by Bec McMaster
Colton flexed his shoulders, muscle gleaming beneath the coating of oil they’d rubbed all over him. They’d pressed white powdered hands all over his back and shoulders, a stark contrast to the red ochre handprints that stained Lincoln.
Lincoln had an inch or two on him, and broader shoulders, but Colton had him beat when it came to pure, hard slab of muscle. Every inch of him was rock, from his shoulders to his eight-pack, whereas there was a softer layer of muscle on Lincoln.
Arik lifted a gourd-shaped pot to his brother's lips, and Lincoln grabbed it with both hands, red liquid dripping down the sides of his mouth as he drank.
He lowered it, and Arik turned toward Johnny.
"Drink," the alpha said, his eyes glittering as he lifted the hollowed-out gourd to Johnny’s lips.
"What is it?" Colton demanded, his nose wrinkling.
"Kaga," Arik replied. "We call it Fire in the Blood. All our warriors must drink it before they face their testing. Master the fire, and you master yourself."
"It’s an enervative," Nnedi called. "It will stimulate your system and make it harder to control your darkness. Lust, rage, violence.... Everything is magnified."
Eden swallowed. Don't do it....
But he merely nodded and drained the rest of the gourd.
Wargs screamed in satisfaction as he lowered it, as if he'd done something they approved of.
"Can your man fight?" Nnedi murmured at her side.
He has to. Eden’s breath came short and sharp. Her lips still tingled from where he'd kissed her, but she couldn't focus on that.
He kissed me.
Shit.
"He can fight." Adam had told her of the arenas of Rust City, where both he and Colton had been forced to fight for their lives for the enjoyment of the slavers who ran the town. She’d refused to listen to the story once she knew Colton was involved, but she’d heard enough hints of what Adam went through to know Colton had to be good if he’d survived that.
"Challenge has been made," Arik called, holding his hands up for silence. "Shadow Rock belongs to the mighty." Hoo-ra, bellowed the wargs. "It belongs to those who control the darkness." Hoo-ra. "And now, if our guest wishes to keep his head he must prove he is mighty enough—controlled enough—to have a claim on it."
Eden's fingers dug into her palm. Colton rolled his shoulders and windmilled his arms, looking calm and at ease as Lincoln preened with his arms wide as he turned in slow circles.
She'd brought Colton into this.
The past no longer mattered. His debt to her was gone.
If he died, she'd never forgive herself.
"Come on," she whispered to herself. "Kick his ass."
Colton's gaze lifted to hers as if he'd heard her, the faint edge of a smile haunting his lips, and then he and Lincoln began circling each other.
"Fight!" shouted a fierce, bearded warg with hair the color of fire.
Lincoln charged forward, the movement sharp and sudden. Eden’s fists curled into hard knots as she bounced forward on the balls of her toes. The crowd pressed closer to see, and she could barely make out what was happening over their heads.
A loud "ooh" echoed through the cavern and the sound of fist hitting flesh echoed. Blood spattered across the crowd.
"Damn it." She couldn't see. Shoving past the man next to her—Jesus, it was the alpha—Eden scrambled up onto the lip of a rock, where she could finally make out the action.
Lincoln wiped his mouth, his hand coming away bloody as Colton merely held his fingers out and gestured at the bigger warg. Come at me, said those taunting fingers, and relief flooded through her. Not Colton's blood.
Not yet.
"Get 'im, Linc!" someone screamed.
Colton’s knees flexed, and then he met Lincoln’s charge, driving forward and slamming a shoulder into the younger man’s midriff. Lincoln flew up over his shoulder, his eyes widening.
"Hoo-ra!" came the echoing cry through the canyon as Lincoln slammed into the dirt.
A shiver of relief flooded through her.
Too soon, perhaps. Lincoln flipped up onto his feet, and this time his eyes were wary.
They slammed together, again and again, grappling, their feet straining in the sand, flexing to get a better grip. Colton moved like a lithe snake, changing grip, forcing Lincoln to halt his attacks and concentrate on defensive moves.
Something was happening to both of them. The veins in Colton's throat throbbed, and Lincoln's eyes held the silver sheen that betrayed a warg.
"He's turning," Eden whispered, swallowing hard.
"It's the kaga," Nnedi muttered. "It's difficult enough to hold the transformation back when sober, let alone with kaga in your blood."
Eden paced along the shelf, trying to see better, butterflies darting in her stomach. "Hold it. Come on, you can do it."
Lincoln threw his head back and roared, his teeth elongating. He lashed out with his hand and claws gleamed on the end of his fingers. Slash marks appeared across Colton's chest.
Slamming against each other again, they fought and twisted for position. Colton went down with a twist as Lincoln kicked his knee from the side. A punishing punch followed it, and his head snapped to the side. Eden's stomach knotted up. Get up. Come on, get up.
But Lincoln wasn't having any of that.
Their freedom hinged on the outcome of this fight.
Colton's life lay on the line.
Eden felt sick.
Colton hooked his foot behind Lincoln's and using a whip-swift snap of his legs, took Lincoln down. Then they were on the ground, shifting, grabbing, using every inch of their bodies to gain the upper hand.
A fist punched into Colton's ribs, but he'd trapped Lincoln's arm behind him. With a jerk of his hips, Lincoln managed to get free, but not for long. Colton took him down, swinging behind him and locking his forearm around Lincoln's throat, trapping his head there with his other hand.
Yes! She didn't dare breathe.
Lincoln's face went red as he kicked at the sands. He dug his claws into Colton's arm, but Colton merely ground his teeth together and flexed his arm tighter, his legs locked around the other man's waist.
Eden swallowed hard, as Lincoln's bare feet kicked once more. Twice. And then he went still, his body slumping onto Colton's embrace, and his fingers falling open as his hand hit the sands.
Silence fell around the cavern, the drummers drawing to an abrupt halt.
Someone sucked in a sharp hiss of breath.
Colton dumped Lincoln's unconscious body on the sand, then stood, blood gleaming on his heaving chest and his skin slick with sweat and oil. He stared up at Arik, tilting his chin just a little arrogantly. "Call it. Or I'll kill him."
The alpha's lashes fluttered as he surveyed the scene. With a sharp nod, he turned and gestured to the man who'd started the fight.
It was over.
Relief sank through her, like lead through her veins.
For a second....
Eden’s eyes met Colton’s across the arena, her chest rising and falling. Sweat and oil gleamed over his skin, and the heat in his eyes practically incinerated her. She could taste him again on her lips, as though the phantom kiss consumed her.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo," the wargs started chanting, slamming their left fists against the right side of their chests.
Someone held a water skin up to Colton's mouth, forcing him to drink it—or drown.
Eden rubbed her arms, feeling jittery. She didn't know what was wrong with her. It hadn't been her down in that ring, but the sight of it... of the graceful moves, the threat of danger, Colton's oil-slicked body, all of it ratcheted a tension inside her she hadn't known she was holding.
He looked good.
Like some brutal warrior, marred by sweat and blood, and damn her hormones, but she couldn't help feeling something stark flare in response.
It's just the adrenaline, she told herself. Adrenaline and stress made one hell of a potent combination.
Lowering the water skin, Colton met he
r gaze, and the intense gleam in the liquid dark of his pupils made her swallow.
They could have been alone in the cavern.
And from the look in his eyes, he knew exactly how she was feeling right now.
Arik stepped off the dais and landed in the ring in a squat. He straightened, his smile thin as he surveyed his brother's unconscious form.
"You have won your right to be one of us," he called, slapping a hand on the thick muscle of Colton's shoulder. "Now we celebrate."
The pair of them clasped hands, Colton's white teeth flashing in a smile. Someone bought more kaga forth. Wargs spilled around Colton, swallowing him up as they all sought to touch him.
"You've got to be kidding me," Eden said, rubbing the gooseflesh on her arms. "Now they're all friends."
"Men," Nnedi snorted. "There will be many sore heads come morning."
"I think I need a drink myself," she muttered, pushing past Nnedi as the sounds of celebration began to spiral through the cavern.
EDEN MOVED THROUGH THE DANCERS, trying to ignore the press of bodies against hers as she tried to get some air.
She'd had a generous mouthful of kaga before realizing it didn't just affect wargs. Her heart was racing in time to the drums, and her head felt like it was ready to explode. Her fingers curled around the pewter amulet he'd given her for safekeeping.
CJ’s injury. Lily’s illness. Time ticking down like a bomb about to go off in her face. Johnny Colton slamming back into her life. Finding her own goddamned letters in his pocket.
Seeing the momentary glint of vulnerability in his eyes when she touched the scars on his back before he looked away.
The feel of his mouth on hers.
All of it formed a volatile mix, fusing into a pressure cooker inside her, until Eden thought she was going to scream.
She needed to get out of here.
Before she did something stupid.
Something she could never take back.
The drumbeat throbbed through her veins until her heart was racing as she pushed through the crowd. Or maybe it wasn’t the drum at all, but the pulse between her thighs.
She caught a glimpse of Colton tracking her, moving like a shark in her wake. All tanned, oiled skin, those handprints standing out starkly, as if to show her where to put her own. Hungry dark eyes.
Eden stared back, and once again she could feel her lips tingling. Colton's lashes shadowed his eyes as he started pushing through the crowd toward her.
Hell. She ducked into the passage that led to their room, finally free of the cloying heat of bodies. A glimpse back showed wargs flinging their heads back and stomping the ground in time to the music. Nnedi had pushed Arik back into the shadows of the cavern, where they were having a heated argument, and someone threw an entire jug of water over the crowd from the lip of the dais.
And there....
Colton himself, finally slipping free of the mass of heaving bodies. He stood out against the torchlight behind him, a dark shadow carved from pure stone. Eden rubbed her mouth, her nipples hardening as she turned and darted down the passage, shooting glances over her shoulder to see if he was following.
He came for her, as if drawn by the look in her eyes.
Maybe he could sense it—or maybe that same echoing throb rang through his body, and he needed the release too.
Eden couldn't breathe. Need fisted like a tight knot inside her. Her skin ached, as if she could almost feel his hands upon her.
And then she was.
A hand locked around her wrist, spinning her around. Her back hit the smooth slope of the wall, and suddenly Colton was in her space, barely touching her, just looking. "Where are you going, angel? The party's back there."
An inch separated them. It wasn't enough. "Here's your amulet." She shoved it toward him. "I think... I need some air."
"Put it on me," he breathed, bowing his head toward her, and letting her wrist go.
Eden froze. Lifting the chain, she draped it over his head, letting the snarling wolf's head fall into place in the center of his chest.
All she could breathe was the heated scent of the oil on his body. Her hand fluttered between them as if to fend him off, but she wasn't sure if that was what she truly intended. Hands had swiped through the palm prints on his chest, and white paint dragged across his abdomen.
"Are you sure that's what you need right now?" he whispered, resting one palm flat against the wall on the side of her head.
Eden glanced up from beneath her lashes and as he leaned closer, her fingertips brushed against the hard flex of his abdominals. Every inch of her skin seemed to ache, as if it was begging for his touch.
She turned her face to the side, trying to escape the intensity, but there was no avoiding the truth.
She didn't want him to go.
"Eden?" he murmured, fingertips resting against her chin. "What's going on in that head of yours?"
She took a deep breath. Another. What was she doing?
Scratching that itch....
Courage seemed to fire through her, and she grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking his face to hers. "You were right. We need to get this out of our systems. I can't think when you're here. I can't focus. I can't ignore this bloody itch."
He drew back, dark eyes searching her gaze so hungrily, she suddenly wondered exactly what he was looking for.
And whether he'd found it.
"Say no," Colton demanded, one hand clenched on the wall beside her with white knuckles. "Because I am this fucking close to misreading the look in your eyes, Eden."
One last chance to avert this head-on collision.
Eden’s gaze slid down over him like a hot caress, and suddenly she didn’t want to avoid a thing.
Her throat felt raw. "You’re not misreading anything. Fuck. Me. Please."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
YOU’RE NOT MISREADING ANYTHING....
"Hate sex," Eden breathed.
Johnny's entire body stilled. "Hate sex?"
He had the sudden, angry feeling this wasn't what he wanted at all. Not like this. But then her hand was on his chest, splaying directly over one of the handprints there, and the look in her eyes.... Jesus. How could a man resist her?
"You. Me. And everything that burns between us."
He was losing the battle. They could discuss their situation later. Right now, he just wanted his hands on her. It fired through his brain, and then suddenly it wasn't enough to just touch her.
Johnny grabbed the back of Eden's scalp, dragging her into his arms as he lowered his head.
Their mouths met, Eden's body wilting against his as a moan echoed in her throat.
It wasn't the sort of kiss he'd given her before; a taste, a tease, something a little more chaste than this....
This was pure, unrelenting mouth fucking. Days of frustration. Years of guilt and twisted memories running him ragged. He stabbed his tongue past her lips, forcing her to open for him, and feeling the lush stroke of her own tongue as she yielded. Kissing Eden was better than all his feverish imaginings had led him to believe. There was doubt in her eyes when she looked at him, but all of it evaporated the second he laid hands on her. She kissed as if she wanted to steal his breath—his soul—as if she couldn't survive another moment without the feel of his mouth on hers.
The drumbeat in the cavern echoed through his veins, and the kaga felt like someone had lit his blood on fire. Johnny pushed into her, his aching cock pressing against the hollow between her thighs. Not enough. Never enough. He wanted inside her now.
Somehow he broke the kiss, panting as he leaned against her. The kaga made it hard, but he wasn't about to mistake a single thing here. "Last chance to say no, Eden."
Hands slid down his chest. "Don't stop."
Permission to unleash every last ounce of hunger he felt upon her. All his dreams were coming fucking true.
And suddenly he couldn't hold himself back anymore.
She kissed him as though someone had lit the fuse
and fire sparked along it, about to hit the powder keg. Hands tearing at the buttons on his jeans, her teeth sinking into his lower lip.
Johnny captured her hips and lifted her as Eden wrapped her legs around him. Then he was striding blindly toward their room, her greedy hands raking up his back, the bite of her nails digging into his scars.
He hissed as he shoved through the curtain that was all that shielded them from the outside world. Wrenching it closed, he managed to set her back to the wall, and then he was thrusting against her, his tongue invading her mouth with urgent need.
He grabbed the hem of her tank and hauled it up, revealing the soft skin of her abdomen beneath his hands. Fuck. His cock felt like a battering ram. Eden broke the kiss just long enough to drag the tank over her head, and then she was tossing it aside, both hands capturing his face between them, as her lips met his again.
Years of desire bloomed within him.
This woman. Damn him for a fool, but this woman got under his skin in a way no one ever had.
She'd been young and innocent as a girl, heart-stoppingly lovely.
In every letter she’d written her brother, there'd been an aching loneliness and love that shone through. He'd craved some part of that affection on those long, lonely nights out there in the Wastelands alone, when he couldn't resist opening one of them and pretending they'd been written for him.
His dreams of her had been relentless, an odd mix of guilt and desire.
But Eden McClain in the flesh was like a bomb going off in his hands. Under his touch, she ignited like wildfire, hands sliding up his chest, then dancing low, teasing along his belt buckle.
He grabbed her hand and curled it around his erection, drawing back to gasp a breath. This close, he could see the glazed shock of lust in her eyes, and she squeezed him, biting her lip.
Not once did she look away.
"Bed," she breathed.
Johnny kissed her throat, biting just hard enough to earn a gasp. Hauling her away from the wall, he staggered toward the pile of furs on the floor.
"I don't have condoms." Getting his hands on one was difficult, as production was strictly controlled by the Confederacy and they cost too much on the black market.
