Bound By The Night by Cynthia Eden Page B

beyond speech right then. His mouth closed around the curve of her shoulder. A kiss at first, but then, because this was the spot that would mark a claiming…
    He bit her, even as he thrust into her sex.  The pleasure hit them both, sweeping through them, between them, consuming in a white-hot explosion that left him hollowed out, and yet, for the first time in his whole life also feeling…
    Whole.
    As if he’d found something that had always been missing.
    Her.
    Jamie pressed a kiss to the faint wound he’d left on Iona’s shoulder. The mark of a werewolf claiming.  There would be no going back from this, and he wondered just what Iona would do now.
    Hopefully, she wouldn’t try to kill him. 
    Her arms curled around him. “I don’t want to sleep,” she whispered but her words were husky, and he knew that sleep pulled desperately at her.
    It pulled at him, too. “I’ll stay with you.”
    Her head tilted back. She stared up at him with eyes so deep and mysterious. “I’m afraid.”
    He knew the admission had been hard. For her,
hard
was probably one serious understatement.
    His arms tightened around her.  “It’s okay.  I swear, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
    The last time, she’d slept for fifteen years.  
    He inhaled her scent. Realized that she already felt like she was a part of him. “I’ll keep you safe.”
    But Iona gave a sad shake of her head. “It’s not the sleep I fear.” Her hand slid over his chest. “It’s the dreams. What I’ll…see.”
    Because of the blood she’d taken from him.  Jamie carefully held his expression, hoping to show only concern for her and not the fear and anger that were suddenly clawing inside of him. Just yesterday, he’d planned to keep her from sleeping. Planned to stop her from using their blood link so she wouldn’t see his secrets in her dreams.
    But now I want her to know me.
Pity his memories weren’t the stuff of white knights.  Hell, Iona had probably met real freaking knights in her life.
    And she’d battled monsters. 
Like me.
    “I don’t want to find out…you’re as much of a monster as Latham…” Her voice whispered away as her lashes began to sag. Her slurred words were a painful echo of his own thoughts.
    His eyes squeezed shut. Jamie leaned over to press a kiss to her the tumble of her hair. “I’m sorry.” Because he knew exactly what Iona would see in her dreams.
    And he knew that she’d want him dead.
    But she deserved to know. He couldn’t keep secrets from her anymore.
    Even if the truth she learned made her go for his throat.   

Chapter Six
    The bodies were broken. Twisted.
    Jagged wounds—claw marks—had ripped into the woman’s neck. Her blond hair was matted with her blood.
    A man’s body rested beside her, his hands still reaching for her even in death.  The heavy scent of silver burned in the air.
    “Why?” The cry was torn from her…only when she glanced down, Iona wasn’t staring at her own body.
    No, when she glanced down, she saw Jamie’s strong hands. Jamie’s body.
    Because this was Jamie’s memory.
    Part of her wanted to wake up, but once the blood memories came, there was no stopping them. This was the way the memories always came for her. She relived the memories, the moments, until the blood pushed her free. So she watched, through Jamie’s eyes, as he fell before the people that she knew were his parents. Those memories were there, too, inside of her and—
    “You’re next.” Latham’s voice.
    He was standing over the bodies.  His lips were twisted with hate.
    “Why?” Jamie demanded again, the cry like a wounded animal. And—he was.   
    “Because I’m taking over the pack.  He was in my way.” Latham glared at the dead man’s body and then pointed at Jamie. “You’re in my way, too, brother.”
    Brother?
    A knife seemed to slide into her heart, but the heart—it wasn’t hers. It was Jamie’s. And Latham had just shoved a silver blade into Jamie’s chest.