Ascension (11 page)

“Eat without me.” He slammed the door, headed into the bathroom and threw that door closed too before locking it.

Red eyes stared back at him from the mirror. He spat into the sink again, convinced that her blood was still controlling him to a degree. It wasn’t, but it had been, and it had been frightening to feel as though he wasn’t in control of himself. Was that how Lealandra felt when the power demanded things of her, when it grew too strong for her to contain? He shuddered and rinsed the blood off his hand. The wound was already healing but it was going to make his work more difficult tonight. He picked a few splinters of glass out of his palm and dropped them into the sink.

A sense of balance returned inside him.

His claws receded, the skin repairing itself until his hands looked human again.

Just how he liked them.

Taig cast a glance towards his right, to where the kitchen stood on the other side of the wall. To Lealandra.

Had he frightened her? She hadn’t felt afraid when she had touched him. He laughed at himself for thinking that. Of course he had scared her. He was a demon and had been on the brink of showing her just what lurked beneath the human skin she liked so much. No sane person wouldn’t be frightened.

And no one as beautiful as her could truly love a monster like him.

“Taig?” Her voice was loud through the bathroom door. “Come and eat with me.”

There wasn’t even the slightest tremble in her voice and she didn’t feel scared. Only her usual calm acceptance came through on his senses. If she was afraid, she was hiding it well.

“In a minute,” he said in a gruff voice, needing more time to gather himself and regain total control.

His eyes altered back, the red dying away and leaving them black.

“Come out,” she whispered. “You don’t scare me.”

He wished he could bring himself to believe that.

“Taig.” There was a note of impatience in her voice now.

He unlocked the door. If she wanted to see him that badly, she could let herself in. The door opened and Lealandra stood on the threshold, her wide grey eyes meeting his in the mirror. He turned to face her, keeping his hands behind his back.

“Let me see.” She tried to peer around him.

Taig considered not doing as she had asked and then slowly brought his hands out from behind him. He watched her closely, gauging her reaction. She frowned at his hands and he turned them over, showing her, letting her see that there was nothing to be frightened of now.

“There, all man again, no mon—”

“You’re always a man, Taig,” she cut him off and reached out for his hands.

He lowered them before she couldn’t touch them. She had told him the same thing before and he hadn’t believed her back then either. She didn’t know the real him and couldn’t judge whether he was man or monster until she did, and that was something that was never going to happen. His demonic side was dangerous. When he surrendered to it, his impulse to kill was too strong to fully control. His father had told him to change often during his youth, to learn to control himself, but then he had left him alone in the world. His demon side had despaired.

His human side had blamed his demonic one.

If his father hadn’t been a demon, his mother would have still been alive. He was sure that his mother had died at the hands of a demon because of his father. His demonic blood was responsible for their deaths. Blood that ran in Taig’s veins now.

Taig clenched his fists when the urge to change struck him again, his demon side pushing for freedom and snarling within him, outraged by his thoughts. He moved away from Lealandra, as far as he could in the confines of the pale bathroom, backing towards the shower cubicle.

“I’ll skip breakfast.” He grimaced when his demon side pushed again, threatening to tear the skin from his fingers with his claws.

It subsided and settled when he caught Lealandra’s steady gaze. Not a hint of fear touched it and her heartbeat was stable. How could she stand there so calmly when she knew what dark desires were surging through him? How could she look at him without fear or disgust?

She took a step towards him.

He didn’t move.

Her reaction fascinated both sides of him—the demon and the man.

“I need a shower.” His quickly spoken words stopped her in her tracks and she glanced at the large shower cubicle at his back, and then her gaze returned to him. He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “You could always skip breakfast too and join me.”

Lealandra frowned, her expression dark and unimpressed.

“I think I’ll skip the shower and have breakfast.” She stepped over to the door and hovered on the threshold. She looked back at him, opened her mouth as though she was going to say something, and then left.

Taig stood there a moment, trying to make sense of things. His head was full of enough complicated things without adding in trying to understand Lealandra. He pushed her reactions to him out of his mind and told himself to forget about them. She was just being herself. She had always managed to tie him in knots and confuse the hell out of him. He had never understood why she had wanted to be with him for all that time but he had been thankful. For a few months of his life, he had felt human, even when his demon had prowled just below the surface.

He turned on the shower, stripped off, and stepped in. The water was a degree too hot but he didn’t care. It was good to feel warm once in a while. When he was done, he turned off the shower and then dried himself, all the while thinking about the demons that were after Lealandra and wondering who else was involved. Definitely a witch or at least someone who knew magic. There were plenty of people out there that couldn’t use magic but knew enough about it to have written the message on Lealandra’s wall.

A quick check with his senses placed Lealandra in the kitchen. Taig walked out of the bathroom, naked and unbothered by the possibility of Lealandra seeing him. If he was being honest with himself, he wanted her to see. He wanted her to take a good look and remember everything they had done together so she would want him again, so she would realise that she had been missing out because of her decision to go with Charlie.

Taig growled at himself for being idiotic enough to let her go with the bloody bastard. He should have known that her coven wouldn’t know how to look after her, that Charlie wouldn’t know. Taig traced the thin white lines on the inside of his forearm with his fingertips. They were a record of their time together than was inerasable. Marks for her, to feed her power and soothe it. It needed blood. Her genes were suitable for old magic, the kind that had been around long enough, passed from generation to generation, that it had cravings and desires, and if it didn’t get what it wanted, it was likely to go nuclear and take over its host and force them to do its bidding.

Lealandra needed blood.

He had caught her looking at the scars, each time with hunger shining in her eyes. Six years without blood would have left her magic desperate. She hadn’t flipped yet but she had almost lost it twice last night. He had never seen her magic respond like it had in the car and in the coven, and her reactions told him that she hadn’t either.

He turned his left hand over and looked at the cuts on his palm, jagged dark red lines from the broken glass. He could give her what she needed. Dressing quickly in black jeans and a tight black t-shirt, he mulled over the idea of offering Lealandra his blood. He didn’t want to taint her with it but she needed his blood. It would ease her magic and give her more control. No matter what he felt about it, he had offered her a taste as part of the deal. He curled his fingers into a fist and stared at it, making his decision.

Taig walked out into the living room to find her sitting on the couch. When he sat down next to her and held his hand out, palm up and open, her grey eyes fixed on it and her pupils dilated. Her soft pink tongue swept over her lips, dampening them and making him want to kiss her again.

“Take it.” He offered his hand to her.

Lealandra hesitated barely a moment before she grabbed his hand with both of hers and yanked it towards her. The feel of her mouth on his palm was divine, her tongue sliding sensually over his flesh, tickling and teasing him. Her warm breath stirred his blood almost as much as her steady gentle suckling. She moaned softly on an exhale and her grip loosened, her fingers stroking his wrist and thumb, tangling with his fingers in movements of sheer desperation. He tilted his hand towards her, giving her better access, and inhaled slowly, trying to control himself. She needed blood and he had promised it to her.

Blood and nothing else.

No matter how much he wanted it. When she was like this, the magic making her hungry, it wasn’t her in control. It wasn’t her who reacted to him in lustful ways. It was her magic. It wanted more than just blood. It wanted his power. It wanted his body.

Lealandra suddenly pulled back, releasing him and gasping at air. Her chest heaved with it, bosoms pressing against her rich purple corset top and threatening to spill over. He stared at them, watching the rough rise and fall, tempted to reach out and touch, to take this to the next level regardless of his knowledge that she was barely in control. Until the power in his blood was absorbed into hers, the magic held the reins.

She knocked the air out of his lungs when she slammed into him, her hands on his shoulders, gripping tight. Her mouth was on his before he could stop her, the taste of his own blood stirring his demon until it verged on taking control. He grabbed her arms and shoved her away.

Red eyes glared at him with pure anger.

“Lealandra,” he whispered and touched her cheek. The colour instantly drained from her eyes and they widened in shock. She sat back, fidgeting with her long black skirt, her focus intent on it.

Taig sat up and then stood, needing distance to stop himself from kissing her. It would take a few more minutes for his power to temper hers. He went over to the long black side cupboard that lined the back wall of his living room and opened the doors below the picture of his parents. He didn’t look at it. His gaze tripped over it straight to the guns in the cupboard. Sleek, black pistols greeted him. He took out his black shoulder holster and slipped his arms through it, and then grabbed his two favourite guns and slid them into the holster, one either side of his ribs. The weight of them felt good. He grabbed a couple of spare clips, in case tonight’s mark was less cooperative than he expected.

Lealandra was watching him when he turned around. The colour and life had returned to her face. His blood had calmed her magic for now but he wasn’t sure how long the effect would last. With the peak of her ascension approaching, it was only going to get more difficult for her to maintain command of her power. If she needed more of his blood, could he let her take it? He wasn’t sure. The thought of her taking his tainted blood into her body repulsed him.

“Where are you going?” She leaned one arm against the back of his black couch.

Trying to look casual. That amused him in a small way but he didn’t let it show. How many times were they going to do this merry dance before they finally gave up the fight against their desire? They both wanted it, wanted each other. He was normally a reach out and take kind of man when he wanted something, but this time he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Lealandra had to take the first step. She had to be the one who risked the fall because she had been the one to separate them.

“I have a job.” He walked past her to his bedroom, took his beaten up leather jacket from the wardrobe and put the clips in the inside pockets. Lealandra was still watching him when he came back out. “You’ll be safe here.”

He went to put his jacket on.

“No.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “No?”

She shook her head. This wasn’t the time for her to start with her stubborn streak.

“You need reminding that you’re high on someone’s hit list?” He finished putting his jacket on, tugging it around until it sat snugly over his chest. “You’re staying here where it’s safe.”

“No.” Lealandra stood, a scowl on her face that she didn’t wear well. He preferred her smiles to her anger. She hesitated and then cleared her long black hair out of her face, defiantly flicking it over her bare shoulders. Those shoulders shifted back and she raised her chin. Standing tall. A defensive posture if ever he saw one. “I’ll be safest with you.”

Taig waved a hand around his apartment, drawing her attention to the protective marks that covered the points of entry. “Here is where you’ll be safest. No one can get in easily. The moment I leave this apartment, all routes are closed. You’re staying here and I’m not hearing another damn word about it.”

“No!”

He sighed when she went and got her long dark red coat from the bedroom. She put it on, her steely look telling him that she wasn’t going to back down. He flexed his fingers to loosen up and realised that there was only one way of making her stay.

“I don’t want you to come. The last thing I need is your help.” He regretted it the moment he said it. Hurt filled her grey eyes and her shoulders sagged. He clenched his fists to rein in his feelings and then dragged a hand through his hair, tousling the wet black strands. “I’ll be distracted if you come.”

Lealandra huffed. “Worried. The word is worried, Taig, not distracted. I’m going regardless.”

Taig stepped up to her, using his full height to intimidate her and standing so close that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.

“No!” He growled the word.

“God, Taig! Stop being so thick-headed about this. I’m going with you!”

He snarled now. “God has nothing to do with me, so don’t bother calling his fucking name.”

Rage pounding through him, Taig turned on his heel, grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, and stalked out of the apartment.

Lealandra followed.

It was pointless telling her to go back so he didn’t bother. If she really felt safest with him when he was on the hunt, then she could tag along. After all, she was paying for his services as a bodyguard.

Not that she needed to.