by Susan Bliler
Her eyes glittered as he removed his halo from her throat. “You don’t do that!” she spat. “You don’t just take people against their will!”
Delain fisted his halo, looking right at her. “I apologize. It was an order, and…”
She didn’t let him finish. “I don’t care if it was an order. You don’t just take women! Are you a Walker, or a Keeper?”
Delain ducked his head as Remy spun, barking out, “Leave the Humvee!”
Remy carried Harlow back to the bunker as she shifted in his arms and moaned. “Harlow?”
She glanced up at him. “Feeling a little better now.”
“Good.” But he didn’t look pleased about it.
At the bunker, he carried her inside and jerked the door closed behind them, putting a large bolt in place to lock it from the inside. Without preamble, he carried Harlow directly to the bedroom and placed her on the bed, bending to take off her jacket and then her shoes. “What were you doing out there alone?”
“No one’s taking me, ever again.”
At the determination in her voice, Remy stopped peeling her socks off her feet and looked up. Knowing her like he did, he knew she’d been beating herself up for letting the Megalya kidnap her. She was a trained Sentry after all.
Remy was grinning up at her now. “Punched him in the throat, huh?”
Harlow grinned and shrugged one slim shoulder. “He’s way bigger. I had to go for a sweet spot.”
Remy’s grin slipped, and he cupped her cheek, his expression softening. “How you feeling, love?”
She sighed heavily. “Better, now that his halo is off. It made me ill.” She scratched absently at her arm. “Felt like my skin was crawling, and I was nauseated and getting worse.”
He grabbed her face with both hands then and studied her eyes. The pupils were going back to normal.
She blinked up at him. “Thank you…for coming for me.”
Remy frowned. “I will always come for you.”
Sucking in her bottom lip, Harlow’s cheeks reddened as she looked down, asking, “Will you come for me now?”
“Harlow,” he growled, and it sounded like a warning. It was. His need for her was pulsing through him, and was only heightened by the fact that she’d been taken from him. Teasing him now was only going to get her proper fucked.
She gazed at him steadily with her soft green eyes. “I mean it. I want you to claim me, Remy McCabe. I’ve been waiting for you.”
He shook his head hard once, his bangs falling into his eyes. “I’ve been thinking on it for fucking days, Harlow!” Remy snarled. “It’s been all-consuming.”
Delicate brows speared down in worry. “What…what has?” She braced herself for rejection. Perhaps he’d had enough time away from her to realize they couldn’t work. Perhaps he and Mason’s past was so strongly rooted in hatred that Remy couldn’t overcome it. Mason had told her the affliction didn’t work that way, that it wasn’t a choice, but even that had been little comfort. She didn’t want Remy choosing her because he felt some compulsion to do so. No, she wanted him to want to choose her. Now, watching him, he looked nervous as hell and her body filled with dread. “Just…” she cleared her throat and lifted her head, vowing to be strong no matter what he’d decided. “Just say it, Commander. What’s been so consuming?”
“You,” he whispered. “Not just you, but my need of you…my desire to make you happy.”
All the air left Harlow in a rush, and she actually grabbed her belly at the dizzying sensation.
“I’ve never made anyone happy, Harlow EnemyHunter. I’ve never wanted to. But, you… You make me want to give happiness to you! Spending all that time out there, hunting the Megalya, I’ve been so damn distracted and anxious and nervous.”
“Nervous?”
“Yeah.” He thrust a hand through his hair. “I realized I’ve never wanted something so badly before. I’ve thought about how it would work between us, how you’d be happy and replete in my love, how that’d make me feel. I’ve thought about the pride I would feel with the knowledge that I could be a good mate. I’ve hoped with all my being that you hadn’t changed your mind. I know when last we spoke everything happened too quickly. We’d just been attacked, I was heading out on mission. I can only imagine the sense of urgency that made you seek me out before I left.” He fisted a hand, rubbing the other over his knuckles. “You’ve had time to think on things now, and it’s been eating at my insides that you may have changed your mind.” He looked away. “I’m sure Mason has attempted to dissuade you, and…”
“I didn’t.”
Her words cleared his frown, his expression suddenly hopeful. “I want my claiming to be special. I want it to be romantic, something you’ll remember and appreciate for the rest of our lives.”
Harlow stared at him in silence for a moment, then she pulled her shirt over her head. Remy’s heart gave a start at the sight of his halo around her neck. It sparked something in him, something primal and possessive.
“You just raced here and challenged a fellow Walker for me. You rescued me…again! If that’s not the most romantic thing in the world, then I don’t know what is.”
Pacing away from the bed, Remy made a show of studying the room. “You saved yourself this time, love. And I can’t see me taking you in this place, not like this. You can’t want that?”
When he turned back to Harlow she was shimmying out of her jeans, pushing her panties down along with the denim. “Commander McCabe, if you don’t get over here, right now and pleasure me, I’m going to do it myself, and then…”
She didn’t get to finish. Remy ripped open the front of his shirt, buttons flying everywhere. He had to bend to unlace his black boots, but seconds later he was toeing them off and unsnapping his pants. His eyes were locked on Harlow’s pussy as she made a show of slowly spreading her legs, pretending she didn’t know it was happening as she reached back to unfasten her bra. When her breasts fell free, Remy’s heated gaze locked on them, and he whispered reverently, “I’ve dreamed of this.”
“No more dreaming. Come here, Commander.”
He was on her in blink, and while he wanted badly to taste every inch of her, wanted to go slow and gentle, the affliction was too much. He poised his erection at her entrance, collaring her throat with a hand and looking down at her breasts as he gritted out a pained, “Harlow… I can’t-I can’t be gentle right now. It’s been too long, and the affliction…”
She closed her hand over his at her throat, relaxing back on the bed. “I’m a Sentry, Commander. I don’t expect gentle.” She smiled beautifully at him, knowing her next words would send him over the edge. “If I wanted gentle I’d find a human male and let him…” She gasped as he slid into her.
“No other male!” he grunted, before his lips found hers and he began to work. Gods, she tasted like candy and felt like heaven, her pussy tightly gripped around him. He’d thought about their first time, and the masquerade ball a thousand times, but memory didn’t do her justice. She was glorious with her soft skin, warm flesh, and sexy keening noises as he stroked into her. His lips left her mouth to trail to that spot just below her ear. He remembered the spot, as if he’d buried a trove of treasure there. It was a spot he’d never forget. He pressed a kiss to the spot, flicking his tongue against it, and Harlow threw her head back with a whimper. He felt her pussy cream, and his balls drew up tight as his dick grew impossibly hard. That was her spot.
He continued to lick and kiss, pulling the flesh into his mouth and sucking hard. It’d leave a mark, and he liked the idea of that.
“Remy!” Harlow begged.
He knew what she wanted. He wanted it too, and he was damn close. He knew Harlow was barely hanging on as she bucked beneath him. Yes, he had wanted to go slow, wanted to be gentle, but when her pussy began to flutter around him with her impending orgasm, there was no hope. He wanted her soaring.
Pulling his lips from her throat, Remy braced one hand beside her head, making space betwee
n their bodies so he could look at her.
Eyes glazed with lust, lips pink and swollen from his kisses, and breasts bouncing with his thrusts. Her nipples brushed up against him, driving him insane.
Harlow looked down between their bodies, watching him drive into her for one stroke, then two, and then her back arched, her body seizing as she screamed with the orgasm that blasted through her. Her pussy clenched around him, gripping him tightly, and that was it for him as well. He shot himself deep into her womb, continuing to thrust until every last drop of his seed filled her. Warmth filled his chest, and his gaze locked with hers. She gasped a little sound, flattening a hand just above her breasts. She’d felt it too. The claiming was complete. She was his!
Chapter 23
“She’s only going to be awake for a few, fleeting moments. In that time, it is imperative that she gets nourishment, Monroe.” Jenny’s concern was evident. Shortly after Jenny had arrived and taken Eden’s vitals, Eden had passed out. “She’s not a Walker, her body won’t handle this affliction like ours.”
Eden’s affliction was decidedly different than any Monroe or Jenny had ever seen. Once she’d gone out, she’d been out for hours, only waking for a few minutes before going back out. Once Jenny realized Monroe wouldn’t be taking his Angel to the infirmary for treatment she grew agitated, but eventually had Stoney take a blood sample to run tests.
“She’ll be able to eat? To drink?” Monroe asked. Skin Walkers were unable to keep down food or drink while afflicted, but Eden was fully human.
Jenny pursed her lips, slowly shaking her head. “I’m thinking so, but I’m not one hundred percent on that. This is…this is a case of first impressions. I checked with Pyper at Apex. She’s never heard of anything like this either.”
Monroe nodded curtly. “Okay, feed her. What else?”
Jenny stood straight, hands slamming onto her hips as she scowled up at him. “She should be in my infirmary! I could keep a better eye on her there.”
“No,” he snarled. “You’d poke and fucking prod her there. Don’t think I don’t understand how fascinating this is to you, Jenny. My Angel stays with me.”
Jenny growled her displeasure. “Fine,” she snapped. “She needs protein and high calorie smoothies instead of water. We need to push as much nourishment as we can into these short windows of time. Gods only know how long this will last. I’m sending a nurse every single hour, Monroe, on that I won’t negotiate. If she starts to decline, I’m moving her to the infirmary, and I don’t care what you say. She’ll need an IV drip and a feeding tube. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Monroe snorted at Jenny’s attempt at authority. Nothing happened at StoneCrow without his say so, and that went double when it came to his children and his Angel. Still, Jenny was right in that, if Eden couldn’t stay awake long enough to eat and drink, he’d carry her to the infirmary himself.
When Jenny left Monroe ordered food, then sat in the chair beside the bed, taking Eden’s hand in his as he waited. And waited.
Hours later, her eyelashes finally fluttered and Eden moaned softly before the warm, chocolate pools of her eyes were revealed. She blinked up in confusion and straight into Monroe’s concerned eyes. He didn’t hesitate; he couldn’t. The last time she’d only been awake for a few minutes, and he’d failed to properly care for her. He wouldn’t make the same mistake this time.
Sliding a hand beneath her shoulders, he ignored her groan as he eased her to a sitting position, propping pillows behind her back. “You’re going to eat,” he commanded, before sitting on the side of the bed and lifting the plate waiting there.
The scent of steak hit Eden, and her belly clenched with desperate hunger, so she didn’t argue or say a word as Monroe lifted a forkful of meat and pressed it to her lips. Opening her mouth, she took the bite and began to slowly chew. A few bites in though, she realized it was too much effort. She whimpered and shook her head, leaning forward to spit the half chewed bite into Monroe’s upraised hand.
“What? What is it? Are you going to be sick?” It was what happened when afflicted Walkers attempted to eat during the affliction. Until the need for their mate was sated, no food or drink could be kept down. Jenny had said she didn’t think that’d be the case with Eden, but she wasn’t sure.
“Too…too tired.”
When Eden lay back on the pillows, Monroe felt panic seize him. She couldn’t go back to sleep, not yet!
“Can’t chew,” Eden muttered. As she lay back with her eyes closed, her labored breathing told Monroe she was still awake.
Without thought, Monroe shoved Eden’s half chewed bite of steak into his mouth, chewing as quickly as he could. When it was tender enough, he pulled it from his mouth with his fingers and pushed it to Eden’s lips. “Eat.”
Eden didn’t open her eyes, but thankfully her lips parted and she took the bite into her mouth. She chewed once, then twice, before her throat convulsed with a swallow and a satisfied smile claimed her lips. “More,” she breathed, but Monroe was already pushing a second fully-chewed bite between her lips.
They carried on like this until half the steak was gone. Eden’s eyes cracked open, turning to the nightstand and Monroe knew what she wanted. Setting the plate of steak on her lap, he reached for the banana smoothie and held it to her lips, one hand cupping the back of her neck to assist her. To his delight, she drank down half the smoothie before pulling back and licking her lips with a groaned, “Mmmmm.” Settling back against the pillows, her drowsy eyes locked on his and she smiled, but her blinks became longer and longer until her eyes didn’t open again. Her breathing steadied, and Monroe was willing to let her sleep, satisfied he’d gotten enough nourishment in her for the time being. Staring at her, he smoothed a hand over her cheek before sighing heavily and standing, taking the plate from her lap and turning away. He stilled at the sound of Eden’s sleep-heavy voice. When her words registered, the plate he held clattered to the floor as he dropped to his knees, one hand clutching his chest.
“Thank you, my Dominant.”
Dominant? Did she remember?! Did his Eden finally fucking remember him?
Chapter 24
Monroe paced at the foot of the bed he and Eden had shared for so long. His hair was disheveled, and the last time he’d been this exhausted was when he’d been experiencing the affliction for himself. It couldn’t be helped. There was no way in hell he was going to miss being present the next time Eden woke. Her last words to him before she’d passed out had him hoping beyond hope that Jenny was right, that his halo, and their tie to each other, was healing his mate.
There was a quiet knock at the door. “Enter” he sent through the mist. True to her word, Jenny had someone coming every hour, but it wasn’t a nurse. It was the Chief of Surgery herself, and Monroe knew why. Eden’s affliction was too great a revelation, and too rare an occurrence, for Jenny to slough off on anyone else.
“How is she?” Jenny whispered. “Has she woken since I last came?”
Monroe shook his head. He’d told Jenny of Eden’s words, and now they both waited for a miracle.
“Well, don’t get your hopes up, Monroe. It could have been a fluke. Could have been…”
“Mmmm?” Eden moaned, as she stirred.
Monroe was at her side in a flash, lifting the plate of steamed fish he’d ordered brought up only minutes earlier.
Eden’s weary eyes blinked up. “M-Monroe?”
He took the seat beside her. “I’m here.”
Before he could lift food to her mouth, she closed her eyes tightly and asked, “My children. I want to see the kids.”
His heart seized, but then he remembered he’d told her about them. “They’re at Apex, Angel, remember?”
She kept her eyes closed as she lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, her face scrunching in confusion. “With Tyce?”
Monroe hadn’t told Eden of Tyce, but that didn’t mean someone else hadn’t. The suspense was fucking killing him. “Angel, t
hey’re safe. I made sure of it.”
“I want them here. Now! Make that happen.”
Monroe bristled, but it wasn’t in agitation at her command. He was excited. His Angel was the only one who’d ever dared issue an order to him.
“It’ll be done,” he offered, hesitantly.
Eden kept her fingers pinched on the bridge of her nose, eyes still closed as she frowned. “I need…I’m hungry.”
“I have food.” He lifted a forkful of salmon to her lips, but her eyes finally opened and she pushed the fork away roughly.
“No.” She turned her head to look at him with determined eyes. “Not food. I need you.”
Silence filled the room, and Monroe froze. Behind him, Jenny asked, “Eden…are-are you back?”
A corner of Eden’s mouth ticked up. She kept her eyes on Monroe as she ignored Jenny’s question. “A minute alone, Jen. I need to be alone with my Dominant.”
Elation soared through Monroe and he asked hopefully, emotion clogging his throat, “Eden?” But it didn’t sound like a question. It sounded like he was demanding she give him what he wanted more than his next breath. Confirmation that she was whole again.
She grinned, cupping his cheek. “Yes, Daddy Warbucks.” The nickname was one she’d given him when they’d first met, implying he was a rich, pompous ass. She reserved the moniker for those rare instances when he refused to let her have her way.
Monroe had never been so delighted to be insulted. He shot to his feet, barking, “Jenny! Get out!”
Eden smiled, but it didn’t hold. She was sapped, and had an ache that only her mate could sate. When Monroe locked the door behind Jenny and turned back to her he stood, body rigid, staring as if he expected her to change her mind, or as if he feared he’d misheard.
“Undress.”
It was the same command he’d given her when he’d been afflicted and about to claim her. At the time, she’d contemplated running from him, but he’d threatened to chase her down and fuck her the first place she stopped.
