Page 17 of Fae Divided
Maybe if her brain hadn’t been sluggish with fatigue, she would have sensed him sooner.
James sat on the edge of their king-size mattress with the filthy jumpsuit she’d discarded on the way to the shower held close to his nose. “Not your blood,” he croaked, relief stark in his beautiful brown eyes.
“No, it’s…not mine.” Her limbs were heavy, the stone in her stomach adding to the weight cementing her feet in place.
“Noah’s unhurt?”
“Noah?” Sarah’s thoughts refused to focus, her mind completely blank.Why would Noah be hurt?
“Wasn’t he at Chess with the Guard?” James tossed the ruined garment in the trash and stood, raking his fingers through his hair as he approached her slowly.
“Chess,” she repeated stupidly.
James was home.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his tone placating.
James. Was. Home.
“Am I okay?” Prickling heat warmed her chest, spreading to her limbs.
“Sarah?” He cupped her jaw, thumb caressing her skin. His pupils dilated, his irises turning wolf-yellow.
Sarah pressed her cheek into his tender hold, reveling in the familiar touch. She’d missed her mate—so very much.
James parted his lips and dipped his chin, hungry gaze fixed on her mouth.
Sarah curled her fingers into her palm, leaned back, and punched him on the nose with the last of her strength.
James’ head jerked, and he stumbled a half-step in surprise. Blood left a thin trail underneath his left nostril. He wiped it away with a knuckle, eyes filled with regret never leaving her face. “Baby—”
“Don’tbabyme,” she said with a snarl and attacked.
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t stop the fists pummeling his chest, absorbing the blows with arms hanging limply at his sides.
“You left me!” Her vision blurred, her ears ringing. Strikes turned into slow, defeated slaps. “You left me…”
“My Ca’anam, please,” he said, voice raw. James’ throat worked as if he wanted to say more but couldn’t. His lids shut, and his head fell back.
Sarah’s anger evaporated with the wave of love that poured from an opened mating bond. It saturated her parched soul and flooded her heart until it swelled to bursting. She reached up and framed his beloved face, encouraging his tortured gaze to lower. James’ eyes shimmered with moisture.
Lifting onto her toes, Sarah smashed her mouth to his.
James caught her wrists and took over the kiss. Sarah’s heart raced as he lowered her arms and crushed her to his lean form. He let go of her hands, and she tunneled them beneath his shirt, desperate to feel warm skin. Splaying her tingling fingers over his abdomen, she traveled to his defined pecs. James groaned into her throat and thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth.
The tie on her robe fell away, and he broke the ravenous kiss.
“Sarah.” Her name a reverent, aching plea. His lips slid along the side of her neck, teeth nipping at the sensitive flesh.
Goosebumps covered her arms as James continued to tease and nibble. The scent of evergreens in winter and the sharp points of his canines scraping against her throat caused her stomach muscles to clench and her toes to curl into the rug.
He pushed the terrycloth from her shoulders, the fabric pooling at her feet. A ghost of a touch skated the line of her exposed clavicle, the surface unmarked for the first time in thirty years. Gut-wrenching heartache rocked the bond, and his fingers stilled. The initial bite made by a Ferwyn male during the start of the Mating Dance was placed in the crook of a female’s neck and faded by the next full moon if not renewed. James had been gone close to a month.
“Fuck, Sarah,” he said, fangs swiftly receding. “Fuck.”
“The Mark that matters the most is still here.” She pulled his hand lower, flattening it over the old teeth marks encompassing the inside of her left breast. The third and final Mating Mark he’d made near her heart bound them together for life as a truemated pair. The bruise-colored brand was beautiful in its brutality and blessedly permanent.
“I swear once this is over, you will never be without my Marks again.” The pad of his thumb stroked her nipple; it immediately hardened.
