Axe put his hands on her waist and brought her up against his body. As he stared into her blue eyes, he whispered, "I lied."
"About what?"
"I'm flat-out terrified of you."
She shook her head. "You can trust me. I'm not going to desert you."
Axe kissed her mouth. Because he wanted to. And because he desperately wanted to stop the conversation. "Come on, let's get out of here. It's cold."
More to the point, he had this superstitious fear that maybe his parents' bad road was something the two of them could catch. A relationship virus or something.
Back upstairs, he hurried her into the living room. The sun was coming up soon, and the heaviest drapes were in there.
Damn, he'd never given it much thought before, but he didn't feel safe with her here during the day. He wanted them behind steel doors, so sheltered underground from the sun that it was as if that big, glowing death orb didn't exist.
As they resettled in front of the fire, lying together, he said, "I haven't done any drugs since the night I found out he was killed. I stopped using them then. I still drink every once in a while, but not like I used to."
"So that was your bottom point," she commented.
"Guess so."
The fact that he didn't tell her about the sex stuff wasn't something that sat well with him. But he wasn't going to do that anymore, either. Going back to The Keys tonight had been a revelation in how much he did not need that now that he had the real deal--
The sound of a phone ringing across the room made him frown.
It was his cell. Which Craeg had dropped off for him earlier.
The thing went silent. Only to ring again.
"Goddamn it," he muttered as he got up.
Fishing through the pockets of his cloak, he took the cell out and frowned. Answering it, he said, "Novo? You okay?...Yeah, I'm fine....Nah, I'm home. Where are you?...Are you leaving now?...Novo, seriously, it's right before fucking dawn. What the fuck are you doing--huh?...Yeah, I lose track of time there, too, but Christ, come on. Don't make me regret getting you in....Fine. Will you get off the phone and call me when you're home? Dumb-ass."
He hung up and kept the phone with him as he went back over to Elise and lay down again.
"Sorry. That's one of my fellow trainees. A real hardheaded hard-ass who's just about as stupid as I am. I just--you know, I don't want anyone hurt."
Elise nodded. "Of course. Do you want to go see if he's okay or something?"
Axe just rolled his eyes. "Novo will be just fine, as long as--"
The phone rang again and he answered before the ring-a-linging stopped. "Where are you." He exhaled. "Good. Don't stay that late again, okay? You can always go back, just not if you're fucking dead. See you tomorrow night, asshole."
He was laughing a little as he hung up. "What a psychopath."
Elise smiled, but it was a remote kind of thing. "It takes a special breed to do what you all and the Brothers are doing."
As Axe recognized that her mood had changed, he wanted to ease her. "Don't worry. I know where you've gone in your head, but I'm safe. I'm careful--"
"Axe...I think I'm falling in love with you."
--
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, Elise thought. Not what she'd expected to come out of her mouth. Like, not even close.
And as that bomb landed between them, Axe blinked like she'd spoken a foreign language. Which, yup, was precisely the kind of reaction you were looking for when you told a male you loved him.
"Oh, God." She put her face in her hands. "I can't believe I just said that."
With subtle pressure, he made her drop her arms down. And his expression was...
Well, he was smiling.
It was a slight kind of thing, not a big flash of the fangs or anything. But it was definitely a small, secret smile, meant only for her--and created, she suspected, only by her.
Now, that's what she was talking about, she thought as she smiled back at him.
"Say it again," he whispered. "Send some more sunshine my way just so I'm sure I heard you right."
Elise was very aware that she had two paths to choose from. She could deny the words, downplay them, be safe. Or she could let herself fly.
She picked glorious flight over fright. "I'm falling in love with you."
Axe smiled a little bigger and then he was kissing her, his heavy body easing her back on the pallet. With sure hands, he disappeared the blanket between them, and then he rolled on top of her, his hot, hard erection going in between her legs.
It was the most natural thing in the world to kiss him back and welcome him inside. And there was no frantic pumping this time, just a gentle rolling motion that warmed her first before it lit her on fire.
As they made love in front of the hearth, she felt like her world was complete: Yes, it was early in the relationship, but with honesty and trust, all things were possible.
Especially as Axe dropped his head and whispered into her ear, "I'm falling in love with you, too."
Elise giggled.
Yup, she let out a girlie giggle that was more fitting for the kind of female who got her nails done and had streaks in her hair and wore high heels and flirty skirts.
At the sound, Axe stopped and eased back. "Was that what I think it was?"
"No, not at all."
"Did my psychology Ph.D. candidate actually--"
She clamped her palm over his mouth. "I did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did--"
As he thrust fully into her, Elise arched under his body, pleasure flooding her veins. "Axe..."
"Admit it."
"What?" she mumbled.
He rolled his hips twice. And then stopped. "You giggled."
"Not fair--" He thrust again and this time she went for his butt with her nails. "Finish what you started!"
"Admit you giggled!"
"Why!"
They were laughing so hard, it didn't matter what they were saying. A buoyant bubble of happiness had engulfed them both, and they were bouncing in the center of the joyful space, free of anything on the outside.
"Fine, I giggled--"
In response to her capitulation, Axe got down to business, thrusting into her...before reaching down, grabbing one of her legs, and stretching it all the way up so she was cocked to the side and he could get in still further.
Even through her pleasure, she managed to keep her eyes on him. He was magnificent in the firelight, his warrior's body dominating her, his muscles standing out in sharp relief, the massive veins that ran down his neck and into his arms showing starkly against his tan skin.
When he bared his fangs, she knew he was going to go for her jugular, and she wanted him there. Turning her head to the side, she bared herself to him--
The strike was brutal, his fangs going in so deep, she screamed--but not in pain, even though it hurt in a delicious way.
This was the marking she had heard about.
This was the owning of the female by the male, the staking of the claim. And sure enough, he held her in place at the throat with his teeth as he marked her from the inside out by coming into her sex.
But he wasn't done with her.
Before she could catch her breath, he pulled out, flipped her over, and yanked her onto all fours. Rearing up behind her, he bit her again, on the other side, and then he was in her once more, taking her from the rear, one hand running up between her slapping breasts and locking on the base of her throat, the other planted on the floor, holding them both up.
She was facing the fire, and her vision swung wildly with each of his pounding thrusts--the flames jumping this way and that, her hair flying around until some lashed into her open mouth.
At some point, her upper body just collapsed onto the blanket, her sex up in the air, his for the taking as he drilled her over and over again, coming so many times, he coated her with his marking scent.
Elise forgot how many orgasms she ha
d.
All she cared about was that he never, ever stop.
he following evening, when the sun was safely below the horizon, and the temperature was dropping from the twenties into the teens, Rhage found himself once again exercising great self-control.
He was down in the mansion's foyer, standing in front of the double doors of the vestibule. No, that wasn't quite right. He was actually off to one side of them, staring out of the bubbly, antique glass framers that faced the courtyard beyond. Which meant he couldn't see much.
Kind of apt, really, considering he had no idea how this was going to go.
He sensed, rather than heard or scented, his females upon the great staircase, and he turned around and watched them descend. Bitty was in a red velvet dress he and Mary had bought her in preparation for the human holiday, and the girl had white tights underneath, patent leather black shoes, and a black felt coat that had been made in the Victorian period and passed down through Bella's family.
She and Rehv had wanted Bitty to have it, and with its gorgeous satin lining and black velvet collar and cuffs, the thing was certainly made better than anything available at any store today.
Indeed, Bitty's outfit was so proper and festive...but in spite of her pretty clothes, she looked like she was going to the gallows.
And Mary didn't appear any better.
As for him? Personally, he felt like someone had cut off both of his legs and left him to bleed out on the floor.
But hey, who was comparing?
As his females hit the mosaic floor and crossed over its depiction of an apple tree in full bloom, he took a deep breath. "You ready, Bitty?"
Dumb fucking question, he thought as she stopped before him.
"Please," she said in a shaky voice. "Come with me? Don't make me go alone?"
His hand was trembling as he brushed her cheek. "You won't be alone. Fritz is going to drive you in, and Vishous and Zsadist are going to be there waiting for you."
Actually, V and Z and were going to track the Mercedes all the way into town, the pair of them dematerializing at regular intervals along the route until she arrived safely at the Audience House. And they would have ridden with her, but the concern was that the girl might feel as if her uncle were dangerous if she made the trip in with two heavily armed Brothers sitting on either side of her.
"I can't do this." Bitty looked frantically at Mary. "Please, don't make me go. What if he takes me?"
"He won't." Mary stepped in and smoothed the little girl's hair. "And we'll be right here, waiting for you--in fact, as soon as it's done, Rhage will dematerialize right there and he'll ride home with you, okay?"
"You will?" Bitty asked him. "You promise."
"I absolutely promise--"
"How about I go with you and stay with you the entire time."
All three of them wheeled around at the disembodied, synthesized voice. But no one was there, even though it sounded like--
"Lassiter?" Rhage said, as he glanced at all the thin air in the foyer. "Where the hell are you?"
"Bitty," came that voice. "Put your hand out."
The little girl did as she was told--and from out of nowhere, a tiny pool of golden light formed in her palm.
"It's warm," she said with wonder.
The light spot traveled up her arm to her shoulder and stayed there, as a bird might have. And then the odd, phantom voice said, "I'll be with you the whole time. No one else needs to know, okay? Only you'll know, and your parents will know--"
Rhage and Mary both winced at that word.
"--and most importantly, you won't be alone. 'Kay?"
Bitty took a long, slow inhale. "Okay. That's good. Thank you."
A set of headlights flared in those old, narrow-paned windows by the exit...and sure as shit, Rhage wanted to bust out of the house and scream at Fritz to go away.
"All right," Mary said in a strained voice. "Big hugs."
As the two embraced, Rhage stared at that little sun spot on Bitty's shoulder. It had gotten even smaller, so that it was nearly invisible, the sort of thing that was easily missed.
He was going to owe the angel big-time for this one.
"You're so brave," Mary said over Bitty's head. "I'm so proud of you."
"I'm not brave, I'm scared."
"And you're doing this anyway--which is the very definition of brave."
Mary stepped free and brushed her own hair back. She was glancing away a lot, her eyes shimmering with tears that she was clearly determined not to shed.
Bitty came over to stand in front of Rhage. Looking up, up, way up at him, she said, "You promise you'll come."
He sank down on his haunches, both knees cracking like tree branches from a trunk. "I promise. V will let me know and I have my phone right here."
As he showed her his cell, Bitty threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her in close, shutting his eyes and sending a prayer up that this would all somehow magically be okay.
And then he and Mary walked the girl out through the vestibule, across the stone pavers of the mansion's entrance, down the steps, and to the black Mercedes. Fritz helped the little girl by opening the door for her, and then the butler shut things up and bowed deeply to Rhage and Mary.
Those taillights going down the hill were the most tragic thing Rhage had ever seen.
He and Mary stayed where they were, standing side by side in the cold, well after the pair of red eyes were long gone.
"Let's go inside," his shellan said dully.
"Okay."
"There's nothing we can really do but wait."
"Yeah."
She turned away and started back for the vestibule. But for some reason, he couldn't move. Rhage just stood there, immobile, staring out at the moon, which was full or pretty damn close to it.
His heart was in that fucking Mercedes. His heart was heading away from him, leaving his body and traveling in that car to someone else, to some other construct of family, to a future that didn't include him or Mary--
"Rhage?"
Pivoting on his shitkicker, he looked toward the mansion. Mary was standing just inside the vestibule and holding the door wide for him.
He wanted to go over to her, but his body seemed to be ignoring the signals from his brain. And then he decided he should say something...but speech didn't seem to be coming.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
There was a pause. And then Mary exploded forward, racing across the distance, throwing herself in his arms. As he caught her against him, he really couldn't believe it was all happening.
"You always tell me," she groaned, "that I know what to say. But I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do, I can't help you, I can't help her, I can't change anything...."
Rhage smoothed his palm up and down her back, and felt so powerless.
"I've got to stop this," she babbled. "I've got to stop...this from happening....oh, God, she's leaving....Rhage, my baby is leaving me, my child...."
He ended up scooping her into his arms and holding her off the ground, cradling her as she wept.
Eventually, the emotional burn-off eased up, and she took some shuddering inhales. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry--"
"Why?" He shifted his hold and brushed her hair back. "Why would you ever apologize?"
"Because I need to be there for you. I need to support you."
For a long moment, he stared down into her face, tracing the features he knew so well with his eyes. And then he smiled a little. "My Mary Madonna, by letting me take care of you? You make me strong. You give me strength by relying on me to take care of you."
"That's not fair, though. What about you--"
Rhage shook his head. "Do I have to explain male bonded vampires to you again? You are...my reason for being. And I've never loved you more than I do right now."
"Even if Bitty leaves."
His eyes went to the moon overhead. The bright shining moon. "If she leaves, nothing will be the same again for me. Nothing will be quite as b
right or funny or free. I was forever changed the minute she came into our lives--and I guess I didn't really understand how fully until now. It happened in an instant...and it will take a lifetime to get over." He refocused on his shellan. "There is only one thing that will remain unchanged. And that is my feelings for you. In fact, my love for you is the one thing that will keep me standing at the end of this."
Mary teared up all over again, especially as he kissed her.
"Our strength must be tested," he whispered, "for us to know it's still there. And I will always be your warrior, Mary mine. Always and forever."
Mary reached up to his face and stroked his cheek.
"I love you," she breathed.
He nodded. "We're going to get through this, Mary. Even if we're limping and bloodied at the end. We will go on because...maybe she'll come and see us someday, after she's grown. Maybe she'll remember us. Who knows. But even if she doesn't, we have to still be a family together, you and I. Otherwise...God, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about."
ait, so you don't have class?"
As Elise asked the question, she was pulling on her jeans in Axe's bathroom upstairs, her damp, fresh-out-of-the-shower skin making it the kind of job she had to do sitting on the toilet with the seat down.
Axe shook his head as he put shaving cream on his face and picked up his razor. "We were supposed to, but I don't know what's going on. The text said that the Brotherhood is 'otherwise engaged,' whatever that means."
"So do you think we can go have First Meal together?"
"Sure, where?"
Okay, it was totally sexy, watching your male shave. And Axe was tragically efficient about the job, running those blades down his jaw, across his chin, over his upper lip. There was no light on above the mirror, but she could see well enough thanks to a candle he'd lit and put on the side of the porcelain sink.
"I love all the candlelight here," she remarked.
Loved even more what it was flowing over: the great pads of Axe's pecs, and his six-pack that was so sharp it threw shadows, and his long, low-hanging sex, and his heavy thighs.
He glanced at her. "You keep looking at me like that and we're not going to make it out of this house before sundown tomorrow."
Elise smiled. "Well, if you weren't so good to look at, I wouldn't stare so much. Anyway, I need to head over to Peyton's and get my phone first."
Axe frowned. "I'll go with you."