Jamie's Heart [Amazon Warriors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (10 page)

It worked because they looked at each other and started laughing.

They both stood and got dressed in easy silence.

Jamie turned to Conrad and, with a content smile on her face, said, “I should go.” She didn’t want to start reading more into what had just happened. It was just amazingly great sex.

She made to leave but turned to look over her shoulder when Conrad called her name.

“We’ll see about that bed next time.” He looked at her, completely serious.

Well, shit, as she left, she started to feel something that was too dangerous to even contemplate.

Hope.

Conrad had been home for nearly a week, and since their time together in the kitchen, he hadn’t seen Jamie at all.

From what he had heard, Jamie had been spending most of her time at his family’s home, helping out his dad, so he came to the conclusion that she must be avoiding him, but he couldn’t figure out why.

Although their time they spent together in the kitchen had been fucking amazing, that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to see her. He’d been gone for nearly five months, and he wanted to hang out with his best friend. Conrad missed the banter, the laughs, and the talks they used to have. He wanted all that back, and if that included the amazing sex, he wasn’t going to complain.

Tonight there was going to be a party for Crimson and Sloan, the tribe leader and her true life partner. They had been together for less than eight months, but everyone could see they were in love and perfect for each other. The party was to celebrate the coming birth of their first child, due within the next three weeks.

So, tonight’s party was to celebrate the coming arrival of a new member of the tribe. It was also going to be his chance to settle things with Jamie once and for all. He couldn’t wait.

Conrad had been walking through the woods on the grounds of the estate for a few hours. He wanted space to think and clear his head for tonight.

Conrad stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of sobbing coming from the shore of the reservoir.

He silently approached, not wanting to intrude or startle whoever it was.

“Jordon?” He was as surprised to find her as she seemed to be by his presence.

“Hey.” She didn’t turn to look at him, but he could see she was wiping something from her face. He could only assume it was tears, but he had never seen the twins cry…ever.

That is until his last visit home when he caused Jamie’s tears the morning after they were together for the first time. That image would be burnt into his memory for all time. Now, to find Jordon crying, something must be very wrong.

“What’s wrong, kid?” he asked as he sat beside her on the sandy shore.

“I can’t tell you,” she replied shortly.

“Are you mad at me?” He wracked his brain, trying to think if he’d done anything that might offend her. Other than burping at the dinner table last night, which had never seemed to bother her before, he was drawing a blank.

“Yes!…No!…I don’t know.”

“Okay.” He drew the word out, trying to wrap his head around what she was saying. She wasn’t making any sense. “Why don’t you tell me what you do know?”

“She will kill me.”

“Who will? Jamie?” Learning this only piqued his interest more. “Let me deal with Jamie, just tell me, please. You know I care about you as much as I do my blood sisters. Let me help.”

“Well, you…you’re kind of the problem.”

“Huh?”

Jordon took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, as if bracing herself to speak.

“She’s dying.”

“What?” He jumped to his feet in anger, confusion, and worry.

“She’s got maybe a little over fifteen weeks left, and in two weeks there will be nothing anyone can do about it.” Utter despair coated those words.

“No, you’re wrong! She said she was sick, weaker than normal, but Amazons can’t die from illness. She’s fine!” He didn’t mean to take his anger out on her, but he couldn’t process this. She had to be wrong. She just had to be.

Jordon turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were glazed with tears. It was then he saw the truth in her eyes.

Conrad crumpled to his knees, numb.

“How?” he asked with such sorrow he didn’t recognize his own voice.

“There’s only one thing that can naturally kill an Amazon…a broken heart.”

Oh, my God.
This was going to kill him. He couldn’t be the cause of her broken heart and ultimately her death. He didn’t understand how this had happened, but he was determined to fix it. Conrad was
not
going to let her do this to herself. No matter what the consequences were for him, he was going to save Jamie’s life.

He felt defeated, as if he’d been fighting for his life for the last five months and he’d just lost. His emotions were all over the place, battered and bruised.

With tears in his eyes, he managed to choke out, “I understand. I’ll fix this, Jordon. I swear. Jamie won’t die because of me.”

She looked at him skeptically. “You mean it?”

“How can you ask me that?” he asked, offended. “I’d do anything for you and Jamie. I love you.” Jamie, more than he was ready to admit, especially now.

She dove on top of him, kissing him all over his face. “Thank you, Conrad. Oh, God, thank you.”

He was glad she was so happy and that he was going to save Jamie’s life, but he was damn near dying inside himself knowing what he was going to have to do.

Conrad stood on unsteady feet, and without a word to Jordon, headed toward the party. He had to find Jamie and do something that would rip the heart from his chest.

* * * *

Jamie stood next to the dance floor, listening to the music and watching everyone enjoy themselves.

This was her last night as part of the tribe.

She had decided to leave a few weeks earlier than planned as she was getting weaker every day, and she didn’t want to be at the estate when she became completely mortal.

Besides, Jamie didn’t want to explain what was happening to her and why. To see the look of pity on anyone’s face would hurt her emotionally. She also didn’t want people thinking poorly of Conrad. This wasn’t his fault. He may be the only one who could save her, but she was not going to let him sacrifice his future for her.

This was the most perfect way to end her time with the tribe. She was surrounded by everyone she cared about. The tribe was her family. They had helped and supported her and Jordon when their parents passed.

She couldn’t think of any better way to say good-bye, even if they didn’t know that’s what tonight was for her.

As much as she loved the people around her, they were all she had ever known. Before she died, she wanted to experience as much as life as she could, in the mortal world. A world where she didn’t have to train for the constant threat of war. She wouldn’t always be looking over her shoulder in case an enemy threat tried to sneak up on her.

Jamie planned on travelling as much as she could, see as much of the world as possible in her last three months of life. She wouldn’t be doing it alone either. Jordon would be with her. She was happy to know that she would die with the love of her sister by her side. What else could she ask for?

One more night with Conrad?

As much as she wanted that, she didn’t think she could, knowing it would be the last time, but a girl could fantasize.

“Wanna dance?” Conrad’s voice startled her. It wasn’t just his unexpected request but the way he said it, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“I’d love to.”

They held each other close as they slow danced, even when a fast song came on, in silence. Jamie had her head buried in the crook of his neck as she inhaled the scent she craved, apple and cinnamon. He rested his head on hers and rubbed his hands up and down her back.

When she opened her eyes to talk to him after the fourth song, she noticed her bite mark, the one she gave him in the kitchen a week ago. It had faded a lot since then, but a thrill ran through her at the images it provoked within her. She also felt proud that Conrad would leave it so visible. Jamie moved one hand from around his shoulders where she held him and gently smoothed a finger over the lingering mark.

She should feel shame for hurting him, but all she felt when she saw that mark was lust and desire. It was her claim to her man, and no other woman could have him while he bore her mark.

Conrad’s groan pulled her out of her musing as she saw the same look on his face that she was sure mirrored hers. Want. Need. It seemed he enjoyed her bite mark as much as she did.

They exchanged looks, and in that second she made up her mind. She was going to be with Conrad one more time before she left.

Without a word, she linked her fingers with his and pulled him to the edge of the party, across the field, and through the tree line of the surrounding woods. He came willingly.

When she felt they were far enough away, she turned to face him, and he walked her backward until her back hit a tree.

He braced his arms on either side of her, caging her in and making her feel safe, protected. When he leaned in and pressed a soft, tender kiss to her lips, she was stunned with the amount of feeling and emotion he put into it. It was like he knew this would be their last time together, but he didn’t want it to be.

After they last spoke she had begun to hope that Conrad may finally be admitting to himself that he felt more for her than friendship and sibling affection, but she couldn’t allow that hope to grow, so for the last week she had been avoiding him.

She couldn’t allow him to be soft and gentle with her, she needed him to be dominant and forceful. If any other emotion beside lust came into it, she may not be able to stop hoping for more and she may not be able to tear herself away from him tomorrow.

She gripped the back of his head and tried to force the kiss deeper, writhing against him and undoing his jeans in a frenzy. She needed the hard and fast pleasure he had given her before. Anything else would be torture.

He pulled away from her and subtly shook his head from side to side, silently telling her she wasn’t going to get what she wanted.

He was in charge.

“Please,” she begged.

Conrad knew he was torturing Jamie with his soft touches and tender kisses, and he was reveling in the effect he had on her. Now she would understand the hold she had on him.

Not knowing he had misunderstood his earlier conversation with Jordon, Conrad told himself he shouldn’t be doing this a hundred times in his head, but when he saw her at the party, he just had to hold her. By the time she was in his arms he told himself that all he needed was to be with her one more time and he could let her go, taking his heart with her.

If this was going to be their last time, he was going to make sure he gave her everything he hadn’t given her before and take enough memories for himself to last a lifetime without her.

By the way she was acting, he knew she wanted a quick, frenzied fuck like last time, but he wouldn’t give it to her, not like that.

He grabbed her wrist to prevent her wandering hands and pulled around her back, pinning them between her body and the tree.

“Leave them there.”

She whimpered as she sagged backward against the tree. He took that as a show of reluctant acceptance.

He used his fingertips to trace every soft feature of her beautiful face. She may be a warrior, but she was also the most stunning woman he had ever seen. Why had he denied himself, and her, for so long?

At this point Jamie had closed her eyes, hopefully enjoying his touch. When he skimmed his fingers across her lips, her little tongue snaked out to tease him with her tempting mouth before she sucked the digit into her mouth. It was so sensual. He stood staring at her and enjoying her wicked mouth sucking on him and wishing it was his cock instead. Before he lost his mind completely, he kissed her, taking the breath from her lungs.

Kissing Jamie was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He could kiss her forever. This kiss was different from their previous encounters. It wasn’t rushed or heated, and it felt natural and sensual but just as intense. He was trying to convey everything he felt for her in that one kiss.

When she released a pained moan, Conrad pulled back to study her. She was desperate and needy. He wanted her on the very edge of control, but he didn’t want her in pain. So he released her lips long enough to undo the zip at the side of her skintight dress and brushed the straps down off her shoulders. As his hands traced the lines of her slender arms, his eyes were intent on watching every inch of skin that was exposed by her falling dress until she stood in front of him in nothing but the sexiest bra and panties he had ever seen.

He licked his lips as he once again began to kiss her. He reached around her back, looking for the clasp on her bra. When it was undone, once again, he slowly pulled the straps down her arms. His mouth moved down the column of her spine, and he teased her now-sensitized skin.

“Oh, God, Conrad.” She moaned, and it was like music to his ears.

As her bra finally left her body, he knelt on the woodland floor. His mouth reached the hardened peaks of her breast. Knowing how sensitive they were and knowing how close she came to coming from his mouth alone their first time together, he wanted her first orgasm of the night to come from nothing but his lips on her nipples. It would be a first for both of them. At least he hoped it would be.

In the middle of his ministrations, he looked up at her face. He had to know.

“Have you been with anyone el—”

“No,” she breathed, “just you, only ever you.” That nearly caused him to howl his satisfaction to the heavens and lose his determination to go slow for her this time.

No, he could and would do this for her. He was going to make their last time together unforgettable for her.

Conrad went back to his previous task, pulling a hiss from Jamie’s lips.

He licked, sucked, and teased her breasts slowly until her breaths became ragged.