Part 15 (2/2)

I sucked in a breath and felt her leap into motion. We blurred though the mine opening. Time seemed to stand still as the world around us pa.s.sed by so quickly. I could barely tell where the ground stopped and the midnight blue sky started.

A few minutes later, she stopped on the porch of a small house situated on the banks of a large lake. The water rippled in the soft breeze whipping across my face. The clouds were scattered here, and the moon hung in the sky like a huge gemstone.

Candles burned inside, twinkling through the large bay window. The scent of food drifted from the house.

”Go in and eat,” Eira said, releasing me from her hold.

I leaned into to her before she could disappear again. ”Be sure you feed before you make another trip. Do not let it go like that again.”

She nodded and moved her mouth to my ear. ”Take care of Riza until I bring Mikjall over. He seems to have connected with her.”

I nodded, putting a hand on Riza's shoulder, helping her unsteady form up the porch steps to the front door. When I glanced over my shoulder, Eira was gone.

The next hour pa.s.sed painfully, second dragging to second. Each time Eira returned with more of our group, I could feel a little more tension fade from the room.

She brought the rest of the Lycans before she brought over Mikjall and Jared. The Gryphon, Alek, arrived last of all.

The breath I'd been holding since she dropped me at the steps finally released when the door opened and she walked in with the big bada.s.s guy who called himself Sanctuary's sheriff.

Four hundred miles between us and Savannah should help slow down the soldiers searching for us. Because of how fast Eira could move, their satellites wouldn't be able to track her movements once she blurred. She didn't have a heat signature herself, and when she moved that fast, our heat signatures wouldn't register, either.

”Eira.” I stood from the table and pulled her into my arms. Her clothes were clean, thanks to the special enchantment, but her skin was dark from all the grime of running, making her once creamy skin a little on the brown side. ”Thank the G.o.ds,” I said, nuzzling her neck and taking a deep breath of her scent.

”Here,” Mikjall's deep voice rumbled behind me. I turned and took the coffee mug from his hand. ”For her.” His gaze flicked to Eira's and then to mine again. ”We would've had to fight again or run all night if not for your sacrifice. I know you pushed yourself to the very edge of your abilities. Thank you.”

A sigh slipped from Eira's chest. ”Besides the Mason pack, my friends in Sanctuary are the closest thing I have to family.”

”I'm lucky to count you among friends, Eira Rennir. You saved my mother's life, and that's a debt I can never repay.”

Eira loosened her grip on my neck and stared down the seven-foot giant man. ”You can take the time to get to know your mother and fathers. That is how you can repay me. Believe me, if I had the chance to talk to my mother or father again, I would trade anything for it. You have that chance. Don't squander it. This will not be the last fight with Xerxes.”

Shame flickered across the Drakonae male's face for a brief moment before he masked it again and answered, ”I will.”

”Come, my beloved. You need a bath, a drink, and some rest.” I slipped my arm around her waist and headed her toward the stairs after Mikjall disappeared into the kitchen.

”Is everyone okay?” She pulled away, but I tightened my grip.

”They are fine. The guys are patching up the ones with wounds, but most of them are already well on their way to being completely healed. You are coming with me.” I handed her the coffee cup full of the Drakonae's blood. ”Drink this while I get your bath started.”

She finally relented and allowed me to lead her upstairs. A satisfied moan slipped from her throat after the first sip from the mug. Strangely enough, I was jealous that the dragon was able to feed her more than once in a night without feeling sick. I was still woozy from feeding multiple times this evening. The stew Travis had whipped up helped re-energize me, but I knew if I had offered again and she fed, I would've pa.s.sed out.

”Are you okay, Killian?” she asked as we entered the bedroom at the top of the stairs.

”I'm fine, love.”

The master suite was beachy with just a touch of feminine taste. A large bed underneath a light blue comforter lay to our right. Two square wooden end tables sat at either side with a plain white ceramic lamp with cream shades. The whole room was neutral blues and creams, mixed with the natural wood colors.

I walked through the room to the bathroom and started filling the large claw-foot soaker tub in the center of the room. Soon steam rose from the water, filling the small area with a soft mist.

The mirror on the wall reflected Eira as she followed me into the bathroom. She put her mug on the counter, and I turned to face her. Desire made my heart pound as she slowly pulled her s.h.i.+rt off, baring her smooth torso. The purple bra was next. Her dark pink nipples and the perfect rise of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s arrested my focus. The way they bounced just a little with each movement.

She kicked off her boots. Then her still-pristine pants. .h.i.t the floor along with some bright pink panties.

A smile curved my lips as I perused her gorgeous body completely naked except for a pair of black socks.

She folded one leg up at a time and removed them as well. The skin that had been hidden by her clothing was milky white, while her face and arms were nearly as brown as my much darker complexion.

”Come.” I patted the side of the tub.

The exhaustion in her eyes only moments ago had disappeared, replaced by a spark of desire as she sauntered closer. She stepped over the ledge of the tub and took my hand as she sat, sinking below the hot water.

She used her foot to move the lever and turn off the flow gus.h.i.+ng from the chrome faucet.

”This is heaven. Thank you.” She slipped beneath the surface, allowing the water to flow over her head and soak her long, dark hair. As she rose up again, water ran in rivulets down her cheeks and shoulders. Her hair floated around her shoulders as she leaned backward a little and rested against the porcelain wall of the tub.

I grabbed a loofah from the basket on the corner of the tub and squirted out some bath gel. ”Turn around, love.”

She turned and moved her hair to the front, exposing her shoulders.

I swirled the loofah around her shoulders, falling into a pattern as I lathered her entire back, dipping my hand beneath the water's surface to ma.s.sage lower. The small moans and sighs slipping from between her lips had me as hard as steel.

She twisted in the water, and suddenly, I was ma.s.saging her b.r.e.a.s.t.s instead. Dropping the loofah, and I slipped my other hand into the water as well, soaking the sleeve of my s.h.i.+rt, but I didn't care. My fingers trailed along her abdomen to the juncture of her thighs. A quick caress to her swollen c.l.i.t elicited a throaty gasp of pleasure.

Eira leaned closer, pressing her mouth over mine, driving her tongue between my lips and tasting the inside of my mouth. She was my paradise, and I wanted her out of the water and in my arms.

I climbed to my feet and lifted her as I did.

”What about my bath?” It was a half-hearted whine at best.

”I'll run you another later.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

EIRA.

The dry cotton sheets met the cool damp skin of my back as Killian laid me down. He pulled off his s.h.i.+rt, revealing his tanned muscled torso. The years had been kind to him. His physique had barely changed from the man I'd known so many centuries ago. Perhaps a few grey hairs speckled behind his ears, but nothing worth mentioning except as a tease.

I fingered the medallion lying between my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, remembering the quiet moment we'd shared. The night he'd asked for my favor and I'd given it. The night we'd first made love.

I loved him then with my whole soul, before he'd given me the diamond Diana said bound my heart. And I loved him just as much now.

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