“You ass**le—” Paul lunged at Jace with bared fangs.
“Stop.” Morgan’s quiet voice. Her hand touched Paul’s shoulder. The vampire stil ed instantly.
Morgan tilted her head back and met Jace’s stare. “How do you know about that night?”
No point lying. Besides, he didn’t want to lie. Not to her. “I drank your memories, princess.”
Instant murmurs of disbelief came from the vampires. Paul shook his head. “No, no way, that can’t happen. Plenty of humans have tasted our blood and seen nothing. ”
“I’m not human.” Jace stated the obvious. “Those rules don’t apply to me.” And in their blood past, al those long centuries of hate that stood between the vampires and werewolves, wel , his kind hadn’t wanted to spend time tasting a vampire’s blood.
Ripping them apart. Beheading them.
Not sampling the blood supply.
“The game has changed now,” he said as the vampires and wolves eyed each other. He didn’t know if that was good or bad. Behind him, he heard the snap of bones.
Jace glanced back. That snap hadn’t come from one of his own shifting. The demon’s neck was popping back into place. Not much longer.
“Hold him,” he ordered Louis. “Don’t…start until I get back.”
Torture would come. Anything, everything that he had to do in order to make the demon talk.
Then he glanced back at Morgan. “You need me,” he told her.
“Why?” From Paul again. “Do you real y think she needs someone to drain her dry?”
The bastard was begging for a beating. Begging. But… Morgan cares for him.
“The way you did when she changed you? How many days did she sleep after that because you took too much? How many—”
“Enough!” Morgan’s shout froze them al . She looked like a breeze would topple her then, but her voice packed a punch of undeniable fury. “You.” She jabbed her finger at Paul.
“You were desperate, changing—you had to take my blood. I offered it to you.”
Paul smirked. Begging.
“And you.” She exhaled as she shook her head and focused on Jace. “What did you think I was going to do? Let you die in front of me?” Before he could answer, she ran a shaking hand over her neck. “You might be an alpha ass**le, but you’re mine, and I wasn’t letting you go without a fight.”
“And I won’t let you go.” Ever. His hand lifted and rubbed lightly over the marks he’d left on her flesh. “Now you need me… let me help you.”
Her tongue snaked out and licked over her lower lip. He knew she understood his meaning because her fangs started to grow.
“The battle’s coming. You have to be strong.” A strength she’d get from him. He eased back and offered his hand. “Come with me.”
But she was shaking her head. “This isn’t your place, wolf.”
A stiffness fil ed his chest. Pain.
“It’s mine.” She grabbed his hand. “So you come with me.” Then she led him away from the vampires and wolves. Led him up a spiral staircase and into a room without windows. A room that smel ed of her.
Before the door closed, he had her in his arms.
Five minutes.
Not even that. Not now.
His lips took hers. Jace thrust his tongue inside her mouth. She kissed him back with no hesitation, even though the scent of fear stil hovered on her skin. He stroked her with his tongue, caressed with his lips, but the scent remained. Jaw clenching, he lifted his head. “Stop.”
Her lashes rose, and she blinked at him. “Why?”
“Because you fear me.” He stalked away from her. It was either step away or pounce, and he wanted to show her that he could have restraint. It won’t last long.
They were in an apartment of sorts. A leather couch. A TV. Bookshelves. Then toward the right…a bed. A big, four-poster.
Morgan, in that bed…
An image too tempting to resist. Let the demon wait. The vamps and wolves could keep him…entertained.
He reached for Morgan’s hand. Entwined his fingers with hers and led her to the bed. She sat down on the edge of the mattress and stared up at him. “I can’t figure you out, wolf.”
“You’ve tasted my life.” Now he truly knew what that meant. “How can I possibly have secrets from you?” He lowered onto his knees and positioned his body between her spread legs. Then Jace tilted his head and offered his throat. “Drink.” The ultimate pose of submission. For her, only her.
She’d nearly traded her life for his. Louis, we’ll name our first son after you
—because you f**king saved my ass.
If he’d gone too far, taken too much from her…
Her eyes seemed so wide as she gazed at him.
“Don’t fear me,” he’d meant the words as a plea but they came out sounding like an order. Dammit. He cleared his throat. “It won’t happen again. I give you my word it—”
“You were already pul ing back before Louis dislocated your shoulders.”
He blinked.
“You kept your control. And the blood—it was freely given.”
She wasn’t drinking from him. Why the hel not?
Her hand slid down his shirt. Pressed against his heart. His chest was bare. After the shift and the fury, the wolves had dressed in their back up jeans, but most hadn’t bothered with shirts. Her touch seemed to burn right through his flesh.
She stared down at her hand. At his chest. “What separates the man from the beast?”
Morgan asked softly.
He forced his jaw to unlock. “There is no separation.”
Her hand dipped lower. Found the snap of his jeans. “When you’re a wolf,” her voice grew huskier, “do you stil have the mind of a man? Some stories say no. Others say yes.”
The zipper hissed down. “It’s…both.” Man and beast.
Her fingers curled around his aroused flesh. “How do you see me then? As prey?”
“No.” The wolf had only wanted to protect her. As did the man. Her thumb slid over the head of his arousal. “As what?” Her eyes held his.
“As everything.” Because that was what she’d become. Had it started that long ago night? Started with bloody tears and culminated when he’d taken her flesh?
Didn’t matter. To him, she was…al . Everything.
“Good answer,” she whispered as she leaned forward. “Very, very good.” Her fangs sank into him—not in his throat, but at the curve of his shoulder. The exact place he’d marked her for their wolf claiming. She was—she was claiming him . Pleasure exploded through Jace at her bite. White-hot, pulsing. Inside, his wolf howled even as Jace wrapped his arms around Morgan and held tight.