Defeat the Darkness (28 page)

Raising her arms in invitation, he stubbornly stayed just out of reach.

“Tell me you want this. That you want me, at least for right now. That's all I'm asking.”

“You know I do.”

“Then say it, Tate.”

“I want you. I want this. And I want it now.”

Then he stepped into the cradle of her arms, all signs of gentleness gone, making it clear that this was to be a claiming. He undid the front clasp of her bra and pushed it out of the way. His hands cupped the lower curve of her breasts and plumped them, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples until they pebbled up.

“Sweet,” he murmured as he nuzzled them both before capturing one with his lips and suckling hard to a point just shy of pain.

“Hunter!”

She slowly lowered herself back to lay flat on the table, at the same time scooting closer to the edge of the table to wrap her legs around his hips. He held back, ignoring her unspoken hints. Instead, he knelt down on one knee as he spread her legs wide with a long, slow caress up the inside of her thighs. He focused his eyes right
on the apex, leaving no doubt about his intentions.

Sensations came too quickly, overwhelming her—first his warmth, then his breath, then the merest touch of his tongue right at her core. When she whimpered, he pressed closer and smiled.

“Like that, do you?”

He kissed her again, this time more thoroughly, using his lips and teeth and tongue. It was too much and not enough. When she arched her back, he pressed her back down on the table, holding her in place with the weight of his arm. When he eased his fingers deep inside of her, the gentle invasion caught the first ripple of her climax.

“That's it, come for me, Tate.”

Hunter took pleasure in watching Tate lose all control at his touch. Her mind might question how she felt about him, but on some level she trusted him. She wasn't the kind of woman to let just anyone make love to her on the kitchen table.

Before she could gather up her defenses again, he was going to take her again, this time without holding back anything. He rose to his feet, leaning in over her to lift her legs high against his shoulders. Cupping her bottom with both hands, he settled his cock against her nest of curls and rocked back and forth several times. Tate bit her lower lip as she waited for him to plunge deep inside the slick heat of her body.

Hunter hesitated only seconds to let her adjust to the abrupt invasion before slamming into high gear, pounding into her with all of his strength. The old table creaked and groaned as he established a hard, driving
rhythm. The two of them fit together perfectly, the heat they generated burning through him like fire.

The small noises she made each time he withdrew only to return again drove him crazy. He needed to slow down if he wanted this wild ride to last, but he'd lost all control. Faster and faster, deeper and deeper, until he no longer knew where he left off and Tate began. For the moment, they were one.

This time, when an orgasm ripped through her, she took him screaming across the finish line with her. Both of them shuddered and shook. She moaned. He shouted. They both rode out the waves of pleasure until he collapsed against her from the sheer wonder of it all.

Despite the beauty of what they'd shared, when he kissed her, he could taste the sadness and feel the good-bye. It damn near killed him to withdraw from her, to help her up, to step away.

As he did so, it suddenly hit them that temper and frustration had blinded them both to the need to use protection.

“Uh, Tate, we forgot…”

Her eyes widened when she realized what he was talking about, but she cut him off before he could say more. “It's not a problem. I'll be fine.”

“But—”

“I said I'll be fine.”

She eased down off the edge of the table and picked up her clothes. With each moment, she gathered up more of her dignity and used it to distance herself from him. The separation hurt like a son of a bitch, especially after what they'd shared.

He yanked up his pants and tucked in his shirt. “I'd better get over to the apartment to see what D.J. and the others are up to.”

He paused at the door, hoping she'd say something, anything. When she finally spoke, he wished that he hadn't waited.

“I think it's best if you find someplace else to live, Hunter.” Her voice cracked. “I'm sorry, but…”

He didn't want to hear it. Not now. Maybe not ever. Stepping out onto the porch, he risked a final look back. “I'll move into a hotel until I find something more permanent.”

He drew no comfort from the fact that she looked as shattered as he felt. She'd managed to put her jeans back on, but he noticed her shirt was buttoned crooked.

“You can leave your stuff in the apartment until you do.”

“Thanks.”

Then he walked away while he still could.

Could this day get any worse? Penn and D.J. seemed oblivious to Hunter's foul mood, but there was no mistaking the sympathy in Larem's pale eyes when Hunter walked into the apartment.

The argument about how to handle the cluster fuck that was Hunter's life didn't help.

“I don't give a rat's ass what Devlin thinks. He has no room to talk when it comes to relationships the Regents might deem inappropriate. Tate needed to be told the truth. End of story.”

Then he gave Larem a long, hard look. “What did you guys tell Devlin about last night?”

D.J. frowned, while Penn avoided any eye contact. “Nothing yet.”

“Good, let's keep it that way for now. God knows what the Regents would do to Larem after what he did.”

There was no mistaking Larem's relief as he nodded to each man in turn. “I thank you.”

Uncomfortable with the gratitude, Hunter said, “Now let's get moving.” He shoved his way past D.J., determined to take the lead in both the trip back down to the cave and the conversation. That way he could control the pace. If he left it up to D.J., they'd be at a dead run most of the way down the slope.

The two of them walked in angry silence until the trail widened out enough for D.J. to fall back into step beside him. Hunter did not want to be having this conversation, but D.J. was determined to continue the discussion.

“You know the Regents are going to raise hell if they find out you broke silence.”

“Like they did when Trahern brought Brenna into our installation without permission?” Hunter smacked his forehead, “Oh no, I forgot. They let it slide because her father was one of theirs, didn't they?”

He stopped to catch his breath and to renew his argument. “Tate's a smart woman. Even if I hadn't told her a damned thing, she already knew that my injuries had completely healed in less than twenty-four hours, and the reason the four of us are hiking our asses up and down the bluff this morning isn't because we need the exercise. Anything I told her was just filling in the blanks.”

D.J. stood next to him, shifting his weight, his energy level running high even for him. “But having suspicions is different than handing her the facts, Hunter. Right now, if she went to the authorities and told them her boyfriend got shot and stabbed, they wouldn't believe her. How can they when those supposed fresh wounds have all but disappeared? And even if they managed to track the Kalith back to the cave, I doubt his two buddies left any evidence for the cops to find.”

“I'm not her boyfriend.” He had to deny it even though he wanted to be far more than that to her. “And besides, if she was going to call the cops, she'd have done it already. We can trust her.”

He started walking again, relieved to reach the steepest section of the trail, forcing D.J. to fall back behind him again. He hated knowing that D.J. was right. The only reason the Paladins were able to do their job was that so few people knew about them. If their existence became public, the military and the government would step in and screw things up for everybody. They'd want all of the Paladins to serve in the armed forces. Who wouldn't want soldiers who were nearly impossible to kill? But then who would defend the barrier?

Then there was the whole impact once it became known that intelligent life existed on other worlds. Oh, yeah, and by the way, only an unstable energy barrier kept the crazies at bay. Wouldn't that make for interesting headlines on the evening news?

The more he thought about the entire situation, the worse his mood became. He needed a target for the anger that chewed at his gut and burned along his nerves.
And hey, D.J. was handy. Hunter considered the best plan of attack. He couldn't pull his sword. It wouldn't be fair, since the other Paladin wasn't sporting any steel at the moment.

The cane might have other uses, though. He shifted his grip on it, considering its effectiveness as a club. Oh, yeah, the balance was perfect, and the ivory handle would make a nice impression on his companion's thick skull.

Before he could make his move, D.J.'s heavy hand came down on his shoulder from behind. “I wouldn't try it, good buddy. Not that I mind a good dustup now and then, but do you really want to explain a whole new set of bruises to your woman?”

Hunter shook free of D.J.'s grasp and turned to face him. “She's not my woman.”

“You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.” D.J.'s eyes twinkled with good humor. “But my guess is that Tate checked over last night's crop of injuries pretty thoroughly this morning.”

That did it. Hunter's fist connected with D.J.'s mouth with a loud crack. The force of the blow left Hunter's hand hurting like hell, but at least he'd wiped the smile off D.J.'s face. To his surprise, the Paladin didn't strike back.

“You just going to stand there?” he asked, bracing himself to take this to a whole new level.

D.J. spit some blood on the ground. “Pretty much. Figure I probably had that one coming. Besides, you were about to explode from frustration. Now maybe you'll be able to think more clearly while we explore the cave.”

The man was clearly insane, but Hunter couldn't deny that he'd burned off a little of his temper. He picked up the cane before heading on down the trail to meet up with Penn and Larem. They were waiting by the ledge that led to the cave.

Penn looked at D.J. and then back to Hunter, a grin starting to spread across his face. “I was going to ask what took you so long, but I can guess. What did he do this time?”

“Nothing.”

Penn snorted. “Then why the split lip?”

“He tripped on a tree root and ran into my fist when I tried to break his fall,” Hunter said with a straight face. “I feel real bad about it, too.”

D.J. started to laugh but winced when it stung his lip. “All right, assholes, that's enough. I can't help if I'm clumsy. Let's check this place out.”

Hunter released his sword and started across the ledge with Larem close on his heels, followed by Penn. D.J. remained behind to stand guard.

They paused at the entrance of the cave, letting their eyes adjust to the dim light. All of them had good night vision, but the bright sun outside had a stronger effect on Larem. Inside, they spread out.

Penn knelt down to study something on the floor of the cave. “You definitely cut him good, Hunter. Someone made a half-assed attempt to hide the blood spatter, but they missed some.”

“Good, although I'd just as soon have found his body than his blood.” Maybe that was cold, but it was honest.

Larem stopped short of the barrier. “I'd guess you came pretty close to killing him; he definitely wasn't
moving all that well on his own. Looks like they practically shoved him across once he brought the barrier down. I'm guessing it was the Guildmaster himself. I don't know anyone else strong enough to control the barrier while bleeding that badly.”

Penn moved up beside him. Hunter thought it had to be the strangest sight he'd seen in a long while. Who would've ever thought to see a Paladin standing shoulder to shoulder with an Other as allies rather than enemies? Hunter might have a hard time thinking Larem or Barak would choose to save him over one of their own kind, but obviously Penn and D.J. didn't feel that way.

Hunter glanced at Penn's sword hand, the poor bastard. Even if Hunter's leg would never come back to one hundred percent, at least he could still wield the Paladin weapon of choice. What was Penn going to do if he never regained the use of his hand?

Penn happened to glance back at that moment. He frowned and balled his fist. “Knock it off.”

Sensing an apology would only piss Penn off even more, Hunter focused his flashlight—and his attention—on the floor of the cave. “It's clear both humans were in here last night.”

Larem stepped back from the barrier. “Has it occurred to either of you to wonder why they didn't return to finish Hunter off? Unless they assumed he was dead. But if they wanted to keep their little enterprise secret, they wouldn't risk leaving a witness.”

Hunter
had
been wondering the same thing. Last night, most of his fear had been for Tate's safety. Even if the bastards had shot him a few more times to make
sure they'd gotten the job done, he would've pulled through. Tate wouldn't have been so lucky.

So why hadn't they come gunning for him once they'd sent the injured Kalith back to his own world? The answer was obvious.

“Maybe one of them suspected killing me wouldn't work. That's the only thing that makes sense.”

Penn was already nodding. “We've known all along that the Kalith were working with someone on our side. Whoever it is has to have ties to the Regents organization, but we haven't been able to figure out who it could be. Every time we manage to identify someone, he ends up dead. The guard who attacked Laurel died falling across the barrier, but Devlin would've killed him anyway.”

Hunter paced the narrow width of the cave. “Yeah, and the Regent who was behind the attacks back home in Missouri was murdered while inside our headquarters. That had to be an inside job.”