Taken Over (The Ravening #2)(39)
Author: Erica Stevens

“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, this is 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 hell have 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 alone in 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.