Knight didn’t stop running until dawn. When the moon disappeared from the sky, he stumbled, throwing me from his back, and knelt on the ground in pain. His body started to shift back to its human form. I waited until it was over and he rolled over in a sweaty naked heap.
I took advantage of his weakness and stood up. I forced my voice to stay steady and told him, “I have to go.” I started running away from him, away from his kisses, away from his embrace. Away from his love.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he shouted behind me. “Lis, come back.” I’d run far, but not far enough that I didn’t hear him say, “Please don’t leave me.” I stopped running and wrapped my arms around myself, his words almost breaking my resolve. His smell got closer, so I started running again. He chased me through the forest. We were both fast, but I couldn’t let him catch me.
He was gaining on me so I picked up speed until I heard him cry out in pain. I faltered, only for a moment, and then he slammed into me, throwing us both to the ground. We plunged down a hill, his arms holding me to protect my head. When we stopped rolling, we lay side by side and he didn’t let me go. I thought about fighting him, but I couldn’t do it. I brought my hands up to clutch his back.
“Don’t leave,” he whispered into my hair. “Please don’t leave.”
“I have to.” I hugged him tighter. Just a few more moments by his side. “I can’t let them find you. They’ll take you to the Lycans.”
“They won’t find us,” he said firmly. “I’ll protect you. I promised I’d keep you safe.”
I pulled away so I could scowl at his face. He was going to get himself killed because he cared too much about the protection he was obliged to give me. “Forget the promise. Forget the Alpha’s bracelet.”
“This isn’t about a stupid bracelet, you ass.” He grabbed my wrists and brought them up in front of me. The bracelet was gone. “Look. You lost it when Arthur took you. If I stay with you, it’s because I want to.”
“And if I leave you, it’s because I want to,” I said back to him. “I abandoned my friends to protect them. If I can protect you by doing so, I will.”
“We’re beyond this, Lis. If any speck of what we’ve been through has taught us anything, it’s that if we’re going to survive, we need each other.” He brought a hand up to tuck some hair behind my ear. “Please. Trust that I can protect myself, and you.”
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. “I’ve felt the pain of losing people I loved. It never goes away. You just learn to live with it. And I can’t do that with you. I don’t know why, but I can’t.”
He stared at me, his hand still resting on my cheek. “Lis…”
We both stiffened when we heard something in the forest.
I looked back at him in a panic. “They’re here.” It wasn’t just the Hunters I felt. I could sense several Lycan packs coming in from all directions. We were surrounded. I saw it in his face when he realized it as well. I reached down and took his hand. They would kill him. He’d be gone forever. My knight, my protector. Suddenly the thought of my fate with the Order didn’t seem so bad. At least I wouldn’t have to live in a world without Knight. A world without sunlight.
I leaned forward and kissed Knight on his perfect lips. He whimpered as I explored his mouth with my tongue. We only had moments. And I wasn’t going to waste them.
Resting my forehead against his, I stroked his cheek and kissed him once, lightly, before looking into his eyes. “I love you.” A sob broke from my chest. “I do. I love you.”
“Gods, I love you so much, Lis.” Another kiss, and another. As many as we could get.
The Lycans and Hunters were closer. In the distance, I could hear the Lycans growling as they got closer. I gasped, grabbing Knight to me. I wasn’t scared of Lycans. I was scared because the closer they got, the less time I had with him. He held me tight and combed his fingers through my hair. “I won’t let them take you,” he whispered to me. I felt tears fall down my cheeks. He knew he couldn’t save me, or himself. He was only trying to make me feel better. As he always did.
“Don’t lie to me,” I told him with a sob. “Don’t ever lie to me.”
“Please don’t cry, Lis,” he pleaded softly. “I’ve seen you cry so many times. But you’re so strong. You have to stay strong for me. No matter what happens, promise?” I nodded against his shoulder. He pulled me back for another deep and meaningful kiss before our pursuers reached us. I savored the feel of his lips, his scent in my nose, and even the smell of his blood.
Time stopped around us, and nothing else mattered except the feel of our lips and bodies together. I knew I could kiss him for a hundred years and still always, always would need and want more. More of him. More of us. Every moment together, it had always been him, from that first day when he smiled at me.
I loved him so much. I wanted to cry over the depth of my feelings, because here, on the last moment of my freedom, was the moment I’d found my soul mate. The one I’d been searching for ever since I was a fledgling, and he’d been here this whole time. It didn’t matter that he was a werewolf, and he didn’t care that I was a vampire. We’d found love in an unexpected source, in the one person we never thought it would happen with. And with the only person we wanted it to happen with.
In that soft little moment, I felt complete. And I was ready to face my fate.
We were still kissing when they got to us.
The first thing they did was hit Knight with a dart. He slumped against me, still conscious but he could barely move. Two large Lycans came up to us, shoved me aside, and picked Knight off the ground. They still had a wary attitude towards him, the unknown element amongst their pack.
“I really wish I was wearing some fucking pants,” he said weakly, giving me a slight smile. I wasn’t complaining. The only thing I hated was now all of our attackers would see his erection. One of the Hunters grabbed my arm and made me stand. Our two species stood on either side of the little clearing Knight and I had been sitting in. I watched as one of the Lycans helped Knight put on some shorts to cover himself.
“You kissed a fucking Lycan?” the Hunter holding my arm said, clearly ranking that with eating a rotting maggot. “I’d execute you myself for that if I could.”
Arthur came up to us and bitchslapped her on the face. Damn, he was a cunt. “Your judgment means nothing, Cassandra. As revolting as kissing a Lycan is, it’s not against the law.”
“It should be,” Cassandra whispered in defiance. Arthur gave her a warning look, silently asking if she wanted another slap, as he locked my wrists in irons and chains. Olivier replaced Cassandra on the arm grabbing, except her grip on my bicep wasn’t so tight. Knight was still hanging limply between his captors.
“Please don’t hurt him,” I pleaded with the Alpha of the pack, a blonde rugged man.
The Alpha looked me over, his face displaying a small amount of the disgust the Hunters were feeling over me kissing a Lycan. “He’s a Primal werewolf. It’s too dangerous to let him live.”
“He’s not dangerous,” I told the Alpha, pleading for the man I loved. “I watched him. He only attacked to protect himself. Don’t kill him just because he’s different.”
“Enough,” Arthur declared sharply. “We’ve lingered here for too long. The Order is waiting.” Arthur reached for the arm Olivier wasn’t holding, but she pulled me away.
“Let her say goodbye,” she said firmly to Arthur. He sighed and nodded to her with respect. “Be quick,” she told me.
Knight lifted his head to look at me and smiled weakly. “Remember your promise, Lis.” Stay strong. Stay strong for him.
“I love you.” My voice wobbled and I held back the tears that wanted to overcome me. I’d never meant anything more in my life. I loved him. I would always love him.
His smile deepened and he stared at me with love and respect, in honor of everything. The pain, the struggles, the laughter, and the passion. “I love you, Lis.”
Arthur stepped forward,
grabbed me, and slung me over his shoulder. As he and the Hunters walked in the other direction, my eyes didn’t leave Knight’s face until I couldn’t see him anymore.
I pushed out my senses, now permanently better than they used to be, and focused on him so damn hard I could feel his mind inside my own. He gasped at the sensation, and when he could catch his breath, he said one thing to me.
“I’ll find you again.”
I snapped back into my own head and felt my blood reserves fade away as I lost consciousness, taking away the only thing I had left of him.
Knight of the Hunted (NSFW Edition) (Born Vampire Book 1) Page 17