Forsaken By Shadow (10 page)

The sergeant slapped a hand against Stegman’s chest. “Simmer down, Private. I think we can find a way to satisfy everybody here.” He turned his eyes to Gage and studied him with interest.

“
And how’s that exactly?” asked Gage.

“
An exhibition match. You against one of ours. May the best fighter win. You game?”

An exhibition match? I could take these guys in my sleep.

“
Where?”

“
Fort Hurley. Our guys could use some entertainment.”

A way in. Halle-fucking-luia.

“
When?”

“
Tomorrow. 19:00 hours. Be a good dinner break.”

“
We’ll be there,” said Gage.

“
We?” The sergeant’s gaze swung toward Embry, who had stood back from the fight wearing an expression that looked like amusement to anyone who didn’t know her.

“
I’m his manager,” she said easily. “He doesn’t fight without me being present.”

After a few humming beats, the sergeant nodded. “Fine. We’ll wait for you at the gate.”

Chapter 7

“
T
he
sensible thing to do is use this opportunity as recon only.”

Embry had to reach deep to keep a hold on her temper as she stalked past him into the ratty motel room. “Fuck sensible, Gage. We may never get another shot at this. We’ll be
inside
. The most logical thing to do is for me to slip away while you have them all occupied during the fight, release Dad, and get the hell out.”

“
And how exactly do you think that’s gonna work?” he demanded, locking the door behind them. “You have no idea where he’s being held in that facility, no idea how big the place really is. If he couldn’t Walk out by now anyway, he’s not going to be able to do it once you release him from wherever they’re keeping him. And no way in hell are those soldiers going to just let the two of you out the front door. And that’s assuming he’s in any shape to
be
mobile. You don’t know what condition he’s in.”

“
So I take out the power grid, create shadow, boom, we’re out. Unless he’s unconscious, he can do that.”

“
Right. And you’re just going to happen to be able to figure out how to manage all that without getting caught by one of the hundreds of troops floating around in there. Because no way will all of them be at the fight.”

“
Then I’ll wing it,” she gritted out.

Gage shook his head. “This is why you would never have made a good Walker. You can’t separate your heart from your head, and it makes you reckless. And it’s why your father is in this mess to begin with—because he’s exactly the same way.”

She whirled on him, flames of temper rippling down her arms. “You son of a bitch. Don’t you
dare
tell me about my father. You owe him everything. If he hadn’t
had
a heart, you’d have likely been beaten to death by your own father.”

Gage nodded, eyes serious. “I know it. I’m where it started. I’m where he started to lose his edge. He took risks with me that no Walker should ever take because he loved me and that’s what ultimately led the other Shadow Walkers straight to me.”

“
Don’t be stupid. He would never have endangered you that way. He was careful. Always.”

“
It’s just a fact, Ember. He slipped up somehow. Or I did. I knew it was only a matter of time—”

“
It was me,” she burst out.

He stopped talking and stared at her.

“
It was me they followed. I’m the one who was careless, who skipped some precautions. Because, yes, I was reckless, and at the time the only thing in the world that mattered to me was seeing you again.”

Emotion flashed over his face, too fast for her to read. “Ember—”

“
Shut up, I’m not finished. I’ve had ten years to regret those mistakes, to become someone who dots every ‘i’ and crosses every ‘t’. I follow the rules, and I’m well goddamned trained at what I do. So if you think I’m going to go off half-cocked and risk losing my father the way I lost you, then you don’t know me at all.”

The fire along her arms winked out as misery swamped her. She turned away from him. Could this be any more of a disaster? She’d recruited him specifically because she’d thought he’d follow her lead, do what she said. What needed to be done. When had he become so careful and conservative? Never mind that he’d raised good points. Careful and conservative was the reason the Council wouldn’t send an extraction team.

Hands settled on her shoulders. “I’m not trying to shoot you down here, Embry. But if we’re going to do this, we have to be careful about it. I know you don’t want to lose Adan. Neither do I. But I don’t want to screw something up and risk losing you. Not now. Not again.”

She knew her jaw was clenched and defiant, though she didn’t turn to look at him. “I won’t screw this up.”

“
Then you agree to be sensible about this?” he asked. “You promise you won’t try to do anything on your own?”

“
I promise I won’t do anything stupid.” It wasn’t quite the same thing, but Gage seemed satisfied with her response. She turned to face him, and his hands fell away. “We can’t really plan much for this. As you said, we won’t know enough until we get in tomorrow.”

“
Then in the meantime, you need to decompress. You’ll be more effective if you’re calm and cool when we go in there.”

Embry gave a harsh laugh. “I haven’t slept well. I’ve hardly been able to breathe since they took my dad. Exactly how do you propose I decompress?”

Something hot sprang into his eyes, and Embry felt her skin flush with an entirely different heat.

“
We could talk,” he said.

“
Talk?” she asked faintly. Nothing at all in his expression suggested talking.

“
About the last time we saw each other. Before things went to shit. You changed things between us.”

Touch me.
The echo of her words swept through her, snapping desire to life. She had wanted him so much. She still wanted him.

“
I did.”

He hesitated, not moving any closer. “If things had gone differently. If we hadn’t been interrupted, would you have changed your mind about that?”

Never.
“Would you?”

One corner of his mouth tipped in amusement. She wanted to press her lips just there.

“
I spent every day from the time you were sixteen trying to convince myself that you were my sister.”

Embry blinked. “Excuse me?”

“
Because of your father. He treated me like a son, and I didn’t think he’d much appreciate the thoughts I was having about his daughter.”

She wondered if those thoughts had run parallel to hers and whether he’d lain awake nights aching for her. “I never thought of you as a brother.”

The other corner of his lips twitched into a full smile. “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know that back then since that was essentially the lynchpin of my self-discipline.”

Her mind conjured up the memory of Gage braced over her, straining desperately to control himself as she shamelessly kept him pinned with her legs. She had no idea why she’d chosen that night to test him, except that she was so tired of waiting, of wrestling with all the feelings he stirred up in her and not knowing whether he felt the same. She didn’t know what she would have done if he’d rejected her. Run in mortification, most likely. And then he’d have been alone when they came for him.

She closed her eyes and shuddered, just slightly. With an effort, she pushed the thought away, fixing a smile on her lips and aiming for light and a little flirty. “I had a terrible crush on you.”

His face went serious. “I was in love with you.”

Could he hear her heart thumping? she wondered. It beat like jungle drums in her ears as she stared at him. Still, her voice was steady, even a little amused when she spoke. “Were you?”

Gage shook his head. “Well that’s not entirely accurate. I’m still in love with you, Embry.”

She couldn’t breathe for the fist that squeezed her heart.
No, no, don’t do this to me now. Not when we have no future.
Swallowing did nothing to quench the desert of her throat.

Before she could think of a reply, he continued. “Things might not go as we hope tomorrow. And if something goes wrong, I needed you to know that.”

She should back away. Get another room. Anything to escape how the expression of fierce, protective adoration on his face made her feel.

Instead, she stepped into him, rising to her toes and threading her fingers in his hair before capturing his mouth and taking.

* * *

It was different than the kiss they’d shared in her hotel room in New Orleans. He’d been Cade then. Attractive, attracted, but not hers. And she’d been trying to distract him.

But this, this was Gage. His mouth was hot and hungry on hers, with an edgy demand that hadn’t been present a decade before. He’d been unflaggingly careful then. Cautious and considerate of her inexperience.

Even now, he pulled on depths of patience she simply didn’t have. When he tried to gentle the kiss, to slow things down, she nipped and goaded, eroding his control, wanting him desperate and unthinking. For this one night, she needed to give in to the fire.

He staggered a little as she hitched herself up, wrapping her legs around his waist. Then he righted himself, hands gripping her hips and shifting her until she pressed firmly against the bulge of his erection. Purring approval, she took her lips on a sprinting journey over his face, tasting each corner of that gorgeous mouth, feeling the scrape of stubble.

Fire hummed just beneath her skin, rising, straining toward his touch. No more distance. Impatient, she stripped off her shirt, one of those sleeveless tanks with a built in bra. His eyes went dark. Desperate to feel his flesh against her, Embry went after his t-shirt. Backing her into a wall for leverage, he tugged it off. Then he leaned away and looked his fill.

Embry knew her skin was flushed, both with desire and flame. She all but vibrated with it.

“
You’re so damned beautiful,” he muttered.

The wall pressed cool against her fevered back. The longer he stared, drinking her in, the more her brain threatened to engage, reminding her of what the Council would do to him and to her if they found out what she’d done.
Give me tonight
. It would be enough. It would have to be. “Touch me,” she whispered.

He needed no second invitation.

Capturing her mouth, he circled them across the room, hands stroking, igniting. He turned so that he took the brunt of the impact as they tumbled onto the bed. But just like in a sparring match, he was fluid, loose, swarming over her body, stripping the remaining layers, maddeningly elusive when she would have taken control. Her pulse beat thick and fast in her throat, surging yet again when he pressed his lips just there as he covered her with the glorious weight of his body.

Impatient and unbearably aroused, she bowed up, rolling until she rose over him. She used her hands and mouth to taste and take, until she memorized every line of his body and gorged herself on his flavor. His lips burned a trail of brands down her throat, between her breasts. Skin grew slick with sweat. Frantic, they rolled again, until they were joined heat to heat, bodies moving to the pulsing rhythm of the flame that grew inside her. Faster, higher, hotter, until the fire spun out of control, bursting free of her skin to engulf them both.

Passion banked, skin cooled. Logic returned with a brutal swiftness that left her cold.

What have I done?

She’d promised herself she wouldn’t go here. They had no future beyond this mission. She
knew
that. Gage didn’t, and this was just going to feed into his expectations that they would pursue this. Assuming they both survived. He was in love with her, for God’s sake.

Why did you have to tell me? I might have resisted if not for that.

She curled into his warmth, knowing that after tonight, she’d never feel it again.

Gage made a small groan.