by Cecilia Lane
His expression shuttered. “What is it?”
She wanted to trust him. He’d been nothing but good to her. No demands left his mouth. No expectations were laid at her feet. He looked at her and saw everything, flaws and all.
And he didn’t look away.
What did she want?
Her wolf howled in answer.
To stay. To be with him.
No more secrets.
Nora tugged down the neck of her shirt.
Jesse reared back, fury and horror mixing in his eyes. He stepped away, then turned and pointed a finger at her mate mark. “What the fuck is that?”
She stepped near him, hands out, but he twisted away. She chased after him, trying to turn him back around. Her heart felt like it’d been ripped out of her chest.
“I can explain,” she half whispered, half yelled. “Let me explain.”
Her foot caught on the corner of the rug and she pitched forward. She wrapped her arms around his waist as she went down, dragging him down with her. He tried to separate their tangled bodies; she tried to crawl up his frame.
What she intended as another plea to let her explain resulted in her yelling at his crotch, “Just listen to me!”
Score for disaster.
Jesse stilled. Nora took the chance to very primly and properly disengage from their heap and take several steps backward. The look on his face nearly made her keep stepping until she was twelve states away and had a new identity, but her wolf dug in her heels and locked her legs.
“Will you please give me the chance to explain my actions?” she asked.
A muscle jumped along his jaw as he stared at her. Then he slashed his eyes away and nodded, teeth grinding together.
Jesse moved from the floor to the very edge of the couch. The air around him thickened with sour disappointment. “Explain,” he demanded.
She made to sit next to him. At a growl, she straightened and leaned against the fireplace. She twisted her fingers together.
Oh hell. Where did she even begin?
“I haven’t always been a shifter,” she said. Her mouth worked while her mind tried to put her thoughts in order. “Up until two months ago, human as can be. Nothing special about this old bag of bones.”
“Nora,” he said in a tight voice.
“Right. Sorry.” His attention landed on her face and made it difficult to breathe. “This is just really hard to talk about. You’re the first person I’ve told.” She took several quick breaths. “I met Viho—”
“Motherfucker!” Jesse surged to his feet and strode for the door.
No, no, no. Her heart sank to her toes and bile rose in her throat. He couldn’t walk out. Not yet. Not until he knew everything she’d kept from him.
Then he could leave and she could cry her eyes out.
“He chained me to a bed for a month!” she shouted, throwing her hands out to stop him.
Jesse froze, then slowly turned to face her. His eyes brightened well past anything she’d seen before. Her wolf cowered down at the sheer rage that twisted his expression.
“He did what?” he asked, voice low and full of his inner animal.
“I served him dinner a couple times. He was polite. He tipped well. Nothing about him made me think twice.” She balled her hands into fists. The tips of sharp claws poked against her skin. Her wolf howled and paced through her head, looking for an escape. “He was just a nice customer right up until he abducted me, turned me, and mated me. I was knocked out in an alley and woke surrounded by a werewolf biker gang with fire burning through my veins.”
“He did this to you without permission?” A growl sawed in and out of Jesse as he dumped more fury into the air around him. He prowled forward as she backed away, eyes latched onto her. “That’s a death sentence. Guaranteed for him, but he put your life at risk. The wolf could have rejected you. You could have bled out.”
Her wolf perked up at the bit of concern, but Nora wasn’t so certain. Just because he didn’t lump her in with Viho didn’t mean there was any hope of repairing the damage she’d let spiral out of control.
“He said he needed to steady his wolf, but it didn’t work. I didn’t work. I was broken and submissive.”
“Did he—?” he cut off with a snarl, but his eyes roved down her body.
“No. Never.” Nora shook her head. Too many memories shoved at her when she didn’t want to touch any of them. “He... ah, he couldn’t. Mostly he just liked to tell me how I was born wrong and he’d be doing the world a favor by putting me down.”
More noise rumbled out of him. He spun away from her and wrapped his hands around the mantle of the fireplace. His back rippled with each breath he dragged into his lungs.
“But you got away,” he said after a moment.
His voice was still thick and full of power. She didn’t need it in the form of a question to know he probed for more.
“Oh, I was useless in that. There was a big fight in the pack. One too many deaths, I guess. Viho wouldn't talk about it much, but they were being hunted. One of the Vagabonds, Jensen, he got me free in the middle of it all. Then Viho charged at us and he told me to run. I didn't stop until my legs shook and I could barely keep on my feet. Running is kind of my superpower. Look, up in the sky, it's the submissive wolf who flees at the first sign of a fight.”
“Not useless,” he chided. “Smart. There’s a time to fight and a time to run. Survivors know when to do both.”
“I didn’t think I’d be safe where he first found me, so I packed what little I owned and came here. I thought I’d be safe surrounded by other shifters. Kenny took pity on me when I was down to my last few dollars and I’ve been making a mess of his restaurant ever since.” She flopped down onto the couch and sighed. For all the weight off her shoulders, she didn’t feel the least bit better. Too bad she didn’t feel like a survivor. A coward, mostly. Weak. “That’s why he’s after me. That’s why he won’t leave me alone. In his eyes, I belong to him.”
Silence answered her. It twined all around her, twisting and knotting until she didn’t think she could move.
“I never should have come here. I never should have stayed. You survived him once before. And now there are cubs coming into this world? I can’t put them in danger.” She nodded once and stood. “That’s it. I’m leaving. Tonight. Right now. I can get out of town and find somewhere else and hope he won’t follow. My trouble isn’t yours.”
“Why did you keep this from me?”
Nora turned back toward Jesse. She winced and hunched her shoulders against the look of betrayal on his face. She hadn’t lied, technically, but the omission was enough to wreck them both.
What could she say? That she enjoyed her vacation from reality? She liked feeling as if someone cared? Spending time with him and his clan let her experience, momentarily, what it felt like to have a family?
Those were the reasons floating to the top. Darker fears lurked under the water.
She didn’t want to be lumped in with Viho.
She didn’t want to be a victim.
The same thing, really.
Nora slid her eyes closed. In a small voice, she answered, “I didn’t want you to think less of me.”
Jesse crushed her to his chest. He wrapped her in his strength and kept her on her feet. “Oh, Nora. This isn’t something you did. This is something that happened to you. You have no blame for this.”
He was too good. Too perfect. She didn’t dare hope to have a future with him. He deserved someone who didn’t need an eighteen-wheeler to tote around her baggage. Someone who wasn’t the unwilling mate of his enemy.
Someone not her.
Her wolf pressed a sending on her. Her mate mark was in clear view, but looked as fresh as the day it’d been applied. The picture pulled back. Instead of the dark-haired monster she expected to see, her dark-haired hero lay next to her.
Her stomach clenched at the sight.
Mates were precious. Would anyone ever treat her as preciously
as Jesse? Would she ever feel the same for someone else?
The idea of letting someone as close to her as he was at that moment sent a chill down her spine. She didn’t want anyone else’s touch. She wanted his hands on her. His scent in her nose. His strength surrounding her and keeping her safe.
Nora splayed her hands over Jesse’s chest. His heart raced under her touch.
“I didn’t pick him. But I want to pick you.”
Chapter 17
A handful of words stunned Jesse to silence.
After everything, all the horrible details and tragedies, her last words were the ones to kill any thought in his head.
She wanted him.
She’d been through hell and back, still dealt with the fallout, and she wanted him.
All the quiet fright and lowered eyes made sense. Viho had taken her, changed her, and mated her. She’d been mistreated in the worst of ways.
But she didn’t pick him.
His bear roared and clawed with the urge to bleed the fucker for hurting Nora. The punishment was necessary for the crime, but his need was entirely personal.
Jesse’s throat bobbed with a hard swallow. He shoved aside the desire to kill boiling in his veins. Nora needed him.
He covered her hands with his own. Heat spread up his wrists and arms, spiraled down his spine. His heart skipped a beat, then pounded faster, matching Nora’s racing pulse and knotting them together.
He’d known from the beginning that she needed a gentle hand, even if the reason remained hidden. He even understood why she kept silent. She didn’t want to be defined by her unfortunate circumstances. She’d said as much when she told him about her childhood. Of course she’d apply that to her abduction and forced pairing.
Something flickered in her eyes. The warm glow of gold flared to life, then died just as quickly. Disappointment laced her scent and she tugged her hands away.
“Just forget I said anything. Or was here. Or existed.” She winced, but kept babbling, eyes growing wider as her mouth ran out of control. “You don’t need to say anything. This is too much to ask for someone to accept. Forgive? In my wildest dreams. Which have been wild, let me tell you. Apparently, I forgot what dreams were like since taking a walk on the furry side.”
She finally regained control of herself and snapped her mouth closed. Her shoulders hunched and she spun away from him.
Jesse caught her wrist and swung her back against him, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. Lavender swirled in the air around him. “Do you know how strong you are?” he breathed against her skin.
Forget her? Like hell he would. She’d bared her soul—and her mate mark—to him. Worse men, undeserving men, would walk away. He couldn’t even entertain the idea. She was his. His bear had been roaring for her since they met. Viho still hunted her under the mistaken assumption he owned her.
No. Jesse wouldn’t forget her. He’d see the fucker who hurt her dead and stand with her on the other side.
She was his mate.
“Like a week-old babe. Just don’t throw me up against any toddlers. They’ll kick my ass.”
Jesse snorted and shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve survived so much and haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
She’d been thrown into an entirely different life at the hands of one of the sickest motherfuckers he knew. That sort of damage brought the toughest person to their knees. He had firsthand experience with how forced changes wrecked lives. Alex had found his mate, but was still a grade-A asshole. Liv and Tansey had good days and bad.
“I wish you could see what I see. Strong, badass woman. A motherfucking wolf shifter with claws and fangs and the ability to use both if you’re ever threatened. Nora, you’re amazing.”
Red spread over her cheeks. She ducked her eyes, but she couldn’t hide her reaction from him. Small smile, peeking at him from under her lashes. Even without those, her scent was a dead giveaway. The sweet lavender thickened with delight.
Nora needed to find her feet. Her paws. He’d help her see the truth in his words.
“Touch me,” he said. “I’m yours.”
Her fingers shook as she brushed them up his chest, rippling muscles in her wake. He slid his eyes closed and groaned at the touch. Not enough, he reached a hand over his head and threw his shirt to the ground.
He pushed her hair to the side and leaned down. His lips brushed against hers gently as his fingers traced over her cheeks, her jaw, down her neck and over her collarbone. He wanted to memorize every inch of her, starting with the smile she tried to hide when he paid her compliments.
He brushed his tongue along the seam of her lips and she opened for him. Her taste exploded over his tongue, just like it’d done when he kissed her out near the herd and again that very night. He’d needed more when he brought her back from their night out with the clan. A refresher. Another dose, another hit. She’d gotten him addicted in a short amount of time and there was nothing—no one—that would keep them apart.
His bear rumbled agreement, the sound vibrating in his chest. Nora sucked down a breath and spread her fingers over his heart.
He gripped her hips and dragged her against him. His fingers skimmed under her shirt, bunching the fabric as he went. Higher and higher, over the swell of her breasts. She lifted her arms and let him strip her down. He undid her bra with a snap of his fingers, then dropped to his knees. He dotted her stomach and side with kisses as his fingers worked open her jeans.
And he traced the shiny, savage bite mark on her side with his tongue.
Two scars, each given for different reasons. One to change her, one to claim her. Both belonged to him, now.
Her breath quickened, rushing in and out between her lips.
“I’m not him,” he reassured.
She let go of a shuddering breath. Heated eyes met his as she slowly shook her head. “I didn’t say you were.”
“I’m going to take care of you.” He kissed her stomach and nipped at her hip. “I’m going to treat you like you deserve.”
Naked, deliciously naked, he lowered her to the couch and blanketed her body. Her skin felt like silk against his own. He couldn’t stop touching everywhere he could reach. Slide here, squeeze there, every inch of her was to be coveted and teased and tasted.
Jesse kissed down her neck and over her breasts. He cupped her, massaged her, pinched her nipples between his fingers. She arched against him when he claimed one between his lips, then continued his path down her belly, down her sides, down and down and down until his shoulders brushed her thighs wide.
He groaned at the first lick of her sweet arousal. Her hands landed on his head and twisted into his hair. A tiny moan trickled out of her parted lips as he licked deeper, sliding between her folds and into her center.
His. His. She belonged to him.
His bear rolled through him with a strong need to possess her in every way possible. Erase all the bad from her mind. He wanted only good memories floating around in there, memories of him.
He wanted to banish Viho entirely.
Jesse growled and rolled his eyes upward. Her mouth dropped open when he slid two fingers into her, pumping, demanding. He sucked her clit between his lips, flicking with his tongue. Another growl tightened her hands in his hair and arched her against him. Fuck, she was responsive. Delicious. Perfect. Heat spiraled through him, throbbing his cock hard against his jeans. He couldn’t wait to slide between her legs, push deep inside, feel her all around him.
“Jesse!” she cried out, throwing her head back.
She shuddered as he dragged every damn aftershock out of her and didn’t relent until her legs twitched and she gasped for breath.
He eased back and kissed the inside of her thighs. Her hips. Right below her belly button. He took his time making his way back up her body, working her up with his mouth all over again. Lavender and arousal filled his nose, crawled down his throat, clogged up his brain until there was nothing left but Nora.
Wild eyes l
aced with gold opened to him. Her gaze held everything he wanted to see. Glassy need, pure joy.
Hope.
She dragged him down into another kiss as he undid the button of his jeans. Her hands, his, both shoved the stiff fabric down his hips until her fingers wrapped around his cock.
“Fuck,” he groaned in her ear.
He could die a happy man.
Nora still breathed hard when the world shifted and twisted until she sprawled over Jesse’s chest. Heat pressed all around her, blasting off his body, steaming against her own skin. Her entire frame seemed to tingle and vibrate.
Jesse cupped the back of her neck. “Touch me,” he commanded again.
There was something erotic and powerful in the order. She had no illusions about who held the real control. He was a dang bear shifter with a beast under his skin and she had a malfunctioning wolf who seemed to only want to come out at the most inopportune times. Jesse could take whatever he wanted and her traitorous little beast would probably roll over and thank him after.
She would, too, but that was beside the point.
The man gave her a damn gift. He made her fly high and eased her back down to the ground. Then he offered it again, letting her take charge and set the pace.
Nora crawled her fingers up his chest, just like she’d done before. Only this time there were no pesky clothes between them. Skin to skin, just like she’d wanted the first time she ran into him.
She dipped her nose to his stomach and dragged her tongue up his chest. His hiss of pleasure was a damn shot to her system. His eyes bled with gold when she planted her hands over his pecs and pushed herself upright.
“Fuck, gorgeous,” he groaned. “You look like a goddess.”
Heat flushed her cheeks. He made her feel like one.
His eyes trailed up and down her body. His fingers followed the same path. Where she saw imperfections, he smoothed his hands over in appreciation. He grabbed her thighs, her hips, her ass. He skimmed up her sides and palmed her breasts. No part of her was left untouched and unwanted.
He made her feel precious.
She rose up on her knees and slowly slid over him like she knew what she was doing. His fingers dug into her hips and he let out a groan the moment he pushed through her entrance.
