She came apart around him.
Her eyes shone with tears as her head was thrown back, ecstasy
making her body convulse against his. Her hot liquid, the feel of
her tightening around him, had him groaning as he too found his
completion.
He fell against her
weakly, arms wrapping around her. His wife’s eyes stared up at him,
watery and dazed. “I love you,” she whispered, curling into his
side trustingly. The heat of her body, how small and delicate she
was around him, made him feel twice his size.
The smile she gave him
damn near broke his heart. “And I love you,” he murmured into her
temple, kissing her. Her form was one with his, melting so
completely into his that it felt as if she were trying to join them
together again.
He chuckled, the deep
baritone of his voice making her shiver. His voice was full of love
as he said, “Forever...”
“
And always,” she
finished, a tear slipping from her pale blue eyes.
Talon yanked back from Jamie, staring
down at her in horror. Her hair was not braided, there was no
medieval dress on the floor, and they didn’t own land for men to
work on. Talon fell numb inside, fell silent against her sounds of
passion.
Jamie noticed.
“
What... What’s wrong?” she
said, starting to reach for him again. Her eyes were still glazed
with passion.
Talon yanked back, the angry snarl he
gave off resounding through the room. “You did not see that?” he
demanded, eyes flashing. The passion that had been in them was
replaced with fury, the haunted look returning once
again.
Jamie frowned, starting to cover her
chest. Desire for him quickly dissipated, as if now that the rain
were over, the more gentler mist would take its place. Her eyes
searched his, confusion and embarrassment running through
her.
“
See... what? Talon, what’s
going on?” Her concern for him almost made him return to her arms.
But the image of the love in that woman’s eyes...eyes so alike to
Jamie’s that it scared him... He shook his head, grabbing for the
towel that had fallen.
Talon forced himself to
ignore the site of her breasts, full and high and begging for his
mouth again. The earlier tenderness fled, replaced by disdain.
Either she was a witch or some old bitch who was great at acting.
Talon stood, furious. Shit like that never happened to him — he
knew it. He had never had flashes of another life, never had
anything to even
do
with history. Sure, with his job at the —
Pain flared in the center of his head.
The collar around his neck, invisble to Mary, felt like it weighed
the world as it helped drag him to his feet. Distantly, he heard
Jamie’s alarmed cry and the sound of the bedsheets
rustling.
“
Talon? Oh...
Talon
, please!” Hands,
delicate and polished, latched onto his shoulder. Pain once again
wrenched him. It felt as if he were swelling from the inside out,
like his skin was going to burst. Her hands on his skin felt like
fire with knives, slashing at him.
He shouted, flinging himself away from
her. Blood lust roiled through him — Talon stared at her, enraged,
his complete and total fury almost making him attack her. For what
reason? his inner voice asked, the question but a whisper. He
struggled against the claws that raked him mentally.
Talon needed to kill her.
Needed to take her. Needed to
hurt
her
.
She is
nothing to you
, a demonic voice screeched
to him.
Nothing but a whore who will ruin
your life — our life
.
He surged to his feet, a sick grin
curling his lips. The woman’s fear called to him, enraptured him.
Power trickled through his palms, obsessive hate curling through
his gut. The woman was meant to die, and so she would.
She backed into the bed again, eyes
wide with fear. “Talon?” she whispered fearfully. Her legs hit the
back of the bed, and she fell into it. Jamie didn’t recall their
moment of passion — the fear inside of her was too
great.
He stood to his full height, looking
like a warrior on a mission. His muscles were drawn tight, eyes
darkly shadowed, the intense hate that they held completely at odds
with what had been in them only a moment before. She felt no tender
emotions coming from him, felt no...desire or caring. Nothing
except the cold truth in his eyes.
Talon was going to kill
her.
Something started to curl around him.
It was black and foggy, like smoke. It came out of nowhere, like a
deadly phantom reeking its revenge. Jamie’s breath rushed out of
her mouth, bile filling its place.
Auro and Lyne had scared her — Talon
terrified her.
He took a step toward her, a hand
dripping with black... whatever that shit was almost touching her.
She screamed, saw the sadistic pleasure in his eyes, and ran for
the door. She tripped, falling over a piece of the sheet that was
hanging over the bed. Her hand fell close enough to the door that
she could touch it, but Talon was close behind her.
Panic had her shaking. Shaking enough
that she could barely get on her feet. Her chest was still bare,
but she didn’t notice. Modesty was the last of her
worries.
A sick, rumbling sound came from
behind her. Her blood chilled in her veins, fear causing her breath
to stop. She scrambled to her feet, latching onto the doorknob that
she already knew would be locked.
Jamie wheeled around, chest
panting. “Talon!” she screamed, thinking that if she were loud
enough she might be able to break into the side of him that
she
knew
wouldn’t
harm a woman. “Talon! Come
on!”
Desperation had her almost mindless.
He kept coming, step by step, foot by
foot. What had gotten into him? Why did he look like he wanted to
kill her? Only a second ago he had been all over her, making her
feel like the woman that she had never felt like before. A thought
came to her. Lyne was strong, nonhuman. Her mind raced, her hand
latching onto the knob.
“
Lyne!” she screamed,
praying that his perversion toward her would come in handy. Talon’s
eyes flashed, more animal than they had been before. She forced
herself to look away, pressing harder against the door, shoving
herself against it. “Please, God...
Lyne!”
Jamie cried out, shocked, as the door
gave away behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest, amazed that
he had even come and even more so that Auro wasn’t there with him.
His eyes were stark against his pale skin, and his lips were drawn
back to reveal something that looked like...fangs. Just staring at
them she grew lightheaded.
Talon stopped moving. His eyes were
glued to Lyne, emotions roiling within them before he stilled
completely.
He burst into action.
Jamie cried out as her body slammed
against the wall next to the door, thrown aside by Talon as he
lunged for Lyne. The guy was so shocked that he didn’t move until
the last minute, but of course it was too late.
Talon struck him, then yanked the man
inside the room. The door slammed shut behind them, stopping the
actions of the men outside from getting in. Jamie was close to
puking as Talon let out an inhuman roar.
Except, a look came into Lyne’s eyes.
A deadly, sinister, I-own-you-bitch look that had Jamie pressing
further against the door. She felt her heart go out to him a second
before the furious sound of his pain rang around the
room.
He fell to his feet,
convulsing. The towel that had been partially around his hips fell
as his broken body shuddered and drew in tight. “Talon!” she cried
out, forgetting about Lyne and rushing to him. “Oh, god...
What did you do?”
Talon’s back was a bright red, his
skin moving like snakes were under his dermal layer. The tightness
of his muscles and the fact that his flinch from her touch almost
moved him across the room was a testament to how much pain he was
in. “Lyne,” she panted, going to him again. Sweat was starting to
form on him, beading and falling almost like rain. He was deathly
silent. Her heart stopped.
She took a look at Lyne, hate roiling
through her. Jamie was weak compared to him, she had heard so
enough, had even seen it. But that didn’t stop the fist she swung
at his face from connecting and shoving him into the wall. “Bit —”
His ragged snarl was cut off as his head slammed against the
door.
A crack resounded around the
room.
He fell to the floor — and stayed
there.
Jamie didn’t give herself time to
marvel over his defeat. He could have easily broken her arm. But
the fear for Talon and the adrenaline running through her was
enough to set her mind and body racing. Jamie returned to Talon,
listening to his horrible moans of pain.
“
Jamie —” He coughed, drops
of blood accenting his pained voice.
“
Oh...
Talon
... God
damnit
, I’m so sorry,” she whispered,
trying to find a way to sooth him. What ever Lyne had done had put
him through such a pain that he couldn’t even move from her. She
grabbed the towel from the ground, pressing it to his neck, and
then sliding it down his back.
She pulled the thing back
and it was damp. From him. Her heart stilled and then went into
overdrive as his eyes started to close. “Talon, what did he do?
Tell me, I can — I can hel —
Please
, just tell me...”
He heard the sound of her voice. She
was pleading with him, and she sounded like she felt the same pain
he did. Talon cracked open an eye, getting a good enough look at
her before it closed again. Her pale blue eyes had been like
crystals, he thought, gasping at another round of pain.
The fucking collar around
his neck was tightening, sending jolts of black
shit
into his system. He could
already feel it settling in, burrowing in to deal out the worst
part of the experiment. Pain had cleared his mind, and now he
wondered what had even happened to make him want to...want
to...kill her.
He balked, a roar springing from his
chest. Jamie flinched back, the dull warmth of her hand leaving his
skin for only a second before returning, moving frantically. Her
hands hit the outside of his collar, and he felt a surge of hope
before they left again.
The thing was not only invisible, it
was untouchable if you didn’t know it was there. Auro and Lyne were
smart bastards. “Jamie,” he said raggedly, ignoring everything but
her. If he could look at her, see her and feel her,
maybe...
“
Talon?” she asked,
scrambling around to face him in the front. Her voice was laced
with panic, fear, the devastation showing clearly on her face.
Something abnormal happened within him as he realized
this.
“
You feel...bad,” he
choked, hands moving of their own accord to wrap around the collar
on his neck. It was activated, and wouldn’t shock him now that he
was touching it. The scene was all too unreal for him.
The woman in front of him, Lyne in the
corner, seemingly passed out.
“
I feel...Fuck, I don’t
know
what
I feel.
I just know that we need to...we need to
leave
...okay?” she whispered, the
tears in her voice showing in her eyes. She was wavering in and out
of his vision, like an ethereal dark angel.
Her hand came up to cradle his
straining face. His jaw was locked tight, hoping that it would
lessen how much everything ached. He pulled at the collar, a
thought coming to him. Maybe...if she looked and realized...His
heart did weird things in his chest as she looked at what his hands
were doing. They were formed like they were holding a rod, making a
doughnut hole out of his fingers. As he pulled, the pain in his
eyes increased, yet his hands moved as if...something were
there.
Jamie touched his hands lightly,
getting him to move. Something was there. Something that was giving
him pain. Would it hurt her to touch it? Jamie realized she didn’t
give a fuck and took a breath, latching onto whatever was there
with a firm grip.
How had she not noticed this? The
minute her hands touched his neck — they had done that more than
once, so why now? — the thing began to appear before her face. It
was like metal, yet a leather material that was cold to the
touch.
It was so cold, she realized, that it
was burning her hand. She cried out, jerking back. The thing in all
its glory came into her view, and so did the marks around his neck.
Talon cried out, and his large body shuddered as she pulled
away.
“
Took it...away,” he gasped
out, black eyes latching onto hers. “Took...the
pain...away
.”
Chapter 9
Talon’s body was immersed in flames.
It was brighter, higher, than it had ever been before. Remnants of
power from their passionate scene dwindled quickly, and he could
only grasp for sanity as every bit of strength left his
body.