Are you trying to get away from me?”
Demetri took a step forward forcing Leland to back into the wall.

“No.” His hand was shaking as he tucked
the gun in his waistband. “I’m just headed out for a meeting. I’ll be back in a
few hours.”

“You need to come with me.”

“I can’t. It’s a very important
meeting,” Leland explained.