He growled so low and deep it made her flutter and ooze, made her shriek in horrified hatred, and he moaned into her mouth at the slick and scent. Taking what he needed, he rode her gently, spread her legs wide to see the thickness jutting from his groin enter her over and over. Rolling his hips and toying with her nub, he stole what he demanded and the wave blasted through her resistance until Claire reached a shattering, uncomfortable climax that made her arch and choke.
He drove her back powerfully against the bed, knotted as deep as he could, and shared her completion, filling her with heat, with his very essence, breathing hard at her ear as he groaned the words, "I love you, little one."
It did not lessen her pain, it only cut her deeper.
Claire keened as Shepherd held her through it all; still gushing, still knotted, swearing he would never let her go.Chapter 8Shepherd had hurt her in his fervor, in his need to see her mated while the bond reformed… to ensure that she could not escape it. There was a little blood between her legs, as she had been dry and aggressively resistant when he first thrust. Even her mouth was swollen from his unwelcome kisses; new bruises were forming around her wrists and between her thighs.
Shepherd relished each one of the stinging scratches marring his own flesh, his reminder that she was his again—each wound a trophy, and testament to what was between them.
His little one had put up a good fight, but Claire had quieted over the hours, though not calmed completely. The thread in her chest was frazzled; it pained her; so Shepherd held her tight and kept the heat of his palm where her nails tried to scratch through her skin. The tears had ended and instead, she was in a trance, fighting sleep, yet clearly exhausted.
The purr never ceased, and though she gave him her back, Shepherd stroked and soothed, allowing her little defiance. She needed nutrition and hydration, yet he withheld his immense dissatisfaction at the state of her body to allow her some respite after her struggle—to let her think she might rest on her terms for a moment.
Unwilling to leave her, he sent out an order for medical supplies, and covered Claire from sight. Holding her in a grip of iron, he allowed Jules to set what was required on the small table beside the bed. When the door was locked, he found her still refusing to look at him. It didn't matter.
Shepherd had seen her reaction to food, was certain that she would hold nothing down as upset as she was, and took her arm. When the needle pierced a vein, she remained unresisting. Intravenous fluids were administered. While the IV emptied, he bathed her with soft towels, each wound treated and bandaged, the stitches grunted at, and her feet, a thing that made the beast openly angry, were wrapped in soft strips of cloth.
When the process was finished he gathered her again in his arms.
"I will build you a new world, little one—a kingdom worthy of you and our son." He whispered his distorted ideals, raking his fingers through her tangles. On and on Shepherd elocuted, articulating all he would accomplish, how he would be a legend, how he would do this for her.
In Claire's hazy understanding, Shepherd had never spoken so much and said so little.
On her belly, with her back to him, she found herself listening to the pipedreams of a madman until she could not stand it another instant. Rolling over, interrupting his game with her hair, she argued with that same passionate defiance, that same misplaced goodness that had yet to vanish no matter what had happened to the rest of her. "Do not use me as an excuse for the horrible things you do. I will have no part of it!"
He grinned, smiling darkly at her hoarse complaints. Hand molded to the shape of her belly, Shepherd patted where their child grew. "The very fact that I have you back proves the Gods side with me."
Claire had cried herself dry, her chest was rotten mush. "You have me because I would rather save the lives of forty-three people than kill myself."
"Shhh." His hush was brushed over her chest. He kissed where their bond thrived. "Everything is mending and your sadness will fade in time."
It was not mending, it was scarring.
There was a gleam in his eyes, confidence. "We will begin again."
Lip curling, Claire laid out his sins. "You forced a pair-bond, drugged and impregnated me, fucked your crazy Alpha beloved in my nest…" She did not finish. Instead her pain surged again and Claire found her eyes could indeed leak more tears. "I recognize, Shepherd, that I am only here to be your toy. I'm a slave, a kept thing. I sold myself for them."