“I’m intrigued by you, Miss Naveed. You’re a puzzle I believe I will take much pleasure in figuring out.”
The Compound housed a large gym in the basement that gave James’ gym in downtown Spokane a run for its money. I took in the large space, wondering why I hadn’t taken advantage of it before, and watched as Declan reached for two long wooden staffs that rested along a far wall. He threw one to me and I effortlessly caught it in my right hand. I watched him kick off his boots before padding to the mat on bare feet. His body moved with a feline grace. Did he have to look so good, really?
Desire unfurled inside me—a deep ache coupled with an even deeper sense of longing. I shoved it down. Keep it together, Aria.
Declan stalked forward as we neared the center mat, stopping when we were about seven feet apart from one another. There were several spectators who had stopped to watch us, giving us a wide birth. I ignored their hoots and hollers and focused on Declan. He raised his staff out in front of him and I did the same, signaling we were each ready. Not waiting for his attack, I struck out, aiming for his right bicep. He effortlessly blocked my attack with his staff and countered with a strike to the outside of my thigh. His staff was a blur, and I barely blocked it before it connected. That would have hurt.
More cautious now, I circled Declan, looking for an opening. His eyes tracked my every move as though he were tracking prey.
“You’re still angry with me,” he said. Surprise, surprise. Of course I was. I was putting it on the back burner until Noah left, but that didn’t mean all was forgiven.
Thwack. He blocked me; his staff connecting with mine caused my hands to shake with the impact.
“But you need to understand—”
I didn’t need to understand anything. What part of putting this on the back burner did he not understand?
Thwack. I landed a blow to his calf and danced away before his could connect with my mid-section. I kicked out with my leg, aiming for his stomach. He dropped his staff and caught my foot, twisting my leg and causing my back to crash into the mat. I threw my staff aside and jumped to my feet, my breaths coming out hard.
“Aria, I’m trying to talk to you.”
“And I’m trying to kick your ass,” I said. His eyes darkened.
“Christ, you’re killing me.” I wasn’t sure if he meant that as a good thing or a bad thing, but when he wiggled his fingers at me in a taunt, my blood boiled beneath my skin and I launched myself at him in a fury of limbs. Punching and jabbing as fast as my arms could move. He blocked every strike almost effortlessly and swiped my legs out from under me with his foot. I rolled before he could pin me down and pushed away from the mat as a wave of heat washed over me.
“I made a mistake.”
Okay, I guess we were having it out now. So much for waiting until Thorne was gone.
“You think?” I picked up my staff and threw it at him. Just as he caught it, I landed a kick to his stomach. He grunted. I feigned a punch to his left and landed an elbow across his jaw. He spat blood and bared his teeth at me. That’s right. Get angry.
I surveyed our spectators. They’d quieted down once we started and were now all ears to the Declan and Aria soap opera. Declan’s eyes followed mine.
“Leave us,” he snarled, and like frightened bunnies they all ran from the room. He smiled, a wicked curve of his lips that made me freeze for an instant before my mind kicked in, urging me to move. I was panting, but I didn’t take my eyes off of him.
Between one second and the next, he was on me. He used his weight to force me onto the mat. I rolled before he could pin me and slammed my elbow into his spine. He cursed and reached for me. I scrambled away in a backwards crab crawl, but he caught my ankle and jerked me towards him.
I tucked my knees towards my chest and used my legs to push him off of me. Damn, he was heavy. It took every muscle in my legs to propel him over me, and even then, he didn’t go very far. Like the damn cat that he was, he landed on the balls of his feet and like lightning launched himself at me again. His arms were loose as he barreled towards me. I couldn’t tell where he was going to hit.
I ducked left to avoid his reach, but not fast enough. Declan grabbed me, one hand on my shoulder, the other under my arm as he bent his knees and launched me over his back. There was nothing I could do to stop myself from going over, so instead I tucked my legs and rolled with the momentum to land several feet away in a crouch.
“Things were going well. We were making progress. I want us to get back to that.” His breathing was even. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. I clenched my jaw.
“No, you’d like to get back into my pants. Sucks to be you.” I stood, panting, my fists balled at my sides. Even now he was holding back, and all it did was piss me off more. “Now stop fighting like a girl and actually hit me.”
Declan snarled. “You’re my mate.” As if that was supposed to mean something.
I wanted to hurl curses at him. Instead, fire licked my fingers, a subconscious reaction. Declan’s eyes narrowed. “I’m seriously considering burning you to a crisp just to be rid of you.”
He smiled, a feral show of teeth. “You’d miss me. Deep down, you know it’s true.” His voice was confident.
I rolled my eyes, letting him know just how absurd his arrogance was to me. Flames licked up my arms.
“I thought the rule was no fire, no claws.”
“Fuck the rules.”
Declan claws extended from his fingertips and he flashed a mouthful of fang that almost had me reconsidering this fight. Almost.
We collided in a rush of fire and claws, punching and kicking at one another, no holds barred. He landed a blow to my abdomen that had my breath coming out in a rush of air. I felt his claws graze my skin and heard fabric shred, but I kept moving. I jabbed him in the ribcage and landed a flame-filled punch to his kidney. I swore when he kicked me behind the knee, forcing my legs to buckle.
That was when I realized that while I’d been focused on taking out my aggression on him by trying to beat him to a bloody pulp, he’d effectively shredded every inch of my clothing, leaving me in a bra and underwear with scraps of cotton hanging off of me in tatters. I glared daggers at him and watched as the bastard actually smiled.
“This is what you want, isn’t it?” I pulled off the last remnants of my shirt and pants and tossed them to the mat as I stood. “Well take a good look while you can.” I spread my arms wide and did a little twirl.
Declan’s eyes held appreciation. He growled deep in his chest and retracted his claws before storming towards me. I lifted my chin and held my ground. I would not be intimidated. He towered over me by a good six inches, forcing me to look up to meet his gaze.
“Stop with all of the bullshit. I fucked up. I’m sorry. Let me fix it.”
I laughed. It sounded hollow even to my own ears, and I shoved him. He was too close. It was like trying to move a brick wall. He didn’t even rock back on his heels.
“You’re not making this easy,” I ground out.
“Making what easy?”
I waved a hand at him. “Look, I’m trying, okay? James asked me to wait to lose it on you until after Thorne left, so I’m trying. I thought you wanted to spar. You said nothing about hashing things out.”
“I don’t give two shits if Thorne is here. I want to fix us.”
“There is no us. You wanted a weapon. Go find someone else.” Shit, fuck. I hadn’t meant for it to come out like that.
I felt my back connect with the mat and my hands pinned down above my head. I struggled beneath him, but could barely move an inch. Declan had a good fifty pounds of solid muscle on me, and he was using it.
“Did I want you to align with the Pack? Yes. Did I think that you could be an asset because of your abilities? Yes. Did I make a dick move by encouraging some of my men to pursue you? Yes. I did all of that, but none of it fucking matters now. I didn’t claim you for your abilities. I claimed you because my beast chose you. I chose you. You are my ma
te. You’re my heart and my soul, and right now, you’re ripping both of those out of me with this fucking wall you’ve put between us.” He growled his words.
“I won’t be anyone’s weapon,” I bit out, struggling against his hold.
“I’m not asking you to be. I’m just asking for you to give us a fucking try. A real one.” I shook my head and looked away. Declan was making small circular motions with his thumb on my wrists. It was an oddly sensual touch that made my body tremble. I told myself it was because I was angry with him. That my body was trembling with rage. It had nothing to do with desire.
Declan shifted his weight, settling deeper between my legs. I stopped breathing, going perfectly still beneath him while my heart hammered against my ribs. I fought the urge to draw up my knees and cradle him between my thighs. This was not happening right now.
Declan’s nostrils flared. He took a deep breath and his eyes darkened with desire, his anger quickly leaving him.
Keeping my arms pinned above my head in one hand, he brought the other down to rest low on my hip. My breath caught. I shouldn’t be lying here like this. I should be fighting him. I should be doing something. Anything.
My body and my mind were warring with one another. My body urged me to forgive him. To lean forward and bite at the full bottom lip that was tempting my sanity. I could remember his kiss. The way his hands felt against my bare flesh.
Reason finally won out. I narrowed my eyes and jerked my forehead up, catching him on the nose.
“Dammit, Aria.” He released me and sat up, cupping his hand over his nose. Blood seeped between his fingers and dripped past his chin. I felt a slight pang of regret before I scrambled away from him.
“You want this. You want me. I know you do. I can smell your desire.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”
“You can’t hide your desire. I can smell it.” Wasn’t that just what every girl wanted to hear? My cheeks flushed. I wiped the sweat from my brow and stood up. Stupid shifter senses. Declan let go of his nose and wiped his hand against his jeans. The bleeding had already stopped.
“I don’t want you. I just need to get laid. Don’t worry, that isn’t your problem anymore.” As soon as the words escaped me, I wanted to take them back. Shit, fuck. What was wrong with me?
His eyes filled with flecks of gold in a sea of emerald green. “You can be angry and you can be hurt, but if you touch another man, I will rip him to bloody bits, do you understand me?” Declan stepped closer, his shoulders bunched in fury. “Their life will be in your hands. Think about that before you lay with someone else.”
My blood boiled and my vision went red. How dare he. “You have no right to tell me what I can do or who I can do it with,” I bit out.
“You’re angry. You’ll get over it. I can be patient and I can give you time. I will not, however, let you whore—”
I slapped him across the face with everything inside of me, leaving behind a burned handprint mark on his left cheek. My eyes widened. I was almost shocked by my instinctive reaction to his words. My hand stung and I clenched my fingers, making a fist.
Declan turned his head back towards me very slowly. His jaw was clenched, a tic forming along his jawline.
“After Thorne is gone, I’m moving back to my apartment.” It hurt to say those words, but I was so furious I wanted to cry. It was an irrational feeling and right now, I didn’t give two shits about it.
Declan’s eyes were filled with rage, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’m done, Declan,” I said, driving home my decision.
“Aria, I won’t lose you.”
“You no longer have a choice.”
I didn’t care that I was left to walk in my bra and underwear. I held my head up high and walked out of the gym, ignoring the onlookers. Nudity wasn’t anything new, and shifters weren’t modest by any means. When I made it to my room, I threw on a pair of form-fitting jeans and a clean shirt that said “Love? No thanks. I’ll take vodka.”
I choked back on the sob that had been lodged in my throat. I would not fall apart over him. I repeated the mantra over and over in my mind until my breathing slowed. You’re a big girl, Aria, I told myself. So start acting like it.
James walked into my room just as I was about to leave, my messenger bag slung over my shoulder. He glanced at my shirt and my expression and his eyes hardened.
“Ari—”
I held my hand up. “Don’t defend him, James. I tried. I really did. I put it on the back burner, but he wouldn’t leave it alone.”
“Ari, listen. You don’t understand.” I wanted to be angry with him, I really did, but my heart had already been on one emotional roller coaster today. I couldn’t handle another one.
“James, I can’t do this.” It was a hoarse whisper, and without a word, James wrapped me in his arms and I let loose the flood of tears that I’d been holding back. He ran his hand over my hair in a petting motion, making sounds that were meant to soothe but instead made me cry harder. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried like this. Not since I was a child.
“It hurts. It fucking hurts so bad,” I told him when I could finally form the words.
“I know, sweetheart. I know. But it doesn’t have to be like this.”
“James, if it hurts this much now, what will I do when something happens again? I won’t be able to take it. I can’t.” He nuzzled my hair before pulling away to look down at me. His eyes were filled with so much compassion I had a hard time holding his gaze.
“The bond isn’t something you can walk away from. It doesn’t go away, no matter how badly you want it to.”
“I can block it, though. I can shove it away until I don’t know that it’s there.” I said defiantly. It was better than living with this. Better than hurting like this.
“He can’t.” James’ eyes pleaded with me to understand.
“Declan’s blocked me out before. He keeps a tight lid on his emotions so I can’t feel them.” He could do the same thing I was doing. We could ignore this bond and go on with our lives.
James was shaking his head. “He can keep a lid on his emotions, sure, but the bond is more than just that. Aria, his tiger loses it when you’re not around. When you were attacked, Declan went looking for you. Even with you blocking him out, he knew something was wrong. He made us stop the car and ran to find you, leaving Robert and I to chase after him. When he found your car all but destroyed, and when he saw all of the blood that dotted lampposts and stained the outside of a building, he…” James trailed off. “I don’t think you realize the effect you have on him. The things he would do for you.”
My breathing was ragged.
“I don’t know how to deal with all of this,” I admitted.
“I know, Ari. I know.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Declan. I sighed and hit the ignore button, feeling guilty as I did it before shoving my phone back in my pocket. Doubt swam through me as I drove from the Compound to Spokane Valley.
I was cranky and hungry, and right now I needed tacos. De Leon was located on the corner of Sullivan and Sprague. I could already taste the carne asada tacos in my mouth and could imagine the flavor of the agua de piña. I stepped on the gas, urging the SUV through the packed snow. Maybe I’d be able to think more clearly once I had some food in my stomach and the gnawing ache faded.
At least I hoped it would.
My phone buzzed again. I looked at the screen. Hmmm. I didn’t recognize the number.
“Naveed,” I said into the receiver.
“Ah, Miss Naveed. I’m so glad to hear your voice.” What the hell? I stared at the screen. How the hell had Noah Thorne gotten my number?
“Can I help you?”
“I’m so glad you asked. I require assistance.”
“Aren’t you with Eva?” I asked. She’d left after breakfast with Noah, his three companions, and her mate, Mathias, along with a few hyenas for backup.
“No. Joelle and I got separat
ed from the others and have been unable to pick up their scent through all of the other smells and people swarming through the city.”
“Did you try calling?”
“I did. There was no answer.”
“Did you call the Compound for assistance?”
“Why would I do that? You are the Alpha’s mate. You are our hostess. Am I bothering you?” There was a warning in his voice. Damn it. Why me?
“Of course not,” I said with false cheer. “How can I help?” I was minutes away from my tacos. My stomach growled.
“Pick Joelle and I up at the bagel place on Division. We’ll await your arrival inside.” He hung up before I could tell him that it would take me a good twenty minutes or more to get there. I tried dialing the number back, but it went straight to voicemail. Dammit. I threw my phone on the seat beside me and took a hard right, jumping west on the freeway.
After I picked Thorne up, he was going to owe me some damn tacos.
Thirty minutes later, I was pulling into Einstein Bagel. Thorne and Joelle stood leaning against an outdoor table; both had their arms crossed and seemed unfazed by the cold.
I pulled up beside them and rolled the window down.
“Hop in,” I said.
Thorne shook his head. “I’ll drive,” he said. He had to be kidding me.
“You don’t even know how to get back to the Compound. Get in.”
He flicked a glance at Joelle. Something passed between them.
“Miss Naveed. I do not do well in enclosed spaces. My leopard does not like the lack of control. It would be best for all involved if I drove.”
I unbuckled, my movements jerky as I opened the door and stomped to the passenger side door uncaring that I was behaving like a pissed off toddler. Joelle slid into the backseat behind me and Thorne adjusted the driver seat, sliding it back to accommodate his length before sliding in.
“Thank you,” he said. I nodded but kept my mouth shut as I fastened my seatbelt and stared out into the side mirror. Thorne pulled the car out of the parking lot and I gave him short instructions that would get him back on the freeway.
Burned by Fire (Blood & Magic Book 3) Page 16
