It was fire and ice, promise and threat. Her nipples were hard as diamonds, and her entire body felt soft and needy. On the edge for Paxton.
She’d loved the boy and now wanted the adult male. More than she would’ve thought possible.
“I’m not going to allow you to sacrifice yourself,” he said, his jaw set so hard it had to hurt as he removed his hand, leaving her breasts aching and needy.
Even so...allow?“I haven’t decided what I’m going to do, but I don’t see any of my choices being a sacrifice.” It was shocking her voice still worked while her mouth tingled so wildly fromjust one kiss.
His hand descended on her shoulder and curled, showing restrained strength. The same hand that had just been on her breast, making her needy. “You care for Drake.” Pax’s eyes went flat. Hard. Deadly.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Who was this male? She cleared her throat. “You know I do. We’ve all been friends since childhood.” Yet she didn’t know Drake the way she did Paxton. She didn’t want to hurt anybody, but fate always had a plan. Of course, Hope could make her own fate.
“You shouldn’t trust him,” Pax said, his voice a low growl that licked along hernerve endings.
What the heck was going on with her? She had to focus. “Let’s get back to you and what you’ve been doing. Tell mewhy. Just why?”
“The Seven has to be stopped,” he said.
She wished his betrayal was just about money, but in her stomach, in her gut, in her soul, she knew it wasn’t. His life hadn’t been easy, and who knew what kind of pressures his unclehad put on him.
His activities centered on the Seven and their upcoming ritual. He really believed what he’d said about the Seven messing with the laws of physics, and she wasn’t entirely sure he was wrong. The Seven had changed life on this planet when they’d undertaken the first ritual in order to put Ulric away by creating a prison world across dimensions. “I want to understand,” she breathed. “But I have to know the truth.”
He released her and stepped back, shoving his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. “I’ve never lied to you.”
Her mouth gaped open. “You haven’t lied to me? You’ve been part of the Defenders forover a decade.”
“True,” he allowed. “But I never lied to you. I just didn’t tell you everything.” He tilted his head. “Though I guess that could be considered lying.”
That was one thing about Paxton. He always saw both sides in the search for fairness.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, her heart still aching. “I thought we told each other everything.”
His gaze dropped and then returned to hers, meeting it squarely. “I thought they were right. Still do. The ritual should not happen, and I won’t risk your life.” He sighed. “Also, my uncle took me in, gave me a dog, and was kind to me. I care about him, and I wanted to be loyal. It didn’t mean I wasn’tloyal to you.”
“It feels like it,” she said, her gaze searching. Even angry with him, even hurt, she looked to him for comfort. She always had, and it was a difficulthabit to break.
His gaze softened. “I know, and for that, I’m sorry. You have to know that everything I’ve ever done was with the idea of protecting you, even if it doesn’t seem like it, and even if I totally screwed up. I’m sorry ifI’ve hurt you.”
He was so earnest and so honest that her heart just rolled over. She knew Paxton would never hurt anybody on purpose, or at least nobody he cared about. “In doing our deep dive into the Defenders’ records,” she said, going slowly, “we discovered that the group plotted to kill my uncleSam years ago.”
Sam was supposedly the Keeper of the Circle, which meant that he had to find the location where the final ritual was to take place. It irritated the ever-living heck out of him because he didn’t want any part of the ritual and didn’t want to be the keeper of anything. Yet he’d do his duty.
“Paxton,” she prodded.
He nodded. “Yes, I argued against it, but the Defenders, once I was out of the room, took a vote on whether or not to assassinate Sam.” He looked at the comfortable lodge as if he didn’t see it. “To be honest, I almost wish theyhad voted yes.”
Her head jerked back in shock. “You wanted them to kill Sam?”
“No, I wanted them to vote yes to kill Sam.” He shook his head. “I would never have let that happen. So at that point, I would’ve been forced to defy them and either get myself killed or at least be able to warn Sam or your father. Instead, they listened to me and voted not to kill him. I wasn’t as good at strategy then as I am now.”
Well, of course not. He’d been just a kid.
“I’m glad they voted no,” she said. “And I’m glad you’re not dead.” She chewed the inside of her lip and huddled into her coat. “I don’t know, Paxton. I’m still pretty mad at you, and I think you could be wrong about the ritual.”
She had learned that nothing came without a price. What price must be paid for destroying Ulric? Why did they have to kill him? Sure, he was evil and he deserved to die, but did he have to? Could they not...? Her mind started to hurt, so she shut it down. She knew they couldn’t lock him away in any prison here on earth. It would be impossible to contain him, and she also knew that there was no way they’d be able to create another prison world. “I’ve thought through all the possibilities, and Ulric has to die, even though we don’t understand the ritual yet.”
Paxton’s expression didn’t alter. “I felt you create a dreamworld last night,” he said. “I’ve always been able to sense when you were doing that.” She knew that was true. “I would’ve tried to get to you, but there were more snipers covering your home last night than ever before. Why didn’t you bring me in?”
“I didn’t need you.”
