Burning Dawn

Thane wanted her all to himself?

  Ugh. Don't go there, either. She picked up the most beautiful, a black and white in a mesmerizing pattern, with a shimmery inlay. Soft. Warm, as if it were an electric blanket. The card attached said it was made from the hair of a unicorn and griffin hybrid.

  But seriously, Thane wanted her all to himself?

  The owner spotted her. A six-foot-three Amazonian warrior woman.

  Elin had no plans to buy. Her money went toward necessities--like heels and leather pants--or into savings. End of story. She glanced away, hoping to avoid a sales pitch. Her gaze caught on a sight she'd hoped to never see again, and she cried out with dismay.

  There was Ardeo, the king of the Phoenix. Though he looked far different than she remembered, his dark hair standing on end, his hazel eyes bloodshot, and his once full cheeks now gaunt. Beside him was Orson, the second-in-command of the Firebird army.

  The two males stalked down the row of shops determinedly, menace in every step. They scanned every booth, obviously searching for something--or someone.

  Thane?

  Or Elin?

  What if they told Thane her secret?

  Sickness gave birth to panic, both burning her chest. Part of her wanted to palm her glass shard and go to town on Orson's face, something, anything to punish him for his part in her father's and Bay's deaths. Part of her knew that would merely create more problems.

  Whatever proves necessary, my darling, do it. Survive. Do not allow my sacrifice to be in vain.

  Decision made. Elin threw the rest of her money at the Amazon and said, "I'll take the blanket. If that's not enough, contact Thane at the Downfall and he'll pay." I hope.

  As she raced to Axel's booth--use him for protection--she pulled the pelt around her, covering her hair and shielding most of her face and body.

  For you, Momma. But deep down, Elin was ashamed by her behavior. There had to be a better way to save herself. A way that wouldn't trample on her self-respect.

  "--invite to the Lords, no problem," Bellorie was saying. "Uh, what are you doing, Bonka Donk?"

  "Hide me," Elin commanded, suddenly clammy. The Phoenix could ruin her in several different ways. "Don't talk to the warriors, okay? Don't talk to them, and don't listen to them. Send them away. Okay? Yes?"

  Bellorie frowned at her.

  Axel maintained his casual pose.

  Neither understood the danger level.

  Elin dropped to the Sent One's side, as if she was his slave, and bowed her head. Perfect timing. Two sets of scuffed leather boots came into view. Her heart thundered against her ribs, continually coming into contact with the heat of the panic--a match about to light and torch her.

  Perhaps she was more Phoenix than human after all.

  "You are a Sent One." Orson's voice. Deep. Harsh. Rough.

  Making her shudder. With fear...and rage. Can't fight a dragon before you fight a lion and bear.

  "Is this State the Obvious day?" Axel asked, and he sounded genuinely curious. "If so, I want a turn. You're ugly, and ridiculously stupid."

  The Phoenix warrior sucked in a breath. "Watch your tongue, winger, or you'll lose it."

  It was common knowledge Sent Ones were allowed to kill demons, and no one else. Unless, of course, they were being held against their will. Right now, Axel wasn't being held against his will. He was at a major disadvantage.

  "We're here for Thane. Do you know him?" Orson demanded.

  Why wasn't Ardeo speaking? He was king.

  And what did they want with Thane? The captives? Probably. So...maybe, if Elin stayed out of sight, she wouldn't be mentioned and her secret would stay safe.

  "Bellorie, darling," Axel said, checking his cuticles. "They're boring me."

  "My reward?" she asked, confusing Elin.

  "Double."

  "Deal."

  A second later, before Elin could even track the girl's movements from beneath the blanket, Bellorie jabbed her hand through Orson's chest, grabbed his heart, and jerked it out. The organ beat twice more before stopping.

  The warrior collapsed on the ground, dead.

  Blood dripped from between Bellorie's fingers.

  Blood...blood...blood sprayed from her father's head as it rolled. Blood dripped from Bay's broken body as it slumped over the table. Blood smeared her mother's thighs as she clutched her dead baby.

  Ice doused the heat inside Elin. A scream brewed in the back of her throat, quickly escaping. Another followed close on its heels--then another. Maybe Ardeo saw her face. Maybe he didn't. She didn't care anymore. Couldn't stop screaming as the king of the Phoenix swooped up his second-in-command and raced away, most likely hoping to get him somewhere safe so that he could regenerate.

  "Quiet," Axel commanded.

  She tried to obey, she really did, but the screams just kept coming. Blood...a pool of red...the scent of it in the air...old pennies. Familiar. Wafting from the two men she loved more than life. Then from her mother and only sibling--her precious baby brother.

  Strong arms banded around her and lifted her off the ground. Elin fought with every bit of her strength, swinging her arms, kicking her legs. Biting. Scratching. She would act like a warrior and battle to the death. Screw survival at any cost!

  The arms released her, and she fell; she must have been higher up than she'd realized, because she lost her breath when she landed, angry pains tearing through her side. And still the screams emerged, though they were softer now, mere rasps of broken breath.

  "What's wrong with her?" she thought she heard Bellorie ask.

  "I don't know, but I've summoned Thane," Axel replied, his tone grim.

  "He won't come for a bottom-level employee. He--"

  "Is already here."

  Suddenly blond curls and electric blues consumed Elin's line of vision. Thane's beautiful face was streaked by soot. There were vivid cuts on his forehead and cheek, but at least the purity of his scent replaced the old pennies, and the heat of his body chased away the chill of panic.

  "Elin, look at me."

  Struggling to breathe, she focused on the beauty of him rather than the injuries.

  "You're safe now. I need you to calm."

  Have to make him understand. "Help me get it off. Please, Thane. Help me get it off." She realized she was sprawled flat on her back in the middle of the street, and Thane was crouched beside her, his wings wrapped around her, shielding her from the curiosity of others.

  "What do you need me to get off you, kulta?"

  "The...the blood." Even hate the word. "Get it off."

  "I see no blood."

  "It's there. I know it is. And I need it off. Please." She gasped. The blood had even spread to him. His wings...they were red. Everything was red!

  "Kulta."

  Hot tears streaked down her cheeks as she sagged into a panting, boneless puddle. "Please."

  "Did someone harm you?" he asked, his tone so quiet she barely heard him.

  "Please."

  Frowning, he tenderly cleaned her face with strokes of his thumb. "All right. I'll take you home, and wash you."

  "Hate to break up the party," Axel said, "but two Phoenix warriors were here looking for you, my man. They were pretty upset."

  Panic hit Elin. If Thane hunted Ardeo and Orson...if the three had a little chat...

  Her secret would not be a secret anymore.

  Elin began to fight.

  Hatred and determination fought for dominance in Thane's expression, but still he cooed softly to her, reassuring her that he was there, that he wasn't going anywhere. When finally she calmed, he said to Axel, "Take Bellorie to Xerxes, and tell the warrior of the Phoenix." He scooped Elin into his arms, cradled her close to his chest, and shot straight into the air.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THANE COULDN'T BELIEVE the day he'd had. He and his boys had almost died in the building collapse. If not for the Water of Life, they would have. Within seconds of taking a sip of the healing agent, their broken bones had mended,
torn muscles had woven back together, and dry veins had replenished.

  Once healed, they'd pulled the humans from the rubble, and fed each a drop of the Water, as well, ensuring no lives were lost. Unfortunately, news stations were now blasting the story of the three odd-looking males who'd "preformed one of the world's greatest miracles."

  He was a bundle of emotions. Relieved the humans survived. Guilty for not following orders and thereby leading to the blast, and discovery. After all, a mistake that turned out well did not make it any less of a mistake. He was even worried. What would happen next?

  What would Zacharel say? Would his leader reprimand him? Or finally kick him out?

  Just then, Thane cared.

  Without his strength, his wings, how would he protect Elin?

  Back at the club, he had gone in search of her, thinking he would keep her by his side for the rest of the day, just in case the prince decided to attack on his home turf.

  Lying to yourself? No. But massaging the truth? Definitely.

  The truth, without any massaging: he'd wanted Elin in his bed, naked. He'd wanted his hands on her. His mouth on her. He'd wanted to thrust inside her and hear her cry his name.

  As the Rathbone building had collapsed around him, his only thought had been this: he couldn't leave this world without having Elin in every way.

  Elin, who hated blood and didn't realize his soul was soaked in it.

  Now, he carried her through his suite and into the bathroom, placing her on the toilet lid. He sent Xerxes a mental command.

  Relocate Bellorie. I don't want her at the club.

  She'd caused this.

  Did you sleep with her? Xerxes demanded, his shock evident.

  No. Her presence offends me.

  There was no more need to discuss. Very well.

  Elin was silent, her mind probably somewhere else. The past, most likely.

  Moving as swiftly as possible, he locked the doors and drew a steaming bath. She offered no protest as he stripped her and looked her over, searching for injuries. Her skin was pallid in places and flushed in others, her freckles stark. But her beautiful breasts, topped by little pink nipples, and her stomach, flat and soft, and her legs, long and lithe, were all unmarred.

  "Elin," he said softly.

  Finally, movement. She wrapped her arms around her middle--to warm herself against the chill in the air, or to at last shield herself from his view?--and he saw the beginning of a bruise on her right side.

  He hissed in a breath. Elin...in pain...

  His hands fisted as something inside him broke. Or finally yanked out some of the weeds. He remembered Elin's screams, her voice laced with fear and broken at the edges. The sound hadn't aroused him; that was no surprise--it hadn't at camp, either. But it had tormented him. He would have done anything to make it stop.

  He remembered the way some of his lovers had looked at him over the years--as he had once looked at his demon captors. What would he do if Elin ever looked at him that way?

  Die, he realized. Some part of him would die. His last shred of decency, perhaps. He would be no better than the monsters he fought.

  Are you any better now?

  The thought jolted him. He was. Now. Finally. Before, he'd been dead. Choked by those weeds. Now he could breathe. He lived.

  He crouched in front of Elin and traced his knuckles over the discoloration on her ribs. "Why do you have this, kulta?"

  She kept her gaze on the tiled floor, saying softly, "I don't know. I mean, I fought Axel when he tried to pick me up and I fell, and it hurt. Maybe then?"

  Axel had not protected Thane's treasure. He and Axel needed to have a chat.

  Thane picked Elin up and settled her in the hot water. He perched at the edge of the tub, wondering if he should bathe her or just allow her to soak.

  "Join me," she beseeched.

  The words were soft, barely audible. Even still, they caused his entire world to shift.

  "No, kulta." He would make the bath sexual rather than comforting, and she was too vulnerable right now. "You are not in a good place right now. Your decisions aren't--"

  Haunted smoked-glass eyes found him and pierced all the way to his soul. "Please. I don't want to be alone."

  My female should not have to beg for anything. "All right." So easily swayed. After a moment's hesitation, he removed his robe, steeling himself against the excruciating rapture to come, and climbed in behind her. Liquid heat lapped at his skin as he drew her between his legs and settled her against his chest.

  Careful. He adjusted her position, or rather, tried to, but no matter her angle, his erection pressed against some part of her. He shuddered, fighting the urge to rub against her. Can't...resist... He had the most exquisite view of her body. A long strand of midnight hair clung to her dampened skin, the end wrapping around her pearled nipple. Droplets of water clung to the flat plane of her stomach.

  "I'll clean you now." Remain detached. He soaped her from neck to waist. At first, he managed to keep his mind on other things. The meeting with Zacharel tomorrow, concerning his actions at Rathbone Industries.

  Would he receive another whipping?

  That led to thoughts of tracking the demon prince and dishing out a whipping of his own. All the while Elin remained still and quiet, but she was also soft and sweet, her scent rivaling all distractions, and it wasn't long before the tether on his resistance frayed, then split and he accidentally-on-purpose grazed her nipple with his knuckles.

  She gave no reaction.

  End this. He poured warm liquid over her stomach, washing away the suds.

  "All done," he rasped.

  "Thank you," she replied, her tone somewhat automated.

  It was clear her memories still plagued her. Despite his own poor condition, he couldn't leave her like this.

  Massaging her shoulders, he asked gently, "Why do you hate blood, kulta?" in an effort to purge the past.

  Quiet, hesitant, she said, "The Phoenix burst into my parents' home on my twentieth birthday. My husband and I were there for a celebration dinner. It was just the four of us. Momma grabbed me and threw me under the table, and I was such a coward I stayed there while Daddy and Bay... They jumped to their feet to protect their women. The warriors decapitated Daddy and stabbed Bay. His body fell over the table, and his blood, it rained all over me. I screamed so much I permanently damaged my vocal cords."

  Her words painted a truly horrific image. Thane squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to blank his mind. His heart clenched. He ached for the girl she'd been. So young. So vulnerable.

  So tragic.

  "You aren't a coward, kulta."

  "I am," she said, dropping a fist into the water. "Today, when I saw Ardeo and Orson, I hid beside Axel rather than attack."

  "And you were wise to do so, not cowardly. You are a human without training. You--"

  "Have training," she interjected. "I've just never had the courage to apply it."

  A human learning to defend herself against other humans was hardly training for defending herself against the beings populating his world. "Would you hide if Ardeo and Orson burst into this bathroom?"

  "No. I'd attack!"

  "Then you are already a changed person. You learned from your mistakes."

  "That's...right." The knots in Elin's muscles smoothed out, and she relaxed against him--while he grew tenser by the second.

  He could have roared with triumph. He'd helped her.

  And maybe that was why, despite the horror of their conversation, his shaft remained as hard as a steel pipe, throbbing, urging him to arch into her at last and stroke against her cleft.

  "Thank you, Thane," she said, trembling.

  "Welcome." Did she sense the direction of his thoughts? Or had she finally realized she had a fully aroused male at her back?

  "So...how did you find me?"

  He wouldn't mention his search for her. The way he'd torn the club apart, more desperate to see her by the second. Or that Chanel had sai
d Bellorie took her shopping and he had been airborne mere seconds later.

  Along the way, Axel had spoken inside his mind. Your human won't stop screaming. What would you like me to do with her?

  Protect her. I'm almost there. Thane had quickened his pace.

  "Axel summoned me," he finally said. "Sent Ones can communicate telepathically."

  "Oh. That's cool," she said, shifting restlessly in the water, as if beseeching him...for more.

  You're misreading. He gritted his teeth.

  Then she moved again...and again, seeming to deliberately stoke his desire. Soon, she was rubbing against him.

  Thane flattened his big hand on her stomach to stop her. Instead, he spread his fingers, covering as much ground as possible, and encouraged her to move faster. He'd fought for control. He'd failed.

  She arched into his touch. "Thane."

  The neediness in her tone...

  He stroked his pinkie at the apex of her thighs, edging ever closer to her sweet spot, letting pulse after pulse of sizzling desire leave him and seep into her. She moaned.

  "Neither one of us is thinking clearly right now," he said. "Now is the time to stop."

  Her head rolled against his shoulder as she released another moan. "I don't want to stop." She paused. "Do you?"

  "I don't just crave you, kulta--I'm literally starved for you." He pushed himself against her so she would have no cause to doubt his words. "I would rather die than stop."

  She shivered, the water rippling. "Will you use whips and chains on me?" She reached up and behind, threading her fingers through his hair.

  "No." Never. "All I need is you." He licked the shell of her ear.

  "But--"

  "No buts." He pinched her chin and forced her head to angle toward his. Her eyes were at half-mast, her lips already parted and ready for his possession. Triumph surged through him. "When we're together, it will be you and me. No one else. Nothing else. Agree."

  "Thane--"

  "Agree, kulta."

  A torturous pause. Then, "I agree. For now."

  For now was good enough.

  Leaning down, he pressed his mouth against hers. She opened immediately, as if she couldn't help herself, and he took full advantage, thrusting his tongue against hers. He demanded. He consumed. He devoured. Never had a female intoxicated him more.

  He would give her everything. Do everything with her, things he'd never done with another. He would touch and taste every inch of her, then let her touch and taste every inch of him.

  They would never be the same.