Forever Bound Series 1-4(51)

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 pinned 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.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told him and both of her eyes opened fully as she gazed up at him. “I can’t change what I am.”

The scent of her blood filled his nostrils. When he got hold of Michael again, he was gonna give that claw-happy werewolf some marks to remember him by. You don’t touch her.

Drake caught both of her wrists in his left hand and raised them over her head. She wasn’t fighting him, and as a vampire, her delicate form was hiding one hell of a lot of strength.

She just stared up at him, reminding him of all the stupid dreams he’d once had…and lost.

He’d almost left his pack for her. He’d wanted to be human. For her.

But now, the beast was in charge. There was no going back. There was only blood, death, and darkness.

For both of them.

He gazed down at her, trying to figure out when she’d stopped being human and become a vampire. She’d been nineteen the last time he saw her. He’d been twenty-one.