Claimed (Blood Ties Book 6)

You’re the father.

You’re the father.

I clenched my eyes while the wand moved over my belly, pressing down until a sickening wave of agony washed through me.

Let me out, that low voice demanded in my head. I want out now.

“No,” I whispered.

“Am I hurting you?” the young nurse asked beside me.

I shook my head, unable to even speak. Quakes ripped through my body and it wasn’t just from the pain. It was from fear.

I want her, the voice rumbled. Give her to me.

I knew that voice wasn’t really there. This was all just a figment of my imagination. A shattered part of my conscious mind I’d created as a child to keep me safe. This wasn’t real. He wasn’t real.

Still that low snarl reverberated in the back of my throat as clear as anything else I’d felt.

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry,” the nurse cried. “I’ll try to be more careful.”

I snapped my eyes open to find her eyes shimmering with tears. That sound died away in the back of my throat. He was clawing to the surface, fighting to get through. I gripped the metal railing on the bed, missing thumb and all, and heaved myself upwards. “Are we done?”

The nurse just nodded, unable to take her eyes from my bare chest. “I know we’re not supposed to ask.” Her voice was small. “But I have to know. What happened to you?”

I looked down, white scars were almost neon against the deep purple bruises and gouges their boots had left behind. But it was the marks from the stun gun I stared at as I clasped my chest with one arm and slipped from the bed. “A car accident.”

The young nurse rushed around to grab me as my knees buckled. “Jesus.” She took my weight as I crumpled, steadying me. “It’s a miracle you survived.”

A miracle? Not a miracle, that was me. You need me, the beast growled. I can give you all the strength you need…just…let…me…out.

“No.” I forced the word through clenched teeth. “No.”

The nurse dropped her hold instantly and stepped away. “I’m…I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

I yanked my t-shirt over my head. “It’s okay. I just…”

“Not sure if that’s your girlfriend or your sister waiting out there, but if you…if you need someone to look after you,” she breathed, “I get off at six.”

That snarl came again, only this time it wasn’t desperate. It was pissed. This…bitch was trying to come on to me when the woman I fucking loved waited out there for me? This woman didn’t love me. She couldn’t. She looked at me like I was broken, like I was something she could fix. I didn’t need fixing. I needed…Wildcat. Cold plunged through me as I narrowed in on that panicked stare. “Get the fuck away from me.”

Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry!” she burst out, then turned and hurried from the room.

I both hated and loved the sound of those panicked steps. They triggered that hunger inside me. The one which wanted to hunt and destroy. I yanked my shirt down and pushed away from the bed, following her out of the room until I stopped.

Vivienne sat outside the room, taking up the closest seat as she waited. Her brow rose, turning from the nurse as she frantically hurried away. “Everything okay?” she asked as she stood.

My nostrils flared. I couldn’t stop myself from scenting her. “Yes,” I answered, but the threatening tone said otherwise.

Vivienne took a step, scowling as she placed a hand on my arm. “Easy,” She urged.

Desire slammed into me, speeding my pulse. I need her…I need—I lowered my gaze to her lips, then lower to the line of her neck. I knew just how soft her skin was there, how her thready pulse danced on the tip of my tongue when I licked her.

“Colt?” she whispered.

My cock tightened, thickening in my pants.

Let me taste her, the beast demanded. I want between her legs, my tongue in her pussy. Her come sliding down my throat right before I drive my c—

“Baby?”

I wrenched my arm from hers. The bright overhead light buzzed and brightened as I slammed my hand against the wall and stumbled away. I had to get out of here. I had to get—

I can still taste her blood, licking the grazes my teeth left behind.

A sound ripped free.

“Colt?”

I raced from the treatment rooms, desperate for the sun and the air on my face. I sucked in deep lungfuls as I stumbled outside, staring up at the dusky pink hues that filled the horizon. It was already late, already night. I’d lost too many days down in that hell. Too many…but it wasn’t the days I wanted.

It was the nights.

With her in my bed.

Her hand clasped my arm. I closed my eyes, suppressing a shudder as she said, “Talk to me.”

Mine, the beast demanded. Give…her…to…me.

I spun, drove her against the side of the four-wheel drive, and slammed my hand against the window, boxing her in. “You don’t get it, do you?”

Her eyes widened. Still, she didn’t look away, and she didn’t flinch. She wasn’t like the goddamn nurse, terrified of a hint of that thing inside me. She was goddamn defiant, facing whatever this was head on. It’s what he wanted, what he craved.

I’d known it the first time I saw her. The first time London carried her kicking and screaming over his goddamn shoulder to throw her on the foyer floor in front of me. The beast wanted her then…and that hunger had only grown. “You think last night was a one-time fucking deal?”

She scowled, trying to understand.

“He wants you,” I growled, pressing harder against her, then I glanced down. Christ, I could even scent her, the heady scent of her perfume and under that, her desire. “He fucking wants you, Vivienne. He wants you and I can’t fight it. I can’t fight him. Knowing I’m the…” I met her stare. “Knowing I’m the father only makes him want you more. He wants to mark you, he wants…” I licked my lips, lowering my gaze.

My body moved before I realized it. Curled fingers skimmed the swell of her breast. The feel of her fucking soft nipples roared into my head, how they’d tightened under the graze of my teeth. My cock hardened with the memory as I pushed into her, pinned against the car. I knew he was pushing to the surface, desperate to devour her.

“I needed him,” I started. “Needed him in that place. He was the one who fought for me. He is the one who kills. But he doesn’t just want that anymore.” I met her stare. “He wants to claim. He wants to claim you.”

The muscles of her throat worked as she swallowed.

She knew what I was saying.

She’d already had a taste of the sick, twisted hunger he had for her. But that was nothing compared to what he wanted. I’d fuck her against this car, have her jeans pushed low and my cock driving inside her before she even knew it. My hand around her throat, my teeth grazing her neck as I bowed her back against me. I want in…I want in that cunt. I want…I want…I WANT.

I unleashed a moan and shoved away from her, stumbling backwards.

“Colt!” She lunged, grabbing me as my knees trembled, shaking uncontrollably.

“No!” I tried to shove her away. “You don’t understand what he wants.”

She was everywhere, her hands on my arms, her touch like a fucking brand I couldn’t escape. I lowered my head, burying my face in her hair. “I’m not strong enough to stop him.”

“Then don’t,” she whispered. “I can take it.”

I shook my head. “No. Not this, you can’t.”

She stilled, her grip easing. “Then we make it so I can.”

I lifted my gaze to hers.

She licked her lips and my rock hard cock spasmed. “If he wants to fuck, then we make it on my terms,” she murmured. “Only you won’t like it.”

Relief hit me hard. It was only a matter of time before he clawed his way out once more. The bruises and marks on her skin from this morning were burned into my mind. I couldn’t fight him. Not the way I was, at least. Next time she might not escape so easily.

“Try me,” I whispered. “Right now, I’d do anything just to have you.”