by Kristie Cook
Frankie had been disgusted by Jonathan’s behavior and referred to the evidence of his conquests as “the mark of the beast.”
Jonathan didn’t want to mark River’s skin with a hickey. He wanted to bite her. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t some freakin’ vampire.
River trembled in his arms.
He wove his fingers even deeper into her hair, holding her still as he sucked harder. But it wasn’t enough. He skimmed his lips down her throat to the tender skin where her shoulder joined her neck, parted his teeth, and bit her.
The rusty taste of her blood broke the spell. Jonathan pulled away and gasped when he saw the drops of blood beading twin crescents on River’s skin. He grabbed his shirt up off the floor and blotted her neck with it. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
Franklin was right. Jonathan was an animal. Only a despicable beast would bite someone.
He expected River to cry or slap him or scream at him. She didn’t.
She climbed onto her knees, placed one hand on his shoulder and fisted the hair on the back of his head with the other. She straddled his hips, pulled his head to the side and bit him back.
Pain lanced his neck, but he didn’t fight her. How could he, after what he’d just done?
She licked the bite, soothing the hurt, then grabbed his face with both hands and smashed her mouth against his.
Jonathan didn’t remember lying down, but they were definitely horizontal and River was definitely in charge. She was also topless. Either she wasn’t as inexperienced as she’d claimed or she was a damn fast learner. What the hell did they use for birth control?
That stray thought froze Jonathan mid-kiss, but when his mouth quit moving, River just kissed a trail down his neck.
She paused to lick the bite mark, then continued to work her way lower, to his bare chest.
“River, sweetheart … we need to slow down.” At least they both still had their pants on.
She responded to his request with a whimper.
Something primal inside Jonathan growled and demanded that he take River, right here, right now. He wanted to roll on top of her and … No! River is not ready for this.
Jonathan grasped one of River’s wandering hands and brought it to his face. He kissed her palm. “I mean it, River. We need to stop. Now.”
River rolled onto her back, exhaled loudly and stared at the ceiling.
Jonathan didn’t want her to think he wasn’t enjoying making out with her, or worse, rejecting her. He traced the upper edge of her tattoo with his finger. “What’s the significance of this?”
River covered his hand with hers and pressed it against the mark. She hesitated before answering. “The bow and arrow represents my grandfather, my mother’s father. The wolf is my father’s symbol. That’s why it’s in front of the bow and arrow.”
“Does everyone have them?” Jonathan propped himself up on his elbow. He’d noticed similar tattoos on Eli, Gabriel and Reuben.
“No.”
When she didn’t elaborate, Jonathan kissed her forehead. “It’s okay.”
River peeked at him from under her lashes. “Thank you for not mating with me.”
“I know the proper response is ‘you’re welcome’ but I’m just not feeling it.” Jonathan wiggled his eyebrows at her.
She covered her face with both hands and giggled.
Jonathan found her shirt on the floor and used superhuman self-control to hand it to her without sneaking another peek. He put his on as well. “What happens if you get pregnant?”
***
River’s eyes grew wide and filled with tears.
Jonathan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong?”
She sat up and started counting on her fingers. “Oh no. No. No. No! This can’t be happening.” Her voice increased in pitch and volume with each exclamation.
“What can’t be happening? What are you talking about?” He ran his hand through his hair then climbed out of bed and paced the length of the hut. He fisted his hand then opened it, splaying his fingers. If River went home and told Reuben that Jonathan had felt her up; how many fingers would he take? Or would he cut off his entire hand?
River squared her shoulders, but tears streamed down her face. “I won’t let them punish you. I’ll tell everyone the baby is Eli’s …”
Jonathan froze then blinked and shook his head. “What baby?”
“The baby we just conceived.” River buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Jonathan knelt in front of her and tried to pry her hands loose, but they might as well have been super-glued to her face. He cupped the back of her head and pulled her cheek next to his. “Sweetheart, there’s no way you and I made a baby. It’s just not possible.”
River leaned back and slid her hands to her stomach. “You mean … you didn’t spill your seed?”
“What?” Understanding hit Jonathan like a slap across the face. “No! Of course not!”
He gripped her chin between his thumb and fingers and forced her to meet his gaze. “We did not do anything that could possibly get you pregnant. Even if I had … um … you know …”
“Spilled your seed?”
“What makes you think that would have gotten you pregnant? We’re both wearing leather pants. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“It’s common knowledge, Jonathan.”
He wanted to laugh, but if she really believed she could get pregnant without actually having sex, it wasn’t funny. Not at all. No wonder she was afraid of kissing.
“River, sweetheart, you know how animals get pregnant, right?”
“Of course. I help Reuben control the horses when it’s time to breed them.”
“So, you realize that in order for it to work, the stallion has to—”
“I know how mating works. I’m not an idiot.” River sniffed and wiped her eyes with her fingertips. “I know the best way for people to conceive is by coupling. But I’m in the middle of my most fertile time. And outsiders are ten times more fertile than our men. If you spilled your seed on me, I could still get pregnant.”
Jonathan sat on the bed and draped his left arm over her shoulders. “River, that’s impossible. The only way for me to get you pregnant is for me to … um … spill my seed … inside you.”
She shook her head, tickling his neck with her hair. “A councilman’s daughter conceived a child with Eli and all they did was kiss.”
Jonathan smiled and rolled his eyes. “I can guarantee you they did a hell of a lot more than just kiss. Whoa. Hold on a minute. Eli has a kid?”
***
Jonathan had always suspected Eli was a pig, but this confirmed it. “What happened to the girl and her baby?”
Jonathan was willing to bet Eli was not supporting them.
“I don’t know what happened to the girl. I don’t even know which councilman is her father, but he was able to keep the trial very private. I wouldn’t have known about it at all if I hadn’t overheard Reuben and Hannah talking about it."
“And the baby?"
The council auctioned him off to the highest bidder.”
“What! You can’t sell children!” Was there no end to the depravity of this society?
“The boy is a treasure to his adopted father. He’s also spoiled rotten.” River’s lips curled into an I-know-a-secret smile.
“What about his adopted mother?”
River’s smile disappeared. “She died.”
“I’m sorry.” Jonathan cocked his head to the side. Paul was adopted. Reuben was a single dad. It had to be more than a coincidence. “Is Paul Eli’s son?”
“Eli fathered him, but he’s Reuben's son.”
Jonathan was glad that Reuben had adopted Paul, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d been sold at auction, like a slave. What if the highest bidder had been a pedophile? Jonathan’s stomach churned.
It went against everything he believed in to learn of such evil and do nothing about i
t.
“What’d they do to Eli?”
“Nothing.” River scooted a little closer to Jonathan and nuzzled his neck. “The girl testified that Eli didn’t know she was betrothed to another when she kissed him.”
“They believed that?”
“All I know is that the council advised Eli to make better use of the whores and servants already available to him and to stay away from the daughters of councilmen until he was ready to choose his mates.”
“So, basically, he got away with it. Why am I not surprised?” Jonathan squinted his eyes shut. “Wait a minute. Did you say ‘mates’ … as in … more than one?”
“Fertile men with good bloodlines are expected to take at least two mates.”
“So, this is a polygamist cult. Great.”
River leaned back and furrowed her brow. “You don’t know anything about our society or why we do the things we do. We are not a cult.”
“You keep saying that, but it doesn’t change the facts.”
River twisted sideways, angling her shoulders away from Jonathan.
When was he going to learn to keep his opinions to himself? The army had done a pretty good job of breaking Jonathan’s habit of blurting out whatever was on his mind, but he still slipped up.
“I’m sorry.” Jonathan stroked River’s hair. He didn’t know if it comforted her, but it definitely had a calming effect on him. “In the early days of my church, they practiced polygamy, too. They banned it over a hundred years ago, but some people still think the Mormon Church is a cult.”
River glanced over her shoulder and looked at Jonathan out of the corner of her eyes. She wasn’t exactly frowning at him, but she sure as hell wasn’t smiling. “Are you a Mormon?”
He nodded. “But … not a very good one.”
That got a smile out of her. It was only half a smile and she was fighting it, but Jonathan knew it wouldn’t take much to win her over completely. He grinned, flashing his dimples on purpose.
River bit her lower lip, but released it immediately instead of chewing on it like she normally did. She traced her lip with the tip of her finger. “Ow.”
“Sorry about that.” Jonathan smiled. “It’s from all the kissing.”
River licked her lips. “It was worth it.”
“Stop that, or I’m going to kiss you again.”
River’s eyes drifted closed as she leaned in.
Jonathan had already used up all his self-control. If things got heated up again, he didn’t think he’d be able to stop. Not if River wanted to keep going.
He gave her a quick peck on the nose so she wouldn’t think he was rejecting her then scooted back and formed a small barrier between them by tucking a foot under his knee. “If it’s okay for men to use servants and whores, and Aspen belonged to another man, why did Eli mess around with her?”
River sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I think Eli enjoys playing games of seduction and since the whores can’t refuse him, there’s no challenge. The servant girls never turn him away, either.”
“What’s the difference between a servant and a whore?” Jonathan fought to keep his face neutral. He wanted River to keep talking. If she guessed how much this information disgusted him, she’d clam up.
“A whore can’t refuse to lie with any man, it doesn’t matter whether he’s an alpha or an omega. She has no chance to earn or reclaim her citizenship. It’s a punishment. But a servant is considered a part of a family’s household and cannot be pursued without the permission of the head of the house.”
“What do you mean pursued?” Jonathan hoped it didn’t involve some sadistic, predatory game, although it wouldn’t surprise him if it did.
“A servant is not a whore, so she retains the rights to her own body. It’s against the law to take a servant girl by force. But most of them seem to enjoy mating as much as the men.” River quirked her mouth to the side and furrowed her brow. “It could be that they’re just hoping the men they seduce will like them so much they’ll claim them as a concubine and free them from servitude.”
The more Jonathan learned about New Eden, the more he despised it. It didn’t matter what you called them. Servants or whores—they were still sex slaves. And they needed rescuing. “Tell me more about this son of Ephraim legend.”
River got out of bed and pulled what looked like an old leather journal out of her pack. “Reuben loaned this to me, so be careful and don’t tear any of the pages.”
Jonathan glanced at the date on the top of the page. June 15, 1855. This must be one of Reuben’s ancestors’ journals. He felt guilty for handling it without wearing a white glove. Sweat broke out across Jonathan’s brow as he read the hand written passage River pointed to.
Ephraim’s mother knew of Zebulon’s jealousy. She tried to protect her son, but she was only human. Even if she were one of us, she wouldn’t have been able to defy Zebulon. So when Ephraim disappeared, she assumed that Zebulon had murdered him. Her grief multiplied my guilt.
“Wait. How old is Zebulon?”
“Don’t worry about that now. I’ll explain it later.”
Jonathan shrugged and returned to the journal.
I watched her suffer for two weeks until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Last night, I told her the truth. This morning, I heard her singing a new lullaby to her infant daughter. Even though the song is only the product of a broken mind, it has such a haunting melody. The words are almost prophetic. I can’t get them out of my head.
Ephraim’s Song (The Forbidden Lullaby)
Look to the East in your darkest hour
For a humble man to rise to power.
Heavy of heart and body broken,
He carries his grief in a crystal token.
When the white wolf answers the call of fate,
And merges with the son of Ephraim’s mate,
Let all good men know the time is nigh,
And with courage and honor, heed the battle cry.
Many shall suffer because of a few
‘Till Ephraim’s line once more is renewed.
The son of Ephraim unaware of his fate,
Must find and bind his one true mate.
Evil hearts shall tremble with fear
During the Great and Dreadful Year.
But courage and hope fills the righteous heart
When the son of Ephraim’s rein doth start.
Jonathan read the song again then handed the book to River. “That’s one weird lullaby.”
“Reuben said that it caught on, and soon all the women were singing it. Until Zebulon heard it and banned the song. Of course that only insured that it would be passed down through the generations.
Jonathan lifted his hand to the medallion around his neck and turned it over.
River’s eyes widened until they were as large and round as the medallion. “What is that?”
He told her about the dove ceremony at Franklin’s funeral and how he’d had the feather encased in resin. “This is a constant reminder of Franklin’s death.”
“Ephraim’s mother must have been a seer … or a witch.”
“It’s just another coincidence.”
“How many coincidences will it take before you believe it’s true?”
The disappointment in River’s eyes pained Jonathan. “I don’t have to be a son of Ephraim. I’ll do whatever I can to free you and your people from Zebulon’s control.”
“Will you be my mate?”
“You want me to marry you?”
“We don’t marry, but it is a lifelong commitment.”
Jonathan’s mouth went dry. He’d been attracted to River from the first moment he saw her facing down a mountain lion with a primitive bow. He smiled at the memory then compared it to how Carrie had run away and locked him out of the car after he’d saved her from the wolf. River never would have done that.
It wasn’t just her courage that Jonathan admired. River spoke her mind, even if it wasn’t always pleasant, at least she was honest. She focused
more on other people than herself. Just thinking about the apple she’d given him formed a lump in his throat.
Jonathan liked River. He liked her a lot. But did he love her?
The realization hit him all at once. Yeah, he did. He definitely did.
He took River’s hand in his and locked his gaze on her glowing eyes. They had the usual effect on him, but something even more powerful than lust scorched his veins, now—love. “I would be honored to be your mate.”
Purple light flared out from River’s eyes. She grabbed the front of Jonathan’s tunic and pulled him up onto his knees. “You’re mine.”
Whoa. “Are you trying to stake a claim or something?”
She traced the bite mark on Jonathan’s neck with her tongue. “I already have.”
Jonathan’s eyes rolled back in his head. Damn, that was hot. “So … why the freakout over thinking you were pregnant?”
“I haven’t merged with my spirit guide yet.” River tugged on Jonathan’s shirt, guiding him back onto the bed. “Pregnancy would prevent that from ever happening.”
He sat beside her, but refused to lie down. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
River smiled. “I know.”
“Are you going to tell me?” Jonathan had already figured out that it was some secret coming of age ritual. He just didn’t know the details.
She slid her hand under his shirt and ran her palm over his abs, distracting him. “Not yet. But soon, I think.”
Jonathan grabbed her wrist and pressed her hand over his racing heart—on top of his shirt. They were lying down again. How does that keep happening? “Does this becoming mates thing mean we get to have sex?”
“Definitely.” River slid her knee between Jonathan’s.
“When?” Please say now.
“After we merge with our spirit guides.”
“What?” Jonathan blinked, not believing he’d heard her correctly. “What do you mean ‘we’? I don’t have a spirit guide.”
“You will. Reuben and Gabriel are searching for him right now.”
“And how, exactly, am I supposed to merge?”
“You embrace your wolf, skin to fur, and subdue him.”
Jonathan pictured the huge wolf that had chased him and Carrie out of the mine. He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his elbow. “You’re talking metaphorically, right? You don’t expect me to wrestle an actual wolf. Do you?”
