Jared (38 page)

She pushed herself up. “Can they be trusted?”

He cut her some slack on the question, considering her
first introduction to them, settling for a succinct “Yes.”

“But Caleb—”

“Would never leave a woman or child in danger,” he
finished, pulling her back down. She twitched and fussed beside him. So much
for enjoying the lingering intimacy.

“Rai?”

“What?”

“You’re crushing my fingers.”

Immediately she let go. “I’m so sorry.”

He caught her hand again. He liked having her hold on
to him. “Nothing to be sorry for. You’ve got cause to be nervous. Your friend’s
in a bad situation that could get worse once we rescue her.”

“Nothing’s worse than where she is.”

He could think of some things that were worse for a
were. “What if her family turns their backs on her?”

She shook her head, propping herself back up.
“Nothing’s worse, Jared.”

She probably had a point, but her friend was going to
have real issues coming up. It probably would help if she had strong family or
a strong mate. “I assume her mate is dead?”

“No.”

What in hell kind of mate left his pregnant wife?
Jared scooted back in the bed, sitting up, pulling her with him until she knelt
beside him. “Then where the hell is he?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve got to find him.”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then how will you find him?”

“By his energy.”

He blinked at the sheer ingenuity of it. If Raisa had
a man’s name, it could be tricked out of her, stolen from her, but how a person
saw energy, that was unique to that person. Stealing it would be a waste of
time. Except for a very rare few, like Raisa, who were extraordinarily
sensitive, it wouldn’t transfer. “You thought of everything.”

“I had lots of time to think.”

While she’d been a prisoner of the Sanctuary. The urge
to explode into her mind and find out the truth of her experience took him
again. The only thing that held him back was the trust she was showing him. And
the anxiety pouring off her in waves. “And when you find Miri’s mate, what are
you supposed to do?”

“I’m supposed to convince him to save Miri.”

“We’re not going to wait on him any longer.”

“Good.”

“And when we have Miri and her baby safe, we’ll find
her mate.” And then Jared would be having a few words with him about why he’d
left her in such a situation in the first place.

Raisa’s mind was apparently traveling down the same
road as his.

“What if he’s a scoundrel?”

“Then I’ll kick his butt, and we’ll keep her safe here
with us.”

She tucked her knees deeper under her, her eyes
searching his. “Why are you willing to do all this?”

He shook his head at the foolishness of the question,
giving her hand a small squeeze. “Because you’re my wife, because this matters
to you, and because it’s the right thing to do.”

She nodded. “More of that overabundance of honor Slade
mentioned.”

Like Slade didn’t have the same code and wouldn’t be
doing the same thing as soon as he heard of Miri’s situation. “Apparently.”

She stroked her hand down his arm, pride and
possessiveness in the gesture. “Good.” He found he liked that more than he
liked her passion. “How are we going to find him?”

“You sure she wants him found?”

She shrugged, wry humor chasing the sadness from the
corner of her mouth, her finger tracing across his collarbone. “Maybe just to
kill him, but, yes, she wants him found.”

“I can see that. A woman has a right to expect a bit
more of her mate than your friend seems to have gotten.”

“Absolutely.”

A few days ago, he might have seriously thought she
was intrigued by the way his shoulder hooked up to his collarbone, but a few
days ago, he hadn’t known the insecurities that lurked beneath her upbeat
front. He curved his index finger around the point of her chin and drew her
eyes back to his. The answer was in the glimmer of insecurity shadowing her
gaze. She was putting herself in Miri’s position and wondering.

“Just for the record, so there’s no misunderstanding
between us, there’s no way in hell you’d ever be in Miri’s position.”

She licked her lips, leaving them moist and glistening
in an unconscious invite he took advantage of, fitting his top lip to hers,
aligning the center with precise care. “You can’t know that.”

“I know this. If you were taken from me, Rai, I’d tear
the Sanctuary apart, piece by piece, member by member, until I found you.”

Raisa blinked as the full force of Jared’s will poured
over her. Images of destruction and blood pounded at her awareness, the violent
mix wavering around the perimeters of her consciousness in a mental bleed from
him to her. She gathered it. Muted it. Absorbed it. And when she was done, she
had no doubt. He would come for her. She wondered if he knew how much it meant
to her, knowing she had someone to count on to that extent? Probably not. He’d
always had that security. The question just slipped from her, a hint of sound,
traveling on her breath to him. “Why?”

He didn’t blink, didn’t hesitate. “Because you’re
mine.”

The descent of his mouth punctuated the declaration,
his mouth claiming hers, the depth of his hunger surprising her as it always
did, stunning her into a split second of immobility before finding an answering
chord within her, one that flowed easily into the jagged edges or his passion,
smoothing them into something bigger, stronger. He responded with a growl that prowled
through her mind.

Mine!

A declaration of possession, not love. She tried to
make it enough, but inside her, the starving part of her soul wailed a protest.
She didn’t want to be owned. She’d been owned many times in the past. She
wanted to be loved. Practicality told her not to reach for the moon, to be
satisfied with what she had, which was much better than anything she’d had
before, but irrational tears pricked her eyes. She fought them back, sliding
her arms around Jared’s neck, enjoying the welcoming flex of muscle at her
touch, relishing his strength as he pulled her up against him. Accepting the
dominance that was so much a part of him, reveling in it because it meshed so
well with that old-fashioned part of her that had been brought up to expect to
be the softness in a man’s day, and fed into her natural tendency to give
comfort to those she loved. Oh God! She loved. Her gasp at the realization was
as involuntary as her flinch back.

With another growl that reverberated down her spine,
Jared followed her, knocking her off balance. She tumbled to the side. Jared
didn’t catch her, rather he tumbled with her, a big, lean predator with hunting
on his mind.

His growl turned to a chuckle as his chest came over
her, inch by exquisite inch as he followed her down to the mattress. He caught
a curl in his fingers, lifting it from her shoulder, rubbing it between his
fingers as he asked, “Hungry, sunbeam?”

What would be the point of denying it? “I’m always
hungry for you.”

He took the long strand of hair and wrapped it around
her breast, pulling it taut. The man seemed fascinated by her hair. He cut her
a glance, the smile quirking one side of his mouth, both sensual and mocking.

She suppressed the urge to cover her breast with her
hand but the “I’m sorry” just came trotting out on its own.

Jared’s right eyebrow flicked up as his gaze met hers.
“What on earth for?”

She was going to hedge, but then decided against it.
Who was he to mock her anyway? “For whatever put the mockery in your
expression.”

The left eyebrow joined the first for a heartbeat
before both came down into a frown. Then, surprisingly, that smile that tugged
her heartstrings spread from his eyes to his lips. He kissed her quickly, the
puff of air against her lips probably laughter.

As soon as his mouth separated from hers, she warned
him, “If you’re laughing at me, I’m going to hurt you.”

He pulled back, humor lurking in the creases fanning
out from the corners of his eyes. “Well, if I wasn’t before, I am now, after
hearing that threat. A little bit of a thing like you couldn’t hurt me.”

“Trust me, I have my ways.”

Jared might think he knew everything about her, but if
he pissed her off, he just might run up against her less pleasant side. She
touched the crease in his right cheek. “I like it when you smile.”

“And I like it when you tempt me.”

“Do you want me to tempt you again?”

“Your very existence is more temptation that I can
resist.” He again pulled that thick strand of hair taut around the base of her
breast, the tension in her scalp, and her breast as it was lifted, sparked
little perks of interest deep inside. Her nipple tingled and plumped. His head
lowered. “Which might explain that mockery you saw on my face.”

He bussed the sensitive tip once, twice. “It’s hard
for a man to accept that he doesn’t have any willpower when it comes to a
woman.”

She gasped and arched her back, offering herself to
him. “And you have no willpower when it comes to me?”

“Zilch.”

Raisa riffled her fingers through the cool strands of
his chocolate-brown hair. “I like that.”

He accepted the invitation, curling his tongue around
her nipple, sipping gently, his smile measured in the pressure around the nub.
“Why am I not surprised?”

She pulled him to her, desire replacing weariness, hunger
replacing worry. Need for the tenderness within his touch the impetus behind
her sigh of satisfaction as he opened his mouth, taking what she offered,
binding them together for this one moment. Maybe the last they would have
before the truth broke them apart.

JARED slipped from the bed. Rai stirred. He stroked
his mind over hers.

Sleep. She turned her cheek into the pillow with a
little snuggle. He grabbed the covers, meaning to pull it up over her. Shadow
covered her shoulder with the move, providing deeper contrast for his night
vision. Her skin glowed satiny white in the darkness. Impossibly smooth,
deliciously rounded, the curves tempting him to touch, explore, to follow the
sultry lure of that sweep down her arm to that spot just inside of her elbow
that made her gasp and shiver. He’d like to linger there a bit, tease that
little gasp from her lips again, the one that she made right before she lowered
her defenses and gave herself to him. He wanted it like hell on fire, more so
now when she was at risk from the Sanctuary, from the bomb in her head, from
the promise she had made that would put her in greater danger. The promises he
was forced to respect because of his code of honor and hers.

He wanted to wake her and watch her smile that witchy
little smile as he slid into her, feel her hands soft on his back as she
accepted his possession. Her moan of satisfaction as their energies mingled and
she possessed him as well. Hell, he just wanted her, period.

He forced himself to drop the cover over her shoulders
and step away from the bed. That first step was always the hardest, the initial
separation a poignant pain, but once made, he found it easier to manage the
call to return. He reached for his shirt and tugged on his pants while watching
her sleep, part of him monitoring everything about her, from her health to her
emotions, as if she were an extension of himself. Which he was beginning to
believe she was. He had to wonder if all mated pairs felt this way or if his
and Raisa’s bond was unique. He’d have to ask Caleb about it. Sometime when the
man wasn’t so on edge with distrust and the need to protect him.

Jared slipped out the back door into the sealed alley
that connected the guest house to the main one. He opened the door into the
kitchen. The rich scent of cinnamon rolls filled the big room. He took a deep
breath, the fragrance blending old and new for him: the days before conversion
where home had only been a hope and today where it meant home and his
sister-in-law’s smile.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

He waved to Derek, who was sitting at the kitchen
table sipping a cup of coffee, eying the oven.

“Allie nesting again?”

The closer the time came for the baby to be born the
more Allie fussed about all the little things, cooking, cleaning, decorating.

Derek frowned “Yup. Almost got some of that Mexican
hot chocolate out of her before Caleb whisked her away to bed and left me to my
own devices.”

“He’s worried she’s overdoing.”

Derek shook his head. “He’s going to drive her nuts
trying to pamper her when she’s bursting with energy.”

“I imagine he finds ways to burn it off.”

The were’s eyes went dark with hunger, reminding Jared
that the wolf had been alone a long time, and being alone was harder for a were
than a vamp. Whereas a vamp might know that he could find a mate someday, a
were was born knowing that he was incomplete to the point that the knowledge
drove some insane. Derek took a sip of coffee. When he brought it down, the
hunger was gone and his usual calm mask was in place. “I imagine he does.”