Hostage to Pleasure

“I know. Do you think I don’t know?” She thrust her hands through her hair. “Damn it, Dorian! It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to wonder if some of the wolves would be good in bed.” That was a lie-her recent slew of incredibly erotic fantasies hadn’t focused on SnowDancer males in general, but on one very specific wolf. Not that she would admit that. To anyone.

“Cat and wolf isn’t a… um… normal combination.”

“And Psy and cat is?” She made a face at him. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Cat and wolf is strange.” But the SnowDancer dominants were tough sons of bitches, part of a very small pool of men who might take her on and survive. And the one she was thinking about… No. Absolutely not. Never. Ever.

“How about one of the Rats?” Dorian’s eyes gleamed.

She narrowed her own. “Cat and rat. Har-dee-har-har.”

“It would definitely give a whole new meaning to the term ‘black widow.’ ” He hugged her before she could kick him, his body shaking with laughter.

She hugged him back, so damn glad he was alive to tease her. “I’ll get you back for that later, being that you’re an invalid right now.” Pulling back after another few moments, she nudged him toward Ashaya and walked out, closing the door behind herself.

She just missed seeing Ashaya open her eyes.

Ashaya had woken to the sound of Dorian’s laughter and a woman’s voice. She found herself tensing up, though she didn’t know why. The words came into focus slowly, but by the time Dorian mentioned rats, she was fully conscious and aware that everyone who belonged to her was safe. Mate. Child. Twin.

Dorian’s laughter wrapped around her as she looked into her mind and found Keenan. His star shone bright in this strange, wonderful web that was her new home. When she contacted him through it, he said, “Sascha said you were sleeping.” It was a whisper. “You slept a lot. Days and days. But I could see you in the Web, so I wasn’t scared.”

“I’m awake now, baby.” She let all her love for him color her voice. “I’ll come see you soon.”

“I’ve got lots and lots and lots to tell you.” He sounded excited. “I have friends. Ben’s a wolf and Tally brought Noor to play, too. I’m going to marry Noor one day. And Ben’s gonna mate with Marlee even if she is bigger than he is.”

Ashaya’s heart smiled to hear her son sound like a child. Behind her, Amara lay sleeping but uninjured. And Dorian… Dorian was alive.

She opened her eyes.

Her gaze met his. His smile slipped away, to be replaced by a look of such intense emotion that she felt it as a touch. Impossible… except that he was in her heart now, the bond between them a brilliant, golden beacon.

It scared her a little, the depth of this fury.

“It would’ve been easier,” she whispered.

“What would?” He stayed beside the bed, as if he was content to simply watch her.

She felt embraced by his eyes, stroked by his soul. “If you’d fallen in love with Mercy.”

A slow smile. “She’s too mean.”

It made her smile, too. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”

“Aw, come on.” That smile softened, his eyes filling with the chaos in her own heart. “You almost died for me.”

She saw the frown lines forming, cut him off. “No, Dorian. You don’t get to be angry at me.”

“Why the hell not?”

She spread the palm of one hand against the sheet. “Your blood gushed over my hand, like a river.” She shook her head as her heart stuttered in memory. “Why did you take the bullet? I wouldn’t have survived if you’d died.”

“Move over.” Slipping into her bed, he cradled her against his chest. “You’re wrong. You would’ve pulled yourself together for Keenan, for Amara. That’s who you are.”

He didn’t understand, she thought. “But I wouldn’t have survived.” She put her hand on his chest, wanting to feel the pulse of his life. “Pieces of my heart, Dorian. You’re in so many pieces of my heart.”

He sucked in a breath at her use of those words, tightening his embrace. “Shh, now, sugar. I’m a tough bastard… though you’ll have to explain how I survived a shot to the carotid.”

The practical question anchored her, and she guessed he’d known it would. “I have no idea. I was unconscious.”

Dorian began to say something, but right then, the door opened and Tamsyn walked in with several others. Ashaya found both herself and Dorian being bullied into a battery of medical tests. She told them she was fine, but no one listened. Tammy’s eyes actually went leopard on her when she dared protest. Ashaya shut up.

“Let them fuss,” Dorian whispered as they were being taken down for yet another scan. “They had a shock, too, need to convince themselves we’re okay.”

She could understand that. “Amara?”

“She’s being watched. I talked to Sascha while you were having the bloodwork done. She thinks we woke quicker because we bolster each other’s energy.”