Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause Book 1)

by Jessica Lynch

  A wedding dress.

  The Evangeline in the photo looked different, too. She was happy. Leaning into the embrace of the big shifter who managed to dwarf such a tall woman, his arms were wrapped snugly under her chest, her fingers intertwined with his. This was a picture of two people on the happiest day of their lives and their beaming grins proved it.

  She had a wedding band on the ring finger of her left hand.

  Evangeline gulped. When she woke up in the hospital, all of her jewelry was gone. They gave her a sealed bag with her necklace, earrings, and a bracelet in it when the hospital discharged her.

  There was no ring.

  “I… I don’t remember any of this.”

  “I know, and it’s okay. I’ll help you remember. I promise. And, if you can’t, we’ll start over. You’re my wife—my mate—and I love you. I’ll always love you. Whatever happened, we can start all over again.”

  He didn’t get it. The buzzing in her skull started up again, the precursor to the mother of all migraines, but Evangeline shoved it all aside. No. Not now. Not when she had to focus.

  “No,” she snapped, the word coming out louder than she intended. Maddox’s eyes widened, but at least the warning signs of her headache seemed to fade. “You don’t understand. I remember everything else. Everything! Everything that happened in my life up until about a year before the accident, then everything after they left me out of the hospital. But I don’t remember you.”

  He kept his expression flat, his voice neutral. “I know, Angie. I know.”

  “But… how is that possible?” A terrible, awful suspicion crept in. Why hadn’t she thought to ask this before? “How long have I known you?”

  He pursed his lips. When he finally spoke again, she caught a hint of fang. Her shifter was trying to hide it, trying to stay calm, but his wolf was riding him and it was riding him hard. “You lost little more than a year. That’s about how long we were together.”

  Evangeline’s mouth opened. No words came out.

  Maddox seemed to understand. “I found you about a year before the accident. I knew you were mine right away, but you insisted on dating. We were mated about six months in, and then you insisted on human marriage before I claimed you as my bonded mate. We got married, just like you wanted. You even took me home to meet your parents.”

  Everything inside of her seemed to screech to a halt.

  “My… my parents?” Evangeline felt her heart lodge in her throat. “You met my parents.”

  “I did. Took ‘em ages before they got over the fact I was Para.”

  Did they, wondered Evangeline. Because something was very, very clear to her. Her dad didn’t like to talk about the accident and she understood that. But her mother? She spoke to Naomi almost every day.

  When she grew frustrated about the things she couldn’t remember, her mother was the one who told her about her life during those missing moments. Her job at the publishing house, her home in Woodbridge, her everyday existence. It helped her retain her sanity, knowing she had someone who could fill her in when she came up against a blank wall inside her whole mine.

  Not once did her mother ever mention that Evangeline was with anyone—especially a paranormal who she was married to.

  “She never told me. My mom never told me.” The photo slipped from trembling fingers. “Why wouldn’t she have told me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Yeah. She didn’t know, either.

  But she could guess.

  Tears sprang to her eyes. Confusion, betrayal, shock… a motley of different emotions came crashing over her, weighing her down. She could feel Maddox watching her closely, gauging her reaction.

  The sympathy mixed with love in his gaze somehow made it so much worse. How could she process all of this when Maddox was looking at her with so much expectation?

  She couldn’t, that was for sure.

  “I think you should go.”

  Maddox stiffened on the edge of the chair. “Ang?”

  She nodded. “Please, Maddox. I… I think I’d like to be alone right now.”

  27

  To her surprise, Maddox nodded. Gathering up the marriage certificate and the photo, he slipped them back into the manila folder.

  “I didn’t want to do this,” he said, and there was enough regret in his tone that she believed him. “Wright forced my hand. I wanted you to remember on your own… I’m sorry, Ang. I really am.”

  Then, before she could say anything, he leaned down, brushed the back of his hand across her cheek, then left her alone in the room.

  She felt the burn of his flesh against hers long after he was gone.

  The image of Evangeline in a wedding dress, holding tightly to Maddox as if she never wanted to let him go? That stayed seared in her mind even longer.

  She didn’t know what to think. Her initial reaction to deny the validity of the marriage license—to accuse him of forging her signature—had come from the last remnants of her certainty that Maddox had made this all up. The moment it slipped out, she didn’t even believe it.

  It was like she thought she had to.

  But even that was wrong—because of the dreams.

  She’d been having dreams about a shadowy figure with glowing golden eyes since right after her accident. Long before she met Maddox at Mugs, she dreamed of him, erotic dreams that made the virgin she thought she was blush. But then, before Adam and the other cop interrupted them, she grabbed hold of Maddox’s cock and it seemed right. Like she’d done the same exact thing a thousand times before, his moans and his pleasure music to his ears.

  And that wasn’t all.

  The despair at waking up and finding out that he had just taken her from Mugs had blinded her to the fact that she’d felt a pull to Maddox from the first moment they locked eyes.

  He repeatedly told her that she was his mate. That there was a special bond between them, a tether put in place by fate. She was the one woman he was meant to love, meant to sleep with, meant to breed with.

  In her dreams, they did that. A lot.

  Then there were the recent visions that seemed so real… Memories? At first, Evangeline thought they were fantasies. Now? She wasn’t so sure. It was like déjà vu. She felt like she’d lived those scenes before but, without the memories to back them up, she dismissed them.

  She had to start paying attention.

  The room. The bedroom that so eerily resembled the space she created for herself in Grayson. She’d only lived there for months, though it felt like a lifetime. Was it possible? Could she have celebrated her newly won independence by subconsciously decorating her room like the one she left behind—and couldn’t remember?

  Adam.

  Apart from the wedding picture—which could’ve been faked, just like the marriage license, they could’ve been faked—Adam was the biggest piece of proof she had. He was the one she could believe. And he was the one who said out loud that Maddox and Evangeline used to have a bond.

  Used to.

  Did they still?

  Sitting on the edge of the bed—her bed— Evangeline reached deep inside of her. It felt strange and kind of silly, but maybe there was something to it because, after a few seconds, she felt this kind of knot down low. Without knowing what it was or how she was doing it, she tugged at it.

  There was an answering pull a second before a feeling of warmth rushed over her. Breathing deep, she could’ve sworn she got a whiff of Maddox’s scent: musky and earthy.

  Was that the bond?

  Evangeline didn’t know.

  So what did she know?

  She knew that Adam wanted to make her his own.

  That Maddox wanted to make her his mate again.

  That the witch wanted her to stay away from Maddox.

  Okay.

  That begged another question: What did Evangeline want?

  She was so sick and tired of every part of her life being out of her control. For far too long, every aspect of her life had belonged to s
omeone else. When would it be her turn to live it? She’d cheated death, come out on the other side healthy if not entirely whole.

  She always thought she was missing something.

  Glancing around the room, thinking of how desperately Maddox implored her to remember, Evangeline had to ask herself if this was what she was missing.

  Him.

  What did she want?

  Maybe it was crazy. Maybe she needed space, needed time. Needed to get her head on straight. The dreams were messing with her, the headaches making it difficult to focus on something so important. Evangeline felt like she was on the precipice of something huge.

  All she needed was a push.

  Or to jump.

  What did she want?

  Just once, she was going to be the one who decided.

  If she accepted her dreams as memories, the visions that she had these last few years as more than just fantasies… there was a lot less missing than she thought. If Maddox was the man of her dreams, then...

  It was worth a shot. And, well, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t secretly harbored a desire to do exactly this ever since he told her she was his mate—and then the nasty witch said she wasn’t.

  That decided it for her.

  Evangeline swung her legs over the edge of the bed, gingerly testing her ankle. There was an awful twinge if she put too much pressure on it. Shifting her weight to her good side, she limped across the room.

  It took her a second to realize that she hadn’t had to guess. Maddox offered her a nightgown, subtly slipping it into their conversation that, as this was their old room, all of the clothes inside used to belong to her. When she went to one particular dresser, yanking out a lacy white nightgown without even thinking about it, she paused for a second, completely stunned.

  Maybe… maybe that was her problem. Maybe she was thinking too much.

  Maybe it was time to let her feel.

  She wanted Maddox.

  Maybe she shouldn’t.

  Maybe she’d fallen under his spell.

  Maybe this was fate—

  Taking careful steps so that didn’t aggravate her tender ankle, Evangeline tried not to think about what happened the last time she took a leap of faith, either. The actual leap left her injured, easy prey for the alpha wolf that chased her.

  Her hand closed on the doorknob. She tugged.

  Maddox hadn’t locked her in.

  Good.

  Because this time? She wasn’t running from him.

  She was going right to him.

  Maddox should be sleeping.

  Impossible.

  He could hear Evangeline moving around in their old room so he knew she wasn’t sleeping, either. He picked up on the slide of the dresser drawer opening and let out a relieved huff. She’d at least listened to him when it came to the clothes being hers. She was finally changing out of the t-shirt and shorts she’d been wearing for days. He was glad that she was getting comfortable, and only hoped it didn’t mean that she was getting ready to leave after all.

  Now if only he could’ve stayed in that room with her...

  Just like Colt kept a spare room in his Bumptown house for when Maddox stayed over, Maddox’s home in Wolf’s Creek had a guest room for the times a packmate needed a bed for the night. He was lying in there now, grateful he had the foresight to put a king-sized bed in that room, too, but it didn’t matter how big the bed was when he had to sleep in it alone.

  It was all his fault. What a fucking moron. After taking his time, trying to build up some kind of relationship with Evangeline, he shot it all to hell by showing her the marriage license and their wedding photo. And while it seemed like a good idea when he asked Colt to get the envelope together, his brother had warned him to take it slow.

  Yeah. Slow. Slow as a rocketship, maybe.

  He had to come up with a Plan C. Plan A was a colossal failure, Plan B was a train wreck. With Wright breathing down his neck, he needed to—

  His body went rigid, his ears cocked toward the door. Was that a doorknob turning?

  Shit. Evangeline was leaving him.

  He’d gone to bed in his jeans because he was too lazy—and too frustrated—to change. He stripped off his shirt, then flopped on the bed. Good. That meant he didn’t have to stop to pull on clothes before he ran after her.

  Maddox climbed out of his bed, only to slip back into it as noiselessly as possible when the knob to his door turned.

  Evangeline eased the door inward, stepping inside of the room after a moment’s hesitation.

  The shades were drawn, the lights off. A sliver of moonlight illuminated his mate enough to see that she had changed into a frilly, lacy white nightgown that revealed her curves and showed a mile of her long, lean legs. Her feet were bare and she tiptoed soundlessly into the room.

  At first, he thought she was just checking to see if he was sleeping. He kept his eyes cracked open just enough that he could see her, but she didn’t know he was awake. Maddox watched what she was doing.

  To his ever-loving surprised, Evangeline pulled the blanket back and slipped in next to him.

  Maybe she was lonely, he thought. Or scared. He tried not to remember that, in all of the time since he took her with him, she hadn’t been able to fall asleep on her own: she was either dosed or she fell unconscious. Sleep never came easy to her. Maybe that was why—

  Evangeline’s hand whispered toward him. “Maddox, you awake?”

  He grunted. It could mean yes, or it could mean no.

  “You said… you said I could.”

  Maddox said a lot of things. With Evangeline’s scent drifting toward him, he felt cozy, relaxed, and so fucking happy just to have her near him. Then he breathed again, caught a hint of arousal on the still summer air, and nearly gave himself away.

  No fucking way.

  She didn’t mean—

  Hesitant at first, then growing bolder, she started to run her finger up and down his length, teasing his cock, waking it up. It didn’t take much. One whiff of her scent—her wet, intoxicating scent—and he was so hard, it hurt.

  Through gritted teeth, he managed to grunt out, “Angie…”

  “So you are awake,” she said huskily.

  “What are you… unh, that feels so fucking good— sorry. What are you doing?”

  “You said I could touch you.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, you never have to get my permission.” Maddox was careful not to move too quickly in case she stopped her gentle exploration. He went from his side to his back, allowing her the full spread of his body. “I’m all yours.”

  “It’s kind of tough with your jeans in the way,” she said after a moment.

  She didn’t mean—

  She couldn’t mean—

  Maddox wasn’t about to ask her. Before she could repeat herself, he slipped out of the bed, shucking his jeans and his boxers in less time than it took for Evangeline to scoot closer to the center of the bed.

  His erection was wide awake. Suddenly, so was Maddox.

  He lay back down. Evangeline immediately placed her head on his stomach, her body molded to his side as she reached out for him again.

  The instant she circled his cock, touching her thumb to her pinky, Maddox felt a jolt that had his cock jerking, pre-cum already leaking from the tip. Her soft touch, her gentle stroke calmed him at the same time as she teased him into a frenzy.

  Was really asleep? Could this be a dream? It seemed like one.

  “Angie…” he groaned again.

  Evangeline lazily traced every vein, every ridge on his erection. “Shh,” she told him. “I’m remembering.”

  So was he. This took him back to their first time together, right after Evangeline finally put him out of his misery after months of waiting and jerking off so much that his palm felt like it had rug burn. She was twenty-three, he was twenty-six, the two of them virgins fumbling around in the dark.

  As Evangeline continued her gentle exploration, Maddox decided he’d be lucky if he la
sted even half as long as he had four years ago.

  Wait—

  What was he thinking? Just because Evangeline was touching him, he was thinking three steps ahead, already imagining himself balls deep inside his woman.

  “Ang—”

  She lazily ran one finger against the top of his cock. He couldn’t keep his groan back.

  With eyes that shouldn’t be so innocent, Evangeline looked up at him. “Do you want me to stop?” she asked in that sex kitten voice of hers.

  Oh, he should. He should want her to. For Alpha’s sake, he drugged her, kidnapped her, terrified her, and lusted after her. She deserved so much better than him. If he was half the man he should be, he would tell her to stop so that he wasn’t taking any further advantage of her.

  But that was the problem. While he was half a man, he was also half a beast.

  “Never,” he barked.

  He was so painfully hard that her simple touch was sending sparks of pleasure jolting through his entire body. Ever since he found her in the coffee shop, his dick had been standing at attention.

  This was something new. His mate had her hands on him, stroking him much more delicately than the thousands of rubs he’d given himself over the last few days. The pressure started mounting, the beginning of his orgasm drawing his balls up tight.

  Her breath fanned his belly. He was seconds away from exploding. This was no dream.

  Curling his hands into tight fists, he refused to give in to the sensation. He wanted to see what else Evangeline was going to do. One thing was for sure: he had gone to bed alone. She’d purposely made her way into his bed.

  Was there a reason?

  “I can feel you’re close, baby. Don’t be embarrassed about it. Let it go. I remember how quickly you recover. You’ll be ready again in no time, hmm? And then we can get to the good part.”

  As if her words were a trigger for his release, Maddox’s whole body jerked as thick jets of hot semen spurted out, covering his stomach. She giggled, then brazenly pulled her nightgown up and over her head. Wadding it up into a ball, she swiped at his chest until she’d gotten rid of the last bit of his cum.

  “There you go. All nice and clean.”