“It could be a girl,” she murmured instead of expressing her depressing thoughts.
“And I will spend many years fending off all the men sure to be chasing her around if she’s half as beautiful as her mother.”
Melinda wrapped her arms around his back. Her fingers dug into his flesh as she held him against her and simply allowed herself one second of serenity in a world that had become filled within nothing but grief.
“We must go,” she whispered and turned her face into his neck to kiss him.
He took hold of her hand as they turned to finish making their way around the boulder. Stepping out from the back of the rock, Melinda gasped and took a startled step back when they came face to face with half a dozen bows and arrows pointed directly at them.
CHAPTER 10
William
“William.” He turned to find Tempest standing in the doorway of the storage room established within the cave. She looked so small, so fragile with the dark circles under her eyes and her silvery hair falling around her shoulders. He drank in the sight of her slender body with its enticing curves.
Releasing the clothes he’d been gathering, he covered the ten feet separating them in an instant. Her hands fell on his shoulders when he lifted her up, clasped hold of her hair, and pulled her head back to claim her mouth with his. Her lips burned into his, heating the chill permeating his body since Aria, in her grief and despair, had collapsed into the snow to claw at herself like an animal trying to free itself from a trap.
Shoving the image out of his mind, he carried Tempest over to the wall and rested her against it as he released her mouth. He lowered his head and sank his fangs into her throat. Her sweet blood surged into his mouth, strengthening him as it flowed through his system. He growled low in his throat when he felt the scrape of her fangs over his flesh before they sank into him.
He was being too rough with her, but he couldn’t get close enough to her right now. All reason vanished as the bond between them swelled and grew further. He could stay in here with her for the rest of their lives and be fine with it.
But he couldn’t, and no matter how badly he desired her now, no matter how badly he needed her, he could not lose himself to her. He forced his fangs to retract and rested his head in the hollow of her throat. Her familiar and much-loved wintry scent assailed him.
He understood what Aria was going through. If someone took Tempest from him, he would tear the world apart, but he had to keep his twin from getting herself killed, and he had to keep Tempest protected.
“I lost control. I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely against her throat.
“Don’t be,” she whispered as she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back to look at him. “I need you too, badly, but there are things we have to do first, and your sister…” Her voice trailed off. Her doe brown eyes darted away before settling on the clothes he’d been holding. “I think getting her cleaned up will help. I came to ask if there is water somewhere in these caves?”
William reluctantly released his hold on her and stepped away. “I’ll get it if you’ll take the clothes out to Aria.”
Tempest walked over to retrieve the clothes he’d dropped. This store room had some provisions in it, but there was no human food remaining here, and there were no medical supplies or bandages. Thankfully, most of Aria’s injuries would heal soon enough. As he turned to leave the room, he kissed Tempest again.
Taking one of the torches he’d lit, he didn’t look back as he left her behind. He snaked through the tunnels before arriving at a locked gate; he dug out the key and slipped through to the other side. After they’d made it to the center cavern, they’d discovered two of the locked gates no longer had keys, which limited their options for fleeing if they had to, but they wouldn’t be leaving here tonight anyway. They had to rest and get cleaned up before they could continue on.
He hoped in the morning Aria would agree to return to where they’d left the others, but he wouldn’t bet on it. His sister was as stubborn as he was, and she was determined to seek her revenge. He understood what drove her now. It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d been driven by his need to kill Kane. Tempest had helped to ease that driving thirst for vengeance in him, but Aria had no one to temper her, not anymore.