Desires of a Full Moon (25 page)

She arched and sunk her teeth into his crotch.

Mark screamed and tried to buck her off. But she wasn’t letting go. Her jaws were locked down. Blood seeped into her mouth fueling her anger.

If Jayden died, so would Mark.

#

Barrett rushed ahead of the Guardians just as Jayden ended the call. He knew what Jayden planned on doing and it was going to damn well get him killed.

Barrett ran into the cabin, weapon drawn, and then came to a halt.

Damon was right behind him with Braxton on his heels.

Their stalker was screaming like a pussy as Haley had her wolf teeth buried in his crotch.

“Damn,” Braxton muttered and paled a few shades.

Barrett’s gaze landed on Jayden, lying on the floor, blood pooling around his side.

“Braxton, go get the medical supplies.” Barrett rushed to Jayden’s side. Barrett tugged his black tee shirt over his head and pressed it against the gunshot wound.

“What about Haley?” Braxton muttered.

“I think Haley’s doing just fine.” Barrett barked out. “Go now!”

Damon came around to Jayden’s other side and Barrett could see the worry in his face. The two males had been raised together, like brothers, before fate had taken them down different roads. But like life, they had once again found each other.

“Jayden, you better not fucking die on me.” Damon whipped off his Oakley’s and grabbed Jayden’s hand. “If you do I’m going to set Haley up on a date with Jaxon.”

Jayden’s eyes cracked open a little and he grimaced. “And I’ll fucking rip your throat out, wolf.”

Barrett breathed out a sigh. “Now, now, children. There will be plenty of time to fight later.”

“What about Haley? Is she okay? Is she hurt?” Jayden made a weak attempt to sit up. But Barrett pressed him back to the floor.

“She’s fine. She’s probably bitten off Mark’s dick by now.” Damon grinned.

“Well, damn. Get her off him.” Jayden’s pale face grimaced. “She doesn’t know where that’s been.”

Damon looked to Barrett. Barrett nodded his okay.

“Haley, it’s okay. You can let go now.” Damon’s voice was calm. It always amazed Barrett how such an aggressive warrior like Damon could speak so calmly.

Still, Haley kept her jaws locked on Mark’s crotch. Barrett almost felt bad for the guy.

Almost.

“Haley, Jayden needs you.” Barrett fixed his gaze on Haley while his hand pressed his shirt against Jayden’s bleeding wound.

Her wolf eyes met his and held. She blinked and then let go. She trotted over to Jayden and sat. She placed her head on his neck and whimpered.

Jayden grinned and rubbed her head, his eyes opening. “You still look hot, sweetheart.” He coughed and blood sputtered out of his mouth.

Barrett gritted his teeth. “I got to roll you over Jayden. I need to see if the silver bullet is still in.”

Barrett didn’t wait for him to understand. He didn’t have time.

Damon squatted by Haley and wrapped his arms around Jayden’s side. He waited for Barrett’s signal. He turned Jayden on his side.

Jayden groaned. Haley whimpered.

Barrett rent Jayden’s shirt in two and grimaced at what he saw.

Barrett looked at Damon.

“Fuck.” Damon cursed.

Barrett reached in his holster and pulled out a knife. It wasn’t sterile, but Jayden would heal from the cut. But if the silver bullet stayed inside, he would slowly die.

“Haley, shift. I need you to help Jayden while I get the bullet out.” Barrett narrowed his eyes at Haley.

Barrett averted his eyes as Haley trotted to the corner of the room and shifted. When she returned to Jayden’s side, she had a quilt wrapped around her naked body.

“You ready?” Barrett held her gaze.

“Yes.” She leaned down, her face only inches from Jayden’s. “This is going to hurt. Scream if you want to, okay?”

Jayden chuckled. “I won’t make a sound.”

Barrett gritted his teeth. What he was about to do wasn’t going to be painless. Barrett glanced up at Damon. “Do we have any kind of painkiller? Alcohol?”

Damon shook his head.

Braxton burst through the door, the medical satchel in his hand. “What do you need?”

“Any morphine in there?”

“Yeah, right here.” Braxton pulled out a syringe and bottle. He drew up something in a syringe and eyed Barrett.

“Give it to him,” Barrett ordered.

Braxton stuck Jayden in the thigh with the filled syringe and pushed the plunger.

“I have to get this out, Jayden. Try to be as still as possible.”

“I won’t move, my alpha leader.” Jayden’s voice was eerily reverent.

Barrett knew Jayden wouldn’t move no matter how painful it was.

Barrett stilled himself and positioned the knife. Jayden’s body would burn off the effects of the painkiller due to his high metabolism, so he had to act quickly. He prayed the painkiller would at least dull the sting of the knife.

He cut into his lower back and Jayden flinched underneath his fingertips yet didn’t cry out. Barrett could feel the bullet and wasted no time in digging his knife further into his Guardian’s back.

When he finally dug out the silver bullet, he pressed a wad of gauze against Jayden’s back that Braxton handed him.

After he patched the gauze to Jayden’s lower back, Barrett helped Damon turn him.

Jayden’s face was paler than Barrett had ever seen and he was a little afraid that Jayden might have lost too much blood.

“Is he going to be okay?” Haley looked up at him, her eyes watery.

“Yes.” He hoped he wasn’t lying.

#

Jayden opened his eyes.

Nope it wasn’t a dream. He’d hoped the pain he felt was part of a nightmare. No such luck.

“Hey. You’re awake.”

He jerked his head toward Haley’s voice. She leaned down over his bed.

“Hey you.” He reached up and cupped her cheek.

“How do you feel?” Her eyes were red from where she’d been crying.

“Like I’ve been shot.”

She smiled a little. “You were.”Jayden grimaced. “I think I remember Barrett digging out the bullet.”

Haley nodded. “He did a good job though. The Guardian doctor said you should heal within a few weeks.”

Jayden frowned “How long have I been out?”

“Only a day.”

“Where’s Mark?” Anger raged through his veins.

She looked away.

“What? What is it? Did he get away?” Jayden bolted up in bed and grimaced when his back ached in pain.

“No. He’s not going anywhere.” Haley bit her lip. “He has to recover from surgery.”

Jayden frowned.

“Let’s just say he is one nut short.” Haley blew out a breath.

“You bit his nuts off.” Jayden frowned.

“Just one. He’s still got the other.”

“Well, did you wash your mouth out?”

Haley laughed. “Yeah.”

“Good, then come kiss me.”

“Are you ready?” Jayden crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen door. It had been four weeks since he’d been shot. It only took him a week to heal from the silver bullet. Haley had stayed by his side refusing to leave for a minute. She refused to go back to college until he was completely healed.

“I’m almost ready.” Haley called out from the bathroom. Barrett had let Haley stay in his house and finish out the semester. After finding out who her fiancé really was, Dana had been devastated. She’d really cared for Mark, only to learn he was a psychopath who was going to rape and murder her best friend. Although Dana asked Haley to move back into the dorm with her, Haley said she needed more time. They both did.

“Stop stalling,” Jayden called out.

“Who’s stalling?” Haley emerged from the bathroom wearing a tight T-shirt, jeans that showed off every curve, and biker boots.

Jayden’s mouth went dry as he straightened.

“I’m ready.” She propped her hands on her hips and smirked.

“Let’s go then.” Jayden opened the front door and let her walk out first.

The summer breeze ruffled her hair and her scent wafted over him, making him hard. Since her stalker had been captured and brought before a Tribunal, they’d not had any time. At the Tribunal, Mark was found guilty and sentenced to death. Jayden was deemed the executioner by Barrett.

She’d not asked how Mark had died. He’d hoped she wouldn’t. If she asked, Jayden would tell her. He would tell her they were left alone in a room, where they each shifted into wolf. Mark had attacked first. Jayden let him. He knew once he got a taste of his blood, he wasn’t going to stop. He had paid Mark back for all the pain and suffering he’d inflicted on Haley. He’d ripped him apart until you couldn’t tell what kind of animal he’d been.

Haley looked at his bike and then back at him. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Perfectly fine.” He handed her a helmet and strapped it on her head.

“I’ve never been on a Harley before.”

“Not just any Harley. A Harley Breakout,” Jayden corrected her. She looked gorgeous standing by his bike in those tight jeans. He almost wanted to tell her to forget the whole thing and go back in the house and make love to her.

“I’m ready.” She beamed a smile at him.

He straddled his bike and waited for her to settle behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he didn’t fight the smile that played at his lips. She felt fucking perfect.

The engine roared to life as he eased onto the street. He accelerated once they turned onto the highway, loving how her body felt against him. He wished they could keep going, keep riding until they ran out of gas. But he knew there was something they had to do.

He turned off the exit and headed in the direction of the university. The semester was over, but summer classes were in full swing, even at this hour of the day.

He slowed his speed as he entered the street that would take him to the center of the college. He stopped and backed into a parking space.

She climbed off and smiled.

“You look incredibly happy for someone who lost a bet.” He smirked as he pulled out a couple of towels from his saddlebags.

“Maybe it’s my new outlook on life.” She smiled as she began taking off her shoes.

“Have you heard from your parents?” He undid the laces on his motorcycle boots and pulled them off.

“I have. They want me to come back home.” Jayden’s heart stopped in his chest and he looked away. “And what do you want?”

“I told them I am home.”

He jerked his gaze to hers.

“I told them that I’m staying here in Arkansas, even after I finish college. I think I’d like to try my clothing line idea.”

“I think you’ll be a success at it.” His heart soared, knowing she wasn’t going to leave.

“So are we going to talk or are we going to go for a swim?” She eyed the fountain with interest.

“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the fountain.

They glanced around. No one was out and about and the campus security was nowhere in sight.

“We’ve got to be fast before security shows up.” Jayden tugged his shirt over his head. His hands went for his jeans and pulled them down.

Haley nodded and quickly undressed.

His eyes glazed over as she stood there without any clothes on.

“Jayden, come on. We don’t’ have time for that, not here.” She laughed as she pulled him into the fountain.

He hissed as the cold water hit skin. She shivered as she sat down, immersing herself in the water. He did the same. When they came up, there were two college girls gaping.

“Come on. Let’s go before we get arrested.” Jayden tugged her out of the water.

Laughing, they quickly dried off and threw their clothes back on.

“Hey, you two! Stop!” The campus security guard raced toward them.

Jayden tossed the helmet at Haley as he started the motorcycle. She hopped on behind him.

Ignoring the speed signs, Jayden raced through the campus and out into the road. When they hit the highway, he sped up even further.

Fifteen minutes later they were pulling into a well-known bar. He cut he engine and waited as Haley climbed off.

She gave him a cautious look. “What are we doing here?”

Jayden swallowed and rubbed his sweating palms on his jeans. “I think I owe you a game of pool and maybe a dance.”

Her eyes widened. “I didn’t think you danced.

“I didn’t. Not until I met you. It seems there are a lot of things I didn’t do until I met you.”

Her eyes filled with unspoken emotion. “Oh yeah. Like what kinds of things, Jayden?”

He shoved his hand in his jacket and fumbled for the box. “For one thing, I’d never fallen in love until I met you.”

Her lips parted on a silent gasp.

“Haley, I’m in love with you. I’ve never felt this for another female. Ever. I can’t stop thinking about you, even when I’m working. And when I sleep I still dream about you. It’s like you have a part of me that I can’t get back.”

“Your heart?”

“Yeah. You have my heart. You fixed a part of me that I thought was dead. You brought me back to life.” He grinned as he took her hand in his.

“I love you too, Jayden.”

“Well, thank God for that.” He let out a breath.

“Why is that?” She grinned.

“It’s going to make this easier.” He dropped to one knee and pulled out the little blue box that he’d bought three weeks ago when he’d left the Guardian infirmary.

“Is that what I think it is?” Her eyes widened.

“Haley Guthrie, will you do me the honor of mating me and marrying me?”

“Both?”

“I want you any and every way I can get you. I have found you and I don’t ever want to lose you again. I want you bound to me forever. I can’t breathe without you, baby.”

She fell to her knees and took his face between her hands, kissing him deep. “Yes, Jayden, I will be both your mate and your wife. Forever.”

He laughed, feeling freer and happier than he remembered ever feeling before. He pulled the ring from the box and placed the big shiny diamond on her finger.

He stood, pulling her up with him.

“We’re not finished.”

“There’s more?” She grinned as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He nodded to the bar.

“Are we going to play a game of pool?”