It only took me ten minutes to arrive back at the cottage, and when I got there, the place was teeming with staff. Their presence grated me, but when I saw Shenique, my quivering nerves settled and my anger withered away.
She was up and about, almost fully healed, I noticed as I quickly assessed her injuries. Her bandages were off, and her flesh knitted together where the unsightly gashes had once been.
My anger dissipated, but it was quickly replaced with another emotion: an intense sadness and regret. I had tried to buffer myself against my brother’s comments, but they had gotten to me. I had never been good with females. The only thing I had been good at was fucking them and leaving, but after having met Shenique, the possibility that I could be something more sparked inside of me. Not only that, I now wanted to be something more, but my brother – the man I looked up to the most – he had dashed those hopes, crushed them under his feet. He’d said disturbing things about our father, things I refused to believe; but even worse was that he believed that I was destined to be those things also.
I gawked at Shenique as she assisted one of the butlers with setting the breakfast table. My heart swelled as I watched her smiling and talking with them. A light like I had never seen before shone in her eyes, and when she turned to look at me, her countenance brightened even more.
My breath caught in the back of my throat as a debilitating desire arose in me like a wrought iron pole. My grip slackened on the door handle, and my wolf howled in anticipation.
Our souls were connecting, and I believed there was another depth to what we shared; but I also wondered if Remi was right.
Was I good enough for a mate?
For Shenique?
Did I have what it took to support her the way she required? I had soothed her nightmares and reduced her rage. I had made her smile and shown her that she could experience love, in spite of Loveless.
She had done the same things for me.
I refused to believe the things my brother had said, but somehow, I still wondered...
Shenique was still staring at me, but now, her smile had dipped into a distinct frown. She muttered an excuse-me to the butler and rushed over to where I stood, painfully self-aware and fragile.
“Vinny, what’s the matter?” she whispered, staring into my face. Concern crinkled the corners of her eyes. She pressed her hands against my chest, and my eyes dropped to where her touch burned through my clothes. My jaw tightened, and no words would come out. She caressed my jaw, and I thought I would shatter.
“Vince – ”
“Nothing is wrong,” I bit out.
“You’re not being honest,” she assessed quickly, but I said nothing.
I had no words.
Shenique narrowed her eyes and grabbed my hand into hers. “Let’s go,” she commanded. “We need to talk.”
I was ten times bigger than she was, but I allowed her to drag me past the parlor furniture and through a short hall. When we reached the bedroom, she pushed the door to a close and spun around to face me, planting her hands on her hips. “Okay, now talk,” she requested firmly.
I shook my head. “There is nothing for us to talk about,” I replied walking away from her, but she grabbed my arm.
“Why can’t you tell me what happened?” she asked. Her tone was tense. She was agitated. “I can clearly look at you and see that something has upset you. We’re partners, and I want to know what it is.”
I huffed and stomped past her, deeper into the room. I wanted to tell her, but what sense did it make? It was humiliating. To tell her that I might not be good enough for her, it was the foil of what I was supposed to be. I was a fucking wolf, strong and confident. Never had I considered that I would be inadequate, especially for the woman I believed to be my mate.
My jaw tightened. “It does not matter,” I insisted. “All that matters is that we administer Loveless, the way we have planned, and that we do it as soon as possible.” I paused and looked at my mate, the one I might never claim, and she stared back. I could see the agitation flickering behind her eyes.
Shenique stared at me, her lip quivering. I glared at her, trying not to be overpowered by her electrifying presence or the fact that I wanted to rip her clothes away and fuck her until the moon rose.
But doing this was pointless as well. It was true, my thirst for this woman exceeded anything on Maslow’s hierarchy; but now, thanks to my brother, I realized it made little sense to concern myself with these emotions. They were useless.
Shenique’s head dipped, and her curls covered her face. “You’re not being fair,” she said.
“Fair?”
“I opened up to you, Vince,” she said. “I literally made myself vulnerable in front of you, something I have never done with anyone, but I wanted to do it with you because I felt safe, and because...” She dropped the sentence and her gaze. “All I’m saying is that I want to be able to do for you, what you did for me.”
I huffed and dropped onto the bed. I scrubbed my shaking hands over my face.
Carefully, Shenique made her way over to the bed and sat next to me. She ran her fingers in circles over the back of my thigh. “Vinny, what happened?” she whispered.
My breath snatched into my lungs and my eyes fastened onto her until they fluttered away. I sighed and stared ahead. “I went to the mansion this morning to talk to Remi,” I whispered. “We were supposed to have a meeting, but more than that, I was going to tell him about you.”
“About me?” Concern laced her tone. “You were going to tell him about the plan? Why the hell would you – ”
“I was not going to tell him about that,” I said, shaking my head. “I was going to seek his advice about something else, which has been on my mind; but when I got to the mansion, there was some guy there...”
“What are you talking about?”
“A guy named Roman, who claims to be our brother.” My jaw locked as I recalled the precise moment in which that asshole had said it, as well as the stupid look on his fucking face. “I only have one brother,” I told Shenique, my hands curled into fists. “The rest of my family, they were murdered by hunters when I was a little boy, a pup.”
Shenique’s eyes crinkled with emotion. “Vince, I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” she whispered in support.
I waved her concern away. “I am over this,” I informed her, “but Remi is the only thing of my biological family that I have left, and to get there and meet this fucking bastard... ” I shook my head to clear it. “And then something else happened.”
Shenique waited patiently, and I inhaled as a fresh wave of rage almost overtook me. My tone lowered. “Remi began to make claims about my ability to be a mate,” I revealed. “He said I was immature and selfish. He said I was not ready to have a woman.” Just saying the words caused my heart to ache, especially in front of this woman. Shame and embarrassment washed over me, and I swallowed. “And then we had a fight.”
“A physical fight?”
I stretched my neck to the side to show her the healing laceration, and she gasped.
My jaw cinched. “This has never happened before,” I revealed. “We are brothers. Nothing should ever come between us, but he has allowed it to happen, and to make it worse, he does not care.”
Shenique stared at me, her face twisted with empathy.
“Vinny, I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she whispered, and then she fell silent. “But do you really believe that you won’t make some woman a good partner?” she asked me.
I sighed and turned my eyes to her. I shrugged, shoulders feeling loose. “I do not know,” I admitted.
Shenique ran the back of her hand over my jaw, and traced her fingers along the taut edge. “I don’t believe it.” She leaned over and pressed her lips against mine, her tongue teasing the perimeter.
“I need to be enough,” I muttered turning my face away from hers.
“You are enough, Vince,” she affirmed against my mouth. “You would be enough for any woman.”
“Not a
ny woman, Carina. Enough for you.” I pulled back and stared into her shocked face.
She swallowed. “I thought you didn’t do relationships,” she reminded me. Her voice was shaking.
“I don’t. I didn’t, but...” I raked my hand through my hair and then peered at her. “If I did do relationships; if either of us did, would I be enough?”
Shenique’s eyes glistened as she peered at me, fear and trepidation etched over her features. I sensed a desperate, internal struggle.
Shenique was fighting her past. She was fighting the present and the future; she was wrestling with Loveless itself.
I wanted to take away all of her fear. I wanted to heal her from her past, and be Loveless’s cure; but the question remained. I stared back, waiting for her specific answer. For this, I would wait all day.
Shenique swallowed and a small smile broke out onto her lips, before snatching away. “You could be,” she admitted. “In fact, a small part of me believes that you might be.”
Her answer tore my breath away.
My mouth crashed against hers in a frenzied display of intimacy, and when she reciprocated with equal fervor, I knew for certain, that today would be the day I claimed her, no matter what my brother said, or what I might have believed deep down inside.
I ravaged her, groping her breast, teasing her peaking nipple, before taking it into my mouth and suckling her. My hand scraped over her satiny skin until they reached her wet pussy. Fuck, I wanted to taste her. I wanted to tongue her dripping sex and sip her nectar, but suddenly, Shenique’s hand dropped to my cock.
She was reversing the roles.
Shenique pulled my hand from her thighs, forcing my fingers to graze the swollen nub, and she deepened the kiss, pushing me back until I slammed against the bed and was forced to sit. She broke the connection and undid my belt. Her fingers worked swiftly as she unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans.
“Carina, what are you doing?” My throat was dry. My cock strained against my boxers.
She released it and it stood erect like a jack-in-the-box.
Shenique licked her lips and lowered her mouth to the throbbing head. She flicked out her tongue and traced the tip. “I’m proving to you that you are enough,” she whispered. “Am I enough for you, Vince?”
“Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Because of Loveless,” she answered.
I opened my mouth to respond, but she drew my length into her throat and I gripped the bed sheets.
“Merda, Shenique...”
“Am I?” Her question grated my ears. She knew the answer to this question, but I would say it again, because she wanted me to; and because there did not need to be any doubt in her mind.
“You have no idea how much you are,” I said. “You are my mate and you are the only woman in the world for me; the only woman I will ever need.”
Emotion made her jerk, and I tried to pull her away from me. I wanted to taste her mouth, but she shook away.
“Vinny, no,” she denied me. “Let me take care of you for once. The only person I’ve ever tried to take care of is Sasha. I want to try someone else.”
A purple puff rose in the air and hazed the room, but Shenique seemed unaware, just as she had been the other time it had happened. Her soft lips closed over the head of my cock, and my neck strained back. Her mouth was warm. Her tongue was wet as it stroked the length of my shaft and swirled around the head. My mate, she sucked on my stiffness and gripped the sturdy base, stroking it. Blitzing need rained over me. I thought I would die and come back to life.
Shenique pushed my thighs apart and took my tight balls into her hand. They spilled out, but she massaged them, and I growled in agonizing delight.
“Is that you, or your wolf?” she asked, just before submerging my cock inside of her stretched mouth once again. Saliva spilled between the crack of her lips.
“It is both of us,” I said. “Fuck, Carina. I do not think I can take much more of this.”
She moaned. “Say it in Italian, Vinny.”
I took a fistful of her unruly curls into my hand and bobbed her head in a rhythm over my erection. “Quando avrai finito, ti scoperÚ finchÈ i tuoi occhi non ruoteranno all'indietro.”
“What does that mean?”
“Let me show you what it means.”
In one swift move, I ripped the buttons off the shirt my mate was wearing as a nightgown and planted her on my dick. In an instant, her slit, slick with her essence, drew in my length.
Her mouth formed into an erotic ‘O’ as her pussy stretched to accommodate my girth.
“Fuck,” I growled, pressing her against me so that my cock would disappear deeper inside of her. “We are not supposed to be doing this,” I reminded the both of us.
She responded with a moan.
“Shey, I must have you,” I growled.
My wolf pressed against me. He was itching to be released. He was dying to mark his female and secure her for eternity. “I cannot do this any longer.”
“Do what?”
“Have pieces of you. I want it all.”
Shenique ground her hips on my cock and I gripped her waist to keep our bodies close. My hands splayed over her soft ass. As big as my hands were, I could not capture all of it.
“Vinny...” She moaned out my name, but my burning passion was too great. My gums ached as my canines tried to stretch from my mouth.
Claim her! The wolf demanded.
She is not ready!
Her pussy is like a waterfall. She is ready!
I tried to ignore the fucking wolf.
“Shenique, let me have you,” I grunted. It was an aggressive request, but now my wolf was in control. He knew no other way.
“You have me,” she alleged.
“I do not,” I countered, “not the way I need you. Give yourself to me. Tell me that you will be mine. Let me prove to my brother that he is a fucking liar. Let me claim you forever. ”
Her eyes opened and we stared at each other, still rocking on the waves of the storm brewing in our loins. “How do I know I can trust you?” she whispered.
“You can trust me, Shey,” I promised.
Her mouth trembled. “Take all of me, then.”
Her words undid me.
Impatient, I hid my face deep against her throat. The exhilarating scent of her essence fled into my nostrils and blurred every one of my senses. The scent of her raw desire made my mouth water. I hoped I would be gentle with my mate, but I could not guarantee it, because of how anguished I was in that moment.
Again, my canines descended, but this time, I did not force them away. My eyes and every other part of my body burned like lit torches. My wolf jerked against me, but it was not his show.
This performance belonged to both of us.
I kissed my mate’s skin sensually, priming her for what was about to happen, and then finally, I allowed my teeth to sink below the surface of her supple flesh.
Shenique cried out and a thick billow of purple smoke burst all around us. Her body jerked backward as she released an orgasm that left her shuddering. I gripped onto her waist and drove my cock deep inside her, never once taking my mouth off her neck, but now, I licked her skin and massaged the love-bite. She clutched onto me, her small nails digging deep into my back, and before I knew it, my world had turned on its axis. A powerful surge of passion rained on me like a fucking waterfall.
I hissed out a curse, unable to fathom the strength of our bond.
And Shenique came again. Her body trembled and she cried out with uncontrollable desire.
Seconds and minutes passed, and we remained, clinging to one another as if our lives depended on it, breathing slow and uneven. My cock was still planted inside of her silk. I did not want to disconnect from her, in fact, already, I was ready for round two.
I slid out of Shenique and eased her back against the bed. Her eyes were still closed and her resistance was nonexistent. I hovered over her, placing kisses all over her burning flesh: from her fore
head, to each of her eyes, and the tip of her nose. My lips traveled between the valley of her breasts, and to her belly button, which was tucked away from sight. When I arrived at her apex, my mouth watered.
My mate clenched her knees together, but I eased them apart.
“Mine,” I whispered. I blew on her clit, delighted to see the way in which it pulsed. Then, I licked it, taking the time to swirl my tongue over its taut peak, before dipping it between her slippery folds. I moaned on her treasure.
She was tantalizing.
My mate stretched her arms over her head, raking the Egyptian cotton sheets through her fingers, and after she had deposited her sensual cream over my tongue, I slurped it up – every drop. Then, I eased up alongside her. I lifted one of her lean legs over my shoulder and slid into her.
In and out.
Slow.
In and fucking out...
Purple mist.
Shit!
“Merda, Carina...” I pumped by dick inside of her sopping treasure chest. She was so wet, the point where our bodies connected sounded like a drenched rag slapping skin. “I do not think I will be able to get enough of your body.”
‘Take what you need,’ she advised. In my head.
My eyes popped open and I froze.
Out.
“Vince, what are you doing? Stop playing.”
“I am not playing but...” I fed my dick into her, searching her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted.
“Speak to me like that again!”
“Like what?”
“Carina – ” I growled into her mind.
‘What the hell do you want me to say when you’re in the middle of – ’ She did not finish the thought.
My wolf howled and bayed just as we succumbed to an orgasm that was more fierce than any of the others. My neck stretched tight and my muscles clenched, so much so, I was sure my wolf had broken free. I roared into the room. Shenique’s cries of satisfaction rivaled the grunts of my wolf, and when we crumpled onto the bed, we stared at one another. Awe-struck.
“Baby Jesus in a manger...” she breathed.
“I was not going to say that,” I said.
“What were you going to say?
Loveless: A BWWM Wolf Shifter Romance (The Alpha Series Book 2) Page 14
