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It didn’t reassure her. Eva shook off his hand. “I don’t know
anything about any of this,” she told them, willing Greyson to believe her.

“It’s okay. I know,” he murmured to her before turning back to the
viewer. “Bruno, let the others know what happened. We’ll check back in with
each other tomorrow.”

Bruno nodded curtly. “On your head
be
it.”
His expression softened as he touched the corner of his eye. “Be careful,
brother.” He didn’t look at Eva as the viewer went dark.

“Greyson, you have to believe me. I didn’t even know those things
existed before today!” Eva felt sick to her stomach. How did her whole life
turn into such a disaster?

“
Shh
, I know that. Bruno is just being
difficult,” Greyson said, pulling her close.

Eva frowned as he folded her into his arms. Was he
hugging
her? “Why didn’t you bring me home?” she asked into his bicep, trying to ignore
the way she wanted to cuddle closer. His strength made her feel… safe.

He tensed. “You’re staying here. It’s the safest place right now.”

What? Did he read my mind?
She pulled back. “No, I’m not staying here. I can’t stay here.”

He smiled grimly at her. “Arguing with me won’t change things.”

She stared at him, totally confused. Why would he
want
to
keep her here? Why did he care?
Especially after pushing her
away so much all those years ago.
She’d wanted to see him again, sure,
now that she was all grown up, but on her own terms. She didn’t understand him
at all. Her memories of the grumpy man that kept her at arm’s length didn’t jibe
with the man standing in front of her. “You can’t keep me here against my
will.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Yes. I can.”

Chapter Five

Greyson paced the room, fighting the urge to go to Eva. He’d shown
her to his sleeping chamber an hour ago, but hadn’t told her it was his. She’d
argued with him,
then
pleaded, but he refused to let
her go. When he’d left the room, he’d overheard her phoning her mother and
stepfather and reassuring them she was fine, so clearly she wasn’t ready to
call the authorities on him and accuse him of kidnapping.
Not that it
mattered,
he thought darkly. They couldn’t do anything to him anyway.

“Greyson?
Please tell me you have something
to eat. It’s way past lunch and I’m starving.”

He turned. Eva stood at the top of the stairs, red hair rumpled.
She was curvy and young and so delicious looking he had to talk himself out of
grabbing her and taking her right then and there.
She’s off limits and you
know that, old man,
he told himself sternly. He felt her frustration and
wariness from across the room. His empathic power had never been so sensitive
before. He wrestled it back down, not wanting to spend all his time with her so
aware of her emotions. It wasn’t good for either of them, especially since he
could never have her. Not the way he truly wanted. His father’s pairing had
ended in tragedy and Greyson wasn’t willing to risk his duty to Earth on
emotional entanglements.
Except you’re already tangled up in her, aren’t
you?

“Greyson?”
She ventured into the room.

He mentally shook his head, wrenching his mind back to reality. “Yeah,
I’ve got food.” He walked to the kitchen and began taking out sandwich fixings.

Eva wandered to the kitchen area and sat down at the table. “I
still don’t understand why you’re keeping me here.” She plucked at the bloodstains
on her blouse sleeves.

He growled.
“Because I’ve warded this place from
top to bottom.”
He began slicing cheese. “The Spiders can’t hurt you
here.”

She stared at him, green eyes luminescent in the dim light.
She
looks so damn young,
Greyson thought, viciously slicing ham, as if that
would calm him. Outside, thunder rumbled through the forest.

“You can’t keep me here forever,” she murmured, glancing outside.
Rain hit the windows.

Greyson tensed, then deliberately rolled his shoulders and tried
to relax. He knew better than anyone that he couldn’t truly guarantee her
safety. However, he could make the odds better. “I can keep you here until we
destroy this particular infection of Spiders. Once the swarm has been found,
we’ll all be able to sleep easier at night.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Swarms are what we call groupings of Spiders. Spiders are the
alien life form we’ve been protecting Earth from for all these years.” He
slapped ham on a thick chunk of bread.

“You said they weren’t sentient?”

He nodded. “They’re organized differently than we are. They’re
basically machines programmed to eat and die.
Except no one
programmed them.”
He snorted. “That’s evolution at its best, or worst,
depending on your point of view. There’s no intent behind their actions. No
consciousness.”

She pursed her lips. “That’s… disturbing.”

He glanced at her, making a second sandwich for himself. “Yes.
Very.
That’s why my father swore the first Sentry oath when
the
Others
offered their help.”

“The Others?”
She frowned.

“The aliens that changed my father’s
and the other Sentries’ DNA.
They’re long gone. The one who helped us was the last of his
people.” He slid a sandwich in front of her and then poured them both some cold
milk. “He gave us our tech, too.” He didn’t mention the heightened powers he’d
also inherited. She already knew he could heal. He had no idea how she would
react to his empathy.

She stared at the glass he put on the table.

“Go ahead,” he urged. “I just bought it a few days ago.” He didn’t
understand why she was eyeing the drink so oddly, but didn’t want to completely
open up his senses. It was already hard enough keeping himself in check with
her here. His mind wanted to reach out to her, connect on a primal level. Giving
in would only lead to madness.

“Milk?”
She smiled wanly, but finally
picked up the drink and sipped at it. “I’m trying to lose weight and you’re
giving me milk.”

“Why are you trying to lose weight? You look fine,” he said,
sitting down with his food. Women were crazy. He knew this, but still, why did
she think she had to lose weight?

She took a bite of her sandwich, chewed and swallowed it. “Because
I’m overweight, that’s why. And I don’t want to die of heart disease when I’m
forty.”

He stared at her. “Who said you’re overweight?” She looked normal
to him, not anorexic like most of the other young women these days. He’d seen
fashions and body-types come and go for centuries, and he far preferred women
who didn’t look like they were starving. He remembered the Great Depression all
too well. Eva had curves a man could get lost in. He tried not to stare at her
bosom, but it was right there.
And so perfect.

She frowned. “My doctor said I should lose at least thirty pounds.”
She paused,
then
slid her plate away, sandwich only
half-eaten. “But I already knew that. I’ve been overweight since I was a junior
in high school.” She looked out the window, her expression suddenly sad.

Greyson remembered that she’d lost her biological father when she
was in high school. He wondered if that’s why she thought so badly about
herself.

“I don’t even have a change of clothes,” she muttered. “And I need
my laptop so I can get started on that project. I promised John I’d have
something for him on Tuesday and it’s already Sunday afternoon.”

“I’ll buy you clothes,” Greyson said, irritated.

“I don’t want you to buy me clothes. I want my
own
clothes.
And I want to wear them in my own house,” she retorted, whipping her head
around.

Greyson swallowed the last of his sandwich and sighed. She had a
point. “I’ll fetch your clothes.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “This is ridiculous. Four
years ago all you did was push me away. And now you won’t let me go.”

He stood up and walked over to her, leaning on the table by her
chair. “You were a child.”

She tossed her hair. “I was old enough to know how I felt. I was
old enough to know how
you
felt,” she insisted, glaring at him. “And I’d
been through hell already with my dad’s death, as you well know.”

His heart ached as he thought of the pain she’d been through. “You’re
still so very young,” he murmured, touching her cheek. Her skin was so soft.
His fingers tingled as the proximity triggered his empathy. Her emotions
swirled through him: anger, frustration,
arousal
. He
dropped his hand abruptly.

“I’m not
that
young anymore,” she said, standing up. Her
green eyes snapped at him.

Feisty redhead,
he thought, smiling wryly. “You’re
only twenty-two. You haven’t even held a full-time job yet.” The anger on her
face was better than the fear from earlier, when the Spiders had tried to kill
her. He’d never forget that look, not as long as he lived, and that might be a
long time indeed.

“You’re impossible,” she hissed.

He touched her face again, unable to keep away. Her skin heated
under his hand as he cupped her jaw, counting the tiny freckles that decorated
her nose. “You’re not the first person who’s told me that.” Her emotions roiled
through him, and he swayed closer, lips almost touching hers.

She swallowed, eyes dropping to his mouth.

His cock pressed painfully against his jeans’ zipper. She leaned
in so close her breath warmed his skin and he slid his fingers back, into her
hair. Silky strands tickled his knuckles.

Get control of yourself,
he admonished himself harshly, suddenly backing away. He ignored
her disappointed look and turned his back.

“Why don’t you take a nap
downstairs.
I’ll
go fetch your clothes,” he said, heading for the door. Lightning flashed
outside, but he didn’t care. He’d ride his bike through a hurricane if it meant
he could get away from her right now, before all his self-control evaporated.
She tore down his walls, even when she didn’t mean to. She had no idea how
desperately he wanted to make her completely his.
And she never will know,
not if I can help it,
he vowed, locking the door behind him.

****

Eva watched him leave, angry and aroused and so freaking
frustrated she felt like screaming. “I should leave, right now. It would serve
him right to come back and find me gone,” she said aloud, but another crack of
lightning convinced her it would be the height of stupidity to even try. She’d
be crazy to leave now, on foot, in the middle of a storm. She wasn’t even sure
exactly where she was.

Of course he can go anywhere whenever he wants, even into the
middle of this mess, because he’s a Sentry,
she thought bitterly. In defiance, she took her half-f glass
of milk and poured it down the drain.
There. I’m not drinking that.
She
stood there, staring out the window until she began to feel ridiculous holding
an empty glass as if it were some kind of protest.

“Dammit.” She rinsed the glass and left it in the sink, then
cleaned up the dishes. When that was done, she had nothing else to do. She
began pacing the room, passing the central pillar again and again. She stopped
in front of it and put a hand to the cool stone, but nothing happened.
Thankfully, the cell phone in her jeans pocket vibrated before she completely
lost her mind. She dug it out and dropped down onto the leather sofa in front
of the fireplace.

“Lucy, hey,” she said, already smiling.

“Eva, Oh.
My.
God.
Are you okay? I stopped by your house, but you weren’t there. Did you go home
with Greyson?” Lucy’s voice was breathless. “I saw you ride off on his
motorcycle, dashing into the storm. It was like something out of a romance
novel.”

“A romance novel?”
Eva didn’t know whether to laugh
or cry. “Not even close. He took me back to his house in the middle of nowhere.
I thought he was going to drop me off at my place, but instead he went into the
forest. He brought me here and said I couldn’t leave,” Eva said, irritated all
over again.

“What? He abducted you?” Lucy laughed hysterically. “That’s
awesome!”

“Lucy, are you crazy? He won’t let me go home.” Eva enunciated the
words very clearly so her friend would understand the depth of her frustration.

“He is also seriously hot. H. O. T.,” Lucy replied, ignoring Eva’s
pain. “Also, you made the evening news.
Of the entire planet.
I can’t tell you how much I love that you are my best friend. I had reporters
camped out on the lawn. My father almost had a stroke when he came home from
work.” Lucy giggled.

“Oh my God.”
Eva rubbed her eyes. Could this
day get any more bizarre? “I’m so sorry. That’s crazy.”