Chapter Five
Calloway rolled off Darby, keeping his eyes closed as he focused on breathing. There were things he never wanted to relive, not even for the woman destined to own his heart and soul. There were pieces of himself he never wanted her to see, to know.
“Tell me,” she pleaded, her fingers a whisper across his cheek.
“I was young and cocky. Thought I was untouchable. I drifted from place to place and found myself in the wrong one at the wrong time. Stumbled across a guy in a cage. One sniff and I knew he was like me. He was out cold. Before I could figure out how to help him, everything went black.”
“They took you.”
“Two darts at close range and it was lights out. Woke up in a cage of my own.”
“Oh, God,” Darby whispered, but Calloway was locked in the past.
“We were drugged again when they moved us. Second time I woke up, I was in a room lined with the fucking things. God, there were so many of us there, and the room reeked of drugs, blood, urine and fear.”
He could still see it. The haunted eyes of strangers who had the unfortunate luck of being shifters. There had been another scent, as well. One that fed the fear and explained the blood. Death. Death had loomed in the room with them as if it had an enclosure all its own.
He could still see their captors heading toward them, metal poles in hand so they wouldn’t risk getting bitten or mauled as they injected drugs into the penned animal of choice. That was how they’d viewed them, as animals to be used for whatever purpose they decided. Calloway couldn’t stop the shudder that went through him as he remembered all the things he’d witnessed, all the things he’d done.
“You’re not there anymore.” Darby’s voice reached him as if through a dense fog. “You escaped.”
“There will always be a piece of me there,” he acknowledged.
His woman said nothing. She braced her hand on his chest, a solid touch that kept him grounded in the present while the past drifted through him. He knew she was waiting for him to continue. He reached up and placed his hand over hers, lacing their fingers together.
“It was a research facility. They tested variations of feral fever. Drugs to induce rage. Drugs to cause hallucinations. Drugs to…force you into a sexual frenzy. Our cages were divided into groups. They liked to use the bigger males for fighting. They wanted to see the extent of our strength so they pitted us against one another. The drugs didn’t allow for a full shift, but we managed claws. So much anger. It boiled inside, consumed us until all we felt was…rage. I wanted blood. I wanted to taste it. Wanted to feel it warm against my hands. When we weren’t drugged up and participating, we were forced to watch. When we weren’t being forced to kill, we were wishing we were dead.”
“Calloway—”
He lifted a finger to silence her. “I know you’ve read about it, but I’ve lived it, and it’s a hell I never want you to endure. Even if it means hiding from the world for the rest of our lives. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”
“I have to go to Riverton, to the pride.”
He bit back a curse.
“You know I do. They have a chance for more than survival. They’re building something, a pride that could end up powerful enough to take on the hierarchy of hunters. Think about it, Calloway. No more running. No more hiding. No more fighting alone. My father truly believes Utah Pearce is the man we’ve waited for. The one who will finally unite all the shifters and form a network even the hunters can’t penetrate. We need to be a part of this. We have to be.”
“What if I can’t be?” He practically growled the question, his chest vibrating, canines flashing as he sat up. “What if the drugs they gave me are still here?” He pounded one fist against his chest. “Hiding inside me, waiting for the exact moment to kick in and make me a danger?”
“To who?” she challenged, rising to her knees beside him. “Me?”
“Never!” he snapped. “I would die before I’d hurt you.”
“You think you’re a danger to the pride? To the alpha?”
“I don’t know.”
Darby shook her head. “Well, I do. I know exactly who you are and who you aren’t. I may not have read any of your history, but I’ve watched you for the last four years. I’ve seen the man you are, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind. Where you were, what you went through, those can only be assets to the pride. You have the knowledge and experience of dealing with hunters, and if this is ever going to stop, we all need to pool our information together. We all have a responsibility. Not just to ourselves or this forming pride or even the alpha. We have a responsibility to the next generation and the one after that and all those that follow. It’s time to stop hiding. It’s time to stand…together.” She took his hand in hers and flattened his palm against her stomach. “Think of our future, of the children we’ll have. What life do you want for them? What are we going to do to give that to them?”
She was right. God, she was so right, and it shamed him a little to have his female remind him of his duty.
“You would have gotten there eventually,” she whispered.
Calloway smiled. Their connection was growing stronger, allowing them to pick up on each other’s emotions and thoughts.
“I love you, too,” she offered with a smile, responding to words he hadn’t even voiced, to emotions he’d only felt. “I think some part of me has loved you since the day I first saw you. Four years, Calloway. You’ve made me wait four years. I won’t wait a moment longer. Tell me. Say what I need to hear.”
He pulled her to him, not stopping until she straddled his thighs, her chest pressed to his. “My heart beats for you. My lungs breathe for you. There is no part of me that isn’t yours to command.”
“Joined in hearts,” Darby began, saying words she must have learned through her training as a watcher. He knew they kept track of shifter ceremonies when they could.
“Bound in spirits,” Calloway continued then began his sacred vows. “In the name of the Great Creator who has blessed us, by the life that flows within my veins and the love that flows within my heart, I take you as mine for now and always. To my heart, of my spirit, as my life’s mate unto death and beyond. I shall possess you and be possessed by you, so that none may come between us. I am yours.”
Tears spilled down Darby’s cheeks. “In the name of the Great Creator who has blessed us, by the life that flows within my veins and the love that flows within my heart, I take you as mine for now and always. To my heart, of my spirit, as my life’s mate unto death and beyond. I shall cleave to you and be cleaved by you, so that none may come between us. I am yours.”
“You know the words,” he whispered with awe.
“From the moment I first read them, I’ve never forgotten them. Maybe, some part of me knew I was simply waiting for you to find me,” she told him. “Now, finish it.” Calloway used his thumbs to wipe away her tears then placed a soft, fleeting kiss on her lips. He leaned back until their gazes met and held. “In the name of the Great Creator, I proclaim us mates. One heart. One soul. One life.”
Time spun away from them. One moment, she was in his arms; the next, they were both naked, his body surging deep within hers, a physical confirmation of the vows they’d just taken. They’d say them again in a public ceremony when her father was back and could be a witness to them. Today was just for them.
He watched her face as satisfaction washed through her. He felt each of her sensations and knew she was getting a taste of what he experienced, as well. The tight heat of her channel. The way his shaft rubbed her walls, eliciting tiny spears of delight that coursed through her, making her wetter. Her tight nipples caressing his chest. Her ankles wrapped just under his ass, pressing and urging him to the speed she desired. The flex of his hips, the strength of his arms, the power of each thrust was met by the rising tide of her hips.
They both grew damp with perspiration, slick skin sliding and adding another layer of friction to the love play. Her nails dug deep, piercing his skin as he bent to lap at the mark he’d left to mar her perfect skin. She sighed with each stroke of his tongue, her channel clenching around his shaft with each plunge and retreat.
He felt the orgasm building within her, relished every breathy moan and undulation she gave. He cupped her hip and held tight as he pounded them both over the edge, sinking his teeth into her as she screamed out his name. They rode the crest, wave after wave of pleasure rocking through them as they clung together. Long moments later, he rolled to his back, taking her with him so their connection remained unbroken. He licked lazily at the skin where his teeth had pierced her. One palm roamed the length of her spine, the curve of her lush ass. Perfection. Darby was everything he’d desired and so much more.
“We’ll leave tonight,” Calloway said into the quiet that cocooned them. As much as he wanted to keep her in the room indefinitely, he knew they needed to go. “I want to make a few calls first. I…know one of the shifters who lives with the pride. We’ve kept in touch.”
“Which one?” Darby asked.
“A jaguar named Gideon.” He closed his eyes as visions of how he’d met Gideon filled his head.
Darby smoothed circles over his chest, shuddering beside him, and he knew she’d picked up on what he wasn’t saying.
“You met him in the labs.” A statement, not a question, and he couldn’t deny it.
He gave a jerk of his chin. “He’s a good male. Strong in body and mind. He’ll help smooth the way for the two of us.”
“I’ve read about him.” Another shudder went through her, and he’d bet anything she was recalling every detail of what she’d read, though he doubted any watcher had seen the inside of a hunter’s lab and lived. There were some places even watchers couldn’t follow, shouldn’t follow. He’d wish that hell on no man.
“Shh,” he soothed, moving her palm so it lay over his heart. “Feel the beat. I’m with you. The past can’t hurt us.”
She leaned up, propping her fist on his chest and resting her chin on it. “I still can’t believe we’re here. Together.”
“Mated,” he reminded with a growl. “You’re mine now, and nothing will change that.”
“And you’re mine.”
He moved quickly, rolling and tumbling her to the mattress beneath him. “All yours,” he agreed then took her mouth in a hungry kiss. He chuckled as she clung to him, not wanting him to pull away. “I need a shower.” He tapped his fingers against her full bottom lip. “Why don’t you relax while I do that?”
“You don’t want to shower together? Conserve water?”
He chuckled. “If you get in with me, the last thing on my mind will be getting clean. Christ, woman! You make me insatiable. I want nothing more than to bury my cock deep and stay inside you all day and all night. Nothing but the two of us naked and fucking for at least the next few years.”
“Years!”
He laughed again. “I’m an animal, baby.” He growled playfully, enjoying the way she giggled. She made him feel…alive in a way he hadn’t in far too long. She might not realize it yet, but she owned him. Every piece of him was hers to command.
He dropped another kiss on the tip of her nose and pushed himself off the bed. If he didn’t get moving, he’d spend the rest of the day in bed making love to her. Hell, maybe, he should have said decades.