Was that why he was so damned restless? They no doubt had contained something to relax him. Maybe she’d managed to get him addicted. He wished he had more of them. Because without their calming effect, his mind was wandering where he didn’t want it to wander.
He sighed. It was just going to take time. Jessie was safe. She was happy. That was all that mattered. Well, not all. But it was the important thing.
The most important thing.
His heart hurt. It kept insisting there had to be a way for her and him to be together. Become a Sabre. Join the triad. It had taken him a lot of sober thought before he’d admitted the problem. It wasn’t the thought of turning into a beast that gave him pause. It was the triad itself.
The triad meant not just being with Jessie. It meant joining with Kade.
Even the thought of being with Kade—no. He couldn’t do it. Kade? The Sabre and Zach were like oil and water. Perhaps not hate, but a long way from like. Even the man’s name made Zach want to hit something. Or throw up. Maybe both at the same time. He couldn’t go there. Even for Jessie.
Which meant he and Jessie weren’t possible. Because Kade was mated to her. Kind of a permanent thing. And that was all there was to it.
He threw an arm over his face.Don’t think of her. Think of nothing.He closed his eyes and practiced deep breathing.
The world slowed, and he drifted off.
Jessie. As real as if she stood before him, and not just in a dream. Her eyes glowed silver in the darkness.
Glorious. Like the moon on a clear night.
The wind chased tendrils of hair across her face. The leaves and branches traced shadows across her naked skin. They danced in the breeze, so that the softness of breast and thigh appeared and disappeared, teasing the eye.
A shudder ran through him. His entire body tightened.
He had to caress. Powerless to resist, his fingers reached. Silken softness. Alive. Warm. The purr of a sigh, sending electric thrills along every nerve.
His blood surged. His heart pounded so hard that his chest barely contained it.
Delicate hands on him. Stroking, fingertips yielding to claws that traced every ridge, every contour. Gentle, teasing pinpricks that made him gasp and shudder. He reciprocated, his own claws—the dream offered them, and he accepted—flicking feather light along her skin. Over her breasts, her waist.
She moaned and shivered.
Yes. Come with me, Zach.The words were hers—and not. Deeper, more powerful.
He bent to kiss her. Lips and teeth and tongue. They tangled and tussled, every nerve on fire. Zach ran his claws along her jaw and wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck. Nipped along her throat and lower. Changed teeth to tongue and forged a trail to her breast.
She gasped and arched into him, running her hands up his back and digging sharp little claws into the hard muscles.
Fire ignited within, scorching a path straight to a burgeoning need that eagerly strained for release. He peeled his lips back from teeth suddenly grown long and sharp—and rumbled. It vibrated through the air.
Kneeling in the cool grass, he reached for her with arms that rippled with muscle and lifted her against him. It was effortless, his strength boundless. She wrapped her legs around him as he slid her down his body. Every point of contact set his skin aflame.
Excruciating. Exhilarating. Intoxicating.
He merged with her, in a smooth slide of heat that stole his breath. His muscles flexed as he held her, and she rode him. Muscles clenching, body tightening, focused on one clear goal.
Her head dropped back, the moonlight caught on brow and nose and cheek, reflecting off the long teeth that dropped free. She groaned with each shift of her hips, and suddenly her eyes snapped open. Her hand tightened on the back of his neck, the pinprick claws sinking deep.
It started in her eyes. They flared silver, the pupils pulsing from human to cat. Then the throb trembled through her. Until her entire body shuddered around him.
With a rush, he joined her. His mouth opening as he shouted. More a roar than a scream.
For just a moment, awareness was a merging. Of her. Of himself. And another.
Three. Together. Whole.
Three is always stronger than two.The words fell into his brain. A deep rumble. Kade’s voice.