Spurn (25 page)

I was probably pointing out the obvious
, but their over-confidence was very annoying. At least if they showed a little more worry and concern I would think they were taking it seriously.

“I have anticipated everything. He w
on’t take us by surprise. He thinks he knows my weaknesses. But he’s never paid close enough attention to me. He doesn’t know me at all.”

I couldn’t help it
; I’d been trying to keep them at bay all night, that burning in my throat, but my despair was not to be denied any longer. Thankfully my head was still buried in his shirt so he didn’t notice the silent tears that tracked down my cheeks. Or so I thought.

“Sweetheart
... no ... please, you’re killing me.” His voice was strained as he attempted to lift my face. His hands moved from my hair to my cheeks. “I have to keep you safe. It’s inbuilt in who I am.”

I resisted, wanting
to hide until I had these tears under control. But he was stronger than I was. Finally I faced his stricken features.

“Don’t cry
,” he caught a tear, wiping it off my cheek, “I hate it when you cry, and if I’m the cause and can’t kill the person who has upset you, well, that’s unacceptable.”

“I’ve missed you
,” I finally said softly.

“I kne
w it.” His cocky smile was back as he stared into my face. “Wanna make out?”

I laughed
. Lucy was certainly adding a new dimension to his language skills.

Brace dried the last of my tears
, before kissing me gently on each cheek.

“
Can I ask you something?” I’d been thinking a lot these last few days, and I didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Anything
.” He pulled me closer.

“You’ve had sex, right?” I didn’t hesitate.

I would never get the words out if I thought too hard about the questions.

He stilled beside me. I almost wanted to laugh at the comical freaking out his features were doing. The bond was shut down, but I didn’t need it to know what he was feeling.

Finally he spoke. “I’m not sure if that was a question or statement.”

I nudged him. “You know what I mean. Have you had sex?”

“Yes.”

I waited for an elaboration
, but there was none forthcoming.

“Okay, so a lot? With many different women?”
My voice rose slightly.

I’d been
preparing myself for these answers. I knew Brace was old, and that he was male and there must have been girls before we found each other. But that didn’t prevent a dark jealousy coursing through me. I wanted to find every female who knew him intimately, knew him in a way I didn’t, and ... I took a deep breath.

“Why do you want to know these things, Red?”

“I just think it’s something I need to know before I ask my final question.”

He shook his head.

“I have had sex with women, more than one, but there have been none in your lifetime. From the moment you were born, the last eighteen years, I have been searching for my mate. Somehow, I knew your essence was here.”

My heart stilled, and some of the darkness inside dissipated.
That made my decision even easier.

“How old are you
, Brace?”

He grinned.

I knew he was old, but he’d never said exactly.

“I’
m five hundred and sixty years old, give or take. You stop counting closely after the first hundred or so years.”

My mouth fell open. He was old. Older than dirt.

He laughed into my neck.

“
Well, despite the fact I shouldn’t be mated to such an old man,” I joked to ease my nerves. “I think we should have sex before you go into this final battle.”

I needed to know him that way. I needed those memories, even if they were all I had.

Brace groaned. “You drive me insane, Abigail.”

I
wasn’t surprised since I drove myself insane.

He cupped my cheeks so I couldn’t turn away. His ve
lvety eyes were soft. “We will not have sex. We will make love, because that’s what we are. We are love.”

We are love
.

What did
he mean by that? Was he saying he loved me, or just that true mates represent love? Either way my heart was beating fast, my pulse racing under his shifting fingers.

“And I don’t want you to rush into this just because you think that this is the end for us. It
’s not the end. I will always come back for you. There are a million lifetimes for us to make love.”

“I
’m ready, Brace.”

He shook his head. “If you were ready, Red, you wouldn’t have asked the question. You would have
just taken control. And trust me, I’m lost to you. I wouldn’t have been able to resist.”

I knew I should have gone with Lucy’s sexy underwear plan. I dropped my head slightly
. I tried hard not to let insecurities control me. This was Brace being a gentleman; it wasn’t a rejection. Maybe if I repeated that enough my poor confused heart would believe me.

“Abigail Swish.” His tone was strangled.

My head shot up. I’d never heard him say my name that way.

“How could you even think that?”

And then he was kissing me, in a way that left no doubt about his feelings and attraction to me. I could feel every hard line of his body as he held me close. Eventually, when we had to breathe, he pulled back. We were both panting heavily.

“S
ometimes, Abigail, I want you so badly I actually have to leave the room because sleeping next to you is the worst torture I’ve felt in five hundred years. You are stunning and sexy and even when you sleep you’re the cutest damn thing. You make these little noises, almost talking, more like a mumble. And you wear these damn little shirts.” He fisted a handful of my white tank top, exposing the higher planes of my breasts. “I swear, mate, you have no worries about my father finishing me off. I think it was you who was sent here to destroy every last semblance of my sanity.”

He groaned again. “And stop staring at me with those witch eyes.”

I blinked once then, slowly. I had never thought for a second that I affected him in the same way he affected me. I worried at my lips again before remembering his words and releasing them.

“I know my lack of experience must be frustrating. And honestly when we
’re together my hormones do most of the thinking and talking. But, Brace, your power and beauty stun me. You’re just too gorgeous, tall, perfect. Before I knew you were Walker, I wondered if you could be real.”

He
shook his head, his expression amused. “Abbs, men aren’t beautiful. You are beautiful. And I love your lack of experience; in fact, I’d be obligated to kill any man who’d touched you before, so it’s probably for the best.” He cupped my face again, pulling me closer. “Don’t ever doubt your gifts.”

It took me a moment to make sure I wasn’t going to cry again.

“So you wanna make out?” he said.

I laughed
through my tears.

“Yes, I definitely do.”

The next morning when my storming around the house had reached its maximum annoyance level
, I found myself in the basement with Brace. Downstairs was set up as a gym and fight-training area. I was pretty excited to work off some of my frustration.

“Okay, Red, let’s see what you
’ve got.” Brace stood before me, relaxed, wearing just a pair of loose-fitting lightweight shorts.

It wasn’t really fair
; he had the advantage of muscles to distract me. Although, as I pulled off my shirt to reveal the black sports bra which matched my long fitted pants, his expression heated, his eyes liquid chocolate.

“Your distraction techniques are not going to stop me from kicking your butt, Abigail
,” he reiterated my initial thoughts.

“
So there are no rules, and no specific technique?” I confirmed. “Just the first to yield?”

Brace nodded and stepped closer
, sinking into the thick mat we stood on. I was never going to yield. I hoped he knew that.

I started to move then, danc
ing lightly on my feet. I had to constantly be in motion during a fight; it kept my reflexes sharp. I was waiting for him to give me an opening, let his guard down or something. He didn’t shift as he observed me, the slightest glimmer of humor on his features.

“I didn’t
realize this was dance class, Red. You going to fight or ask me to waltz?”

I ducked in quickly then,
feinting toward his left side, before sending out a kick with my right. With the slightest twist of his body, he shifted just out of my reach, and tapped me hard on the butt. Damn, I’d forgotten how fast and ninja he was. Usually, my speed was my greatest asset, but I’d have to be smart to even have a chance of making contact with Brace.

“You have to think, always assume your opponent is better at fighting than you, and you need to outsmart them. Observe
, watch how they move, and formulate a plan.”

Brace was playing with me. I attacked
a few more times. Each resulted in me ending up flat on the floor. I pulled myself up again.

“Your moves are good, but you lack the ability to plan ahead
. You simply react to what I’m doing. Make me do the reacting.” He continued to lecture me.

I
let out a short breath, my eyes narrowing. He was just trying to help, but I hated it when I wasn’t good at things. It had never been a problem on Earth, although I guess there I had an unfair advantage. Not that I’d known it, but being half-Walker definitely gave me added skills.

I stopped attacking him for a moment, staying back as we circled each other. Moving
slowly I remembered an old fight-move I’d seen on television – which I’d thought at the time was pathetic – I considered whether it would work.

Brace had his arms held up to the side, expecting my usual striking attack,
but it was time to try something else. I started forward in the same manner, both hands held up defensively to protect my face, but just before I reached him I faked a stumble, dropping to one knee.

I groaned
.

H
e was at my side in an instant, but before he could help me up I spun around, my other leg extended, smashing into his lower legs. Brace landed flat on his back next to me.

“Hell
, yeah!” I shouted, bouncing to my feet.

Of course I should hav
e remembered his long arms as he reached out and yanked me down to land next to him. He pulled me close, our skins flushed as we lay in a tangle.

“That was a cheap trick
, Red.”

I laughed. “You told me
to plan and use your weaknesses. I think I achieved both admirably.”

Jumping to his feet
, he leaned down to gather me in his arms, cradling me close. “You did well, sweetheart, but don’t think the same thing is going to work on others.”

And with those words he let go, dumping me straight onto the padded floor.

Ass.

And the torture began. He spent hours
forcing me to learn techniques and skills I’d never dreamed possible. He was a machine, highly trained and dangerous. Four hours later I was finally free to hobble upstairs for a shower.

“Remind me
to watch a movie next time I’m bored,” I groaned as I passed Lucy in the hall.

“You look like half-beaten crap, Abbs
.” She laughed at me.

“Brace better sleep with one eye open tonight is all I can say.”

“I sleep with both eyes open, Red. No one gets the drop on me.” He’d followed me up the stairs.

I glared at him, my aching muscles protesting as I marched past
, Lucy and Brace’s laughter following me.

“I hate you both
,” I called over my shoulder, wincing the entire way to my room.

The night before the battle Lallielle insisted on a family dinner. The last thing I felt like doing was forcing down food all the while trying to ignore my panic and worry. But she insisted. The reds were stationed around the house, so we were reasonably safe for the moment. The conversation was stilted as we attempted small talk.

Francesca was still missing, b
ut Quarn was here. He felt so much like part of the family that I would have been sad not to see him all the time. And the tension that existed between Josian and Quarn had started to disappear. Even Quarn couldn’t ignore the love and devotion between Josian and Lallielle, and he was finally forgiving him for leaving her.

“You listen here, woman
–” Josian was a brave man arguing with Lallielle.

“Call me woman one more time
, and you’ll be listening to my fist in your teeth.” She cut off the rest of his speech.