Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set (22 page)

“
No. Elijah.”

“
Shhh. Astrid is a healer. She will help,” Lyric said.

The shards of glassy pain broke again, stinging, jabbing. Sadie cried out. So much worse now. Why wasn’t he here?

The mattress shifted. A new pair of hands on her sent her mind reeling. A wonderful new scent she couldn’t place soothed her senses. Not quite sage and not exactly earth. Somewhere in between. Whatever it was, it calmed her. The pain edged back. Sadie found her chest able to hold more air. She gulped it in, preparing for another shudder. But it didn’t come.

Moments passed until she could open her eyes and let them adjust to the dim light. Elijah’s deep blue-brown orbs met hers, concern shadowing them. She exhaled as his hands pressed over her back, her legs, pulling her limbs free of her fetal pose until Sadie lay supine.

“
Where is Holly?” Lyric
asked
from behind Elijah.

“
With Astrid, below,” he said, putting a hand on Sadie’s forehead. “What happened to her?”

“
It’s the transformation,” a woman said, appearing in the doorway and gliding in. Her cropped white hair made her grass green eyes all the more startling. She joined Elijah at the bed and glared at Sadie.

Astrid, Sadie presumed, wondering at the woman’s icy demeanor. Was it personal? She didn’t care. More pain was coming. She imagined her throat muscles too clenched to speak, but tried. “Sei-zures?”

“
Turns out, accessing dormant DNA smarts a bit,” Lyric said from his repose against the far wall.

“
How bad will it get?” Elijah’s voice sounded rough, pained. Did he blame himself for this? Or was there something else wrong? Was he hurt?

“
It’s better now,” Sadie said. Now that she’d calmed down. At least she hadn’t shocked Lyric and herself out of the sky. She’d been terrified. It was like the electric currents were on the inside now. And another storm of it was gathering, sending sweat dripping down her neck.

“
I doubt ibupro
f
en or even
Demerol
will help her now. This isn’t human pain.” Astrid turned to her. “May I?” she asked, showing Sadie her hands.

Sadie nodded, biting down. Elijah moved aside and Astrid pressed her hands to Sadie’s sweaty temples, her eyes closed, her lips curled downward.

Lyric slipped out, presumably to check on Holly. Sadie lay as still as possible, waiting for new pain.

At last, Astrid pulled back, wiping her hands on her long skirt. She turned to Elijah. “What have you done, Elijah?”

“
What I had to. Please, Astrid. I promise a full explanation. After.”

Sadie tried to sit up. “I think it stopped. I can go now.”

Astrid turned her attention back. “Leaving would be stupid. You’re still very much human. Whatever it is you’re becoming
—
.”

“
Holly thinks she’s a messenger.”

Astrid’s eyebrows shot up. “Be that as it may, her body is in dramatic flux.”

“
The pain?” Elijah asked.

The woman shrugged. “It could last weeks. Months. I can’t tell. It could be intermittent or ongoing.”

Sadie refused to believe her. Already, the pain receded. That had to mean something.

Elijah scrubbed his hands over his face. Dark circles showed under his eyes. Worry creased between his brows. “What can you give her?”

Crossing her arms, Astrid’s lips thinned. “I can’t give her anything.”

“
Can’t or won’t?” Sadie asked, pricked with irritation.

Astrid narrowed her eyes on Sadie. “In my realm, insinuations like that can get you killed. Fast.”

A chill ran through Sadie and her anger climbed. Screw this. She sat up, wincing against the protest her muscles and bones gave. She ignored the pain and stood up.

“
Stop,” Elijah said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “There has to be something you can do, Astrid.”

“
Nope. Nothing I can do.” Astrid smiled coldly. “Of course, there is something you can do, Elijah.” She spun on her heel and left.

For once, Sadie related to how Ben felt around Cynthia. Like shoe sludge.

Elijah stalked after Astrid and Sadie followed, ready to demand they leave now or she would on her own. But within two steps, a new shudder struck, sending her curling onto the cold floor. She gritted her teeth, refusing to moan through the pain. She forced her eyes to stay open and stared at the door, swearing the moment this passed, she would walk out of here.

Familiar buckle laden boots appeared in the doorway. Then Elijah was at her side, picking her up, laying her on the bed. The pain ebbed back. Elijah put both hands on her face. “How bad is it?”

She managed a nod, hating anyone seeing her like this, but most of all him. He searched her eyes but his were closed off, revealing no emotion.

She missed the Elijah from her dreams. The one who rained kisses over every inch of her bare skin. The one who begged her to open her eyes. She missed the graze of his lips, the tickle of his wings. His hands driving her wild.

Knowing the truth about her lust for him, knowing it was his power, she still couldn’t suppress wanting him.

Elijah took in her visage and pulled back. “Sadie, I cannot keep kissing you.”

“
Wow. Um, you sure know how to make a girl feel special, Elijah.” Sadie sat up, the pain gone. Embarrassed over her reaction, she tried to pretend she didn’t know he saw her lust for him. “I didn’t think we’d really practice playing boyfriend girlfriend. I mean, between being chased by immortals and watched by human haters, I think I can actually manage my family wondering who you are.”

“
You don’t understand. There’s more to it than that,” he said, standing.

“
Don’t worry, I already know.” She’d had enough of his ‘more’. “Lyric explained how it works.”

“
Look, I can’t prevent your attraction to me. I shield you as best I can but, for whatever reason, it’s more difficult with you. Once you’ve transformed, this feeling will go away.”

Yeah. So Lyric had already pointed out. Remembering how good leaving here had sounded, Sadie got up. “If you know I can’t help it, I mean, if you’re used to women falling all over themselves over you, then you should know how to handle rejecting it with a bit more finesse.”

“
My magnetism is usually manageable. Your change must be affecting it.”

“
Well
,
now I know better,” she asked, heat flashing over her cheeks.

“
I’m sorry. I don’t want to embarrass you or anger you. I think it will help if you understand.”

“
Understand what? That it’s all in my head?”

“
I can make any woman I choose desperate to be with me. I am built to seek and therefore attract. I’m a hunter. I convey through matter, I fly through air, have brute strength. It’s who I am.”

Really, she didn’t blame him. Astrid’s contempt had gotten under her skin. “So noted. I’ll get over it. What I won’t get over is being treated like scum by your friend. I won’t stay here.” Not even with him.

“
Who? Astrid?” He laced his hands behind his head. Dismay filled his eyes. “It isn’t you she hates. It’s the change.” He paused. “She believes there is a remedy for your pain.”

Sadie’s chest ached. “I don’t understand. Why would fixing my pain inspire hate
?
”

“
Not hate. Fear.”

“
Why would helping me scare her? Actually, who cares
?
Let’s get whatever pain med she has and leave.” But her leg muscles began pricking in glassy jabs. “There has to be another safe place to wait it out.”

He shook his head. “In all my life, I have never encountered anyone like you, Sadie.”

Before she could ask what he meant, the new shudder set its teeth in. Sadie bit down, suppressing the urge to collapse where she stood. Elijah approached her carefully. The shards crept upward. His sage and woodsy scent reawakened her craving. He cupped one cheek, his eyes unfathomable but heavy-lidded.

The inches between them sucked away. “How badly does it hurt?”

For a suspended moment, Sadie wondered which pain he referred to. The cramping of her muscles, or the longing to taste him once more? Elijah bent his head and slowly touched his lips to hers. The craving in her belly expanded, pushing the pain away.

“
Forgive me,” he said against her lips.

His lips parted hers and his tongue swept pleasure inside. He nipped at her lower lip, making her gasp. Sadie laid her hands on his chest, so hard and contoured under the thin cotton. God, he was beautiful. Fuck, she wanted him.

One hand came around and gripped her ass, pulling her hips against an erection so hard it hurt. Her pain whispered away, soothed. The aftermath intensified each new pleasure sensation. Sadie wound her arms around his neck and abandoned herself. Elijah scooped her up.

She moaned.

He carried her to the bed.

Part of her remembered his warnings about his magnetism. She pushed the thoughts away. She tore at his shirt, yanking it off. Elijah helped, tossing it aside. Sadie pulled at his shoulders, hating the brief broken contact. He returned to her, settling between her open legs and gliding his hardness against her core.

“
Better?” he
asked
, his voice deliciously throaty between wet kisses on her neck.

“
God, yes,” she panted. She pressed her hips against him, her hands digging into the front of his pants. So close. Another inch lower and she’d be able to grasp his erection.

His hips inched away. “I’m glad,” he said. She could feel him grin against her skin. “But I won’t be cruel.”

“
Cruel? No, no. Not cruel,” she insisted, pulling him closer, reaching downward. She couldn’t let him pour water over the fire he’d ignited.

“
Sadie,” he groaned.

A thread of lucidity penetrated her haze. “What is it?”

“
I’m relieving your pain. But we have to stop.”

“
Stop? No!” But his eyes searched hers, making her think harder. “Oh, wait. I get it. Like how sex helps migraines?”

“
Not sex. Lust.”

“
Sex, lust, whatever you want to call it, it’s working. You’re curing my full body migraine. Don’t stop.”

He pulled her hand away. “This isn’t a migraine and we cannot have sex,” he said.

His words hurt but she’d be damned if she’d show it. She sat up. “Why not
,
exactly?”

“
Because unlike a human, I can control my primal instincts. Because it violates immortal code. Because it will complicate matters in the extreme when you’ve transformed and your reaction to me changes.”

This went beyond physical attraction. Something far deeper pulled her to him. She couldn’t let go. “Tell me you don’t want me, too, Elijah.” Sadie arched ever so slightly, tipping her head so as to allow her hair to spill over her shoulder. “Look me in the eye and tell me you feel nothing.”

“
It doesn’t matter what I want. Or what I feel.” Determination shone in his gaze. “I won’t make you suffer.”

“
Isn’t it up to me what I’m willing to suffer?”

“
You’ll regret it, Sadie.”

Sadie sat up onto her knees and leaned in as he backed away. “I thought I already explained this part. I’m a grown woman, remember? It isn’t up to you what I regret or don’t.”

Elijah grinned again. “I like this side of you.”

“
What side?”

“
This audacious side.”

His smile spread wider and lit her insides. She’d never seen him smile, she realized, not like that. Not at the library, even from afar. Hope bloomed in her heart.

“
Though it is a venture in futility.”

Sadie’s mouth fell open. “Futility?”

Elijah chuckled deeper. He was enjoying this!

“
What happens when the pain starts again?” she said, scooting closer. “I know you feel it too. What happens if you can’t stop?”

Elijah’s eyes flashed. His gaze swept over her. But he didn’t deny what she said. A new shudder snuck closer. Her bravado faltered. Amusement danced in his eyes. And something more.

Sadie closed the inches between them. When she reached for him, he didn’t pull away. Neither did he look away. His hot skin tingled her palms as she slid both hands up his bare chest.

Her heart pounded. Her thighs trembled. His gorgeous scent enveloped her and she let go of her final thread of uncertainty. Her lips met his but he didn’t move to return her kiss. Recognition sparkled through her. Her body knew his somehow, at once comforted by and starved for it.

His hands roved up her stomach, pulling the edge of her blouse up. A small moan escaped her. A different kind of pain formed. Pain from wanting something so badly it hurt.

She teased his lower lip between her teeth, leaning closer. Ticklish heat swarmed down her belly, gathering between her thighs. Elijah’s thumbs rubbed over her bra making her nipples and her need tighten.