by A. B Lee
My people were proud warriors and we defended our own with our lives. Jasmine was now one of us, and by extension so were her people, and we would fight to protect their realm as we would fight to protect our land- but the nagging guilt of turning our backs on them for all of these years- even if we didn’t know the truth of their struggles- was a heavy weight to shoulder.
The elders knew of a time when the pack would have stood with the Fae against the vampires that hunted them, but none knew why that time had come to pass. To me it sounded immoral, bankrupt of all humanity to turn our backs on innocents and allow them to be taken in such a manner.
I felt my beast getting anxious within me once more. The more I gained on that cabin the more he pressed to be released from his cage. I only hoped that when it finally happened and I loosened the reins on the wolf, he would still be contained within me.
“Are we there yet?” Jasmine asked as I felt her hands against my back when she pushed upwards to look around her.
“You have the patience of a pup, truly noted,” I teased.
“I have patience…”
“Then it must follow that you are anxious for what comes next.” I grinned to myself as I heard another little squeak from my mate.
“What comes next- exactly?”
She sounded a little breathless, and I know it could have been because she was dangling down my back with her abdomen resting against my shoulder, but I chose to believe it was the thought of being alone with me instead.
“I claim you as mine.”
I said the words and my beast roared inside of me, eager and ready for that to happen. Maybe a little too eager…
What if I couldn’t hold onto my basic need to claim her?
What if I bit instead of marked?
What if I lost my mind and took her- there and then- for my mate?
“We’re on the same page here- right?”
She had to ask. I grunted my reply- I’d get to the warning part when I had her behind those walls, away from the world around us, a world that threatened both of our existence within it.
I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other until I finally reached my destination. I kicked at the front door with the tip of my boot and pushed inside, back heeling it closed behind us… and there we were- finally alone.
“Seth?” She sounded unsure, uncertain, and I reached up and guided her body down the length of mine. Each inch that she travelled felt like heaven and hell against me.
I placed her on her feet on the rug, but I couldn’t let her go. Now that I had her in my arms- now that I knew that she was to be mine- marked by the beast within me, something shifted inside of me, and I wanted her more than I wanted life itself.
“Seth?” She looked up at me with those big wide eyes and I lifted my hand and ran my fingertips against the flush of her cheek.
“I’m in danger of losing my mind to this moment, Jasmine.” I admitted.
My beast was pushing forward, eager to claim her, eager to bite, to bond- I fought back, but it felt like a battle that I could easily lose.
“You mean you want to bond with me?” Jasmine’s eyes narrowed for only a moment as she tried to read my mood, but that mood was dark and I didn’t want her to find it within me.
“Yes.” I admitted it again.
I needed to be strong, stronger than I had ever been in my life before. Now that I had her all to myself, now that we were alone- I knew I needed to possess her very soul as we bonded together as one forever…
That wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t our deal, and she had trusted me.
To give into that feral, basic temptation would be a betrayal of her trust in me, in us. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
I practically jumped backwards across the room away from her. Every fibre of my being wanted to send me right back to her again…
This was insane. This was a nightmare scenario that I had imaged and dismissed.
I was stronger than this. I was stronger than my feral beast- but maybe I had waited too long for this moment…
“Leave…” I growled a warning at her, trying to keep my eyes from claiming hers once more.
She took a step towards me and I growled longer, deeper, harder to try to make her understand that I was not to be trusted.
“Seth…” Her voice was calmer, calmer than she’d been before. It made little sense that now, when my beast was showing, she would be more composed. She should be running for the hills, and yet that would her downfall…
Damn it, I needed to hold it together.
“You need to get outside that door, shift, and fly away from here…” I tried to turn away from her but she took another step and I was transfixed.
“No.” She sounded resolute, but how would she be when my beast broke free of its cage?
“Jasmine, please…” I held out my hand towards her to stop her from taking any more steps, she was too close to me already. Didn’t she know that I could be on her in a second, in a heartbeat…?
“We can do this, Seth. I’m not giving up on you now…”
Another step closer, and another. My beast growled, and roared to be released…
“Seth, look at me.” She demanded my attention, but she already had it- every inch of me was attuned to her. Her scent, her breathing, the way she moved and how she moved closer. I could hear here heart thundering within her chest… I could practically taste her blood upon my tongue.
This could go so damn wrong…
CHAPTER EIGHTTEEN
~
JAZZ
I trusted him. I did. Yet, it wasn’t just his words that warned me something was very wrong- everything about him screamed predator- danger- fly- leave… but how could I leave him like this? If he was close to losing his humanity then leaving him now would only cement his fate.
“Seth.” I reached out to touch him but he yanked his body backwards, curling his back so that his abdomen pulled back and my fingers couldn’t make the connection. But his back was against the wall with nowhere to go, and as I took another step my fingertips made contact with the hard muscles of his chest…
Seth moved so damn fast that my mind couldn’t keep up with what my eyes were seeing. By the time his hands had locked down around my upper arms, painfully grasping them within his fists, my whole body had been turned with his, and my back hit the wall.
The sound of his feral growl filled my ears as the feel of his hard body pinning mine, caging me in, hit home, and it sent a spark of fear through me. I still trusted him to do the right thing- spirits help me but I believed we could get through this together.
I looked into his eyes, they were jet black with no hint of a red ring around the ebony pools. There was still hope for him, for us…
“Seth…”
“I warned you to leave, Jasmine.” He growled out every word.
His face was in front of mine. His breath was ragged in his anger. I should have feared for my life, feared for my body- knowing what drove him in that moment- he wanted to mate, to bond, to bite deep and claim me as his… but I couldn’t find it within me to believe that he would allow his beast to win the day.
“I’m not going anywhere. You haven’t marked me as yours yet.” My voice was breathless, quiet but firm. I was determined to get through to him, to reach his humanity, and if I couldn’t- well, I would be mated to the man that fate had chosen for me.
I found that thought no longer scared the hell out of me. He was mine by hand-fasting, and I was his by fate. It seemed a natural conclusion to how our lives were supposed to go, but I was guessing that fate had intended this step to be more controlled.
Seth growled again. I could see his jaw moving as he bit down on his feral need. I could see every muscle in his body was tensed as he tried to rein himself in. I could see in his eyes that he held fear there- fear of himself- of what he was capable of… I still had faith in him.
“Jasmine…” He growled. His forehead pressed against mine. He breathed hard, in a
nd out in some ragged need of control…
“Mark me as yours, Seth.” I pushed up onto tiptoes a little and brushed my lips against his- he growled again- hungry- needy- the sound of pleasure meeting desire.
One hand released my arm and his hips pressed against mine, keeping me locked in place, as his hand cupped my cheek and his fingers snagged in my hair…
“What you do to me…” he growled, “I have no control.”
“Yes, you do. I trust you, Seth. I believe you are strong enough to contain your wild side, keep your beast where it belongs around me now.”
His lips took mine, not the gentle kiss that he’d once offered me, but the passionate, ferocious kiss of a man that was standing on the edge of insanity and trying hard not to fall off.
The deep rumble of his growled pleasure, of his need rolled through me. My body was primed in acceptance of him, my nipples were hard and pressed against his chest, aching to be touched… I was losing control every bit as much as he was.
I could allow this. I could mate with him now and everything would be settled before we went into battle tomorrow. I was losing the will not to.
I felt his other hand release my arm. His fingertips were roaming up and over the naked skin of my shoulder, they brushed over the place where I knew he would place his mark, wanted to bite and bond. His kiss became deeper, hungrier, he devoured me with so much passion that I had no real choice but to return it.
The hand at my hair tightened into a hard fist and he dragged my head back on my neck, exposing my shoulder for his bite. His other hand moved down my back, my mind torn by the different sensations that were overwhelming me… then there was that damn growl rumbling through him, through me, it was exciting, mesmerising, dominating my mind and body to his will, to his needs…
Seth broke the kiss and I could breathe again. Not fully, I gasped and drew on as much air as I could before his lips came down on the naked skin of my shoulder. His blunt teeth nipped and my womb danced…
“Seth…”
“I can scent your arousal for me.” He growled against my skin, and then his tongue licked over the heated flesh, and I thought my legs were going to give way beneath me, luckily he was pinning me in place with his body or I might have ended up a heap on the floor at his feet.
My hands had been roaming the muscles of his back, now I pressed my palms flat against him and urged him on.
“Mark me as yours.”
“Mine.” He growled out hard.
I felt his body tense, his muscles tighten. I heard that deep rumble become even more animalistic and I knew that his beast was pushing forward.
“I don’t want to hurt you…” his beast was in his voice. “This should be done when you’re in the heat of passion-”
“I’m a big girl, Seth. Mark me now.” I couldn’t let his touch become that intimate that my body, mind, and soul became completely lost to him.
The feel of his hot breath against my skin tempted me to allow more. The feel of his hips against mine teased me with the possibility of our joining, and even the hard press of his manhood against me was calling to that deep place inside; where I threw off my fears, my doubts, and accepted that we were meant to be together.
I heard him curse over and over on another long growl. I ran my hand up to his silken hair, my fingers getting lost in thickness of it as I urged him on… I felt him tighten his hold around my body, locking me in place so that there was no escape, even if I decided I wanted one- then I felt his fangs against my skin and my mind centred on each one of those razor sharp tips as he slowly closed his jaws and pierced the skin.
I bit down on the pain, sharper than a thick pine needle embedded within my flesh, four wounds front and back against my shoulder. I heard the sound of another growl roll through him, it sounded like pure pleasure at what I knew to be the taste of my blood against his tongue.
My heart beat a wild tune within me, my body flushed with the white hot heat of excitement, and then I felt the tug of his fangs leave my skin and the soothing lick of his tongue over the wounds, and I didn’t move, couldn’t move.
“Mine, Jasmine…” he breathed against my ear, “you are mine. I claim you.”
I felt almost giddy. His lips brushed my cheek, brushed my lips. His forehead pressed back against mine, and I knew in that moment that he had almost perfect control- mine on the other hand, was lacking.
“Lay with me tonight. Sleep beside me. Stay in my arms.” He spoke the words against my lips.
“That’s not the best idea…” he might have been back in control but I wasn’t.
“It sounds damn good to me,” he teased with a deep chuckle that was contagious.
“And what if you decide to get handy in the middle of the night?” I giggled, but the thoughts that went through my mind were no laughing matter.
“You have my permission to knee me in the balls.”
“That sounds like fun.” I giggled some more, half of my mind was centred on controlling my own needs, my own desires for him.
I couldn’t just cave now, not because I didn’t want too, because I did. I knew that this feeling was the mating pull between us, and it was clouding anything close to a rational thought inside of my ailing mind.
What if I gave into my needs and woke tomorrow to hate myself for it?
I needed to be clear and clinical, not filled with passion and desire, didn’t I?
“I thought you’d like that idea.” Seth slowly started to release me and my mind followed every step as he unwounded his fingers from my hair, as his arms became gentler about my body… I didn’t like the feeling of losing his touch.
“I’ll stay with you tonight.” I rushed out the words too fast. I sounded needy, maybe wanton… “Just to make sure that your beast is settled.”
“I’d like that.” He pulled his head back and gave me that smile- the dimple smile that made my womb lurch.
I reached out and brushed just the tip of my finger against one of those dimples, satisfying my curiosity to touch.
This man, my man, my mate, was just too damn sexy for his own good.
~
~
~
I slept like I had never slept before. Wrapped in the embrace of Seth’s arms; I felt safer than at any other time in my life. Thoughts of the Solstice and what it would bring had not haunted me through the night like many others recently, and with his body curled around mine protectively, how could it?
I awoke slowly to the realisation that we were together. My body tingled from head to toe with the recognition of him. It was as if every inch of my skin was attune to every inch of his- especially the hard press of his manhood against my back… I truly hated clothes in that moment in time.
“Good morning, Jasmine.”
I had to admit, when he said my name it sounded really good. It was that deep bass within his tone that rolled over me, and I wanted to turn and see if those dimples were in place, but I didn’t want to move and break the spell that finding myself in his arms had weaved over me.
“Good morning, Seth.” I could only hope that his name from my lips sounded just as good.
“You must be disappointed,” he said. I could feel his body easing back from mine and I didn’t much care for it.
“How so?”
“I behaved myself- you didn’t get to knee me in the balls.” Teasing me again, I could hear the humour in his voice.
“I’m sure there’s still time.” I shot back without thinking those words through.
“Then I have your permission to…”
“No!” I pushed up fast and felt his tight hold on me for a moment before it slipped away and I was free. There was a mini war going on inside of me that was bolstered on the side of caution from the cold light of day.
Seth’s deep chuckle rumbled through my bones and I sort of sagged in place as I shot a look at him. Damn, too soon- he looked so sexy, so handsome, and those damned dimples looked so enticing…
“I should get goin
g. I have things to do before the solstice…” I didn’t move an inch, couldn’t, it was as if my body needed his permission to move away from it. I guess it still held out hope that he would make his move and I would cave…
My words seemed to sober him a little. Talk of the solstice as it drew closer always did that to my people too.
“What if I said I didn’t want you there tonight, didn’t want you in the thick of the fight.” Seth frowned as he spoke, the lines on his forehead getting deeper and deeper.
“What if I said I didn’t want you there tonight, didn’t want you in the thick of the fight?” I tossed his words back at him and he looked a little contrite.
“Point made.”
“But is the lesson learned?”
“Probably not,” he admitted, “I can’t change who I am, Jasmine. I will always have a need to protect you with my life.”
“And I will always be grateful for that protection, but will not welcome it readily when my mind is made up.”
“Understood. But do me one favour…” he reached out, wrapped his arm around me and hauled me towards him across the bed. He turned onto his back and brought me down on top of him. Every inch of my body fired to life with excitement. “Don’t kick me in the balls.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
~
Seth rushed out the words against my lips before he took them in a passionate kiss that rattled my resolve even more. The instant that I responded to him, so he rolled us on the bed, bringing me down beneath him, and caging me in with every inch of him.
We’d been so careful not to start a fire between us when we lay down together last night. Now that damn fire was raging inside of me and I had to admit that the temptation was getting harder and harder to resist.
He could kiss, boy could he.
Then with a growl of resignation he pushed up away from me and was gone from the bed before I had the mind to reach out and keep him there. Thank the spirits that the man could show such control when I obviously couldn’t.
