Walk on the Striped Side (22 page)

Gage’s movements were starting to become frantic. He
was so close that she could feel his body trembling in anticipation. Elena kept
up her rapid cadence while sliding both hands back up his chest where she
grabbed both of his nipples in her hands. He snarled at her because of their
bruised sensitivity and she gave him a snarl of her own back as she pinched
both of them simultaneously.

He roared, she laughed. “I’m going to win this round,
kitty.”

“NO. I will outlast you.”

“Not a chance, Gar-field.” Elena knew what she was
going to do next would be a mix of sweet and plain,
ol
’
mean, yet she couldn’t wait to push him over the edge. Already she felt her
center fluttering around him in impending orgasm and she wanted Gage to come
with her. As she leaned forward and sank her teeth into his chest to give him a
love bite, he went wild beneath her.

Elena heard the crack of wood, but didn’t bother to
look up and see if he’d broken the headboard. She just kept sinking up and down
on his engorged flesh as she leaned backwards. In that instant, she saw two
things that made her burn hotter than she ever had before. One, she’d left a
pretty impression of her teeth behind on his skin as a souvenir. Two, Gage had
not only broken the wooden slat on his headboard, but he had snapped the chain
on the cuffs, as well. His hands were now free, the tips of his claws out and
simultaneously clutching and shredding the comforter beneath him.

Gage was snarling denials at her now, taunting her
with his stamina and how she wouldn’t make him lose control in time, but Elena
also knew he was full of shit. He was almost there and she was about to send
him soaring over into his orgasm.

Leaning back, she braced one hand on the top of
Gage’s thigh and grabbed her feathered wand with her other hand. Holding the
top of the wand just under the feather, she brought her hand closer to the
juncture of his thighs, though she didn’t touch him yet. She had one last thing
to do before she
startled
her poor kitty.

“Gage,” she panted as she sunk down on his length.

“WHAT?” he growled.

Letting all of her emotions, her lust, her passion,
her affection and love shine through her eyes, she said the words. “I love
you.”

She felt his body tense under her and then she brought
the feather up and tickled his balls with it. Gage’s hips arched both in
surprise and instant orgasm and he threw his head back and roared until his
voice was hoarse. The sight of him in the throes of ecstasy sent her over on
her own orgasm and she clamped down, convulsing around him as she screamed his
name. Her completion rolled over her in explosive waves that racked her body
with small tremors.

Unable to hold herself up anymore, she collapsed down
on his chest, uncaring that they were both a bit sweaty now from their love
making.

A hard hand grasped her hair and pulled her head back
so that she had to look at Gage. When she did, he once again demanded, “Say the
words.”

No sooner had
the ‘s’
in
‘words’ been spoken than his timer alarm went off. He reached over without
looking and tapped the screen to turn it off, keeping his eyes glued to hers.

It was time for her to take that final leap of faith
and hope like hell that he didn’t break her with his answer. “I love you, Gage.
Now will you please tell me why you pushed me away two years ago?”

CHAPTER-TWENTY-FIVE

Gage

Dreading that this moment had finally come, he
pondered the best way to break the news. He didn’t want to tell her the truth,
however honesty was the best policy in this situation. He’d been hoping that
she’d figure it out on her own instead of him having to tell her. His Amazon
was too impatient for that, though.

Not knowing what he could say to soften the oncoming
blow, he gave her the reality of their situation. “You, Elena, are the beginning
to my end.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means I’ve lived two hundred sixty-two years
never worrying about what tomorrow would bring, thinking I would live forever
to do whatever it was that you do in life, and in no hurry at all about doing
any of it. Then you came along. After six months with you, I realized that I’d
gotten in too deep; come to crave you too much. There were moments in my day
that I wanted you more than I wanted my next breath… and that was the problem.

“Mating myself to a human with a finite lifespan was
basically signing my own eventual death warrant because, the moment you take
your last breath, I will cease to want to keep breathing that same air. So I
did something cowardly and pushed you away, thinking I was saving myself when
all I did was condemn myself to something much worse. A life less lived. A life
without you. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I would rather live and
love you in the span of your human lifetime than live without you for the rest
of mine.”

He could almost feel the pain radiating off her as
she realized what he was saying.

Closing his eyes against the tragedy that was their
situation, he chose to look at what he did have instead of what he wouldn’t
have. He wouldn’t have immortality with the woman that was meant for him in
every way, however he would have all of her days. Wasn’t that so much more than
an eternity of emptiness?

He ran his hand through her hair in soothing strokes,
but he knew it would only soften the emotional blow a little. When he felt the
small, wet drop hit his naked chest and smelled the salt that accompanied the
tear, he felt like someone had taken a thousand razor blades to his insides and
torn him to shreds. He’d give anything, absolutely ANYTHING, to spare her this
pain.

He heard a feminine sniffle that was definitely a
sound he’d never expected to hear from his fierce Amazon and then felt a few
more tears hit his skin.

When she spoke, her voice was hoarse, both from their
previous pleasure and her current pain. “I don’t want you to die for me, Gage.
If I’d known why you’d pushed me away, I would have never pushed my way back
into your life.”

He fisted his hand in her hair and once again turned
her head until he forced her to look at him. “It wouldn’t have mattered, Elena.
I’d gone two years without you and I was miserable. I might not have admitted
it to myself yet, but it was only a matter of time before I would have tracked
you down. Don’t you get what I’m trying to tell you, baby? I don’t want to live
this life without you. You are the thing that makes it worth living, and I mean
it when I say that I’m content having just one lifetime with you because, baby,
that’s all we need. We’re going to live and love so hard and so much, living
each day to its fullest, that the world will envy our love story even if it is
short. And when that time comes that I follow you off this earth, I’ll die the
happiest man this world has ever seen because I’ll have had you by my side for
all of those days in between now and then. Now give me the words. I want to
hear them again.”

With tears running down her cheeks, her nose running,
and the most devastated expression he’d ever seen on
anyone ,
she was still more dazzling than any jewel he’d ever seen. More precious than
any treasure he’d ever owned and more important than any victory he’d ever won
on a battle field. She was quite simply, everything.

“I love you, Gage Ivanov.”

“I love you, too, mate.”

Now he had to make sure that she didn’t try to leave
him in a warped attempt to save his life.

CHAPTER-TWENTY-SIX

Elena

How could someone be both happier than they’d ever
been and utterly heartbroken? The combination seemed impossible, and yet, as
she lay there cuddled next to Gage, that was exactly how she felt. The
happiness she was feeling? That explanation was easy. He loved her and he
basically always had. Hearing it that morning had finally patched together the
broken pieces of her heart that she’d thought were too damaged and too jaded to
ever be repaired.

Of course, the truth he’d given her to make her happy
had also crushed her in the same breath. If Gage stayed with her—mated her as
shifters liked to call it—then she would be the cause of his death. Women the
world over cooed about how men lived and breathed for the women they loved in
romance novels and how they would give anything to have a man like that—a man
who would give his life up so that he could be with his woman. Elena could only
think that the reality of being the cause of your man’s death wasn’t as
romantic as those books made it out to be.

Gage’s chest rose and fell underneath her cheek with
his deep, even breathing, inadvertently reminding her just what was at stake
here. Could she really do this? Could she sign his proverbial death warrant?
The bigger question was, if she walked away again, would he let her go?
Something told her no, he wouldn’t. He’d already literally handcuffed her to
keep her at his side. If she tried to leave him, Elena had a feeling that
handcuffs would be the least of her worries. He might chain her inside the
house and never let her step foot outside of it again.

So what was the solution here? What in the fuck was
she supposed to do? She needed time to think. She could use a little space from
Gage so that she could think about this clearly, however with as paranoid as he
was about her leaving him, she was pretty sure hell would freeze over before
she got that space.

Fingers shifted through her hair and then his sleep
laden voice rumbled, “I know you’re awake.”

Needing the touch of his skin on hers for comfort,
Elena rolled on top of Gage so that her head was now cradled on her arms on top
of his chest and she was looking down at him. “How long have you been awake,
cat?”

His hands snaked up her back and he started lazily
circling her back. “Longer than you.”

She snorted at his non-answer.

Unsure what to say or how to broach the subject, she
hesitated. “Gage… we have a lot to sort through today.”

He paused from stroking her skin and froze underneath
her. When his hand finally moved off her back, she thought it was because he
was going to resume his petting, but a hard slap landed on her backside
instead.

“
Ow
! What the fuck was that
for?”

“We’ve got to get our asses up and going, woman.
You’re right. We have a lot to get done today.” He rolled her off him, stopped
long enough to drop a kiss on her forehead, and then got out of bed.

Elena lay there and listened to him move around the
room while she stared at the white ceiling, a bit confused. That had gone over
easier than she’d thought it would. She’d thought for sure that Gage would
fight her on any kind of conversation she wanted to have about them and what
he’d told her earlier that morning. So what did this turnabout mean? She opened
her mouth to ask him just that when clothes hit her right in the face.

Sputtering, she pulled the garment off her face and
snapped, “What was that for?”

He gave her a grin that would have melted her panties
clear off, if she’d been wearing any. “Get your lazy ass up, woman. I need to
get you caffeinated and fed so you’re not grumpier than normal and then we have
to take care of this Ninth Circle business. I want to get this bullshit off our
plates so we can move on and make plans.”

A little perplexed, Elena asked, “Plans?”

He shook his head as if she were a small child and he
was wondering if he needed to whip out a sheet of paper and his colored crayons
to break this down for her kindergarten-style. “Yes,
plans
,” he mock
growled. “We need to talk about whether you just want a mating, or if you want
to get married, too. All of those silly human traditions society has. I figured
you wouldn’t want a big wedding or anything, but with those crazy sisters of
yours, I’m not going to assume anything.” He pointed a finger at her. “If we
get married, I get to pick where we’re going on our honeymoon. And if we don’t
get married, I’m still taking you on a honeymoon to celebrate our mating and I
pick that, too.”

Elena sat there on the bed, completely shell shocked.
Wedding? Honeymoon? MATING?
She was over there contemplating whether she
was going to make herself leave him so she didn’t kill him and he was planning
their fucking honeymoon? Her sanity checked right the hell out.

“
Have you lost your fucking mind
?” she
screeched.

Leaning against his dresser, wearing nothing other
than a pair of basketball shorts, he crossed his arms over his chest and gave
her a blank look. “Not at all, mate. Why do you ask?”

She dropped the shirt he’d thrown at her head,
completely forgetting that she was sitting there completely naked, and gripped
her hair in both hands out of sheer desperation. “This morning you told me that
you’re going to goddamn
die
if you stay with me and you want to know why
I think it’s crazy that you’re talking about a
honeymoon?
There are more important things to talk about than a honeymoon that may or may
not happen, Gage! We need to sit down and talk about what we’re going to
fucking do here. Do you really think I can stay with you knowing that I’d cause
your death?”

Between one breath and the next he had her on her back
and pinned to the bed. His angry face was hovering over hers with that look
that said he was absolutely not to be fucked with right then.

His voice was full of silky menace when he spoke.
“Yes, the most important thing for us to talk about is our honeymoon because
the shit you just spewed is what we’re
not
going to be talking about.
There’s nothing to fucking discuss here, Elena. The die has already been cast
and our fate is already sealed. There’s nothing you can say or do to change my mind,
so don’t bother trying to leave me— I’ll only hunt your ass down and drag you
back—and don’t think your aunts can hide you away from me to save my life.
Because I can
guaran
-damn-tee you that, even if you
did manage to get away from me and hide yourself where I can’t find you, the
loss of you would drive me insane. My brother would be forced to put me down.”

Tightening his hands around her wrists, he pressed
them into his bed and snarled, “You are
mine
, Elena. You may not have a
mate bite yet, but it doesn’t matter because in all other ways you are my mate.
Do you understand? My heart, my soul, my sanity, my
motherfucking life
.
You are
my everything
and you will not leave me.”

Elena’s breathing was ragged, however Gage’s was slow
and steady. She was about to crawl out of her skin with insanity and he was
staring back at her with grim resolve. She was panicking and he was as he
always was, steady as a rock.

“How can you be so calm about this, Gage? So
nonchalant?” she cried. “We’re talking about your death. You’re immortal; we
should never be talking about your death!”

His hands came up and cradled her face where he used
his thumbs to wipe away her tears. “I am calm because death does not scare me.
The only thing that scares me is a life without you. Nothing else matters.”

His words caused her to cry harder, therefore he
tried to soothe her by rolling to his side and holding her in his arms. She lay
like that with him for who knows how long until she had no more tears to cry
and the harsh reality of his fate had settled on her conscious like a black
mark against her soul. She was both blessed and cursed. Weighed with chains of
guilt and remorse, and yet, strangely free.

Elena couldn’t leave him to save his life, so she
would stay with him and enjoy his love for as long as they lived. And in doing
so, she would kill the man she loved.

Eventually, Gage put a finger underneath her chin and
raised her tear-stained face to force her to look at him. “Promise me you won’t
leave me.”

She licked her lips nervously and answered carefully,
“I won’t leave you, but I also refuse to give up on finding a way for you to
survive past my death. Can you understand my need to do that?”

He studied her closely before answering, “You can
search the world over for an answer as long as you don’t leave my side to do
it.” That was as much of a concession as she was going to get from her stubborn
tiger.

“Okay.”

He caressed the side of her face. “We do have to
clear Lulu’s name today and get that over with before the situation gets any worse.
Are you ready to get out of bed and face this with me?”

She nodded. “I think that situation is going to be
easier to fix than we’d thought. If I remember what I read of the Council’s
laws, all we have to do is cast reasonable doubt to delay her being taken into
custody by them, correct?”

Gage nodded. “If we can produce another suspect,
they’ll have to investigate them. Why? Do you have one?”

“Yes. Before you decided to turn all caveman and
kidnap me, Lulu had just informed me of some photographic evidence she has that
the murdered demon’s wife was having an affair. If we get those photos from her
and turn them over to the council, that should be enough evidence to cast
reasonable doubt, right? Your sister thinks it was the lover that killed him
anyways.”

Gage gave a bloodthirsty grin. “You’re damned right
that’s enough. Did Lulu’s lover know his wife was having an affair?”

“Yes. He also knew that his wife was pregnant, but he
told Lulu he was sure the baby was his.”

“So there’s a good chance Andrew Holden confronted
his wife about the affair. If he did, the wife might have decided it was time
for him to go. She could have worked with her lover on a plan to kill him.
Especially if the baby wasn’t Holden’s.”

The information might see circumstantial, yet with
the photos, it should be enough to stop the Ninth Circle Council from moving
forward on trying to have Lulu detained and tortured.

“Let’s go get those pictures from my sister and show
those stuck up, aristocratic demons where they can take their evidence and
shove it.” Giving her another playful slap on the ass, he hopped out of the bed
with renewed purpose while bellowing, “Get your ass moving, Amazon! I’m ready
to show those pencil pushers they fucked with the wrong tiger!”

***

Six hours later, they were still sitting in the
waiting room outside of the Ninth Circle Council’s meeting room, waiting for an
audience. Well, Elena was sitting. Gage was doing his best impersonation of a
caged tiger at a carnival, pacing back and forth, back and forth, while snarling
and complaining. Not that she could blame him.

Both of them had come straight here after picking up
the copies of the photos from Lulu and they’d yet to be seen by the demons. The
more time that passed, the more Elena suspected there was more going on here
than they’d previously believed. Why else would the council ignore their
summons for a meeting like this?

Elena’s cell phone chimed with another text from
Chloe. They’d had a steady conversation for the past few hours about the lack
of progress on Lulu’s case and the way the demons were giving her and Gage the
runaround.

Help will be there any minute
.

Elena stared at the message. What the hell did she
mean? Who exactly would be able to come and help them?

Ten minutes later, she had her answer and she didn’t
know whether to laugh or die of shock.

Kent strolled into the waiting room with a determined
stride and stopped in front of a curious Gage. Elena didn’t really know the man
since she’d only met him a couple of times, but she could guess by the look on
Gage’s face that this wasn’t the demon’s normal scene. Despite her mate’s
surprise, she had to admit that he certainly looked like he belonged in this
stuffy hellhole.

His brown hair was slicked back and he was wearing a
black three piece suit with a white shirt and a blood red tie. He looked like
the typical upper-crust citizen except for that five o’clock shadow on his jaw
and the displeased look on his face. Both of those things screamed he’d rather
have been drinking a beer in front of a ball game instead of standing right
there.

He was sexy and dangerous in the sense that one
didn’t see him as a threat until it was already too late. If Chloe had gotten
herself wrapped up with this guy, Elena wasn’t sure who she felt sorrier for,
Chloe or Kent.

“I hear they’re avoiding you two?” Kent asked.

“What kind of games are they playing here, demon? You
should go in there and warn them not to fuck with my family. I’ll start ripping
spines out and tearing heads off if they keep this shit up.”

Kent shrugged. “You’ve been around long enough to
know that the Ninth Circle is and will always be up to something. I hear you
have evidence that casts doubt on the charges against your sister.”

Gage held up the manila envelope between them that
contained the pictures Lulu had given them.

Holding his hand out, Kent asked, “May I?”

Gage handed the pictures over reluctantly and watched
the demon closely as he opened the flap and pulled the pictures out to flip
through them. Besides his obvious distaste for being there, the demon schooled
his features so that she couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he looked at the
images. He didn’t take long before he stopped analyzing them and looked back at
Gage with a new, somewhat resigned face.