Blood Instinct (10 page)

‘You’re not going to lose me.’ He studied her eyes until she ached with the intensity of it. ‘We’re together until the bitter end, Phia. I’d never give up on you.’

He took her hand, interlacing their fingers before turning it so he could kiss the back of it, his lips cool and soft.

Her stomach clenched. She flushed despite the cool temperature in the cave.

‘Which is why we’re going to put this behind us,’ he added. ‘And carry on exactly as we were. We take it a day at a time, and you’re going to keep letting me in on what’s going on inside that head of yours.’

But she couldn’t – not everything. Right then, being close to him again, feeling his warmth, his affection, his reassurance, it was the last thing she wanted to broach: one of the very first things Leila had warned her about once she’d picked up on her relationship with Jask – that sex incites the serryn.

More so, that being with a lycan could speed up the process. The serryn would perceive the lycan’s immunity as a threat; a threat that meant the serryn would strengthen to self-preserve.

As every day passed, the risk would heighten. Every additional intimate encounter she had with Jask would strengthen the serryn’s resolve. Being with the one she loved was destroying the part of her she was desperate to hold on to: the part of her that Jask loved.

But she couldn’t tell him that. It was gut-wrenching enough condemning him to childlessness for the time he was with her, let alone telling him he’d potentially have to abstain from the most binding part of their relationship – maybe even permanently in order for them to stay together.

She couldn’t further steal his hope as hers had been stolen. She needed him to believe in the possibility of their happily-ever-after.
She
needed to believe in the possibility of their happily-ever-after. Somehow she
would
make it work.

‘Like how you feel about what happened earlier,’ he added. ‘Back in our room.’

The gravity in his eyes betrayed what a weight on his mind it had been, maybe even having contributed to his reluctance to face her straightaway on returning to the bunker. That maybe he too had been worried about a possible fracture in their relationship. But it was an added weight to his already-heavy load that she wasn’t going to allow him to carry.

She shrugged. ‘It was a bit of minor bruising, that’s all.’

The look in his eyes betrayed that he wasn’t quite so indifferent.

‘Which, incidentally, used to constitute a good night out for me,’ she added. ‘It’s no big deal. It’s not like you meant to do it. You know I would have kicked your arse if you did. It was more the shock. It was like I was with someone else for a moment. Was it the lycanthropy? Is it starting to affect you?’

‘I don’t know. But I’ll be more mindful of it, Phia. I promise.’

‘You don’t need to promise me. You know I trust you, Jask.’

‘Clearly, considering you’re willing to be down here alone with me.’

She clasped his hand tighter as she pulled it into her lap. ‘Jask, I’ve never felt safe with anyone like I do with you. I’ve
always
felt safe with you.’

A mischievous hint of a smile curled his lips. ‘Except for when I threw you in the pool back at the compound.’

‘Okay, so there’s one exception.’ She knocked her shoulder against his upper arm. ‘Which you
still
owe me for.’

‘How about I take you for a trip to my private island to compensate?’ He cocked his head towards the smooth lump of rock protruding from the middle of the underground river, the current rushing either side of it. ‘Just about big enough for two.’

She laughed. ‘That’s your idea of compensation? Trying to drown me again?’

‘I’ll get you there safely. And then you can lie back and look at the stars.’

She followed his indication towards the ceiling, to where the light caught the tiny fragments of granite glinting against the black backdrop.

She looked back at him, unable to conceal her smile. She brushed his damp hair from his face before sliding her hand down to his heart.

‘One day, I’m going to free you from this place, Jask. One day, we’re going to lie under stars for real, next to a river not bound by rock. Somewhere deep in a forest or out in the countryside.’

‘I’ll hold you to that.’

‘You do that,’ she said, raking her fingers through his damp hair. ‘But, for now, I’m keeping you from doing what you should be doing.’ She leaned forward to kiss him tenderly on the lips, knowing she needed to break away while she still could. ‘You just make sure you look after yourself out there, okay?’

But as she moved to stand, he caught her forearm, the one furthest away from him, barricading her in.

She fatally gazed back into his eyes.

He slid his hand down over her wrist to her hand. He interlaced their fingers before lifting her inner wrist to his lips, kissing it gently.

It took her breath away every time – the feel of his cool lips, his confident kiss, the way he instigated it without qualm.

‘Don’t,’ he said softly.

Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Don’t what?’

‘Don’t be the sensible, dutiful mate twenty-four seven. Don’t lose your unpredictability. I’ve told you already: don’t lose your fire, Phia.’

She closed her eyes as she felt his breath on her neck, his hand gently pushing her hair aside. The pit of her abdomen clenched. Warmth rushed through her as he glided his kisses up her neck to the back of her ear.

‘Especially as you’ve got nothing on under that dress,’ he added.

Feeling his smile against her neck, she couldn’t contain her smirk. She slid her hand up his forearm, relishing in the tension, the strength. ‘You noticed.’

‘Of course I noticed. And you know I can’t let you go until I’ve done something about it.’

‘Aren’t you supposed to avoid sex before a battle?’

‘I’m a lycan, darling,’ he said against her ear before kissing it. ‘Not a lightweight.’ He slid his hand down from her neck, over her breast, his thumb brushing her nipple as he held her. ‘Besides, not only is it good to have a reminder of what I’m fighting for, I don’t believe I finished what I started earlier. Not for you at least.’

Her breaths became as shallow as her pulse as she turned her head, as his kiss reciprocated hers, her heart fluttering again.

‘Are you trying to seduce me, Jask Tao?’ she asked, looking him in the eyes.

‘Shamelessly,’ he declared, before nipping her lightly on her bottom lip.

‘Then you should know you have to work harder than that.’

He raised his eyebrows slightly, a playful smile curling his lips that matched the glint in his eye. ‘Hard-to-get mood, huh?’

She nodded, trying to contain her own smile. ‘
Much
harder.’

He kissed her once then twice more on the lips. ‘But you know what happened this morning when you were getting demanding, McKay.’

‘I do: you did as you were told.’

His smile broadened, flashing his canines in the process. He scooped her up in his arms effortlessly, a giggle instantly escaping her lips.

‘Sounds like someone needs yet
another
reminder of who’s in charge,’ he declared, carrying her over to the water’s edge.

Despite the black river sweeping past, reminding her that her fear of water hadn’t fully abated, she couldn’t stop laughing. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

Because he wouldn’t. Jask wouldn’t drop her in that water for anything.

‘Don’t set challenges like that, McKay,’ he said, lifting her over his shoulder before smacking her on the behind. ‘You know I can’t resist it.’

As he swung around so his back was to the water, Sophia was staring down into the dark depths, her instincts compelled her to grab hold of his waist, despite her confidence that he wouldn’t let her go.

And she held her breath as she saw him back up so his heels were over the edge as she stared down at the current.

If he let her go into the darkness, into the current that would inevitably take hold…

No doubt feeling her tension, Jask slid her back down to his waist where she instantly wrapped her legs around him. ‘You okay?’

One arm around his shoulder, feeling the strength beneath, she slid her other hand up the back of his neck. She gazed deep into his eyes as he held her there. ‘You’ve got a mean streak in you, Tao.’

He smirked. ‘Ninety per cent gentleman, ten per cent your-arse-is-mine.’

As his blue eyes glinted in the shadows, her stomach somersaulted at the prospect. She ran her hand back up through his hair. She coiled a few strands around her finger and tugged gently. ‘How about I invite that ten per cent out to play?’

‘Down here?’ He tutted playfully. ‘Honey, you’re lining up the challenges today.’

She reached down to loosen his towel. ‘Twenty per cent do-the-right-thing, eighty per cent what-the-hell. But you started it. And I
know
you’re capable of finishing it.’

He smiled again. He licked his incisor fleetingly then ran his hands down over her behind to grasp her. ‘Without fail this time,’ he said, carrying her backwards towards the rock they’d been sitting on.

He lay her down on it, parting her thighs with one of his. He didn’t hesitate in taking hold of the hem of her dress, bunching it up and sliding it up over her head. The smooth rock felt cool against her bare back, the chill in the subterranean air suddenly more intense.

As Jask rested his palm beside her head, as his gaze lingered down the length of her naked body, she arched her back slightly, longing for that first touch.

Knee against the rock between her thighs, both palms flat on either side of her shoulders, he licked from her belly button up her cleavage to her throat, up to the very tip of her chin before snagging her lower lip between his teeth.

‘I’ve never shied away from a little hard work,’ he said, before sliding back down again. ‘As you well know.’

She shuddered as he licked and kissed across her collarbone and down her cleavage, across one breast and then the other, massaging her nipples in turn with the underside of his tongue before he clamped his hand on her hip.

And when he glanced back up at her, when he gave her that glimmer of a knowing smile followed by a playful wink, she chuckled.

Sophia wetted the inside of her mouth as she stared up at the fake starry sky. Because she could have been anywhere right then – they both could have been anywhere.

As his mouth found her sex, she jolted. She raked her fringe back from her forehead, a cool wash of perspiration rushing over her.

She arched her back as she closed her eyes, letting out a small groan of pleasure as he interchanged painfully tender licks with firmer strokes of his tongue. And his delicate intermittent probing had her grasping the back of his head as she encouraged him, the new sensation drawing her even deeper into the world where there was only him and her. Where nothing else mattered.

He glanced back up at her and, as his eyes met hers, now open again, it caused another jolt within her. Because the connection she felt confirmed that it was all real – that every second with Jask was real – not some dream she often convinced herself she was simply going to wake up from.

And he wanted to be with her. With
her
.

She closed her eyes again, reassured that he wasn’t going to disappear. Her spine tingled, an ache for release already forming deep in the pit of her abdomen. She knew from experience that he would keep her coming one climax after the other, the prospect of it inciting her further.

‘You can be a
very
bad lycan at times, Jask Tao.’

‘That had better not be a complaint already,’ he said as he slid his palms up her inner thighs, grasping her hips to move her into position.

‘As if,’ she said breathily, meeting his gaze as she smiled at him.

This time, his touch was firmer, both hands simultaneously sliding down her neck, her breasts, down the inward curve of her waist to grab her behind as he leaned over her again, his fingers buried deep in her flesh.

And as he took each of her nipples deep into his mouth in turn, twirling his tongue in a perfect loop, she clutched his neck, loving the strength she felt in his shoulders, in his back, and relishing the feel of his firm, smooth skin beneath her palms and fingertips.

She arched her back further, the feel of his hardness against her sex snatching away her breath.

Which is why she had no idea why she did it. She’d never done it before. In the subtlest of moves, just as he teetered on the brink of entering her, she pulled back, forging a little bit of distance.

His gaze shot to hers: the surprise, the bewilderment, clear in his eyes.

S
ophia didn’t just pull
back – she also locked her knees together before gracefully dropping them to the side slightly.

His first thought was that he’d done something wrong. Or that maybe what had happened that morning had had a greater effect on her than she’d let on.

But there was no anxiety in her eyes. More to the point, lifting one arm over her head and letting it fall lax behind her, Sophia’s gaze was blatantly sexual. More so, she smirked. It was only a subtle smirk, but it added to the look of the seductress: a smirk of clear intent. A smirk that instantly reminded him of how she had looked at Kane in the meeting.

It was the last thing he needed to recollect – not then, not there. Seeing her looking at someone else like that had sent his possessive streak soaring enough. Because even though there had been no affection behind her eyes, she’d still
looked
at Kane. Something in her had wanted to get close to the vampire. The serryn in her had been trying to out – with the wrong male.

But he was going to keep control. Whatever was burning inside of him, he could keep the scorching heat contained. But it wasn’t so easy; not as he looked down at her bare skin glistening in the dim light, at her curves shadowed to perfection. Not as he surveyed her smooth, feminine shoulders, the slenderness of her waist.

And there was something exciting about not knowing what he was up against. Something enticing in her change of tack; in her game playing.