Lover Awakened

'Throw it if you want,' he said.

'No. I… ah… no.' She turned away and put the thing back on its little stand, taking two tries to get it in right.

Before she faced Zsadist again, she thought of him crouched over that lesser, beating it to death… But then she remembered him bringing her things from her house… and taking her there… and letting her have his vein though he'd cracked wide-open at the invasion. As she pivoted around toward him, she was tangled in the net of him, caught between the kindness and the cruelty.

He broke the silence. 'I don't want you running half-cocked into the night because of what your brother's up to. And don't tell me that isn't what you're thinking.'

Damn, he was smart. 'But you know what he wants to do to me.'

'Yeah.'

'And by law the Brotherhood will have to give me up, so I can't stay here. You think I like the only option I've got?'

Except where would she go?

'What's so bad about heading home?'

She glared at him. 'Yeah, I really want to be treated like an incompetent, like a child, like… an object my brother owns. That works for me. Totally.'

Zsadist ran a hand over his skull trim. The movement flexed his biceps so they squeezed up thick. 'Makes sense to get families under one roof. It's a dangerous time for civilians.'

Oh, man… The last thing she needed right now was him agreeing with her brother.

'Dangerous time for lessers, too,' she muttered. 'Going by what you did to that one tonight.'

Zsadist's eyes narrowed. 'If you want me to apologize for that, I won't.'

'Of course you wouldn't,' she snapped. 'You don't apologize for anything.'

He shook his head slowly. 'You want to pick a fight with someone, you're talking to the wrong male, Bella. I won't go there with you.'

'Why not? You excel at being pissed off.'

The silence that followed made her want to scream at him. She was going after his anger, something he gave freely to all comers, and she couldn't figure out why the hell he was showing self-control when it came to her.

He cocked an eyebrow, as if he knew what she was thinking.

'Ah, hell,' she breathed. 'I'm just needling you, aren't I? Sorry.'

He shrugged. 'Rock and a hard place makes anyone crazy. Don't sweat it.'

She sat down on the bed. The idea of running off alone was ludicrous, but she refused to live under Rehvenge's control.

'You got any suggestions?' she asked softly. When she raised her eyes, Zsadist was looking at the floor.

He was so self-contained leaning back against the wall like that. With his long, lean body, he looked like a flesh-colored crack in the plaster, a fissure that had opened up in the very structure of the room.

'Give me five minutes,' he said. He walked out, still shirtless.

Bella let herself fall back on the mattress, thinking that five minutes wasn't going to help the situation. What she needed was a different brother waiting for her at home.

Dear, sweet Scribe Virgin… Getting away from the lessers should have made things better. Instead, her life still seemed totally out of her control.

Granted, she could pick her own shampoo now, though.

She lifted her head. Through the bathroom door she saw the shower and imagined herself standing under a rush of hot water. That would be good. Relaxing. Refreshing. Plus she could cry out her frustration without embarrassment there.

She got up, went into the bath, and cranked on the water. The sound of the rush hitting the marble was soothing, and so was the warm spray as she got under it. She didn't end up crying. Just hung her head and let the water run down her body.

When she finally stepped out, she noticed that the door to the bedroom had been shut.

Zsadist was probably back.

Wrapping a towel around herself, she had no hope whatsoever that he'd found a solution.

CHAPTER 26

When the bathroom door opened, Z looked over and kept his curse to himself. Bella was rosy from head to foot, her hair knotted up high on her head. She smelled like that fancy French soap Fritz insisted on buying. And that towel wrapped around her body just made him think how easy it would be to get her totally naked.

One pull. That was all he'd need.

'Wrath's agreed to be temporarily unreachable,' he said. 'Which is only a delay of forty-eight hours or so. Talk to your brother. See if you can bring him around. Otherwise Wrath has to respond, and he can't really say no, given your bloodline.'

Bella hitched the towel up a little higher. 'Okay… thank you. Thank you for making the effort.'

He nodded and eyed the door, thinking it was back to plan A: running himself into the ground. Either that or having Phury go at him.

Except instead of leaving, he put his hands on his hips. 'I am sorry for something.'

'What? Oh… Why?'

'I'm sorry that you had to see what I did to that slayer.' He lifted his hand, then dropped it, resisting the urge to rub his head raw. 'When I said I won't apologize for it, I meant I never regret killing those bastards. But I didn't… I don't like you having those images in your head. I'd take them from you if I could. I'd take all of this from you… bear it all for you. I'm so… fucking sorry this happened to you, Bella. Yeah, I'm just sorry about the whole thing, including… me.'

This was his good-bye to her, he realized. And he was running out of steam, so he hurried his last words.

'You're a female of worth.' He hung his head. 'And I know that you'll find…'

A mate, he finished to himself. Yeah, a female like her would most certainly find a mate. In fact, there was one in this very house who not only wanted her, but was right for her. Phury was just around the corner, as a matter of fact.

Z looked up, intending to beat feet out of the room—and jerked back against the door.

Bella was right in front of him. As he caught her scent up close, his heart went jackrabbit on him, doing some kind of flutter thing that got him light-headed.

'Is it true you cleaned up my house?' she said.

Oh, man… The only answer he had to that was too revealing.

'Is it?'

'Yeah, I did that.'

'I'm going to hug you now.'

Z stiffened, but before he could get himself out of the way, her arms wrapped around his waist and her head came up against his bare chest.

He stood in her embrace without moving, without breathing, without returning it… All he could do was feel her body. She was a tall female, but he had a good six inches on her. And even though he was thin for a warrior, he carried at least seventy pounds more on his bones than she did. And still she overwhelmed him.

God, she smelled good.

She made a little noise, like a sigh, and burrowed into his body even more. Her breasts pressed against his torso, and as he looked down, the curve of her nape was too damn tempting. Then there was the