Blade Song (30 page)

Blowing out a breath, I said quietly, “That’s a little deep, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve known each other…what…a week?”

Gray eyes stared at me. “You want to know what rut is, Kit? Really know?”

My heart banged against my ribs. The intensity in his voice, the deep growl of it danced across my skin and I could hardly breathe. The air in the room was charged, so tight and hot.

He came to me, all hard muscle and grace and feline beauty and I couldn’t think for wanting him. He knelt on the bed and braced one hand on the headboard by my head. “Do you, Kit?” he asked again, his breath drifting across my lips.

When in doubt—or terror—reach for the sarcasm. Curling my lip at him, I said, “Are you going to tell me it’s some mystical fated mates shit? Sorry. I won’t buy that. It doesn’t work that way.”

His hand curled around my neck, his thumb resting in the hollow of my neck. “No. Absolutely it doesn’t. This is all on my part, and whether or not you’ll ever feel a damn thing for me is up to you…but you already feel something. Even if I hadn’t already figured that out, I would have gotten a clue when you came muttering my name and clutching at me during the night, baby girl.” The pad of his thumb stroked over me. “No. It’s more complicated…better. Easier. Worse. Harder. It started when you pulled that fucking sword on me in your office. I wanted you then, but wanting is easy. Almost any woman can satisfy a guy when he just needs to get laid.”

“Nice to know this isn’t just about you being horny.”
Look away
, I told myself. Needed to do that because the raw intensity in his eyes was killing me. Killing me—

But that was one thing I just couldn’t do. Couldn’t. At all.

“Your mouth was another problem for me,” he muttered, leaning in and licking my lower lip. “You fucking smart ass. Mouthing off from the get-go. I’ve never found a smart ass so appealing until I met you.”

“Uh-huh. You’re still not explaining much here.”

A slow smile curled his lips. The hand he had on my neck stroked down. I had the blanket tucked under my arms, but it caught under his palm and went down under the path of his hand, stopping when he paused, just over my heart.

“Sex is easy. Rut is anything but—it’s physical, emotional, mental. We focus on one woman and I started focusing on you from day one. It got worse every damn time I did something that I knew scared you…but you just snarled back at me. I knew you were smart and quick, and all I needed was your brain and your connections—I didn’t want your mouth or anything else.”

His thumb stroked over the inner curve of my breast as he continued. “But you didn’t just give me your mouth. If you’d just been mouthy, or if you hadn’t tried…but hell, you gave me everything. Five minutes after I all but brutalized you, we walked into a hall full of shifters and one of them dared to touch you and instead of showing fear, you busted his nose—you had no weapons and still you fought.”

His mouth brushed over mine as he whispered, “You stood by the body of a dead kid, a wolf you didn’t know and I saw the grief in your eyes and it gutted me. You had no reason to care, but you did. I knew, then, even if the Alpha
wasn’t
issuing threats you would have done everything you had to do to find Doyle…that was when I really started to slip. But I’d already done the damage and I couldn’t undo it, could I?”

Reaching up, I laid my hand over his. “If you couldn’t undo the damage, pal, you wouldn’t be in bed with me.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Well, there is that, I guess.”

He shifted his hand around and caught mine, lifting my wrist to his mouth. It was the one Jude had bitten. Even that single thought was enough to send a cold sliver of fear lancing through my mind.

Damon, the bastard, sensed it and a storm danced in his eyes. “Then the vampire showed up—I wanted to tell you then that I’d keep you safe, but how could I make you believe it when you were already scared of me? When you had every right to be afraid of the Alpha?”

Something tickled the back of my mind.
The Alpha
—

But before I could latch onto it, he continued. “And he bit you. I knew he had, knew there would be troubles. There will
still
be troubles. As soon as you leave this house—” A muscle pulsed in his jaw, a growl vibrating deep in his chest. “That’s why I don’t want you going out there to work this until I can get back to you.”

“She’s not likely to turn her favorite killer out just to help round up a couple of people who like to hunt stray shifters and witches,” I told him, resting my hand on his thigh. “So far, the only one who had any affiliation was Doyle. And that was a fuck-up of epic proportions, but still. I can’t wait idly by for you to come back. What if they go into hiding and we don’t find them?”

“And what if he sends his fucking servants after you? In
here
, you are safe, but out there? Or if you get hurt, caught by some of those fuckers? Just a few seconds after he wakes for the day and you’re his, Kit.”

I swallowed. “Not if his bond is broken.”

Damon tensed, his grip on my wrist tightening. “Be careful where you go from here, Kit.
His
hold on you is temporary…
mine
won’t be. Don’t go rushing into this just because you’re afraid of him. Because I’ll do it. I want you that much and I won’t care if you change your mind…I won’t let you go.”

“Who says I’m doing it because I’m afraid?” Wiggling out from under him, I moved onto my knees and stared into his eyes. “We’ve already established I do stupid things that I shouldn’t do, right? I’ll deal with Jude—no matter what happens, I’m going to find a way to deal with the shit he tried to pull. It doesn’t
matter
if we snap his hold or not, the son-of-a-bitch is going to pay for the number he pulled last night.”

The storm clouds in his eyes deepened and he gripped me around the waist. “You are not going after him alone, Kit. You understand me?”

“I’m starting to think
you
are the silly little fool.” Then I frowned. “Well, not little. But still. And this isn’t the topic we’re discussing. I’ll deal with Jude. I’m not doing it
now
because he’ll expect it and I have to figure out the right way. I’m not stupid and I don’t rush into things, nor do I think I can take him down solo. But
he
isn’t what we needed to talk about.”

I laid a hand on his chest, splayed my fingers wide over the black ink of his tattoo. “We’re talking you and me. There
is
a you and me….right?”

“Yes.” It was a low, harsh growl.

“And what will your dearest
My Lady
think?”

“She can fuck herself.”

I blinked. “Ah…well, then.” My mouth had somehow managed to go dry. Very dry. “What…what happens, then?”

“You better be sure,” he rasped. “Remember what I said. It’s permanent. I don’t give up what’s mine.”

Mine
…

It made something warm and sweet bloom inside me. Smiling at him, I tugged my wrist from his grasp and reached up, cupping his face in my hands. “I kind of like the idea of it, really. And you’re mine, then, right?”

“Yes.” He caught my wrist once more, lifted it to his mouth for a quick kiss. “I’ll bite you. It will hurt and it will scar.” His brooding gaze held mine as he pressed his lips to the sensitive skin along my wrist. “I could bite your shoulder, but I’d rather do it here…he’ll see it. He’ll know. He’s smart so he’ll get the idea that he needs to leave you the fuck alone.”

Reflexively, I clenched my hand. “Ah…I guess Es has something that can speed up the healing.”

“Probably.” He continued to watch me.

Leaning in, I kissed him and then I sat down. It was weird that I felt nervous now. Why did I feel nervous now…?

Even as he moved around and pulled me into his lap, settling me close, so close that I could feel some very interesting portions of his anatomy pressing against my hip, I was still battling nerves. He lifted my wrist again, his eyes intense as they rested on my face, burning. Hot. Hungry.

My throat constricted until I couldn’t breathe. Didn’t seem like I could breathe at
all
.

His mouth opened and I twitched as I saw his teeth—they weren’t completely human now. Longer. And sharper. So much sharper. As they pierced my wrist, I bit my lip to keep from screaming.

I’d asked for this—

I wanted this.

The pain was deep and piercing and it didn’t end when he lifted his head. His tongue rasped around my flesh, lapping at the blood for a moment before he sighed against my flesh. “You could have made a sound, baby girl.”

Jerkily, I shook my head. Making a sound when you hurt—

Shoving that thought back inside its closet, I glanced around. “I need to wrap this, huh?”

He continued to lick me. “Probably.” He groaned a little. “You taste amazing, though.”

“Stop it,” I muttered, shoving at his head and easing off his lap. I was on my feet and looking around for something to wrap around my wrist when he emerged from the bathroom, holding a hand towel.

“We’ll use this,” he said quietly. “Get dressed. We’ll find Es.” A grim look settled in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

As he wrapped my wrist, I noticed the odd tension in him. It called to the instincts buried in the back of my mind and I could feel myself getting edgy. My right hand heated. Readied itself. “Nothing,” he murmured. “It’s just…” He shot a look at the phone lying by the bed. “She’ll be calling again soon. I can feel it.”

“Is that a gut instinct or more?”

He stared at me. “More.”

Chapter Twenty Two

Kori led us to the healing hall without speaking. There was an odd look in her eyes when she first looked at Damon, but she said absolutely nothing, which was weird, I thought.

Es was in the hall with the two girls and when she saw me, that gentle smile curved her lips. “You slept.”

“Yes.” I didn’t mention the odd dreams or anything else. As I tried to figure out how to explain what I needed, she rose from the chair where she’d been seated and came to me.

“Ahhh…” She unwrapped my wrist and studied the punctures. They still bled. “You realize, of course, there are several ways to heal this.”

Damon’s hand curved over the back of my neck.

I stared at her pale eyes and waited.

“A full healing would remove any scarring but it’s more invasive and you’d need rest. A day, possibly more, since your body has already been rather taxed.”

As one, Damon and I said, “No.”

She flicked a look at Damon. “Cat, I understand the significance, but I need her answer…hers alone.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “You heard my answer. I know what the damn thing means and I want it there. No full healing.”

“Because you can’t take the down time?”

“No.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Because I asked him to put it there in the first place. Why ask him to do it if I’m just going to have you remove it?”

Now she smiled again, and the look on her face was oddly pleased. “Wonderful. A minor healing spell, then. You’re probably familiar with it. I can accelerate the healing—it will be like it’s months old, instead of minutes.”

“Ah…months?”

Any time Colleen had done such a spell, she’d just been able to ramp it up for a few days, a few weeks at best.

Es smiled at me. “I’m the mother of this house, Kitasa. I have a bit more skill, a bit more power at my disposal than some of the witches you’ve known. And you’ll need all your strength for when you go back out.”

I felt the hot power of Damon’s energy slam in me, the burst of his anger flaring.

Yeah, pal. I know you don’t want me going back out
.

But I couldn’t wait quietly, either.

Es had her hands on my wrist and the wonderful, warm crawl of her magic was spreading through me when Damon’s phone rang.

I tensed.

It was her.

Annette. The Queen Bitch. The Alpha Cat. And Damon’s
Lady
.

Bile knocked at the back of my throat but I swallowed it down as I turned my head and stared at his wide shoulders. He held his phone for a moment, staring at it before he lifted his head to meet my gaze.

Then he answered it, his voice falling into that flat, familiar tone. Even just two days ago, I’d thought that tone signified reverence. It didn’t. It was just…emotionless.

What had Es said—

…
notices everything and she’ll notice more about you than you could possibly imagine, including what you had for breakfast, the fact that you’re in rut, and the fact that you hate your Alpha
…

I studied him closer.

Did he hate her?

“He does,” Es murmured, her voice low, very low.

I jerked my gaze to her, my mouth opening. She shook her head and mouthed, “Later.”

Then she let go of my hand. I looked down. The pain was gone. She wiped away the blood and I stared at the pale, scarred skin of my left wrist. Bite marks. Very, very clearly bite marks.

A bronzed hand closed around my wrist. I looked up into Damon’s eyes.

But he was too busy staring at my wrist and the look in his eyes was hot. Burning hot.

“Yes, Lady,” Damon said, in that neutral voice that belied the heat in his gaze. “We found him late last night but under unpleasant circumstances. I was unable to call you at the time, because of those circumstances and I deeply regret the oversight. I’ll make amends upon returning to the lair.”

I heard her voice. “
You
will make amends? The investigator should also make amends, Damon. She was the one hired, the one I am paying. Bring her with you.”

His hand tightened. “With all due respect, Lady, I cannot. She has seen her part in this job completed and is unable to travel back to Orlando. She’s requested that her payment be deposited into her account for completion of the job.”

“And
why
is she unable to travel, my dearest Damon?” Annette asked, her voice silky and smooth.

The mother looked at me and tapped her finger on something in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed it.