“Your bedroom is at the top of the stairs.”

She glanced at him. “My room?” Just to be clear.

“Our room,” he corrected as he raised one brow.

So he was still holding to that.

The door swung open behind them. Jane turned so see Liam heading inside. “Doesn’t look like we were followed, yet.”

Alerac inclined his head. “They’ll come calling soon enough. We’ll be ready for them.”

The fire wasn’t chasing away the chill in her bones. “Why is it that they want me dead?” Betrayal, check. But it was time for her to get some specifics. If she was going to be hunted every minute, Jane figured that she deserved to know why.

“Rest.” Alerac glanced toward the stairs. “Then you can—”

Screw resting. “Why don’t I have any memories?”

He glanced back at Liam. “Call in the debts we have. See if you can find me a witch.”

Again with the witch talk. That talk made her nervous, but she pushed on, “Why can’t I remember anything? We’re here, we’re supposedly safe. Just tell me.”

Liam hurried into another room. She thought he muttered something like “Good luck with that,” on his way out.

Alerac waited until Liam was gone, then he put his hand to Jane’s back and guided her a little closer to the fire. “You can’t remember because you were made to forget.” His eyes were on her. Blazing now—brighter than the flames in that fireplace, and his eyes fully showed a stark, desperate need. “The vampire clan leader, Lorcan Teague, wanted you to forget me, so he made a witch put you under a spell.”

Her heart was pounding faster. Shaking her chest. Her fingers had a nervous tremble. “You said…I know we were lovers.”

That need got even sharper. Jane caught her breath.

“We were.” His eyes held her trapped. “But werewolves and vampires aren’t supposed to mate. We’re supposed to fight. To hate. To kill one another.” His fingers skimmed over her cheek. “Not to f**k.”

Okay, now the fire was a little too hot. Or maybe she was a little too hot. Jane edged back.

“We weren’t supposed to be together,” Alerac continued, and his fingers brushed back her hair. “And Lorcan wanted to make sure that when you were free, you didn’t remember me.”

His head bent.

She tensed.

His lips brushed over her throat.

A shiver slid over her. That shiver had nothing to do with nervousness and everything to do with desire. Her sex was suddenly aching. Her ni**les were tight. When she’d taken his blood before, it had been as if a gate had broken open inside of her. She’d been flooded with emotion. Need.

Lust.

For him.

“The bastard thought I’d be long dead by the time you were free. That you wouldn’t remember what he’d done.” His voice roughened even more. “I showed him.” Another sensual press of his lips along her throat.

Her knees were starting to feel funny. “Why would you be…long dead?”

His head lifted. “Werewolves aren’t immortal.”

She’d never get used to those glowing eyes. Eyes that saw in to her.

“You were locked away.”

“Locked away?”

“I don’t know where. I couldn’t find you. I looked and I looked, but you were gone.”

Her lips had turned desert dry. “For how long?”

She’d demanded the truth, but in that instant, Jane didn’t think she wanted to hear—

“Two hundred years.”

No, she definitely hadn’t wanted to hear that truth.

Chapter Five

Jane was in his home. Where he could keep her safe.

He could hear the rush of the shower’s water pounding down on her. After he’d told her that she’d been imprisoned for over two hundred years, he’d expected more questions. Instead, she’d turned and headed up the stairs without a word.

He’d followed her.

He felt like he was always f**kin’ following her.

She won’t get away again.

He stood before the closed bathroom door. Jane was inside. Naked.

He’d stripped off his own shirt. Now he wore only a pair of loose jeans that hung on his hips.

Did Jane realize just how delicate his control was? Probably not. She didn’t seem to understand just how desperately his beast wanted her.

His wolf had been denied its mate for far too long.

He couldn’t be denied any longer.

The water stopped.

Rustles. Whispers.

Move away. It would be wise to move away from the door. To give her some space, but…

The wolf within him wasn’t letting him move. The man was at the end of his rope. Too hungry for her. Too desperate to reclaim what had been stolen from him.

No, he shouldn’t have lived for two hundred years. But he hadn’t been about to give up.

Sometimes, you didn’t realize what you had until it was gone.

The door creaked open.

Jane stood there, clad only in her towel.

Once you realized just how valuable some things—some people—were, you’d fight even the devil to get them back.

For her, he’d fight anyone. Everyone.

Her gaze lifted to find his. “Alerac…”

He reached for her. Kissed her before she could speak again. He loved her taste. It drove him wild.

Her skin was soft beneath his hands. Still wet from the shower. He wanted to lick that skin. He wanted to lick every single inch of her body.

Mate.

He’d never claimed her as his mate before. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

He lifted her up against him. Held her easily in his arms. She was so small and delicate. When they’d first met, and she’d still been more human than vampire, that delicacy had scared him.

She’d been too breakable.

He’d waited to take her then, so desperate for her to change and become a full vampire—so that he couldn’t hurt her.

A werewolf’s passion wasn’t an easy thing. Rough. Wild. Savage.

After waiting for so long now, that savagery was just beneath his surface.

His claws wanted to come out. He wanted to snarl and howl and take.

But the man held onto control. Barely.

He carried her toward the bed. Put her on the heavy covers. Pulled back to stare down at her.