Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) (24 page)

“Testing something.” Elijah nestled tighter against her, and she could feel her breasts beginning to ache.
Open your mind to me.

Even more intimacy? Super idea.

His amusement rumbled through her.
Do you have any idea how arousing it is to get into your mind when you’re reacting to me holding you like this?

Yeah, I have an idea.

He chuckled again.
Don’t worry. Having Ezekiel nearby is a serious mood-killer for me. You’d have to beg me for at least a tenth of a second before I’d take you.
His voice started getting deeper and more sensual, and his amusement faded.
Okay, so keeping connected with me, I want you to try my throwing star on the wall again.

Ana licked her lips, trying not to think about how muscular his arms were wrapped around her, how his forearms were brushing against the underside of her breasts—

Focus, Ana. I’m too tightly connected with you right now for you to be thinking about shit like that.
His voice was a low growl, with none of the previous amusement. It was all lust, tightly contained, straining at its boundaries.

Ana quickly raised the throwing star and tapped it against the clay. The wall crumbled easily under the point, and excitement bubbled inside her. “It’s working!” She started digging harder, and then Elijah’s hand closed over hers, thwarting her efforts. She tried to get her hand out of his grasp. “No, let go. I can get through the walls—”

“Ana. Stop.”

His calm voice penetrated, and she suddenly realized what she was doing and released the throwing star into his hand. “What just happened?”

Elijah sheathed the throwing star back in the brand on his forearm and eased his body away from hers. “What happened is that my throwing star is all that’s left now to bring down these walls, and because of our bond, it also works for you.”

Trepidation rippled through Ana as she eyed the hole she’d started to dig in the wall. “And what about the fact I suddenly could think of nothing more exciting than carving a hole in the wall?”

“Because that’s what Ezekiel wants me to do. As I said, he can influence me, and now it looks like he can hit you up, too.” He scowled. “I gotta say, sweetheart, I’m not a real big fan of the idea of Ezekiel being able to connect with you.”

A cold chill went through her as Elijah’s hand tightened around her wrist. “So, I was feeling Ezekiel’s excitement? It became mine?” Oh, wow, that was just creepy. And scary.

He nodded. “I think so.”

“So, what do you feel from him?”

“Oh, I felt that, too. But I was ready for it.”

There was something in Elijah’s eyes, something dark, and suddenly she realized what he was afraid of. “You think Ezekiel’s connection to you is strong enough that he could turn you into his killing machine? That he could make your soul as black as his, and you’d...you’d kill the Order for him?”

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then he nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I think. That’s one of the reasons I want him dead so badly. I need to kill him before he breaks me down and starts to control me. And now with my mind the way it is, my defenses are even lower.” He grimaced. “No one’s safe with me, not even you.”

Ana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Elijah was so powerful and strong. How could Ezekiel control him like that? “Has he made you do stuff before?”

His jaw ticked. “Little things, yeah. I feel his emotions when I’m near the prison, and I connect with him. When I’m prepared, I can shield him, but with the walls weakening or with him outside, his influence will be stronger.” Elijah met her gaze, raw determination in his expression. “And the worst part is, I feel affection for him, like I assume Caleb did. Ezekiel and I share the same blood, and my spirit recognizes him as my brother. I don’t know if I’ll be able to kill him.”

“Oh, no.” Ana saw the grim truth in his eyes, and then her arm started to burn. She looked down at it, and saw a silver line creeping along the skin, outlining the third point of his throwing star. “Um, Elijah—”

He took her arm and lifted it, his grip tightening when he saw what was going on. “Trust,” he said. “The trust stage, in which I give you the power to destroy me, often by telling my darkest secret.” He traced the developing line with his index finger. “Damn, I like the sight of my mark on your arm.”

Ana’s heart started to race, and desire began to build inside her. “Elijah—”

“I know it’s bad news, but the male in me can’t help but like it.” Elijah brought her arm to his lips and lightly kissed the mark, his green eyes fastened tightly on hers. They were dark with desire. Unbridled passion swirled in them, the relentless need to possess her. “You are so dangerous to me,” he whispered.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Ana willed herself not to move closer to him, not to press her body up against his. “What do we do about Drew?” she asked, her voice strangled with the effort of keeping herself focused. “And the prison?”

Elijah kissed her arm again, not taking his eyes off hers. “We do nothing about them. We leave Drew where he is. He’s safe enough behind the walls. I’m the only one who can get to him.”

Fire began licking its way up her arm as his tongue darted out and traced the lines of his mark on her arm. “And Ezekiel?” she asked, her voice husky and breathless.

“We will go find Drew, or the physical manifestation of Drew and see who’s home. And then we make decisions.” Elijah’s arm snaked around her waist, and he hauled her tight against him, staring down at her. “God, you feel good.”

Heat was pulsing through her now, hot desire. “It’s the bond,” she whispered.

“Probably.” Elijah caught her hair in his hand, holding her immobile, his gaze riveted to her mouth. “Or it could simply be the fact that everything about you awakens the deepest part of my soul and makes me want to claim you on every level I can, including your body, your mind, your soul and your heart.”

Oh, Lordy. She wasn’t enough of an independent woman to be able to resist that. “Don’t kiss me.” The words were a sensual whisper on her lips, and her cheeks heated from the raw need so evident in her voice.

Elijah lowered his head until his breath was warm on her lips. “I want you, Ana. I want to be inside you and make you mine in the ways of the ancient Calydons. It’s so brutally wrong and dangerous.” His lips feathered over hers, his arm secure around her waist, locking her down against his unyielding strength. “And yet, my body is so hard, so ready, so desperate for you I feel like I can’t do anything until I lay you down on the ground, strip off your clothes and brand every inch of your body with my scent and my touch.”

Her heart stuttered. “Such a bad idea,” she managed to say.

“Yeah, I know. But right now, I don’t really give a shit.” Then he bent his head and kissed her, a full-on, deep commitment to consuming her very essence.

Ana was instantly lost in the feel of his lips, the sensual play of his tongue, in the way his hand spread over her bare back. The kiss wasn’t about domination or control. It was about sensuality and desire, a blatantly undeniable need for intimacy and bonding. It struck her very core, everything she’d been longing for her whole life.

Connection. Intimacy. Protection. Safety. Elijah offered her everything, and she wanted it. So badly. But even as her arms slid around his neck with a small groan, she knew she was lying to herself. The kiss wasn’t about all those things. The kiss was a prelude toward Elijah’s insanity, toward her losing everything that was important to her, to the utter destruction of both of them. But at the same time...it
was
about intimacy...intimacy with the warrior who touched her heart.

Elijah kissed her deeper, his hands sliding down over the curve of her bottom, pulling her against his erection, so it was pressing into her core. Then he moved his hands down her thighs, lifting her against him. He continued to assault her mouth with kisses of such heat and such need. With a sigh of willing surrender, Ana wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him, kissing him back with all the emotion and desire she’d kept wrapped up for so long.

This was their first kiss of equality, the first one where she was kissing Elijah, not the beast fighting to subdue his demons or a Calydon male reacting to his
sheva
being injured. His hands were still strong, his kiss still controlling, but there was a tenderness, an emotional presence that hadn’t been there before. This was
Elijah
kissing her simply because he craved her with every fiber of his being, and it was different. Better. So much better.

Elijah buried his hands in her hair, while he continued to kiss her, a heated, intoxicating kiss of desire and passion, as if he could stand there holding her and kissing her for the rest of his life and never stop. She could feel his satisfaction, the utter rightness in his mind. His confidence chased away her fears, and she finally gave herself over to the kiss.

Elijah knew the moment Ana committed to the kiss from the way her body melted into his, and the softness of her mind as she dropped her shields and stopped fighting. It felt so right to have her in his arms, to have her legs wrapped around his hips, her core pressed up against him. He wanted to get closer, get tighter, kiss her more deeply until she knew nothing but him, nothing but his touch, until the entire world simply disappeared, leaving them utterly alone, with none of the shit chasing them.

Just them.

Nothing else. Just the feel of her smooth skin against his, the heat of his mark on her arm, her scent all he could smell, her body all he could feel, her—

Elijah felt a pulse of darkness in his mind, and he jerked his head up, his forearms tingling. Adrenaline shot through him.
Ezekiel.

Ana sucked in her breath
. I felt that.
She quickly unwrapped her legs from around his waist and slid down.

Elijah called out his throwing stars and yanked Ana against his side, unwilling to shove her behind him until he knew where the threat was coming from. The air was thick and heavy, almost noxious, and the earth was crusty beneath his feet.

He pressed his hand to the wall of the prison, and felt Ezekiel’s presence strongly from within, but also Drew’s. What was emanating from the prison wasn’t enough to justify what he was feeling. Elijah quickly scanned the parched earth for footprints, or any indication of a presence, but saw nothing.

But he sensed Ezekiel’s energy pushing at him. He felt a burning need to take down the wall, to—

A heavy hand came down on his shoulder, and Elijah spun around. He thrust Ana behind him as he raised his throwing star, weapon ready before he’d even completed the turn.

And there he was, in front of Elijah. The face of a young man housing the eyes of an ancient evil.
Ezekiel
. Elijah knew instantly who it was, and his entire being swelled with rightness and connection. “Son of a bitch!” He slammed his weapon at the Calydon, but before he could make contact, the world began to shimmer and fade.

Crap! Ezekiel was teleporting them! Elijah shoved Ana away from him to try to keep her from being caught in the spell, but as his fingers trailed over her skin, he knew it was too late.

The world fell away, sucking them both into Ezekiel’s trap.