by Bonnie Vanak
Jarrett whirled and threw the knife. It sank into the cabin’s wall, quivered there for a moment. “I started using it for target practice.”
His shoulders sagged a moment. He shoved a hand through the thick mass of his blond hair. “What’s the use? Are we doomed to die out, never leaving a legacy to our children because of past mistakes? Because I was foolish enough to react in anger, and help start the fight that killed her?”
The tough demeanor masked the waves of pain radiating from him. Ariel went over and pulled the knife free. She handled it with reverence, and then reached for his clenched fist. Gently she pried open his fingers and set the blade in his palm. “You must not lose hope, Jarrett. Life always finds a way. My people know this. The cycle continues.”
Doubt shadowed his expression. “Does it? When you’ve lost so much, and you risk your own people? The cycle for us has been blood, violence. Death.”
“There has to be balance. There will be. You can do it.”
A spark of desire sizzled inside her, the need to fuel his blood with passion and erase the darkness inside him. This Jarrett mimicked a dead meadow, devoid of green grass, waiting for the spring rain’s restoration. She must find the old Jarrett, who laughed, burst with passion and energy and wildness.
Against her better judgment, Ariel touched him.
Her palm slid up the roughness of his chambray shirt. A few blond hairs showed on a small triangle of exposed skin. She touched them, and then placed her hand over his thumping heart. Chocolate-brown eyes gazed at her in a guarded look.
“You were filled with passion for life before. Find that passion again, Jarrett. Your people need it more than they need you to father a child. When I talk of life, I’m talking about your life. Not the life of future generations.”
He looked so lost, she ached for him. Needed to chase away the emptiness, and find the Jarrett who once spent hours enjoying running through the woods for the thrill of the chase. He’d honed his skills with playfulness, and his zeal extended to hot kisses and tender passion.
Not this shell of the man he once was.
Ariel leaned up, slid her hands around his neck. “Find your life again, Jarrett. I can help you.”
His mouth was cold, firm, but she pressed her lips against him. The knife tumbled to the floor with a clatter.
Like a block of melting ice, she felt him heat with her touch. Jarrett pulled her closer. With a groan, he surrendered. Deepening the kiss, his tongue thrust urgently into her mouth as if he were drawing air from her lungs. Drawing out her life and fueling his own.
Every Fae cell burst with energy, the craving for connection and bonding sparked by his desperate need. Her people were of the earth, pulled their energy from it and gave it freely to replenish. No one needed her energy and magick more than Jarrett. Her body began to glow with natural arousal. White light bathed them as Jarrett unfastened her jeans, slid a hand down past her panties and cupped her sex possessively.
He slid a long finger into her and she cried out. Ariel pumped her hips against his teasing strokes, as his caresses became more urgent and frantic.
“Come for me, Ariel,” he whispered. “Look at me. I want to watch you come for me.”
Her eyes flew open. She saw his face, ruthless with lust and intent. He stroked harder and she clung to him. His finger stroked her wet core, sliding back and forth. The pleasure built higher and higher, cresting over her as a shuddering cry wrung from her throat.
Jarrett pulled away, fastening her jeans. The swirls of darkness vanished from his eyes. The chiseled angles of his face did not soften, but hardened with purpose.
He brought his fingers to his mouth, slowly licked them. “My mouth on you. Soon, Ariel. You will be in my bed. What you felt is nothing compared to the pleasure I’ll bring you.”
Desire became a hot, throbbing need singing through her body. She could smell her own arousal, feel her body’s natural glow pulse like an aura, harmonizing with the natural cycle of life.
Then he glanced past her and swore softly.
Onto the porch came his men, tension knotting every muscle in their bodies. They looked feral and wild as they stared at Ariel.
Sam, the largest and strongest, snarled. His eyes were filled with hard lust. He reached out and she saw claws emerge from his fingertips. Jarrett snarled back, his wolf rising to the surface. Fresh panic raced through Ariel. The sweet moment of loving faded in light of the ferocious males. Jarrett released her, pushed her behind him, using his body as a shield.
Sam raised his hands as if to strike. Jarrett’s own claws emerged. Both men were heavily muscled, but Jarrett had the advantage of height. Ariel knew he could hurt Sam badly. She saw him look at her, torment swirling in his eyes.
Hurting Sam to protect her would shatter Jarrett. Ariel whipped her head around, spotted a few of the women in the distance. She screamed for them.
Both Sam and Jarrett hesitated.
The women raced toward the cabin. Dina was first, bounding up the steps, pushing past the throng of sullen men until she reached her mate.
“Please Sam. Look at me. At me. I need you.”
Dina’s soft, musical voice eased the tension. Both men seemed to struggle with their frenzied emotions, the need to protect finally overriding the demanding animal instinct to fight and possess.
Dina approached the big male and laid a hand on Sam’s forearm. He quivered and shuddered. It was like watching a small, delicate woman pet a tiger. “Please Sam. Don’t do it. It’s Jarrett, our leader and your friend.”
Sam turned to Dina, his jaw working. “I want you, Dina. Damnit, I need you. This is killing me.”
“We promised. We made a vow never to break the pack rules. You know we can’t risk loving each other until Jarrett gives us an heir. It’s the law.”
“I can’t wait.” Sam’s jaw became granite, his gaze glittering with misery and sexual need. “It’s getting worse.”
Dina stroked his cheek, her own misery apparent. “We must.”
Slowly he eased out a breath, then with a gentleness surprising for such a big male, took Dina’s hand. “I love you,” he whispered.
Ariel’s heart ached for the couple. She sagged against the porch railing as the other males filed down the steps, going to their mates. Jarrett’s hands relaxed, but when he turned, his mouth was a narrow slash.
“I can’t wait anymore either, Ariel,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “You see what this is doing to my people. You must mate with me.”
His touch was gentle, but his eyes filled with purpose as he cupped her cheek. With a sinking feeling, she realized she had fueled his resolve. He could not see past his own urgent need for sex and nudging his people into continuing the cycle of life.
While she had her own need.
Ariel pushed her palms against his hard chest. “I have to return to my people. I need to refuel.”
Rethink. Pull back part of herself, because Jarrett could be overwhelming. Like a swirling tendril of smoke, he could wind himself around her, tighter and tighter until she saw nothing but him, and surrendered to everything he wanted.
While leaving behind her needs.
“You’re not going back. I’m not risking you getting caught by whatever strange thing is taking the Fae. I need you. You’re safe here. With me. We have a bargain, Ariel. In my bed.”
She knew him, knew his aggressiveness, his lethal sexuality. She wanted to push him, see the life flare back in him. Anything but that cold emptiness.
“You’d risk sex with me despite how it makes your men sexually aggressive? What about you, Jarrett?”
“I can control myself.”
Her breasts tingled at the smoldering look he gave her. Jarrett ran his hands over her arms, slid them down to her hips. “I scent you, Ariel. I know what your body is telling me.”
He pulled her close, pressing her against his narrow hips, the long ridge of his erection. “You want me, Ariel, just as I want you. No other lover can mak
e you feel like I can.”
Jarrett bent his head, breathed in her scent, and then nuzzled her neck. His lips feathered over her skin, coaxing a shiver of pure pleasure. He swirled his tongue over her sensitive skin and found her earlobe and caught it between his teeth. Ariel suppressed an excited whimper. Sex with this wolf would prove dangerous. He’d consume her in flames.
“Trying to prove you always make your mark?”
He pulled back, his gaze glittering with savage hunger.
“No. But I always do mark what is mine. You’re mine, Ariel. What I claim, I keep, and I don’t let anyone else near.”
She could barely control the natural reaction her kind had when sexually excited. No more than she sensed he could control this wolf. Amber glowed in his eyes, the beast emerging.
What would happen when she gave him the much-longed-for heir and he no longer needed her? She craved love and affection and needed it as much as his wolf needed offspring. But Jarrett Lawson’s heart hadn’t merely been broken before.
It had been shattered.
Ariel wasn’t certain if she could ever mend it.
Chapter Six
The air turned cooler as the sun started descending behind the craggy mountains. Ariel wriggled her toes in the earth. She walked behind Jarrett’s cabin, nearing the meadow that stretched out before the mountain. High above in the rocky recesses, purple and gray shadows across the cave seemed to wink at her.
Taunting her.
Jarrett hadn’t found anything, nor had his men. But they were not Lupine Fae. Not connected to the earth as she was.
Ariel turned and headed for the cabin. Jarrett was inside, meeting with his men, probably about her. But when she bounded up the steps, he was standing on the porch. Hands braced on the railing, he stared up at the mountain.
And then she realized how quiet it was. So very quiet.
Jarrett’s expression shuttered. Ariel’s heart raced harder.
The stillness was unusual and disturbing. Ariel looked at the tall pines. She heard no birds chirping, no chatter of squirrels or chipmunks. Nothing. She searched out with her feelings, and felt only a terrible blankness.
“What is it? What’s going on? The animals have vanished.”
He raised his eyes to the pine-covered mountain soaring toward the sky. “It’s been like this since we returned to the cabin. Look at the trees,” he said softly.
About halfway up the mountain, a small clearing with a rock slide stood out from the thicket of pines. Trees around this oblong clearing were brown and dying. She saw a T-shaped recess.
“The old mine.”
“We checked out the recess you said the trail led to. There was nothing. But there has been activity at the mine.” Jarrett gestured upward.
Hairs on her nape saluted the air.
Thick clouds gathered over the mountain, grumbling with distant thunder. From the corner of her eye, she saw a dark shape emerge from the mine. It might have been a shadow.
Yet she felt it was not.
Jarrett’s expression tightened. “When we returned to our land, I sensed a disruption. Someone’s been trespassing, and something dark has moved into the mountain. My men picked up what seemed to be an odd scent, but then it vanished. Whatever it is, it’s hiding up there.”
He braced his hands on the railing. “Tell me what’s going on. What are you hiding from me, Ariel?”
His muscled body became taut. She sensed the leashed power in him. Instinctively, she took a step backward.
“All I know is when I returned to my people, Cael told me he’d been on your land while you were gone. The women, they let him access it. He didn’t tell me what he’d been doing there. I assumed he was hunting.”
A sickening feeling twisted her stomach in knots. “Now I wonder what he’d been doing. You know Cael and my people. They hate imbalance in nature, and he did tell me one part of your territory pulsed with negative energy. But he’s hiding something from me as well. What happened on that land, Jarrett?”
He didn’t answer for a moment. Then he jammed a hand through his hair.
“I think Cael disturbed something that’s been hiding for years. Maybe negative energy caused by a death in the mine. I need to investigate. But not with you. Too risky.” He gave a low growl. “Stay here.”
The molecules in the air became charged with energy. Jarrett shifted. The large gray wolf, alpha markings on its muzzle, leapt over the railing and bounded toward the forest.
Splashing sounds indicated he crossed the river. Ariel saw the wolf wend his way up the mountain, toward the mine.
Foolhardy wolf…she didn’t need protecting.
And she didn’t follow orders well.
She leapt over the railing, shifting in the process, and followed his trail.
The forest was cool and dark, her beloved woods taking on a sinister air as she scampered up the mountain. Ariel knew these mountains well, but today an undercurrent of darkness laced through the pines and whispered through the branches. Senses flared to life as she tracked Jarrett’s delicious male scent of evergreen. He smelled like the wildness always churning inside her.
Thunder crackled nearby. Her animal half whined, hating the storm. Raindrops began pelting her thick, soft fur. Ariel pressed her nose to the trail, her paws skidding a little as she reached the rock slide. She raised her head and saw Jarrett standing outside the mine. Heard his low growl and saw him enter…
Instinct raged through her. Ariel lifted her head and gave a low, mournful howl. Jarrett raised his head as if to answer. Suddenly a large, black cloud flew out of the mine, sweeping past him. It headed straight toward her.
Startled, she instinctively shifted to her human form to fight, but the black mass wound around her like fog. Cold darkness filled her. Ariel fought the instinctive fear to turn and run. Instead, she batted at the cloud.
The dark, shapeless mass rushed at her again, stroking an icy finger down her spine. Her insides twisted like rope, sending shards of searing pain through her. Blackness clouded her mind. Never had she felt this much pain before. It was like being encased in an icy tomb filled with steel spikes.
Had to break free, get out… Ariel wrenched away, forcing the darkness out, and through her blurred vision, saw it fly back into the cavern. She struggled to maintain her grip on the loose rock, but skidded downward.
The only choice was to race down the mountain, trying to get her legs to work. She ran, lost her footing and rolled. Rocks spilled with her, the kinetic force causing a shower of stones to tumble with her.
Panic raced through her, making thought impossible. Ariel forced it down. No more animalistic terror like before. She could conquer this.
Using the adrenaline fueled by fear, she concentrated on flowing with the energy, becoming one with the avalanche. Sharp rocks dug into her tender skin, but she ignored the stinging pain and released her natural Fae energy, harmonizing with the elements holding her prisoner. Light bathed her in a white glow. She directed it outward, forcing the rockslide to spread out. Having lost momentum, the avalanche slowed.
Ariel landed near the mountain’s edge. Light continued to bathe her naked body, healing her bruises and lacerations. She stood on shaky legs and glanced upward to look for Jarrett, worried he’d been caught in the rockslide.
Something slammed into her with the force of a locomotive. The black mass again.
Suddenly she had to escape the horrid choking feeling, cutting off her oxygen. Ariel dove into the swirling icy river. Thousands of needles stung her body as she swam, trying to stay afloat. But then the current pulled her downward.
Somehow she made it to the other side. Shaking violently, she lay on the bank, gasping for breath. Her muscles cramped painfully.
Depleted of power, she closed her eyes, fighting the drowsy urge to sleep. What the hell was that thing, and why was it on Jarrett’s land?
Chapter Seven
Just as the grayness descended over her, Ariel felt two strong arms lift her
up as easily as if she were a child. She fought those as well.
“Easy now. You’re slipping into shock.”
Jarrett’s deep voice soothed her like a warm blanket. Ariel tried to lift her trembling hands, but they felt like lumps of ice. Her muscles seized with pain and she let out a low moan.
He cradled her to his chest and she buried her face against his warm skin, soaking up his body heat. He jogged back to his cabin as if she weighed nothing, carrying her straight into his bedroom.
So warm, so delicious. Ariel buried her face into the crook of his shoulder. He laid her on the bed, but her toes were frozen. Jarrett climbed into bed next to her, massaging her arms and back. Heat radiated from him.
“So warm. Your kind always is.” Strength fled her. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep, but he rubbed her skin briskly.
“Don’t close your eyes. Stay with me, Ariel,” he ordered.
Concern laced his deep voice. His features were etched with harsh strain. Jarrett pulled her close and she snuggled against him, the frozen leadenness slowly leaving her limbs. He adjusted their positions and kept up a steady massage.
Gradually, her body lost the chill. Muscles became less knotted and she could move her legs without pain. Ariel sighed, curling herself close to Jarrett.
A subtle shift happened. His touch became less brisk, more languid. A slow caress sweeping down the arch of her spine. He cupped her bottom and pulled her against him. She felt the rigid length of his arousal.
Ariel opened her eyes and saw him watching her.
“You do this to me. Every time you’re near me, sweetheart. All I need is to breathe in your scent and I’m lost.”
Trepidation shadowed his face. “And I almost lost you. Damnit Ariel, I told you to stay in the cabin.”