Dark Wolf Rising Page 26

  Oh, hell. “Destroy him how?” she croaked, dreading what she would hear.

  “He goes to the borders of Hawkley every day, demanding entrance into the town, because he wants to challenge the bastard in a fight to the death. If you ask me, it’s been a way for him to channel all his anger toward you into something useful.”

  She flinched, thinking he was probably right. “And you’ve done nothing to stop him?”

  Cian shrugged. “We send someone with him wherever he goes. But aside from locking him up, there isn’t a hell of a lot we can do. He’s a grown man, Chelsea. One who’s pissed and hurt and spoiling for a fight.”

  The words put a sharp pain in her chest, and though Cian’s driving was scaring the hell out of her, she silently willed him to go faster, desperate to get to Shadow Peak so that she could tell Eric how sorry she was and beg his forgiveness. They made the rest of the trip in tense silence, and it wasn’t long before they were pulling into the town. But instead of taking her to Eric’s house, like she’d expected, Cian parked on a busy street near what appeared to be the town center.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, looking out the Rover’s window at the gathering crowd. “Why are there so many people here?”

  Turning off the engine, he said, “There’s a meeting going on in front of the Town Hall. All these people are heading over there, because they don’t want to miss seeing Glenn Farrow make a formal accusation against Eric. And it’s all because of you.”

  “Because of me? I don’t understand. What’s he being accused of?”

  “Ever since all that shit went down with his father, Farrow and his lot have been looking for a way to get Eric banished,” he explained, sliding her a chilling look. “And you handed it right to them. They’re using your sudden disappearance as a way to get rid of him.”

  “My disappearance?”

  “Farrow somehow learned that you’re no longer staying in the Alley, and now he’s trying to use the situation as a way to get at Eric. We’ve told him you went back home to Virginia, but he doesn’t care. All he’s interested in is pushing for an immediate vote, before we can deliver proof that you’re alive.”

  “Ohmygod,” she whispered, her head spinning as she tried to take it all in.

  “God isn’t going to be able to help with this one,” he ground out. “The others are already here to support him, but there isn’t a lot they can do. Not if things swing in Farrow’s favor. I was planning to drive down to Smythe and drag you back with me, but then we heard that you were already on your way. You need to make an appearance in front of everyone and set the record straight.”

  “I will,” she told him, her voice choked with emotion. “In more ways than one.”

  Then she climbed out of the Rover and took off running through the crowd.

  * * *

  Son of a bitch.

  Without even turning around, Eric knew that Chelsea was somewhere in the growing crowd behind him, her sweet, intoxicating scent wrapping around him like a damn vise—one that had a wrenching hold on his body, as well as his heart. He’d spent the past week in hell because of this woman, and yet, he still wanted her. Still craved her. But then, there was no longer any doubt that she was meant to be his. That she belonged to him, body and soul.

  “Eric!” Chelsea’s husky voice rose above the shocked murmurs spreading through the crowd, demanding his attention. “Eric!”

  Knowing he was going to regret it, he braced himself and turned around, his heart giving a painful thump the instant he set eyes on her.

  With glaring rays of sunlight burning in his eyes, he watched her break through the edge of the crowd and start making her way toward him. Hating that he could still need her so badly, Eric cursed under his breath.

  Behind him, Glenn Farrow and his cronies were standing on the top steps of the Town Hall, only seconds away from pleading their case to the crowd. Since there was no body or evidence of a crime, they hadn’t been able to seek his execution. But there was still enough paranoia in the town that they’d hoped to have Eric banished on grounds of suspicion in the trumped-up case of Chelsea Smart’s disappearance. It was nothing but a load of bullshit—but then, in times of hysteria and fear, he knew that people could be convinced of ridiculous things.

  The Runners were all standing off to his right, ready to plead his innocence before the pack in a unified show of support. The only one who hadn’t shown for the event was Hennessey, and Eric had assumed the Irishman was driving down to Smythe to get Chelsea and drag her back to Shadow Peak, providing the proof that no crime had been committed. But there was no way the Runner could have made it there and back already. So what the hell was she doing here?

  More whispers started to spread through the crowd as the townspeople began to realize who she was. She was only a few feet away when word of what was going on must have reached Glenn, because he turned away from the group he’d been talking to and started down the steps. “This doesn’t change anything!” he snarled, seething with rage. His hand shook as he pointed a finger in their direction. “We’re still going to ask for a banishment vote!”

  There were a few cheers from the crowd, but the majority remained silent, waiting to see what would happen. The Runners began to form an outward-facing circle around him and Chelsea, making it clear that no one would be getting past them.

  “Someone get the human out of here!” Glenn roared, his narrow face mottled with rage as he realized his moment of glory was slipping away from him.

  Now that Chelsea was right in front of him, Eric started to demand an explanation for her appearance, but she swept right past him, climbing onto the step behind him and then turning to face the crowd. Voice shaking with anger, she stared down the Silvercrest pack and shouted, “What in God’s name is wrong with you people? Eric would give the skin off his back for any one of you, and this is how you repay his loyalty? By whispering about him like a bunch of old women and believing the lies of a man who is obviously more concerned with inciting paranoia than the truth. You should be ashamed of yourselves!”

  “What the hell do you know?” someone called out from the far side of the street. “You’re just a human.”

  “I know you don’t deserve him!”

  “And you do?” Jeremy asked, shooting her a questioning look over his shoulder.

  Locking her gaze with the Runner’s, she shook her head and said, “No, I don’t. I know that I don’t. But I plan on doing everything I can to become someone who does.”

  Wondering if he was dreaming, Eric had to swallow twice before he could say her name. “Chelsea?”

  Tears glistened in her eyes as she turned her head to look at him. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, taking a step closer. “I should have been here for you, Eric. I should have never left you. I missed you so much.”

  “And how do I know that you won’t leave me again?” The words were thick...rough, scraping against his throat, while his lungs started to work in a violent rhythm.

  “Because I’m madly, desperately in love with you,” she told him in a strong, clear voice as if she wanted everyone to hear the stunning declaration. “I left because I was afraid of the way you made me feel, but I’m not afraid anymore. I know I’m not perfect, and that I’ll make mistakes. But I’m hoping you’ll give me another chance anyway.” Then she moved a little closer, and with her passion-dark gaze locked tight on his, she said, “And I really want to go someplace where I can be alone with you.”

  After that, Eric couldn’t get her out of there fast enough. He knew that Jeremy and the others would deal with the lingering crowd, and with Chelsea’s sudden appearance, Farrow’s banishment ploy had been destroyed.

  Taking her hand, Eric started to pull her along behind him, still half terrified he was going to wake up and find that it’d all been some kind of heartbreaking hallucination, when someone
reached out and grabbed his arm.

  “Hell of a woman you’ve got there,” Cian drawled, when he turned to see who’d stopped him.

  “I know,” he rasped, pulling her close to his side.

  Cian shot her a playful wink, then smiled at Eric and lowered his hand. “Whatever it takes, just treat her right...and make sure she doesn’t get away from you again.”

  He would have been insulted if any other man had said those words to him, but he knew this was the Irishman’s way of offering his congratulations.

  With an answering smile on his lips, Eric said, “You can count on it.”

  * * *

  “Drive faster, Eric. I can’t wait.”

  As she sat in the passenger’s seat of his truck, clutching her seat belt with both hands, Chelsea felt like she was going to come out of her freaking skin if she didn’t get him inside her.

  When she told him exactly that, his nostrils flared, a muscle pulsing in the rugged line of his jaw. “You mean that?”

  “God, yes. I’ve never meant anything more.”

  His fingers tightened until the steering wheel nearly cracked. “You want me to find a place to pull over?”

  “Please,” she whispered, licking her lips. “The Alley’s too far away.”

  He cut her a heated look, his gray eyes blazing with hunger. “I don’t have any condoms with me.”

  Shivering at the thought of feeling him skin-on-skin, she said, “I couldn’t care less. I love you. I want you inside me. Now.”

  He quickly found a private spot where they could pull off the road, hidden by a thick line of trees. Chelsea pulled off her jeans and panties while he let his seat back, and then she climbed over his lap, eagerly straddling him. Their loud, ragged breaths filled the sun-dappled cab, the heat rising from their bodies creating a lush, sensual haze that added to the dreamy atmosphere. Within minutes, they were going to be fogging up the windows, and she couldn’t wait.

  She helped him get his bloodstained T-shirt over his head, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she gently touched one of the healing cuts on his chest. “Cian told me that you’ve been fighting.”

  “My mood’s been foul,” he muttered, running his hands over the front of her shirt and cupping her breasts, his thumbs flicking against her nipples. “You left and it nearly killed me.”

  Clutching his shoulders, she said, “I’m so sorry, Eric. When you told me that you wanted to bond with me, I didn’t feel like I deserved you. I...I don’t even feel that way now.”

  “Chelse.” His deep voice was rough with emotion.

  “No, let me finish. Please.” She took a deep breath, letting everything she felt for him show in her expression, no longer struggling to hold it inside. “You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever known,” she whispered. “You were willing to give me everything, even after the way I’d acted—blaming you, instead of believing in you. Judging you. I know I have so much to make up for, and so much to learn about being a good partner, but I’m begging you to give me that chance. To give me the beautiful life that you offered me before, but I was too stupid and cowardly to take. Because I want that life with you, Eric. I want it more than anything.”

  He made a low, guttural sound in his throat and yanked her closer, nipping her lower lip with his teeth. “You fucking undo me, you know that?” he growled, taking her mouth in a kiss that was hot and deep and savage in its intensity. She could feel his fingers working between them as he tore open his jeans, and then he was pressing against her, so long and deliciously thick. Her breath caught, everything in her body going soft and warm, and she let herself sink down, taking him in, at the same time he pushed up, thrusting hard and deep. The sensation was piercing, every inch of his hot, massive staff rammed up tight inside her, reaching into the very heart of her, and she cried out, her head falling back as her eyes slid closed. She was snug enough that it hurt, but she didn’t give a damn. Not when it felt so incredible to have him be a part of her again.

  “No, don’t close your eyes,” he rasped, holding her head in his shaking hands and drawing it closer. Her lashes lifted, and their gazes locked, creating a connection that somehow intensified the blissful sensations. “I need you to look at me, Chelse. I need you to be right here with me.”

  She tried to breathe around the pressure, the pleasure, the overwhelming rightness of their joining and the moment, but it was nearly impossible.

  “I know,” he whispered, rubbing his lips against hers until she was finally able to draw in a gasping breath of air. “I feel it, too, baby.”

  Unable to hold still, she started to move on him, using her knees for leverage as she slowly worked her body on his. “Tell me you didn’t touch anyone else while I was gone.”

  * * *

  Eric couldn’t fathom touching anyone else...or even thinking about a woman who wasn’t Chelsea. “Of course I didn’t,” he grated. “You’re the only woman I want. The only woman I’ll ever want. And I’m going to be on you night and day, so you’ll never have any reason to doubt it.”

  “When I started falling in love with you,” she told him, “it felt like dying.”

  “And now?” he asked, his hands settling on her hips as she stilled.

  “Now I finally know how it feels to be alive. Not just parts of me, but all of them.” Her long hair streamed over her shoulders as she shook her head. “I don’t how to explain it. It’s like you woke me up. Made me open my eyes.”

  “You did the same thing to me,” he groaned, the wolf’s fangs hot and heavy in his gums. But he fought their release, not wanting to ruin the moment, still worried about how she would react. Then she shocked the hell out of him by reaching up and pulling her hair over her shoulder, her head turned to the side as she made him an offering of the pale, tender column of her throat.

  The instant she whispered, “Make me yours, Eric,” his fangs burst into his mouth so hard that it hurt, his fingers reflexively biting into her skin with bruising force.

  “Are you...are you sure this is what you want?”

  “I’m sure,” she said a little breathlessly, the words brimming with lust...and love.

  “Christ. I want it so badly, Chelse. I just...I don’t want you to ever regret it.”

  * * *

  I don’t want you to ever regret it. Chelsea knew she never would. “I won’t,” she told him, bringing her gaze back to his. “I want this, Eric. I want to be as close to you as I can, bound together in every possible way.”

  She loved feeling the way he pulsed inside her, his beautiful eyes going heavy and dark.

  “Please, just trust me on this,” she pleaded, “because I love every part of you. I don’t want you to ever hold anything back from me, and I promise that I won’t hold anything back from you. Not ever again. I don’t want any barriers or stay-out zones in our relationship. I just want to be yours, completely, Eric.”

  “God, woman, I’ll take you any way I can have you,” he groaned, his arms wrapping around her like steel manacles, yanking her close. His face was buried in the curve of her shoulder, his powerful body vibrating with a fine tremor of emotion that brought tears to her eyes. “Just promise that you won’t run from me.”

  “You mean that I won’t leave you again?” she asked, her voice breaking.

  He lifted his head, and his eyes were glistening with a sheen of moisture, the same as hers. “If you stay with me, your life isn’t going to be easy, Chelse.”

  She gave him a watery smile, pouring her heart into every word. “I don’t care, so long as I’m with you.”

  He blinked, then slowly started to smile. But it was a cautious sort of smile, as if he didn’t really believe he could be that lucky.

  Touching the side of his face, she said, “Eric, I’m not naive. I know there are some rough times ahead for your pack and the Runners. But I
’m ready to handle whatever they throw at us, because my life is wherever you are. Just think, in the time that you’ve known me, have I ever given you any reason to doubt my determination?”

  With a soft snort, he said, “No, you’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever known.”

  Then he lifted his hands to her hair, his breath quickening as he pulled her head a little farther to the side, a rumbling groan on his lips as he leaned in close.

  “Chelsea, I’ve wanted this from the moment I set eyes on you,” he growled, and she could hear the animal in each one of those deep, guttural words. But it didn’t frighten her. She’d seen the beast in all its feral glory the night it’d saved her life, and she knew it would never harm her. Then she felt the soft touch of his lips against the side of her throat, followed by the strangely erotic scrape of a fang, and in the next instant he sank them deep, piercing her flesh. She cried out from the intense, blistering jolt of sensation, a womanly smile curving her lips as she listened to the raw, animalistic sounds that he made as he worked his jaws, taking her blood into his body and binding them together. For now and through all eternity.

  When he lifted his head, his amber eyes blazed with a breathtaking look of possession and love. “You’re mine now,” he rasped, licking two scarlet drops of her blood from his lips.

  “Forever,” she moaned, unable to believe how freaking sexy it’d been.

  “Forever,” he echoed, his gaze shifting to her throat, to the throbbing bite marks that were burning with heat, and she could feel him getting thicker inside her, somehow getting even harder, when he was already hard as stone. “Damn it, I don’t want it to end,” he growled, his fingers biting into her hips as her body pulsed around him. “But I’m close, Chelse. I can’t hold it.”

  He started to lift her up, as if he intended to spill outside her body, but she threw her arms around him, bearing down with all her strength. “No. Stay.”

  His body shook, strained to its absolute limit, and his gaze burned even hotter with a primitive, molten gleam.

  Softly, she said, “Please don’t leave me. I want you to fill me up, Eric. To give me every part of you.”