Darkness Surrendered (Primal Heat Trilogy #3) (Order of the Blade) (7 page)

“Damn straight it is. You need to get tight with him.” Gideon’s eyes were burning with fire as he shot orders at her. “Get your arm into Elijah’s mouth so he drinks your blood. Fasten your mouth on any part of him that’s bleeding. The bond will do the rest. All you need to do is go along for the ride.”

Ana’s legs started to shake as the battle raged beside them. “I can’t tighten the bond. Illusions are causing his nightmare! If he gets linked to my mind, my illusions will kill him!” And God, how Elijah would hate her when he was sane again and realized he was bonded with the woman he despised. Plus, the
sheva
bond ultimately caused the male to go rogue, and God knew Elijah was too fragile to handle that. Gideon and Quinn were the only two males in two thousand years who’d had the strength to defeat the call of the completed
sheva
bond to turn them rogue, and there was no way Elijah could survive it. “It’s too dangerous—”

“You’re his
sheva.
Connecting with you will trump any negative effects of the illusions, and you haven’t done enough stages to make him go rogue.” Gideon’s eyes glittered with ruthless commitment. “I’m not going to lose him. You’re his only chance.” Gideon turned her back toward the battle and her stomach retched at the sight of Elijah drenched in blood. So many wounds. How was he still standing? Why wasn’t he dead yet? Like before when he’d died while she was in his arms—

She closed her eyes, against the sudden onslaught of memories, and her body began to shake. No, she couldn’t think about that right now!

Gideon’s hand was tight on her upper arm. “We’ll try to protect you.”

Try
. But he couldn’t promise to keep her safe, not with Elijah so crazed. Insane. Deadly. She opened her eyes and looked at the scene again.

But this time, she didn’t see the blood and violence. She saw a male of honor trying to kill his best friends, a broken soul raging out of control, blind to who he was and what he was facing. She knew what that would do to them, to Elijah, if they killed each other. She knew what it had done to her, causing the death of those she loved. A fierce anger rose inside her at the thought of Elijah suffering with that burden. He’d lost too much already. No more.
No more.

As she watched him fighting so desperately, she saw only the male who had saved her life, a warrior of honor and integrity, a survivor who was still functioning after torture that would have broken anyone else. Inside that violent exterior was a man who had given his life for her, a warrior who was desperately fighting to survive the brutality he’d endured, the poison that had been bled into his brain.

Ana knew the real Elijah was still present in his mind. She’d seen it in the way he’d held her, the way he’d kissed her, his need to protect her. As God was her witness, she wasn’t going to let him lose himself, not this time.
Not this time.

A sense of purpose swelled inside her, chasing away the fear and horror. She clenched her fists in determination, shoving aside her concerns about the bond. “It ends
now
,” she whispered to herself.

“Go!” Gideon thrust her at Elijah, and she lunged toward him as Gideon shouted to his team to clear a path for her.

Elijah sensed her approach and raised his forearm to block her, to shove her away from him again. Thano body-slammed him from the side, and when Elijah turned his head to look at him, Zach caught her around the waist and tossed her at Elijah. She crashed into him and flung her arms and legs around him, prepared for him to try to rip her off again.

But Elijah didn’t even notice her. His attention was focused behind her on one of his teammates. She saw death in Elijah’s eyes, and knew he had sensed an opening. One of his friends was about to die by his hand.

“Elijah! Come back to me!” She slammed her forearm against his mouth. Pain shot through her as his teeth smacked into the wound Gideon had opened in her arm, and she pressed harder. “Drink!”

Elijah grabbed her arm to yank it away, but she dropped her face to his bare chest, pressing her lips against one of the many injuries on his body. Her mouth filled with the tangy taste of his blood, and suddenly Elijah’s body went rigid.

Mine
. His hand clamped around her wrist, his other arm hauled her up against him, and he pressed his mouth to her arm, accepting her offering.

He crushed her against him as she closed her eyes with relief, realizing he was so focused on her that he was completely oblivious to the males he’d been trying to kill seconds before. It was working.

Then she felt a need building inside her, a desperate yearning, and she suddenly comprehended the magnitude of what she’d done. It was as if a noose was tightening around her, dragging her toward him, sucking her into his spirit, binding them tighter and tighter. Panic seized her, and she fought against his grip, suddenly terrified about what would happen to him, to her, if they tightened their bond. His arm locked ruthlessly around her with a groan of male possession. Hot desire poured through her as he took control of the situation, as he took control of her.

It didn’t matter if tightening the bond had been the wrong decision. It was too late to stop.

God,
yes
.

A sense of such absolute rightness coursed through Elijah. He clutched her tightly against him, kissing her, drinking in the taste of her mouth, the unbelievable feel of her body pressed up against his, of her hands wrapped behind his neck, holding him as if she’d never let him go.

You make me whole
, he whispered, touching her mind, startled at the stark need he felt in her, and even more startled by his own craving that was rising hard and hot within him, called to life by her.

Suddenly all Elijah could think about was getting closer to her, touching her, kissing her...all of her. His hands slid to Ana’s hips as he dropped his head to the side of her neck and scraped his teeth against her skin, kissing along her collarbone. She dropped her head back to give him access, a soft moan slipping past her lips.

Heat hit hard between his legs, and he was erect and ready.
I need to be inside you
.

God, yes
. Her heartfelt response was so full of desperate anticipation that his legs started to shake and his stomach muscles trembled. He needed her. Needed more of her. Needed to bond them so tightly until they were one.

He returned to her mouth, kissing her hard, driving deep as he slid his hands past the waistband of her jeans...then he froze as he became aware of the sound of satisfied murmurs, the fierce congratulations and the smacking of high fives.

The Order was all around them.

Elijah swore and pulled his hand out of Ana’s pants, his gut tightening when she made a small protest and clung to him. Desire raged hot inside him, and he kissed her again, gripping her hips so tightly he feared he was leaving bruises, but he couldn’t help himself. Couldn’t deny his need for her—

“Welcome back, Elijah.” A hand slapped hard on his shoulder, and he gasped at the agony that shot through him. Suddenly every wound he’d received started screaming with pain, and his left leg gave out on him. Ana caught him as he crashed to the floor, and she fell on top of him as he hit the steel.

Damn. That hurt like hell.

He wrapped his arms around her, stared up at the guys and suddenly grinned as disbelief shot through him. Holy crap! He could see them, every bloody inch of them. His head was clear, and he had his shit together again. He saw faces he hadn’t been able to see. All around him was his team. Gideon and his damn blue eyes. Kane with all his scars. Thano’s insolent smile. Ryland’s bitter mug that still looked like he was on the hate parade. Ian...shit, Ian, still looked like hell, his eyes still haunted by the loss of his
sheva
. Gabe, Zach, and…Elijah looked at Quinn, and grinned at the sight of the man who’d stood by him for so many centuries. Damn, man, he was back!

Elijah started laughing, his body shaking with the relief that he was all there, that he could see, that he recognized them, that he was back. It felt fucking awesome, even as every breath made him hurt so intensely he felt the room spin. God, it felt good to feel pain like a normal male.

Kane frowned down at him. “Shit. He’s lost it again.”

“Fuck off, man. I’m all good.” He grabbed Ana’s shoulders to move her off him so he could get up, and then he saw her face.

He went still, overwhelmed by his first sight of the woman he hadn’t been able to see until that moment. She was frowning down at him, and her eyes were like the silver of the full moon out in the desert, when there was nothing between a man and the magnificence of all existence. There was such stark desire on her face, but at the same time, her eyes ached with a lifetime of torment, of so much pain, guilt, suffering so deep it scarred the soul. “Ana,” he whispered.

“Elijah.” She smiled then, a smile that didn’t lighten the weight in her eyes, but a warm smile that seemed to reach inside his heart and tear him away from the doom trying to consume him.

Her hair was tousled in thick black curls over her shoulders, and he picked up a lock of it, rubbing it between his thumb and index finger. So fucking soft. “You’re my angel, aren’t you?”

“Oh, no, not even close.” Sadness flickered through her eyes. “I wish I were.”

Her skin was a soft golden hue that looked like it had been kissed by the sun, her cheekbones were delicate and lovely...and still there were scars. Faded bruises. A haunted pain lurking deep in her eyes. Elijah’s exuberance faded as he thumbed the raw scar on her cheek, and he felt a fierce anger swell inside him.

The anger wasn’t the fury of insanity that had consumed him earlier. Instead, it was the possessive protective surge of a Calydon for his mate. But even as his need to protect her rose swiftly, so did a deep revulsion. Not just revulsion...it was fear...terror...debilitating panic...

Her forehead puckered into a frown, and she touched his face. “Elijah? What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, trying to breathe through the sudden attack of fear. Images flashed in his mind. Tormenters in black robes, faces in shadows, then he saw her face in his mind, one of his tormentors. “Son of a bitch.” His reaction was being caused by his proximity to her.

Yet, at the same time, with her body still wrapped around him, her scent curling through his senses, her heart beating against his chest, he could feel the cobwebs on his brain clearing. The panic, the terror...it was there...but it wasn’t consuming him. Dormant, yeah. Waiting for her to release him again, yeah, but not controlling him. He tightened his grip on her, realizing that she was his link to mental clarity, yet at the same time she brought him closer to the demons haunting him. “What the fuck’s going on?”

Ana gave him a look that was almost apologetic. “It appears that touching me keeps you sane, but I think I also trigger some memories that aren’t good.”

Her voice was so soft, so sensual, and he was shocked when he felt his groin tighten. How could he crave the woman that caused his nightmares? How could the woman his entire soul screamed for, the one being alive who gave him peace, also be the woman who could condemn him to his doom?

“
Sheva
bond,” Gideon said, squatting beside him. “It’s powerful shit, trust me.”

Elijah tensed as Gideon leaned over him, his adrenaline spiking in response to the threatening position by a warrior. Elijah’s forearm tingled as his throwing star readied itself for another battle. “Back off.” He kept his voice quiet. In control. Trying to hide the panic crawling over him, trying to stop the rising apprehension. He knew Gideon wasn’t his enemy, but suddenly he felt like he was... Gideon was a threat. Dangerous.

Ana cocked her head and studied him, and Elijah felt a trickle of sweat work its way down his temple as the demons started to circle. He willed himself not to attack Gideon, but his body was coiled, and he could feel himself readying to strike.

Without a word, Ana draped herself across his chest and pressed her lips to his throat. Heat rushed through Elijah, and his rising panic subsided. He groaned and slipped his hands under her shirt, wrapping his arms around her back and holding her tight against him. The moment he felt Ana’s skin against his, Elijah knew once again that Gideon was his friend. Not a threat.

Shit. He was fucked up. Couldn’t tell friend from foe unless he was feeling up Ana?

Ana.