“Don’t! Don’t say it.” He tightened his grip around her hair, yanking her head back so that she had to look at him. His face was angry, nostrils pinched tight, mouth but a thin line, and, angels help her, tears glistening in his eyes.
What had she done to him? How could she…He thrust into her with such force that she gasped, leaving her no breath to speak.
“Don’t say a fucking thing, just…God, Gabby. I need this. I need to make love to you. I need you.” He pressed another kiss to her forehead, closing his eyes as he resumed his pace of long seductive strokes.
Her heart melted. The one she wasn’t really sure she had. How could she? She seduced for power, fed off evil. How could she ever be worthy of this man?
You fought. You fight still. Now get some fucking backbone and fight for him.
Courage. Until now it was the one thing she would have said she didn’t lack. But it seemed, with Valin, it was most possibly her weakest trait.
Not anymore, she told herself firmly and then did the bravest thing ever. She relaxed, giving over to the seductive pleasure he wooed her with, laying her head on his shoulder.
“I need you too. I just can’t…can’t say…I don’t dare…” She choked on something. Something hard and achy that stole away her words and threatened to boil up into tears.
“Shhh…That’s enough. Has to be. Because I can’t fucking let you go again.”
Then don’t. Oh, please love me, Valin. Love me as much as I love you.
As if he’d heard her words, he drew her closer, kissing her lightly as he slowly rocked her toward a pleasure she’d never known.
Chapter 14
Bennett pushed open the cafeteria doors, leaving behind the raucous din of the midday diners as he turned right down the hall. He wasn’t surprised he hadn’t found Valin there—the man liked dark, out-of-the-way corners—but Bennett was beginning to run out of places to look and becoming increasingly frustrated.
He and Valin needed to come up with a strategy to convince Jacob to open a dialogue with the Paladin council. These men and women needed help, whether they wanted it or not. The only reason they’d survived so far was because they’d basically gone unnoticed by their enemies. But how long could that last?
With three dead merkers after the pyro attack, Ganelon would have to put some time and effort into a serious investigation. And these people were sitting ducks.
Benett rounded the corner, his mood picking up a bit when he saw Annie walking toward him. She kept very close tabs on her mentor, Gabby. And where Gabby was…well, Valin was sure to have followed.
She caught sight of him, her eyes lighting up and her hand lifting in a little hi-ya wave. He couldn’t help but smile a bit in return as he felt the influence of her gift surround him, cutting out the constant chaos of emotions that prickled at his skin. Too bad the effect was almost immediately countered by a coiling of his nerves.
He knew that Valin called her an Amazon, but he didn’t see it. Yes, she was tall, her lean body carved with long, smooth muscle, but there was something decidedly fragile about her too. Perhaps it was just the double-edged curse of her gift. Being a null might seem like a great weapon to strip your opponents of their magical powers, but a little time with her had shown him just what sort of handicap her gift really was. The complete absence of magical energy that was a side effect of her gift made her a virtual beacon to all things that could sense the ebbs and flow of power. It also made her a walking bomb to anything and anyone relying on magic—a weapon that, unfortunately, could be yielded by friend or foe.
And Bennett had no idea what to do about it.
He knew what he wanted to do: wrap her up and tuck her far away from anywhere Ganelon might think to look. But he’d spent enough time with her to know that doing so would kill her spirit. It was bad enough that she was a virtual prisoner here in this base, and this cell was forged with love. He’d seen her watch the patrols come and go and all he could think of when he did was of a caged bird. Her heart urged her to fly forth into battle with the rest of the warriors, but she couldn’t even test her wings within the confines of her cage. The result was a cranky and often sullen young woman, though damn, she looked content enough right now.
“Hey, Bennett. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” She beamed at him.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. If she’d been outside again, he didn’t want to know. Not only would it put him in the position of keeping her secret—or not—but he simply didn’t want to think of the risk she was taking when she did such things.
“Something wrong?”
He opened his eyes, rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the ever-increasing tension. “Have you seen Valin?”
“Um, actually…” She glanced over her shoulder toward the double doors at the end of the hall.
“He’s in the gym?” He started to brush by her, but she caught his arm, dragging him to a halt.
“I don’t think you want to go in there just now.”
His stomach tightened. Ballocks, what had the Paladin done now?
“Actually the gym is safe, but I wouldn’t go into the equipment room if I were you.” Her grin widened, and she did this wiggly thing with her brow that made absolutely no sense to him.
Unless she caught Valin naked again. And bloody hell, why did that piss him off? “Care to tell me why?”
“Let’s just say he and Gabby are having a long overdue…um…discussion.”
He blew out a breath, rubbing his forehead. “Hell.”
Annie elbowed him. “What’s your problem? This is a good thing.”
He grunted, not able to muster the obvious happiness that Annie felt about them finally getting together. Sure, he wished Valin the best, but given the obstacles, Bennett didn’t hold too much hope for a happy ending. His brothers were dropping like flies. Love, the obvious poison. Thank the maker he had yet to be cursed with that affliction.
Annie tipped her head to the side, nibbling her lip as if unsure whether she should speak. He raised his brow. “You look tense,” she said.
“I guess I am a bit.”
“You want to spar?”
Actually, the idea sounded rather appealing but…“I thought you said the gym was occupied.” Or rather the equipment room, but if things were progressing how Annie seemed to assume they were, he frankly didn’t want to be anywhere nearby. Rather not overhear that, thank you very much.
“I have another place in mind.”
“Lead the way,” he said, figuring he had at least an hour or two to kill, if not more. A smart man did not come between a Paladin and his mate during bonding, and Bennett was nothing if not smart. Besides, there was no way he was going to risk interrupting…that…for fear of having some rather unwanted images burned into his retinas.
He followed Annie back down the hall, then up the central stairs. Needing diversion from the reason he followed her, he indulged in watching her backside as she climbed the cement steps ahead of him. The woman had a fine arse, and those legs…they went on forever and brought to mind thoughts of what they’d feel like wrapped around him.
She smiled over her shoulder, then, as if she knew just what he was thinking, took the last few stairs with an exaggerated sway to her steps.
“Tease,” he accused.
She laughed, linking her hand with his as she turned left down the hall. He didn’t try and take his hand away. It felt good in hers and he was sick of denying himself. He was interested. She was obviously interested. What did he care about her big bad daddy, especially when the idiot refused to listen to him anyway?
She led him about halfway down the hall, pushing open the door to an old classroom tucked back in a corner. It was easy enough to tell it had been the art room. If the rows of cabinetry with its towering rack of faded colored butcher paper next to it hadn’t given it away, the various works of art, both framed classics and classroom examples, hanging on the other wall would have.