by J. K Harper
“All yours, bro. I've got something to take care of.” He let the ball roll off the court and jogged away, ignoring Tate's exasperated shout about ungrateful players and useless brothers.
* * *
Rielle paced in her room. At this rate, she'd wear a trench in the soft carpet. It wasn't actually her own room, just one of the many rooms in the den. Even though she'd brought some of her personal items from her home in town, it didn't feel quite right. She felt restless here, almost itchy. It was like something was under her skin, demanding to be let out. What exactly it was, she couldn't decipher. But it made her pace, stop to stretch, then pace again, feeling jumbled and edgy and ready to escape the small space, pleasant though it was.
Warm summer air piled in through the window screen. Despite the den's central cooling system, she liked open windows at night. The scents of the forest here were rich, and she loved to breathe it all in as she fell asleep each night. She could hear the cicadas whirring and the muffled sounds of a ball bouncing on the court out back.
Tonight, however, it seemed there would be no sleep anytime soon. Her wolf whined and pawed at her mind. She'd started to appear with full force after that most amazing visit with Kurt Tunstall. Finally, Ree began to welcome her wolf more and more rather than pushing her down.
Run, her wolf whispered now. Outside, in the forest. Under the moon.
The moon had been a bare sliver in the sky the night before, and wasn't even up yet now. But Rielle's wolf had always loved the moon in all its phases, whether full or new. It didn't matter that the lunar pull had no more effect on shifters than it did on humans. To her wolf, it symbolized freedom, the vast space of the night, and a deeper connection with the wild land under her paws.
Yes, she did need to run. She'd gone running a few times since coming to the den. Once with Lily, once by herself in close perimeter laps around the main building. It had felt very good. Kurt was right, of course. She was a shifter, and always would be. Her wolf was as much part of her as her human was part of her wolf. They were two souls mingled as one, and altogether made her who she was.
“Yes,” she breathed into the still room, heavy with the press of warm air. “I think a run is exactly what I need.”
Her wolf danced with excitement as Rielle left the room and headed downstairs.
* * *
Caleb strode with purpose toward the den. The air slowly cooled, the twilight shadows lengthened, his wolf paced in anticipation of both running and seeing that one sweet wolf he wanted to see more than any other. His entire body felt attuned to her, straining toward her presence.
Just before he rounded the corner, he caught her scent. She was outside, heading toward him. He stopped and waited, standing in as relaxed a posture as he could, arms loose at his sides. There was nothing he could do, though, about the intensity of his expression.
Rielle came around the corner with a smile of excited anticipation tugging at her lips. Caleb sucked in his breath at the sight of her moving toward him with the easy grace of the natural predator she was. Her hips swung freely, her dark hair swirled loose around her shoulders, and her face was relaxed and shining with some sort of inner glow thing. Everything about her called to him on every level he had, and then some.
Wow, he thought in some sort of weird combo between man and wolf. Out loud, he managed to say in a decently steady voice, “Rielle.”
She pulled up, seeing him. Her expression didn't change at the sight of him, though. In fact, her smile got a little bigger. “Hi,” she said. The smile engulfed her whole face.
There was a sort of feral edge to her voice he didn't think he'd ever heard before. Whatever it was, he liked it. “What are you doing?” he asked. His insides felt liquid and jittery all at once. Excitement ran through him just like it did before a fight, but in a different way. A better way.
She cocked her head at him slightly. Her dark eyes darkened even more in the growing twilight. Teeth flashing, she answered, “I'm going on a run. Care to join me?”
His wolf stood up, every sense trained on the beautiful woman standing there with invitation written throughout her voice and every line of her gorgeous body.
“Absolutely. Come on.” He jerked his chin toward the back of the den. “Let's head out.”
Silence wrapped around them as they padded over the native grasses and into the woods. Caleb let the scents of the oncoming night flow over him, awakening his wolf even more. The forest scents were heavy with summer, lush and ripe and full. Acutely aware of Rielle walking beside him, his whole body felt electrified with an energy he recognized. It rose through him with expanding power, eager to finally taste the beautiful woman beside him. Despite his sudden trembling need for her, he forced himself to take deep, quiet breaths. No way was he going to mess this up with her. Not her first time ever. With him, he thought, awed beyond belief she would trust him with such an important thing.
In the small clearing closest to the main house with a bench, they stopped. Rielle stepped out of her lacy tank top and form-flattering shorts in quick yet graceful movements, dropping the clothes onto the bench with the effortlessly sexy presence that both soothed and aroused him at once. Standing still, she looked at him, waiting.
Right. He tore off his own clothes, trying to keep his hurry from being too obvious or frightening. Yet her expression, when he checked it, remained calm. That little half smile stayed on her lips as she watched him. He wanted nothing more than to lick her lips and nibble on them, tasting her sweetness. With a strangled groan, he made himself focus. One thing at a time.
First, they would run together. His wolf paced, eager and pawing to be loosed. With a quick, easy grin at the beautiful woman waiting beside him, Caleb let his wolf take over and shifted.
Almost as fast, Rielle shifted into her small, dark wolf, as dainty and sweet in this form as in her human. Caleb touched noses with her, gentle yet shivering in his barely checked eagerness. Rielle dipped her head once before giving a sharp little bark, leaping away from him. With a saucy glance behind her, she stretched out and bounded off.
Chase! his human thought. Joy tangled through the word, along with a strong image of being gentle. Caleb huffed in slight impatience as he leapt after his playfully fleeing wolf. Of course he would be gentle. Despite being a wolf, Rielle was similar to a deer: she might flee in earnest if he ran with anything other than gentleness.
The slim light dropped into complete darkness as they loped through the woods, swerving around smooth aspen trunks and rough pines, darting beneath low branches and sometimes leaping over logs. Caleb enjoyed the rush. He let his senses cast out around the area, scanning it for any danger as he followed Rielle. But mostly he focused on her, keeping her lithe shape in his sights. Pure happiness radiated from her as she ran, her paws barely touching the earth before leaping out again. Every now and then, a tiny whine or muffled bark escaped her, each sound made with pure enjoyment in the moment. Caleb reveled with her, answering her ecstatic cries with his own as he steadily kept up. Rielle in her wolf form was sheer beauty in motion.
When they approached the far edge of the property, both wolves slowed to an easy trot. Caleb thought he felt more sharply aware of everything than ever before. The softness of the air caressed his pelt, the flutter of the aspen leaves sounded crystal clear, and he felt every centimeter of earth and pebbles beneath his paws. Mostly, though, he felt supremely aware of Rielle beside him. Her fascinating scent kept him by her side. He sensed her heartbeat, keeping rhythm with her breath as she easily padded through the woods with him. She seemed at home in her own skin, graceful and free under the moonlight.
Near the outermost edge of the property line, just before the point where Alpha had expressly said not one Pack member was to stray over while the rogue threat still hung heavy—Caleb growled under his breath at the thought of them before relaxing back into the moment with Rielle—another small clearing opened up. Rielle suddenly trotted ahead of Caleb, stepping into the small, grass-covered a
rea and lightly spinning around so she faced him. She let her tongue loll out at him, her dark head cocked in a slight tilt.
Cheeky. He liked it. Then, he seemed to like every single thing there was about her.
Rielle wrinkled her nose at him when he made to cross the clearing to her, letting one tooth shine at him with a gleam of white. He paused, one paw raised mid-step, suddenly unsure of her intent.
So swiftly it took him by surprise, Rielle shifted back to human. Standing before him, she let a smile drape her features. With a sure, confident motion, she raised a hand and beckoned him to her.
* * *
Rielle watched as Caleb the wolf became Caleb the man in a few breaths. The ease with which shifters could change shapes didn't prick at her usually curious historian's mind, except for a sudden gratitude it could be so quick. She was hungry. Hungrier than she'd felt in a long time, perhaps ever. Her entire being wanted to taste one thing only: the gorgeous, abruptly intense man striding toward her with all the power and grace that made her breath catch a little.
Mine, her wolf said, clear as a bell in her mind, still at the surface, guiding Rielle's movements and thoughts. Mine, now and always.
Caleb reached her in about three steps. He pulled up mere inches away. Her eyesight, still heightened by the recent shift, could see his pulse still throbbing in his neck from their run. His scent, filled with pheromones and clean sweat and the wild promise of something she didn't yet know but wanted to, washed over her. She let it surround her, letting him scent mark her as his. His. Just the thought made her quake a bit in anticipation, made sudden need clench through her stomach and deep inside her.
“Rielle.”
His voice rumbled through her, a rich bass she found both soothing and arousing at once. It disarmed her for a moment, stealing her breath and her thoughts.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked. He reached out and caught her hand in his. Large, engulfing hers, his hand held her so gently she almost wondered for a second if it belonged to the Caleb she knew. This Caleb was some combination of fierce and gentle, overbearing and gracious, hard-edged and soft.
Heart pattering beneath her ribs, she reached for him with her other hand. She let her fingers drift across his face, feeling the rise of his cheekbones and nose, tracing his eyebrows, drawing a path around his lips. Gratifyingly, he drew in a sharp breath at her touch.
“Oh, yes,” she answered him softly. “I'm ready for you. I've been ready for a long time. I just didn't know it.”
His hand jerked over hers in a sharp, reflexive response to her words. She could sense his breathing quicken, even as she felt an exquisite warmth undulate through her entire body. Caleb was everything in this moment: wild, gentle, strong, soft, eager, restrained. She wanted him so badly she shook with the need.
“Will anyone know?” Her voice wavered a bit, betraying the only nerves she felt. Pack members had sex all the time, of course. She was sometimes aware of it when they were at the den or nearby, but that was when the participants weren't shielding very carefully, or when she wasn't keeping all the Pack emotions and noise in her head at bay herself. It was never a big deal—it was just how shifters lived. But for this, her first time, she needed to know it would be only her and Caleb. She needed to lose herself in the moment and not worry about anyone else having the remotest clue what they were doing.
Caleb shook his head. A shaft of moonlight caught on his hair, shining off it for a moment. She reached up with a hand to run her fingers through it, pressing lightly against his head as she curved her hand down over his face. His indrawn breath sent a surge right between her legs. In her head, her wolf sighed and wove through her thoughts in that perfect melding of woman and wolf that still twined her together.
“No one but us, Ree,” he whispered. His voice came strong but slightly ragged.
Her finger snagged at the edge of his mouth, and he gently nipped at it with his teeth. Rielle gasped at the sensation, which sizzled from her fingertip through her body, again bolting straight down between her legs to that suddenly heavy, aching spot there. The one place she desperately wanted him to touch, to caress. Tilting her head back, she leaned into him, pushing her bare breasts against his chest.
“Ree,” he said, his voice caught between strangled gasp and low growl. Reaching his hands behind her, he pressed her even closer.
A feeling of languorous, liquid desire washed through her body, from scalp to toes. Every centimeter of her skin where Caleb's body touched hers felt super-sensitized and hot. She put her other hand behind his neck and pulled his head toward hers.
“Yes,” she whispered, looking into his eyes and reading the deep need there. “Yes, I'm ready for you.”
Groaning, Caleb bent his head to hers. His lips danced across hers, tasting. His tongue pushed softly against her lips before he molded his mouth to hers. Fire shot through her as she tasted his spicy maleness and felt the huge strength of his body quivering in check as he kissed her thoroughly yet gently, careful not to overwhelm her. The sheer knowledge of his tenderness aroused her even more, and she pressed her lips against his with a greediness that elicited an appreciative breath of a chuckle from him.
For a moment or a century, she couldn't tell which, they stood locked together. His lips played with hers, tongue pushing inside her mouth and then flicking in and out in a rhythm she'd never known yet was unmistakeable in its mimicking of another rhythm they would share. The sensation sped up her heart rate even more. She moaned a little, and felt Caleb's answering smile. He pulled back enough to murmur, “I love the way you taste, Ree. And the way you feel against me.”
Her wolf coiled and uncoiled through her mind, sheer approval and agreement emanating from her. Rielle could only nod in response. She seemed to have lost her ability to articulate what she was feeling.
Caleb ran his big hands down her sides, brushing at her ribcage, letting his fingers whisper across her lower back. When he softly circled his fingers over her hips and then let them travel downward, she stiffened slightly from the sensations rocketing through her. He paused.
“Is this okay?” His suddenly uncertain tone eased into her heart and melted her even more with his concern.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Don't stop.”
His eyes became even darker, the hitch in his breath telling her he liked her response. Without another word, he let his fingers start to stroke again, brushing over her hips, rounding themselves over her rear. The sensation was like a shot of lightning through her, snapping and striking nerve points of desire she hadn't realized existed. She'd always huffed in exasperation at the mention of fire racing through veins when she read a sexy book, but apparently that was exactly what it felt like. Pure, hot desire bolted through her, as if her veins did indeed have molten passion flowing through them. A small noise fell from her lips, then another as Caleb gently kneaded his fingers over her.
“I like those sounds,” he said, his voice deep and bone-shivering with the restrained emotion behind it.
“Uhm,” was all she could manage to get out. His fingers kept rubbing and stroking and twirling against her behind, which seemed to have far many more delightful nerve endings than she'd ever guessed.
“Rielle,” he said, letting her name roll around in his mouth a little, as if tasting it and her at the same time. “Come here, sweetheart,” he growled, which made no sense since she was pressed so closely against him she could feel every single hard inch of him. “Come here.” He dragged a finger across her mouth, soft but insistent. The rough pad of his thumb traced her lips into a shuddering frenzy of want, then stroked its way to her cheek as his mouth found hers again.
This time, as he kissed her, he kept one hand firmly against her rear, stroking and occasionally dipping down to the small cleft between butt and thigh. His lips played with her lips and in her mouth. His hand danced and squeezed and gently explored, and Rielle's mind shattered even farther into a state of sweet oblivion. She/her wolf shamelessly nuzzled and presse
d and eagerly met his tongue with her own. Complete abandon gripped her. Without doubt or hesitation, she let it. Nothing had ever felt so right as being held by this man she'd once so foolishly thought of as being a barbarian.
Right now, she wanted this amazing, glorious man do just about anything to her.
Long moments of mindless drowning beneath his lips and fingers sped up her heart rate and breathing. Caleb slowly, gently swept his lips over her cheek to her ear, which he nibbled lightly with his teeth. The sensation zipped straight from her ear down between her legs, which also made no sense but wasn't something she was about to question. It all felt so good she could hardly stand to think of ever doing anything else again.
When he started to trace a path down her neck with his tongue, Rielle gasped. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders and back. He paused. She tilted her head to the side, inviting him to continue. With a controlled groan, Caleb swirled his tongue over the sensitive skin beneath her ear to her collarbone. Each lick, each tiny stroke, sent another bolt of pleasure rocketing through her frame.
If he could make her feel like this just with his tongue above her shoulders, how would she react when he started lower down?
“Ahh,” she murmured as the thought sent delicious chills through her entire body.
Caleb chuckled with the completely satisfied sound of a man who was making his woman very happy.
Despite the fact that coherent thought seemed to have left her, Rielle felt looser and more relaxed than she almost ever had. Every time he touched her, with lips or teeth or fingers, Caleb unleashed in her a new set of sensations, each one spiraling her toward something huge and amazing. Intellectually, she knew what to expect. Physically and emotionally, though, she felt as if she were at the wild edge of a precipice, about to leap into an exhilarating unknown.
