The Relentless Warrior (27 page)

I grew desperate for Olivia, frantic for more of her, wild to keep her like this,
to explore every inch of her.

Savage.

I felt savage in my need for her.

Something was breaking inside of me- the cool, calm, collected gentleman that I wore
as a shield against every other person in this world. I wasn’t the same with Liv.
I was a ferocious animal. She changed me. She drew out this raw, primal, greedy creature
that would do anything to possess her. She stripped me of every good intention and
polite response. She forced me to face feelings so intense I didn’t think I could
survive them. She demanded that I become more than a man for her, more than a good
guy and more than a spectator.

She didn’t have any idea what she was doing to me, but I couldn’t fight this any longer.
This was stronger than me. This was some unexpected fate that I hadn’t seen coming.

And I was helpless against it and her.

So I decided I would do something I had never done in my life- I would fight for her.

I had fought for causes, and justice. I had fought for peace. And I had fought for
equality.

But I had never fought for love. Not once.

I’d simply cut my losses and walked away.

When I’d risked my life for a Kingdom I half hated, I’d saved my heart and shielded
it behind a wall so thick and guarded I was sure that it was impenetrable.

But I was wrong.

She’d gotten through every defense I’d put up. She’d slipped through my shields and
security, she’d bent my resistance to her own will and she’d captured my soul completely.

And now I would fight for her. Because maybe she didn’t know if she wanted me forever,
maybe she couldn’t imagine life as an Immortal that stretched into eternity. Maybe
she was afraid that what was between us would die out and our relationship would burn
to ash.

I would change that. I would prove to her that she wanted me- and no one else. And
that this thing between us would last longer than us… longer than forever. I would
give her a love that was so hot, so scorching and bright that it could never die out,
could never fade. Things would not always be easy between us, but they would always
be worth fighting for.

Starting right now.

I left her mouth to trail kisses down the column of her throat while she clutched
at my shirt desperately. I released whatever little control I had left on my Magic
and gave it to her. I infused her with everything that I was, every real, open and
hidden piece of me. I sucked gently on the curve of her neck, right above her delicate
collar bone and she pulled in a gasping breath. Nicking it a little roughly with my
teeth, I brushed my hand beneath the swell of her breast and shuddered at the intimate
contact.

She could reduce me to a shell of a man with one swift pull of her Magic and yet I
didn’t care. Sebastian was right to be worried about me. I’d felt the uneasy emptiness
whenever our Magics had separated recently. And she was a true Immortal- of that I
had no doubt. If she decided that I wasn’t for her, I could likely die. And if not
now, it was only a matter of time, just a few more encounters like this.

Yet I didn’t care.

I couldn’t.

I was too far gone.
Soul mate
. I’d found mine. I wouldn’t give up without a fight.

And if I lost this… her… then so be it.

She would be worth it.

I drew back before I pushed her too hard. With one last slow, lingering kiss on her
deliciously swollen lips, I pulled away and gazed down at her. Her eyes stayed closed
for a long minute as she struggled to catch her breath and come back to herself. I
admired her porcelain skin and her thick lashes that fanned out against flushed cheeks.
Her lips looked well and nicely ravished and I couldn’t stop smiling at them.

Slowly she blinked her eyes open as if coming out of a daze. The purple of her eyes
had lightened just a fraction and practically glowed with some unspoken intensity.

“I just wanted to tell you thank you.” Her voice was a hoarse rasp of unsettled desire.
My smile grew. “That’s all I was going to… I just wanted to say thanks for staying
with my family, for watching out for Orion.”

“Olivia,” I promised her seriously. “I would do anything for you; especially protect
you and your family. You can know that you are always safe with me. Do you understand
that?
Always
.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Okay,” I grinned again and pressed a tender kiss to those lips that were quickly
becoming obsession to me. “See you in the morning.”

“Uh-huh,” she muttered.

Using every ounce of supernatural willpower I had, I pulled away from her. I let my
fingers linger as long as they could against the soft heat of her body, but eventually
separated us completely. I gave her enough room to stand up and walk away, which she
did after another confusing few seconds. At the door, she did not look back at me.

But it was alright, because I didn’t remove my Magic from hers and whether it was
her dazed state or her own conscious desire, she didn’t remove hers from mine either.

By the time I laid my head down and let my eyes close to end this day, I had begun
to feel a welling hope that started somewhere in the very core of my being and spread
slowly, like an unfurling fist, to every part of me.

Damn right, I would fight for this.

I had never known something worth fighting for more than this.

And I was bound and determined to win this.

To win her.

Chapter Twenty

Olivia

I was talking with my parents the morning after we arrived back home, when Jericho
stumbled downstairs. His jaw held a few days’ worth of growth and his eyes seemed
unusually warm this morning. He walked into the kitchen, never taking his gaze off
me.

I stood over the island in my own pajamas feeling deliciously at ease now that I was
back here, in my own space, in my own clothes, surrounded by people I loved. But his
presence was unnerving.

Something had changed in him since last night. He had been running hot and cold since
we left Romania and before that, he’d never really seemed consistent with his feelings
or his affection. Sure, we’d gotten along and there were parts about him that I could
read as easily as I knew myself. But, there were always these other pieces of him
that remained completely hidden and mysterious to me. Before now, he’d always kept
part of himself away from me. Whether that was self-preservation or natural instinct,
I didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter at the time.

I did the same thing.

Except now, I was finding it harder and harder to keep space between us.

He looked at me less like I was a problem to solve and more and more like I was a
problem he wanted to become. I wasn’t the damsel in distress anymore that he could
save.

I was the hunted and he the hunter.

I was prey that he stalked with unrelenting focus, that he would pursue until he made
me his.

But would he keep me gently?

Or devour me until there was nothing left?

That kiss last night… there had been nothing gentle about that. He was ferocious with
need and completely debilitated me. It had taken me hours to fall asleep after that,
even after the eventful day we’d had. He’d somehow kissed me deep enough to change
some secretive part of me, some soul-deep, fundamental part. I would never be the
same after that.

Never.

“Good morning, Jericho,” my dad greeted him. I sucked in a deep breath when Jericho’s
eyes finally released mine from captivity.

Devour. Consume. Possess.

There was definitely nothing gentle about what he wanted for me.

That much was certain.

“Did you sleep alright?” my mom asked politely.

“Yes, thank you,” he smiled at her, charming her into believing he was the perfect
gentleman, no doubt.

Which he was… or could be… or used to be.

This was confusing.

“Livie was just going to make us breakfast,” my mom told him. “Why don’t you sit down
and keep her company.”

“I’d love to,” Jericho replied grinning like he just won some big prize.

I rolled my eyes and turned my back on my traitorous parents. They were surprisingly
chill with him and all this. I knew they trusted me… but this was like, beyond normal
parental expectations. Maybe I wasn’t the only one that had transformed.

Note to self: Ask Jericho if Pod People are real.

They gathered their coffee cups and their shared newspaper and slipped into the living
room. They were supposed to have been crazy with worry and anxiety for me. They were
supposed to hover until they drove me crazy and irritated me with thousands of questions.
But they’d already told me how relieved they felt because of Jericho and how protective
he seemed of me. They’d admitted this morning that while they still felt sick with
nerves for me and O, Jericho seemed the kind of guy that would keep his word and keep
us safe.

In a way, I knew that they saw exactly what I did. From the moment I met Jericho,
I knew I could trust him. And I was glad that my parents felt that too.

On the other hand, it was really obnoxious that he’d won them over so easily.

They were the last line of defense against the assault of his Magic, intensity of
emotions and mind-blowing kisses.

Now it was just me against him. The future I had always wanted against the fate he
represented.

The biggest problem of all, though, was that my own priorities were starting to change.
I couldn’t picture the same future I had imagined for myself all these years anymore.
I didn’t have a clear image of what my life would be like in five years… in ten… in
twenty.

My goals had always been my tether to hope and certainty.

And now I only had Jericho.

But was he enough?

“What are you making for breakfast?” Jericho asked casually from across the white-tiled
island.

I nibbled on the corner of my lip. “Uh, nothing special. Eggs benedict.”

“Can I help?”

“Sure.”

And we got to work. I gave him the choice of the hollandaise sauce or the biscuits.
He chose the sauce, which made me a little nervous, but after a few minutes he seemed
to know what he was doing. I ignored the different spices he began to add before my
control-freak tendencies took over. I focused on rolling out my world-famous cheddar
biscuits. Okay, they weren’t exactly world-famous, but they were a family favorite.

When his sauce was thickening on the stove and my biscuits were rising in the oven,
I handed over the Canadian bacon and let him fry it in a pan next to my pot of boiling
water. I set about poaching the eggs and we stood side by side as if it were the most
natural thing in the world.

But it also wasn’t natural at the same time. He hadn’t lied when he told me he could
cook. He was absolutely proficient in the kitchen.

And it was by far the sexiest he had ever been.

I was such a goner.

He found as many moments as he could to touch me. His hand would brush mine, or slide
across my waist when he leaned in to reach for something. Right now, his thigh pressed
gently into mine and his muscled chest warmed my back while he pretended to inspect
my swirling eggs.

By the time the table was set and my family gathered around it, Jericho had found
a way to keep his hands on me for an entire hour. Even now he looked across the table
in such a way that made his gaze feel like a physical caress.

What was he doing?

My family fell into easy conversation, despite our combined concern for Ophelia. I
constantly assured my parents that she was safe and Orion that he was, too.

Jericho backed me up with every reassurance and explained a great deal about his Kingdom
to my parents. He went over the old Monarchy and the new Kings and Queens and how
there were four of them and why. He explained his position in the government and my
parents were reluctantly impressed with the importance he held. He brushed it off
modestly, but I could see how bothered he was by their clear respect.

I knew Jericho didn’t like his job, but I realized right then and there that I was
the only one. He hadn’t told anyone else about his dissatisfaction. And how could
he? His closest friends were Kings and soldiers, the very men that trusted him with
their lives and revered his leadership. By the way he explained his station to my
parents I could tell that it was natural for him to talk that way, to humbly but firmly
reveal how much authority he held. He wasn’t playing a part; he was living a life
that had been forced on him, but that he accepted because he was loyal and because
he was good.

“Excuse me,” he stood toward the end of breakfast with his phone in his hand. “It’s
the head of our Guard. I should take this.”

My parents waved him and his impeccable manners off. He conferred one more polite
smile at them and leveled me with a smoldering look that I couldn’t even begin to
describe or fight before he walked into the other room and answered his call.

As soon as he was gone, every eye swung my direction and pinned me with severe glares.

“That boy is in love with you, Olivia,” my father declared with no small amount of
shock.

I blushed. “No, he’s not. We’re just close. We’ve been through a lot together.” Orion
rolled his eyes but my parents just continued to stare. “He was the one that found
O and me. He feels responsible for us, that’s all.”

My mom actually snorted at this. “That is not responsibility, Babe. That’s
love
.”

Before I could argue, my dad said, “I suppose you have a good reason for keeping him
at a distance?”

“Are you saying you approve of him?” I couldn’t even believe this. “You barely know
him! Plus, he’s one of
them
!”

“You’re also one of them now, Livie,” my mom reminded me sadly. “And maybe we just
met him, but it’s easy to judge his character. You could do a lot worse than a man
like him.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But you don’t understand. They’re relationships are like… one
and done.” My parent’s eyes grew big and Orion tried not to laugh. “Seriously. It
has something to do with their Magic. It’s like worse than marriage. They can’t ever
separate after they’ve, uh, connected.”

“Oh,” my dad said with furrowed brows. “Well, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Did you want to have lots of affairs?”

I giggled before I could stop myself and my mom slapped my dad’s chest with the back
of her hand.

“Well, no,” I laughed. “But it’s hard to know if he’s you know…
the one
. I don’t get a second pick. If I choose Jericho, then that’s it. And forever. Like
forever
. This relationship will never end, not even with death.”

My parents sat back in their chairs, equally contemplative. After several moments
of only Jericho’s mumbled voice breaking the silence, my mom sat forward and held
me with her steady gaze. “You know, I think it must be very hard for the parents of
all these… Immortals. At least your dad and I had the reassuring thought that someday
you guys would die.”

Orion and I both gasped out a stunned, “Mom!”

“No, I’m serious,” she said. “Forever is a very long time. Obviously, I don’t need
to tell you about that. It’s overwhelming when I think about it. I can’t imagine what
you’re going through trying to accept the idea. And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Luckily, I know you’re strong enough to handle it, Livie. I know you are.” I warmed
under her praise and confidence in me. Her words had done something I hadn’t been
able to accomplish yet and that was to give me the courage to face forever, to meet
it headlong and believe I could survive it. Maybe even thrive in it. “That being said,
you’ve just added an indescribable weight to my job as your mom. I raised you believing
I would only have to worry about what your life would become for a set amount of years.
But now you’re telling me that I have to worry about you for eternity. You’re telling
me that this life will never end for you and I won’t ever get to relax about how you’re
doing and if you’ll be alright. You’ve added endless worries to my already long list
of concerns.”

Her eyes were so intense that I could do nothing more than squeak, “Sorry?”

Her expression softened just a touch and she shook her head slowly at me. “But if
that’s true, that these people love for life, without exception… then that would be
one less thing for me to worry about. I would know that you would never be lonely
or alone. I would know that someone else was worrying about you too, taking care of
you, providing for you. I would know that someone else loved you enough to keep you
for eternity. And that you could love for that long, too.”

“Mom,” I groaned in an effort to lighten the mood. “That’s very antifeminist of you.”

She didn’t relax, “No, this has nothing to do with women’s rights or what we have
to prove. Love is a two-way street. You are provided for but you provide as well.
You are taken care of but you care, too. You meet each other half way most days, but
there are times when one of you gives more or takes more than the other. That’s not
unfair or antiquated, that’s the beauty of loving beyond yourself. I don’t know Jericho
very well; I hardly know anything about him actually, except that he loves you beyond
himself. He sees beyond selfishness and greed and sees you. And honestly, Livie, that’s
all I want for you, whether that lasts eternally or for just fifty years. That’s all
I want for all my children.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” I admitted. “This is the last conversation I imagined
us having after I came home.”

“You need to see that, little girl,” my dad chimed in, clearly in accordance with
my mom. “You need to see that you’ve been both blessed and cursed. You are going to
live a life that the rest of us mere mortals could only dream up in books and movies.
You’ve been given a gift that surpasses anything else on Earth. And I know you; I
know
you will do something great with your time. But don’t be left alone. And don’t push
people away. Otherwise that gift will turn into a never-ending hell. Liv, you don’t
trust anybody, but we see how you trust him. You don’t even like most people, but
don’t deny that you like him, maybe more than like him. We’ve seen the way you look
at him, the way you let him in. Honestly, we never thought we’d see you open up like
this to a person outside of your family. Don’t ignore these feelings. You might not
be ready to give him everything he wants yet, but that’s a good man in there. That’s
a man that will keep you safe and love you for as long as he promises to. That’s a
man that will give you everything you want and need long, long after we’re gone.”