Primal Law

“My clothes?”

“Here.” She handed him a pile of freshly laundered jeans, a green shirt, socks, and shoes. “Zan brought them. Everyone’s worried about you.”

“They won’t have reason to be, soon.”

She blushed. “They’re all going to know.”

“And be jealous as hell.” Sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “If any of those dipsticks give you a hard time, remember that’s just their way of showing you how much they like you. If they ignored you, then you’d have to worry.”

“I suppose so.”

He dressed quickly, glad that he felt pretty good. One a scale of one to ten? About a seven at the moment. He’d work with it.

“What do you say we go for a walk?” he asked with a grin.

“To your favorite spot by the stream?”

“Unless you’d rather drive into Cody. I can book us into a nice room, order some bubbly and—”

“I think the stream is the perfect spot. And you’re the only high I need,” she said, almost shyly.

“And I think that’s the greatest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” Chest swelling, he stood and held out a hand. “Shall we?”

“Let’s go.”

Putting her hand in his, she allowed him to walk her outside, into the new day. She trusted him to take care of her, now and always.

He’d do anything not to break that trust.

Anything.

Staring out the window, Nick watched them go, with a heart heavy.

So little time left, and they didn’t know. How short life is. How unfair.

Turning away from the glass, he clenched his fists. “This isn’t a gift, it’s a curse. Take it back,” he whispered.

But no one listened, or answered. No one ever had.

Not once, from the day he was born.

As they walked, fingers linked, Kira’s nerves started to get the best of her. Because the truth was, Jax was every fantasy come to life.

As he tugged her along, walking slightly ahead, she ogled his ass hugged just right in the well-loved jeans. His broad back flexing under his T-shirt, his trim waist. The scrolled tattoo winding lazily from under the right sleeve to trail down his arm. She couldn’t wait to see the rest of it again, lick it. Taste his skin.

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Turning his head, he looked back at her, lips curving into a sensual smile.

For a second, her brain fritzed, totally short-circuited by his sheer beauty. Not the pretty kind, but dangerous. All raw, sexual male. She’d never been one to prefer any sort of facial hair, but his goatee was the perfect complement to his masculine face and bad-boy, motorcycleriding image.

“Earth to Kira.”

She shook herself out of the drools. “Sorry. Too much on my mind, I guess.”

“I’ll fix that by blowing all those pesky thoughts to dust.” He grinned at her, his meaning clear.

“I’m sure you will.” His words reminded her of something. “What did Dr. Mallory mean when she told you to remember what can happen to your abilities when we mate? Can something go wrong?” The idea of anything happening to him scared her.

“Not wrong, exactly.” He paused. “She told me the bonding could negate my powers for a while.”

“Oh, no! Will you get them back?”

“Most likely.”

“You seem pretty nonchalant about it.”

“I’m not. But when it’s a choice between losing my abilities or my life . . .”

Not much of a choice at all. She hoped he didn’t regret their mating, but couldn’t bring herself to say so. In spite of nature forcing life-altering changes upon them, she and Jax had formed their own connection. One based on mutual trust, friendship, and attraction. Nothing could take that from them.

Except death.

She shivered.

“You cold, baby?”

“No, I’m fine.” She smiled and the worry in his eyes eased.

When they reached his favorite spot by the stream, he turned and gathered her into his arms. Pulling her flush against his hard body, he cupped her face. “Relax, angel. I’m not going to devour you. At least not until you’re begging for it.”

She was there already. His hands on her face, the heat of his erection burrowing into her tummy, his strength surrounding her . . . Oh, yes. She wanted more of that, with the two of them naked, tangled, and sweaty.

His kiss was slow and thorough. Sweeping and exploring. Like a master, he eased her gently under his spell, and she wondered whether he might be part Sorcerer. She rubbed against him, needing to be closer, to crawl inside him.

Breaking the kiss, she knelt on the spongy ground and unzipped his jeans. “First I want to devour you,” she said, voice husky. “Will you beg for it?”

His eyes darkened with predatory hunger. “Make me.”

“I like that sort of challenge.”

Hooking her fingers in the waistband, she pulled down his jeans, slid them off. He kicked off his running shoes, stepped out of the pants, and spread his legs, standing with his feet braced slightly apart, and then pulled off his shirt. All of the glorious skin she’d been eager to touch and taste was right there, a living sculpture of male beauty.

Reaching out, she cradled his heavy balls, squeezing, manipulating carefully. He moaned and widened his stance, encouraging her to do what she wished. What she wanted was to drive him out of his mind with a tongue bath, and so she grasped the base of his cock, lifting his stiff erection. Bending forward, she licked the silky sac, determined not to leave an inch unloved. He squirmed, buried a hand in her hair and thrust his hips, clearly enjoying the attention.

Getting into her ministrations, she kissed and suckled each orb as though savoring a juicy peach. Delicious, too, smooth and creamy, just like—

“Kira,” he rasped.

“Mmm. Ready to beg yet?”

Whatever reply he might’ve made was silenced when she swallowed him to the root. A cock this magnificent deserved her undivided attention and she gave it, sucking him with firm pulls, laving the underside, worrying the sensitive flesh with lips and a slight grazing of her teeth.

Her wolf lasted longer than she expected, and she smirked to herself as he disengaged with a low growl of warning. “Get those clothes off, because if I do it there won’t be anything left but scraps.”

“You wouldn’t want me to traipse back in the buff?”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t share.”

“Good to know, because neither do I.”

Kneeling, he helped divest her of the pink cotton shirt she’d worn this morning, followed by the lacy white bra. Both were tossed aside and he literally crawled up her body, pushing her to lie on the grass. Straddling her, he tweaked a nipple and it immediately perked to attention, seeking more of the same. But he moved on, attacking her jeans with the same impatience she’d demonstrated, stripping them and her underwear down her legs. The shoes and socks went next, and the whole pile joined the rest of their clothing.

“Christ, you’re so pretty,” he breathed in reverence.

She resisted the impulse to cover herself. Barely, and because she knew he didn’t like it when she did. “I’m happy you think so.”