Jared (15 page)

He told it what he’d told himself every minute since
he’d given her blood. A woman had a right to feel good without a man pressuring
her.

“I thought you wanted to talk.”

Ian’s gaze left Raisa and focused on him. “I do.”

“About what?”

“The meeting.”

“It’s still going on?”

“Yes.”

Try as he might he couldn’t keep his attention from
Rai. The need to touch her visually was as strong as it was to touch her
mentally, physically. “Same place?”

“So it’s rumored.”

He’d been so busy with Raisa he hadn’t checked in with
Caleb, an anomaly that would have his brother worried.

“When?” He watched Creed climb into the sled, watched
as Rai snuggled in front of him, imagined the were’s pleasure as that cute butt
settled between his thighs. Rai laughed as she lost her balance. The were
caught her, his strength easily righting her, his arms not unwrapping from
around her as he signaled the others to push them off. Raisa’s scream of
excitement gouged Jared’s good humor as the sled took off down the hill.

“Are you listening?” Ian asked.

Jared forced himself to pay attention. “Yes.”

“Caleb is worried about you.”

“I’ll call him later.”

“Good. And in case you’re interested, the meeting’s
rumored to be one day from now.”

“Shit.” That centered his attention. He’d have to run
flat out for a full night to get there. To make that happen he’d have to be at
full strength, which he wasn’t after feeding Rai last night. “It’ll be tough
just getting there, let alone undetected.”

“Caleb wants to know if there’s any chance you can
back up Jace.”

Caleb would. The man didn’t know the meaning of the
word impossible, and he knew as well as Jared the edge Jace was walking right
now. None of the brothers knew why, but something was eating Jace, making him
take more risks than usual. And that was saying a lot for their wild brother.

The sled hit a rock buried in the snow and went
airborne. Rai’s scream held more fear than excitement. Ian grabbed his arm as
he tensed. “Creed won’t let her be hurt.”

“He’d better not.” The tenuous hold he had on his
temper wouldn’t withstand Rai being injured. The couple tumbled across the
snow, and while it was obvious Creed had picked up a few bruises, Rai popped
up, wiping the snow from her eyes, her laughter coming clearly to him in the
night air.

“If you can back up Jace, you’re going to have to
leave immediately to make the meeting,” Ian continued.

Jared couldn’t take his eyes from Raisa, couldn’t keep
his mind from reaching out to hers. He didn’t think it was accidental that he
met a wall of resistance. Raisa was miffed that he’d ignored her invite to
play. “Yes.”

“If you take Raisa with you, she’ll be at risk.”

“I know.” He probed her mind again. This time he got a
mental huff before the door slammed shut. Irritation twitched.

“She’s welcome to hang out here while you take care of
business.”

“Thank you.”

Despite his resolve, his mind reached for hers again,
restlessly seeking the connection, needing, he admitted ruefully, that feminine
touch of hers that soothed the raw edges of his emotions, the jagged edges of
his energy.

“I’m sure my people will devote themselves to making
her stay a pleasure.”

The amusement in Ian’s voice was hard to miss. Jared
sighed. There wasn’t a chance in hell the were had missed his distraction.

“I just bet they will.”

Ian glanced over at the small group. “She’s a very
beautiful woman. A bit old-fashioned in her ways, but that only enhances her
appeal. A woman who can hold her own without increasing a were’s natural
dominance is pretty much irresistible.”

Jared knew exactly what Ian meant. That unique
combination of strength and spirit that promised peace and acceptance drew him
as well. He watched as the men helped Raisa to her feet. She accepted their
help as her due, accepting their fussing over her without any insult to her
pride. And why wouldn’t she? In the time she’d been raised, it was exactly what
she’d been trained to do. To be the object of a man’s attention, to offer him
strength and support without seeing it as a detraction to her own. To the
ultra-dominant weres she was the ultimate treat. “She does have a way about
her.”

Creed brushed the snow off Raisa’s coat, his hand
coming damn close to the cute curve of her butt. The growl erupted of its own
volition, mentally and physically closing the distance between them. Raisa’s
head snapped up, her mind immediately reaching for his, looking for the threat.

What?

Creed glanced over. The smile that curved his lips was
nothing short of a challenge as he brushed again, the arrogance in the gesture
increased by the fact there wasn’t any snow left. And this time his palm did
graze the upper slope of her rear.

Jared held his gaze, sending a command to Rai. Come
here.

Raisa frowned, said something to Creed, and then
obeyed, levitating across the snow with ease. The alacrity with which she
responded to his command soothed a little of his frustration. Creed’s
frustration at her obedience to another man’s order, Jared’s specifically,
eased his anger.

“If you marked her,” Ian said conversationally, “you
wouldn’t have to worry about the men courting her in your absence.”

Jared didn’t need the reminder. He was having a hard
enough time resisting his vampire’s demand he do that very thing, without Ian
adding fuel to the fire with logic. “Mind your own business.”

“You’re on D’Nally land. Everything here is my
business.”

Rai was just a few feet away, a hint of anxiety in her
gaze. “Not this.”

Her energy reached him first, soft and sweet, quickly
finding the turbulence of his anger and smoothing over it, infusing her
particular brand of calm. Two steps farther and she was in front of him, her
tawny hair spilling over her shoulders with all the colors of sunshine. On her
head sat a black knit hat. One that hadn’t been there when she’d left the house
this morning. This close, he couldn’t mistake the scent clinging to it.
Definitely male. His growl rumbled past his control. Creed’s.

Raisa’s tongue flicked over her lips. “What’s wrong?”

The gleam of moisture left by the pass of her tongue
held his gaze. “I have to leave.”

It came out blunter than he had intended, but he did
have to leave, not only to back Jace but to get away from his baser instincts
that seemed to dominate whenever he was around her. The instincts that would
take choice away from her.

She blinked and then said, “I’ll pack my things.”

“You’ll be staying here.”

Stubborn didn’t begin to described her frown or the
thrust of emotion that backed her “No.”

“You can’t come with me.”

“You can’t leave me behind.”

The panic in her built. She was afraid to be without
him. Afraid for him. He plucked the hat from her head. The curls sprang to
life, bouncing around her head before settling around her face. “I’ll come
back.”

That didn’t soothe her. Her hands fisted at her side.
A second passed. And then another. Suddenly she said, “You’re going on a
mission.”

He hadn’t even felt her probe. He crumpled the hat his
hand. “Yes.”

“I can help.”

No way in hell was he letting her within grabbing distance
of any Sanctuary member. “The only thing you could do is slow me down.”

“I’m stronger now.”

From his blood. Damn, it was arousing as hell knowing
that he could provide for her at that level. “Not that strong.”

“You don’t know that.”

He grazed the back of his hand across moist remnants
of snow on her cheekbone. “I’m not putting you in danger.”

“You’ll be in danger.”

As if there was any comparison. “I’m trained for it.
You’re not.”

“What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”

“The D’Nallys would be honored to extend you shelter,”
Ian offered.

Rai looked from Jared to Ian and then back at Jared
again. Her energy withdrew, and her face closed up. A coldness settled between
them as she nodded at Ian. “How convenient of you to provide a place for him to
dump me.” She held out her hand to Jared. “Could I have my hat please?”

“No. And I’m not dumping you.”

“Dress it up any way you want, it amounts to the same
thing.” She snapped her fingers. “The hat please? I must give it back.”

Her English was slipping. A sure sign she was ticked.

Ian took the hat, neatly preventing the building
argument. “I’ll make sure this gets back to its owner.”

“Thank you.” With one last glare at Jared, Raisa
turned on her heel and marched away, that tight little ass swishing with a feminine
challenge to which everything in him demanded he respond.

“That woman just begs a man to claim her.”

Ian’s admiration was not what Jared needed to hear.
Raisa wasn’t begging any man, just him, and it was getting damn hard to resist.
“Well, it won’t be me.”

Ian cocked his brow. “You’re leaving her here
unclaimed?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a damn fool.”

“No doubt.”

But he wasn’t an ass, and taking advantage of Raisa’s
gratitude for giving her back her strength would make him into one. She reached
the group of men. They accepted her easily into their midst. That didn’t bother
him nearly as much as the fact that she settled so comfortably there, accepted
their attention, smiled at their words. He changed his mind about one thing.
She could do whatever the hell she wanted when he wasn’t here, but while he
was, she wasn’t entertaining a bunch of horny weres.

“Where are you going?” Ian called.

“To set a few ground rules.”

“WANT to go again?”

Raisa forced a smile as Creed grabbed her hand and
headed up the hill. “Okay, but this time I’m driving.”

“Not a chance.”

“I can’t do worse than you. You drove us off the
ledge.”

“It was a rock in the snow, and you didn’t get hurt. I
protected you.”

Yes, he had. From the time she’d arrived, he’d set
himself up as a man she could trust, protecting her from the other weres,
Jared, and her own stupid expectations. She wished she could feel for him what
he needed.

“Still doesn’t change the fact that you wrecked the
sled.”

“Just a tumble, sweet thing.” He tugged her even with
him. “Trust me this time, and I promise we’ll make it to the bottom unscathed.”

Raisa glanced up the hill. She didn’t have the heart
to tell Creed she was tiring, that the energy from Jared’s blood was seeping
off. Mainly because she didn’t want to believe it. The climb appeared so much
steeper than it had earlier in the evening, the bright moonlight reflecting off
the snow-covered rocks in spools of white, emphasizing the deeper black of the
shadows. She marked a spot a third of the way up the hill. She could make that.
And when she did, she’d pick a new one. One foot at a time.

Creed glanced down at her. “Everything okay?”

She nodded and took the first step. Today had been the
best day of her life physically, and even though it was turning out to be the
most taxing emotionally, she didn’t want it to end. One-third up the hill, just
short of her mark, she had to stop. She recognized the tension, the horrible
tension, that gathered in her stomach. She held herself perfectly still, hoping
against hope that she was wrong, that maybe she’d just pulled a muscle, that
this wasn’t happening again. She couldn’t go back to the way it had been
before. She couldn’t.

“Raisa?”

She pulled her hand from Creed’s. The first pain hit
her hard, harder than ever before, striking brilliantly from out of her
complacency, doubling her over. Sweat beaded her brow, ran down her temple, and
fell to the snow, marring the pure white surface with washed-out red splotches.

“Shit.” Creed’s arms came around her, strong and warm.
“Jared, get over here!”

As Creed’s hand covered hers, she heard Jared’s shout.
She felt the probe of Creed’s mind at the edges of hers, surprisingly strong
and very knowledgeable in the way it found the crevices in her control. His
palm spread across her stomach, supporting her as he whispered in her ear, “You
hunger.”

She grabbed his wrist, unable to pull away or draw it
in as another cramp doubled up on the first.

It’d never started this hard before. She had to go
weeks to reach this level of pain. And now, just twelve hours after taking
Jared’s blood she was in this condition? Oh heck, she was in so much trouble.

The next pain left her hanging in Creed’s arms, too
wrapped in the consuming agony to support herself. His other arm pressed
against her mouth. “Feed.”