Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (12 page)

I let
the
towel fall from my shoulders to
puddle at my feet.
Pulling back from Reed, I gaze
into
his dark green eyes, seeing
raw emotion in them. He knows that I’m in pain and my pain causes him pain. In a fraction of a second, it has become simple again. When I’m with Reed, it all fits. What I want is right in front of me. All I have to do is reach out and take it.

Slowly, I reach
my hand out to him, resting my fingertips against his damp t-shirt. Trailin
g them down to the hem, I curl
my fingers around it. Instantly, his wings sho
o
t from his back, tearing through his shirt and leaving
it shredded in my grasp.
I let
his shirt fal
l from my hand
s
. My fingers go
to the bottom button of my blouse,
toying with it as I watch
Reed’s
eyes zero in
. His eyes grow darker as I pull
the button through the eyelet, exposing my navel.

Heat from the fire touches my skin as my fingers work
the next button
, pushing it through the eyelet to expose more of my abdomen.
Watching his respi
ration increase, I feel
a flush of warmth
dance over my skin. Reed reaches
out
, but I step
back teasingly, not allowing h
im to touch me. Slowly, he moves
forward a step, begin
ning
to s
talk me while I take
another step back, working on the next button and pushing it through the eyelet, expo
sing
my ribcage
and just the rounded edge of my lacy bra
.

As m
y knees bac
k up to the bed, a smile forms on
my lips, knowing Reed is steering
me in
the direction he wants
me to go.
Sitting on the bed, I fall
back onto it
, letting my arms stre
tch out
.
The mattress moves as Reed places
his hands on the bed
. Leaning down, his lips touch
my skin near my naval,
making my muscles contract
as his face tickles
me.
If I could see my heart, I’m sure that it would be glowing at this moment.

Reed trails
kisses up
ward over
my abdomen, traversing the linen of my blouse to return to the skin at the column of my neck. Putting
my hand
on his cheek, I touch
the other to his hair, teasing a wet curl by his temple. Gazing into his eyes, I w
hisper
, “All I want is you.”

“E
vie,” my name is barely audible
as he touches his lips
to mine.
His fingers finish
opening the buttons
of my blouse. The fabric slips
from my arms, exposing my bare
shoulders. Reed trails
kisses over the curve of my shoulder to the hollow of my throat, causi
ng his name to slip from me
.
No more words a
re spoken b
etween us, but we mak
e promise
s to each other that words can’t
communicate.

**

As I lie in
Reed’
s arms, m
y fingertip
skim
s
ove
r the healing track
s of
claw
mark
s
etched in his chest. “I want you to sto
p fighting with Russell,” I say, before
placing my lips tenderly to the scratch.

Lifting m
y fingers to his lips, he kisses
them
before saying, “No.”

I search
his eyes, “Why not?”

“I will handle it,” he replies
softly.

I frown,
“This is
between Russell and me. I had a conversation with him tonight. I asked
him to stop fighting you for me because I’ve already chosen you.”

“You
think that will work
?” he asks
, looking in
to
my eyes.

Biting my lip, I lower
my gaze from his. “Maybe…but, you don’t have to worry about it beca
use I’
ll handle it,” I reply
.

“Love,
” Reed sighs.
“Y
ou are a
frustrating creature.” He frowns
.

“What?” I ask
, startled by his comment.

“It’
s my right to fight him for
you. Don’
t interfere,” he replies
, pulling me closer to him.

“Explain,” I demand
.

“He has to go through me to get to you. Since we are bound to each other, he can only court you i
f I'
m defeated by him,” he says
.

“Defeated how?” I murmur with growing panic
.

“If he can dominate me, then he could open the door between you bo
th.
S
ince he is your soul mate, he has an equal bond with you
,” Reed admits
in an even tone. “It’s a
n equal claim to you. I’m not going to just step aside an
d allow that to happen, so don’
t ask it of me. I will fight for you whethe
r it angers
you or not.”

“Y
ou’re saying I’m intruding on some male ritual
between the two of you?” I ask
.

“Yes,” he replies
, frowning.

“But, that’s—
why can’t I just te
ll everyone who I want?” I ask in frustration
.

“Because you may change your mind when you see how powerful on
e
is v
erses
the other,” he replies
.
“I’
ll neve
r give him the upper hand. I’l
l never let him defeat me. W
hen I’
m challenged, I’
ll accept it and I won’t
lose.”

“Brennus is ri
ght, I am pretty poison,” I mutter
, pulling away from Reed’s chest
and l
ying back on a pillow.

“He’
s wrong. His words were spoken in the bitterness of jealousy and l
oss. He knows what you are. It’
s why
he cannot let you go,” Reed says
.

“What am I?” I ask
.

“Unforgettable,” Reed replies
. “You’re art that cannot be concealed…danger that cannot be tamed…love that cannot be measured…a new law that denies a probable outcome.”

“An
d you’
re my heart,” I whisper
.

Reaching over, Reed pulls
me back to his chest.
“I
want to discuss something with you
, Evie,” Reed says
, toying with a strand of my hair.

“Hmm?
” I manage
to reply.

“I had some i
ntel from Dominion,” he says
. “Molly w
as truthful when she said that Dominion has
been engaging the Gancanagh.”

“Did you
tell them where we are?” I ask
, knowing that Dominion has not been let in on our location because they want to seize control of Russell. He is a fascinating weapon to them. He attracts evil to him, just as I do, and th
ey want to
use him to lure the F
allen and any
other prey they want to snare.

“I haven’
t given up our loca
tion. We don’
t want them here, but there’
s a complicat
ion…they ha
ve something we want,” Reed says
.

I become alert
, sittin
g up against the pillow, I ask
, “What?”

“Tau has
arrived at Dominion,” he states
.

“He’s at the chateau? My fath
er is at their chateau?” I ask
for clarity.

“It would seem,” he replies
.

“Why?” I wonder
.

“H
e’
s looking for you,” Reed says
softly.

My eyebrows pull together.
“He’s a little
late, wouldn’t you say?” I ask
sarcastically,
feeling the heat of anger creep to my cheeks
.

“No, I’d say he’
s right on time,” Reed counters
.

My eyes widen
at him. “You think t
his is good news,” I say
accusingly.

“Yes,” Reed replies
.

“How do you know he’s not here t
o rip out my evil heart?” I ask
, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Yo
ur heart is not evil,” Reed says
, frowning. “And I know because
he just about tore
down the walls of the place
looking for you.”

“That doesn’t prove anything other than he wants
me for some reason,” I counter
.

“He d
emanded his daughter,” Reed says
calmly.

“Oh, so because he’s claiming me as his daughter, you think that means he’s on my side?” I
ask
,
narro
wing my eyes at him as I bound out of the bed and begi
n pacing in front of the fire. “Maybe he just hea
rd I was there and felt curious—
”

“No one storms in an
d
threatens to annihilate an entire city of angel
s
if they don’t produce his daughter o
ut of mere curiosity,” Reed says
, sitting forward on the bed and watching my every move before the fireplace like a cat watching a mou
se. A slow, sensual smile forms
at the corners of his mouth
,
and I swear, if he had a tail, it would be swishing. “When he heard that the war council put you on trial for your life, he challenged each of them to combat.”

I stop dead. “He did?” I breathe
, feeling a
deeper
blush rush to my face.

“He did,” Reed nods
.

“Oh,” I murmur, feeling confused. I turn
toward the fire and m
y wings move in agitation.
A groan sounds
from the bed behind me. Looking over my
shoulder at Reed, my eyebrow ri
se
s
in question.

“I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you
,
Evie, but it’s really difficult when you look so tempti
ng…” he says
, holding up his hand to indicate me in front of the fire, completely naked.

“Oh!” I say, startled. I move
to the bed, pulling the sheet from it and wrapping it around
me.

“Better?” I ask as I cover
up
.

Shak
ing
his head
, he says
, “No
t really
, but it will have to do.”

A reluctant smile touches my lips, before I ask
, “Who did you talk
to at Dominion?”

“
Preben, but our conversation was interrupted when Tau learned that h
e was speaking to me,” Reed explains
.

“
You spoke to Tau?” I ask
with
my voice becoming breathless
.

“Yes, he was uncharacteristically
agitated
for a
Seraph
,” he smiles
.

“What do you mean?” I ask
.

“
Seraphim are know
n
for their cool demeanor. Tau
threatened
to shred me if I didn’t let him talk to you,” he replies
.

My eyes go wide,
“Wh
at did you say to that?” I ask
.