Moon Sworn (The Bound Series Book 1)

by JF Holland

  'You can't hide your arousal from me little mate. I can smell it on you,' he whispered inside her mind. A subtle, sinful whisper, like the brush of butterfly wings against the inside of her skull, making her skin feel too tight, and Goosebumps cover her skin. He ran a finger down her arm, satisfaction strumming through him as he watched her shiver before she squeaked and ran past him, running straight into the bathroom and shutting the door.

  "Maya, did I not say no shut doors between us?" He heard her snort.

  "I'm peeing Jaden, you don't need to see me doing that, then I'm going to shower and I'll be out. I am not giving you a show, I don't care what you threaten me with. This is me, get used to it," she informed him as he heard the chain flush and her climb into the shower. He shrugged, she'd come around, what other choice was there. She could leave you out in the cold, refuse the binding and then where would you be? His mind whispered, but he refused to acknowledge it. He'd not searched for her across the world to lose now, he would not take any other answer but her complete surrender and acceptance.

  Maya stood under the water and washed herself, she ached in places she wasn't even aware of having. She was quick about it, not wanting to give him an excuse to come looking for her. Rinsing she turned off the water and stepped out. She dried and rubbed at her hair before wrapping the towel around her body, still unsure what she was going to wear until she got home and could use her own clothes.

  "Here, you can wear these," Jaden said as she stepped back into the bedroom. He handed her a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants in grey, she pulled the t-shirt over her head and began to pull the sweat pants up her legs, jiggling trying to pull them up her legs without flashing him. Grinning at her attempts at modesty he dropped his own towel and began to pull up a pair of faded jeans, watching her blush as she turned her back on him. He laughed as he tucked himself in carefully before zipping up and fastening the button, then he pulled on a black t-shirt and ran his fingers through his hair to bring it in order. Sitting on the end of the bed, the one he'd straightened he put on socks and a pair of trainers, then leaned back on his hands and watched her struggle to pull out the towel from beneath the t-shirt. She'd get there eventually, but he was rather enjoying the show, her attempts were giving him little flashes of skin and she did jiggle in some interesting places.

  "Stop grinning you oaf and close your eyes," she managed to grit out, annoyance obvious in her voice.

  "No, actually, hell no, I like to see what is mine." She snorted.

  "I'm no ones, I'm my own person." He stood at that and when she finally straightened red faced and triumphant with the towel in hand, she squeaked as she realised he was in her personal space. He took the towel from her lax fingers and put it on the bed, then used a finger under her chin so she had to look at him.

  "You are mine. You were given to me," he used his other hand to trace the mate mark on her palm with his thumb. "This is my proof that you are mine, and this." He told her, holding up his own hand, showing her his own mark. "This is the proof that I am yours." Then leaning down, he cupped her face between his large hands as he broodingly watched her defiant eyes. His own angry ones landing on her pouting mouth before he took it roughly with his own. The kiss savage in his need to stamp his ownership and authority on her, he heard her heart rate pick up and her breath hitch and the kiss gentled, became more soothing. He nibbled at the corners of her mouth, a last brush of his over hers before he released them and stepped back.

  "Enough fighting me Maya, we have more pressing matters to attend to than who you do, or don't belong to. We have to figure out who these other shifters are, and what it is they want?" he told her, heading to the door. When she didn't immediately follow he turned frowning and then realised the problem. He went back to her and bent down to roll up the bottoms of the sweat pants so she could walk without tripping over. Then taking her hand he led her out of the bedroom and down the stairs, keying in the code to disarm the alarm and picking up her, and his house keys. He re-set the alarm and locked the door and then quickly pulled her next door to her own house, using the keys and putting his hand up to her as he opened the door and then listened. Taking a deep breath to check for any other scents that were there, when nothing came to him, he again took hold of her hand and led her inside. Locking the door again behind them.

  "Where are the clothes you need, actually while you are here, pack up some clothes for a few days, and we'll drop them back at mine." He watched that mulish look cross her face as her hands came up to rest on her hips, and he stepped into her.

  "Maya, we don't have time for this and do you really want to be here alone if they turn up again? What if I'm not close, what if they get to you when you are alone and I'm not close enough to aid you? What happens if Binks and Sam aren't either, what will you do then?" he watched her eyes slit slightly until they landed on the back window with the broken lock and he watched her throat work as she swallowed. He heard her heart rate pick up, but knew this time it wasn't because she was turned on, no, this time she was scared. At least she seemed to understand that this was nothing to mess around over.

  Maya stared at the back window and the feeling of claustrophobia and fear welled inside her again, the same feelings she'd felt curled up in the back of her wardrobe while a big cat roamed around outside it, searching for her. What did they want from her? Why now, why only come looking for her now when Jaden had turned up? Her eyes slit as she had a thought.

  "Can you be marked by more than one…?" Jaden shook his head before the rest of the sentence left her mouth. He knew what she was going to say and he could understand her logic, but the one thing he was sure of was that there weren't multiple mates at the same time. If a mate died before the binding took place than maybe somewhere further down the line another mate would be chosen by fate, but not at the same time. That way lay absolute certainty that death would occur, shifters would fight to the death over a mate.

  "No Maya, shifters are very territorial. Fate would not match more than one mate at a time to the same women. It would end up in slaughter, and the sure death of one if not both of them." Her hand went to her throat and she swallowed again as her eyes moved to his face, they were huge and vaguely worried. "Surely the thought of me being killed wouldn't worry you, after all you threatened to cut my dick off me yourself yesterday." He heard her growl in her throat as she turned on her heel and began to move towards the stairs.

  "Could this other shifter be here looking for you?" he followed on her heels as she went upstairs and he thought about what Binks and Sam had said yesterday.

  "I don't think so, Binks and Sam said these shifters had been around before I showed up. Obviously my turning up just seemed to move whatever their plans were along. I'm sorry Maya, but whoever they are, and whatever they want, it seems to be linked to you," Jaden told her quietly and watched her shoulder's stiffen. "I won't bull shit you to make you feel better, be sure you want an answer from me before you ask or go looking through my head for it. I will not lie to you, mates can't. It's one of those weird things. Plus, what good would it do me, you can read my thoughts anyway? I'm sure with enough sifting you can pick out whatever the hell you want to know on your own." He said this last bit with a frown of his own, he really didn't like the thought of someone being able to move in and out of his thoughts and memories at will. It left him exposed and vulnerable in a way he'd not been since he was 15-years old, and he didn't much care for the feeling.

  Maya tried to ignore the wall of brooding muscle at her back as she opened drawers and pulled out underwear for a couple of days. She was giving in for now, but she'd have to figure out some other options later on, she was just too tired to fight at the moment. She blushed as she thought about why she was tired and swallowed, her face beaming as she opened her wardrobe and pulled out a canvas bag and began to put some clothes inside, a couple of pairs of sweat pants, jeans and tops, long and short sleeved and a hoody. The weather wasn't very predictable at the best of times, so it was better to b
e prepared. Next she threw in a pair of running shoes and a pair of ballet pumps she liked to slip on for around the house. She pulled out her work shoes next, the small heeled back court shoes she wore and zipped up the bag, shoes and underwear in hand she picked up her uniform and moved into the bathroom. As she went to shut the door Jaden's hand shot out.

  "Don't lock the door, I will allow you to change in peace as long as you don't lock the door," he warned her. She was going to fight, but she read his worry in his eyes, he didn't want to think that it would take extra time to get to her through a closed door if anything happened. So instead of fighting him she nodded her assent, and he moved and went back into her bedroom, sitting on the end of her bed to wait.

  Maya was quick, she brushed her teeth and quickly stripped out of Jaden's clothes, folding them and leaving them on the lid of the toilet. She slipped on some underwear and the black pants and white t-shirt she wore for work, with the name of the coffee shop emblazoned across the front. 'Beans and books' she loved working there, the place had a great atmosphere and was always busy. Sam and Binks were nice men, and attracted a lot of female attention, but most came to drink good coffee and read, do work or generally meet up with friends. She opened up her cupboard over the sink and pulled out her moisturiser, putting some on her face before placing the jar on top of Jaden's clothes to put in her bag. Then she brushed her teeth, and gave the brush a rinse and added it to the pile of things before pulling out her deodorant spray, also adding that. She brushed her hair and pinned it on top of her head, leaving a few trailing strands, not by choice, she always had a few strands that refused to stay up. She added a little lip gloss and some mascara, a quick coat and then those items too were added to the pile. Slipping her feet into her work shoes, she picked up the items and opened the door walking back into the bedroom and put the items in the bag on the bed behind Jaden.

  "Okay, I'm ready to go," she told him zipping up the bag and grabbing a lightweight jacket out of her wardrobe. My bike is in the garage, his ears pricked up at that.

  "You have a motorbike?" she snorted

  "No, a push bike, I bike to and from at the coffee shop. I only use my car when I go into the call centre the next down over." He shook his head.

  "Not now you don't, it's not safe. From now on I'll be taking you and picking you up again myself," then frowned. "Maybe I'll just stay with you for the day, I have work stuff I can do while I'm there plus I need to talk to Binks." He added.

  "Your brother, you need to get used to the fact sooner or later. He was just a small boy Jaden, try to move past it. He's already told you he doesn't remember a lot of what happened and you've seen the scar he has, I mean Jesus, it looks like someone tried to hack off his head." She shuddered.

  "They probably did," he told her matter of fact "I believe that's what happened to our parents, there were quite a few shifter families killed in the area the same year, whole families slaughtered and no one knows why. There was no evidence of theft or anything else so people couldn't figure out the reasons for it happening. It was put down to hunters, but from what I remember I really don't think it was, it certainly wasn't fully human, not what followed me, it felt like a shifter. Obviously I didn't know at the time but I've dreamt about it, or should I say I've had nightmares about it. I hadn't had my first shift at the time so I wasn't really aware of how it felt or looked to shift, but I'm pretty sure now that's what it was, it was one of our own turning. Rogues do happen but not often and certainly I'd never heard of any taking out whole families before then." He admitted this as he took the heavy bag out of her hands with one of his own and took hold of her hand with his other and again began to lead her out of her bedroom and down the stairs.

  Jaden locked up her home again and then again took her next door, he dropped her bag on the sofa in the front room and led her into the garage where he'd put his bike the night before. He'd collected his laptop and mobile phone and strapped them in place on his bike and he handed her a black helmet, when she just looked at him, he put it on her head, and adjusted the under chin strap to make sure it stayed in place. He put on his own and then threw his leg over his bike and patted the seat behind him, Maya looked at it dubiously and he grinned.

  "Come on scaredy cat, it won't bite. That would be me you'd have to worry about not the bike." He laughed as she pulled her tongue out at him and huffed before she swung her leg over the seat and tentatively placed herself behind him.

  "You crash this monstrosity and I get hurt you're a dead man. I will be cutting off your balls," she warned him, leaning against his back as she tightened her hands around his slim waist. He just grinned again as he clicked the fob to open up the garage door and turned over the engine, he laughed as her hands tightened on him and he felt her move further into his back. The smile wiped off his face as she pushed against his back and dropped her hands so they were either side of his groin, holding the inside of his thighs. "I will crush your balls if I feel unsafe, got it Tiddles?" she asked giving his groin a friendly rub before she gripped the inside of his thighs again. There went his dick, hard as a fucking rock, shocked the hell out of him that her threats actually turned him on. Shaking his head he kicked up the stand and moved forward out of the garage, then balanced the bike as he waited for the garage door to close again. He leaned into her, dropping one hand on top of hers to hold her against him.

  "You turn me, on you deal with me later. Do you understand?" He told her with a bite as his dick throbbed, and he released her hand and wriggled on the seat in discomfort. Then had to manhandle his junk to rearrange himself, moving it to a more comfortable position before he could move off. He felt like a damn teenager again, raging hormones, and a hard on just because of wind change. Unbelievable. He was not happy that his body was so out of control.

  "I may not even make you wait till later either, lots of hidden places around here I can pull over and have at you," he warned through the microphone in the helmet. He felt her stiffen behind him and laughed as he sniffed, then purred "You like the idea of that Maya? Does the idea of me pushing you over the bike while I take you from behind turn you on?" She snorted and huffed.

  "Dream on cat boy."

  "Liar, I can smell it. I bet your pants are already wet," he said as he pulled back on the throttle and moved off up the street, checking his mirrors and keeping a look out for anything suspicious. It wasn't the best thing to be behind a helmet, it muted his senses but it was the law in the UK to wear one, so he'd have to comply. He could definitely do without the police pulling him over and doing any digging, his background would hold-up to scrutiny but it was always a little tricky when you lived a long time. Plus, he couldn’t afford to be indisposed, that would leave Maya without his protection and that was just not an option. He could live with the slight inconvenience to keep her safe and still get the feel of freedom, even if it wasn't quite as good as running in cat form.

  Maya tuned out the thoughts in his head, and tried to relax as he took the turns in the road, she was actually quite enjoying the feeling. It was a little like flying, the countryside and buildings zooming past them as they covered ground. She'd never been on a motorbike before, hadn't really understood the appeal before now. The engine throbbed between your legs, a little like sitting on the edge of the washing machine when it was on a spin cycle and you could feel the vibrations in your core. She's spent an occasional afternoon enjoying the sensation.., she cut off the thoughts a she heard Jaden groan in her head and blushed again.

  "Not for your eyes cat boy, stay out of my head."

  "But your head has such interesting things going on, I mean I'd have never known that the sensation of sitting on a bike was anything like a washing machine. Talking of machines, how often do you sit there, and can I watch the next time you do a load of washing. I'm sure I could find you something to wash if you have nothing, it has definite possibilities," he teased her as he watched for any vehicles coming up behind them. He tried to shake the images that particular thought brought up
and then burst out laughing as she threw the image of him trapped inside the washing machine as it spun around.

  "Very inventive, but then again doesn't that mean you'd be sat on my face," he said and continued to laugh as she swore, telling him exactly what he could do with himself in great detail.

  "Okay, okay I surrender, I won't bring my washing over. I mean seriously you want to use nut crackers on my nuts, that's just plain mean." He laughed as he pulled his bike over in front of the coffee shop where she worked, it was at the end of a little row of shops. Grabbing her hands to stop her getting off before he was ready.

  "Wait a minute, I just want to check everything is okay first." Jaden removed his helmet as kicked the stand down and stepped off his bike, putting his helmet under his arm as he ran a hand impatiently through this hair. It needed to come off again soon, it grew like wildfire and it was now past his shoulders. He looked up the street and turned to check out the building across the road before turning back to the shop front. It was the largest shop on the row and had the name 'Beans and Books' wrote across the windows, but you couldn’t see inside as the windows were dark, he frowned at that one. He was just about to ask Maya why it was in darkness when the door opened and there stood Bink, Jaden's shoulders stiffened and Maya removed her own helmet and clambered off the back of the bike. He moved back to give her a hand and remove the helmet as she tried to straighten her hair and brush down her work pants.

  "Hi Binks, look who's come to visit," she told him with a friendly smile as she looped her arm through Jaden's and tried to move him forward with her. He looked down at her and raised a brow.

  'Come on Tiddles, move on. He's your brother, did you not miss him when you thought you'd lost your family? Seriously, be Elsa.' He frowned again at that one and she rolled her eyes. 'Let it go,' he snorted at the film reference as she removed her hand from his arm. He missed the lightweight of her as she walked ahead of him, moving around Binks, and disappearing inside. Well this is awkward, he thought, not quite knowing what to do?