by J. S. Scott
Sitting on the suitcase to close it, she grasped the tab and zipped it closed. Screw it. If she didn’t have everything she needed, she would buy it when she was away from Colorado, away from Liam.
Regan wanted to throw herself on the bed and weep, but she didn’t have time to give in to the sorrow that was trying to devour her soul. To protect Liam, she had to leave and get herself so lost that she could never be found…by anyone.
Her only other option was to try to convince Liam to reject her, release her. It was an alternative mentioned in The Book Of The Vampire Healer, a choice given only to healers. Somehow, Regan highly doubted that Liam would agree. She knew him well enough to be fairly certain that he would see her as a new responsibility…and he would take it seriously, whether he wanted her as a mate or not. The threat of the league of mage assassins wouldn’t even budge the judgment of her stubborn vampire. Actually, it would probably cement his decision, claiming that she needed protection.
Regan grunted as she hefted the heavy suitcase off of the chair and dropped it in an upright position. Her hands were trembling as she attached the pull strap to the case so that she could wheel it. The mage were strong, stronger than a humans, but the suitcase felt like it was filled with lead. Or maybe it was the fact that the task was abhorrent to her and it was her heart that felt like lead. The thought of never seeing Liam again was tearing her apart, but what other option did she have?
“Going somewhere?” The low, growling voice sliced through Regan like a knife and she spun around to see the object of her thoughts leaning against her bedroom door.
His stance was casual as he rested one shoulder against the door frame, but Regan could sense the tension in his hard, muscular body. Her mouth went dry and her whole body froze. Just this morning she had been pinned beneath that enormous, powerful body and kissed to the point of insanity by those perfect lips that were now forming a small, mocking smile.
“I-I-have to go out of town.” Lame. Very lame. But it was the truth…sort of. She looked away, unable to meet his angry gaze. She licked her dry lips and stared at the cream colored wall off to his right. Be strong. Be strong. If he knows the truth he won’t let you leave.
“And what might that truth be, mate of mine?” Liam snarled as he advanced into the room. “That I’m good enough to have as a friend, but not as a mate?”
Oh, shit. She had forgotten the mental telepathy between acknowledged mates. She shielded her thoughts, slamming a barrier down to contain her rampant emotions as she answered, “That’s not true. Get out of my head, Liam. I don’t appreciate having my thoughts read and analyzed by anyone but me.” Her eyes shot to his face, furious at his invasion. Big. Mistake. Regan had never seen his face so intense, his eyes so stormy. Instinctively, she backed up as he slowly moved forward like a big cat stalking prey.
“Yes, obviously you don’t want to share much of anything with a lowly vampire,” Liam snarled back as he crowded her, his body stopping as he literally had her back up against the wall. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you aren’t going anywhere.” His index finger traced her lips and slowly glided down her neck, stroking the lines of her collar bone. “Discovering my mate has put me in desperate need of a fuck, and I plan on getting what I want.”
Regan shivered as his tongue replaced his finger and he licked over the places his fingers had just traveled. His denim-clad thigh slid between hers and she was dizzy from his masculine scent that assaulted her senses. Even angry and uninformed, she wanted him. She should be feeling insulted by his blunt language and his I’m-taking-what-I-want attitude, but honestly, it heated her blood.
No. No. I can’t give in to him. Remembering all of the reasons that she had to flee, Regan pushed hard against his chest. “Liam, stop.”
It was like a insect swatting at an elephant. Liam grasped her wrists in one of his hands and trapped her hands over her head, leaving her helpless. Her lower body was ensnared by his strong thigh and she couldn’t keep a moan from escaping as his mouth came down on hers, sweeping her into a dark tunnel of desire and need.
Buttons popped as he tore her blouse open while his lips and tongue continued a relentless, volatile assault, demanding her full surrender. He tasted fiercely male, untamed and wild, and Regan’s response was unconditional. She needed this. Needed him. She met his marauding tongue with carnal thrusts of her own that had him groaning into the embrace.
He freed the front clasp of her bra and roamed her breasts, cupping the flesh, teasing the sensitive nipples until Regan could only arch into his hand, begging for more.
Liam ripped his mouth from hers and Regan wanted to weep from the loss. “How does it feel to be touched by the lower class, Regan? I wonder if you’ll like getting down and dirty with a vampire instead of the sex with a polite blue blooded mage,” Liam panted as he pulled the remnants of her shirt and bra from her body. Her wrists were captured again and placed firmly over her head, making her breasts jut out from her body. He clasped her chin between his fingers of his other hand and forced her gaze to his. “There’s nowhere to run. No place that I won’t find you,” he rasped harshly. “Did you really think that you could run away from me?” The question was rhetorical.
“Liam, I wasn’t really running from you. I-”
“Save it! Right now I just want to fuck you. I’ll have you screaming my name, begging for it, even if I’m not worthy of being your mate,” he told her abruptly as he lowered his mouth to her beaded nipples, nipping and laving them with tortuous, erotic strokes that melted her bones and soaked her panties.
Dear God, she had never seen Liam so fierce, so passionate, but it was her undoing. He was angry at what he believed was her rejection and she couldn’t blame him, but maybe it was better if he continued to believe that. Maybe he’d eventually release her so that she could protect him.
Her body was burning with unsated lust and desire. His assault on her aching breasts had her thrusting out her chest for harder contact and she ground her wet core against his thigh.
More. She needed more. “Liam, please.” If he wanted a fuck, she’d give him one. If he didn’t take her soon, she probably expire from need. She couldn’t separate her needs from his, and she knew she was feeling them both, the force of them nearly leveling her.
He scooped her body up easily, but before she could even begin to enjoy being held against him…he dropped her onto the bed. She watched without shame as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it onto the floor before he joined her, covering her body with the weight and bulk of his own.
Regan sighed, welcoming his scorching hot body that blanketed her smaller form. She ran her hands over smooth skin and bulging muscle and raised her hips, feeling the steely bulge of cock against denim. She rocked up again, begging for him.
Liam evaporated the rest of their clothes and she moaned as she felt his rock-hard shaft between her legs. She squirmed, trying to get it closer to her core and threaded her fingers through his hair.
“Don’t. Touch.” Liam grabbed her wrists again and stilled her roving hands above her head. “I don’t want you to touch me. This is just about scratching an itch. Getting laid.” He let go of her hands, but they remained stretched over her head and locked in place with magic. She yanked, but Liam’s magic was powerful and her arms were completely immobile.
Regan recoiled, feeling like Liam had slapped her. She felt the tears form and willed them not to fall. She reminded herself that Liam believed that she had betrayed him, repudiated him, and she longed to tell him the truth, but she bit her lip and remained silent. She had to suck it up and take what Liam could give her right now. And she would. Because she loved him and she wanted this. If a casual screw was all she could have…she’d take it. Damn it, she wanted one time, one moment of intimacy, one experience of being the object of Liam’s desire.
Regan bit back a groan as Liam’s hot mouth trailed along the side of her neck and back to her breasts. She thrashed her head as his fingers trailed over her stomac
h and crawled closer and closer to the place where she needed him the most. “Oh, God, Liam.”
“Need something, Regan?” his husky voice asked, his question innocent, but his intent evident. He was going to make her pay.
Her legs slammed shut automatically just as he finally reached the soft curls between her thighs, but Liam parted them again easily and locked them into place just as he had her wrists above her head. Regan wanted to sob as he lightly stroked her wet slit, his fingers delving into her moist depths.
Fingers circled around her clit as his hot mouth devoured her nipples, alternating between the two, bringing them to tight peaks. She moaned and strained against her invisible bonds, “Liam, please.”
He removed his fingers from her shivering pussy and positioned himself over her. His breath was hot and uneven against her ear and she trembled as he plunged his hands into her hair and rolled his hips, bringing his burgeoning cock in contact with her swollen clit.
“Tell me what you want,” Liam demanded in a voice that Regan had never heard from him before.
“You.” She answered honestly, squinting in a room illuminated only by the moonlight now that complete darkness had fallen. She longed to see a look of desire, but she couldn’t quite see his eyes. His face looked strained and at the moment she could feel the testosterone percolating in his body, seeping through his pores, and it made every inch of female in her body stand up and take notice. “Please.”
“You want me to fuck you? Even though I’m a lowly vampire?”
“Yes. Yes,” she whimpered, desperate for his possession. She was a female responding to her mate, and she needed him. Now. Badly.
“Then tell me,” he growled. “Beg for it.”
“Fuck me, Liam. Please.” Regan lifted her hips as far as she could strain with the magic restricting the movement of her limbs.
“At least you want me now.” With a carnal noise somewhere between a groan and a snarl, Liam positioned the blunt head of his member to her tight opening and buried himself deep inside of her, breaching her virginal sheath and forcing himself between her tight walls.
Oh, God. It hurt. It hurt really badly. Regan was caught between pain and the joy of being joined completely with Liam.
Liam’s body froze as his cock came to rest inside the hot, tight cavern, his balls resting against Regan’s ass. “Virgin?” he rumbled.
Regan tried to relax her body, breathing through the pain that had become a dull ache. One sharp pain that had quickly receded. “Yes,” she breathed softly in his ear, ruffling his hair as she breathed in and out again.
“I don’t think I can stop,” he rasped, his breathing ragged.
“Don’t stop.” He couldn’t stop. Now that the pain was almost gone, she willed him to move, to quench the desire that roared through her body. She arched her back, letting the coarse hair on his chest abrade her nipples and her hips undulate up into his groin. “Fuck me.”
She felt her plea jolt his body into action as he pulled his cock almost completely out of her and slowly sunk back in. “Fuck. You’re so tight. So hot. Mine.”
Yes. Yes. She was his. She had always been his. Regan longed to wrap her arms and legs around him to claim him. The soreness between her legs didn’t dampen her desire for Liam to take her completely.
She felt the shift in the air the very moment he lost control and began a relentless rhythm that made her come apart and shatter. His hips hammered in and out of her slick, tight channel, opening her, asserting his dominance and she relished it.
“Mine. All mine. Never try to run from me. I’ll find you. Never let you go.” His fevered possessive words that he chanted mindlessly as he lost himself to passion made the storm of tears that Regan had been holding back flow down her face. “Need to see you come. Come for me.” Liam reached between their bodies and stroked her clit as he kept slamming himself home in a frenzied joining.
“Bite me, Liam,” she told him urgently, craving the additional intimacy.
His tongue licked over her vein in an erotic swirl that nearly put her over the edge before he obeyed her request and his fangs pierced her tender flesh. “Oh, God, yes,” she hissed as the same hot, erotic pulse stole over her body as he sucked her life blood and pounded into her body with equal force.
He pulled his finger from her clit and thrust both of his big hands underneath her ass as her body began to spasm and she screamed his name. He buried himself deep inside of her and Regan could feel him trembling as he released, grinding his groin against her center, bringing them tightly together.
Regan’s heart was still stuttering from her incredible climax as Liam closed the tiny pinpricks at her neck and rolled onto his back.
“Could….could you release me please?” Regan requested breathlessly.
Her limbs jerked loose abruptly. She closed her legs and brought her arms down, her muscles quivering from the strain and the aftermath of the volatile climax. Wanting to cover herself now that embarrassment was creeping in, she started to roll from the bed, but Liam grabbed her upper arm, bringing her back to lay on her side facing him.
“What’s this?” he asked quietly as he stroked her mangled hip.
“Nothing.” Regan knew it was a stupid thing to say, but she wasn’t sure how to respond. Liam knew exactly what it was and he could see it very clearly in the dark.
Her hands shook at the memory as she tried to bat his fingers away.
His fingers did move, but only so that he could place them at her temple. It took her a few moments to understand what was happening, but by the time she comprehended his intentions….it was too late. She cursed her stupidity as she tried to pull away.
Liam had accessed her memories and she was completely exposed.
*****
Chapter 4
It only took Liam a second or two to find the memory of the branding on Regan’s hip, but he knew instantly that it was a nightmare vision that would haunt him forever.
Regan naked with his marking completely exposed on her hip. Regan fighting…but losing the battle. Several mage males and one female holding her down on the floor, her hip exposed. The sizzling brand being held to her hip. Burning flesh. A pained scream. Threats.
Liam flinched and pulled his hand away from her temple, unable to continue seeing Regan’s pain. Coward. She lived it. But he couldn’t watch it anymore.
A red haze formed over his vision and his body tensed as he clenched and unclenched his fists to try to gain control of his fury. “They hurt you. Threatened you.”
“Yes.” Her voice was barely audible.
“I hurt you,” he choked out, his anger and rage barely contained.
There was a slight hesitation before she confirmed. “Yes.” Liam heard her suck in a breath before continuing, “But Liam-”
“I couldn’t even watch the whole thing,” he admitted harshly as his finger stroked over the brand covering his mark.
Mage. One word. One ugly brand covering his entire mark until only a few traces of his colorful marking remained around the very edges of the scarred flesh at her hip.
Dear God, what had he done? Rolling to his back, Liam struggled to find the words to express himself, but his emotions were tempestuous and he couldn’t clear the red fog that threatened his sanity.
Beads of sweat trickled from his forehead, soaking Regan’s pristine pillow.
Kill. Kill.
The word pounded through his head like a jackhammer, and all Liam wanted was the necks of every person who had harmed his mate.
“Liam, I have to answer the door. It might be someone who needs a healing.” The feminine voice seemed to filter to him through a long tunnel, the voice of his mate.
No. Protect. Protect. Kill.
He rolled over to keep Regan on the bed, keep her close, protect her from any harm.
He landed on his stomach with only a comforter beneath him.
Regan was gone.
*****
Regan cinched the heavy cotton robe around
her waist with shaky fingers. Liam was scaring her. She wasn’t afraid of him, she was frightened for him. He wasn’t really hearing her or acknowledging her. Had her mangled hip freaked him out so badly that he wasn’t responding? It was ugly, but was it really that bad? Or had it been his glimpse of her memories that had him stunned?
She slipped the chain lock and took a deep breath, hoping that it wasn’t a healing request. She really couldn’t leave Liam. Another healer would have to be called immediately.
A mage male, probably in his early thirties, came into view as she swung the door open. Recognizing the magic but not the face, she inquired politely, “Can I help you?”
He would probably be considered handsome in mage circles. His light blonde hair was cut in a neat, attractive style and he had aristocratic features with high cheekbones and a sculptured nose and mouth. Probably a little over six foot and lean, he had the usual mage build. He wasn’t smiling, but then, the mage rarely smiled.
“Regan Taylor?” His voice wasn’t a low, pleasing baritone. It was a tenor with a rather impatient tone.
“Yes.”
“I’m actually here to help you. I’m Tom Spencer, the council’s choice for your mate.” He smirked at her as he strolled into her home without waiting for an invitation.
He was coarse, base and she disliked him immediately. A cold chill was running up her spine as she answered sarcastically, “I’m not ready to receive guests at the moment, as you can see. Perhaps we can meet at another location and time.” Or not! Definitely…not!
He closed the door and turned to face her, backing her up against the wall as she tried to move away from him. “Right now is good for me. What you have on is also good for me. I want to inspect the merchandise before I buy,” he stated arrogantly, as he reached for the tie to her bathrobe.
She nearly gagged as she got a whiff of hard alcohol and pungent aftershave. Ewww… “Get the hell away from me.” Regan was pissed off now and pushed him hard enough to move sideways and away from his wandering hands. How dare he come into her home and treat her like a object to be bought and inspected?
