Lure of the Blood (17 page)

Marnie had to smile at the image and Ion drew
her in a bit closer. His eyes searched her face and his hands went in her hair
as he leaned in closer still and inhaled deeply. Ion’s unique scent surrounded
her and it was her turn to sigh. A brief smile lit up his craggy features at
her whispered words. “Guess I know who wore the trousers, your mum, right?”

“My father loved her to distraction, so yes. I
guess in the privacy of our home, she did. He would have done anything for her
as long as it didn’t endanger the pack. But the pack came first, always. It had
to. That’s the only reason he allowed her to visit the witch. He needed an heir
and at least on that, she delivered. He knew there would be a price to pay,
there always is with magic, but my mother was desperate for a baby. He would
have gladly forsaken children, were it not for the bloodlines.” The expression
in his eyes made Marnie’s heart skip a beat, before it turned into a jackhammer
at his next words. “I understand how he felt. It’s not easy being torn between
your duty and the woman you love.”

“Ion, I…” His kiss stopped her response and for
the life of her she could not resist the gentle caress of his firm lips. When
their tongues touched, Ion’s wolf growled low and he deepened the kiss with an
urgency and desperation that matched her own. She shuddered when he broke away,
the determination in his eyes so intense she forgot to breathe altogether. His
fangs descended and he tilted her head with a muttered curse. Marnie could feel
the heat of that gaze setting her alight. The temptation to give in to the
silent question in his glowing eyes as his head descended towards her and his
fangs scraped along her neck was almost too much to resist.

But they couldn’t do this. She wasn’t right for
him, no matter how much every single cell in her body screamed at her to
submit. With clarity, she suddenly knew that her destiny was to stop him, to
save him from himself. She had to leave and in time he would find a shifter
female; he had to. His furious howl, when she put one hand on her neck and
pushed against his chest at the same time, echoed around the tall ferns.  He
had never looked more like a wolf than at that moment, the veins in his neck
standing out, his body coiled for action. The air around him shimmered and
Marnie held her breath at the leashed power in front of her, his features
barely human as he growled at her.

“Fuck it, little one, do you have any idea how
much I want to claim you and say to hell with the consequences?”

She tried to scramble away from him, but the
arm of steel around her waist yanked her back on his bare lap. The heat of his
naked body enveloped her, pitching her own arousal to meet his. She gasped at
the feel of his fully erect cock nudging against her core and instant moisture
seeped through her thong. Her stomach flipped in anticipation and her womb
clenched painfully, sending a spike of pure lust to her instantly throbbing
clit. There was no way his shifter senses wouldn’t pick up on her body’s
immediate response and the heavy scent of her arousal in the air between them.
She buried her face in his chest, unable to look at the fierce heat in his
eyes, as his hold on her tightened and his breathing grew heavy.

“Ion, we can’t… please.”

The grip on her waist grew painful and his
voice was a strained plea in her ear.

“I want you, little one. I cannot let you go.”

Marnie screwed her eyes shut, inhaling deeply
of Ion’s scent. Oh he smelled so good and this felt so right, but they couldn’t
do this. She could never be his and she had to leave.

“We…we can’t, Ion. I’m endangering the pack
just by being here, you know that. They’ve charged me with murder and they will
find me eventually. I cannot be here. You would risk exposure and it’s my
stupid fault this happened in the first place.” She placed one hand on his
mouth to stop his immediate denial, her heart skipping a happy hop at the
fierce protectiveness she saw in his eyes.

“No, Ion, it
is
my fault. Not yours, not
even Lucas’, but mine. You both just reacted to my stupidity and tried to save
me in your own way. If I hadn’t insisted on walking, none of this would have
happened. The man wouldn’t be dead and you wouldn’t have felt obliged to bring
me back here and…”

He silenced her with a kiss, his tongue
demanding entry, his body crowding her. His low growls turned the blood in her
veins to molten lava as her body went up in flames, until she simply kissed him
back.  She melted into his body, when he licked himself down her throat and
when his teeth closed around one of her nipples through the fabric of her
shirt, pure shards of pleasure shot straight to her clit. Her hips moved
restlessly, rubbing her swollen folds against the head of his cock and they
groaned in unison, when he lifted her in one fluid move. Shoving the flimsy
barrier of her underwear away, she moaned low in her throat when he drove into
her wet heat in one powerful thrust. He held himself perfectly still, his
muscles trembling with the effort, his eyes like hot coals devouring her.

“Still think we can’t do this, little one?”

She barely managed a feeble shake of her head,
before he moved them both to their knees, the move lodging him deeper inside
her.  The breath whooshed out of her lungs, when he grabbed her hips to pull
all the way out, only to thrust deep with a low growl in her ear. His chest
hair tickled across her back and his warmth enveloped her, as he licked himself
up her neck. The bite on her ear, as he pulled all the way out, only to enter
her again in one slow, deliberate move, pure pleasure mixed with pain.  Marnie
felt every agonisingly slow thrust, as her internal muscles clenched around
him, desperate to hold him in, to seek the release only he could bring. Every
move scraped against her G-spot building the sweet pressure to unbearable
levels, until she begged him to move faster, yet still he kept it slow. Every
thrust punctuated with the same growled words over and over.

 “You...are…mine…little…one…and…I…will…never…let…you…go.”

When Marnie thought she couldn’t possibly take
anymore, her whimpers filling the falling shadows around them, his touch on her
clit sent her spiralling into the abyss and he finally lost control. With an
almost brutal yank on her hair, Ion pulled her up against him, the shift in
position lodging him so deep his cock scraped her womb and she was lost in the
frantic assault on her senses, as waves and waves of intense pleasure consumed
her. The wet sounds of their bodies slapping together, their harsh breaths and
Ion’s growl of completion reverberated around the small clearing, before they
both collapsed on the forest floor and Ion pulled her sated body atop his.

“You’re mine, little one. Whatever happens,
you’re mine!”

Chapter Seventeen

The sudden wetness on his chest, coupled with
Marnie’s agonised cries, woke him up in instant, all his senses on full alert,
his body coiled for action. But there was no danger, just the two of them in
his room back at the pack house with Marnie caught in the grips of a nightmare.
The sun was just rising, casting a golden glow on her and she had never looked
more beautiful to him. He pulled her closer into his side, murmuring soothing
nonsense into her ear, and her breathing returned to normal, as her body
relaxed back into sleep. He lay holding her, his emotions in turmoil, as the
sun rose higher still. Soon she would be awake and insist on that crazy plan of
hers.

He wanted to wrap her up in cotton wool just
like he’d wrapped her up in the soft towel after the bath they’d shared last
night. He wanted to hold her captive right here in his bed and never let her
go. But he had his duty to his pack and her mind was made up. The rational part
of his brain knew this was the only option, but every fibre of his being
screamed at him to throw caution and duty to the wind and make her his. It
would be so easy to run his fangs along the exposed column of her neck and sink
home, but he couldn’t do that to her. She had to be willing and she wasn’t.

His hold on her tightened and he swallowed the
curse bubbling on his tongue, mindful not to wake her. Every time he’d tried to
convince her to stay (and boy had he tried), her eyes filled with tears and she
pulled away.

“Ion, this is the only way.  Even if I didn’t
have this murder charge hanging over me, I couldn’t stay. I can’t be your mate,
not ever and I know if I stayed I wouldn’t have the strength to keep on
stopping you. I’m not what you need and I…I love you too much let you throw it
all away.”

“And I love you too much to let you go, little
one.”

Her eyes huge, she’d scooted as close to him as
was humanly possible. “You have to, Ion. Your pack needs you and you need
them.”

His immediate denial had died on his lips, when
she kissed him, her tears mingling with his own. “Let’s not argue Ion, please.
Make love to me. If this is the only night we have left…”

His wolf had needed no further invitation. He
lost count how many times they reaffirmed their love for each other, each time
growing more desperate and urgent as the night wore on. His cock stirred to
life, recalling her passionate responses, the way her eyes clouded over in the
heat of passion, her moans and sighs urging him on, until he lost all control.
The way Marnie turned the tables on him, her mouth and hands driving his wolf
wild, as she took him into her mouth, her sweet pussy and her delectable ass.
His fingers itched to wake her up now, but it was dawn. She would insist on
leaving, once she was awake. He settled for watching her sleep, the slight fall
and rise of her breasts, marked by his stubble and his hands and the surge of
emotion had his wolf whine his frustration.

Unable to stop himself he ran one claw down her
throat, over her collarbone and down to one rosy peak, which puckered even in
her sleep. He smiled at her low moan when he trailed that claw lower, swirling
it round her belly button, over the quivering skin of her lower tummy, before
sheathing it and letting his fingers sink deep into her moist, wet heat. His
balls tightened and his gut churned at her body’s immediate responsiveness. He
needed this woman like he needed the air to breathe. How was he ever going to
find the strength to let her go? He inserted another finger, stretching her
wider, whilst his thumb circled round her swelling clit and her eyes fluttered
open with a breathy, “Ion?” He lost himself in the dark amber of her eyes, as
they clouded over with desire and love for him. He increased the pressure of
his fingers as his mouth sought hers. She sighed into his kiss, their tongues
setting a passionate dance and her hips rose as he increased the pressure
further, her breath coming in short gasps, a rosy blush spreading all over her
body. Her nails dug into his back as she trapped his hand between her thighs,
pushing herself further against his fingers and his cock throbbed painfully at
the sensation of her aroused nipples scraping across his chest.

“Ion, please…” her needy whisper skimmed across
his heated flesh and his cock surged higher still, when she sunk her small
teeth into his shoulder. “I want you inside of me now, please…”

With a growl of surrender he pushed her back
onto the bed his eyes locking with hers as she lay back and spread her legs
wide in silent invitation, the scent and sight of her swollen, wet pussy driving
his wolf wild. He took her outstretched hand in his and her eyes grew wide as
he fisted his fully engorged cock and slowly ran the tip along her slit in lazy
circles. His breathing grew as ragged as hers, when she raised herself up
slightly and her other hand closed over his, guiding him into her wet heat with
a simple lift of her hips. They stayed locked together, not moving as he grew
bigger still inside her and her muscles clenched around him, making beads of
sweat break out across his forehead with the sheer effort to hold himself
still. He wanted to stay here forever––joined to the woman he loved, and was
destined to never have. Marnie’s eyes filled with tears and her breathing
hitched further as she moved slightly, bringing her clit in direct contact with
his knuckles, still holding the base of his shaft. Ion clenched his teeth as
her muscles contracted around him.

“Damn it, little one, no. I want this to last.”

Her breathy “I…I…can’t,” as her climax hit, had
him too losing control and setting a ruthless rhythm, he drove himself into her
again and again, oblivious to anything but the fierce need to brand her as his
and to never let her go. Lost in her muttered moans and sighs, as needy as his
own, Ion sought his own release and when he too finally hit that peak, his
wolf’s desperate howl was echoed by those of his pack and Marnie’s tears.

Spent, he collapsed on top of her, licking her
tears away.

“Stay with me please, little one.”

He felt her withdrawal before she said it, her
voice heavy with tears and regret.

“I can’t, Ion, but I will always love you. Be
happy for me, please be happy and find someone else; you have to.”

Ion’s fists balled around the steering wheel,
remembering that scene now. They had dressed quietly, not looking at each other
and foregoing eating breakfast. Marnie had said her goodbyes to the pack,
regret visible in every tight line of her body.  It had taken all of his will
power to not shift and howl his frustration, tearing the place apart. Jenkins’
hand on his shoulder had been firm, the man’s wolf whining at the unfolding
scene.