Touch of Temptation (4 page)

“Well?” she prompted him.

“I, uh, I don’t know.” With a slow shake of his head, he cut her a wry look from the corner of his eye. “Never really thought about it before.”

Smoothing the blanket over her legs, she said, “Just to let you know, you should probably consider stopping.”

A grin kicked up a corner of his mouth. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

She turned her head to the side, but not before he thought he saw her lips twitch, on the verge of a smile. How they’d gone from snapping at each other to smiling again, he didn’t know. But it was obvious their moods were all over the place, shifting as swiftly as desert sands.

Pushing a hand through his hair, he said, “Please, just don’t listen to Spark, okay? She gets a kick outta messing with people’s minds, but it’s all a load of crap.”

Her fingers plucked nervously at the drab blanket, her profile…sad. Strained. From the side, her lower lip looked a little swollen, as if she’d been nervously pulling it through her teeth, and she swiped it with her tongue before saying, “Listen, Kell, it’s really none of my business what you do with Spark, or with any woman, for that matter. I’m not judging you, and if anything, I’m probably just jealous of all the freedom you’ve had, when that really hasn’t been an option for me because of the curse. But that was my choice. The Mallory have always been seen as evil manipulators who twist guys to our whims, and I never wanted to have anyone throw those accusations in my face. Plus, it would hardly be enjoyable to hook up with some guy and spend the whole time worrying he was only interested in me because of some stupid spell.” She brought her gaze back to his,
her voice a little huskier as she added, “Anyway, I think it’d be better if you just didn’t come over here again. At least not until we’re ready to die trying to get out of this place.”

“Don’t say that. You are
not
going to die.” He forced the words through his gritted teeth, surprised by the vehemence of his reaction.

Carefully, she said, “I don’t want to fight with you, Kellan. So please, just go.”

With his jaw locked, he paced along the outside of her cell again before stopping and wrapping his fingers around the cold rods of metal. “I don’t want to go,” he muttered, holding her with his stare.

Her gaze burned with frustration, but before she could say anything, he continued talking. “I know you feel like crap, and to be honest, I’m not feeling all that great, either. But it makes…it makes me feel better to be with you. And before you ask me to explain what that means, don’t. Because I don’t have any idea. It’s just the way it is.”

She studied his face, no doubt noting the ravaging effects of the poison on his system. “You…you don’t look well. Are you ill?”

“Nah.” He scraped a palm against his stubbled jaw. “It’s just some poison I’ve gotta get outta my system.”

“Poison?” she said slowly, the word trembling on her lips. “They poisoned you? When? How?” She started talking faster. “Why would they do that? Is it meant to be some kind of torture? Raine said they still think you came here to steal back the three Dark Markers that are in their possession. Does it have something to do with that?”

Shaking his head, he said, “The poisoning actually happened before I got to the compound.”

Her gaze immediately slid to the bite wound burning at the side of his throat, and she visibly swallowed, her pale features stricken with worry. “Is that what the bite’s from? An infected Deschanel? I’ve heard of that, but don’t really know much about it.”

“It was my own stupid fault,” he rumbled, keeping his tone light. “I wasn’t paying close enough attention as I was crossing the Wasteland and ended up running into a poisonous vamp named Asa Reyker, who thought I looked tasty.”

“So this is another nightmare that can be laid at my feet,” she said softly, dropping her head back until it clunked against the wall.

“That’s bullshit,” he grunted, her reaction reinforcing his decision not to tell her the complete truth about the poison. “You didn’t ask me to come here, Chloe. It was
my
choice.”

“I’m just so sick of this!” she burst out, thumping her small, fisted hands against the cot as she lifted her head and looked at him. “I want out of this place, but not at the expense of your life, Kellan! I didn’t want anyone else to be hurt!”

“I’m not hurt, damn it.”

“Yeah? Because being poisoned doesn’t exactly sound like something that feels good!”

“I’ll be okay,” he lied, trying to calm her down, even though he knew damn well that he was dying. “The poison can’t kill me, so stop freaking out. It’s going to be fine.”

“Fine? Look around you, Kellan.” She flung the words at him. “Nothing about this situation is fine!”

In another sudden shift, he could see her worry bleeding back into something primal and raw, and she started to shiver. Her eyes became heavy as she stared at him from the cot, her chest rising and falling with swift, panting breaths.

Thickly, he said, “Your Merrick is rising again.”

In a gesture he was beginning to recognize as one of the witch’s favorites, she rolled her eyes at him again. “Gee, ya think?”

He liked her sassy mouth, though he had a feeling she was more than a little surprised by the things she kept saying to him, as if she hadn’t expected to be so brave when faced with a dangerous Lycan.

“Has the blood they’ve been giving you helped at all?” he asked.

“They’ve shoved it into my veins,” she told him, her voice strained. “Even made me drink it from a cup. But none of it has helped.”

“Chloe, I want you to know that I
would
help you with this, if I thought it was the right thing to do. But I know that it’s not.”

“And I’d stop looking at you as if you were my next meal, but I seem to have this whole split personality thing going on right now that makes that impossible. So you should really just go.”

“I know it might not feel like it at times, but you
will
be able to manage the Merrick’s hunger until we’re out of here,” he told her. “I’m not saying it will be easy, but I know you’re strong enough to do it.”

“Kellan, I’m not kidding,” she groaned, obviously struggling to hold it together. “You need to leave. Immediately.”

His muscles tensed with frustration. “I don’t want you to be alone. Not when you look like you’re in pain.”

“Damn it, I
am
in pain! And you being over here is making it worse!” Dropping her head forward, she took a deep, shuddering breath and licked her lips, her voice hoarse as she said, “I don’t understand any of this. Is it…is it because of the poison? Is that why you won’t feed me? Are you afraid of it hurting me?”

Watching the way she was twisting her fingers together in her lap, he forced himself to be honest. “No. A Deschanel nest can become poisonous for any number of reasons, depending on what they’ve done. For some, it’s because they were cursed, and in other cases, because they broke one of the sacred covenants of the Deschanel. There are all different types of poisons and they’re not all lethal, though some of them can probably make you wish you were dead. Hell, some can even cause madness, and some just make you feel like you’ve been put through a wringer. The poison is something that lives in the vampires’ bodies, which they can often pass on to their victims, depending on the specific strain—but with most of the infected nests, that’s where the cycle stops. The Reykers’ strain of poison is one that’s no longer contagious once it spreads through their victims. So even though it’s inside me, the poison isn’t something I can pass on to another.”

“Oh.” She took another deep, trembling breath. “Then why won’t you help me? I mean, I
know
I’m nowhere close to your usual type, but this is…this isn’t a normal situation.”

He hated that she looked at it that way, as if he ever would have preferred his usual type to her.

“Chloe, I swear I’m not trying to be an ass. The truth
is…” He groaned, wanting to tell her he was afraid of his wolf taking control and hurting her, but damn it, he didn’t want her scared of him. So he told her another truth instead. “The truth is that I’d like nothing more than to…to give you what you need, but I can’t do that. I’m not the kind of guy you want to get mixed up with, honey. Even for something that’s short term.” Because he knew damn well that once she learned about all the stupid shit that he’d done…about the way he’d bedded down with one of the Casus females and nearly gotten his friends killed, she’d be disgusted that she’d ever allowed him to touch her, much less take his blood into her body for a Merrick feeding.

Kellan thought it might be more the ragged edge to his words than the actual words themselves that had her lifting her head to look at him. “What do you mean?”

His mouth twisted with a wry smile. “I’m fucked up. Hell, my issues have issues. Big, nasty hairy ones that you really don’t want anything to do with.”

Her brows drew together in a small V. “Weren’t you in here for the beginning of this conversation? I already know about the women, Kellan. Raine said you’re known as a playboy of epic proportions. A relentless womanizer.”

He couldn’t believe the heat burning in his face, as if he was actually embarrassed that she knew about his man-slut reputation. “Yeah, well, that’s part of it. Olivia would tell you it’s my ‘coping mechanism.’”

She suddenly laughed, though the light sound held a brittle edge. “Did I miss something?” he asked.

Shaking her head, she said, “It’s just that that’s how I look at my lifestyle. The way I seclude myself from other people is my own little ‘coping mechanism.’”

Kellan frowned. “And that’s funny, how?”

“Well, think about it. We went about ‘coping’ in completely different ways. You by nailing everything that moves, so long as it was gorgeous and built—while the only things I’ve been nailing would be pictures on the wall, and all by my lonesome.” She snorted, saying, “Of the two of us, I’m betting you’ve been having a helluva lot more fun than I have.”

With a rough burst of laughter, Kellan slowly shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Then her smile faded, and he tensed as she quietly said, “I’m not asking you to marry me, Kellan. I’m not even asking you to be my boyfriend. Aside from the blood, I’m just asking you to give me what hundreds of other women have gotten from you.”

He swallowed against the knot of regret lodged deep in his throat, and somehow managed to rasp, “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” she asked, clearly baffled by his continued refusal.

“It’s…complicated,” he muttered, while his wolf roared with raw frustration, the savage sound so loud within his mind that he winced. Though he wanted so badly to give in, Kellan knew that no matter how miserable Chloe Harcourt was at that moment, she
could
get what she needed from one of his unmated friends once they were free…and then she’d be okay. Not to mention a helluva lot safer than if she let him touch her.

“Complicated?” she repeated, her expression a mixture of hurt and genuine bewilderment. “How freaking complicated can it be? It’s not like I’m asking you to explain quantum mechanics. If the idea is so repulsive to you, then stop torturing me and just go away!”

By the time the last word had left her lips, she was shaking again, even harder than before, her eyes flashing from gray to silver like sparks of light.

Feeling like a useless jackass, he said, “Just take a deep breath, honey, and try to calm down.”

Her eyes narrowed with blazing astonishment. “You don’t think I’ve tried that? God, I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius with a raging IQ! I thought—” She gasped, leaning forward, her slender arms clutched around her body as she rocked. “Oh, hell,” she groaned, gritting her teeth. “This sucks so bad.”

Unable to stay away from her, Kellan knelt down in front of the bars that were closest to her cot and reached in with one hand, clutching a handful of the blanket, his hard fist only inches away from her slim little body. “Chloe,” he rasped, torn between what he wanted to do…and what he knew was right. “Chloe, honey, look at me.”

She didn’t say anything at first. Just kept rocking, forward and then back again, and from this close, Kellan could actually feel the potent forces working within her. Feel that mesmerizing rise of power inside her pulsing against him. When she turned her head and pierced him with those glowing silver eyes, Kellan felt her power slam all the way down to his bones. The air felt electric, sizzling against his skin, and he realized that being part Mallory might be having a serious effect on her awakening—one they foolishly hadn’t anticipated.

“It’s getting worse,” she whispered, the sharp points of the Merrick’s fangs just visible beneath the sensual curve of her upper lip, “and it’s scaring the hell out of me. I don’t…I don’t think I can control it anymore.”

“
Just stop. Please.
” A hoarse, graveled demand.

“If you…if you knew how hard this was for me, Kellan, you wouldn’t make me beg.” She licked her lips again, her silver eyes glistening with tears. “I can’t keep—”

“Just a little bit longer and I’ll get you out of here, Chloe. Then we can get you somewhere…” The words stuck in his throat, but he forced them out. “When we’re free, you’ll be able to find someone to feed from. Someone of your choosing.”

“You fed Raine.”

He opened his mouth, but before he could explain, she went on. “I’m not complaining. I mean, after everything that she’s been through, she needs a champion.” Her head tilted a little to the side, her eyes liquid and bright. “I just don’t understand why you can’t do the same for me.”

Westmore had used physical abuse, as well as Raine’s family, to force her cooperation, brutally murdering the psychic’s younger sister. Her baby brother would have suffered the same fate, if Raine hadn’t taken the upper hand, using her “sight” on Gregory DeKreznick to blackmail Westmore into leaving her loved ones alone. But in order to keep her weak, Westmore had continued to starve her, never allowing her to have any blood, only feeding her bits of food. Knowing she needed sustenance or she was going to die, Kellan
had
pushed his arm through the bars of his cell and given Raine his wrist. And while she’d been careful not to take too much, since it would have been obvious to Westmore and the others, Kellan had made sure she’d taken enough blood to dull the pain gnawing at her insides, and to help with the internal injuries she’d suffered.