Eternal Breath of Darkness (14 page)

Struck by a wave of her
fear, Haden glanced over his shoulder. She was deeply troubled; tears swimming
in her eyes, her complexion was so pale it was completely void of color.
Please
stop. He’s my uncle. You can’t just kill him.

Nodding, he tried to hide
his rage, hoping to place her at ease.
Don’t be afraid.
It was far from
over. He would never allow Emmett to go unpunished for hitting her, but he
would wait to deal with it at a more appropriate time. He would kill Emmett.
But like when he’d killed her father, Caylee would never know about it.

“Damn it, Caylee, just tell
the bastard you’re not going anywhere with him. The sooner he leaves the
better.”

Haden took Caylee’s hands.
Breathing heavily, she looked at Emmett. Haden reached out and turned her chin,
forcing her to look up at him. His eyes were blue again, the amazing,
effervescent bold blue she adored. He appeared normal, but she wasn’t fooled.
She searched for and found the darkness of his soul, the dragon. Oh yes, it was
hidden, but it was definitely present.

“What are you doing?”
Outraged, Emmett watched the encounter. “Tell him you’re not interested in
anything he has to offer.”

Caylee looked at Emmett.
Then, involuntarily giggling, she looked up at Haden. He was so hot. “That
would be a lie.”

Frustrated, Emmett raised
his hand to strike her. “You stupid bitch, there’s nothing funny about this!”

“I’m sorry.” Stepping back
so suddenly she nearly fell, she raised her hands over her face.

The ground rolled and
heaved. Haden reached out and grabbed onto and crushed the bones in Emmett’s
arm with crippling force. “That was a terrible idea.” Shaking his head, he
glared into Emmett’s eyes. “Terrible.”

Hearing bones crack, failing
to feel the impact, she lowered her hands and looked up, discovering Haden was
holding Emmett’s arm.
Haden, please stop! Don’t hurt him!

Arching his brow, Haden
looked at her, shaking his head at her. The woman was impossible. She expected
too much. A demon could only take so much.

With Haden distracted,
Emmett yanked his arm free. “You bastard!”

Muscles taut, Haden took a
step in Emmett’s direction. “You will not raise your hand against her again. If
you do, I’ll kill you.” Of course he would anyway; it was just a matter of
time. It was obvious he’d been abusing Caylee all along.

Horrified, she gasped.
No,
Haden!
She knew with absolute certainty he wasn’t making an empty threat.
It was a promise. He planned to kill her uncle, and nothing would stop him. Not
even her.

By his intimidating stature,
Haden forced Emmett to take a step backward. Haden glared into his eyes, daring
him to make a move or to respond, but Emmett remained still and silent.
I’m
done with you for now. Go inside the house and leave us alone.
Turning,
Emmett stormed off, mumbling unintelligibly, in the direction of the house.
Haden turned to Caylee, stepped nearer, and gazed into her eyes. “This can’t
continue. I can’t leave you here. You’re coming with me.”

“I can’t.”

Frustrated, Haden inhaled
deeply, held it, and then released it with an exaggerated sigh. She closed her
eyes, but rather than escape the power of his gaze she was more aware of it.
She felt the warmth of his body and amazing sensation of his hands caressing
her flesh.

“Stop!”
Startled, her
eyes flashed open. “Get out of my head!” Wide-eyed and breathless, she stared
at him, silently begging him to leave and end her torment. “What are you doing
here?”

He reached up and placed his
hand on her cheek. “How long has he been abusing you?”

“No one hit me.”

He reached for her hand.
“Let me see the burn again.” She reluctantly extended her arm. “I should’ve
known it was this bad. Your ability to block me is extremely annoying.”
Examining the burn, he imparted more healing energy into her flesh. “I can’t
believe you’re denying it.”

“Why are you so upset?”

Groaning, he glanced at her.
Clearly, the question didn’t deserve an answer.

“Why are you here? You
agreed to stay away.”

“I never agreed to anything.
You’re stuck with me forever. The sooner you realize you aren’t going to run me
off the better.” He looked into her eyes and then down at her hand. “When did
you do this?”

“Ouch!” She tried to pull
her hand free, but he firmly held it. “Don’t touch it. You’re hurting me.”

“You’re lying. I’ve taken
the pain from you, and it’s nearly healed now.”

She looked at her hand.
“How?”

“I’ll explain later. Right
now, I’m taking you home.”

“This is my home. You
shouldn’t have come here.” She flinched. “Ouch! Do you really need to touch it?
It really hurts. Please, stop touching me.”

“It doesn’t hurt. You’re
just panicking because you like the way it feels when I touch you. Do you think
I can’t feel the need your body has for mine?”

“You’re so … you’re
a … you’re crazy, absolutely insane.” Her face turned bright red. “You
need to leave.” She paused. “And I need to go inside.”

“No.” Smiling, he released
her hand. “You are coming with me. Why didn’t you ever tell me your uncle
abuses you?”

She looked down at her feet
to avoid his gaze. “He doesn’t.” She paused for a moment, searching for the
right words. “And he really wasn’t going to hit me.” She looked up at him.
“Just go away and leave me alone.”

“You’re lying. He would’ve
hit you if I hadn’t stopped him. You didn’t want me to stop him.” He framed her
face between his hands. “How could you expect me to stand back and allow a man
to hit you?”

“Stop!” She turned her back
to him. “You’re all worked up over nothing. Sure, Emmett has a bad temper, but
it’s not as bad as you seem to think.” She turned to face him but then looked
down at the ground. She wasn’t completely lying. Her father had been worse in
many ways. “He wasn’t going to hit me.” She looked up at him. “You’re the one
who showed up here and provoked him. I want you to leave.”

“What other secrets are you
keeping from me?”

“If you knew you would be
disgusted.” Her demeanor visibly wilted before his eyes, and his heart broke
for her. “I’ve done things that are more horrible than anything you could ever
imagine.”

“You didn’t do anything
wrong. You could never disgust me. We belong together.” He drew a deep breath
and then released it with a loud sigh. “It’s time, little love. We need to talk
about the night I found you,” ”

Taking a quick breath, she
gasped. “He’s here.”

“Who?” He watched a black
limo approach.

“Phillip.”

Truly pleased, he grinned,
but there was no hint of humor in his gaze, only menace, dark, deadly menace.
“Perfect.” Meeting the dead man was definitely a priority on his to do list.

“I need to go inside. He’ll
be furious if he sees me out here with you.”

“It’s too late to hide it
from him. If we’re able see to him, I’m certain he’s able to see us.”

“Don’t say anything to upset
him.”

He looked down at her. She
was extremely pale and trembling. Shaking his head, he groaned. “I’ll be on my
best behavior.”

From the corner of her eyes,
she glared at him. “Sure you will.”

“I promise.” He had no
problem being good for now. Soon enough, he would immerse himself in the
pleasure of killing Phillip.

“If not, I will punish you.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Phillip walked toward Caylee
and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Cringing, she glanced over at
Haden.
You promised.

Your lack of confidence in
my integrity deeply wounds my heart.
Immediately detecting Paul’s
scent, Haden growled, his body going completely still as he pushed his way into
Phillip’s mind.

She smirked.
Whatever.
Suspicious,
she looked up at him.
Did you just growl at him?

Phillip looked at Haden and
then turned to Caylee. “I didn’t realize you were entertaining a guest this
morning.”

She failed to respond. She
was close to panic, her stomach clenching, her mouth watering. She was going to
be sick.
It’s okay. You’re safe.
Fear created so much chaos in her mind
she couldn’t hear Haden’s voice in it.

Sorting through Phillip’s
thoughts, Haden took control of the situation. “Actually, I stopped by to see
Emmett.” Paul had placed his scent on Phillip. It was a game; Paul had simply
wanted Haden to detect it.

Phillip turned to face
Haden. “I’ve heard you spend a great deal of time at the juvenile detention
center in Portland.”

“I do.”

“I can’t believe you spend
your time with those wretched creatures to straighten out their legal troubles.
It seems to be such a waste of time and energy for such a prominent lawyer.
I’ve also heard they call you a healer. Is it true? Do you believe you can heal
the kids? Most of those ingrates will end up being thieves and beggars on the
streets.”

Deeply enraged, Caylee’s
fear instantly vanished. She glared up at Phillip for a moment; he disgusted
her more than anything could. Shaking her head in disbelief, she glanced over
at Haden.
Why are you just standing there? Why aren’t you saying anything to
defend the children?

Keeping his temper in check,
Haden took a deep breath and then released it with a groan. Being bad was much
easier than being good. More fun too. But proud of his self-control, he looked
down and grinned at Caylee.
I promised to behave myself. I will always keep
my word to you.
Grinning, he tilted his head to the side.
I am always
under your command, little love.

She wanted to hit him, but
she settled for rolling her eyes.
You’re a liar.
Looking as innocent as
sin, he smiled at her.

A promise is a promise,
Caylee—I’ve no other choice but to be nice. Besides, he has a right to his own
opinion, regardless of how unpleasant it might be.

Crossing her arms over her
chest, she glared at Haden.
You can’t be serious!

“What self-respecting lawyer
would raise a hand to help the vilest delinquents of society?” Phillip asked.

Haden felt Caylee’s anger
hit him, as if she’d thrown a large rock at his head. Ditching his resolve to
play nice, he took an aggressive step toward Phillip.

“Phillip,” Caylee said, “you
should be ashamed of yourself. How could you say anything so terrible? They’re
only children.”

Arching his brow, Haden
turned to watch Caylee. It was a controlled situation, so he was perfectly
content with the idea of allowing her to vent.

“Never mind,” she said,
glaring at Phillip. “The ass you’ve proven yourself to be has made a perfectly
adequate excuse for your ignorance.”

Haden was pleased. He
decided to stand back and observe, ready to intervene if his feisty lioness
needed help.

“I wasn’t speaking to you.”
Phillip pointed a finger in Caylee’s face. “In the future you’ll never take the
liberty of sharing your opinion without my permission.”

Flinching, Caylee hesitated
for a few seconds. “I’ll never apologize for speaking the truth to anyone. And
in the future, you’ll never find me silently waiting for your permission to
speak my mind.”

Phillip glared at her.

Amused, Haden continued to
watch Phillip, prepared to intervene at the first hint of unbridled hostility.

Phillip turned to Haden.
“Ignore her.” He turned to Caylee and waved his hand to dismiss her. “There’s a
lot she still needs to be taught concerning her place as a woman.”

“Ignore her?” Haden openly
allowed his lustful gaze to wander over every inch of her body. There was no
mistaking Haden’s appreciation for her. “That would be entirely impossible.” He
made sure his voice was a deep, sensuous purr. He turned to Phillip. “It
appears she knows her opinion of you very well. Almost as well as you know the
details of my affairs. But I must admit, concerning you, I’m completely in the
dark. I’m at a terrible disadvantage. I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing any
gossip concerning you.”

Laughing aloud, Caylee
covered her mouth to muffle the sound, but it didn’t help.

Turning his head, Phillip
stared at her for a moment, and then he turned to face Haden. “I suppose in the
long run you do society a great service. The quicker they get out of their
cells, the quicker they will kill each other in the streets. There’s no sense
in forcing the state to pay for their care any longer than necessary.”

“I’ll sleep much better
knowing I’ve gained your approval.”

“Where’s Emmett?” Phillip
asked.

“Inside the house,” Haden
said.

“It was a pleasure to
finally meet you, Mr. Drake.” Phillip extended his hand.

Haden reached out and shook
Phillip’s hand. “I am certain we will cross paths again.”