Revealed (9 page)

Chapter Eight

“This is our
suite,” he said, pushing a door open. All morning Hector had shown her around
the large mountain base the guardians called home. It was massive, unbelievably
detail-oriented, homey feeling, and exceptionally well protected.

He wheeled her
into a room that looked like any high-end loft one would find in a big city.
High ceilings—though these were of stone—wide-open spaces, and clean lines for
all the furniture. There was no clutter at all, which was odd for a single man,
but it was also very warm and inviting. Rich earthy tones with splashes of
blues and golds to give it some color. Hardwood floors. Screens on the walls
showed images of the outdoors.

According to
what she’d learned during their tour, they’d put the screens in recently, and
they were all synced up to whatever the warrior occupying the spaces preferred.
In Hector’s case, it was a big sun-filled field of wild grasses and flowers
with a forest in the distance.

“This is
beautiful,” she breathed with wide eyes. “Fabulous.” It called to her very
soul. With his help, she got out of the wheelchair to look around.

“Your rooms are
perfect. Everything in here seems to call out to me. I love it.” She touched the
desk. “The wood is warm.”

“We renovated
all the personal suites a few years ago, so we installed in-floor heating. I
used to have large area rugs because of the chill to the floors. Thankfully,
technology finally got to a point where they weren’t necessary anymore beyond
design. I left a couple in the bedroom because I’m used to the feel of a rug
under my feet when I get out of bed.”

He supported her
as they walked slowly through the space. He took her to look in the modern
kitchen first before leading her down a hall to a half bath, a guest room, an
office, then the master bedroom and bath.

She smiled.
“It’s beautiful. The bed dominates the space as only a bed should.” It was
massive, the expanse of it inviting. “Show me to the bathroom, and then maybe you
can wheel me up to the top of the mountain too?” Because if they climbed into
that bed, she knew she would want him naked with her.

Nodding, he
guided her to the bathroom and eased her onto the toilet. “Should I step out?”
he asked. “I will if you promise to call for me as soon as you’re done. You
can’t strain yourself or you’ll be back in the medical bay, and they’ll likely
ban me.”

“Don’t worry—all
I need to do is pee.” She pushed him toward the door. “Now go. I’m a shy potty
person,” she teased with a grin. “Besides, this way I get to look around.”

He pinned her
with a look before giving her another nod. “Fine,” he said softly. “I’ll be
just outside the door. But as soon as you’re done, before you wash your hands,
call for me.” When she waved him off, he huffed out a breath but left her
alone, pulling the door closed behind him.

Riley grinned.
God, she loved that man. She shook her head and did her business. Once she was
finished, she pulled up her pants and called out to Hector. She was standing
before the mirror, her shirt hiked up, looking at the gauze and bandage on her
side. When he walked in, she glanced at him in the mirror. “I won’t be sorry
that I did it. If I hadn’t, you would be gone and so would I. It’s going to be
okay.”

His arms slid
around her, gently holding her close. “It will be okay once you have healed,
and I can have you in our new bed as I want. Until then, I will stew and be
grumpy. I have great patience for many things, but waiting to slide my cock
into your silken pussy is not one of them.”

Riley shivered
and bit her lip, staring at them in the mirror. “I would love to do it just
like this. I want to watch you watching me,” she said.

“When you’re
cleared by medical. Until then, we can’t do anything like that. You’ll need to
heal for several weeks first.”

“Deal.” She turned in his arms,
back to the counter, hands moving up his shirt, then hooking around his neck.
“For now, why don’t we get out of here before I jump you?” Because she was so
close to doing just that.

Hector leaned
in, his hands on her waist, and kissed her gently. “A very good idea, because
at this moment, I might let you.”

She leaned in
and kissed the side of his neck. “Carry me?” She had weak knees right then, and
it wasn’t all to be blamed on her being shot.

Hector let out a
snort at that and even rolled his eyes. He obviously knew what she was about.
Not that he argued. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her back into
the main living area. Settling her on her feet, he helped her into the
wheelchair. “We’ll stop for something to eat in the main dining hall before I
take you up to the patio.”

“Sounds good. Food and drinks.
Anything but Jell-O. God, I’m ready to kill someone if they try to force more
soft foods
on me.”

He laughed
softly and left her in the chair as he went to the kitchen. He returned with a
basket that held some travel containers inside. “This way we can package up
what we want.”

“You can set it
in my lap. I’m not doing a thing other than sitting, anyway.”

“You should be
sitting,” he said as he wheeled her out of their suite. “Hopefully, you’ll have
me around the whole time you’re healing,” he told her. “I can’t say Mercury
won’t try to send me out on a job, but I do know I’ll only go after throwing a
massive fit. I’ve made my opinion known, so I hope he’ll take that into
consideration. At least until you’re back on your feet.”

“If you have to
go out, you have to. There are people out there that need to be protected. I
know this now. We’ll deal with it. If you go out, you’ll just call me often as Gaius
calls Emily.” That had her grinning. “Do you feel bad for giving him trouble
about it now?”

“No,” he said.
When she looked at him, he shrugged. “He’ll pay me back for it soon enough.”

Riley shook her
head and smiled. “So, was Gaius the first one to find his other half, or have
there been others that simply aren’t here any longer?”

“There were a
few in the early days, about two hundred years after Mercury brought me back.
Then a time where none found their soul mate. We lost several of our guardians,
all those mated plus many more, which was the first time we moved our base.
They’d discovered our previous one and attacked during the night. Many of us
were out on patrol, and some in a nearby town at the local tavern—the only
reason any of us survived.

“After that, we
moved our based once every hundred years until we came to the Americas and
settled here. The monsters had already moved in, for the most part. The
Mountain has been our home since around 1524 or 1525, can’t remember exactly.
We think that a family of power moved here, or families of power—those most
likely to give birth to the vestal virgins.

“Which is likely
the most logical reason as to why so many of the evil ones moved here, when the
feeding grounds of Europe were so much better for their hungers.”

“Could be.”
Riley leaned back once more and began to think. “So, how have you been finding
the VV’s? How did Gaius find Emily? And how did you find me? Or was I a lucky
accident?” she teased.

“Both of you
were, actually,” he said, smiling down at her. “Gaius found Emily when a death
occurred and we got reports of something hinky. Slightly different
circumstances, but eerily similar to your own case. He went to find out what
was going on, met her, realized she was special, and talked her into going with
him.

“I’m actually
amazed she went with him, though, thinking back on it. He’s not exactly the
most polite person you’ll ever meet, even under the best of circumstances. Yet
she trusted him, likely that inner voice telling her to. I’ve only ever heard
bits and pieces of how they came to be together, never the full story.” He
turned her chair and wheeled her backward through a set of doors into what
could only be the dining hall, given the scent of food in the air.

Riley shrugged.
“If she’s anything at all like me…” There was that moment of hesitation before
she decided just to tell him. “When I saw you, I felt the connection. It zinged
straight to my heart. It was real, and it was intense. Something I needed more
of. Had to have more of.”

“Are you saying
I’m addictive?” he asked. Hector stopped their forward momentum and moved
around in front of her, crouching as he did. “You never mentioned this before,
Riley. Why, sweetheart?”

“I didn’t want
you to feel that you had to be around me. I just know that I feel better when
you’re close. When I’m able to touch you, it helps to keep everything in
perspective. Odd, I know.” But when you could see the truth of all things, it
sort of happened like that. Having him touching her kept her grounded in the
here-and-now and helped her to ignore the overlaying energy that the men in
this compound had.

Reaching out, he
took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. “Touching you, it helps to keep
me centered and calm even when I’m upset. You’ve been doing that a lot lately,”
he said softly. He pressed another kiss to her knuckles and nipped at her skin.

He kissed her
again before getting to his feet. Then he pushed her to the buffet and let her
pick out the foods while he filled the containers. Once he had plates, silverware,
and some napkins, they went to an elevator and up to the plateau.

When the wind
whipped through her hair, Riley turned her face up to the sky and smiled. “This
is very nice.” She looked back and up at him. “Hey, you. Did you bring the pain
pills that the good doctor gave you for me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He
patted a pocket and leaned over to press a kiss to her lips. “I even snagged
the throw off the sofa for you.” Smiling down at her, he wheeled her across the
large, flat area to a nook where there was plenty of sun but also some
protection from the wind.

“You’re too good
to me.” She grinned. “I can’t believe there are even chairs and stuff up here.”
The patio furniture had been a surprise. It was very high end and looked
comfortable as could be. “Oh, can we try the freestanding hammock?” She didn’t
think about the wound at her side, or how it might hurt.

“After we eat,”
he told her. “You’ll probably need a painkiller before we get you in there. I
don’t want you aggravating your wound. Now, do you want to stay in the
wheelchair or lounge in one of these cozy, padded chairs?”

“Definitely one
of the chairs at the table.” She had no doubt that the cushions were plush and
comfy. “Help me up?” She didn’t want to be a burden but knew she couldn’t get
up on her own.

He set the
basket on the table, then helped her stand. Walking her to a chair, he nudged
it out with a foot and eased her down. “Why don’t you start laying the food out
while I put this chair aside? Do you want the blanket now, or are you warm
enough?”

“Sounds good.
And I’m warm enough.” When he turned away, Riley began to pull items from the
basket. When he rejoined her, she was leaning back and watching him. “These
seats are rather large and comfy. I take it that you guys had them made just
for you?”

“Yes, they had
to be heavy enough not to blow off here, so we had them made out of steel. The
cushions we replace every couple of years, depending on what finds its way up
here to try to steal them … or nest in them. Thankfully, there aren’t many
animals that like to try to get through the field surrounding the Mountain.
They don’t like coming up this high. We’ve had a couple of the mountain goats.
We’ve also had eagles and some vultures.” He began to open the containers and
dish out the food. Passing her a bottle of water, he settled back into his
chair. “So, what do you think of the view?”

“It’s
incredible,” she said as she took in the vision of the mountains and forest
below them. “I can see why Mercury chose this place. How in the world has he
been able to keep the government from putting their noses in, though?”

“We don’t exist.
It’s not like we can pay taxes. If I walked in there to tell them I’m over two
thousand years old, they’d have me committed. Plus, it works better if no one
knows about us. This place and the land all around here is owned by a trust,
that’s owned by a trust, that’s owned by several other companies, that all lead
back to absolutely nothing.”

“It’s good that you guys have
learned to protect yourselves. It’s good that we’ll be able to have the time
alone to get to know each other without the
real
world
butting in on us.”

“It’ll butt in
now and again. There’s no getting around that, sweetheart. We learned a lot
when we were in Europe. When we came here, we moved as far west as we could,
found a place that would work for our needs, and Mercury bought up all the land
he could. Since various trusts and such hold it all, it can never be bought by
anyone. He had one hell of a smart lawyer, back in the day.

“Every so often,
he reemerges as a relative and updates everything to the latest laws to ensure
the government or some greedy asshole can’t ever find a loophole. One of the
benefits of being as old as we are is that we’ve seen it all more than once in
our lifetimes.”

“Oh, I can
imagine.” Riley’s lips twitched and she said, “At least you aren’t old all
over. Just your souls.” She saw the look he shot her way and giggled. “Then
again, they do make Viagra.” She had to keep herself from howling in laughter.

The look he gave
her should have had her as nothing more than a pile of ash in her seat. “Ha,
ha, hilarious,” he grumbled. “I haven’t heard you complaining so far about my
age.”

“Oh, you have
satisfied me. I love the way that you’re up to any and all challenges. Me
included.” She felt the heat rising in her body. She bit her lip and watched
him. “I love the way you take control of me in our loving, the way you’re able
to make me submit to you. I think I needed that.”