Immortal Need (8 page)

“I see someone likes to play with dangerous things,” Ayah commented. She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until the blond man tossed her a sensual smile.

“I see you approve,” the man said to her, and the timbre of his voice raced through her. Where were men like this made?

He was incredibly handsome. And, while he wasn’t nearly as amazing as Sevani, the man was definitely something to look at. At the center of the new threesome was a man who was the polar opposite of the Nordic-like couple. He was dark, a throwback to the age of pirates. His dark hair framed his face and hung almost to his shoulders, and like Sevani’s, she found the style very attractive. His eyes were a fathomless pit, darkened by midnight and sexier than sin. His top lip was slightly fuller than his bottom one. As he stood there, she noticed that he had dressed slightly different than the others. He wore blue, from his camouflage pants to his T-shirt. She did not know, exactly, why he’d made the slight change. But when he shifted, the sudden shimmer of cords and wires caught the light.

“What the heck?” she asked and wondered what they were. The man looked at her for a moment, his head cocked slightly to the right, and his eyes narrowed as if he were deep in thought.

“Garrotes,” he said, and her jaw dropped. It was impossible for a man’s voice to be that low. She was surprised she understood what he’d said. She heard more tone than the actual word he used. His voice was so deep it vibrated through her system. She heard a growl as Sevani stepped behind her.

“Cool it, Alexander,” he said, his voice cold, dark, and deadly. Her heart pounded. Sevani lifted her jaw with one finger, his arm staying around her waist when he was done. She could almost believe he was jealous, a wild thought. She gripped his forearm, shaken.

“I did nothing,” Alexander replied. His voice once again ran through her, and she trembled. She couldn’t help it. She sent an apologetic look over her shoulder when Sevani’s arm hardened under her fingers.

“He means with the voice, jackass,” the female said.

“Well, it’s nice to see you too, Valerie,” Sevani said with a laugh.

“We couldn’t keep her away,” the blond man said shaking small strands of hair from falling into his eyes. “You know when you ask for help, she’s coming.”

“And I’m guessing she just
dragged
you guys into it too, huh?” Sevani asked.

“Well, it wouldn’t be any fun if I wasn’t here.”

“I’m sure you’re right, Lei. Ayah, I’d like to introduce you to my friends: Alexander, Valerie, and Lei. I asked them to come help me with what’s going on with you.”

“Why? Do you think you’re not strong enough to keep me protected?” Ayah asked then, a smile playing on her lips.

“Oh, I think I like her,” Lei piped in.

“She looks remarkably familiar, like someone described to me before,” Alexander said then, eyebrows scrunching.

“That bitch!” Valerie roared suddenly, and Ayah jumped into Sevani’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“What the hell is your problem?” Ayah tossed back, her fear getting the better of her.

“This is who she sent you to protect?” Valerie asked.

Sevani didn’t answer her immediately. Instead, his warm hands grasped Ayah’s shoulders. He rubbed up and down her arms in an oddly soothing motion, and she calmed. Again she was struck by the feeling of rightness at his touch. She should not want to rely on him so heavily, but she did. It felt good to be in his arms, and it also felt good that, despite these three obviously being important to him in his immortal life, he wanted to comfort her out of her fright. Not that it was any big deal. Valerie had just shocked her, yelling so loud. What would it be like to have a man like him as hers? She leaned into his touch for a little longer. It felt good to have him close and not think about the fact that he was reminded of his long-lost love when he was with her. For a few seconds in time, she would believe that it was her he wanted, and that kiss they had shared meant something to both of them and not just her.

“Are you okay?” he asked gazing down at her, and the soft look in such a strong man’s eyes made her want to melt.

“Yes,” she answered slowly, and his hands left her shoulders. She let go of his neck, her feet hitting the floor once more.

“Well, isn’t this interesting?” Lei said then. “I like her even more now.”

“Shut up,” Sevani said.

“So, what do you need us for? Can’t tell you how much we had to go through to get here,” Valerie questioned.

“I don’t know how you got away from Freya, but I’m grateful. This is Ayah Miller. I have seven days to stop her from dying.”

“This is nothing new,” Alexander interrupted.

“No,” Sevani said, his voice terse, “but I need your help anyway.”

Ayah wondered about the subtle undercurrents around her. It didn’t seem like Sevani wanted to say much more.

“Hey, I’m a big girl,” she argued. “You can give me the details.”

Sevani gazed down at her. “It’s not about that. We have to try to keep you safe, and I just need to get them into position.” He switched his gaze to the other immortals. “We’ve just found out that Ayah is a millionaire.”

“Well, that’s a million reasons that someone would want her dead,” Valerie huffed then, cocking her hip slightly. “What do you want us to do?”

“We need to get this place locked down. I’ve already secured a perimeter. What I need is security set up so we know when someone is coming and we can be prepared for them. If she just got this money, then they aren’t going to expect her to have a security team, so it should go easily enough for us. What I need Ayah to do is give us more information on her family,” Sevani finished.

“Why?” Ayah asked.

“Standard operations,” Valerie answered. “Anytime a murder is committed, it’s usually someone close to the victim that did it. We work with them first in our suspect pool. Once we’ve gone through and eliminated them, we begin to look for other sources. So tell me the members of your family.”

“I don’t think this is going to help, but okay. I have three older siblings, my sister, Taylor, and two older brothers, Aidan and George,” Ayah said.

“Anyone else?” Lei asked.

“Yes, I have an uncle, Ronald, and his son, Jean Pierre.”

“Any others in the immediate family?” he asked.

“No. We were a small, close-knit group. My mother passed away when I was young, and all that’s left is the five of them, my father, and me. My father just passed. The other people surrounding the family during this hard time have been my parents’ friends. We’ve been making do with what we have,” Ayah explained, growing sad at the thought of her father. She couldn’t believe that he was gone.

“Ayah’s father was the one that left her all his assets when he passed away,” Sevani explained.

“Oh, okay, do you have any idea why one of them would want to kill you, besides the money?” Valerie asked.

“No, none of them, we’ve all been very close. My sister is a surgeon, and her husband’s a doctor as well. My brother Aidan is a chiropractor, a very successful one, and his wife is a sous-chef. My other brother, George, is a traveling choreographer, and he’s handled some big names. Trust me, they aren’t hurting for money, and we have great relationships,” Ayah replied fiercely. She knew her family. They loved her. “Not only that,” she continued, “they were included in my father’s will. I just got the lion’s share.”

“And your uncle?” Lei asked.

“My uncle is the owner of Miller Global, a multimillion-dollar company. My father also gave all the remaining shares for the company to him and his son Jean Pierre. They’re richer than I am. They don’t need the money, and we’ve never had bad blood between us. I’m the new one to the rich pool. Like I said, you have to look somewhere else.”

Valerie shrugged at Ayah’s information. “I know this is hard for you,” she said. “We’re not trying to be difficult at all, believe us. This is just something that we deal with every day. This is no different than regular law enforcement inquiring about the details of your family in this type of case. It’s just procedure that we go through to help you survive.” Valerie smiled kindly.

“Let me explain something. Your life is in jeopardy. We are here to stop that from happening, but we must know everything. You must be completely honest. We cannot help you if you aren’t truthful with us. Are you sure there is no one in your family that would like to see you dead for the money?” Valerie asked.

“No, there is no one. I wish I could give you something else. Look, you guys have got to understand. I just learned there are immortal people in the world, I’m a millionaire, and my life is in danger in the span of twenty-four hours. On top of that, I just lost my father. All of this is pretty hard to understand. The only reason I believed Sevani is…” Ayah trailed off, not sure she wanted to explain why she knew Sevani. “Well, we know why I believed him. Just give me some time. If there is anything else that I can think of, then I will be sure to let you know.”

“And that’s all we ask,” Sevani said then. “I think you should rest, though. It’s been a hard night for all of us, and we’re going to be doing some manual labor to get your house prepared. It’s for your protection.”

“I don’t think I could possibly sleep. I can help out with whatever you need. It doesn’t seem like you brought many things with you,” Ayah responded looking at Valerie, Lei, and Alexander’s empty hands.

“You should have more faith,” Valerie said and laughed. “We just appeared here. That doesn’t mean that the toys we brought with us appeared in the same spot. You should see what your parlor room looks like.”

“Valerie made sure to bring all of her toys. It seemed she was able to give us flashing capabilities too,” Lei said.

“Flashing?” Ayah asked.

“Ability to move from place to place with a thought,” Valerie supplied.

Ayah just stared at her before shaking her head. She just had to ask.

“Even I’m going to have fun with all the toys,” Alexander added.

Ayah still couldn’t get used to the man’s voice. She wasn’t quite sure if she loved it or hated it. There were no half measures with it.

“Then there must be some good electronics if Alexander is happy,” Sevani laughed. “Then it’s settled,” he added to Ayah. “You get some rest, and we’ll have this place secured in no time. If anybody is going to come after you, we’ll see them coming long before they get to you, I promise.” He captured her gaze with his. “Trust me.”

“I do,” she whispered, feeling drawn into his gaze. She felt he could see to her core and touch it with just a look. She shook her head, trying to break the spell. “I’ll go lie down.” Suddenly, she just wanted to get away for a few moments. “I can’t promise that I’ll sleep, though.”

“I think I can help with that. Valerie?” Sevani said, looking up at the blonde.

“I’m on it,” she answered and walked up to Ayah.

“Oh, there’s no need for…” Ayah began.

“Sleep,” Valerie said sternly as she lifted her hand and held her palm over Ayah’s eyes. Ayah couldn’t respond before darkness claimed her.

Chapter Six

“Now that we put the kiddo to bed, can we find out what the hell is really going on?” Valerie asked, lounging back on a thick brown couch in Ayah’s living room.

“Don’t refer to her like that,” Sevani growled, coming around the corner after putting Ayah to bed. He hadn’t really liked the idea of having Valerie put her to sleep, but he knew that Ayah would fight to stay awake just to be a part of everything that was going on. There were just some things he would prefer she not know, like the fact that he was supposed to kill her after seven days of keeping her safe from her own family. It wouldn’t do well for either of them for her to learn that truth, not when he had just found her.

Humans were unpredictable. Women even more so, gods love them.

When he first learned that she would be the one he would be protecting, he’d felt his heart break, shatter into millions of pieces. How could Freya be so cruel to give him the one woman he had loved all of his long life, only to snatch her away again? How could he possibly protect Nila, be there for her, be within her presence once more, only to strike her down with his own sword? He could not. But now, he feared, he had an even larger problem. Ayah. She looked like Nila, and yet she was not her. His body remembered the times he had shared with Nila, but even he could admit that it had been a slow burn that had developed over time. Ayah was so very different. Where Nila had been cool, calm, and reserved, Ayah was inquisitive. She wanted to learn and wanted to be a part of it all. When he would have easily told Nila to go somewhere and leave them to discuss what was going on, Ayah would argue and be there every step of the way. The emotions that he had for her were nothing like the ones he had for Nila. They blazed hot enough to melt him from the inside, and he wanted her taste again, to have her spicy sweetness in his mouth and on his tongue as he took her. He had never sampled anything so good. And he wanted more of it.

He wanted Ayah. He wanted to know more about her, her past, her heartaches, and her pains. He wanted to know her achievements and how she had become the person she was. More and more he found himself not thinking of her as the body that housed Nila’s soul, but as Ayah, the woman who was tying him up in knots and showing him what true desire meant. He felt a pang of guilt and shame at that thought. He had promised he would love Nila for all eternity and right all the wrongs he had ever done to her. And yet, here he was finding a woman who looked much like her, but he was separating the two.

It should not have been possible for him to want someone else more than he had wanted Nila, to have emotions brewing through him that he could not quite understand. It should not have ever occurred. But it had. He scrubbed his hand down his tired face. It had happened, and Freya be damned, because he was going to find a way to save her and keep her alive. The humans coming after her would be dead. He would deal with them. It was the goddess who could very well kill him, and he didn’t quite want to answer, even to himself, the question: was he willing to die for Ayah or not? He did not want to give voice to that answer at this point. He simply had to deal with what was coming.