Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite) (17 page)

Ironic that someone like Skye was standing up for someone like his brother.

“Not the ring alone, no. But when we were kids, Nik and Nuala and I took on character names and played out silly scenarios. Sam Hawk was a comic book hero that Nik particularly admired.” The irony of the hero part didn’t get by him. “Nik made Nuala and me call him Hawk.”

“The reason you were familiar with the name,” she said, apparently remembering his response to Ethan.

“The other day I asked him directly if he was running the shifter fights, and he wouldn’t answer me. Just got evasive.”

“Still, you can’t be sure. You need to talk to him—”

“There’s no talking to him. You don’t understand what Nik’s like now. What he’s been like since he gave up his soul.”

She was quiet for a moment. Then she asked, “That changed him how?”

“It turned him into a different person. He used to be a real big brother to me. Teaching me things. Standing up for me when one of the other Kindred bullied me because my mother wasn’t one of them.” Luc tried to remember that any time Nik did something hateful, but it was getting more and more difficult. “And then one day it all changed. Nik called me a bastard and Pop stood up for me and punished him. And things were never the same between us again.”

“Luc, don’t you see? He’s jealous of you.”

“What reason would he have to be jealous of me?”

“Your father’s love for you is evident.”

“Nik is the firstborn.”

“But from what I understand, your mother is the woman Cezar loves, and you are her child.”

That hadn’t really occurred to him. That Nik simply wanted him gone to have Pop’s full attention on him. Was his brother really willing to do anything to make that happen?

“I always knew Nik and I were different. He was raised as Kindred. But I didn’t think he was—”

“What?”

“
This.
I grieve for the brother I used to have. I can’t believe that he can be so evil. First Jez. Then our sister because she’s carrying your brother’s child. Your brother and my mother and now Hank. I should have figured it out. I knew it would all come back to me. But Nik?” He’d feared that, but he hadn’t been ready to admit it could be true. “I should have stopped him long ago, before he ever got to Jez.”

“It’s not your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”

“If I had died in Iraq according to plan, they would still be alive. Mom and Nuala would be safe.”

“I’m glad you didn’t die in Iraq.” Skye leaned into his arm and gazed up at him, her expression filled with longing.

Luc was too numb to feel the irrational attraction to her as he normally did, not even when she looked so beautiful wearing a low-cut flowery dress that displayed the curve of her breasts and the familiar sea glass pendant that hung between them. He was too devastated to care about anything but stopping Nik before someone else died.

Skye asked, “What do you mean, ‘according to plan’?”

Pressure from Pop to make the transition had forced his hand. “I was so torn by the two lives I was trying to lead here, that I enlisted to get away from everything. I figured Iraq would end my struggle.” Truthfully, he hadn’t expected to survive. “But after seeing the despicable things humans did to each other—things much worse than death—I reconsidered my positive view of humanity. Not everyone was the human my mother is. I decided to stay alive, and I allowed myself to become a monster to do so.”

“War affects a lot of men psychologically, makes them think that way of themselves.”

“I didn’t just
think
it. For the first time in my life, I let the panther out to destroy. You saw Hank tonight. I did worse to the enemy in Do Ab when we were ambushed by the insurgents.”

More of those never-forgettable images flitted through his mind. For a moment, he was back in Iraq. Hot…dusty…deadly… Bloodied body parts all around him. People he’d killed in a mindless rage. Rather people his panther had massacred. But he hadn’t been sorry. Not then. Only later, when he’d had time for reflection and had realized the magnitude of what he’d done, only then had he realized he’d become the same monster he’d been avoiding all his life.

It was then he had seriously considered that he was no different from the hordes working for his father.

No different from Nik.

It was then that he had bowed to Pop’s pressure to work for him, even if he still hadn’t been able to make the commitment Pop wanted.

“You were fighting a war,” Skye said. “I’m sure it was horrible. But it was your life or theirs.” She hesitated a moment before adding, “Your animal instincts simply took over.”

“That’s how I justified it then. But what if I turn into Nik now? How much worse would that be, to see people
I know
die like that? And me be the monster again?”

“That’s not going to happen.” Skye slid between him and the railing and placed both palms on his chest. “That’s not who you are.”

“How do you know? How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ve spent more time with you than I have with any man other than my brother. You must know how much I love Shade, how highly I think of him. You’re so much like him. You’re loyal to the people you love. And when you see the unthinkable, you want to see justice done.”

“You still haven’t decided what I think compromises justice.”

“I didn’t know before, but I do now, because I know
you
. You’ll do the right thing, whatever that is.”

It was as if Skye had put a spell on him. Or maybe it was the tequila. She was getting to him, making him feel better. More human.

And the way she was looking at him…

His animal instincts kicked in when her soft flesh pressed up against him. He reached out and trailed the back of his fingers along her cheek. He locked onto her gaze and hooked that wandering hand around the back of her neck. Skye didn’t resist when he tugged. She melted into him and threw her arms around his neck.

No longer thinking about anything but what he was going to do to her, Luc found her mouth and possessed it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sheer animal magnetism.

Luc had power over me that I could no longer resist. My thoughts were unfocused, my body was coming alive. A single kiss, and I was undone.

Tearing his mouth from mine, he ran his lips down my throat, leaving a trail of fire to the sensitive juncture between my neck and shoulder.

“I need you, Skye.”

When his mouth hovered there so that he could taste me, a shudder of excitement swept down to my breasts. I was breathing hard in seconds, and then I was hardly breathing at all, because he was kissing me again, making every inch of me quicken with desire.

I needed him. This. More. I remembered we were from two opposing bloodlines, so more might not be possible. I would take what I could get.

My hands trembled as I ran them over his shoulders and chest. He groaned and turned me in his arms so that my back was to him. He cupped my breasts and found that aching flesh at the base of my neck again. I tilted my head to give him better access. He kissed me and ran his teeth along my flesh. Sensation seared me so deeply that I cried out. When he pressed into me from behind, his arousal told me how much he wanted me. I couldn’t help but want to feel him deep inside me. I pressed back.

I ignored the whisper of caution in my mind. The warning to stop before it was too late. This might be it for us. Our only opportunity to be together.

Luc lifted my skirt, slid his hands up my thighs and around them to the soft flesh between. One touch and my knees went weak and I grabbed the balcony railing for support.

“We should go inside,” I said, although he would probably have to carry me.

“No, here.” Still behind me, he brushed my ear with his lips, sending sensation after sensation through me until I felt every nerve ending come alive. “I’ve been imagining doing this since I met you.”

“In the open?” I choked out.

“No one can see us.”

He was right. His high-rise was the farthest east and his apartment seemed to be the only one on this side of the building. Since we were thirteen floors up, no one could see us from the ground.

I clung to the railing as he tugged the lace of my panties to one side to make room for him. And then he was between my thighs, tunneling a path through my already wet flesh. I opened to him and he slid inside. Gasping with pleasure, I rocked back against him so I could feel him deeper.

He nipped at the back of my neck and slid a hand down my belly to find my center. At his first touch, I sought the sweet spot that would take me out of myself. I tried to tell him what I needed, but the sounds coming out of me weren’t recognizable words. His lips trailed upward to my ear, and I could hear him breathing as hard and fast as we were moving.

And then he was whispering in my ear, urging me, “Now. Let go now.”

I closed my eyes and my mind lit as if fireworks had gone off. A gritty, tortured sound rumbled through him, and we came together.

Before I could recover, Luc had me in his arms and carried me inside, through the living area to the bedroom and into the bathroom. Kissing me as if he was trying to drink me in, he set me down and unzipped my dress. We tore off each other’s clothes and then stepped in the shower where water swirled over us.

“Tell me what you like,” Luc said, his voice nearly a whisper as he spread soap over my breasts and down my belly.

My stomach swirled when he bit my ear. “I like
you
.” My legs parted in invitation.

“Good.”

I more than liked him, but I didn’t want to look at how much too closely. Not when I was so uncertain about our future.

He stroked me with soap-slicked hands, his fingers finding and exploring my inner flesh. I clung to him hard and let him do as he would. The shower rained down on us, an added sensation that readied me. Just as I was about to come again, he shifted and his fingers splayed across my butt, lifting me onto him. He pushed me into the wall, then let go. My shoulders were wedged against the tile as he slowly pulled back. I realized he was looking down between us. Watching. I dropped my gaze as he moved in and out of me, water drenching us both. My breath came in gasps as I ringed his arousal with my fingers, the sensation of his thick flesh slicked with the soap and my juices.

Touch yourself. I want to watch.

His thought sent white heat through me. Keeping one hand on him, I used the other to open myself further to him. My own light touches lit me from the inside out. I stroked my folds but avoided my center so I could make the sensations last.

You know what I want. Do it, please.

His silent urging made me shudder. And when I touched my clit, the shuddering wouldn’t stop. He flattened his hands on either side of my head and stroked faster and harder until I exhausted myself.

He pulled out of me, and I tried to catch my breath as I slid down the tile, stopping only when his still hard flesh was too close to resist. I tasted him. He froze for a moment, but as I took him in, he began to move again.

Yes, deeper,
I silently urged.

I clenched his buttocks and used my fingernails to urge him faster and harder. I took every inch of him in until he finished in an explosion. The sound he made whispered along my nerves, and when he pulled me up and kissed me, I realized I was ready for yet another round.

As if knowing that, he picked me up and carried me to the bed, where he stroked every inch of me into a new frenzy. Afterward, we slept for a while, him curled around my back. He woke me up in the middle of the night so I could ride him, then we raided the refrigerator. Appetites for food satiated, he took me on the counter. And again on the living room floor. He brought me to climax over and over throughout the night and morning and beyond.

He was insatiable.

As was I.

He was tender, too, holding me as if he would never let me go. It was during those moments, when he held me close and I could hear the steady beat of his heart, that I wished it could be like this always. He whispered words of endearment—did I actually hear the word “love”?—and held me as though he cherished me.

I wanted him to cherish me forever.

Was it possible? I wondered. Hope filled me with a joy I’d never known.

It was only late the next afternoon, when I showered as Luc cooked us a late brunch, that my mind cleared. I’d never let myself go so freely before. I tried to figure out what had happened to me and wondered if Luc worked some kind of sexual spell. Had I imagined feeling cherished because that’s what
I
wanted? I did care about Luc, but fear made me cautious.

We were from opposing bloodlines. Mortal enemies, if history told the truth.

I dried off and slipped into my dress.

Even if he wasn’t like his brother Nik, Luc did work for his father. He could capitulate and give up his soul.

“Hungry?”

I turned to find Luc staring at me from the doorway.

“Yes. For food,” I said.

“That’s all?”

Even as I protested, “I don’t think my body could take more of anything else at the moment,” another flush of desire radiated from my belly.

“You would be surprised what your body can do.”

The way he was looking at me, I knew he wanted to show me. Now. With my pulse racing in response despite my torn thoughts, I walked to the doorway and slipped past him, saying, “Feed me, please.”

Still worried, I closed my mind to him so he couldn’t get inside. Even so, I suspected he sensed my doubt. A sudden unease skittered through me. Was he angry? Disappointed?

I sat on a stool at the island where he’d set out a feast. Eggs. Bacon. Potatoes. Fruit. Croissants. We had to talk about this thing growing between us, about the repercussions of our investigation, but I stalled by filling my plate and taking a few bites. When it came to swallowing, I could barely get the food past the lump in my throat, but I had to say something.

“What if you’re right and it’s Nik running the shifter fights?” I asked, putting down my fork. “What if he killed my brother?”

Rather than answering directly, Luc asked, “What do you think should happen to him if he’s guilty?”

“He should be arrested and tried and pay for his crimes.”

“Do you really think that’s going to happen?”

“No.”

I knew that, even if Nik were taken into custody, he had the power to simply disappear from his cell. And if, for some reason, he couldn’t do it himself, Cezar would no doubt come to his son’s rescue. I didn’t want to think about the catastrophe the Kindred leader could instigate.

“We have our own way of dealing with those who betray us,” Luc said, his voice darkening, expression morose.

“Your idea of justice—what is that exactly?” For all I knew, punishment could be to remove the guilty one’s soul and deprive him of pleasure. “You never have defined it.”

“If Nik is guilty, he won’t survive.”

“Your father isn’t going to allow that.”

“Who said anything about telling my father?”

A chill swept through me. “You would take matters into your own hands?” And with his own brother? “You’re not a killer.”

If he killed his own brother in an act of vengeance, how could we ever be together?

His expression now drawn, Luc suddenly seemed distant. “Don’t be mistaken about me. I’m a predator just like the other shifters in the habitat.”

My pulse thudded in warning at the strange tone of his voice. Still, I said, “No, you’re nothing like them.”

“Of course I am.” He got to his feet. “Watch me.”

I blinked, and his features instantly changed, his jaw stretching, his cheekbones narrowing. I gasped and nearly fell off my stool. He was shifting, right in front of me.

“Stop. Please.” My stomach knotted so tight it hurt. “You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

But he didn’t stop.

I tried to avert my eyes, but I couldn’t. I sat frozen, cold as ice, watching Luc shift from the seductive man who’d possessed my body all night to a frightening something else. I knew he was a shifter, but I wasn’t ready to face the reality. I certainly wasn’t ready to see his arms turn into legs, his hands into paws. His face contorted, telling me he was in pain. I swore I could feel that pain in my own body. When his back shortened, my back felt like a bolt of lightning had struck it. I jerked away from him with a muffled cry. My spine burned when a long black tail that matched the pelt encasing his body twisted out behind him.

Pulse thundering now, I backed away. He wasn’t Luc any more. In less than a minute, a black panther stared at me through molten silver eyes.

It tossed its head and screamed, the wild sound like a hacksaw cutting through wood. My heart began beating so hard, I thought it might explode. I was stunned, unable to move. Then the panther growled and bared its teeth, reminding me of the wolf attack in the habitat.

Suddenly terrified, I found my legs and fled. Even as the panther stalked me, I somehow undid the lock and opened the apartment door. I slipped into the hall and slammed the door practically in the panther’s nose. If it wanted to come after me, it would have to shift back to the Luc I knew.

But the elevator arrived, and the apartment door remained closed. Staggering into the car, I pressed “L,” then collapsed against the wall in tears.

How could Luc have shifted without warning me? Maybe if I had been prepared…

I was on street level in a minute.

Wiping my eyes, I stumbled out of the building. I stood confused, unable to focus my mind. I headed east until I could clearly see The Ark gently swaying against the waves lapping at its hull, reminding me of my pledge to fight corruption. Did that mean I couldn’t stop until The Ark was no more? Until all the Kindred were gone?

Until Luc was destroyed?

…

He’d known Skye wouldn’t be able to accept him, Luc thought, after shifting back to human form. He’d had to test her even as he’d known he would chase her away. He’d had to show her what he really was, and she hadn’t been able to accept it.

Still, walking out onto the balcony, he looked for her, hoping for one last glimpse, but she was nowhere in sight.

It was then, with the loss of her leaving him hollow inside, that he knew he’d made a mistake.

Her terror had shattered his heart.

For a few hours, he’d been happier than he ever remembered being. Because of Skye. Because he didn’t simply want or desire her. He was in love for the first time in his life.

And yet, he’d had to make her see why they couldn’t be together. For
her
sake.

Anguished, he needed to work off these unfamiliar emotions that warred with each other. He had to think clearly about this. About her. About them. He thought about leaping from his balcony to the ground thirteen floors below. Not that he would survive the jump. But he needed to move.

Concentrating on The Ark, he thought himself there. And then he was. Sifting took some of the adrenaline-ladled energy out of him. Not that there wasn’t plenty left.

The slot machines sang to him in their mechanical cadence, telling him what a fool he’d been. He headed straight for the habitat.

“Luc. Are you all right?”

Nuala. He turned to face her coming from the elevators. His sister appeared to have recovered from her trauma of the day before. “I will be. I just need to run.”

He knew she understood. Running was a time-honored Lazare tradition when they needed to rid themselves of unwanted stress.

“I’ll run with you.”

“No. This is something I need to do for myself.”

He walked straight past her into the hallway, where he imagined a forest that went on forever, then simply walked through the glass wall that shimmered around him. Nuala hadn’t left. She was staring at him through the window, her expression worried.

I’ll be fine
, he told her, moving into a small stand of trees where he could shift without being seen by any humans wandering by.
After I run, I’ll be fine.

I’ll wait for you.

Don’t.

He didn’t wait to see if she would leave or not. He simply took off running.