Fever (Blood Moon Rising, #1) (10 page)

“
I thought you said they
couldn’t cross moving water,” she said, starting to
stand.

“
They can’t,” he said,
standing with her, looking puzzled. “Something’s moving with
them.”

With a yell, Gage forced his way
through the mass of wraiths, crashing into the water.

“
Nik!” Danica yelled, but
he was already diving into the river. She watched him swim after
Gage’s lifeless body, grabbing hold of it and pulling him back to
the shoreline. She ran to them, sinking to her knees beside Gage.
His clothing was shredded, as was his skin. It was so covered in
blood, she couldn’t tell where the cuts were.

“
Gage!” She grasped his
face, turning it toward her. “Open your eyes!”

An unintelligible mumble came from his
mouth as his lids slowly fluttered open. “Is she safe… please tell
me she’s safe…?”

“
I’m right here,” Danica
said, grabbing his hand and cupping it against her cheek. “You
scared the hell out of me.”

“
You scared the hell out of
us both,” Nik said, rocking back on his heels. He ran a hand over
his face. “You look like shit, man.”

Gage groaned and started to sit
up.

“
Don’t!” Danica placed both
hands at his shoulders, trying to force him back down. “You’ll hurt
yourself! We need to get you to a hospital!”

“
There’s no need, love,”
Gage rasped with a chuckle. “I just need to lie still for a while.
My wounds will heal.”

“
How?”

“
Werewolves heal fast.
Other than silver, about the only thing that can really kill us is
a vampire bite.” He shuddered. “Or being torn apart by
wraiths.”

“
Good to know.” Danica sat
back and sighed hard. Without her permission, she started crying
all over again.

Gage frowned, starting to speak. Nik
stood and looked around, cutting him off. “We’re close to Swallow’s
Peak. The cave there should provide some refuge from other
predators until you’re well enough to move.”

“
I know,” Gage said, never
taking his eyes off Danica. “I’ll get us there.”

“
It’s you I’m worried
about,” Nik said in a low voice.

“
I’ll be fine. We need to
get in touch with the others, find out how many were injured or
killed.”

“
I’ll run recon and go for
help, see if Penelope’s around.”

He started to leave when Gage caught
his wrist. “Thank you.”

Nik smiled and nodded.
“Anytime.”

Changing into a black wolf, he took
off like a shadow, disappearing into the darkness hiding amongst
the trees.

All the while, Danica
couldn’t stop crying.
Damn these
tears!

“
Hey,” Gage said, wiping
them away with his thumb. “What’s the matter?”

“
Whats… the matter?” she
said, hiccuping. “You… almost died….”

He pulled her to him, rocking her back
and forth. “It’s all right. I’m safe. We’re both fine.”

She pressed her ear against his chest.
She felt a sudden urge to hear his heartbeat, to assure herself he
was still alive. “Why did you do that?”

“
I couldn’t let them hurt
you. I needed to distract them.”

She cried into his shoulder, the shock
of nearly dying wearing off after several minutes. The wraiths
swarmed along the opposite shore, seeming agitated they couldn’t
cross.

Gage wobbled to his feet, Danica
hovering close in case he stumbled. Jaw set, he forced his spine to
straighten, pride radiating from his face. “River or not, we should
seek shelter. Other things take to the woods at night.”

Danica gulped. “Like what other
things?”

“
Faeries, for
one.”

She snorted. “What could be so bad
about Tinker Bell?”

“
Think wraiths - only ten
times worse.”

“
Oh.” That just blew her
cute Disney version completely out of the water.

Looping her arm under his shoulder, she
said, “Where to?”

Chapter 10

He was dying, or at least he sure as
hell felt like it. By the time they reached the cave, most of the
lacerations had healed, a process which left him feeling exhausted.
Worry locked his jaw. Several times along the way he’d tried
telepathically communicating with his pack, only to find silence.
Even Nik hadn’t answered him, meaning he was either too far away or
was too busy to afford distractions. Gage refused to believe he
could be dead. Nik was tough as nails. No way in hell the fierce
wolf could succumb to something so vile as wraiths.

The cave wasn’t very deep, but it was
secluded. Seclusion equaled safety; that much brought comfort to
Gage, as if would mean keeping Danica protected from the dangers of
the woods. She had no idea what the night could be capable of, of
the abominations that lurked there, waiting for something innocent
like her.

After laying him on the stone floor,
Danica collapsed beside him, her shoulders heaving with heavy
breaths. Her earlier hysteria had subdued, though Gage hadn’t
stopped watching her the entire time. He was going to need a
vacation after his Blood Moon set. Maybe, if she agreed to be his
mate, he would whisk them away to a foreign country, something not
quite so “on the map” and riddled with tourists. Peace sounded
awfully nice about now.

Pain shot through his side as a sharp
rock poked him between the ribs, right in one of his healing
wounds. Gage buried his groan, not wanting to worry his mate
further. She’d been through so much already, and she wasn’t even a
full werewolf yet. The amount of control she’d shown as a newcomer
to their world was nothing short of astounding. With all the care
of touching a baby animal, he reached over and lifted her hair from
her face, brushing the long blonde locks behind her shoulder. “How
are you feeling?”

She laughed. “How am I feeling?
Seriously? You’re the one who’s been mauled by ghost
piranhas.”

“
Ghost what?”

“
Er, nothing.” She did that
cute thing where she took her bottom lip between her teeth,
shooting a protective surge through him.

His gaze softened. “I heard you
screaming my name back there.”

She swallowed hard. “I just didn’t
want anything to happen to you. It scared me, thinking I’d lose
you. You’re the first decent person I’ve met in a
while.”

He wondered how anyone could be cruel
to his angel, and his hand clenched into a fist. He would destroy
anyone who tried to hurt her.

She rubbed her arms, which had broken
out into goose bumps. “When do you think Nik will be
back?”

“
I don’t know. We could be
here for a while, depending on if he gets held up and when he can
find help.” Gage prayed that was sooner rather than later. Not that
he minded spending time alone with Danica, but spending the night
in the cave wasn’t his definition of a romantic evening. And a girl
like Danica needed romance.

“
What made you
stay?”

“
Excuse me?”

“
With me,” he added
softly.

She paused, staring out over the trees
in the valley below the bluff. Her legs were drawn up to her chest,
and she had her arms wrapped around them. “You’re the first person
in a while who’s wanted me around.” She laughed. “Guess you can say
I’m a bit of a lone wolf.”

He smiled, but it was abruptly weighed
down by guilt when she spoke. “Besides,” she said, “I’m Marked now.
You said there was no taking it back. The Change is coming whether
I want it to or not, and going at it alone scares me ten times more
than having someone to help me through it.”

His shoulders sank. Of course she
wasn’t doing it just for him. How foolish could he be? Guilt
weighed down the smile that had been there seconds before. “I’m
sorry for bringing you into this.”

“
You don’t have to keep
apologizing,” she said, shaking her head with a wistful smile.
“Truth is, I’ve been feeling a bit lost lately. I had no idea what
I wanted to do with my life. I was working a job I wasn’t thrilled
with, but it paid the bills, and taking it one day at a time. I was
beginning to doubt I’d find a friend again to share life with. I
went to the bar to meet someone, and I did.” She smiled at him,
easing some of his worry.

“
What do you do for a
living?” he asked.

“
I work at Cassie’s Cute
Cuts.” She frowned. “Only as the front desk girl, not a hair
dresser. That is, if I haven’t been fired by now. I was supposed to
be in this morning at eight.”

Gage winced. He hadn’t meant to get
her fired. “I’ll take care of you.”

She set her jaw. “I don’t need anyone
to take care of me.”

“
I don’t doubt it,” he said
gently. “Something tells me you can look out for yourself. That
doesn’t mean you have to do everything by yourself. You’ll break,
eventually. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

She stared at him
thoughtfully. “What do
you
do? Besides being a packmaster.”

“
I deal in real estate,” he
said. “It’s a bit of an inherited business when you join our pack.
We have rental properties all over the United States and several
overseas. We all help out.”

“
I see.” She
shivered.

Gage opened up his arms. “Come
here.”

She eagerly curled up next to him. For
a moment they laid there, neither talking, just enjoying the
silence. “So what’s the Change like?”

He thought his answer through. “The
first time will be unpleasant.”

“
It’s going to hurt like
hell, isn’t it?”

He grimaced and she sighed. “You don’t
have to treat me like I’m breakable. As I said, I can take care of
myself. I’m a big girl.”

“
That doesn’t mean I like
the idea of you being in pain.”

Danica shivered and he held her
closer. He closed his eyes, trying to memorize her scent. Her fear
had washed away as she’d calmed down, and he could pick up on her
scent. Roses. The woods. Arousal.

That last one sent a shiver of longing
straight to his loins.

He wasn’t sure if she’d done it on
purpose, but she nuzzled closer to him, until their bodies were
plastered together. Parts of his still-healing body ached in
protest, but he firmly shoved those protests back down. “Will I not
be as horny after the Change?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Doubtful. Werewolves are
horny by nature.”

“
Oh. Then I’ll fit right
in,” she said huskily.

His breath caught as she rubbed
herself against him.

He growled deep in his throat, turning
her around so she was straddling him. “Does this hurt?” she asked
with concern.

“
No,” he breathed, shaking
his head. He was lying through his teeth, but damn if he was going
to tell her to stop.

She clung to him, moving her hips,
bare sex rubbing along his bulge. “I have to admit,” she breathed
as he watched her nipples harden through the sweat-dampened
material of her shirt, “that I’ve been fantasizing about you
lately.”

“
Also a side effect of the
Fever.”

She shook her head. “Something tells
me I would have anyway.”

He held onto her hips to help keep her
steady. What he wouldn’t give to make love to her…. The urge to see
her, all of her, overwhelmed him. Silently, he sat up, keeping her
straddled on his lap, and began peeling her blouse up and over her
head. She lifted her arms, leaving her naked from the waist up,
except for the lacy bra. With deft fingers, he snapped open the
clasp and her plush breasts came spilling out. He tossed the bra to
the side along with her blouse. He started to lift her up,
intending to go for her skirt next, when she raised a brow and
stopped him.

Gage sighed hard, running a hand
through his hair. “I’m sorry. I got carried away. I just wanted to
see you… all of you….”

A sexy grin came over her face. “Well,
this works both ways, you know. It’s only fair if you get naked
too.”

He stared at her, breath catching as
she slowly undid the buttons on his shirt. She pulled it open,
revealing the soft black hairs along his pectoral muscles. He
shrugged his shirt off, then reached for the zipper in her skirt.
It slid off easily, sliding down her long legs. For a moment, all
he could do was stare.

She was perfect, with the right amount
of softness in all the right places.

She slowly undid his zipper, and in a
few seconds, he was pants-less and boxers-less. They both sat
there, naked, eyeing each other. A tear slid down her cheek. “Oh,
Gage….”

With gentle fingers, she touched the
quickly disappearing bruises on his skin. The cuts were healed.
Having your skin sew itself back together in fast forward sucked,
but he never let on it was painful as she ran her hands over his
chest, his abs, his back. He brushed away the stray tear with his
thumb. His queen had such a big heart. “I’m fine.” He kissed her
softly. “I’m going to be fine.”