Dreams of a Dark Warrior (47 page)

FORTY-SIX

G
od in heaven, woman.” Declan lifted her, laying her against his side. “That’l change a man’s outlook on life real quick.”

The best way to bring a male back from the brink? Hot oral sex with a Valkyrie. And he final y

understood what her little claws were al about!

As a light rain fel over their heated skin, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, groaning in

satisfaction.
Complete peace.
For the first time in his life.

The strain was gone, and in its place was something like elation. Oh, aye, elation and excitement

coursed through him. He final y believed he could look forward to
more
with her.

His woman. A future worth fighting for. Al the things that had been missing from his life for so long.

More.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” she muttered.

“I’l argue that point to my dyin’ breath. Do you deny you enjoyed that? You’re glowin’ bright as day, and you came hard enough. Twice.”

“Oh, please! I hadn’t rubbed one out in more than three weeks. Diaper play would’ve gotten me off at

this point.”

“I’l make a note.”

She stiffened beside him. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Regin, it changes everything! You’re attracted to me.”
And I can be what you need in bed.
“Anything else I can fix.”

“Like your scathing hatred for my world?”

He pinched her chin, tipping her head back. “Then
show
it to me! Show me why I was wrong to hate it.”

“It’s too deep-seated in you, too ingrained.”

“Maybe it was before, but I must be shakin’ it. Hel , I don’t know up from down anymore. Nothing about

me is fixed.”

She murmured, “You’re
unfinished
.”

“Aye, precisely.”

“I need to go.”

When she moved to get up, he shoved her against his side and slapped her arse to keep her there.

“You stay with me.”

She snapped, “What do you want from me, Chase?”

He drew his head back in confusion. “I want
everything
. You’re
mine,
Regin.” He’d earned her by right of every miserable second of his life. “Let me tel you how this is goin’ to go down. I’l get you and your friends off this island, and then you and I wil figure out a place to put down roots.” Her lips worked

soundlessly. “Speechless? Would’ve thought that an impossibility.” He nipped the tip of her ear. “I might

have four or five decades of life left—a blink of an eye in your lifetime. I wil have you til I die, so you’re just goin’ to have to suck it up.”

“What gives you the right to demand al this?”

“If your man Aidan actual y hitched a ride with me, then I’m entitled to the use of his woman for a few

years. And I want to seal this deal with you tonight.”

“No way, Chase. You can’t have sex with me.”

“You want me to.” He studied her expression. “Christ. You
need
me to.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

She hadn’t denied either! “Because of the curse.”

“Among other things.”

“Like what?” Then it dawned on him. “You’re worried I’l get you pregnant?” His brows drew together.

“Never thought about that before.” He remembered looking around the home he’d known for a decade,

thinking how grim and silent it was. How soul ess his entire existence was.

Now possibilities spread out before him, ones he’d never imagined for himself.
I could be a … da?
The corners of his lips curled.

It struck him then that his entire outlook must have shifted. Because the idea of a sprawling lightning-

struck house fil ed with Valkyrie daughters and berserker sons felt
exactly right
. “Regin, I’ve got money saved up. I can take care of you and our bairns.”

“Okay, that wasn’t what I was talking about. Valkyrie aren’t fertile unless we eat for a few weeks.”

He’d had no idea. Fascinating.

“But since you brought it up … Dude. You’re a jobless, homeless drug addict. Great daddy material.”

Straight-talking Regin.
“I’l never touch the shite again. I don’t need to suppress my strength or get mindless again—I need to be strong and clear to protect what’s mine.” He squeezed her tighter, pressing

his lips against her hair. “As for the job, I’ve money enough to keep you in Aston Martins, Valkyrie. And to buy a home. Or two.” When she raised a brow, he explained, “For twenty years I’ve had zero expenses. I

haven’t spent a dime of my substantial salary. And many of my captures carried bounties. Now, what
was
your point?”

“What if you had a ‘freak’ child? It seems like that’d be your worst fear, to get a
detrus
pregnant.”

“Don’t ever use that word to describe yourself again. That was my mistake—not seeing that there are

differences among the immortals. Good and evil, just like with humans.”

“Yeah, wel , your realization came too late for me.” She shoved away from him, rising to her feet.

With a sigh, he let her go. His skin felt bare and cold without her. Al these years avoiding touch, and

now he wanted nothing more than to have her warm little body against him.

When she strode over to her clothes, the sight of that naked arse had him hard al over again. Voice

rough, he said, “Stay with me.” Had that sounded like a command?

Her back stiffened, then she pul ed on her knickers. “Forget it.”

Here goes nothing.
He exhaled and said, “I am … sorry.”

***

Regin froze. Without turning, she asked, “What did you say?”

He grated, “I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you repeatedly. And that I hurt … people you care about.”

“An apology?” She faced him. “That must’ve been difficult.”

“I thought I was doing my duty with you. With al immortals. I fol owed my commander’s orders blindly.”

He scrubbed his hand down his face. “We … went too far.”

That haunted look in his eyes.
She was drawn to his pain, wanting to soothe it. Aidan had never

needed
her. This man before her needed Regin like a lifeline.

“Webb was your commander?” At his nod, she said, “You seemed close to him.”

“He was like my father and best friend rol ed into one. He saved my life from a pack of Neoptera.

That’s what did this to me.”

Those creatures were terror personified. She’d suspected, but to hear it confirmed … “How old were

you?”

Instead of answering her, he held out his hand. “I’l only talk about this if you sleep the rest of the night by my side.”

“You sound like Lothaire, making everything a transaction.”

“Maybe he’s right to.”

With a rol of her eyes, she sat down a couple feet from him, pul ing her knees up to her bare chest. At

once, he yanked her back to his side.

She exhaled, defeated. “How old?”

“I was seventeen.”

“That picture you showed me, it was of your parents.”

He tensed against her. “Aye.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone surviving a Neo attack.”

“Webb saved my life before they finished me.”

Finished him.
Everything began to make sense. His family had been massacred, he’d been maimed.

And the man who’d saved his life warred against immortals.

“He gave me a reason to keep going. Taught me everything I know.”

Meaning he’d been brainwashed, and at such a young age. Declan Chase had never had a chance.

“What wil happen with Webb now?”

“If he finds out that I lived and went AWOL, he’l put a bounty on my head.” There was a thread of

something like grief in Chase’s voice.

“That’s harsh.”

“I … I almost kil ed him.”

“What? Why?”

“He’s the one who ordered you vivisected. Hid it from me. He’d learned I was a berserker by then, so

he would’ve known that you were mine.” Chase’s eyes glowed with menace. “Yet he stil hurt you. When

La Dorada arrived, I was squeezing the life out of him.” His hands fisted even now.

He’d harmed the man he looked upon as a father? Over her? She’d heard his outraged bel ow that

night. …

“I am done with the Order, done with Webb. Face it, Regin. You’re the only friend I have in the world.”

He thinks we’re friends?
“When did you start to feel differently about me?”

“That night in my bathroom marked the beginning of the end for me. I actual y considered runnin’ with

you to bloody Belfast. Would you have gone with me then?”

So fast it would’ve made his head swim. But she didn’t need to encourage him. Instead of answering,

she brushed his track marks. “What happened here?”

“I used to inject a drug to keep my rage and strength in check. It had an opiate in it as wel .”

“How long have you been doing it? Some of the marks look old.”

“Over a decade.” He hesitated, then said, “Before that … I shot heroin. When I was younger in

Belfast.”

Oh, gods.
“Because you always felt sick inside?” His past lives competing with his present, the

nightmares and memories. …

He shrugged, but he didn’t deny it.

Then she should have found him as a boy before he got so twisted. Instead of running from Aidan’s

latest incarnation, she should have protected him. Guilt was like a lead weight over her chest.

How loyal am I? I abandoned Aidan to fate. Left a young Declan Chase at the mercy of the world.

As if sensing her turmoil, he said, “Come now, lass.” Whenever Aidan had wanted to look into her

eyes, he’d gently cupped her face in his hands. Not so with Declan. He gathered her neck in the crook of

his arm and held her steady as he gazed down. “Let’s no’ talk about that. You’re with me now.”

Even after everything that had happened, Regin found herself nodding against him, her arm gliding

across his deep chest.

“But I want you to understand that I’m not tryin’ to replace Aidan. Know I can’t. You loved him too bloody much.”

I didn’t. Not irrevocably.
The Valkyrie believed that one of their kind could recognize her eternal mate when he opened his arms and she realized she would forever run to get within them. Regin had been so

close
to running to Aidan, but she’d fought those feelings. “I … didn’t love him.”
Hadn’t allowed myself to.

“What? Why didn’t you fal for him?”

“I needed him body and soul, but my heart was stil my own.”

Chase stared up at the sky, and the corners of his lips curled. A thousand years ago, Aidan had

evinced that same expression.
Anticipation.
“Then, Valkyrie, it’s stil mine to win.”

In time, his breaths deepened, and he passed into sleep. As Regin watched, his eyes began to dart

behind his lids, his arm tightening around her.

He’s dreaming.
Her own eyes wel ed with tears as she whispered,
“Shh, be at ease. …”

FORTY-SEVEN

S
he can’t remain on the battlefront with me,
Edward thought, his gaze fol owing Regin as she paced his tent. Wending around his myriad weapons, she trailed her fingers over the waist jacket and crested

helmet of his cavalry uniform.

Her lovely visage was drawn, her ethereal glow lighting the interior. Already his soldiers thought she

was a witch who’d entranced him.

She couldn’t remain with him—and he couldn’t part from her. Which meant he’d be going into her world,

he hoped as her husband. Yet the Valkyrie was proving … recalcitrant.

“You’re too young, Edward!”

“I’m twenty-five. Men my age marry.”

“Men your age usual y don’t turn their backs on everything they know. Finish your tour on the peninsula,

then go home to your London mansion. Marry a mortal girl who wears dresses and doesn’t have pointed

ears. I wil bring you nothing but tragedy.”

When she picked up his saddle blanket and saw his embroidered personal crest, her face grew

stricken. “Two ravens in flight?” She gave a bitter laugh. “Edward, you must let me go. You have to forget about me.”

He cast her a rueful smile. “What makes you believe I could possibly do either?” She didn’t understand

the depths of his feelings, could never be made to. He stood, crossing to her—even moments without

touching her proved too long to endure. He rested his hands on her slim shoulders, wanting so badly to

kiss her, but she forbade it.

For how much longer can I deny myself a taste?

“Regin, it wil always be you. This curse can’t be stronger than what I feel for you.”

“That’s exactly what Gabriel said. On the day he died.”

“It’s just coincidence, love. Al of it. Aidan fought vampires his entire life. Is it a surprise that, in the end, he was murdered by one? Treves had repeatedly angered his king—a coward who had him poisoned.