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  Jade stared at him dumbfounded. “That was incredible.”

  “It’s your power too, Jade. I can teach you how to use it, if you’ll let me.”

  She scanned the sky looking thoughtful. “That would be awesome. But I have one important question to ask first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “What if I don’t want to be your wife? Then what?”

  War felt as if a dagger had been plunged into his heart. It had never occurred to him she might reject her position among them. “I would still train you, but if you still felt the same after your training was complete, I would release you from your ties to me. I have no intention of holding you to me against your will.”

  “But you don’t want to release me,” she said, more as a statement than a question.

  He leaned against a brick wall. “No, I don’t. You’re my wife, and I love you.”

  Jade threw her arms in the air. “How can you say you love me? We haven’t seen each other in years, and even then, we weren’t together that long! We’ve never even slept together! How can you be in love with me?”

  “Are you saying I can’t love you because I don’t know what your favorite beer is or your favorite TV program? My feelings run much deeper than that, Jade. You are a part of my blood, and we are mates in every sense of the word. I can feel you when you’re near. But I also want you to be happy, and if that means living your life without me, then that’s fine too. But be aware, you are my raptor queen, and nothing will ever change that. I am bound to you just as you are to me. It makes no difference if we’re married or not. I have a blood oath to protect you, and I intend to see that oath through until the day I die.”

  “You are frigging impossible. What am I supposed to say after a speech like that?” she said with a grin.

  He didn’t seem to share her joke. “You’re supposed to say you’ll give it time,” he said seriously. “You’re the most important thing in my life. There will be no other mate for me but you. My people mate for life, and I took my oath with a full heart. Let me teach you what you need to know to be safe. Then you can make up your mind about us later.”

  Chapter Seven

  After attending her morning classes, Jade drove to the First National Bank in downtown for her first lesson with War. As she drove her beat-up Ford Escort into the parking structure, she was filled with dread. If he thought she was going to jump off one of the tallest building in the city, he was more nuts than she thought.

  Jade found a parking space near the top, pulled in, and cut the engine. The car sputtered for a second before going dead. God, I hope I don’t end up killing myself jumping off a friggin’ building. She climbed out of the car, walked into the building through sliding glass doors, and headed right for the elevator. Two people walked up and waited with her. Jade glanced at them and noticed an older woman dressed to the nines wearing way too much perfume and some stuffy-looking bank-type guy. The banker looked at her like she were poop, and she gave him a guilty smile. Normally, she would have glared at him for the look he’d given her, but she really didn’t want to attract attention to herself.

  She took the elevator as far as it would go and climbed the steps for the remaining flight. There at the top was the door to the roof. It was painted red and had several dings in the metal. The sign on it said Authorized Access Only. It stood an inch ajar as if it had been waiting for her. The sight of it suddenly made her panic. She couldn’t go through with this. Last night had just been a fluke. What if she couldn’t do it again and she fell to her death?

  “Ready?” a man with a heavy baritone said from behind her.

  Jade started and turned around. War stood behind her, his amber eyes sparkling with amusement. “Um . . .” she stammered. “No, not really. You know, War, I’ve been thinking. I really don’t want to learn how to fly. I’m good the way I am. Maybe we could do this another time?”

  He stalked up to her like a predator, which made her retreat. She backed into the wall and stared at him, her throat suddenly very dry. From somewhere outside, she could hear a single-engine plane passing high over the building, and her palms started to sweat.

  War placed his huge hands on either side of her head so she couldn’t escape. He leaned in close, and she caught the scent of old leather and the freshness of Ivory soap lingering on his skin. His lips moved down to hers, and his chest pressed against her breasts. “Gimme a kiss,” he said in a hot, smoky voice.

  Jade’s body turned into liquid fire. He was the sexiest man she’d ever met in her life, and she wanted him like a beggar wanted cash. Pushing her breasts against his chest, she touched her lips to his and felt heat creep into her cheeks. War returned her kiss with a passion of his own, sliding his tongue into her mouth and caressing hers with light, delicate strokes.

  “Lift up your shirt,” he ordered.

  Jade shot a nervous glance at the stairs but knew no one was coming. These were service stairs used only by maintenance people, and it was late afternoon. Most of the staff has probably gone for the day. Grabbing the hem of her T-shirt, she lifted it up and gasped as War pulled her into his arms stripping her bra off to get at her breasts. His hot mouth was heaven on her flesh and sent lusty chills from her head to her toes. Unable to resist him, she cradled his head against her and let out a soft moan.

  They groped and kissed for several minutes until War tried to slip his hand down her pants and she got scared. First off, she didn’t want him to know how very wet she was, and second, she just didn’t feel comfortable with how fast things were moving all of a sudden.

  He got the hint and backed off.

  Jade lowered her shirt and fought with her feelings of guilt. “I’m sorry,” she said, not sure what to say to fill the awkward silence.

  War zipped his pants back up, and she frowned. When did he unzip his pants? Was I that out of it I didn’t notice something like that? Oh my God, he must think I’m the biggest tease in the world.

  “It’s okay, baby,” he said warmly. “It’s always a little scary your first time. When you’re ready.”

  Jade was incensed. My first time! How the hell could he possibly know from looking at her that she was a virgin? You can’t just look at someone and know she’s never had sex, could you? “What do you mean? What makes you think I’ve never slept with a man before? I’ll have you know I’ve had lots of opportunities to do it. I just . . . didn’t want to get pregnant. ”

  War smiled and gestured to the roof door. “I was talking about the jump.”

  Jade’s face burned, and she thought her ears were going to char right off. She’d never been so embarrassed in her life. So she did the only thing she could. She shrugged it off. “Yeah,” she said, walking toward the door. “I know.”

  She pushed on the release bar and was propelled forward by War shoving his hips into her ass. Still stinging from her earlier blunder, she whirled on him and said, “Could you please not do that?”

  War chuckled and strolled casually toward the roof’s edge. He stared down at the city below, his long, dark hair flowing in a gentle breeze. Then he looked up at her and held his hand out. “It’s time, baby.”

  Jade was still mad at herself and sure as hell didn’t want to look wimpy. Squaring her shoulders, she stomped over and glared at him. “I thought we talked about the sexist term baby?”

  “We did,” he conceded.

  “Then can you stop using it?”

  “Nope,” War said, suddenly serious. He moved up behind her and placed his hands on her wrists. He lifted them from her sides and held them out as if they were wings. Jade glanced down and immediately lost her nerve. It was a very long way down, and all the people and cars looked like toys. This was no joke.

  “No . . . no . . . no . . . I can’t do this,” she whispered.

  War moved his lips up to her ear. “Don’t be afraid. This is what your body was meant for. Just close your eyes and remember what it felt like last night to be free. Let go, Jade, and fall.”

 
Jade backed up, bumping into his chest. “I can’t.”

  “Then let me go first.” War stalked to the ledge with the smooth, confident stride of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. There was no doubt or fear in his handsome face, only power and strength. Throwing his arms out, he flung himself off the building with such force Jade had to stop herself from screaming. But within seconds of jumping, he was reborn as a large black raptor, and every inch of her wanted to be with him. His power was cool with an underlying ferocity that was all sex and seething energy. She wanted to be with him. She needed to be with him. She’d done it before, and she could do it again.

  Purging all the fear from her mind, she did as he told her and let go. She jumped from the roof and . . . soared. The wind caught her under her wings and carried her to the same height as War. A pure joy filled her, a perfect euphoria that only built as she soared the sky with War all around her. If anyone had told her that such bliss was possible, she would have laughed and accused the person of having dropped acid. But it was true. This was what she truly was.

  After what seemed like hours, they landed in the parking lot right next to her car. His bike was parked only a few feet away. She was out of breath and still giddy from the experience. “That was the most fantastic thing I’ve ever done!”

  War grinned. “There’s more I want to teach you tonight.”

  “Will it be as awesome as this?”

  “It’ll be better,” he said. “Let’s leave your car here and head back to the lair for a drink.”

  What the heck, she thought. Why not? Tonight was Friday, and she didn’t have class again until Monday. “Sure,” she said, climbing on the back of his bike. “But I better not get towed from here, or you’re paying the fine. Deal?”

  War started up the bike, and it snarled to life. The trembling of the engine felt good and tickled her already throbbing sex. “Deal.”

  Chapter Eight

  By the time they arrived at the wake, all the other shape-shifters were asleep. War led her by the hand to his room, occasionally stepping over bodies in sleeping bags on the floor. Inside his room, it was tidy and smelled like clean laundry, not at all what one would expect from the head of a biker gang. But then Jade reminded herself that nothing about War fit into any of her stereotypes.

  War went to a small refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He held one up in offering to her, but she shook her head. He stalked over to a brown recliner, took a seat, and pushed himself back. He sipped his beer and watched her.

  Jade folded her arms across her chest feeling awkward. She wasn’t sure what to do now that she was alone with him. Does he expect me to sleep with him? The thought made her heart race because she’d never had sex with anyone. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to have sex at all, and War wasn’t what she had in mind for her first time. He wasn’t a small man, and from the bulge in his pants, his cock probably wasn’t small either.

  The silence grew, and she started walking around his room looking at pictures on the wall. There were plenty of them, some color and some in black-and-white. They were all happy pictures—War with his gang on their bikes at a beach diner; War and some other hairy, tattooed biker men; War with some young girl with glasses and a man wearing a black T-shirt and jeans. The girl looked like her. Jade pointed at the picture. “Who are these people?”

  War swirled his beer around in the bottle. “Me, you, and your daddy.”

  A sudden, unexpected grief came over her. It was like looking at a picture of ghosts. “How long before he disappeared was this taken?”

  “A few months,” War said. “Baby, can you get me another beer?”

  Jade scowled. “Are you serious? Why can’t you get it yourself?”

  “Please.”

  She normally would have told him off, but she didn’t want him to get up and think of something else to do, so she took his empty one and got him another. She handed it to him, but before she could step back, he grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap. She struggled, feeling nervous. With her tall, thin frame and glasses, she never considered herself attractive, but he sure seemed to think she was.

  War nuzzled her cheek. “Don’t be scared of me, honey. You know I’m not gonna hurt you.”

  Her heart was pounding so fast she thought it was going to bust out of her chest. “I’m not scared of you,” she said, lying.

  “Then give me another one of those hot-for-you kisses,” he rumbled.

  War smelled clean and masculine, and she was surprised his beard was meticulously well groomed. There must be a lot of vanity in a man who can worry so much about his appearance. “If I kiss you, will you let me go?”

  He slid his hand under her shirt and stroked her back. “Maybe.”

  Jade placed her hands on either side of his face and stroked his silky beard. His lips were plump and full, inviting her to enjoy a taste. She pecked him on the lips. “There, now let me up.”

  He laughed, and it sounded dangerous. “That’s not a kiss. This is a kiss.” He pulled her into a deep, hungry kiss that ignited her blood like nothing she’d ever experience before. His huge, powerful arms wrapped around her like pythons, squeezing just enough to give her no way to escape. He consumed her, awakening the fiery desire she’d had for him on the stairs. His kiss was so sexually charged that it left her breathless. He stopped and let her catch her breath.

  Jade was both terrified and thrilled all at once. “That’s a kiss, all right,” she said, half joking. “Now please let me up.”

  “No.”

  “You promised!” she protested.

  “No, I didn’t. I said maybe.”

  “So what are you planning to do? You can’t hold on to me all night.”

  “Oh, baby,” he said in a low, savage growl that was all sex, “I’m planning to bust that sweet pussy of yours and take you to heaven.”

  Jade was stunned. Butterflies tickled her belly, and she became more aware of her body. No one had ever spoken to her like that. What’s worse, she was starting to think she liked it. War lowered the recliner, slung Jade over his shoulder, and carried her to the bed.

  He came down over her, savaging her with another one of his demanding kisses. “Take your shirt off,” he commanded.

  Jade grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and lifted it off. Then she unhooked her bra and dropped it to the floor. Her nipples pebbled under his hot, hungry mouth.

  War pulled her up to his lips and ran hot, passionate kisses over her small breasts. He seemed consumed by his passion, driven by it, as his lips and tongue caressed and stroked the tender flesh. Pulling her nipples into his mouth, he teased and sucked them until they were bright pink and tender.

  Jade explored his body, tugging on his leather jacket and shirt until he stopped playing with her breasts long enough to strip them off. His chest was beautiful, thick and muscular, with a light covering of hair over his pectorals that ran down the center of his belly and beyond the border of his jeans. Eagerly running her hands over his back, she marveled at the hard muscles that knotted his shoulders.

  War had moved on from her breasts, caressing his lips down her ribs and belly. “Take the rest of it off,” he said, referring to her jeans and underwear.

  Jade worked with trembling hands. She’d never been so nervous, but something inside her wanted this, wanted to experience sex with this strange, aggressive man. When she had unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, she lifted her hips, slid them off, and tossed them to the floor with the rest of her clothes.

  War stripped as well, and Jade couldn’t believe the size of his cock. “Wait,” she said, panicked.

  “What?”

  Jade stared down at his huge erect penis. “That’s way too big. You’re going to kill me with that.”

  War laughed at her. “I’ll slick it up for you, baby. You’ll love it.”

  She started to struggle. He doesn’t give a shit about me. Bill was right. All he wants is to get laid.

  War stopped kissing her. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?�
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  “I’m scared,” she said, trying to calm herself. “I’m not ready for this.”

  He lay down next to her and stroked his chest. With gentle insistence, he guided her hips over his mouth and opened her labia to insert his tongue. At first, Jade was very embarrassed and uncomfortable, but the more he worked his tongue through her, the more she began to relax. Tiny sparks of pleasure rose from her pussy as he worked with patience to help her enjoy herself. After a while, her fear melted away, and all she could feel was the intense pleasure of his lips and tongue as they danced over her swelling clit. Her orgasm came quickly, having built in her womb, and sent ribbons of pure bliss through every nerve in her body. She moaned and sighed and bucked her hips as he pleased her, suddenly eager to know what it would be like to have him buried inside her.