by Tasha Black
“This is lovely,” I told him honestly.
“The bedroom and bath are back here,” he said, heading through another doorway at the back of the kitchen. “It’s only the one bedroom for now, but one day I’ll add on.”
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the room. It was the size of the front half of the house with a canopied bed, a wall of large windows and a glass ceiling revealing a jaw-dropping view of the stars. There was a sitting area on one side with a desk and chair and more bookshelves. And there was another crackling fireplace.
It was a far cry from the cramped cave of our first night together.
He led me to the other side of the room and pointed to an open door.
“That’s the bathroom, I tried to think of what a mate might want.”
I stepped inside to find a huge soaking tub and every luxury I could have imagined.
I reemerged, shaking my head in wonder.
“You thought I lived in a cave, didn’t you?” he asked, one eyebrow arched.
“No,” I lied, and then laughter bubbled up in my chest and I couldn’t hide my smile.
“Liar,” he said, shaking his head. But he was smiling too.
I stood in the middle of the room, feeling his pull like a magnet. I pictured the two halves of Lark’s metal ring, clicking together like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Come,” he said. “Let’s sit by the fire and talk.”
I willed myself to sit and soak in the warmth. I would not meet his eyes, I would not touch him.
We sat on the fur rug in front of the fire and for a moment, the crackle and hiss of the logs was the only sound.
I swore I could feel his heartbeat, and his own musky smell, mingled with the woodsmoke, was incredible.
“What were your dreams?” he asked quietly, his deep voice playing over my senses. “Before… all this?”
I opened my mouth and closed it again.
I hadn’t thought about dreams for myself in so long. First, it had been worries for Jon, and then this business with magic, and now the mating.
“Is that a hard question?” he asked.
“The last time I thought about my own dreams I was seventeen years old, sneaking out to a party,” I admitted.
“What were you dreaming about then?” he asked.
“Some dumb boy, probably.”
I shook my head and watched the flames dance.
“Lucky dumb boy,” he said.
“I never made it to the party.”
“Why not?”
“I fell out of my window and barely survived,” I said. “I only didn’t break my neck because of my magic, though I didn’t know it at the time.”
“Incredible,” he whispered. “But you didn’t even suspect?”
I shook my head.
“Who would suspect magic? The doctors just said I was lucky.”
“Your world is so different from ours,” he said. “I’ve known since I was a child that it was my duty to guard the magic.”
“Did you like the idea?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said. “Children are rare among the guardians. I was spoiled by the warriors, and they shared their knowledge with me. They were like gods to me.”
“And now?” I asked.
“Now I know they are men,” he said with a half-smile.
It seemed that something dissatisfied him, but it was hard to put it into words enough to ask him about it.
He turned to me while I was studying his face, his eyes meeting mine before I remembered to turn away again.
The air between us was electric. In his eyes I swore I could see universes colliding.
“Bella,” he murmured and reached for me slowly, as if giving me time to run.
But I had forgotten how to do anything but crave his touch.
He cupped my face in his hand and ran the pad of his thumb over my cheek in a featherlight caress.
I felt my insides melt and clench with need.
His thumb brushed my lips next, and I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by even that slight sensation.
“Bella,” he groaned and when I opened my eyes again, he was leaning closer, his lips inches from mine.
His eyes were so blue they almost seemed to be made of icy fire. I could see the pain that his restraint was costing him, and the wonder at what our closeness felt like.
I felt it too, the indelible bond and pull, as I heard the voice in the back of my head begging me to surrender.
“Just a kiss,” he whispered, though whether he was bargaining with me or with himself I couldn’t say.
I closed my eyes again in assent and instantly he was kissing me. His lips were warm and firm, his kiss so gentle that it made me burn. He tasted like the forest.
I whimpered against his mouth and he kissed me with more passion, then thumbed my jaw open, devouring me.
I kissed him back with all I had, wishing I could split myself open for him to be even closer. Everything that separated us was now hateful to me. My clothing irritated my flesh and the air between us felt frigid. Everything in me demanded that I release myself to accept the bond, let it snap tight around us so that nothing could ever separate us again.
He pulled us down on the rug, pinning me to the floor with his big body.
The fur rug was soft to the touch, but the wood floor was firm beneath it. I could feel every inch of him, pressed against me as if he were trying to incorporate my physical being into his.
He sucked my lower lip into his mouth, his teeth grazing me.
I closed my eyes, moaning lightly.
He left my mouth to nuzzle the place where my neck met my shoulder. His jaw was rough, but his mouth was gentle, sending shivers down my spine.
I felt his teeth graze my flesh again and I sank my nails into his upper arms.
“Bella,” he gasped, pulling back, even as I fought to hold on.
I opened my eyes to see that his were glowing with lust.
“Enough,” he growled. “Enough, or I will have to claim you.”
My heart was pounding and my body screaming for him too, but I let go of his arms somehow.
He rolled onto his side, panting, pulling me to his chest.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I hadn’t meant to tease him, to tease us both.
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “It’s the bond. It’s impossible to resist.”
“Not impossible,” I murmured. “You resisted it.”
I was lucky he had resisted it. In the moment, I had been swept away. It was as if I had been drugged.
“You would have resisted too,” he told me. “But it will be more difficult the more time we spend together.”
It was difficult now. I was practically squirming with need.
“I want you so much,” he whispered in my ear. “And I know you want me too. I can taste it on the air.”
He stroked my cheek, and I closed my eyes to lean into his hand. The pounding in my body resumed and I bit my lip to keep from moaning.
Luke ran his hand down my side, caressing my arm, then my hip, stroking my belly, my face, my thighs, as if he were trying to soothe and calm my feverish need.
But he was only stoking it further. I tried not to think, not to breathe. I knew I should ask him to stop, but I craved his touch so horribly that I couldn’t form the words.
“Your beauty scares me,” he whispered, sliding his hand down to cup my breast. “If I claim you, it will be even more intense between us.”
I wanted to answer, but every particle of me was focused on his thumb, lightly caressing my aching nipple through the fabric of my dress.
He slid his hand up to release the buttons at the top of my dress, slowly opening it until we could both see my breasts, half-bared to him.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, slipping his fingers under the cups of my bra, pulling them down slightly to reveal my nipples.
His gentle touches were driving me insane with need. I clung to the edge of sanity as
I watched him lower his face to lick one nipple into his warm mouth.
He groaned and the sound went through me, making me frantic. He licked the other nipple and then went back to the first as I closed my eyes and clenched the furs beneath us.
“Look at me,” he growled.
I opened my eyes and gazed into his. They were glowing blue, so beautiful and frightening that I was transfixed.
He pushed my skirts up, his huge, warm hand caressing my thighs as he did.
“Luke,” I whimpered.
But he was already sliding his hand up, up, up, an index finger drawing a line along my throbbing sex through my panties.
“Oh, Bella,” he moaned, his bright eyes hazy with lust.
My hips were trembling, angling up shamelessly for his touch.
He flicked his fingers, and I heard the tear of cotton. Then his fingers were on my flesh, tender and teasing.
A fire was raging inside me, threatening to consume my soul. I needed him, needed him so much there was nothing else in the world.
“Please,” I begged.
He growled out a furious sound and then he was crawling down to replace his hand with his face.
This wasn’t what I wanted, what I needed. I needed him inside me. I needed the agony of his bite on my neck as he filled me.
But at the first touch of his tongue, I fell back against the furs, helpless.
I’d had a boyfriend in college who tried to go down on me, and I’d found it mostly boring. But his efforts had been shy and halfhearted.
Luke fed on me like a starving man. Lapping, sucking, and groaning into me as if he could never get enough.
I could feel the tide of pleasure rising, lifting me. I cried out his name in need and wonder as he eased a finger inside me.
Just as my ecstasy approached, he pulled back and went perfectly still, leaving me desperate, hips rising involuntarily to find his mouth.
I opened my eyes to see him gazing down at me, lips parted as I convulsed on his finger like a fish out of water, too desperate to remember how to beg.
“Fuck,” he growled, and dove back in.
The pleasure was more intense now. After a moment I was coming apart on his tongue, shimmering, floating, and finally exploding with the ecstasy.
When it was done, he crawled up beside me and pulled me to his chest again.
I was still shaking.
His body was rigid beside mine, every muscle bulging.
“Are we? Does that mean…?” I gasped.
“No,” he said firmly.
Impossibly, I was already shivering with need all over again. I couldn’t imagine how he must feel.
I slid my hand down his chest, stroked those rigid abs on my way to his cock.
His hand locked around my wrist before I found what I wanted.
“Do you want me to claim you, Bella?” His voice was dark with unsatisfied desire.
“I just want to help you, like you helped me,” I whimpered.
“No,” he said firmly, through a clenched jaw. “I would lose control.”
He let go of me and stood, offering me his hand.
“Take off that silly dress and get into bed,” he told me.
I stood, gazing up at those unfathomable lightning blue eyes.
He blinked and then the air around him blurred slightly.
A moment later, I was having a staring contest with a massive wolf.
I couldn’t help smiling in wonder, even as I resented him for ending the conversation so abruptly.
I reached my hand out to stroke the soft fur.
The wolf nudged me toward the bed, and I undressed quickly and slid between the sheets.
A moment later the mattress groaned as the beast leapt up beside me and curled his furry body around mine.
I meant to stay awake, to try to understand what spell must have been cast on me to make me so wild with lust that I had almost given in tonight.
But I was deep in a dreamless sleep before I could think about it.
24
Luke
I awoke with her arms around me, the wolf shifting out of consciousness swiftly, as if he might trick me into claiming her in my first bright moments back in my own form.
Bella was soft and fragrant, and the temptation was great. As I tried to slip away from her, she snuggled herself closer, maddening me with her warm thigh wrapped around my hip, her breast pressed to my ribcage.
But I was determined not to claim her. I had one more night. And I was going to make her beg to be mine.
No you’re not, the voice in the back of my head whispered.
And maybe it was right. My intention last night had been to show her how much she wanted me, and not allow her to taste satisfaction.
But in the moment, all I wanted was to please her. I had turned the tables on myself, all for the love of a human girl.
You don’t love her. This is a mate bond.
But I did care for Bella, I realized. This was why I hadn’t been able to deny her relief last night.
Maybe it was why I was so determined not to try to rush her into anything, even though I knew I needed her more than I needed my next breath.
She was wise for her years, kind and thoughtful.
I wanted her to choose me freely. I wanted her to choose to be mine forever.
I decided to shower while she was still sleeping. I stripped quickly and stepped under the spray, hoping the refreshing blast would bring me back to my senses.
But the pounding of the hot water only reminded me of touching her last night, and the wolf howled in my chest to go back to her, crawl into bed, and claim her.
Soon, I promised him.
But a part of me was concerned that the real answer could be never.
Bella’s obstinance was one of the things I was growing to love about her, but it might prove to be our undoing.
25
Bella
I awoke alone at dawn in a strange room.
Before I could remember where I was, the sound of a door opening had me leaping up out of bed. The fact that I didn’t seem to be wearing any clothes started to bring back some memories of the night before.
“Bella.”
Luke’s voice was low and growly. He stood naked in the doorway of the bathroom, beads of water sliding down his beautiful, bare body. His blue eyes blazed.
“I-I…” I stammered stupidly.
“We have to get you back to school,” he said, ripping his eyes from mine.
My brain returned reluctantly to its post. I remembered last night, and why I shouldn’t be standing naked by his bed, ogling him.
“Sorry,” I said. “I was just a little disoriented.”
I grabbed my bra and dress from the floor and hurriedly put them on, grateful that he had taken the time to undo my buttons instead of just ripping them off.
My panties had suffered a more violent fate. I picked up the pieces, but they were hopelessly shredded.
“Sorry,” he said. “Do you, uh, want to borrow something of mine?”
I looked at him. He was as big as a mountain. There was no piece of his clothing that would fit me.
“I’ll just go commando until I get back to school,” I said, shrugging. The dress was almost to the floor anyway. It’s not like anyone would know.
“Go commando?” he repeated, one eyebrow arched.
“It means to be dressed but without underwear,” I explained. “You haven’t heard that phrase?”
“No,” he said. “What does underwear have to do with the military?”
“I’m not actually sure,” I admitted.
He frowned. “I don’t like you going commando,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked. I didn’t like it either, but only because it was embarrassing.
“I don’t want other males to scent you,” he said.
“You can… scent me?” I asked. “Because I don’t have underwear?”
“I can scent you anyway,” he told me with a wicked half s
mile.
He turned and headed for the kitchen before I could react.
I found myself smiling. He could be kind of a funny guy, for all the drama of this mate bond business.
And God, he was good in bed. He would make such a great boyfriend.
Get it together, girl. You’re not looking for a boyfriend. You’re trying to find a way to stay at school. Focus.
But I wasn’t going to focus.
He was only a few steps away and I was already jogging to catch up, as if the tiniest distance between us had me unable to breathe.
There was no point trying to break the spell and refuse the mate bond. I was his, and had been since the first moment our eyes met.
“Breakfast?” he asked when I reached the kitchen.
“I need to get to school,” I said, shaking my head.
“Let’s go then,” he said, offering me his arm.
I took it. All my bluster had been for nothing.
It didn’t matter how much I wanted to get my magical education and help my brother, none of those things were going to stay in my mind when I returned to this cottage tonight.
I couldn’t resist Luke. I wouldn’t have resisted him last night if he had given me a chance.
Whatever spell had been placed on me, I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to it. The mate bond had been bad enough, but I suspected either someone at the school or Luke himself had ensnared me in some special magic yesterday.
Maybe once I got some distance from him at school I would bounce back. It was my only hope now, and that hope was faint.
“Is everything okay, Bella?” he asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
“I’m just tired,” I said.
He nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. To his credit, he didn’t press the matter. We set off into the woods in silence.
In spite of the break-in at the school, the hellhound, and the knowledge that something out there wanted the library’s power at any cost, I felt safe beside him. My heart seemed to have slowed to the rhythm of his footsteps.
As the dawn painted the sky pink, I wondered at the power and the delicacy of a spell that could bind me to him without resentment, impacting me emotionally and physically all at once.
