Savage Awakening (Alpha Pack #2)(60)

"Yours! Oh, yes... all the way, I need you in me!"

He thrust to the hilt and stilled for a few seconds, gripping her waist. The need to bite her, claim his mate, was never stronger than at that moment. It took all his willpower not to succumb to the blinding, tearing need to bond. To make her his for always.

But he controlled it, barely, and began to take her in unhurried but powerful strokes. The slap of their slick skin drove him crazy, and her channel clasping, squeezing his rod sent him to the edge in minutes.

"I'm not going to last," he warned her.

"Me, either. Please, do me hard!"

He increased the tempo some, but mostly the force, putting even more strength behind the strokes. Enough to send them both into ecstasy, but not enough to harm her.

Her orgasm hit suddenly and she cried out, undulating on his cock, milking him. His own release was explosive and he came endlessly, hard and deep. Just like she'd wanted.

All too soon they were spent and he pulled out carefully, placing a gentle kiss between her shoulder blades. "Thank you, sweetheart. You were incredible."

"So were you." Turning, she gave him a blazing kiss. When he pulled back, he couldn't help but stare, awed by her beauty. And right then, the truth hit him like a bolt-he wasn't just losing his life by not claiming Rowan.

He was losing a special woman, one who would've made him the happiest bastard alive.

If only things had been different.

Chapter Twelve

Rowan was sitting by Micah's bed, holding his hand and reading aloud to him from Jim Butcher's latest book about PI wizard Harry Dresden's adventures, when it happened.

"Hey, Ro," a voice croaked.

The book fell from her nerveless fingers and she raised her eyes, looking straight into Micah's. "Oh, my God! You-you're awake! You're back!"

"I'm back? Where'd I go?" He smiled tiredly, looking more than a little confused.

"You were hurt," she answered carefully. "Don't you remember?"

His handsome face scrunched, the scar tissue from the burn pulling on the left side as he thought hard. Thankfully he hadn't noticed it yet, but he would. She wasn't looking forward to his reaction.

"I... We were sent out-wait, where am I?"

"At the Alpha Pack compound. You're safe, sweetie. Nick and the others rescued you."

"From where? Who's Nick?" He began to appear alarmed. "You know about Alpha Pack?"

Sensing his mounting anxiety, she stroked his hair. "One thing at a time, honey. Yes, I know about your team and what you guys do. How you eliminate rogue demons and different kinds of creatures, all of it. You can guess how fun that was for a nonbeliever like me." The humor was lost on him.

He took a long moment to digest this, studying his lap. When he finally looked at her again, his expression was one of quiet dread. He spoke with difficulty, his voice raspy from disuse. "We were sent to an abandoned building, to rescue some hostages from vampires, I think. Then it's just a blank. Where's Terry? Is everyone okay?"

Her heart turned over, aching for his loss. "From what I was told, that op was a setup and you were all ambushed. Sweetie, Terry and some of the other guys are most likely dead. I'm so sorry."

"I- What? That doesn't make sense. How... Oh, God." He sank into the pillows, seeming so young and vulnerable. Nothing like the tough warrior she knew him to be. He was scared and he had no idea what was going on. She let him process it all.

He went on. "Who is Nick?" he repeated.

"Nick Westfall. He's your new commander. Everyone really respects him and from what I gather, he's fit right in very well in the time he's been here."

"How much time? I mean, he couldn't have replaced Terry in just a few days."

"Micah, the ambush was more than six months ago," she said softly.

"But... where have I been? What happened to me?"

Her brother honestly didn't remember. Christ help them all, how were they supposed to get him healed with him blocking the whole thing? But his mind slamming the door on the horror was likely the only reason he was awake and communicative now.

"You were held in several different buildings, labs where this guy Orson Chappell, CEO of NewLife Technology, and his band of merry lunatics are doing experiments on shifters and humans, merging their DNA. Does any of this ring a bell?"

He thought for a time, shook his head. "No." His brown eyes were shadowed, though, and she wondered whether his brain was struggling to keep the events suppressed.

With a sigh, she gave him the rundown of events over the past few months, without going into details about what was done to his body by those insane bastards. It might do more harm than good to tell him what he'd suffered before he was ready to hear it. She'd have to talk to the doctors. When she was finished, he lay there exhausted. Thinking, she could tell.

"So, since I survived, Terry and the others might still be alive somewhere, waiting for rescue," he said hopefully.

"Maybe, but nobody knows. I'm not sure whether it's cruel to hope that's true or not."

Licking his lips, he glanced at the plastic pitcher and cup on the nightstand. "Can I have some water?"

"Sure." She patted his arm. "Be right back."