It was late afternoon when Abby returned downstairs in search of food and Grace. She had heard girls talking about being fucked so hard, or so long, they found it difficult to walk afterward but had always thought they exaggerated. Now she knew they weren’t wrong. Her legs felt rubbery as she slowly moved down the stairs, her pussy and anus still throbbing from Damien’s hard, forceful thrusts, her body still trembling from the pleasure those strategically aimed thrusts wrought. She didn’t need Damien’s order to take a long soak in a hot bath as he was booting her out of the bed to do just that, but she did need to see the look of satisfaction and pleasure on his face and the promise in his eyes to set her mind at ease about their future.
The only thing that marred the afternoon of decadent pleasure was Damien’s refusal to complete their bond by taking her blood. The sharp nip he gave her lip only whetted her appetite for more. She wanted, needed desperately, to feel those sharp teeth piercing her skin, his sensuous mouth drawing on her blood. Knowing she could provide her mate with the life sustaining substance he needed was as much a turn on as his no holds barred possession all afternoon had been, one he was still denying her. She knew she wouldn’t be content, and neither would he, until they were blood-bonded, and she wasn’t going to give up working towards that ultimate goal.
After throwing together a sandwich, she found Grace curled up on the patio glider, her face buried in a book. “It must be good. You didn’t even hear me come out,” she said when Grace looked up only when Abby sat down next to her.
Grace blushed and shut the book, not wanting Abby to know she was reading a vampire romance novel. Suspense and mysteries were her preferable genres, but curiosity had her grabbing this one from the library yesterday after reading the comments from other readers. “It’s okay,” she answered a bit lamely. Not for the life of her would she admit she found the sex scenes between the vampire and his captive more than titillating and the unfolding plot engrossing. “You look….content.” Happier, more content than she had ever seen her since they met and she could only surmise it was due to whatever happened between her and Damien the past few hours.
“I am. God, I never knew a man could go on like that, over and over. I think it’s another perk Damien was keeping from me. Well, cat’s out of the bag now,” she said smugly.
Grace looked at her watch then back at Abby in stunned surprise. “You mean, all this time, you and he…”
“Oh, yeah, he and I, all this time. Well, except for my thirty minute soak, which was absolutely necessary if I was going to be able to make it down here without my legs giving out and tumbling down the stairs.”
While Abby had spent the best part of the day in obvious pleasure, Grace had spent it thinking of Jacob and burying her nose in fantasy instead of facing reality. No matter how much she had found herself wanting to see him again, how much her body insisted he was the one; she couldn’t conjure up the nerve to seek him out and give in to her body’s demands. Her mind refused to get on board with her body, her memories of the fear, pain and humiliation she had endured as Mason’s victim were stronger than her response to Jacob and the desire she saw reflected on his face whenever he saw her.
Seeing Abby so happy, witnessing her bravado in going after what she wanted, made Grace ashamed of her cowardice, whic
h just irritated her. Abby was lucky, she had known Damien for years, had time to adjust to him being immortal, had time to get to know him before falling into bed with him, had never had to endure being kidnapped and abused by one of his kind. Grace had been tossed brutally from the pan into the fire, and the thought of getting burned instead of just singed scared her to death.
“Well, you’re braver than I am,” she finally said. Needing to get away, she set her book aside and rose. “I need some exercise. I think I’ll go for a walk.” Looking down at herself, she mused ruefully, “Not that I’ve ever walked a lot simply for the sake of exercise.”
“Jacob seems to like you just the way you are,” Abby told her, thinking she wouldn’t mind having a little of Grace’s extra on top.
“Jacob doesn’t know me,” Grace retorted defensively, because in truth, Jacob had never looked at her with anything but desire. Touching the side of her neck, she added, “He only wants me because of this, what it represents.”
Abby wondered if Grace heard the wistful tone in her voice, then decided her ordeal with Mason was still clouding her senses and judgment, and she really couldn’t fault her for that. “I don’t know about that. From the interaction I’ve seen with other couples, and granted, it hasn’t been much since Damien kept me sheltered from them until recently, they seem very close, very committed to each other and bonded by more than just sex.” Not wanting to push, she rose quickly, warning, “Be careful you’re not gone too long. There’s less than an hour before sunset. Even though Damien’s property is completely fenced and the security surveillance is top notch, anything is possible with these rogues.”
“I’ll be back well before then. Thanks.”
Grace headed down the path that led to a large pond she had only seen from the back veranda, her thoughts a jumble of confusion. She had thought keeping her distance from Jacob this week would make this strange yearning to be with him go away, would lesson her unwanted, unexplainable attraction to him, but, on the contrary, she found herself craving him even more. Her nightmares were always eased by dreams of him slaying her demons, her daytime fantasies always centered around him, his tall, hard body, the look of both lust and caring he always had in his penetrating green eyes. She didn’t need to be near him, didn’t need the reaction from the red mark on her neck to tell her she wanted him. And that scared her as much as being Mason’s victim had. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t reconcile the fact he was a vampire, just like her captor had been, despite seeing firsthand the difference between him and those creatures that had come after her. The temptation to give in to her growing lust, to see if she could have with Jacob what Abby had with Damien, still took a backseat to the fear of him turning on her, of feeling nothing but humiliation and pain followed by terror at seeing sharp, pointed fangs descending towards her vulnerable neck, threatening her very existence. Thankfully, he was respecting her need for distance, and hoped he would continue to give her the time and space she needed, but was afraid his patience might run out on her.
Having been born and raised in southern Louisiana, Grace had a healthy respect for the warnings she had grown up hearing about the dangers lurking in the bayous and had every intention of avoiding the swamp acreage on Damien’s property, but she had been so lost in thought that she didn’t realize she wandered into the marshy wetlands unsuspectingly. Looking back towards the way she had come, all she saw was moss draped trees, all she heard was the encroaching night sounds of cicadas and croaking bullfrogs. Taking a step in that direction, she slipped and had to grab hold of a hanging vine to keep from tumbling into the murky green depths of the bayou. Shaken, unaware she was that close to the slow moving waters, she cautiously looked along the banks, her eyes straining to make out any scaly shapes lying in wait to pounce. She knew alligators could be serene and lazy or moody and dangerous, much like the still waters of the bayou and slowly eased back so as not to startle one from its lazy slumber.
Easing back up on the bank, she cautiously looked around, noting that dusk had fallen while she had been roaming aimlessly and not paying attention to the time. Now, on top of being lost in the bayou with the threat of an alligator mistaking her for dinner, she was imagining herself as bait to some of Jacob’s counter parts. Determined to suck up her fear, cursing herself for her stupidity in getting into this predicament, she took a few more steps back the way she came only to freeze when she spotted a large, slithering shape slide into the water from the opposite bank, the alligator’s long body barely causing a ripple in the water, its distinct, menacing shape slowly gliding toward her. Turning, she swiftly ran, praying it wouldn’t chase her too far from the water. Heart lodged in her throat, she struggled not to trip, knowing a fall would be a death sentence. Shaking, her mind taunting her with images of an arm or leg being clamped between the jaws of the crawling beast as he shook her like a rag doll, she let out a scream of pure terror when she saw Micah running straight at her.
Even though she had gotten used to them lurking around the grounds near the manor, she had kept a healthy distance from Damien’s pets, and now she was faced with an attack she had no way of thwarting, or surviving. With nowhere to run, she was sending up a prayer for a quick, painless death, when Micah streaked right past her and, with a viscous snarl took a flying leap toward the man-eating alligator just feet from her.
“Goddamn it, Abby, why’d you let her take off by herself?” Jacob demanded for about the fifth time since he had come downstairs and heard Grace had gone walking over ninety minutes ago and hadn’t returned yet. It was barely dusk when he awoke, the sun a lowering bright orange orb on the western horizon, so he had reined in his worry and impatience and waited for her to return.
He had been hoping his absence this past week would enable her to relax, had given her time to cope with not only his presence, but with the tragic events of the past few weeks. Abby had kept him updated and tried to sound positive about Grace’s attitude, but he knew from the look in her eyes that Grace was no more willing to get closer to him now than she was a week ago. He had planned to spend a little time with her tonight, just a few minutes of conversation to ease his way, but now he was struggling with the urge to turn her over his knee for scaring him like this instead of working on slowly seducing her.
“She’s not a prisoner here, Jacob,” Damien said as he, Jon and Luc were preparing to join Jacob in a search for Grace.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think she ran off, Jacob. She just wanted to go for a walk.” Abby, too, was worried, wondering if she could have misread Grace’s intentions.
“It’s easy to get turned around and end up in the marsh,” Luc put in, trying to reassure his friend. Frankly, he and Jon thought Jacob was going about gaining his mate’s trust all wrong. Sometimes, you just had to take the bull by the horns and wrestle it into submission.
The distinct sound of Micah’s roar followed by a faint cry of terror came from the belly of the bayou and had all four men moving so fast they were just a blur and Abby sincerely hoped they arrived in time to aid Micah. She wasn’t worried the big cat was after Grace, but knew it was taking on something, or someone threatening.
The bone chilling sounds of the viscous fight echoed around her and Grace couldn’t seem to move from the bloody attack. Tears streamed down her face as she found herself fervently praying for Micah’s safety. “I’m sorry, Tasha,” she whispered as she crouched down next to her and buried her hand in her fur, her fear of the felines completely forgotten. Tasha had joined Grace just moments after Micah’s attack, simply sat by her side and watched vigilantly in support of her mate. The alligator was big, but no match for Micah’s agile strength, and just as he sank his jaws into the scales of the reptile’s neck, Jacob, Damien, Luc and Jon appeared out of nowhere, their faces hard and determined, ready for a battle.
“Micah, back,” Damien snapped as he withdrew his blade. As Micah instantly obeyed, Damien sent the knife sailing, piercing the alligator’s head, stopping his still twitching body
instantly.
Seeing the blood coating Micah’s golden hide, Grace feared for him and guilt that her inattentiveness might have caused the cat grave harm ate at her. Looking up at Jacob, she whispered, “I’m sorry. I got lost, and he came out of nowhere to attack the gator. There wasn’t anything I could do.”
“We know that,” Jacob told her as he struggled to rein in his anger that she had gotten herself into yet another dangerous situation and his relief that she was all right. “Come on; let’s get back to the house.” Holding out his hand, he waited with baited breath to see if she’d take it.