by Rose, Renee
The waning moon was still nearly full, and I could see those crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiled at me. My heart thrummed rapidly in my chest.
“You’re crazy,” I told him on a laugh.
He was impulsive. Fun. Exhilarating.
“So you said.” He grinned like he was proud of it, twirling me around under the moonlight.
I wanted to acknowledge, then, that I knew what he was. That it was his wolf making him act this way. What normal human sniffed a woman he was interested in so much?
I understood why it was so easy for him to pick me up and carry me like I weighed nothing. He was a shifter. I knew. He knew. I wanted to ask him a million questions about being a wolf, but it was a secret I wasn’t supposed to know.
Uncle Adam had sworn me to secrecy. He’d even implied that if the pack knew that we knew, we’d be in danger. I didn’t think Rand would hurt me, but I was an outsider, even though I lived next door to the pack and had kept their secret more than half my life.
“This was my grandparents’ cabin,” he said as he carried me up the steps to the tiny front porch then inside. There was a rocking chair, and I imagined Rand sitting in it as the sun set. “It’s tiny but all mine. I inherited it, like you with your place.”
It was small in square footage but not in stature. The A-frame was made out of solid logs, the beamed ceilings were higher than I would’ve thought would be normal for the time it was built. There was a large sleeping loft and one bedroom and a small but adequate kitchen.
It was cozy and charming. Exactly the place I’d want to be snowed in for the winter. With Rand, of course.
But I couldn’t be thinking that way. This thing with Rand was a one-time deal. I was going to get it out of my system and wish him well finding his she-wolf partner or whatever they called one.
He carried me into the bedroom and dropped me on the bed, immediately peeling off his shirt and tossing it away.
Okay, maybe a two or three-time deal. Based on his strength, he’d probably have the stamina to go all night long.
This guy was hotter than all the Magic Mike guys put together with sculpted shoulders, pecs and abs and that generous smile. Even after him eating me out on my bed and then fingering me in the parking lot, I hadn’t seen him stripped down.
I unbuttoned my jean skirt, which felt far too rough on my bare ass without the panties and shimmied out of it.
Rand’s eyes glinted a lighter ice-blue—almost silver. His wolf was showing.
God, it turned me on. Knowing he was something so magical and different made him fifty times more exciting than the average guy. Maybe one hundred.
He growled, crawling over me, making the bed dip on the way.
“Uh uh.” I held up a hand. “I want to see everything.” I drew a line with my finger up and down the center of his body. The soft hair on his chest tapered in a V to his navel, then to a thin line that disappeared beneath his jeans.
He grinned.”Don’t worry, Red. I’m gonna give you everything tonight. I told you earlier, that was just a warmup.”
My pussy clenched at the warning.
I pulled off my blouse—the one that had made my boobs look great and was good for tips—and tossed it on the floor.
Rand hadn’t moved. He seemed frozen, watching me with that animalistic glint in his eyes. A low growl sounded in his throat. Definitely not a human sound.
The hairs on my arms stood up, but my pussy clenched again, hard.
All I had on was my bra. He was behind.
“Off,” I choked out, pointing to his jeans and trying to sound normal, even though my heart raced a mile a minute. I should have been sated by that incredible orgasm at Cody’s. He was right, it had only gotten me warmed up and wanting more.
He moved in slow motion, never taking his eyes off me. He flicked open the button on his jeans then unzipped them. “Take that bra off,” he rasped, his voice deeper than normal.
I swallowed. I loved his bossy tone. So sexy. Especially in bed.
“You first,” I whispered, eyeing the V of his lower abdominals that descended into his jeans.
The jeans and boxer briefs disappeared in a flash—faster than I would’ve thought possible, and then he pounced, landing over me with a bounce of the bed. He straddled me, looming over my body on his hands and knees, his thick member brushing my inner thigh. He bent his head and captured the front of my bra in his teeth. “I said, off.”
“Don’t rip this, too,” I laughed and caught his head, burrowing my fingers in his hair and guiding his mouth to my left nipple.
He growled, bathing the puckered peak with his tongue before sucking it deeply into his mouth through the material.
I gasped at the answering tug between my legs. Before I even knew what I was doing, I wrapped them around his back and pulled him into the cradle of my thighs.
He groaned and shuddered, his teeth grazing my nipple before he pulled sharply back. “Fuck, Natalie. You keep that up, and I’m going to forget to be gentle with you.”
I shivered, wondering if wolf shifters were rougher than human men. They had to be, right? Considering how much stronger he seemed to be. And possessive.
“I’ll get a condom on because if you keep that up, I’m going to be buried inside you way before I get through the foreplay.”
“Screw the foreplay.” I propped myself up on my forearms, watching as he dove to the floor to retrieve a condom. I meant it. We’d already had plenty of foreplay. Twice at my place and once in the parking lot. “I’m ready for the real deal.” I glanced down at his cock. Thick, long, hard. A penis wasn’t all that good looking, but a hard dick with a flared head and a bead of pre-cum at the tip was something else altogether. And Rand’s? My mouth watered to taste. Feel it hot and heavy on my tongue.
Rand came up growling. “Don’t worry, Red. I’ll give you my dick. Is that what you need, beautiful? To get crammed full?”
My belly fluttered at his dirty talk. I nodded. Some part of me wondered at my trust of this guy. That I’d be here in his house, in his bed, so soon after meeting him. How I let all my inhibitions slip, let my need and desire for him take over.
He wasn’t human! But Uncle Adam had trusted him. And he’d trusted their pack. Whether it was logical or not, I’d trusted Rand the moment I saw him again—in wolf form and human. I always had, it seemed.
This felt like the safest and most thrilling hook up I could ever have.
Rand let out a curse, rolling on the condom. “I was trying to go slow for you, Red. But you had to go and look so damn perfect in my bed.” He tackled me, pinning my wrists beside my head as he nibbled all down my neck, stopping to breathe deeply like he was savoring my scent.
“Do you like the way I smell?” I dared ask.
He froze, then cleared his throat. I was instantly sorry I’d called attention to it. It was just that I was dying of curiosity. “Is that weird?” he asked, lifting his head to examine my face.
He was worried about it.
I guessed he would be since their existence was a huge secret I wasn’t supposed to know. I’d pointed out an obvious trait of a shifter. Now, in the heat of the moment.
I shook my head. “Nope. It’s hot,” I assured him. “I mean, if you like it. If you don’t, and I smell like BO or something, it’s embarrassing.”
“BO?” His face split into a huge smile. “Hardly. Oh, I like it, Red. I like it so fucking much.”
“What do I smell like?” I whispered, watching his handsome face in the lamplight.
He dropped his head and gave my right nipple a flick of his tongue. “Like apples and sunshine. And woman. My woman.” He gave his head a quick shake. “Sorry.” He grinned. “I’m still smarting over all those assholes checking you out tonight.”
I should tell him I wasn’t his woman, and we both knew I never could be, but it was too nice basking in the heat of his jealousy. His desire for me.
Besides, his dick was hard, protected in latex, and he was
between my legs. Why would I want to talk when we had other things we could be doing?
We could have that talk tomorrow.
I wrapped my legs around his back again. “Come here, big man. Show me what you’ve got.”
He groaned at the same time he thrust, spearing me with his erection. I gasped at the welcome intrusion. The stretch of my tight channel around his girth. God, he was big. I clenched around him, adjusting.
He stayed buried inside me like I was some virgin he had to baby. Pain flickered over his face. “Sorry. I’m sorry, Red. Fuck, you can’t goad me like that. It’s hard enough to hold back for you.”
“You should be proud of that thing. God, I’m so full. But who said you had to hold back?” I purred, even though I knew I was tempting fate. I was probably no match for the fierce, animal aggression he had brewing inside him. I wanted to have it unleashed because I had a feeling I wouldn’t see the true Rand, all of him, until he did.
“Aw, Red. Keep that up, and I am going to destroy this sweet, wet pussy of yours.”
Said pussy clenched around his cock again, urging the destruction. He let out a shaky breath and rocked back, then thrust deep.
My exhale was harsh and excited as I lifted my hips to meet him. I ran my hands over his chest, down his muscled arms, trembling and rocking my pelvis up in little pulses to move him inside of me. He still seemed to be holding back. What he was waiting for, I wasn’t sure, but his eyes sure as hell weren’t human. They were one hundred percent wolf.
“I’m not that fragile,” I told him, cupping his jaw. “I won’t break.”
He hovered over me, still not moving, breathing hard like he’d just finished a race.
“Please,” I added.
“Fuck, Red,” he cursed. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”
10
RAND
My mate was magnificent.
Too magnificent.
Sprawled out bare beneath me, her dark red hair a wild curtain around her head, her green eyes dark with lust, she had my control hanging by a goddamn thread.
I was ready to mark her right here, right now. My teeth were long in my mouth, dripping with the serum that would forever embed my scent into her skin. It was everything I could do not to lose control. She didn’t know anything about shifters.
She deserved the truth, the choice to become mine. There was no question she would be mine, but it couldn’t be now. We had the rest of our lives together, and from what I’d learned from the guys who’d all found human mates, I wasn’t going to fuck this up like they had. At first. Sure, they’d gotten their shit together, but I wasn’t going to blow it because her pussy was just too fucking perfect.
No. I was stronger than that. Fuck, I was going to try because if anyone was going to make me weak, it was Natalie. She wasn’t giving me much of a chance to get my shit together, either. She kept squirming and rocking beneath me, trying to take me deeper, to get me to move inside her.
Fuck. I was dying of pleasure here. I could come, but I couldn’t bite.
I held still as I shut my eyes, breathed. As soon as I got my teeth to retract, I let my hips go. She wanted hard, I’d fuck her hard. I’d give her anything she wanted, especially if that included me being balls deep inside her. Three deep slams, and her head nearly hit the headboard. Fuck. I pulled out and dragged her lower, then pinned her in place with a hand at her shoulder. I tried to take another breath and slow down, but she reached for my cock and guided me back into her.
I couldn’t help it. “Red,” I growled. I jackhammered into her.
She flung her knees wide, making herself soft and pliant for my assault. It was like our bodies were fucking made for one another.
Hell, they were, weren’t they? She was my fated mate. Of course, sex with her would be beyond perfect. That she would want it as wild and sweaty and heart pounding as I did.
“Natalie,” I rasped, already at the edge of my rope. Hell, I’d been needy and fucking frantic since the moment I caught her scent on the breeze on Monday night. Now? I was downright desperate. “Fuck, Natalie.”
I had the presence of mind to rub her clit with my thumb, and she cried out, squeezing my cock so tight I nearly came right there. She yanked me down with claws in my skin, like she was as greedy for me as I was for her. As if she were the shifter, and her inner wolf was coming out.
Impossible, but she was definitely a wildcat.
I wanted to kiss the hell out of her, but I kept my jaw locked and lips closed to keep my fangs from making any unwanted appearances. Instead, I buried my face in her neck, breathing in her delectable scent as I pounded into her. The bed shook, slamming against the log wall.
Natalie’s cries filled the small cabin, the current of every sound running like tremors through my body, speaking to my cells, awakening parts of me I never knew existed.
I became someone new.
Natalie’s mate.
Her pleasure was my sole focus. I would die if I didn’t come with her. At least I’d given her pleasure twice already. Now, we’d both get off, but she’d come first. This time and always.
“Rand,” she panted, her silken voice penetrating every sense. “Rand…”
“What is it, beautiful? You need to come?” I didn’t know how I even managed to speak, my brain was so addled with lust. The scent of fucking filled my nostrils. Sweaty, slippery fucking.
“Oh God,” she moaned. “Please.”
“Fuck, yeah.” The tether on my control snapped when she begged. I shoved into her deeper, harder. I couldn’t help but be rough. Time stood still, or maybe it rushed forward. I wasn’t sure—the room definitely spun.
Natalie clenched around me, coming in perfect timing because my balls couldn’t wait a second longer.
Thank fuck.
I came with a roar that echoed off the walls, slamming home and staying there while I filled the condom with a lifetime’s worth of lust.
She panted against the side of my head. I could feel her heart racing where our chests pressed together, slick with sweat.
Gradually, the room stopped spinning. My consciousness returned and sweet, sweet gratitude filled my chest.
Mate.
I had a mate.
A beautiful, spirited, human mate.
A wonderful, talented, gorgeous creature who lay panting beneath—
Oh shit!
“Am I crushing you?” I scrambled back, regretfully pulling out as I retreated.
“No,” she murmured, tugging me back. “I liked it.”
I buried my nose against her neck again. “I like you,” I said. I really wanted to say, “I love you” because that’s exactly what I felt, but I knew enough about humans to not jump the gun on that.
“I like you, too,” she mumbled. She sounded sleepy, like the sex had wiped her out.
I didn’t want to separate our bodies, even for a moment, but it was my job to take care of my mate. “I’ll be right back, Red.” I crawled out of bed and disposed of the condom then brought Natalie a glass of water and a washcloth to clean up.
But it was too late. My sweet mate had already fallen asleep, like a gorgeous goddess in repose, meant to be worshipped.
I tucked her under the covers and slid in beside her, looping an arm around her waist and drawing her smaller form against mine. Her back was to my chest, and we were like two spoons in a fucking drawer. I smiled at my ridiculous thought then kissed her head. “Good night, perfect mate,” I murmured.
The words tasted as sweet on my lips as they sounded to my ears.
Mate.
I had one now.
In my bed, exactly where she belonged.
I just needed to claim her, and my life would be complete.
Claim her and get her happily settled in her house. Hell—and redirect her bed and breakfast plan to keep the pack safe.
Should be fairly easy.
I hoped.
11
NATALIE
I rolled over and smiled,
snuggling into the soft blanket and warm guy. Rand had his arm thrown over my waist, his hand cupping my breast.
He kissed the tip of my ear. “Morning, darlin’.”
“Mmm,” I said, too content to say more. The room was bright through my eyelids, so I had to assume we’d slept in. After the late night at the bar, I was ready to stay in bed longer.
And if it was with a hot guy…
“I’ve been thinking,” he said.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked, my voice raspy with sleep.
“A while. Did you know you snore?”
I elbowed him lightly. “I do not.”
“Fine, you whiffle.”
I pursed my lips, but I didn’t argue.
“We can head back to your place and pack your things.”
I wiggled my hips and felt him hard and insistent at my lower back.
“Why would we do that?”
“It’ll be quicker and easier to do the rewire if the power’s turned off. Besides, I plan on having you in my bed every night from now on so—”
My eyes popped open. I was fully awake now. “From now on?”
He gave my breast a gentle squeeze. “Hell, yes.”
Wait… what? That wasn’t even possible for him. I was human. He had a pack that forbade mixed mating.
This wasn’t the one night kind of talk. I rolled over, our faces about a foot apart.
“Hey there,” he said again, brushing my hair back from my face. “You want to come on my dick or my mouth this morning?”
I blinked. I was instantly hot at the prospect of either of those options. But he was moving forward too fast. “Back up a sec. What do you mean from now on?” I asked.
His dark brow went up, and I watched as his eyes roved over my face and down to my chest. When I realized my breasts were exposed, I tugged up the sheet.
“From now on as in every day. Every night.”
“Yes, I got that. But this isn’t an everyday kind of thing.”
“Yeah, it is.”
