Gage
THIS WASNOTHINGlike the handful of times I’d playfully bitten someone during sex. The blood in my mouth tasted like a drug; like addiction painted red and caged in iron.
Jez had trusted me to be inside her body—my knot still nestled within the space that had been perfectly made for it. Now, she was inside me, as well. Her mind held the same sharp, metallic edge as her blood. She was a steel blade, but that blade was double-edged. One side sliced outward, seeking vengeance against those who’d hurt her, and countless others like her. The other side of the blade faced inward, and that was the razor-sharp edge that stopped my breath for a long moment.
My mate lay bound under a guillotine of her own making. I sensed the peril that hung over her, every hour of every day. The need tofix itmade my muscles twitch.
I could feed her chocolate cake and dress her in fine clothing, but none of it touched the bright line of pain at the center of her being.
I jerked my teeth away from the fresh mark I’d made, breathing hard. Instinct urged me to lick the wound closed, but it also urged me to protect the other part of my soul at all costs, even if the thing she needed protecting from was herself.
“Jez,” I said hoarsely. “Why didn’t you tell us that you don’t want the surgery to remove your gland?”
I couldfeelthe ache of it... the grief for another part of herself that was about to be taken against her will. Alpha instinct to step between my mate and the thing threatening her swelled, until I felt like I’d grown to three times my normal size. Inside me, a growling, slavering monster raged. A monster that needed to destroy every single thing that might hurt Jez.
Beyond the all-consuming newness of the mating bond, a second presence lurked.
Heath.
Alarm trickled through the two-way connection, muted by distance and the immediacy of Jez’s distress. I ignored it.
Instead, I gathered Jez up in a tight embrace. “Kitten,talkto me,” I begged.
She shook her head almost violently. Fresh blood welled from the mating bite.
“There’s nothing to say.” The words sounded broken.
My knot had begun to deflate under the force of her sadness. It slipped free from her body, separating us even though I wasn’t ready.
“There’splentyto say,” I shot back. “If you don’t want the surgery, you shouldn’t get the surgery!”
Instead of making things better, this only seemed to upset her more.
“But Ihaveto!” she said, her voice wavering. “Heath doesn’t want the mating bond! I can’tmake himstay mated to me!”
I could still sense Heath through the bond, even if it was harder to untangle the feelings he was putting out. I got the sense of movement, though. Of action.
“Yeah?” I shot back. “Well, what ifIwant the bond? What then?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
I sealed my mouth over her precious gland, laving my tongue across the raw toothmarks to heal them. She melted beneath the soothing touch, making my heart swell even bigger. When the bleeding stopped, I reluctantly pulled away.
“From where I’m sitting, that makes the vote two to one, against the surgery,” I told her. Then I sat up and rummaged around for my discarded shirt. “Here, sweetheart. Put this on for me. I think we might be about to have a visitor.”
She seemed very small as she let me help her into the oversized garment. I untangled the trousers I’d tossed aside and pulled them on, just so I’d have something as a nod toward modesty in case Tony showed up, too.
No sooner had I returned to the bed and pulled Jez into a protective embrace against my side than a harsh knock sounded at the bedroom door. Heath yanked it open without waiting for a response.
He looked wild-eyed and disheveled. And, sure enough, I could just make out Tony’s uncertain form, half-hiding behind him. Jez cringed and huddled closer against me, hiding her face in my neck.
“What. Thefuck,” Heath said, in utter bewilderment. “Gage,what the fuck?”
Tony pushed forward just enough to be seen behind Heath’s shoulder, although he very pointedly kept his eyes averted from the bed.
“You really mated her?” he asked, less loudly than Heath, but with just as much shock in his voice. “Jez, did you consent to this? Are you okay?”
I tried not to be offended by that. I really did. But all the emotions were too big right now, and most of them weren’t even mine. A growl rose in my chest.
