Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (33 page)

He pulled her into his arms, her
back against his chest
.
She fit perfectly there, her head just the right height so he could place his chin on top.
“You’ll never be kept from them again.”
He thought about the first time she’d seen the night sky in Caireal. Her reaction to that beauty was the same as his reaction the first night he saw the sky in this realm. Different, but equally as beautiful.

She sighed. “Do you think I could fly to them now?”

“I bet
you could get close.”
Only their voices made any sound, as if only the two of them existed in this moment.

She
spun around and
looked up at him, her eyes glistening in the faded lights of the buildings that lined one side of the narrow country road. Their lips
met
. It was the briefest, most gentle touch they could make, but he wanted more. He bent again, taking her mouth, his own opening wide as he licked her tongue and the roof of her mouth. His arms p
ulled her to him and she let him as her hands gripped his hair, pulling him
closer to her. Her leg came up, winding around his leg
,
and he lifted her up so she wrapped his hips.

Their kiss slowed, but grew more intense as their languid licks stroked him to a fever. He pulled away, wishing more than anything that he could trace with her in his arms so he could take her to their bed.

Dani’s
heated ga
ze proved
that she’d been thinking the very same thing. “Your eyes remind me of the stars,” she said. “
They glisten just like they do
.”

“So do yours,” he replied, realizing the truth of it. And it wasn’t just her eyes that were glistening at the moment. Her skin and hair glimmere
d in the light as well. “W
e need to get you inside.”

Her gaze flicked to her arm.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s a part of who you are now.”

She glanced up at him again, though her gaze was now embarrassed and confused. “I think you’re right. Let’s get upstairs.”

They hastily made their way up the street, taking care to avoid anyone who might stumble upon them. As soon as the door shut behind them, Garrick slid the locks into place and stalked toward her. He had caused her to
shimmer
. And he wanted to do it again.

He lifted her up, cupping her ass as he slid his hand under her shirt and pulled it over her head. Throwing it on the ground, he walked over to the bed, resting her softly on it. He kneeled beside her, inching his jacket off. He reached up to undo his top button on his shirt, but she stopped him.

“Let me do it,” she whispered. She rolled onto her knees, kneeling just in front of him as she dipped her head to his
chest
. She worked the button with her teeth, but was unsuccessful at getting it free. She smiled at him with a wicked gleam in her eyes before she brought her hand up and drew her clawed fingers over the button. It flew off his shirt,
and
plinked
on the hardwood floor. The other buttons
followed
shortly after
. She grabbed both sides of his shirt and tore it open, pulling it off his arms.

His cock jumped in anticipation, more excited by this bad-girl side than he’d thought he would be. She reached for his pants next and he stopped her. “You’re still not familiar down there,” he said. “And I’m a little scared of those.”

Dani looked at her claws and stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. Before his eyes, the claws disappeared into her fingers, revealing her normal, human nails. She set to his fly once more, unzipping and unbuttoning the
pants
before she slid them and his briefs down his thighs. “Not used to it yet?”

“You’re getting there,” he replied, his voice a little shaky. His cock sprung free of its confines, pointing directly at Dani
like a missile locked on its target
. She eyed it with a quirk of her lips before her gaze clashed with his.

She pushed him down on the bed and shimmied out of her jeans and thong before crawling over him. There was a
n
unsurety in her expression that she tried to cover up, and Garrick realized that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with what she was doing. He let her do as she pleased though and she
took his length in one hand
as the other cupped his nut sack tenderly. She rolled her fingers and he shook as immense pleasure wracked him. She was every bit as excited as he was, her wetness dripping onto his thighs as she stra
dd
led them. Dani wasted no time as she slid up and took his length between her legs, and ever
so
slowly lowered herself onto him.

Her head fell back and she moaned as she took the full length of him into her, and her hips began moving forward and back. Garrick couldn’t believe
this
was even the same girl he’d made love to for the first time the night before.

When had his little Harpy turned into a sex goddess?

****

Garrick held Dani to him, his arm wrapped over her body, his hand cupping her breast. The sun was making its first appearance in the sky, the glow of it coming in through their window, illuminating everything in its joyous glow. They were both breathing heavier than normal, their hearts still pounding in their chests. They’d made love all night long. Garrick had given her the first round, and had spilled into her so much he was sure the heavens themselves had heard his praises.

He had taken over the rest of the night though, showing Dani just how many ways he could pleasure her
,
how many ways he craved to touch her.

Dani stretched, her ass grinding into his cock as her limbs sprawled wide. She settled with a sigh and rested her head on his arm. Garrick had never felt more at peace than he did right now. No, he corrected, there had been one other time. It was the night they spent together in the castle. He’d felt that astounding peace then as well, as he’d held Dani in his arms. It was crazy, how things could change. Once, he was a proud, steadfast bachelor who took any female he desired to his bed, most of the time taking multiple women—either together, or one right after the other, it made no difference to him. But Dani had changed all that somehow; made him crave her above all others, made h
im
hunger for h
er
for every minute of every day since he first saw her in her dark, damp cell.

“How did it happen?” he asked, breaking the calming silence between them. “How were you kidnapped?”

Dani shifted, but only to draw the blanket up over her shoulder. Garrick made sure she was tucked in and returned his hand to her breast.

“We took the car out when we weren’t supposed to,” she replied. “Karena had her learner’s permit and she wanted to go for a drive. Mom and Dad didn’t want to go, so we snuck out of the house and took the car.”

Garrick stayed silent, but opted to run his palm and fingertips over her stomach.

“We had fun at first. We didn’t really plan to go far, but the farther we went, the farther we wanted to go. So we kept going.” Dani rolled onto her back and looped her leg over the top of him. “We shouldn’t have gone out.”

“You didn’t know what would happen,” Garrick said. “You couldn’t have known.”

“I knew we would get in trouble. I knew it was a bad idea. So did Karena. But we went anyway, and we kept going.”

“What happened after that?” Garrick was
gazing
into her eyes now, though Dani stared at the ceiling.

“We got low on gas, so Karena pulled into a gas station. We had a dollar and thirty cents between us. She’d left her money in her other pants. The clerk wouldn’t take our word that we’d pay him later, so we were stuck at the station. Karena was about to call Mom and Dad when a group of guys pulled up in a van. She turned on her charm and got the nerve to ask them for ten bucks worth of gas. We walked over to their pump, and I remember seeing them glance at each other in a weird way. I should have stopped then. Should have stopped her then, but I didn’t.”

Garrick rubbed his hand over her again, hoping to sooth her any way he could as she relived that night.

“Karena asked them if they could help us out, and the driver said that he could. ‘I’ve got some cash in the back,’ he said, and he walked around and opened the doors. Even Karena had a bad feeling at th
at
point and we looked at each other. We didn’t follow him to the back of the van, but we didn’t have to. The two other guys grabbed us and climbed into the van with us. We tried to scream and fight, but they tied our wrists together and duct taped our mouths. And that was it,” she said finally. “Then we were in the Institute’s hands.”

Garrick
remained quiet,
u
nsure of what to say. Their kidnapping had been so simple. It would have been nothing at all for any grown man, let alone any demon, to grab two teenage girls and make off with them. Especially when they were in a strange place with no one to hear or see what happened.

“It’s
not your fault,” he said, mirroring what he’d said earlier. “You couldn’t have known. You were a teenager, behaving like a teenager.”

“But it’s not the same, is it
?
” she replied. “Most teenagers get grounded from talking to their friends and boyfriends when they screw up
.
T
hey don’t get beaten and tortured, or killed.”

“No, they don’t.” Garrick sighed against her, wishing he could take her pain away. He pulled her closer to him, sheltering her in his arms. There was one thing he could do; something that may not take away her pain, but may help ease it. He could go after Ekhart.

****

“
Jesus Christ
,” Dani said, holding on
to
the armrests of her seat. Her eyes were shut tight and she was speaking quietly, the only sound escaping her was mini
-
whispers as she prayed.

Garrick grabbed her right hand and stroked it between his. “Dani, calm down. We’re almost there. This is just the descent.”

“Why is it so bumpy?” she asked, her eyes still forced closed.

“It’s just from the wind.” He laughed and inched in closer. “Besides, what are you so worried about? If the plane goes down you are the only one who can sprout wings and fly out of here.”

“Not helping.” Her eyes remained shut but a smile appeared
and s
he peeked at him with one eye. He was too perfect, appearing to not care at all about the turbulence or the fact that they could all die at any minute. Of course, he
’d undoubtedly be safe since
he
could trace
,
and she could
…
well, she
could
fly. “Okay, that was a good point
if
I could change on a whim.”

“Well, let’s not try it unless we have to.”

“Deal.” She exhaled slowly. “Where are we flying to?”

“
Newark
.”

“
New Jersey
?” she said, opening her other eye. “That’s only a few hours away from home.”

The plane shifted and bumped a few more times, and Garrick kept stroking her hand to keep her calm. “Where’s home again?”

“
Marion
,
Ohio
.”

A loud, annoying
bing
sounded above them, and b
oth Garrick and Dani looked up as the pilot’s voice came over the PA. “Evening travelers, I just received word from the tower that the weather over Newark International and the surrounding airports is too bad of quality to land in. They’re redirecting us to Pittsburg International where you can make arrangements for other flights. We apologize for any disruption this may cause.”

Dani felt sick with the thought of being in this any longer than she had to be. Garrick
continued to stroke her hand. “W
e’ll be out of the bad weather soon.”

She nodded and gripped his hand tightly. “Thanks.”

He’d been right. The rest of the flight went by pretty quickly. After they got out of the inclement weather, it was smooth sailing to the
Pittsburgh
airport, and the only lurching the plane did then was when the pilot slammed on the brak
e
s and brought their flying death machine to a screeching halt. It was only because the plane couldn’t get to a terminal that made them sit
in their seats
for another hour.
The pilot opted to entertain the passengers by playing Christmas music over the speakers, and made sure to wish them all “Happy Holidays” when they finally reached the gate.

Being that Garrick and Dani were seated in first class, they were among the first to exit, which Dani gladly did as fast as she could. It
was a relief
to be back on the ground again, and if she never flew again it would be too soon.