Scion's Surrender Read online

  “Almost there,” he whispered, his tone rough with anticipation. They paused on the threshold to his bedroom, Chago’s forehead against hers. “I want you.”

  Trembling, Irena felt swept away on riptide of passion. “I want you too.”

  And she was damn well going to have him.

  2

  The back of Irena’s knees hit the edge of the mattress and she fell onto the king-sized bed. Chago came down beside her, his body pressed to hers from chest to toes. Delighted, she wrapped her arms around his neck, eyes closed and heart yearning for more. Their kisses deepened, his hands burrowing into her pale blond hair and undoing her braids. He groaned, trailing kisses from her jaw to her neck, then buried his face at the thudding pulse point at the base of her throat. Lost in sensation, Irena took off his cowboy hat and tossed it aside before sinking her fingers deep into his midnight black curls, clinging to him as she parted her legs, one knee bent to rest against his hip.

  She wanted more. She wanted all of him.

  He traced his fingers down her sides and caught the hem of her T-shirt, raising it above her breasts, his movements lacking their usual grace in the heat of passion. He stared at Irena a moment before tugging the garment over her head, leaving her in just her bra from the waist up. Desperate to see him too, she went to work on the snaps of his denim shirt, but her fingers felt clumsy. Finally, he brushed her hands aside and knelt between her legs to yank the stupid thing open, stripper-style, then tugged it off. Her gaze drifted over his taut torso—hard muscles, washboard abs, the thin line of dark hair that went down, down, down to disappear beneath the waistband of his jeans.

  Chago had ink too, a tattoo below his belly button.

  Irena was on the verge of purring just from the sight of him.

  His gaze darkened, traveling from her face to her lacy red bra to her stomach, then lower still. From his wicked smile, he liked what he saw.

  There was a second of hesitation, then they were on each other again, his bare chest rubbing against her skin, the contact thrilling her—hard and rough and purely male. She traced her fingers over the expanse of his back, exploring every warm, smooth inch. She’d ached for him for so long and wanted this moment to last forever. Hooking her legs around his waist, Irena dug her heels into his firm backside. Chago ground against her, seemingly as desperate as she was for this to happen.

  Then he reached beneath her to unhook her bra, slowly removing it. The air was cool against her breasts, but he soon warmed them with his hands and mouth. She arched, unable to hold back her cries of pleasure. This was so much better than her fantasies.

  He growled, pulling her closer. She gripped his waist, loving the way his muscles tensed beneath her touch. He felt so good. She could spend hours exploring all of him, but her passion was too fierce. She plunged her hands inside the gap between his jeans and his lower back, inside his boxers and over the rise of his taut butt. Chago hissed, kissing his way down her abdomen to the button at the waist of her jeans, making fast work of her fly. She toed off her shoes and he slid the jeans off her trembling legs. Irena watched him remove the rest of his clothes as well, his cock jutting proudly, a bead of moisture pearling at its tip.

  She licked her lips, wanting to taste him.

  He pulled a tiny foil packet from the nightstand drawer then ripped it open with his teeth. After smoothing on the condom, Chago knelt beside her to tug off her panties. Parting her thighs, he traced his hands up her inner thighs to stroke her slick folds. She moaned, begging for more. He didn’t disappoint, sliding two fingers inside her slick channel while his thumb caressed her sensitive clit. Tension coiled tighter inside her and she clutched the comforter in her fists.

  Heat rushed through her from head to toe as he brought her closer to the edge. Then he flicked his tongue over her swollen clitoris and she nearly passed out, needing this, needing him, so badly. He moaned against her sensitive flesh, the sound of his desire increasing her own. Irena surrendered to the rising tide of orgasm.

  “Please…” She squeezed her eyes shut, sparks sizzling along her nerve endings. Her birthmark seared hotter, urging her to take control and force him to make her come.

  “Please what?” His dark eyes sparkled with challenge as he met her gaze up the length of her body. “Say it.”

  “Make me come.”

  “As you command.” He slid a finger third finger inside her, stretching her, preparing her for him, thrusting deep. Irena writhed, his sweet torture heaven and hell all rolled into one. He pumped within her slow and steady, maddening her with his teasing pace. Then he stopped completely, kissing his way up the length of her body, his hard cock brushing her thigh as he settled between her legs. Chago positioned his cock at her wet entrance, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, thinking only of him, inside her, where she wanted him most. Only then would she win this war.

  Her thoughts snagged on that odd thought.

  This wasn’t war. This was sex, glorious sex. Desire, need, want. Never a battle. A joining of wills.

  That strange power rippled through her again, along with an overwhelming urge to take what she wanted, consequences be damned.

  “Irena,” he whispered against her lips. “I’m yours. Always.”

  The force of those words made her breath hitch. She yearned for him to quell the raging inferno he’d ignited within her from the first time she’d seen him three years ago.

  Mine.

  She moaned, encouraging him to take her.

  He eased his cock inside her, inch by delicious inch, until he was fully buried. Then he stopped, their bodies intimately joined and his face level with hers. He brushed the hair from her heated cheek. She stilled, enjoying the moment. The golden flecks in his eyes were more pronounced, brighter with heat and passion.

  “My Chago,” she said and he smiled.

  “Yours.” He kissed her. “Always.”

  Then he moved, thrusting slow and steady, and the flames within her burned hotter. She cried out as he drove them closer to the brink.

  “Irena.” He grunted, his pace quickening until it became frantic. She raised her hips, her nails digging into his shoulders. She wanted it rougher, quicker, a violent victory to match the scorching need in her veins. Irena clutched his backside, teetering on the brink of orgasm. Close, so close. Blood rushed through her ears, drowning out everything but this man, this moment. “More. More. Yes!”

  Pleasure rippled through her body. Chago threw his head back and groaned deep, coming hard along with her as the world shattered into a million iridescent shards of bliss.

  The waves of sensation gradually subsided and he collapsed atop her, his head resting in the valley between her breasts, his warm breath ghosting over her skin.

  She stroked his hair, their breaths slowing. Chago rolled off her and Irena glanced over to see the tattoo on his lower abdomen. She stroked the swirling lines, but he caught her wrist. Murmuring under his breath, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm, his eyes closed.

  The air around them chilled and she shivered.

  Chago padded to the bathroom, returning a few minutes later to draw her into his arms and spoon her from behind. He drew the covers over them, his breath evening out into the patterns of sleep.

  The last rays of sun drifted through the curtains. Irena yawned and closed her eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept well. With the stress of running the diner, then Chago going missing, she’d not gotten a solid eight hours in weeks. She snuggled closer to him and his arm tightened around her waist.

  Sleep wouldn’t be a problem tonight.

  He’d called her beautiful. He’d wanted her. Irena wasn’t sure where this would lead or if he’d change his mind, but they’d discuss things in the morning and decide where to go from here.

  3

  Chago blinked his eyes open and squinted into the pre-dawn gloom. For a moment he thought he was back in the heavenly realms awaiting Divinity’s next orders, then he remembered he d
idn’t live there anymore. Just as well since he couldn’t stand to look at the perfection all around him when the the debt he owed was still left unpaid. His heart broke when he thought of the innocent men who’d died because of his failure to keep them safe. Bitter irony, considering it was his sacred Scion duty to protect the mortal host of the second Seal of the Apocalypse—War—which, if she were killed, would unleash a cataclysm to end the entire universe.

  Head pounding and throat sore, he dropped his head back onto the soft pillows. He should not have tried alcohol the day before.

  Fingers touched his chest, feather-light, stroking his skin with care. There was love in that caress. Concern too. He attempted to gather his queasy thoughts and focus on the person beside him, but it was impossible. Still, the touch felt good, soothing his raging headache.

  Slowly, memories of the night before resurfaced.

  Irena. Being with her was nothing short of Heaven on Earth. He was her sworn protector, his sole reason for existence to guard the ancient Seal housed within her DNA.

  Her tender caress lingered over the exquisitely sensitive Scion mark on his lower abdomen, making him bite back a sigh of contentment. The mark heated, responding to the Seal’s power within her touch—despite her being unaware of the ancient secret woven into her genetics. The Seal passed from one generation of mortals to the next without notice. And he’d stood guard, watching over each of them from a distance. Never interfering, never making contact.

  Until now.

  “Oh my God.” The mattress jiggled as Irena scrambled away. “It’s glowing...”

  She hit the floor with a thud.

  Chago sat up, wincing at the agony in his skull.

  Irena gaped at him, naked as he was, her eyes wide and her face ashen. “What are you?”

  He growled in frustration and she bolted for the door.

  Thankfully, his Scion reflexes hadn’t suffered as badly as his head from the hangover. He reached the exit first and jammed his hands against the doorframe. “Irena, please listen to me.”

  She tried to pass, pummeling his chest with her fists. “Get out of my way!”

  He caught her around the waist and pulled her back into his chest. Unfortunately, her soft backside brushed his groin and his body got the wrong idea. Having a hard cock would not help matters.

  Summoning all his patience, Chago tucked Irena under one arm and carried her back to the bed. She continued to struggle, scratching his arm and elbowing him in the ribs. Sharp pain radiated through his side and he sucked in a breath, his hold loosening. She broke free and darted for the door again.

  “Please, Irena,” Chago managed to gasp. He doubled-over, holding his aching side while hot bile choked his throat. “Wait.”

  She snatched her clothes from the floor and tugged them on fast, keeping a wary eye on him the whole time. Her pink t-shirt was on inside out, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate him mentioning it at the moment. She twisted her long blonde hair into a rough ponytail, then charged forward. Every fiber in his immortal being screamed that he couldn’t let her go, couldn’t let her walk out the door. If she ran, he’d lose what little peace he’d found here in Montana.

  “I can explain.” He wasn’t quite sure what he intended to tell her, but he needed to say something, given how this situation was rapidly going downhill.

  “Explain what? That I’m crazy? Or that I just slept with a…a…?” She waved her hand in front of him, her expression a mix of horror and confusion. “I don’t even know what you are.”

  Being her sworn Scion protector gave Chago a preternatural awareness of her feelings, and right now they were all over the place—anger, fear, and everything in between. He wanted to comfort her, tell her things would be okay, but she wouldn’t even meet his gaze.

  “Please tell me this isn’t a sick joke,” she said, her tone quiet.

  “What? No. Irena, look at me. Please.”

  “I’d rather not.” She shook her head.

  Chago scrubbed a hand over his face, searching for the right words. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?” She gave an incredulous snort. “I slept with you. That meant something to me. But now I don’t even know who you are…what you are.”

  Shoulders sagging, Chago closed his eyes and concentrated, until the heat surrounding his Scion mark slowly faded. He hazarded a glance in Irena’s direction, knowing she deserved to hear the truth.

  “What we did last night meant something to me too. And no, this is not a joke. You do know me. I’m the same man I was yesterday. I’m Chago—rancher, friend, Scion warrior.

  “Scion warrior?” She looked up at him then, her expression skeptical. “What’s that?”

  Few alive had ever heard of the Scion, and the few who had believed they were some kind of saints who couldn’t enjoy life in all the important ways.

  That belief couldn’t be further from the truth.

  They had rules, heavenly laws they must obey, but at heart the Scion also had free-will in most areas and could be fun-loving and gregarious when not on duty—which, granted, was rare—but many of his brethren had fallen in love with mortals. Just this past winter in fact his Scion brother, Kagan, had met and fallen for his Seal’s host, choosing to live with her in a place called Chicago.

  Chago was now in love with Irena too. Had been for the last three years.

  Before he’d gone away, he’d considered her a friend, a duty. He’d thought her pretty and attractive and relatable. She eased his loneliness. But going away had made him see he’d fallen hard for her. In the heavenly realms, he’d watched her from afar, monitoring her daily life from the huge, wall-sized screen in his quarters. But once he’d met her face-to-face, his poor battered heart hadn’t stood a chance.

  “Irena?”

  She didn’t respond, staring at his lower torso as if expecting his mark to ignite again. It was a constant struggle, keeping it dormant whenever she was nearby, but necessary. The mark would burn holes through his clothing and draw unwanted attention from other mortals.

  The tension in his shoulders increased and his head throbbed anew. Drinking had been a bad idea, but he’d do just about anything these days to ease the haunting pain of his failures, his shortcomings. Humans drank to cope with their issues, why couldn’t a Scion?

  His stomach lurched in answer. Because liquor would do nothing to ease the burden of guilt he bore for what had happened more than a century ago on the Iberian Peninsula. He perceived it as a black mark on his reputation as a Scion warrior and on his immortal soul, a mark that would not be erased until he gained justice for those who’d died because of his mistakes.

  Plus, thinking about how the relationship he’d built with Irena might be destroyed because of one night of intoxicated lust hurt more than he could say. She’d been a light in his darkest hours, the one person who eased his suffering. She’d given him her friendship and support, made his pain and guilt bearable. If he lost her now, he wasn’t sure how he’d cope.

  She was the one good thing left in his eternal life.

  “I’m an immortal warrior sent from Heaven to protect you.”

  “Why aren’t you in the bible?” Irena crossed her arms and gave him an appraising look from head to toe. “I doubt a heavenly being would be allowed to do what we did last night.”

  “I am certainly no saint.” Saying that brought his duty back to the forefront. His chest ached. There’d been a tribunal, made up of archangels and Divinity, after the slaughter in the Basque region. They’d gone over his case, found him not guilty of any wrongdoing, but the burden remained. He could not forget what he’d seen that day, the evil perpetrators of all that destruction, the true villains behind the humans they’d so easily manipulated. Too bad there was no evidence to support what he’d seen. He’d spent countless hours searching the the Empyrean libraries, returning to the scene of the battle in what was now Spain. He’d been there these past three weeks, as he was every year at this time, to search, to remember. He’d stil
l not found what he needed, but he would continue his quest, for eternity if necessary, to get justice for his lost men.

  Irena raised a brow at him, focusing his thought back on the present situation.

  “I went to revisit a battlefield where many lives were lost because of me. I visit to remember, to remind myself of my sworn duties.”

  “Sworn duties?”

  “You’ve read the Book of Revelation?” He searched her eyes for a sign of recognition, then quoted the verse. “The second seal opened and a fiery red horse rode forth. Granted the power to take peace from the earth, that people should kill one another. A great sword was given unto them.” He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “The Scion were created to protect the mortal hosts of Seven Seals of the Apocalypse, Irena. I am sworn to protect you.”

  “Me?” Her voice was tight with panic again. She backed away, trembling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You’re mine to protect, Irena. You’re the mortal host of the second Seal. I wanted to tell you many times since we met.”

  “That you’re one of these Scion?”

  “That I’m your Scion.”

  “No. I can’t hear this right now.” Her frown deepened and her knees wobbled. She sank down onto the edge of the mattress. He wanted to touch her, hold her. Wanted to know he hadn’t just ruined everything between them by telling her the truth of who he was and what she was.

  “You are the mortal host of the second Seal, Irena. Of War.” Chago tried to explain as best he could. “It’s woven into your genetic code, your DNA. When I made my decision to leave my heavenly quarters and live here in the earthly realm, I stayed close to keep an eye on you. I bought this ranch, visited your diner. Got to know you, became your friend.”

  “Why?”

  Good question.

  Chago stared at her pink painted toenails. She was so delicate and soft. He loved that about her. Loved her smile and her openness, loved how she always found time for him, no matter how busy her schedule.