Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (38 page)

   His fingers thread through my hair
.
He
caress
ed
my cheeks lightly
as he bent to kiss me gently. I sighed softly, joy suffus
ed
me.
“
You’ve been hurt, wounded
.
Y
ou’ve endured things that I can never take away from you, no matter how much I want to.
I can keep you a little safer
though
Bethany,
I can keep you from even more hurt
.
L
et me do that
, please
.” I couldn’t argue with him, not when his lips were brushing over my face, caressing me ever so gently. My heart leapt as it pounded with renewed velocity.

   “I just wish you would talk to me, tell me…”

   “Later, not now. There is nothing I can tell you that would help. Nothing.”

   “Those people,” I whispered.

   He sighed softly, his forehead dropp
ed
against mine.
“We have to keep going forward. There are others that still need help
, that we
can
still help
. There may come a time when we can help the
m
,
b
ut now is not that time
.
T
here is little we can do other than get
ting
our
selves killed. I can’t take the
chance of losing you
again
Bethy,
I just can’t.”

   I closed my eyes, clinging to his hands as I leaned into him. He smelled wonderful, like sweat and spices. It was a smell I knew well,
and had missed so much. A smell that wrapped around me
,
and
enshroud
ed
me in a cocoon of warmth and love.
“All we can do is survive and hold onto the
dream
that one day we’ll be able to help them.”

   I nodded, shivering as he dropped soft kisses across my face.
“One day we will,” I said forcefully. “One day we’ll help them.
Is there any chance that some of them may escape, like you?
”

  
He smiled softly, his eyes bright and clear
as his thumbs lightly stroked my face. “
There’s always hope
.
”

   I was slightly startled as his words eerily echoed my dream
.
They
left me with an uneasy feeling that even his kiss couldn’t change.

CHAPTER 14

   It was unbelievably dark when I awoke. Without power, and not wanting to waste the battery in my flashlight
,
I had fallen asleep with no source of light in the room.
The heavy curtains had been drawn over the large window, blocking out whatever moonlight the night might have had to offer.
I blinked, straining to make something out within the dark. I wasn’t used to having my own space, my own room, my own bed. For so long I had been sleeping with
a group of people, in one room.
I was used to rustling movements, soft snores, and cries from thos
e having nightmares
.

   I
was
surprised to find it
was
terrifying to be alone.

   I sat up, trying to keep control o
f
my rising panic. I was also used to having Cade wrapped around me, used to being
ensnared
within his strong arms
, and feel
ing
the reassuring beat of his heart against me
. B
ut Cade
had volunteered to go on patrol tonight
in place of a man who had
bec
o
me ill.
I wished that he was here.

  
I tugged on a pair of jeans and a shirt; there was no way that I was going to get back to sleep in the pitch black room. It was too dark, I was too alone, and
I
felt the driving
need to escape.
I slipped my feet into my
battered
sneakers and headed out the door. The hall was quiet; there was one lamp at the end of it. Its small flame
barely
lit the dark stairwell. I crept
slowly down the stairs, my hand trailing along the railing as I stepped into the main lobby of the small hotel. It was eerily quiet as I made my way to the glass front doors.

   I stared out at the night,
watching for a long moment,
but nothing moved out there.
I was torn between wanting to go out there
and find Cade, and wanting to run
.
It had been a long
, tiring
day
and I craved the freedom that the woods gave me
.
A s
oft
sound caused me to turn away from the door. I reached to the gun at my hip
, frowning
as I strained to hear anything more
within the silent hotel
. Though no other sound came,
I was certain that
I had heard something
com
ing
from the ballrooms.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find Bishop in
the back
room, absorbed in
his microscope and
fresh
samples.

  
I made my way back there, eager for some company, and perhaps some newfound insights from the doc.
There
was a fl
ashlight sitting on the counter.
I
ts beam
,
focused on the back wall
, was the only source of illumination
in the ballroom
.
I frowned as I stared at the circle on the back wall. There was no way that Bishop could be working on anything when all that could be seen was that circle.
I didn’t see anyone within the room, but
they
had to be there
if
the flashlight
was
on.
“Bishop?”
I inquired softly
.

  
The room remained strangely silent. I strained to see into it, strained to make out anything within the shadows of the room.
And then
,
something moved.

   I watch
ed in confusion as a person shifted within the shadows
, the
ir
movements stirr
ed
the night around them,
but
they
did not emerge completely. A chill shivered down my spine, causing the hair on the nape of my neck to stand up. I didn’t know who was in that room, but I suddenly didn’t like any of this.
I knew it wasn’t Bishop, he would have come forth.
I took a small step back, my hand wrapped around the butt of my gun.

   They mo
ved slowly, their slender body barely visible in the gloom
. The shadows seemed to hug them, caress
ing
them as the
y
came toward me
.
There was such an easy grace to them, such a natural ability to blend in with the shadows that I was struck by the
strange
familiarity of them
.
They reminded me of someone.
“Cade?” I whispered.

   But even as I said the name, I knew that it wasn’t him either. He wouldn’t have remained hidden. He would have come to me instantly
;
he would have
revealed himself the moment that I stepped into this room. For the first time true fear enveloped me as I realized that whoever was in the room wasn’t coming toward me to talk to me, but was stalking me. Hunting me. My throat went dry. I slipped the gun slowly from my waistband. I held it at my side, trying not to draw attention to the fact that I possessed it.

   “It’s you.”

   The words were a soft hiss that caused my skin to
crawl. I took another step back, jumping slightly as I bumped into the wall.
I hadn’t realized that I had stepped away from the doorway
until that moment
. It was a foolhardy mistake that may have just cost me my life. And I knew, without knowing how, that this was going to turn into a battle for my life.

  
The man emerged from the shadows and I understood why I had briefly mistaken him for Cade. They had the same slender build, same dark hair and eyes. He was even staring at me with the same hunger
and tension
I had seen in Cade’s eyes a few times.
However,
in this man’s eyes that hunger
caused a panic
ked
, primitive
reaction
to flare hotly through
me.

   I wanted to flee, wanted to run from the room but I remained immobile and shaken. I was terrified that if I ran he would
hunt
me down and maul me to death.
Somehow
I knew that he would
,
and that he
could
. “Excuse me?” I managed to choke out.

   Ian’s eyes raked me from head to toe.
His lips were a
strange
shade of red, there appeared to be something on his mouth. His gaze
smoldered with heat, burned with
longing,
but there was nothing sexual in his
eyes
as there was with Cade.
He did not desire me the way that Cade did, he wanted something else, something more
from me
. I didn’t know
exactly
what, but
I was convinced that he wanted to devour me
completely
. I was shaking slightly as I took a step to the right, trying to get back t
o
the
open
door
way
.