Dark Alpha's Claim

by Donna Grant

  Or as safe as she could be since she was being used as bait.

  She had no idea how lucky she was to be with them. Or rather, he was the lucky one. If he hadn’t found her, if he hadn’t followed her, she would be dead. And he would never know the sweet taste of her kisses.

  “How the fuck are the Dark finding them?” Talin demanded angrily.

  Talin’s words pulled Baylon back to the problem at hand.

  Kyran stood with his hands clenched at his sides. “We don’t even know all the mortals with Fae blood, but these Dark somehow do.”

  “I don’t have any answers,” Cael said. This his eyes went hard. “But that’s going to change.”

  * * *

  Jordyn wasn’t sure what woke her. She opened her eyes to find the chamber eerily quiet. The edge of the blanket tickled her nose. She sat up, wondering who gave her a blanket.

  A popping drew her attention. She looked to the right to find a fire roaring in the fireplace and Cael standing before it, his hands clasped behind his back as he gazed into the flames.

  “Has something happened?” she asked tentatively.

  Cael’s head lifted at the sound of her voice. “The Dark have begun killing mortals with Fae blood.”

  “Dear God.”

  “Yes, I do believe that’s an appropriate statement.” Cael kept his back to her as he said, “Those humans died needlessly. We need to discover who is doing this, and time is of the essence.”

  “I’m ready to help.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Then Cael vanished. Jordyn swung her legs off the couch and stood. She hated that the Reapers could pop in and out at will. Now that would’ve been something cool to have with the Fae blood within her.

  She looked around the chamber for a sign of Baylon. It wasn’t until she caught a glimpse of light coming from behind the sofa that she followed it.

  Jordyn was amazed to find a small hallway after walking beneath the arch, and then more rooms. Her steps slowed then halted when she saw Baylon.

  He stood in the middle of the room with his gaze locked on a map that had to be at least fifteen feet wide and ten feet tall.

  Whatever the map was, it had nothing to do with Earth, as far as Jordyn could tell. But she was less interested in the map than she was in Baylon.

  The object of her attention turned his head as if he had heard her. Then he faced her and smiled.

  Jordyn returned his smile and walked to him. It was the first time they had been alone since the night before. It seemed as if it happened years ago, and not hours, since so much had happened.

  She stopped beside him and motioned to the map with her thumb. “Is that important?”

  “It’s a map of the Fae realm.”

  Jordyn nodded, trying not to look at his mouth. “Do you miss it?”

  “I miss what it once was. We were there for a long time cleaning up some of the mess from our last civil war. We just returned to your realm.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Because the Fae are.” He turned so that he faced her. “We left so you could get some sleep. I don’t remember you doing much of that last night.”

  The mention of the previous night made her stomach flutter at the many hours of pleasure spent in his arms. She had to try twice to swallow. “I think it was the quiet that woke me. Where are the others?”

  “Getting our plan into action.”

  Being alone with him was a mistake. She wanted him too desperately to stand this close and not touch him. Jordyn took a couple of steps back, but he followed.

  She continued until she bumped into a wall. Baylon pressed her against it, his mouth mere breaths from hers. His hands were on either side of her, and his breathing was harsh.

  “One night,” he said in a raw, primal voice. “That’s all we can have.”

  Jordyn didn’t remember grabbing him, but somehow her fingers gripped his shirt. Her breathing was ragged, the desire heating her blood. “I know.”

  “I can’t,” Baylon whispered as his head lowered.

  Her lids fell closed as his lips were about to touch hers. When he stopped, Jordyn wanted to scream in exasperation.

  She knew for them to give into the need, they could both be killed. But how could either of them ignore something so irresistible, so vast?

  Baylon let out a groan a second before his lips covered hers. The kiss was as savage and untamed as their desire.

  Jordyn held him tightly. Her body melted against him, aching to feel his skin against hers.

  One night. That’s all Baylon was allowed, but it wasn’t enough. Forever would never be enough. Jordyn sank into him as their kiss consumed them.

  She no longer knew where she ended and he began. They were one - endless and unbroken. She knew in the very depths of her soul that she was meant to be with Baylon. However long she had.

  “If we continue, we die,” Baylon said.

  Jordyn touched his face. “If I don’t have you inside me, I die.”

  With a groan, he took her mouth again. One moment their clothes were in the way, and the next, there was nothing but skin to skin.

  She moaned and slid her fingers in his thick black hair. His large hands moved down her back and over her bottom. He grasped her, lifting and spreading her legs as he did.

  Jordyn wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her above his engorged cock. She ended the kiss and looked at him, consumed with such deep emotions that they took her breath and her thoughts.

  All her life she never felt the need to break any rules, but it was different with Baylon. She couldn’t stop herself —even when her very life was on the line.

  But it wasn’t just her life. It was Baylon’s. If they made love again, Death would kill him. How could she put him in that position?

  “I have to have you,” he said, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “I can’t have you this close and not be touching you.”

  Jordyn felt her eyes sting with tears. Was it truly possible to feel so intensely about someone that you would gladly give up your own life?

  Love.

  That’s what it was called.

  But it couldn’t be love. She’d only known Baylon a short time, and yet there was no denying what she did feel was genuine and acute.

  “I’m yours,” she whispered.

  A strange light came into his silver eyes. Then he lowered her onto his arousal. Jordyn’s eyes rolled back in her head at the pleasure. He held her securely as he began to rock his hips, sliding in and out of her.

  Anyone could come upon them. But they didn’t care. They were too lost in their desire, in the ecstasy that enveloped them.

  The threat of Death coming for Baylon, along with the Dark after her ramped up their need to such a degree. Sweat glistened their bodies, their harsh breaths filling the alcove.

  “Can’t hold back,” Baylon bit out.

  Jordyn couldn’t speak as the climax tore through her, snatching her breath as it did. She clung to Baylon as he buried himself deep and put his face in her neck.

  “Jordyn,” he said with a strangled voice as he orgasmed.

  After a few seconds, Baylon lifted his head. He looked at her with his large eyes, and there was a hint of regret there. With a smile, he pulled out of her. In the next moment, their clothes were back in place.

  Baylon took a couple of steps back from her. “You heard what happened to the other Reaper who took a lover.”

  She nodded, her throat closing as she realized what Baylon was doing.

  “You’re already being hunted by the Dark. Let’s leave Death out of it.”

  It was probably already too late for that, but Jordyn didn’t bother to say the words. She waited until he walked away before she slid down the wall and brought her knees up to her chest. She rested her forehead on her knees and didn’t try to stop the tears.

  She wasn’t sure if she cried for her family or for the fact that she had lost Baylon. The pain of both was devastating. She was crushed be
neath the weight of each.

  How stupid to think she could let Baylon walk out of her life. She talked big, but it was all a lie. She couldn’t even be alone in the same room with him.

  This last time made everything even harder. Because she hadn’t been strong enough to walk away, she might very well have sealed his fate. She wondered if she could talk to Death and try to explain.

  The tears came faster then. There was an emptiness inside her, a void that began the moment she opened her eyes that morning. The longer she remained near Baylon, the wider that abyss became.

  She was surrounded by Fae, but Jordyn had never felt more alone in her life. There was no one she could talk to, no one she could confide in.

  No longer did she have a family, and she walked away from her friends. How utterly alone she was now.

  Something was placed in her fingers. She grabbed the item and realized it was a handkerchief. Jordyn lifted her head enough to see who had given it to her.

  While she had been crying, Eoghan came to sit so close beside her they were nearly touching. He said nothing, but his mere presence gave her much needed comfort.

  Jordyn sniffed and tucked the handkerchief against her. Eoghan gave her a nod. She laid her head back on her knees as a fresh wave of tears came.

  * * *

  Baylon stood at the corner and watched Jordyn, fighting not to go to her. It killed him that Eoghan could sit beside her, but he couldn’t. Baylon didn’t dare. He was ready to tell Death to kiss off just so he could be with Jordyn for as long as he wanted.

  But that wasn’t how it worked being a Reaper.

  Each tear that fell from Jordyn’s eyes was like a blade plunging in his heart. He pressed his face against the cool stones, but it did nothing to ease the storm within him.

  A storm that raged more fiercely with each heartbeat he was away from Jordyn.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The time had come. Jordyn rubbed her hands together in an effort to keep them warm as she looked around at the beautiful loch, though not even the fires of Hell could warm her at this point.

  The weather was frigid, and she was petrified at being the bait against an unknown enemy in a valley with tall hills and thick forest around her. But that’s not why she was so cold. It was knowing Baylon was lost to her forever that froze her from the inside out.

  Was it just an hour earlier that she woke, after crying herself to sleep, to find an array of clothes for her? At least with the Fae, she’d never have to worry about having something to wear.

  Fintan walked up beside her. “Ready?”

  She glanced at the Dark Fae, watching his breath billow around him. “It’s now or never, right?”

  “That’s right,” he replied with a smile.

  She wasn’t surprised that Baylon decided not to stay with her. After their lovemaking and his words, it was better for them both to remain as far apart as they could.

  In fact, she hadn’t laid eyes on him since their last words. Jordyn had no idea where he was, but she knew he was near. She could feel his eyes on her.

  “The others have surrounded the area.”

  She glanced at Fintan before looking back at the secluded area an hour outside of Edinburgh filled with numerous trees, hills, and a loch. The sun was bright when it wasn’t hiding behind the clouds, making her squint when it peeked out. “I know.”

  “I can tell you his location so you don’t have to keep looking.”

  Jordyn seriously wanted to hurt Fintan. She took a few steps away to give herself some breathing room. “I’m looking for whoever is after us, you imbecile.”

  Fintan came up behind her and leaned down to whisper, “I’m not Cael or Death. There’s no need to lie.”

  “What happened between Baylon and I was one night. Everyone is making a big deal out of nothing.”

  Fintan snorted as he moved to stand in front of her. “And last night?”

  Jordyn gaped at him. As far as she had known, no one else had been around.

  “I was walking from the other room,” Fintan explained.

  “How much did you see?”

  Fintan gave her a pitying look. “All of it.”

  “Oh.” What could she say to that? She could only hope she hadn’t looked as pathetic as she felt. And still felt. “Do none of you develop feelings for others?”

  “Some put themselves in situations that could lead to that.”

  “But not you?” she asked with a raised brow.

  Fintan made a sound at the back of his throat. “Do I really look like the kind of male capable of tenderness or love?”

  Now that he mentioned it, that would be a big, fat no.

  “Exactly,” he said with a dry laugh.

  Jordyn listened to the sound of the loch lapping softly against the shore. It was too bad they couldn’t have found a more open spot, but as Cael had informed her, it was a place they used before to meet up.

  She caught up with Fintan when he began to walk slowly around the loch. “All of you are thousands of years old. Surely there has to be someone in the group who fell for another, despite what happened with the first Reaper group.”

  “Sure there was.”

  That made Jordyn feel a little better.

  “They’re dead now. Death killed them before history could repeat itself.”

  What little bit of relief she experienced went up ina blast of flames. This wasn’t good news. She wracked her brain for some way to help Baylon. Then it came to her. “All right. I get that. But what about feeling strongly, but not acting on it.”

  Fintan’s pale silver eyes ringed in red slid to her. He raised a white brow. “What gets us in such a pickle is acting on it. If we don’t, then I suppose we’re safe.”

  “Then Baylon is safe. He walked away.”

  “Wars have been won or lost with the same feelings between the two of you,” he said before turning his head forward. “And stop using names. We don’t know who might be listening.”

  Jordyn halted, feeling more deflated than before. “He won’t betray any of you. No matter what. He wouldn’t do that.”

  Fintan stopped walking. He stood there for a moment before he turned on his heel to face her. “You think you know him that well?”

  “He’s proven it several times already. To me. To you. To Death. What else must he do?”

  “That’s not for me to say,” Fintan stated.

  “I’m trying to make sure he lives.”

  “Then perhaps you should never have taken him to your bed.”

  Jordyn blinked, completely taken aback by his words. He didn’t state it harshly, but neither was it done in a kind voice. “I could no sooner deny him than I could stop breathing.”

  “That’s lust.”

  “Does it matter what it is? It was there and palpable. Both of us acted on it.”

  Fintan gave a shake of his head and looked away with a disapproving look. “Baylon knew. He should’ve stayed away from you.”

  “Are you telling me you never felt lust before?”

  “Of course I have,” he said with a curt look.

  She walked to him, angry that he made light of what she felt for Baylon. Jordyn stopped inches from him and glared up into his red-rimmed eyes. “Either you’re a liar or you’ve never felt what I did.”

  Fintan’s gaze went hard as ice. He became as still as stone. “I’m not a liar.”

  The words were clipped and violent.

  What stood before her was more beast than man. Fintan hide his viciousness, but he was showing it to her now. And it frightened her to such a degree that she took a step back.

  “One day,” she said, her voice shaking from her fear. “One day you’ll find a woman that will make you want to do anything just to be with her.”

  He smiled wryly, the beast back in his cage. “That’s never going to happen.”

  Jordyn waited until he had walked far enough away before she whispered, “Don’t ever say never.”

  * * *

  B
aylon watched Jordyn from his station atop the hill. He was veiled, but even if hadn’t been, the trees would’ve hidden him. How he wished he knew what Jordyn was talking to Fintan about. She was in turns shocked and angry. It irritated Baylon that he wasn’t down there with her.

  It shocked Baylon when Fintan stated he would guard Jordyn. Baylon knew he couldn’t have that duty and allow Jordyn to do as she must in order for them to catch the Dark. But it still vexed him.

  Baylon stood guard in the chamber below Edinburgh Castle all night as Jordyn slept. It was as close as he would allow himself to her, and as far as he could get without feeling as if he would shatter if he didn’t see her.

  After leaving Jordyn in such a fashion, Baylon wondered if she would talk to him. Their lovemaking had slayed him. Proving that he needed her as much then as he had that first night—more, actually.

  Walking away and ending whatever was developing quickly between them was the hardest thing he had ever done.

  It wouldn’t compare to walking out of her life forever though.

  Baylon pushed such thoughts from his mind. He needed to concentrate on the threat at hand. The rest … well, he would deal with it later.

  Twenty minutes passed with nothing. Baylon was beginning to wonder if their new enemy would show himself. His attention sharpened when Talin appeared next to Jordyn and Fintan just as planned.

  Baylon counted to a hundred and Kyran teleported to the others right on schedule. Another count of a hundred, and Cael was with them.

  As soon as Cael emerged, all hell broke loose.

  Eight Dark materialized around them. It was exactly what Cael had expected—and planed for. Baylon watched his friends battle the Dark and protect Jordyn.

  They closed in around Jordyn. Fintan shoved her to the ground while they stood with their backs to her and blocked the Dark’s magic aimed at her.

  Eoghan unveiled himself behind three of the Dark and killed them with one swipe of his sword. It startled the attackers enough that Fintan and Talin were able to kill the remaining five.

  The quiet of the valley was unnatural. It seemed that every living thing around the area had simply vanished. Baylon remained veiled, impatiently waiting for the next part of the plan.