Charred Tears (#2, Heart of Fire) (19 page)

“Whatever is wrong, stop,” she ordered him softly. “Just be here with me right now. Okay?”

He rested his forehead against hers, uncertain how to respond.

Chapter Seventeen

He hugged her to him tightly. Skylar had guessed right; he was holding back for reasons she suspected extended from his betrayal.

Her body humming from her orgasm and the new one building, she felt like she was drowning in his scent, in the heat of their skin.

She was also hurting, aching inside to reclaim the trust they’d enjoyed when they made love the last time they were in this bed. Her pain trembled inside her, mixing with her desire to create emotion almost too strong to contain. She felt like crying once more, out of frustration and hope, disappointment and the intensity of what she felt for Chace.

Their connection was strong; she felt a part of him in a way she never had anything else. She’d never known her family, but she hoped that the emotion she was feeling was what family felt like. After a lifetime of not knowing who she was, she at least knew where she belonged and it was here, with Chace.

With the man who betrayed her.

The tears were forming.

“Okay?” she asked again.

“Yeah.” The raw note in his voice indicated he was going through a similar range of emotions.

“Good. Now make love to me, Chace,” she ordered.

He responded with a kiss unlike his others. Still hungry, it also conveyed a sense of longing, a need deep within him that was more than the lust they’d felt since meeting.

“You’re crying,” he said, pulling away.

“I’m fine,” she assured him through a tight voice.

He wiped away her tears, peering deeply into her eyes. Gently, tenderly, he lowered her onto her back and settled between her thighs without looking away. He said nothing, for which she was glad, but slid inside her body once more.

She shivered at the sensation of him filling her, claiming her. Her sheathe adjusted around his size. He didn’t move or thrust, simply stayed inside her while they held each other’s gazes. Their bodies were pressed together fully, joined together physically while they simultaneously gazed into the depths of each other’s souls.

The intimate moment was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, intense and personal. Nothing was between them here, and she felt exposed, vulnerable – but safe. As if she could trust the man who already betrayed her once. She was bound to Chace by more than their shared destiny. More than lust or magic or her role as a Protector. He was her dragon, but he was more. He was the other half of her heart, too.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I never want this moment to end.”

“My dragon,” she replied, tracing the angles of his face with her fingertips. “I miss you, Chace. I miss trusting you.”

Pain crossed his eyes.

“Show me you care?” she murmured, her throat almost too tight to talk. “Show me there’s more to you than the dragon.”

He began to move in and out of her again.

“We can come together,” she said, smiling up at him. “Assuming you can make that happen.” She rolled her eyes to lift the tension between them.

“I can,” he assured her. “Thank you, Skylar.”

“For what?” Surprised, she raised her eyebrows.

“For being the only person who’s ever been my home.” There was too much emotion in his hushed answer for her to know how to respond.

Humbled by the words, she was also scared by them, unable to shake the notion that – if he’d betrayed his other half, his home once – would he do it again?

She pushed the thought away and pulled him down for a kiss, needing the physical distraction to keep from breaking down into tears.

Chapter Eighteen

Hours later, Chace traced his fingers down the naked side of her body, smiling at the goose bumps that formed in their wake. She snuggled closer, and he ceased teasing her to secure her against his body. Tucking her head into the nape of his neck, she blew out a breath that tickled him.

“Still hate me?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

“I’ll keep trying to prove myself.” He understood their dynamics – physical gratification while she tried to understand what she wanted – and was secretly rejoicing for the ability to touch her again.

Chace smoothed her hair away from her face, working out knots with his fingers. Her eyes were closed, her breasts and hips pressed against him. Her ultra-feminine body was an absolute delight, from shadows that played across the soft shapes of her body to her woman’s musk and the honey at her core that made him want her even more. He’d never met anyone capable of ensnaring every one of his senses in such a way.

“You’re like a drug. I can’t get enough of you,” he said. He lifted his head to nuzzle her neck and collarbone then flicked out his tongue to trace a path down her shoulder.

He also didn’t know what possessed him to reveal something so private as telling her that she’d become his home, the only person who ever made him feel accepted.

She shivered.

“It’s more than physical,” he added, attentive to her body’s reaction.

“Deeper,” she supplied.

“Exactly. Like we’re connected on some level I didn’t know existed.”

“More like … we’ve always been together but just now met officially.”

He chuckled. “Something like that.”

“Then how could you turn on me?” She propped herself up on one elbow, pulling away enough to see his expression. There was pain in her voice and eyes.

Chace didn’t know what to say. There was no good explanation for what he’d done, but she was waiting for something. He didn’t understand it now either. He’d learned a lot in the past couple of weeks and desperately wished he’d known a fraction of this knowledge the night he took her to Gavin.

“I don’t know.” He rested a hand on the side of her face, tracing the line of her jaw with his finger. “I know that’s not the answer you want.”

“The answer I want is that you’ll never do it again. You’ll be there when I need you instead of turning your back.”

“I will,” he said firmly. “I’ll do everything I can, Skylar.”

Her features remained troubled. “I want to believe you. I can’t yet, Chace.”

“You’re afraid to.”

“Yes.” She lowered her upper body and snuggled against him once more.

His stomach sank. He knew regaining her trust wasn’t going to be easy, but he’d hoped her pain didn’t run so deep, it was impossible for him to win her back.

Stupid assumption, Chace.
He’d left her to die. There was no way to soften the impact of what he’d done. What he didn’t know: if she’d eventually walk away from him, when she had enough time to sort through her emotions.

“You’re my dragon, Chace,” she said sadly, as if able to read his thoughts.

“I’ll always be that,” he assured her. “You’ll always be my Sky.” 
I hope.

She planted warm lips against his neck.

Chace settled with her in his arms, unable to recall a time when he’d felt more complete than he did now. She’d made his heart beat the first night they were together. He was pretty sure she was the reason it continued to beat.

“We better get going,” she said with a sigh. “It’s almost nightfall.”

The shadows had grown longer as they made love over the course of the afternoon. Chace didn’t want to think about what that meant, that their time together was almost over. Dread settled into his stomach whenever he thought about facing Dillon and trying to protect the shifters and Skylar – without his magic.

Their plan wasn’t the masterpiece he would’ve liked. The chances of any of them getting hurt were high if they did what Sky wanted and captured the slayers rather than killing them. With Gavin, they stood a good chance of fighting off Dillon.

The idea Gavin would be protecting Sky because Chace wasn’t able to didn’t sit well with him either. It infuriated him, knowing Gavin was the one who stripped his magic in the first place.

Why hadn’t he been able to go through these trials when the stakes weren’t as high? When Skylar wasn’t endangered?

“I hate to leave here,” he said. He pulled away. “But I guess the sooner we take care of business, the sooner we’ll be right back here.”

She smiled up at him, troubled. Skylar touched his face.

“I’ve never known anyone as incredible as you,” she murmured. “You twist me into knots, Chace.”

He captured her hands and kissed her fingers. “So do you. There seriously are days I’d love to turn you into fried chicken.”

“Trust me, the feeling is mutual. I’m not joking about lassoing you one day,” she replied with a husky laugh.

“I’m game for you trying,” he said. He held her gaze, his tongue flickering out to tease a fingertip. He sucked on it, mimicking the movements he’d made earlier to her clit.

Her breath caught, her features flushing with desire.

“Post-griffin date?” he asked.  

“Yes.” She took his face in her hands and tugged him down to her, kissing him hungrily. She released him and hugged him to her once more. Her heart was beating fast, her hands shaking.

“Don’t worry, Sky,” he said, disturbed by how bothered he was by her fear. “Your dragon will take care of you.”

“I know,” she said against one ear.

The intimate moment stretched on. A few moments later, her phone buzzed.

“Think that’s the sign we need to go,” he said reluctantly. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” She didn’t sound sure.

Chace kissed her quickly then sat up and left the bed, holding out a hand to pull her up. She took it, wrapping her arms around him once more in a brief hug.

He watched her step away, admiring the way shadows played across her feminine shape, the sway of her sexy ass and hips. His eyes traveled down her shapely thighs and calves then up again, resting on the glimpse of a breast he saw when she bent over to pull on her pants.

“You have the sexiest body I’ve ever seen,” he said quietly. “I could spend the rest of my life fucking you, Skylar.”

“We’ll see about that,” she said cheerfully. “You’ve gone one whole day without screwing up. Can you make it two?”

“If I can spend half the day in bed with you, yes.”

She shot him an amused look.

He smiled and got dressed, already missing the feel of her body. He crossed to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against him.

“Down, dragon!” she objected, half-dressed.

“Hush, slayer.”

She yielded in his arms, resting her head back against his shoulder. He held her for a minute then released her. It took only the loss of her body heat for him to wish he was able to hold her again.

A glance at her revealed a troubled expression on her face. She was nibbling on her lower lip, gaze on the message.

“Everyone okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She locked the phone and shoved it in her pocket.

Chace wanted to pry but didn’t, doing his best to respect the boundaries he suspected he should.

“Gunner said he left the truck where he dropped us off. Keys in the ignition,” she said.

“Great.”

Ten minutes later, they left her apartment. The sun was setting in the west and her SUV waiting where Gunner indicated.

The chill of evening sank into him, along with the sobering reality of what they were doing this night. The bag of figurines was on the seat beside him. Gavin was likely already in dragon form, making his way to the bar so he could transport it with his magic to the place they’d chosen to attract the slayers.

He wasn’t feeling a warm fuzzy about Mason’s odd involvement or Skylar’s insistence they try to capture slayers.

He wasn’t feeling confident about his lost magic, either. His skin smelled of Skylar, and his fingers twitched with need to touch her again. If anything went wrong, if she got hurt because
he
failed to protect her …

He drew a deep breath to try to loosen up his body. All he had to do was protect her, no matter what. As long as he didn’t leave her side, there was no danger. He didn’t have magic, but he could beat the shit out of a too-human slayer. He’d learned to fight over the years if nothing else.

Trailing her down the sidewalk, his sense of foreboding grew stronger. He placed the figurines on the floor of the passenger side of the SUV then climbed in. Skylar was quiet, her face drawn.

Something’s not right.

Chapter Nineteen

Skylar pulled out of the parking lot of her apartment building, dwelling on the text from Mason.

If you want to know what’s really going on, I can tell you. But I need you to trust me.

It wasn’t exactly inspiring any sort of confidence, given his latest actions and the admittance he’d lied to her. She rolled it around in her head, assessing what she knew of him, of what was happening around them. What else had he kept from her?

Chace was quiet. She glanced at him, at once awed and confused that no part of her regretted their afternoon together, even if she knew she wasn’t yet sure she could trust him. Even now, a furnace was burning low in her belly, stoked on by the scent of him and the knowledge he was within inches of her.

Thank you … for being the only person who’s ever been my home.

She couldn’t get over what he’d said. He’d looked at her and spoken to her as if he loved her. But it didn’t seem possible. Or maybe, she wasn’t ready to know that the man who betrayed her was also in love with her. Unable to think about what that meant for her, what kind of decisions she’d have to make, she concentrated on the road.

She drove them to the spot where they’d agreed earlier to have Gavin take the bar. It was just past dark when they arrived, and she didn’t expect to see the bar already there.

“That was fast,” she said, parking the SUV at the edge of the parking lot that came with the bar.

“Yeah.” There was a note of loss in his voice she understood.

Instinctively, Skylar reached across to grip his forearm and squeeze it. He placed his other hand on top of hers, its calloused warmth sending energy spiraling through her to the burn in her lower abdomen.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was really looking forward to spending more time in bed getting to know him. He was always gentle, but there was something more in the way he’d looked at her, touched her, this time around. Like he cared. A lot.