Stiffening with a cold, hard realization, Karen shifted out of her lust-filled haze. She wanted Jag’s love and he wanted her soul. Anger overcame her, sudden and painful. Emotions twisted inside, roaring with potency. Her fight instinct kicked in.
“Get off me.” Shoving on his chest, on his arms, on his body, she said the words over and over. She pushed and pushed, trying to get him away, trying to stop the hurt of his manipulation, of her loss. Tears burned her eyes, cascading to her cheeks.
Jag was gone. She searched her lifetime for him and he was gone.
And it hurt. It hurt so damn bad.
Jag felt the pain in Karen like a stab of reality. Only moments before, darkness had cluttered his thoughts. He’d hidden from everything but escape. Hidden from anything that might cause pain. He’d felt so much of it in his lifetime, lost so much, he couldn’t handle any more.
But he felt it now, because he felt what Karen did. Because she was his mate and he was about to leave her—leave her to suffer the hell he had endured without her.
He stroked her hair, kissed her cheeked, trying to calm her. “Cariño, stop. Baby, stop. I’m sorry. Please. It’s okay.” He couldn’t do that to her.
She was shaking, literally shaking from head to toe, and he felt that, too. “I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.”
“No,” she said. “I don’t want tricks. I want up. Let me up.” Then louder. “Des!”
He covered her mouth, muffling the scream for Des with a kiss, softly claiming, seducing, soothing. Slowly she eased. Slowly. Slowly. She came back to him.
When he finally raised his head, releasing her mouth, he spoke before she could, desperate to tell her how he felt. To ensure she knew how much she meant to him. “I love you, Karen,” he said. “I love you more than I thought possible. I’m so sorry for what I just put you through. Tonight, and in the past.”
She touched his face. “You’re back. Really back? Please tell me it’s true.”
He smiled, his weight on his forearms by her head as he looked down at her. “Yes, cariño, and I am not going anywhere without my woman ever again. Not now and not ever again.”
Tears filled her eyes again and he wiped at them with his fingers. “That’s supposed to make you smile, not cry.”
“I just thought…I thought I lost you. I didn’t know what to do.”
He brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. “You knew exactly what to do. You always do. But I need to know. Will you trust me again? Will you give yourself to me now and always?”
Her hands slid around his neck, a twinkle in her eyes replacing the tears. “I can be persuaded.”
His brow lifted in question, his heart filling with warmth as he watched her face light with desire, the pain gone. “You can start by convincing me that you’re back by making long, hot passionate love to me.”
Jag laughed, deciding the next century would be far more pleasurable than the last without a doubt. “A man must please his mate,” he said, claiming her mouth with his kiss, as she had claimed his soul.
Epilogue
Karen and Marisol sat in the corner of one of several training studios inside the ranch, watching Eva and Rock spar. In the three months since making this their home, both Eva and Karen had received training in many skills, mastering weapons, preparing for a destiny certain to pit them against the Darklands. Eva had taken the task on with fierce determination. She, after all, was now a Knight of White and their battle with the Darklands was never-ending.
“I still can’t get a hold of the idea of my sister fighting those beasts,” Karen said, watching Eva handle a sword like she’d been born with it in her hand. “It scares me.”
It was hard to believe her sister had gone from meek and scared to determined to fight. Karen hoped Eva’s obsession with a sword wasn’t masking the pain so that she didn’t fully heal. Eva’s turnaround from a gentle woman to a demanding warrior had been both lightning-fast and extreme.
As if in response, Eva’s voice filled the air. “Stop holding back!” she shouted at Rock, blades locked with his.
“I’m not holding back,” Rock said, his expression as grumpy as his voice.
“Then you fight like a girl,” she countered. “I can’t believe you aren’t dead yet.”
Marisol laughed and turned back to Karen. “I don’t think you have to worry. Eva can take care of herself.”
Before Karen could answer, Rock let out a loud grunt. “She cut me. Eva cut me.”
“That’ll teach you to hold back,” Eva said, glaring at him. “Marisol is here.” She taunted him with a singsong baby voice. “She’ll make it all better.” Back to her normal tone, she said, “Then we can fight for real.”
“As I was saying,” Marisol said, pushing to her feet. “Eva can take care of herself.”
Karen had to admit that seemed to be the truth. More and more, Karen was seeing her sister in a new light. “Just like you take good care of Rock,” she teased, unable to hold back the mischievous comment. Though she couldn’t get Marisol to admit there was something between her and Rock, Karen was working on it.
Jag appeared beside her without warning, and Karen jumped, hand going to her chest. His newfound powers were gradually evolving. So far, he could levitate items and even turn a few things to ash. He couldn’t go poof and make a beast disappear, but the Knights were all encouraged that one day he might be able to.
The newest talent, the ability to pop in and out of the room, had presented itself in the past week. Jag was enjoying it. Karen wasn’t so much.
“I hate when you do that,” she told him, trying to remain irritated but struggling. His recently grown goatee was so damn sexy, she couldn’t stay mad. Every time she saw her man these days, she wanted to drag him off to someplace private and have her way with him.
“I thought you wanted me to practice using my powers,” he teased, claiming the chair beside her and leaning over to kiss her cheek, lingering to nip her ear. “Hmm. You smell good.”
“Practice so you won’t get killed using them. I didn’t say scare me to death in the process.” He nibbled the sensitive skin on her neck and she swatted at him. “Behave,” she said, motioning toward Rock who was staring at Marisol like she was a piece of candy. “What’s with Marisol and Rock?”
“I think that’s pretty clear. They want each other, but she can’t be with him.”
Karen frowned, turning to Jag. “What? Why?”
“It’s a rule. Healers are forbidden that type of relationship.”
“Says who?”
He laughed. “Says those with much more say than you or me. You can’t change this even with your stubborn determination.”
“But two people who love each other should be together,” she argued.
“Everything happens for a reason,” he reminded her.
She sighed. “Yes. I know.” Still, she hated to see the two of them denied love. “That brings me to another point though. I had this idea.”
He lifted his brow, a flirtatious twinkle in his eyes. “I hope it’s fun.”
Each day Jag smiled more, the darkness sliding into his past. It warmed her to know she’d been a part of that. “Actually,” she said, “this idea is full of fun. Until now, all I’ve been able to do is tell you about my travels. We used to dream of seeing the world together.”
“We’ve talked about this, cariño. I can’t leave this place. I wish I could.”
“But you want to travel,” she said, eager to convince him to live a little. If anyone deserved to, it was Jag. For hours they would lie in bed and talk. Karen so desperately wanted to share the places she’d seen with Jag and he was hungry for every detail. She circled his hand in hers, a plea in her voice, in her eyes. “To actually show you the world instead of talking about it would be amazing. We could take a honeymoon after the wedding next month.”
“Karen—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Just hear me out.”
He gave her a nod, kissing
her fingers before taking her hand in his once again.
“Well, now you have this new power. You can just pop right back here if there is trouble.”
“I doubt the reason I was granted this power was to take a vacation,” he said, taking the cautious approach he was so good at.
“No,” she agreed. “But you have to admit, it has possibilities. We could travel. You really would love the romance of Venice.” Her eyes lit. “Or St. Thomas. You’d love it there. The water is so clear blue, it’s like a beautiful painting come to life.”
His expression grew wistful. “I’m not even sure how far I can travel. For all I know it’s not more than a few miles.”
Karen stood up. “What are you waiting for?” she asked. “Let’s find out.”
“Now?” he asked. “We can’t just go now.”
Behind them Rock yelled, Eva having cut him once again. Karen rolled her eyes. “Now seems a really good time to leave to me.”
Jag laughed and pushed to his feet, holding out his arm to her. “Where to first?” he asked.
She gave him a grin. “I’d be happy to start with our bedroom. From there, the possibilities are endless.”
Jag laughed, and pulled her close, kissing her passionately, before flashing them from the room.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0853-1
THE BEAST WITHIN
Copyright © 2007 by Lisa Renee Jones
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