Fever (Blood Moon Rising, #1) (5 page)

***

After suffering through a half hour of
listening to his packmates argue, Gage’s head was ready to explode.
This was exactly why he avoided get-togethers, like holiday meals,
with this unruly crew. The food would end up decorating his walls,
along with the blood spilled when their brawls inevitably got out
of control. It’d start with “He offended me,” “I had to defend my
honor,” and BAM! Full-blown pack fight.

He sighed.
Family. Gotta love them.

Gage had barely paid attention
throughout the meeting after explaining what had went down at the
bar. He was too distracted by the thought of his future mate barely
dressed, looking so sweet and ripe for the picking as she stood
outside the door to the bathroom. He had wanted to close the suite
off, strip her naked, then join her in the tub, but business called
first.

Like who the hell had dared kill his
queen.

“
I’m telling you, this has
Black Witch all over it,” Erik said. The older, more solemn wolf’s
eyes darkened to a shade as black as his long hair.

Murmurs of agreement rose from the
table, the only thing they’d been able to agree on. Well, at least,
with the “witch” part. Black Witches were as rare as an eclipse.
Theories - which had quickly turned into arguments - sprang up, and
before long the room was once again filled with the voices of his
blood brothers.

Gage thrummed his fingers across the
massive, wooden table. He had had about enough of this chatter.
Action was needed - and quickly. Threats were like roaches; they
grew in number if not snuffed out quickly. “All right.”

The room immediately fell silent at
his voice.

Gage stood. “Obviously,
someone knew Danica was my future mate. They must have wanted to
kill her so I would lose my position within this pack. To what
other things they hoped to gain is something we must investigate. I
say we start with men and women who have been vying for the
position and lost in the past, someone with a vendetta. Erik is
right - considering how Onyx had vanished and the fact he knew who
my mate was before I did, a witch
is
involved. I want every packmember questioned about
their recent encounters with witches. Find out who they go to.
Interview witches and warlocks yourselves, if you must. We need to
know who recently purchased any premonitions.”

His packmates fisted their hands over
their hearts, bowing their heads to Gage.

“
Erik, Nik. A word. The
rest of you are dismissed. Report back to me the minute you find
anything.”

The two wolves made their way over to
Gage as the rest of the room cleared out. Gage lowered his voice.
“I want you two shadowing Danica at every turn. Do not let her out
of your sight.”

“
Ever?” Nik prodded with a
grin.

Gage frowned. “You know what I
mean.”

“
Yes, sir,” Nik said with a
salute. “Speaking of Danica, I believe she’s at the
door.”

Gage’s eyes snapped up. Sure enough, a
blonde head poked in, as well as a touch of crimson.

Ah. So she was wearing the ensemble he
had Mary lay out for her. He couldn’t wait to see it on her. He
could already feel his body temperature rising at the thought of
what lay beneath that soft silk, of the bare skin that was probably
softer still.

“
Excuse me, gentlemen,”
Gage said, heart picking up its pace. “But I’d like a moment alone
with my mate.”

Erik smiled, clasping Gage’s shoulder.
“I am happy for you, sire.”

“
As am I.” Gage smiled,
though it felt stiff. What if he was getting his hopes up too soon?
What if this was never meant to be? She was a human. To his
knowledge, no other packmaster in the history of all werewolf lore
had ever bonded to a human. They were always other royal weres. Not
to mention she thought she was either drugged or dreaming. How
would she react when she found out he truly had, in a weird sense
of chivalry, kidnapped her?

Erik left while Nik gestured for
Danica to enter.

Slowly, she walked inside, like a doe
cautiously entering a meadow, eyes searching for a
hunter.

Gage’s inner wolf became interested.
Oh, how he wished to hunt her….

Once the door was shut, he clasped his
hands in front of him. She was ravishing. The silk suggested
curves, and the outline of her nipples through the material made
him begin to harden.

Damn it all. Was he ever going to be
able to concentrate while she was near?

His heart skipped a beat, sending an
unpleasant bolt of fear through him he was entirely unaccustomed
to. It took a moment to realize what sparked it.

He was afraid of losing her. More than
that, he feared she may never love him.

Thing is, he didn’t know he wanted her
to until he’d Marked her.

“
May I assist you with
something, my lady?” Gage at last asked, noting his voice sounded
significantly rougher.

She looked pale and frightened, but
determined. “Yeah. You can.”

Her hand slipped into her robe,
producing a large dagger.

Chapter 5

Danica fought not to let her hand
shake. Dammit, why couldn’t she flip a badass switch and go all
Buffy on this dude?

This very hot, enticing
dude.

“
There’s no phone, like,
anywhere. But there are all these handy, decorative knives hanging
all over the walls outside this room,” she rambled. Inwardly, she
winced.
Way to sound intimidating and not
take any shit, Danica
.

Gage stared at her. “As I said, my
predecessors collected antiques. And we don’t have a landline. It
was disconnected years ago when we moved to using cell phones. Why?
Were you wanting to call your family?”

“
I wanted to call the
police. I know I’m not drunk,” she said, proud she’d kept her voice
steady. “I don’t feel drunk. I’ve pinched myself silly out in the
hall after hearing you guys talk, and I haven’t woken up yet. The
only thing I can deduct is this is real, and I want you to let me
go, right now.”

Gage didn’t reply for a long while. He
stood there, staring at her, an amused sparkle in his eyes. “Is
that really what you want?”

Hell, no, that wasn’t what she wanted.
Her raging libido wanted him to strip her naked and screw her on
the bearskin rug in front of the fireplace a few feet
away.

“
Yes,” she finally said,
throat tighter.

“
You hesitated.”

She blinked. “I did not.”

Gage took a step forward.

Danica stood her ground. “Stay back!”
she said, brandishing the knife like a circus performer would a
chair at an angry lion.

Gage smiled. “Make me.”

Danica swallowed as he pressed his
chest against the tip of the knife. Her heart pounded in her ears
as he trailed his finger along the blunt side of the blade. “No
one’s drawn a knife on me in a long time,” he said.

“
Why? Because you’re some
big, scary mob boss?”

That bemused sparkle returned to his
eyes. “Something to that effect.”

His eyes, she noticed were vibrant
blue tinged in gold around the irises. The firelight caught the
gold in his eyes, enhancing it. Her breath quickened, and she
licked her lips. “You don’t scare me.”

He raised a brow. “No?”

“
No.”

It happened in the blink of an eye.
One moment, she was fantasizing what he would look like without his
shirt on, and the next, he’d disarmed her and had swept her up in a
passionate kiss.

Danica’s eyes widened, startled. She
started to protest when his tongue began tangling with hers, and
she forgot how to think. His kisses were hungry, desperate, like he
was starving for her taste. Losing herself, she wrapped her arms
around his neck as he shoved her up against the wall. His rough
palm moved along her thigh, gripping behind her knee and hoisting
her leg around his hip. His hand trailed to her ass, squeezing. She
moaned, nipping at his lip, and he chuckled.

“
You’re demanding,” he
said. “Good. My mate needs to be.”

There he went with that mate stuff
again. She was about to demand an explanation when his head dipped
lower, trailing kisses along the crest of her breasts. His mouth
hovered over one of her nipples, tonguing and teasing it through
the fabric. Her back arched, and she pressed her breast into his
mouth, wanting him to remove the barrier between it and his tongue.
He pulled the neckline down, baring her chest before squeezing her
breasts together and sucking on each nipple, teasing them until
they ached.

She clawed at the wall with one hand
as his tongue worked, slipping her fingers into his hair and
holding him to her breasts. His hands roved her body, stroking up
and down along her sides, feeling her curves through the soft robe.
It was so thin that she could feel the heat off his hands wherever
they went. God, he was hot, like an inferno. One hand cupped her,
and he rolled his thumb along her sex, pushing her closer to the
edge. An ache built deep within her, the need to spread her legs
and invite him in growing as he sucked and nipped and rubbed. She
reached down and stroked his crotch. A feral groan rose from deep
within his throat as he pressed himself against her hand, rubbing,
as if he wanted to be inside her just as badly. He kissed her
again, more roughly this time. His hands slipped inside her robe,
leaving trails of fire along her hips and waist. Agitated, he
ripped open her robe, exposing her bare body. For a moment he
paused, going still as he took her in.

She blinked, dazed at first, then
returning to her senses. Gasping, she quickly covered herself up,
knotting the belt tightly. She crossed her arms, her face as
flushed as the rest of her body. It took a few seconds to compose
herself and calm her quick breathing. She sounded like she’d run a
marathon. It sure felt like it, from the way her heart was racing.
“Look, I don’t want you to think I’m easy.” She groaned. “I know it
probably seems that way, but I’m not usually the one-night-stand
kind of girl. Hello, are you listening to me?”

She snapped her fingers in front of
his face. Gage shook his head and blinked, then looked at her.
“Sorry, I was distracted,” he murmured. “Yes, I’m aware you’re
probably behaving a bit… outside your sensibilities.”

“
That’s one way to put it,”
she grumbled. She shifted her weight, feeling the slickness along
her inner thighs. Good grief, she was horny. She hadn’t had it this
bad for a man in a while.

She looked at Gage, at the noticeable
bulge against his crotch, reconsidering. Her mind filled with the
image of his muscular body, dripping in sweat, hovering over hers
as he slowly pushed himself into her, again and again, banging her
core while she brought her hips up to meet him…

You know what happened
last time you fell into bed with a man on the first date. Seth
ripped out your heart later.

That cheerful thought promptly dried
up her lust. “You’re not good for me.”

He frowned, going still. “Why
not?”

“
Because… when I’m near
you… I don’t know, I can’t control myself.” She looked away,
letting her hair hide her face.

Gage tenderly grasped her chin and
turned her gaze. “Passion is not a bad quality.”

“
Ha. I’m not sure I’d call
this passion. Lust maybe.”

“
What do you think it
is?”

She met his gaze. “… I don’t
know.”

He reached up and caressed her cheek,
eyes intently burning into hers. She’d never had anyone look at her
that way. It made her knees shake.

And it scared the hell out of
her.

“
I’m not sure what this is
either,” Gage said slowly, “but I can tell you feel it
too.”

“
What?”

He shrugged. “That spark.”

His eyes flicked to her
hand.

That’s right. How could she
have forgotten about that weird Mark? After figuring out she wasn’t
dreaming, she’d ran to the bathroom. The Mark hadn’t washed off in
the sink, and she’d scrubbed it raw. “I don’t know what any of this
means. I don’t know why I’m acting this way.” She looked at him. “I
don’t know
you
.”

Fear pumped into her
heart.
Walk away
.
She took one step when he grabbed her wrist.

“
Do you want to?” he asked
softly.

Her heart started pounding, but not
from lust, as her stomach did a little flip that made her insides
tingle. Her throat ran dry.

What do I say? What do I
say?

Seth used to whisper such sweet things
too, used to make her feel this way.

A chill went through her. “I… need
some air. Stay away from me, kidnapper.”

With that, she jerked free and ran,
praying he wouldn’t follow her yet hoping at the same time that he
would.