With Her Capture (18 page)

“What the hell?” she murmered, seriously
doubting the bird had been carrying its phone in its claws while
flying. What would have been the point?

She picked it up and glanced up in the
direction where she’d last seen the owl. It would be stupid to
shout into the darkness. Humans didn’t take nicely to behavior like
that. It would be her luck they would call their police on her.

“Magda!”

It sounded as if someone had yelled her name
through a long, narrow tunnel. She heard her name again and looked
down at the phone. The screen had lit up. There was someone on the
phone.

“Magdaline?”

Her heart, which had just imploded, now
swelled so much it was painful to breathe. Her hand was damp with
perspiration, even though there was a biting chill in the air, as
she clutched the phone and brought it to her ear.

“Yes?” she whispered, her voice cracking.

“
Ma beaute noire
,” a rough masculine
voice said in a husky, seductive whisper.

Another tear streamed down her face. It was
followed by more. This time she didn’t try and stop them. The owl
had brought her the phone. Ayden was on the other end.

“I’m here,” she said, her voice choking. She
wasn’t sure she could say much more.

Chapter Twelve

Ayden knew he held Magda’s hand because he
feared the moment he let go she’d take off running. It wasn’t as if
she’d shown any indication of wanting to get away from him since
he’d found her sitting alongside a convenient store. After paying a
lot of cash that he hated spending in the first place for
information that turned out to be inaccurate, the owls had
accommodated by searching for Magda again. If she knew how many of
them it had taken to track her, she’d probably be proud of her
ability to hide and keep her scent to herself. Ayden was more than
a bit impressed. He also wasn’t sure his heart would stand losing
her again.

She didn’t try releasing her hand from his
when he led her up the stairs in the Hampton Bed and Breakfast and
down the hall to his room. When he finally released her to slide
the key card into the slot on the door, then pushed the door open
and held it for her, Magda remained by his side, glancing up at him
only once before entering the room.

He turned on the nearest light. Magda walked
across the room and moved the curtains from the window to peer
outside. As he flicked on the lamp by the bed, she paced back to
the tall dresser along the wall and paused to stare at a brochure
left by the Hampton nest that advertised attractions in Banff. Then
she moved toward the door.

Ayden fought the urge to leap across the room
and grab her. Every muscle in his body stiffened, and didn’t
immediately relax when she stopped at the floor-length mirror on
the wall. She took in her reflection. He stared at her face through
the mirror.

“You’re safe,” he told her, sensing her
anxiety more than smelling it.

“You’re not.” Magda didn’t smell angry but
there was bitterness in her tone. She smelled—sad?

“We both are.”

She shook her head once and stalked toward
the window again. “I only agreed to come with you because you
deserve answers.”

Magda paced the length of the room, her gait
purposeful and fast. “I dishonored you by leaving without telling
you this first,” she said when she’d returned to the window.

Her coat was bulky and fell to her thighs.
Those long, slender legs looked real good in the skin tight jeans
she wore tucked into flat-heeled boots. It looked like she’d put
her hair up, possibly for when she’d gone to that human night club.
Any male, even a human one, sniffing around her made Ayden’s blood
boil. No matter how many clothes she wore, there was no hiding how
incredibly beautiful she was. There was also no hiding how good she
smelled. His scent. His female.

Ayden didn’t feel dishonored. A little pissed
maybe, but that had dissolved the instant he had her by his side.
“Telling me what?”

She turned and looked at him. He realized it
was the first time since he’d walked to the convenience store where
she’d waited for him, that she really looked at him. Her eyes were
moist, blood shot. His heart did an odd double beat in his chest.
He felt a constriction there but wasn’t sure of the emotion. Magda
had been crying.

When she hesitated, as if trying to form the
words in her mind first, he wasn’t able to bear the tension growing
between them.

“Tell me you don’t want to be with me,” he
demanded, and took a step toward her.

Magda began pacing again. She was like a
damned caged animal. “I can’t be with you.”

“That isn’t the same,” he insisted.

When she started across the room, Ayden
grabbed her. She jerked but didn’t struggle to free herself. He was
wound too tight. He gave her a slight shake. Her coat fell off her
shoulders and crumpled over his hands where he held her arms
tight.

Magda’s head fell back. Her eyes glowed as if
they were pure onyx. Her lashes were thick. She blinked, continued
looking into his eyes. Suddenly a whirlwind of emotions hit him
when she almost crumpled. If he wasn’t holding her he worried she
might have fallen to the floor.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” he demanded.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Why not?”

“It would be a lie.”

His body didn’t need his mind to register
what she’d just said. He pulled her against him. Sliding his hands
under the heavy coat, he aided in it falling to the floor as he
stroked her back. Then grabbing her hair, he yanked her head back
further and devoured her mouth.

Her lips were wet. They seemed swollen. When
she parted them and let him in, Ayden ceased to think. There wasn’t
anything else to ponder. No plotting to do. He didn’t need to
figure out his next move. Sometimes in his human form, instinct
still prevailed.

He tangled his fingers into that mass of
silky, dark hair and pulled until whatever had clasped it together
at the top of her head gave way and thick masses of long, beautiful
hair tortured his hands and arms. Ayden plunged in deep, taking
everything she offered and demanding more—much more.

There wasn’t any doubting Magda would give
herself to him willingly. Already his skin grew hot where she
touched him through his sweatshirt. Sex between them wouldn’t be a
problem. And he planned on having it—probably all night.

And in spite of his brain not dwelling on how
he would possess the rest of her, somewhere deep inside the fog of
lust that consumed him, Ayden knew he didn’t yet have her
commitment to him.

For now, he would take what she offered. But
soon—very soon—he would demand her heart and soul along with her
body.

“Ayden,” she gasped, breaking off the
kiss.

Her hands pressed against his chest and she
pushed. She was panting. All that dark hair fell in tangles around
her face and down her shoulders. She looked hot and so damned
sexy.

He had no intention of letting her go.
“What?”

Magda shoved harder, then struggled, turning
in his arms. “I have to say something,” she cried out.

“Then say it.”

Since she struggled toward the bed, he helped
her, lifting her and tossing her in that direction. Her ass looked
better in those tight jeans than her long legs did. Fucking tail,
his cock was harder than steel.

She spun around, robbing him of his view. But
her blouse, which he recognized as one he’d given her, was twisted
enough that cleavage strained against her bra, and damn near fell
out the low cut of the blouse. Magda didn’t try adjusting her
clothing when she came at him on all fours on the bed.

Ayden stopped her from climbing off by once
again gripping her hair. When she came to her knees he loosened his
grip. Magda tilted her head back into his palm of her own accord
when she looked up at him.

“Why I ran,” she said, still panting.

He breathed in the combined scent of their
lust. Mixed with each of their aromas, which already smelled very
much the same, it was an intoxicating smell.

“I’m listening.” He doubted she’d say
anything to justify why she left him. If she cared for him the way
he did her, and it sure as hell smelled as if she did, the only
reason he saw for her leaving was out of fear. He planned on
removing any reservations she had out of her mind immediately.

“A cave isn’t a den.”

He watched her fight to relax her expression,
as if she’d just noticed how pinched in turmoil it was.

“I’ll build you a den.” If she thought he
smelled naïve enough to believe he could take her to his den, she’d
learn fast that he’d already thought this through.

Magda shook her head. More long strands
slipped over her shoulder and fell between her breasts.

“Hunting, while always sniffing over your
shoulder, spending as much time looking for prey as being the prey,
isn’t good hunting.”

“Magda,” he whispered.

She didn’t let him speak. The words came
faster now. “Ever since my litter’s den was burned to the ground
and our sire and mother killed, my litter has been scattered. We
aren’t really a litter anymore. It was necessary. I did what I had
to in order to protect my littermates. But it isn’t a life I would
wish on any werewolf.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Especially
one…”

“What?” he insisted when her words trailed
off. “Especially one that what?”

“Ayden, you are pure predator,” she continued
without elaborating on what she’d been about to say. “You know the
world with you at the top of the food chain. You should never have
to live with it any different.”

“I don’t plan on it.”

Magda smiled. Her eyes weren’t flat the way
they’d been when he’d first captured her. They were raw with all
the emotions he smelled on her—lust, yet also sadness,
determination, and fear. Her smile was soft and didn’t reach her
eyes.

“You shouldn’t have to,” she said, her voice
cracking. She sucked in her lower lip and chewed on it as her gaze
travelled down her face. “That’s why I ran,” she whispered, barely
loud enough to be heard.

Except he was fine-tuned into her every move,
no matter how small. He picked up on the slightest change of her
scent every time a new emotion washed over her. And she was
experiencing plenty of them. He also heard each sound she made,
even when it was nothing more than a soft sigh, or a choked whisper
when emotions too strong to control ripped through her and
prevented her words from coming out.

“You won’t run again,” he said, his words
sliced with the finality of how it would be. “From this point on,
you are by my side.”

He watched her swallow, search his face, then
close her mouth and press her lips together. Maybe she was too
stubborn to respond right now. Ayden was patient. He’d wait forever
to hear her voice what he already smelled on her, what he saw in
her eyes. Magda would have all the time needed to tell him how she
felt about him. As long as she was running alongside him.

He lifted her under her arms and laid her on
the large bed while coming down on top of her.

“You aren’t making this easy,” she
murmured.

He knelt next to her when she stretched out
on the bed. It crossed his mind to point out that she was the one
making this difficult. Magda covered her face with her hands and
moaned.

“I don’t think you like easy.” He flipped
open the button at the top of her jeans then dragged her zipper
down until it lodged in the denim.

Magda chuckled but didn’t smell humored. “You
have no idea.”

“I plan on finding out.” He gripped her hips,
pulling on the jeans, then yanked them down her hips.

She muttered something, but this time under
her breath enough it was hard to hear her. It sounded like, “that’s
a bad plan.” But he wasn’t sure.

“Magda,” he said, keeping calm. He ran his
hand down her leg to her ankle. “I know you’re tormented, that you
believe you are still in danger. I swear to you, though, that I’ll
protect you.”

He’d pulled one boot off and undone the laces
on her other when she stretched her arms out on either side of her.
She turned to look at him, her lips pursed in a delicious looking
pout.

“Then you’ll be protecting me from myself,”
she snarled. “And you’ll be protecting yourself from me as well.
Sounds like a lot of tail chasing to me.”

Ayden pulled off her second boot and tossed
it to the floor. “If I had the power to take all the terrible
things out of your past, I’d do it in a second. I’m sorry about
what happened to your litter.”

“Don’t you dare patronize me,” Magda snapped
and flew off the bed.

Her jeans were pulled down her hips, exposing
her fully shaved pussy. Her boots were off and her socks loose on
her feet. For a moment it looked like she might run out the door
just as she was. Ayden doubted it but didn’t wait to find out. He
flew off the bed after her.

Fury raged into a fire inside him, spurring
his other side to life. By the time he reached her, his spine
sparked with the urge to change.

“I would never insult you or degrade anything
you’ve endured,” he snarled, grabbing her and pinning her to the
wall. His teeth were too big for his mouth when he continued
growling at her. “You think I’m not strong enough to run by your
side,” he accused, his temper damn near beyond his control.

Magda went into a rage. She fought against
him, punching him as those long legs of hers thrashed. She kicked
and flung her body at him. Her dark hair flew wildly around her
face. He was barely managing to hold her. Her teeth were also
extended and her eyes were large and wild. A mean growl rose from
her right before she sent a fierce blow to the side of his
face.

“How dare you!” she yelled and squirmed out
of his grasp, then stumbled across the room.