Текст книги "Bonds of Fire"
Автор книги: T. A. Grey
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 20 страниц)
Chapter 25
“Are you ready to go?”
Willow finished brushing her hair and smiled at Lyonis. Ever since she decided to mate with him, things had been different. She actually felt...happy. She still wasn’t sure if it was because the stress of the situation was gone or if it was because she was genuinely happy. Either way, she felt good about her decision and was ready to go through with it.
She nodded at him and they piled into his truck and drove towards the field where the festival was being held. As Lyonis drove through the neighborhood, Willow thought back to the past few days. They’d been some of the happiest days of her life. Lyonis and her talked, they talked about everything. About his parents, about hers, about their childhoods. It almost felt like they were any other normal couple.
She kept waiting for the dreaded feeling to come over her, but it never came. No regret, no shame, and no denial. She was ready to mate with him, and they were doing it tonight after the festival. He still wouldn’t tell her how it was done, but that afterwards she’d finally and fully be his wife. The whole thing made her dizzy with excitement—another first for her. She just wished her sisters could be here. She’d asked him if she could invite them but Lyonis told her that the mating ceremony is very private. She blushed thinking about it.
Even the worries in the town over the demon were slowly seeping away. Stephanie, although she still couldn’t recall what happened that night in the forest, was alive and back to normal according to her parents. The town bustled again with energy, the cloud of suffocating depression lifted like a fading dream.
The bright lights of the festival came into view and Willow could barely contain her excitement. She felt like a child going to her first circus. The music of a band drifted over the roar of the truck, some Rock n’ Roll tune she recognized but didn’t know the words to.
They parked in a spot by headquarters and Willow jumped out of her seat before Lyonis could come around to her door. Her eyes were wide as she took everything in.
The entire town was here. Dressed in warm jackets and winter hats, they walked in groups to the booths and stands of the festival. They danced in front of the makeshift stage where the band performed. The scents of sugary cotton candy, spicy meat, and caramel apples tantalized her nose. For the first time since becoming a mature succubus, Willow wished she could still eat food. The last meal she’d eaten was a chicken salad. The thought was almost too depression to bear.
“It’s like a carnival!”
Smiling at her enthusiasm, Lyonis grabbed her hand and began showing her the festival. Dozens of brightly lit booths provided fun and games in the form of archery and ball throwing contests to win prizes of gigantic stuffed animals.
“How do you do all of this?”
“We have a planning committee actually.” She gave him a look that made him laugh. “It’s true. They plan it months in advance. We have an extra tax put in place on all of the local businesses to pay for everything. Locals volunteer, heck some even fight over who gets to operate which booths. It’s a lot of fun for everyone.”
Willow passed booths selling homemade scarves, hats, and silks where girls happily waited in line to buy. Other booths had homemade jewelry in the form of beaded necklaces, bracelets, and little earrings. She felt like a kid in the candy store and wanted to try a little bit of everything.
The next booth had her coming to a halt. Behind the table of the booth sat wooden shelves holding a variety of snow globes. Some had lights inside him with little figurines dancing or moving, others when shaken snowed down white specs over a replica of the town.
“You like snow globes?”
Willow’s throat tightened. The words in Papa’s will came into her mind. He left her all of his precious snow globes. The same ones he personally cleaned and cared for. He kept them in his study and his bedroom. All of them special to him, personally picked out or even made to signify a special memory for him.
Willow could only nod, afraid that if she spoke he’d hear the raw emotion inside her. He nodded and led her up to the booth. The attendant behind it was none other than Stephanie McLannahan’s mother, Nancy.
“Hello, Nancy. You have a great selection this year.” Nancy’s eyes lit up at the compliment from her Alpha.
“Thank you. Is there anything you’d like to look at?” Lyonis looked at Willow in question and she pointed to two different globes. One was of the town, the other a replica of this festival. Nancy grabbed them off the shelf and placed them on the counter.
Willow picked up the one of the town first. It was lovely, the details perfect. A dark wooden fence went around the globe where a thin line of trees to represent the forest sat inside them. In the middle of the globe was the town, covered in white snowflakes as if they’d just received a big storm. She recognized the pub, which even had a small sign over it that read The Wolf’s Den. The detail was superb.
“Did you do all of these yourself?” Willow said. Nancy nodded, a delighted twinkle in her eye. “They’re amazing.” She shook the globe and watched as the snow on the bottom lifted to the top then slowly drifted down over the town.
She picked up the next globe, this one displaying a festival not unlike this one. There were booths with small lights inside them and tiny figurines of smiling people. Children lined the game booths and adults walked hand in hand in a happy moment, their hats and coats keeping them warm in the otherwise snowy and cold looking environment. She shook the globe and white puffs snowed over the festival.
“I’ll take them both,” Willow said. It may just be something she picked up from Papa, but these snow globes were too precious to pass up on. With them, she would recall this time and place, this town, for the rest of her life. The happy moments encased in a glass globe of fake snow.
Lyonis pulled out his wallet and paid for them. Willow started to protest but he kissed her to shut her up.
“Consider it a mating gift,” he whispered for her ears alone.
Wearing a silly smile, Willow picked up her carefully boxed bag of goodies and strolled with Lyonis through the rest of the festival. They played all of the games, which naturally, she made sure she won. It took some maneuvering, which was totally not cheating, but she did it.
He looked down at her with heat in his eyes. “You can’t touch me like that every time it’s my turn.”
She looked at him innocently. “Like what? I didn’t do anything. It’s not my fault you can’t hit anything worth a damn.”
“Can’t hit worth a damn?”
He growled in frustration and kissed her hard on the mouth. He didn’t pull away either, but kissed her until her lips swelled and her toes curled. When he finally did pull away, she had to hold on to him or else fall on her ass.
“Just because you can’t win fair and square—”
Willow glared at him. “I can too. I just prefer to play dirty.” His eyes flicked down her body as if seeing her naked beneath the thick jacket and pants she wore.
“I guess that’s fine,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Come on, we’re doing it again and this time, no cheating.”
“Hold on a sec. I need the lady's room. You can pretend to beat me when I get back. And no playing without me,” she added sternly.
He gave her a cocky look that said he was already planning all the ways he could cheat and Willow went off to the bathroom. They kept the main office open so the bathrooms could be used in there.
As Willow entered, two girls left the bathroom giving her a happy wave. Willow waved back and stepped inside. Willow did her business in the first stall then washed her hands. The bathroom door shut with a bang and she yelped as she spun around.
“Oh, it’s you, Stephanie. How are you?” Willow placed a hand over her racing heart to calm it.
A horrible feeling came over her like a suffocating blanket. Her instincts shouted at her to run to get as far away from Stephanie as possible. Willow told herself that was silly. It was just a teenage girl. A girl who didn’t have any noticeable weapons or appeared to be any kind of threat. Yet still her muscles tensed, ready for action, her eyes refused to stray from the young girl.
Stephanie never looked at her. Her eyes stared at the opposite wall. Willow watched her eyes closer and fought the urge to go lock herself in a stall to get away from this teenage girl.
Her eyes were vacant, dead. Eyes no longer shiny with life, no longer blinking with any indication that she was alive, yet she stood there, unmoving. Willow shivered as a freezing cold chill shot down her spine. Maybe the girl was sick or something. Since when do sick girls not blink...or move?
“Stephanie, are you okay?” Willow swallowed hard over the cracking sound of her voice.
Stephanie blinked once. The movement was so fast that Willow wasn’t even sure if she saw it happen. The life of the festival outside was completely drowned out. No longer could she hear the giggling voices of girls, the robust laughter of young men trying to impress their girlfriends. Inside the bathroom was a room of death, a black void where nothing entered and nothing left.
Willow jerked at the thought. Where the hell did that kind of thinking come from?
You’re freaking out, Willow. Just get a grip.
Stephanie’s head turned to her, the movement so fast and unnatural that Willow took a step back and bumped into the sink. Complete dread immobilized her. She could only stand there to see what was going to happen, what the girl would say, because somewhere inside her she knew. She knew that the girl had something to say.
Her lips moved and the voice that came out was Stephanie’s, but not. It was a mutated, twisted form of the young girl’s voice. Her words rolled together in garbled syllables, sounding like a hissing snake mixed with some deep accent.
“You will die. I will slaughter your people. Your child will mark the beginning of a great demon.”
The words ended abruptly. Stephanie collapsed to the ground in a heap, her head slamming against the hard tile wall. Willow hesitated a moment, whether out of fear or shock, she didn’t know, but she didn’t want to go anywhere near her. Stephanie’s cold words echoed in her head as if on repeat. A demon of death; her baby. The cold dread that had surrounded her was suffocating. Willow sucked in shorts gasps of air as her lungs struggled to continue to breathe.
Stephanie groaned, not the mutated voice, but the voice of a young girl as she rubbed her head. She looked around at her surroundings confused before her gaze landed on Willow.
“How did I get here? What happened?”
Eyes no longer dead and vacant were vibrant with life. With a strength that her Papa had taught her, Willow forced the chill away, forced herself to move, to take one step at a time until she stood before her and helped Stephanie stand.
“You came in here and slipped. You just hit your head on the wall. Are you okay?” The lie came so easily, it surprised her.
She could barely form words let alone touch her, but she did it. Willow had a horrible feeling that she just figured out what happened to Stephanie that night in the woods. And Stephanie was only a pawn in the whole thing.
Stephanie laughed nervously. “Thanks. I think I got it from here.”
Willow gave her a tight-lipped smile and fled from the bathroom. Did she tell Lyonis? He might believe her but what if he did...and didn’t? Everyone would think she was crazy or worse, making things up. Whatever happened that night in the forest, Stephanie was innocent in all this. The demon was using her somehow, but to do what and to what purpose?
Maybe to spy on her? But then why would it send her a message? It just gave its surprise away.
Willow pressed a hand over her softly distended stomach. The truth of the matter was so much harder to accept than a lie. She was pregnant and the demon wanted her baby.
Chapter 26
Willow returned to Lyonis at the booth where she left him. He smiled at her as she approached and she tried to reciprocate but she was too tense to make it believable.
“What’s wrong?”
Willow looked away from him. It was becoming harder to lie to his face. “Nothing, I just don’t feel so good. Must be all the excitement,” she said with mock cheeriness.
Cupping her cheek, he studied her face as a doctor might a sick patient. Then kissing her cheek, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and whisked her away from the festival and back towards the truck.
Willow thought about the mating ritual they had planned tonight and her stomach turned almost violently.
As soon as she had the thought, Amy stepped in front of them blocking their path. Lyonis growled at her in warning, his fingers inadvertently clenching around Willow’s shoulder.
“Amy?”
She cocked a brow and said loud enough that heads turned. “I’m ready to proceed with the challenge.”
Willow eyed her and realized she was dressed for a fight. She wore a long sleeve shirt a runner might wear while jogging in winter and a pair of athletic pants and sneakers.
Lyonis opened his mouth to speak, but Willow couldn’t let him take the credit for this. Stepping in front of him, she shook off his hold and said, “I’ve agreed to be his mate. In fact, I can’t wait.”
Maybe this confrontation was just what she needed because the earlier ugly business in the bathroom fell to the side. A crowd formed around them. Cheery conversations halted, games stopped, sales froze as everyone watched what might amount to a spectacle depending on how Willow handled this. Willow hadn’t felt this sassy in days. Her blood flowed in a rush and her fists dangled loosely, ready to curl and fly.
Feeling protective over Lyonis—he was hers now—Willow cocked a satisfied grin and placed her hand over her belly. The move was so simple, even as it was calculated, but it was so worth it.
Amy’s expression went from ready-to-fight anger to wide-eyed shock as she saw Willow’s hand. Amy let out a roar that put so much pressure on Willow’s eardrums they might burst had she not quickly turned away at the sound. She didn’t see her move. But she heard the motion, the stirring of air. It was so fast it was as if it didn’t happen at all but was a figment of her imagination.
But when she turned back around, Amy was lying on the ground and Lyonis was standing over her a hard, cruel look on his face. The crowd too glared at Amy as if she’d just committed some great offense.
“You dare to attack my mate?” Lyonis’ chest moved in great heaves as he struggled to control his anger. He stepped over the prone shapeshifter, one foot on either side of her. He looked every bit the animal just then and every ounce the Alpha he was.
“You dare to attack my mate while she carries my child?” His words were so hard they cut the air like shrapnel. Amy cowered beneath him, her hands flying to her face as tears swam down her face.
Even though she knew she was imposing where she shouldn’t be, Willow stepped forward and touched Lyonis’ arm. He didn’t turn towards her but she felt his arm stiffen and knew he was listening.
“It’s okay, Lyonis. No harm was done. Let’s just go.”
Willow was sure she had never pleaded for anything in her life other than for a toy she wanted from her Papa when she was young. That was silly and frivolous, but this was not. Her gut was tight with fear and her instincts told her that if she didn’t calm him down and back him away something bad would happed—she just didn’t know what.
The crowd waited to see his reaction. Willow took a step forward and another until she wrapped her arm around his waist and tugged on him.
He looked down at her with wide, wild eyes; they glowed with an amber light like she’d seen while passing a deer on the highway at night.
She spoke his name, softly, repeatedly. She didn’t know if it would work, but her gut told her to try anyway. He was on the offense. Someone had tried to attack his mate and child. She understood it and surprisingly it didn’t really scare her as much as she thought it might have. It was almost nice, comforting, albeit scary as hell to see him so enraged.
She continued to say his name in that calm, mellow voice. Chloe used the same soft voice on her when they were young and she’d gotten hurt. Slowly, the amber light dimmed back to a bright blue. He blinked and the hazy glow was extinguished. The muscles under her arm relaxed centimeter by centimeter, and then he stepped away from Amy.
There was a sigh of relief around the crowd as if everyone had been holding their breath. Amy was left on the ground, shaking.
Willow started to breathe easier as they walked away from her and through a part in the crowd, but then Lyonis stopped. She tried to keep walking, to pull him along but it was like trying to move a freight train.
“Wait,” he said and turned back to Amy. She flinched at his gaze and looked away. “You are now banished from this pack.”
She gasped then climbed to her knees as horrible wrenching sobs left her. She held her hands out to him as if in prayer and pleaded, “Please, Alpha. Don’t do this to me. I’m sorry. You know I’ve always been a jealous woman. I can’t help it. Please don’t do this!” The sobs were so hard her body shook with them.
Willow’s own face flushed with embarrassment at what she was seeing. No longer able to watch the display, she looked away and left it up to Lyonis. She didn’t think Amy should be banished from the pack, but some part of her made her think of the baby growing inside her. That part showed Amy as a threat and wanted her as far away as possible. Then why did her hair stand up on the back of her neck at the thought?
Lyonis looked around at the pack. “Does anyone disagree with my decision?”
There were mutual nays around the sullen festival. With a final nod, he looked at Amy. “Amy Thierry you are hereby banished from this pack indefinitely. Be out by sunrise and never show your face here again.”
Lyonis grabbed Willow’s hand and led her to his truck. Neither of them spoke as he drove them back to the cabin. She glanced at him once as he unlocked the cabin door but he didn’t meet her eyes.
There was no question that there would be no mating tonight. Willow was actually grateful for Amy’s interruption because now she didn’t have to lie or try to explain why she didn’t want to attempt the most life-changing event of her life tonight.
They went up to bed together as other couples have done for many, many years. It felt good, Willow realized. It felt good to be near him and do this normal activity, like pulling the bedsheets down and climbing inside.
He still wouldn’t meet her eyes for longer than a second, but Willow understood. She’d seen a side of him that he’d never shown her before and he was unsure about it. She wasn’t entirely sure how she knew that but she felt it deep inside. Women’s intuition or some shit like that.
As the heavy fog of sleep drifted over her, she opened her eyes one last time and whispered, “It’s okay.”
Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep with her arm around her Alpha.
* * *
Somewhere deep in the earth, below where any life dared to live, the demon cackled.
Its existence was simple but ambitious. It didn’t feel pain. It gave it. It didn’t feel fear, but thrived off its potent power.
It finished its spell and released the puny human from its grip. For too long the Bellum woman hadn’t feared and slowly its powers weakened, forcing it to take a victim to restore it. Someone for which the sister would feel fear. It had worked. Compassion was the demon’s greatest utility, easily used, easily manipulated. The demon could have taken anyone and the stupid succubus would have felt for it.
Its powers were nearly fully restored. Now the fear was back in the sister, stronger than ever, stronger than the demon had even hoped for.
Its plan was back on track now. The sister would die, then her end of the pact will be complete. Karr will rise again and together they will run the world.
Chapter 27
Jackie watched the scene between her Alpha and Willow with a combination of awe and jealousy. Amy deserved her banishment for daring to touch the Alpha’s mate in anger. Amy had always been a bit of a loose cannon but she must be out of her mind to attack Willow when her belly was obviously showing...and her mate was standing right next to her. Not so bright, Amy.
As the scene died out and Amy left in a wash of sobs, the conversations started back up like a radio being switched on. People sighed and went back to their booths, the sounds of laughter echoed through the air.
Jackie strolled along the booths, following the scents of juicy cooked meat and fresh mushrooms. This had always been her favorite part of the festival—the kebabs. Chunks of steak stuck between peppers and mushrooms. Already her mouth watered.
She hurried to the booth before anyone else got in line. She recognized Thomas on the grill. The son from a long line of chefs, Thomas worked at the pack’s restaurant and was capable of making the simplest things taste unbelievably amazing.
“Hey, Thomas. What’s crackin’?” Thomas looked over his shoulder and grinned at her.
“I was waiting for you to come by. Knew you couldn’t resist the smell.”
Jackie laughed. He was right. “Came here as soon as the drama was over, you know me. Can I get two of those?”
He flipped over the meat and vegetables to cook the other side and said, “What are you on some kind of diet now? Three or four minimum here, darlin’.”
“Well I guess I’ll have to suck it up and take three then.” Thomas let out a full belly laugh.
“Tara will help you as soon as she gets back.”
As Jackie’s mind searched through a list of faces with the name Tara, a youngish beauty with wavy brown hair came into the booth with a big smile. She turned to Thomas.
“Sorry about that, Chef. Had to wait in line to use the bathroom.” She turned back to Jackie and then it hit her. One of Thane’s flings. In fact, a recent one. Not even a month ago. Jackie’s gut tightened with a mixture of feelings she didn’t want to address. Instead of turning and walking away like she wanted to, she stood and managed a convincing smile.
“Three kebabs, please.”
Tara told her the charge and Jackie paid. Something as simple as a business exchange now seemed to take ten times longer than usual. Tara took her time as she tossed witty one-liners back and forth with Thomas.
Jackie was about to tell the girl to put a move on it but then she grabbed three skewers and a handful of napkins. Then she set them down and leaned towards Jackie on the booth.
Jackie leaned back. This woman had tasted Thane’s lips. Who was she kidding, she’d probably tasted every inch of him. What woman wouldn’t? You’d have to be stupid to waste being with him.
Tara smiled brightly, eyes glittering with excitement. “So is it true?”
“Is what true?” Jackie managed to keep her tone from biting—barely.
“That you and a special someone have learned you’re mates.” Even as Jackie’s cheeks flushed at hearing the words aloud, she inwardly grew cold.
That had always been how she dealt with things. Especially unexpected bad news. Unlike her hotheaded father whom she hadn’t, nor wanted to see in the past fifteen years, Jackie had learned to tightly control her anger. Sometimes that meant walking away and, yeah, she had no problem doing that.
Unless I’m running straight into the bathroom with Thane following me.
Even though she’d managed to avoid him since that incident, his words still haunted her. She found herself wondering crazy, wild things. The kind of thoughts she never used to have. How did one single kiss change her so much? It was like she was a different person now.
You won’t be able to resist me, Jackie! he’d yelled as she ran for the exit. The strong defensive wall she erected around herself crumbled when he neared. She used to hold that wall up tighter when he was around, when she’d see him smooching with some bitch by her car after a date. Ha! A date, more like a night of fucking.
She closed her eyes tightly to erase the vivid images of him thrusting between another woman’s legs. Heart thundering in her chest, her mind buzzing with interference, Jackie looked around wildly feeling as though the world was spinning much too fast for her to stand up straight.
Just as she was about to collapse, her gaze landed on Tara’s wide-eyed expression. The girl reached for her, grabbing onto her shoulders. Was the girl shouting? It looked like it but she sounded faraway like she was on the other side of a football field and a crowd was hollering behind her.
“What?” Jackie mumbled.
Tara gave her a strange look and then the fogginess was gone. “I asked if you’re all right. You don’t look so good.”
Jackie shook her head and gulped only to find her throat sorely in need of some water. “I’m fine,” she croaked.
Tara looked back at Thomas and they both watched her with concerned gazes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think my question would get you all riled up.”
Jackie pressed a hand to her pounding forehead. “What question?”
She couldn’t recall any conversation with the girl, only kept seeing images of Thane naked, kissing other women. Her heart started pounding again so she forced her mental wall up, lining it with bricks, steel, titanium, a hundred layers of wood, anything.
“I asked you about being Thane’s mate. I was only teasing a bit. I didn’t mean to get you worked up. Here are your kebabs, they’re on the house.” She spoke softly, slowly as if she might spook Jackie. That had her snatching the kebabs and turning away without a goodbye.
How would anyone even know about her and Thane? She doubted anyone saw them kiss outside that club. Could it be...
Jaw cracking as she ground it side to side. Jackie heard a snap. Looking down she saw the three skewers split in half, the meat dangling down precariously. With a disgusted sigh, she dropped the food into a trash bin and got away from the pack.
She headed for the forest before she even realized it. As she crossed into the woods, her stress levels reduced instantly. It was like a soothing balm. The pounding at her forehead dissipated until she forgot about it as she trekked over fallen branches and loose soil covered with fallen leaves from the towering trees.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep her mind from returning to Tara’s question and what it meant. Had he been going around behind her back telling people that she was his? Staking some kind of invisible, unimaginable, claim on her as if her opinions or wants didn’t matter.
Baring her teeth in a snarl, she let her beast rise to give her added strength, then she spun and slammed her palm into a tree. The tree groaned in protest, chunks of bark falling to the ground; the leaves swung and shook.
This was unacceptable. She wasn’t his. No matter what he said, no matter that when their lips touched, she hadn’t felt the same since. Kisses weren’t supposed to be like that. Weren’t supposed to freeze her in place, slow the world around them, and make her feel strange, fluttery things in her stomach.
A soft sound came from behind her. Jackie spun, eyes glaring. Within a second, she had her senses sniffing the area, eyes darting around. She smelled the dark male scent a mere second before a hard body wrapped around her from behind.
Her pulse pounded in an instant, blood warmed like hot syrup, stomach pulsed with need. But she kept her body stiff against him. Would have, should have pulled away but damn her mind wasn’t working quickly enough. She used to pride herself on staying sharp around him but now with scary words like mate being thrown around things were different. Much different.
His hand pressed just below her belly button, pressing her gently back against his body. His lips were at her neck in a second, searing her with their heat, sending chills down her body.
“I’ve missed you,” he said huskily.
Just as Jackie’s eyes started to flutter closed, she roughly pushed away from him.
“You have no right touching like that.”
His eyes were darker than normal, his lids heavy. “I have every right. You’re my mate. The sooner you accept that the sooner you can ease the ache you’ve created.”
Jackie’s mouth opened and closed. “What? I’m not your mate! And I haven’t created any ache. Leave me alone, Thane.” She started walking in the opposite direction. It was too dangerous staying here in the quiet woods, the sensual smells of the earth teasing her senses, the moonlight casting them in shadows.
She made it three steps before he was in front of her pushing her backwards. Her back hit a tree and then his body covered hers, hips pressing against hers. She felt the massive steel of his erection and barely stifled a shiver.
She tried to recall the anger she’d been feeling. She remembered Tara’s remarks and it worked to cool the ardor. “You’ve been telling lies about me,” she said between clamped teeth.
He grinned at her and put one arm above her head so he could lean in. “Not lies. What shapeshifter wouldn’t be joyous to tell everyone he finally found his mate?”
She looked at him like he was daft. Slowly she said, “I’m not your mate.”
He continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “Besides I have to let the other males know that you’ve been claimed.” He said the words so seductively, with huskiness to his already deep voice. Then his lips were at the corner of her mouth pressing light, airy kisses across her cheek.
“You’ve been hiding from me, Jacquelyn.”
She stiffened at the use of her full name. No one used her full name. His hand reached down to curl around her hip and she almost moaned. How could something so simple feel so damned good? His lips found her ear, then her neck pressing more of those soft, light kisses that both made her shiver and hot at the same time.
“Stop.” She hoped he didn’t hear the breathiness of her voice but then he chuckled against her neck. Teeth grazed her, almost biting and she found herself leaning into him, craving the feel of his bite.
“You drive me wild, mate. Haven’t slept good in days. Dream nothing but of you, naked, sweating in my arms.” His voice sounded faraway as if he were remembering. His tongue darted out and licked a line up her neck.
