Darkness Unleashed (Guardians of Eternity #5)(14)

It was not the fact that it was easily defensible, or that there was a ready supply of fresh water, however, that made the cave seemed like a paradise, Jagr decided.

It was the armful of warm Were he had tucked close to his body as he lay on the hard floor.

Leaning on his elbow, Jagr studied Regan’s finely carved features. In sleep they appeared even more unbearably fragile. Her skin was a flawless ivory stretched over the perfectly formed brow and tiny nose. Her lips were lush, when not tightened with anger, and her lashes a thick curtain as they lay against her cheeks.

So lovely.

So breathtaking.

And so terrifying in her ability to fascinate him.

Jagr shook his head. He’d lived for centuries. Beautiful women had drifted in and out of his life with predictable regularity. But none had possessed the golden innocence of her soul. An innocence that the tortured darkness in him craved. As if her purity could soothe away the festering shadows.

And of course, there was the fierce, relentless courage that had allowed her to survive her years of torture.

Culligan had wounded her, but he had never broken her.

He was one of the few who could truly appreciate what it had cost her.

She was completely and utterly unique. A creature like no other he had ever encountered.

A strange hint of warning whispered to his heart. An instinctive awareness that his behavior since arriving in Hannibal was…uncharacteristic. The grim control and cool logic that had ruled him for centuries was being undermined by the tiny, ferocious Were currently snuggled against him.

He wasn’t sure whether he should be furious or terrified.

Certainly he shouldn’t have been…smug. As if he’d found a treasure that he hadn’t expected and didn’t even know he desired.

Perhaps sensing his inner conflict, Regan stirred against his chest. Jagr tightened his grip.

They had barely arrived at the cave when Regan had collapsed in exhaustion. For all her power and stubborn determination, she’d pushed herself too hard for too long and her body had simply shut down.

Without hesitation, Jagr had carried her to the back of the cave, placing her against the wall and lying down so he was between her unconscious form and the distant entrance. Nothing would be allowed to get to her without coming through him first.

At the time he’d told himself it was for her protection. He had made a pledge to keep her safe, and by the gods, that’s what he would do.

But no matter how he tried to twist logic, he knew it wasn’t a mere need to protect that led him to tenderly cradle her in his arms, or to awaken well before sunset just so he could study her pale, perfect face.

With a flutter, she lifted her thick tangle of lashes, revealing the emerald eyes that were still clouded by sleep.

There was a moment as she struggled to recall why she was lying in a strange cave in the arms of a vampire, a renegade hint of sensual awareness darkening her gaze before reality crashed through her fog, and she was angrily shoving her hands against his chest.

“What the hell…let me go.”

Jagr was caught off guard by the force of her blow, nearly losing his grip before he could roll on top of her and use his considerable weight to control her attempts to escape.

Her strength had returned with a vengeance.

Along with her temper.

A pity, since he could think of far better means of passing the next few minutes than fighting with the beautiful Were.

Ignoring the stirring of his body, Jagr met Regan’s furious glare with a stoic determination.

“Not until the sun has completely set. I won’t allow you to leave the cave until I can accompany you.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “You let me sleep the entire day?”

“Your mind is too strong. I can’t control your sleep patterns. You were obviously in need of the rest.”

“Dammit.” She wriggled beneath him. Jagr swallowed a groan at the delicious friction. “Let me go. Culligan could be miles away by now.”

It took his endless years of self-discipline and restraint to ignore the firm, deliciously female body beneath him. For now his biting need was secondary to keeping Regan safe.

Something he couldn’t ensure if she bolted from the cave and into the lingering sunset.

“Then a few minutes won’t matter,” he pointed out with the cool tones that seemed to set Regan’s teeth on edge. So long as she was contemplating the best means to stick a stake in his heart, she wasn’t plotting the means to escape him.

Predictably her face flushed with fury. “I’ll never forgive my sister for inflicting you on me. I bet she sent you to get you out of her…”

Before he could leash the impulse, his head was dipping down to capture her mouth in a silencing kiss. How else could he halt the angry tirade without physical harm? A noble goal that was swiftly undermined by the intoxicating heat that flared through his body.

This kiss had nothing to do with silencing Regan, and everything to do with the ravenous hunger that flared through him with a painful force.

He wanted this woman.

He wanted to stroke his lips over every inch of her pure, ivory skin. He wanted to kiss and lick and nibble over every delectable curve. He wanted to be buried deep inside her as he sank his fangs into her neck and drank of her potent blood.

More than anything, he wanted to hear those low, husky cries as she reached her climax.