Chasing Payne (6 page)

By the time Chase was able to get Lora out of the crowded building and into the back of Austin's black SUV, her temperature was dangerously high.

Austin got behind the wheel and slammed the door. “Is she okay?”

“No, she's not fucking okay.” Cradling her small, limp body, he tore the thin fabric of her sleeve, and pulled the bandage off her arm. “Shit.”

Red skin, bruised in purple and greens, puffed around the torn flesh. Thick yellow discharge seeped from the wounds.

His insides churned, his blood boiling. Did she have a fucking death wish? Why hadn't she called him? One dose of antibiotics would have prevented the wound from festering; now it was septic, and judging by her fever, the infection had gone into her blood.

Austin turned the car in the direction of the Therian medical facility. “Should I call Jacob?”

Chase cringed. There was no way of keeping this from him. He let out an unsteady breath. “Yeah, make the call.”

Lora groaned. Her eyes fluttered open and confusion washed over the beautiful amber depths. “Chase?”

He stroked her hot, damp forehead. “You're going to be all right. Just try to rest.”

Shit, this was all his fucking fault. He should have demanded that she get the wound looked at. He was her advisor. It was his responsibility to see to her safety.

The heat of her body seared through the heavy material of his suit. He adjusted her in his arms, and she whimpered at the slight movement. Her lips flinched down in a frown and she closed her eyes.

“Lora?” Chase clenched his teeth, to hold in a string of curses. “What's our ETA?”

“Twenty minutes.”

Another twenty minutes with a temperature that high and her brain would start to fry.

He'd seen this type of infection take hold of a Metamorph only once in his life, and the result had been fatal.

He knew what he had to do. There was no other choice. If he didn't act now, she would die. He had to save her, even if it meant breaking the one promise he'd sworn never to break.

“Turn the car around. Take us to my place.” Chase tilted her head, exposing the slowly beating jugular vein.

“What? She needs antibiotics.”

Chase shook his head and caught the man's bewildered gaze in the rear view mirror. “It's too late for that.”

Austin's face blanched and he swore under his breath, but he obeyed Chase's orders.

Her eyes rolled back in her head and she began convulsing.

“You're not going to fucking die on me.” He grabbed her chin and tried to keep her steady. By Therian law, he needed her permission for what he was about to do, but she was too far-gone. He had to do it, and he had to do it now.

His canines elongated and he tasted the sweet substance thicken under his tongue. Without a second thought, he did the only thing he knew would save her life.

He bit her.

* * *

Chase pulled the comforter around Lora's shoulders and let out a long, shaky breath. Brushing her dark hair away from her face, he trailed his fingers over her cheek, down her neck and over the two crimson puncture wounds along her jugular.

Already the antibodies were working their way through her system. Her fever had dropped substantially, and the wounds on her arm were healing quickly. The substance released from the glands during mating heat accelerated the healing process. She would be tired for a few days, but she would live.

He stood, paced his bedroom, and stared at the woman in his bed. The image sent a shiver of excitement and blood curdling fear down his spine. He didn't regret what he'd done. He'd do it again in a heartbeat. But it didn't change the fact that he had fucking marked her.

Mine.
The lion within him growled low and possessive. It had remained relatively quiet during the whole ordeal, but now it rumbled in triumph.

Raking a hand through his hair, he growled back. Yeah, she was his. There was no denying it now. Good or bad, he would have to deal with the consequences.

He inhaled her sweet, intoxicating, feminine scent and knew he was already screwed.

The mating hormones that were currently racing through Lora's system, healing her wounds and lowering her fever, were also rushing through Chase's body—Binding him, heart, soul and body to her.

He heard the metallic click of the door and braced himself for what was about to come.

Jacob entered the room, with Austin trailing behind him. By the fury that etched his friend's features, he knew Austin had given him a recap of everything that happened.

Chase moved out of the way as Jacob strode across the room, golden eyes fixated on Lora's limp form. Carefully, he sat on the edge of the bed, and ran a hand over her forehead. His breathing was harsh, irregular, as if he was trying to control his temper. Long fingers brushed her hair away from her neck, exposing the puncture wounds.

“She's doing better,” Chase said weakly. He stared at his friend's back, waiting for the man to turn around and slug him. It would be what he deserved, and he steeled himself for the blow.

Minutes passed, and still Jacob didn't turn around or say anything. Austin leaned against the wall opposite Chase, his large arms crossed over his chest, and a deep scowl marring his features.

Jacob sighed, tracing the marks on her neck. His voice was shaky when he spoke. “You marked her?”

Chase cringed. “The infection had spread to her blood. She wouldn't have survived.”

Jacob stood and looked at Chase. There were unshed tears in his eyes and a gratitude Chase hadn't expected.

“Thank you,” Jacob said, placing a heavy hand on Chase's shoulder. “I know what you've given up tonight. I'm in your debt.”

Chase felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Jacob was under the illusion that Chase had sacrificed finding his true mate. That he had marked her for the sole purpose of saving her life. No wonder his friend was looking at him like he was a fucking hero and not the self-absorbed asshole he really was.

As easy as it would be to allow his friend to believe the lie, he knew he couldn't live with himself under the false presumption.

“It wasn't a sacrifice.” At least not the way Jacob believed.

Chase's chest tightened when he met Jacob's apprehensive gaze. Jacob Oliver and his family had taken him and his brother in when nobody else cared. When his mother had disappeared, the Oliver's became his family. They had kept his head above water and urged him to make the most out of himself. Even when Turner came unhinged, they never turned their back.

A muscle in Jacob's jaw began to twitch, and Chase saw the moment he realized what his words implied. “How long have you known?”

Unable to bear the condemnation in his friend's eyes, Chase hunched his shoulders and looked down at the ground. “I should have told you—”

Jacob took a step towards him, his dark features remained smooth, but an icy fury blazed in his eyes. “How. Fucking. Long?”

The air was charged with tension. There was no point delaying the confrontation. “A month, maybe longer.”

Jacob's breath hissed from his teeth and he turned his back on him.

“I would never have marked her if her life hadn't been in danger.”

Jacob froze and raised an eyebrow at him. “
Really?
”

“She's your fucking sister,” he muttered emptily. “You think I'm that much of a bastard? I'd never do anything to jeopardize our friendship. To hurt your family.”

“And what about Lora?” Jacob asked, his voice thick with skepticism.

“She doesn't know. And I meant to keep it that way.” He'd never wanted a mate. The entire process scared the shit out of him. He breathed out heavily. If he was honest with himself, that was the real reason he'd stayed the hell away from her. “I wasn't going to touch her.”

Austin snarled, baring his teeth. “Like you did tonight on the dance floor?”

“Fuck you, McCaffrey. You have no clue what you're talking about.”

Jacob shook his head, his amber eyes cutting through the bullshit and hitting straight to the core. “It doesn't matter now. You made a choice. She's your mate.”

“Lion's choice, not mine!”

“Jacob?” Lora's faint voice left Chase's angry retort hanging in the air like a pair of dirty socks.

The pain in her eyes burned him to the core. She'd heard what he'd said, and the rejection wrapped around her like a cocoon.

Jacob was beside her in less than a second and pulled her against his chest, but her eyes never left Chase. Her trembling fingers reached up and touched the mark on her neck. She winced, and Chase knew it wasn't from the pain.

He needed to speak with her. Alone. Explain what he did. Why he did it. Already he could see her closing herself off.

An unnerving need to make things right gripped him.

“Leave us.” His demand came out sounding more like a roar. He took a deep breath to calm the animal within him. “I need to speak to my mate. Alone.”

She was his mate?
Chase's words ricocheted within her head. He had acknowledged it in the very breath that screamed he didn't want her.
Lion's choice, not mine.

Her fingers trembled as they ran across the puncture marks on her neck.

Her brother held her in a protective embrace, and she shook her head against Jacob's chest. “I don't understand?”

“I'll let Chase explain everything,” Jacob said, releasing her and moving off the bed. His cool hand fluttered against her forehead, and he gave her a sympathetic smile, before standing. “I'll come back later. Call me if you need anything.”

She looked at Austin, who stood stone still in the corner of the room. He readjusted his stance and looked away when he caught her gaze. His brown eyes filled with a strange mixture of anger and unease, before turning silently away and following Jacob out of the room.

Biting her tongue, she fought the urge to call them back.

Chase stood at the end of the bed watching her.

“You marked me?” she asked shakily, rubbing the tender spot where he had bitten her. The vein pulsated and throbbed like a beacon warning of hazardous conditions ahead.

He just stared, studying her closely. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. After another long minute of silence, he nodded, and looked away.

For a brief foolish second she allowed pure freaking joy to course through her. He had marked her. Made her his. The only man she had ever loved, ever wanted, had chosen her. Well, his lion had chosen her, but that was something. Wasn't it?

“Do you remember what happened?”

She shook her head and tried to put the fuzzy pieces of the night back together. “We were dancing…” Oh god, she remembered now. Pain, dizziness, and then nothing. Humiliation flooded her. “I blacked out.”

“The infection in your arm spread. You were seizing. I did what I had to do.”

“What you had to do,” she repeated weakly, looking down at her arm. The wound was almost fully healed now.

“I'm sorry,” he said, frowning.

Her breath became uneven and every muscle stiffened. What was he sorry for? Saving her? Making her his mate? She was a fool for believing, even for a second, that he would want her.

“You're sorry?”

His frown deepened and he scratched his jaw. “We'll make it work.”

“Right.” She tried to play it off with a fake smile, but the resentment stained her voice. “Thank you for what you did, but I don't expect you to try and make this…” She waved her hands in the air. “
Work.
”

She pushed the covers back and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

“What are you doing?”

The room spun when she tried to stand, but she pushed on his chest when he grabbed her arms to steady her. “I'm leaving.”

“Like hell you are.”

“Let me go, Chase.”

“Not until we figure things out.”

“There's nothing to
figure out
,” she said, her emotions practically strangling her. She let out a deep, uneven breath and blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over her cheek. “You saved my life and I'm grateful for that. But that's all it is, all it will ever be.”

His grip tightened, and a stark look of anger crossed his features. “Like it or not, you're my mate.”

She laughed bitterly. All her life she had wanted him, desired that one day she would be his other half, his true mate, but not like this. Not when he didn't want her back. “Lion's choice. Not yours. Remember?”

His face paled and he dropped his hands from her shoulder. “We'll figure this out.”

“Maybe I don't want to figure it out.” She pushed past him, better to be the rejecter than the rejected. Mate or not, she wouldn't chase after him. Not anymore.

She only took a few steps before her legs wobbled, and her knees gave out. Cursing her uncooperative body, she grabbed the bedpost to steady herself.

“Damn it, Lora. Get back in bed before you hurt yourself.”

Before she could protest, he scooped her up.

“Let me go.” Her voice held the echo of defeat. She was too weak to fight him, physically or verbally. She squeezed her eyes tight and tried to ignore the warmth of his body pressed against hers.

“Open your eyes,” he said softly, cupping her face in his hand as he lowered her to the bed.

She shook her head and kept them tightly closed. If she opened them she knew she wouldn't be able to control her heart from wanting, believing that they really could make this work.

“Look at me.” The primal, demanding tone of his voice sent a shiver of lust vibrating through her body.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes.

Desire tightened his features and filled his blue eyes. “You're not walking away from this, and neither am I.”

She swallowed hard, staring at his lips with an aching hunger to taste them again.

His hand curled around her neck, pulling her closer, and taking her mouth hard against his. Her hand snaked up his chest, around his neck, fingers tangling in the dark hair at the nape. He groaned into her mouth, his grip tightening.

She knew it was an illusion, but it felt so right, and even though her brain screamed for her to stop, every nerve ending in her body begged for more. Her breasts ached, and her back arched as skin tingling euphoria filled her.

His breath scorched her extra sensitive skin. Her body trembled from his closeness and the surging hormonal overload. She shivered in his arms. All she could think of was having him inside her.

He pulled back, a mixture of shock and lust clearly etched on his beautiful features. “You need to rest.”

“I'm not tired,” she lied. Exhaustion rolled over her, but so did hunger. Every part of her craved him.

“We'll talk more tomorrow.” He kissed her forehead, lingering for a long moment. With a heavy breath he stood and left the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

She stared at the closed door, wanting to call him back, to finish what they started. The animal within her was awake and craving. She pushed the lioness back in its cage, and growled a low warning for it to stay there.

Emotionally and physically numb, she settled back on the bed, pulled the comforter around her, and inhaled Chase's musky scent.

One night. She would allow herself that. One night, wrapped in the illusion that maybe, just maybe, her world wouldn't come crashing down on her tomorrow.