A Witch's Love (17 page)

Loved. He loved her. Why couldn’t he just say the words? Why was he letting fear get the better of him?

He wished he was a better man, able to tell the best thing that had ever walked into his life that
she
was the one. That he’d waited for her for a century

He was a coward and a fool. He had hoped that his actions toward her would explain what his words had failed to do. Yet he knew it was not enough. Pain and agony were written all over her face and he couldn’t help thinking that he had contributed to it.

If only he could spare her from all of this. He’d willingly take her place. She said she wouldn’t ask him to stay after they found her sisters, but how could he leave her?

What they had experienced, what they had shared was more than just sex. His primal instincts called out to her, wanted her, and needed her. He hung his head as the helplessness became overwhelming. That’s when he heard the cracking.

Chapter 15

Ava’s screams filled the cabin.

Frantic, Lucas reached for her. “Ava, try to relax. It will be over soon, I promise.”

Ava’s bones were reinforcing, becoming invincible, but not without a price. If he remembered correctly, this was the worst part of his own transition.

The pain was incredible, like someone breaking all your bones at the same time. Except this happened much later in his transition. Something wasn’t right.

It was happening too fast. His heart bled for her as she became more panicked by the second. “I’m here, Ava.”

“Make it stop. Please!”

He brushed the hair out of her face. “I can’t, Ava. Just try to breathe through the pain.”

Her skin, once pale, was now becoming red with heat. Placing the cool cloth on her arm, he tried to temper the raging fire within her. Sweat trickled over her brow and tears fell from her eyes.

She reached out to him, grabbing his arm with speed. “Water!”

He grabbed the bottle he had brought with them on their ride and untwisted the cap. He brought the bottle to her lips but she thrashed in protest, shaking her head. “Water,” she said again, her voice fading by the second.

Yes, of course, water heals her.
Yet he had never heard of anything easing the pain of the transition. Ava was unlike any immortal he had encountered so water might work. He had to try. In his gut, he felt something was very wrong.

He had never seen any transition move this quickly, or intensify this strongly.

Hoping for a miracle, he took her in his arms and strode for the door.

She grimaced as he carried her, making his heart wrench. He flew across the landscape until he reached the creek. The water level was low and the water wouldn’t cover her body, but he placed her in the creek anyhow, just as she lost consciousness. “No! Stay with me Ava.”

He shook her, trying to revive her, when a loud thumping caught his ear. He listened to the rhythmic sound, becoming aware that the noise was indeed her heart beat. Her heart was slamming in her chest, the speed increasing every second.

“Ava, please stay with me,” he whispered to her, as he cupped water in his hands. He let the water run from his palms onto her body, then repeated the process over and over, hoping beyond hope that the water would start to heal her.

Her breathing became ragged and hoarse as she struggled for air. Her words echoed in his mind.
Lucas, I feel like I’m dying.
His thoughts began to race. This couldn’t be happening. She was young, beautiful, and had her whole immortal life in front of her. She couldn’t be dying, not now, not here. She couldn’t be . . .

Leaving him.

His eyes stung, as heaviness settled in his chest. “Don’t go where I can’t—”

She opened her eyes. They had lost their luster and her skin had paled again, becoming cool to the touch. She tried to raise her hand, but it barely lifted and trembled with effort. Her nerves were shot.

Taking hold of her shaking hand, he brought her smooth, moist skin to his lips.

She smiled slightly. “Save . . . them,” she whispered, before her eyes shut. She gasped for air while the thumping of her heart slowed. She exhaled sharply, then slumped in his arms. He listened for the beating of her heart but was met with . . .

Silence.

Ava shielded her eyes against the brilliant white light that shined upon her. She could barely see anything but she felt someone’s presence. “Hello. Is anyone there? Where am I?”

She heard footsteps and could feel eyes on her. Peering into light, she strained to see who was walking toward her. Then, as the brightness began to ease, a vision strode into her view, taking her breath away.

“Maeve, oh my. I have been so worried about you.” Ava ran into her guardian’s arms, embracing her hard.

“It is I who has been worried about you.” Maeve stroked her hair as she held her.

“Am I dead?” Ava whispered, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

Maeve broke their embrace. “No, Ava, but we don’t have much time. I need you to focus—”

“Why, Maeve? What is going on?”

“There is no time to explain. Just know that it has been my job and honor to protect you girls. I couldn’t have loved you more if I had given birth to you myself. It’s that love I need you to focus on now, Ava.” Maeve let go of her hand and took a step back.

“But, Maeve, where are you going?” Ava asked, reaching for her. “Maeve, wait!”

“Remember those you love. Focus on your reason to live,” she said, before disappearing into the light.

“What?” Ava wished Maeve could explain what the hell was going on. But Maeve would never lead her down the wrong path. So with that in mind, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on those she loved. Recalling a vision of her sisters—

She was hit with a jolt of energy. Memories flooded to her.

Memories of waking up in her parents’ bed as a child surrounded by their voices, her sisters happily playing tag in the yard as children, and Maeve, cooking in the kitchen as she helped. Each memory a happy one, filled with smiles and laughter. She felt her body growing warm as the past flashed before her eyes.

Again, a jolt hit her, but this time it intensified.

Memories of her childhood faded away and were replaced by vision of Lucas. Visions so real she thought she was reliving them. The moment they first met, their first kiss, and the first night he held her in his arms.

Another jolt overtook her.

She could hear Lucas’s voice, feel what he felt, and was surrounded by warm feelings of love. A love so great it brought tears to her eyes.

Heaviness weighted on her body, dropping her to her knees, then she was falling.

Lucas looked to the sun-streaked sky and let out a bellow of rage. He held Ava’s lifeless body in the silence of the woods. The thumping of her heart had stopped, but he wasn’t giving up on her. Dragging her body to the bank of the creek, he began CPR. The rocks and mud did little to cushion her body but that didn’t matter. Only saving her life.

“Come on, don’t do this, we can save them together,” he said, while he performed compressions on her chest. Her body moved with each compression but not of its own accord. He leaned in; breathing air into her lovely mouth, unwilling to believe it was too late for her.

Leaning back, he gazed upon her. The heaviness in his chest had traveled to his throat, restricting his breathing. His vision was clouded. He blinked to clear his view, causing the tears to fall onto his cheeks.

“Don’t do this,” he said as he took her body in his arms. Laying his head on her chest, he wished more than anything he could hear her heart beat once more. His grief overtook him as the reality of what was happening, hit him.

“I’m so sorry, Ava,” he whispered, as his tears clouded his sight. He realized then why he could never tell her that he loved her. He was scared. Saying the words out loud made the feelings real. What if she left him, or what if she . . . died?

This is why he lived alone without his clan. If you never love, never care, then no one can ever hurt you.

But here in his arms lay her lifeless body and he was overcome with regret for never telling her when she was alive.

“I love you,” he whispered as a tear fell from his eye and onto her chest.

The tear slid down her breastbone and began to glow with light. He lifted his head, gazing at the light intently.

He looked to the creek, where her feet still dangled and watched in amazement as the water began to flow over her body, traveling up her legs, over her torso, and around her arms. The light grew brighter as the water consumed her body, rushing over her skin. As the water receded, he took her into his arms. “Ava?”

He put his head to her chest, hoping to hear the beating of her heart. A faint sound caught his ear. Then, as the thumping of her heart grew stronger and louder, he studied her motionless body. “Can you hear me?”

Her body jolted and she gasped for air. Then she choked with the sudden expansion of her lungs. Her eyes fluttered open as her breathing evened and slowed.

“Ava!” Lucas gazed upon her face, stroking the apple of her cheek.

She smiled and reached out to him.

“You heard me?” He took hold of the hand she offered him.

“I more than heard you. I felt your love for me, Lucas.”

“What the hell just happened, Ava?”

She averted her face.

He inched her face back to his, noticing the tears streaming down her face.

“I saw Maeve. She told me to focus on love and next thing I knew, I was flooded with memories of my sisters, my parents, and Maeve. Then memories of us together, I felt them. I felt how much love you have for me. Then suddenly I was falling back to you.”

“Love? I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t understand when she said it, either, but now I do. My powers, Lucas, that’s the strongest trigger. Love.”

He used his thumb to wipe away a tear that fell from her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I love you before. I, damn it, I was afraid. If I told you how I felt then it would be real along with the reality of losing you and I-I just couldn’t bear it. I was a fool, Ava, please forgive me,” he said, taking her in his arms.

She tucked her head under his neck and he could feel her tears falling onto his skin. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

Holding her tight, he felt contentment. He could hold her like this forever but their trials were far from over. They still had a battle in front of them. He closed his eyes as he held her not wanting to think . . .
he could still lose her.

Lucas carried Ava into the house and gently laid her on the bed.

He started to turn away but she stayed him with her hand. “Wait.”

She took hold of his neck and eased him toward her, then touched her lips to his. If she couldn’t have him forever, then maybe she could have him right now. In this moment . . .

He braced his arms around her as she drew his shirt up—

Lucas jerked back. “Are you sure?”

She smiled. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my whole life. I feel great. I want this . . . I want you.”

He meet her lips with a growl as his tongue sought out hers, moving in the motion she so wished their bodies were doing. Her nipples ached under her garments, wanting to be free of their restrains. Free for the taking.

He lurched back, his eyes a blaze intently watching her. Dark and hooded, his eyes held a hunger she had never seen. “What is it?” His amber eyes turned away from her. That’s when she realized his claws were extended. She turned his face back to hers. “Lucas?”

“I wanted to take this slow, make love to you the way you deserve, but I—” He growled deep in his throat, turning his eyes back on her. “But I want you so bad, I don’t know if I can.”

She drew him on top of her body. “A wise man once told me that there was nothing wrong with letting your instincts take over,” she said as she leaned up to meet him. Opening her mouth, she let her tongue slide over his lips, then as he was about to touch his lips to her, she stilled him.

She tugged on his bottom lip with her teeth, letting him know that she wanted him just as much. His hands moved over her, removing her shirt from her body. His claws traced over her bra, snapping the item in half.

Running his hands down her flanks, his hands traveled toward her jeans, removing them with ease. She withered in front of him, wanting to feel his touch, his kisses, his skin upon her own. He kneeled in front of her, running his finger through the band of her panties. Wet heat settled between her legs, driving her to the brink.

She lifted her leg, letting it rest on his shoulder, hoping to encourage him to rid her of the garment. Slowly his thumb circled the band, touching her skin lightly, as he kissed the inside of her calf.

His kisses moved down her leg, lingering on the inside of her knee as his hand caressed her breast. Closing her eyes, she reveled in the feel of his lips on her skin, his strong hands on her body. His kisses traveled to her stomach, just above her panties. She looked to him, catching a gleam of a perfect white fang before it plunged into the last garment that covered her, tearing it in two.

She had seen him, vicious and untamed in the company of demons but now he was gentle, tenderly loving her.

He retracted his claws, then pushed his finger deep within her and began to move them with ease. “You’re already wet for me?”

“Lucas, please, I need you now,” she pleaded, running her hands through his hair.

His jeans still clung to him as he removed his engorged erection from his jeans. “Is this what you want,” he said, a dark tone marring his voice.

She took hold of his cock causing him to hiss with pleasure. “Hmm, yes,” she said, as she stroked him with her hand.

Without hesitating, he grabbed her backside, hauling her closer.

“Say it,” he commanded, holding her tight.

“I want you, Lucas. Please.”

With a single thrust, he was buried deep inside her. Without warning, her body griped his shaft as her back arched.

She clung to him as she screamed out his name.

He rode her through the pulse, panting with her. His lips met hers, their tongues mingling, while his body began to move.