Chapter Seven
“Leah. Leah, wake up, damn it. Wake up.” The voice came from very far away.
Her feet hurt. Her head hurt. Her butt hurt. “Whoa.” Pain clashed through her head stronger than a hammer on steel beams.
“You’re okay. Take a deep breath.”
She instantly obeyed the voice. She knew that voice. Keeping her eyelids shut, she let her hearing take over. Something rustled, and a drip, drip, drip pinged in the distance. The ground beneath her was cold, and it felt like rocks pushed against her back. She slowly opened her eyes and let her vision clear. She sat on a hard stone floor with her arms in shackles above her head. Panicking, she looked around to see Jasper next to her, similarly secured.
“Wait a minute. I passed out again?” she whispered, her voice coming out as a croak.
His gaze darkened. “Are you all right? You’ve been out for some time.”
She shook her head. “What happened? Why are you here? Where are we?” She looked around. Dark and dank, the freezing underground room held no windows. “We’re in a stone room?” she asked groggily. Wait. This was familiar. She’d awoken here once before.
“Something like that.” He pulled on his chains. Blood covered the side of his face, and purple bruises marred his chin and down his neck to his clavicle. His ankle was twisted at an odd angle, as well.
“Is your foot broken?”
“My ankle is,” he said dryly.
Blue sequins dotted the area around her. “I don’t believe this.” Her dress was falling apart. “Jasper, why are you here?” Why couldn’t her brain kick into gear? None of this made sense. “Wait a minute. Now, I remember. I’m the bait.”
Jasper chuckled. “Yes, baby. You were bait.”
She glared at him. “Then why are you here?” The guy should be smart enough to avoid being kidnapped.
“To get to you, Mate,” he said quietly.
She jerked against the restraints. “Where are we?”
“A couple of blocks down from the convention center.”
Her memory finally returned. “Wallace is in charge of the Kurjans here. He wants to kill you.”
“I’m sure.”
Fire blasted through her. Being this close to him, even chained up and freezing, awakened the nerves in her body. Especially—and unfortunately—the ones located in every erogenous zone. “Then why did you just walk into an obvious trap?” If she could smack him, she would.
“To. Find. You.” His eyes blazed an unholy green shot through with silver, possessiveness clearly stamped on his hard face.
“Oh.” She swallowed. “All right.” She studied him, trying to remain critical and ignore the fact that she wanted to lick up his neck until she reached his lips. Her mouth watered. This was exactly why she’d kept her distance. Losing control over her body was too much of a risk to take in life. “You look like a disaster. Did you fight all three of the Kurjans guarding this place?”
“Yes, and I assume they’re now waiting for Wallace.” He lifted one powerful shoulder. “While they heal multiple wounds, of course.” He rested his head back against the stone. “Apparently, Wallace and I have been hunting each other.”
Leah’s body felt too tight being this close to Jasper. What had she been thinking, having sex with him again? She knew better. While she didn’t want to be safely squired away, she’d enjoyed their long-distance relationship. She felt comfort at the fact that Jasper was out there if she needed him. Her body was beginning to do more than just need—the desire sparked by his hard-ass body was swiftly turning into an intense craving.
A dangerous one. “I’m sorry about this situation, Jasper,” she said quietly.
“We’ll deal with that later. Right now, we have to get out of here.” He pulled on the chains again. They rattled but didn’t give. “I was in a fight earlier before running into the three guarding us. I’m not at a hundred percent.” He glanced at her bare legs. “However, blood would help.”
She pulled her legs in, bending her knees. “My blood?”
“Of course, your blood. Who else’s? How limber are you?”
The last time he’d taken her blood, she’d had multiple orgasms. She shook her head to force herself back to the current moment. This might be their only way out. While her arms couldn’t reach him, if she shifted toward him, maybe her feet could come close. She scooted her butt to the side and swung her legs toward him, extending her body as far as she could. It might actually work.
He lowered his head and leaned away from the wall. “All right. Kick me in the mouth.”
“Gladly.” She lifted her leg, extended it outward, and then kicked toward his face. His fangs latched on, and she cried out, but he had her. He sank them deep into her ankle. Pain ricocheted up her leg, and blood burbled from her vein.
Then desire rippled through her so quickly she failed to mask the moan that escaped her.
* * * *
At the first taste of her sweet blood, Jasper’s head swam, and his cock flared awake so quickly that his zipper cut into his flesh. He didn’t care. She tasted like the freshest lavender and vanilla concoction imaginable. Only Leah. Taking her blood when she sent packets to him didn’t come close to the warm and fresh heaven filling his mouth and body.
There was absolutely no chance of going back now.
He wanted to go forward.
His craving for her had only increased through the years, and now, as he drank from just above her ankle, something loosened inside him. With one last swipe of his tongue to close the wounds, he released her.
Her ankle dropped, and she retracted her leg, her eyes a deeper hue than he remembered. Desire wafted from her, awakening the beast at his core. It rumbled and roared, fighting its bindings, wanting to claim her again so she knew exactly what she was in this world.
His mate.
Power sang through his blood as he sent healing cells to his ankle. The bone quickly snapped back into place and was mended with invisible but perfectly accurate blood stitches.
He looked up at the iron chain connecting the cuffs on his wrists. Grunting, he yanked as hard as he could, and the hook wrenched right out of the stone, sending little rocks spiraling down his back. He lowered his arms from over his head to rest in his lap and studied the chain.
Leah’s blood made him more powerful than ever before. Energy ignited nerves throughout his body, and his brain waves rapidly increased in speed.
Interesting. Pulling his still good leg to his chest, he tightened the chain against his foot and, in one swift motion, yanked back his arms and pushed his leg forward. The chain snapped in two.
“Nice job.” Leah struggled with her restraints, her voice breathy.
He pushed to his feet and gingerly put weight on his injured ankle. The bones felt nearly healed. Her blood was amazing—a true elixir with magical properties. For him.
He reached for the chain above her head with one hand and pulled the securing hook loose, careful to slide his free hand over her head to protect her from the rocks that rained down. Using both hands, he ripped the chain apart.
She looked at the cuffs on her wrists. “How do we get these off?”
He spun one around until he could see the clasp and, using both hands, slid his fingers between her thin skin and the metal. He tore one open and then reached for the other, keeping her safe.
This close, her sweet scent filled his head. A growl rumbled up from his chest.
Her head jerked, and her wide-eyed gaze met his.
Yeah. He could smell her desire, as well. “We’re finished with the long-distance relationship, Leah.” Without needing to look, he tore open the cuffs on his wrists. Just a little blood from her, from his mate, and immortality sang through his veins.
“I can’t believe they used me as bait.” She wiped several small chips of rocks and sequins off her dress to land on the hard-packed floor.
He gently lifted her by the biceps, and more blue sequins rained down. “Don’t worry about it.”
She blinked, her brain finally catching up to the moment. “You knowingly walked into a trap?”
“Of course. They had my mate.” He brushed rock dust off her bare shoulder, enthralled by the smoothness of her sweet skin.
A fine tremble he could feel went through her body. Was it his touch or his statement? Both? He’d given her space these many decades, and she no doubt didn’t understand the possessiveness filling his pores. He’d have to find a calming way to explain it to her, although her instincts had always been excellent.
Her gaze dropped from his. “What’s our plan?” She pushed some wild hair off her face. “I lost my purse and any evidence I had against a child trafficker. I need to find the clutch. Or, alternatively, the bastard who trafficked the kids. We may need to make him talk, and my window to get answers is probably less than three hours.”
He admired her grit. Sometimes, he forgot that they’d met when she was injured while working as a spy. “Actually, we need to discuss you not staying where I put you.” His voice went dominantly low.