Blood Rites

Jacque smiled up at him and leaned forward to gently kiss his lips. She whispered, “Mate, I trust you.”

A low growl rumbled from Fane as he gently pulled her into the suite. Jacque could smell flowers and when she looked down at the floor she knew why. There was a path of rose petals that lead into the suite. She had been in his room several times over the past two weeks. It was basically like a hotel suite, only very fancy.

It had a sitting room with a fireplace, which Jacque noticed had a blanket spread out in front of it with a basket full of food. The suite also had a small kitchen and dining area. As they followed the path of flower petals on the floor she found herself in awe of all the candles lit everywhere giving off a soft glow. Arriving at the room Jacque knew to be where Fane slept, she felt her stomach drop to her feet and her breathing increased.

Fane pushed the door open and the sight momentarily took Jacque's mind off her fears and took her breath away. There were candles of all different shapes and sizes around the room. There had to be 50 or more. The bed had been covered in a bedspread Jacque had never seen; it was a quilt with two wolves in the center. One larger than the other. The smaller wolf was tucked into the front of the chest of the larger wolf as he sheltered her. It was a beautiful quilt and it spoke volumes. As she looked around the room Fane stepped away from her. She watched him take a basin of water that was on a warming plate and place it on the bedside table. Next to it he placed several towels. He must have felt her confusion because he turned and grinned at her. “It’s to clean the bite marks, love, that’s all.” Jacque felt heat rush up her neck and face as he had picked up on her thoughts.

She sat down on the bed and looked up at Fane, surprised by her own confidence as she stared into his beautiful eyes. "So how does this work?”

"You will need to remove the dress, love." Fane told her, eyes twinkling wickedly. Then he added, "If you want you can go into the bathroom and there is a robe for you."

She grinned at him. "You're bad, you know that? Trying to scare an innocent girl, you ought to be ashamed."

Fane grabbed her hand and kissed it before she could walk away. "I should be, but I'm not." Jacque felt Fane's eyes on her as she retreated into the bathroom to change.

A few minutes later she stepped out in a plush white robe that came to her knees. With her head bowed, eyes hooded by her eyelids, she couldn't help but feel vulnerable knowing there was nothing under the robe. But she reminded herself again, as she had a hundred times while in the bathroom, Fane was her husband and her mate. She heard the intake of Fane's breath and she finally looked up. His jaw had dropped, his eyes wide as he took her in from head to toe and back again. Jacque had never felt more beautiful.

"You have never been more beautiful, love." She heard Fane's words and even in her mind they sounded breathless.

He took a deep breath and ran both his hands through his hair. Jacque could feel how restless he was and how desperate he was to complete the blood rites, but he was trying to be gentle with her.

She walked over to him and took his arms, pulling them around her waist to encircle her. She didn't know what to do so she just let instinct take over. She looked up into his eyes with all the trust in the world. She tilted her head and exposed her neck to him. She saw his eyes glow brighter and heard a low growl. “You are sure you are ready?” Fane asked her, his voice rough with emotion.

“Fane, I trust you.”

She felt him pull her closer, and then his hand came up and pulled the robe gently until her neck and shoulder were exposed. His fingers traced the mating marks on her back, no longer marred from the claw marks, completely healed and whole. Small chill bumps erupted all over Jacque's skin and she shuddered under his touch. He cradled the nape of her neck and Jacque felt him place his nose against her skin and heard him breathe in deep. She heard a rumble from his chest. She tensed briefly and then relaxed as she felt his lips on her skin. He gave her gentle kisses from her chin to her shoulder then back up to her neck just below her ear. Jacque felt his lips part and a stroke of his tongue, then she heard a deep growl just as a sharp pain pierced her neck, then it was gone. She could still feel Fane’s mouth on her, but where she first felt pain she now felt pleasure. It was making her stomach do weird things. She felt herself pushing against Fane’s body and heard soft moaning. A moment later she realized the moaning was coming from her. She should've been embarrassed but she couldn't bring herself to feel that when this was her mate, the other half of her soul who held her.

Then Fane was pulling away. She wrapped her arms around his neck. desperate to pull him back, but Fane was stronger and continued to pull back until he could see her face. Jacque saw the tears that ran down his cheeks and felt the intensity of his stare into her heart. The look changed abruptly to concern as he looked at her neck. He reached for one of the towels he had laid out and dipped it in the warm water, squeezed out the excess, and brought it to her neck to clean away the blood. She couldn’t help the wince that crossed her face as the water touched the wound. Fane gently turned her face to his. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. I mean, it hurt for a moment but then...” Jacque didn’t know if she could even put into words how it had felt once the pain had subsided.

“Then what, my love?” he asked.

Did he not know? Could he not hear her moans and feel the emotions rolling off of her? Fane stepped closer, his body brushing up against hers. “I felt your desire,” he whispered. “I heard you, my love. I just want to hear you say it. You so often avoid this topic altogether I was beginning to think maybe you weren’t attracted to me.”

Jacque let out a breathless laugh. “Liar,” she teased him.

“After the initial pain, it felt good. No, it felt freaking awesome.” Fane chuckled at his mate, but Jacque continued on undaunted. “I have always desired you, Fane. I’ve just never been comfortable talking about it. But rest assured after feeling your mouth do that on my skin,” Jacque shuddered at the memory, “I without a doubt desire you, wolf-man.”

Fane decided not to torture her any more with questions about her physical affections for him. Instead he reminded her that the blood rite still wasn’t complete. “Are you ready, Luna?”

Jacque took his hand and led him over to the bed. She pushed him down to sit on the edge. With him sitting and her standing, her face was level with his neck. Jacque watched as Fane undid the buttons on his white dress shirt until they were all open and then shrugged the shirt off. She looked at him and although she had already done this twice, this time it felt different, more intimate. Fane turned and exposed his neck as she had done for him. Something deep inside Jacque stirred at the sight of the bared neck. She felt a desire to mark it, claim it, to claim him. She leaned towards Fane and placed her arm around his strong shoulders. She kissed his cheek and down his jaw to his neck just as he had done. She kissed him down to where his neck met his shoulder. At that point instinct took over, the wolf blood in Jacque came forward to claim their mate. Once again, as she had felt the first two times she took Fane's blood, Jacque felt her teeth lengthen just a little and when she ran her tongue across them she realized they felt much sharper. Before she could stop to think about it she opened her mouth and sunk her teeth deep into Fane’s flesh. She heard a groan coming from Fane’s chest and then the low growl she had become accustomed to. Fane wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Jacque closed her eyes as she tasted Fane's blood. She felt something, like her very soul was being knitted into Fane's. The bond, she thought, the bond was complete.