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But even here, among Rukia’s tidy personal garden, plants and foliage had wilted and flower blooms had fallen. It appeared that the entire landscape of the town was mourning the earth Elemental with them.
Fortunately, the front door was unlocked, and Isaiah stepped inside the air-conditioned chill still carrying his silent burden. The nautical theme continued inside, every element of her home a tribute to water and her love of it. Seashells and bubbling fountains decorated the space, all tasteful tributes to her designer’s flair.
A mere stranger, Isaiah would never feel comfortable encroaching in her territory without her express permission, but today, the Elemental remained mute in the protection of his arms.
He glanced around, for once not knowing the proper path forward. A set of stairs branched off the open-air main foyer, splitting into a living room on one side and a formal dining room on the other.
Idly, he wondered if he should simply set her on a sofa and take his leave. But then, Rukia shivered in his arms, and he made up his mind.
Quiet, he ascended the dark mahogany stairs toward what he hoped was her bedroom. The primary, fortunately, was immediately apparent to his right when he stepped onto the second-floor landing. He strode into her room, detesting the fact that he was carrying a nearly unconscious woman into a very private space.
Rukia’s queen bed was entirely outfitted in white, topped with a plush and feathery down comforter. The walls were sparsely decorated, except for several abstract paintings of sailboats in primary colors that hung just above her headboard. Using his telekinesis, his arms continued to cradle her against his chest as he psychically pulled down the covers.
Carefully, Isaiah bent and loosened his grip on her form, her eyes hiding behind the heavy veil of her eyelids. Rukia’s hair, still drawn back, uncoiled as he withdrew the pins, revealing a glossy curtain that swept around her shoulders.
Somewhere along the line, she’d become barefoot.
Studying the rest of her, he gave pause. He drew the line at trying to do anything with the beautiful dress she wore. Though she’d probably hate to sleep in the delicate material, Isaiah wouldn’t do anything without her explicit permission. Appeased, he slowly drew the covers up over her body with care.
Rukia’s slight figure curled into the pillowtop mattress, her passive features resting against the stark white of her pillow. Satisfied that she was home and safe, Isaiah swiveled to leave.
That was when he felt her fingers curl around his wrist.
Stilling immediately, Isaiah glanced back at her over his shoulder. Dark eyes met his, dreary with sleep and melancholy. Rukia blinked once, her eyebrows pinching together. Instead of releasing his wrist, the Elemental tugged him back toward her bed.
He balked. Shaking his head slowly, Isaiah locked eyes with her in silent denial. Everything about this was a bad idea, and he wouldn’t risk her wrath in the morning—or ever—if she’d felt he were to have taken advantage of her.
But Rukia had never cared what he thought, and this time, the jerk on his wrist was more insistent, less friendly. Eyes suddenly clear, the woman stared him down.
“Rukia...” A warning in his voice, he continued resisting the increasing pull on his wrist.
This time, the tug on his wrist was so forceful that he had to take a step to keep from pitching forward. “Shut up, Isaiah. I just don’t want to be alone.”
Another flare of uncertainty radiated through him as he wavered in his resolve. Maintaining her death grip on his arm, she slid over in the bed. This time, however, the pull against him remained constant. But behind the resolve in her eyes, he saw vulnerability.
Isaiah took a deep breath and let the desire to remain with her overwhelm his common sense. Offering her a single affirmative nod, she released his wrist. He soundlessly stripped off his tux jacket and set it lightly over the back of a cream lounge chair in the corner. Toeing off his shoes, he stepped toward Rukia’s bed and slid into the coolness of the satin sheets beside her.
Though every cell in his body screamed with hesitation, his chest tightening with an unfamiliar disquiet, he softened when the woman next to him turned and snuggled back into his core as if they’d done this thousands of times.
The sweetness of her freshwater scent soothed his anxiety, and his forearm possessively cinched around her waist in unspoken support. Her ebony hair tangled between them, a cascade of sensation that tickled his senses.
Warmth from her body permeated his in a coil of heat as Isaiah took stock of her. Unlike his, Rukia’s frame bore no amount of tension, no nod to being uncomfortable with their intimate embrace. Mere seconds ticked by before her erratic breathing became rhythmic, and she sank into the peaceful silence of sleep.
Now, so close to the woman who’d captivated him since their first meeting, something far different washed through him. Like pieces of a puzzle, they fit together perfectly, her body nestled into his core while his arms act like a protective shield.
Nothing had ever felt so right, so natural.
Isaiah knew that he’d taken a risk in remaining close to her tonight. The ability that resided under his skin, dormant though it was, sought only to harm. Born of destruction, he’d been genetically hardwired to seek the very thing that he’d vowed to reject.
And Rukia, the sleeping goddess in his arms, could have no clue as to what he was capable of.
Under the barrage of unexpected emotion, his eyes shuttered as the abrasive thoughts swelled. The morbid memories of his past streamed unhindered into his mind.
He awoke from the dead of sleep to a rush of terror, the emotion welling deep in his gut. Forcibly restrained, his eyes opened just in time to see the obsidian instrument of death pierce through his chest, agony splintering through his core.
Isaiah’s lethal ability, so long idle, exploded out of him without his consent and found purchase in the living tissues of the five Raeths who’d come to kill him.
Their screams echoed in his ears as he choked on his own blood.
