Unbound (The Captive #7)(75)
Keegan barely tolerated Jack’s presence around Braith’s body. The wolf allowed him to feed Braith blood, but watched his every move and emanated a series of growls the entire time Jack knelt at his side. Despite his dislike of the animal, Jack wouldn’t turn away the added protection for Braith. Keegan also now disposed of the remains of the animals, and he only had to leave the cave once a day to hunt for them.
Jack wiped off his knees and rose to his feet. Keegan lifted his head, his lips skimmed back to bare his fangs. Jack gave him the finger before turning away.
Hannah’s lips clamped together as she resisted laughing at him. “He’s only an animal.”
“He’s a dick.”
“There’s certainly no love lost between you two.”
Jack shrugged as he climbed the rocks to sit beside her. “He doesn’t know me. When Braith got him, he was only a puppy, and I was getting ready to leave the palace to infiltrate the rebels. Keegan was ever-present at Braith’s side and served as Braith’s eyes while he was blind.”
Hannah rested her hand on his knee as she gazed across the cavern at Keegan. The wolf finished off his rabbit and rested his head on Braith’s stomach. His emerald eyes glistened as he focused on Jack and Hannah. His thick gray coat shone with health in the torchlight playing over it. He released a yawn that revealed all of his lethal teeth.
The wolf was a dick, but he was an extremely protective one and Jack admired him for it.
“He’s beautiful,” Hannah said. “I wish he would let me pet him.”
“Maybe when Braith wakes,” he replied.
“I like it when you’re optimistic.”
“One of us has to be,” he teased and nudged her side.
She tilted her head back to smile at him. “I always try to see the bright side of things.”
“That is one of the many reasons why I love you.”
The light in her jade eyes was irresistible and he bent his head to kiss her. Her hands twisted into his shirt to drag him closer. Her mouth opened to the gentle prodding of his tongue. Lifting her from the rocks, he climbed easily over them as he made his way toward their sleeping area. After spending a week and a half in this cave, he knew every inch and crevice of it, so he didn’t have to look to see where he placed his feet as he climbed.
Leading her into their side tunnel above, Jack laid her down on the blankets and furs. She lifted her arms to him and he eagerly went into them. He lost himself to her in only the way Hannah could make him lose himself. For a period of time, he was able to forget his brother was dead, their world was coming apart, and the future he’d planned and hoped for them was unraveling.
When he separated himself from her again, he cradled her against his chest as he listened to the distant drip of water sliding over rock and the crackle of the torch flame. Earlier, rain had been pelting the ground when he’d gone to hunt for Braith, but deep beneath the earth there was no indication of that. It remained calm, almost peaceful in this fortress of rock.
He stared at the ceiling over his head, watching the distant flickering of the torch playing across the rock and listening to Keegan’s claws clicking over the rock. The wolf had probably gotten up to go to the bathroom again. Jack ran his fingers over Hannah’s silken flesh, inhaling her tantalizing scent and the scent of the two of them together. Their blood mingled and flowed strongly as one, binding them for an eternity.
His hand stilled on her when Keegan’s claws stopped clicking somewhere in the middle of the cavern.
Hannah murmured something; her hair fell away from his shoulder when he abruptly sat up. He heard no other noise within the cave, but Keegan never just stood somewhere. “Get dressed,” he whispered in Hannah’s ear.
He tugged on his pants and reached for his shirt. His hands wrapped around his stakes as the torch he’d left below suddenly went out, plunging the cave into a darkness so complete that even his vampire eyes couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.
Hannah’s shirt settled into place over her with a rustle of material. Her hand encircled his arm, her nails biting into his flesh. “Jack,” she murmured.
Turning his head into Hannah’s hair, he rested his lips against her ear. “Stay here.” She shook her head and he took hold of her chin, running his fingers over her face as he tried to memorize her features through touch. “There is a storm outside. A gust of wind probably came down one of the tunnels and caught the torch, putting it out. I’ll be fine, but stay here.”
Her chin trembled in his grasp. He knew she didn’t entirely buy his theory, but it was a good possibility. He kissed her quickly before rising into a low crouch to make his way toward the end of the tunnel. His ears strained to hear anything within the cavern, but silence hung thickly in the air.
Too silent. He now understood what it was like to be in a tomb.
The torch had been newly lit a short while ago, but a downdraft from the storm outside could have caught it and put it out. That would also explain why Keegan had risen if the air in the cave had changed and carried a new scent with it.
But why hadn’t Keegan returned to Braith’s side?
Jack remained low as he rested his hand on the first of the jagged rocks at the top of the cavern and crept his way forward. Memory and the feel of the rocks guided him onward as his eyes remained completely ineffective. He was almost tempted to start swinging out with his hands, but he couldn’t take the risk of hitting something and making noise.