Runestone (6 page)

Evangeline gave a little scream, and Sean started. “Okay. Come on. We’re going to call him again, both on the phone and through your link.”

“And if we don’t reach him?” She was shaken from the Vision, and she knew beyond a doubt that Will’s dangerous dealings were the true reason he was avoiding her. Another tremor rolled through her, pushing her farther under the waves of despair. Her whole world was crashing down around her.

Sean tilted her face up to his, his eyes dark and serious. “We’ll discover what’s going on, and when we do, I’ll get you to him as fast as I can. Your welfare is my first priority. You’re my wife, Evangeline. My life. My world.”

Sean kept his gaze trained on Evangeline’s slender back, wishing with every cell of his being that he could ease her. Two solid days of hysterical weeping and shaking of Richter scale proportions were slowly breaking through his composure.

He had spent hours on the phone, cancelling his appointments with his art dealer, and countless more trying to get a flight home. Torrential rains and flooding in Argentina had stalled all flights. If they could get within a hundred miles of the village, he would carry Evangeline in on his back if needed, but it was useless.

Of all times for a natural disaster to hit.

Now, he was trying to call Will for the thousandth time, and he was getting more pissed by the minute. What the hell did the man think he was doing, shutting her out? She swore Will’s life was endangered, but Sean just thought he was being a schmuck. He was pissed Sean had married her. Well, fair was fair. Months ago, Will had stolen her away from him without a word. Sean figured he deserved a little commitment from her, since she refused to Make him immortal and allow him to bond in that way. No matter what she and Will said, he couldn’t believe they wouldn’t be linked if he were immortal.

In his ear, the phone stopped ringing and Will picked up. Sean snapped to attention. “Will!”

“No. Will is dead. Or as good as dead,” a grating voice said.

Cold dread struck Sean. His face and fingers numbed. For a minute, he thought he might throw up. “Who—?”

The line went dead. Immediately, he punched redial, casting a look at Evangeline to make sure she hadn’t moved. She sat in the same spot, shivering nonstop, and her head in her hands. Calling to her immortal mate, Sean knew.

She was right all along. He’s not just playing the wounded mate. Something’s horribly wrong.

The phone rang endlessly. Sean pressed a fist to his forehead, fighting the sickening tendrils of terror that coiled through him. Finally Will’s beloved tenor sounded when his voice mail picked up.

With his own shudder, Sean pocketed his cell. How was he going to tell her?

As the question surfaced, he squashed it.
You’re not. She knows with her heart, mind, and soul. Even her body tells her something bad has happened. She doesn’t need to know this, too.

Memories of the past blissful months revolved through his head. How soon the peace had come to an end.

Fighting his own case of the shakes, Sean slowly approached Evangeline. She whipped around at the sound of his step.

“Anything?” Her lovely face was tense, as if she had perched on the cliff near their villa and in one step, would free fall hundreds of feet. The strain around her eyes tugged at Sean’s heartstrings.

Gently, he squeezed her upper arms. If he lied, would she know? “Nothing.”

She ran an unsteady hand through her hair. “What about a flight?”

He shook his head, despising the way her eyes dropped. Damn, his first few days as a husband couldn’t have gone any worse. He had vowed to care for her needs, and so far he’d done nothing but prove he still harbored a certain amount of resentment when it came to Will.

But now, he only wanted to find him. The harsh words echoed in his mind.
Will is dead. Or as good as dead.

Everything in him bucked against the thought. Without her immortal mate, Evangeline would go mad. Judging from the dark bruises beneath each eye and the jerk and roll of her body from her tremors, she was already on the path.

Sean could bear it no more. He scooped her up and sank to the bedside. Her curvy legs dangled over his, her usual denim miniskirt riding up her thighs. She felt brittle, strung tight as a bow. Her hands twisted in her lap. When she looked up, her gaze was imploring.

A knot of frustration formed in his gut. Above all things, he hated feeling helpless. He was a strong man. A black belt in Tae Kwan Do. He’d helped to wipe Marcus off the earth. And yet, he couldn’t find his and Evangeline’s lover, and had no hope of getting her home.

“I wish I knew what to do. Tell me what to do.” He smoothed a hand down her spine, feeling the knobs. Since her birth into immortality, she’d stopped abusing drugs, and so had gained a few much needed pounds, but she would never be more than a pixie.

She buried her head beneath his chin. The fine hairs on her crown tickled his jaw as she trembled. The intense shaking cut him to the bone. Dammit, she needed her immortal. Why wouldn’t she Make him, so he could ease her? Any immortal’s touch would help. If only. . . .

He turned his mouth against her tattoo, inhaling her sweet sandalwood and vanilla scents. His body responded at once. Her weight in his lap and the round curves of her ass against his groin lighted a desire in him he couldn’t ignore. This trip was supposed to be so much more for them, and it had turned into an epic nightmare. It was impossible not to feel a little twang of resentment that she’d been so distracted after their wedding. And yet, guilt weighted him too. Guilt that he shouldn’t have married her without Will present. Guilt that he had taken her away from her immortal mate. Guilt that he’d wanted to very badly.

She shifted in his lap, obviously detecting his erection. Did she think him an insensitive ass for getting a boner while she suffered?

Maybe he could ease her through touch. He knew firsthand that lovemaking connected hearts and minds as well as bodies. At this moment, he wanted to offer comfort.

She lifted her ravaged face to his, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat. When she’d left him in Chicago to follow her Calling, she had worn the same strain.

After Vegas, they’d returned to their suite in L.A. On the flight, a little girl who was flying alone repeatedly peeked over the seat at them. Sean’s mind had been solely on Evangeline and the separation crisis she was experiencing, but seeing the dark-eyed child brought forth the dreams he’d harbored when he realized he was in love with Evangeline. Dreams of marrying her and having a little girl.

The dark-haired waif looked over the seats again, and then her small voice reached him. “Your lady is sick. She needs a doctor.”

At that moment, another bout of tremors sheared off more of his composure. He gripped her tightly, and tumbled her into the rumpled bedcovers. His world was crumbling. Will was lost, refusing or unable to answer. Someone was trying to wipe him off the earth. And all Sean could think to do was make love to his wife and show her that she could continue to live no matter what.

He cradled her head on his palm and stared into her eyes. The blue depths swam with tears. Beneath him, her body shivered. Slowly, lowering his mouth by degrees, he sealed her lips with his. She issued a soft sigh as he held the kiss, letting the emotions build in his chest.

He loved this woman with every ounce of his soul. And he loved Will, too. Perhaps if Will knew this, he’d find a way to come back to them safely. While he and Will had shared infinite caresses and tender moments, they’d never verbalized their bond.

Sean prodded the sensitive spots behind Evangeline’s ears as he kissed her, feeling her melt. He drank from her mouth, tongue probing hers in a ballet of warmth and love. Her flavors mingled with his, and his muscles hummed, dying to enter her, to bury his cock in her silken cavern.

As their kiss intensified, her body awakened in his hands, blossoming like a flower. Sliding his fingers down her tattoo, he strummed each rune and star, before making love to them with his mouth. His licking kisses carried him away. His cock thickened in his jeans, pressing deliciously on the fly in anticipation. The deep throb grew more insistent as he slipped his fingers into the neck of her T-shirt and located one straining nipple.

His fingers closed over it, and he pinched it slow but hard. She gasped, eyes fluttering shut as he tormented it, and then moved to the other bud. He flicked her nipple ring with his fingertip, and then dipped his head and sucked it through the fabric of her shirt. He gave himself up to the satisfaction he could only gain from pleasuring her.

“Sean.” Her soughing sigh mixed with the quiet rasp of his breath. Through the French doors leading to a balcony, the moonlight shimmered through the glass, darting in and out of the passing clouds like a voyeuristic wood nymph.

He tugged her top up and off. Her small, perky breasts sprung free, the pale pink tips beckoning to him. Dipping his head, he worshipped her mounds. His tongue laved each plump breast, gently lifting them and letting them slide through his fingers, loving the quiver of her flesh.

For long minutes, he bathed them with kisses, until she was arching beneath him. Small mews of delight came from her parted lips, spurring him on.

This is what she needs. My tongue buried in her pussy. Two fingers parting her sweet flesh.

Moving downward, he kissed a path to her navel. The silver piercing sparkled in the dim light. He pressed moist kisses around the perimeter, and then dunked the tip of his tongue in the small recess. Her hands twisted in his hair, pulling lightly, guiding him to her bare mound. Months ago, when the three of them had gotten together, she had shaved it. But he missed lapping at her wet curls, and sometimes wished she’d grow them back.

From his position between her thighs, he met her eyes. Her lashes were still spiky with her tears, but her cheeks were dry. A beautiful pink flush was infusing her skin, and he growled at the sight.

“The sex flush. God, baby.” He dived between her legs. The hot slippery folds met his tongue in an explosion of sweet juices. With a moan, he licked down her seam, to her dripping honey hole. He thrust his tongue in and out, reaching deeper each time.

Her little hips lifted against him, grinding her pussy into his face. The juices filled his nose and coated his tongue. His cock grew painfully hard in the confines of his jeans, demanding release.

Using two fingers, he splayed her pouty pussy lips apart to reveal her swollen pearl. He sucked it into his mouth, his groan vibrating against her slick flesh.

“Sean, that’s so good. Suck it. Harder. Oh, yes,” she cried. Her fists thumped his shoulders.

He pressed on the hood of her clit with the point of his tongue, softly flicking the core in a way that would send her over the edge. Grinding his rough jaw into her hot hole, stroking her outer labia. Gathering her love cream on his tongue, hungry for more.

The first pulsations started, and he deliberately slowed his actions to drive her higher. A trickle of her nectar slid down his chin, and he released her clit to gulp at her divine juices, using his thumb to work her nubbin instead. He knew she loved the rough pad of his thumb and the heavy, chaffing pressure he created, and tonight was no different.

She shattered with a guttural moan, arms flung out, fingers digging into the sheets. He gripped her ass with one hand and guided her against him, so she was pumping her slit against his face.

That’s it, baby. Fuck my face. Cum all over me.

Thumb still swirling gently over her clit, he lifted his face. A gorgeous sex flush was upon her, staining her cheeks and the arch of her throat. Each inky rune and star of her tattoo stood out sharply against the pink glow. Passion welled in his chest, along with possessiveness that he hadn’t felt in a long time—since before he had agreed to include Will in their relationship.

With jerky, uncontrolled movements, he stripped away her remaining clothes. His T-shirt , jeans and boxers hit the floor. In seconds, he was poised over her, holding her gaze.

“Evangeline, I love you more today than I did yesterday. My love will continue to swell like the ocean tides.” With that, he thrust deep, burying his cock to the root. He stilled, gritting his teeth against the need to spill his hot cum inside her. His balls ached against her warm, wet pussy.

“Sean!”

He began to move, slowly, drawing out to the tip. Before the head could swing free, he drove back inside her. The soft crush of her breasts against his chest thrilled him. The round slope of her belly sent his blood dancing. But her eyes. . . oh, God, her eyes were the windows to his universe.

Threading a hand through her hair, he gathered her to him, bending her delicate body to his will, his fervor peaking and curling until he thought he could hold no more love for her. And then she’d make a small noise of wanting, and his heart would splinter anew, expanding around the fresh wave of emotion.

“Right there.” Her hot gasp pierced his hearing, and his universe focused on that sound. Her slippery walls clenched around him. Her flavor was still on his tongue, and he bit at her lower lip, demanding entrance so he could share with her. They often shared Will’s love fluids between them, but being alone with her was priceless.

His wife.

“Baby, I’m gonna come!” He drove deeper, grinding his cock until the silken flesh opened to him like a flower.

She came hard, bucking in his hold, gushing her hot cream all over his throbbing eight inches. Her fingernails raked his back, leaving searing furrows that drove him higher. His tongue plunged deep into her mouth, taking possession of hers as he pumped her full.

As the shards of the world drew back around them, he smiled down at her. When he caressed her smooth sides and swollen breasts, he noticed a slight tremor still lived under her skin. And though tears spilled over her velvety cheeks, she gave him a hint of a smile.