Burn For Me

CHAPTER TWENTY

Cain crawled from beneath the rubble. A slab of concrete had broken his leg. Gritting his teeth, he shoved the heavy stone aside. He was bleeding. Pain swept through him in driving waves of agony.

Internal injuries.

The fire hadn’t killed him, but he’d be dead soon—the impact of the explosion was too much for his body to handle. His right arm was shattered. His head concussed. And inside …

His organs were fucking mush.

Focus on her.

Eve was in his arms. He’d used his body to protect her as best he could. He’d taken the hits, the full force of the explosion, for her.

But she wasn’t moving.

He couldn’t walk, so he dragged her with him. Cradled her as best he could. “Help!” He screamed out at the night not because he wanted to be saved, but because he needed someone to come and help her.

Eve couldn’t die. If she did … she won’t come back to me.

His body was shutting down. He felt it. Felt the surge of the fire inside him. No. He couldn’t leave her yet. She needed him.

He put his hand on her chest, trying to stop that blood flow. The bullet had torn through her delicate body. So much blood. It soaked her shirt. Poured through his fingers.

Beautiful Eve. She looked broken. A cut sliced across her forehead. Her eyes were closed, her lashes casting heavy shadows on her cheeks. She was so … still.

“Don’t do … this,” he grated out as he kept dragging her. They were almost clear of the wreckage, and he could hear sirens in the distance. Help was coming for her. She just had to hold on for him. A few more moments …

But she didn’t stir at his words.

Another few desperate inches. Glass cut into his legs. Dammit. He hadn’t just broken one leg. He’d fucking nearly lost the second leg.

Jeremiah had known what he was doing after all. It hadn’t been the fire that hurt Cain. It had been the destruction. The heavy blasts that had sent walls tumbling onto him.

At least that bastard is dead. Blown into a thousand pieces. No vampire could come back from that.

Now if Cain could just save Eve.

He couldn’t feel her heartbeat beneath his fingers. “Eve?” He pressed harder against her chest. Had that been a heartbeat? A weak flutter? “Eve, don’t you do this to me!”

She didn’t respond.

The fire burned within him, raging higher as the fear spiked within his blood.

I’m losing her.

He couldn’t. He didn’t want to be without her.

Cain shook Eve. “Open your eyes.” She had to open her eyes. He had to see that she was okay. Before he left, before the fire took him, he had to be sure …

He choked on blood. Death wanted him. Death was fucking coming.

Wait.

He wasn’t ready for death.

“Open your eyes!”

Eve couldn’t die. She’d said—she’d said she loved him. No one had ever said that to him before. And … and he’d wanted to tell her that he loved her, too.

How could he not love her? The woman had obsessed him from the first. Addicted him. Damn near broken him with lust and need and then …

Then it had become more. Not just a physical need. He’d wanted to touch her all the time. To see her smile. To protect her. To make her happy.

Love. He hadn’t been given a whole lot of it in his life, but he’d recognized the emotion for what it was.

She was the only thing he’d ever loved in all his days. How was he supposed to lose her now?

He shook her harder. “Open your eyes!”

But she wasn’t. She was so cold, and even the heat from his skin didn’t seem to warm her.

Cain hunched over Eve’s body. “Please, don’t do this to me.” He hadn’t begged for anything before. Yet for Eve, he’d beg. For Eve, he would do anything.

Her lips parted. Her breath whispered out so softly.

“Eve?”

He bent his head over her. She was talking. She was still alive!

Her words were whisper quiet. Even with his enhanced hearing, he almost couldn’t hear them. Was almost afraid he’d imagined them.

“Love …” More a breath than a word.

His chest burned. Not from the fire swirling within him. But because Eve was ripping his heart out. “I love you,” he told her. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. His blood stained her face. “Eve, did you hear me? I said … I loved you. I. Love. You.” Don’t leave me.

“No … walk …”

What the hell was she talking about?

“On … beach …”

He lifted her against his chest. The sirens were coming closer. They won’t make it in time. He knew it, damn it. “We’ll walk on the beach,” he told her as he buried his face in the curve of her neck. His eyes burned, but not just from the fire. From tears.

He’d never shed tears before.

For her.

“We’ll walk on the beach,” he whispered, willing to promise her anything. “We’ll walk in the waves. I’ll hold you in the water. You’ll be so beautiful …”

She’d always been beautiful to him. Strong.

Perfect.

“I’ll hold your hand,” he whispered and pressed a kiss to her neck. Losing her. He tasted the salt on her skin. His tears. “And I’ll kiss you as the waves crash.”

Her heart wasn’t beating. She wasn’t speaking. Wasn’t moving at all. Her body was there, but he didn’t feel Eve any longer.

Gone.

His head lifted. Cain saw an ambulance and fire truck race toward them and come to a screeching halt. Help, finally arriving.

Humans were often too late.

He eased Eve’s head back and let it rest on the ground. He stared down at her face. When he rose from the flames, she’d be gone.

He’d be broken.

The humans were running toward them, but Cain shook his head. “Stay back. ”

They couldn’t help Eve. Not now. If they came closer, they’d just die, too.

Wasn’t that all his life was about? Death? Destruction?

With her, there’d been more. Without her …

Flames began to burn along his body. The fire wasn’t even waiting for death to take him.

Maybe death had already taken him.

Through the flames, he saw the humans freeze. They stumbled back, raising their hands into the air. His own hands were on Eve. He had to keep touching her, even though she was gone.

Gone.

The fire erupted, consuming him, and when hell reached for him with greedy claws, Cain didn’t fight.

The flames raced over her skin. Eve felt them, a warm touch along her body. Not pain.

She didn’t feel any pain, not anymore.

Her eyes opened. Fire was around her. Such chaos. A slow drumming began, shaking her chest, then growing faster, harder, filling her whole body.

She gasped, sucking in air, near starved for breath. She tasted flames. Smoke.

There were raised voices. Screaming for her. Telling her that help was there.

Where?

She sat up and saw the flames. The building—the building they’d been in had been destroyed, but she was just outside of the broken shell that remained. On the ground. Eve glanced down at her clothes. Even in the darkness she could see the blood that soaked her shirt.

Her blood. She’d been shot. The detective—he’d hit her accidentally. She’d been trying to help him and—

Her hand touched her chest. There was no wound. She started to shake. There should have been a wound. The bullet had ripped into her. There was a hole in her shirt from the impact.

And there was a bullet next to her on the ground.

She touched it carefully. Confused, lost, body trembling. “Cain.” His name slipped from her. Cain would tell her what had happened. He’d help her. He’d—

He was burning. Just a few feet away from her. She could see his body through the flames. Big, strong.

Eve rose to her feet. Hands were reaching for her, trying to pull her away from the fire and wreckage. She looked to the right. Saw a firefighter. An EMT was with him. They were walking, but she couldn’t hear them, not over the rush of the flames and the frantic beat of her own heart.

She was alive when she should be dead. And Cain—Cain …

“Come back to me,” she whispered.

Through the flames, she saw his head jerk.

“Come back to me!” Eve screamed even as the firefighter dragged her away from the blaze. No, he didn’t understand. The flames wouldn’t hurt her. Cain wouldn’t hurt her.

He’d saved her. Somehow, he had …

The tears of a phoenix …

The memory of Wyatt’s words whispered through her mind.

Holy hell. Had Cain … had he cried for her?

Her breath choked in her lungs. Eve shook her head, tried to surge up—and couldn’t move. She was being strapped down on a gurney.

“Relax, ma’am, you’re safe.” A woman gazed down at her. Blond, with big, wide brown eyes. “We’re getting you to a hospital. Okay? Just stop fighting us.”

But Eve couldn’t stop fighting. She had to get back to Cain.

Someone was cutting open her shirt. Another EMT.

“So much blood … but where’s the wound?” he demanded.

There wasn’t a wound. Not anymore. Richard Wyatt had been right. The bastard had actually been right …

I can’t get him to cry. No matter how much pain I give him.

Wyatt had never been able to break Cain, so there’d been no way to see if the phoenix had healing powers.

Maybe when you die … perhaps he’ll break then.

Had she died? Had Cain somehow brought her back?

His tears … legend has it that they can heal.

They had. Her breath choked out. The tears of a phoenix could cheat death. Only his physical pain hadn’t brought forth those tears. Something … else … had.

Love?

She tried to push up and look back at Cain, but the straps held her back. She could just make out the fire around him …

The firefighters were racing toward him.

And he—

Can he see me?

The ambulance doors slammed shut.

They were taking her from him.

Her heart still beats.

The beats called to him, the faintest whispers. She’d been alive. Watching him. Asking …

Come back to me.

Men in heavy masks were in his path. Trying to stop him from reaching her? Nothing could stop him.

No one.

He sent his fire at them. They ran back, screaming.

But the ambulance took her. Its sirens echoed in the night as it raced down the road.

No. Not getting away.

He wasn’t losing her.

The beast was out, and the man within only knew grief and desperation.

Get her. Need her.

He leaped into the air. Moved faster than he’d ever moved in his life. The fire gave him power. The beast gave him speed. When he hit the ground, the road buckled beneath him. He wasn’t behind the ambulance any longer. He was in front of it. The vehicle hurtled toward him, coming with lights flashing.

He lifted his hand.

Destroy.

It was what the beast wanted. The ambulance wasn’t slowing. Attacking me?

The fire flickered around his fingers, but from inside, buried so deep, the man’s thoughts pushed through the rage.

Eve. Inside. Get her.

The ambulance driver braked the vehicle. A squeal of tires. The scent of burning rubber.

The driver stared at Cain in horror. Saw the flames around him. Then the man leaped from the ambulance and ran away.

Cain stalked forward.

Get her.

He reached the back of the ambulance. Yanked open the door. Eve. She was strapped down. A man was shoving a needle into her arm.

No.

A roar filled his ears. A roar that came from within. He reached for that man. Kill. The flames licked on the man’s skin. He screamed. Begged.

“Stop!” Eve’s voice.

The flames flickered.

The human scrambled back.

Cain jumped into the ambulance. Tore away the bonds that held her down and yanked her into his arms.

“Let her go!” A woman’s voice. He didn’t know that voice. Didn’t know that woman.

He only knew Eve.

The other woman was reaching for him. Trying to take Eve back.

He needed Eve. There was too much darkness. He could barely breathe. Barely think.

Need.

“Stay away from us,” Eve said. “Just stay away!”

The words drove into his skull. Pain exploded inside him and—

Eve put her arms around him. Her shirt was ripped open. Cut open? Her warm, soft skin pressed against him. “Just stay away. He isn’t going to hurt me.”

She was alive. Her words—they hadn’t been for him. She wanted to be with him.

He carried her from the ambulance. Carried her down the street. Past the cops and the ambulances.

While most were smart enough to stay the hell back, one man came racing toward them.

“Not now!” Eve yelled at him.

The man—ash-stained clothing, desperate eyes, the stench of wolf on him …

He’d shot Eve. The memory whispered through Cain’s mind.

“Keep everyone back,” Eve called out. “His control … it’s too weak now. Keep them back.”

Cain wanted that man to come closer. Come taste the fire. “That one will burn,” he promised, voice a rasp. “So slowly.”

Eve’s arms tightened around him. “No. You aren’t hurting him. You aren’t hurting anyone.”

He would. He’d make that bastard scream in agony and—

Eve caught the back of his head. Forced his lips down to hers. She kissed him.

He could taste the tears on her lips.

Tears? Eve was crying?

I almost lost her.

He remembered the taste of salt on her skin. Remembered being broken. Ready for hell.

Then …

I heard her heartbeat.

She’d come back, so he’d fought hell to get to her.

His mouth opened on hers. Desperate. So hungry. He kissed her. Again and again. Deep. Hard. Consuming.

The roar in his ears—that was the pounding of his blood. The beast fighting the man. But Eve was in his arms. Eve was kissing him. Eve was alive.

He pushed back the darkness. He held her tighter. Her body slid down against his. Flesh pressed to flesh. He didn’t care about the others around him.

Only her.

She was the only thing that had ever mattered.

Eve pulled her mouth from his. She stared up at him with eyes so wide. What did she see?

Flames in his gaze?

A beast and a man?

Eve smiled at him. “Let’s get out of here,” she told him, voice soft and tender.

Maybe it was to protect the humans. Maybe she wanted him away from innocents. Right then, he didn’t care. He just needed to be with her.

Had to be with her.

“Eve!” The detective’s voice. Rage built in Cain, grew.

But the cop tossed her a pair of keys. Eve caught then in her left hand and closed her fingers into a fist around them. The cop pointed to a black truck on the right.

Other cops tried to move forward, but Roberts lifted his hand. “Bad fucking plan, trust me. Let him go for now, if you want to keep living.”

The cops stopped advancing. Cain lowered Eve to the ground, and she led him to the truck. Fire trailed in his wake.

They fled the chaos. Driving fast and hard. Eve’s hand was in his. Her body pressed against his. He could hold onto his sanity for just a little longer. Until they were away from the humans …

For just a little longer.

He could fight the darkness. As long as Eve was at his side, he could fight any damn thing.

Silken skin. Moans. The press of her lips against his.

Cain felt the sensations on his body. They soothed him. She soothed him. Sanity was coming back. Moment by moment. Memories. Needs. Emotions.

Everything centered around Eve. He knew everything always would.

He’d driven them for hours. He’d had one destination in mind. Just one …

The beach.

He’d had to get her there. Had to be with her. So he’d driven until he’d smelled the ocean air. The salt water. Until he’d heard the cry of seagulls.

They were the only ones on the beach. The sun was rising. Eve was naked, pressing her body against his.

Her eyes were on him, and she stared at him with such a gentle gaze. No fear. She should have been afraid.

Had she ever feared him?

He’d feared her. He’d known that without her …

“I’m not going anywhere.” She kissed him again. Her hips were over his. Her knees digging into the sand. “Not … anywhere.” She took him inside her in one long, slow glide. Her hands were against his, pushing them back onto the sand. The sky above her was shot with red and gold. Just like fire.

She began to move on him, lifting her body, then pushing down against him. His cock was heavy, aching, and each movement made him even harder for her.

He could think again. Could focus past the rage and desperation. She was alive. Some way—alive.

His hips drove into her. Maybe too hard, but she didn’t pull away. She smiled. Arched back against him. Took him deeper.

His groan filled the air, merging with the crashing waves. She lowered her chest against his. Her nipples slid over him, tight peaks, and her mouth took his.

Cain took control. He rolled her beneath him, letting the sand cushion her back. His tongue pushed into her mouth and the strokes of his body within hers pounded faster. He couldn’t hold back. Not now.

With her, maybe not ever.

He wanted her to feel the pleasure first. His fingers stroked between her thighs. Stroked over the center of her need. He pumped into her. Thrust his tongue into her mouth.

Her sex clenched around him, and she stiffened.

Yes.

He knew her so well. Could tell every sweet move of her body. Loved the ripple of her release.

“Cain.”

His name whispered from her lips. She did that to him—made him a man, not a beast.

The pleasure hit him, brutal, total, consuming. He held on to her even as he pounded into her core.

Eve.

His breath was ragged, his body weak, but he lifted his head and stared down at her.

She was smiling.

She made him want to smile, too.

“I love you, Cain,” Eve said.

He kissed her. Tasted the truth on her lips. Somehow, someway, she actually did love him.

Only fair, considering that she was his whole fucking world. “I love you,” he told her, but wondered if the words were a lie. Love—too tame a word for the way he felt about her. Too easy. His feelings for her were wild, intense, damn near terrifying.

Not just love. It felt like more.

Her fingers curled around his neck. “You saved me.”

No. Not even close. Cain shook his head.

Her smile widened. “You did, Cain. You cried for me, didn’t you?”

The taste of salt on her neck.

“The tears of a phoenix can heal. Wyatt was right about that.” A sad sigh eased from her. “Just wrong about everything else.”

Wrong. Twisted. So desperate for his experiments … even though he’d been tortured by those same experiments when he’d been just a boy.

He hadn’t been the only Wyatt to make a monster. It looked like his dear old father had been the first to start the business.

You made your own son into a killer. A true monster.

When he’d been just a kid.

Cain would never do that to his own child. If he ever had a child, if Eve ever wanted … I’d be better. He could protect, not just destroy.

Did Eve know that?

He gazed down at her, saw the trust shining in her eyes, and understood that she did.

Cain realized that he liked the way he looked—from her eyes.

“What happens now?” he asked her.

A shadow of pain slid across her face. “Did you see—did Trace make it out?”

He didn’t know. Couldn’t remember what had become of the werewolf after the explosion. His focus had been on her. “The cop got out. Maybe Trace did, too.” He’d offer her hope, always.

Eve nodded.

“They’ll be looking for me now.”

They. Not Genesis. That organization was dead. Jeremiah Wyatt had blown it—and himself—to hell. And you don’t get a ticket back, bastard.

But the humans who’d been on that scene, they’d all gotten a clear look at him. Seen the fury and power that lurked inside him.

Subject Thirteen had a face. A face they would fear.

“You don’t have to hide,” Eve told him. “Not from me. Not from them.”

He’d never hide from her. But as for the others … “They’ll want me dead.”

“Then it’s a good thing you can’t die.”

Her words caught him off guard. He’d expected a plan, not—not her fast, caustic reply.

Cain laughed. The sound was rusty, old, but the laughter built inside him.

Eve blinked, then her eyes widened. “This is what I wanted,” she whispered.

The laughter faded slowly. This is what happiness feels like. No wonder humans went around smiling all the freaking time.

It felt good.

“You are what I want,” he told her. “When I thought that I’d lost you …”

No, he didn’t want to go back there. To the hopeless moments. He’d known only fury. Agony. Can’t lose her.

Won’t.

“Don’t ever get hurt again,” he ordered. He didn’t think he could stand it. And any humans around at the time of her pain … well, they might not be able to stand it, either.

“I’ll try not to,” she said softly, with a hint of a smile playing around her lips. “But, ah, can you do me a favor, too? Maybe … stop dying on me.”

Cain wasn’t sure how many more deaths he could survive. How much more darkness he could take.

Not true.

The knowledge sank inside him. He could die a hundred more times, he knew that. Die and come back—as long as she waited for him. “Stay with me,”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

There was no other place for him. He only wanted to be at her side. Always. He brought her hand to his lips. Kissed her knuckles.

He rose. Pulled her to her feet. He was aware of the darkness, lurking in the back of his mind, but with Eve’s hand in his, that darkness stayed in the background.

There wasn’t any death on the beach. No fear. No rage. Just Eve.

Just … hope.

For more.

Her fingers twined with his as they walked toward the ocean. His feet sank into the sand. Eve’s shoulder brushed against his arm.

There would be no more hiding in the shadows. Not for him. But the more he thought about it, the more Cain realized that he didn’t care. He’d find a way to deal with the humans.

He had something better than anonymity. He had life.

He had Eve.

Cain kissed her and the passion stirred once more between them.

How he did love that sweet burn.

Eve.

Finally, he’d found someone who could look past the fire. Someone who wasn’t afraid of the heat. Someone who’d always been meant to be—

Mine.

Just as he’d been meant to be hers.

Together, through fire, through death.

Through life.