Page 41 of Captive Wilderness
19
BROOKE
Thunk.
I woke up with a start, my heart pounding. Sitting up, I pressed a hand to my chest, taking deep breaths. Darkness bathed the cabin. I didn’t know what time it was, but it had to be late.Or early.No sunrise glow shone through the windows.
I remembered everything I’d dreamed with startling clarity. My own memories mixed with someone else’s.Kane’s.How much of it was true? Had I dreamed about his real life?
After my shower yesterday, Kane had fed me a supper of leftover soup and bread. I’d told myself not to have sex with him again, but by the time the dishes were washed, that promise went right out the window. He lay beside me now, warm, both of us naked. His snore rumbled through his chest, making my ribs vibrate.
Instead of relaxing into the pleasant sensation, I rubbed a hand over my face. Everything I’d experienced in my dreams had beenso real. I’d felt every emotion. My hand moved to my throat, almost believing I’d find it scarred. I’d suffered every pain, every horror. How had he survived?
There was only one way to know if it was all true. I reached over and turned on the lamp atop the dresser. Quickly, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and moved to the desk. The sounds of Kane waking up and rolling over rustled behind me. Taking a deep breath first, I leaned over and opened the bottom drawer.
Two collars lay there, mine and one a bit smaller, both made of similar looking metal. Both with the same prongs in the back. A strange sensation raced through my body, making me dizzy, my legs weak. Everything I’d dreamed about him was true.All of it.
I straightened, the world around me spinning. What I’d dreamed… All of Kane’s emotions engulfed me like a tsunami. Hate, fear, pain… I braced my hand against the bedpost to remain upright. I felt them all over again, a faucet on full blast. I couldn’t get out from under it.
Gulping a breath, I turned. Kane sat with his legs over the side of the bed, watching me.
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I held up the smaller of the two collars. “What is this?”
He lifted his hand then let it fall in his lap, like he was sayingI can explain.
I dropped the collar back in the drawer. “But you don’t need to explain, that’s the thing.” I knew my words were coming out high-pitched and panicked, but I couldn’t stop them from tumbling out of my mouth. “I knew that was there,” I said, sweeping my hand toward the drawer, “because I’d dreamed it. I know you made it for yourself and other shifters who can’t control their shifts. It was like I wasyouin my dreams.”
The more I talked, the more tension stiffened his body.
“I saw your life. I know your sister’s name is Emily and she’s attracted to assholes. I met your friends. I—” Squeezing my eyes shut, I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to calm my heart. “I was there when you got your throat ripped out. Ifeltit.” Anger whipped through me, hot and fast, and for a second, I wasn’t sure if it was mine or his. “Even though you’ve already killed him, I want to kill him for you all over again.”
The bed creaked. When I opened my eyes, he stood in front of me, naked, tall, and muscled. I swallowed at his intense focus, like I was the most important thing in the world. “I heard your voice before you lost it.” I searched his face for answers, for some reasonable explanation as to why this was happening. “You called me your mate in my head. Inyourhead.”
He lifted his hands and cradled my face. I squeezed his wrists tight, a lifeline. “I dreamed about your life. What is this?” My hand skimmed upward, past his fingers to the marks on my neck.
My stomach dropped out from under me in realization.Mating marks.The phrase came from memory, something my mom had told me long ago. My heart pumped twice as hard as usual.No.
I stared into his eyes, the truth settling into me like a ball of molten lava in my chest. After he’d killed those men, when I’d run from him…I’d started this. I’d exposed my neck for him to bite without realizing what I was doing.
We were going through a mating ritual.
I could have stopped this. He’d tried to stay away from me. He must have realized what was happening from the beginning. Instead of accepting the gift he’d been trying to give me, I’d begged him to fuck me. Over and over again. If I’d realized the significance of his bite, I could have put the brakes on instead of forcing our bond to strengthen. Every time we had sex, it solidified our connection.
His eyes roved over my face, his fingers flexing for a second, then relaxing, an affirmation that Iwashis mate. My heart threatened to burst from my chest. Nervous energy rolled through my stomach and spread lower. He leaned closer like he was going to kiss me, then paused.
We hadn’t kissed yet. It wasn’t something I was drawn to do with my partners. Just like holding hands, it wasn’t an intimacy that I needed to satisfy me when I went into heat. It had always been a biological function, nothing more. Keeping kissing out of it allowed me to stay in charge.
But as I stared up into those cognac eyes, the tenderness in his expression made me want to shed my past habits. I wanted him more with each stroke of his thumb on my jaw.
I closed the gap between us on a groan. His lips were soft and strong and delicious. Tingles exploded through my body to settle between my legs. My tongue darted out, stroking his. The scruff of his beard tickled my face. He growled. His hands released my face to skim down my naked back, pulling me against him. My fingers dove into his hair.
Our kiss went on and on. The world disappeared and it was only the two of us. Hands roved, and pulled, and petted. He grabbed my bottom and squeezed, lifting me up and against him until the juncture of my thighs cradled his erection. He felt so good. His kiss, his hard body, the way he touched me, everything set me on fire.
I wrapped my legs around his hips. Feeling the head of his cock press against my heat, I wiggled until I could sink down onto him. The thick, wet, slide made me purr. I was always so ready for him. The feel of him inside me, filling me, it made the breaths in my chest stutter to a stop. We hadn’t stopped kissing, and I didn’t want to. Kissing Kane was the most amazing thing I’d ever experienced. His taste filled my head. He nibbled, he stroked, his tongue fucked me like his cock was doing.
My nipples rubbed against his chest hairs, making them pucker to hard points. He stepped back to the bed, then settled me beneath him. We hadn’t separated our lips or our joined bodies. He kissed me and thrust slow and steady, letting the heat build between us at a tantalizing pace. His tenderness made a foreign pressure build inside my chest.
Whenever I thought he’d pick up the pace, take me fast like so many other times before, he backed off. I dug my heels into his ass, encouraging. Each slow stroke of his cock inside brought another wave of sparks that rolled through me from top to bottom. Every part of me prickled. I’d never felt this all-consuming sensation before. Need crawled over my skin. These emotions were too much. He was making mefeeltoo much.
