by Kym Grosso
Like a raging animal, Wynter raked her hands into his hair, and licked the side of his neck. Entirely filled with all that was Logan, she abandoned her humanity and let her wolf run free. In truth, this was who she was with Logan. Passionate. Unrestrained. And totally, utterly in love.
“Please, Oh God,” she screamed against his skin. “Take me, Logan.”
“Sofa,” he grunted.
Logan struggled to kick off his pants while managing to stay pressed inside Wynter. Forced to release her rosy peak, he looked ahead, stumbling forth until he reached the large soft couch. Roughly, they fell into the cushions, Logan thrusted between her legs.
As her head hit the pillows, Wynter nipped at Logan’s chest. He was untamed, and she loved it. Logan smothered her body, penetrating deep into her hot core. In response, she scratched her nails down his back nearly drawing blood, encouraging him to go deeper. Licking and sucking, she tasted and smelled and immersed her senses in him like he’d taught her. Her mate, masculine and muscular, drove into her over and over. She raised her pelvis in response, rocking her clitoris against his hips. Each torturous exquisite brush to her tiny nub sent her body singing. As if he was directing the orchestra, he edged her toward the finale. Her heart thumped against her ribs; she struggled to breathe.
“You are wolf, Wyn. Do you hear me? And you’re mine,” Logan told her. “Fuck, you’re fisting me so tight; I’m goin’ to come soon. I feel you baby, come with me.”
“Yes!” Wynter screamed and then bit down hard on his shoulder. The hot explosion of her release caused her to shatter underneath him. From head to toe, rippling ecstasy flowed through her body.
Logan saw stars as her pussy tightened around his throbbing cock. Growling in his need to possess her, he pumped into her fiercely. As her teeth met his skin, he soared over the edge in unknown pleasure, pulsing his seed deep into her womb. All the air rushed from his lungs in a loud grunt as the last wave rolled through him.
“This is crazy.” He laughed into her neck, aware of how wildly they’d just made love. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
Wynter giggled, still trying to catch her breath.
“You bit me.” He laughed harder.
“You fucked me on a kitchen counter,” she answered. “I’ll never look at food the same.”
“Nor will I.” Logan pressed up onto his forearms. “Are you okay? I’m crushing you.”
“I’m fine. Please don’t go yet. Just stay like this,” she breathed, nuzzling her face into his chest.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” he assured her.
Letting his body go limp against hers, reveling, he smiled, realizing that he’d set out to teach her a lesson, but by Goddess, she’d schooled him long and hard in her love. Never again would he be alone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wynter felt as if she was floating in heaven. After they’d made love, Logan had arranged a soft bed of lambskin and pillows on the great room’s floor, creating a temporary Eden. Nestled against Logan’s chest, she stared into the dancing flames of the gas lit fire which flickered behind the glass. She shivered, thankful for the heat that radiated onto their skin.
“You cold?” Logan asked, pulling the cashmere blanket over her shoulders.
“Just a little, thanks.”
“You’re a million miles away. What are you thinking about?” he asked softly and brushed a hair out of her eyes.
“You. Me. Us. It’s unbelievable. I mean we barely know each other, really. But this feeling,” she tapped her fingers over his heart. “It’s intense. And romantic. And wild.”
“Regrets?” Logan wondered if she was having second thoughts.
“No way,” she replied decidedly. “It feels like I’ve been asleep my whole life, and now? It’s an awakening of sorts. I’ve never in my life known anyone like you, Logan. Tonight…it was incredible.”
“And I’ve never met anyone like you, either.” Logan pressed his lips to her hair. “I’ve never taught a human to be wolf. Even tonight, Wyn, it won’t be a sliver of what you’ll feel tomorrow.”
“Lying there exposed like that…having my eyes covered helped me to concentrate. The only thing missing was how I will see when I’m a wolf. I’m super-excited about getting badass night vision,” she laughed.
“You’re something, you know that?”
“How so?”
“You’re like this little livewire. The secretary thing…I’m still not over that. And waking up to what you did to me the other morning….those things just don’t happen to guys every day.”
“Not even to Alphas?” she asked coyly.
“Not even to Alphas,” he stated truthfully, “even ones as old as me.”
“How old are you?”
“Old enough.”
“Old enough that you remember the turn of the nineteenth century?” she guessed, knowing both wolves and vampires lived a long time.
“Old enough,” he repeated, smiling at her insistence. Another reason why he was falling in love with her. She was tenacious.
“Come on, you have to tell me. I’m going to be your mate. Let’s see…old enough to remember President Lincoln?”
“You really want to know? I don’t want my young hot mate running for the hills when she finds out,” he joked.
“Yes, I do. I love that you’ve experienced the world. Well, maybe not the women part but I don’t mind, really.”
“Born 1871. President Ulysses S. Grant was in office. So I missed President Lincoln by a few years.”
Wynter silently computed the years in her head. “One hundred and forty-two.”
“You got it.” He gave her a tight hug. “Yeah, things were different then. Simpler but harder. I wouldn’t exactly say, ‘good ole days’. I love the technology we’ve got now.”
“Are your parents still alive?” Wynter drew lazy circles on his stomach.
“Yes ma’am. Papá and Maman took to traveling a few years ago.”
“Are they from New Orleans too?”
“Yes and no. Maman came over from France in the early 1700s. Papá, he arrived as part of the Spanish rule a few years later. Nowadays, they travel around the world but still stop home from time to time. I traveled a lot as a pup too,” he reminisced. “They’re going to love you, sweetheart.”
“I wish you could have met my Mom and Dad. God, I miss them. When they died, I was so angry.”
“How did they pass?”
“I was told it was a carjacking…they’d been downtown. It all happened so suddenly. When you’re a kid like that…well, I never got closure. Maybe that’s what bothered me most.” Wynter really didn’t want to talk about it. She’d worked so hard to learn how to accept the loss. She watched the firelight frolic across the cathedral ceiling and stark walls.
“I like your house.” She changed the subject.
“Thanks. It still needs work, but I couldn’t spend another night in Marcel’s place. It’s a reminder of his death and my tumultuous birth as Alpha. The good memories outweigh the bad, but I figure it’s time I make a few new memories of my own.” Logan smiled. “You could help me, you know. I mean, we haven’t talked about it, but I want you here with me…in my home. Wait until you see the wildlife. It’s beautiful.”
He didn’t want to freak her out but he’d be lying if he said that he’d accept her living anywhere else but with him. He knew it might not be easy for either of them. But the strength of the mating bond drove their attraction, the need to be physically close. They could fight it and try to live apart, but he knew it would be excruciating. Still, empathizing with her human mores, he trod lightly around the subject. They had time to get to know each other while she stayed with him, at least until they caught the killer.
Did Logan just ask her to live with him? Wynter wasn’t sure what exactly he was saying. If they mated, did that mean they were married? She felt as if she’d gone to Las Vegas and got involved in some quickie wedding. And even though once upon a time, her con
servative nature wouldn’t have entertained the idea, she was too far gone. She’d fallen in love with Logan, the man and the wolf. She couldn’t understand how she could feel so intensely so quickly. As much as she wanted to tell him, she couldn’t. She hadn’t even considered what would happen to their relationship once they mated or even after they were finally out of danger.
“When we mate, does that mean we are married?” It popped out of her mouth before she could take it back or at least ask in a more diplomatic way.
“You’re funny,” Logan laughed. He’d been worried about sharing his feelings and asking her to stay with him, and now she was asking if they were married, a very human thought.
“Hilarious, I’m sure. Seriously, if we mate does that mean we are…you are my…you know?” She playfully tapped her hand to his chest.
“No, sweetheart. Getting married, it’s a human thing. But mating,” he traced a finger down her cheek and across her lips, “it’s deeper…visceral.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s private, a ritual between you and me. Afterwards, we’d announce it to the pack. And only mated wolves can get pregnant, have pups,” he explained. “Now marriages, well, they come and go. I know it’s a commitment, but it’s a human tradition. Is that something you wanted, Wynter?”
She quieted at his question. Did she want to get married? After everything that had happened to her in her short life, she really never considered it. Sure, as a little girl she dressed up and played bride, but once she was an adult, it never seemed that she’d find someone she loved enough to commit to fully, let alone marry…until now.
“Well, I’m not sure of that,” she hedged. “I suppose I’ve never really loved anyone enough to consider it. When I tell you that there has been no one in my life like you, it’s true.”
“Hmm.” Logan couldn’t help but kiss her again. His ego did love to hear that.
“So I guess I’ll take a rain check on that question, Alpha,” she grinned.
“Tomorrow’s a big day.” Logan wanted to talk to her about her shift but it wasn’t until now that he’d felt she trusted him enough to broach the topic. “Full moon.”
“Do you really think I’m going to shift? I know I’m changing but without the blood work, how can I be sure?” Wynter tried to feign courage but it wasn’t working. She was scared to death about what would happen to her tomorrow night.
“Yeah, I do think you’re going to shift. I don’t know what they did to you sweetheart, but I meant it, I can sense your wolf.” Logan brushed her hair out of her eyes. “It’s part of the reason we needed to have that little lesson tonight. I needed to know where you stood. Would you be able to embrace your senses? Would you trust me without argument? Submit? Could you learn how your actions impact the pack? It’s important to know going into this.”
“All wolves submit to you?”
“Yeah, it’s how it has to be. We need order. With order, there’s peace. With peace, the pack is happy, healthy. Everyone can focus on livin’ their life and not fightin’.”
“Sexually? Like you did to me tonight? Will you take others? Because if you do, I don’t think I can…” Her words trailed off.
“Look at me,” he told her. Logan waited until their eyes met. “There is no one else for me but you…ever. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Relief flooded over her.
“Now that doesn’t mean other she-wolves won’t try to undermine you or test you. Don’t get me wrong, as a human, you’re tough. You survived two long months in that hellhole. That says a lot about a person’s will to survive. But even among the females, they fight for rank…to be alpha.”
Wynter didn’t even want to think about that. The thought of fighting just so she could establish herself within an animal ranking system disgusted her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Logan could tell by the pale look on Wynter’s face that he’d said too much. He should have known better than to think she could even conceive of such things happening to her. Logan was certain that his little she-wolf was indeed alpha. But that was something she’d have to learn on her own.
“It’s okay, I need to know,” she replied. Not really okay, but what the hell am I supposed to do about it? “Tell me about tomorrow. The shift.”
“You know all those senses we played with?”
“Uh huh.”
“You’ll feel them heightened as if everything is turned on to overdrive. At first, it’s hard to control, but you’ll learn quickly how to dial it up or down, depending on the situation. You’ve already been learning to control it whether you’ve been conscious of it or not. A human wouldn’t have scented D tonight. You did that, because you allowed your wolf to do it. She’s there.”
“It was incredible,” she recalled. “I still have no idea how I knew it was him.”
“You’ve spent time with him, right?”
“Yeah, but still, humans don’t do that kind of stuff.”
“And there you go. You’re wolf. She knows him.”
“He’s been kind to me,” Wynter admitted. “It’s strange. That first day, we kind of got off on the wrong foot, but then something changed. It sounds stupid to say this, but it’s like he knows what to say to help me when things aren’t going so well.”
“It’s not stupid at all, Wyn. He’s my beta. He has a pulse on the pack and helps me lead them when necessary. He can calm wolves. It’s hard to explain. I know you can’t see it yet, but we’re linked, the three of us.” Until she actually shifted, there was no way she could possibly understand the extent of the bond he and Dimitri had. “Speaking of D. He’s going to stay with us tomorrow, as you shift, run and then afterwards. Jake’s going to take the pack for me. We may run with them too, but I want to see how you feel.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s kind of like when our young wolves first change. We don’t just let them around the older wolves right away. They stay with their mammas and papas for an hour or so, then are told to stay in a certain area with just each other. We can’t just have them challenging the older males right away. There’d be trouble.”
“Well don’t expect that out of me,” she said indignantly.
“That’s the thing, Wyn. You don’t know how you really are going to feel until after you shift. You may feel territorial, hungry, playful. Probably, very, very horny afterwards.”
“Are you kidding me? Stop it.” Wynter pushed at his arm.
“No, no I’m not. I mean, I just went through something like this with my Alpha and his mate. It’s not a joke.”
Wynter pushed out of his arms and sat up, legs crossed. “What do you mean exactly?” Please don’t mean what I think it means.
“Sex, it’s something we’ve become very good at doing.” He winked and pulled her toward him. “You and I are excellent at it actually. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like after you shift.”
“You had sex with Tristan’s mate?” She pulled away from him. How could he think this was funny?
“Come on back down here, baby,” he coaxed.
“Don’t baby me.” She tried to act angry but was really just astonished at what she was learning. With a flick of her hair, she gave him her best eye roll and then smiled.
“Not all sex means that you are ‘in love’ with someone. Take Tristan. Do I love him? Yeah, I do. He was my Alpha and still is one of my best friends. And his mate, Kalli, she’s wonderful, but I wasn’t in love with her. But we are friends, and she needed me. They needed me. So yeah, I helped with her shift back into the pack. Not really the same situation though. She’d been wolf already, just not around a whole pack.”
“So how do you feel about Dimitri?”
“I love him too. He’s been a friend ever since we got caught bootleggin’ in the twenties.”
“What?”
“The gulf coast was a crazy place then, rumrunners and such. But I digress. That’s a story for another day. Your shift…where were we?”
>
“Dimitri, I think.”
“It’s the shift. It doesn’t just affect your basic senses. Your libido will be flying high like a kite. I want him to be there in case…in case we need him.”
“Okay,” she said, contemplating what he was telling her. She couldn’t comprehend wanting to make love to him more than she already did. Was he implying that he wanted Dimitri to be with them? “So I’ll want to be with you. I’ll just be more enthusiastic?”
“Yeah, kind of like that.” He could tell she was having a hard time wrapping her head around what he was trying to tell her. “But you may need…more.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way. It’s not that I don’t find Dimitri attractive. I mean, I’d have to be dead not to, but Logan, I don’t think that I’d want to do…well, what you’re suggesting.”
Logan simply smiled and shrugged. “It’s up to you, Wyn. But I think that for at least your first shift, you may want this. I won’t lie; it won’t be easy for me to share you with him.”
“You didn’t want me near Jax.”
“No, I didn’t. My wolf, he doesn’t really want you near any unmated male. But he knows Dimitri. And for this shift…I want it to be special for you. If this is what your body needs, we’ll do it.”
“But I don’t think I’ll need that.” Wynter laid back down into his arms, wishing she could stay human. “I don’t get it.”
“The best I can explain it is that when the full moon hits, us wolves, we’re already sexual creatures. We crave the touch of others. Someone who is a friend by day may be a lover during the full moon. Consensual, of course,” he added.
“Have you ever watched someone make love?” she asked with great interest. “Well, besides in that vampire club the other night.”
“Yes.” He smiled broadly. His little wolf never ceased to amaze him. Was she a voyeur? “Like humans, certain wolves like to watch or be watched. It can be a turn on, without a doubt. Is that something you’d like to do?”
