The pleasure blazed through him, consuming him from the inside out.

Her breath heaved out. So did his. Alerac’s heartbeat raced in his chest.

He looked down at her. Jane’s eyes were wide, her face flushed with pleasure.

“We’re not done.” Not even close. But at least he’d taken the edge off. Now he could make it to the bed, and he did. He carried her toward the four-poster. Made sure not to let his claws hurt her skin.

He eased her down on the covers. She started to lie down on her back.

“No.”

He turned her onto her stomach. Put her hands down. Lifted her onto her knees. She glanced back at him. “Alerac?”

“I need you this way.” Gravel-rough.

Her gaze fell to this cock. “You didn’t—”

“I did.” And he was about to, again. He pushed into her, and she was slick and swollen from her release. Thrusting into her right then was better than the best dream he’d ever had.

Her fingers clenched the bed covers. A moan spilled from her throat.

He covered her with his body. Alerac put his mouth on her shoulder. He’d marked her there, in front of the pack. Now he’d mark her while they were alone.

In and out. He thrust slowly, holding back the pleasure. In. Out.

It was his turn to lick her skin. To taste her. Not just as a werewolf, but as the being he’d become, because of her.

Part wolf.

Part vampire.

His teeth sank into her.

Her hips shoved back against him. “Alerac!” A demand this time.

He met that demand. His thrusts shook her. Shook the bed. Could have shaken the whole damn house for all he cared.

Her blood was on his tongue. His c**k in her snug sex. He surrounded her.

She f**kin’ enslaved him.

She came, shuddering, and she ripped the covers with her grip.

He kept thrusting. Driving into her as deeply as he could go. He’d been kept apart from her for far too long. He’d had too many empty nights, too many dreams of her. He’d woken, alone, lost, bellowing her name.

She was with him now. Linked, bound, forever.

There was no escape.

His release was even stronger this time. His heart nearly burst from him as held her tighter.

No escape.

Because, if he lost her again, Alerac knew he’d go mad.

***

“I’ll take his punishment.”

The words were soft, almost broken.

They were her words.

Jane could see herself, a small figure surrounded by angry vampires. She was staring straight ahead and offering to take someone’s—

“No! You can’t!”

Those words…that was Alerac’s voice.

She looked down and saw a knife hanging from her chest. No, not her chest—Alerac’s.

This was his memory. She was seeing everything from his point of view again.

The knife was yanked from him. The silver burned, and smoke drifted up from the wound. Then the blade was pushed against Alerac’s throat.

A vampire stood there, eyes shining as he glared down at Alerac. His dark hair was swept back from his high forehead. His lips twisted in disgust. “The punishment is death,” the dark vampire said. “He came here, he used you, in order to get into our midst. To attack us from within.”

Wait—that vampire had to be the one Alerac had warned her about—Lorcan. That guy was obviously the boss in this little nightmare scene.

She’d expected him to look like a monster. He didn’t. He was handsome, seemingly in the bloom of his youth. It was only when he looked deeply into Alerac’s eyes that she could see the flare of evil.

“I-I’ve started turning.”

“When,” Lorcan demanded to know.

“Y-yesterday.”

The knife was lifted from Alerac’s throat. His hands clenched as he pulled at the silver manacles that bound him.

“He used you!” Lorcan snapped. Alerac’s blood dripped from the knife. “And yet you would give your life for him? Why?”

She didn’t respond right away.

“Why?” Lorcan’s shout filled the chamber.

“Because I love him.”

Lorcan smiled, but it was a cold and cruel sight. “You can’t die for him, Keira. You have too much value to us.” A pause. “But you can take his punishment. After all, you were the one to bring him in to our clan. A dog, walking among gods.”

“You’re no god,” Alerac snarled.

Lorcan’s eyes narrowed. “One hundred years. That’s the penalty for treason in our clan. Imprisonment. Starvation. For one hundred years.”

One hundred years. How could even a vampire survive that long without some kind of food? Because he’d said starvation—

“I will take the punishment, but you have to promise me that Alerac lives. No matter what else happens, he lives.”

“Why?” Lorcan’s lips were twisted into a sly smile. “By the time you are free, he’ll be long dead.”

“Swear it, Lorcan. Vow it to me on the blood.”

Lorcan’s gaze returned to Alerac. “I vow it,” he agreed.

The vampires hauled her away. Shackles were put around her wrists as Alerac watched, and something…broke in him. He lunged to his feet, roaring, as his beast pushed for freedom. He yanked the manacles from the wall.

The images vanished into a swirl of darkness.

For once, Jane preferred the darkness. Fear was acid in her gut, churning, destroying.

But the darkness didn’t last.

New images slipped before her. The dark haired vampire—Lorcan. She knew him now. Knew him through Alerac’s memories. He was the bastard who had imprisoned her.

Then he was before her. No, not before her, but before Alerac. Another vision, another one starring Lorcan. He was smiling his twisted, evil grin.

“I said you would get to live.” Lorcan bent and picked up the silver knife. “But I never vowed that you would not suffer.”

Another vampire yanked back Alerac’s head.

“I think I’ll start with your eyes,” Lorcan said. “After all, what good is a wolf who cannot see?”

The blade came toward him. The silver burned and cut and the pain rolled through him.

In her mind, Jane was screaming. She was crying. She was so desperate to escape that silver knife.

She didn’t see Lorcan any longer. She saw red—blood.