Memory of an Immortal Heart (Immortal Hearts) (32 page)

Eva
shivered, but her hand was over his heart, pushing him again so that he was
forced to look into her serious gaze. Her brows were drawn, and he watched as
she licked the taste of him from her lips. “No, Brand.
Home
. To the
Gens. To North Carolina. I need to talk to Rainey.”

His
reaction was instant, visceral:
No
.

No.

Perhaps
Eva saw the answer in his face because she froze, then abruptly shoved off him.
Brand struggled to control himself. He needed more time. A week, maybe two.
Perhaps another month.

Forever.

“You
need to talk to Rainey,” he repeated flatly as her gaze caught on his, as
unreasoning anger rose inside him.

Eva
scowled. “She’s not taking my calls, and she’s not responding to my emails.
She’s pissed, Brand. She thinks I abandoned her. I can’t let my sister believe
I abandoned her. You wouldn’t do that to your family, and I won’t do that to
mine. And I’ve
needed
…” Eva’s slender throat worked, her eyes misting
– but as ever, she held those tears back – “I’ve needed to talk to
her. I’ve needed her since the day I was taken by Rohe,” Eva said quietly, eyes
focusing on his with a silent plea for understanding, “and I delayed that so I
could come here and help you. But I helped. That’s over. Now I need to go
back.”

“Stay
here. With me. We can get your sister. Bring her here,” the words came out
without conscious thought.

If she
was so willing to leave him, so ready to leave him already…

He
needed more time.

Eva
blinked, an odd, hopeful expression flitting across her face before it
hardened. “That’s just unreasonable, Brand. If anybody is going to ‘get’ my
sister, it’s me. And I have no right to stay at Stronghold. I don’t belong
here.”

Don’t
belong here?

Brand
narrowed his eyes as Eva moved across the bed. He gripped her knee in his left
hand before she could slide further away. “I remember what you told me about Seattle,
Eva. And your job. And you should know that plenty of Kaspian who live at
Stronghold don’t carry the Kade name
or
the heritage, Eva. In fact, most
who live here aren’t tied to my family by anything more than vows or purpose.
There’s plenty of room for Rainey here. At Stronghold. We will send for her.”

“I’m
getting Rainey myself,” Eva’s voice rose, laced with anger and determination,
and her eyes flecked gold as they met his. Brand raised an eyebrow, and let the
challenge in her voice go as he focused on what she
hadn’t
said.

“So you
agree to stay at Stronghold.”

Say yes
. Eva
wasn’t ready to be Marqued any more than she was ready to bond with him, but if
she agreed to live at Stronghold, she would be safe. Brand had seen her earlier
with Bryan’s amati, Shiri. Perhaps if Eva spent more time with the other amati,
she wouldn’t mind so much when she finally learned about the bond. She needed
time to accustom herself to the idea. To him. And if Eva had that time,
perhaps…

Perhaps
she wouldn’t run.

“Brand,”
Eva said, and the sharpness to her words pulled his attention back to her and
started a low growl in his chest, “this relationship is temporary. It can’t be
anything
but
temporary. We both know I have to leave,” she said as he
snarled. But then she touched his face, ran her hand down his jaw to cradle his
chin, and Brand saw the sadness in her silver eyes. She wasn’t any happier
about the idea of leaving than he was.

She
didn’t
want
to leave him.

So
perhaps Seth was right. Maybe Eva felt a bit of the bond after all.

On some
deep level, she must at least
sense
that they belonged to each other.

“Stay,”
Brand said fiercely, running his fingers through the dark silky waves of her
hair to hold her still. He studied Eva’s expression, tracking her surprise, the
disbelief – then rejection – of his offer. It stretched something
inside Brand to the breaking point. “You should stay at Stronghold, Eva. Here.
With me.”

“How
many women have you asked to stay?” she asked and touched the corner of his
mouth, sounding almost amused as she avoided answering.

“Just
you.
Only
you.” His snarl wiped the laughter from her eyes. Then he
leaned to kiss Eva in earnest.

Stay at
Stronghold
.

It was
tempting. God, it was tempting.

This
place, the people here…Eva loved it. Eva loved
them
. And she knew
nothing would ever happen to her at Stronghold. Rohe would never have a chance
to get to her. No one would be able to kidnap her, take her from her Gens or
her family. She would be safe.

At
Stronghold, she would
always
be safe.

With Brand.

Eva
moaned into his kiss and tangled her hand in his hair as she traced the strong
line of his shoulders. He growled deep into her mouth, his kiss forceful, as if
somehow he could convince her to do what he wanted.

He
wanted her to stay.

He
wanted her here. With him.

Relationships
are temporary.

Yes,
but if Eva stayed at Stronghold, it would kill her when their relationship
died. When Brand lost interest and looked elsewhere. The thought of him with
another woman, in these suites, in their bed…

Eva
snarled and dug her fingers into Brand’s shoulders, sinking her nails into the
material and he growled, his body tightening over hers.

So
maybe she was young. Maybe she wasn’t a warrior, maybe she couldn’t ‘fight.’
But if she ever had to watch that happen, if Brand ever took another woman…an
almost physical pain shot through Eva.

It was
better to end the relationship now. To go back to North Carolina for Rainey,
then to find her own place. She and her sister could build their own lives
together, and Eva wouldn’t ever have to witness another woman enter Brand’s
life. She wouldn’t have to worry about him moving on, or worry about watching
for when their relationship ended.

He
wanted her to stay.

She
needed to leave.
The sooner the better.

As Eva
dug her nails into Brand’s shoulders and twined her legs up around his hard
body, a tiny voice in her mind that sounded suspiciously like Rainey’s pointing
out that she was behaving like an idiot, but Eva silenced it.
I’m thinking
of what’s best for us,
she whispered back. She was thinking of Brand. She
was thinking of Rainey. She was thinking of the future.

Obviously
Brand wouldn’t listen, so…tomorrow she would talk to Nikandria about plane
tickets. But tonight…Eva slipped her hands under Brand’s sweater and pulled it
over his head with her own share of possessiveness. Tonight was about enjoying
what she had.

Every
moment of it.

Eva’s
throat was tender beneath his lips and he could feel the beat of her pulse
against his teeth as he worked his way down to her collarbone. Brand lingered
over that fragile skin before moving on to the forgiving flesh of her breasts.
He took his time, kissing the full globe of the left before moving to lick the
upward slope of the right, nibbling over the warm, strong beat of her heart.

She had
such a beautiful, stubborn, infuriating heart.

Eva
twined one hand into his hair, and dipped the other down his side, tracing the
sensitive muscles of his abdomen until she found
him
. Her silver eyes
looked up, met his…she gripped.

Brand
groaned and gritted his teeth. For a moment everything went red inside his
skull as Eva’s fingers settled over the ridge of his shaft, taking the moisture
she found there and spreading it across the throbbing head of his heavy
erection. He pushed into her palm, and she gasped. Her breath hitched, spread
warm between them like life itself, and then she was shifting, canting upward,
positioning herself for him.

“Not
yet,” Brand snarled, knowing what she wanted.

Eva
wanted to leave him. He was going to make this last as long as possible.

Forever,
if he had a chance.

She
reached between them, pumped her hand around his cock, more
need
in her
touch than teasing, and he strained; he thrust forward, and then – god
– she wedged his erection just inside her entrance.

She was
pure, tight warmth. Spring rain, cool summer mornings and hot sleek Kaspian
tigress. Eva was everything he had ever missed. To let her go would be like
ripping out his heart with his own claws. It would shred him. Brand tightened
his grip on Eva as the heat of her surrounded him; she trailed her fingers over
his hips, following the trail of his spine to his shoulders. Eva wrapped a leg
around him and dug her nails in. She pulled herself up, slowly pushing the
heavy length of his cock into her moist depths.

Brand
froze.

“Don’t
make me do this myself,” she whispered, half-gasping, as she trembled beneath
him. The silver and gold mixed together in her eyes, dwindling beneath the ruby
red of her desire. She pushed roughly up, taking his base into her sweet, tight
sheathe. “
Brand
.”

Brand
groaned. He kissed her throat, kissed her breasts as he cradled her to him.

Then he
put Eva’s back to the headboard, knelt to grip her hips and
pushed
.

She
cried out, arching; her sleek long legs tightened as they came together behind
him, her heels clenching into his ass. Her fingers dug into his shoulders like
steel points as he helped her ride up over him and down again. “Brand,” she
whispered, eyes fluttering and this time his name wasn’t a request, but
approval…and a demand for more. Brand complied, tightening his grip on her hips
as he looked into her eyes.
This is for her.
He let Eva set the pace.

She
came around him in a hot tide of hunger and he buried his face in her breasts
and held on, not ready, just yet, to succumb; he kissed her sharp little
nipples, catching the round soft flesh between his teeth but not too tight,
playing the lines of temptation and desire as he continued to drive into her
tight body.

Then
Eva shuddered again, crying out as she arched back, and the sweet spring rain
tang of her blood cut through the air, through the scent of their arousal.

The
tang filled Brand’s lungs, his consciousness, and he jerked back, afraid even
as he groaned at the sensation. “Eva.” Shock battled with clawing hope, a hope
that erupted through everything he was and refused to be put down. Control spun
away from him as the need to conquer her flesh filled him; he found himself
straining against her depths, holding to the fine line between coming and not.
And still, that scent filled his lungs…not a delusion, not a prayer. Real.

“
Evita
.
You’re bleeding.” His voice was guttural, as if rocks had lodged in his throat,
and he realized he’d spoken in Catalan. He forced himself to repeat in English.
“Eva.
Did my teeth…did I Marque you?
”

“Bit
myself. My tongue,” she gasped, coming down from the orgasm, hands beginning to
unclench from his hair and as her shuddering smoothed about his own driving
need, she gave a soft rueful laugh, “You made me bite my tongue.”

Everything
in him strained. He ran his tongue around the inside of his own mouth, trying
to taste…he thought, but he wasn’t sure… “
You’re
certain.”

If he
had Marqued her – if he had accidentally fucking Marqued her –
Brand edged back, the tight slide of her flesh fraying his concentration as he
tried to see Eva’s skin. To make sure.

Eva
groaned, shifted around the fullness of his cock, and his line of control
became insubstantial. She looked at him, delicate throat arched. Her eyes met
his, a clear, pure dark ruby that held a stunned, powerful, awareness of her
own sensuality. She licked her lips and he saw that blood tinted them. “I bit
myself,” she whispered again. Relief welled in Brand. Relief…and despair.

He
hadn’t bit her, hadn’t Marqued her. Not yet.

He
should have. He fucking
should
have.

Then
Eva rode down, taking all of him inside as she breathed, “See?
Taste
,”
and before Brand could respond, she leaned forward and sealed her mouth to his.

Eva’s
flavor exploded through Brand; he lost his control. He was lost. He jerked. Her
torn tongue moved on his and he groaned. He shuddered as the orgasm rose
inside, thundering out and into her as he came. The ejaculation ripped though
them both, taking each by surprise. Eva gasped, rocked and moaned, and he
desperately pinned her still with his hands.

Here
was
pure Eva. Her blood. It stained his lips, it stained his soul. It was a gift he
would never forget. So close to a Marque, but not.

So
close to the sharing of the bond, but not.

He would
fucking taste her to the end of time. He would fucking
crave
her to the
end of time.