League - Fire And Ice Part 5

He cupped her face in his hands, and smiled a warm, dimpled smile at her. And when he kissed her, she quivered at the tenderness of his lips.

"G.o.d, you taste so good," he said as he nibbled the corner of her mouth. "I could kiss you forever."

Desire stabbed her at his words. "You're not so bad yourself," she said.

He laughed, then scooped her up in his arms.

Livia gasped at the unexpected feel of his strong arms surrounding her. But as he reached the bed, he staggered.

Agony contorted his face as he let go of her and fell to his knees.

"Adron?" she asked, kneeling beside him.

She could tell by his face that he hurt too much to speak. "Here,"

she said, "lie on the floor."

She helped him to lie down, then she took his knee in her hand. Livia did her best to summon her powers, but they refused to come.

No!

Adron held his hand to his head as if something vile was being plunged into his brain. He writhed in misery and she ached that she couldn't help him.

Her heart hammering, she rushed to the night stand.

"The injector," he snarled from the floor. "There's a bottle for it in the drawer."

Livia found them and took them to him.

He placed the bottle in the injector, then held it against his stomach and pulled the trigger. Sweat drenched his body as he shook all over.

Livia covered him with the blanket and then held his head in her lap.

Adron tried not to fight the pain. It hurt less when he did and yet it ripped through him with such a torturous fury that it left him weak. Drained.

He stared up at Livia as she brushed her hand through his hair and held him close.

He'd never before allowed anyone near him when he was like this. Not when he had a choice about it, anyway. But there was something about her that soothed his tattered spirit.

Better still, he didn't see contempt or pity on her face. A peaceful calm stared at him from her green eyes.

After a few minutes, his pain ebbed enough to where he could move again.

He sat up slowly, carefully, but it felt as if every muscle in his body had been shredded again. He started to push himself to his feet.

She moved to help him.

"Don't," he said with more rancor than he meant. "I can stand on my own."

She took his angry tone in stride. "Can I get you anything?"

"A bottle of alcohol." He laid back down on the bed.

"Adron, it's morning. Shouldn't you eat something?"

He glared the glare that had never failed to send his family scurrying away from him. "Get me something to drink."

She got dressed, then returned a few minutes later with a gla.s.s of milk.

"Dammit, Livia! I'm not a child."

"Then stop acting like one."

Before he could answer, the door chime sounded.

"Should I answer it?" she asked.

"I don't give a d.a.m.n what you do."

Livia sighed at his hostile tone as he s.h.i.+fted slightly in the bed, then grimaced.

She went to the door and opened it to find a tall, attractive brunette barely dressed. The short, red halter was scooped low and the black tight leather skirt would have given Livia's parents the vapors.

The woman removed her sungla.s.ses to where Livia could see the red irises and white pupils that marked the woman as a full-blooded Andarion.

"You must be Livia," she said cheerfully. "I'm Zarina."

Livia c.o.c.ked a brow at her.

"Adron's sister," she added. "Dad just old me about the marriage and I had to come meet you."

Unsure what to make of his unconventional sister, Livia let her in.

"You're really cute," Zarina said as she stepped inside and dropped her bag on Adron's couch. "But I wouldn't have pegged you for his type."

"Excuse me?"

"Adron always had a thing for long-legged blondes with the depth of a piece of paper. You look like you actually have both a brain and a soul."

Livia arched a brow at her words. "Should I be offended?"

Zarina laughed. "Please don't be. The only people I ever intentionally offend are my brothers. And speaking of, where's Big Bad Angry One? Dad said he was actually up and walking around without his cane."

Before Livia could answer, a loud crash sounded in the bedroom. She ran back to Adron with Zarina one step behind her.

As soon as they entered the room, she saw him leaning with one hand braced against the night stand. Livia gasped at the sight of blood covering him and every time he coughed, more blood came up.

"Oh, G.o.d," Zarina gasped, running to a communicator.

Terrified, Livia went to her husband.

He opened his mouth to speak, but only coughed up more blood. His entire body shaking, he fell back against the bed where he writhed in agony.

When she tried to touch him, he pushed her away.

"A med tech unit is on its way," Zarina said the instant she rejoined them.

Livia locked gazes with Adron. She saw the torment and the shame in his eyes. He was embarra.s.sed.

But for her life, she couldn't imagine why.

"He needs his clothes," she said to Zarina over his shoulder.

By the time they'd wiped the blood from him and dressed him, the med tech team had arrived.

"I need to call our parents," Zarina said, leaving Livia to watch as the team worked on her husband.

They inserted a tube down Adron's throat and gave him another injection while they started an IV. He just laid there and his calm acceptance of their actions told her he was well used to things like this.

Dear Lord, what had happened to him?

Could it be because of what they'd done? Could having s.e.x with him kill him?

The thought horrified her.

As the air Gurney went pa.s.sed, Adron gave her a tired, sheepish look, then turned away from her.

"C'mon," Zarina said from the doorway. "I'll give you a ride to the hospital."

Livia followed her to a transport and got inside. "What happened to him?"

Zarina winced as if the memory was too painful to even contemplate.

"Five years ago, Adron was the League a.s.sa.s.sin who was a.s.signed to terminate Kyr Omaindon."

Livia knew the name well. Kyr's blood-thirsty cruelty was the stuff of nightmares. He'd blazed a two year trail of rape and slaughter through the Brimen sector.

Zarina raked a graceful hand through her hair. "When Adron entered Kyr's home to execute him, Kyr grabbed one of his servants and locked himself inside his study. The woman was pregnant, and Adron blamed himself for letting her get taken."

Livia remembered the famous stand-off. There had been hours of media coverage. And it had ended when one of the League a.s.sa.s.sins had allowed his hands to be cuffed behind his back, and then traded for the pregnant woman.

Now she knew the name and face of that a.s.sa.s.sin.

Worse, she knew his gentle touch.

Zarina drove through the crowded sectors. "Kyr decided to make an example of Adron. He wanted to insure that the League thought twice about sending another a.s.sa.s.sin after him. So, he tortured Adron for days, then carved him up like a roast. A week after Adron vanished, my brother Jayce found him barely alive inside a dumpster."

Livia blinked away the tears in her eyes as she imagined what it must have been like for Jayce to find his brother in such a condition. "Why does Adron hate Jayce?"

"Because, according to League Code, when an a.s.sa.s.sin finds another a.s.sa.s.sin who has been permanently maimed or disfigured, he's supposed to terminate him. The idea is to die with honor and dignity."

Livia cleared her throat as she ached for her husband and his family.

"Jayce couldn't do it."

"No, he couldn't. The two of them were too close. Plus, Jayce would never have been able to face the rest of us if he had killed him, or let him die."

Zarina sighed. "I wish you could have seen Adron back then. He was something else." She smiled. "He was always rus.h.i.+ng around at warp speed, joking, laughing. Now, there are days when he can't even leave his bed for the pain."

Livia remembered catching a glimpse of that playful Adron last night.

"What happened to Kyr?"

"My father tore him to pieces."

Livia had never condoned violence of any sort, but after seeing Adron and the constant pain he lived in, she understood his father's reaction.

Now, she just wanted to make it better for him.

She just didn't know how.

Chapter 3.

Adron pushed the oxygen mask off his face.

His doctor gave him a peeved glare. "Would you stop that, you need it."

"I can't breathe with it on."

"You can barely breathe, period." Theo put he oxygen mask back in place.

Adron narrowed his eyes at the man, but as usual, Theo didn't care.

Over the last five years, their battle of wills had become legendary in the hospital gossip mill.

Theo brushed a hand though his graying black hair while he scowled at him. "I can't believe you'd even try to have s.e.x in your condition.

What were you thinking?"

Adron jerked the mask off. "I'm not a friggin' eunuch."

"No, you're not," Theo said, putting the mask back in place. "You're a man whose internal organs are barely fused together. Their functionality is minimal at best, and any strain on them can kill you.