Dark Wolf Running (Bloodrunners) (31 page)

“Yeah, because of the fact that you care about me and wanted to make that Claymore bastard pay for what he did.”

His shoulders lifted as he drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. “You don’t need me anymore, El. I always knew you were strong. You’re whole now.”

“That’s such bullshit. How can I be whole without you? Call me crazy, Wyatt, but I’d rather not go through my life only half-alive.”

“You’re not—”

“Stop!” she shouted, jerking him around to face her. “Wyatt, you believed in me when nobody else did. Not even myself. How could I not love you, you big beautiful idiot?”

He gave her a hard, pained smile. “Gratitude is not love, El.”

Staring deep into his dark, tortured eyes, she said, “You’re right. But you’d better sit your ass down on that bed and get comfortable if you want me to list all the reasons why I
do
love you. It’s gonna take a while.”

“But I almost got you killed,” he growled, repeating himself. “Don’t you get that? I swore that I would die to protect you, and then I made the biggest mistake of my life. As much guilt as I carry for what happened to Robbie, this is even worse. Because it was
you.
”

“Honestly, Wyatt. I know you’re not stupid, so stop being such a dumb-ass. You are not God. You are not invincible. The past was not your fault and neither was this!”

He clenched his jaw but didn’t argue, and she blanched as a horrible thought suddenly shoved its way into her head. “Oh, God. Wait a minute.” She stumbled back a step, one hand pressed to her forehead as her thoughts reeled. “Are you even being honest with me? Are you sure this isn’t because I can’t... I mean, just because I managed that partial shift tonight doesn’t mean I’ll be able to do it again. Not unless your life is in danger.”

He looked stunned. “
My
life?”

“I didn’t change to save myself,” she told him, wishing he would just grab hold of her and never let her go. “If that were the case, it would have happened the moment they took me. I changed to save
you,
because of what you mean to me, just like Eric did when Chelsea’s life was in danger.” She licked her lips and said, “That’s what being a Dark Wolf means, I guess. Doing whatever it takes of you to save the person you love.”

“Christ, El.”

She lifted her chin. “But as far as shape-shifting goes, there’s a good chance that was it. So maybe that’s what this is really about. Maybe it’s about
me.
”

“I couldn’t care less if you ever shift again,” he growled with fury, his voice continuing to rise with each hard, guttural word. “That’s not why I love you. Yeah, that little demonstration you gave us of that Dark Wolf blood inside you was even more bad-ass than Cian—and that’s really saying something. But it does not matter,” he forced out through his clenched teeth. “I don’t give a shit if I ever see it again, El. I don’t care. I want you for you. I love you because you’re perfect exactly the way you are!”

Her heart was beating like mad with happiness, but her voice was still thick with exasperation. “And I could say the exact same thing about you.” Tears streamed down her face as she stepped closer, pressing her hands against his broad chest. “I love you,” she said brokenly, her voice shaking. “I am
in
love with you. With every part of you. I’m not perfect, and I don’t expect you to be perfect, either. I just need you to be mine.”

“El.”

“Don’t you get it, Wyatt? You blaming yourself for the things that have happened is like me blaming myself for the rape.”

Raw fury darkened his face, his corded throat working as he swallowed. “Like hell it is. You did nothing wrong.”

“And neither did you. You didn’t hurt Robbie. You didn’t make her go early to meet you, and you didn’t make her kill herself. You were a young man who got caught in the middle of an awful situation, but it was
not
your fault. It wasn’t your sin. But this, what you’re doing to us, it will be. If you let it control you now, if you walk away from me, that’s on you, Wyatt. Can you really live with that?”

“But I let people down, Elise. I’ve let you—”

She got right in his face, pounding her fists against his chest. “That’s bullshit! You’ve saved me, Wyatt. Put your life on the line for me, pulled me out of the pit and made me start living again. You’ve taken my heart and made me love you. And if you even try to walk out that door, you should know that you won’t get away. I will follow your ass to the ends of the earth if I have to. You had to go and be all wonderful and sexy and incredible, blowing my mind, claiming my heart, and now you can goddamn deal with the consequences!”

She was sobbing by the time she was through, sounding hysterical, and he made a low, fractured sound deep in his throat, suddenly crushing her against him as he buried his face in her hair. “I
want
you. I
love
you, damn it. So much that it’s killing me. But I want what’s best for you, El. You deserve the best.
Only
the best.”

“Wyatt, you’re not only the best, you’re the only one,” she cried. “There is no one else. There never will be anyone else. Please don’t pull me back and then just leave me here. Just...don’t. I’m begging you.”

Dropping to his knees before her, he caught her hands in his and brought them to his lips, kissing her knuckles as he stared up at her shocked face with eyes that were damp with tears. “Okay,” he told her, choking the word out. “I know I screwed up and I’m so sorry. But I can’t do it—I can’t let you go. I love you too damn much. Need you too much. You’re... Like I said before, you’ve completely
ruined
me, woman.”

“Then that’s only fair,” she whispered, sniffing, “because you’ve ruined me, too.” Her eyes narrowed with warning. “And no more pussying out like that hero in the book you read to me. Because it’s time to man up, Wyatt.”

He laughed and pulled her closer, crushing her in his fierce embrace. “I get it,” he groaned, nuzzling his face against her middle, where butterflies were dancing in a frenzy. “Hell, it’s not like I’d have gotten far anyway.” Pulling his head back, he stared up at her with a wry, dazzling smile. “Five minutes and I’d have been back here on my knees, just like this, crawling right back to you.”

“I need you, Wyatt. So much,” she told him, burying her hands in his silky hair. “Now.
Forever.
Please stay with me.”

“I will,” he vowed, holding her tight. “I love you. More than I know how to explain with a bunch of words. But if you’ll give me the chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you exactly how much you mean to me, El. You will
not
doubt it. I swear. Not even for a second.”

“Oh, wow. That was so beautiful. I knew you could be romantic, but I didn’t know—”

“I can be anything I need to be for you,” he said in a low voice, his tone almost reverent. “
Anything,
El.”

“I just need
you
, Wyatt. That’s all. Just be yourself and we’ll be golden.”

His mouth twisted with another wry smile. “You sure, baby? Because the real me would toss you over my shoulder, carry you over to that big bed we’re going to share and spend the next twenty hours fucking your gorgeous little brains out.”

She ripped off the shirt she’d borrowed earlier from Torrance, and let it drop to the floor. She couldn’t help but give a soft laugh when his hot gaze dropped to her breasts just as quickly. “I’m waiting,” she told him, loving the way he made her feel so beautiful, scars and all. “Come on. And don’t hold back. Not for a single second.”

His nostrils flared as he sucked in a sharp breath, his dark eyes smoldering with something that was possessive and hot and deliciously primal as he slowly brought that heavy-lidded gaze back to her face. “As much as I want to do exactly that,” he told her, his fingers clenching against her hips, “you need time, El. Time to think long and hard about what you want. Because the next time I touch you, I’m going to mark you.”

She shivered at the stunning burst of emotion those husky words made her feel. “I don’t, Wyatt. I don’t need time.”

“I take you to bed,” he growled slowly, “then my fangs are in your throat.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“It’s about damn time,” she said boldly. “Don’t you think?”

With a rough growl, he surged to his feet and brought her close, crushing her naked torso against his chest, the heat of his skin making her gasp. “You’re staying here with me, in the Alley, forever.”

“You bet your sexy ass I’m staying.”

He smiled against her lips. “I wasn’t giving you a choice, sweetheart. You’ll have to kill me to get rid of me now.”

“Never,” she groaned, pushing her fingers into his hair. Their lips brushed once, twice, and then he took control. With one hand gripping the back of her neck and the other kneading her ass, he kissed her like a man who’d been starved for her taste, his tongue wet and wicked and wild in her mouth, making her breathless. “You know, considering where this is headed,” she gasped, “I should probably tell you that I need to go up to town tomorrow to get my Pill prescription refilled.”

He lifted his head, his chest jerking with his ragged breaths, and his dark gaze locked hard on hers. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” she repeated with a soft laugh, shivering as he stroked a big hand up her spine. “Um, you don’t want to get me pregnant, Wyatt.”

His brows slowly started to draw together. “Like hell I don’t,” he growled.

Elise froze, her eyes shot wide with shock. “You want kids?”

Lowering his head, he got right in her face. “As many as you want to give me, when you’re ready. I’ll love them all.”

She swallowed against the fresh wave of tears burning at the back of her throat and struggled to whisper, “But they could be like
me.
”

He suddenly looked as if he wanted to kiss her and throttle her at the same time. “You mean perfect?”

She could only shake her head in response.

“I’m serious about this, El.”

“You really want babies?” she asked in complete awe. “You want to start a family? Our own family?”

“I want everything with you, sweetheart.” As if to prove just how much he meant those incredible words, Elise could suddenly see the sharp points of his fangs gleaming beneath the sensual curve of his upper lip. But she wasn’t afraid. How could she be afraid when she was so damn happy?

With her heart melting in her chest, she blinked back her tears and smiled up at him. “I want everything with you, too.”

“That’s my girl,” Wyatt whispered, relieved as hell when he saw the perfect trifecta—
trust, belief and love
—glowing in her beautiful blue eyes, a part of him still in shock that this was happening. That he’d told her everything, and she’d stayed.
She’d stayed.

Yeah, it’d been scary, opening himself up like that. Making himself vulnerable. Giving her the ultimate power over him. But it was already hers, and he couldn’t go on alone. He needed to be with her, to be at her side. Needed everything she had to give...and then he needed her to dig deep and give him even more. Because he was more than ready to give her everything that he was. Every part of him.

They belonged to her. Every. Single. One.

This, right here, was where he belonged. Yeah, he didn’t deserve her. But he was going to do everything in his power to be a man who did and worship the ground she walked on. Before the night was over, he
would
make the bite that would bind them together forever. For all eternity. Put his heart in her hands and trust her to keep it safe, because that was exactly where it belonged.
With El.

And when he did, it was going to be the best goddamn moment of Wyatt’s life.

*

Birdsong. Sunlight. Warm, sex-rumpled sheets. Mmm. It was
almost
perfect. The only thing missing was the feel of that deliciously hard, hot male body that had held her through the long hours of the night. Elise might be in Wyatt’s big ol’ bed all alone now, but he’d slept with her. And that wasn’t all they’d done. Last night had been...
Wow,
there weren’t even words.

She’d been so wrong when she’d thought there was nothing that could heal her. Nothing that could stop the pain. All she’d needed was Wyatt. Not just his body, though she enjoyed the hell out of it. But what she’d really needed was his heart.

They’d both bared themselves to the other. She’d shown him her external scars. He’d finally shown her his internal ones. And it had brought them closer. As close as two people could ever possibly get.

Stretching, she felt a smile curve her kiss-swollen lips, their surface hot and sensitive, as if she’d been permanently marked by him. And that wasn’t the only way that he’d marked her.

It hadn’t taken long before his control shattered and he’d bitten the hell out of her, making the blood bond that meant they could never be torn apart. Then she’d bitten him back. After that, she was surprised they hadn’t broken the bed, their mating had become so...
wild.
Maybe even a little savage and violent, but she’d realized that when drenched in love, that kind of sex could be incredibly emotional. It took trust, on both sides, and they’d been so overwhelmed that when they came they’d damn near lost consciousness. They’d laughed at their antics when they’d finally found the strength to drag their heat-glazed bodies to the shower, so happy they’d practically glowed.

She still felt that way. Felt...changed, in a good way, as if everything in life was better and brighter, full of hope and possibility, even with the trouble they knew was coming. She wasn’t going to be weighted down by fear for a moment longer, because she knew that she could face anything, so long as Wyatt was beside her.

Somehow, she had finally found her place. Her
home.
It wasn’t every day that a person got lucky enough to find their own happily-ever-after—and she readily admitted that she’d been a skeptical fool not to truly believe, because there was nothing more real than what she’d found with her sexy Runner. And whether she ever managed to completely shift or not, she would fight to the death to protect it. To protect Wyatt.