Judah watched and waited.

Finally Mercy released Meta’s hands and said, “Rest now.

Tomorrow you will prepare to move into the next phase of your life.”

“Thank you.” Meta wiped the moisture from her damp cheeks. “If you hadn’t…I can never repay you for what you’ve done.”

“Repay me by living a long and full life.”

Judah could tell by how whisper soft Mercy’s voice was, and by the way she wavered slightly, that she was near exhaustion. When she turned and walked toward the door, she moved slowly, as if her feet were bound with heavy weights. Judah backed out of the doorway and waited for her outside. When she stepped out into the fresh night air, she staggered and grabbed the doorframe to steady herself. As the moment of weakness passed, she closed the door behind her. Then she saw Judah.

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you, to walk you home.”

She glared at him.

“That was quite remarkable, what you did in there,” he told her.

“How long have you been here?”

“Only a few minutes, but long enough to see what you were doing. She’s going to be all right now, isn’t she? She won’t try to kill herself again.”

“How did…? Who told you about Meta?”

“I ran into Brenna and Geol. Brenna told me about Meta, and also how to find her cabin. Did you know that Brenna thinks we were lovers and that I’m Eve’s father?”

Mercy rubbed her forehead. “I’m too tired to worry about what Brenna thinks. As long as she doesn’t suspect that you’re Ansara…”

“She doesn’t.”

Mercy nodded. “Good. Now I need to go home and rest. I’m very tired. If you wanted to talk to me about something in particular, it will have to wait a few hours until I’ve rested.”

“I really did come here just to walk you home.”

She eyed him suspiciously, then started moving away from the cabin. Judah fell into step beside her but didn’t say anything else. They walked a good forty yards or so in silence, the only sounds the nocturnal rural symphony coming slowly to life all around them.

Suddenly Mercy stopped. “Judah?”

“Yes?”

“I-I don’t think-”

She wavered unsteadily, then spiraled downward in a slow whirl to the ground. Judah called her name as she lay at his feet, a serene angel who had spent her last ounce of energy. He knelt and lifted her into his arms; then glanced up at the mountainside cabin nestled above the waterfall.

Waking suddenly, Mercy shot straight up, gasping for air, feeling disoriented and strangely frightened. Where was she? Not at home. She patted the surface around her. She was in a bed, just not her bed.

“How do you feel?” Judah asked.

Judah?

She turned to follow the sound of his voice. He was standing halfway across the room, near the windows, moonlight highlighting his tall, muscular body.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“In the cabin near the waterfall.”

“What happened?” She held up a restraining hand. “No, it’s all right. I remember. I felt faint and…Why did you bring me here instead of taking me home?”

He moved toward her. She scooted to the edge of the bed and stood to face him.

“I thought we needed some time alone. Without Sidonia. Without Eve.”

“Eve will be concerned that we haven’t come home.”

“I let her know that you’re all right and we’re together. She’s asleep now.”

“I’m not staying here.” Mercy took several weak, tentative steps, then faltered.

Judah reached out and caught her before she fell, keeping her on her feet as he wrapped his arms around her. “Why should we fight the inevitable? I want you, and you want me.”

When she tried to free herself from his tenacious embrace, he held fast.

Tilting her head so that she could look him right in the eyes, Mercy said, “You are Ansara. I am Raintree. We hate each other. When you have killed your brother, then you and I will fight for Eve, and I will kill you.”

He lowered his head, his lips hovering over hers. She tried again to break free, but without success.

“And it will bother you to have sex with me and then try to kill me. How deliciously naive you still are, sweet Mercy.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why? Because that’s what I called you the night you conceived Eve, the night we couldn’t get enough of each other?”

“Let me go. Don’t do this. Don’t make me fight you tonight.”

“I don’t want to fight.”

She struggled against his superior physical strength but couldn’t overpower him. “Do you intend to try to rape me?”

He loosened his hold on her, and she pulled free, managing to make it to the door before her knees weakened. As she stumbled, she reached out and broke her fall, managing to stay upright only by leaning against the door. Judah came up behind her and gently pressed himself against her, trapping her between his muscular body and the wood. When she felt his warm breath on her neck, she trembled.

“I haven’t even touched you, and you’re falling apart,” he told her, his voice a sensual rasp.

“I hate you.”

“Hate me all you want.”

Judah eased his hand across and down her shoulder, over her waist, and then he cupped her butt. Even through the cotton of her summer dress and panties, she felt the heat of his touch. And, God help her, she wanted him. All of him.

When he reached down, grasped the edge of her skirt and slowly bunched it in his hand, she closed her eyes and whimpered. His fingertips moved upward beneath the dress and over her panties.

She managed to say one word. “Don’t.”

“Shh…” he hissed into her ear as his fingers found the small of her back, that ultrasensitive spot just above her buttocks. “Relax, sweet Mercy. Let me pleasure you.”

Judah, please…please…

He rubbed his index finger over her sacrum, faster and faster, harder and harder. Mercy held her breath as sensation built inside her. Suddenly a zap of electrical energy shot from Judah’s fingers directly into the vertebrae in the small of her back.

Jerking uncontrollably, Mercy cried out as she climaxed.

FOURTEEN

How could she have let this happen? She could have escaped. She could have stopped him. Why hadn’t she?

Because you wanted this. Because you want him.

Judah eased his hand out from under her dress, letting the skirt fall back down over her legs, the hem brushing against her calves. But he kept her pinned against the cabin door, her back to his chest, his erection throbbing against her buttocks.

As the aftershocks of her orgasm faded away, Mercy fought an inner battle, her heart versus her mind. Her heart whispered soft, passionate yearnings, but every logical thought commanded her to flee.

Fight your desires.

Fight Judah. Don’t let him do this to you.

“Let me go,” she pleaded. “You don’t want me this way, taking me against my will.”

“I’ll take you any way I can.” He murmured the words against her neck. “And make no mistake, sweet Mercy, I intend to have you. Tonight.” He shoved himself against her, grinding his erect penis against the cheeks of her ass.

Calling forth what strength the recent hours of sleep had regenerated within her, Mercy focused on overpowering Judah and gaining her release. She needed only a moment of forceful energy to take him off guard and free herself. As he ran his hands over her, his breath hot against her neck, she shot a jolt of electrical pressure from her body into his. He bellowed in pain as the shock waves hit his nerve endings.

She broke away from him, grasped the doorknob and yanked open the door.

Run. Fast. Get away while you can.

If only she possessed the ability to levitate, she could fly away from danger.

With her energy once again greatly depleted, Mercy made it only ten feet from the cabin before Judah caught her and whirled her around to face him. Hardened with rage over what she’d done, he focused his frigid glare on her body, raking over her from neck to toes. She felt the intensity of his gaze, a sensation of hot and then cold sliding downward, between her breasts, across her belly, between her thighs. Her dress split apart where his gaze moved over it, as did her bra and panties beneath.