Текст книги " Taken Over "

   I studied him for a long moment before nodding slowly. I wanted to be soothed by his words, but I couldn’t be. Our world was so precarious right now, so full of danger and death that every day was an uncertainty. I kissed him gently, clinging to him in my relief at finding that he was nota dream. I had meant for it only to be a quick kiss, but our long time apart and aching longing for each other quickly turned it into something more.

   His hands grasped hold of me, clasping my head to him as he held me firmly against him. I lost myself to the blissful feel of his mouth as I clung to him. My heart hammered, my body responded eagerly, but I broke away before I lost myself to him. Before we finished what had been started last night.

   “Cade I’ve never…” I broke off, heat flaring over my face and down my throat as the words clogged in my throat.

   He frowned at me, his dark eyebrows drawing tightly together as worry flitted over his features. “Never what?”

   I couldn’t bring myself to look at him as I slid from his grasp. His hands remained on my waist as he set me on the ground. “Never you know… ah… I’ve never…”

   “Had sex?”

   I was fairly certain that even my hair was about to catch on fire with my mortification. “Yes,” I mumbled. “I mean no.”

   He laughed softly, his fingers threading through my hair as he pulled me a step closer to him. I frowned angrily up at him, irritated by his laughter. “I know.”

   “What do you mean you know?” I demanded thrown off by his words. Was it so obvious then? Was Iso obvious?

   “Bethany…”

   “I wasdating Bret for a year.”

   He cocked an eyebrow at me, but his amusement did not abate. “You were,” he agreed. “But it wasn’t the same.”

   “You don’t know that.” I regretted the words as soon as I uttered them, what I felt for Cade was extremelydifferent than anything with Bret. I never wanted him to doubt that.

   His smile vanished, but his were still sparkling. “I do know that.” He kissed me gently, then again, and quickly once more. “I haven’t either, you know.”

   I started in surprise. I pulled away from his mesmerizing kisses as I gaped at him. “How is thatpossible? All the girls in school were after you, you could have had anyone you wanted…”

   “And I dohave her. I told you once Bethany that it was you; that it has always been you, and I meant that. Do you think just anyone could have taken your place, even for a moment?” I opened my mouth to answer, but I had no idea how to respond to that. I was adrift, caught up in his words and the love that brought tears to my eyes. “No, they couldn’t have. Just as no one could have taken my place with you.” I was crying openly now, weeping with the wonder of it all. “You may have been dating Bret, but you were never withBret, not in your heart.”

   He placed my hands against his chest. Beneath the muscle and bone I could feel the hard, steady beat of his heart. “And you are in my heart.” He wrapped his hand into my hair, brushed his lips over my forehead. “I was made for you Bethany; and you were made for me. You always have been, and nothing could change that.”

   I was humbled by his words, enveloped by the weight of them. He was right, I knew he was right. I had always known where I belonged, always known who I belonged with, even when I had been dating someone else. My body, my heart, my soul was all his. It always had been; it always would be. “Yes, yes, yes.” I agreed with him wholeheartedly.

   He wiped my tears away, bending to me as he kissed me ever so lightly upon my nose. “Yes,” he mumbled, smiling as he kissed me again.

   I wanted to lose myself to him, but I knew that I couldn’t. Not right now anyway. Soon though, so very soon I could shut out the rest of the world by losing myself in him. Then a thought occurred to me. “But if you knew all this, if this was what you had always wanted, why did you avoid me so much? Why didn’t you come to me before I started dating Bret? Why did you leave me all those years ago?”

   Something flickered in eyes, there was a slight recoiling that he was quick to bury, but had been unable to hide. My eyes widened, I wanted to grab at him, to pull him back to me, to make him stay when I felt his withdrawal. Then he was smiling, a small curve of his mouth that barely tipped the hard edges of it. “Because I wasn’t sure how you felt about me, not until all of this anyway.” He shrugged absently. “I didn’t approach you because I was afraid of being rejected by you. I had nothing to offer you, I was an orphan, and definitely not the golden boy Bret was. It was obvious to me that your feelings for him were more platonic than his were for you, but I wasn’t going to stop you from going down a path that I felt you needed to travel.

   “I knew you’d eventually realize it was me you were supposed to be with after all.”

   His tone was light, airy. He said the words, but there was something crawling through me. A dark knowledge was slithering through my mind, one that I could not shake. For the first time ever, Cade had just lied to me I was certain of it even though I had no proof. I just didn’t know why. It had been such an easy question, but one that he had not answered honestly. There was something behind his eyes, something withdrawn and secretive, even as he smiled at me.

   I wanted to press him on it, wanted to understand why he would lie over something so simple, but I knew he wasn’t going to tell me the truth. Perhaps I was imagining it, but I didn’t think so. “I wish we could stay, but I have to get back. I’m sure Abby and Aiden have started to worry about me by now.”

   He nodded, the distance in his gaze fading as his fingers stroked over my cheek. I buried my doubts as I leaned into his gentle touch. I didn’t want anything to spoil the joy of this moment. I couldn’t get over how wonderful it was to have him here again, how whole I felt with him here. I had never thought of myself as boy crazy or needing a man to make me happy. I had never thought that I would everneed someone else to survive. But I did need him.

   I had survived without him, but I had been unable to truly live. Now I could live again, now I could feelagain. And I could smile and laugh without feeling guilty or lost or adrift in a world that terrified me without him. A world that, though it still possessed love and wonder, without him had been empty and cold.

   “I wish we didn’t have to go either.” He threaded his fingers through my hair, curling it gently around his fingers.

   “They’ll be shocked to see you.”

   God I loved his smile. It was so rare, so fleeting, and yet it lit his entire face. It sparkled in his eyes and radiated with his love for me. “No less than you were.”

   He pulled me closer to him, kissing me softly. That wonderful smile, those magnificent lips. All my doubts and fears were pushed aside as they warmed me to the very depths of my soul. He pulled slowly away from me; his eyes glowed with more than just love. My toes curled in response to the ravenous gleam in his gaze. I was certain that he could devour me, that he wanted too, but it was more than just my body he wanted. A jolt of surprise tore through me as I caught sight of something within Cade that I had never seen before. Something dark and dangerous. Something that I didn’t understand, but it wanted possession of me in ways that I couldn’t even begin to fathom.

   Had they done something to him in there? Had they changed him somehow? Was that why he had lied to me?

   The thought terrified me, but I couldn’t shake it as that dark gaze burned into me. Seeming to realize my sudden trepidation he blinked and then managed a wan smile. The look was gone from his gaze, but I couldn’t forget it, and he couldn’t hide it completely.

   “Cade…”

   “Let’s get you back Bethany.”

   “Are you ok Cade?”

   “I’m fine.” His fingers entwined with mine. He lifted my hand to place a soft kiss against my knuckles. “Lead the way.”

   I studied him for a moment longer, but there was no evidence of the darkness I had seen just moments ago. No evidence of anything other than the man that I had always known and loved. I must have been imagining things. I had become so accustomed to the bad, that I could not allow myself to simply enjoy the wonder of his return.

   I squeezed his hand tight as I led him back through the forest. Even though my runs were often hectic and panicked with my need for escape, I was somehow always able to make my way back to the farmhouse. Something in my subconscious must have remembered the route because I sure as hell wasn’t any good with directions. As we walked, I told him everything that had happened since he’d been gone. Everything we had gone through, the losses we’d experienced, the places we’d been, and our trip to Plymouth.

   In the beginning he asked questions, but the more I told him, the quieter he became. Anger slowly settled over him as I told him about the creature that had attacked me. I did not go into detail about the pain, I didn’t think anyone should know about that, ever. It was a long moment after I had finished speaking before he finally did so.

   “You trust this Dr. Bishop?”

   That wasn’t the response I had expected. I had told my tale; I had thought that his was going to be forthcoming now. “Well, yes,” I said hesitatingly. “He’s very smart, he saved my life, and he’s a good man.”

   Cade made a noncommittal sound that puzzled me. My uneasiness grew. I didn’t know what had been done to him, what he’d had to endure while imprisoned by the aliens. I studied his countenance. Even if they had somehow managed to change him, I knew that he still loved me, it was obvious. But what had happened to him? Where had he been? How had he escaped? And why wasn’t he telling me?

   I tried to bury my multiple questions and doubts, hating myself for them. Of course they had changed him, of course he was different. We were both different after what we had endured. We were alldifferent from what we’d endured.

   “Does he have any idea why you are different than the others?”

   His question sounded nonchalant but there was a new tension racing through his body. His shoulders were tight, his eyes hard. I didn’t tell him about my own fears, my own doubts about myself. I couldn’t bring myself to speak of them. I didn’t want him to look at me differently; I didn’t want him to fear for me. And if I was going to be honest with myself, I didn’t want to think about them right now. Cade’s return had given me a reprieve from the abnormalities in my blood, and until this morning I hadn’t thought about it again. I wasn’t ready to worry about it now either.

   “No. Not yet. But hopefully he will be able discover something that will help the others.”

   “Hopefully.”

   He had agreed with me, but he didn’t sound overly convinced. “What is your blood type?” I asked softly.

   The small smile he gave me did not reach his eyes. “O negative.”

   “At least Bishop won’t be trying to stab you on a daily basis.” I had tried to sound light, but my voice sounded flat even to me.

   “He shouldn’t be stabbing you, either.”

   I swallowed heavily, my hand tightened around his. “What happened to you Cade? Where have you been?”

   He was silent for a long moment, his hand was firm and warm in my tight grasp. “There are some things that you are better off not knowing Bethany.”

   “Cade…” His dark gaze swung toward me, the turmoil within it more than apparent. I wanted to push him, wanted to know what had been done to him. Wanted to know why he seemed so off, but it was more than apparent that he did not want to talk about it. I swallowed heavily. “Whatever happened I can handle it Cade. If you decide one day that you want to talk to me, I’ll be here for you. I’ll always be here for you.”

   “I want to talk to you every day for the rest of our lives Bethany, just not about this. Not right now anyway.”

   “Ok. I understand.” I said the words, but I was slightly wounded and still a little confused by him.

   He stopped walking suddenly. A small gasp of surprise escaped me as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. “I don’t want to hurt you; it’s the last thing in the world that I want. For right now though, t hisis all I want. I just want you, and I just want to live in the present. I want to think of our future, not the past. I just want to be.”

   His eyes were haunted, but there was a feverish light in them. He needed this, he needed me to understand his desires, and I could not refuse him. There were things I did not wish to discuss with him, at least not right now anyway. He was not asking me to kill someone; he was not asking me to abandon my family. He was simply asking me not to make him relive his pain. My heart swelled, ached. I wished that I could take whatever it was that had hurt him so badly away, wished I’d had more faith that he had somehow survived, maybe I could have rescued him sooner if I’d had.

   “I never should have given up on you. I should have come after you.”

   He frowned at me, his mouth pursed tightly. It seemed he wanted to say something, but instead he shook his head and dropped a soft kiss on my nose. “There was nothing you could have done. If you had come after me we wouldn’t be here right now. You would have been captured or killed also. None of this is your fault Bethany and it all worked out for the best. This, right here,” he placed my hand firmly against his chest, his other hand stroked lightly over my cheek. “This is all that we need; just us and our loved ones.”

   I managed a small smile for him but I couldn’t shake my lingering guilt. I breathed a soft sigh of love and desire as his lips traveled down to my own, seizing hold of my mouth with a growing hunger that caused my bones to quiver. He was right; this was all that we needed from now on.

   “Bethany!” I jumped in startled surprise at the sharp bark that broke into our bliss. “Where the hellhave you…”

   Aiden’s voice broke off as Cade straightened above me; his dark eyes were hooded as he surveyed Aiden. Shock widened Aiden’s eyes, his mouth dropped as he stopped abruptly. “Cade?” he squeaked in surprise.

   “Hey Aiden.”

   Aiden’s mouth dropped even further, probably due more to Cade’s nonchalant response than the fact that he was actually standing there. Aiden’s eyes flew to me, shock and disbelief radiated from him. He came slowly forward, his eyebrows drawing tightly together as he surveyed Cade from head to toe with disbelief.

   “You’re alive.”

   “I am,” Cade agreed.

   “What? How?” Aiden sputtered. Then he broke into a grin and grabbed hold of Cade’s arm and pulled him close in a quick embrace. “This is amazing! It’s great to see you!”

   “You too.”

   “We thought you were dead, how are you still alive?”

   “Not now Aiden,” I interjected. Leave it to my brother to pounce on Cade with questions. He was like a dog with a bone sometimes, I just hoped that this was one bone he was willing to let go of. At least for a little while.

   Aiden’s gaze slid to me. “Did you know?”

   I started in surprise. “No. Of course not.”

   Aiden frowned at me. “Then what were you doing? Why did you leave if you didn’t know he was out here?”

   I shook my head, taking strength in Cade’s solid presence as he wrapped his fingers through mine. “I just needed to get away for a bit. Needed some time to myself.”

   “In the woods? By yourself !?” I shifted uncomfortably. “How long have you been doing that for?”

   “Aiden…”

   “Damn it Bethany!” he snapped. Then his gaze slid to Cade. “I hope that is all over now.”

   “I like the woods, they’re peaceful. I found solace in them.”

   “And now you won’t need to.”

   I glared at Aiden, he may be right, but that didn’t mean I still didn’t want to beat the hell out of him right now. Cade knew that I loved him, that I had been lost without him, but I didn’t want him to think I was moping around for the past month. Even if I had been. I wanted him to think that I was strong, that I had been surviving, and not trying to kill myself. I didn’t want him to think that I’d quit, when I hadn’t.

   “I like being alonein the woods,” I grated out.

   “Not anymore.” I shot Cade a dark look. “I’ll be coming with you now.”

   I wanted to argue with him for taking Aiden’s side, wanted to protest that I was fine on my own, but I simply didn’t have it in me. All I could do was smile up at him. In all honesty I didn’t really care if I went into the woods on my own again, or not. It didn’t matter as long as Cade was by my side.

***

   Cade stood silently in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest, his eyes hooded as he surveyed the room. Though his posture was casual, tension hummed through his body. Bishop prattled eagerly on, explaining how he hoped that my blood would hold the answer. Cade’s displeasure was nearly palpable as his eyes followed Bishop’s every move.

   He had been back for almost three days now, but much to everyone’s displeasure, he refused to talk about what he had gone through, what he had seen. He had also tried to keep me from Bishop. For the most part Cade still seemed like the person I had lost, but there were other times when he was distant, almost harsh. There was a current of hostility thrumming through him that only eased when we were alone together, which was far rarer than I wanted or liked.

   The first night had been spent making our way through the dark, staying to the woods as we moved toward Boston. We had stopped to stay in an old house sheltered in a cove deep in the woods. Unfortunately, there weren’t many rooms and though we slept at each other’s sides at night, we were never alone.

   Those onyx eyes slid toward me, his strong jaw clenched tight. There was a smoldering heat in his gaze that warmed the very marrow of my bones. “I do need a fresh sample though, if you don’t mind Bethy. You’re off the antibiotics now.”

   “Ah sure,” I answered absently. Cade took a step toward me; he looked as if he was going to protest but remained silent. It was moments like these, when he looked about ready to punch something that had everyone weary of him, and me more than a little concerned.

   I was rolling my sleeve up for Bishop when a shout rang out. Leaping from the chair I had been sitting upon, I pulled the gun swiftly from my waistband. Something flashed through Cade’s eyes; he reached out as if to stop me, but seemed to reconsider it as his hand fell back to his side. He moved with me as I hurried through the house. Bret and Aiden were out there somewhere; they had gone out with a group of people to help scavenge for food.

   Terror for them hammered through me, I was sprinting by the time I slammed into the screen door. The weight of my body caused it to fling open but Cade grabbed hold of it before it slammed closed. I flew across the porch, coming up short, my gun raised as I took in the crowd gathered in a circle. Darnell and Lloyd stood at the front of the circle, their guns leveled at the young man that stood in the center with his hands raised above his head.

   “I come in peace,” he quipped, using his raised fingers to flash the Vulcan salute. He was grinning brightly despite the fact that he was teetering on the edge of being shot. I kept my gun aimed at the man’s chest; I was at a good angle on the porch to fire if I had too. Even if he was human. None of us kidded ourselves into believing that the aliens were our only enemies anymore. There were humans we would have to fear too. Humans that would want to take from us what little we had.

   The smile slipped slowly from his face as he seemed to finally realize that he was in real danger. His hands raised minutely, his dark eyebrows lifted slightly as he surveyed the crowd. Cade stepped forward suddenly, blocking me as the young man’s dark eyes swung in our direction. There was something about Cade, something dark and deadly. We may have had guns but for one stunning moment, I became certain that he was the deadliest one amongst us.

   The young man’s eyes rested upon Cade for a moment, narrowing slightly before sliding toward me. There was a moment, one brief intense moment, when I could almost feel the crackle of tension that filled the air. I would have thought that perhaps I was imagining it, but several heads turned in our direction. In Cade’sdirection. One of them was Bret, who studied Cade with a weary expression that left me feeling oddly hollow. The two of them had not ended things on a good note and the lingering hostility between them was starting to grate on my nerves but for one instant Bret stared at Cade as if he didn’t even know him and it scared the hell out of me.

   “What do you want?” Darnell demanded sharply.

   The man’s dark eyes slid slowly toward Darnell. He was supporting a buzz cut; his hair was black stubble against his skull. His dark olive skin gleamed in the fading light of the day. He was striking, and seemed affable enough, but there was obviously something about him that Cade did notlike. “I just want some shelter, maybe some food. There is safety in numbers, isn’t there?”

   There was a long moment of silence. “Are you by yourself?”

   The man nodded. “I am. Can I lower my hands now?”

   “Never told you to raise ‘em,” Darnell retorted with amusement.

   The man grinned. It was a devilish smile that caused more than a few of the women in the group to melt as the moved closer to him. He was fresh meat and it was more than obvious that they were interested in him. Apparently pickings were slim in the group; it wasn’t something I had noticed until Cade’s return. The women had been very interested in Cade when he had appeared, but he paid them no attention, and they had quickly realized that he was not available.

   “We have some food if you want,” Darnell told him.

   “And a place to stay?”

   Cade stiffened. I took a step forward but he nudged me gently back. I opened my mouth to protest but the slight shake of his head silenced me. “We’ll see,” Darnell told him. “Lloyd take this man to Molly, I’m sure she has some food for him.” Darnell leaned close to Lloyd and said something that caused Lloyd to nod in response. He stepped forward as the man’s gaze slid back toward Cade and then focused on me. My eyes widened slightly as he stared at me for a long moment, a strange light shining in his dark eyes.

  “Go inside Bethany,” Cade ordered softly.

   I balked against his commanding tone. “Cade…”

   He turned toward me, his face tense and his eyes burning. He grasped hold of my shoulders, turning me toward the door. Though he was trying to be casual as he slipped his arm around my shoulders and led me in, his body was tight, and I caught the backwards glance he threw over his shoulder. I wanted to protest his movements but the tautness of his body silenced my words. He was obviously disturbed about something, obviously upset the man had arrived.

   “Do you know him?” I inquired.

   “No.”

   I frowned, the disquieting notion that he was lying to me again filled me as I studied the stiff set of his jaw. “You seem upset by his presence.”

   “Don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

   “And you think he’ll hurt someone?”

   Cade shrugged. “We can’t trust him until we know him, but it’s foolish to give him the chance to do something. Things can go wrong very quickly.”

   That was a fact that we were both well aware of. The screen door opened, causing us both to turn as Darnell came stomping inside. “We’re moving again. Let Bishop know.”

   “But we just got here.” I hadn’t seen Jenna standing in the doorway of the downstairs bathroom until she’d spoken. Her hair was in wet curls as it hung around her shoulders. Her sky eyes were wide with dismay as she surveyed Darnell.

   “Better safe than sorry. There could be other people out there and we don’t know if we can trust him.”