Captured by Desire (4 page)

And then suddenly, he found himself flat on his back with the Wendigo standing above him, its long claws raised over his head. Its hand came down swiftly, slicing open his chest.

Cristian kicked his foot between the creature’s legs and connected with the back of one of its legs, which made it fall forward. Cristian hastily rolled to his feet and bared his fangs. There had been very few times in his life when he had allowed himself to truly release the beast within him.

Yet, the thought of Jules standing alone in the protective circle pushed him onward. He let loose his usual control and leaped at the Wendigo.

They fell with a bone-jarring thud to the ground and rolled down the mountain, banging into trees along the way. Then, to his surprise, the Wendigo pushed him away and jumped to its feet.

It took Cristian a moment to follow, but he quickly caught sight of the creature as it fled. But no matter how fast he ran, the Wendigo always moved quicker.

Cristian stopped and listened. The Wendigo had taken him far away from Jules, maybe too far. Without another thought, Cristian turned around and ran back to Jules.

As he neared the spot where he’d left her, he sensed the Wendigo stalking her.

He wanted to go to her, to tell her that everything would be all right, but he didn’t want her to see him as he was, and he couldn’t afford to shift back to his human form and have the Wendigo attack. If Cristian didn’t let his animal side loose in time, the Wendigo could kill him.

Then, the creature began to growl and shriek, making Jules jump. Cristian saw her lying on her side on the ground, her hands over her ears and her knees to her chest. That’s all it took to unleash his rage.

While the Wendigo was focused on Jules, Cristian moved around the creature until he came up behind it. Cristian used his talons and ripped the Wendigo from neck to waist.

Almost instantly, the Wendigo swung its long arm, reaching back and knocking Cristian away. Cristian landed on his feet and jumped right back at the Wendigo, but before he could sink his talons into the beast again, the creature jumped into the trees and disappeared.

From what he’d learned from his father, Wendigos loved to hunt their prey. They would run humans into the ground before knocking them unconscious and taking them back to their lair where they would keep them for weeks, slowly eating them.

Wendigos were predictable in that they liked to prove how smart they were. They reveled in outwitting their quarry. But they had never run across one such as him.

Cristian blended into the darkness and waited. The creature would return. It was hungry, and would stop at nothing until it had Jules.

Deep into the night Cristian waited. He knew when Jules had finally let sleep claim her, for she had stopped humming. But the Wendigo never went far.

Each time he came near Jules, Cristian would step into his path waiting to attack, and each time the Wendigo would turn away.

It was playing with him, letting Cristian think he had outwitted it. Cristian grinned and began to plan his attack.

Chapter Five

Jules opened her eyes to see the sun. She said a silent prayer of thanks and let out a shaky breath as she sat up. It had been a long, torturous night, one she hadn’t thought to survive.

She licked her lips and rose to her feet. The trees had been marked with deep gouges from the Wendigo. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She was one of the few who knew true evil existed in the world, but to come face to face with it was more frightening than she had ever imagined.

Her gaze turned from the marks to the ground. All around the protective circle were large footprints three times the size of any man’s, but never once had it stepped too near the symbols.

“The Wendigo,” Jules whispered. She went down on her haunches and looked closer at a print, noting how much it resembled a human, but also how different it was.

She stood and turned to see what else she could find when she spotted Cristian sitting on the ground with his back against a tree. His shirt was ripped across his chest in five distinct cuts.

Without thought to her own safety, Jules ran out of the circle to him.

“Cristian.” Her throat closed at the thought of him wounded. She reached out and gently touched his chest, afraid to find him dead, but more afraid that she couldn’t help him if he was gravely injured. No sooner had she touched his skin then he grabbed her hand.

Her gaze flew to his face.

“Jules?” he whispered.

Panic seized her as she looked into his green eyes. “How badly are you hurt?

“I’m not,” he murmured, his eyes closing. “Just tired.”

She pulled her hand from his and looked between the cuts in his shirt to determine how deep the cuts were. But despite the blood on his shirt, there wasn’t a wound.

Jules fell back onto the ground and stared at him. She had seen his eyes go yellow, seen the talons and teeth. And she had witnessed his unnatural speed. It appeared he could also heal himself.

As she looked at him now, she wouldn’t know he was other than a man in search of his parents. But he was so much more. Instead of fear, Jules felt a thrill run through her.

She glanced around the forest and knew she had to get Cristian inside the circle before the Wendigo returned. She wrapped her arms around him and tried to drag him.

“Jules?”

She continued to tug. “You’re the only way I’ll get off this mountain alive. I can’t have you taken by the Wendigo while you’re sleeping.”

To her surprise, his eyes cracked open a slit and he crawled into the circle only to collapse onto the ground, immediately asleep.

Jules stepped back into the circle and stared down at the man at her feet. They had precious little food in their packs, and she worried just how long Cristian would sleep.

It had been easier in the dark to close her eyes and not search for anything, but in the light of day, Jules found herself peering into every tree and bush for the Wendigo.

While Cristian slept, she pulled out her father’s letters and read them again, searching for clues to where he might have gone.

It was hours later before Cristian stirred. He rolled onto his back and cracked open an eye.

“Feeling better?” she asked him.

He jerked upright and looked at the tree he had been leaning against. With his hair disheveled, he stared in surprise at where he was. “How did I get here?”

“I tried to drag you, but when that didn’t work, you crawled.”

His green eyes narrowed on her. “You left the circle?”

“I thought you were wounded.” She pointed to his shirt.

He glanced down and sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his wide shoulders. “How much did you see, Jules?”

She folded the letters and tucked them away before she turned to him. “Enough.”

Slowly, Cristian rose to his feet and raked a hand through his tousled hair. She sounded normal, but he didn’t want to take for granted that she had seen what he was. He had to let her know above all, he was still Cristian, still the man who promised to protect her. “I won’t hurt you.”

“I know.”

He felt her gaze on him, waiting for him to look at her, and when he didn’t, she stood and moved to stand in front of him.

“I won’t lie and say I wasn’t afraid, but I knew you were out there protecting me.”

Her words were a balm to his soul. He hadn’t known until she said them how desperately he had needed to hear those words. Still, he knew she had to be wary of him. He finally faced her.

“The few people who have discovered what I am have run as far from me as they could.”

She shrugged. “They didn’t know the things I do. In my father’s research, I’ve never heard of anything like you. What are you exactly?”

“I’m not sure you really want to know.” His gaze held hers, daring her to ask again.

Jules smiled gently. “I really want to know.”

“My mother was human and a quarter vampire.”

That in itself shocked Jules. “I thought vampires were a myth. Everyone in Romania laughs at all the lore.”

“We know they exist, but many think they’ve been eradicated. My father, however, was half werewolf and something else he was never able to determine.”

“And that mix created you.”

He paused. “Aye.”

“Amazing.”

She wanted to touch him, to feel his heat and hardness, to wrap her arms around him. After the horror of last night, her desire was too great to ignore.

She turned to find him watching her carefully, as if he were afraid she might bolt.

“You’re not afraid of me?” he asked.

She shook her head since speech had deserted her. For so long she’d denied her body and her longings after the scandal. For so very long she had tried to be the woman society wanted her to be.

And now, she found herself tempted to throw it all away again, to follow the urges within her for a man who wasn’t human.

“Jules?” His voice was low, seductive, and it turned her blood to fire and made her sex clench with need.

She let the restraint that had held her back these last few years fall away as she took a step closer to him. When his hand gently cupped her face, her stomach fell to her feet.

She placed her hands on his chest, feeling hard sinew and heat. How she wanted to lean up to taste him, to feel his mouth on hers. Her lips parted and her blood quickened. After so long of being someone she wasn’t, the freedom was heady.

Breathing became impossible when his head lowered to hers. The first brush of his warm lips made her knees go weak. It had been so long since she’d been kissed that she’d forgotten how much she enjoyed it.

A kiss was like sharing a part of your soul. It was seductive, sensual. Erotic.

Cristian groaned low, the sound coming from the back of his throat when she eagerly opened for him. All thoughts of the past disappeared as Cristian’s arms enveloped her, molding her to his hard body while he kissed her with unmatched skill.

Jules melted against him. Her body was on fire with glorious need, a need only intensified by the masterful way his lips moved over hers, pleasuring her mouth, teasing her with his tongue.

How she’d missed this feeling of longing and lust, of hunger and passion. Of yearning and excitement.

She sighed when his tongue swept past her lips and touched hers. Her hands moved over his shoulders and around his neck as he deepened the kiss.

Her breasts swelled and her nipples hardened as she gave in to the desire filling her. Against her stomach, she could feel Cristian’s straining arousal, making her blood burn with eagerness.

His hands moved over her back, learning her curves and urging her against him. He growled low in his throat as her hips made contact with his cock.

He ended the kiss and looked down at her as he began to unbutton her shirt. With the last button undone, his hands moved to her shoulders, where he slowly pushed the material down her arms. His gaze raked over her breasts, making her sway toward him.

Jules dropped her arms and let the shirt fall to the ground. Before he could move to her pants, she tugged his shirt up, revealing a stomach rippling with muscles. He jerked off his shirt and kissed her again, hard and demanding.

She could feel the tight leash he held on his desire, but she was determined to have all of him. Nothing less than complete surrender from both of them would do.

Caressing his warm skin, her hands drifted over a body of honed solid muscle. He was magnificent, and she wanted to see more. Much more.

As soon as her hands lowered to the waistband of his trousers, he pulled them away and broke the kiss. Slowly, he untied her pants. When he didn’t push them down himself, Jules began to do just that, only to have him stop her again.

She opened her mouth to ask him why, when he dropped to his knees and began to unlace her boots. Once they were removed, he spun her around and ran his hands over her bared back. She sucked in a quick breath.

The sheer assault of pleasure left her mind spinning. He began to kiss the small of her back while his nimble fingers worked her pants over her hips and down her legs.

Jules closed her eyes as her body began the familiar throb of passion she had ignored these past years. Her sex clenched in anticipation, while Cristian’s fingers stroked her hips and bottom.

She stepped out of her pants and turned to face Cristian, who had gained his feet. He towered over her, making her lean her head back to gaze into his eyes darkened by the desire coursing through them.

Unable to resist touching him a moment longer, Jules leaned forward and kissed his chest. He sucked in a quick, harsh breath, his hands clutching at her shoulders to keep her still. But she ignored him and moved toward his pants. Now that she had finally accepted who she was – and the desire inside her – she wanted all of him.

The sheer longing pulsing in her body made her hands shake, and it took Cristian helping her before she could remove his pants. And then they stood staring at each other, the sun shining through the branches of the thick trees onto their naked bodies.