Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel

Tyler never disappoints.

I don’t know if it was the lingering fear that kept me marooned on the mattress, or some other, simpler reason. Weak and wary, I hadn’t an ounce of energy I could devote to leaving the bed. The adrenaline rush had taken everything out of me.

“Darian,” Ty called out. His footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor. Quiet steps, not his usual elephant stomps. I didn’t answer him. Sick with shame and fear, I stayed immobile, huddled beneath the blankets.

He touched my cheek. Remnants of fear coated my mouth, and the words came thick. “Someone was here.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. Not like me. Sun was already up. The thing was in the air, Ty.”

He sat down beside me. I didn’t turn to look at him; my sudden frailty was a disgrace to my nature. Embarrassment kept me from meeting his eyes.

“What happened?” His gentle voice soothed me, assuring me it was okay to be scared without having to say it out loud.

“The voice, I can’t describe it. Like nothing I’ve ever heard before. It touched me, and it wasn’t any tickle either.”

Tyler tugged at the covers burying my body. I resisted at first, unsure of what his next move would be. Insistent, he pulled harder, and I finally relented, too shaken up to do anything about it. As he peeled back the blankets, he examined the skin that my tank top and shorts didn’t cover. He rolled me gently from my side to my back. My eyes met his. The hazel orbs grew wide, and he sucked his breath in sharply. An angry frown marred his features.

“Welts,” he murmured.

“What?”

“Your skin is welted,” he explained, tracing a fingertip over the raised marks.

I have to say the news came as a relief. I half expected my skin to be ripped open. “I didn’t see anything; only felt a presence.” Fear was washed away by confusion. Anger approached on its heels. “When I find the creature that did this, I’m going to slice it into a million bloody pieces.”

Expressing my anger felt good, as if I were reclaiming a bit of my flagging nerve. I put my palms down on the bed, pushed myself to a sitting position, and drew my knees up a little. Closer to eye level with Tyler, I read both worry and fury in his expression. His normally cool body temperature seemed to drop by a few degrees.

“They’re only welts, right? I’ve healed from worse.”

“Yeah.” He ran his hands over the miniature roadways of raised flesh along my arm. “Do you think it has anything to do with this job you’re training for?”

He stopped stroking my arm, and though his gaze didn’t detach from mine, his hands continued with their exploration of the marks on my skin. He moved a palm under my calf, cupping the flesh before traveling up and over my shin. I shivered.

“I don’t think so,” I answered honestly. “If Xander had a creature like that in his service, he sure as hell wouldn’t need me. I quit that job, anyway. It’s a non-thing.”

“What do you mean, you quit?” His fingers traced each one of my toes. “You never quit anything.”

“I quit this,” I said. “I was starting to feel like a possession, and I don’t like that. And I still don’t know who the mark is.” I looked away, distracted by the warm, masculine scent that was one hundred percent Tyler.

Reluctantly, I met his face again. His soft, greenish eyes held a lustful hunger, and something sparked inside me. Teasing fingers stroked my bare skin, traveling from my toes, across my ankles, and up my shins. I tried to look away, but Tyler’s gaze held me in place.

“Darian, I wish you’d let me protect you.”

Good Lord, did he even know me?

From my knees, his hands spread out across my thighs, over and around, his fingertips grazing my butt at the hem of my shorts.

My voice caught in my throat. “How do you propose to do that, human?” It’s not like I didn’t appreciate the offer. But I didn’t need to be taken care of. Strong, independent, not to mention indestructible, I wasn’t exactly the damsel in distress. He squeezed my flesh—Oh, dear God! —gently but just hard enough. A-maz-ing!

“I might surprise you,” he said in a calm, unsettling way. Inch by inch, he scooted closer, rising on his knees until our noses almost touched. “Bring it on.” His voice, gruff and full of innuendo, sent a pulsing thrill straight through my core. “I can handle anything standing in my way. You’d be safe.”

I snorted. Maybe he should stand against Raif sometime. That’d be interesting. I’d be picking up little pieces of Tyler from one end of the warehouse to the other. The mental image made me cringe.

Tyler graced me with a confident smile, abandoned my thigh, and worked his way up my waist. He knew how to use his fingers. A series of rippling chills traveled from my toes to the top of my head and back down. He grazed the sensitive skin exposed where my tank top had ridden up, and my eyes involuntarily drifted shut.

“Don’t presume you know all about me.” His fingers traveled upward, tracing my rib cage. Oh, man, it felt good. I’d almost forgotten the scare I’d had earlier. He kneaded my flesh with his strong hand. I did moan this time. I couldn’t help it.

“I’ll keep you safe.”

“Tyler—”

Before I could pull away, his mouth found mine. Soft, searching, but full of purpose, his lips caressed mine, and I responded, unable to form a coherent thought with my senses full of Tyler. His thumbs brushed my nipples on the outside of my tank top and they rose to stiff peaks, wanting more than a passing caress. He opened his mouth, kissing me deeper, and I leaned in toward him instead of away, like I’d intended. Without considering the consequences, I reached out, dragging my hands down over his chest, enjoying the feel of his muscles through his T-shirt. Lower, my hands acted on their own, brushing the waist of his jeans and then his fly and the hard bulge that made my breath catch in my chest. Tyler moaned, and my heart sped to an unnatural rhythm. Just a pull here and a tug there and he’d be bare to my touch. I wanted to feel him, full in my hand, my mouth—

His proximity and swaying tactics had easily broken down my defenses. I forced my hands back up his chest, balling them into fists, forbidding myself from taking what I wanted. I tried to ignore his smell, his touch, his reassuring words, and gently pushed him away. It took more effort than I thought I could manage, because what I really wanted to do was pull him a hell of a lot closer.

“Tyler,” I whispered. I had to stop this. Now. Before either of us was tempted to take it further, I steered his focus to the matter at hand. “I appreciate that you want to protect me, but there’s nothing you can do. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”

“I know you think so,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed me again, long and languid.

My body attempted mutiny, responding to waves of pleasure I knew I shouldn’t want to feel. The moment ended all too soon, and when he pulled back, I opened my eyes. He smiled in a very self-satisfied sort of way that made me want to slap the expression right off his face. But since that might encourage him, I said, “Did it ever occur to you that I’m protecting you by keeping you at a safe distance from all of this nonhuman stuff?”

He moved in again, but I backed away. I sure as hell didn’t trust myself to be a good girl. “Tyler, I can’t do this. I have to keep my head on straight. Until things cool down, I’m still in way too deep. I have to think of your safety.”

“Darian, I don’t need protecting.” He actually laughed, though his eyes shone with disappointment. “I’m more than capable.”

My brain didn’t have its usual get-up-and-go, so I ignored that little statement. He stood up, giving me a much needed moment to take control of my raging sex drive. I lowered my gaze and banished from my mind the thought of his scent and cool fingers. Shit.

“Ty, what do you know about the others?” Changing the subject would be best for both of us, or our clothes would be on the floor in a matter of seconds. “Am I the only one you’ve ever known?”

Backing away, he passed his hands through his hair and expelled a deep breath. He seemed to seriously contemplate my questions before answering, as if divulging too much would risk spilling a secret. “I know of other nonhuman beings.”