Redemption Read online

  She turned and hurried up the stairway, slamming the door to her room behind her and locking it.

  Danica threw herself on the bed, thoroughly wrought. Her heart couldn’t break again. It was already in too many pieces. Yet somehow it managed to hurt. Zach had used her! Wooed her as a lover in order to have her bail his ass out in his next inevitable skirmish with IA! He’d even gone so far as to propose! God, she was a fool!

  She pounded her fists into the pillows. In a fit, she pulled the case off and tore open the pillow; down soared into the air. She desperately wanted something to hurl across the room, or better yet at Zach.

  Zach!

  She grabbed the phone on the nightstand.

  “You will not call the cops.”

  Zach stood in the doorway, filling it with his presence. She’d locked the door!

  “How did you get in?” It didn’t matter; she turned and started to dial.

  Zach grabbed the phone out of her hand and threw it across the room. It shattered into pieces. And in a blur he was on her. She kicked at him. He flipped her over onto her belly, pressing his body flush against her, quelling her attack.

  “God help me, Danica, you will help me. We, you and I, are up to our necks in this.”

  “Get off of me! I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to be with you!” she shrieked, trying to move him. Her efforts had no effect on him. He seemed stronger somehow, and it terrified her. She was at his mercy.

  Thinking on the run, Danica stilled. Let him believe she would comply. She relaxed beneath him. Almost immediately she felt his body loosen. He rubbed his face in her hair. His hands loosened on her arms. But he didn’t move away from her. She held her breath.

  “Dani, don’t do this to me.” He inhaled her scent and she felt his body tighten. His fingers dug into her wrists. Fear tore through her. Would he hurt her? He rubbed his face in her hair again, inhaling her scent. “I don’t want to hurt you.” The words more a plea than a statement. But he didn’t say he wouldn’t . . .

  His instability frightened her more than his lucid anger.

  Then he surprised her. Again. Carefully, as if she would break with too much pressure, he rolled her over then pressed her back into the mattress.

  She opened her mouth to demand he let her go.

  All thoughts of that evaporated when he pulled his head up from her shoulder and looked at her. She sucked in a deep breath. His eyes burned, the intensity searing in its harshness. A vein stood out on his forehead and his neck muscles corded in tension. His lips drew taut, exposing his teeth. She had the dizzying feeling she was witnessing something profoundly inhuman take over Zach’s body. He closed his eyes and groaned. His fingers tightened around her wrists. When his eyes flashed open again, the hard bronze color shocked her. Every muscle in her body clenched and she knew she was in big trouble.

  Summoning every ounce of calm she possessed, softly Danica said, “Let me go.”

  Slowly he shook his head. Damn him. He never made anything easy. She hesitated to take any action. The expression on his face left her speechless for a minute. While passion edged it, fear and regret filled in the lines. What the hell was he contemplating?

  “Give it your best shot, Zach.”

  Immediately his features softened. His body loosened. “I could never hurt you, Dani.” He moved off her to sit on the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands.

  Slowly, Danica moved off the other side of the bed—her muscles tense, waiting for him to pounce. When she made it to the door and he hadn’t moved, she stopped. For several long moments she watched him, knowing he was pulling another fast one on her. Yet she was unable to keep walking. And he remained silent. Still.

  A deep heavy silence hung between them. Danica couldn’t move. Too many uncertain thoughts slammed around in her head.

  What—what if he was telling the truth? What if this day from hell really was a day from hell? Danica exhaled loudly. Zach didn’t flinch. She rolled her eyes and stepped back into the room. “I swear to God, Zach, I know I’m going to live to regret this—”

  He looked up. Hope sprang into his eyes.

  “I have conditions.”

  He nodded.

  “No sex! No relationship. If you promise me that, I’ll help you get the star back. But that’s where it ends. Period.”

  Zach stood and towered over her. “I’ll agree if you agree all conditions are subject to change.”

  “No. You need to understand. I don’t trust you. You’ve killed me over and over. I can’t take any more. I want your promise you will not touch me. I want your promise you’ll walk the other way when this is over and never look back.”

  Zach opened his mouth as if to argue, and thought better of it. He nodded and extended his hand.

  “No touching.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “A lot is impossible now,” an unfamiliar deep voice said from the shadows of the room.

  Danica cried out in alarm. Zach stiffened, and pushed her protectively behind him, then turned to the tall dark-haired man who emerged from the corner of the room. It looked as if he’d come from the deck, but the slider was closed and Danica knew it was locked.

  He was dressed in dark slacks and a black tailored shirt. A long dull scar ran from just below his left eye to his jawline. In the shadows she couldn’t determine the color of his eyes, but she could see the glint in them.

  Danica moved to Zach’s side. While he didn’t try to pull her back, his body language was explicit. Come near her and you are a dead man. “Who are you? How did you get in here?” Danica demanded, looking from Zach to the stranger for answers. Although Zach remained in battle stance he didn’t appear threatened.

  The stranger spoke. “Who I am is unimportant.” He reached behind his back and withdrew the sword. “You’re getting careless, Zach.”

  “How did you get that?” He’d locked it in the safe with the scabbard.

  “As I said, you’re careless.”

  Zach strode to him and held out his hand, demanding the weapon. The stranger stepped closer, into the light of the room. Sensing doom, Danica moved back toward the doorway.

  In a swift movement the stranger plunged the sword deep into Zach’s chest. Danica stood in shocked silence before her scream pulled her back into the reality of what had just happened. She rushed to Zach, who stood eerily erect and quiet. His hands grabbed the hilt. He looked at her, his eyes wide, incredulous. And Danica died a thousand deaths.

  This can’t be happening.

  She looked back to his hands. Blood seeped between his fingers where they held the sword. A fast-forward of visions and thoughts whirled through Danica’s mind. She reached out a hand to him, shock making her brain sluggish, her movements awkward, her speech stuttered.

  Zach dropped to his knees, grasping the sword imbedded in his chest. “Danica.” He closed his eyes. The soft hiss of his breath escaped, and in slow motion he fell onto his back to lie still on the carpet.

  She dropped to her knees beside him, not knowing what to do. In a momentary flash she thought to call 911. But she knew it would be too late. The nearest firehouse was thirty minutes away.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, telling herself this was just another nightmare. A dream. She was destined to cry over Zach Garett. Her mother had told her he would give her the greatest joy of her life as well as the deepest pain. Agony slashed her heart to shreds. Her eyes blurred with hot tears. For the second time in three days she knew Zach Garett would die. This time, there would be no miracle.

  “Pull it out,” the stranger told her.

  She jerked her head back to look up at him, his silhouette distorted through her tears. Her fury knew no bounds. “You bastard! You killed him!”

  She looked back at Zach. He lay still.

  “You can save him,” the stranger said. “Pull it out.”

  “He’ll bleed out faster!”

  Slowly she wrapped her fingers around the hilt over Zach’s hand. Hi
s color had lightened, his skin deathly pale.

  “Now, Danica Keller. Only you can save him. His life is in your hands.”

  Danica shook her head. She didn’t want that power. Danica wiped the tears from her eyes and looked down at Zach. He opened his eyes. The tawny light had dulled. He asked nothing with them. No question, just a pragmatic resignation. He did not plead for his life. But it was in her hands.

  A welling of hot tears bombarded her cheeks. Danica pushed them away with the back of her hand. She touched the hilt of the sword. Slowly she wrapped her fingers around it. Zach’s life was in her hands, and as much as she thought she wanted him dead, she knew at that moment she wanted him very much alive. Despite everything he had done, despite everything he was, call her the fool of the century, but she wanted him to breathe the same air she did.

  His hand wrapped around hers and he pushed the sword deeper. She cried out. “Let me go, Dani,” he whispered.

  “The hell I will, Zach Garett! You’re going to live, you bastard! And you’re going to take responsibility for everything you’ve done!”

  She wrapped her hand around his and with both hands jerked the blade from his chest. A rush of warm blood poured over her fingers. He fell back onto the floor, silent. Immobile. “Take your right hand and press it to his heart,” the stranger directed. Danica started, having forgotten his presence. She didn’t look up.

  Gently, so as not to hurt him, Danica pressed her right hand to the bloody wound on Zach’s chest. Then she pressed her left hand on top. No heartbeat. She felt—nothing. Nothing except the hot sting of tears in her eyes. “Zach,” she whispered. “Wake up.”

  He remained motionless. Seconds turned into minutes. Her sobs began to rack her body in uncontrollable waves. She punched him and cried out his name. “Wake up!”

  “Put your hands back over his heart,” the stranger demanded.

  Danica gave him a murderous look. “He’s dead! You killed him!”

  “Do as I say. Now!”

  Through her tears she turned back to Zach, and pressed her hands to his heart as her own broke. She knew now she would never recover. Her life was not complete if this man beneath her hands was dead. She didn’t want to live, she didn’t want to exist on any level, if Zach Garett was gone to her.

  Long minutes passed, her sobs grew louder, harsher, her throat felt raw. Blood pooled around her hands and her knees, the copper scent of it clogged her nostrils. Every day for the rest of her life when she looked at her hands she would see the stains of Zach’s life blood.

  Her hands flinched.

  Oh, dear God!

  Against all hope she felt it. A beat. Barely discernible, but there it was!

  She leaned in closer, her ear to his nose. Breath. Barely, but a breath. A warm breath.

  Another heartbeat, stronger this time. Then another even stronger, and another. She looked down at him in wonder, then up to the stranger. Zach’s heartbeat thudded vigorously beneath her hands.

  Raiden nodded and said, “Now your destiny is sealed. Go to the lake and retrieve the star.” Then he turned and walked out of the room.

  Danica had no idea what had just happened or how to explain it, and at this point she was beyond questioning.

  “Dani?”

  She looked down at the man she loved to hate and hated to love. “I’m here, Zach.”

  His eyes fluttered open. “What the hell just happened?”

  “I have no idea.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  DANICA HELPED ZACH UP and onto the bed. Her body trembled with emotion and now her tears were joyful. Carefully she sat on the edge of the bed beside him. “My God, Zach! How do you feel?”

  “Like I just got slammed in the chest with a hammer.”

  No kidding.

  “Are you—okay? Can you breathe?”

  Zach nodded and lay back onto the pillows. “I just need a few minutes.”

  He needed more than that. There was no way in his weakened condition they could leave the house anytime soon. “Zach, you need time to heal.”

  Zach’s eyes softened at her concern. He reached out and touched her cheek. “Thank you,” he softly said.

  Her brows furrowed. His soft warm smile persisted.

  “After everything I’ve done to you, you saved my life.” His smile widened. “You’re either a glutton for punishment or you still love me.”

  Emotion so full, so intense, so hard, mushroomed in her chest. Unsure how to handle it she squeezed his hand and said, “I don’t ever want to experience anything remotely close to that again.”

  She caught his soft gaze, and refused to allow the building tears to further expose her vulnerability. She looked at the wound on his chest through the torn fabric of his shirt. From what she could see, for such recent damage it only looked red and swollen. She touched it in amazement. Zach flinched. She pressed her lips to it and kissed him. His body quivered and tightened and when she caught his gaze again, she read desire in them.

  Her blood quickened. Her need to reconnect with him on a deeper level took hold of her. She kissed the thick column of his neck, trailing her lips up to his chin. Her lips hovered over his mouth, and she whispered, “Zach, you’re covered in blood. Let me clean you up.”

  Gently she tugged at his hand and drew him from the bed and into the bathroom. Carefully she directed him to the bench near the vanity and guided him down to it. She reached past him and turned the water on in the large open shower stall. She turned back to him and her heart twisted. His color had lightened and he was soaked in blood. “Here,” she said, and rolled up his shirt. Instead of having him raise his arms she grabbed the fabric at the neck and tore it down his chest.

  She caught her breath at the full sight of his wound. She could see, while it was raw, it no longer bled. Tentatively she reached out and pressed her fingertips to it. Zach grabbed her hand and pressed it more firmly against him. Waves of charged electricity flowed between them. The friction heating. Yet soothing, healing. She felt the energy in his body regroup and build. His fingers clasped her hand tighter, his power built, his chest surged, his eyes glowed. His lips cracked a smile, and she knew at that instant, their bond was sealed. Their fate, their destiny, was forever forged. They would live and die as one.

  With his free hand Zach grabbed a hank of her hair and pulled her lips down to his. She melted into him, the fusion of their meeting on this plain intensifying the charge. He stood, bringing her closer into him, and moved her backward and into the shower.

  Hot water sprayed their flushed skin. Blood ran in rivulets between them to the shower floor, fading to pink before disappearing down the drain. Zach peeled Danica’s clothes off. She rid him of his jeans.

  Skin to skin, caught in the heat of each other’s gaze, they stood silent. All of the pain, the anger, the heartache, the distrust was gone. Washed away just like the blood. Danica pressed her hand to Zach’s belly, her gaze locked on his. She felt his body tremble beneath her palm. She smiled and pressed her other hand lower, brushing the tip of his penis. Zach hissed in a breath.

  Liking very much the power she wielded over his body, Danica pressed her body to his. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lifted her lips to his mouth and brought him down to her. Her body surged at the heat of his lips, and his tongue, and the way he took over. His hands dug into her butt cheeks, pressing her harder against him, his passion hard and full against her belly. His lips ravaged hers, his tongue swirled in her mouth, tasting, tempting, wanting all of her.

  Time stood still, their two bodies molded, meshed, a perfect fit. The water cooled. But their body heat climbed off the charts.

  Danica pushed him back against the tile wall of the shower. His surprised look made her laugh. She grabbed the big sponge and lathered it up. “I’m not leaving. I’m going to lather you up.”

  She began at his throat and rubbed the thick creamy lather over his skin. Each time his hands slipped around her waist, pulling her against him, sh
e pulled away. “My way, Zach.”

  Inch by inch she lathered his body, her hands swirling and kneading his skin. When she lathered his penis, and in bold up-and-down strokes washed him, Zach closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and stood rigid against the tile wall. In perfect cadence to her hand his hips rocked against her, his passion mounting. It was all Danica could do not to mount him right then and there. The hard thick heat of him coming alive in her hands made her feel more womanly, more seductive, more sexy than she’d ever felt. Hot sparks of desire pricked at her womb. Her hips undulated in response, slipping and sliding up and down his thickness.

  It was more than Zach could bear as well. He turned the tables on her. Pressing her against the wall, he growled low and took the sponge she’d just tortured him with and lathered it up. His big hands ran over her body, reveling in the silky softness of her skin. Her full breasts came alive in his hands. He pressed his cock against her hip, and suckled one cherry-tipped nipple. Danica arched and moaned beneath him. “I missed you so much, Zach.”

  His heart twisted. He’d been such a bastard. He didn’t deserve her. And she sure as hell deserved better than him. He kissed her hard, wanting her to forget everything but here and now.

  She answered his call, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body harder against him. He let the hard spray of the water rinse off the soap. Then, not breaking the kiss, Zach picked her up in his arms. Leaving the water running, he stepped out of the shower and strode with them both dripping wet into the bedroom. He pressed her sultry body back onto the mattress. He paused, his gaze drinking in every line, every curve, every peak and valley of her body. He trembled as their gazes locked. Her eyes were soft limpid pools of love. She was his now and forever.

  “Make love to me, Zach. Make love to me like there is no tomorrow.” And she meant it, because in her heart she knew they faced a foe of superior strength and cunning, and more than that, Mark Santos had no conscience.