She was right. They’d continue tomorrow and Pax would be extra vigilant in keeping her safe.
Ava settled herself in her bed and Pax turned off the lights in the hotel room after checking the locks on the door and the windows. He slipped his pistol into the drawer of the nightstand beside his bed before settling back on the pillows and closing his eyes.
Nearly an hour later, Pax wasn’t sleeping and from the sounds of the tossing and turning, neither was Ava. The nervous energy and the fear she was putting off would have made it impossible for her to relax enough to sleep and if she was this agitated, his own wolf would stay unsettled, too.
“Ava.”
He spoke quietly, but knew she heard him right away.
“Yes?”
“Come here, baby.”
He didn’t explain himself and knew he didn’t need to. She couldn’t calm down and felt unsafe after what had happened to her. His invitation was to sleep near him and that he would make sure she woke up in the morning safe and sound.
What he didn’t know is if she would take him up on his offer. The space of a few moments passed and just when Pax began to think she wouldn’t accept, he heard her move quietly from her bed and felt the dip in the mattress beside him as she laid down next to him.
Instead of putting her head on the pillow next to him, Ava nearly made Pax’s heart stop short when she laid her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around his waist.
His mind raced and his pulse threatened to beat out of his chest. He’d held her countless times like this a decade ago before he left and having her back in his arms like this was as natural as breathing to Pax.
Emotions warred within him as he thought about what his heart knew about the relationship between he and Ava and his sense of duty--not just to her brother for this mission but to Gray and his pack back in Boulder.
Duty had been his entire existence, but having Ava asleep on him right now, hearing her soft breaths and feeling the warmth of her body on his, it seemed that she was his life.
Now all he had to do was keep her alive until the end of the mission so he could convince her that he’d been wrong the whole time and the only place he wanted to be in the world was at her side.
Chapter Nine
Ava
Waking up in Pax’s arms, Ava was momentarily confused and blinked a few times to get her bearings. Her arms were all over his body and he was holding her in the crook of his arm. And, by all that was holy, it felt like home to her. If Ava was being perfectly honest with herself, she loved having his scent all over her again and her wolf was doubly happy.
Damn, but nothing made sense to her anymore. She should hate Pax. Hell, she wanted to hate Pax. But he was so damn right for her that it was undeniable. With a deep breath, she moved to sit up and away from him but his arms snaked out immediately and pulled her back down. This time, however Pax had adjusted his position and she landed flush on top of him. She felt the bulge in his shorts along her very core and her eyes widened as her head darted up to look at Pax.
She was so sure he was still asleep, but there he was, his eyes blazing and his smile sensual and teasing. What was he doing?
“Good morning, baby,” he drawled, his voice scratchy and sexy as hell.
Ava hesitated.
“Good morning, Pax,” she said slowly as she pushed against him to get up. Again, with a little pressure from the arm that held her in place across her back, she was pulled back down to him. “What are you doing?”
He just grinned at her, his eyes dancing in the bright, early morning light snaking through the window.
“Seriously,” she said, this time moving a little closer to his face to hopefully try a different escape route. “What are you doing?”
He was on to her game and held her tighter, pulling her firmly back into place where her sex and his obvious erection were perfectly aligned. The sensation shot an electric current straight through her and she let out an inadvertent moan, closing her eyes. She couldn’t help it--it was pure reaction, but she felt her cheeks reddening.
“Damn right,” Pax rumbled, snaking his hands through her hair and pulling her to his mouth as he claimed her lips. He didn’t give her a chance to overthink it and kissed her deep and thorough, wiping her mind clean of any nagging thoughts about what she and Pax should or shouldn’t be doing right now. She wanted him with a fierceness that came from her very core and it was all she could do not to rip his clothes off with her claws on the spot.
“What are we doing?” she managed to ask between breathless kisses. “Why now?”
Pax broke away from her mouth and began to attack the sensitive spots along her neck with playful bites and warm kisses as he spoke.
“Because you need it as much as I need it,” he said, causing her pulse to soar with the hot kisses and the words. “And because you’re mine, baby. You’ve always been mine and it’s time for me to make it official.”
“What do you mean make it official? Make what official?”
He kissed his way back up to her mouth and plunged his tongue past her lips, getting another moan from her. She should be embarrassed about how easily she succumbed to his kisses, but this was Pax Carrigan she was talking about. She always had been. And, it appeared, she always would be.
“You. Me,” he said. “This.”
At that word, he slid his hand between them and cupped her sex through her shorts, rubbing his thumb right along her clit through the material. She bucked against him and gasped and she heard a growl of approval from deep within his chest. It seemed his wolf approved. For what it was worth, her wolf was basking in the glory of all his attention, too, the little canine slut.
He moved his hands and slipped his thumb in the elastic waistband before sliding the shorts, and her panties, down her legs in one smooth motion. In an instant, she was totally naked from the waist down and instead of being embarrassed or even shocked, Ava was turned on. Like, really turned on.
“Shit, baby,” Pax rumbled as he flipped them over, putting her against the mattress and the bulk of his body between her legs. “I can smell how turned on you are from here.”
Ava fidgeted, suddenly just a little embarrassed at the fact that her arousal was that obvious, but Pax had no intention of letting her move.
“No,” he said, pushing her hips solidly against the bed where they were pinned, while both of her legs were wrapped around Pax’s muscled upper body. “Don’t you dare move.”
He was efficient with how he slid her tank top up and over her head and as it hit the floor, Pax had crept up and was kissing her solidly on the mouth while one hand squeezed her breast and pinched the nipple hard enough to get her fire roaring to life again.
He drew the kiss out a few more seconds before letting his head slip down to capture a rosy nipple in his mouth, sucking hard and hitting her strings again. Her hips undulated against the solid mass in his shorts and it became a sort of battle--the more he laved her breasts, the more friction she was creating against his cock.
“Fuck,” he breathed out as she was mindless with the attention he was paying her chest. “Do you think you can forgive a man the lack of foreplay right now? I promise I’ll make it up to you next time, but I gotta fuck you right now, Ava. I need to be inside you now.”
She considered for a moment that she should tease him a little longer about the rush he was in, but it turns out she was a little desperate for him, too.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please, Pax.”
She felt him pulling his shorts off and heard them land a few feet away from them on the floor. His own shirt was next and the skin to skin contact that followed set her body ablaze with the heat between them.
“Please what, baby?” He whispered as he moved up to hover just above her, his face and lips a few precious inches from her own. She pouted and rolled her hips, hoping he’d get the point of what she wanted, but the stubborn man was going to make her say it from his expression. “What do you want, Ava?”
&
nbsp; He gave her a taste of her own medicine and rolled his hips against her, sliding the hard length of him against her wet heat and she let out a whimper. He was fighting dirty. She’d get her revenge soon enough. But right now? All she wanted was him.
“Please fuck me,” she whispered and her cheeks flamed at the words. Pax was also set ablaze by them and guided his thick head to her entrance a half second before slowly pushing himself inside her at an excruciating pace until he was fully seated.
His hands tangled in her hair, he placed light kisses all over her face, but otherwise stayed completely still.
“You feel so good,” he said, breathless and she was lightheaded with the knowledge that she was bringing him to a state like that. “So good, baby. I want this to last all day, but I’m not gonna make it very long like this.”
She playfully bit his lip and sucked on it as she threaded her hands in his hair to draw him in for a deeper kiss. As she took control of the contact, his hold seemed to break and he began moving inside her. Slowly at first, letting her feel every glorious inch as it slowly slid out and then back inside, building a friction and a momentum that would carry them both to where they wanted to go.
Pax started moving faster and harder as she responded to the feel of him stretching at her very core and it wasn’t long before he was hammering into her like his life depended on it, the whole time keeping his mouth on her throat and neck in a very obvious demonstration of dominance and claiming. She’d take issue with that later--for now, she was so close to a powerful orgasm that she couldn’t think straight.
As if he could sense her getting close, he slowed his pace before stopping completely. Ava let out a whine in protest and Pax had the audacity to wink at her as he pulled out.
“Not so fast, baby,” he said as he flipped her over to her stomach and drew her back on her hands and knees. He knelt behind her and slowly guided himself back into her with a slow, languid push that had her gripping the sheets and throwing her head back at the sensation.
“Such a good girl,” he said, his hands gripping her hips and ass cheeks as he began another rhythm that had her anxious and wanting. “What do you want, Ava? What do you need right now?”
He knew what she needed. He was messing with her and she had half a mind to kick his ass for teasing her. Ava also knew that Pax was an incredibly dominant wolf and got off on the control he had over her and her wanton reactions to being handled so easily. Deep down, it was an incredible turn on for her, too, but her pride wouldn’t let him just assume that about her. She had to play her role in this little game, too.
“What do you want, Ava?”
She bit at her lips, trying to keep the words from spilling out. It was pointless. She wanted to say the dirty words as much as he wanted to hear them.
“I want to come, Pax,” she whined, feeling the hard thrust inside her as a reward.
“Not until you let me claim you,” Pax whispered, his mouth suddenly right next to her ear. She froze.
“What?” She asked, trying to turn and see his face. He locked a hand around the back of her neck and wouldn’t let her. “What do you mean claim me?”
Pax rolled his hips forward a little, giving her a teasing thrust that had her cry out.
“You know we’re mates, Ava,” he said. “It was clear the first time I laid eyes on you back at the hotel. You’re mine. I’m yours. Let’s cut to the bullshit and make it real.”
Her mind was racing faster than she could keep up. Mates? Her heart had always belonged to Pax, but had it always been more than just a one-way love?
“What if we’re not? I don’t want you to hurt me again,” she said, the pain in her voice sneaking in. “We have so much to work through. This is crazy.”
“We’ll work through the bullshit I caused ten years ago,” he said, another roll of his hips and she closed her eyes. So close. “But there’s no denying that this body was meant for me and only me. And my cock was meant just for you. Admit it.”
She chewed her lip and moaned as he slid out and back in.
“I won’t let you orgasm until you agree, Ava,” he said and she could hear the smile in his voice. This was funny to him? To punctuate his point, he slid his hand down in front of her and when his fingers found her clit, he began to work it like an expert. She was putty in his hands in an instant and begging for release.
“You’re mine,” he growled, one hand in her hair, yanking her head up and exposing her neck while the other played her body like an instrument. “Say it.”
The pressure in her hair increased and nearly sent her over the edge with that alone. What did she have to lose? If he was wrong, she’d have a bit of a hickey-looking mark on her neck for a few days. He’d probably be embarrassed, but the orgasm that she was so close to would probably be worth whatever awkwardness that followed. She was certain of that much.
“I’m yours,” she said and as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Pax began to piston in and out of her while working her clit with expert fingers. The wave began to rise and she closed her eyes as he pulled harder on her hair, exposing the soft spot on her neck where her shoulder and neck met. His fangs pierced the skin and Ava was hit by a white-hot flash of pain in her chest, followed by a warm glow of emotions--love, adoration, and joy.
She didn’t have long to think about that, though. It took half a second for her muscles to clench around Pax as she was pushed over a precipice and her body felt like it had come apart into a million beams of light. The orgasm had her crying out his name and the claws that had come from her fingertips at the mating bite had shredded the bedding completely.
Pax was close behind her after he finished his claiming bite. He positioned himself on his knees behind her and powered into her as she came down from her high, only to join her with a growl and a hot spasm of his essence inside her. He shuddered as he collapsed on top of her, mindless of the fact that she’d been unable to support his weight and they’d fallen to the mattress.
He moved to the side to get his weight off her before reaching to the floor for his discarded shirt. He wiped at the evidence of their mating between her legs before rolling her on top of him. She was nearly boneless but when he started laving at her nipple, she moaned and raised an eyebrow.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “We just finished.”
He shook his head as he maneuvered her so that she hovered just above his already-recovered, massive erection. He held her hips as he lowered her inch by inch down his shaft, growling as he did.
“We’re not done by a long shot, Ava,” he growled. “Not until you put that claiming mark on me and I reckon not even then, either. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”
She closed her eyes as she sunk onto him, her muscles quivering around him as they adjusted. She let out a sigh and began to slowly ride him. He was right. They had a lot of lost time to make up for.
Chapter Ten
Pax
“You were so distant yesterday,” she said between bites of egg. They were in the lobby of the hotel waiting for Adam and Omar to return. They were getting a new rental car to make them less easy to track in case the ferals had any other tricks up their sleeves, which was all well and good for Ava and Pax, who used the delay to get a few more rounds of “reconnection” in, as well as a few bites to eat.
“The truth of the whole thing had hit me square in the chest. Seeing you cry over me gutted me, and I spent the day thinking through everything I’d ever fucked up when it came to you, and how I was going to make it right,” Pax admitted. “My original plan was to get through these meetings and then woo you properly before claiming you--to convince you that I’m worthy and would do anything for you. But both me and my wolf could hardly function after the lynx grabbed you yesterday. I woke up this morning and it was all I could do not to sink balls deep inside you while you were still asleep. It was like a madness had overtaken me.”
She blushed at the imagery.
“Would you be offended if I a
dmitted to not believing it to be true,” she said with a smile. “I just wanted the orgasm, if we’re being truly honest.”
She was only half telling the truth but she got a chuckle out of Pax.
“But you were right that we have some issues to work through when we get to the end of all this,” she said. “There was a giant Pax-sized hole in my heart for ten years that needs a little time and a few answers.”
“I’ll give you whatever you need, baby,” he said, all seriousness. “I’ll give you a minute by minute rundown of what I was doing from the moment I left you in California if that’s what it takes for you to understand that I thought I was doing what was best for you.”
Staring at his brilliant dark eyes across the table from her, Ava found herself lost in a sea of emotions. He was telling the truth, she suddenly realized. He had left her for unselfish reasons--even if they had been the wrong reasons. Yes, there was a lot to work through and a lot to talk about, but Ava knew from the bottom of her soul that this man was meant just for her. She’d felt it back in high school when she shivered every time he took her hand in his and with each kiss he’d steal at her locker between classes. Pax Carrigan belonged to her and there were no two ways about it.
An hour later, Omar walked through the front doors of the lobby and headed toward where they were seated in the lobby, having already checked out of their room. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and Ava’s eyes followed, but instead of seeing Adam as expected, she saw Tanner walking behind Omar instead.
The sight of her Beta made her uneasy. It couldn’t be a good sign that he’d left Pueblo to travel out to meet them overnight. Why hadn’t Mason come? Why was Tanner here?
The Beta walked straight to where they were sitting while Omar stood back looking uncomfortable, likely having received some sort of dressing down from the hot-headed Tanner. He certainly wasn’t known for his tact in stressful situations. Tanner stalked straight to Ava and she stood to greet him. Beside her, Pax stood as well and moved to stand directly to her side just as Tanner arrived, his eyes falling directly on the claiming mark on her neck.
Rocky Mountain Shifters: Complete Series Box Set Page 26
