Page 50 of Magic Claimed
There was nowhere I could go in this entire Territory where they could not track me, and they weren’t about to let me out of their sight. Silence settled inside the cabin, thick and heavy as Jarom turned the full force of his burning gaze on me.
He stalked towards me, a predator hunting prey. My heart fluttered. This was what he meant when he said I was prey. Not the good sort of prey. I was the prey that was torn apart and feasted upon, and I was alone in this cabin with him.
I back-peddled into a couch as he approached, those golden eyes never leaving me. His scent enveloped me. The bond wove its delicious tendrils around me even as I resisted its lure.
The smell of ozone accompanied a flash of light, leaving Jarom’s human form standing before me, his glorious, muscular body on display. Designs of swirls, roses, vines and wolves were tattooed over every inch of his skin. His body was a work of art that my eyes feasted upon.
The designs were punctuated with brilliant reds, greens, yellows and blues, tumbling artfully across his chest, down the left side of his waist, over his hip and covering the solid structure of his thigh. Vines dangled from a knot on his calf to his ankle, so well drawn and detailed I might have thought they were real.
I recognized the designs as flowers and leaves, but their species was a mystery. The leaves were sharper, the roses had more petals, the wolves sleek and huge, peeking between the flora. The designs paled into insignificance because of the canvas.
Jarom was magnificent.
My wolf wanted to tip her head back and howl. To join such a glorious and worthwhile mate to her soul. My human side remained silent but my tight control was slipping.
“Come, Serafine. Let me hold you.” His voice was deceptively gentle. I tensed expecting – well, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t expect the way his arms came about me carefully and slowly, nor the way he picked me up and placed me on the couch next to him. He drew a blanket over his lap and then coiled his arms about me, curling me against his chest.
I stayed in wolf form. My fur, fangs and claws were armour and Jarom was deliciously naked beneath me. Pine and fresh earth eased through my soul. His body heat filtered through my fur and seeped into me. His arm was a pleasant weight. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. “Rest now, Serafine.”
An owl hooted outside and the crackling of the fire was pleasant, lulling me into a state of semi-sleepiness. I should be awake and ready for anything, my nerves firing, my brain seeking out danger. Instead, my eyelids drooped, and I nestled against the hard planes of Jarom’s chest, tracing a flowing tattooed vine with my eyes until my body became heavy and I slipped into a dreamless sleep.
My shoulder was cold. I cracked open my eyes to see an expanse of skin and black swirls and Jarom looking down at me. I’d Changed from wolf to human while I was asleep and while the fur had provided cover for my body, now I only had a flimsy blanket.
The fire had burned out and the first streaks of a grey dawn touched the sky, barely lighting the gloom. The air was chilly and my shoulder was cold because the blanket that had been underneath me when I’d fallen asleep was now tucked around me and the top had slipped down. The rest of my body was warm because I was flush against Jarom’s naked flesh and the tantalizing threads of the bond were sinking into me, fogging my brain and making me want to do things that weren’t in my best interest. His gaze was a trap and I couldn’t move. Didn’t want to pull away.
“Do you still think I’m prey?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“Oh yes. Very much and like all the prey I catch, I’m going to devour you from head to toe.” Before I could think, his hand curled around nape and his mouth captured mine.
My hand splayed on his chest to push him away, to slap him, to scramble far, far away, but his tongue stroked inside my mouth and the taste of pine exploded on my tongue. A vortex of desire spun around me, and all I wanted to do was kiss him back. My tongue swept along his as my fingernails dug into his shoulder. I wanted to mark him anyway I could so the world would know he was mine.
The primal need roared in ecstasy, and the power of the bond consumed me. Jarom flipped me onto my back and rose above me, caging me against the back of the couch. The blanket fell away, leaving me bare, but I didn’t feel the cold air. Heat blazed through me and if Jarom didn’t touch me now, I would combust.
His glittering gaze crossed my body, lingering on my breasts. My nipples beaded as though his gaze was a physical touch, but he didn’t touch me. He brought his gaze to mine and the open honesty there made by breath catch. The roaring tide of my lust receded, allowing me to focus on his words.
“I understand you, Serafine.” His deep voice was scratchy and raw. He swallowed thickly. “You might not think so, but I do.”
I scrambled to understand what he said. “But…you hate me.”
His eyes flared, copper lights flickering through them. His fingertips trailed the lightest touch along my jaw. “I wanted you to think so when the opposite is true.”
His gaze dropped to my breasts. My sensitive flesh tingled, aching for his touch, my mind warring with my body. He reached for me tentatively, as though I might disappear because I was a mirage. His fingertips grazed the side of my breast. My nipples tightened almost painfully.
I couldn’t give in to my desire. Not now. Not yet. Before I lost all train of thought at those delicious swirls, he teased me with. His touch circled my nipples, then moved to my other breast. My mind fogged and soon it would be too hard to speak. I needed to know why he’d treated me like he did, but all I could do was utter one word and hope he understood. “Why?”
“I had to make sure.” He dipped his head and laved my nipple with the flat of his tongue. I threw back my head as searing, wet heat covered one breast as his palm laid claim to my other. He sucked my breast into his mouth, flicking my nipple with his tongue and pinching the other with his deft fingers. His warm breath fanned from his nostrils, sweeping over my chest. The place between my thighs throbbed, and a coil grew tight in the pit of my abdomen. Gods, what his hand and his tongue were doing to me. I was losing my mind. Losing all track of thought, but I needed to know. Needed to find out what he was talking about.
I licked my dry lips, trying to get my mouth to function. “Sure…about what?”
He released a breath, making that aching part of me cold for a moment. But there was another aching part of me, begging to be touched. My legs became restless, and I lifted one and then the other, not knowing what I needed, only that I neededsomething.
“So I would be sure about this. About you.” His hand slid down my stomach without hesitation, and then his finger slid through my slippery folds and dipped into my core. My thighs parted so he could reach me more fully. He withdrew his finger and swirled it around my clit, driving my arousal higher and higher. I needed something to hold on to, so I grabbed his shoulders as he pumped his thick digits into me, my hips tilting in sync with his movements.
Gods, it felt good. So good, I would never get enough of his touch. It was addictive.Hewas addictive. One touch and I was hooked. I threw my head back into the couch cushions, my heart racing as the coil in my abdomen tightened.
A distant part of my brain still functioned. The most determined part. Alerick and Eike had no hesitation. They knew I was their mate immediately and trusted fate, and yet Jarom had fought as hard as I had.
He knew the bond controlled us. He didn’t want to be controlled either. Then why was he doing these delicious things to me, making me feel so good?
