Valiant Heart (13 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Before It's Too Late

I hit the ground on my hands and knees and fought with everything in my power to keep myself from barfing. It wasn't just the method of travel making me sick. Two Huntresses had been killed under my watch. Two of my sisters. Causalities of battle. All had vowed to die if necessary. None of us feared that end. But they were under
my
leadership and I'd lost them.

Cat.
Paige.

My gut spasmed, eyes burning with unshed tears.

How would I explain myself to Greer? To Queen Val?

“Here.” A bundle of herbs appeared under my nose, the smell of mint wafting as I inhaled. “This will help.”

I glanced up as I took the offering. “Thank you, Melonie.”

“Your mate isn't faring well either.” She motioned toward Lance, who lay sprawled on his back, a puddle of vomit next to his head. “Should I give him something to ease the discomfort?”

There was double meaning in her question and it fell like a heavy blanket over me. She had mixed the potion, a lust concoction that would change the way things were. It would make him lust for another. And then force him to break the bond. “Are you sure it will work?”

Melonie shrugged as she knelt next to me, head close so she could speak quietly. “It was powerful when we used it back at the Order mansion. I followed the recipe that Ella used. I think it's a good idea to use it with someone who he has feelings for—the redhead for sure.”

I gulped back another wave of nausea and nodded.

“He's a beautiful man and I've watched them interact. She has feelings for him also. If he comes on to her, she will accept. I'll give her a bit of a dose as well to help things along. If I remember correctly, it will only take one kiss on the lips for the bond to begin to sever. That's what Queen Val told me once.” Melonie licked her lips before continuing. “If they go as far as sex, which the potion will undoubtedly encourage, then you will be free of the bond for sure.”

I nodded again, my throat contracting, blocking the words from coming out. I'd spilled my guts to him again, sharing a part of my past that few people knew. For him to know of my failures, the evil that was inside of me and then to accept me despite that?

No, it was unbearable. I hadn't signed up for unconditional acceptance from a man. I didn't want his love—or I did want it, but I didn't know what to do with it. The bond made me weak. It was breaking down walls that I'd spent years building. He was seeping into my heart like a poison. It needed to stop.

“Whatever it takes, make it happen.”

Melonie stood, then offered her hand to help me up. “Leave it to me, sister. I'll set it up and make sure it happens.” After patting on my shoulder, she walked away.

I stood, brushed the dirt from my pants, a useless action since I was covered in blood and grime and everything else. “It's what needs to happen,” I muttered, hoping that repeating it a few more hundred times would cement it in my heart for good. Without glancing back, I headed toward the central fire where my warriors were preparing a funeral pyre.

It was surprisingly easy to avoid Lance for a few hours, which were consumed by tending to everyone's wounds, preparing food, and performing the final ceremony for Paige. He stayed clear of me, stealing glances here and there but otherwise giving me my space. I appreciated it. I needed it. Baring my secrets to him made me feel embarrassed and vulnerable. I needed time to be in my head and sort out my heart. I'd lost a lot in the past few days and I needed to figure out how much of that was my fault.

Everyone was somber. Tired and dirty. As the night hours waned, and daybreak streaked across the sky, we were all zombies ready for bed. Even with my mind racing and guilt weighing heavy, I knew the second my head hit a pillow I'd be out for a while.

The camp was situated at the top of a large hill, surrounded by a sparse but adequate nesting of trees to block any hikers who may stumble upon us. We were well out of wolf territory, so any beasts that happened to be drawn to us had a long trek of open field before even making it to the tree line. It was unlikely they would find us but we always posted sentries as lookouts when we camped. There were ten cabins, all equipped with running water, heat, amenities I desperately craved. That and a bed.

For sleeping and nothing more
.

I rubbed my aching eyes, my fingers stiff and caked with dirt. Lance stood off in the distance, on the other side of the central fire, Kelly at his side. Both listening intently as Melonie spoke with them. I stopped walking. Watched as she handed them each a steaming cup of something. My stomach churned. My heart sped up. The potion.

Instinct made me take a few hurried steps in their direction. A call to stop on my tongue. I reeled it back. Hard. Lance glanced over at me, his eyes catching mine, lips giving a tentative smile, and then he raised the cup and downed the drink.

Ah, the irony.

I hurried away, moving up the steps of my cabin and inside before I had to see any more.

I was a coward. Fine. But what I was doing was only for the bravest of Huntresses. To give up one's soul mate, even if it was for the best, was not for the faint of heart. Lance would be better off free. I couldn't give him what he needed. My Huntresses owned my heart and my loyalty and I'd lost too much already because of the bond.

Twenty minutes later, I was drying off after a much needed shower when someone pounded at my door.
Lance.
My heart, the traitor, leaped at the idea. I wrapped a towel around my body and quickly moved to open it.

“Took you long enough.” Greer stood on the other side, her usual wry expression in place.

Hope slid out of me, any excitement that Lance wouldn't go through with the plan he knew nothing about—that I was behind—deflated in a whoosh. It was happening. Probably right now. And the bond would sever and I would be alone.

Yeah well, suck it up! Ugh.

“Where's your man?” Greer asked as she bullied her way into my cabin, her eyes taking everything in, including the open door to my small bathroom.

“Not here.” I turned and closed the door. “You made it to camp quickly. I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow night.”

“We broke some speed limits,” Greer said with a smirk over her shoulder. “Kelly got her bite, I assume.”

I nodded. “I have something we need to discuss.” I moved to my dresser and began pulling clothes out as Greer continued to search the cabin.

She came out of the kitchen area with a look of total confusion. “Seriously, Ariana, where's your man? I figured he'd be all up in your space. Didn't you bond with him?”

I sighed as I slipped a pair of panties on under my towel. “Yeah, I did. Thanks for that by the way.”

“What, bonded life not all it's cracked up to be?” She snickered as she leaned up against the wall.

“No, it's exactly as I'd imagined.” I grabbed a halter-top, then slipped it on, letting the towel fall to the floor as I did.

“Okay, so, where is he?” She clicked her nails against the wall. “Seriously, I need some eye candy. The man could fuel my fantasies for an eternity.”

“Hopefully in the process of breaking the bond?” I shrugged, feigning nonchalance where there was none. “I asked Melonie to mix up a lust potion.”

“Melonie? Lust potion?” Greer frowned briefly before her eyes snapped wide with understanding. “To break the bond?”

“Artemis spoke to me, said I was on a dangerous path, that I needed to respect my vows.” I went searching for a pair of track pants to sleep in, exhaustion making my movements slow, my brain fuzzy.

“The Goddess often speaks in riddles.” Greer tapped her nails again. “She may not have meant your bond to the Hunter.”

“Well, I think she was pretty clear with me. I need to break the bond.” I sighed with defeat, no track pants to be found. I'd just have to sleep in my halter and panties. No biggie. I turned to face her. “With his feelings for Kelly as they are, it was too perfect to pass up.”

“His feelings for Kelly? He's going to break his bond to you with
her
?”

“The bond was causing some distractions, Greer. I had to do something about it. Speaking of which…”

This was so not a conversation I wanted to have right now. Two Huntresses dead. Both on my watch.

Greer came at me, finger in my face, anger in her eyes. “You better go and stop that from happening right fucking now!”

I flinched, stumbled back, hands raised. “Huh?”

“Huh?” She cursed as she pointed to the door. “That bond that you're so eager to break is
yours
to break. I don't care what you do with your Hunter. But the bond that Kelly has with Andrew cannot be severed if we have any hope of finding him.” She tapped my forehead with her sharp nails. “Think about it! If Lance breaks the bond with her, he breaks her bond to Andrew as well and we need her link to find Andrew. Without it, we're fucked.”

“Oh shit!” I hadn't thought about what it meant for Kelly, just that it would solve my problem. “Back at Wolves' Bane you said to break the bond, make him turn toward Kelly!”

“I said break the bond, let him turn to Kelly for consoling. As a friend! Not have him break the bond
with
Kelly. Don't be so fucking obtuse, Ariana!” Greer growled. “You want to end things with Lance, then use one of your sisters, but keep him the fuck away from Kelly.”

“The potion…Melonie thought it would only work—”

“I don't fucking care how it works! Melonie is not a potion master! She's a fucking idiot! It shows poor judgement that you'd even buy into what she was selling.” Greer pointed to the door. “Go and fix this before it's too late.”

Chapter Seventeen

Sacrifice

Lance felt weird, like he was high, wired. And he had the most raging hard-on imaginable. He shifted his aching sac with his leg, trying to readjust the bulge in his pants. He spotted Ariana cross the courtyard area, covered in blood and grime and looking all the more appetizing for it.

“I need a shower.” Preferably with his mate. He handed the empty cup back to Melonie and started to walk toward Ariana.

“Ah, Hunter…”

Lance turned his head, eyebrow cocked to see Kelly swaying on her feet, her eyes sliding closed, her body falling limp. He swooped in just in time to catch her before she hit the ground. “What the fuck?”

“Might be a reaction to the bite. It can be overwhelming. You should get her to her cabin.” Melonie pointed behind them.

Lance glanced over his shoulder to where Ariana had stood moments before. She was gone now, of course.
Fuck.

“Come on, Hunter.” Melonie was halfway to the farthest cabin in the row, her finger crooked impatiently. “I have other things to attend to and I'd like to get some rest myself.”

With a deep sigh, he heaved Kelly up and followed the woman, intent on getting Kelly settled quickly so he could find his mate and take care of his growing itch.

Melonie held the door open as he carried Kelly through.

“Should I be worried? Is she going to be okay?” Lance shifted to the side so he could ease Kelly in without banging her head.

“She'll be fine and will wake up in the morning quite satisfied.” Melonie winked before leaving, closing the door behind her as she went.

Whatever. Weirdo.

He gently lay Kelly down, then started to slide his arm out from under her.

“Lance,” Kelly whispered. “Ohhh, my head.” She raised her hand to her forehead as she opened her eyes. “I feel so funny.”

Lance chuckled. “Yeah, me too. It's called exhaustion. You need to get some rest.”

She looked up at him and smiled, her pupils so dilated he could barely see her irises. “Thank you.” She moved her hand to touch his face, her fingers cradling his jaw. “For being such a good friend to me.”

He covered her hand with his and smiled back. “I'll always look out for you, you know that.”

“Yes, you always do.” She smiled and slipped her hand free, bringing it to the bottom of her shirt, which she began to hike up. “You should help me get undressed now, I feel so icky in these clothes.”

Lance frowned as the white plane of her flat stomach became visible. Frowned more when his cock pulsed and his heart ramped up when the swell of her breasts covered in a pink bra peeked out. He snapped his eyes to meet hers. She licked her lips and pushed herself up, draping her other arm over his neck to give herself more leverage.

“I feel funny.” She giggled, her eyes lowering to his lips, her hand leaving her shirt to touch the tenting in his pants. “I think you do too.”

Lance nodded as lust clouded his brain. He moved closer to her, her lips looking so delicious, so kissable. Her breath smelled sweet, cloyingly so.

Too much sweet.

“I think Melonie put something in that tea.” She giggled again.

He pulled back, disentangling himself. Kelly's pupils were massive. He jumped up from the bed and checked his own eyes. Yep, equally as massive.

“She was the one you said mixed potions right? Like a chemist you said.” The way his cock pulsed, hard as a rock and weeping pre-come, he'd say she'd mixed up something in the lust variety of potions.

“No, silly, Ella was the chemist. That one was Melonie. She told me she's just a dabbler, whatever that means.” Kelly snorted a laugh and then whipped off her shirt.

Fuck.
His body moved toward her of its own volition, like his cock was thinking for him. Beautiful woman, taking her pants off as he watched, someone he cared about. Someone he'd fantasized about.

Before he'd found Ariana.

“I need to find my mate.”

Kelly flinched, a frown crossing her face briefly, and then she shrugged. “Sure, okay, go get her. That might be fun.”

Huh?
“Go get her?” Every man's dream. Lance wiped his hand down his face. “No, sweetie, I mean I need to go and be with my mate. If we do something with each other, we'll break our bonds. That's not what either of us wants. Not really.”

Kelly frowned again, realization dawning a second later. “What the fuck is going on?”

Lance moved toward the door. “I don't know but I'm sure as hell going to find out. Do not leave this cabin until you stop feeling strange. Got it?”

Kelly nodded as she scrambled to get her clothes back on.

He didn't have to search far for Ariana. As he barreled out of the cabin and down the stairs she was there to meet him, her eyes wide as she looked at him from head to toe.

He slammed into her, taking her around the corner and out of view, ignoring the fact that they were still somewhat in the open, needing his tongue in her mouth, his hands on her ass, his cock rubbing against her.

He pushed her up against the wall of the cabin, his hand in her hair, pulling her head to the side as he nipped her jaw. “Why are you in your panties?”

She shoved her hands between them and gripped his cock through his pants. “I needed to find you.”

Yes, yes, he knew, he knew. He pulled back and yanked her halter top down, revealing her lush tits, her nipples hard little beads, rosy, teasing him. He lowered his mouth and sucked one nipple into his mouth, his hand snaking down to rub her panty-covered pussy. So wet, so hot. Had she been drugged too?

What the hell is going on in this place?

She unzipped his pants, shoved her fingers in to pull his cock out. “Fuck me, Hunter.” She rubbed her thumb over his slit, coating herself with his pre-come before lifting it to her mouth to suck, breaking his lip lock on her nipple. “I said, fuck me. Now.”

With a growl he pulled her panties to the side and prodded her with the head of his cock, slicking himself in her juice. “This is my pussy.”

She looked at him, biting her bottom lip, eyes flashing as she smirked.

He didn't wait for her to answer, he knew she was his just by the glint in her eyes. Whether she wanted to admit it or not.

He thrust his cock, gliding into her sweet, soaking, delicious little cunt. She moaned as she arched her hips, taking him deeper when she lifted her leg to his waist. He gripped her thigh, held her high as he pumped hard and fast, taking what was his, making her grunt along with him. He sucked her lips, nipping at her tongue as she probed his mouth, moaning when he squeezed her breasts with his other hand, using his finger and thumb to pinch and pull, and drive her fucking wild.

He crested fast, his cock so hard it almost hurt when he came deep into her pussy. She spasmed, nails ripping his back as her own orgasm tore through her.

“My cock's still hard for you, Huntress.” He growled against her ear when she tried to pull away. “And I'm not done with you.”

He scooped her up, hand under her ass, and flung her over his shoulder, her legs clasped to his chest when she tried to fight him.

“Put me down, Lance!” she hissed as she pounded on his back.

“You better point me to your cabin or I'm going to start knocking on all the doors looking for an empty one.”

She ceased her struggling. “Fourth one on the left.”

He smiled, then smacked her ass. “'Atta girl.”

Once inside, door closed, only the two of them, he tossed her on the bed. Her body bounced, tits jiggling, still framed by the neckline of her halter, a nervous giggle erupting from her. He cocked an eyebrow. He didn't know she could giggle.

Her expression became sultry as she wriggled her body back until she was propped on a pillow, her panties sliding down a little as she did.

“Let me see your pussy, sweetie. Let me see how I've filled you up.” He stroked his cock, still protruding from his pants, rock hard and ready to go.

She hooked her fingers into her panties and slid them off before tossing them at him. He caught them with his free hand, brought them to his nose and inhaled her perfume. “Mmm.”

She spread herself for him, legs bent, knees up, pussy open and weeping his come.

His cock jolted in his hand. He gave himself a long, lazy stroke. “Rub my come all over your sweet little clit, Huntress.”

Her lips curled into a wicked grin as she dipped her finger into her hole and then brought it to her lips, sucking his come down before returning to do as he asked. She scooped his seed and rubbed it all over her pink bud, her head falling back as a low moan slipped from her lips.

“Play with your tits, Huntress. Rub my come all over those perfect breasts of yours.” He pushed his pants down to his ankles, kicking them off as he continued to stroke himself.

Keeping one hand at her pussy, her fingers slowly rubbing her clit, she used the other to cup her breasts, one and then the other.

“I said come on your tits, Huntress.” He whipped his shirt off and approached the bed.

With another giggle she did as he asked, taking her fingers from her clit, glistening with a mixture of his come and her juice, and rubbed it all over her nipples.

“Good girl.” He got on the bed and grabbed her ankles, pulled her toward him quickly so that her legs rested against his chest. “I'm going to fill you up again.”

“Well, quit talking about it already, Hunter.” She pinched her nipples, flicking with her impatience.

He yanked her ankles higher then spread her thighs as he punched his cock inside.
Fuck yes. Fuck. Yes.

They fucked until they were beyond exhausted, his body driven by a desire to be with his Huntress and whatever the potion was that Melonie had given him. And he was convinced she'd slipped him something because even for an above average horny man, this was beyond anything he'd ever experienced in his life.

Ariana was dozing, her back to him. He nudged her leg with his knee, opening her up to him one more time as he slipped his dick in from behind. Her pussy was so full of his come that he glided balls deep.

“You're insatiable,” she whispered.

He pumped her slowly, slipping his arms around her so he could hold her tight. “Only with you.” He kissed her shoulder. “Good night, my Huntress.”

Lips on his cock. It was a nice way to wake up.

Ariana's hair tickled his thighs, her warm mouth around his dick made him moan as he slipped his eyes open. “Mmmmm, I'm awake.”

She sucked him off, her lips curling into a smile. “You looked like you needed some attention.”

“I've always had a killer morning wood.”

“Mmhmm.” She returned to her task, lips gliding down his shaft, fingers gently stroking his balls. She licked her way back up, taking him in again, tongue flicking along his head, around the ridge as she took him down deep, well past the gate of her throat.

It was glorious.

He pumped into her mouth, thrusting gently as she sucked and stroked and licked. “I want you to sit on my face, baby,” he moaned.

She snickered softly then shifted her ass around, barely taking her mouth off his cock as he helped her position herself over top of him. Her pussy was wet. He touched her swollen lips. “You sore?”

She wiggled her ass as she slid her mouth down his cock once again. He put his hands on her ass and pulled her down, then licked her pussy from top to bottom with one fat, wet stroke. She shuddered over him, her attention to his dick never wavering, the vibration from her moan making him want to fuck her mouth.

He latched onto her clit, sucking and nipping, licking her little bud until she writhed. He thrust with his tongue, pushing past her pussy lips into her hot little core until he felt her vibrating against him.

She came fast, creaming his mouth as her pussy quivered. When his own orgasm crested, he let his load go, filling her mouth full of his come.

She flopped to the side with a grunt. “Fuck.”

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “I think I'm finally spent.”

“Ya think?”

He rested his forearm over his eyes. “Don't be expecting that as a usual manner of course. I'm good but not normally that good.” He chuckled as he dropped his arm and pushed himself up to look at her.

With a groan she rolled herself off the bed and headed toward the bathroom.

“Considering your little Melonie dosed me with some kind of lust potion, I mean.”

No response. He frowned as he sat up and peered into the bathroom.

“Ariana? You wanna say something about that?” He got off the bed and walked to the door of the bathroom to see her washing her hands. “I mean, one of your women tried to get me to sleep with Kelly, I'm sure of it.”

She looked at him in the mirror, her eyes dark, her expression blank. “I know.”

He cocked his head, frown deepening. “You know?”

She snapped her eyes away and finished washing her hands, turned the taps off and snatched up a towel.

“You going to elaborate on that?” His temper flared. Was she saying she knew after the fact or…?

She turned to face him, eyes locked unflinchingly on his. “I know because I asked her to do it.”

And that was what a punch to the heart felt like.