Chapter Sixteen

 

 

Kayla raced through the forest. Cool wind blasted her. Trees whipped past in dark, towering blurs. Footsteps pounded behind her.

When fingertips brushed the back of her shirt, she put on a burst of extra speed.

Masculine laughter followed her as the footsteps faded.

She grinned.

Aidan had transformed her two weeks ago. Now she could run faster than she could legally drive on a freeway. So fast, in fact, that Nick couldn’t catch her.

Unless she wanted him to.

She slowed her pace slightly.

Boots pounded the ground behind her. Fingers again brushed her shoulder blade.

When she glanced over her shoulder, arms banded around her and lifted her against a muscled chest.

Their forward momentum slowed, then halted.

Nick lowered her until her feet touched the ground.

When she turned in his arms, she expected to see a smile.

Instead, his brow furrowed and concern darkened his features. “Never look back when you’re racing through a forest at preternatural speeds. Running into a low-hanging branch at human speeds is bad enough. Doing it when you’re running faster than you can drive…”

She winced. “Yikes. You’re right. Would I even survive that?”

“Not if it decapitated you.”

“And if it didn’t?”

“Maybe. You heal even quicker than I do now. And I could summon Seth to speed the process or reattach any limbs you might lose. But I’d rather not test it.”

“Me either. Maybe I should just avoid forests altogether.”

He shook his head. “There are trees in the suburbs and the city, too. Run the gauntlet often enough and tracking the position of every obstacle in front of you will soon become second nature.”

Nodding, she leaned into him. He had been training her vigorously since the day after she had awoken sporting glowing eyes and retractable fangs.

He also hadn’t let her out of his sight. Her transformation had terrified him. Apparently her heart had stopped a few times. And her fever had risen so high that they’d had to submerge her in an ice bath to bring it down. Nick had sunk into the frigid water with her and held her close to keep her from hurting herself in a desperate and delirious attempt to escape the cold.

He was such a sweetheart.

Kayla remembered none of it. Nick had confessed it all when she had awoken. And his haggard appearance, the tears that had sparkled in his glowing amber eyes when he’d told her how afraid he’d been, had made her newly strengthened heart ache.

Drawing in a deep breath, she marveled for the millionth time over the vast array of scents she could now detect. Soil. The decaying leaves beneath their feet. The birds nesting in the tree to her left. Water from the stream a mile away. Two raccoons foraging for food. A possum doing the same. An owl. A plethora of plants. The smoke from distant hearths.

And Nick. His scent was the best. His was her favorite. She would never get enough of it.

Drawing in another deep breath, she savored it. “You smell so good.”

His arms tightened around her as he dipped his head and nuzzled her hair. “You do, too. Especially when you want me.”

She smiled. “I always want you.”

“I know.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “But do you want me enough to spend eternity with me?”

Leaning back to look up at him, she quirked a brow. “I did transform for you.”

Much to her surprise, he shook his head. “You transformed for Becca.”

Kayla stared at him. “What?”

“You were worried about Becca. You transformed for her.”

He didn’t really believe that, did he? That she had only transformed so she could have more time with her daughter? “I love Becca.”

“I know you do.”

“I love you, too, Nick.”

His lips tilted up at the corners. “I know.”

“Do you?” she asked, studying him carefully. “Do you really?”

His brow puckered.

“You know I didn’t just transform for my daughter, right?”

He said nothing.

“Nick, I transformed so I could be with you.”

He started to shake his head, then paused and stared at her as though he was unsure whether to believe it.

“I was concerned about Becca,” she told him. “How could I not be? I’m all she has. And I always want to be there for her. But what you and I have… what we share…” She shook her head. “Do you know how rare that is?”

“Rare enough that I’ve only experienced it once in four hundred years,” he responded. “I’ve only ever felt this way with you, Kayla.”

And oh, how those hoarsely uttered words touched her. “I just found you, Nick. I didn’t want to lose you. And the idea of spending the rest of eternity with you…” She patted his chest above his heart. “That is why I transformed. That is what I want. Eternity with you.”

He cupped her face in his big hands. “I want the same.” He pressed his soft lips to hers in a light kiss that nevertheless carried the full weight of his feelings for her. “I love you, Kayla.”

“I love you, too.”

He kissed her again, longer. Then he raised his head and met her gaze. “Will you marry me?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

Again he took her lips in a kiss, this one deep and devouring.

Her pulse picked up, her rapid heartbeat matching his as he coaxed her lips apart. She moaned when he slid his tongue inside to stroke hers. His scent suffused her, heightening her arousal. He had once told her she was an aphrodisiac. That’s exactly what his scent was to her, rapidly escalating her hunger, her need.

Their breath shortened as his big hands roved her form, cupping her breasts, teasing her nipples through her shirt and bra. She arched into him, rising onto her toes to align her hips with his, rubbing against the long, hard length behind his fly.

Now that she was immortal, her every sense was heightened. Hearing. Sight. Smell. Touch. Taste. And all of it made her ache to have him inside her. “Immortal sex is the best sex ever,” she gasped between kisses.

“Sex with you is the best sex ever,” he murmured. “Your eyes are glowing.”

Her hazel eyes glowed green, something rare in the Immortal Guardians world since almost all of them had brown eyes that glowed amber.

She trailed kisses along Nick’s jaw, practically climbing him in her need to get closer. “Are we far enough from David’s place to keep the others from hearing us?” They had spent the two weeks since her transformation in North Carolina at the home of David, Seth’s immensely powerful second-in-command.

A favorite gathering place for Immortal Guardians on the East Coast, David’s home was always packed with immortals and their Seconds.

“No.” Nick groaned as she rocked against him. “We’re still within a five-mile radius.”

Shit. “Then they can hear us?”

“Mm-hmm.” He pressed a hot kiss to her neck and nipped her earlobe.

Damn, he turned her on. But as much as she wanted him to take her right now against the nearest tree, she had no interest in providing audible porn for the others.

Breaking contact with him, she stepped back.

Cold air rushed between them but did nothing to dispel the heat that raged inside her.

She took another step back, touched her neck, then slid her hand down to cup one breast. “You want me?”

A sexy growl rumbled up from his chest. “Yes.”

“Then you’re going to have to catch me.” She drew her shirt over her head and let it fall to the ground. “I’ll leave a trail for you to follow.”

His amber eyes brightened.

Kayla took off through the trees, putting on a burst of preternatural speed that would give her a great enough lead to pause and discard a shoe here, a sock there, her pants, her bra…

Once she put enough distance between herself and David’s home, she halted. The space wasn’t really big enough to be called a clearing. But the trees around it parted just enough to allow a soft bed of grass to grow.

Branches snapped.

Her heartbeat picked up.

Then Nick burst into the small meadow. He stopped, eyes glowing, fists clenched around the clothing she’d discarded.

Moonlight bathed him, dancing across the muscles his T-shirt exposed.

Damn, he was hot.

“Look at you,” he murmured, his voice so thick with desire it was almost a growl.

Kayla fought down a blush. Never in her life had she stood outside completely naked. But Nick made her want to do things like that. He made her want it all.

Her clothing dropped to the grass as he stalked toward her with panther-like grace. “You’re so damn beautiful.” He tugged his shirt over his head. Discarded his boots. His pants. Everything.

She swallowed hard, so ready for him, so eager for his touch that she could barely stand still.

“You make me burn, Kayla.” He stopped a hair’s breadth away, his hard cock brushing her stomach. “You make me want it all.”

His words so closely echoed her own that she couldn’t wait any longer. “Then take it all.” Curling her arms around his neck, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his hips. “Take me.” She was so ready for him.

He lowered his head and crushed her lips beneath his. Kayla buried her fingers in his hair as his tongue stroked hers. At the same time, he found her slick entrance with his cock and drove deep.

Both moaned.

“You feel so good,” she breathed. Nick was big all over. She loved to feel him inside her, stretching her.

“You’re so tight and warm.”

She flexed her inner muscles, squeezing him tighter.

He groaned. “Immortal sex is the best sex ever.”

She laughed, the sound dissolving into a moan as he began to move. Her senses were so heightened now that she never lasted long. She tried to hold out, tried to make it last. But when he didn’t hold back, when he took her—deep and hard—without having to worry about accidentally hurting her…

Well. In only minutes she was crying out as an orgasm swept through her.

Nick rode the pleasure with her, growling her name as he filled her with his heat.

His knees buckled, then hit the grass. There he knelt, still buried deep inside her, her legs wrapped around his waist as she straddled his lap.

Their breath came quickly.

Their hearts pounded in tandem.

His glowing amber eyes met hers. “You’re mine.”

Smiling, she stroked his stubbled cheek. “And you’re mine. Now and always.”

He kissed her, slow and thorough, then sent her a grin. “How soon will you marry me? I can’t wait to call you wife.”

She laughed as happiness spiraled through her. “As soon as I can control my eyes enough to keep them from glowing around Becca. I want her to be there.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “I do, too.”

“I don’t suppose you could find a way to temporarily be less sexy, could you? I feel like my eyes glow all the time now that your scent is always teasing me and I can feel even the most casual of your touches so much more.”

He smiled. “Now you know how I’ve felt for the past six years. I had a hell of a time keeping my eyes from glowing around you.”

Six years. She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve loved me that long. I was always so attracted to you but couldn’t bring myself to believe you’d ever be interested in a frumpy single mother like me, especially after Eliana started coming around.”

He raked a gaze over her that felt more like a caress. “There’s nothing frumpy about you, Kayla. You always make me burn.”

She stared at him.

He smiled. “Get dressed. I want to show you something.”

Ten minutes later, they stood in Nick’s living room back in Houston.

Aidan released Nick’s shoulder. “Let me know when you’re ready to return.”

Nick nodded. “Thank you.”

Aidan teleported away.

Kayla arched a brow. “What did you want to show me?”

Taking her hand, he led her upstairs, down the hallway, past his bedroom to the door he always kept closed.

She watched him curiously. His shoulders seemed a little tighter than they had been before, his smile a little more forced.

“I have three art studios,” he said. “One in the garage, one across the hall, and this one.” Grasping the knob, he turned it and pushed the door open.

Kayla stepped inside, eager to examine his work. She loved his paintings downstairs and—

She halted. Her eyes widened. Turning, she stared up at him.

Nick stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the doorframe. He hadn’t looked this uncertain since he had explained to her that he was different after her accident.

She returned her gaze to the art that filled the room. Countless canvases, drawing tablets, and papers leaned against every wall and rested on tables. She took another step inside. Then another. There were oil paintings. Acrylic paintings. Watercolors. Pastels. Charcoal drawings. Sketches. Colored-pencil drawings.

And she was present in almost all of them.

Some portrayed only her, capturing a wide range of expressions. Others showed her playing with Becca, or homeschooling her on the back patio, or the two of them working in the garden.

Even the styles varied, some reminding her of the Pre-Raphaelites, others speaking of neoclassicism or the Renaissance, while yet more reflected postmodernism.

She stood before one that he must have painted during the first year she’d lived next door to him. Becca appeared to be only twelve years old or thereabouts. The two of them were planting the first flowers Kayla had bought for their new home. Kayla was smiling down at Becca while Becca handed her a plant bearing bright purple pansies she had just removed from its plastic container. The detail was incredible, from the freckles on their faces to the wrinkles in their clothing to the mud stains that never quite washed out of their cotton gloves.

Kayla moved around the room, noticed the easel he’d set up next to the window that overlooked her backyard. Picking up a sketchbook, she flipped through it. Setting it down, she carefully shifted paintings forward to look at those behind them.

Finally, she turned to face Nick. “They’re beautiful.” So beautiful tears welled in her eyes. Since her divorce, most of the photos she’d snapped with her phone or her iPad featured only Becca. Those that included them both more often than not merely showed them posing and smiling for the camera. But these…

Nick had captured so much more than their faces. He’d captured many of the wonderful, everyday moments they’d shared together as mother and daughter that she had been unable to catch with a camera.

And those paintings and sketches that focused solely on Kayla…

Those had captured the love he felt for her.

He cleared his throat. “Oliver thought you might freak out when you saw them. He was afraid you’d think I’m a stalker or something.” Nick’s unease indicated he feared the same.

She tried to hide her amusement. “Is that why you always kept this door closed?”

He nodded. “I may not be able to stand out in the sun anymore, feel its warmth on my skin without burning, but I can still look out the window and enjoy it.” He ventured a step inside. “This was already my studio before you moved in next door. But once you did…” He took another step toward her. “You drew me even more than the sun I’ve so long been denied.”

Kayla stared up at him, unable to look away. “Nick.”

“Do you really like them?”

She nodded.

“You aren’t freaked out?”

She squinted her eyes at him and pretended to contemplate it. “That depends. What’s in the studio across the hall?” Paintings of whoever had lived next door before her?

He laughed. “Landscapes. Depictions of my home with the Iroquois. More artwork like that in my living room. I do draw and paint other things. You’re just my favorite subject.”

She grinned. “Then I’m not freaked out.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you, Kayla.”

“I love you, too.” Rising onto her toes, she brushed her lips against his. “I can’t believe we’re going to have forever together.”

“Me either. I don’t think forever will be long enough.” He lowered his mouth to hers, his kiss soft and slow and full of love.

She smiled when he drew back. “So.”

He arched a brow. “So?”

She caressed the strong line of his jaw, then drew a finger down his neck to his chest. “Now that you’ve shown me your paintings… is there anything else you’d care to show me?”

He grinned. “Hell yes.”

She laughed when he lifted her into his arms and headed for the bedroom.