CHAPTER FIVE
“I’d like you to come with me today,” Aydarr said at breakfast the next morning.
Surprised, Jill blinked. “Of course, if the Khagrish will let me.”
“I’m going to insist. They don’t want to upset me this close to a combat deployment, which gives me a bit of leverage.”
“Navigating life here seems to be a constant negotiation,” she said.
“Until the point where the Khagrish have made a final decision, then there’s no more room to maneuver.” Aydarr straightened. “But that time is not yet.”
Sure enough, when the guards showed up to take Aydarr from the cell, their squad leader yielded fairly easily to the Alpha’s demand for his mate to accompany him.
“Where are we going?” Jill whispered as they walked through a part of the complex new to her, surrounded by the guards.
“You’ll see.” He squeezed her hand.
A few minutes later, Jill stepped through an open portal into a room filled with Badari boys, of both the feline and the canine influenced DNA lines, as well as some that must represent the reptilian-influenced Tzibir. She had yet to meet a Tzibir adult, but the boys had oddly shaped heads, no visible body hair and a hint of scales. At first she couldn’t sort out what she was facing, but as she stood next to Aydarr, watching the boys, she realized the teenagers must be ready to move into a pack soon. There were also about ten each who were probably five years younger, then a set who seemed to be about five years old. As with the adults, there was less resemblance between the cubs than she’d expected. Another topic to ask Aydarr about later, adding to her mountainous list of questions about the Khagrish experiments and how the Badari came to be. The boys stared at her with amazement, eyeing the way she stood close to Aydarr and held his hand.
“Generations nine, ten and eleven,” Aydarr murmured. “There is, as yet, no twelve.”
It broke her heart to think of the future awaiting these boys under the Khagrish.
The door opened and Aydarr moved aside to allow Jamokan and his guards to enter, followed closely by a male who had to be the Tzibir alpha, also ringed by watchful warders.
A Khagrish male emerged from an office across the room and strode purposefully to where the alphas and Jill stood. “I wasn’t expecting the human female.” He glared at her. “For what purpose has she been introduced into the leave-taking protocol?”
“She’s my mate and, as such, a key member of my pack.” Aydarr’s voice was harsh. “The cubs and cadets need to swear their loyalty to her as they have to me.”
“Your line only,” the Tzibir said. “Mine have nothing to do with her.”
“What harm can it do if the kids all meet me?” Jill asked, thinking it might be useful in the future to have a connection with this collection of prisoners as well. “They’ve obviously already seen me standing here.”
The Khagrish rubbed his chin. “An interesting variable. All right, 801, you may present your mate to the assembled young, then you and the woman will meet separately as usual with those of your own DNA line.”
“Agreed.” Before anyone could change their minds, Aydarr stepped forward, closer to the young, Jill matching him step for step. “This is my mate, Jill Garrison, a human of the Sectors.”
“I’m pleased to meet all of you,” she said, looking from face to face. “Although regretful at the circumstances, all of us being prisoners of the Khagrish. I’d be happy to answer any questions I can without jeopardizing the safety of my people.”
There was silence. A husky male with the unmistakable air of an alpha raised one hand and, without waiting for permission, said, “Will there be other mates provided? How does one qualify for a mate?”
“Any such decision is up to us,” the Khagrish supervisor said, intervening rapidly in a conversation he appeared to find uncomfortable. “Depending on the outcome of this situation, we’ll evaluate the necessity and efficacy of creating bonded pairs. Details have not been worked out. This situation is an outlier, done at the customer’s request. Enough discussion, get on with the ritual.”
Aydarr led Jill to a side door, the cubs and cadets of his line marching with varying degrees of military precision behind them. The portal opened onto a side yard, which Jill guessed was fenced in with invisible force fields like the Preserve. He walked to a bench at the far end of the space and waited for her to sit before seating himself.
The children arranged themselves in a semi-circle, youngest to eldest, and sat cross-legged on the grass. Jamokan and the Tzibir were similarly surrounded by their DNA line’s young, moving to a different corner of the yard. A fourth corner held a bench but no pack. Startled, Jill wondered if some other strain of Badari had been terminated, experiment failed. A shiver spiraled down her spine.
“The pack and I leave on a mission tomorrow,” Aydarr said, addressing the cubs and cadets. “It’s unknown how long we’ll be gone this time.”
“Will she go with you?” asked one of the younger boys, pointing at Jill.
“No, although she was a soldier in the Sectors and certainly could hold her own in combat.”
“But the Khagrish don’t know my resume or what I can do,” Jill said as all eyes turned to her. Why was Aydarr giving out important information freely today? “So I need you to keep my secret.”
She saw all the cadets nodding. Apparently, the concept of secret keeping wasn’t new to them.
“As my mate, Jill wields her own pack authority, so while I’m gone I expect you to obey any order from her you might receive. If there’s a problem here, in the Development Unit, requiring Pack intervention ask for Jill. Demand the Khagrish bring her to you.” Aydarr leaned forward, face serious. “For the first time ever, I’ll leave this place feeling you’re properly watched over, because of my mate.”
“What if the Khagrish refuse to bring her to us?” It was the young alpha.
“They don’t know what to do with the situation,” Jill said. “Use that uncertainty on their part. Demand your right to see me, as Aydarr’s stand-in, if there’s an issue or problem you would have needed him to resolve.”
“I can’t talk to her,” said the smallest cub, his face sad.
One of the others clapped his hand over the boy’s mouth. “We don’t discuss our link, ever. Remember the rules.”
Jill left the bench and approached the child who’d spoken. The other cubs and cadets scattered to make way for her. The teenaged alpha stubbornly blocked her path until a growl from Aydarr made him lower his eyes and step aside. Reaching the cub, Jill sank to the ground and put her arm around him. Speaking close to his ear, she said, “I’m not Badari by birth, so no, there are things you can do that I can’t do, like talk to each in, uh, certain ways.”
Aydarr nodded his approval of her circumlocution on their telepathy.
She raised her voice to address the others. “But I’m proud to be a pack member by adoption and honored to meet all of you today.”
“Tell my mate your names and swear your loyalty to her,” Aydarr ordered, “Before the Khagrish grow impatient and end our session.” He pointed at the boy Jill was hugging. “Bilmar, you first.”
Bilmar pulled away from her, rising to his feet and placing his right hand over his heart, tiny talons making an appearance. “I, Bilmar of Generation 11, pledge my loyalty to Jill, mate of Aydarr, and I will defend her with my life.”
The boy was so earnest . Jill blinked away tears, sad to see such a young child taking on the mantle of a warrior two decades his elder. The rapid ceremony continued, until only the teenaged alpha was left. He stood silent, rocking on his heels, frowning as he glanced from Aydarr to Jill.
“I will hear your oath, Vattan.” Aydarr rose to his feet, talons and fangs manifesting.
Jill and the children moved aside as the younger alpha walked to where Aydarr waited.
Is this kid out of his mind? He can’t take Aydarr. She was astounded.
“I am the alpha of this pack,” Vattan said, gesturing at the young behind him. “We don’t need your bedmate to think she can interfere. I don’t report to her.”
Moving so fast that Jill could only blink, Aydarr had the boy pinned on his back. “I am the Alpha for the entire pack, including the cubs and cadets, which is a responsibility I won by rite of combat. Until you can defeat me, best you not insult my mate or question my decisions.” His fangs and talons were prominent.
Mouth set in a stubborn line, Vattan glared at Aydarr for a tense moment before raising his chin to expose his neck. “I submit.”
Aydarr waited an extra heartbeat before allowing Vattan to regain his feet. “It’s true you watch over the young on a day to day basis, since the Khagrish don’t allow us to be housed together, but never forget—any of you—who is the rightful alpha of this pack.”
Brushing himself off, Vattan moved away. “My day will come, just as yours did.” His face was set in sullen lines. “Until then, I pledge my loyalty to you and your mate.”
A buzzer sounded from the direction of the building. “Our time is over,” Aydarr said. He held out his hand to Jill. “We must go.”
She was bursting with questions, but she accompanied him to the pack cell without speaking. When they reached the common room, the rest of the band was missing.
“Training.” Unconcerned, Aydarr shrugged off the pack’s absence. “I’ll be escorted to join them soon, I’m sure. Best you stay here today. All the warriors will be on edge and the Khagrish as well.”
“What was all the fuss about? Why did the kid challenge you? He had to know he didn’t have a chance of winning.”
“Vattan is ambitious, and the Khagrish fill his head with promises. The scientists think he’d be a more tractable alpha than I am, easier to work with. I tend to put as many obstacles in their way as I can, argue over their plans.” Aydarr’s grin was cocky. Grabbing a water bottle, he walked toward the alcove. “Sit with me until I’m summoned?”
“Of course.” Happy to join him, she snuggled against his side on their bed. “I didn’t see any of the others rushing to join Vattan’s incipient revolt.”
“No, he has no rising enforcers loyal to him.”
“Whereas you have Mateer and Reede.”
Aydarr nodded, running his hand up and down her arm in a lazy caress. “The three of us were bonded practically from birth. Brothers.”
“Could any of the three of you become alpha? Or was the position destined for you to take?”
“Being alpha isn’t something a man can choose. It’s woven into his DNA. My makeup, for whatever reason, makes me dominant to any other Badari now alive. And every Badari knows it. Vattan understands this.”
“Even Jamokan and the Tzibir alpha?”
“Theoretically we three alphas should be equals, which makes all of us edgy and unhappy, but we’re not pitted against each other. Not physically, at any rate. The Khagrish try to play mind games with us, create rifts. And, of course, the ultimate competition is to be the DNA line the customer picks to survive. I run my pack under the Khagrish yoke, and the other two do the same with their men.”
Throat dry, she forced out her next question. “Do the Khagrish experiment on the children?”
“To some extent, but primarily the cubs are raised with a firm hand, brought up to be soldiers. That’s been the emphasis for the past few generations anyway. Memory speaks of horrors in the earlier days of the program.”
She shivered. “Don’t go there. I don’t need to know.”
“Now the Khagrish running the program today seem to understand it’s more ‘optimal’, as the scientists might say, to have trainers and teachers who employ firm discipline, not cruel or depraved techniques. The Khagrish cull the cubs and cadets along the way, as the generation cohort grows up. The weaker individuals are removed from the training area and never seen again.”
“Killed?” Tears filled her eyes at the idea of children like Bilmar meeting such a grim fate. Her hatred for the Khagrish, the Chimmer, and ultimately the Mawreg burned hot.
“We don’t know, Jill. We always assumed the worst.” He leaned his head against the wall. “Mateer, Reede and I had to work hard to keep Timtur from being culled. He was weak and slow as a cub, so we covered for him, and eventually he caught up in physical development. He showed an aptitude as a medic so the Khagrish were intrigued and gave him specialized training. But there were two others we couldn’t save.”
“We’ve got to put an end to this hellish program, destroy these bastards,” she said.
Aydarr lifted her fisted hand to his lips and kissed it. “First we have to escape.”
Jill stayed in the cell the next day. The guards made it clear they didn’t care what she did, and Aydarr had asked her not to accompany them. “It’ll be all business, focused on the battle plans. I need my pack to avoid distractions.” He said it with a smile which went a long way toward allaying her annoyance.
She tried for a light tone. “Like me outplaying them on the ball court?”
“Indeed, your abilities there were an amazement to them. A good reminder not to underestimate the smaller, nimble opponent. I think Dr. Sheyall is looking out for you, for now, so I’m not too worried about you being here alone.” Holding her closely, he added, “And, if I must tell the truth, you distract me from everything, mate.”
So she stood on the black line for headcount then watched the pack march away under the usual heavy guard. One guard lingered, digging a handheld from his pocket. “Dr. Sheyall issued you this.”
Jill stepped to the still open portal and accepted the handheld. It was smaller than the ones the pack had been given, but it was better than nothing. “Please thank the doctor for me.”
“You’re to be careful with it,” he said, motioning her to step inside the cell.
“Of course. I will—thank you.”
So excited she was practically shaking, Jill sat at the table and activated the device. It was mostly loaded with the pretty visual displays but, as the day wore on, she was able to bypass all of that and hack into the first layer of the lab’s AI network. She wasn’t far enough in to take any action, but she stayed on the fringes and watched, studying the data patterns. Haven’t the Khagrish ever heard of hacking? There seemed to be no network security, but the absence of obvious safeguards made her wary.
As she heard the approaching footsteps of the pack returning for the evening, she flicked the off button on the device and slid it into her pocket. Rising to greet Aydarr and the others, she halted in midstep as the guard detained Aydarr outside the cell then gestured to her, issuing a stern command as he did so. “You, come with me.”
“But I need to remain with my men—it’s the night before we ship out, and there’s more work to be done on mission planning,” Aydarr said as Jill slipped out of the cell to stand beside him. His jaw clenched and a muscle jumped in his cheek.
“Tough. Dr. Sheyall gave special orders for tonight.”
A squad of guards formed up in a square with the prisoners in the middle, and Jill took Aydarr’s hand as they were escorted away from the cell. What had the young scientist done? What was going to happen to her and the Badari alpha? Uncertainty made her tense, her adrenaline rising as if she was going into combat. Aydarr squeezed her fingers in silent reassurance. At least the two of them were together. The walk was long and took her into unfamiliar territory. Aydarr was silent, walking beside her.
Eventually, the procession stopped in front of a locked door, which the guard swung open for them. “Inside.” He gave Aydarr a push in the back, knocking him into Jill, and only the alpha’s superb co-ordination and balance kept them from falling as the door slammed behind them.
Mouth open in shock, Jill took in their new accommodations. The cell was smaller than the one the pack occupied but large enough to contain a generous bed, shoved crookedly against the wall. A table and chairs sat off to one side and covered plates waited. Beyond the table was an alcove with the bathroom facilities, including a shower.
“This is my fault.”
Aydarr swung back to her, his face set in a frown. “Why do you say that?”
“Dr. Sheyall gave me a hard time yesterday about why I wasn’t breeding yet, as she put it, and I reminded her they had us in a cell with ten other guys and no privacy. I never expected her to give us our own space.” Jill rested her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I know you should be with the pack, not alone with me. The idea she’d change the arrangements didn’t even cross my mind.”
He took a deep breath. “What’s done can’t be undone. “
“Do you think the Khagrish have vids in here?” Jill walked the perimeter of the room, scanning the walls. “I’m not seeing anything. She knows how I feel about privacy obviously so maybe the room is unmonitored, after all.”
“We should eat.” He gestured toward the table.
“All right.” Jill joined him, and they took turns uncovering the dishes. “Wow, Dr. Sheyall made the cook work for us tonight. Real food. Do you suppose the pack is getting better rations too? Is it a night before the raid ritual?”
“No.” He sniffed the barely cooked meat and took a bite from a hunk of bread. “Passable.”
Jill leaned close as they shared the food onto empty plates and began eating. She whispered in his ear, toying with the fastening of his jumpsuit flirtatiously in case she was being watched. “Can you talk to Mateer maybe? Let him know we’re ok? Tell him whatever you need to tell him?”
“I am,” he replied.
“Oh, all right then.” She fell silent, since he seemed distracted, and concentrated on the unusual meal. Anything was better than the gruel and slop they were normally fed. This food was actually palatable.
“I apologize,” he said a few moments later. “Now my attention is all yours. I’m not sorry to have time alone with you, you know.”
Tongue tied, Jill realized this was the first time she’d been completely alone with Aydarr since the two of them battled the creature in the pit, which hardly counted. They’d been busy trying to stay alive.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked.
“Thinking about us fighting the monster in the pit. Do you realize that was the only time since I arrived there weren’t other people in close proximity?”
“Although Mateer joined us in the pit.”
“Not a moment too soon.” She shuddered. “I was so grateful to you and him.”
“I never thought I’d have reason to be grateful to the Khagrish for anything, but it has been amazing to have you as my partner. As my friend.” He reached to take her hand, twining his fingers with hers and studying their hands, his so huge that hers was almost lost in his gentle grip. “No matter what happens, I could never regret knowing this closeness with you.”
“Don’t talk as if tonight is the end,” she said in instinctive protest. “You’ll be back. Your pack comes back safe every time, right?”
“We’re tough, and we’ll do our best. Even if we do return safely, the Khagrish will change the situation. They’re capricious and cruel. Especially if the Chimmer force the issue of ending the experiment and selecting only one pack to survive.” He raised his gaze to her face. “I’m going to be desperate with worry for you the whole time I’m gone. I’ll pray to the Great Mother to keep you safe.”
She rose from the chair and sat in his lap, twining her arms around his neck, laying her head on his broad shoulder, breathing in his scent. “I’ll be the same, thinking about you.” The pressure of his unmistakable arousal increased against her bottom. When he’s taken away from me tomorrow, I don’t want any regrets about missed opportunities. Raising her head, she pressed a kiss on his lips.
After his first instinctive startle, Aydarr tilted his head to find the proper angle and kissed her back. Jill licked the seam of his lips and he gave her entry, his tongue warm and sensuous against hers. They were both out of breath when the kiss ended.
“Come to bed with me?” she said. “We can’t let this chance go to waste.”
He glanced at the walls of the cell. “Even if the scientists might be watching? Are you sure?”
“They can go to the seven hells and burn. I want you. I’ll take the risk of Khagrish voyeurs.” Incredibly aroused, she felt reckless, the desire to be intimate with Aydarr not to be denied. Sliding from his lap, she stepped away and unfastened her jumpsuit, taking care to step out of it and the ugly white underwear together so he wouldn’t glimpse them. A girl has her pride.
Aydarr stared at her, his glowing eyes hot and hungry.
I probably should have done more of a striptease, but that’s not me. A bit self-conscious under his scrutiny, she covered her breasts with one hand. “I miss the pink nightie. Much sexier than this.” She kicked the one-piece garment.
“You’re beautiful.” He rose from his chair. “I would be greatly honored if you would consent to be my mate in truth tonight. It’s what I’ve wanted since the first night in the cave.”
“Even though mating is what the Khagrish intend for us to do?”
“I wouldn’t be doing anything for them.” He picked her up and carried her to the bed. “This is about you and me.”
Once he’d deposited her on the lumpy mattress, he stripped. Jill swallowed hard as his muscular chest and sculpted abs came into view. Then the garment was off, and he stood in his underwear, his engorged cock pressing against the fabric in an impressive bulge of need and desire. She moved to the end of the bed and ran her hands over his body to his hips, where she slid one hand under the waistband of the briefs, to grasp his erection and stroke it, before she moved lower, fondling his heavy sac and kneading gently. Aydarr’s hips bucked in response to her touch, and he reached out to cup her breast, teasing the nipple.
Smiling, Jill pulled his underwear down, admiring his large, thick cock as it jutted free, ready for her. Oh yeah, I’ve had fantasies about this. Reality exceeded the fantasies and she was delighted to observe that his arousal included ridges on his shaft she could already imagine stimulating her innermost nerve endings to amazingly erotic effect. Pulling him closer, she put her lips on the plum-shaped head then swirled her tongue across the surface and the ridges below, enjoying the taste of him.
Aydarr’s hips bucked and he threaded his fingers through her hair, encouraging her to continue. “Always you surprise me, mate, in the best possible ways.”
She made a humming sound to show agreement but continued her pleasurable activity. After tormenting him with her teasing caresses, she yielded to his request to grant him time to explore her body. As she moved further onto the mattress he kicked off the briefs and came onto the bed. Lying beside her, running his hand over her body, he took time to squeeze and fondle each breast in turn and play with the pebbled nipples, before cupping her mound with his immense hand. “I like your curls,” he said.
“I like everything about your body.” She grinned.
His face grew troubled, eyes full of emotion and he moved his hand, caressing her abdomen with his touch, before resting his palm on her hip. “Jill, would you wish to bring a child into this world?”
“What do you mean? Someday maybe, certainly not right now, not into this hellhole of a lab.”
He nodded. “I agree. Perhaps we should not allow ourselves this pleasure tonight. I don’t know if Badari and humans can even have children together, but to take such a risk—”
“I’m protected. I had an inject last year, so no need to worry.” She caressed his cheek with her hand. “But I appreciate your concern.”
Leaning over, he kissed her lips tenderly then worked his way to her breasts, taking the tip of one into his mouth to be savored while he played with the other. She threaded her fingers in his hair and enjoyed the heavy silken feel of it while she held him close.
Allowing his hand to drift across her stomach then lower, he probed her folds gently with one finger. She shifted her hips and made a happy murmuring sound of encouragement.
“You are ready for me, yes?” he said, raising his head.
“Oh yes.” She tried to pull him over her and situate his gratifyingly giant arousal where she wanted it to be. “Just…go slow, all right? I have to get used to the size of you.”
“I’d die before I’d hurt you.” Cautiously, he came on top of her, keeping his weight on his forearms, positioning himself with one hand. The tip of his cock slid inside her, and he stilled.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never felt anything like this—so hot and wet and tight.” He took a deep breath and pushed further, as she grabbed at the sheets as her channel stretched to accommodate him.
“Because I want you so badly,” she said, stroking her hand across his back and kneading his amazing butt. “You’re making me crazy,” she gasped out as he slowly thrust and retreated, only to advance again. His girth was already impressive and the ridges on his heavy cock stimulated the nerve endings exactly the way she’d hoped, enhancing her pleasure with his slightest movement Her core was broadcasting so much pleasure to the rest of her body she could hardly stand it. Jill angled her body to draw him deep, and Aydarr pumped harder in response.
She felt him go over the edge of his release and let herself follow right after, so they lay locked together, savoring the intense sensations then the flickers of pleasure as her body relaxed into sensuous satisfaction.
He rose on his elbows, staring into her face with a fierce smile. “Mate.”
“Yes?” Languidly she caressed him, satiated by the incredible orgasm she’d just experienced, enjoying the pleasure-giving ridges of his semi-erect cock seated deep in her body.
“If we do this again tonight, may I have permission to claim you fully?”
She raised her eyebrows, laughing. “If? If? You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you out of this bed before dawn. There are a lot of things we have yet to explore.”
“But you acknowledge me as your mate?”
“I thought we already settled that issue.” Tenderly, she smoothed his hair off his face, luxuriating in the heavy silk of the strands, very like a mane. “Besides—” She wriggled her hips, grinning as he surged in response, hardening again. “I’m not sure how much more fully we could manage, although practice does tend to make perfect. I’m pretty satisfied with what you bring to the dance.”
He shook his head. “I can’t explain it—I know there’s something I’m driven with desire to do.”
“More ancestral memory at work?”
“Or the DNA spliced into mine.” He closed his eyes and frowned. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said hastily, saddened to see him closing up emotionally after the beautiful intimacy of what they’d shared. “You know I accept you as the whole person you are. It’s all you, my mate. Anything we do by mutual consent makes us stronger, more united. What is it?”
He opened his mouth and the fangs extended. Rather than alarming her, she was fascinated whenever he did it, appreciating the fact her lover could and would literally protect her with tooth and claw. He was magnificent, ferocious and yet tender. “I want to mark you, so that all would know you were my mate, claimed. But I need to do this in a particular way.”
“I get to bite you too, then,” she said, swallowing hard as she considered the request and found herself curiously excited. “Fair’s fair.”
Aydarr laughed and hugged her against him. “Truly, you’re one in a million, and I’m glad you’re mine.” He withdrew from her body, soothing her immediate protest with murmured endearments and tiny caresses, then urged her to roll over and brace her body on her knees and elbows, her hips elevated. He knelt behind her and guided himself into her channel from behind. She pushed back, matching him move for move, enjoying the sensations from this position, heightened as Aydarr reached down to massage the most sensitive bud of tissue and increase her response even more. He was driving into her with such force his heavy balls slapped against her in an erotic rhythm and she felt as if she was caught in a storm of passion, completely his, yet knowing by allowing him this dominance, he was hers to command in other ways.
The climax built and built inside her until she was clenching her fists on the sheets to hold her position against the tremors of smaller orgasms. Aydarr gave one final thrust, setting off the final crescendo of passion. At the same moment she was utterly lost in the pleasure, he placed his mouth on the tender spot where her neck met her shoulders. There was pressure but no pain as he made his claiming mark. The act drove them to a second climax that left them both shuddering and weak with pleasure.
She collapsed on the mattress, his semi erect cock slipping from her body as Aydarr pulled her close to spoon protectively around her, his warmth and scent seeping into every pore of her body. “Mine,” he said, kissing the spot where he’d made his claim. “And I am yours.”
“I have to bite you first,” she said.
“You would remember that.” He laughed and rolled onto his back, lifting his chin and baring his neck. “I submit to you, mate.”
Feeling slightly ridiculous, she leaned in and placed her lips on his heated skin, clamping down with her teeth as he held still for her. As she applied pressure slowly, she tasted the faintest hint of spice, warm and exotic on her tongue. Hastily released her hold, licking and kissing the spot before sitting up with her hand covering her lips, Jill was amazed at her daring. She felt wild and uninhibited. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
He touched the spot with a fingertip. “Healed already.”
“But bruised.”
“Sexy as hell,” he said, pulling her to him. “I’m proud to wear your mark.”