by Delta James
His mouth slashed across hers in a brief and savage kiss. He nipped, licked, and sucked his way down her throat and breastbone. Arielle tried to arch her body up, but he held her firmly in place. He raised his head until his eyes caught hers as he lowered his mouth to her nipple and latched on. She cried out in abandon as he suckled, not prepared for the lightning shot of arousal that surged through her being. While one hand continued to hold her by the back of the neck, the other stole between her legs. There was nothing tentative or questioning about his touch or his right to use her in the way male wolves had been using she-wolves since the beginning of time.
Arielle gasped as he tugged on her pleasure bud before sliding his hand lower through her swollen lips to tease the entrance to her sheath. The sensation of his fingers lightly caressing the entrance to her core was at once familiar and deliciously new. She had explored her feminine places and found pleasure, but it had been nothing compared to the hedonistic sensations Ruari seemed to so easily call forth. The novelty came in her belief that this time there would be no pulling back on his part—he meant to possess her fully. While she knew that having him do so was the thing she wanted most in this life, she still questioned whether all that would follow was the destiny that she would choose for herself.
Ruari stroked her, barely penetrating her warmth. The slick pool that had gathered in erotic response to her capture increased. He used it to ease a second finger into her as he continued to send forth a seductive noise from deep within his chest. The tingly feelings that centered where he touched her were soon radiating out in an ever-widening circle so that all of her erogenous zones were engaged and pulsing with energy. Her nipples tightened into even harder buds and ached when not in his mouth. Arielle moaned.
She could feel the beginning of a ticklish heat that began deep in her belly and became a swirling vortex as it spread outward in greater intensity as her breathing became erratic. All of the muscles and nerves in her body felt as though they were overwhelmed. She trembled and shook with increasing force and nothing mattered but the feel of his fingers and the sonorous rumble that reverberated from his body to hers.
Arielle could think of nothing; she was incapable of words, and the only sounds she could make were a series of soft mewls, moans, and purrs. From the answering, seductive growls coming from her mate, she knew he was enjoying them. At that moment the only thing in life that mattered was pleasing this wolf so he would continue his delicious torture. The trembling was now more like shaking as she lost touch with everything but the ancient songs his growling sent as harmonic rhythm to the pulsing of her body.
She needed... wanted more. Reaching up to cup his head, she clasped it to her breast and cried out when he nipped the distended tip. He continued to remain latched on as he flicked his tongue against it. Arielle wriggled and squirmed—not to get away from him but to draw him closer and encourage a more intimate touch. His groaning emboldened and enraptured her. Placing her hand over his as he stroked her, she encouraged him to do so more deeply and purred as he did so.
Arielle arched her back, shoving her mons against his hand. She felt her every muscle contract and every nerve fire as pleasure exploded throughout her body. His hardened length lay trapped between them, and her sheath pulsed in the same rhythm as his shaft.
“Ruari,” she cried in wondered rapture and clung to him.
He removed his hand from between her legs as he rolled more fully on top of her, growling. Arielle realized that unlike earlier in the day when he had pleasured her and taken nothing in return, this time he meant to exact a full measure of satisfaction and mark her as his mate. Arielle struggled, trying to move out from underneath him.
“Nay, lass. You ran, not once but twice, and twice I caught you. You will not deny me again. I warned you that if you ran, I would mark and claim you before sunset.”
Before she could argue with him, his mouth descended, capturing hers and his tongue began a seductive dance with hers. She squirmed beneath him trying to dislodge him, but instead, he settled himself more firmly between her thighs. He reached between them and caught some of the slick wet that her earlier orgasm had produced in abundance. He brought it up and rubbed her clit in circular motions, rumbling to her as she felt the head of his staff probing at the entrance of her sweet heat.
Arielle mewled in need as she shook her head in denial. The ticklish sensations began all over again, but this time felt as though she was burning, like a wildfire had been lit within her and now traveled throughout her body.
Ruari continued to kiss her, making it difficult to focus on trying to figure out how to stop him instead of listening to every fiber of her being that cried out for him to mark and claim her fully. She let him slip his hands underneath her, his palms gripping her hips while his fingers lightly held her buttocks. Steadying her, he kissed her passionately as he drove his cock up powerfully into her, stretching her entrance, shattering the tissue that had kept her a maid and seating himself fully within her.
Arielle screamed into his mouth. He whispered kisses over her face and nuzzled her neck. She held her breath, hoping for some word of kindness or at least reassurance, but none came. Instead, he gave her only a moment to catch her breath and for her tightness to soften and accept his penetration. Slowly he stroked her—long, slow thrusts that quickly turned the pain to pleasure as her body received his possession. Her sheath seemed to hug his cock; he groaned and then rumbled his carnal need for her as he picked up the pace of his plunging rod.
Ruari held her tightly to him as he rolled his hips, moving his cock deeper and faster in her pussy. She could feel every inch and texture of his large staff as it grazed her vaginal walls. She thought she would never forget the way it felt and filled her. There was a gradual building of sensual pleasure as Arielle’s body responded to his claiming. It swirled around her swollen nub and spread down and through to her heated sheath as he continued to drive within her. She could feel an almost overwhelming tingling in her nether region as it expanded and spread throughout her body.
His movements became more deliberate and forceful. The faster he moved, the larger he seemed to grow within her. Her muscles tensed in a way she knew was the precursor to her own climax. Ruari’s lips moved down the side of her neck to the base of her throat. She knew he meant to mark her and instead of resisting, she offered it to him. As her muscles convulsed in a powerful orgasm, she felt his seed begin to flood her womb as he sank his teeth viciously into the spot just to the side of the hollow of her throat.
Arielle screamed again but wasn’t sure if it was in pain or surrender. Her pussy trembled blissfully all up and down his length as he continued to send his essence to the very end of her channel. When he was finally still, he kissed the mark he had inflicted and then her mouth, letting her taste her own blood on his lips. He rolled from on top of her body, stroked the inside of her upper thighs in a manner that was comforting, yet possessive. She could feel the mingled essence of their coupling drying there as well as in the soft hair covering her mons.
He leaned over and kissed her again before standing up.
“My little she-wolf enjoys the pleasure her mate can give her. I really can’t wait to get you into a proper bed where I can spread your legs and sink my cock into your wet pussy; I will revel in your response before knotting and tying you to me. But I warn you, mate, the next time I have to chase you down and spank you, you’ll find yourself being mounted from behind and used as a she-wolf was intended.”
The spell broken, Arielle shrieked, tried to jump to her feet but found his claiming had left her weak and ravaged. He caught her arm and pulled on his breeches and boots as he lifted her to her feet. She leaned against him and pummeled his chest.
“Cease your tantrum, Ari, or I will deem you in need of further correction.”
“I hate you,” she seethed.
“No, you don’t, but I’m sure you’d like to. Remember what I told you. When we return to Castle Dundalk, you will take your vows in
front of our ranking members.”
“I won’t.”
“It doesn’t matter. I have marked and claimed you in the ancient way of our people and there is no one who will say you are not mine—the proof of my taking your maidenhead remains on the inside of your legs as does my mark upon your neck. If you decide to behave, I will clothe you in my shirt and not display your grass-stained back or bloodied thighs. All anyone will see is my mark that you now bear.”
“No,” she whispered. “You wouldn’t...”
“Why not? You believe you can disregard my orders, challenge my authority and dominion over you, and fail to honor the ways of our kind. Yet you expect me to behave in some schoolgirl, fantastical notion of chivalry. I am not some noble knight of old. If you continue to vex and disobey me, your beautiful backside will pay the price. By the time I have knotted you and you hold our firstborn in your arms, you will cease to care how I put that child in your belly.”
Arielle looked at him in stunned silence. Not so much from what he had said or how he had said it, but from the knowledge that he was right. She could feel the power of his call to her and was beginning to understand how deeply ingrained her need for him had already become. She recognized now why pairings such as Sloan’s, her sister’s, and hers were referred to as fated. There seemed to be no escape.
Ruari stood and marched her to his stallion who had been calmly nibbling on grass throughout her entire ordeal. Instead of giving her something to wear and setting her on the saddle to ride in front of him, he tossed her naked over the horse’s withers and swung up behind her. The moment she started to protest his ill treatment of her, he brought his hand down on her very painful behind in a forceful smack, making her cry out.
“Enough, Arielle. Be grateful I don’t put you on display to demonstrate my dominance both to you and our people. Behave and I might give you my shirt to cover your exquisite body before we get back to Castle Dundalk.”
Chapter Seven
Arielle’s misery seemed to know no bounds. The saddle and horse’s hair were uncomfortable and itchy against her soft skin. Her nether regions ached and her bottom was, she was quite sure, red and swollen. To make matters worse, Ruari was resting his hand on her behind and the rumbling she could feel washing over her was happy and content.
She closed her eyes and endured. She could hear the few people they passed whispering or gasping as Ruari all but paraded her through the castle’s outlying countryside before stopping and allowing her to put on his shirt. Once inside the bailey, he stopped the horse and stepped off. He helped Arielle down and allowed her to pull the shirt down, barely covering her body past her thighs.
“Ruari, please.”
“Be grateful, Arielle, that I seem to have more of your noble knight in me than I thought,” he said as he lifted her over his shoulder.
As she tried to wriggle away and get him to set her down, he raised the shirt, baring her bottom and brought his hand down in painful contact. She tried to reach up to cover herself and was treated to another resounding smack.
“Nay, lass, the shirt stays where it is. Your people will now know that their mistress bows to the authority of their alpha, and they will do the same.”
Arielle wanted to die of mortification. She had no doubt in her mind that every she-wolf that had ever run knew precisely what had happened afterwards. Maybe not the physical specifics, but the intense feelings he had been able to evoke immediately before and after and that she had desperately wanted to feel him possess her in that most intimate way.
Ruari strode up the stairs and set her down in his chambers. Before he could say or do anything additional, Connor knocked lightly on the door. Ruari stepped toward the door and without taking his eyes off her, opened it.
“Yes?” Ruari said as Connor entered.
“Ruari, we have a report that Gareth’s mate has landed at the harbor and is demanding to speak with you.”
Ruari nodded. “You may someday thank your friend for her timely intervention. Tell me, Beta, did you catch a glimpse of my mate’s glorious backside?”
“I did, my alpha. You are a most fortunate wolf. I also see she bears your mark.”
“Do you see any need for her to believe that she would be anything other than my properly claimed mate?” he asked, never taking his eyes off hers.
“No. She challenged you to let her run. You generously allowed it...”
“Generously?” Arielle scoffed.
“Yes, Mistress. Bridget thought herself in love with a young fisherman and tried to defy Ruari’s brother. When she refused to take her vows, he dragged her into the dining hall, put her over his knee, bared her bottom, and proceeded to turn it an even deeper shade of red than yours before he allowed her to change her mind and take her vows.”
“You watched and did nothing?” she asked incredulously.
Connor shrugged his shoulders. “There was nothing to be done. Bridget was his fated mate and refused to do as she was told. You challenged our alpha to run and he indulged you. Obviously, he caught you; so, by your own agreement, you are now his mate and recognize him as your lord and master.”
Not knowing what else to do, Arielle stomped her foot. “But I didn’t take any vows...”
Ruari’s predatory smile was intimidating enough that she fell silent.
“Once I have dealt with Sloan, I will see you take your vows in front of our ranking members. Not because they are needed, but because it might make Gareth’s and Alaric’s lives a bit more peaceful if they can tell their mates you did. Should you think to further defy me, Seamus and Connor will get another good look at your bottom as I spank you again. And before you are allowed to take your vows, they will catch scent of the sweet fragrance of your arousal that is always a result of your discipline. If you feel the need for me to further demonstrate my dominance, they will be witness to your cries of revelry as I put you on your back and make you scream your need for me and see the pleasure you get from our coupling before I allow you to take your vows.”
Arielle could feel her face flush crimson as she looked past her mate to his second-in-command who at least had the good grace to be looking at the floor.
“You... you wouldn’t,” she stammered quietly.
“I would. You stay here until I deal with Sloan. Connor, see that my mate stays in our chambers.”
“Yes, my alpha.”
* * *
Sloan had ridden up from town with an escort of armed guards. Ruari heard a small scuffle behind him and was surprised when Arielle pushed past him and ran toward her, wearing a gown that had been made to fit her... Bridget’s doing no doubt. He noted that it had a neckline that cleverly concealed her mark. She would never wear anything that did so again.
“Sloan! Sloan! How wonderful to see you! Is Gareth here? Or Rowan?” she cried, rushing up.
“What? Suddenly I’m not good enough on my own?” laughed Sloan.
“No. Of course not. I just didn’t think he’d let you go off by yourself.”
“And did he let you ride off by yourself, Sloan, or should I have my men take you into custody?”
“By now he knows,” Sloan answered dismissively. “I need to speak with you.”
Ruari helped her from her horse. “Are you all right? Should I have the surgeon attend you?”
“I’m fine, Ruari. I didn’t ride for two days to see Fallon. I need to speak with you now, Ruari.”
Ruari took a deep breath. He was growing tired of disrespectful she-wolves.
“Sloan, I would remind you that I am alpha here and you are the reluctant mate of a friend with no reason to be here and no word from Gareth that you were coming.”
Sloan closed on him and said in a voice only he could hear, “Edwyn rides for Ravenscar and perhaps for Calon Onest. There are mutant beavers in the valley at his behest that Alaric knows about.” Stepping back, she said more sweetly, “Now, can you get me something to eat and drink? I need to talk to you and then either you need to send someone to
Calon Onest or I need to ride to Rowan.”
Ruari placed his arm around her in what would have appeared to be a congenial manner, but was, in reality, a death grip.
“If you think I’m escorting you anywhere but back to his bed, think again,” he growled at her.
He ushered her into his council chamber before continuing, “You will tell me what the hell is going on and what you’re doing up here on your own.”
It didn’t take long for Sloan to fill him in on what had happened after he left Gareth.
“We hadn’t been home long when one of Gareth’s patrols spotted an army made up of Edwyn’s forces combined with others,” she started.
“That does not explain your presence.”
“Your former alpha and my mate is a proud and stubborn wolf. He did not feel we could spare even one warrior to ride for help...” she said.
“So you appointed yourself messenger,” Ruari said, shaking his head.
“I’m not sure we can defeat them without reinforcements...”
“And you have become an expert of tactics and assessing the strength of Ravenscar’s warriors?”
Sloan ignored his sarcasm. “At a minimum, we need the remainder of our men if you can spare them. And Alaric needs to be told about Edwyn.”
“Gareth will have more than just his men. He will have some of mine as well, and we will send word to Alaric. You and Arielle will remain here for safety.”
“The hell I will. I’ll return to my home, my pack, and my mate at Ravenscar.”
“Don’t test me, Sloan. You are not my mate and I’ll toss your ass in my dungeon if I have to, but I will keep you safe.”
“And will you imprison Arielle?”
“That won’t be necessary. Arielle knows her place. She will behave and be a good girl.”
Sloan shook her head. “I think Arielle has far more of Rowan in her than any of you would like to think.”
Ruari gave no indication that not only wouldn’t he disagree with her, but that he was rather enjoying this previously unknown side to her personality. They entered the main keep at Dundalk. Ruari escorted her to his council chamber with Arielle trailing along behind them. Sloan sat at his meeting table and before he could send her away, Arielle had seated herself beside Sloan.
