Lure of the Blood (10 page)

“So, you’ve made your choice, then. You choose
him?”

He was so fucking choked up, his voice was
barely a croak and he shut his eyes in disgust at his own weakness, made worse
by Lucas’ knowing chuckle.

He ordered the pack to disperse and made to
turn away himself, not wishing to see the reunion in front of him––in his
fucking territory, no less––when a small hand on his injured side stopped him. 
The rip of cloth followed by pressure against his side had his wolf yip in pain
and he was stunned to see Marnie looking up at him, her expressive eyes
shimmering in tears.

Had it not been for his shifter hearing, he
would have missed her whispered denial.

“I’m not choosing Lucas, you big hairy idiot. I
just don’t want anyone else killed on my behalf.”

Before his foggy brain could process that,
Lucas’ soft laughs made the little human whip round and advance on the vampire.
Every line of her body screamed her fury, and Ion watched in stunned disbelief
when she poked Lucas in the chest repeatedly.

“And you, you bloodsucking leech. If you ever
thought I would choose you after what you coerced me into, you need your brain
examined. I thought I made myself perfectly clear the last time. Now, fuck off
the pack’s land and leave them alone. How dare you come here and start a fight.
This is a family, for god’s sake, they all have children and you come here
and…”

“Chere, I came here…”

“I.am.not.your.chere! Got that? And I don’t
want to know why you came here, all I want to see is you buggering off where
you came from and leaving us alone.”

The ancient vamp’s amused laugh set Ion’s teeth
on edge, whilst Marnie’s exasperated growl in response made his wolf yip in
approval. Damn, she had spunk for a human. And that growl, if he didn’t know
better he’d have thought there was wolf somewhere in her bloodline. But that
was impossible. He would have sensed it.

Lucas blocked the incoming slap to his face and
spinning her around shoved her into Ion’s side hard enough for her to gasp in
pain. Her hands connected with his shoulders in an attempt to steady herself
and his skin burned where she touched him, every part of him aware of her
feminine curves, fitting against him. Her scent enveloped him, calling him home
and he knew his growled voice was barely human.

“You heard her, Lucas, get the fuck out of my
territory.”

Marnie’s eyes widened, the pupils dilating as
she too fell under the spell of the moon, their close proximity evoked. Ion
drank in the scent of her arousal, as her breath hitched and her heart rate
matched his own.

“I can see I picked the wrong time for our
talk, but you can’t protect her from this, Ion. I’ll be back when you’ve gotten
this out of your system.” Lucas hesitated for a second longer, his expression
wistful, his wounds already healing. With a blur of air, he was gone.

“Let’s get you inside, little one, you’re
frozen again.”

Her protest was immediate and loud. “Never mind
me, you’re hurt and you’re naked and…” The blush staining her cheeks when it
dawned on her that he was indeed in his birthday suit made his cock roar to
life and she tried to pull away.

“Ion, you’re hurt and…”

“And what, little one? Surely you’ve seen a
naked man before now? It’s just a scratch. I’ve had far worse. Right now,
this,” and he gestured to his cock, his voice dropping of its own accord,
“hurts far more. Know of a way to make it better, my sweet?”

Startled eyes connected with his and he held
himself very still, waiting for her response. Every cell in his body ached to
hold her, to possess, to brand her as his and his alone. To burn away the
images of her and Lucas, to make her scream her surrender to him, to placate
his wolf. She couldn’t be his mate, but fuck, he wanted her with an
all-consuming need that had little to do with the moon and everything with the
woman in his arms. She shivered against him, when he sniffed her neck and when
he licked the damnable marks there; she sagged against him with a moan of
surrender. His wolf’s howl of victory echoed through the stillness and she
jumped in his arms, before snuggling in closer, her breath cool on his heated
skin.

“Ion?”

“Yes, little one?” He looked down into eyes the
colour of molten dark chocolate, mesmerised by the tentative smile on her face,
which showed the dimples in her cheeks and made him want to lick her all over
until she moaned in pleasure. She would taste divine, he was sure, his wolf
almost salivating at the thought as the ache in his balls became unbearable. He
couldn’t ever recall wanting a woman with such ferocious need that shattered
all self-control and went beyond all reason.

“I do know a way to make it better.”

He felt himself harden even more at those
whispered words and not wanting to waste one more precious minute, he picked
her up with a muttered curse. For the second time that day he carried his
precious bundle up to his bedroom, the answering howls of his pack ringing in
his ears, but this time he was going to make damn sure to claim what was his.

Chapter Eleven

Marnie closed her eyes, letting Ion’s scent
wash over her, soothing the horrific images she had witnessed. Worry over his
injuries warred with the awareness of him on every level as his hard body
surrounded her. He had to hurt, and no matter what he said, she would make sure
to get a look at that side. Pressing the torn hem of her dress to the wound had
stemmed the flow of blood. But he was no vampire, he couldn’t heal that fast,
and it wasn’t just a scratch either. She would have to persuade him somehow to
take it easy once they got upstairs.

Yeah, you try that, girl.
A ruthless determination emanated from the man carrying her up the
stairs, three at a time, as easily as though she weighed no more than a
feather. His heartbeat thundered in her ear as erratically as her own and his
arms tightened around her, when she wriggled closer into the warmth of his
skin, not able to stop her instinctive need to lick his chest.

The scent and very essence of Ion exploded on
her tongue. Need slamming into her, all thoughts of injuries fled her befuddled
brain, when Ion pinned her against the wall, the minute they reached the safety
of the bedroom.

He slid her down his naked body with infinite
slowness and they groaned in unison when his rock-hard erection made brief
contact with her groin on the way down. Marnie couldn’t breathe, couldn’t
think. She was locked in the prison of Ion’s arms, every cell in her body
craving his touch. Her knees buckled when he sniffed her neck, inhaling deeply.
One of his thighs, between her legs, stopped her descent and his wolf’s grumble
vibrated through her, causing more moisture to seep through her soaked thong.
He had to feel that! Heat rose in her cheeks, even as his cock seemed to grow
bigger still, a hard shaft against her belly, setting her skin alight where it
touched through the thin barrier of her summer dress.

Ion’s barely controlled growl in her ear was
the most arousing sound she had ever heard. His delicious scent intensifying
around her, she didn’t even try to stop the needy moan escaping on a shuddery
breath of air.

“Ion, please.”

“What, little one?”

The rasp of his rough tongue along her
sensitive neck stopped Marnie from being able to respond at all, as the
friction his tongue created sent sparks of electricity dancing across her body.
Every lick along her fevered skin pitched her arousal higher, until the whole
world was centred on the next trail of friction along her jaw.  Her hips moved
of their own accord, grinding her core into Ion’s roughened thigh, until the
iron grip of his hands on her hips stopped her.

“Easy, little one. This will be so much better
if we go slowly. I want to taste every inch of you, drink your cream and make
you come again and again against my tongue and then, only then, my sweet will you
feel my cock so deep inside you, you will never want to leave me.”

The hands on her hips softened, as Marnie
froze. Shivers of excitement or fear or both, she couldn’t be quite sure which,
danced along her spine at the images those growled words created. Her hands
clung to his shoulders and she lost herself in his predatory smile, when she
risked a glance up at his face. The eyes of his wolf were looking down on her
and he crowded her further against the wall. Her breasts flattened against his
chest and his thigh moved sinuously against her core.

“So wet, my little one. Tell me, is this bounty
all for me?”

A renewed surge of moisture was his answer and
his eyes darkened further. She could feel his claws slowly dragging along her
sides as his hands wandered to her neck and he pulled back slightly, one hand
cupping her breast through the fabric of her dress, whilst his head lowered and
Marnie’s eyes fluttered closed in anticipation of his invasion.

The gentleness of the kiss that followed took
her breath away. Not the harsh invasion she had been expecting, but a tender
seduction of lips and teeth, coaxing her to open on a sigh. Ion slipped into
that moan, his tongue exploring every part of her mouth with agonising
slowness, whilst his hand on her nipple rubbed and teased, every roll sending
shards of pure pleasure between her thighs. Desperate to take the kiss deeper,
her tongue sought his, but every time she tried he withdrew with a muttered
growl, shaking his head and the hand on her breast stopped its intimate
massage.

“I told you, we’re taking this slow, little
one. I have no wish to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me, Ion. Please, I need you.”

Something hot and dangerous flashed across his
face at her whispered plea, the grip on her tightening for an instant. He
smiled, the fangs of his wolf clearly visible, and Marnie held her breath at
the struggle she sensed in him. The hand on her breast gripped the front of her
dress and with one quick flick of his sharp claws the dress ripped, exposing
her to his hungry gaze from the waist down. She sucked in her tummy on a
shuddered moan as those menacing claws ran a trail over the soft skin of her
abdomen, skimming the top of her thong with a feather touch, before he withdrew
his claws and his fingers dipped under the elastic. His thigh spread her wider,
as his fingers hovered over her clit and he resumed the kiss, his raspy tongue
duelling with hers, until she thought she was going to dissolve into a sodden
mess of drool and need.

His breathing was as heavy as hers when he
finally pulled back, his eyes glowing in the darkness of the room.

“What makes you so sure I won’t hurt you.
You’re such a little thing. You have no idea what my wolf could do to you.”

Marnie couldn’t breathe under the intensity of
his fevered gaze. Of course she knew what he could do. Had she not seen his
wolf in action mere minutes ago, about to rip Lucas to shreds? Terror slammed
into her anew, not at Ion’s wolf, but at what could have happened to him, and
she bit her lip so hard she could taste her own blood.

Ion released her with a muffled curse, all
traces of his wolf gone. The flash of pain she saw in his eyes, before he
turned his back on her, sliced straight through her heart.

“Good, I knew you’d come to your senses.”

****

Fuck, that hurt. What had he been thinking? She
was human, dammit. Of course she would freak at the reminder of his wolf. She
had barely recovered from the mauling she had received at the hands of Lucas,
witnessed his wolf at his most ferocious and now he’d almost taken her against
the wall as though she was one of his unmated females in heat.

She deserved a soft bed and flowers and
romance, not the harsh reality of life with a shifter, who could not control
his baser instincts at the sight of the moon and the scent of an aroused
female. No matter how aroused she was, he would hurt her; his wolf would take
over. She wasn’t made for the rough sex the wolves favoured.

He had to get away, as far away as he could to
keep her safe. Her scent still called him on the most primal level and he
didn’t sense fear from her anymore, but empathy? What the fuck? The small hands
around his waist brought his wolf back to the forefront and Ion shuddered when
he felt Marnie lick his back, her small teeth nipping along his shoulder blades
as her hands dipped lower, skimming along his cock. Dear God, what did she
think she was doing? She had no idea how close he was to losing control.

As if sensing his struggles she froze, her
rapid breath hot on his back. But instead of withdrawing, as any sensible woman
ought to, she pressed her breasts into his back. At some point she must have
taken off that wisp of a bra, because those heavy globes were warm and inviting
against his bare back, the nipples as hard as his ever growing cock as she
rubbed them slowly up and down his back, her soft moans driving his wolf into a
frenzy. His mouth watered and his jaws ached with the sheer willpower it took
to not turn around and take those lush nipples into his mouth and suckle her
into climax. The scent of her juices invaded him anew; she would be so wet and
sweet and responsive, as though made for him.

“Marnie, you have no idea who you’re raising
here.” The growled warning meant to stop her, but she simply laughed, the husky
tones wrapping him in a warm cocoon of sensual awareness at the same time as
her hand closed around his cock and his inner wolf howled in surrender.