Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats) (34 page)

Diego came into view, followed by a lean young man around Marco’s age.

The man he assumed was Eduardo rushed to Cam’s side, and knelt down next to her. He moved to

touch her, but Marco grabbed the other man’s wrist. “I don’t know anything about you, so tell me what you

plan on doing to her before I let you touch her.”

The man put up his hands. “I only want to heal her. Will you let me do it?”

“She needs more than a superficial healing. She might’ve been injured internally. Can you heal that type

of damage?”

The man nodded. “Yes, and more. But to heal her, I need you to let go and let me touch her.”

Marco released Eduardo’s hand. “Fine, but if you end up killing her, I’ll kill you in return.”

The young man merely shrugged, and placed his hands on Cam’s forehead. Marco didn’t like the sight

of another man’s hands on Cam, but if Eduardo could help her, he’d do whatever it took.

He squeezed Cam’s hand and waited. But Eduardo didn’t do anything. “Why aren’t you healing her?

The longer we wait, the greater the chance she could die.”

Eduardo met his gaze, the other’s man face calm beyond his years. “This isn’t an easy task, and I had to

prepare myself. I’m ready, but I need you to remove your ice staples and refrain from touching this woman

while I do my magic.”

He should just do as he said, but Marco didn’t know this man, and sure as hell didn’t trust him. “I’ve

never heard of a first-born needing others to sever contact before they healed someone. What are you trying to pull?”

“You’re here to find a Talent, aren’t you?”

“What does that—”

“Well, I’m the Water Talent, and I can both heal and destroy, so let me do my job.”

Diego grabbed Marco’s shoulders. “Let him do his work, my friend. Eduardo is the best healer I’ve ever

seen, and the longer you argue, the greater the chance your woman will die.”

Eduardo added, “Please, trust me.”

For some reason he couldn’t explain, Marco felt compelled to trust this man. The only other time he’d

felt that way had been with the leader of DEFEND, Neena Chatterjee.

Since there was so much he didn’t know about the Talents, it was possible that this man shared her

ability to induce trust.

He looked down at Cam’s face and noticed she was paler than before. Something had to be wrong

internally, and with the nearest healer who knew how far away, this man was the best chance Marco had to

holding Cam in his arms again, alive.

Please let this work.
He kissed Cam’s hand, released it, and scooted back a few feet.

Eduardo nodded, and closed his eyes.

At first, nothing happened. Then water started flowing over Eduardo and onto Cam, until he’d covered

her from head to foot. Marco was tempted to pull Cam out, but before he could act, the water froze,

encasing Cam in an ice coffin.

Despite knowing all of the legends, despite his years of special training, Marco’s first reaction was to get to Cam. But because he was an Elemental Water Master, he knew that elemental ice didn’t have to be cold.

Cam shouldn’t freeze to death.

Still, his heart tightened as he stared at Cam’s distorted form through the ice. He may not have known

her for long, but he couldn’t imagine anyone else he’d rather have at his side.

Cam was caring and kind, to a degree most people could never hope to match. First, she’d comforted

the widow, Maria Vega, in front of a possible enemy, and then she’d checked out the abandoned car just to make sure it wouldn’t harm someone in the future. Add these to her dedication to her teammates and her

passion, and Cam became the only woman he would ever want.

He couldn’t imagine a future without Camilla Melini.

Then it hit him—because he loved her.

Marco barely had time to digest his newfound feelings before the ice surrounding Cam started to crack.

He glanced to Eduardo, who was now glowing a faint blue and swaying. Just as he started to slump over,

the ice covering Cam shattered.

Chapter Forty-One

Millie Ward looked across Victoria Harbour and couldn’t help but stare at the buildings alight against the night sky. The mosaic of glass, steel, and stone of the massive skyscrapers had its own kind of beauty. She could understand why so many millions of people would visit each year despite Hong Kong being one of

the most expensive cities in the world.

But Millie wasn’t here to stare at pretty buildings. She singled out the tallest one, the ICC building, and studied it. That was the one they needed to break into to rescue Petra’s friend.

She glanced at Petra, who was standing at her side. “Right. Since you’ve picked a bloody noticeable

building to break into, I hope your contact comes through.”

Petra never took her gaze from the structure. “If she doesn’t, then we’ll just have to try something on

our own.”

Millie usually relished a challenge, but this assignment had too many unknown variables for her liking.

“I just hope that this man friend of yours is worth it.”

Petra remained silent, and Millie went back to studying the buildings across the water. She’d learned on

their travels here that Petra didn’t like talking about Dr. William Evans. Apparently, everything Millie

needed to know could be found in the assignment file.

But to her surprise, Petra finally answered her. “I hope so, too.”

Before Millie could reply, Petra’s phone rang and she answered it in a language that sounded like

German. Since Millie didn’t know more than a handful of phrases in that language, she watched Petra’s face as she talked.

Her voice grew animated, and finally she turned off the phone. After a few seconds of silence, Millie

said, “Right. So, what was that all about?”

Petra continued to stare across the harbor as she answered, “They’ve moved him. He’s not here.”

Bloody fantastic. “I reckon this changes things, am I right?”

Petra looked over to Millie and said, “Yes. We need to get a flight to Chengdu. He’s inside a research

facility in the mountains.”

Millie stared at her sometimes friend. Something was wrong. She decided to drop her mercenary façade

and ask, “Are you all right, Petra?”

Petra’s face was like stone. “I will be once we rescue Will.”

Millie sensed there was more; but she was a good enough judge of people to know Petra wasn’t ready to

tell her the whole truth. At least, not yet.

She slapped her hands together and rubbed them. “Right. Then let’s hurry up and rescue this bloody

man so I can return to a country that doesn’t eat rice at every damn meal.”

Petra cracked a smile. “Okay, then. Let’s head to Chengdu.”

Cam opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. She moved her head to scan the room—small, with just a

cot and two chairs—before noticing the door ajar opposite from where she lay. There were two male voices

talking in Spanish outside of her room, and while she couldn’t understand what they were saying, she

would recognize Marco’s voice anywhere.

The soldier part of her wanted to let Marco carry on his conversation, but for once, she decided she

wasn’t going to follow that logic. She desperately wanted to see him again. “Marco.”

The voices stopped, and Marco pushed open the door. His eyes were tender when they met hers, but in

an instant he’d shut the door and was at her side with a stern expression. “It’s about time you woke up.”

She frowned. “I remember an explosion, but not much after that. What happened? Are Zalika and Jacek okay?”

Marco sat in the chair next to her cot, took her hand in his, and squeezed. “Yes, Zalika and Jacek are

fine. They’re busy outside, arguing. I’ll tell you the rest once I know that you’re okay. How’re you feeling?

Is there any soreness? How about twinges?”

She smiled. “You sound like an old mother hen.”

He raised their clasped hands up against his chest. “Considering I had to extract a four-inch piece of

metal out of your side—in the middle of a jungle, I might add—my questions are pretty logical.”

Cam touched both of her sides with her free hand, but there was no pain, not even a slight twinge. “I

would call you a liar except that I trust you. But to answer your question, I feel a little tired, but that’s all. So tell me, what happened? How did I end up here, fully healed?”

Marco brushed his thumb against the back of her hand as told her about Diego returning with Eduardo,

and then about Eduardo healing her with his Talent powers. “So all of our clue-chasing worked? We found

the Water Talent?”

He nodded. “Yes, and while it took some convincing, he’s willing to ally with DEFEND.”

“I sense a ‘but’.”

Marco shook his head. “Eduardo wants to stay hidden here, in the jungle. I was against it, but when

Diego convinced him to move to a colony of sorts, deep in the Amazon rainforest, I agreed to it.”

“What do you mean ‘a colony of sorts’? Like a hippie commune?”

Marco chuckled. “No, not exactly. Apparently, the
Feiru
with latent abilities in the area have been banding together. Afraid that the AMT Oversight Committee would find out about them, they decided to

move deep into the jungle. Many of the locals still believe in the
Encantado
myths, so if anyone gets too close to their colony, they break into song—
Encantado
are known for their musical abilities—and the locals go running. Considering they’ve lived in secret for nearly a year, they must be doing something

right.”

“So, that’s it? Our mission is done?”

“Yes,
cariño,
once you’re fit to travel, we’re done.”

“What does ka-reen-yo mean?”

Marco’s gaze turned heavy, and she nearly stopped breathing. He cupped her cheek, and her body jolted

awake, as if she hadn’t just suffered a near death experience and a miraculous healing. Somehow, she

found her voice again. “Marco?”

He leaned down and stopped an inch from her lips. “Honey, sweetie, dear, love—it means all of those

things. But to me, it means that you’re mine.”

Cam expected to get angry at being claimed in such a fashion, but she realized quite the opposite.

“
Cariño
, is that how you say it?”

“Yes.”

She raised her free hand and threaded it through Marco’s hair. “Good, because I want people to know

that you’re mine, too.”

Marco growled and Cam pulled his head down to hers and kissed him.

Hearing Cam call him “
cariño
” snapped something inside of Marco, and when she pulled him down for

a kiss, he devoured her mouth.

As her tongue twined with his, he moved to cover Cam on the cot. She parted her thighs to let him lay

between them, but the cot shifted and he had to break the kiss to prevent from falling over. “Fucking hell.”

Cam giggled, and his irritation melted at the sound—he wanted to hear it again.

But at the moment, he studied the cot, trying to figure out how he was going to make love to Cam on

the wobbly contraption. He felt Cam dig her nails into his back. He looked up to see her grinning, and she asked, “What happened to your smooth way with the ladies?”

“Not even James Bond could be smooth on a wobbly cot.”

Cam laughed again, and then she hooked her hands behind his neck. Her look turned mischievous.

“There’s more to life than missionary.”

His cock was now pulsing at attention. He had a feeling this woman was going to keep surprising him in

bed for years to come. “Are you sure you’re well enough? I know Eduardo healed you, but you were this

close to dying, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I told you, I’m fine.” Cam moved her hands to his ass and squeezed. “Now, get naked so you can fuck

me against the wall.”

He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek before moving to bite her earlobe. “I thought we’d agreed that

here, in the bedroom, I give the orders.”

Cam’s breath hitched. He moved so he could see her face. The desire and longing in her eyes told him

that she was thinking of earlier, and she wanted to do it again.

He gave her a gentle kiss before he rose from the cot. She watched his every move, so he decided to

tease her.

He lifted his shirt a few inches. “If you want to see what’s underneath here, then I want you to take off

your nightshirt.”

Cam slowly inched the material up her body. First, she bared her toned belly. Then she exposed her

ribcage. He held his breath until she finally showed him the undersides of her breasts. She stopped moving the shirt and started to rub it back and forth across her nipples. When she gave a soft cry, he growled.

“Show me your lovely breasts. Now.”

There was a mischievous glint in her eye. But she moved the material up over her breasts and left it

there. He was about to give another order when she started to pluck at her nipples.

He let out a strangled sound. She might be following his orders, but she was doing it on her terms.

And he liked it.

Marco might be giving the orders, but Cam felt oddly empowered. Even from a few feet away, she

could hear him suck in a breath as she continued to pinch and roll her nipples. She decided to push him

further, and lifted one of her legs. Marco growled and she smiled. Going commando had its benefits in

situations like these.

“Woman, stop playing with yourself. Lay your hands at your side, and look at me.”

She reluctantly moved her hands to her side as she turned her head toward Marco. She tried looking at

his face, but her eyes were drawn to the movements of his hand—he was slowly stroking his cock, which

was now free of his jeans.

She imagined taking him in her mouth, sucking him deep, and wetness rushed between her legs.