“Tsk, tsk. Yes, you almost did me in, but as you can see, I survived.” He opened his arms wide and slowly spun as if to show her that he was perfectly healthy.
She looked around the room and saw her salvation only a foot from her. But could she get to it before
Russell got to her?
“Got a new boyfriend, do you? Seems like a weakling to me. Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll take care of him for you. Then, I’ll take care of you. We’ve got some business to settle—you and I—and I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”
Russell leaped at her, and she dove for the arrow lying to her right. But just as her fingers closed around it, she was slammed to the ground face-first and pinned to the floor by his big body, unable to move.
She was going to die. She could almost come to terms with that, but for one thing. Knox would die too, and she couldn’t allow that to happen because of her.
His neck hurt, and his throat was so raw he could barely swallow, but Rose was in danger, and Knox had to save her. He fought his way to consciousness to find his mate pinned to the ground by another rogue. He thought all of them had been taken care of, but there had obviously been a stray who had lagged behind.
His body felt like lead as he tried to push himself from the floor, but fear and anger gave him the strength to stumble to his feet. Thankfully, the rogue was too preoccupied with Rose to notice his approach—he’d never understand how rogues survived at all with their careless disregard for their surroundings—but Rose’s eyes locked with his a split second before he reached for the lycan. He yanked the man back by his hair, and
Rose flipped over as quick as lightning and stabbed one of her arrows, iron-end first, through the bastard’s chest.
The rogue gasped, and Knox fell weakly to the floor. He’d lost too much blood, and he’d just used up the last reserves of his strength to help her. As he slipped once again into unconsciousness, he hoped Rose would find happiness in her life.
“This time, you die for good, you bastard.” Rose stared in horror as Knox slid to the floor once again before looking back at Russell.
He reached toward her, but she twisted the iron shaft and pushed it further into his heart. She wouldn’t make the same mistake she had last time she thought she’d killed him. This time, she’d be one hundred percent positive Russell was dead. She gave the shaft one last push, and blood began pooling underneath his body.
Within moments, he gasped for air, then stopped breathing altogether. She checked his pulse—none. And his skin was turning a sickly gray. Russell would stay dead this time.
She scooted over to Knox, pulled his head onto her lap once again, and sagged against the bed, where she wept until exhaustion overtook her.
“Knox?”
The soft voice floated through the air, barely penetrating the fog enshrouding his brain. The ef ort it took to lift his heavy eyelids was too much, but he had no choice other than to answer the cal of his mate. Everything inside him strained toward her, every cell, every fiber that made him who he was, even as his body fought the movement.
A piece of him wanted to stay in the blissful, peaceful limbo he’d been lingering in. No fighting, no rogues to deal with, no pain, no . . . Rose. Rose! His Rose. But she wasn’t his, was she? He loved her, needed her. She was his mate, the other half of his soul, but she would never accept him for who he was, and could he bear it if she walked away from him? Could he let her walk away from him?
No. And for that, she would hate him more. Maybe it was best to stay in limbo, sweet oblivion, where he was numb and pain no longer touched him.
“Knox! Answer me, please. I need you.”
His heart thumped hard in response to her distressed pleas. Was she in danger? Even limbo couldn’t keep his wolf from the innate need to protect his mate. He sat up and blinked his eyes several times, trying to get rid of the gritty feel.
“Knoxxxx?”
The vibrations of anguish in her voice cut through him like a knife, tearing at his heart, eating away at his soul. He had to go to her, had to answer her, had to protect her. He sat up and winced. Why was he so lethargic? Why did every movement he make take more effort than he felt he could give?
“Rose? Where are you?” His throat was dry and hurt. Each word scratched like sandpaper.
“Knox? Talk to me so I can find you.”
“I’m over here, baby.” He tried to stand, but his legs were like jel y, and he plopped hard back on his ass.
“Oh my God! It is you!”
When she came through the fog, her aura was like a bright ray of sunshine breaking the haze and scorching it with beautiful light until it dissipated into smaller and smaller tendrils and vanished altogether. If this was the light people saw at the end of the tunnel, he’d gladly walk into it without a second thought. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on, and he was positive that no matter how long he lived, he’d never see a more glorious sight than she.
She made his heart beat, not in a mechanical rhythm necessary for life, but in happy thumps that yearned for every next beat made within her presence. He didn’t just exist around her. He thrived.
She kneeled next to him, and he pul ed her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. Her warm body cuddled against him, and her natural scent—tinged with lilac and honeysuckle—tickled his nose. She leaned back and framed his face with her hands, and not even her tears could squash the delight he felt from holding her.
“What’s wrong, Rose?”
“I thought I lost you. I thought you were gone forever.” She buried her face against his chest and sobbed.
He rubbed what he hoped was soothing circles on her back and wondered why she was so distraught. Why had she thought she’d lost him? But it didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was upset because she thought she’d lost him, which meant . . . she cared for him. His chest swelled, and he wanted to shout out in joy as he rocked her gently and kissed the top of her head.
Her silky onyx locks tickled his nose, and he sat back and tipped her chin up with his fingers until her pale blue eyes, glossy and swol en with tears, stared straight into his soul.
“You were upset because you thought you’d lost me?”
“Of course I was.”
“Is it not too much to hope for that you care for me just a little, even though I’m a lycan?” He framed her face and fanned his fingers over her soft skin.
She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned into his touch before answering. “I’m sorry for generalizing you. You’re not a monster. You’re a beautiful, caring man, and I’ve fal en in love with you.”
“I never thought I’d hear you say those words to me, Rose. They are words that wil hold the most meaning to me for al time.
You must know I love you.”
She nodded. “It took me a while to figure it out, or believe it, but I do know.”
He kissed her. When she instantly parted her lips for him, he groaned, slanted his mouth over hers, and deepened the kiss.
She tasted of everything wonderful that had been forbidden to him. Now that he’d tasted submission, surrender, desire . . . love for him on her lips, he’d never want for another thing in life. That wasn’t entirely true. He’d wish for a mil ion more kisses from her.