He clamped the wound’s flow, lifting her up to his seeking mouth, hot and insistent once more. The wound was healed and his shirt closed by the time he released her from his enthrallment.
The weight of the rising sun beat at him. He needed to leave, and it was killing him to do it.
He laid her carefully to the bed, covering her with the sheets. “Go to sleep, Titania. You must rest. I will find you. Always.”
She whimpered once in groggy disagreement, but he held her thoughts captive, commanding her to sleep. She needed more care and rest. He needed to escape the sun’s path.
With a final kiss to her warm skin, he vanished.
* * * *
Tani rolled over, feeling the layers of sleep fade, like a heavy fog thinning. She blinked and groaned when certain points made their sore reports the more awake she became. Her ribs felt tight and when she yawned, her jaw ached.
She straightened out on her back, awash in the memories of the previous night. It had all been real. Thomas, his attack. Diego. Her eyes closed. What had he done? Was he a healer?
Diego had said he’d never tried that outside of healing himself, and there was no doubt she should have gone to the hospital. The details were hazy, how he’d helped her. She knew she didn’t want to look in the mirror. That was a definite.
She smoothed a cautious hand down her face, a moan of discomfort rising quickly when she did. “Ow,” she muttered, moving her jaw back and forth.
A knock on her door startled her. “Tani, are you ever going to wake up?”
She unlocked the door without getting up. Laney and Houston came in, took one look at her, and rushed to the bed.
“Jesus,” Houston snarled. “What the hell happened?” His hand was firm but tender on her chin, turning her this way and that.
She looked down, avoiding his examination, plucking at the blanket. “I, um, had a bit of a problem last night.”
“Why didn’t you get me? What happened?” His anxious brown eyes scoured her body above the blanket, scowling at the visible marks still on her skin.
She hung her head. “I knew I should have listened to you,” she said, her voice low. “I was attacked. The man from Arkansas had the hotel staked out.”
Laney gasped. “You’re kidding?”
Titania rested her chin on raised knees, hugging them close. Her ribs protested, but only a little. “I don’t think he expected it to be so easy, and I walked right into it.”
“Where is he now? How did you get to your room?” Houston turned her again. “It looks like you’ve had treatment. These are fading already. How’d you do that?”
She licked her lips, knowing she needed to be careful in how she explained this. “I didn’t. Diego did it. He rescued me. I remember seeing a knife, and then Thomas was gone.” She shivered, recalling the crunching sounds that happened afterward.
Laney’s green eyes grew huge. “That news break! Oh, my God! That was the same man.” She faced Titania. “They found his body behind the hotel. I’m so sorry, honey.”
“My fault. I should have listened. I couldn’t catch the limo either. What time is it? I need to call and have them recover my bag.”
“It’s after seven, and the limo company called this morning. The desk has your tote.” Laney sat next to her on the bed, Houston on the other side.
She sat straight. “After seven! That can’t be right. I never sleep this late.” She ran a hand through her hair.
“You needed it.” Houston’s brown gaze went flat. “This Diego, he’s the same one you saved? At the last concert?” Houston asked, a guarded wariness to his words.
She looked away again. How could she tell him Diego could talk to her? She couldn’t tell him the truth, not all of it. “He helped me last night. I don’t know what he did, but it’s because of him I’m not in the hospital.” She knew that for a fact. She wasn’t ready to go into the details she wasn’t sure she could even begin to explain. She let them come to their own conclusions.
“Then I owe him,” he said quietly.
“We both do,” Laney added.
Hoping they were ready to drop it, she told them, “I want to shower and stretch. I still hurt.” She wasn’t sure if Diego would be coming back like he had promised either. She had no idea how she was supposed to feel about it if he did.
Laney sat on the edge of the bed with Houston, smoothing the blankets. She glanced up, then away. “He, um, didn’t…you know…hurt you, did he? Maybe you should go to the hospital anyway. Get checked out?”
She reached for Laney’s fingers, squeezing them. “I’m all right,” she informed them quietly. “He didn’t get to do anything more than scare me.” At Houston’s deep frown, she added, “He didn’t do anything I can’t talk about, Houston.”
“All right, then,” he conceded grudgingly. “See you later?”
Titania pulled her robe tight, grateful she’d slept in it. There was nothing beneath it. “Yeah. Let me get cleaned up.” She watched their concerned faces until they left, then she sighed a long sound of relief. She climbed from the bed and padded into the bathroom. Seeing herself for the first time, she gasped a small squeak. She was a walking train wreck. The bruising was still apparent on her jaw, and her eye had a lovely shade of fading purple.
Diego was a miracle worker. If that was what she looked like now, without his help, her eye would have been swollen shut and she would have been living in misery. She dropped the robe, inspecting the rest of her body.
She knew how hard she had hit the ground, how hard Thomas had struck her. There was no doubt she owed Diego for his help. Really, for her life.
The steamy water felt good on her battered muscles, relaxing some of the waking stiffness from them. She braided her hair when she was done in the shower, stripping the water out of the length with long pulls. She would’ve cut it long ago if it wasn’t her most renowned and appealing factor.
“That depends on who you ask. Although I do happen to like it myself.”
The unexpected slow drawl of Diego’s words in her mind made her jumped.
She jerked a towel off the rod to cover herself, then laughed at her foolishness, wrapping up with a calmer hand. “You have got to stop sneaking up on me like that.”
“But I am not even there.”
“Well, what are you doing walking around in my thoughts anyway?” she huffed, smirking at her reflection.
“Making sure you are safe and well this rising. You are still in discomfort. I will be there shortly.”
“I appreciate this, Diego. I owe you,” she told him, humbled by his kindness.
His voice was a warming caress. “
No, cara. I owe you.”
And then he was gone.
She decided on clothes to wear and was looking for her sandals when there was a knock on her door. She walked up to it, her gaze absently still peeking for the missing shoes, when she just stopped. It wasn’t Houston on the other side.
“Who is it?” she called, throwing up walls at the first rush of anger. Sweat broke out on her skin. Heavy emotions rolled over her in waves, easily breaking through her casual barriers.
She didn’t have time to reinforce them before a buzzing began to swell in her ears. For some reason, she had to open that door. A voice, a low mesmerizing cadence, twisted her thoughts. Told her to open the door and invite him in. The voice hissed evilly. It was time to accept her punishment for interfering.
She followed in horror when her hand lifted. Another barrage of anger hit her, followed by a shriek of triumph.
Diego shot into the sky, absorbing the night air and testing his surroundings, listening to what the wind had to tell him. He was alone, surrounded by the craggy depths of the ravine he had found. Far from town, though not at home. He could not be far from her.
It was a clear night, the sun’s rays obliterated by the growing multitude of stars overhead. The night had never looked as colorful, as magical, as it did knowing he had Titania in his life.
Leaves shined with an emerald brilliance, the darker veins cutting them into mosaic patterns cast by nature. The moon bathed the world in its milky glow. Everything had a stronger essence of wonder. Scents were sweeter, and the air felt fresher. She had given this to him.
What he had done to deserve a woman of her beauty, of her compassion, he would never understand. He knew after last night, after tasting not only her innocence—her kiss—but the sweet ambrosia of her blood, he would never let her go. She had destroyed the growing loneliness in him.
After touching her, assuring himself she was indeed safe and well, he hunted, moving in the direction of the hotel.
He hid in the shadows, holding his prey enthralled, when the first waves of distress reached him. Fear and confusion were clouding her thinking. He released the man he held with less than gentle concern. His eyes blazed with red flames as he tried to touch her and found a block, a hum of enthrallment that he recognized only too well.
“Titania! Step away from the door.”
He felt her confusion deepen.
Her voice was fragile, strained.
“
Diego?”
He answered as he vanished from the alley, moving with an urgency he had never tasted.
“
Fight it, Titania! Do not open that door. Do not let him in.”
He had no idea how Brakka had found her. Should have known Brakka would never forgive or forget a slight like she had dealt him. He had been forced to run because a woman, a human woman, had caught him off his guard.
“I have to.”
Her voice whimpered in his mind. He could feel tears of helplessness growing in her.
“Do not!”
He made the command imperious. A low, snarling sound rose from deep in his chest. He found Brakka’s mind, a dark maze of malicious intent.
“
Brakka! Leave now. You will not harm this woman.”
The laughter he heard echoed low with pure evil.
“
She is someone to you? Perfect.”
Brakka grated into Diego’s mind, taunting him.
“
It will be delicious to hear her screams in payment for her interference.”
Diego moved like the devil himself, reforming directly in front of her just as the door bowed inward, threatening to shatter under the weight of the darkness on the other side. Her hand floated less than an inch from the handle, unable to withstand the pressure of Brakka’s commands. He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her to land on the bed, ignoring the shallow scream she cried. His hot gaze fell to the door and the creature on the other side.
“Your fight is with me, Brakka. You are not welcome. You do not have permission to enter this room.” Diego’s voice was as cold as winter ice.
A hissing sound filled with hatred snaked around the door. “I will find her again. You have shared with her.” Vehement and ugly, the words crept to him followed by mocking laughter. “You have doomed her!” came the thrown jeer.
Diego’s ruthless gaze never left the door, waiting. He finally felt Brakka’s withdrawal and rolled his shoulders, allowing the tension to drain. He faced Titania huddled in the depths of the bed, her arms curled around her legs, trying to look smaller.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded stiffly. “H-how did you get in here? How did you just appear like that?” It took two tries, but she made the words come out.
He kept his voice neutral. He did not want to shock her further. “I have certain abilities, like you do.” He walked across the room, her eyes following him warily, and it tore him apart. He never wanted her to fear him. “Your telekinesis, for example.”
She licked her lips where they quivered delicately. “How did you know? I only do that if I’m alone.”
“It is the same. I only use them if needed. I do not advertise either.” He did not explain that while slipping in and out of her mind, he had seen her ability and felt her energy when she used it.
Her frightened gaze popped to the door. “Brakka. He was here for me, wasn’t he?”
A hard hand slashed through his hair, but he did not avoid the question. “Yes.”
“Because I stopped the fight?”
“Because you took away his opportunity to kill me.”
Titania’s frame straightened in outrage. “He
was
there to kill you. I knew it.”
It warmed him to hear the protective note in her tone again. “He has tried. Just as I have. It is hard to kill one who once trained with you.”
Her eyes found his, deep and confused. “Trained with you?”
“A long time ago. It does not matter now.” He sank to the corner of the bed, leaving plenty of space between them. She was still pale, but was slowly working her way to an explanation. It was too soon for his truth, if ever. He sought to distract her further. “How are you feeling?” He studied her pale cheeks, the bruising still prominent on satin skin. He tried not to think too much of how she’d felt the previous evening. How perfect, or how much he wanted to kiss her again.
“Better. What you did last night…” She scooted to sit on the edge of the bed with him near the opposite corner. Her movements were no longer wary, but still showed a slight hesitation, her gaze slipping to him, then beyond, still trying to understand. “I don’t know how or what you did, but thank you. I know you are why I slept here and not in a hospital bed.”
“Would you let me treat you again? I did not have time last night to do a thorough job.”
“Do I have to lay naked in the tub again?” Her head bowed, and he caught her blush, her feelings of embarrassment.
“No. Lay out here and let me see what I can do.” He stood, but her next question was quiet and not ignorable.
“He meant it, didn’t he? He’ll never give up.” She hadn’t moved from where she sat, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
“I promised to protect you from everyone.”
“You can’t always be with me,” she stated.
He could taste her fear, wondering at the same time what she had stumbled into by breaking up the fight. While he frightened her at times, Brakka terrified her.
“I guess Houston is right. I’ll have to hire a bodyguard.”
Diego’s first thought was that a bodyguard would be a play toy for Brakka. There was no one he would trust to keep her safe. Not any longer. “No.” His expression became implacable. No one else would have the right to protect this woman.
Her head snapped up. “What do you mean no? I can’t walk around when someone like that is after me. I have to tell Houston.”
“I meant no, you do not have to hire one. I will take the position. With one provision. I cannot be with you during the day. You must stay with Houston.” He wondered with a dismissive thought how that was going to work. He was positive Houston would not take his inclusion into their group well. He was a very territorial male, just as Diego was, and Titania was under Houston’s care. He doubted Houston knew how to share.
“I know you have your own life, Diego. I can’t ask you to do this.”
“You are not asking. I am offering. Now lay still. Your jaw is still bruised at the bone.”
She fell back to the bed with an annoyed groan, her arms slack at her sides. “I knew you were going to be one of those overprotective types. You and Houston need to form a club.”
“I protect everyone under my care, which now includes you. Now lie still.” He swallowed the sudden urge to laugh, catching her petulant, overdone whining, making blistering comments under her breath. He was not an insufferable, overbearing anything. “That includes being silent,” he told her, biting the inside of his cheek to hide his reactions. Laughter would only rile her again. Not conducive for concentration.
She let out another long groan, then fell silent, and he went to work. This time he was able to be more thorough, taking his time, moving carefully from bruise to bone, ensuring he touched on everything that needed attention. She lay perfectly still and thankfully silent. She made concentration hard enough without speaking. When she was being stubborn or feisty, it was near impossible to do anything other than take pleasure in her joy in life.
When he rejoined with his body, he sagged to his knees. Titania sat up, gasping when she saw him, grabbing for him as he sank to the floor.
“Diego!”
He rested his head on his outstretched arms, gripping at the edge of the bed next to her. “I read somewhere a line: ‘Reentry is a bitch’,” he muttered. “I think I understand that better now.”
“You’re so pale,” she said, her touch quivering. “You shouldn’t have done so much. I was already half-healed.” She brushed his hair from his face, her hands tender in her concern.
He dragged air into his lungs. She would expect him to breathe. He needed to remember that. Diego had already allowed so much, he had no idea how much longer he could keep the truth from her.
“Now you are fully healed. I will be fine. I just need a moment to rest.”
“You are incredible,” she murmured in a tone laced with awe. She raised a hand to her jaw, her eyes growing wider still. “It’s gone! I don’t feel anything. I don’t care how gifted you are. You are amazing.”
The depth of her acceptance sank into him. She made him feel so much. His focus fell to her mouth nearly in front of him. That sweet, luscious, bowed mouth, and he craved her sweetness again. Wanted to be bathed in her warmth. His heart jumped, raced, thumped behind his ribs with an increasing rhythm that was not solely his doing. Need clawed at him. Her eyes glittered with a depth that called to him. The pulse at her neck beat, her lips parted in invitation.
What he was thinking, what he ultimately wanted, was not possible. He knew that, but it did not stop the feelings from gaining strength either. He had to taste her again, feel the heat of her skin. He was powerless against the magnitude of those wants. He leaned nearer, the soft brush of her breathing causing ripples of awareness to skate over nerves and skin.
“Damn, what happened to the door? Tani!” came the worried shout right before a pounding on the door broke the charged silence, snapping them apart. “Are you in there?”
She swallowed, sucking a deep breath. “Yes, David. I’m fine.” She never lost Diego’s gaze, shouting toward the door.
“Have you seen this door? It looks like a cat used it to sharpen its claws. A huge freakin’ cat. Man, Houston’s going to wig out when he sees this.”
“I guess he’s looking for me,” she told Diego. “I better go. Once David tells him about the door…” She shivered once, luminous eyes beseeching. “How am I supposed to explain Brakka? Or why he’s after me? He’s not like us.”
That, more than anything, proved she had accepted him as human, gifted. It was a delusion Diego was not ready to destroy.
He was not sure how he could explain Brakka either. It would reveal far too much. His expression was patient when he told her, “Tell Houston what you can. I will be here when you return. Call to me if you leave. I will not let you leave without me again.” He made it a dictate. She would never be alone, unprotected, again. Day or night.
“How can you drop everything to do this?”
“I had nothing to drop,” he told her simply. He stood and stretched to his full height, once more the warrior.