Bound in Sin (Bound #3)(3)

Ah, right, that rage was burning so bright in him.

“But then you left.” A muscle jerked in Drake’s jaw. “Disappeared.”

Paige backed up a step. When a werewolf this big and angry was coming at you, a smart woman backed the hell up.

“You vanished,” his fingers had whitened around the necklace, “when you were supposed to be mine.”

Yes, a human named Paige Sloan had promised to love him, always. But then she’d stopped being a human, and she’d become the one thing that she knew he hated.

Vampire.

“You don’t taste like death,” Drake told her.

She flinched at the cold and brutal words. Werewolves always were saying that vamps smelled and tasted like death–that was one of their many insults. So why hadn’t she expected that slam from him? Her chin lifted. “And right now, you don’t look particularly furry.” She’d never actually seen him shift. She didn’t want to, either. Paige squared her shoulders and held his gaze. “I guess we’re both full of surprises, huh?”

“You can f*cking say that again.”

Her back teeth clenched together. She hadn’t expected the guy to run to her, wrap her in his arms, and immediately swear his undying love. She’d let that dream die a long time ago. But, jeez, did he want to rip her soul out or what? “Look, I know you aren’t exactly happy to see me–”

He advanced. She backed up once more. The last thing she wanted was for him to put those big, warm hands of his on her again. When he touched her, her body went into sexual overdrive. She’d gone way too long without a lover.

No one but him.

Right. Too damn long.

But lust had to wait. For now.

“Do you know how long I looked for you?” Drake demanded. She could see the edge of his fangs. Probably not a good sign. What was that saying in the vamp world? When you saw a wolf’s fangs, you were about to see hell. He shook his head slowly and said, “You vanished.”

It wasn’t like she’d wanted to leave him. But he’d been marked to be the next alpha of his pack and she’d been–

Bitten.

“I didn’t think you wanted a vampire turning up on your doorstep.” Some of her own anger–the anger she usually worked so hard to keep in check–broke through her fraying control. “Even if I was a vamp that you used to screw.”

He pounced. She should have expected the move, but she’d been around humans too long, and werewolves, damn, they could move fast.

In two seconds, he had her on his bed, sprawled amidst the covers, while he held her arms penned to the mattress. “You weren’t a vampire then.”

His muscled body pressed against her. No, correction, his aroused body pressed against her. There was no mistaking the bulge of his cock.

“You were human then,” he said, and his hold tightened around her. “Not vampire, not–”

What she’d been didn’t matter. “I’m a vampire now.” His sworn enemy. Only…he still wanted her. She’d thought werewolves were supposed to be repulsed by her kind. She’d sure been told that often enough.

The voice from her nightmares whispered through her mind, saying, “Do you think he’ll ever want you again? One look, one taste…as soon as he knows what you are, you’ll be dead.”

And she wouldn’t be able to rise again.

She waited to feel claws at her throat again. Because she didn’t want to see this end, Paige closed her eyes. She’d remember him as he used to be. If only Drake could remember her the same way.

Some dreams just weren’t meant to come true.

Paige took a breath, tasted him–strength, power, man–and waited for her second death to come.





Chapter Two


A ghost lay beneath him. A ghost who’d haunted more nightmares than Drake could count.

She was as still as a statue, her features pale and perfect. High, curving cheekbones, a small, pert nose, and lush, red lips made for sin. Her hair–dark as the night he’d always loved–tangled around her face.

And she didn’t move. Barely seemed to breathe.

Why?

“Do it,” Paige whispered, her voice still that same combination of sin and seduction that had driven him to the edge too many times in the past. “Just…make it fast.”

He really hoped she wasn’t talking about sex. With her, fast hadn’t ever been an option. He’d always needed to take her again and again, to erupt inside of her, to lose himself.

She lifted one eyelid just a bit. Her green gaze darted over him. “You’re not…you’re not killing me?”

What. The. Fuck. It took every ounce of his will-power to hold back the rage that threatened to swamp him. “Not yet,” he managed to snarl.

Paige trembled beneath him. Her slender body had trembled beneath his before, but back then, those little shivers had been from pleasure.

Not fear.

He could all but smell the fear covering her. He hated that smell on her.

“How.” Drake bit off the world. How had she become a vampire? Had she chosen this life? Some humans wanted to be vampires. They went out seeking the bite because they wanted to live forever.

Fools. The price of forever was a river of blood and death.

He hadn’t thought Paige would be like those desperate humans. He also hadn’t thought she’d vanish and leave him aching for her–ten damn years.