Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade) (26 page)

Rhiannon's mouth dropped open. "Oh, no." Zach had been too late.

He shook his head. "When I got there, one of them was attacking my wife. She was covered in blood, but she was somehow still managing to stay alive. Her daughter was behind her, and she was trying to protect her."

"Oh, God." Her hand went over her heart. "Zach—"

"Another Calydon was going after Madeline, my daughter. I saw her running from him on her little legs, screaming for her mommy. Madeline saw me, and she ran right toward me, her arms out, screaming my name, screaming for me to save her." He turned his hand over and opened his palm, as if remembering something. "When I saw my family in danger, I lost my shit and attacked, unleashing more fire than I'd ever done in my life. The fire and the explosion were massive. I went after that bastard with everything I had. All I wanted to do was kill him. His friends jumped out of the trees to help him, and I went after them. Ten against one, and I burned all those Calydons up."

"And Madeline? And your wife and stepdaughter?"

He met her gaze. "After it was done, after the enemy had been vanquished, I turned around. Jacqueline, my stepdaughter, and Madeline were dead. All three of them were dead." His voice was empty now, as if the pain was so great that he couldn't even feel it.

Rhiannon moved between his knees and placed her hands on either side of his face. "The Calydons killed them?"

"No. They'd killed Jacqueline and her daughter while I was on my rampage, but not Madeline." He looked her in the eyes. "I killed her myself. I lost control of my fire, and I killed her. My own daughter burned to death in my fire. I can still see Madeline running toward me, arms up, screaming for daddy to save her. She believed in me, and I killed her. "

Rhiannon put her hand over her mouth, horrified by what he'd endured. There were no words to bring comfort to him. She could feel the depth of his pain in the shuddering of his shoulders, and the tension in his jaw. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Such empty, meaningless words, but they were true. She meant them.

Zach placed his hands over hers, and squeezed. "Since that day, I've never been able to summon fire during a battle. And now, I can't even so much as light a match. If the fire god comes after us, I've got nothing." He ran his fingers over her hair, and she closed her eyes, her soul crumbling at the touch of kindness and gentleness. "And now," he whispered, "I've met this incredibly brave woman who has somehow kept her heart alive despite what she's endured. She's up against an enemy who is too strong, and she needs help. She needs
my
help. And I have no flames left to help her. My fire killed my family, and now it can't save you. I've failed in every possible way."

He pressed his lips to her forehead, a kiss so tender and gentle that tears burned in her eyes. Wordlessly, she lifted her face to his. For a moment they simply looked at each other, then she whispered the words she'd kept hidden inside for so long. "Three years after José took me, I had a baby. A daughter. José killed her the moment she was born, because he didn't want a girl. Only a boy would do. He did it in front of me, and I couldn't stop him." Tears bled down her cheeks, tears for the child she had failed to save, just like Zach.

Zach sucked in his breath, and then traced his thumb over the tears streaming down her cheeks. He said nothing, but he didn't need to. She knew that he understood. He understood the guilt, the loss, and the agony. She knew in that moment, that Zach would always protect her. He'd suffered too much loss that he'd failed to prevent. His heart still bled for those who had died. She knew that he would never let anything happen to her.
Never.

The tears grew stronger and thicker, and this time, it wasn't for the daughter she'd never known. This time it was for the fact that this man in her arms would never betray her. He'd never let her down. She could trust him. For the first time since she was sixteen and she'd walked out of her tribe's village with nothing but a bow, her arrows, and her dagger, she wasn't fighting the battle alone.

"Rhiannon." Her name whispered reverently on his lips was her only warning before he lowered his head and kissed her.

His lips were barely a shimmer against her mouth, a butterfly's kiss so light that it made chills cascade through her body. She went still, her eyes closed, as he feathered a kiss across the corner of her mouth. Then another across her jaw. Kisses so light that they were pure seduction, so light that her entire soul strained to feel them, as if she could draw them into her.

Then he trailed a single finger across her throat, barely skimming her flesh. She swallowed, her heart pounding as he traced the faintest circles across her chest, lower, and lower, until his fingertip brushed over the swell of her breasts. His touch was delicate, like a silken caress across her flesh. It was pure temptation, a whisper of seduction that was barely a tease, making her shiver for more, instead of running for cover.

There was none of the heavy palms or ruthless grabbing, just the most incredibly delicious sensation of his fingers trailing so light, so tempting, so wonderful over the surface of her skin.

She closed her eyes, barely breathing as he continued to ignite sensations in her that spiraled through every cell of her body and pooled in her lower belly. She didn't want to move, think, or speak. All she wanted was to stay motionless and absorb what it felt like to have Zach touch her so reverently. She felt like the heavens themselves were dancing across her skin through his touch.

"So beautiful," Zach whispered, his voice so soft it was more of a breeze across her than words spoken aloud.

She opened her eyes to see him watching her intently. His dark eyes were riveted on hers even as his hand continued to trail ever so delicately across her flesh, sliding lower inch by inch across her breasts, closer and closer to her nipples. Every nerve ending in her body seemed to be on fire, and she jumped each time he touched a new area of her skin. She felt like every inch of her was straining to be the next area that his caress slid across.

He smiled, a smile so laden with the grief of the memories they had both unearthed, that she felt her own heart become heavier with emotions she had suppressed for so long. In Zach's arms, it finally felt safe to feel. She felt the pain of her captivity. She felt the grief of not being able to protect her daughter. She felt her longing for the tribe she'd left behind, even though they'd never appeared to rescue her or even contacted her after she'd escaped. And most of all, she felt sadness for her own loss of humanity, and the fact that she'd gone for so long without feeling the connection with another human being that she was feeling with him right now.

His face softened, as if he had heard all the thoughts that had been cascading through her mind. Without a word spoken, not aloud at least, she seemed to understand what he felt and what he wanted. He wanted the connection to her as much as she yearned to be aligned with him. They had suffered similar things, and yet had emerged with him holding such strength and her being a survivor.

She raised her hand, the one that had first touched her amulet on that night by the river, and she rested it on his muscular shoulder. His muscle spasmed beneath her palm as if he had the same reaction to being touched gently that she had. She slid her hand along his shoulder to the back of his neck. His skin was warm and incredibly soft, his hair like the strands on a newborn kitten. Lightly, ever so lightly, she pressed her fingers into him, inviting him closer, asking him for more.

He responded instantly, but with the same deliberate reverence, closing the distance between them for a kiss. His lips feathered over hers ever so gently, just like he'd done before. But this time, he didn't break the kiss. This time the kiss continued, a magical intertwining of his mouth and hers. It was such a tender kiss that it brought tears to her eyes. How was it possible for a man to touch her so gently? How was it possible for one kiss to say so much?

He whispered her name against her mouth, and the mere sound of her name seemed to melt any last resistance from her. His use of her name personalized everything that was happening between them, a way of saying that he knew who she was, all the way down to her soul, and that he acknowledged her and wanted this moment to be with
her.

"Zach," she whispered his name in response, and his muscles tensed beneath her palms in a reaction that mirrored hers of a moment ago. Two empty souls, somehow being brought back to life by each other.

His fingers drifted to the back of her head, sweeping the loose strands of her hair back from her face, but not trying to tear her bun free. He allowed her the control of her own hair, but his touch was so soft and seductive that a part of her wanted to unpin her hair and let him slide his fingers through it.

But she knew she couldn't. José had trapped her by her hair too many times, and never would she allow a man to do the same again. But still… what Zach was giving her felt amazing. A tender, non-aggressive caress, that made her want to sigh like the girl she had once been, and surrender to his touch.

His mouth was still on hers, gently working kisses that seemed to cascade through her like a butterfly in a summer dawn. It was so tender and gentle, but at the same time, desire began to pulse in her belly. It started with the faintest tremor of excitement, and then it began to build, swirling through her with increasing intensity. It wasn't the blind lust of earlier, mingled with the power of her magic. This time, it was pure connection and desire, a yearning for something that would uplift her.

Instinctively, she tightened her fingers against his shoulders, trying to draw him closer. He responded easily, locking his arm around her lower back as he shifted, so that their bodies were against each other. There was so much heat between them, and it was so incredible to feel her breasts crushed against his powerful chest. He slid his hand beneath her shirt, and she almost cried out at the sensation of his bare palm on her side, tracing her ribs one by one, as if he had all the time in the world to investigate every curve of her body.

His kiss deepened ever so slightly, sweeping her into a devastating seduction of magic as his tongue swept across hers, dancing and entangling with hers. The desire pulsing through her body escalated, and when his hand slid beneath her bra and cupped her breast, she gasped in response. "That feels so incredible," she whispered, unable to stop herself from arching her back and pressing her breast into his hand. She had no fear that he would hurt her, just an awed response to his caress. The way his palm encompassed her breast, as if he was shielding her body against the world with just his hand, was so intoxicating that she shuddered. Every part of her breast fit perfectly into his hand, as he encased it in the warm, sensual strength of his touch.

"Good," he whispered back. "I want you to feel incredible." He began a teasing trail of kisses over her chest, toward her breasts. She swallowed, her fingers sliding through the soft strands of his hair as she tipped her head back, unwilling to do anything to stop him. Her body tingled in anticipation as his mouth grew nearer and nearer to her nipples, as his lips trailed over the swell of her breasts. He pulled back ever so slightly, but before she could cry out in dismay at the separation between them, he tugged her shirt up, exposing her breasts to him. For a split second, she froze as the fresh air hit her bare flesh, flesh that had never been willingly exposed to a man, until tonight.

There was no time for fear, because he lowered his mouth to her nipple in the most incredibly tender kiss of reverence and adoration. Desire leapt through her as his teeth grazed ever so lightly over her hardened nipple.

A small cry of pleasure escaped her lips, and she felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. She quickly bit her lower lip, fighting to keep her emotions hidden. Just as she had held back her cries of pain and fear, she was afraid to show what she was feeling. Vulnerability was dangerous, and it resulted only in pain and betrayal.

Zach lifted his head from her breasts as his hand supported her shoulder blades with easy strength. His dark eyes searched hers, and he thumbed her lower lip gently. "It's okay," he said softly. "It's okay to just let it go. You're safe with me. Every sound, every response, and everything you feel is okay. I loved someone once, and I haven't wanted to hear a whisper of pleasure from a woman since then. Until you." His well-muscled arms tightened around her lower back. "I want to know that you feel good. I want to know how you respond. It matters to me. It really does."

More tears burned in her eyes, for the words that were so gentle and caring. "You're a stranger," she said. "How can you possibly make me feel so safe? You're a Calydon and—"

"No. Don't see me that way. Just see me with your heart." He pressed his mouth to hers, cutting off her protest.

Tears were trickling down her cheeks now, too much for her to withhold. She closed her eyes, letting the fullness of Zach's kiss fill her. She reached inside herself for answers, the kind of answers she had refused to be open to for so long, the kind of answers she could reach only if she broke through the brittle, unyielding walls around her heart and soul. She took a deep breath, giving her trembling body permission to relax and to experience the depths of sensations he was stirring up inside her.

"That's my girl," he whispered against her mouth as his hand slid lower, again tracing her ribs, and then over her belly, dipping lower and lower, each gentle sweep of his hand bringing his fingers closer to the top of her cargo pants. He swept his hand over her hip, and across her butt, and then back to her bare stomach, leaving behind a burning trail of heat everywhere he touched.

And God, it felt so good. As wonderful as his kisses were, she couldn't concentrate on them, not with his hand stirring up such incredible sensations. The tips of his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her pants, and she sucked in her breath. Her entire body was trembling now, not in fear, but in anticipation.