Feral Craving (20 page)

As he crossed the room toward her, she focused on him and
held out a hand. “Stop.” He kept advancing and her fear of what she had done
kicked into overdrive, caused her to move along the wall, a slight whimper
escaping her. “Stop … Bari … stop…”

His palm smacked into the wall at her back as he lowered
his height by leaning down and stuck his face right in hers, his eyes flashing
with something dark as he spoke on a low growl. “For all the years we have been
apart, we were together longer so do not make the mistake of assuming I never
cared. Do you ever, for just one moment, think I left in order
to
protect you? That maybe it’s me you
need protection from?” The timbre of his voice echoed around the small room
even though he kept his voice low, tight with control. Pushing off the wall, he
put distance between them as he spoke.

“You never let me make that decision for myself, Bari. How
could I tell you about Byron, what would you have said?” She leaned away from
the wall, her own anger causing her skin to heat. “Would it have even
mattered?” She was abraded by his mistrust, not that she didn’t understand the
difficulty it presented, but she wouldn’t have assumed the worse from him. Her
mind swirled over the idea that the shock had been so great that he reacted
involuntarily and now regretted it.

Raising her arms, she laced fingers behind her head and
paced around in the small confines of the cabin. “You don’t have to help me,
Bari. You don’t owe me, us, anything.” She dropped her hands and moved the few
feet it took to be in the kitchen.

She heard the audible breath draw in behind her and then
the shuffle of footsteps. They stopped directly behind where she stood. At the
sink, she stared out the wooden slats of the blinds, taking in a sightless
view, all the while her concentration centered on the man behind her.

“Mackenzie...” She stiffened at his voice, then turned and
held accusing eyes toward him.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

The pleading in his eyes just about undid her. She had to
be strong though, needed to protect her heart again. She bit and chewed her lip
and wondered just how much she needed to do this for him. For them. Steeling
herself, she took a step forward and held out her hand, her eyes glancing up to
his and pleading with him to take it.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

As Bari stared at her and heaved a sigh, he reached for her
hand and let out a deep breath. With a quick tug, he pulled her into his arms,
taking her petite frame within the shelter of his body. He shouldn’t want her
so much, but he was a damn fool to deny anything from her. Being out of sorts
with Mackenzie caused his stomach to turn, and bile threatened his throat. She
wrapped her hands around his waist and laid her head to his chest. He took
peace in the moment and solitude in the feel of her warm body pressed against
him.

The cottage was so quiet around them; the only sounds were
the air flowing in and out of their lungs, the wind brushing against the wooden
cabin, and the beat of her heart.

Without registering it immediately, her hands at the small
of his back began to roam and caress their way up. Her touch was almost
tentative, seeking, taking what she wanted without permission. He stared
straight ahead, willing himself not to react. On one level he was aware of what
she did, yet the other part of his mind screamed caution. Her hands though,
damn it, they felt so very nice. He wanted to be closer.

Running them up the middle of his back, she traced each
indentation of his spine, the muscles around it before sliding her hands slowly
along his shoulders and back down the sides. He couldn’t help but to close his
eyes and marvel in the differences between their bodies. She was so small, soft
and curvy. Sweet as warm honey against the hard planes of his body. As her
hands ended up where they had begun, this time when she started to explore
again, she decided to use her nails to trace the same lines. His body jumped
beneath the first feel of her nails before a breathy, strained moan left his
mouth of its own volition.

“Mackenzie…”

“Shhhhhh,” she whispered, becoming the comforter, instead
of the comforted. Her nails worked their way back down the sides of his back
before he tightened his grip on her waist, drawing her closer to his body.

“Mackenzie…” His voice was low and gravelly, enticing her
to continue as she pushed up on his shirt and led her hands to his skin
beneath. As they first touched, he hissed and his entire body jumped. Her palms
seared his skin. Her hands were soft on his body, an amazing difference between
his hardened muscles bunching and jumping under her ministrations.

Impatience knocked on his door with the need to see as well
as feel, and drawing back, she moved before he could and pushed the material of
his shirt up. Her eyes met his briefly before she drew the shirt over his head.
He helped her with the cloth and tossed it aside, but before he had the chance
to bring his arms back down from the movement, her eyes landed on his skin,
along with her hands. She touched his shoulders tentatively, her palms slowly
moving lower, her eyes tracking the same path. He groaned, unable to help
himself now as she worked her hands across his pecs. His head tilted back as
the overload of pleasure threatened to send him to his knees.

Her hands moved over his nipples, and each of the buds
tightened under her touch. He let her continue, couldn’t turn away even if his
life depended on it. It had been too long, and he had craved her touch for what
seemed like an eternity. This moment felt like coming home.

As her hands roamed lower, her palms jumped and danced over
each ripple of his abdomen. Her hands settled at his waist, their breathing
matching each other as the air punched in and out of their lungs. The movement
stopped there and at her hesitation, he cut his head down to her eyes before he
groaned her name, the sound coming out more like an exotic warning. She glanced
down and removed a hand from his waist, moving it directly over his insistent
erection before wrapping her small hand around the length. It jumped at the
same time he did, and his hands moved forward to slap against the counter,
keeping him from falling into her. He gripped it so tightly cracks formed in
the foundation and his hands turned white.

“Mackenzie,” he growled as he rotated his hips into her
palm. The thin cloth did nothing to deprive him of her touch, and as she ran
her hand down the length of him, his control snapped.

His hands gripped her hips and set her on the counter next
to the sink. Her gasp of surprise was captured as his mouth came down to hers,
delivering a hard, chaste kiss. A whisper of breath separated their lips as he
growled out his warning to her one more time.

“Mac … you’re playing with fire … tempting my beast. Be
absolutely sure before you take one more touch.” He gripped her hips and pulled
her tight to him, the counter’s height placing her core in direct contact with
his hardened length. He rolled his hips, the barrier of material so thin that
her heat encompassed him. Her head dropped back with a loud moan. Warmth
radiated between her legs, and he smelled her arousal. When her mouth opened,
two things happened at once.

Night bloomed, the sun dipping below the horizon, and like
a click in place the forest came alive and screamed of danger being set loose.
A rumble of footsteps started off in the distance, and he heard horses heave.

“We’re still being hunted, and they know where we are,
Mac.” He turned and heard Mackenzie jump off the counter behind him. He tossed
her now dry clothes at her and started pulling his on over what he had found
yesterday in the trunk. The flannel pants bunched beneath his jeans but after
layering the shirts, he knew the extra clothing would come in handy for the
cold weather waiting for them outside. He slid her shoes across the floor with
a gruff command to put them on. He stood and held out his hand, sending his
senses flaring around the cabin before he spoke.

“Let’s go.”

His palm landed against hers as he freed his senses to
evaluate the danger outside even as his mind struggled to assimilate what had
just happened between him and Mackenzie moments before. The acute hearing his
kind was blessed with picked up the snapping sound of fallen twigs and leaves
as the forest floor was disturbed by footfalls. Opening the door, he stepped
through it with Mackenzie pulling up to his side as they broke off in the
direction to the left, quietly but quickly. It took only seconds for his vision
to adjust to the dark night, the clouds muting out any moonlight that would
have shone down upon them. He murmured a curse as shuffling quickened behind
them. “Damn it to hell. They are following.” He jerked to a stop, Mackenzie’s
small frame snapping back by their joined hands as she emitted her own curse at
him.

“Why are you stopping then, Bari?” Anger flared in her eyes
along with trepidation at his abrupt halt.

He raised a hand to point up at the tree towering above
them. “Up. Now. It doesn’t sound like many, but we are being tracked. If it
comes down to it, we will need to fight and from what I can tell, it seems as
if they are split up. I would rather lessen their numbers than have them right
on our asses.” He watched Mackenzie scramble up the large birch and seat
herself on a limb before he climbed up to join her. “When they get just past
us, we will dismount and go on the offensive.” He set his hunting blade in her
hand and waited for her argument. When nothing came, he smiled softly, cupped
her face and leaned forward. He hated the fear sitting there, but he also saw
resolve and strength she pulled from somewhere deep inside.

Two large males formed out of the shadows along the trail
they had been tracking. They looked like normal humans, except Bari registered
the pulse of power coming from them. That power combined with the red glow of
their eyes and the pulsing patterns along their arms, yeah, sure, they looked
normal enough to pass for humans.

He waited for Mackenzie to gasp, give away their positions,
but all he heard was the shuffle of feet from below. Just as the demons passed
beneath the branch they perched upon, he vaulted himself to the ground behind
them. His feet barely touched the ground, hardly made a sound, but the demons
rounded on him with snarls. Their skin flashed and changed, then hardened, and
colors unlike anything human broke out like a rash along their bodies. Bari had
a moment’s spike in fear. Not for himself though.

Never for himself.

Pulling his SIG free from the harness strapped across his
shoulders, he swept into action. His right arm raised high, aimed and fired
with a triple tap. Two shots landed center mass and one more followed to the
head. The beast roared in agony before falling back to the ground with a ground
shaking thump.

The other demon raced forward and within seconds was upon
him. Bari’s SIG went flying across the ground as they both fell to the Earth.
Spittle and hot, putrid breath basked along his face, and he cringed, pushing
up on the massive body hovering over him. High above him, he saw Mackenzie
shift on the branch, and he willed her to stay put, pleaded with both his eyes
and his mind for her to obey. He had a hard enough time dodging the demon’s
fists, and he couldn’t possibly imagine trying to keep Mackenzie safe through
this struggle as well.

A silver glint fell to the ground, the blade sinking into
the Earth by his head, and he almost laughed. Two more inches to the right and
he would have been down an ear by the sharpness of the blade. He’d make sure to
talk to her about her aim later.

The thump distracted the demon long enough, and Bari
released his hold with one hand, knowing he’d only have seconds to act. He
reached for the hilt and raising it high in the air, Bari slammed it into the
back of the demon’s neck. He didn’t stop but instead continued the downward
stroke, slicing its back open to the point its bony vertebrae became visible.
With his left hand, he gripped the bone and yanked, severing the spinal cord
and causing the demon to collapse upon him.

With a grunt, Bari pushed the heavy bulk off of him and
rolled up to his side, resting a majority of his weight on his right elbow.
Something inside of him called to finish the battle. But what? He didn’t
understand the urge he had to purge these demons of the evil. His beast inside
knocked on his door, demanding to be set free.

Bari choked under the onslaught, something thick crawling
up his throat. It wasn’t physical but more so just a feeling.

The need to finish this, to free the trapped souls inside
these creatures came so hard, there was no chance in fighting it off. Voices
bombarded his mind, spirits of both good and evil natures calling for his help.
Bari turned and hunched over the second demon he’d taken down. His clenched
fists held him suspended above the body, now fully changed into a demon. No
evidence of a human existed at all.

Bari’s eyes watered, prickled with pain as he leaned
closer. The air from his lungs whooshed out, his ability to breathe
nonexistent. He felt as if he were suffocating and couldn’t breathe. He leaned
closer and as if a light switch clicked on, the ability to take in air suddenly
rushed up. He gasped for breath, but the inhale didn’t stop. Instead, Bari's
beast latched on to the evil soul inside the demon, and took in a long draw of
breath. With the relentless calls for aid, as each spirit released, he
shuddered as ecstasy centered over his body. The breath continued as if it went
on forever, and Bari knew the moment the soul came to him. Like tar, the oily
substance tainted his body in darkness.