Everything Carries Me to You (Axton and Leander Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

free--but Axton held tight, with just enough room in his mouth to snarl. The hold was curiously restrained, for all of the force Axton used--he barely broke the skin. Dana was strong and managed to push Axton off, but Axton didn't let go and then used the momentum to roll them over again so that he stayed on top of Dana. He growled the whole time, steadily, while Dana snarled but yipped in surprise.
    Eventually Dana's struggles quieted, though intermittently he would buck up and try again.
    It was a long time before he stayed well and truly still. Axton held his grip for as long as it took, and then a little longer. When he finally let go, they were both panting from the exertion--but Dana stayed crouched low and made no attempt at retaliation. Axton stayed standing, looming over him.
    Dana tucked his head and looked away.
    Satisfied, Axton turned his back on Dana--apparently completely unconcerned--and walked back to the bed. He jumped up lightly, sat, and looked down on Dana from his new perch.
    Whatever Dana's business had been, he crawled out of the room on his stomach.
     
    ++
    The next hunt they went on, Axton didn't even pretend to let Dana out in front. Axton led the hunt, deciding where they would go and when they would move. He nodded Dana into position, but then didn't even bother to signal when he was about to leap in for the kill. When the buck they'd hunted was dead on the ground, Dana moved next to Axton to eat--
    Axton whirled on him, clamping his jaws down on Dana's neck and pinning him to the ground. His breath was hot and heavy as his snarl, and the blood of the buck was still wet on his teeth.
    In the new quiet of the forest, Dana's pulse fluttered against Axton's tongue, betraying his panic even as his body stayed still, submitting.
    There was something else, too, a scent that mingled with the surprise but wasn't exactly fear--it made Axton want to wrinkle his nose in disinterest, but he wasn't going to weaken his grip for that.
    Axton held on, teeth in sweet and terrible suspension right over Dana's pounding jugular. In time, Dana's pulse slowed, almost returning to normal. This was acceptance. Finally, Axton let go.
    Once free, Dana shook himself, dazed, but did not move.
    Axton ate his full of the kill before Dana was allowed to start.
     
    ++
    Their lives continued like this for some time. Axton's reign was absolute, except for the fact that he did not run, did not try to escape. In all other matters, Dana bowed--in fits and starts. Sometimes he had to be taught again.
    No one was really happy, but it was livable.
     
    ++
    When Dana stormed into his room in his human shape, Axton was surprised. Hadn't he taught Dana that this was unacceptable? Axton roused himself from sleep as quick as he could, because this needed a correction--
    "I'm sorry about this, sugar," Dana said, as he pulled out a gun. Axton did not understand, cocking his head to the side, pausing his lunge for Dana's face.
    "I know you won't believe me," Dana said, "but I'm really fucking sorry."
    Axton leaped--
    Dana pulled the trigger.
    The bullet hit Axton right in the stomach, right in the soft and vulnerable underbelly. His body staggered back from the impact and crumpled.
    Wordless, overwhelming panic. The wound was bubbling. The world was pain. The gurgling sound--the gurgling sound would haunt him forever, if he lived that long. Axton couldn't breathe. Despite his lack of words, despite how he'd been so willing to starve himself before--despite everything, Axton was suddenly and completely terrified of dying. The sharpness of his horror was worse for being wordless; the panic and the desperation of it hit him in waves and threatened to drown him.
    Distantly, he heard Dana's sucked in breath, and smelled his fear.
    Yet Dana pulled the trigger again.
    Impossible as the capacity to feel more pain had seemed just a second ago--Axton felt worse. Part of him was aware--he should press down on his wounds--but something was wrong and his