[The Alliance 01.0] Eternally Bound

by Brenda K. Davies

  “Yes, I do. It’s you who doesn’t know.”

  Ronan couldn’t stop his mouth from dropping at her words. In all his many years, no one had shocked him as much as she just had. “I am well aware of what I am capable of doing. I have witnessed the blood staining my hands for over a thousand years.”

  “Yes, you are aware of your capability for violence, but are you also aware that you are capable of kindness and being gentle?”

  “You have no idea what I want to do to you right now, and there is nothing gentle about it!”

  “You could have done it, but you didn’t.”

  “I would ruin you, do you understand that, Kadence? What I would do to you would ruin you for any other man.”

  “I don’t want any other man. I only want you.”

  Nope, he’d been wrong, she’d just managed to shock him even more. Before he could respond to her, footsteps sounded behind him. He turned to find Declan standing in the doorway ten feet behind him.

  “What is it?” he demanded.

  “It is time to hunt,” Declan replied. “Marta also asked me to inform you that everything is ready for them to leave tomorrow.”

  Those final words hit Ronan like a punch between his eyes. “Good,” he somehow managed to say. He glanced at Kadence over his shoulder. “Pack what you will take with you. Marta and Baldric will make sure to buy you whatever else you require on your travels. If you have decided where you would like to go first, let Marta know. It will mean less time for you at the airport.”

  “I have decided, and I will let her know,” she murmured.

  He followed Declan into the stairwell. “Ronan, be careful.”

  He smashed his fist into the wall before storming up the stairs behind Declan. Tomorrow, he would have no one to tell him to be careful again. Tomorrow she would be gone. He should be relieved; instead, he knew he would make the death of any Savage they came across tonight exceptionally brutal.

  Kadence stirred when she felt arms slipping beneath her. Warmth enveloped her as she was braced against a solid chest and something was removed from her hands. Her eyes blinked open as Ronan set the book she’d been holding on the chair he’d lifted her from.

  She hadn’t meant to fall asleep while waiting for him, but after he’d left she’d worked out for another two hours in the hopes of burying the sadness that leaving him brought to her. Then she’d packed her things and spent the rest of the night pacing the library before trying to read. Her emotional and physical exhaustion had caught up with her.

  “What time is it?”

  “Almost three,” he replied.

  She took in the wet hair falling across his forehead and curling at the corners of his eyes. “You showered.”

  “Long night,” he replied.

  He refused to tell her that he’d been covered in blood when he’d returned twenty minutes ago. He’d been unwilling to see her like that, been determined not to see her at all before she left, but when he realized she wasn’t in her room, he couldn’t resist following the lure of her scent here.

  “Is everyone okay?” she asked as she came more awake.

  “Yes.”

  He carried her from the room and down the hall to the stairs. She nestled closer to him, savoring the scent of the spiced soap on his body. Unable to resist, she rested her fingers against his chest and sighed when she felt the powerful flex of his muscles with every step he took. She slid her fingers down his flesh. The yearning to taste him grew until she turned her mouth into his chest and slid her tongue out to lick his salty skin.

  Ronan’s fangs tingled as they lengthened, and he found himself drawing her closer as her tongue slid over him again. He shifted his hold on her to grip the knob of her door and pushed it open.

  She withdrew from him as he set her on her feet. Before, she would have blushed over her actions with him; now she couldn’t find it in herself to be embarrassed, not if this was to be their last night together for a while, possibly forever. Resting her hand on his cheek, she stepped into him.

  Ronan told himself to back away from her, but his feet were planted to the floor as her breasts brushed against his chest and her eyes searched his. He knew he had to look half wild with his need for her, yet she showed no fear as she rose onto her toes.

  Her gaze never left his when she kissed him. Her breath warmed his mouth as they stared at each other and Ronan resisted drawing her closer. If he did, if this continued, there would be no stopping, not this time.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The heightened scent of her arousal filled his nostrils and permeated his body. He was taken off guard by the intensity of her longing for him as he remained unmoving against her. Her lashes fell to shadow her eyes, and she broke the kiss.

  As she moved to pull away, his arm lashed out and drew her to him. Her eyes deepened in color when they met his again. He caressed her cheek before his hand slid back to entwine in her silken hair.

  His eyes were drawn to her mouth as he waited for her to tell him no. Waited for her to pull away. She did neither of those things; instead, she leaned into him, her breath coming faster as her fingers dug into his chest.

  He knew he shouldn’t do this, knew it would only make it more difficult to let her go. She would fly free from here and the brutal life she’d been born into. He would remain and continue to fight until he died or succumbed to the lure of becoming a Savage.

  But none of that mattered. All he wanted now was to be inside of her, moving over her, listening to her sensual moans as he claimed her for this brief period of time.

  When she kissed him again, he pulled her so firmly against him that no air flowed between their bodies. She belonged with him and him alone.

  Something niggled at the back of his mind, an intuition that he should acknowledge, but couldn’t, as everything in him became focused on her alone.

  He pulled her hair back, deepening the kiss and catching her sigh when her mouth parted and her tongue entwined with his. Lifting his mouth from hers, he ran his tongue along the slender column of her throat before he nipped at her supple flesh.

  His fangs ached to pierce her skin, to taste the blood pulsing through her vein and calling to him like a siren on the rocks, but he resisted the impulse. It could drive her away if he took from her now.

  Her knees buckled when his other hand slid up to cup her breast. He supported her weight as she cried out and her head fell back to allow him better access to her throat. Lifting her, he swung her into his arms, kicked the door shut behind them, and carried her further into the room.

  Stopping beside the bed, he set her on her feet and stepped back to drink in the sight of her. She stared up at him, her lips swollen, her eyes heavy lidded and seductive. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

  A trickle of unease slid through her as Ronan’s eyes ran ravenously over her body. His raw need for her was evident on his face and in the heavy bulge behind his pants. No matter what he believed about himself, if she asked him to stop this now, he would walk away from her, but despite her apprehension over what she knew was to come, she didn’t want to stop it.

  At one time, she’d believed him to be a monster simply because of what he was. Now he was the only man who had ever made her feel like she truly mattered in this world because of who she was, and not because she might be able to have children one day. He was the only man she had ever wanted to share this experience with.

  He was setting her free today, and before she left, she would have the memory of this night to hold close while she was gone.

  Swallowing heavily, she pushed aside her fear as he remained where he was, giving her a chance to change her mind, she knew. The elder women had prepared her for her wedding night, told her what to expect and what would happen. They hadn’t prepared her for her overwhelming desire for him too.

  His eyes were almost entirely red when she met them. The outline of his fangs pressed against his lips, but the obvious signs of what he was didn’t scare her. “
I want this. I want you.”

  Ronan released an explosive exhale as he gripped the hem of her shirt. He pulled it slowly up, giving her the time to change her mind as he revealed more of supple flesh and curves. Her eyes never left his as she lifted her arms for him. He pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it aside. The black sports bra she wore kept her handful-sized breasts concealed, but there was something incredibly sexy about this tomboyish look on her.

  Hooking his fingers into the band of her sweatpants, he pulled her a step closer until their chests were flush against each other. He tugged her sweats and underwear lower over her rounded hips. He kept waiting for her to tell him to stop, but all he saw in her gaze was yearning as she watched every move he made.

  When he’d been in the gym with her earlier, all he could think of was tearing the clothes from her and burying himself inside her before she could stop him. Now, when he knew he would have her, all he wanted was to savor every inch of her. He bent to slide the sweats over her supple thighs and down her shapely calves. She stepped out of them as he rose to stand before her again.

  He grasped the edges of her bra and slid it over her head. Her silvery hair cascaded around her shoulders when her arms settled at her sides. Her luscious curves and the small triangle of darker blonde hair shielding her sex from his view caused his mouth to water.

  Stepping closer, he gritted his teeth against the throbbing need of his cock while he leisurely slid the backs of his knuckles up her sides. She bit on her lower lip as she raptly watched him, and he memorized her every reaction to his touch. His gaze latched onto her pert breasts with their pink nipples standing out tantalizingly, but he didn’t touch them, not yet. Instead, he continued to explore her as he ran his hands over her flat stomach and round hips.

  Smelling her desire on the air, he knew she was most likely wet for him already, and he wanted to feel that wetness slipping over his fingers. However, if he slid his fingers between her legs now, he knew he would be lost to her, and he wanted to take this as slow as possible. Her breath hitched in when his hands cupped her firm ass.

  “You’re exquisite,” he murmured.

  A spark lit her eyes when her gaze ran hungrily over him. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she said as her hands gliding over his chest caused his muscles to contract beneath her gentle ministrations.

  No one had ever touched him with such reverence before. When he’d still cared enough to have it, sex had always been enjoyable enough for him, but it had always been a scratching of an itch with a willing woman who had understood that was all he wanted from her. It had also been all she wanted from him too.

  However, Kadence touched him as if she cared for him.

  He stiffened as that realization sank in. She cared for him when none of his other lovers ever had, and he couldn’t deny that she’d become special to him too. Dipping his head, he nuzzled her ear with his lips as his hands slid up the slender curve of her spine. “If we do this, Kadence, there will be no turning back.”

  “I don’t want to turn back, ever.”

  “You could regret—”

  “No. Even if for some reason I decide to return home, I will never regret this night, or you.”

  Kadence held her breath as Ronan shifted so his forehead was against hers and his reddened eyes burned into hers. Then his mouth took hers in a kiss that burned all the way to the tips of her toes.

  His hands fell to her waist, and he lifted her easily. Taking two steps forward, he placed her on the bed and stepped back to admire her. She lay before him, her skin flushed with passion and her lips swollen from his kiss. Unbuttoning his pants, he hastily pulled them off and tossed them aside.

  Kadence’s eyes widened as he revealed himself completely to her. A fresh trickle of alarm slid through her as she gazed at the erection jutting proudly out from his body. The elder women had told her what to expect, but they hadn’t prepared her for how big he would be. It stood a good eight inches away from him and was so thick she knew she wouldn’t be able to wrap her hand completely around it.

  Swallowing heavily, she pushed aside her trepidation over what was to come. It would hurt, but this was Ronan, and she would deal with the pain if it meant easing this incessant ache for him.

  He climbed onto the bed with her and took her into his arms to cradle her against him. The warmth and strength of his body enveloping hers eased her fear. She clasped his back when he reclaimed her mouth and moaned when her breasts rubbed against his chest. The movement sent shivers over her body. He cupped one of her breasts in his palm, running his thumb over her nipple before rolling it between his fingers.

  Releasing her breast, he skimmed his hand over her hip and down her thigh. “Open your legs for me,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Unable to resist, Kadence spread her legs at his command. Small electrical currents coursed through her body as his hand slid between her thighs. His fingers stroking her caused her belly to clench with need.

  Ronan rubbed his thumb against her clit, relishing in her increased breaths as her body reacted to his touch. Already wet with her want for him, he spread that wetness over her before dipping his finger into her. Her inner heat enveloped him as her tight muscles gripped his finger and he began to move it within her.

  Kadence’s mind spun as his finger and thumb stroked her. Her hips instinctively rose and fell in rhythm to his movement within her. His finger was inside her and doing such wonderfully decadent things to her body that she could barely think straight. It was all happening so fast that she thought it should be at least a little overwhelming, but all she wanted was to experience more of him.

  She ran her hand over the muscles of his chest before dipping down to explore the ridges of his abdomen. She couldn’t get enough of him as she traced the trail of hair running from his bellybutton to his erection. Unable to resist, she ran a finger over the taut skin of his shaft before touching the bead of liquid forming on the head of it.

  Ronan grasped her hand when she ran her fingers tentatively over his head once more. Holding her hand within his grasp, he turned it and wrapped it around his cock. He worked her hand up and then back down the length of him.

  “Like this,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Kadence almost jerked away when his shaft jumped in her hand as he guided her up and down him. Then, he groaned and his head tipped back until the muscles in his neck stood out. His reaction to her touch fascinated her as did the heat of him against her palm. She forgot all about the delicious sensations he evoked in her as she concentrated on the pleasure she gave him.

  Then, he began to move his finger in a completely different way within her and his palm rubbed against her. She ground against his hand as he pushed her closer and closer to the brink of something far beyond anything she’d experienced those times when she’d woken after a dream and felt unfulfilled. During those times, she had touched herself in an attempt to ease what those dreams had awoken in her, but her touch and those dreams were nothing compared to the passion Ronan evoked within her.

  “Ronan,” she groaned when he slid his hand away from her.

  “Easy,” he whispered in her ear and eased her hand away from his cock. “I want to be in you the first time a man makes you come.”

  She wasn’t entirely sure what his words meant, but she was impatient to find out. He moved over her, his massive body filling her field of vision and all her senses, as he nudged her legs apart with his thigh.

  The corded muscles of his arms stood out as he held himself above her and he no longer tried to keep his lethal fangs concealed. She lifted her hips invitingly to him, needing him to quench the fire he’d created within her.

  Leaning down, he took hold of her mouth again and delved his tongue into her. He grasped her hips, holding her as he positioned the head of his dick against her inviting folds and began to inch forward. Gritting his jaw, it took all his restraint not to plunge into her as her wet heat enveloped him more and more. He stopped when he felt the b
arrier of her virginity. Releasing her hips, he lifted his lips from hers to take in the vision of her beneath him.

  “This is going to hurt,” he warned.

  “I know,” she murmured as she ran her fingers over his high cheekbones before slipping them around his neck. “The elder women told me what to expect.”

  Kadence’s breath caught when, for the briefest of seconds, she stared into a pair of eyes the same color as a deer’s. She’d seen hints of this rich, deep brown in his eyes before, but never this clearly. She knew she was being gifted a glimpse of Ronan while at peace and not the brutal, unyielding warrior she’d come to know. As fast as it had come, the brown faded away to become burgundy once more.

  She had no time to ponder what had caused the change before he thrust forward to penetrate deep into her. Kadence cried out, her nails dug into his nape and her thighs clamped against his sides.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his hands caressing her face as he kissed her again. “The pain will ease.”

  She nodded as he ran his lips across her collarbone before dipping lower to run his tongue over her nipple. He remained unmoving within her as he caressed her flesh, slowly evoking her desire for him again. He drew her nipple into his mouth and sucked on it as he ran his tongue around it once more.

  The coiling tension built within her once more as he turned his attention to her other breast. The sight of his dark head bent over her, the heat of his mouth, and the scrape of his fangs became an overwhelming sensation she almost couldn’t take, but she didn’t want it to stop.

  Instinctively, she lifted her hips to take him deeper into her as her fingers entwined in his hair and she drew him closer to her breast. He growled against her flesh as she lowered her hips and gasped when a wave of bliss speared through her.

  Ronan kept himself still as he waited for her to adjust to the feel of him inside her and to explore him in her own way and own time. It had been years since he’d last had sex, yet he didn’t feel out of control with need. A calm had descended over him the second she gave herself to him, a tranquility he’d never expected to experience in his life.