Forever Bound Series 1-4 Part 46

His fingers curled around hers, and he bent to taste her. Mine. Her lips parted. Her tongue met his. There was no hesitation in her. Iona knew what she wanted, and she was taking it.

Jamie knew exactly what he wanted, too, and he'd be d.a.m.ned if he ever gave her up.

They were hungry from the start. Wild. Full of l.u.s.t and need. Their kisses were hard, their tongues tasting. He'd never get enough of her. He never wanted to taste another woman. The taste would be bitter. But Iona...

Perfect.

Their hands were greedy and eager. Iona's body was slick from the soap and water. Her fingers brushed over his chest. Over the old scars-some he'd gotten just as a child, long before he could s.h.i.+ft and heal-that would always mark him.

Then...she slid down onto her knees before him.

Jamie hadn't expected the move, and he tried to pull back. "You don't need to-"

"I want this." Demanding, not asking.

As if he'd deny her anything.

Then her mouth closed around the tip of his c.o.c.k, and Jamie's knees locked. Sweet f.u.c.king h.e.l.l. Her tongue rasped over him. She took him in deeper as she sucked his flesh. The low moan that Iona gave vibrated along his c.o.c.k and had him nearly exploding in her mouth.

I made a promise. One he wouldn't forget, even if the woman was trying to make him go blind from pleasure.

He pulled back from her.

She glanced up, her eyes molten. "Jamie!"

He liked her demanding. He lifted her into his arms. He'd like her even more when she gave him a chance to taste her.

She kissed him while he carried her out of the bathroom. She licked his lips. Then she moved to his neck. When her fangs slid into his skin, his arms tightened around her.

Can't. Come. Yet.

He had to be inside her before he came, and she-she had to be on her second o.r.g.a.s.m by then.

Promises, promises...Now he recognized her words for the taunt they were. Iona wanted him to break. He wouldn't, maybe.

He put her on the bed. Hated to move away from her mouth-he loved her bite-but there was a part of her that he'd been dying to taste. Would she taste as good there? Yes. He already knew she would.

His hands trailed over her body. Over the soft swell of her stomach. He pressed a kiss there. Then, down, sliding into the silken heat of her s.e.x.

Her legs parted for him. Not far enough. He moved between those s.e.xy legs and opened her even wider.

So f.u.c.king perfect.

Jamie put his mouth on her. Tasted her secrets and drove his tongue into her s.e.x. She bucked beneath him, and he grabbed her hips, keeping her just where he needed her to be.

Right beneath his mouth.

Her hands slid over his shoulders. "Jamie?"

He licked her.

And felt her come. One...the start.

He kept tasting and licking and her moans filled his ears even as the beast roared inside him. Her pleasure was sweet on his tongue, but it wasn't enough. He needed so much more.

When had she become so important to him? When had she become...

Everything.

He'd been so desperate to get to LA. To get to her. If she'd been killed...

Jamie's hands tore away from her hips just as his claws burst from his fingertips. The claws sliced into the sheets, the mattress.

He heard her gasp. and he tried to yank back the beast. "Won't...hurt..."

His head lifted. He met her stare. Saw his whole world reflected back in that gold.

Claim. An instinct bred into the wolf. When you saw what you wanted, you took it.

An alpha's right. He'd never wanted another this way.

Take.

He pushed his c.o.c.k into her body. Drove deep and hard and the pure f.u.c.king bliss of her had his back teeth grinding together.

Then the animal inside took over. l.u.s.t was a frenzy, need a desperation within him. He plunged into her, thrusting again and again, but he couldn't seem to get deep enough, couldn't feel her close enough.

He pulled away from her. Turned Iona so that she was on her stomach. Would she- She rose to her knees. "Ready for more?" Iona asked him, tossing that s.h.i.+ning mane over her shoulder.

He was beyond speech right then. His mouth closed around the curve of her shoulder. A kiss at first, but then, because this was the spot that would mark a claiming...

He bit her, even as he thrust into her s.e.x. The pleasure hit them both, sweeping through them, between them, consuming in a white-hot explosion that left him hollowed out, and yet, for the first time in his whole life also feeling...

Whole.

As if he'd found something that had always been missing.

Her.

Jamie pressed a kiss to the faint wound he'd left on Iona's shoulder. The mark of a werewolf claiming. There would be no going back from this, and he wondered just what Iona would do now.

Hopefully, she wouldn't try to kill him.

Her arms curled around him. "I don't want to sleep," she whispered but her words were husky, and he knew that sleep pulled desperately at her.

It pulled at him, too. "I'll stay with you."

Her head tilted back. She stared up at him with eyes so deep and mysterious. "I'm afraid."

He knew the admission had been hard. For her, hard was probably one serious understatement.

His arms tightened around her. "It's okay. I swear, I won't let anything happen to you."

The last time, she'd slept for fifteen years.

He inhaled her scent. Realized that she already felt like she was a part of him. "I'll keep you safe."

But Iona gave a sad shake of her head. "It's not the sleep I fear." Her hand slid over his chest. "It's the dreams. What I'll...see."

Because of the blood she'd taken from him. Jamie carefully held his expression, hoping to show only concern for her and not the fear and anger that were suddenly clawing inside of him. Just yesterday, he'd planned to keep her from sleeping. Planned to stop her from using their blood link so she wouldn't see his secrets in her dreams.

But now I want her to know me. Pity his memories weren't the stuff of white knights. h.e.l.l, Iona had probably met real freaking knights in her life.

And she'd battled monsters. Like me.

"I don't want to find out...you're as much of a monster as Latham..." Her voice whispered away as her lashes began to sag. Her slurred words were a painful echo of his own thoughts.

His eyes squeezed shut. Jamie leaned over to press a kiss to her the tumble of her hair. "I'm sorry." Because he knew exactly what Iona would see in her dreams.

And he knew that she'd want him dead.

But she deserved to know. He couldn't keep secrets from her anymore.

Even if the truth she learned made her go for his throat.

Chapter Six.

The bodies were broken. Twisted.

Jagged wounds-claw marks-had ripped into the woman's neck. Her blond hair was matted with her blood.

A man's body rested beside her, his hands still reaching for her even in death. The heavy scent of silver burned in the air.

"Why?" The cry was torn from her...only when she glanced down, Iona wasn't staring at her own body.

No, when she glanced down, she saw Jamie's strong hands. Jamie's body.

Because this was Jamie's memory.

Part of her wanted to wake up, but once the blood memories came, there was no stopping them. This was the way the memories always came for her. She relived the memories, the moments, until the blood pushed her free. So she watched, through Jamie's eyes, as he fell before the people that she knew were his parents. Those memories were there, too, inside of her and- "You're next." Latham's voice.

He was standing over the bodies. His lips were twisted with hate.

"Why?" Jamie demanded again, the cry like a wounded animal. And-he was.

"Because I'm taking over the pack. He was in my way." Latham glared at the dead man's body and then pointed at Jamie. "You're in my way, too, brother."

Brother?

A knife seemed to slide into her heart, but the heart-it wasn't hers. It was Jamie's. And Latham had just shoved a silver blade into Jamie's chest. Then Latham...walked away.

But Jamie didn't die. Someone else rushed to his side. A wolf she recognized. Sean. Sean took out the blade even as it scorched and blistered his fingertips. But Jamie was still near death. Far too close. Death's cold hands reached out as the world seemed to go dark...

Then she was somewhere else. Her eyes opened. She-no, Jamie was on a bed. "What the h.e.l.l happened?" His voice seemed to echo all around her.

Sean swallowed and glanced away, as if he couldn't stand to meet Jamie's eyes. "Had to...I had to give you vampire blood. It was the only way to keep you alive."

"Where'd you get it?"

"Latham...he...he has a vamp that he keeps prisoner. She's supposed to be f.u.c.kin' strong."

She? Iona's heart burned because she realized this memory...it had been created when Latham already had her captive.

"That's how my brother stays so strong." Jamie jumped from the bed. Her blood had pushed his strength level higher than anything he'd ever felt before. "We have to find her. Find her...and kill the b.i.t.c.h. We kill her, and we'll kill him, too."

Iona whimpered and turned her head against the pillow.

Jamie's jaw locked. He wanted to shake her and force her eyes to open, but...he didn't want any more secrets between them. No more lies. Iona wasn't what he'd expected. She deserved to know the truth about what happened. About him.

"And when you come for my throat..." His fingers brushed back her hair. "h.e.l.l, maybe I won't even fight you."

Because he didn't know who had wronged her more. Him...or his brother.

Another time, another place. The memories were coming faster now as the blood pushed her to see more. Learn more.

The pounding of the surf hit her ears even as the scent of the ocean filled her nose. She paced-no, Jamie paced-inside a small beach house. A man sat before him, bound hand and foot to a chair.

The man's blond hair fell over his eyes, but then Jamie said, "Witch, we can do this two ways. I can kill you now, or you can help me." His hands lifted and claws glinted in the dying light. "We can both work together to take out Latham, and you can keep living."

Witch? The man's head rose. Brian Hennessey stared back at her. Pain froze her heart. Jamie had been working with Brian? With the witch who'd bound her?

Blood dripped from Brian's busted bottom lip. "You can't...stop him. He's too strong." Then Brian laughed. "He's gonna take...over every pack...no stopping..."

Jamie kicked the chair and Brian fell backward, slamming into the wooden floor. "He's strong because you gave him magic. You think I didn't hear the story about the vampires you slaughtered? About the Blood Queen that you're holding and slowly draining?" His lips curled in disgust. "I know you're giving her blood to my brother. That's why he's so powerful."

And for an instant, the fast flood of memories were hers, not Jamie's. Iona remembered the p.r.i.c.k of a needle in her arm. The slow suction as her blood drained away. Again and again and again as the years rolled away...