Wolf Slayer (The Order of the Wolf, #2)(23)
“When I’m well I’m going to mark you properly,” he said, his voice gruff, coming out harsh. He cringed—he was such an ass.
She cracked her eyes open, smiled shyly. “You bet your ass you will.”
Chapter Fifteen
She’d done what she could for Dyami, visited every day to give him jolt after jolt of her power and yet he lay there still and silent, hooked up to a multitude of machines that beeped and whirred and basically kept him alive. The wound had healed where her arrow had struck but the poison of her Huntress magic was embedded in him so profusely that she doubted months of treatment would rid him of it completely. He should be dead. She wondered if keeping him alive was even humane.
She closed the door to his room, shutting out the whoosh-whoosh of the breathing machine and dampening the guilt she felt when she looked at him. She shouldn’t have taken that shot, but years of conditioning had kicked in when her brain was too stunned to process what was going on. Now Dyami suffered unimaginably for it.
Mayhem and the pack had granted her forgiveness but she wouldn’t feel atoned until she heard it from Dyami’s lips.
Guilt and sorrow rested permanently on her shoulders. Until, that was, she opened the door next to Dyami’s room where Jaylon recovered. Love could vanquish anything. It really could, at least for a while. Jaylon’s love for her, although he never said it, was like the brightest light—so warm, so tender, tethered to her by the unbreakable bond that came with his bite.
He was sitting up in bed, propped on pillows, smiling slyly. “What have you been up to?” she asked as she quietly shut the door behind her.
“Me? Nothing?”
She frowned, put her hands on her hips. “You’re lying.”
Jaylon’s smile grew. He patted the bed. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“How are you feeling?” She moved to the bed, ignoring his request for her to come up as she felt around what was left of his chest wound, now only a faint pink scar. “Any pain tonight?”
She’d been spending a lot of time with his wolf during the day, the magic of his transitions moving him through the cycles from beast to man whether he was conscious or not. In some ways, the wolf was easier to understand. Without language, it just felt and its feelings overwhelmed her at times. Desire, belonging, possession, tenderness, even love.
The man just spoke in circles, never wanting to tell her how he felt, what he thought. It was frustrating, to say the least.
Jaylon patted the bed again. “I’m not answering you until you get up here.”
She snapped her gaze to his, meeting a look of cunning determination, one eyebrow cocked, a smile still on his lips. She sighed in resignation. “Fine.” Then eased herself onto the edge of the mattress, not wanting to jostle him too much.
Once her body was within reach, he yanked her onto his lap with ease. She yelped, and his smile grew wider.
“There you are.” He leaned forward and nuzzled her neck, running his tongue along the column of her sensitive flesh, making her shiver. “I missed you.”
She pulled back, looked at him. He never said anything like that to her. “You feeling okay?” She raised her hand to his forehead. No fever.
He chuckled, pulled her hand away, leaned forward again and kissed her tenderly on the lips. “I know I’m not the best with this relationship stuff.” He reached under his pillow and pulled out a ring box. “I had Mayhem pick this up for me.” With a wink, he opened it.
Aubrey stared, her mouth dropping open slightly. Nestled in the plush box was a ring, the cut making its surface sparkle. It was the head of a wolf, delicately wrought, tiny yellow gems decorating the eyes. It was beautiful.
He pulled it out, turned it on its side to show the engraved band, all Celtic swirls of black designs. He tilted it to show her the inscription on the inside.
My heart is yours.
She gulped back her tears. “It’s gorgeous, Jay,” she croaked.
He pulled it from the box, and motioned for her to lift her left hand. “I may not be great at communicating my feelings with words, but every time you look at this you’ll know that it’s a symbol of my feelings for you. The deepest, truest feelings I possess.” He slid it onto her ring finger. “You are my destiny. You are my life.”
Aubrey touched the finger with her other hand, lifted it to her lips and kissed it, then leaned in and kissed him. “I love you too, Jaylon.”
He ran his hand along her thigh and kissed her again, pulling her closer so that her ass rested against his hard cock. “Mmm, I like the feel of you there.”
She wriggled teasingly and laughed. “I bet you do. But you haven’t yet answered my question. Are you feeling any pain tonight?”
He sighed. “Yeah, yeah I am.”
When she made to pull away, trying to scramble off him, he slipped his hand between her legs and rubbed her, abrading her clit with his fingers against her jeans. “I’m aching to be inside of you, Aubrey.”
She moaned as he latched onto her breast, the cotton of her T-shirt and bra doing nothing to keep the heat of his mouth from penetrating to her skin. And suddenly, she couldn’t get naked fast enough.
Pulling away, she whipped her clothes off in a frenzy, did not hesitate in the slightest when he threw the sheet back and offered his cock for her to sheathe. She was back on his lap within seconds, on her knees straddling him, his cock filling her up so completely that she moaned again. This was bliss.