“And I see the most f**king beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” He pulled his hand back. Yanked open his jeans and positioned his c**k at the entrance of her body. “Beautiful.”
He made her feel that way.
“I’m safe,” he told her, voice rough and deep as he fought to hold his desire in check, and his gaze seemed to burn even brighter. “Werewolves can’t carry any diseases. Neither can vamps.”
She already knew that, just as she knew pregnancy wasn’t a risk for her, not then. Could a vampire and a werewolf even have a baby together?
Cade waited at the entrance of her body. She felt the broad shaft of his c**k and she wanted him inside but…
“No fear,” he told her.
Allison shook her head. She didn’t fear him. Right then, she just wanted him. “Now, Cade. Now.”
Her wolf smiled and drove into her. He filled her, so full and thick, and Allison realized that she’d forgotten to breathe. He stilled for a moment, letting her adjust, and when she tightened around him, wanting more, Cade withdrew—then thrust in again, harder.
Her nails dug into his shoulders. She wanted hard. Wild. Him.
Each slide of his flesh sent need twisting through her. Her sex was so sensitive, stretched, eager.
Pleasure beckoned just out of reach.
The bed squeaked in time with their rhythm. Thrust. Withdraw. Thrust. Stronger each time. Deeper. Wilder.
Allison laughed. It just felt good. He felt good. Her nails dug deeper. Her legs wrapped around him, pulling him closer.
Cade’s mouth was on her neck. No, not her neck, but right at the curve of her shoulder. She could feel the edge of his teeth.
Maybe she wasn’t the only one who liked to bite.
And…and she liked the feel of his teeth. Allison tilted her head back and pushed harder against him.
Harder.
The climax hit her, slamming right through her body so that her breath choked out and pleasure rocked her. Not gentle. Not easy. So fierce that the room dimmed. Aftershocks trembled through her sex as ripples of release tightened her around him.
And Cade came. She felt the hot release inside of her even as his teeth nipped at her shoulder. He shuddered and his hands held her so tight.
As if he’d never let go.
His heartbeat raced. She could feel it against her. Drumming far faster than hers ever could. He was so warm around her. Warm and strong and solid.
In his arms, she was safe. Nothing could hurt her. No one.
Not while she was in his arms.
He pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder and lifted his body as he stared down at her.
She didn’t want the moment to end. Not yet. Allison didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to worry about what or who would be coming for them next.
Right then, she just wanted to pretend that the rest of the world didn’t matter. Just a man and woman—that’s all they were.
No monsters.
No darkness.
Just a man.
She pressed a kiss to his chest.
And a woman.
Cade began to thrust again.
***
She was gone. Cade knew he was alone even before his eyes opened. The bed felt cold. Allison’s scent was weak, barely hanging in the air.
She was gone.
Growling, he jerked up in bed. The woman never should have been able to give him the slip. If he hadn’t spent half the day screwing her until he fell into an exhausted sleep, she damn well wouldn’t have gotten away.
He leapt from the bed. Didn’t she know how dangerous it was out there?
She needed him.
And he…fuck it, he wasn’t letting her get away from him. He grabbed his jeans, yanked them on, and followed the faint trail of her scent in the air. Roses.
He threw open the screen door, and it banged against the side of the cabin. She hadn’t taken the motorcycle. That was something. But then, he’d taken the liberty of hiding the keys.
His head turned slowly, and he stared at the thick line of trees. At the mountains that waited.
She’d gone off alone. Fuck.
Didn’t she realize? There was no place that she could go—no place that he wouldn’t follow.
He’d had one taste, and he wasn’t about to let his little pureblood go.
***
Elsa stood in the clearing, smiling. Her mirror had shown her just what she needed to see—Allison, running. Allison, scared and desperate.
The fool didn’t fully understand what was happening to her body. She didn’t know about vampire weaknesses.
She was about to find out. And a vampire running in the day…she might as well be human. Elsa could take out a human any day of the week. She’d been wrong to think that Allison was too powerful for her to handle alone. She could destroy the pureblood vamp. She would.
Elsa lifted her arms and called forth her magic. The spell of fire was always the first mastered by her kind. The first, and the most powerful.
The flames began to spread to the trees around her. The fire leapt from branch to branch, jumping through the forest. Soon, the fire would sweep out into a giant circle that would surround the fleeing vamp-to-be.
Surround Allison and trap her. The fire would close in. Slowly. Slowly.
The wolf had done his job after all. He’d lured Allison from the protection of the city. Got her into the wilderness where she was helpless. And soon…
Soon the fire would take her.
Elsa would make sure she stayed close enough to hear the bitch’s screams.
***
The scent of smoke reached her, thick, cloying, and Allison froze. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, pounding hard enough to shake her.
She turned slowly. The smoke…it was coming from the right. Allison could see the dark streak of gray in the sky. A forest fire? Hell, that couldn’t be—
Flames crackled. But that crackling came from behind her, to the left.
Her gaze jerked toward the sound.
More smoke. More fire. And that blaze looked like it was racing right toward her.
No…no…
“Allison!” The roar was her name. A roar loud enough to push across the crackling fire. “Allison!”
Cade was coming for her.
She spun around, seeing only smoke and fire now. So much. Too thick. She began to cough. This…wasn’t right. The afternoon had been fine moments before. Clear. Calm. She’d been the one running wild and—
“Allison!”
She choked, but managed to cry out… “Cade!” And, oh, damn, was that fire racing toward her?
She jumped back, barely avoiding a wild surge of heat. The fire was so close now. It seemed to be heading right for her.
Because it was. Understanding was like ice in her veins.