could move on, so she could start living again.
“Do you like fighting?” Wisdom filled his eyes along with challenge.
“Nobody likes fighting.” She hated hitting people, in fact.
No way did the wolf know her so well.
“You hate fighting.” His hands flexed. “You’re a genius at strategy, and you love people. But you thought you should fight because of your lineage.”
“So I didn’t fit in, even with my own people.” The assassins who were her people, that is. Damn. Maybe she was born to be a misfit.
“Not really.” Terrent’s palms heated her skin. “You fit with me, though.”
Sweet. Very sweet. “I left you.”
“We had a silly fight, you went to cool off, the Kurjans kidnapped you.” His voice lowered to guttural.
“I don’t even remember being taken by the Kurjans,” she said. “We’ve never found records of what exactly they infected me with during that time.” Her mind was an empty, black hole. But, after two inoculations, she was feeling damn good—almost a hundred percent. Her damn memories just had to return.
“I’ve been trying for ten years—trying to get information. To discover why not only the Kurjans but also the demons want you.” He shook his head.
Yeah, the demons were at war with the Realm, and they had a hit out on Maggie, but it had never made any sense. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a demon,” she said.
“You don’t want to.”
Considering they’d hurt her friend, Jase, she wished they’d disappear.
A bird twittered high above. Maggie swallowed. She should probably get off the wolf. Getting all cozy with him seemed wrong, considering she was actually in town to investigate him, and any other wolf who might be tampering with the inoculations for shifters. The inoculations that kept them safe from the Kurjan virus. He wouldn’t mess with the vials, would he?
A breeze whispered through the forest. Life hummed around them with the scents of pine and jasmine.
She couldn’t look away from his hard face.
The anger morphed to something darker in his eyes. Tension wound through the peaceful afternoon. He studied her much like a hawk spotting prey. Tingles sprang to life down her back, and warmth spiraled through her abdomen.
His heated palms pressed down just enough to rub her against his cock.
Her mind blanked.
A low growl rumbled up from his gut, rolling along her breasts. Her nipples sprang to attention. Fire rushed through her so quickly her lungs compressed. She opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out.
He slowly lifted his head, determination and dare flaring across his rugged cheekbones. Then his mouth captured hers.
Kissing.
Heating.
Taking.
She closed her eyes on a whimper. White-hot mini-explosions rocketed through her brain. Her fingers clutched his thick hair, and her knees dropped to either side of his hips. Her tongue shot into his mouth, and his hands tightened on her waist. For two seconds she controlled the kiss.
Maybe.
The world spun. Her butt landed on the soft pine needles, and a wolf in human form stretched out on top of her. The kiss shot from intriguing to territorial. His elbows bracketed her, his chest flattened hers, and his hard— oh-so-hard—dick pulsed with a demand she could feel through her jeans. Her clit pounded in perfect time with it.
He released her mouth, sliding his lips along her jaw to nip her earlobe. She arched into him. With a chuckle, he wandered down her neck, licking her collarbone, and took one breast in his mouth.
Electricity ripped straight to her sex.
“Shirt—in—way,” he mumbled against the cotton.
A second later, her shirt flew through the forest. Claws shredded her bra.
“Hey! I love that br—”
Moist heat engulfed her nipple. Her protest deepened into a desperate moan.
Oh God.
Levering himself up, he reached for the button on her jeans. And stilled.
His head lifted.
He frowned and lifted his nose to the air. “Damn.” Ripping off his shirt, he yanked it over her head and pulled her to stand. Then he shoved her behind him. The bare, very cut muscles in his back vibrated.
A pissed-off wolf was never a good thing. Never.
Maggie smelled the air. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Terrent growled.
Jase Kayrs strode down the trail, the forest shadows at home on his face.“You two all right?”
“Damn babysitter,” Terrent muttered. “Yes. Go away.”
Jase stopped. A slight grin lifted his lips. “Ah. Okay. See you back at the house.” Whistling a smart-ass tune, he whirled and sauntered out of sight.
Maggie stepped away from Terrent. He turned around, desire on his face, lust in his eyes.
She gulped air. The warm shirt covered her to her knees and smelled like male and power. Her body ached, but her brain had finally stuttered awake. She couldn’t do something like this without remembering who she was. How could she even think of going forward with her mind an empty darkness? “We should, ah, get back.”
His nostrils flared, while his lip quirked in satisfaction.
“Okay. Though you need to know. We had an agreement to mate. Remember it or not . . . you’re fulfilling that promise.”
Chapter Three
Two hours after being so rudely interrupted in the forest, Terrent glared at the six-and-a-half-foot-tall vampire sprawled smugly in the guest chair in his home office. Apparently Jase Kayrs was once again feeling amusement and fun. The relief filling Terrent made him smile when he wanted to growl. He pushed away from his mahogany desk, glad the heavy wood stood between them. “You interrupted.”
Jase shrugged a muscled shoulder. “Don’t care.”
So Terrent did growl.
Jase growled right back. “I’m not sure moving Maggie to your home is such a good idea. She should stay in the guest quarters.”
“The Vaile wolves are after Maggie. I can protect her from other wolves.”
“That’s not why you want her here.” Wisdom and an odd sadness filled Jase’s copper eyes.
“No. It’s not.” Damn vampires fought love and eternity—
wolves didn’t. Even furious wolves who couldn’t change the past. “She’s mine and has been for over a decade.”
Jase cracked his knuckles. “A fact you failed to mention to my brother.”
As if on cue, the mounted screen on the wall lit up, and Dage Kayrs came into view. He shoved papers out of the way and cleared his onyx desk. “Sorry about the delay.
What’s going on?”
Terrent leaned back. “Three wolves just came for Maggie.”
“From the island?” Dage frowned.
Terrent started.
