He tilted his head in a slight nod to Doreen, but when the woman started to lead every one inside he turned away, curling up onto the snow, his eyes on the forest. Eden called out for him, but he heard Doreen’s soft voice behind him. “You asked if there was a way to kill Morrigan.”
Bay lifted his head and found Doreen looking at him, even as she spoke to Eden.
“No. Not that I know of. Before, it was the Summer Queen who put her to sleep and bound her there. When winter had faded under the press of spring. They were both weak, but Syndaria bested her. I don’t think Morrigan will let her have the advantage again.” She turned and took Eden’s hand, holding it tightly between hers. “But I never knew a wolf of hers that could do this.”
Then Doreen strode towards him and Bay rose to meet her, laying his muzzle in her hands, her fingers were cold from the night wind as they curled around the edge of his chin. She looked him in the eye and while the wolf resented it, Bay knew she was judging him, not challenging. He blew out a soft, soothing breath. He wouldn’t harm them.
They stared at each other for a long time, a woman whose power he didn’t understand and him, a monster that refused to be one. Something in her gaze relaxed and Bay felt a pressure ease from around his heart.
“In you, we might have a shot.” She leaned down and laid a kiss on the bridge of his nose, then let him go. She stepped back to look up at Eden. “At the very least, we might just be able to make it until spring.”
With her words came the first stirrings of hope. Despite the evil lurking in the forest, they had a chance. That was enough for Bay.
***
Moonlight flitted between the trees, leaving slivers of light across the country roads as Eden turned up her long sloping drive. As a wolf, Bay was stretched out in the truck bed, having refused to switch back to a man for the ride. And wolves the size of bears didn’t exactly fit in the passenger seat. She’d argued, as much as one could argue to a wolf, but Kennedy had made a good point. If he’d survived a troll, he’d probably survive getting tossed from the back end of a truck.
Still, she’d driven slow enough to make her great-great-great grandmother proud—if the woman had still been alive and driving. She checked the rearview mirror to see the hulking mass of white fur curled up, his chin resting on the tailgate. Green eyes gleamed in the dim light, catching the moonlight and tossing it back. He looked eerie. Like a possessive dragon curled there, ready to pounce at the slightest hint of danger to his treasure.
Mate.
The word reverberated in her brain and hummed through her body on a wave of warmth. Her house came into sight and she pulled in alongside the garage, trying to ignore the sudden flare of nerves. She wanted to know what it meant, needed to talk about it.
At first she’d been willing to let it rest. Hell, Bay probably didn’t even understand everything going on inside him either. But now, as her emotions grew, she needed to talk about this. Needed to know where he stood.
Her truck rocked and Eden twisted in her seat and watched as Bay shook in the back, like a dog shaking off bathwater, then he launched himself free, landing in a heap on the snow. It skittered out around his paws in plumes before the snow settled once more and he turned to look at her, a quizzical tilt to his head. A few of her dogs peeked out of the windows from inside her house. Growing curious.
She smiled. It probably wouldn’t be long before they decided he was friendly, unlike the ones that skirted the edge of her yard each night. Unlike the troll, who thankfully, had yet to make another appearance. Grabbing the tattered remains of Bay’s clothes out of the passenger seat, Eden slid out, the familiar crunch of snow under her boots a normalcy that seemed out of place when she came face to face with the bear-sized wolf.
Bay’s warm breath washed over her cheek in a short huff, then he was moving away and towards the shadows. “Bay,” she called softly, pleading. He paused, his head angled so he could look back at her over his shoulder. “Stay. Shift back, be human tonight with me.”
He made a low sound in his throat, soft, almost guttural, like a restrained growl, but he didn’t seem angry. Instead, his body shuddered and lurched forward, but in the time it took him to take a step, he went from wolf to man. Wind rustled through her hair and instinctively Eden reached out to shelter him.
Then his hands were on her cheeks, holding her face as he looked at her. His eyes were no longer the vibrant emerald they had been when she’d first met him, but then again, nor were his wolf’s the soulless black of that first day. Now, in both forms they lingered somewhere between. Dark green, shot through with streaks of black, like ink spilled into his irises. They were wilder now than she’d ever seen them. Feral.
Another shudder rocked through him, but he held onto her, and Eden lifted her hands to grip his wrists. “I can’t stay long. Not like this,” he whispered.
She should have simply let him go, but instead, Eden took a step backwards, leading him towards her house and Bay followed. She pulled away, only to snag his hand in hers and lead him up the steps. He gave a soft gasp when the heat of her house hit him and she watched him sway, leaning back towards the cold.
“I want to try something tonight.” He was staring out the window, but the moment she spoke, he turned, his gaze finding hers and holding. “Morrigan’s magic is strongest at night.”
Bay jerked his head in a nod, the movement oddly stilted, as if he weren’t all the way human yet. It fit. If the Fae queen had her hooks into him deepest at night, it would be hard enough to hold himself away from her. Even harder to stay human during her strongest hours. Eden chewed on her bottom lip and instantly Bay’s focus turned to her lips, desire heating through the black like flame over coals.
More man now than wolf.
Slowly, she unzipped her parka and his eyes tracked the movement, hungry. Ravenous. He wanted to wait until he had more control, but he already had it. The wicked witch of winter was awake and probably screaming for him and here he was, standing in Eden’s kitchen, drinking her down with a look.
“Stay with me,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.” His body rocked forward, trying to respond even as Bay held himself back. He let out a ragged breath and it hissed out, dark and dangerous, and Eden felt her thighs clench. She knew exactly what she was asking for. His eyes lit on hers, kindling with fire. She could burn alive in his gaze tonight and still know nothing but pleasure. “I need you,” he said roughly.
“Good.” Her coat hit the floor behind her and Eden slid her hands under her shirt, but she didn’t lift it. Not yet. “I need you too.”
“No. I need to
take
you. God.” He raked a hand through his hair, his head tilted back and she see his throat working, but no sound came out. When he finally looked back down at her he looked so close to the brink she could almost see the fur under his skin. The wolf was right there, man and beast. “I’m not a normal man anymore. I don’t have control, not as much as I need.”
“I’m not a virgin, Bay. And I also know exactly who I’m talking to. I think I can give you the control you need.”
A laugh rushed out of him, sharp and loud in the quiet of her kitchen. “You strip me of control. You burn it away, Eden.”
And words like that could make a woman heady with desire. They made her want to pounce, to devour him as much as she wanted him to take her. She didn’t need it soft and sweet, not tonight. Not once had she thought that he could be gentle with her right now, there was a wild edge to him and it grew with the fall of darkness.
She licked her lips, wishing it was his skin under her tongue instead. She heard his breath turn shaky as he watched. Confident, she pressed on. “You called me your mate—”
“Eden.”
“So trust me. I know what I want, and tonight, it’s you.” Tonight, tomorrow, hell, she didn’t care much right now to look into the future. Not when she was fighting so damned hard to have the present.
It was a moment before he lunged, but suddenly he was in front of her, his hands on hers under her shirt and he was sliding it up her body. Eden helped him, letting him strip it away until she stood there in nothing more than a lacy black bra and her jeans.
A growl corded through him and his head dipped to the curve of her neck and Eden felt herself yielding it to him automatically. He nibbled over her skin, tasting and suckling, as if he couldn’t get enough, even as his hands moved up her sides, exploring. When his head lifted it was to take her mouth, hungry, and she let him in. But he hadn’t lied.
There was no gentleness in his kiss.
He kissed her like she needed taming and Eden found herself submitting. Wanting it. Her hands threaded through his hair and she clung to him, even as her hips rocked against his. He pulled away, forcing her to let him go, and Eden whimpered in protest. But he wasn’t leaving her. He reached behind her and her bra fell loose, the clasp neatly undone, and then he stripped it off her arms and flung it away.
Cupping her breasts, he pinched gently at her nipples, and Eden felt her body ready for him, heating, becoming slick and moist. She bared her throat to him and he bit at her neck, only to pull her up into his arms. He stalked through her house, flinging open the first door he came across.
“The other side. This one is the guest room.”
Bay didn’t listen. He tossed her down onto the bed and disrobed, his clothes flying everywhere. Tremors skated through his muscles as he worked, and she could see the restraint clawing in his eyes. Damn, but he was gorgeous. His slim body lean and taut with muscle, filled with a carefully checked power that seemed to thrum through him wildly now. His boxers slipped down his legs and his cock sprung free. Eden fought back the urge to whimper.
This was exactly what she’d wanted, what they both needed. She could see it reflected back out of his eyes as he turned toward her, the twin colors of his eyes fierce in the dim light of the bedroom. Her hands went to her jeans and she started to slide them off, toeing off her boots in the process. Bay grabbed hold and drew the denim down faster, tossing it into the heap of his clothes on the floor. She reached for her socks but he pressed her back against the bed with a growl.
“Fuck, Eden. I can’t stop.” His fingers curled over her hips, hard and possessive, and she opened herself for him. Her hips lifted.
“No one’s asking you to.”
The muscle in his jaw leapt, flexed, and she saw a hint of fang as he grimaced, still fighting for control. Eden leaned up and kissed him, her tongue darting into his mouth, tasting. She knew exactly what she was getting into, who she was getting involved with, and she told him as much with a kiss.
When she broke away, she fell back onto the bed, but her hand slid between them, and Bay couldn’t help but track the moment, his eyes seemingly automatically drawn to every movement she made. Tracking it, probably memorizing it if the molten blaze in his eyes was anything to go by the moment her fingers dipped between her lips and slid through the moisture. A keening sound slipped out of her lips as her head fell back against the covers.
“See?” she whispered.
The last of his control snapped away. He wrenched her hand away and dove inside, slamming into her. He took her hard and fast, his body stretching over hers, covering her. His hands traveled up her body, finding her breasts, even as she clung to his shoulders, her nails digging in, back arching.
With every pounding thrust she felt something inside her start to give way, a piece of her soul splintering, opening to him. Elbows braced on either side of her head, he withdrew until he was nearly all the way out of her, only to ram back in, filling that hole in her heart so completely she found herself screaming. Pleasure had her bucking to meet him, her legs wound around his hips as she fought to keep him locked tight inside her, but somehow, Bay always managed to pull free. Tearing himself away before he plunged his way back inside.
Then her eyes opened and she found him watching her, wonder and desperation spinning through his gaze, heated and burning she felt them both flying together. He panted, even the sound of his breathing rough and shallow, whereas hers came in sobbing breaths, lost in the desperate sounds ripping free of her lungs.
Stark possession glittered out of the black and green of his eyes, and her body contracted around him, drawing a roar from him, wild. His lips crashed down over hers as she shattered in his arms, letting him master her, claim her, but she left him with her own mark as well. Her nails raked over her shoulders and Bay tensed, his thrusts becoming quicker, shallow, until the orgasm rocked through him as well and he poured himself inside her.
Binding them together.
They lay there for a moment, panting in the darkness, both of them slick with sweat. Bay rested his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling together as they stared at one another. In this moment, Eden didn’t think she could have hidden anything from him, nor he from her. His eyes were wide, shocky, and she had no doubt that hers were the same. Something had happened in this bed, something a hell of a lot more than simple sex.
Then Bay slid his hands around her waist and rolled them over, still buried inside her and she found herself resting on his chest. He cradled her head under his chin and let out a ragged sigh. His heartbeat felt out of control, frenzied, but it only echoed the crazed march of hers.