Page 24 of Come Fill Me

Zeke couldn’t recall a moment when he’d felt wearier. “Damned if I know. It’s not something I’ve asked for or ever wanted, you know?”

As though she did, Liz made a small sound of compassion then eased a strand of hair behind his ear, her fingertips grazing his cheek.

Jesus. The unspoken understanding in her touch stripped away all of Zeke’s defenses, leaving him helpless. He wanted her body wrapped around his, their breathing and heartbeats in rhythm, their combined heat chasing away all that was bad,providing a bit of hope that someday there’d be a real future for both their clans. There’d be a chance to laugh. To dream.

“Was Jacob deliberately targeted tonight?” she asked.

“No.” He frowned. “He was trying to save me.”

“From Carreon’s ambush?”

Zeke shook his head. “We learned from our usual sources where he’d be tonight. The location put him in a precarious position, and I decided to kill the bastard once and for all for what his men had done to Gabrielle.”

Liz cradled his fist in her hands, running her fingertips over his knuckles.

He stopped squeezing them, suddenly aware of how they hurt, her light strokes draining some of the tension from him.

“What happened?” she asked.

What didn’t? He pushed his free hand through his hair, pulling it away from his face.

“Jacob argued against me going, saying it might be a trap. I didn’t care. When I refused to listen to him, he lied, claiming Carreon would arrive later than he actually did. Jacob went in my place to attack him.” He muttered an oath at his damn, bullheaded brother. “Carreon wasn’t there. It was a trap, just as Jacob had thought. When he surprised Carreon’s people, they fired on him and the men he’d brought along. None of our other men were hurt. They brought Jacob back to the stronghold. When I saw the extent of his injuries, I left to find you.”

“That’s when they attacked you.”

“They tried to take me prisoner. I wouldn’t let them. I fired. They fired. You know the rest.”

“Did your visions warn you of the attack and you almost dying?”

“I told you, they aren’t like TV programs, all right?”

“But they did give you a glimpse into your future,” she said. “Don’t deny it. I can see the truth on your face. What in the hell’sthe matter with you? Why did you put your life at risk to go through with it? Wasn’t there another way to save Jacob?”

Zeke had to wonder why she was asking. Because it would have spared her from being kidnapped tonight, or because she cared just a bit about a man she’d been born to hate?

“I knew you’d heal me,” he said. “I saw it in my mind. I had to put myself at risk, not only to save Jacob but so Carreon’s men would bring me to his stronghold. It was the only way my people could follow and see where it was, learn its weaknesses. Now we know.”

Liz released his hand. “I can’t leave my father. I have to get back before Carreon does anything to him.”

“Why would he?”

“It’s how he keeps me in line. Ever since my father refused to heal for him, Carreon’s depended upon me, imprisoning my father to make certain of it.”

“Then he won’t be harming him,” Zeke said. “With you gone, your father’s all that Carreon has left, unless others in your clan have your same gift.”

“They don’t. Not really.”

“And that means?”

She scratched the rough carpeting with her thumbnail. “They can’t heal to the degree that my father and I do. Hell, I can’t heal the way he does. All he has to do is lay his palm on the injured, and they’re all right. I—well, you know what I have to do.”

“I’ll never forget.”

She sighed as if he’d said a dirty word. “None of the others in my clan has the mark. It proves my father’s gift, and mine to a lesser degree, are the strongest.”

Zeke took her hand, regarding the reddish stain in the center of her palm. His first thought was to kiss it. However, he wasn’t that brave a man, fearing her rejection. He traced the dark ovalwith his forefinger, stunned by the brief spark of energy, the sense of life flowing from her body into his.

She folded her fingers to stop him.

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