Gold: A Bandia Novel Part 21

I bring my hands behind his neck, pulling him the rest of the way to me. "If the meeting with the Sons is a trap, I don't want to waste today." Whatever else I'm feeling, if I only have these few hours left, I want to feel alive.

I stretch up to kiss Austin. He meets my kiss with an intensity that floods me with shivery heat. I press closer to him until he falls back on the leather couch, pulling me into his lap. His fingers move under my shirt, dancing along the edge of my bra and dipping underneath. He groans into my mouth as I move against his hand.

I sit up and pull my tee shirt over my head. Austin reaches for a lacey bra strap, sliding it along my shoulder until it falls to the side. His eyes are dark, and his smile takes my breath away.

He kisses my bare shoulder and then moves to the base of my neck, licking the sensitive skin where my pulse beats. He brings his arms around me, holding me to him while he stands. I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me across the room and lays me across his giant bed.

He lies on his side next to me, trailing a finger from my chin to my belly b.u.t.ton. "I can't believe you're really here."

My skin aches for more contact. I brush away the bit of hair that hangs in front of his eyes. "Are you just going to lay there staring, or are you going to touch me?"

"I am definitely going to touch you." His voice is laced with laughter. "But it's not a race to the finish. I want to savor every moment."

I run a hand from his shoulder to his wrist and back again. "Take off your shirt."

"As you wish." He sits up and brings his long sleeved tee over his head in one smooth pull. I reach for the soft skin above his heart. When he kisses me, I feel his pulse race beneath my palm.

He moves his hand along the inside of my thigh, tracing invisible lines on my jeans. It's not enough. I want his hands on my skin. I want his skin on my skin. I want everything that his kiss promises. More.

I pull him down to me, until his body covers mine. I run my hands down his back and under the waist of his jeans, pulling him closer.

"G.o.d, Brianna," he breathes into my neck. "You are determined to rush this."

I smile into his hair. "I want this."

"Ah." He thrusts against me, so that even through our clothes, I can feel how much he wants this too. "I am no match for a G.o.ddess."

He rolls on his back and pulls off his clothes, grinning at me in a way that melts me from the inside out.

I can't not stare. Austin may not be immortal anymore, but every part of his body is sculpted to perfection, sinew carved in perfect balance with his lean frame. My eyes drop of their own accord, and I can feel them widen despite my best efforts.

Austin reaches for the b.u.t.ton at the top of my jeans. "Your turn."

I nod and let Austin peel away what remains of my clothes. Before I can feel too self- conscious, he covers me with his chest, holding himself above me as his lips crush mine. He lets his weight shift gradually, lowering his chest to mine. When he brings his bare leg between my own, his skin is warmer and smoother than I expect.

I bring my hands between his shoulder blades, urging him closer.

This time when his hand reaches my thigh, I can feel every bit of the soft pressure of his fingers as they graze my skin. When his hips press into mine, I feel the full length of him.

"Is this okay?" he asks, pressing closer.

"Just okay? Don't you think you should be aiming a little higher?"

He laughs and reaches for a drawer in the wood frame of the bed. "Perhaps. To be honest, I am hovering somewhere between a sliver of control and complete abandon. I'm just aiming to get through this without embarra.s.sing myself." He takes a square wrapper from the drawer and tears it open with his teeth. "I don't know how much longer I can keep it together."

"Who said anything about wanting you to keep it together?"

He moves between my legs and sighs into my ear. "Indeed."

It hurts a bit. I'm not technically a virgin, so the pain catches me by surprise, and I cry out before I can stop myself.

Austin freezes. "Did I hurt you?"

"A little." I feel myself softening around him. "Try it again." This time when he moves into me, I feel nothing but sweet pressure. "Again."

"Like this?" He thrusts forward.

"Yes," I whisper. "Like that. Again."

He kisses me as he moves inside of me, and I kiss him back, pushing against him, urging him forward, faster, further. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this pure joy that starts at my toes and fills me completely.

The rush of endorphins stays with me long after it's over and I lay with my head cradled on Austin's chest. I'm treading water in the middle of the ocean. Austin was right about one thing: this can only end badly.

THIRTY-FIVE.

The pub is busy this afternoon. A crowd gathers around a large television, cheering and shouting at a rugby game. The Sons sit at a table in the back corner, not glancing at the television at all. Instead, their eyes watch me, flashing with silvery venom. I should be used to it, but the hair on the back of my neck rises in response. Austin's hand rests in the middle of my back, propelling me forward.

Blake sits at the end of the table. Though his gaze follows us, he doesn't watch me like the others. He watches Austin. There is no trace of Blake's signature dimples. His face is dark, his eyes ringed with black circles, his lips set in a thin line. My heart breaks a little. Not for me, but for Blake. Where is the Blake who could win over an entire room with a smile? I spent months watching him before we were together, and this bitter boy who snaps a straw in half at the end of the table is someone else entirely.

Jonah winks at me from his seat next to Rush. They couldn't leave him at home? Dr. McKay sits on Rush's other side. Levi and the twins sit next to him. Jeremy plays with a long strand of his hair, winding it around his finger. His twin brother Micah tries to smile, but his lips twitch. Either these two missed their dose of medicinal this morning, or more likely, peace is not in the cards for us.

Two seats are vacant across the table from the seven of them. Austin and I are meant to feel intimidated.

It works.

Facing seven demiG.o.ds, the majority of whom want me dead, falls somewhere on the extremely stupid side of the continuum of good and bad ideas. I take the seat across from Rush. Austin takes my hand as he sits down next to me.

Rush narrows his eyes at Austin. He's a big man, with dark eyes and long hair that makes him look as wild as the animals he hunts. "And you would be?"

Blake hasn't told the Sons about Austin. I try not to think too hard about what that might mean. Is he going to help us?

"I am Arawn." It's the first time I've heard Austin use his true name. He looks every bit the G.o.d when he says it.

Rush blinks. "Impossible."

Austin squeezes my hand under the table. "Apparently not."

Rush turns his hard gaze on me. "You couldn't hide your true sympathies for long, bandia."

Blake looks down at the floor. He convinced the Sons to align with me the first time. Rush isn't the type to let him forget it.

Dr. McKay still stares at Austin, clearly fascinated. "We tested you. You didn't have any link to the Killian gene."

Austin laughs. "You forget that you were created by the G.o.ds, not the other way around."

I squeeze Austin's hand tighter. He may not be a G.o.d anymore, but I believe in him.

Rush leans forward and addresses me. "You asked for this meeting."

"We've all been called for the Gathering."

Rush sits up straight and glares at Austin. "Are you responsible for this?"

Austin shakes his head. "My successor."

"The other bandia are here," I say. "They plan to ignite a war."

"Then we will fight." Rush makes it sound so simple. If Liam wants a war, they will give him one. Just like that.

Jonah makes a kissy motion with his lips across the table. It's a good thing I don't have my powers. Even without them, it's hard to resist the urge to knock Jonah off his stool.

Blake finally looks up from the floor. He stares at the table between Austin and I, as if he's trying to see through the wood to where our hands are laced together. "Whose side are you on?" Blake directs the question to both of us, but it's meant for me.

"My own," I say. "But I intend to fight with the Sons."

Rush leans forward. "You said the bandia are here. More than one?"

"Two besides me."

Blake visibly pales. Is he worried I will give up Portia? Doesn't he want them to know? It occurs to me that I have no idea what he wants where Portia is concerned. They bonded. I know how that can screw with your own emotions.

A cheer rises up from the crowd watching television.

Rush ignores the noise. "We have them outnumbered then. The battle will be short."

Jeremy looks sick. The lock of hair in his hand is a gnarled tangle. Micah mouths the word "sorry." They are not fighters, but they won't stand against the Circle of Sons either.

Mallory Williams walks down the stairs from the rooms above the main dining room. Her face changes when we make eye contact, transforming to fear and then anger. She marches up to the table, her eyes darting from Blake to Rush to me. "What's she doing here? Why is she even alive?"

Rush stands up. "Her fate is not your concern."

Mallory shrinks away from Rush, but she turns her cold green eyes on me. "I'll kill you myself if they won't do it."

Joe steps behind Mallory, appearing from a table behind a wall near the kitchen. "This is a private meeting." He presses a hand on Mallory's shoulder.

Mallory glares at her brother, ignoring Joe. "Does Portia know you're meeting with her?" She says "her" like it's a dirty word.

"Let's go outside, Mal." Joe's hand curls around her arm. "Now."

Several of the people crowded around the TV turn to watch us.

Rush glares at Mallory. "Stop acting like a child. Your brother claimed the right to kill this one, and he will carry out his promise to the Circle."

Blake stares at the floor again. Like the scratches in the hardwood form the most fascinating patterns known to man.

Mallory rolls her eyes. "Like he did in R.D.? She's got him wrapped around her little finger, or at least she's got her fingers wrapped around his-"

"Enough!" Rush's voice carries through the pub. Everyone in the room stops talking. All eyes are on Rush. Even Mallory looks chastened.

Austin squeezes my hand.

A gust of wind comes from behind us. The wind whips across the table sending gla.s.ses and pitchers scattering. A gla.s.s of ale lands in Rush's lap.

Levi and Jonah both stand at the same time. "We need to go." Austin pulls me to my feet. There's a flash of silver in front of us. It's bright enough to be disorienting, but I can't afford to wait until my eyes adjust. I point myself in the general direction of the entrance and run.

I step back, away from the demiG.o.d that materializes in front of me. Blake holds his broadsword at his side and takes my hand, pulling me off my feet. I fall into the solid wall of his chest as he shields me from a flash of light to my right. He turns us around just as Jonah draws his serrated knife.

Blake pushes me toward the entrance as the knife hits him in the shoulder. "Go!"

I don't stop to help him. I run as fast as I can for the doorway, trying to put walls between me and the rest of the Sons.

Austin waits at the door. He holds it open and slams it behind me. We run around the corner and duck into a gift shop. Austin nods at the short woman at the register and pulls me back to a rear door used for deliveries. We come out in an alley not far from where we left the car.

We run the rest of the way to the car, but there don't appear to be any Sons giving chase.

Austin drives the sports car the way it was designed to be driven, hard and fast. We don't speak until we're safely in the gates of Lorcan Hall.

"Portia?" Austin is referring to the wind that took out the Sons' table.

"That's my guess."

He puts his head in his hands.

"What?"

"I was supposed to look out for you."

"You did. You got me out."

He shakes his head. "Blake got you out."

"You were there too."

He nods. "But I couldn't help, Brianna." "What do you mean?"

"My power. It's gone."

THIRTY-SIX.

Mick has a tea service set up in the blue room. I want to hug him. I almost do, but he waves me away. Apparently, hugs are not his thing. I sip from a warm cup, savoring the brisk peppermint flavor. "At least the Sons know that the Gathering is a set up."

"Liam might not wait for the Gathering now. He won't want to lose his advantage." Austin throws himself onto the couch and rests his feet on the table.

Mick glowers and waits for Austin to set his feet back on the floor before he leaves the room.

"You're a.s.suming he'll find out that the Sons know about the Gathering," I say. "And that he knows who they are."

"We have to a.s.sume Portia will tell Liam about the meeting," Austin says. "Half the town probably knows about it after that display."