Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (9 page)

She reached up and touched the square she wanted. Garrick moved his hand up to mark her spot, but quickly noticed that she was going for the kill. He marked her “O” in a different square, a wry smile forming his lips. Her mouth dropped wide and he couldn’t help but laugh at her gape. Her gawking mouth finally quirked into a smile, and she laughed along with him.

Alright
, he thought. Maybe there were things he could do to keep her distracted.
Soon he would try to f
ind out what happened.

Danielle focused on Garrick as much as humanly possible. He was the only distraction she had, and she desperately needed one.

She wasn’t entirely sure what had happened this last time in the lab, or even if anything did actually happen—it could have been a dream.

Something told her it had been real
though
, that everything she saw and did had actually happened. But none of it made sense.

She’d spent what felt like an eternity letting it eat at her. Even when she’d fallen asleep, her thoughts were dark and painful. And sad. Sadness had now taken up residence inside her. Far worse than it had ever been before. If it hadn’t been enough to grieve for Karena and her parents, she had to add these new, unexplainable events to the fold.

And so, she focused on the only thing she could. Garrick. He appeared worried, and she knew he’d spent a long time trying to get through to her. She
’d
wanted to respond, or at least a part of her had wanted to. But her thoughts had been far too dark at that point, and she’d come to think of Garrick as her light. If she was dark and he was light, then maybe he could help her find her way back.

Garrick was watching her even now.
No, she hadn’t missed his gaze traveling over her whenever he thought she wasn’t paying attention to him.
He’d taken his turn already and the glowing X was almost faded. Instead of re-drawing the game as he’d done previously, he looked at her, his eyes focusing deeply into hers. She lost herself in his gaze even as the X’s and O’s disappeared, darkening his features.

She brought her hand up between them, resting her palm against the cold, slick surface. She needed this. She needed what he’d offered her before. The only kind connection she’d had in God knew how long, and one that she hadn’t been able to get out of her mind, even as Ekhart and Dr. Shorman had done those
awful
things to her earlier.

She shuddered at the memory.

She had thought of Garrick as often as she’d been able. Maybe it was because he’d tried to befriend her ever since his arrival. Maybe it was because she found him handsome, which she did. Maybe it was due to all the sensual dreams he’d invoked whenever she got a break from the tormenting ones. Maybe it was because of a lack of options. No, it wasn’t that. There had been countless others before him, and none had appealed to her the way this brown
-
haired,
hazel
-
eyed man did. She was a woman now, no longer a teenager. She deserved this. And she wanted it.

If he was willing to give it.

As if Garrick understood the direction of her thoughts, he placed his hand against hers, mirroring hers on the other side of the glass. She nodded at him and within seconds she felt coldness and heat reach her through the pane as their hands began to shimmer. A feeling she couldn’t even describe traveled up her arm, the same as it had before. She waited expectantly until it reached her chest, where she knew it would bloom outward. It did, and she hissed in a breath at the incredible feeling of it. She arched and writhed as Garrick somehow healed her wounds again. The man was a miracle.

Her miracle. Every
thing about him drew her to him
like a moth to a flame. She opened her eyes, focusing on Garrick again, noticing that his eyes were on her. Their heated gazes locked for an indeterminable amount of time before his
gaze
skimmed
over her body. She could feel his stare as though it was as tangible as his touch. That delectable feeling settled in her core and she moaned. Yes.
Yes.
She needed this. More than anything, she needed Garrick and what he offered.

Unable to resist, Danielle raised her other hand to the window.
Hi
s palm met hers, their hands somehow connecting through the glass, increasing the sensations that ran between them. She started to tremble, her mind going blank as she could focus only on
what was happening
.

Sweat trickled down her skin
as she writhed closer and closer to the window, seeking his touch, seeking anything he could give.

She wished
his strong hands really gripped her and stroked her
,
im
agined running her hands over the bulges of
his muscles as they pleasured each other
.

Her body tightened, growing ever closer to a sensation she’d never felt before. A blast of white covered her vision and she saw stars as her body orgasmed. Any thoughts that had been in her mind instantl
y vanished, replaced by a white-
hot heat that covered every inch of her body. There was nothing but her and Garrick.

****

Garrick held on
to the glass with every ounce of strength he possessed. He trembled from the exertion, but refused to let even one hand go. Dani was so beautiful in the throes of passion. He’d never guessed that being with someone and yet separated from them would be so devastatingly seductive.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Her skin had begun to shimmer during their exchange, growing in intensity as she neared her climax. And when she had
…
she’d been breathtaking. Every part of her glowed and shimmered and writhed. Her long eyelashes fanned her cheeks even as she cried out
…
a cry he’d been desperate to hear.

The shimmer of her skin was starting to fade, her eyes opening once more. Their gazes locked and he saw, for the first time, a true smile
curve her luscious pink lips. Not a guarded one
,
not a pained one.

A sated one.

She was a fucking knockout.

Slowly, she inched one hand away from the glass, and then the other. Already Garrick grieved for the loss. The connection between them had been a strong one. He hadn’t even been sure that a healing could work between them, and he’d never even heard about what they’d experienced not once, but twice now.

Dani
lay back on the hard floor, her breath heaving in and out of her as that smile still spread across her face. Her eyes were bright with passion, an expression he’d seen more than a few times when he’d taken women to bed.

The ache in his groin doubled at the sight of her in this state, but he kept focusing on her, ignoring his erection and taking in the beauty that was Dani. Never before had he wanted to reach a female more than he did her, and never before had he had an obstacle like the one he was facing now.

****

Danielle woke, arching her back and stretching her limbs as far as they’d allow.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Her eyes flashed open and she sat up
nimbly
, seeing that Pyro was in her cell, leaning against the wall
near the door
.

“You look content as a kitten. I’ve never seen that side of you.” His gaze grew heated even as he slowly stepped toward her.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked.

“I wanted to check on you. And
…
to find out if you’ve considered my offer.”

She hadn’t,
actually
. The last time Pyro had spoken to her, he’d blatantly told her what he’d only been hinting at all
these years
. He’d wanted to take their relationship—since apparently he thought they had one—to a new level. He knew full well that she was a virgin and had
crudely
told her that he’d like to be the one to rectify that situation. She couldn’t even think about letting him touch her. Not since she’d met Garrick. “No, I haven’t.”

“Oh,” he said, a little deflated. “Well, I’m sure you’ll have time to think about it today. I don’t think I need to remind you of the benefits that would come with my offer.” Then, changing topics, he said, “So, how are you feeling from your
…
excursions last night?”

Heat flamed her cheeks.
“
What
?”

“Your training exercise. How are you feeling? I mean, it looks like you’ve already healed, so that’s good. That means that we can start to train you more often.”

Danielle blinked, trying to hide her initial reaction. She’d thought Pyro was referring to
what she and Garrick had done.
Instead, he was asking about the other thing. The thing that she was trying desperately to forget. And his asking about it just proved
that it really had happened.
“Umm,” she said weakly. “Can you just leave me alone, Pyro? I don’t feel like talking right now.”

His gaze darkened. “Danielle, I’m running out of patience. You need to make your decision, and you need to make it quick.”

H
is words
snapped something inside her and
she jumped angrily to her feet. She didn’t know where the anger came from. Didn’t know why she couldn’t trample it down. But right now
,
she didn’t care. “Did you ever stop to think that my repeated rejections are, in fact,
rejections?”

His eyes swirled with black and red, the blending colors covering his brown eyes. “No, I didn’t. Because without me you’d rot here, living out your life as
a virgin. You don’t
have
any other choices.”

“Don’t I?”

Pyro froze. She shouldn’t have said it. No, no, no, she shouldn’t have said it and she wished she could take it back. She could actually see his mind working. Then slowly, he turned his head and focused on Garrick who was staring at him through the windowpane. Pyro let out a ferocious growl that had Danielle stepping backward. He stepped toward her, grabbing her wrists and pinning her against the rocky wall. “You want the
Fairy
?
When you could have me, you choose a
fucking Fairy
?”

His head dipped and he roughly took her lips. Danielle fought, but Pyro was much stronger. His tongue shov
ed through her lips and darted all over, dominating her mouth
. Pulling back he said, “You’ll want me before I’m done with you.”

He released her and turned on his heels, slamming the door behind him as he left. She stood there, her eyes darting back and forth between Garrick and the door. Then both hers and Garrick’s lights turned off. She breathed heavily in the dark, wondering if she’d just made things a whole lot worse.

Ally lay in bed, her arms and legs spread wide as sweat stuck to her skin. She watch
ed Draven’s retreating form, paying special attention to
the tight, round cheeks of his ass. Oh, how she loved his cute butt. She loved everything about her vampire. The door closed b
ehind him, removing
his toned body
from her view
. They had just made love for hours and he hoped to catch a quick shower before going out for rounds with Blaze. And while he was out risking his life for humanity, she’d be home with
Thrash, Dellingr, and the munchers,
playing video games.

She smiled as she thought of little Skylar and how much he adored the wolf. Surprisingly, Thrash had
even
grown on her over the last few days
, in his own way
. He for some reason appeared to like her little muncher more than anyone else. At the boy’s request, Thrash would shift into wo
lf form, and would even let Skylar
ride him. Of course, that was only when Ally “wasn’t around”—not that she’d tell them that she was really watching. She even saw Thrash put on the red cape that Skylar made for him and pretend to fight off bad guys, the two of them acting as the werewolf superhero duo as Thrash taught the little guy to jump off the couch, s
o
mersault, and roll to his feet.

She came to realize that the wolf m
ight
actually be Skylar’s best friend and possibly another source of protection. No way would Thrash admit it, but he loved Skylar. She could see it in his eyes every bit as she
could in his guarded expression
. And whenever he thought no one was around, he’d call Skyl
ar “little pup,” which made her brother
beam with adoration.

Draven’s phone rang loudly
,
causing Ally to roll toward his nightstand. She reached for the phone and flipped it open after seeing who it was. “Hello?”