The snakes were tireless. The only one that she ever saw in human form was Sophie, and Sophie paced her every step, slithering directly behind her. Whenever she turned to look at the other woman, she was chilled by a serpentine smile. Soon, Stephanie began only looking straight in front of her as she walked, one foot in front of the other.
She was still on track, following the path that her friends had left behind, but she was resting far less often. The snakes pushed her to walk long into the night, only pausing to allow her sleep for a few blessed hours before dawn. Stephanie would collapse into a heap where she fell, taking desperate refuge in unconsciousness. She curled on the ground, relishing any escape that she could get from the terrible situation that she was in.
Her mind had turned blank, any thought long overshadowed by the uproar of her suffering body. Shifters were far more enduring than humans. She could tell that this was just a walk in the park for Sophie, that Sophie was taking a sadistic delight in marching her until she dropped.
It was even harder thinking of the baby in her belly. How much harm was she doing to herself as she marched through the sweltering jungle? She knew that miscarriages were incredibly common this early in a pregnancy, and that was when the mother wasn't walking over miles and miles of rough terrain. Stephanie woke in the morning with tears in her eyes; life had become a dark hell.
As the sun was setting on the third day, Stephanie finally dropped to her knees on the trail. Sophie, now walking behind, kicked her lightly on her right leg, and then again, not so lightly.
“Why are you stopping?” she asked, her voice light and cruel. “There's still a great deal of walking to do. Get up, silly woman.”
“I can't,” Stephanie said, her voice worn down to a whisper. “I can't. I can't... My baby...”
Sophie laughed.
“Your girl is stronger than you are,” she said. “She has shifter blood in her, and if a puny human can survive this, she can.”
It was a strange comfort, anyway. In the back of her mind, Stephanie wondered if sensing the gender of a child was something a shifter could simply smell out, the same way Sophie could smell out her pregnancy. Out loud, all she said was, “Please...”
Sophie's face hardened.
“I have not been so close to catching Noah in months, perhaps so long as a year,” she said, her voice lowering to a deep hiss. “I have chased him across the continent. Now, when I have him so close, you are telling me you cannot get up? Not acceptable.”
“I can't,” Stephanie insisted. It wasn't quite true, but what was true was that her mind was cracking. She could see it happen as if she was watching her brain shatter from a distance. She had been under such an amount of stress for the past week that she was breaking.
“You can,” Sophie insisted, but before she could say what measures she would employ to make sure that that happened, there was a deep roar from the jungle behind them.
“I think you're about to get what you want,” Stephanie said, not moving from where she lay on the ground.
The lion that burst out of the underbrush behind them gleamed like the sun, larger and more vicious than anything Stephanie could have imagined. She did not doubt for a moment that it was Noah. She knew it was him, and her heart cried out in joy even as her body begged for relief from the pain.
Sophie turned, hissing as she did so. Even though she was a fully naked human woman, there was something snakelike about her motions, as if at any moment she might rear back and strike.
“Noah,” she said, her voice a parody of affection. “I am so glad to see you...”
The lion growled padding forward. The snakes that were closest to him slithered back, their narrow heads flicking from the lion to the naked woman.
“We were once friends,” Sophie continued. “We were once better than friends, don't you recall? We were powerful together, and now we could be powerful again if you would give up the Council, give it all up and come with me again...”
Sophie's voice was soft as a spring breeze, sweet as honey. Even though she knew firsthand how very vicious the woman could be, Stephanie found herself feeling seduced by it. Surely someone with a voice like that couldn't mean any harm? Surely, she would never be as cruel as she had been...?
Noah knew better, however. He stood growling with his head lowered, the picture of menace. When she took a step closer to him, he struck with all his weight behind it. One enormous paw lashed out, all claws extended, and the shifter woman fell to the ground with a panicked scream.
Offer refused was the message sent, and when Sophie came back up, she was all snake, thick coils rolling along the ground as she reared back to strike. Stephanie watched with hand over her mouth as the snakes attacked and the lion struck back, roaring rage and defiance.
The fight was savage. Some of the snake were killed outright, bodies falling to either side. More escaped, slithering off into the forest. Apparently bullying a human woman was one thing, but battling a full grown male lion was another. What happened to Sophie, Stephanie didn't know.
At last, the lion turned to her, eyes bright gold, and Stephanie felt her body flood with love and relief. She thought that she would start crying or laughing or both, but in the end, it was too much, and she simply fell over in a dead faint.
*
Stephanie was aware of the passage of time. She had an impression of being held, and then being carried. She was strapped to a broad and furry back that seemed as wide as the world, and there were bonds holding her in place so she did not slip. The ground was flying by beneath her, far faster than she could move herself. It was alarming, but it all felt so far away. It felt like something that she needn’t worry about, not really, because she was simply so tired.
The whole time, she could hear a voice. It was a voice that she could not give a name to right away, but it was soft and as powerful as a distant storm. Most of the time it was just a comforting rumble in her ears, but other times, rarely, it modulated into words.
“Please, please hang on, beautiful love, hang on. You are mine, you are mine, do not leave me...”
She heard the voice, and she marveled at the pain and the desperation in it. If it wasn't for that voice, she might have decided to simply let go. She could feel the urge to give up and to rest. After all, hadn't she been working so hard? Didn't she deserve a rest after all that she had been through? It seemed cruel to keep going, but the voice kept calling her back. For some reason, that voice kept her tethered when nothing else would have. She would stay. She would fight. Perhaps it would not always be terrible grief and pain...
Towards the end, she was aware of another voice as well. If the first one was a torrent of gold, this one was a thread, fine and sparkling. There were no words to it at all, only a nameless questioning and yearning. This one wound around her until she glowed, and Stephanie knew that she would never leave them, never leave her family...
*
Stephanie came awake with a start, realizing that water was being dribbled onto her lips. The water was cold and delicious, and she was sitting up for more before she was even awake. As she sat up, she was aware of a million aches and pains that peppered her body, and she gasped.
“Careful, careful, beloved,” Noah said. “Take it slow...”
She stared at him, eyes wide. It had been so long since she had seen him that now it felt like a fantasy that he was here with her, touching her, sitting above her with a soft and concerned smile on his face. She brushed the water away with the back of her hand, and half-stumbling, half-grasping, she made her way into his arms.
“Oh, Noah,” she whispered. “Oh Noah, I am so happy to see you.”
He sighed with peace when she threw her arms around him. He gathered her gently to his chest with a soft sound of pleasure.
“My god, I thought I had lost you,” he said tenderly.
"I can't believe that you were alone all that time, I never want to let you go again..."
She could have listened to him talk for days, weeks, but then he rested a gentle calloused hand along her jaw, turning her face towards him. The kiss he gave her made her shiver right down to her toes, and she moaned into his lips.
"I have thought about this every night we have been apart," he growled, and she could see a glint of gold in his eyes. She was learning, slowly but surely, there was something wilder to him than there was to Jax or Marcus. Instead of being afraid, she welcomed it. She embraced it. That was the wildness that had drawn her to him. It was that same wildness that had made her love him, she now realized.
"Wait, I need to tell you..." she started, but he smiled at her.
"That you are carrying my child? I know this."
She blinked at him, and he held her close. This time, his hand drifted down to her belly, resting on the flat expanse with tenderness.
"Marcus revealed as much," he said. "We have ways of making ourselves known to each other even when we are running wild. As soon as he told me, I tore myself away to come up back north to Tanzania."
He stretched a little, and now she could see how dusty he was, how very worn. He wore a piece of white cloth wrapped around his hips like some of the local men; the rest of Noah was bare, and he was covered with small cuts and scrapes, as if he had pulled himself through the underbrush on his hands and knees.
"Oh god, did you run that entire way?" she asked, appalled, and Noah nodded.
"It was the fastest way. If I had waited for a bush pilot, it could have taken weeks. There is no way to get a vehicle through most of the terrain that I have crossed."
He touched the tip of her nose with one finger, shaking his head.
"Believe me when I say that very few people could send me on a run like that one. I crossed most of the country at a dead run for you."
She blushed a little, and she couldn't quite hide how much she liked that. He had saved her life, and she felt a deep warmth rising inside her.
"I am glad you did," she said, shivering a little. "I don't know how long I might have lasted with the snakes."
His face took on a fierce aspect, and for a moment, Stephanie saw Noah as his enemies did, as a ferocious beast capable of merciless annihilation.
"They did not suffer nearly enough for what they did to you," he growled with fury. "If I could meet them again..."
"But you are here now," Stephanie said, and she had the satisfaction of watching Noah calm down at her gentle touch. "It's fine. I am fine. I also believe that our child is fine..."
Noah's hand rubbed her belly gently, nodding a little as he did so.
"I know she is," he said practically. "She is present, and she is sleeping yet, but she is healthy."
Stephanie bit her lip. "Is.. is that something you think, or something you know?"
He looked at her, slightly surprised.
"Something I know," Noah said at last. "I can sense some things, not everything. I know that she is healthy, and that she is likely a girl, but beyond that.. I do not know if she is going to be shifter or not, for example."
"Is... Is there a very great chance of that? That she can do what you do?"
Noah grinned at her.
"It's about fifty-fifty," he said. "She might be a shifter, she might be all human, but as long as she is as brave and as clever as you are, that's all that I care about. You have a courage worthy of a lion's mate."
"Oh? Is that what I am?" she asked, feeling recovered enough to be a bit playful. "The lion’s mate?"
His eyes lit with a golden fire, and his hands gripped her a little harder. As exhausted and terrified as she had been, Stephanie felt a thrill of passion go through her. During her long march, she had thought of the dozens of things that she wanted to say to Noah when she met him next, but it all faded away in the face of this heat, this need.
Something kept her back though, and even if a part of her ached to be with him again, another part hesitated.
"Where are we?" she asked, pulling back from him slightly. Noah looked surprised, but he shrugged.
"We are farther north. I wanted to get us to the refuge where Jax, Marcus and their women are staying while the women tend to the village. It is a safe place, one of the best, but this place is decent enough to stop at."
It was astonishingly beautiful, Stephanie realized, looking around. She lay on soft grass under an enormous tree, and just yards away was a secret pool fed by a trickle of water falling from above. It was shaded on every side by rocks, leaving just a narrow passage for someone to enter. Stephanie realized that it was completely protected, especially with someone as powerful as Noah guarding the passage, and she looked at the water longingly.
"I feel as if I haven't really been clean in ages," she sighed.
For a moment, it looked as if Noah was going to ignore her, pulling her into his arms and lying her down on the grass. If he had touched her with his skilled hands, kissed her as she so very much longed to be kissed, she wasn't sure what she would do. However, he only smiled a little and nodded.
"Here, let me help you..."
She blushed when she realized that he was intent on stripping her clothes from her body. He did it with efficiency and care, only stopping to run his palms over her hot skin once or twice. Then he was guiding her into the water, which was shockingly cold.
"Oh, my lord, it's frigid!" she exclaimed.
"It's fed by mountain run-off," he said. "It will be better once you get in."
She let him guide her into the water, and when the first shock of the chill receded, she felt herself let out a breath of relief.
"Feels good?"
"So good," she said.
He hovered close as she cleaned herself thoroughly, relishing the clean water and how good it felt on her skin. He was always within an arm's reach, however, and the whole time, she could feel his eyes on her.
"You're watching me," she murmured, and he smiled, the very picture of leonine satisfaction.
"You're mine, and I like looking at you," was his return.
Stephanie felt herself bridle at that suddenly.
"I'm not some teenager who's going to rejoice at the idea of finding someone to claim me and give me worth," she said sternly, and he cocked his head at her.
"What a strange thing. I'm the strongest fighter in this part of the world, the man that others look to for leadership. I have defeated every shifter who has run up against me in battle, and what I want, I take. You are mine. That is something to be proud of."
He spoke with such conviction that she stared at him.
"But surely you don't think that?" Stephanie persisted. "I'm a doctor, I have my own accomplishments, I do not take my value just from being your... your woman..."
"My mate," he corrected, coming to stand a little closer. "And more than that, you are mine. You are not property, but make no mistake, with my child in your belly and my scent on you, no one will think you anything else."
"That was how that snake woman found me," she realized. "Because I smell like you, somehow..."
His face hardened.
"If I meet Sophie again, she's dead," he said coldly. "And yes. You are recognizable as mine, yet I failed to protect you. For that, please forgive me. From now on, I will keep you better, take better care of you and our little one..."
She started to argue with him again. Goddamn it, but she was independent, had taken care of herself and others for years. She was a doctor, and had recently fended off a hyena attack. She didn't get a chance to argue, however, because he stepped closer. His strong arms gathered her close to him, and he was kissing her, deep and sweet and slow. She could feel the heat shoot through her, looping through Noah's body and coming back to hers. The hard planes of his body meshed with the soft contours of hers, and she could feel herself falling, falling...
“Catch me,” Stephanie murmured. “Oh, catch me please...”
Noah groaned low in his throat, and she whimpered as she pressed closer to him. There was no protest in her at all as he swept her up in his arms, pulling her back to the bank. He laid her down in the shade underneath the tree again, and this time, nothing stopped him from devouring her with kisses.
Stephanie was on her back, cushioned by the lush soft grass, and above her sunlight shone through the leaves of the trees. There was a peculiar stillness to the air, as if the world was holding its breath in anticipation of what came next.
Then Noah rose over her, blocking it all out again, and she felt as if she had found another sun, something that lit up her world and gave her the warmth that she had always craved.
"Mine," he said, his voice little more than a growl. "Mine, mine..."
She whimpered as his mouth came down to her throat, kissing her there before biting. She knew that he was not even exerting a tenth of his strength as he bit her. The sting was soothed by his tongue immediately thereafter, and he continued, kissing a line down to her small breasts. Her nipples puckered almost painfully sensitive in the air, and she groaned as he palmed them one after the other.
"So perfect, and so very beautiful," he crooned, and as he spoke, he raised one thigh so that it parted hers. Instead of pulling back slightly, however, he pressed his thigh up between her naked legs, the hard muscle against the very center of her. He ground against her slowly, and the sensations pulsed through her, making her shake with need. She couldn't believe how easily this man could arouse her, how very much she wanted him. The pressure between her legs was delicious and consuming. It made her wrap her arms around him, clinging hard. The small whimpers and moans that she made slowly modulated themselves into words, and over and over again, she asked for more.
"Soon, my beauty," Noah crooned, "soon..."
She sobbed at that, because god, it had been so long. She wanted this man, and she wanted him now, but for some reason, he seemed content to make her wait. She rode his thigh shamelessly, and it came to her in an absent sort of way that she was doing this all in broad day light. Perhaps she would have been embarrassed if this had happened six months ago, but since she had met Noah, shame felt like a concept that had nothing to do with her.
There was no way she could be ashamed of reveling in her body with this beautiful man. There was no way she could regret hanging on to him as he aroused her, his hot breath against her shoulder and making her need him even more. There was something wild and free about this, something that left no room at all for shame or fear. All that existed in the world was the two of them, and she would never, ever regret that.
"Oh god, I need you," Stephanie moaned, and with trembling hands, she reached for his cock. It was hard under her questing touch, the skin surprisingly silky. Slowly, she circled her fingers over the turgid, velvety head, teasing at the gleaming drop of cloudy liquid that appeared there.
She could feel the way that Noah's breath caught at her touch. For a moment, she was worried that she had somehow hurt him or offended him, but then she realized that he was looking at her with a wild and fierce need. Emboldened, she wrapped her hand around the shaft of his cock, drawing her palm along the soft skin there. With every pass of her hand, Noah's breath hissed between his teeth, and he pressed more insistently between her legs.
It was like a contest, she thought hazily, a play for dominance where both could win. She needed this man in ways that she didn't even understand yet, and when he dropped his head down to kiss her again, she embraced him tightly.
"I can't take much more of this," Noah growled, and she dared to smile up at him, feeling a deep joy bubble through her.
"Then don't," she said. "You've kept me waiting for so long, don't keep me waiting any longer..."
He held out for a little longer. He continued to arouse her, dropping hot kisses to her neck and her breasts, making her shiver. However, just as he wouldn't stop touching her, she refused to stop touching him. She gave him as good as she got, and she relished every gasp and groan she got out of him. It struck her with a certainty that she would never doubt that he had not had another woman since he had lain with her. She didn't need him to say it. She simply knew.
Stephanie realized that she had power over this amazing man, and it thrilled her, raised her high into the stars. Her grip around his cock tightened suddenly, and he threw back his head, his teeth gritted.
"What you do to me, woman," he said.
She could hear the tremor in his voice, but that was all the warning she got before he drew back. She whimpered at the loss of his comforting bulk over her, but then he was turning her over. She scrambled for purchase, but he was so much stronger than she was. The teasing lover was gone, and in his place was a being of pure need and hunger.
It might have frightened Stephanie, but she realized that she was overcome with the same need. She was shameless, and when he lifted her hips up, she braced herself on her elbows and her knees, reaching for him as best she could.
"Mine," Noah growled. "Mine, all mine, and no one will take you from me again..."
He thrust into her, making them both moan, and then he drew back slightly only to thrust in to the hilt again.
"Oh my god," Stephanie whimpered brokenly. She was murmuring his name, asking him for more, telling him in every way possible how much she had missed him, and how very much she needed hm. She reared herself back to his thrusts, and the pressure was building low in her belly. With every thrust, he stroked the fire higher, and she thought that she would never survive wanting him, never survive the burning climax that was soon to come.
She was clawing at the dirt as if she was in heat, and perhaps that wasn't far off. Her skin felt like it was burning, and he was the only one who could soothe her. His fingers dug tight into her hips for a moment, and then he reached underneath her with one hand, only slackening his pace slightly. She yelped when his skilled fingers found the small nub at the core of her, rubbing it with a touch that was at once skilled and gentle. She didn't know which way to push or to turn; all she was was a series of sensations, stretched too far. The deep tug of desire in her grew harder and harder, and almost subconsciously, she found herself resisting it, wanting it to go on even longer.
However, Noah was not a man who would abide her resistance. He redoubled his efforts, and then between his body slamming into her and his fingers slyly arousing her, Stephanie had to give up. Her shriek echoed through the trees, and the climax electrified her from head to toe.
She was a doctor. She knew what was happening. She knew that her muscles were shaking with release and that her mind was reeling from the pleasure that Noah had just given her. In that moment, however, the doctor was gone, replaced only by the woman. She shook with the force of her release, burying her face in her hands. It was too much, it was far too much to take. The waves of pleasure washed over her, and then she felt him coming as well. His hands pulled her hard to him, and he spilled inside her, a pleasure as deep as it was primal. This was the way it was meant to finish, she thought, him inside her, giving her his essence, and Stephanie felt a kind of peace that she had never encountered before.
She felt him kissing her between her shoulders, down the bumps of her spine, and then he pulled away gently. She would have thought that the climax would leave both of them shaken, but then she felt herself being lifted again.
Lazily, she looped her arms around his neck, gazing at him as he carried her back towards the water.
"Are you seriously still strong enough to carry me like a blushing bride?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him.
He grinned at her, lazy and full of affection.
"Being with you energizes me," he said. "I could wrestle a dozen snakes, kill fifty hyenas."
She shuddered as he carried her into the water.
"I hope you won't be called upon to do that," she grumbled, "Oh, that's cold!"
He didn't stop until they were in the shelter of a rock overhang. There was a ledge under the water forming a perfect bench, and he sat there with her, holding her on his lap. With her back to his chest, Stephanie lolled against him. Everything felt slightly sleepy, slightly far away. His hands roamed up and down her body, softened by the water. When he started to rub and pet her between her spread legs, she whimpered a little.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear. "You are mine. I love you."
She gasped when he caught her in a particularly sensitive spot, and then she nodded.
"I... I love you," she stuttered, and he made a soft inquisitive noise next to her ear. God, maybe she could put together a real sentence if only he would let her gather her thoughts for a moment!
"You don't sound sure... or is it that something frightens you?"
She shuddered and wiggled in his grasp. She wasn't trying to get away; she needed more of his touch, but he was keeping it maddeningly light.
"Not... I'm not frightened when I'm with you," she whispered. "It's just that love, it's so big. I have so much of it in my heart for you, and for the baby, and ah-!"
Her back arched, and this time she was quiet as he brought her to another orgasm. Her shout was locked in her throat, emerging only as the tiniest of whispers when she came. It was as powerful as the first, however, and her entire body shook. If Noah hadn't been holding her in place with his arm around her waist, she might have fallen off him into the water.
"You are mine," he repeated as she came. "I will look after you, and the child, and all will be well."
God help me, but I believe him, she thought, and she rested back against the wall of his body.