Mating Hunt (17 page)

But the biggest change was his erection, thick, long and menacing as it jutted up from the nest of dark hair at his groin. He started toward her, growling in his throat, the sound sexual and savage.

Memories flashed. The Satyr approaching, lust burning in his gaze, his thick erection jutting upward as she sat on the cave floor, tugging ineffectively at the manacles chaining her to the rock wall...

Arianna turned and saw a monster. “Satyr,” she whispered.

The beast stalked toward her. Terror surfaced, blotting out everything else in her mind Arianna screamed and wrenched harder at the handcuff and broke free. Sobbing, she ran to the door, but it was locked. Screams tore from her throat as she pounded on the door.

Hearing motion behind her and a deep male voice grating out for her to stop, she ran into the corner and hugged her knees, trying to make herself small as possible.

“Please, don’t touch me. Please, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me.”

Curling until she squeezed herself into a tight ball, she whimpered, hoping he’d leave her alone, hoping when she opened her eyes, it would all be a nightmare and go away...

“Ari. Sweetheart.”

A familiar voice cut through the thick buzzing in her ears. She opened her eyes, tears trickling down her cheeks.

Naked, Kyle knelt before her, his expression taut with sorrow and concern. “Ari, please, sweetheart, I won’t hurt you. I won’t touch you. I promise.”

Tremulous relief surged through her. The shakes subsided. “You left me. The Satyr was here! He came to hurt me just like before.”

Trembling, she hugged him, then ran her hands over his face, stroking the cruel Z brand. “You’re back.”

Her guardian closed his eyes. When he opened them, his gaze was dark and haunted. “I never left.”

At last, she slept. Tucking her into the guest bed, he watched her drift off. Kyle ran a tender hand through her sweat-dampened hair.

Maybe it was too soon. But he suspected not. Even if he gave her a year, Arianna couldn’t accept his true nature.

Kyle left and went outside, the wind ruffling his hair, cutting to the bone. “Let it go,” he whispered to the wind. “Release it.”

Clenching his fist, he imagined it held all his feelings for Arianna, the wild sexual abandon, the tenderness.

The love.

He closed his eyes and opened his palm, seeing the bitter wind sweep them away. But when he opened his eyes, and regarded his hand, his chest still felt hollow, and his heart was heavy with the weight of leaving her behind.

He had no place in this world. Arianna did. She belonged with Aiden’s pack, with her own kind. And he desperately wanted to find a way to remain with Ari. Maybe avoid her during that time of month.

A grim smile touched his mouth. He stood, dusting off his hands. Hell, he could no more avoid Ari during the full moon than he could stop shifting into a Satyr.

Even after the incredible sex, the assurances, the tenderness they’d shared, Ari was still terrified of his beast. An aching hollow settled in his chest. Everything inside him cried out to go into the bedroom, hold her tight and never let go. But he’d sworn a personal vow never to hurt or scare her again.

He had a little money saved. Maybe he’d go east this time, hitch across the country and see the Atlantic.

Will I ever belong anywhere?

For years, he’d belonged to the Mitchell pack. He felt valued and accepted and respected. And with Arianna, he finally felt loved, and knew what it was like to love.

The thought of losing her sank a dagger into his guts. Hell, he’d survive. But it would leave this empty space inside him no one could ever fill, because Ari claimed it with her gentle laughter and tough spirit.

Fishing his cell phone from his jeans pocket, he palmed it. No use wasting time. He dialed the number.

Tristan appeared in his customary black jerkin and tight trousers, looking calm and expectant.

“It didn’t work out with Arianna,” the wizard observed.

Kyle stared into the woods. “Called you here to cut a deal. I’m not putting the mating mark on her and tying her to my side.”

“She will continue to attract males unless you put the mark on her and claim her as your mate.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not afraid of sex anymore. For now, you resend your decree for her to mate. You won’t kill her. Or punish her.”

“In exchange for what, hunter?”

“Whatever you want from me.”

“Whatever I wish. Interesting offer. The same she made to you in the woods.”

Kyle fisted his hands and snarled. “You were spying on me? You son of a bitch!”

The wizard leaned against the woodshed. “Relax, hunter. I have spies, my ravens, but they only eavesdropped after Aiden forced your beast out. They are quite fond of you for rescuing one of their brethren and mending his broken wing.”

With considerable effort, Kyle leashed his temper and the urge to punch the wizard in the jaw. “Name your price.”

“I wish to attend at the birth of your firstborn child.”

Kyle blinked and laughed. The only babies he wanted to make were with Arianna, and that would never happen. He shrugged. “I promise.”

“And I may require your assistance to search for something the Brehon need recovered.”

Interesting. Tristan never admitted to needing help. “What?”

The Silver Wizard’s gaze hardened. “Later. If you leave the pack, you will never see Arianna again. She will become a ghost memory.”

Even though this was what he’d wanted, male possessiveness flooded his body. “That’s going to be a real bitch. How can I forget her?”

“You can, if you’re far enough away.” Tristan approached, laid a hand on his shaking shoulder. “You can do this, hunter. Of all the Wyldings I watch over, you possess the strongest will.”

“My will isn’t that strong, not during the full moon. I’ll always crave her, want to return to her.” He struggled with the words. “And she’ll always be afraid of me hurting her.”

“Then it’s best you leave before she sees your ugly side emerge again, isn’t it?” The wizard’s voice was almost gentle beneath the razor sharp words. “Leave her to live a full, enriched life. You want what’s best for her, do you not? You have deep feelings for this Lupine.”

I love her.
His heart twisted painfully.

As the wizard started to retreat, preparing to leave, Kyle called out, “Wait. One more condition.”

“You test my patience, hunter.”

He met the other’s gaze. “Once I leave the Mitchell pack, if I ever return, you must promise one thing. Kill me.”

Tristan did not blink. “Why?”

“Because I’ll only return if I’m moonstruck and sexually insatiable, unable to control my beast, and I will terrify Ari.” Kyle clenched his fists. “And I’d rather die.”

Silence again, broken by the whisper of the wind through the trees, and a raven cackling overhead.

“Done.”

Tristan faded away. As Kyle watched, the thought dimly occurred to him he’d just made a bargain with a demon.

But it didn’t matter. Only Ari’s safety and happiness did.

S
UNLIGHT STREAMED INTO
her bedroom as Arianna awoke. She blinked, glanced at the bedside clock.

Nine already?

Bounding out of bed, she took a quick shower, rubbed a towel over her hair and dressed. Dread gathered in her stomach. She’d remembered enough from last night.

Scared as she was of Kyle turning into a Satyr, she was more terrified of losing him. They could never make it work unless he finally accepted himself, and she accepted him into her body when he transformed.

Smells of frying bacon teased her nostrils as she hurried down the hallway. Shirtless, Kyle stood at the stove, turning slices in the frying pan. Breath caught in her throat. Smooth muscles in his back rippled beneath his sun-darkened skin. His thick brown hair was tousled, and jeans rode low on his lean hips.

He looked sexy, relaxed and delicious. Arianna licked her lips.

A crooked smile touched his full mouth as Kyle looked up. “Morning, little pint. Figured you’d enjoy some bacon with your eggs. Found some rashers in the fridge.”

“You let me sleep?”

His heavy-lidded gaze swept over her in a slow caress, making a shiver race down her spine. A look like that signified tumbles between bed sheets and long, slow hours of pleasure.

“Figured you needed the rest. I told you, Ari, I’ll always take good care of you.”

Warmed by the thought, she took a slice of bacon cooling on a paper towel and nibbled it.

“Tried calling Aiden again, but cell service sucks up here.”

“Not the only thing that sucks,” she murmured and saw his quick grin. A heated flush spread over her face.

Kyle turned off the heat beneath the frying pan. Fascination filled her as he turned. She stared at his bare chest, the dark dusting of hair feathering down to his hardened torso and dipping into the waistband of his jeans.

“Ari?” He snapped his fingers. When she glanced up, he looked amused. “Up here.”

Blushing more, she rummaged in the cabinet for a mug and filled it from the coffee pot on the counter. “Sorry. Just remembering last night.”

“It was special, wonderful, but we need to talk,” he said quietly.

Talk meant dragging out the baggage between them, baggage she knew he’d end up packing and taking with him. A new fear arose. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Because I know it’s about what happened in the shed.”

He braced his hands on the sink. “It’s my fault. I should have known you couldn’t handle it.”

Arianna seized on the words. “Give me time, Kyle. I need to adjust.”

But every muscle in his body tensed. “Everything in my blood screams and rages to keep you at my side.”

A shiver of sensual awareness, twined with relief, slid down her spine.

“But I can’t give you what you want most. A real home and stability...” His voice thickened. “Children.”

“You don’t want them.”

Kyle’s gaze darkened. “The instinct to mate and breed runs thick in my blood. But I won’t risk passing on my tainted bloodlines and siring a son who’d never fit in.”

Her throat tightened. “When Beth becomes a mom, I’ll be a great auntie. I don’t need young. Deal?”

But he stiffened and refused to look at her. Oh damnit, why wouldn’t he look at her? And then she knew it was worse, much worse. Arianna put a hand on her neck, realizing he had not marked her as his mate.

“You’re leaving me,” she whispered. “That’s why you didn’t put your mark on me.”

At his nod, panic rose in her chest. He couldn’t leave her, not now. “When?” If they had enough time, damnit, she’d work on overcoming her fear.

Kyle’s jaw turned to stone as he stared out the kitchen window. “Soon as we return to the ranch. It’s best. Before the full moon rises, and I transform into what I truly am.”

“I’m not afraid,” she lied.

Finally he turned around. Bright amber flared in his gaze, the same as last night. A low growl rumbled deep in his throat.

Arianna shrank back against the cold refrigerator door. His gaze returned to normal.

“You are afraid,” he said softly. “I saw it in your eyes when you were fifteen, and I see it now.”

Misery curdled her stomach. Arianna stroked a sunflower on her mug. So pretty, joyous and yet flat. It wasn’t real. Neither was her dream of settling down with Kyle and having a real family at last.

“You’re leaving, and everything will work out fine for you. Roaming from town to town, finding new Skins to screw while you leave me behind.”

“Leaving you is the hardest thing I’ll ever do, because it’s burning in my blood to hold you close and never let you go. I’ll die a little each day, fighting the compulsion to return to you. Craving you in my bed, always. And it will get worse, until I can’t control myself. But there is no way in hell I’d allow that.”

“I can go with you...”

He put a finger to her lips. “Shhhh. You have a pack who cares for you, adores you. My place is out there.”

“But where will you go?”

Kyle did not answer. A haunted look entered his eyes and shattered her heart. She had pack who loved her. Her proud, confident and extremely virile guardian would set his cowboy hat upon his head, tug up the collar of his sheepskin jacket, sling his backpack over one shoulder and walk alone into the cold, uncaring rain, never looking back.

Alone, once more, just as he’d been at 12 when his alpha branded him and kicked him out.

“ Kyle, you can’t give up this easily.”

“Nothing about this is easy. It’s burning in my blood to haul you into my arms, march you into the bedroom and ravish you until you scream.”

She spread out her hands. “So? Sounds like a plan to me.”

A bitter laugh rose in his throat. “If I touch you now, I’ll never release you. It’s best this way.”

“It’s my fault. If I hadn’t been such a chicken last night...”

“Don’t blame yourself, Ari. Your innocence was stripped from you long ago. It just...” He lifted those broad shoulders. “It is what it is.”

“But you want me.” She slid a hand along his arm. “I know you do, and the craving only intensifies during the full moon. What if you return to the ranch to find me?”

Gently, he removed her hand, kissed her knuckles. “I can’t return, sweetheart.”

Moisture stung her eyes. “Kyle, please, there has to be another way.”

“I can’t control what I am. No more than you can stop being a blooded Lupine. Please, don’t cry, sweetheart.”

But the tears finally came as she choked back a sob. “I’ll never see you again.”

He ran a thumb tenderly over her cheek. “I’ll always watch over you from a distance. I’m hunting down that bastard in the cave, and when I find him, he’ll pay. No one hurts my woman.”

Kyle leaned close, brushed a kiss against her lips. “You’ll always be my woman, Ari, in my heart and my soul. Until the moon no longer rises, and the stars never shine. Forever in my heart.”

“But you won’t be here.”

“Aiden will and...” His voice thickened. “And your new mate, when you choose one. They will keep you safe from anyone who dares to hurt you, including me.”

She set down the mug with a shaky hand. “So you run. Because that’s the only way you can avoid the risk of someone hurting you, isn’t it? Someone who may not hold a branding iron to your cheek, but do much worse, break your heart.”