Just as before, she'd run, but he would not let her die again. He began battling the current to get to the shore. Freed of the river, he tossed her to the bank, feeling her for injuries. He found none.

- She's safe. -

His female... unharmed. Over and over she'd been in jeopardy - his heart about to burst from his chest each time - yet somehow, in all that chaos, he'd kept her from injury.

She went to her hands and knees, but didn't get far before collapsing onto her front. He dropped behind her, fighting to catch his breath. He'd been shot more times than he'd thought, but hadn't felt them before. Now the wounds were taking their toll.

How long they lay like this, he didn't know. Yet when the rain eased and the moon rose high, his female's scent became undeniable.

Resisting the need... the driving urges... struggling to ignore the Instinct:

- Claim what's yours. She's strong. -

Strong, yes, but she was also disgusted by what he was - he'd seen the undisguised revulsion in her dazed expression even before she'd risked her life fleeing him.

Again.

He closed his eyes, hating to the gods what he was -

She leapt up and darted forward, shocking him with her speed.

He labored to rise. The bullets lodged in his body stabbed like daggers. "No, doona run from me!"

Running from him... worst thing she could do... making him even wilder with her. He easily caught up to her, then tensed to spring. He lunged forward, his hand shooting out to clamp her ankle.

She screamed when he dragged her down to him.

In the mud, Mari crawled frantically, but he had a vise grip on her ankle.

"You canna run... " he grated with difficulty from behind her.

The hell she couldn't. Mari kicked back with her boot, the heel connecting squarely with the side of his face. Yet in retaliation he only growled low, smacked her on the ass, and spit out the back tooth she'd knocked loose. There was none of the fury she expected.

She slowed her struggles, so afraid to look back...

When she chanced a glance, she found that the rain and the river had washed clean the blood from his mouth, his face, and his clenched hands and claws. His pale eyes met hers - the brutal rage she'd seen in him had ebbed.

His features didn't appear so gruesome to her. No longer did he seem like a monster - only a now unfamiliar male, one with an animal need to claim what he viewed as his to take.

"Doona run from me... "

She eased her body toward him, seeming to confound him. "I won't." At her words, his eyes lit somehow with both relief and anguish. "I've just... I'd never seen anything like you - and I was frightened."

"Should be... if you knew what I need, what I intend... tae do... " His hand shot forward to claw off her shorts.

"No, damn it! Just give me - give me a minute to process all this!"

When he forced her beneath him and began biting off her shirt, she screamed, "No!"

Light exploded. Power emitted from her hands and eyes, briefly blinding her. When she blinked her eyes open, they went wide. As if bound, MacRieve was pressed against a great ceiba tree, arms pinned back until his palms rested on the thick trunk behind him.

Holy hell.

He thrashed to free himself, his claws digging down into the striated bark. But whatever binding she'd used on him held firm. "Don't struggle - you can't get free. You'll just hurt yourself." When she realized he wasn't fighting only against her magick but against turning completely, she unsteadily rose and crossed to him. "Why do you fight it still?"

His eyes were so full of yearning. "Want you."

When she could drag her gaze from his face, she saw his clothing was riddled with holes. "Oh, gods, you've been shot! How many damned times - How could you hold the truck? And get us out of the river?"

As though with pride, his chin jutted up just a touch. "Keep you safe."

And her heart melted for this beast.

"You did, Bowen. You freed me and kept me safe." The carnage had all been to protect her - brought on because those men had planned to hurt her again and again. Bowen had killed so savagely only for her. Now she wanted to protect him as well, to heal the countless injuries he'd borne for her. "Can I use more magick on you?"

He eagerly nodded. "Knock me... unconscious... bash my head against a rock... know you can."

"That wasn't quite what I had in mind." She thought they'd been washed downstream far enough away from the bunker but still asked, "Would you scent if men got near us?"

"Aye. No one comes near you."

She nodded. "Bowen, I'm going to keep you like this for a little bit, okay?" she murmured as she began removing his clothes. When she stripped him of his bullet-riddled shirt, she realized that she could move his limbs and hands, positioning them at will - though he still couldn't.

This was some heady magick. She felt powerful and in control - such a change from how she'd felt fleeing Bowen, or when she'd been forced at gunpoint to that dismal bunker.

She removed his boots, then very carefully undid the bulging zipper of his jeans. She could perceive his body quaking with anticipation, could hear low growls rumbling from his chest as his erection sprang forth. The crown was glistening, the shaft engorged and straining toward her. As she worked down his jeans, her hair slid over it, and he gave a harsh gasp.

Once he was unclothed, she began rubbing his skin with sweeping strokes, as she'd seen other witches do for a healing. Over each of the wounds, her hands turned hot. She knew that she was healing him, somehow melting away the bullets. Her eyes fluttered closed at the strange - but not unpleasant - sensation. When she moved her hand from an area, she left only smooth, unbroken skin behind.

While she ministered to him, she explored him, familiarizing herself with his new form. Without the rage and the blood... I believe I can handle this. As she continued to caress him, she even found herself aroused by him. His splendid muscles and towering frame were exaggerated, yet beneath the image of the beast flickering over him and the changes to his body, his skin was still much the same.

Reaching behind him, she felt bullet wounds on his shoulder blades and high on the back of his thigh. He licked and kissed her neck as she trailed one of her hands over his back, the other over the rock-hard muscles of his ass.

Only when he nipped at her neck did she comprehend that she had a naked, almost fully turned werewolf trapped by her power.

To do with as she wished.

At that moment, she realized her intent with him and was surprised by how strong her will was in this.

Somehow... Mari was going to have him, completely.

41

She will no' run, Bowen thought in stunned relief, even as the pressure to claim her, to mark her, grew. He grappled to free himself from her hold, though he recognized that when he was pinned like this, she could explore him, study him - possibly lose her fear of him. "No' repulsed by me?"

"No, if you're not coated in blood and it's not dripping from your big fangs," she said matter-of-factly, as she rubbed her soft, soft hands over him. "I'm not going to lie to you - that scared the living hell out of me. But I think... I believe I'm getting more used to you now."

"Even when I'm like... this? After I killed?"

She nodded. "The world's a better place now that you've destroyed those men," she said. "But are you all right with what I'm doing, Bowen?"

She kept asking him to make sure he was comfortable in the midst of this. Though he felt no more injuries, she continued to touch him, but why?

Every muscle in his body shot tense when he caught the exquisite scent of her growing arousal. "Free me!" She wanted him, too. Even when he was like this, her body was readying for his, and he hadn't yet touched her.

"No, I can't do that," she said. "I won't. Just let me ease into this."

Naturally, she would be tentative. He could take wary over disgusted any day. "Then bare yourself."

Taking her hands from him, she peeled her sodden top over her head, yet hesitated with her bra. He jerked a nod at it, and at last she revealed full, creamy flesh for him. He could gaze at her breasts forever. Her nipples were the same ruby color as her lips - that attracting red that made him feel wild to have his mouth on them.

"Everything off." He gaped in delight, eyes following her every movement as she stripped down. Her misted skin was beautiful, and, he knew, would be so supple under his tongue.

When undressed, she returned to cupping and kneading him, her breasts slipping across his chest. But soon it felt like her hands kept rubbing where they'd just been, until his entire body was being stroked. He shuddered and his legs went weak.

"What're you... doin' tae me?"

A siren's throaty voice. "I don't know. It's just happening."

"Go mad... from this... feels so good - "

His words died when she knelt before him. He stared in disbelief as she took his shaft in her hand and with her stunning face caressed the length. Dreaming... must be. She couldn't be real.

His female was straight from his dreams. And she was gazing up at him with her eyes filled with... desire for him.

He felt her warm breath just before she lovingly licked the slit of his cock head. Yelling out, he tried to rock his pinned hips, wanting deeper between those moist, red lips.

The hint of salt on her tongue made her hungry for more and aroused to the point of agony.

Bowen stared down at her as if in awe, seeming to memorize the sight of her pleasuring him. His body was so responsive. When she licked the underside of his shaft from the crown to the base, he bit out wicked oaths. Her tongue against his heavy sack stopped his breath.

And as she took the slick head deep in her mouth, he shuddered violently, his chest muscles bulging with strain. His flesh throbbed against her lips, making her moan around him.

She couldn't take all of his length, so she used her hand as well to fondle him. Under her palm, she could feel that the base of his shaft was swollen, thick with semen, and her sex clenched for him, wanting to be filled.

On the verge, he was struggling to thrust farther into her mouth. Then he seemed to shake himself. "No' like this," he choked out the words. "Need inside you."

Though she could kiss him all night, Mari wanted him inside her, too. With a final lingering lick, she released him and stood.

Studying the logistics, she debated the safest way to do this. Decided, she pressed her hands against his shoulders. As they both eased down to kneel, his arms slid along the trunk, still locked in position. Tilting her head, she worked his knees apart to bring him farther down. When he was more in line with her, she turned around and backed up to him, until her sex was resting on top of his jutting shaft.

"Inside you." He sounded tormented that he couldn't penetrate her. "Put it in."

She leaned against his chest and turned her head, pressing open kisses to his neck and murmuring, "I want to be ready for you. Be patient with me... "

"I'm bloody tryin'!"

The witch took one of his hands and moved it for him, using his fingers to strum her nipples. His other hand she drew lower, past her flat belly, past the ring that aroused him so. When she pressed his whole palm between her legs, cupping the moisture, he yelled out.

Strangling frustration - to feel how wet she was but not be able to put his tongue or shaft between her thighs...

When she worked one of his fingers inside her and moaned low, he frantically rubbed his face against her damp cheek and neck.

Then a second finger. Torture. "So tight."

As she began to herself with them, readying for him, he roared with agony, about to lose control of his senses. His cock throbbed painfully, jerking up between her legs, pulsing with each wild beat of his heart. "Inside you. Now!"

She shakily nodded, drawing his fingers from her sex. Once she'd moved his hands to cup her breasts, she began working his cock head inside her. As she tried to take him, he could feel her body twitch and quiver, could hear the sharp inhalations of breath.

"Deeper," he demanded. "Take more."

But she couldn't seem to. "Oh, gods... " She was panting, undulating her hips on his cock.

All at once, the rain ended. The wind began to blow, rushing over his heated skin and clearing the clouds from the sky. Moonlight shot through the canopy.

He felt it like heat on his skin, felt it even on his shaft still waiting to plunge inside her. He saw the light bathe his mate's flawless skin - over the pure white of her shoulders, down to the riveting tattoo on her lower back, and over her plump arse as she rocked on him.

"Taste you."

When she touched herself and lifted her fingers to his mouth, he seized them with his lips. Sucking her taste from the tips, he growled with pleasure.

"Bowen! I'm going - " The words ended with her scream as she began to come. He was just deep enough to feel her sheath squeezing him, her body greedily seeking what his had to give.

He yelled to the sky, instantly joining her. With just his cock head inside her, he pumped hot within her, shuddering with ecstasy to be filling her with his seed.

He was still coming... when the moon's hold on him became stronger than hers.

42

When he threw his head back, Mari felt the vibration of his haunting roar tearing up from his chest to echo in the jungle. His ejaculation was palpable, shooting from the broad head wedged inside her.

Yet then the moon speared through the trees in a surreal silver, and she knew. Knew he was too powerful in this state to be contained by any magick she could conjure. And though he'd just come, he remained hard within her, his muscles still as tensed as before.

Mari had wanted intensity, ferocity. She swallowed and closed her eyes, bracing herself.

She was about to get it.

Seconds later, he broke from the tree, shoving her forward to her hands and knees. He reached over her to clutch her nape, then pressed her upper body down to the ground, pinning her there with his massive hand covering the back of her neck.

Holding her immobile, he slowly fed his shaft inside her, inch by inch, making her scream with pleasure.

When he was as far as she thought he could possibly go, he ground against her, his hips working, forcing her to take even more.

Seated so deeply, he somehow controlled himself, allowing her to grow accustomed to his size. Yet once she moaned for more, he wrapped both his arms tightly around her waist. He bucked once, hard and fast into her.

"Ah, gods!" she cried out. "Do that again... "

He did, over and over, making her teeth clatter from the force, but she loved it, loved how unyielding he was, loved his rough beast voice wicked at her ear. "Your sex is so tight... good and wet. Want to be here forever."

When she reached back between their legs to caress and cup his heavy sack, he growled his approval. But then he seemed to force himself to pull her hand away. "No' goin' tae... make me come... 'fore I'm ready." He forced her arms back behind her. "No stoppin' this, little mate."

This was the first time he'd called her his mate like that. If he'd accepted her as his completely, she knew there was only one way the night was ending. She could do nothing but surrender to the beast at her back.

Grasping her arms at her elbows, he drew her farther upright on her knees, then used his grip to pull her body down and back into each frenzied thrust of his hips. Her breasts quivered. Her skin was damp, and the wind rushed over it like a caress.

And it feels so good.

She tried to free herself to touch him, but he held her elbows firmly. "Need tae... mark you. Mark you as mine."

Though she'd feared his bite, at that moment there was nothing she wouldn't give him. "Yes, do it!"

He hissed in a breath, his shaft pulsing inside of her as if with anticipation. "Could no'... please me more."

She trembled in anticipation as well. Would it hurt? Would she cry? But she knew there was no stopping this. She'd signed on for the full experience. This step was her due.

He placed his mouth between her neck and her shoulder and growled loudly against her, alarming her, yet thrilling her. She felt his strong tongue lick her there -

Fangs pierced the skin. She screamed with pain, and with shock because a violent orgasm raged through her. In total abandon, she arched her back beneath him, spreading her knees and mindlessly writhing her hips for more.

Even as he continued plunging between her legs, he didn't withdraw his fangs, seeming unwilling to release her now that he had her like this.

Just when she didn't think she could take any more, she felt his entire body tense over hers. He snarled brutally against her skin, then came in a forceful, searing wave, pumping on and on.

He finally released his hold and collapsed over her, still slowly thrusting, as though savoring their mingled wetness.

"Never lettin' you go."

"I need... to rest, Bowen." Late into that night, her body was sore, utterly spent. "I'm not strong enough for this hour after hour. Please, just a little rest... "

"Sleep." Without withdrawing, he moved them on their sides, with him spooning her. Still inside her, he reached his hand around to cup between her legs, pulling her close and holding her sex. Possessively.

Through heavy-lidded eyes, she saw vines growing over her. Witch, nature, good. Just as she relaxed, she felt him tense beside her, dragging her even closer, throwing his leg over hers protectively. He leaned up to scent the vines, hesitating. But he didn't move her, and his close hold on her meant he was enveloped as well.

About to drift off, she whispered, "It's okay, Bowen." And he allowed it.

When she woke it was still dark, yet the vines were gone, as were the scrapes at her knees and her palms and the aches in her muscles. Bowen was stretching his body over hers, holding himself up on his elbows. She saw the image of the beast was beginning to fade, the pale blue of his eyes just starting to darken.

Cradling her face with both his big hands, he gazed down at her with such questioning emotion, she felt her eyes water in answer.

He pressed gentle kisses to her forehead, her eyelids, her nose. If she'd seen the beast in a frenzy of lust earlier, now she was seeing it praising its mate for sating him.

Then his gaze flickered over her neck. She'd caught him looking at his bite throughout the night, appearing both proud and relieved to have it on her. "Your skin's healed. But the mark remains." His voice was returning to normal - yet she'd gotten kind of used to his beastly voice and raspy murmurs and was glad she'd hear them at her ear next month.

She frowned. Was she going to be with him for that long?

"Claimed you forever."

Well, at least one of them believed so. And who knew what would happen between them? He'd pushed her to new heights, demanding her body do things she'd never known it could. The affection she'd begun to feel for him surged strong within her.

Who knew what could happen?

"Need you again, 'fore dawn."

When she nodded eagerly, he reached down between them to grip his shaft, positioning it. At that contact, he threw his head back and she arched up to him, as if it were their first time joining. When he flexed his hips, gradually sinking into her almost to the hilt, he grated, "Canna get enough o' you."

Slowing the furious pace of the night, he lowered himself to his elbows once more, easing down until their skin just touched. As he kissed her, he languidly moved over her, with a skilled rolling of his hips that fed his shaft into her just as his body pressed forward to plunge it so deep. Never speeding up his rhythm, he did this again and again until she was panting. Against his lips, she cried, "Bowen... "

"I know my female's tone," he rasped. Even when she could feel how swollen he was and knew he was on the verge, he gnashed his teeth, continuing the measured thrusts for her until she climaxed. With a scream into the night, she arched her back, squeezing her legs around his waist.

"Givin' me... so much!" He yelled out as his body tensed, motionless, before he bucked uncontrollably between her thighs. As she smiled from the rapturous feel of his heat pouring into her, he groaned in her ear... "Mariah!"

43

Bowe woke to find his arms empty of warm, curvy witch. This displeased him.

When he had trouble shaking his grogginess, he realized she'd made him sleep, had cast another sodding spell on him. Damn it, why? He scented the air to locate her, and shot upright.

She was gone.

Had he been too rough with her? Frightened her again? Why else would she run?

Then he saw an area just to the side of him that she'd very purposely cleared of brush. In the mud, she'd written him a note with precise letters.

head:

The name's MariKETA.

Go to hell,

The WITCH, doing a creepy spell somewhere right now.

He sank back on the ground, throwing an arm over his face as he swore low. Had he called her Mariah last night? Oh, bloody hell.

Ach, Bowe, you've ed up this time.

She must be furious. Or worse, hurting. The witch had given him inconceivable pleasure, and this was how he'd thanked her?

He'd loved everything about Mariketa and the way they'd been together. The taste of her flesh was addictive, as was the feel of her wet little tongue lapping his skin as she boldly licked him all over. She'd bitten his shoulder in abandon, screaming against his muscles, and her nails had dug into the backs of his thighs as he'd taken her from behind... he hardened even now to recall that.

She'd given him the pleasure he'd waited for his entire long life...

And I showed her my gratitude by calling another woman's name.

When he removed his arm, he blinked his eyes. Above him, he spied his jeans and boots hanging in the upper limbs of a five-story-high hardwood.

He rose, determined to find her, to make her forgive him. And then, gods help him, they'd start where they left off last night. He scented the air and might have caught a hint of her toward the southern coast.

Mariketa had magically covered her tracks - and her scent - well. But she didn't understand. He didn't have to have her trail. There were only so many places she could be. He'd run back and forth to the coast a thousand times, and he'd relish every step as one closer to her.

He looked up at his jeans again and was startled by his own deep laugh. He grinned in her direction.

Ach, he liked the games they played.

"Lemme get this straight. Getting hunted down in the jungle by a lust-crazed Lykae was one of the safer extracurriculars of your trip?" Carrow asked.

"That's what I'm saying." Mari adjusted the resort courtesy telephone against her shoulder, then took another gulp of her drink - a bourbon rocks with a pink, paper umbrella.

In seriocomic fashion, she'd somehow gotten herself to a Belizean beach resort, then actually enchanted the manager until he was all too happy to extend a hotel-wide tab.

Magick... good.

"I told you not to go by yourself, didn't I?" Carrow demanded. "What'd I say?"

As Carrow repeated herself, Mari obediently mumbled in unison, "Darwin says people like you need to die."

"Yep, that's what I said. And after everything that's happened to you, I'm surprised you're still ticking."

Not only was she ticking, she was showered, dressed in beachy new clothes and sandals from the resort gift shop, and enjoying an unlimited bar tab as she awaited her flight home. "Well, let this serve as my call-in to the House to avert disaster. Only a day late. I hope you told everyone I've never been on time for anything in my life."

"Disaster averted. Already got a call from some dude named Hild. And then a demon named Rydstrom showed up here a couple of hours ago."

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