“If you care about her as much as we think you do,” Troy said. “You can’t let her shift.”
He more than cared about her. He loved her, everything about her. From her odd habit of eating mustard with French fries, to her ability to coax him into watching Wesley Snipes in a Blade marathon, when he didn’t watch vampire movies. But he hadn’t told her. He knew what she’d say. He knew she’d say he didn’t know her long enough to love her, or he felt sorry for her, or responsible for her because of the wolf attack. He’d gladly spend a lifetime proving her wrong on all those points. But he needed to be sure he had a life, she had a life, to start with.
He arched a brow at Troy. “Are you suggesting I change her now?”
“That puts them on the run,” Aiden said. “That’s not the life they want.”
“I’m suggesting you take precautions,” Troy said. “Change locations and quickly, we’ll stay here and wait for action. If Marcus delivers your sign, sealed and approved petition, we’ll let you know. If not—you change her before the full moon.”
Aiden scrubbed his day-old beard. “I hate to admit it, but he makes sense. Do it Evan. Move her. Move her now.”
“And what about Marcus,” Evan asked. “He’s going to be pissed.”
“If Marcus is plotting with the council against you then piss on him,” Troy said. “And if he’s not—then he’ll get behind us on this.”
“You don’t want to fuck with Marcus, Troy,” Evan warned tightly.
“We’ll deal with Marcus,” Aiden assured him, apparently confident he could smooth things over with him. And truth be told, he probably could. That’s why he was so willing to call him before, why he was willing now. Something had happened between Aiden and Marcus some twenty years back, and oddly, for brothers who shared everything, neither Evan nor Troy, had ever coaxed details out of him. Aiden motioned to the cabin, “You just get Marissa the hell out of here. Leave the rest to us.”
Evan hesitated, “Both of you stay alive.”
“That goes for you too,” Aiden said.
Evan entered the cabin to find Marissa sitting on the couch her hair newly dried, a silky mass of blonde silk over her slender shoulder, her legs bared beneath a pair of red shorts they’d bought before arriving, her breasts full beneath a matching tank. He could feel the strain radiating off of her, see the worry etched in her lovely heart shaped face.
He went to her, bent down on one knee and caressed her bare calf and kissed her knee. He loved her knees, the ticklish spot behind the left in particular. “How are you?”
“I heard. I heard what Troy and Aiden said.”
“You’re getting good at hearing when you aren’t supposed to hear.”
“I’m not running,” she said. “I’m not letting you become a hunted man.”
“Marissa—”
She leaned in and pressed her lips to his and let her mouth linger on his. He wrapped his arms around her waist, molded her closer. “What if I can save lives by shifting, by letting them study me?”
A possessive growl roared from his throat. “No. That’s not happening. This is not even a discussion we are having.”
She stroked his cheek. “This virus is a bigger problem than either of us—bigger than my one life, Evan. And so is what you do as a Warden.”
“We’re leaving.” He scooted his arms under her, intending to pick her up. “We’re leaving now.”
“I’m not going,” she said, and there was something so icy certain in her words, that he froze in place.
“We are leaving.”
“No—”
He kissed her, kissed her like it was the last time he would ever kiss her. Kissed her with demand—that she go with him, that she be with him, that she would not become a wolf. And she would not die. Anger flared inside him—at all he had lost, at all he had seen, at a life devoted to a council that was failing him now.
“I won’t lose you too,” he said, only half aware of the implications of the ‘too’ he’d added to that declaration. He kissed her again, touched and caressed her, branding her. Never had he felt so primal, so predatory.
“This is my decision,” he growled against her lips. He nipped her lip, shoved her shirt up, and palmed her breasts. He was in control. He would show her he was in control. He would make this right. She would do what he wanted. He saw white, he saw black -– he saw pain.
He had her naked in seconds, her shorts tossed aside, her back against the couch, and her legs over his shoulders. He closed his mouth down over her, suckling and licking. Her pleasure was his. She was his. She came almost instantly, the wolf and vampire, the blood bond, a fiery aphrodisiac they’d proven over and over these past two weeks. She was sweet honey melting in his mouth and he wasn’t even close to done with her.
He slid his fingers inside her, stroked her to another orgasm. “I need you,” she rasped. “Inside me, I need you.”
“That’s right,” he told her. “You need me, just like I need you. On your knees,” he licked his fingers, held her gaze when he did it. Tugged his shirt over his head and stood up, unbuttoning his pants. She wet her lips, the little witch, teasing him. His lips thinned over his extended canines. “Knees.”
“Whatever you want, my Vampire Master,” she said, referencing the little game they’d played one hot night.
“This isn’t a game.” He kicked his clothes aside, his shaft thick and pulsing, balls tight. Suddenly, he didn’t want her on her knees. He wanted her wrapped around him. He grabbed her, pulled her hard into his arms. “I make the rules, Marissa.”
The taunting play slid out of her face. “Not this time, Evan. Not when it could cost you your life.”
Damn it, why wasn’t she listening. He lifted her, slid his cock inside her, her legs wrapping his waist. He buried himself inside her and then sat down on the couch, her on top of him. His hand laced into her hair and he exposed her neck, his teeth scraping along the delicate skin. “I could turn you right here and now and you couldn’t stop me.”
“But you won’t.”
His fingers slid behind her nape, bringing her gaze to his, his fangs purposely visible. “Don’t be so sure of that.”
Her eyes, blue as crystal, held his. “You won’t turn me without my permission.”
“You’re mine.”
“Yes.”
Finally, she agreed. “So you do as I say.”
She opened her mouth to answer and he knew he wasn’t going to like it. He kissed her, wrapped his hands around her lush backside, and pumped into her. Somehow, if he could get deep enough, get close enough, she’d understand, she’d know why he wasn’t losing her. Why he wouldn’t lose her. If only he could just fuck her hard enough. He went still, before his arms tightened around her.
“What?” she panted, leaning back to look at him. “What is it?”