Читать книгу Dark Wolf Returning - Rhyannon Byrd - Страница 11
ОглавлениеCarla knew the instant he realized she wasn’t bullshitting him, his belligerent expression slowly giving way to shock.
It was because of Eli’s supercharged bloodline and her own powerful alpha genes that they’d ended up in this mess. At least that’s what her friend Jillian believed had been the cause of her problems, landing her with a bond that was, but wasn’t. One that was only partially fixed in place, thanks to the crappiest timing in the universe. Or...maybe the luckiest, depending on how you looked at it. In Carla’s case, a partial bond was better than a full, unbreakable one.
As it was, she’d been able to manage without him. Oh, her heart had been battered and bruised for...well, for a long time after he’d abandoned her. But she’d been able to go on, functioning without him.
The only thing she hadn’t been able to do was crawl into bed with another man.
Eli, from the look of things when she’d walked into the bar and found him with a scantily clad blonde passed out in his lap, hadn’t been suffering that particular symptom. And, God, did that tick her off.
After all, it wasn’t like a guy who looked like him would have trouble getting any woman he wanted in his bed. A man too gorgeous to be real—and certainly for his own good. Chiseled, rugged, and massive. Tall and broad and ripped with muscle. Golden skin. Ice blue eyes rimmed with dark, stormy gray. Thick, inky black lashes. He’d always worn his hair short when she’d known him but it was shaggy now, curling around his neck and ears. Messy in that way that movie stars spent a fortune trying to achieve, while Eli probably just ran his hands through it and let it dry. Unfair, how beautiful he was. A dangerous, primal predator who could slay with nothing more than a sarcastic twist of that bold, sensual mouth.
He was so breathtakingly masculine, and so impossibly lethal. To the heart as well as the flesh. And she knew that lesson better than anyone.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down, knowing he could no doubt sense her every emotion. But it was difficult when inside she was seething with rage. She hated feeling this out of control. It wasn’t something she allowed, given her occupation. Anger made you stupid, and a hunter couldn’t afford to make careless mistakes.
Neither could a woman.
The silence that had settled between them was just about to the point where she wanted to snap at him to say something already, when the tall guy she’d seen him sitting with earlier approached the table. Thankfully without the blonde Eli had dumped in his arms. “I hate to interrupt, but we need to get out of here. They’re closing soon.”
Eli nodded, then moved to his feet in a rippling display of muscle that his jeans and T-shirt did little to conceal. As she stood, as well, the rest of the group who’d been standing nearby at the bar joined them, looking between her and Eli as if they were waiting for him to make the introductions.
Sounding more than a little pissed off, Eli said, “Carla, this is Kyle Maddox, Sam Harmon, James Bennett, and Lev Slivkoff. Guys, this is Carla Reyes. I, uh, know her from home.”
Carla almost winced in sympathy for the gorgeous jerk, since he’d sounded so awkward there at the end, as if he didn’t know what to say about her. He’d obviously never mentioned her to any of his friends or coworkers or whatever a badass Lycan called the other badass Lycan mercenaries that he fought with. Something buried deep inside her gave a stupidly pained cry at that fact, but she refused to pay any attention to it. She wasn’t going to let a little hurt make her act like an idiot in front of him.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she murmured, shaking their rough, battle-hardened hands. They were all tanned and tall and dark, except for Lev, whose shoulder-length mane was as golden as hers. And while the others had dark, midnight-colored eyes that nearly drowned out their ebony pupils, his were an interesting mix of green and blue that could barely pass for human.
They were all pretty much stunningly attractive, oozing the kind of raw sex appeal that probably made most women drool when they saw them—but Lev was definitely the best looking of the bunch, reminding her of a badass Russian enforcer she’d once met during a hunt. When he grabbed her hand, she almost laughed, thinking he was going to kiss the back of it, like something out of a movie. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned it over and licked the inside of her wrist with a rough tongue, right over her pulse. Her startled gasp was drowned out by Eli’s guttural snarl, and the next thing she knew Lev had released her hand and was stumbling into the guy named James, who had a wicked scar on his throat, because Eli had just given Lev a violent shove.
“Don’t be a jackass,” Eli growled.
“He loves me, really,” the Lycan drawled, though there was something in his rich, masculine scent that told her he was more. They all were. She just didn’t know what that more was, and there was no way in hell she was asking when she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
Carla kept a careful eye on the group as they settled their bill at the bar, not quite sure what to expect from them. They were eyeing her with open looks of curiosity and friendly smiles, but she was still a bit wary. Not physically, but emotionally. The last thing she wanted was for one of them to blurt out a question about her relationship with Eli. And they looked nosey enough to do it.
“Since the men and I are heading back with you,” Eli rumbled, “we should find a motel for the night, then hit the road first thing in the morning.”
She’d just started to ask how quickly he thought they could reach Maryland, when the sound of screeching tires and loud voices came from the bar’s front parking lot.
“What was that?” she asked, though no one was paying her any attention. They were all focused on the one named Sam, who had made his way over to one of the front windows and was peeking outside. “Shit,” he muttered. “It looks like we’ve got a problem.”
Eli grabbed her arm and jerked her behind him. “Who is it?”
“I can’t tell yet,” Sam replied, while the remaining customers, along with the staff, started pouring out the back entrance. It apparently wasn’t the first time this place had seen this kind of “problem,” and given the look of the clientele, Carla doubted it would be the last. “But we’ve got three pickups with beds full of armed bad guys,” Sam was saying, “and they’re stopping by our trucks. So my guess is that they’re here for us.”
“Were you followed here?” Lev asked her.
“What? No! Of course not.”
“Then they’re definitely here for us,” the one named James murmured in a deep, gravelly voice.
“Don’t be so sure,” Eli muttered. “She has a knack for dragging trouble in her wake.”
“I do not!” she snapped, poking him hard in the back of his shoulder.
Sam scratched his head as he sauntered back over to the group, a funny expression on his handsome face as he looked at Eli. “I’ve never seen him like this,” he seemed to be saying to the other guys. “He’s always so blasted nice to women. Why’s he keep riling this little thing?”
James shrugged. “Beats me.”
“All of you, mind your own damn business,” Eli growled.
Kyle flashed a smile. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starting to get a good idea of the problem.”
Lev threw back his head and let out a lusty laugh. “This is gonna be priceless.”
Eli slowly looked from one man to the next, his powerful frame drawn tight with tension. “Shut up about her,” he said in a low voice, “or I’ll break your heads before those idiots out there even get a chance.”
As she moved back to his side, Carla thought he looked and sounded more than ready to thrash the next guy who teased him, but they didn’t seem to care.
“You don’t have to get so testy,” Sam drawled, his dark eyes shining with humor. “We like her.”
“I’m afraid the feeling isn’t mutual anymore,” she muttered, reaching back and pulling the gun she’d stolen off one of the Whiteclaw soldiers from the waistband of her jeans.
“Oh, God,” Lev murmured, clutching his heart when she opened the clip, checking her ammo. “I think I just fell in love.”
At her startled look, Sam laughed. “Lev has a thing about women who can handle a weapon.”
“Mmm. That I do.”
Kyle snorted. “He has a thing about all women.”
The blond arched his tawny brows at the grinning merc. “And you don’t?”
Kyle winked and blew him a kiss. “Don’t go sounding jealous, honey. You know I love you.”
This time, Lev was the one who snorted. “You just like the way I fill out my jeans.”
Carla looked at the four laughing idiots and wondered what on earth she’d gotten herself into. What was Eli doing with these clowns? She’d come here for warriors, damn it. Not a collection of frat boys who enjoyed ribbing each other.
Though, to be fair, these mercs didn’t look anything like any frat boy she’d ever seen. They would have made even the college ball players look puny.
Ah, now I get it, she thought a few minutes later, after they’d decided how to handle the situation and she, Eli, and Kyle had made their way out the back entrance and around the left side of the building. The customers and staff had thankfully scattered, no doubt heading into one of the other bars farther down the road, since there wasn’t much of anything else around. There’d been a small group of human thugs lying in wait for the mercenaries just outside the exit, but Lev, Sam, and James, who’d gone out first, had quickly taken care of them, before going right. Then the three mercs had engaged the armed gunmen causing havoc in the front parking lot, while Eli and Kyle stayed with her in the shadows.
These guys might act like a bunch of frat boys, but they sure as hell didn’t fight like them. Relief swept through her in a warm rush as she watched them, making her breathe a bit easier. If she was going to have to endure the seven circles of hell by being close to Eli, she at least wanted to know it was for a good reason. And protecting the ones she loved was as good a reason as there was.
Wyatt was worried about her, and had tried talking her into coming back during each of their conversations since she’d started this journey. It was a testament to how much she meant to all the guys, since they knew Eli and his men were needed—but they apparently cared about her even more. She really was like the little sister none of them had, aside from Eric, and she should have realized how they would react to her heading off on her own. There was probably going to be hell to pay when she finally made it back to the Alley—the place that the Bloodrunners called home.
But at least it would have been worth it. These mercenaries might be even more of a joking, smartass group than the Runners, but they were seriously skilled when it came to combat. Bullets sprayed from the humans’ guns as they scattered around the remaining cars in the lot and shot wildly into the night, unable to pinpoint the mercs’ locations as the guys quickly took down one assailant after another. She could sense Eli and Kyle’s need to join the fight and help their friends, but knew they were sticking close to her in order to provide protection.
Eli Drake had always been the most overprotective male she’d ever known, and that obviously hadn’t changed. She knew he didn’t want to leave her side, but when it looked like four of the thugs were going to slash the tires on the two shiny, badass black trucks she assumed belonged to the mercs, he told her to stay with Kyle, and headed off to deal with them.
“You know, we don’t have to hide over here,” she murmured, as soon as Eli had left. “I’m perfectly capable of helping in a fight.”
“I’m sure you are, honey. But I think Eli would probably castrate me if I let anything happen to you. And I’m kinda partial to all my body parts.”
That probably would have been the end of it, if another truckload of men hadn’t come barreling into the lot. Someone must have called for reinforcements, and this time the truck stopped near the side of the building where she was waiting with Kyle. No longer willing to stand this one out when the mercs were so outnumbered, she lifted her weapon as she moved toward the cover of a nearby grove of pecan trees and started firing on the armed gunmen who were shooting into the parking lot.
Carla had managed to take out five of the humans, before she felt a sharp burn cut across her left side, just beneath the edge of her bra. It felt like acid had been poured onto her skin, but she kept firing, until the last gunman in the truck fell. Then she slumped against the thick tree trunk Kyle had pulled her behind, listening to the fighting still taking place out in the parking lot. There wasn’t as much gunfire now, and she knew things were winding down. They needed to get out of there while they still could, before the cops showed up and things really got complicated.
“You’re gonna be in so much trouble,” Kyle predicted, his low voice holding the soft, melting edge of a Southern accent. “Eli told you to stay out of it.”
“I didn’t even get my claws out,” she huffed. “All I did was fire some bullets.”
“He’s still gonna be pissed.”
Ignoring him, she took another look around the side of the tree and watched as Lev finally caught one of the few remaining gunmen for questioning, his big hand fisted in the front of the guy’s bloodied shirt as he pulled the Hispanic-looking male close to his face and spoke to him. The human was apparently being stubborn, because Lev gave him a frustrated shake that probably jarred the thug’s brain loose. She could see his lips moving, and a moment later Lev tossed him aside, not even bothering to watch where the guy landed as he turned and started making his way over to where she stood with Kyle.
“What the hell is their problem?” Kyle asked, as soon as Lev was within hearing distance.
“They work for Julio Varga. Seems ol’ Julio thinks Eli slept with his woman when we were staying down at their compound last month.”
All this because Eli screwed the wrong woman? she thought, her lip curling in a disgusted sneer. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Kyle clucked his tongue at her in admonishment. “He didn’t touch her, honey.” Jerking his head toward a smirking Lev, he added, “It was this jackass who couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
Lev’s grin got wider. “Not fair, man. She caught me when I wasn’t wearing any.”
“You could have tried a little self-control,” Kyle muttered.
“I did,” Lev protested. “But then she got on her knees and—”
“Enough!” Carla waved the hand still holding her empty gun, cutting him off. “I don’t want to hear this.”
Waggling his brows, the golden Adonis sent her a crooked smile. “You sure, pretty wolf? It’s good stuff.”
“Then maybe over a beer sometime,” she relented, finding his boyish charm kind of endearing. He was like a big freaking teddy bear, once you got past the serious sex appeal. “But not in the middle of a fight.”
Before either male could say another word, the gunfire abruptly ended, and Eli was suddenly standing right in front of her. His face and arms were spattered with blood, his shirt and hair damp with sweat, while all those acres of hard muscle flexed beneath his skin as he breathed in a harsh rhythm. And the expression on his face was as darkly furious as his tone. “What the fuck, Carla? Did you or did you not hear me tell you to stay out of it?”
“Oh, I heard you,” she murmured, trying to ignore the fire in her side. “I just don’t take orders from you.”
His nostrils flared, and he fisted his massive hands at his sides. “If you had, then you wouldn’t be bleeding.”
“Shit! She got shot?” Kyle moved to get a better look at her, and his eyes went wide when he saw her blood-soaked left side. “Damn it, woman. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I’m fine. It’s just a graze.” She lifted her brows when she looked at Eli. “And I didn’t know you found the sight of a little blood so upsetting.”
One of the mercs choked off a laugh, though she couldn’t tell which one. She was too busy keeping a careful eye on Eli, since he looked like he wanted to throttle her.
“Come on,” he finally muttered, gripping her right arm and dragging her with him as he headed toward those massive black trucks that sat on the far side of the lot.
“Wait, I need my car!” she yelled, looking toward the little VW she’d picked up for almost nothing the week before. It looked a little sad, but damn it, that car had character. She couldn’t just leave it there all by its lonesome to turn into a rust bucket.
Eli flicked a dismissive look over the car. “That piece of shit stays here.”
“Oh, no, it doesn’t!”
“It’s not even yours,” he argued, obviously noticing the Georgia plates.
“Is too!” she shot back, wishing he wouldn’t walk quite so fast, since her head was starting to get a bit woozy. “I bought it off a guy in Atlanta last week for a hundred bucks.”
He stopped and gave her a look that set her teeth on edge, as if he thought she’d gone out of her mind. “You bought a stolen car off some random guy?”
She clenched her teeth, having already figured that part out for herself. No way the human would have sold it to her for that amount if the transaction had been legit. He’d probably just been looking for some quick money to pay for his next fix. And it’s not like they’d dealt with any of the legal paperwork. She’d just needed to ditch the car she’d stolen off the Whiteclaw and find something a little more fuel efficient, since it’d become apparent that tracking down her so-called “other half” was going to take more time than she’d hoped.
So, yeah, the car was most likely hot. But she’d still paid money for it!
“What if I take the keys inside and leave a note to let them know she’s up for grabs?” James offered, speaking up for the first time since they’d come outside.
“Fine,” she muttered, figuring it was better than nothing. “But please get my bag out of the trunk first.”
James nodded as he took the keys she’d dug out of her pocket, the pain in her side burning like holy hell as she moved. But she refused to groan, not wanting to give Eli the satisfaction. Instead, she glared at him as he pulled a set of keys from his own pocket.
“Are you even sober enough to drive?” she asked with a scowl.
He wasn’t looking at her, but she could swear he was rolling his eyes at the question. “We’re not human, Rey. It would take a hell of a lot more than what any of us have had tonight to put us over the limit.” Then, in a lower voice, he muttered, “And you should know I wouldn’t put you at risk like that.”
Five minutes later, she was sitting in the front seat of one truck, one of the guy’s T-shirts balled up and pressed against her side, while Eli drove and Lev and Sam sat in the spacious backseat. Kyle and James had piled into the other truck, along with everyone’s gear. Since Eli refused to stay in the town they’d just been attacked in, in case this Varga guy decided to send more men after them, they had to drive for nearly an hour before they found a cheap roadside motel that had enough rooms for them all. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been paying close enough attention when they were checking in, the blood loss making her a little dizzy, because it wasn’t until the keys were handed out that she realized they were one key short.
Which meant they had five rooms, instead of six.
Son of a freaking bitch!
“Eli,” she started to growl, before stumbling and nearly face planting against the cracked concrete walkway that led to the rooms. Damn it! Her lack of decent sleep the last two weeks, combined with the stress of finally facing Eli again, not to mention the blood loss, was getting to her. She was thankful the other Runners weren’t there to see her like this. They never would have let her live it down.
Kyle had grabbed her before she collapsed, his hold careful, as if he was afraid of hurting her. Did she really seem that fragile? “I think one of us should carry her,” he said, glancing at the others over the top of her head. “She’s looking a little pale.”
“I’ve got her,” Eli grunted, his heavy arm wrapping around her shoulders as he pulled her out of Kyle’s hands and jerked her against his side.
“I don’t know, boss man. You sure you don’t need any help?” Kyle asked from behind them, sounding both concerned and like he was trying not to laugh his ass off. She wasn’t sure what he found so freaking funny, but if it turned out to have anything to do with her, she was going to kick him. Hard.
“Kyle?” Eli muttered, as he opened the door to one of the rooms and all but shoved her inside.
“Yeah?” Kyle asked from the sidewalk.
“Piss off.” Eli slammed the door in the merc’s smirking face, then turned around and shoved a hand through his hair, his narrow gaze immediately connecting with hers. Carla had sat down on the foot of one of the beds, her left side now completely covered in blood. She’d felt a wave of relief when she’d seen that there were two beds in the room—but the look on Eli’s face as he pinned her under his dark glare completely shredded it. He still looked like he wanted to throttle her, but there was something even darker than anger in his unusual eyes, and it had her pulse kicking up. She wasn’t afraid of him, but that hungry, visceral look made her nervous as hell.
Needing a distraction, she said, “I could have paid for my own room, you know.”
His response was dry. “My mistake. I wasn’t aware you’d be flush with cash after escaping from a kidnapping.”
She lifted her chin. “I didn’t run empty-handed. I stole a wad of cash off the Whiteclaw. There’s still enough left to pay for my rooms and my meals on our way back.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got it covered,” he murmured, slipping two packs she hadn’t even noticed he was carrying off his shoulder. She was glad to see that one of the bags was hers. The blood on her skin was starting to get sticky, and she was trying to work up the energy to head to the shower so she could clean it off, when he set his bag down on the desk, opened it up, and pulled out a first-aid kit. He came over to the bed she was sitting on and started taking things out of the kit—antiseptic wipes and some ointment—setting them on the comforter.
Carla knew she should object when he grabbed the chair in front of the desk and dragged it over, sat down, then took a pair of scissors from the kit and started cutting her ruined shirt off. But she just couldn’t find the energy. If he wanted to help her, fine. It didn’t mean anything, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to lead to anything.
“Your men, they seem pretty loyal to you,” she said to break the uncomfortable silence. As well as to get her attention focused on something other than how freaking hot he looked. Eli had always worn the post-fight look well, and it looked even better on him now, with his shaggy hair and fierce expression. There were more little lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes than the last time she’d seen him, but they only added to his rugged appeal. It was one of those unfair imbalances in the universe, how things that made a woman look aged usually only a made a man look more attractive. And Eli wore that “lived in” look well.
She didn’t think he was going to bother giving her any kind of response, but he surprised her when he tossed her ruined shirt aside and said, “They’re a good bunch of guys. We’ve been through a lot together.”
She didn’t have time to be embarrassed about sitting there in nothing but her jeans and bra, because he opened one of the wipes and started cleaning the oozing wound. Her breath hissed through her teeth at the sharp sting of pain, but she forced it to the back of her mind and asked, “How did you all meet?”
He tossed the wipe into the nearby trashcan, and shot her a wry glance. “How about I tell you that story when you don’t look like you’re about to pass out?”
“I’m fine. I’ve had worse than this and survived.” Both physically...and emotionally.
He frowned, as if he’d heard her thoughts. Or maybe he just didn’t like the idea of her getting hurt. He never had liked her being a Runner, thinking it was too dangerous. But she’d never had any intention of leaving her job to make him happy. The way she’d seen it, if he’d truly cared about her, he would have learned to accept her and see her for who she really was: a woman and a warrior.
But, then, he’d never really cared about her, had he?
Trailing his rough fingertips just under the graze, he said, “You’ll heal with rest, but the bra needs to come off or it’s going to keep rubbing against the wound during the night.”
Carla looked him right in the eye and gave him her best as if look. “Not—Happening.”
“I wasn’t asking, Rey.”
Gritting teeth, she muttered, “You always were a bossy, manipulative jerk.”
He snorted as he shoved the chair back and knelt in front of her, his big body so close she could feel his delicious heat like a physical touch against her chilled skin. “And yet you used to love spending time with me,” he offered huskily, his mouthwatering scent settling on her tongue like a gift. “What do you think that says about you, princess?”
God, he was so damn good at pissing her off. “I’m not a princess.”
His sensual lips curved in a way that would have made any other woman whose heart he hadn’t shredded light-headed with desire. “Sure you are, Rey. All those big bruisers in the Alley think of you as their little sister, which makes you the princess of the group.”
“They think of me as their equal,” she snarled, wondering why he was goading her on purpose. Then she felt her nipples tightening in the cool air, and realized he’d managed to cut her bra off while she’d been growling at him. Argh! She must be woozier than she’d thought if she hadn’t caught on before he’d bared her to his dark, heavy-lidded gaze.
He was staring at her naked breasts, hard, and she blushed clear to the roots of her hair, trying to cover herself with her right arm, her blood nearly boiling when she caught the crooked smirk on his lips.
His hot gaze flicked up to hers. “After everything that happened between us that last night we were together, modesty is a little pointless now, don’t you think?”
“It was dark in your room that night.” Not to mention it was three years ago, and he’d been drunk off his ass.
“Yeah, but I’m a pure-blood. My night vision is even better than yours.” He flicked his tongue over his teeth, and his lips twitched into a wicked grin. “My sense of taste, too.”
Lust shot through her in a burst so primal and potent it made her shudder, and it took every ounce of strength she possessed not to pant...or throw herself at him. “I would have thought you were too wasted to remember anything from those particular minutes, Eli.”
He slowly arched one of his dark brows. “That night wasn’t the only time I had your taste in my mouth, Rey.”
She blushed even hotter when she realized he was talking about the time he’d licked her juices from his fingers after they’d been inside her. He’d made her come with his hand during their last “sober” interaction together. It’d been two days before the drunken night at his house in Shadow Peak, and they’d met in the woods, as they so often had, carefully avoiding the prying eyes of the pack.
A bitter laugh sounded inside her head as she thought about that telling fact. She should have known then that she was nothing more than his dirty little secret. Something he was too ashamed to admit to. But she’d been blinded by love and faith and foolish dreams. Dreams that had lived inside her heart for too many years to fight them.
With perfect clarity, Carla could still remember the first time she’d ever set eyes on Eli Drake. She’d been no more than twelve, and he’d been...well, the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. He should have detested the sight of her, given his father’s virulent hatred of humans and half-breeds, but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d grinned at her that day that they’d passed on a small street in Shadow Peak—but it’d been years before they’d ever spoken to each other. Ten, to be exact. And she could still recall the details of that night as if it’d happened only yesterday.
Her mother had always had...issues. And she’d had dismal taste in men. After a string of abusive relationships with Lycan males, Nicole Cates had vowed to only date humans. But the relationships never lasted. The only lasting relationship Nicole had ever enjoyed was with a bottle.
Carla was the result of a short-term affair her mother had had with a human named Antonio Reyes, and he’d disappeared from her life as quickly as he’d entered it. To her family’s surprise, and disgust, Nicole had decided to keep the child, thinking a baby might help her find some stability. But it was Carla who’d become the caretaker. Nicole’s family had made it clear they wanted nothing to do with their pathetic daughter and her half-human offspring, and so the two of them had been on their own. Though she’d had the support of her fellow Bloodrunners when she’d gotten older, no one from the pack had ever helped her and her mother, until the night she’d first spoken to Eli, less than a week after she’d turned twenty-two.
She could still feel the hot slide of angry, frustrated tears slipping down her face as she’d struggled with her mother’s limp body that night, the salty taste of them on her lips. She’d had a call that Nicole was passed out on a sidewalk outside one of Shadow Peak’s bars. Too embarrassed to tell the other Runners, she’d left the Alley and gone up to town to handle it on her own. As she’d tried to get Nicole on her feet, shame had burned in her belly at the thought of the girls she’d gone to school with seeing her mother like this, knowing how horrible they would be. The derogatory names they would call them. The same names she’d heard her entire life.
And then, out of nowhere, Eli had walked out of the darkness and taken her mother from her arms, carrying her home while a stunned and wary Carla had walked beside him. She’d been amazed to realize that he not only knew her name and where her mother lived, but that she was Bloodrunning partners with Wyatt. Afterward, they’d talked out in her mother’s backyard, and it had been the beginning. Of their friendship. Of her love. Of...of everything.
Eli Drake had been her hero that night, coming to her rescue at a time when she’d desperately needed him. But now he was her nightmare. The thing in the world that could hurt her most. That could break her.
Her mother had always warned her that a Lycan male would destroy her heart if she wasn’t careful. How awful to learn that Nicole had been right.
Shattered by the memories flooding through her, Carla closed her eyes, determined to block them out—to block him out—hoping it would help her find some measure of control. Huge mistake. The sudden touch of his tongue to the sensitive skin over her ribs made her gasp, then whimper, and she flushed with mortification. God, she couldn’t have sounded more needy if she’d tried, and his hands flexed against her hips, holding her tighter.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she choked out, when she felt the delicious rasp of his tongue gliding higher, until he was licking the flesh of her blood-smeared breast that she hadn’t managed to cover with her arm. Her breath seized in her lungs, her eyes shocked wide as she stared down at him, too stunned to do anything more than shiver as she watched him lick another smear of blood off her tingling skin, taking the crimson fluid into his mouth, like it was his right.
“Christ,” he groaned, the hungry sound vibrating deep in his chest. “Like I could ever forget that taste.”
“Eli?”
* * *
Pulling his head back, Eli looked up at Carla’s flushed face, and thought To hell with it. He needed this. No matter how dangerous it was to his sanity, he needed it. Craved it. Would have sold his damn soul for it.
Not giving himself time to change his mind, he leaned in close again, wanting her mouth this time, but she jerked back from him, turning her head to the side, her chest heaving. He started to tell her to stop acting like a fucking child and just give him what they both needed after being apart for so long, then stopped when he caught sight of the tears spilling over her pale cheek.
Shit.
“Rey,” he breathed out, feeling like he’d just been gutted. In all the time that he’d known her, he couldn’t ever recall seeing her cry. Not since the night that he’d helped her with Nicole.
Her throat worked as she swallowed. Then she turned her head to look at him and licked her lips. “From the moment we first realized there was something between us, you told me to wait, so I waited,” she whispered unsteadily. “To give it time, so I did. And do you know what I got for it? Nothing. Except your lying ass disappearing without a single goddamn word.”
He wanted to look away from those tear-soaked eyes that were making him feel like the biggest son of a bitch who had ever walked the planet, but couldn’t. “I was banished,” he heard himself scrape from his tight throat. “What did you expect me to do? What the hell would I have said?”
Years-old fury flamed beneath her tears, so bright it made him wince. “Maybe Come with me? Did that ever cross your pea-sized brain? If you ever meant a single damn word that you said to me, you would have asked—”
“I had no idea where I was going,” he bit out, the familiar rise of frustration nearly strangling him. There’d been no goddamn right answer where she was concerned. No matter what he chose, what he did, she would have ended up hurt. He’d simply tried to choose the path that would be easiest for her. And...fuck, maybe easiest for him, as well—at least when it came to his emotions—which just made him sound like a coward. “I didn’t have a home to offer you, Rey. No security or protection. How could I have asked you to give up everything you’d ever known for that kind of life? To leave your friends and family?”
“You were my family,” she whispered, digging that knife even deeper. “At least I thought you were. Fool that I was. You just wanted to screw the girl who’d never bedded down with a Lycan, didn’t you? Was it a bet between you and your friends? Did you all laugh about it behind my back before you left?”
“You know that’s not true,” he growled, wanting to shake her. “I didn’t want anything to happen to you. I was trying to take care of you!”
She gave a bitter laugh. “And what a stellar job you did. I’d hate to know what it’s like to be someone you want to hurt.”
“Carla, I—”
“Stop!” she pleaded, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her free hand. “Please, just...stop. I don’t want to hear another lie from you. I just want you to leave me alone.”
Shit! This is so screwed up.
Moving to his feet, Eli stared down at the top of her golden head, and wanted to roar with frustration. “I wish I could make you understand, but everything I’ve done...the reasons...it’s complicated, Rey.”
She didn’t say anything. She just turned and crawled up over the bed, then curled into a ball on her side, telling him without words that she was done listening to his bullshit.
“Sleep fast,” he muttered, moving to sit on the foot of the other bed. Elbows on his parted knees, he dropped his head into his hands, squeezing his skull, and kept talking. “We’re getting an early start tomorrow. And I still have questions, so be ready to start answering them.”
There was no response, but he hadn’t expected one. He listened until her breathing evened out, then moved back to his feet and stripped down to his fitted boxers. He pulled the covers over her small, curled up form, forcing himself not to look at her too closely because he knew he’d never be able to stop once he did. Then he turned out the light.
Lying down on his bed, Eli put his hands behind his head and stared up at the watermarked ceiling, wondering what in God’s name he’d been thinking. He’d actually thought he could get his head together before he and the guys reached Maryland and he had to face her again. What a jackass idea. Even if it’d taken months to get back, it still wouldn’t have been enough time to sort out this messed-up situation.
And he could no longer say for certain if he was still trying to protect her...or if it was his own miserable hide he was worried about. Especially seeing as how she wanted rid of him. Wanted to break the tenuous bond that tied them together, severing that final connection.
Turning on his side, he stared at her delicate shape beneath the soft streams of moonlight filtering in through the blinds, and pulled in a deep breath of her warm, intoxicating scent. This woman had been under his skin for years, and he wasn’t sure if staying away from her anymore was the right answer...or the wrong one.
All Eli knew was that it was killing him, not being in that bed with her, holding her against his body, where he wanted her.
And where she’d always belonged.
