Page 15 of Deep Within Me

“They think I’m dead. They won’t be looking for—”

He interrupted, speaking to his clan, “If Liz leaves, then so do I.”

“Zeke, no.” Liz tried to push his arm from her waist. He held her even tighter. “You can’t mean that,” she cried.

“I’ve never been more serious. She and her father stay,” Zeke told the others, “or I leave.”

“Me too.”

Jacob’s voice came from behind the men, his announcement labored with what sounded like pain. His clenched jaw and frown recorded every bit of it as he worked his way through the crowd then paused to lean against the wall to draw in a ragged breath. One of the men reached for him, to help in some way.

Jacob put out his hand to keep the man back. On his biceps was a tribal band, similar in design to Zeke’s but without the eagle’s eye that designated the wearer as a seer. A tourniquet wound around Jacob’s upper thigh, directly above the bullet he’d taken. His jeans were wet with the blood he’d already lost, his skin damp and ashy, his handsome features—less rugged than Zeke’s—contorted with hurt.

Didn’t stop him. Younger than Zeke by a few years, Jacob kept limping toward his older brother, refusing any assistance. His dark hair, waist length and damp with perspiration, clung to his throat and back.

Zeke released Liz and went to Jacob, easily supporting his body. Though both men were tall and broad-shouldered, Zeke was more muscular.

“I’m all right,” Jacob panted.

He was hurting more than Liz could bear. She went to him.

Ignoring her, Zeke turned to her father. “Help him. Please.”

“I’ll do it,” she said.

“No.” Zeke pushed her hands away from Jacob. “Not you. Your father. Please, Dr. Munez.”

Upon reaching them, he sank to his knees and placed his hands on the bullet-torn jeans, Jacob’s wound. Air hissed through Jacob’s teeth; the muscles in his neck corded at the surge of power and heat, the healing force Liz knew was pouring from her father into him.

She watched in silence, feeling useless, not understanding Zeke’s refusal to let her heal. Had he believed her gift wasn’t strong enough to help Jacob? How was that possible? He’d watched her save his brother when Jacob had been far more injured, those bullets having ripped into his gut.

Despite the wounds, Liz had restored him to full health. Zeke had taken her then, along with Jacob, their thick cocks sliding into her mouth, stretching her cunt, burrowing into her anus. They hadn’t held back in the least. Neither had she, enjoying both men. Though not equally. Her heart had already belonged to Zeke. Always would.

Was that why he didn’t want her touching his brother? Zeke was again establishing his claim on her? One his people would always fight, with that battle eventually tearing him and her apart.

“How do you feel?” her father asked Jacob. He brought back his hands from the wound, which was closed now, nearly indistinct, as though it had never happened.

Jacob released a long, contented sigh. The kind one hears from a man who’s been given a powerful narcotic to blunt the worst sort of pain. “Great.” He tested his leg and huffed happily when it took his full weight. “Thanks.”

“Here.” Liz offered her arm to help her father to his feet.

“I have it,” Jacob said.

He didn’t glance her way. In fact, he hadn’t looked at her at all since he’d made his presence known. He finished removing the tourniquet then assisted her father. As the older man stood, Jacob spoke to the others, determination replacing his previous pain. “If Zeke goes, so do I.”

“No,” Kele insisted. “I’m the one who should be banished.”

Everyone started talking at once.

“Quiet,” Zeke ordered. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“You’re right,” Ike said from behind. “Let’s take a vote like we always do. I vote that everyone stays.”

Grim acceptance rather than joy rang in his words. Zeke was their leader, the most powerful seer of their clan, a man whose integrity they’d never questioned or doubted. Ike obviously didn’t want to lose a man like that, even if it meant having to put up with their enemies, which now included Kele.

The men beside Ike muttered their comments, looking as ambivalent as those who stood behind the women.

Although Isabel’s expression darkened, she said nothing.