Chapter 32
Adam barely kept his temper in check as they arrived at the private airport in the SUV. Thank God Kellach and Alexandra had gotten away.
The Guard soldiers hadn’t said one word as they’d taken him hostage along with Victoria. He could feel the Apollo from the darts eating through his blood, so he combated it with healing cells the best he could. At some point, he needed to shut down completely. Not yet. He exited the SUV and held Tori’s hand, walking her toward the plane and through the rain. Guns were trained on them from every direction, and even if he could see a target, he couldn’t risk her life in a firefight with the Guard.
She pulled against him. “No. I can’t. Adam. I really can’t.”
He paused, his vision hazing for a second. “Do you trust me?”
She stopped struggling, pure panic showing on her bruised face. “I do trust you.”
Taking a moment, he leaned down and brushed her lips with his. “Then trust me right now. We’re going to get onto that plane, and we’ll be fine. Take the chance, Victoria. I’ve got you.”
Her eyes were luminous in the stormy night. Almost numbly, she nodded.
Her trust, something he had no doubt she rarely gave, humbled him. “Good.” He hurried her toward the stairs and climbed in first, just in case a gun waited.
A gun waited.
“Enforcer Adam Dunne,” said a Guard lieutenant Adam hadn’t met, his gun pointed. “I’m Jasper Marks. We finally found you.”
“Aye.” Adam kept his body between the soldier and Victoria. “The gun isn’t necessary.” He let himself sway in place.
“Those darts are taking effect, I can see.” Jasper simply smiled.
“I am aware of that.” Adam could feel Victoria trembling behind him. “How did you find us, anyway?”
“We’ve had feelers out for a week all over town. The second you used your powers to such a degree, you hit the grid. Finally.” Jasper studied him. “Your signature was extremely strong.”
That’s because Kellach was using his as well. “I am a badass,” Adam said easily, looking around, allowing his shoulders to slump just enough for Jasper to take notice and, hopefully, report back to the Council.
The plane had six wide seats and a private bedroom and bath in the back. “We just took out a huge shipment of Apollo and could use a rest. I’m assuming your plan is to lock us in the back?” he asked politely. God, he needed to rest and heal himself.
“It is,” Jasper confirmed.
Adam drew Victoria with him down the aisle.
She stumbled. “Huh. I think I was already kidnapped once in this plane.”
Adam pulled her into the large bedroom, and the door shut behind them with the audible click of a lock. He had no doubt Jasper would be facing the bedroom door during the whole journey, gun out and ready to shoot.
Victoria turned, panic on her face. “Adam, I can’t—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “You can. First, we are way away from the engines. Second, you are extremely capable and can control your gift. Third, I have every plan to distract you.”
Interest deepened her eyes to the color of the sky right before midnight strikes. “You do?” she asked.
“Yes.” He ran the pad of his finger across her lips and over to the bruise darkening her cheekbone right beneath her eye. He growled and tamped down his fury. “I do.” The engines ignited, and she stiffened, so he leaned in and kissed each bruise marring her smooth skin.
She made a hum of appreciation. “I thought you were dizzy.”
“Good. Hopefully, Jasper thought so, too.” He tugged her shirt off and reached to release her from the bulletproof vest. They had just enough time to get her out of her head before he passed out.
Her sigh was pure relief as he tossed the vest into the corner. “I can’t believe how heavy that thing is.” She lifted his shirt over his head, and he ducked to assist her. “Do you think Lexi is okay? She really got hit hard.”
Adam nodded, leaning in to kiss another bruise along her slender neck. If Parker Monzelle was still alive, Adam would take great pleasure in ripping him apart piece by piece, starting with his fingers. “Your sister will be fine. Kellach got her and your mother to safety, and if I had to guess, they’re on their way to Realm headquarters right now.”
Victoria stiffened. “My mom. My mom actually killed him.” Wonder filled her voice. “I think that might screw her up a little.”
Adam skidded his fingers down Victoria’s ribs, counting each one, pleased there were no bruises. “The Realm shrink is one of the best. Her name is Lily.” The prophet was also a little nutty, but she got the job done. “Your mom will get help, and before you know it, we’ll be at headquarters with her.”
Victoria lifted her head. “Do you really think so?”
“Aye,” he said, meeting her gaze as his vision hazed a little. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was lie to her, but he needed her calm for the long flight. Avoiding a plane crash seemed like a good reason to tell a falsehood. “I’m sorry it took so long to get to you.”
She tugged his belt free, pulling his jeans down past his cock. “You got there at the perfect time.” She brightened. “I jammed his gun. Once, anyway.”
“That’s impressive.” Adam slid a hand through her hair, cupping her precious head. “I need to know: Where are you hurt?”
She shook her head against his hand, her hair sliding like silk along his skin. “I’m fine. I thought my shoulder was broken, but it feels all right now. Just a little sore.”
He turned her and bit back a curse at the raw purple bruise spreading from her shoulder blade. “Jesus. What happened?”
“My dad threw me into the SUV. Well, after I stabbed him a couple of times.” Pride filled her voice. “You know, a knife is a lot harder to get out of a person than I would’ve thought.” Energy rushed from her and she hopped. “Then my mom, my actual mom, jumped on his back and hit him a bunch of times where I’d stabbed him.”
Adam shut his eyes for the briefest of moments to calm himself. His blood boiled with the poison, but it was slow to spread. “When you were out of my sight, I thought I’d lose my mind,” he whispered, the fear still holding him. He took a deep breath and focused on the bruise. “Let me help you.” Concentrating on the air around them, he reshaped molecules and formed a reverberating deep green ball of fire.
She looked over her shoulder, and the glow reflected off her face. “Your fire is usually blue.”
“This is different,” he whispered, pressing the ball over her injury.
“Oh,” she whispered, her body starting. The plane rose into the night.
He slid his other arm around her waist to hold her upright. “Just let it in.” Closing his eyes again, he pushed the healing mass through her skin to reach tissue and muscle.
She sighed, her body going limp, healing energy rolling off her. “That’s so nice.”
He left the heat working inside her and removed her boots, jeans, and wet socks. Her bra was last, and instead of jarring her healing shoulder, he just burned the bra off without touching her delicate skin. She turned around, interest in her eyes. “I’m naked.”
A smile tickled his lips. Tension of a different sort swelled in the small room. “I noticed.”
She leaned in to survey his chest. “Oh,” she gasped, gingerly touching one of the bruises from the spray of bullets. “Heal that.”
“Yes ma’am.” He sent cells to the bruises as the green fire inside her skin dissipated. He brushed back her hair and clasped her neck, kissing her with all the emotion he’d kept tamped down the last week.
She made a sound low in her throat and opened for him, letting him take her mouth. Both her hands reached to stroke him. His knees weakened, and his lungs filled. There was a delicacy to her, a sense of energy that seemed fractured.
He lifted her, kissing her deep, feeling her nipples pebble against his chest. Sliding his hand down, he heated her spine and then her ass. They needed to make this fast before he passed out. He could slow the poison inside him only for so long.
She gasped into his mouth, moving against him, already wet.
Gently, he turned them and fell back on the bed, keeping her pressed against him. Her knees fell on either side of his hips. “Adam?” she asked, desire thick in her voice.
“You get to be in charge,” he said, trying not to smile. “For now, anyway.”
“I want quick.”
“Then take quick.”
She levered herself up and positioned him against her sex and slowly slid down. Several times she had to stop and let her body adjust, and her arms shook with the effort. He planted his hands on her hips to steady her and take some of her weight. She tried again, taking her time, torturing them both. Finally, she sat on him, with his cock fully embedded inside her.
Her nails curled into his healed chest, and she arched her back.
Fire rushed down his spine and shot out, burning him from within. Yet he held himself in check. “Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded, a bright flush across her face. “I knew you’d come for me tonight at the warehouse. I knew I just needed to hold everything together until you got there.” Bending over, she kissed him, softer than any silk. “Thank you for coming.”
“I’ll always come for you,” he said, in a vow he had no right to give. Definitely not now—considering what he was planning when he met with the Council.
She lifted her hips and moved down, torturing him with her wet heat.
His eyes nearly rolled back in his head. She was everything good in the world, and for this very brief moment in time, she was all his. Yet tension rode her, an emotion barely tapped. He reached between them, right where they were joined, and pressed his finger against her clit.
Vibrations shook her body, pulsing around his cock. He groaned.
She gasped and started to move, leaning down, her hands caressing his shoulders, so much sweetness in her his heart hurt. She was tougher than she realized, but her true strength lived in her sweetness, her gentleness and kindness. And she gave them all to him. “You make me feel like me,” she whispered.
That easily, she sliced his heart in two. “Victoria.” He cupped her head, taking over the kiss, unable to make any promises. The Guard was most likely going to try and kill him the second he set foot in Council chambers, and even in the best scenario, he’d end up on the run for eternities. So he deepened his kiss, gratified when her sex convulsed around him.
Her emotions were still raw, and he could think of only one way to help her. So he clamped his hands on her hips and started to move her faster, forcing her to use her knees for leverage and then pulling her down hard enough her pretty breasts bounced.
She partially sat up and threw her head back, her eyes shutting in pleasure.
He increased the movements, giving her the quick she’d wanted earlier. She met his speed, increasing her strength, so he released one hip and zeroed in to rub her clit.
She broke within seconds, her cry soft and her body shaking so hard he had no choice but to shudder hard with his own climax. As she came down slowly, her eyelids opened and her blue eyes focused. “Adam?”
He pulled her to the side and set them both beneath the covers, rolling her into his chest. He pressed her face to his neck. “It’s okay, baby. The night was a rough one.” He could feel her emotions as if they lived in his own skin, all fractured and confused yet physically satisfied.
Her first sob hurt him inside, but it was necessary. He rubbed down her back, providing comfort. “Let it out, Victoria. I’ve got you.”
It was the promise of protection that made her break. She cried against him, a lost woman who’d seen her mother kill her father, who’d seen her sister almost murdered.
Who had just made love to a man who couldn’t give her promises. As she wound down, she settled into a deep sleep. He started to follow suit as the Apollo poison weakened his limbs and sent dots across his vision. He’d fought it as long as he could, and now it had to run its course.
The plane hit turbulence, and he tightened his hold around her. God, he hoped that was turbulence.