by Helen Scott
When we stopped, I helped Micah set up the sleeping bags the way we had the day before, and almost immediately, Blake collapsed down onto one of them. Exhaustion finally got the better of him. I was starting to worry though. He should have been healing by now. Maybe he wasn’t getting enough nutrients and that was what was slowing the process down, or maybe something else was going on. Either way, it had me feeling uneasy.
“How’s your back?” I asked Tate after he winced slightly when putting the pack he’d been carrying down.
“It’s fine, just a little sore still.” He almost seemed embarrassed about having an injury, which was adorable, if somewhat silly.
“Want me to check on it?”
“Sure,” he said as he pulled his shirt over his head.
My mouth couldn’t decide if it wanted to water or go dry as I took in the large expanse of exposed skin. Tate’s dark eyes flashed as his gaze met mine, and for a split second, I felt like a deer caught in headlights. The tension in the air became so thick, I felt like I was under water.
Vaguely, I heard Roman’s voice in the background. “We’re going to go hunting.”
I nodded, but my gaze was still fixed on Tate. The two of us were just standing there watching each other to see who broke first, who made the first move, who couldn’t resist reaching out any longer. As Roman and Micah moved away, I felt their presence receding, and suddenly, I couldn’t wait any longer.
As soon as I made the decision to move, so did Tate, the two of us coming together like two tornados, twisting around one another as we connected. His lips crashed against my own, sending a shudder of pure lust through my body. His teeth nipped at my lower lip, and I opened for him as his tongue darted in, tasting me and stroking me until I was rubbing myself against him.
My fingers drifted along his skin, exploring the dips and planes of his muscular form as the warmth of his skin bled through my clothes, making my own heated form feel like an inferno. His hands gripped my hips, holding me in place so firmly that I could feel the indentations each finger made in my skin. The urge to climb him, to press the part of me that was aching for him the most against the rigid line of his cock, was almost overwhelming. I needed the pressure and relief that friction would give me.
“Tate.” I gasped his name as one of his hands slipped around to my ass and squeezed. His fingers were so close to my pussy, achingly so, I tried to wiggle backward so he could connect with where I wanted him the most. As I moved, my nipples scraped against his T-shirt, poking out even through my bra.
“Mate,” Tate growled as he reached around with both hands and lifted me until I was exactly where I’d wanted to be a moment ago. He deepened the kiss even further as he moved us until I was backed up against a tree. The bark dug into my back, but I didn’t care. In fact, the sensation only enhanced everything else I was feeling.
His hips rolled against mine, his cock straining against his pants as it rubbed against my core. I could feel that my panties were already soaked, and I wanted him to know how turned on I was, so I broke the kiss and said, “Get naked.”
Tate released his hold on me, setting me on my feet, and the two of us stripped, flinging our clothes away as they came off our bodies. Would it have been sexier to undress one another? Definitely, but there was a feverish urgency to our mating, one that wouldn’t stand for foreplay or seduction. I wanted the fast, hard slap of skin against skin as his cock filled me again and again. My whole body ached with the need I felt for him.
As his body was revealed to me, I couldn’t help but lick my lips. Once we were past the fever of our mating, I would relish taking my time with him, running my tongue over the tawny skin that covered him, nipping at him as I rode him, tormenting him with our desire for one another. His abs were ridiculous, each one looking like a roll that had just come out of the oven, and he had those lines, the ones that lead like an arrow to his cock, which proudly jutted out from his body.
The length of him was impressive, as well as the girth, but what had my mind reeling was the way his cock tilted upward, almost curved but not quite. I couldn’t wait to see how it felt scraping against the walls of my pussy. When I looked up, I saw him perusing me the same way I had been with him. Once I knew he was looking, I could feel his gaze on me like he was touching me. He drew a line down my body, pausing at my breasts and taking in my diamond hard nipples before dipping lower until he had zeroed in on my pussy, which clenched in response.
Everywhere his gaze moved, I felt it, and I wasn’t patient at the best of times, so I stepped toward him, running my hands up his chest until my fingers were laced around the back of his neck. Then I hopped, and he caught me, his hands under my ass as I wrapped my legs around him once more.
This time when he rocked against me, it was skin on skin, the molten heat of his cock against the wet heat of my pussy. A groan slipped from him as my cream coated him. I wiggled against him, and he backed me up to the tree once more, using it to brace me as he moved his cock into position.
“You’re so fucking wet for me,” he growled out as he dipped the head of his cock between my folds.
He stroked back and forth for a moment, teasing me with the edge of sensation until I shimmied and pushed myself farther onto his cock. He groaned, his brows pinching together as he watched me. I tipped my head back, resting it against the tree and exposing my throat to him. As soon as I did, he thrust into me in one long stroke. When he withdrew, a little sound of protest escaped me, which made him grin before he thrust into me again, this time going farther and stretching me until I was arching my back and my breath was coming in short sharp pants.
When he withdrew once more, I took a larger breath, letting my lungs fill completely. This time when he pushed into me, it was hard and fast, going even deeper until I could feel him bumping against my cervix and then going deeper still, stretching me to my limit, until finally, his hips were flush with my own. My pussy was fluttering around him, as though it didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified.
Tate pulled back out again slowly, before slamming home, his hips smacking against my own with an audible clap. I writhed against him, needing more. Once he was satisfied that I wasn’t about to break, he picked up the pace, going ever faster until the sound of our hips connecting was a steady beat in the noises of the forest mixed with my moans and Tate’s grunts.
The curve of his dick was doing insane things to my body, making me feel all kinds of different sensations as it pulled against me, the curve making him roll his hips every time he thrust. I reached between us when he pulled out next and found my clit, the swollen nub begging for more attention than the roll of Tate’s hips was giving it.
With me pinned against the tree and the roll of his hips not giving me any room to fall, combined with the way my legs were locked around him, he released his hold on me with his hands—well, one of them—and used it to cup one of my breasts, squeezing and kneading it until finally he pinched my nipple and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger.
His other hand slipped farther underneath me, until I was surprised to feel his fingers against my folds. They slid back from my folds to my ass and spread my wetness over the tight hole that was there, before probing it slightly.
The sensations were overwhelming. Between his finger circling my asshole, one of my nipples being pinched and rolled between the fingers of his other hand, his cock filling and stretching me as he pounded into me as hard as he could, given our position, and my finger circling my clit, it was all too much. My orgasm erupted out of nowhere, making me grunt and scream as the waves of pleasure overtook me and had me not only clenching around his cock but around his whole body.
He kept thrusting through it though, already working me toward a second orgasm before I’d stopped twitching from the first. When his hand left my breast, I whimpered in disappointment but quickly realized it was just so he could lift me and pull me away from the tree. He lowered the two of us to the ground, initially with me on top, which I wasn�
�t about to object to.
As he lay back, I started riding him, bobbing up and down on his glorious cock until I could feel him brushing against that certain spot inside me with each thrust. I could feel the orgasm building as we continued, each bounce on his cock bringing me closer to that rush of pleasure. I chased it like a wolf after a deer. The overwhelming sensation rushed over me, hitting so hard that I couldn’t even scream or moan, all my breath was frozen in my chest as my body succumbed to pleasure.
I felt a gush of wetness between my legs as the orgasm hit its peak, and I collapsed on top of Tate, who grunted underneath me. It was only a second later, when my brain kicked back in, that I realized we’d probably hurt his back. I pushed back up into a sitting position on his cock.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I muttered, my voice hoarse.
“For what?” he asked, his brows pinched together in concern.
“Your back…” I began, but apparently, my brain still wasn’t up to forming long sentences.
“It’s fine. Promise.” He grinned up at me, pushing up onto his elbows, and I moved back enough to allow him to sit up fully without him ever leaving the wet heat of my core. It was as he did so that I realized he still hadn’t finished. At the thought, I rocked my hips back and forth.
Lust had blown Tate’s pupils wide, and his hands tangled in my hair as he kissed me thoroughly before saying, “Get on your hands and knees, mate.”
Nerves fluttered in my belly. I knew he’d feel even bigger in this position, and I couldn’t wait. When I pushed up off him and dropped to my hands and knees next to where he was lying, he wasted no time in getting up and positioning himself behind me. The thick head of his cock pushed at my entrance, and I braced myself as he slid in easily, my last orgasm providing plenty of slickness for him. The sounds that escaped me as he filled me bordered on embarrassing, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Once he was fully sheathed within me, he held there for a moment, both of us just relishing the sensation. His hands gripped my hips and held me steady as he pulled out and slammed back in, taking up a slow, steady rhythm until I begged, “More, Tate, please!”
He gave me what I wanted without question and increased his pace. Each thrust was just as hard as the last as he filled me to the point of pain over and over again. Every single one resulting in the sound of our skin slapping together until my ears were ringing from it. I struggled to stay upright with the force of his thrusts. His cock was rubbing along parts of my pussy that I wasn’t sure I’d ever paid attention to before, and I loved it.
We went like that for a while, until he slipped one hand around to my front and swiped his finger over my clit, the movement harsh, making me jolt against him. He repeated the movement again and again until I was quivering on the edge of another orgasm. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to hold myself upright or if I’d end up face down in the dirt, and honestly, I didn’t care.
With a final swipe of his finger, Tate sent me hurtling over the edge into my orgasm. It hit so hard, I saw stars and felt like I’d been flung from my body and left to float in the universe for a moment. It was only as I felt him lose control that I started to come back to myself. His cock jerked within me, and I swear I could feel the mate bond strengthen. It was in place of course, but this was our first time together and that was always important when it came to the mate bond. Instead of something akin to rope that could be cut, after we’d consummated the mating, it changed to something more like steel bands, becoming unbreakable.
Contrary to how the mate bond felt, my body felt well used and spent in the best way possible. I’d collapsed down onto the dirt as soon as Tate had withdrawn from me, barely even having the energy to roll onto my back. Which was, of course, when Micah and Roman showed back up.
“Have a good time?” Micah asked with a wink as a pulse of pure lust went through me. I couldn’t tell whether it came from me or him or both of us, but with the way he and Roman were looking at me, I was willing to bet it was all three of us combined, which made my pussy want to stand at attention and get them both naked. After the pounding she just took though, we both needed a rest and some food.
It hit me in that moment that Blake had slept through all of my activities with Tate. I looked over at him and watched to make sure I could see him still breathing okay and was relieved to find that he was still alive. I knew I would have sensed it if something happened and our bond was severed, but I couldn’t help thinking that my little fuck fest with Tate had been selfish. Blake was in pain and needed someone to take care of him, but I’d been too busy getting my pussy stuffed to do that.
I was furious with myself. After I pushed to my feet, I snatched my clothes from the ground and yanked them on. I needed to check on Blake and make sure he was okay, everything else could wait. The only question was, what would I do if he wasn’t okay?
13
Nina
I’d slept next to Blake all night and, thankfully, didn’t have another sleepwalking episode. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I was too exhausted for my body to handle something like that or whether it was something to do with the fact that Roman, Micah, and Tate all took turns watching me, though they claimed they were watching for the Shadow Wolves. Either way, I was just glad that I hadn’t woken alone and somewhere away from camp again.
When I woke the next morning, it was to Roman standing over me. The expression on his face made my stomach drop. He gave me a tightlipped smile and waved me toward him as he moved away from the sleeping area we’d created. I didn’t hesitate in getting up and following him, wanting to know what put that expression on his face more than I wanted to stay snuggled up in the sleeping bags.
Once we had stepped away from the sleeping area, Roman turned to face me and said, “Blake’s injuries are infected. It’s not life or death right now, but if we don’t get him to a hospital soon, it will be.”
I blew out a sharp breath. Fuck.
“We need to hold off on finding the oracle until we get this taken care of, unless you want us to split up?” Roman asked, his eyebrows raising at the end.
I knew just from that slight movement that he would prefer to stay together and I wanted the same thing, so I shook my head. “You’re sure? I can’t smell anything. Plus, you know he won’t want to hear it if we suggest it.”
“I know, but I don’t think he’ll have the energy to put up a fight about it. He’s hardly had any energy for the last twenty-four hours. If I wasn’t used to assessing things like this, then I might have missed it, but the scent of an infection is there. I’ve smelled it before on other wolves, and to be honest, usually by the time others can scent it, it’s too late. The way I grew up…” He paused and sighed as though he didn’t want to say what he was about to say and had to psych himself up for it. “The way I grew up was more wild than most people know. A lot of my pack mates were lost to infections. After a while, it’s the kind of scent that becomes embedded in your brain and you know as soon as you smell it, something bad is going to happen. I don’t want us to lose Blake because we were too focused on the oracle and didn’t act when we had the opportunity to do so.”
I nodded. It had taken a lot for him to talk about his past, a feeling I understood all too well, so I wasn’t about to fight him on this. “Let’s get them up and head out then.”
Roman went to Blake first, while I woke Micah and Tate. Between the four of us, we got Blake up and moving and got the camp cleaned up and packed away. The packs were distributed the same way as yesterday, with Tate taking over hauling Blake’s pack around. The man was a gift, help just when we didn’t know we needed it. And not just because he was helping carry things, he was letting us lean on him, to use him however we needed to get over the next hurdle. He was also a gift for me, the way that man moved his body…I got shivers just thinking about it.
“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” Blake said, sounding more like a child protesting than a fully-grown male wolf shifter.
“I
know, but that’s what we’re doing. You and Tate both need to get looked at. We haven’t had enough medical supplies for a while now, and you’re getting worse, so we’re going. I’ll carry you if I have to.” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down at Blake, who was currently slumped against a tree. I knew he could tell from my expression and tone of voice that I wasn’t going to take any shit, and for once, he relented.
“Fine. I’d like to see you try and carry me though. Just, you know, when I don’t feel like shit.” He offered me a smile and then coughed. The latter was more concerning than the former. Just more evidence that we needed to get him to a hospital as soon as possible.
“When you’re healthy, I’ll carry you wherever you want to go, but we’ve got to get you there first. Deal?” I asked.
“Deal.” He spit into his palm and held his hand out to shake on it. I hadn’t done something like that since I was a kid, but what the hell. I spit in my own palm and clasped his hand, shaking it firmly.
“Come on now, on your feet, soldier,” I said, tugging on his hand so I could pull him up. “We’ll go slow, but I’d like to get you there sooner rather than later, okay?”
Blake stumbled to his feet and, once he was stable, nodded. If I hadn’t been standing right there, I might not have heard it, but he muttered, “Maybe a hospital isn’t a bad idea.”
I wasn’t sure whether he’d intended for me to hear, so I kept quiet. Something I’d learned over the years was that people didn’t like being weak. It didn’t matter whether they were shifter or human or whatever else was out there, everyone wanted to be able to take care of themselves. No one liked having their weaknesses exposed, or worse, pointed out.
