A Long Walk Home Ch. 15

Rayne shadowed herself, eased the window open and shifted into panther form. No one would be able to track her. No one would see her leave. She silently asked Dayton's forgiveness as she jumped from the window and disappeared into the trees.

Her cat hissed loudly at her. She ignored it and ran as fast as she could. This wasn't a decision her cat could make because this was the woman's heart involved. It didn't stop her animal trying to take control though, but she was old and was strong enough to retain control of her dual personality.

So it was with some shock that she found herself slowing down as she neared the smooth rock formation that hid the cave from view. She hadn't consciously run in this direction but she was there, at the special place Gard had whispered in her ear the night before. Where he would be waiting for her!

A raw, gut wrenching pain gripped her as she stared at the rock. She didn't want to be there, didn't want to see him. But she walked the secret path anyway, slowly padding into the cave.

Gard was sitting on the cushions before the burning fire, staring into the flames as if he could find answers deep within. He didn't look around as she entered but she knew he was aware that she was there. The confidence which usually oozed from him was gone, his body language showing a weariness of a man with a deep weight on his shoulders.

"I didn't expect you to come." The words were spoken tonelessly, his head turning to look at the panther watching him carefully. She met his gaze and his expression was as blank as it had been the night before when her memories returned. The scent of his anguish was strong though. He couldn't hide that from her.

She moved silently, entering further until she was close but still out of reach. She should shift, talk to him but she lay down on the cushions and rested her head on her paws. It would hurt too much to talk but there was a slight lessening of her pain just being close to him.

Gard watched his cat approach, aching to reach out and touch her but seeing the skittish look in her eyes, the deep melancholy she didn't try to hide. He didn't think his heart could break any further but it did as she lay down beside him and maintained her panther form.

All night he'd waited for her, reliving every moment of the night before as he stared into the flames of the fire. Rayne's smiling face as she'd entered the Alpha's home. She'd looked so beautiful she'd taken his breath away and it had taken all of his self control not to cross the room and drag her into his arms.

Being apart from her had been sheer agony; he'd been desperate for the scent of her, the touch of her soft skin, the taste of the woman who was his everything. But he'd known what was to come so he'd forced himself to stay a room apart from her.

And then she'd looked at Caleb and Annie, his sister saying her true name and uncovering memories no child should ever be forced to remember. When Rayne had finally turned to him, the betrayal in her eyes had ripped his heart to shreds, her anguished cry a thousand knives piercing his very soul as she understood the enormity of his actions that night.

He hadn't been able to stay away from her then. His need to comfort her, to explain, to try and beg her forgiveness had consumed him until it was a clawing pain deep within him. He hadn't wanted to surrender her to her pack, had fought a furious battle with himself to obey his sister's words, but Rayne had needed what he wasn't capable of giving her so he'd left her despite every single part of him screaming in denial at doing so.

He'd never dreamed she'd come to him voluntarily. He'd hoped for it but her pain had cut so deep the night before he hadn't allowed himself to believe it. And now she was here, hurting and distrustful but she'd come and he knew he only had one shot at convincing her he'd never fail her again.

"I've been alive for over six thousand years, Kitty. For three thousand of them there was only ever Anakatrine in my heart. She was everything, my whole world. My life was hers to do with as she wanted. She chose to love me, protect me, and forgive me anything. Our bond was unto death itself." The love in his voice was unmistakable as he spoke of his sister. The connection between them had been everything.

"Right to the very end I obeyed her. She told me to save you even though we all knew what would happen that night. I left though every part of me wanted to stay. Her pain ripped through me as if the wounds were my own but she'd asked me to save you so I kept going. She was dying so you could live and I would not fail her, I would not make her death pointless."

His breath rasped out painfully hard. "But I did make it pointless. Callain and Anakatrine died and I was unable to save them. I broke my last promise to her and abandoned you to your death too. I failed to save my sister, I failed to perform her last task and I failed a helpless child who needed me more than my Anakatrine did. The worst part of it all is I failed my mate, betrayed her so badly that she will never be able to forgive me."

Rayne didn't think her heart could break any more than it already had. The loneliness in Gard's voice, the sheer aching agony as he relived his past was excruciating. Her cat roared in fury and pain, the woman wept silent tears, and the terrified little girl with a love so pure and innocent it shone iridescently, opened up her heart.

Her mate was in the same emotional torment she was in, his pain just as crippling and destructive. She couldn't bear it on top of her own. His guilt would destroy him and that in turn would destroy her.

She loved her vampire with all her soul and always would. There was nothing they couldn't overcome together. She shifted instantly, throwing herself the last distance into his arms, weeping hard as his agony ripped her apart.

"Don't," she sobbed against his neck. "Don't punish yourself like this. There's nothing you could have done to change things. They happened for a reason and we'll never truly know why. You did the best you could, Gard. You were one man against an entire people who had hatred in their hearts. Forgive yourself."

Gard groaned, his arms automatically clutching his beautiful cat to him as her tears bathed his neck and she whispered her words against his skin. He couldn't believe she was here, that despite everything she had come to him.

He had failed her and yet she comforted him, forgave him that failure when it wrenched his soul to pieces. He didn't deserve her forgiveness but he would take it greedily because he couldn't let her go. She was the one woman who eclipsed even his love for Anakatrine. She was the other half of his soul and she was reaching out to him, allowing him into her heart.

"Sarayne," he breathed softly, tears wetting his cheeks as he shook in her arms. "I'm so sorry I left you frightened and alone, not just as a child but for every moment of your life up until now. If I could change it I would."

Soft kisses danced across his face, so fleeting they barely grazed his skin before they moved on to the next place. Trembling lips pressed against his for a brief second. Her breath sighed across his mouth.

"I know. But maybe it was meant to be this way, Gard? My loneliness has helped me heal so many people over the centuries. Despite everything I would never want to give that up. They needed me and their lives were changed to something good. Maybe it was always my destiny to walk alone and share my gift until the time was right for me to find my happiness?"

He framed her face gently between his hands, scrutinising her beautiful features carefully. Her eyes were red from weeping but they shone brightly, seeing deep within his soul. Her need to heal him was like a blazing beacon and he selfishly surrendered to her because he needed her forgiveness and she needed to soothe his pain. It was who she was, who she had been born to be. A soul so pure and full of love, that no one was safe from her when she set her sights on them.

"I love you, Sarayne." The words ripped free, his pain melting away as joy danced across the face of his beautiful mate. She was accepting him unconditionally and his releasing of his guilt was like giving her the moon and the stars.

Surrendering to his cat was all she had ever wanted. Someone to love her forever, to give her a sense of belonging, a home she could finally irrefutably call her own.

A smile tugged at those lips he could spend eternity kissing. The cat danced in her eyes as her emotions shifted to something richer. "Just as well you do, vampire, because you're mine and I've no intention of letting you be free of me."

The sensual note that crept into her tone stirred his blood instantly and his own eyes darkened as need gripped him in its painful grasp. He'd been too long without her, the need to claim her overwhelming him. He needed to show her how much he loved her, how much he cherished the very ground she walked on.

"I never want to be free of you, Kitty," he groaned hoarsely. "I've waited my entire life for you. If you'd run I would have hunted you down. I would have worked out a way to see past your panther shadowing. There would have been no corner on this planet you would have been safe from me."

His possessiveness made her purr with pleasure, her mouth hovering less than an inch from his. Soft laughter filled the cave. "That makes me so hot I want you to rip my clothes off and drive hard and deep inside me until we both scream."

Every muscle in his body went rigid and his breath rasped out loudly into the silence. "You are going to fucking kill me," he finally ground out, his desire warring with his need to just hold her and talk about the things they still needed to address.

In answer she shifted her seat in his lap until her damp heat was pressed across the rigid length of his arousal. She rubbed sensually against him and the air turned blue as he let out a string of curses.

"Sarayne!"

She stilled and met his gaze, a wondrous smile on her face. "I remember now, Gard. I remember my name, how much love was in my parents' voices when they called to me. It always came out Rayne when I tried to say my name."

Her eyes shone with moisture but her smile remained. "I want to be Sarayne again. The sound of it on your lips makes me feel complete."

His heart melted, the thick need within him turning to something infinitely tenderer than the fierce sexual desire she sparked inside of him. "Sarayne." It was a whispered caress against her mouth. He was unable to deny her anything her heart desired.

"Mate with me." Rayne's lips brushed his gently, teasing him with tiny kisses as her words washed over him causing him to still for a moment.

His hands flexed on her waist as he growled deeply. There wasn't anything he wanted more than to be hers forever but he knew what that entailed. His venom would kill her instantly until they performed the healing ritual to mix his blood to hers. He could no more hurt her than he could Anakatrine.

She wriggled in his lap, teasing her body over the rigid steel trying to break out of his jeans and claim her. Her hands wound into his hair and her mouth took his in an aggressive kiss that was all about hot need, a desire to be joined completely with him.

He couldn't fight her. He didn't want to. His need was as great as hers and he opened his mouth to her searching tongue, dancing his erotically against hers as she licked at him just like the cat she was. Her kiss shook his self control until he was perilously close to losing it completely.

"Stop," he groaned, dragging his mouth from hers, lifting her from his lap to try and get some surcease from the erotic torture she was inflicting on him. "We need to talk, Kitty."

Rayne smiled slowly, standing up and stripping out of her clothes quickly. "Talking is so overrated, Gard. We can do that later. Right now I have other needs."

The sight of her naked body above him was a temptation that even a saint would have struggled to withstand. He was certainly no saint. His cock throbbed impossibly hard, his hands clenched in fists to stop himself from reaching out and exploring every inch of the creamy flesh she presented to him.

Her eyes told him she would not be swayed. She was more cat than woman, the panther's need to claim her mate taking dominance. Gard wasn't used to being the submissive party in his sexual play. But then he wasn't used to having a strong mate demanding it of him as her right. His cat was staking her claim. He would not deny her. He would, however, ensure that he retained enough control not to bite her no matter what she did to erode that control.

Surrendering he rested his hands behind him and flashed a sensual smile. "Seduce me then, little kitty. Make me scream."

Heat flared deep within her as Gard gave into her. Rayne stalked her prey gracefully coming to stand so close to him she knew he could scent her need. Fire danced in his eyes, a soft lavender glow beginning as his nostrils flared. "A little licking would be a nice start," she purred softly. "To warm me up."

He swallowed hard, a low curse escaping him a second before he put his mouth on her and licked through her wet folds with a hunger that had her crying out instantly. Her knees trembled but she held herself upright as he eagerly began paying homage to the very heart of her body, licking greedily over every inch of her heated flesh.

Lord, her vampire was a true artiste at pleasuring a woman with his mouth. He left no area untouched, his tongue rough and then soft as he gave her pleasure. He danced into her body, plunging and then retreating, attacking the little bundle of nerves that threatened to push her over the edge into sweet bliss. But he never quite took her there, pulling back at the last moment to nip gently at her swollen lips.

"Your taste is the sweetest aphrodisiac in the world, Kitty. I can't get enough of it. I may have to tie you down one night so I can spend hours licking at your beautiful body until you lie exhausted beneath me."

There was a hot promise in his guttural words and she moaned loudly because she knew he would deliver on it and that she would let him. Just the erotic image of it was enough to send her crashing into climax, a hoarse scream escaping her as his hands finally moved to grip her hips to keep her standing.

He licked and suckled, groaning as she bathed his mouth with her release. He was almost at the point of releasing himself into his pants such was the pleasure he took from knowing she was flying because of his touch.

Rayne's heart finally started to settle down into a more even rhythm. Gard's lips were caressing her thigh as he rested his head against her, his fingers trailing down the backs of her legs.

"You're overdressed."

He laughed softly, moving away swiftly and returning an instant later to resume his position at her feet. He was gloriously naked, his body pulsing to the beat of his heart. "I am yours to command." There was amusement dancing across his face as well as an aching need that took her breath away.

Rayne lowered herself astride him once more, rubbing against his thickness until he groaned so hoarsely she was sure he was going to take the control away from her. But he didn't, merely promised her with a look so hotly sensual that she would pay for her teasing when it was his turn.

Her hand slipped between them, wrapped around the silken steel of a cock so hard it was ready to burst. His loud roar sent liquid heat rushing sharply between her thighs. She moved her hand fisting him hard. One, two, three firm strokes to hear him roar again then she positioned him at her entrance and held still.

"Decide," she ordered, her cat glittering in her eyes. "If I take you now you are mine forever. I will bite you. I will mate with you. I need your consent."

Gard's heart fluttered wildly as he stared into her eyes. They were more silver than green, as mesmerising as her wonderful words. "Take me, Sarayne. Make me yours."

They cried out together as she sank down hard onto his shaft, spearing herself onto him almost aggressively. And then she began to dance on his body, confidently, intimately, possessively.

Gard had never felt as utterly possessed as he did at that moment. No woman had ever claimed him with her body and soul as his Sarayne was now doing. It was sweet pleasure and painfully erotic.

He thrust up to meet her downward movements, his hands on her waist helping her to take him as she needed to. He was amazed he didn't want to take control from her. It should have been hard to surrender to her and yet it was the easiest thing in the world to do.

The sight of her passion filled face stole his breath away. The vision of her breasts bouncing as she rode him fiercely so erotic. He knew he would allow her to take him any time she wanted to because it was so delicious to watch her do so.

Her mouth attacked his viciously, her claws coming out to rake across his shoulders and down his back. The slight pain ignited his feral side and he heard himself growling continuously as she indulged her own animal side with abandon.

A sharp nip at his neck almost sent him over the edge. His breath caught and his hands tightened on her body. His next thrust was purely primal as she nipped at him again. "If you fucking tease me, Kitty, I'm going to make you pay," he rasped out hoarsely. He needed her to bite him, craved it as he'd never craved anything before.

"Impatient," she laughed huskily, her next movement a hard slamming of her body onto his.

His head fell back, his roar almost the scream he'd challenge her to drag from him. Sharp teeth pierced his skin where his neck and shoulder joined. He did scream then, his body flooded with so much sensation it made his head spin. He surged deep within her, their sweat slickened bodies grinding hard against each other as she marked him hers for eternity.

Rayne was screaming her own bliss against his neck, tears and laughter bubbling out of her as she violently climaxed against him, her entire body shuddering as wave after wave of pleasure consumed her. She urgently pulled his mouth to her neck. "Bite me!"

"No!" Gard fought her even as his fangs elongated and his blood boiled inside him.

"Now!" Rayne demanded hoarsely. "It must be now. Gard! Bite me. Please bite me! I'm immune to your venom. Trust me."

He tried to control himself, tried to fight his feral nature which demanded he drink from her pleasure laden blood but he failed. With a roar he bit deep into her fragile skin and began to pump his hot seed inside her body. Her sweet blood filled his mouth and he drank deeply, shuddering as he gave her his seed in hard, deep pulses.

He was beyond thought now, a creature of his dual lusts. She asked him to trust her and he couldn't refuse her. He fed from his mate ravenously, knowing her blood would be the only thing that would keep him alive for eternity.

It was hard to release his fangs, to stop drinking her wonderful essence but he knew he had to. Her heart was fluttering wildly against him confirming she'd spoken the truth about being immune to his venom. How she had known that he had no idea but he would be having a very intense conversation with her about it shortly.

For the moment all he could do was hold his mate in his arms and soothe her down from the intense pleasure they'd both just ridden through. Their joining had been so intense that he was struggling to catch his breath but was pleasantly sated.

"I can't move," Rayne sighed against his neck, her body so languid it felt as if all her bones had melted.

"Luckily one of us has more stamina," Gard chuckled softly, rising gracefully with her still firmly enclosing his body as she wrapped her legs around him. It was a pleasant sensation as he carried his mate through to his bed and crawled under the thick covers with her.