Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] (31 page)

Maybe he does. The insidious thought filters through
what's left of my human mind. Pain tears
through
me as the beast tries to break out to stop him.
Mine, it screams,
flailing outside the window.

I watch in horror as Morgan's teeth sink into the
crook of Gina's creamy white neck. I catch a flash of
blood rimming his mouth as he greedily sucks and
swallows her essence with the lap of his rough
tongue.

For a second, he glances my way.
I swear I see his
smile mocking me, but
then it's gone.

The window sill crumbles beneath my razor sharp
claws as I watch his eyes close in ecstasy. He's
taking
what should be mine. I can almost smell the coppery odor
and
the musk from
their sex wafting in the air. It sickens
me.

Gina
will pay for her betrayal with the loss of someone she
holds dear. I thought to spare him, but now
I realize that was naive. He is beyond
redemption
and must suffer the ultimate
price. Marking Gina w
ill cost Morgan his life.

I had to wait for the sun to set before I could sneak
into
the
hospital.
There were too many people coming
and
going to enter
undetected. The room
I'm
in is quiet
and smells
like the antiseptic used to cleanse the fixtures. The stench sickens me, but
still I wait.

The nurse making rounds should be finished in a
few minutes. Once she passes, then I'll be free
to slip
down the hall and fulfill my promise to Gina. I told her
s
he
would pay for her infidelity. She must learn that actions have consequences.

I will not be denied my right to claim her as my mate.
Morgan's death will invalidate his mark, but first
I have to
punish her. I don't want to. It hurts me to
b
e put in this position. She had a choice. Instead of c
hoosing wisely, she lowered herself to lay with swine.

Ah well. ..

What's done is done.

Footsteps in the hall herald the nurse's arrival. I
step behind the door a second before she opens it and looks inside. There are
no patients in this room, now that
I've disposed of the old man in the cleansing room.
His pain and suffering are over. My care will be rewarded in the end.

The woman slips back out of the
room after spotting
the light under the
door of the cleansing room. She
won't check
on him again until long after
I'm
gone. wait and listen as her footsteps grow fainter. Cracking the door. I peek
out. The lights in the hall have been dimmed, leaving shadows clinging to the
corners and ceiling. Perfect for concealing my approach.

I leave the room, giving one last glance over my
shoulder. I can smell the old man's blood over the
cleaning fluid. It's dank and musty like rest of him.
wasn't
even tempted to take a sip. It doesn't take long to reach Jesse Lindley's room.
She's at the end of the hall. The nurse will have already been by on her
rounds. I have at least an hour to play.

And play I will.

The room is dark. Much darker than the hall as I
enter. A slip of light slices the shadows long enough for me to see Jesse's
quick intake of breath. I close the door behind me, knowing she's awake.

"There's no need to pretend," I say, walking
toward her.

Hatred spills from her eyes,
letting me know without
words what she thinks of me. The feeling is mutual.

"I want you to know that I'm here because Gina
reneged on our agreement."

Jesse frowned in confusion.

"She spread her legs for
our alpha and let him place his mark upon her. Now you must pay."

The old one-eyed bitch had the audacity to smile at
me.

"You think that's amusing?"

She nods.

Before her head finishes the movement, I backhand
her. Jesse
groans. "I am in no mood to be trifled with
and
angering me won't help your situation."

She
reaches for
the call button, but I yank it out of the
wall before she can
press it. There will be no res-cue
from emergency
care personnel. No one can help her
now. She just doesn't realize it yet, but she will.

My fingers reach around her neck and begin to s
queeze
the
life out of her. She struggles, pounding at m
y wrists with her bandaged
hands. It's ineffectual and
we both know it. Her throat feels good beneath my
grip. When her eyes roll back in her head, I shake her until she regains
consciousness.

I don't want our game to end too quickly. I want her
to suffer. I
need her to suffer as I have. It's the o
nly
way to punish Gina for her betrayal.

My nails score her skin and the wolf inside me catches
its first whiff
of blood. Jesse's essence isn't near as aged as the old man's. Familiar pain
engulfs me.
I stare down at my hands and watch my fingers reshape
into large
handlike paws. Talons sprout from my
nail
beds, burning as they
unsheath. Jesse's struggles
increase as she tries to shift into her true form.

I cannot let her.

There's a chance she could get away. My grip in
tensifies until all that's left are a few gurgles
and kicks from
her feet. Jesse's
eye remains wide with fright and acceptance.
She understands
that a sacrifice was needed.
It was part of her duty to be an example of what
happens when you betray me.

When Gina arrives at the hospital, she'll recognize
the
truth
and beauty in Jesse's death. She'll accept the
punishment
I've seen fit to dole out. The steady
pierce
of the flatline from her heart monitor finally
reaches me. I only have a moment to react. My body
contorts
painfully to return to its
alien
form. The emergency staff enters the
room as I start chest compressions. Must make a show of trying to save her life.

"What happened?" Glenda, the night nurse,
asks as she approaches.

"I have no idea. I stopped in to pay my respects
and she seized on me," I say, continuing to pump her chest like it will actually
do some good. It won't. I made sure of that. Nothing will bring her back.

If by chance she did return, I'd
be forced to
kill everyone in the room.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Nurses come and go, carrying inoculators full of
various medications. I stay close for five more minutes before I slowly back
away from the bed. Don't
want to leave too
soon or they might become suspect.

"It's too late," I say. "She's gone.
Her heart must have given out."

Glenda steps forward with tears in her eyes. I reach
out and clasp her shoulder. "Should we notify the sheriff?" she asks.

I glance at my watch and furrow
my forehead as if
I'm
actually giving it some thought. "No, let
him rest
tonight. No sense ruining his evening. Get Jesse's body prepped
for the dissecting lab."

"But shouldn't Sheriff Hunter view the body
first?"

I force a smile, when all I want to do is rip her
throat out. "Why should he? It's obvious she died of natural causes."

chapter
eighteen

Morgan pulled Gina onto her
knees, leaving her
open for his
penetration.
He'd been fucking
her for hours, partly to avoid the upcoming
conversation
he knew they needed
to have, but mainly because
he couldn't seem to get enough
of her. She made
him insatiable. And he liked it.
Liked it so much that
he never wanted it to end.

He kissed his way down her back. She was healing fast
thanks to her heritage. The bruises from the attack were barely visible. Morgan
continued his carnal exploration, pausing to nip the globes of her bottom
before nudging her legs wider apart.

A delicious fragrance engulfed him as he dipped his
head between her legs, pressing his tongue into her
wetness until
she shuddered. He loved making her
do that. He wiped his mouth as drool threatened to
escape.
So far Morgan had found five different places
on her body that produced
quivers and he was determined to find more.

Her spicy taste exploded in his mouth as he lapped at
her entry. She dripped in readiness. Had he ever been with anyone so
responsive? Morgan didn't realize he was growling until Gina started to giggle.

"You enjoying yourself back there?" she
asked, glancing over her shoulder.

He grinned. "You know I am.
Aren't you?" A swipe
of his tongue
followed the question. This time he plunged in, exploring her depths more
thoroughly.

Gina's knees shook, threatening to give out.

"Oh no you don't," he
said, hoisting her up with one
arm from
behind. "I haven't nearly gotten my fill yet,
You taste incredible. I could feast on you for days." He
cocked
his head. "Hmm, that doesn't sound like a half-bad idea."

Gina's eyes narrowed. "We still have to
talk," she reminded him.

"I mustn't be doing my job
very well if you're
still able to form
coherent thoughts. I suppose I'll have to try harder." Morgan nibbled the
backs of her thighs until he reached her knees.

She flinched. "I had no
idea that biting could be so
erotic,"
she said as he made his way back up.

"You haven't seen anything
yet," he said, position
ing his
shaft at her ripe entrance. Morgan thrust forward at the same time his mouth
came down upon her shoulder. The double penetration sent Gina into an
unexpected orgasm. She whimpered. He tongued the spot, matching his thrusts.

She was everything he'd ever imagined and more. And
best of all, she was his. Gina may not know it yet. He'd still have to figure
out a way to tell her, but it was only a matter of timing. The wolf in her ran
deep. He could taste it in her sweet blood. It called to him
on a gut
level, demanding the alpha in him answer.
And
he had, by claiming her.

Morgan knew Gina felt it. too, even if she didn't
realized
that's what it was. That's why she'd surrendered,
offering him
her body and baring her throat. after
he'd proven his dominance. Some part of her recognized
him
as
her mate, just as he'd recognized
her.

He'd never grow tired of Gina and he'd gladly spend
t
he
rest of his long life trying to please her. Now all Morgan had to do was
convince her to stay.

Red's
body
was humming.
Each thrust from Morgan brought
her closer to oblivion. She'd had sex before, enough
times to know
it had never been like this. Sometime
over the last several hours, she
and Morgan
had connected. It wasn't a
frivolous kind of bond that came
from simple attraction, but a
soul-deep melding that
let her know she would not be walking
away unseathed.

That strange connection didn't excuse his lies or the
deception, but
she was capable of separating her job
from physical gratification. Or at least she had been
until now. Her emotions were in a jumble. She couldn't
seem to focus
with Morgan's heated body wrapped around her like a blanket.

Red felt the steady build of
desire as he fucked her
from behind. It
coiled deep in her belly, winding tighter and tighter until she could barely
breathe.

"Harder," she murmured, throwing her hips
back to meet him.

Morgan's rumbling growl vibrated his chest, sending
gooseflesh dancing over her arms. His hips slammed forward as he sped up. He
seemed to like the change of pace as much as she did.

The wet slap of skin on skin and
labored breathing
filled
the quiet of the room. Red closed her eyes, rel
ishing the feel of his cock filling her. With
each rolling
thrust
it seemed to thicken, expanding to the point of
discomfort, only to send her soaring higher.

Red cried out as her orgasm tore
through her like a
blast from a laser
pistol. Her nipples stabbed the rest pad as her arms gave out and she dropped
face first onto the pillow. Morgan supported the lower half of her body,
keeping it raised, driving deep ... and deeper still until she could almost
feel him in the back of her throat.