HeroRising (9 page)

“Like how?”

“There is no how, I just do. Much as you would help someone
pick up a dropped item or open a door for another.”

The swirl of disquietude continued in her stomach as she
folded her arms across her chest. “Are you telling me you’re like a Boy Scout
on steroids?”

His eyes danced again as he sorted out his thoughts before
he responded with a solid, “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why with all the questions? I am certain you help others as
well, and without anyone asking about your motivation.”

“Sorry, I’m just trying to understand why you’ve shut
yourself away from people. It sounds so lonely.”

He shrugged. “It is who I am.”

The conviction and acceptance of his solitary existence
evaporated the last of her anger. Not five minutes earlier she had craved the
touch of another, and here stood a man who purposefully cut himself off from
contact even though it hurt him. Bale might have fooled himself into thinking
he wanted to be left alone, but his actions of the night screamed otherwise.
The man was adrift and in need. Why else would he have dragged her out of the
club and up to the roof if he wasn’t seeking some form of connection?

What was it about Bale that made her want to crawl inside
his skin and smooth the frown from his brow? They were strangers, yet she felt
a connection as if they were on a similar journey, two pieces of the same
puzzle she wasn’t allowed to put together.

All night long she had seen the signs and recognized him as
one who had lost the ability to trust in others. In this regard they were the
same, yet they couldn’t have been more different. She ached for him, felt his
isolation to her core and wanted to weep for the man who thought he couldn’t
belong.

The muscles in her arms and legs bunched, ready to run and
wrap him in a hug, which instinct told her was not his style. To do so would
probably make him shut down and place mental and physical distance between
them, a possibility that made her heart hurt.

Bale closed his eyes and his hand went to the center of his
chest. His lips pinched together and he shook his head as if to refuse the
unspoken compassion she knew shined in her eyes.

He cleared his throat. “We should go below. You need some
rest.”

“Why are you constantly trying to get me into bed?” She
winked with a teasing smile to break the tension as a breeze stirred the nearby
tree branches.

The corner of his mouth kicked up into the closest thing
she’d seen him do to a smile and she wanted to give a victorious fist-pump in
honor of progress.

“Perhaps it’s because of the lines of strain I see on your
face. I think you need your beauty rest.”

Her brows lowered with mock anger. “Do you want to get your
ass kicked? You may have everyone shaking in their shoes, but I can take you
on.”

This time he smiled for real and the breath whooshed from
her lungs at the transformation of his features. Had she thought him merely
handsome before? With that smile he was panty-dropping gorgeous.

Her chills turned into shivers as she imagined planting
kisses along his chiseled jaw. She better change the subject before she did
something stupid like drool. “So, how long have you known Lucian and
Amaryllis?”

“Since I was a youth.”

“He called you brother. I think. At least, that’s what it
sounded like.”

Was that a wince? “Lucian was once my commander in our
military unit. You are cold.”

Another sore subject? The man had more landmines than the
beach at Normandy during World War II. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to go back
yet. Talk to me. Tell me a story, anything.”

He arched a brow and his shoulders went back. “Why?”

Because I don’t want either of us to be alone.
“Because I like the sound of your voice. Please?”

He was silent for so long she thought he was going to
refuse, but then he motioned for her to join him on one of the reclining lounge
chairs. “Sit by me. I’ll keep you warm.”

Nestle herself next to his hard body? Like he’d have to ask
twice.

She bit her lip to stop the victorious grin from spoiling
the moment and settled into place along his side on the wide chair. This idea
was either brilliant or going to be a huge mistake.

Her head rested against the perfect pillow of his chest as
he wrapped his arm around her back. Dear Lord, she was going to melt right
there. “Ooo, you’re warm. You’re always warm.”

Was that a chuckle that made his chest bounce? When he
spoke, his steady voice rumbled under her ear. “Look up at the sky, Ari. See
that bright-blue star over that skyscraper?”

She nodded and forced her eyelids to stay open as drowsiness
swept over her. Pharmaceutical companies could make a fortune in sleeping aids
if they could bottle what Bale provided with his embrace.

“That is Saturn. Two-thirds the size of Earth and the center
of six moons. A planet consisting of an enormous compilation of gases and rock,
yet if I hold up my finger, I can cover its light and pretend it doesn’t exist.
But it does exist, and its place in this universe is important, whether you
recognize its existence or not.” He looked down at her and she fell into the
fathomless pool of his eyes. “Do you want to know what my mission is, Ari?”

She nodded, hypnotized by all that was Bale.

“It is my job to ensure that all life is given a chance to
shine. Whether their existence is recognized or not, because you never know if
one tiny spot of life is the center of the universe for an entire race of
people.”

“Why does that job fall on you?”

He reached up and trailed his fingertips over her cheek.
“Because I said so. Now, good night, Ari.”

She felt the press of his thumb against her neck and then
there was blackness.

So beautiful.

Bale released the pressure on the vein that put Ari to sleep
and swept his fingers down the milky column of her neck. Not for one second was
he sorry he invoked the Skandavian sleeper hold to force her to rest. The woman
was beyond exhausted and didn’t know when to stop being so damn intriguing. Another
moment longer, he might have forgotten his vows and crossed a line of no
return.

Again he wondered what it was about her that had him running
in eight different directions that all lead right back to her. She was sunlight
and sin. Magic and adrenaline. She had a special light that made him want to
sweep her away and horde her like a rare treasure. She was everything he wanted
but couldn’t have.

However, just because he refused to give in to her charms,
that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the sight of her in his arms. With
featherlight touches he traced the supple line of her lips and the curve of her
cheek. He didn’t dare go below her collar, as it was the tempting swell of her
breasts pressing against his ribs was torture enough to endure. To give in to
the urge to fill his hands with her softness would make him no better than the
scum he rescued her from in the club.

At the thought of the club his anger rose anew. Damn Jax for
not seeing to her safety. He knew Lucian had alerted security that Ari was a
special guest and Jax should have sent her right back to her rooms the moment
she stepped off that elevator, not given her a VIP tour of the place. After
what Bale had witnessed, the man was lucky to be alive. So too was the human
who dared touch Ari so intimately.

Bale bit back a roar of displeasure as he recalled the sight
of Ari’s red hair bunched in the man’s hands as he groped her back and
buttocks. Bale’s powers had sensed how the male had been patiently waiting and
priming Ari for the right time to remove her from her clothes while all Ari had
desired was comfort, someone to hold her. The sweet purity of her need had
clashed with the man’s fiery lust and manipulation and made a foul cocktail
that had burned Bale’s throat raw. What if he hadn’t made it in time to stop
her from doing something foolish?
Jesu
, what if he had found her in one
of the playrooms? Sweat broke out across his forehead at the thought. Blood
would have most certainly been shed.

Ari moaned with distress and stirred in his embrace. With
his thoughts on what might have been, his arms were constricting her breathing.
He loosened his hold and brushed a kiss to her forehead while whispering hushes
until she settled down. Funny how that trick worked just as well on Ari as it
had his child.

Once he was certain she was asleep, he rose to a stand and
cradled her to his chest.

Where was his mind at? She was only a woman, a human who had
needed his protection but for a brief moment. Why was he now so determined to
see to her every need? For over an hour he had tossed in his bed, wondering if
Ari had taken to her new surroundings until his worry drove him to seek her
out.

When he had discovered she had left the apartment, he about
had two heart attacks, and the anxiety quadrupled when he found her in The
Cavern. The tension eased only slightly when they had reached the open air of
the rooftop. She was not his and yet the yearning and sense of propriety was
there, driving his every action. Whatever spell she weaved upon him had to be
broken, and only distance was going to do the trick.

He used his house key and juggling skills to enter the main
house and return Ari to her room. The thick scent of woman and the sight of
damp, rumpled sheets made his cock instantly hard. Apparently Ari was not
immune to the sexual charge Lucian and the princess generated when they made
love. It was told that the night they bonded, half the state went into orgasmic
shock and ten months later a mini baby boom occurred.

To know that Ari had been twisting amongst the sheets,
searching for relief made the cum boil in his balls. What had she been thinking
about? Had she dreamt of him?

No. Do not think on it.

He laid her upon the bed and without a second glance he ran
from the room before his libido took over. By morning’s light she would be on
her way to the next great adventure she had been searching for and he would be
back in the shadows. Where he belonged.

The image of her in bed pleasuring herself dogged him with
every step down the hall. The tropical scent of her bath soap clung to his
shirt, teasing his senses with the possibility of having that fragrance rubbed
into his skin. Damn it all to the seven hells! How was he to go to sleep now
when his body demanded action?

Hmm. Simple enough answer. He wouldn’t.

With a quick stop back at his apartment he retrieved his
sweatshirt, jacket and long sword and went back to the rooftop. He climbed on
top of the railing and closed his eyes, filtering past the noise of the city
and the cacophonous cloud of thousands of people’s emotions. Even after a year
of learning how to deal with the constant bombardment of mental noise, he still
found it difficult to funnel his concentration, which was another reason why he
hated The Cavern. The den was a bubbling cesspool of contradictions. It was a
wonder he had been able to locate Ari there at all.

He puffed out two short breaths and strengthened his focus,
skipping over surges of annoyance and petty anger in search of signs of
stomach-clenching terror that left a person incapable of defending themselves.

A sign such as the one he sensed came from an area to the
north of his location.

He drew the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and with a
flinch of muscles he was off, leaping off the ledge and landing in an elegant
crouch five stories below. He became a black blur to those he ran past, a
figment of their imagination if they were ever pressed to ask. The beacon of
distress intensified as he entered the main shopping district. At this time of
night the upscale department stores and specialty shops were empty but for the
occasional janitor or security staff, yet a sharp jab punched him repeatedly in
the gut, pulling him deeper down the dark street as if he were a fish on a
hook.

Ah, there. At the jewelry store. Through the windows the store
appeared dark and empty, but a malicious presence was most definitely inside.
He slipped from shadow to shadow to the back of the room where he found the
service door closed but unlocked.

The hinges creaked as he opened the door, but he moved so
quickly, he was hidden in a dark corner of the hallway by the time anyone came
to investigate.

A man-child, for he appeared barely old enough to shave let
alone carry the gun he gripped in his trembling hand, entered the hallway and
scanned the area. Bale calculated that whatever had brought the male to this
location was a last-minute decision based on his attire of jeans, red t-shirt
and brand-new bright-white Nikes. Not exactly the uniform of a seasoned thief.
He hadn’t even bothered to cover his face.

“It’s nobody,” the man shouted over his shoulder and turned
to go back into the only lit office.

Bale followed and paused outside the doorway, hiding in
plain sight. Since he wasn’t an expected presence, their lack of attention was
a perfect disguise.

Inside the office a second gunman held his pistol on a young
girl who was sobbing in hysterics as she fumbled with the dial on a
closet-sized safe. An older gentleman lay passed out on the floor. Blood seeped
from a cut near his temple and a purple bruise colored the exposed side of his
face.

All four occupants in the room appeared to be descendants
from the same nationality with their straight black hair, olive complexions and
almond-shaped eyes. Somewhere from East Asia, if Bale remembered from his
lessons about Earth.

As the girl fought to control her crying she stuttered in a
language he did not understand, but the tone in her voice pleaded for mercy in
a way that sounded the same in any language.

Also universal was the malice glittering in the man’s eyes
as he barked at the female and waved his gun to spur her to move faster. A
narcotic of some type coursed through his veins, amplifying and scattering his
emotions like broken shards of mirror, distorting the true reflection.