Page 13 of Wrath

I may have fallen in love with Devlin first, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t have been the only man I loved. All eight of our souls were meant to find one another. We were tied together—connected by a bond that transcended time itself.

“I think about our past lives a lot.” Jax focused on the stars once more. “A part of me wants to remember.”

“I don’t,” I answered honestly, a shudder rippling through me.

Seeing what happened through Aaliyah’s eyes was horrible enough as it was. I didn’t want to relive any of it.

And I sure as hell didn’t want my mates to relive it.

“Do you believe it? What Aaliyah told you? What she showed you?” Jax’s jaw tightened nearly imperceptibly.

I could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. For the first time, he didn’t aim his fury at Aaliyah, but at my father and the angels who killed me and imprisoned them.

“I don’t want to think about that,” I said, trying to scrub away the horrific images that barraged me from all directions.

It didn’t work.

Carefully, Jax guided my head to his shoulder and wrapped an arm around my waist. He planted a tender kiss to my temple.

“Are you hungry?” I whispered after a few moments of tranquil silence.

This far away from the camp and forest, all I could hear was the roaring of waves cresting the shoreline. It was peaceful here. I felt as if we were in our own little bubble, separated from thedissonant chaos of the rest of the world and the war that was soon to come.

“Z.” Jax buried his head in my hair. “You don’t have to?—”

“I know I don’t have to, dork.” I pushed him away and flashed him a tentative smile. “But I want to.”

His eyes flared, the red resembling polished garnet.

“Z…”

Licking my suddenly dry lips, I tilted my head to the side, baring my neck.

Hunger flared in Jax’s gaze—and not just hunger for my blood.

It was probably horrible timing. We’d just discussed one of the most traumatic moments in my history, yet lust still percolated low in my belly. Heat traversed my veins like lava.

What happened to me… That was a different life, not my current one. It was horrible, yes, and I hated watching it through Aaliyah’s eyes, but it felt as if it had happened to someone else entirely. I was Z now, not Gabrielle or Gabriella, and I wanted Jax with an intensity that took my breath away.

“Are you sure?” he rasped, his lashes lowering.

“Come here.”

Jax sprang forward with his vampire speed and tenderly—so fucking tenderly—tilted my head where he wanted it. His breath fanned across my sensitive skin, and the responding goose bumps pebbled on both of my arms. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.

His lips brushed my throat directly over my rapidly beating pulse.

Once. Twice. Three times.

“Jax.” It was half a growl, half a plea.

I forked my fingers through his light-brown hair.

There was the slightest stinging sensation, and then…

Jax bit down.

My body spasmed as lust shot through me, almost painful in its intensity. My eyes rolled into the back of my head.

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