A deep, warning growl rumbled in his chest. His hands clamped on her waist, fingers digging into the soft flesh there as he dragged her back and forth on the hard, thick ridge of his cock, even as he pulled his head away, dragging air into his lungs.
“Aaahhh, sweet. Don’t. You don’t want this, not really. You’re upset from the nightmare,” he groaned. “If you do this now, you’re gonna be madder than hell at us both in the morning.”
Lori pushed up onto her knees, planting them into the ground, staring at him with stark, hungry eyes that still stung with tears.”No. If I don’t do this now, I’m gonna be madder than hell at both of us. And I think I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I’ll make damn sure you do,” she whispered roughly. Pulling back, she tugged the camisole over her head, freeing her breasts to the cool night air. She felt desperate to see his face as well as she knew he could see hers.
“Illunmari,” she spoke, her voice throbbing, magick slithering through the air. Hot, burning little licks left her as it gathered there, hovering above them, the heat fading away until it was nothing but a luminous ball of light. Golden and soft, it highlighted the gleam in his eyes, and the sensual hungry curl of his mouth.
“I know what I want, no matter how screwed up my dreams are,” she murmured, leaning down, pressing her lips to his mouth. Against her naked breasts, she could feel the hard, muscled wall of his chest. He felt so hot, fiery, the scent of the woods and the earth coming from him as he banded one arm around her waist. The other hand buried in her hair, tugging her head back, arching her neck as he plundered her mouth hungrily.
When he pulled back briefly, Lori smiled serenely up at him. She revelled in the sight of his glowing eyes, tawny and gleaming like a wolf’s in the night, as he growled, “Be certain, baby. You be very, very certain.”
Lori chuckled. Sliding her hands down her torso, she cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples as she arched her back. “Hmmm…I’m certain that I’ve never wanted anything more. I’m certain…very, very certain.”
Air flew from her lungs as Jonathan moved like lightning, rolling her onto her back, pinning her under his body and tearing her panties away. Lori was still trying to catch her breath, her eyes sliding down the lines of his lean, muscled body as his hands jerked away to free the button-fly of his jeans.
Mouth dry as the desert, she licked her lips, reaching one hand out to trail her fingers over his flat belly, circling one over the dimple of his navel before his hands caught hers. Pinning them above her head, he wedged his thighs between hers.
“I won’t wait this time,” he warned her, growling. “I have to have you. Have to. I’ll fuck you softer, slower, sweeter later.”
She already ached for him, but at his words, the need twisted through her, tightened, until she wanted to sob with it. “Damn it, I don’t care how you do it, I just want to feel you inside me,” she whimpered, wrapping her legs around his waist and lifting her hips.
Lowering his head, he caught one swollen nipple in his mouth, and Lori mewled as the hot, wet cave of his mouth enveloped her. Tossing her head back and forth on the bed roll beneath her, Lori sank her nails into the hard muscles of his shoulders.
He pushed the blunt rounded head of his cock against the entrance of her wet aching cleft. Trailing a path of hot, biting kisses in a line from her nipple to her mouth, he plunged his tongue deep inside. Lori groaned, swallowing down his taste, as he buried his thick, burning cock inside her.
Oh, the heat… She arched her back as he pierced her, burying himself to the hilt, his balls slapping against her ass as he drank down the scream that rose from her throat. The heat from a were’s body was so intense just to touch, but to love… Lori whimpered as he pulled out and surged back inside. She could feel herself stretching around him and she loved it.
When he finally freed her mouth, Lori’s head fell back and she sucked in air. Whimpers replaced her frantic search for air as he shifted his grip on her hands. From holding one wrist in each hand, to pinning them both in one of his big hands, he reached down and circled his thumb tauntingly over the swollen bud of her clit.
“You’re so tight, so sweet,” he crooned against her mouth.”I can smell you…you’re almost ripe, you know that? In a few more days, you’ll be ovulating and I could fill that flat little belly with my baby.” As he spoke, he circled his hips against the cradle formed by hers, riding higher on her body as he did so, and burying the head of his cock against the mouth of her womb. Lori couldn’t stop the hungry moan that fell from her lips any more than she could stop her next breath. Her hands opened and closed convulsively, straining uselessly in his firm but painless grip.
Sobbing as he withdrew slowly, Lori shuddered as he drove deeply back inside in one hard, heavy thrust. His hot, heavy length forged through the slick, swollen tissues that started to ripple and convulse around his invading length.
“Scream again,” he purred. “Do it. Scream again, and let me hear my name.”
His name fell from her lips in long ragged sobs, and Jonathan felt the shudders that gripped her body as she started to come in hard, racking convulsions. Her snug little pussy tightened around his cock, he knew he was going to explode from the sheer, painfully sweet pleasure of it. Sinking his dick into her was like sinking it into a silk-swathed electrical outlet, and he was still buzzing from the shock. The scent of her filled his head, making his mouth water and his gums ache as he hungered for a taste.
He should have tasted her—he would later.
But not now. Pulling out, he pushed back into her and felt the hungry press of her hands on his shoulders, her heels digging into his ass. The diamond-hard points of her nipples burned into his chest, and with a growl he dipped his head and caught one in his mouth, pulling it completely in and sucking deep. The soft, sweet taste of her skin flooded his mouth, the tight grip of her pussy hugged his cock. Shuddering, he rose onto his knees, gripping her hips as he slammed into her, staring down at the long, pale length of her body. His eyes trailed up the length of her torso—the berry red of her nipples, her pink mouth as her tongue trailed over her lips, her eyes gleaming, dazed and glassy.
“So damned pretty, so damned hot,” he muttered. “I love you.”
Lori gasped, shuddering and arching her back, her hands coming down and grasping on his wrists as she worked her hips against him, her eyes locking on his.
“Jonathan—” her words broke off into a ragged scream as her vagina clenched on his cock in a slow, rhythmic series of convulsions, a flush working up from her breasts to her face.
Jonathan growled. Balls pulled tight against his body, he flexed his hands as his nails started to lengthen, his control shattering as his climax rushed up. Blood flooded his mouth as his teeth lengthened and fangs broke through his gums, lust calling to the animal inside him.
The soft, silken, wet sheath clutched greedily around him yet again as he drove deep inside one last time and exploded. Coming inside her, he bent low over her body and sank his teeth into the soft fleshy pad of her shoulder.
The tangy sweet wash of her blood spilled down his throat, and her nails raked his back as she screamed out his name yet again.
Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled onto his back, cuddling her against his chest as he licked away the blood from the bite at her shoulder. “Damnation, I love you,” he whispered.
“‘Bout time you admitted it,” Lori muttered, rubbing her cheek against his chest.
Chapter Ten
Lori revelled in the sweet aches of her body as she stood in the shadows of the woods. The wind tugged at her hair and dark clothes, as the moon rose over the lake. The water lapped at the rocky beach as Jonathan moved up behind her. “We won’t be alone much longer.”
Lori smiled slowly. “I know. I can feel her, too. She is not…happy.” That was an understatement. The anger she felt pumping off Sarel was unreal. The anger, the fear—the paranoia—in Lori’s opinion. “She’s wrong. I don’t care if you agree with her or not.”<
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“I don’t. Whether I want to put you in a tower is beside the point. You’re not helpless,” Jonathan said, forcing the words out through a tight throat. Moving up behind her, he rested his hands on her shoulders as she stared out over the empty space between them and the dark mouth of the cave. “You’re not going to barrel headlong into danger like your sister would either. You’re smarter than she and I combined. And a Hunter, through and through.”
The hair that stood up on her arms was all the warning she had before Eli said coolly, “Indeed. Like I’d allow somebody who couldn’t take care of herself into my home. Unlike your stubborn sister, I’ve never had any doubts about you, sweet. Not one.”
The slim-hipped, blond vamp strolled out of the woods, his golden hair glinting in the pale moonlight, his eyes as gold as doubloons. A small, amused smile curved his lips as he studied the way Jonathan’s hands rested on Lori’s shoulders.”Now your sister, though, that is a stubborn lady. Very stubborn, and very convinced she is right.” His eyes moved to study the way the wind started whipping through the trees, and a sardonic smile curled his mouth.”No doubt she will be trying to peel the skin from my flesh for not taking what she calls ‘her side’.”
“Sides?”
Eli blinked. “Unfortunately, she’s going to see this as taking sides. I have to take the side that will protect my people. I’m a Hunter and I owe my loyalty to the Council. I’d die for my wife, and I’d leave the Council in a moment for her I had to. But I won’t endanger lives just because she’s...in a snit,” he mused as the ground started to tremble.
Lori rolled her eyes.”Sarel likes to make her presence felt.”
“Yes,” Eli said drolly. “She does. Just know—regardless of what Sarel says, you stand your ground, Lori. You’re more than she thinks.”
The ground didn’t actually shudder under her feet—though Lori wouldn’t have been surprised if it had—as Sarel strode into the small clearing. Her flaming red hair was blowing back from her face, and her eyes were shooting sparks as she gave her husband a narrow look. “In a hurry?” she asked sweetly.
He lifted one broad shoulder and just smiled his feline smile at her, lowering sooty lashes over his eyes before looking back at Jon and Lori. “Wouldn’t you like to say hello to your sister, pet?”
“No. I want to tell her to take her ass back to the house. This isn’t something she can handle.” Turning her flashing green eyes to Lori, Sarel smiled sharply and snapped, “Lori, take your cute little ass back to the house. You can’t handle this.”
Lori laughed. “Sarel, you have such a way with people.” Turning her attention back to the cave, she closed her eyes and focused on the unrest, and the frenzied, hungry energy coming from deep within.
When the hand closed over her arm, Lori sighed. “Sister dear, you need to get a grip. I’m not going anywhere. If you think otherwise…well, go check your arrogance at the door.”
“Damn it, Lori. You are not a fighter,” Sarel snarled, jerking her around.
Lori went with the move, meeting her sister’s angry eyes with cool, blank ones. Reaching around, she caught Sarel’s wrist, her fingers seeking out the nerves there and squeezing. “I fight when I need to. I’m staying.”
Sarel’s lips went white before she finally gasped and jerked her hand away. “Damn it, Lori. I can’t lose you—”
Lori smiled.”I’m needed here. If I leave, we all lose. I’ve been pulled here—I knew to come here and not just because of Erika. If it was just because of her, I could have left once she was safe. But I can’t,” she said quietly, turning her attention back to the cave. She had been pulled here, to this spot, maybe for her entire life. “And if I leave, I lose what I need the most. I can’t take that risk.”
It was then that she felt it, a slight shift, a break in the air. Taking a deep breath, she looked to Jonathan. “It’s time.”
“Time for—” Sarel’s words died in her throat as Jonathan fell to his knees, his head slumping forward as the muscles and bones in his body started to shift in preparation for the change. His hair rippled and flowed, blowing back from his body as the clothes shredded and fell. A rich musk—wild and earthy—poured from him as he lifted his eyes to meet hers.
“Don’t…watch…me…” he rasped through gritted teeth as his face started to lengthen, a muzzle forming, hair changing to fur and flowing like water down over his body. The bones under his skin popped and reformed into a new, more powerful shape.
Eli’s lids drooped, though the vampire knew Jonathan didn’t give a damn about him or Sarel. Catching his wife’s eye, he arched a golden brow, and she snarled but stalked toward him, her eyes full of biting fury and rage.
Lori crossed the space that separated her from her wolf, her eyes dark and watchful on his face. “I’ve watched you every day for the past seven years of my life, as much as I possibly could. Why wouldn’t I watch you now?”
Reaching up, she laced her fingers through his hair as the change took deeper hold, as his eyes went from dark, sinful brown to amber, and the bones in his legs broke and changed from human to werewolf. Covered with short, silken fur, his long rangy body crouched on the ground, his powerful head level with hers as he stared at her with glittering, unreadable eyes.
“I adore you, everything about you. Don’t think that you have to hide the wolf from me,” she murmured, stroking her hands down his silken pelt.”You’re so soft, so silken. I’ve always wondered…”
A growl rumbled out of Jonathan’s chest and his hands, large, tipped with ebony claws, closed convulsively over her arms.”Lori…”
“Shhh,” she murmured.”Go. We don’t have much time. They already know we’re here.” Her lashes lowered, and she felt the bittersweet ache fill her heart. Just in case…”I adore you,” she repeated.”You’ve always been my heart.”
As Jonathan loped off into the woods, Lori rose, keeping her eyes on his gleaming dark hide, ignoring the ache in her heart. God willing…closing her eyes, she whispered a brief prayer.
Be willing…
“Since we’re here, and you obviously intend to keep your ass here,” Sarel said coldly. “Would you mind filling me in? Or am I gonna fight blind?”
Eli laughed. “Darling, you were going to do that anyway. Remember? You just tried to send her away.”
Lori followed Jonathan through the bond that had formed between them when she had replaced the Scythe’s mark with a mark of her own. As he ran through the tunnels on swift silent feet, following the scent of blood and magick, and frenzied, fucking bodies, Lori told Sarel and Eli what she knew, which was little.
“They use blood magick—were planning to use it to screw with him and hopefully get inside his head and curse him,” she said softly. “They had planned to subvert Jonathan somehow. But he can’t be subverted. I don’t know how they ever imagined it would work. Now they spill their own blood, and having a nice little orgy. I don’t know what their goal is, but if they can’t get Jonnie, they’ll go for another target.”
“And why do they want a Hunter?” Sarel said.
“They want to break us. Weaken us...if we can be broken from the inside, they think we’ll be easier to take down. I think. I don’t know. The woman in charge isn’t entirely sane.” Rubbing the flat of her palm against her chest, she turned and watched. And waited.
“What is the purpose of Jonathan going in there alone?” Eli asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Bait,” Lori said, honestly. “They wanted him. I’m going to let them think they’ve got him. If they all go into one certain area, I can collapse it, but I need them all in there before I do it.”
“I don’t want you going in there,” Sarel said narrowly, striding forward.
“You can’t do it. You can’t get there fast enough,” Lori said, blowing her a kiss. Eli was reaching for Sarel’s hand even as Lori closed her eyes and felt the wind whipping past her…
“Love you, sis,” she whispered. She wanted, desperately, to throw her arms around
Sarel’s neck. But if she did that, Sarel would know. She’d see. So she just settled for the whisper, and the knowledge that taking the band of the Scythe out was something that had to be done.
Leandra fell to the ground, reeling in shock, her head pounding. Her stomach clenched and heaved as bile tried to force its way up her throat. Swallowing the hot, sour taste, she pressed her forehead against the cool tile under her brow. I won’t be sick. I won’t.
She had done this to herself, damn it. She would damn well deal with it without humiliating herself.
All around her, wherever she was, she could feel waves of hostility battering at her finely tuned shields. Dragging a deep breath of vanilla and jasmine scented air in her lungs, she focused.
A second later, she knew where she was. At the enclave for the Hunter.
The Hunter called Elijah Crawford, where she and her sis…no, where she and other murderers had plotted to kidnap Jonathan Wallace.
“Oh, child, you aren’t a murderer. You were close, a time or two, weren’t you?” Agnes murmured, lowering her ancient body. “Something always stopped you. You didn’t aim as well as you thought. Something didn’t feel right. The women who travelled with you, eh, they can’t claim the same. And there is blood on your heart, that is true.”
“Stop, old woman. This isn’t helping,” she said rawly, keeping her head down while she swallowed again. I’m not going to be sick, she thought. I’m not. “You pulled me through the hearts and souls of too many people—I know the truth now.”
The raw hostility battering at her was making her edgy. She was used to animosity. Competition. Dislike. Fear. But not this righteous anger, this need for vengeance. She even knew why—she had led the attack that had killed two of their wolves, and so many of their traps had been set against them, all orchestrated by her.
And Erika. She had taken Erika.
Erika—
The girl...where was the girl? “What did you do with the girl?” she whispered.
The Hunters Series Page 45