She blinked open her eyes and found him staring at her. Watching her with a look she’d never seen before. “Cain? What is it?”
His fingers trailed over her arm, even as he kept his cock within her. “I should have left you.”
Well, damn. Her brows snapped together. “Dude, pillow talk does not start this way.”
It was his turn to blink. When she began to squirm underneath him—seriously, his timing was shit—he tightened his hold on her and held her still. “That’s not what I … dammit, I just don’t want you hurt because of me!”
She stared at him. “You haven’t hurt me.” Not even when he came back from the fire.
“Genesis kept files on me. The government has copies of all those experiments. Do you think they’re just gonna let me walk away?”
“If they’re smart, yes, they will.” She’d gotten the impression from the FBI agents who’d visited her that—well, they were afraid of Subject Thirteen.
They hadn’t exactly looked eager to walk into Cain’s fire. They could be smarter than Wyatt.
Cain’s gaze was so deep. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“I won’t be.” The promise seemed easy enough to give. Especially when she was wrapped in his arms. “Look, I might not be able to die and come back like you, but I’m strong, Cain.” He should have seen that.
“I know.” His lips brushed over hers. “That’s why I want you so much.”
Want. Need. Lust. There was plenty of that between them. Did she dare mention that for her, there was more?
Love.
Eve wasn’t sure when the phoenix had burned his way into her heart. He had, though. She thought about him all the time. Wanted to protect him. Wanted to make love with him, of course, but she also just wanted …
“I want to go to the beach.” The words were silly, but they came out anyway.
Cain frowned down at her.
“I want to see you in the sunlight,” she told him and smiled at the image in her mind. “I want to see you in the sand. Without fire. Without danger. Without anything but us.” He’d smile then, she was sure of it. She’d get to hear him laugh.
They could just be a man and a woman.
She wanted to see what Cain looked like when he was happy. “Can’t we just be normal?” she whispered to him.
His gaze held hers. There was a flash in his eyes. Longing. She knew that look.
Pain.
No, wait. She hadn’t meant that she wanted him to be normal. She loved him as he was. Fire and all. She’d just wanted—
The phone rang. They both tensed and glanced at the bedside table.
“Probably more reporters,” Cain said, voice rumbling.
Eve shook her head. No, there were only a few people who knew she’d be there. She reached for the phone, even as she stayed in Cain’s arms.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Bradley?”
Detective Roberts. She recognized his voice instantly. “What’s happened?” If he was calling her, there had to be a problem.
“There was a werewolf attack in the club district a few minutes ago.”
Hell. Her fingers clamped around the phone as she stared back at Cain. He was so close he had to have heard the cop’s words. “You’re sure it was Trace?” There were other werewolves out there, even ones who attacked. They could get pissed off, just like anyone else. Actually, they got pissed more than most folks.
Werewolves weren’t exactly known for their peaceful natures.
“Witness described a white male, said he was about six foot five …”
When she’d seen Trace in that lab, he had been that big. Before, he’d been skirting six feet.
“Fangs, claws bursting from his fingers—”
Still, that could be—
“And he was shouting your name.”
Okay, that narrowed it down. “I’m coming.”
“No, you aren’t. I’m giving you this call as a warning. The guy is here in the city, and he’s hunting you. I told you that you needed protection.”
Eve’s eyes were on Cain. He reached for the phone. “She has protection.”
“Who is this?” Roberts demanded.
“Her protection.”
“Leave that job to the cops, buddy.”
“If I do that, you’ll all just die.” Brutal words. True words. “I’m coming for the wolf.”
Eve straightened her shoulders. No, they were coming.
Cain hung up the phone.
Her heart was still beating too fast.
“Eve …”
“I want to try and save him.” She didn’t know how yet. She just had to try. “Cain, I was alone my whole life, okay? After my parents died …” Because of Genesis and Wyatt’s twisted father “… I never felt like I had any family. Until Trace.”
Cain’s jaw tightened. He eased from her body. Dressed in silence.
So did she. “He was the closest thing to a brother I ever had. Trace always had my back. He watched out for me, and I watched out for him.”
Cain was staring at her. Just … waiting.
“I can’t give up on him.” She wouldn’t. “We can help him.” Someway. If some toxic mix of drugs had made him like this, there had to be a drug combination that could pull him back.
“We’ll help him,” Cain agreed.
Yes.
“We’ll contain him and make sure that he doesn’t hurt any humans.”
Right. Containment, then cure. They could do this.
“But if he turns on you, Eve, if he tries to kill you …”
She shook her head. “It’s not coming to that.” Even she knew the words were a lie. He’d already tried to kill her twice.
But she still saw him as the seventeen-year-old boy she’d found on the side of the road. Alone. Just as lost as she was.
They’d needed each other.
They’d become a family.
You didn’t turn your back on family.
Because of that, because she had to have hope for Trace, Eve asked, “Do the tears of a phoenix … can they really heal?”
Cain glanced up at her. His gaze was hooded.
“Wyatt … said that he wasn’t able to make you cry.” No matter what torture the sick freak had used. “But he thought your tears could heal …”
Maybe they could heal Trace. Maybe they wouldn’t need drugs to bring the werewolf back to them.
Cain shook his head, and the hope of a swift healing died within Eve. “Those stories have always been out there, the whispers that my kind can heal.” His lips twisted. “But the thing is … those tales are freaking bull. We can’t cry.”
Eve stared at him.
“Wyatt tried, all right. Every trick he could think of. No matter how much pain he gave me, it didn’t work. The bastard even came up with some scientific shit about my tear ducts being abnormal, non-functioning. Hell yeah, they’re non-functioning … my eyes burn with my power. My body doesn’t work like a human’s ’cause I’m not. Never will be.”
She nodded. “I figured he was wrong. I just …” Hoped. “We’ll find another way.” There had to be another way.
“I can’t shed tears. There’s no healing power in me. There’s just the beast I carry, Eve. The one who lives for fire and destruction.” Cain stalked toward her, his steps slow and heavy. “There are some other things you need to understand.”
She waited, body full of nervous energy.