Hope
âHelp him!â I yelled as everyone stood frozen while Alex face-planted against the gravel. I mean I didnât exactly like himâhe was rude, aggravating, too good-looking, and entitled, but that didnât mean I wanted him to die!
Could immortals die?
âPerhaps.â A whisper carried to my ears as if someone had been standing behind me and speaking in low, crisp tones.
âWho said that?â None of the immortalsâ lips were moving.
Cassiusâs eyes narrowed in on me before he very languidly knelt next to Alex and pulled his huge body into his arms and began walking toward the house.
Gravel crunched beneath his feet.
Did I follow?
Was he dead?
Mason made his way over to me and wrapped a bulky arm around my shoulders. I let out a little harrumph under his weight as he tugged me toward the house.
âHe may die,â he said so casually that I wasnât sure Iâd heard him right. âOr he could live.â
I shook my head as words tumbled out of my mouth. âBut he canât!â
âGood.â A soft feminine voice spoke, and then crisp blue eyes locked on mine as one of the women stood in front of me and leaned in, sniffing me like I was an animal or in need of a good shower. Which was probably true, at least the shower part. I hadnât stopped sweating since meeting the siren. And even though he was completely unconscious, the heat still built within my system like I was going to explode on the spot. âHis song is calling hers.â
âSong?â I repeated dumbly. âWhat song?â
âHis heart has slowed.â Cassius interrupted after he placed Alex on the large coffee table, the sirenâs legs touched the ground even though his body was elevated. The man was huge, from his muscular thighs all the way down to his feet.
His chiseled face was tan, his full lips twitched before he jolted as if heâd just been shocked only to go completely lifeless again as his wildly colored hair draped across the oak.
âWhatâs wrong with him?â I asked, unable to keep myself from getting closer, because I wanted to touch him, needed his touch, and wasnât sure why except that I knew that I had to.
I had to.
My fingers grazed his arm.
A pulse.
A very fast pulse had me jerking my hand back, how could I feel his pulse through his arm?
âHis blood,â Cassiusâs eyes went white. And just like that, I remembered where I was.
In a house.
Closed in.
Locked in most likely.
With dangerous creatures.
Immortals who could break me with a simple thought or flick of their wrist.
âEasy.â Mason placed both hands on my shoulders and pressed down like he was trying to plant my feet into the floor. I let out a grunt as he continued to push. âYou are protected.â
âProtected from you?â I whispered with a quiver.
âProtected from everything.â Mason whispered gruffly before releasing his grip and nodding toward Alex. âBut not from him.â
I gulped.
The one man I needed protection from.
And I didnât have it.
How was that for fair?
Because if I were being completely honest with myself, the angel was terrifying, just like Mason, the vampire had shifty eyes, and the girls even had this weird ethereal look about them, but Alex?
He absolutely horrified me.
Or maybe it was my reaction to him.
Maybe he made me scared of myself.
Of what I felt when he was near.
Dirty thoughts.
Thoughts I had no business having rushed to the forefront of my mind.
Of Alex stripping every inch of clothing from my body â of his heat and mine joining â and then of ice so cold that it was hot filling my veins.
I sucked in a breath.
âAlready his power grows.â Cassius eyed me cautiously. âIf he can affect her even in a deep sleep.â
âStay out of her head, Cass.â Stephanie touched his arm. âIt isnât polite.â
âGood thing Iâm not polite.â He scowled and then smiled as she reached for his hand and squeezed it. With a sigh, he hung his head as a few feathers seemed to ruffle and then calm before completely tucking back into his wings and disappearing altogether. âIâll stop.â
The room wept with heat.
I felt it everywhere.
With a shudder, I leaned on the oak table just as a hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.
And then Alexâs eyes opened.
They were a burning red.
I couldnât breathe.
His grip was soft.
His stare penetrating as my body shook.
Waves of pleasure rushed over me until I was a sobbing mess, until tears collided with sweat.
Nostrils flaring, his eyes went from red to blue and back before his wild hair beamed at me like an electrocuted rainbow. If I had been in my right mind, Iâd think he looked like a sexy unicorn.
But I wasnât in my right mind.
My mind wasnât my own.
It was ~his~.
Some part of me told me to look away, to close my eyes, to ask for help, but a small voice told me the only way out was in.
It wasnât my voice.
And it wasnât one I recognized.
So I had no idea why I was listening.
For all I knew, I could be hallucinating.
~The only way out is in.~
So hot.
I was so hot.
I leaned into him as his grip lessened and then brushed a kiss across his scalding skin.
The minute my lips touched his.
My world shattered into relief.
And then strong arms wrapped around me, hoisting me up onto the table as my legs straddled the sexy muscular body beneath me.
Panting, I kissed him again and again, bruising my lips as I greedily tugged his hair with my hands pulling him closer and closer.
His taste was sweet.
And cool.
And then his hands were everywhere, too fast for me to push away, too fast for me to catch with my human eyes as blurs moved past my line of vision removing every single piece of clothing I had on from the bottom down.
When he was finished, his eyes were completely filled with red.
It shouldnât be beautiful.
It was.
When I finally found the strength to look down and notice my own nakedness, I gasped and looked aroundâthe room was empty.
It was just us.
On a kitchen table.
Yeah, completely normal.
âDo not die,â he whispered before kissing me again.
I had a really bad feeling about what was about to happen next.
âAnd,â I croaked when I found my voice, âIf I do?â
He pulled away, his red eyes blinking slowly before he answered in a hoarse voice, âThen all is lost.â