by A. P. Jensen
Her breast brushed against something hard. She looked down and saw his erection pressing against the fly of his jeans. Dumbfounded, she looked up his body and found him watching her. She blushed and tried to get to her feet, but he moved lightning fast. One moment he was on his back and the next they were in reversed positions with her staring up at him.
“You’re sick!” she shouted, pushing against his shoulders. “You’re a wolf! This shouldn’t be sexual to you.”
“It’s only sexual with you.”
His mouth slanted over hers and for a few seconds, she lost herself in him. Sex was a great way to push away reality, but when her hand touched a raised cut that hadn’t healed completely, she yanked her hands away and broke the kiss. “Why do you want me? God, I could’ve killed you!”
“I don’t care,” he growled and kissed her again.
Mac’s large hands skimmed down her body and her prized control disappeared, gone as effectively as the choke collar she once had on her wolf. Her need for Mac was like a tide she couldn’t hold off, so she didn’t. She ran her hands over his hot skin and he twitched as if he wasn’t used to being caressed. When she scraped her normal human teeth along his jaw, he leapt to his feet and bounded up the staircase with her in his arms.
Jillian caught a glimpse of a large room with one wall made of glass that looked out over the forest before Mac ducked into a master bathroom. The glass ceiling was faintly lit so Mac didn’t turn on any lights as he walked into a large shower, stripped them both and turned on scalding hot water. He pinned her up against the wall and positioned her for him. She didn’t have to be told to hug her legs around his waist. He was too large for her ankles to hook in the back, but he grinned approvingly before he thrust into her.
The contrast of the cool tiles on her back and the spray of hot water on her front ratcheted up her lust. It didn’t hurt that Mac was the hottest man she ever laid eyes on, wolf or not. Mac had a steady stream of water pouring over a muscular body Brad Pitt would hate him for. Mac grabbed the bottom of her thighs and spread her wider. She felt a moment of alarm before he bucked his hips- after that, she was too blissed to care. She linked her hands behind his neck and when she knew she was moments away from climax, leaned forward and kissed him. He shuddered when her inner muscles clamped around him. He broke the kiss and nuzzled her neck as she slumped against his broad chest. He hitched her a little higher on the wall and she felt a lick on her neck and then the kiss of teeth before the bite came. He bit her in the exact spot he healed not ten minutes ago and this time, it didn’t hurt. Jillian moaned as he came and he shouted with his canines still lodged in her. It sent vibrations through her and she clutched his head to her instead of prying his teeth out of her, reveling in the strange mix of pleasure and pain. Jillian wasn’t much help in the shower after that. Mac took over and washed them both before he pulled her out of the stall to pat her hair dry (such a man). He dumped her on the huge bed and Jillian ran lazy eyes over the room as Mac got in beside her. He tossed a heavy arm over her middle and buried his face in the pillow.
The room was simple, modern and breathtaking. The slanted ceiling came up against a wall of glass that was so clear, Jillian felt as if the trees were a part of the room. The room had bare necessities- drawers, closet, bed, nightstand, TV. It was utilitarian and clean and Jillian approved. She didn’t see her touch on this room and wondered about that briefly before Mac moved his head on the pillow and licked the bite on her shoulder. Even as the burning sting eased, she shrugged, snapping his teeth together with a loud clack. He opened one eye to glare at her.
“We aren’t going to do this again,” she said.
He splayed a hand over her stomach and lapped at the bite a few more times before he seemed satisfied and tucked her against him. She elbowed him in the stomach and it hurt her more than him.
“I don’t like to be touched,” Jillian said, trying to pull his hands off her.
“This is for your wolf.”
She paused. “My wolf?”
“You need it too, but we’ll blame it on her.”
He tucked her head beneath his chin and she stared out at the forest. She never let men cuddle her, but she couldn’t deny it felt… okay.
“How’s your wolf doing?”
With a start, Jillian realized her wolf was quiet.
“She’s… sleeping,” she said, shocked.
Mac buried his nose in her hair. “Good. How are you?”
She didn’t answer. She watched the tree branches rustle. The memories of her mom left her raw and barely civilized, but Mac’s touch anchored her. She’d never relied on anyone and it felt odd, trusting someone she barely knew. Mac handled everything in stride and he didn’t get angry or walk away. He made her feel human… or wolf. Whatever. It didn’t matter anymore. Tears slipped from her eyes and her chest quaked.
“It’s okay, Jillian.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not.”
“We’ll figure this out,” he promised.
“I don’t understand you,” she said.
Mac tightened his hold on her. “I won’t hurt you.”
She swallowed and wiped at her tears. “I know.” She was finally starting to believe that.
Mac said nothing more and she fell into an uneasy doze, tortured by memories of her mom’s last moments and raked by guilt.
Mac gently turned Jillian onto her back and wiped away the tears that trickled down her cheeks. Full lashes created half crescents against tanned, creamy skin. Damp black hair tumbled over the sheets, as wild as the woman herself. If she opened her eyes, he knew he’d sink into amber until he couldn’t remember his own name. It wasn’t that Jillian was trying to seduce him- quite the opposite. What drew Mac to her was the same thing that told him to walk away- fast. Challenge burned in her eyes. Even at her most vulnerable, she fought back. It was a part of her personality and he couldn’t stop the way he gravitated towards her. He stroked her skin despite his worry that she’d wake. He had to touch, had to indulge in her scent to calm his wolf.
He thought she was lost to him forever and now that he had her back, he couldn’t give her the space or time she needed to grow accustomed to him again. Every fiber in him demanded he stake his claim and cement their relationship. The way Jillian looked at him, as if she didn’t know what to make of him, pissed him off. He admired Jillian’s strength, control and independence even though it drove him bat shit crazy. The first time he brought Jillian to the cabin, she refused to accept anything from him. She didn’t want his attention, pity or sympathy and kept him at bay by freezing him out or starting a fight, which forced him to back off. Wolves needed contact and most of them needed to be part of a pack as much as they needed food and water. Mac was baffled by Jillian’s refusal to accept his touch or comfort. How she managed to control her wolf all these years was a mystery to him. From what Mac could tell, before she lost her mom, Jillian was a robot. Wolves weren’t self-contained animals. They were emotional and free spirited. Jillian went against the grain in every sense, but rage and grief knocked down the walls of her civilized self, allowing her wolf to come to the fore. Most adolescents and teenagers had a hard time not bursting into fur the moment they stubbed their toe. Jillian’s iron will, especially in a half breed, was unheard of.
Mac sifted strands of her hair through his fingers and resisted the urge to wake her so he could have her again. She needed to sleep and he’d had her twice tonight. It should have calmed his wolf, but the animal inside of him hungered for Jillian in a way that would have appalled him if he wasn’t in agreement with the creature inside of him. He wanted all of Jillian- heart, body, soul. Mac took a deep breath and let his thoughts drift.
Mac wasn’t happy to be called to the city- he never was, but he especially didn’t like being called in on a weekend at midnight. When he stepped out of the SUV, he smelled normal city smells- urine, gas and the smell of so many humans he wanted to sneeze. Tonight, another fragrance overrode the others- the scen
t of blood and death slid over his skin like cold fog. He made his way into the building and up to the floor his nose led him to. Frankie, a cop Mac knew for several years, stood in a hallway lined with closed doors. Frankie’s face was shiny with sweat and his uniform was disheveled. He rushed over to Mac and if he’d been a lesser man, the cop would have wrung his hands.
“I saw- I saw a big,” Frankie swallowed. “Blood everywhere.”
Mac nodded. “Did you see the bodies?”
Frankie didn’t ask how Mac knew. “At least two. I didn’t get to see much before it came at me. Jesus, I thought it was going to come right through the door!”
Mac gave Frankie a level stare that had the younger man sucking in a breath and patting his chest where he kept his crucifix.
“Wait here,” Mac said.
He walked up to the apartment door and inhaled, deciphering what was inside. Two male wolves, one female wolf and a human woman. Mac heard soft weeping and nothing else. He turned the knob, stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him as quietly as possible. His eyes didn’t have trouble seeing the carnage despite the dim light. Two male wolves were dead. Mac pegged the dead wolves as warriors based on their clothes, size and make of the gun on the floor.
In front of an empty chair were two females. The human female was dead and being rocked back and forth by a half shifted, naked female wolf. Hands tipped with claws treated the older woman with utter gentleness and Mac noted the wolf ears that protruded from the woman’s long hair. Even as he stood motionless, the wolf ears twitched in his direction. The wolf drew in a long breath and above the dead woman’s head, yellow eyes fixed on him like spotlights as she opened her eyes. Mac’s stomach clenched as the wolf carefully set aside the human and got to her feet. Eyes rimmed in red were glazed with blood lust. He knew she was going to shift despite the fact that they were in human territory. Mac almost reached for his gun. He should have with the two dead wolves nearby, but in the split second before she attacked, he made his own decision and shifted.
He met the female wolf head on, not to hurt, but to gauge her skill. The gray wolf hit him with more force than expected. He grunted and sidestepped as she snapped her teeth, going for his throat. He snarled, swiped at her with a paw and asserted his dominance, trying to force his will on her, but she was beyond that. She didn’t respond like a normal wolf, which would have backed off. Mac quickly realized she was protecting the dead woman. He retreated and she stood quivering over the body, eyes fixed on him. When he didn’t make a move forward, she nuzzled the woman’s face with her bloody muzzle. When Mac shifted back into a human, the wolf lifted her head and growled.
Mac crouched near the kitchen. “I don’t want to hurt you. Can you tell me what happened?”
Snarls answered him. He stayed where he was for almost half an hour before the wolf lost interest in him and went back to licking the face of the dead woman. The wolf whined, heartbreaking pleading noises that in human form would have been sobs. Between one second and the next, the female wolf reverted back to human form and Mac listened to her speak.
“Mom, you can’t leave me. Come back to me. This can’t be happening.”
The female wolf was bathed in blood and when he made a move, she turned feral again, switching back into a wolf and attacking with the force of someone who had nothing to lose. Keeping her off his back and trying not to hurt her took too much out of him and there was no time. They had to dispose of the bodies and he had to get this crazy female out of the city before she killed anyone else. He had no idea what to do with her. Taking a rabid wolf anywhere was dangerous. Her mind could be damaged permanently. Mac grabbed one of the guns in his jacket when the woman was in human form and went back to rocking her mother. He took aim and shot her with a tranquilizer dart.
The woman dropped and stroked her mom’s face until the drugs took her under. He stood over her for a long minute before he followed her scent to a bedroom and packed a duffel. He wouldn’t execute the woman without giving her a chance. From what he could decipher from her ramblings, her mom was murdered in front of her. Mac was stunned that any wolf would choose to live in the city, much less a woman who needed a protector to avoid situations like what happened tonight. He wrapped the female in a blanket and when he walked into the hallway, Frankie’s face was ghost white.
“I thought you were dead. I was about to call for backup!”
“There’s three dead bodies. Check them out and call me,” Mac ordered as he juggled the woman in his arms. “Get the apartment cleaned. It’s messy.”
Mac brushed his hand over the faint bite mark on Jillian’s neck. When he carried Jillian out of the apartment that night, he never dreamed she would become so vital to his life. Mac remembered the hellish weeks he spent coaxing Jillian out of her nightmares. Her mind was broken and between one lucid second and the next, he faced a feral wolf that wanted to destroy everything in sight. She’d done a number on his cabin- ramming into walls and breaking his furniture. When she went into a killing rage, the only thing he could do was shift and use brute strength and every ounce of dominance he possessed to calm her.
Mac nuzzled his head against Jillian’s and received a shove for his affection. He chuckled because even in sleep, she tried to push him away. Cowering or giving into someone else wasn’t part of Jillian’s DNA and she fought him every step of the way. Several times, he considered handing her over to his father, but one of two things would happen. One, his dad would execute her immediately if she didn’t submit or he’d hand Jillian off to one of his brothers who would enjoy trying to “tame” her. It took him two weeks to calm Jillian enough to stay in her skin for several hours at a time. Getting her to talk to him was a whole other issue. Jillian was the most prickly, complicated and defiant woman he’d ever met and he couldn’t let her go. He found that out after she left. His possessiveness was at an all-time high. Finding Jillian without a scrap of memory from the past four weeks was alarming, but considering all she’d been through, it was possible her mind had simply shut down once it went into overload. She had more control over herself than before, which was good. She was beginning to trust him and that’s all that mattered.
There were too many unanswered questions where Jillian was concerned. Why were wolf mercenaries in Jillian’s apartment that night? As far as Mac could tell, Jillian was completely off the grid, yet someone discovered an unprotected female wolf and paid the mercenaries to deliver Jillian to them. The fact that Jillian was so close mouthed about her personal life bothered him, but he had to be patient. Now that he had her back, he didn’t plan on letting her out of his sight.
Chapter Six
The next morning, Jillian warily accepted a cup of coffee from Mac and watched him spread butter on toast for her. She had absolutely no idea what to think of him. She’d known this guy two days and she was not only sleeping with him, she was living with him! She slept in his arms last night and every time she woke from nightmares, he soothed and “comforted” her so many times, her wolf wasn’t making a peep right now. She could see the fresh scratches on his skin since he wore nothing but jeans again. She didn’t like how primitive he made her feel. When her claws made an appearance, it drove Mac wild and he nipped and bit until she retaliated. Maybe it was a wolf thing.
She didn’t understand Mac at all. He literally risked his life by taking her on. She thought of the way he kissed tears off her cheeks last night and shifted uneasily on the stool. Far from being put off by her grief, he’d been patient and gentle with her, holding and loving her through the night. She wasn’t the type of female men felt compelled to protect. If anything, men looked to her for the answers and having the roles reversed felt strange. She felt… coddled and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not.
Mac slid a plate of toast in front of her and she took a bite to settle her pitching stomach. She jiggled her foot restlessly as she looked around the cabin. She was a New Yorker down to her toes. She was ambitious, aggressive, focused and now… Go
als that had once seemed important were a distant memory. Seeing her mom murdered in cold blood changed everything.
“You live out here alone?” Jillian asked over the chatter of birds.
Mac nodded and popped more bread into the toaster.
“You said wolves need pack and touch. You’re alone,” she observed.
“I’ve been on my own for a long time.”
“Why?”
“I’m a lone wolf.”
She raised her brows. “Which means?”
“I don’t belong to a pack.”
“So I can be a lone wolf too,” she said and saw a muscle in his jaw twitch.
“Living as a lone wolf makes you a target for other packs.”
She considered him. “Are you targeted by other packs?”
“Not as much now.”
“Why?”
The urge to look away from him was nearly overwhelming, but she didn’t give in.
“I’m dominant enough to fend for myself.”
“Dominant?” It made her have naughty thoughts of being dominated by him in bed, which led to naughty memories of him between her legs. She wasn’t sure why she found these memories even more erotic when he looked intimidating and expressionless. Her wolf must be messing with her head.
“Dominant wolves run the pack. They’re called alphas.”
The days of sticking her head in the sand were done. She needed to know how to control her wolf and if she was going to be in Wolf World she had to know the way things functioned.
“Did you find out anything about the wolves in my apartment?” She couldn’t stop the way her fangs extended, but she felt a spark of satisfaction when her hands didn’t turn into claws.
“They were mercenaries and I haven’t asked around because I don’t want to make anyone suspicious.”
“Why not?” she snapped.
“If they find out about you, they’ll try to claim you.”
