She cried out, whimpered, and turned to bury her face in his solid chest, her body shaking.
“It’s okay.” His broad hand ran down her spine, offering comfort. “Just give it a second. Damaged nerves and skin actually hurt worse to heal than an organ. You’ve got this. You’re strong and brave.” He held her tight, his body warm and solid, his words reassuring as they tumbled out of him into her thick hair.
After the pain came more numbness and then nothing. She sniffed. Slowly, she lifted her head to look down at her leg. The skin had healed. Gingerly, she bent her knee and then extended her leg again. No pain.
She breathed deeply, her heart still thundering. Then she remembered the two other men in the room. She was dressed in a short T-shirt and light pink panties. “Um.”
The dark-haired guy grabbed Bear. “We’ll meet you in the other room.” They hurried out.
Her body settled except for the lingering effects of Sam’s blood. Her nipples hardened to sharp rocks, and her clit pounded. She tried to shove arousal away. “What just happened?” She twisted to look up at his face, unwilling to completely let him go yet.
He looked down, his eyes darker than any real emerald. “Put bluntly? A portal to another place opened, and your leg was forced through several dimensions to it. If you’d been alone, your whole body would’ve been dragged through, and it seems like it was a cold place. Very.”
Her mouth gaped open. “That’s impossible.”
“So are vampires, demons, shifters, and dragons, baby.” He didn’t want to scare her, but she needed to understand the danger involved. “I could go into the science of it all, but it’s pretty boring. You understand the gist of it, and that doesn’t change anything, really.”
Her body trembled as her brain tried to catch up. “Will that happen again?”
He cradled her, his back against the wall. “Yes.”
Her ears rang. “Does it happen to you?”
“Kind of. Since I used to be able to teleport, I can control it better and get free. Sometimes I let my guard down and get hurt,” he admitted. “But I can heal myself quickly.”
She settled more comfortably on his hard thighs. Desire pounded through her body, in her veins. For the love of all that was holy and good. She’d just had a body part yanked through dimensions and almost frozen off, and she was aroused? That immortal blood of his had some power. Where was her brain? “What now? What do we do now?”
He kissed her mouth, shocking the hell out of her. Then he leaned back. “There’s only one choice. We’re going to mate, and then you’re going with Flynn to Fire Island, where you’ll be safe.”
Whoa, what? She tried to unpack that entire sentence. “No.”
He kissed her again, this time harder. “Yes. That’s the end of the matter, Honor. Wrap your head around it.” With that, he stood, set her on her feet, and patted her ass. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you in the living room.” He opened the door and shut it quietly behind himself.
She stared at the closed door. “Seriously?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sam finished making another pot of coffee and glanced outside where the sun was finally trying to make an appearance through the clouds. Bear and Flynn overwhelmed the sofa, coffee mugs in hand, staring at the fire.
Bear finally shrugged. “I don’t know how to force the mating mark on a hand. I do know it can be done because you demons have had so many arranged matings through the centuries.”
Flynn nodded. “I think you just do it. Like imagine it, and then the thing appears.” He took a deep drink of his coffee. “I’m not comfortable forcing her to Fire Island, Sam. Before you get all insistent, let me remind you that humans who see the island…remain on the island. We’re shrouded from the rest of the world on purpose, and if I take her there, she’s staying.”
“She won’t be human any longer,” Sam countered, pouring two mugs. “She’ll be a mate, and as the ruler of the supersecret island, you can make an exception.” Now that he’d made up his mind, his body was relaxed and his mind at peace. He and Honor had chemistry, and frankly, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. She was smart, sexy, and resilient, and the image of her ducking, rolling, and then firing at those Kurjan soldiers—within seconds of finding out they existed—was downright impressive. “Ulric is going to be free soon. I know it, and my gut feeling is that you know it too, Flynn. If I die trying to kill him, then take Honor to the Realm, get her the virus to negate our mating bonds, and set her free.” The woman would make good use of immortality. His heart felt a pang at the realization that he most likely wouldn’t be there to witness it.
“What if you don’t die?” Bear drawled.
Sam sipped thoughtfully. “Then I’ll fetch her from Fire Island and figure things out. One problem at a time.”
She stomped out of the bedroom, wearing black jeans and a light yellow sweater. “You’re calling me a problem?” She marched right up to him, fire in those spectacular eyes. “I’m not your problem, ace. We are not mating just because you say so. It isn’t going to happen.” She punctuated her statement by poking him in the chest several times. Hard.
The female had misread him.
He grasped her neck, hauled her around until her butt hit the fridge, and then kissed her, not holding himself back. Everything he was, everything he’d endured, everything he’d ever be, poured right into her. She gasped, opening her mouth. He took advantage, diving in, not giving her a second of reprieve.
She whimpered deep in her throat, and he felt the vibrations through his chest, pressed against her. The small sound of surrender lit him on fire faster than any dimensional jump. Desperation to get closer clawed at him. He threaded his hand through her thick hair, loving how his fingers immediately became tangled.
No more holding back with her. Oh, he had let her see part of him before, but now it was everything. The choice had been made.
She moved against him, her full breasts against his chest, the apex of her legs hot. Welcoming. His. She dug her fingers into his chest, trying to get inside him, kissing him back.
Adrenaline and hunger roared through him, drowning out the rest of the world. Raw passion took him, and he streamed it right back into her, letting her feel real fire. She made little noises of need, gyrating against him, her body soft and so fucking sweet. The tension rippling between them almost pushed him over the edge.
“Enough, you two. Man. I didn’t know you were gonna do it right here,” Bear groused from behind them.
Honor jerked and panicked, trying to draw away.
Sam held her right where he wanted her. He released her mouth but not her neck, his nose nearly touching hers. Her pulse pounded against his palm. For a heartbeat, maybe two, he let her see him. The animal at his core, the one he so rarely gave free rein. The one determined to mark her for all time.