Taking Eve(45)

“I’m sure I will, too.” He walked toward the street, not looking back at Caleb, his gaze searching for a taxi.

Dammit, he didn’t like the idea of not leaving Jane in safe hands. Caleb had always been an unknown quantity, and what they did know was vaguely terrifying. But Jane had never been afraid of Caleb, and she was the one who had brought him back into their lives. She was going to have to take care of herself until he found out what had happened to Eve.

After that, he could concentrate on monitoring the actions of Seth Caleb and trying to keep him from harming Jane either physically or emotionally.

Blood on the grass.

He hailed a cab and jumped into the backseat. “Airport.”

* * *

CALEB …

Jane’s eyes focused on him sitting in a chair across the hospital room. It was dim in the room, and he was more shadow than substance. It didn’t matter. She could never mistake Caleb for anyone else. The grace, the leanness, the explosive vitality that was present even when held in leash.

“What … are you doing here?” she asked drowsily.

“Being bored. You’re not being very entertaining.” He got to his feet and strolled across the room. “I told Quinn that I didn’t want to unduly stimulate you, but I thought you’d at least be awake part of the time. You’ve been asleep for hours. How do you feel?”

“Like hell.” There was a sharp, nagging pain in her shoulder. But she didn’t feel drugged as she had before. She’d take the pain over that fuzziness anytime. Her senses were sharp and alive. “You don’t have to be here. Go … away.”

“In a few more hours. I’m guarding you. Can’t you tell?”

“No.”

“I arranged for a local security company to send a couple men to watch your room, but until then, you’ve got me.” He was close enough now for her to see his smile. “Aren’t you lucky?”

“Don’t need you.”

“I don’t think that you need watching either. If that sniper really wanted you dead, he’d have tried to do it before you started to leave the island.” He reached out, and his forefinger touched her cheek. “But I can’t be sure, and I’m not going to give you up because of a mistake in judgment.”

“Then be quiet and let me go to sleep.” There was heat beneath that finger on her flesh and she couldn’t decide if that heat was pleasant or hurtful. Perhaps it was both.

But she didn’t want him to take his hand away, she realized.

“You’re hurting.” He rubbed his finger gently over the curve of her cheekbone. “Why don’t you relax, and I’ll make it go away? I can do it, you know.”

She didn’t doubt that he could. She had experienced a little of that weird talent that Caleb seemed to possess. It was all connected with the pulsation of the blood, but that pulsation appeared to control everything from thought processes to sexual responses. “It’s not necessary. If I want to get something for the pain, I’ll call the nurse.”

“But you won’t do that. You’re too spartan.” His thumb touched the corner of her lips. “When I donated blood for you, I was too tense to think about it at the time, but now I’m beginning to appreciate the nuances. I believe I like the idea of having my blood running through your veins. It’s rather provocative. As you know, there are all kinds of weird stories in my family about the power of our blood. It’s interesting that we’ll have a chance to test their truth.”

And Jane was sure that she didn’t like the idea at all of having Caleb’s blood. Those stories were no doubt nonsense, but he could use them to make her feel uneasy. “I don’t need you,” she repeated.

“And you don’t trust me. Not me, not Mark Trevor. No one but Joe Quinn. Actually, it makes me feel better that you didn’t trust Trevor, either. It kind of puts us on an even keel. I’m usually working at a disadvantage on that score.”

“Of course I don’t trust you. I don’t think you want me to trust you. It would shackle you.”

“Wise Jane. You may be right.” He chuckled. “Having you need me would be much more entertaining.” He asked softly, “Shall I make you need me? I can do it, Jane.” He bent forward and his lips touched her own. “Oh, how I’m tempted. But you’re wounded, and you’d hold it against me.”

“You bet I would.”

“First, I’d take away the pain, then I’d make you feel … exceptional. I wouldn’t even touch you, but you’d have a truly incredible experience … and so would I.” She could feel the curve of the smile on his lips as he brushed them back and forth on her own. “Quinn would try to kill me for doing this. Everyone would say what a complete bastard I am to even contemplate victimizing poor Jane. But then we both know that I don’t have the same moral standards as other people.” His tongue outlined her upper lip. “You’re wary of that little talent of mine, but controlling the flow of blood can be fantastically erotic. This doesn’t hurt, does it? You’d push me away if you didn’t like it.”