Masters of the Hunt: Fated and Forbidden

by Sarra Cannon

  “Do you think they’ll be okay?” I asked. “Or did we just put them all in danger?”

  “They’re tough,” Rend said. “The Devil wouldn’t dare attack them right now. It would start a war he’d be too scared to lose.”

  “They’re really that powerful?” I asked. It was a solid group of people, but they were mostly teenagers from the looks of it.

  “More than you can imagine,” he said. “They conquered a group of evil witches when all the odds were stacked against them. That’s a war they’re still fighting, though, which is why Harper was reluctant to get involved beyond what she did.”

  I walked with Rend through the streets of the small village. Being here felt like an out-of-body experience. The houses and the altar in the center. It was like walking through a ghost town, but the energy of my people called to me here.

  This is where my mother grew up.

  Knowing this about her and picturing her as a child here in this place changed her for me. Made her more real than she'd ever been, even when she was alive.

  “Think of the secrets this village holds,” I said. “What was my mother’s childhood like, I wonder?”

  “Sheltered, I imagine,” Rend said. He walked beside me as we passed in front of the empty houses. “Extremely strict.”

  “But also filled with family,” I said. “Traditions. Can you imagine the closeness you would feel if you grew up in this small village your entire life and never once got to leave?”

  Rend shook his head. “Don’t romanticize it,” he said. “These women and children were prisoners, but they were also expendable if it suited the Mother Crow’s purposes. She had no problem sacrificing one of her daughters to give herself a longer life. Her pursuit of power knew no limits.”

  “Knew?” I asked. “I thought she was still alive.”

  “Technically, she is,” Rend said. “Or we all assume she is, but after she tried to kill Harper, she was severely wounded and only just managed to escape. The coven scattered for a while, but no one knows if the Mother Crow created a new village for her family and gathered them all back by her side or if many of the ones who escaped are still in hiding, praying the Mother Crow never finds them.”

  I shook my head, overcome with emotion. “Why do you think my mother took me away from here?”

  “I have no idea,” he said. “There are many possible explanations, but the one that makes the most sense is that she wanted to keep you safe. She didn’t want you to grow up a part of this.”

  “I just keep thinking there has to be more to it than that,” I said. I walked up the steps of a two-story house painted the color of rust and looked out on the village. “My mother was never affectionate with me. Growing up, I never felt like I was valued, you know? I never once felt as if she loved me so much she would do anything to protect me.”

  “What was it like, then?”

  “It was like she resented me,” I said. “As if she’d been faced with an impossible choice and took the lesser of two evils—a life raising a child she never wanted.”

  Rend grabbed my hand and the connection started a fire in my heart. We were alone now, with so much left unsaid between us. I had no idea how to say all those things. I was terrified of being vulnerable around him again. What if he turned me away again? What if he admitted that Azure was right?

  What if I really was nothing more than currency to him and he was here to protect his investment?

  “That sounds like a difficult way to grow up,” he said.

  I shrugged. Talking about my mother wasn't pleasant, but it was easier than telling him how I felt about him.

  “It was all I ever knew, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t long for her to tell me she loved me,” I said, my tongue stumbling over the word love. “Instead, she spent a lot of time drunk or on drugs, as if she hated her life so much she would do anything to escape it.”

  I looked out at the peaceful, quiet village that used to be filled with laughter, solidarity, and commitment, even if it was in loyalty to an evil witch. Yes, the ghost of fear still haunted these halls, but it had also been a place of happiness and love.

  “I have longed for love my entire life,” I told him, my heart open so wide it was terrifying. “So much so that my greatest fear became the idea of falling for someone—trusting someone—who didn't love me back. At a young age, I decided the best way to protect myself was to never allow myself to let anyone close enough to have that power over me.”

  “Franki—”

  “Let me get this out,” I said. “I need for you to understand how important this is for me.”

  I took a deep breath and chose my words carefully.

  “The problem with that plan was that while I was so busy protecting myself from pain, I was also denying myself the one thing I wanted most in the world,” I said. “Falling in love is not something I could ever take lightly. It’s risky and dangerous and terrifying.

  “Up until I met you, I was successful at protecting my heart. But there’s been nothing I could do to push you away. Every time I decided never to see you again or let you into my heart, all you had to do was look at me with those silver-black eyes of yours and I was falling all over again.”

  “I know exactly how you feel,” he said.

  “Do you?” I asked in a whisper. I was too afraid to look into his eyes. Scared of what I might see there.

  Instead, I leaned my cheek against his chest, concentrating on the beat of his heart. He was here. He was really alive. Every fear I’d held inside, from the moment that club exploded before my eyes, was tied to my separation from Rend.

  In the span of less than a week, I had fallen for him so hard, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

  And in some ways, that was the scariest part of this whole thing.

  “When Selena set off that bomb and the club exploded, I thought Venom had been destroyed,” I said. “I thought I had lost you forever.”

  “I’m sorry, I should have told you—”

  I looked up and placed my fingertips across his lips. “Rend, I never want to feel that way again,” I said. “I know we haven’t known each other for long, and every step of the way I’ve questioned what I was feeling, not believing I could feel something so intense for someone I barely knew.”

  I took a shallow breath, unable to control the racing of my pulse and the words coming directly from my heart. As afraid as I was, I knew I couldn't hold this inside any longer.

  “Ever since the other night when you bit me, I’ve been completely clueless about your feelings for me,” I said. “I’ve agonized over whether you ever were attracted to me, or if it was just the power of the blood running through my veins that drew you to me.”

  He opened his mouth again, but I shook my head. I wanted to say what I had to say before I realized how vulnerable I was allowing myself to be in front of him. I wanted to lay it out there before fear took hold of my voice and silenced me.

  “Just when I thought I felt something between us again last night at the club when we kissed, Azure turned it all upside down by telling me that you would never risk your heart. She told me that if you pretended to care for me, it was only so that you could manipulate and control me.” I was talking so fast, I could barely catch my breath, but I had to know the truth. I couldn’t wait another moment, and I couldn’t keep questioning this. “She said I was nothing more than currency to you. An asset you could trade to keep yourself and everyone else safe.”

  His eyes flashed with specks of silver and his arms tensed around me.

  “After everything that’s happened since the explosion, I keep coming back to that,” I said. “I have to know if you’re doing all this to save me just because you think you can use me, or if you care about me in a deeper way. Because if you’re playing games to control my heart, you might as well walk away right now and never look back. I’ll never be yours because of some game of make believe. The only way I’ll be yours is if you’re mine, too. You need to understand t
hat about me right now. Right now, you need to tell me the truth, no matter how much it may hurt me to hear it.”

  Rend placed his hands on my face and forced my eyes to his. A smile curled the corners of his luscious lips and his eyes darkened.

  “You are the most insufferable woman I’ve ever met in my life,” he said. “You never let me get a word in edgewise, and you never let me get away with anything.”

  My heart beat fast, pounding against my ribs. I had never put myself out there with anyone the way I’d just opened up to him, and if he looked me in the eyes and said he didn’t feel the same way, I wasn’t sure how I’d survive it.

  “Azure's right. I’m no good at love, Franki. I care about a great deal of people and would do anything—even risk my own life—to save the lives of those who are closest to me. But I have never in all my hundreds of years been the kind of man who could fall in love,” he said.

  I couldn’t control the tears that spilled down my cheeks. I didn’t want to believe what he was saying.

  “But maybe in all that time, it wasn’t me at all,” he said. “Maybe it was never about my inability to love a woman. Maybe it was about never having found the one woman I was always destined to love.”

  He lifted my face to his and kissed me with a fury that took my breath away. His mouth closed over mine, his tongue brushing the soft skin on my lips, coaxing them open.

  I wanted him with a fierceness that set my body aflame, but I was terrified of what might happen if he lost control again. Would he be able to stop this time?

  “I want you so badly, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared,” I said, breathless. “How do we do this without ending up right back where we were the other night in my apartment?”

  He licked his lips and breathed in through his nose. “Believe me when I say I’ve thought of this a million times since that night,” he said. “I haven’t taken the blood of a witch without her consent in decades. I have practiced the art of control for so long, I never imagined I could still lose myself to the passion of the moment. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned since we met, it’s that you can surprise me in ways no one ever has.”

  I smiled, but my insides quivered. I wasn’t sure I could take knowing he felt the same way, but that we could never be together the way I longed to be with him.

  “I’ll take you however I can get you,” I said. “Even if that means we can’t ever—”

  “Oh, hell no,” Rend said. “Being with you and not being able to make love to you is not an option for me. We’re going to figure this out.”

  “How?”

  “One step at a time,” he said. “We’ll take it slowly and if I feel close to losing control, we’ll slow down.”

  “Can you do that?” I asked. “I mean, the very nature of sex is about losing control. It’s about surrender.”

  “I don’t know if I can or not,” he said. “But I’m willing to try if you are.”

  “Oh, I’m willing,” I said, biting back a smile.

  Rend lifted me into his arms and carried me over the threshold of the little red house. He kissed me as he made his way through the house, searching for a bedroom. We found one at the end of the hall, equipped with nothing more than a small bed covered with a tattered blanket.

  “I'm sorry this isn't more glamorous,” he said.

  “Trust me. I don't care about anything fancy,” I said. “I just want you.”

  He set my feet on the floor. The fiery passion on the porch had been replaced by the heated realization that we were really doing this. Time slowed between us and every inch of my body trembled in anticipation.

  I reached down and grabbed the bottom of my tank top, crossing my arms as I pulled it up and over my head. I tossed it onto the floor, my heart beating wildly as his eyes devoured me.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said. His voice was rough and filled with longing. “I have wanted to touch you since the moment I saw you beating up those vampires behind my club.”

  My skin quivered as his fingers brushed the skin beneath my breasts, following the curves of my body. The thought of his hands exploring every inch of my bare skin sent waves of longing through me.

  This wasn't the first time I'd been with a man, but it was the first time I'd ever been with someone I wanted on this level. Someone I could really be with.

  Impatient, I reached for the edge of his black t-shirt, running my fingertips along the waistband of his jeans. His stomach trembled at my touch and I looked up to meet his eyes. They were the darkest black now, filled with passion and hunger.

  The only light around us was the amber glow of the setting sun pouring through a small window in the room. He pulled his shirt from his body and I bit my lip as I ran my palm across his taut muscles. His body was lean and solid, every muscle clearly defined and hard as a rock.

  And even then, I knew his muscles were only the beginning of his strength.

  He could rip me apart at any moment if he wanted, and here I was surrendering my body to him. It was either the dumbest, or the bravest, thing I'd ever done in my life.

  He moved his hands along the curve of my hips, his hands gathering the cotton into tight fists as he leaned down to kiss me again. His bare chest pressed against me, our bodies skin-to-skin for the first time. He slid his hands around to my back and pulled me harder against him.

  I gasped for air as his hands explored me and his mouth claimed mine. I circled my arms around his neck, pressing my hips against him, yearning for more.

  He grew hard against me, and I moaned. Just the thought of seeing him naked and touching him—pleasing him—was enough to send my mind spiraling out of control.

  His body tensed and he pulled away, breathing hard. He turned away and in the dim light, I could see the flash of white fangs.

  I couldn't speak. I knew he was struggling to control himself and that there was nothing I could do to help him, but god, I wanted him so badly. I wasn’t sure I would survive the push and pull of it. I wasn't sure I could take it slowly.

  But I also didn't want him to lose control and really hurt me.

  I couldn’t trust him completely, but I also couldn’t resist him.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, finally finding my voice. “Is there anything I can do?”

  He shook his head and leaned one hand against the frame of the door.

  I waited, my stomach in knots and my body flushed with warmth. Need circled in my veins, but I couldn't rush him.

  After a few agonizing minutes, he finally turned, his eyes black as night, but his fangs retracted. He walked over without a word and pushed me down on the bed.

  With his eyes locked on mine, he hooked his fingers inside the waistband of my pants and pulled them down. I writhed against the bed. Each piece of clothing we removed brought us one step closer to abandonment.

  He ran his fingers gently up the inside of my legs. My thighs trembled as his fingertips brushed past, almost reaching the hot core between my legs, but torturously bypassing it to explore farther up my body.

  Rend crawled onto the bed beside me, taking his time as his fingers moved up my stomach to my breasts. He circled them with the lightest of touches, his breath deep and controlled, but his eyes hungry.

  My chest rose against his hand with each breath, fear mingling with pleasure and need. I wasn’t sure I could take much more teasing, but I didn't want to push him past his breaking point either.

  I decided maybe it was time to test the boundaries a little, though.

  I rose, pushing him back against the pillows with both hands on his bare chest.

  He kissed me again, the heat growing between us. He moaned and moved around me, as if we were in a constant battle for who was in control.

  I had a feeling neither of us were in control, anymore.

  He stood and met my eyes, as if making sure this is really what I wanted. I sat up on my knees and crawled across the bed toward him, placing my hands on the waist of his jeans. His heart was racing so
hard, I could see it pulsing against his skin as if it were trying to escape.

  There was no doubt I wanted this. No doubt we both wanted this. I had no idea how joining our bodies together would change things between us, but I knew it was inevitable. I knew we could no longer keep ourselves from it.

  I unbuttoned the top of his jeans and slid the metal zipper down, my hand brushing him. He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose.

  I watched his face, every pained expression, every flash of desire, as I pushed his jeans to the floor.

  Rend grabbed my wrist as I moved to touch him, his grip hard and unrelenting. He moved his other hand to my face, brushing my hair off my cheek. “I don't want to hurt you, Franki,” he said, his voice deep and low. “But one step further and I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself.”

  There were only two pieces of clothing separating us now. Two moments of hesitation.

  I had to make a decision. Should I trust this man I'd only known for a few days? Or was I playing with fire here? How many times did I need to learn that the danger in this new world was far greater than I could ever imagine?

  My hands trembled as I slipped my wrist from his grasp. I moved my palms across his taut stomach, his muscles jumping with each touch. I slid them down the length of his stomach, never taking my eyes off his as I removed one of the final barriers between us.

  No more hesitation or indecision.

  Now, there was only passion.

  Rend moaned and joined me on the bed. He stripped me down until we were both naked and vulnerable, finally giving in to something we'd both wanted from the moment we laid eyes on each other. He pulled me into his arms, passionately at first, then softening.

  His eyes met mine in one final moment of question.

  I swallowed and nodded. I was ready to surrender to him, come what may.

  He positioned himself above me, his dark eyes closing as he took several deep breaths. The struggle for control was evident in his tense jaw and furrowed brow. I ran my hands in soft circles against his back, my body lying still beneath him. It was torture not to move toward him, press against him. I pushed my hips down into the bed, my legs slightly parted, waiting, but my thighs trembling.