Liam’s Mate (The Vampire Coalition #4)(8)
Author: J.S. Scott

“I don’t think I can stop,” he rasped, his breathing ragged.

“Don’t stop.” He couldn’t stop. Now that the pain was almost gone, she willed him to move, to quench the desire that roared through her body. She arched her back, letting the coarse hair on his chest abrade her ni**les and her hips undulate up into his groin. “Fuck me.”

She felt her plea jolt his body into action as he pulled his c**k almost completely out of her and slowly sunk back in. “Fuck. You’re so tight. So hot. Mine.”

Yes. Yes. She was his. She had always been his. Regan longed to wrap her arms and legs around him to claim him. The soreness between her legs didn’t dampen her desire for Liam to take her completely.

She felt the shift in the air the very moment he lost control and began a relentless rhythm that made her come apart and shatter. His hips hammered in and out of her slick, tight channel, opening her, asserting his dominance and she relished it.

“Mine. All mine. Never try to run from me. I’ll find you. Never let you go.” His fevered possessive words that he chanted mindlessly as he lost himself to passion made the storm of tears that Regan had been holding back flow down her face. “Need to see you come. Come for me.” Liam reached between their bodies and stroked her clit as he kept slamming himself home in a frenzied joining.

“Bite me, Liam,” she told him urgently, craving the additional intimacy.

His tongue licked over her vein in an erotic swirl that nearly put her over the edge before he obeyed her request and his fangs pierced her tender flesh. “Oh, God, yes,” she hissed as the same hot, erotic pulse stole over her body as he sucked her life blood and pounded into her body with equal force.

He pulled his finger from her clit and thrust both of his big hands underneath her ass as her body began to spasm and she screamed his name. He buried himself deep inside of her and Regan could feel him trembling as he released, grinding his groin against her center, bringing them tightly together.

Regan’s heart was still stuttering from her incredible climax as Liam closed the tiny pinpricks at her neck and rolled onto his back.

“Could….could you release me please?” Regan requested breathlessly.

Her limbs jerked loose abruptly. She closed her legs and brought her arms down, her muscles quivering from the strain and the aftermath of the volatile climax. Wanting to cover herself now that embarrassment was creeping in, she started to roll from the bed, but Liam grabbed her upper arm, bringing her back to lay on her side facing him.

“What’s this?” he asked quietly as he stroked her mangled hip.

“Nothing.” Regan knew it was a stupid thing to say, but she wasn’t sure how to respond. Liam knew exactly what it was and he could see it very clearly in the dark.

Her hands shook at the memory as she tried to bat his fingers away.

His fingers did move, but only so that he could place them at her temple. It took her a few moments to understand what was happening, but by the time she comprehended his intentions….it was too late. She cursed her stupidity as she tried to pull away.

Liam had accessed her memories and she was completely exposed.

*****

Chapter 4

It only took Liam a second or two to find the memory of the branding on Regan’s hip, but he knew instantly that it was a nightmare vision that would haunt him forever.

Regan naked with his marking completely exposed on her hip. Regan fighting…but losing the battle. Several mage males and one female holding her down on the floor, her hip exposed. The sizzling brand being held to her hip. Burning flesh. A pained scream. Threats.

Liam flinched and pulled his hand away from her temple, unable to continue seeing Regan’s pain. Coward. She lived it. But he couldn’t watch it anymore.

A red haze formed over his vision and his body tensed as he clenched and unclenched his fists to try to gain control of his fury. “They hurt you. Threatened you.”

“Yes.” Her voice was barely audible.

“I hurt you,” he choked out, his anger and rage barely contained.

There was a slight hesitation before she confirmed. “Yes.” Liam heard her suck in a breath before continuing, “But Liam-”

“I couldn’t even watch the whole thing,” he admitted harshly as his finger stroked over the brand covering his mark.

Mage. One word. One ugly brand covering his entire mark until only a few traces of his colorful marking remained around the very edges of the scarred flesh at her hip.

Dear God, what had he done? Rolling to his back, Liam struggled to find the words to express himself, but his emotions were tempestuous and he couldn’t clear the red fog that threatened his sanity.

Beads of sweat trickled from his forehead, soaking Regan’s pristine pillow.

Kill. Kill.

The word pounded through his head like a jackhammer, and all Liam wanted was the necks of every person who had harmed his mate.

“Liam, I have to answer the door. It might be someone who needs a healing.” The feminine voice seemed to filter to him through a long tunnel, the voice of his mate.

No. Protect. Protect. Kill.

He rolled over to keep Regan on the bed, keep her close, protect her from any harm.

He landed on his stomach with only a comforter beneath him.

Regan was gone.

*****

Regan cinched the heavy cotton robe around her waist with shaky fingers. Liam was scaring her. She wasn’t afraid of him, she was frightened for him. He wasn’t really hearing her or acknowledging her. Had her mangled hip freaked him out so badly that he wasn’t responding? It was ugly, but was it really that bad? Or had it been his glimpse of her memories that had him stunned?

She slipped the chain lock and took a deep breath, hoping that it wasn’t a healing request. She really couldn’t leave Liam. Another healer would have to be called immediately.

A mage male, probably in his early thirties, came into view as she swung the door open. Recognizing the magic but not the face, she inquired politely, “Can I help you?”

He would probably be considered handsome in mage circles. His light blonde hair was cut in a neat, attractive style and he had aristocratic features with high cheekbones and a sculptured nose and mouth. Probably a little over six foot and lean, he had the usual mage build. He wasn’t smiling, but then, the mage rarely smiled.

“Regan Taylor?” His voice wasn’t a low, pleasing baritone. It was a tenor with a rather impatient tone.

“Yes.”

“I’m actually here to help you. I’m Tom Spencer, the council’s choice for your mate.” He smirked at her as he strolled into her home without waiting for an invitation.