Night Unbound(92)

Sheldon passed them in the hallway, Tracy’s scent all over him.
Interesting. Lisette made a mental note to remind Tracy of Immortal Guardians’ heightened sense of smell.
Zach took them unerringly to an empty quiet room.
Lisette didn’t know if Zach had just made a lucky guess—most of the quiet rooms had been occupied of late—or if he was so powerful that he could hear what the others couldn’t and had known no one slept within.
Into the large bedroom he guided her, then closed the door behind them.
Butterflies fluttered in Lisette’s belly. This was the first time Zach had truly been angry with her. She wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
“Zach—”
She only managed to get the one word out before he backed her into the door, slipped a hand around to cup the nape of her neck, and brought his lips down on hers in a ferocious kiss.
Fire flashed through her, igniting her blood and shortening her breath. She parted her lips, her insides melting at the first stroke of his tongue. Rising onto her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him.
“Zach,” she whispered.
He bent his knees and locked an arm around her. When he straightened, he took her with him, her feet rising to dangle a good foot or more above the floor.
Abandoning her nape, he lowered his hand to her ass and urged her to wrap her legs around him.
Lisette did so eagerly, already wet and aching for him as she rubbed against the hard bulge of his arousal.
Zach’s lips left hers. His eyes shone a vibrant gold as he stared down at her, the emotion they contained a mystery. “Don’t ever . . . ever . . . ever defy me again,” he ordered, voice hoarse.
She frowned. “Zach—”
“I’m not saying it to be a hard-ass. I’m saying it because . . .” He buried his face in her neck and squeezed her tighter against him. “You don’t know what it did to me to see you fall that night. To not be able to awaken you. To reach into your thoughts and find nothing but silence. Darkness.” His grip tightened to the point of pain as he swallowed hard. “To hear that same silence, day after day after day and not know if there would ever be anything else. To not know if you would ever again open your eyes. Say my name. Wrap your arms around me and dispel the cold.”
Moisture blurred her vision as his agonized voice rumbled in her ear.
“You can’t let yourself be tranqed again, Lisette. You can’t.”
“I won’t,” she vowed.
He shook her slightly. “Don’t make promises you won’t keep. If I tell you to stay on the roof, then stay on the fucking roof. If I tell you to run, then run,” he commanded, his torment carrying to her loud and clear. “We have no way of knowing if they’ll up the dosage again. If they increase it even a little bit and you’re hit with a dart, we may not be able to bring you back.”
Chilled by the thought, she nodded. “I will. I’ll do as you say.” She would rather duck and run for the first time in her immortal life and let Zach fight her battles for her than end up lost forever in a dark mental void. Or destroyed. Particularly since the drug didn’t affect him.
“I don’t want to be left with nothing but a pile of your clothing, Lisette,” he murmured. “I don’t think I could handle it.” He fisted a hand in the back of her shirt. “I think I would lay waste to the world if I lost you.”
Tears burned her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she wheezed, chest constricted by his words as much as his tight hold.
Giving a little start, he relaxed his grip and raised his head to peer down at her with furrowed brow. “I’m sorry. Was I hurting you?”
She smiled. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. I don’t ever want to hurt you.”
“Zach, you were just cutting off my air a little. Don’t worry about it.” When he opened his mouth to protest, Lisette stole a quick kiss. “I’m sorry I didn’t take greater care earlier. I should have listened to you and not let my curiosity get the better of me.”
“Curiosity?”
“I wanted to see what you were doing to the vampire.”
“I was turning his brain to mush, searching for answers.”
She wrinkled her nose. Then a disquieting thought arose. “Wait. You didn’t do that to the telepath you gave a nosebleed, did you? You didn’t turn his brain to mush?”
“Of course not.”
Whew! “Just checking.”
He smiled. Easily supporting her weight with one hand, he raised the other and drew gentle fingers down her cheek. “I really do love you, you know.”
Her heart swelled in her chest. “I know. I love you, too.”