Darius’ fangs slid partway out, the urge to bite down and give her the mating mark on her perfect pale breast almost overwhelming. He wouldn’t, though. He wanted his mark right at the crook of her shoulder and throat, where everyone could see it and know she was his.
He took two slow breaths to calm down a little and forced his fangs to retract. Then he continued giving her nipples the loving they so deserved.
Aislinn ran her hands over his shoulders and head, rubbing and squeezing, her breathing ragged. His mouth still on her nipples, Darius slid both hands down her back and under the band of her undies to cup her curvy rear. She immediately made a sound almost like a squeal and writhed her hips, which only served to put him in a better position to slide one hand between her thighs to her very wet pussy.
Now he was the one who moaned. “Aislinn.” He pushed one finger into her channel, glorying at its heat and tightness. He growled deep in his throat, lifting his head to look her in the eye. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”
Her cheeks reddened. “Me too.”
Darius nearly ripped her panties off and sunk deep into her at her admission, but he still wanted this to be perfect. Perfect for her. So he withdrew from her pussy and pushed her panties down her thighs. Then he laid her back on the faux bear rug and pulled her panties and skirt the rest of the way off her legs.
He tore at his own clothes and had them off in thirty seconds flat–weapons and all. By the time he finished, Aislinn laughed, her eyes dancing at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re in such a hurry. I would have enjoyed more of a strip tease.”
Darius lay down beside her. “Maybe next time.” Or never. He couldn’t imagine a time when he wouldn’t be hungry to get naked with her–too hungry to linger over it.
As he ran his hand over her body, not kissing her, just watching every inch he touched, her skin flushed pink. She leaned closer to lay kisses against his biceps and chest and shoulder until he pushed her back to lay flat. “Wait.” His voice sounded husky. “I want to see you first.”
Aislinn wriggled her hips. “I don’t want to wait. I want you.” She reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss.
***
What had started out as a seduction had become so much more. Aislinn could barely remember her goal of leaving; she could think of nothing but Darius. Kissing him, holding him–she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so completely safe, so loved.
And there was the problem, of course. How could she knowingly hurt a man like Darius? He wasn’t some ruthless captor. She genuinely liked him. But when she left him, she’d hurt him deeply.
She wanted to stay.
But she couldn’t. Too many people would die. If she left, she had the chance of stopping this war before it got started.
Darius broke their kiss, changing it into a series of small nips and pecks. His hand gripped her hip and pinned her to the floor. “Now stop, little minx. I want to see you.” He reared up on his elbow and gazed at her, starting at her face and moving slowly down her body. It almost felt like he touched her as he went along, yet his hand stayed firm on her hip, holding her in place.
Aislinn shivered.
“Cold?”
“No.” Her voice sounded almost raspy. “I just don’t think anyone’s ever examined me so closely.”
His thumb traced circles on her abdomen. “You’re beautiful. Stunning. I think I could look at you my entire life and never get tired of it.”
Her face and neck grew warm. “I’m not.” Yet she liked hearing it, even if she couldn’t believe it was true.
“That’s not for you to say. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, remember? It’s my opinion that matters here.” He leaned forward until his lips just barely brushed hers. “And I can’t get enough.”
The kiss started out soft and gentle, but quickly catapulted into heat and passion and power. She gripped his shoulder, the only thing that reminded her of who she was and where she was, because all else was melting into Darius, sweet, sweet Darius.
As the kiss deepened further, his weight settled onto her, pushing her into the faux fur. He threaded his hands through her hair, tipping her chin upward to give him easier access, kissing and then nipping at her lips and finally pressing kisses over her face.
Those kisses moved down her throat, across her collarbone and then lower, each one different–one soft, one forceful, one moist, one a lick, one a bite. When his lips landed on her nipple, she couldn’t help but squirm, which just made Darius settle in for more. He sucked it into his mouth, tonguing it and lightly biting it before sucking it a little more.
Aislinn started to thread her fingers through his hair, to hold him closer, when he moved to her other nipple, shifting his weight at the same time and rubbing his abdomen against her mons. She pressed her hips up into him but couldn’t get the right angle to do anything more than frustrate herself further. “Darius.”
He had the gall to laugh. “Just wait, sweetness. You’ll get everything you want.”
It was a lie, of course. She wanted him. Him, the one thing she couldn’t have. Still, it sounded good in the moment.
Darius’ kisses continued to move down her body, across her gently curved stomach to the junction of her thighs. He pushed her legs apart and laid kisses from her knee almost all the way to her pussy then started again with the other leg.
Beyond squirming, Aislinn’s hips lifted on their own, yearning and wanting. She slid her hand down her body but just as she was about to close her fingers over her mound, Darius grabbed her wrist.
“None of that,” he said.
“Don’t tease me.” She tugged on her wrist but he wouldn’t let go.
“I’m not teasing. I’m just getting you warmed up.”
“I passed ‘warm’ a long time ago. I’m well into ‘boiling’ at this point.”
When he grinned, his canines showed in a purely wolfish way. “Good.” He let her go only to place both hands on her knees. His fingers rubbed her thighs, moving gradually closer to her pussy. “I want you just as crazy with lust as I am.”
“Mission accomplished.” Aislinn grabbed his forearm. “Now get on with it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Get on with it? We’re not running a race, little mate. Let’s enjoy ourselves.”
She might go out of her mind by the time he finally touched her. She tried again to touch herself but again he captured her wrist.
“You don’t give up, do you?” He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed each finger.
“Never.”
“Good. Then just remember to never give up on us.”
A stab of guilt and remorse shot through her. How could she leave him after this? She turned her hand to brush her thumb across his lips as he kissed it.
His other hand had continued to massage her thigh and finally, finally, reached the crease of her leg. He rubbed it with his thumb, edging closer to her mons but still not touching her clit.
If he’d only touch her clit, she’d come right away, she knew she would.
Releasing her wrist, his second hand joined the first in rubbing, rubbing, rubbing while Aislinn moaned. Did she dare try to touch herself again? She knew he wouldn’t let her. But she’d go mad if she didn’t–or he didn’t–touch her soon.
Finally his thumbs slid inward, brushing against her outer lips, close but still not quite where she wanted them. “Darius.” She tried to growl at him, but the results must have been pitiful because he laughed.
“Patience.” One of his thumbs grazed the side of her clit.
Her hips jerked. “Now.” Her growl this time sounded a little more convincing.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he finally, finally lowered his head and closed his mouth over her clit, covering the entire length of it, from the tiny button at the top down into the mouth of her pussy, with his tongue and massaging just a little, just enough so her pussy felt swallowed up, bathed, melted.
Aislinn lifted
her hips into him, wanting more, needing more. He continued his sucking, and all of a sudden she hit that pinnacle she’d been reaching for. Her thighs and abdomen tightened as she went over the edge, her pussy pulsing deep inside. She lost a moment of time, wrapped in strands of pleasure, then heard herself gasp, her throat raw, and opened her eyes to see pinprick stars dancing across her vision.
Darius waited until the last shudder had left her body, then with a low growl, he rose over her. His mouth captured hers while his cock probed at her opening, easily sliding inside her until he filled her completely. “Mate,” he murmured against her lips, his voice like gravel. His eyes had turned bright yellow.
Her arms tightened around him. She only had him for tonight. It had to be enough.
He kissed her jaw, then her throat, then her shoulder. “I’m going to mark you.”
“You shouldn’t. If we have to part—”
”We don’t have to part. And it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m yours and you’re mine, whether I mark you or not. The mark just makes it official. The period at the end of the sentence.”
And what would that mean for him when she left? She brushed her fingertips over his cheekbone. “I want you to be able to find someone else.”
“There is no one else.” The bones of his face moved, as though he were changing. “Stop talking about leaving me. I can’t take it.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll stop.” Gideon had never thought twice about leaving her. Yet Darius had done nothing but stay by her side. And she wanted to be with him as much as he seemed to want to be with her. How could she leave this man?
He thrust into her, once, twice, then over and over, his pelvis rubbing against her sensitive clit. “You’re mine. You’ll stay with me. Say it.”
She couldn’t lie. Instead, she pulled him down to kiss her.
“Say it,” he said against her lips.
She hugged him closer but couldn’t give him what he wanted.
Darius growled but stopped asking. Instead, he sped up, pushing into her harder and faster until she could feel her body responding, thighs tightening, ascending that peak toward another orgasm.
He pulled back far enough to gaze into her eyes. His were still yellow wolf’s eyes. As she watched, he opened his mouth and his canines slowly elongated into sharp fangs.
For a second, she felt a frisson of fear. “Will it hurt?”
“No.” The word sounded garbled.
Darius pressed a kiss to the crook of her neck and shoulder, then pressed his teeth against the same spot. All the while, he continued to slide in and out of her, pushing her closer and closer, higher and higher.
She felt the prick of his teeth a split second before he bit her. A second after that, there was nothing, nothing but blackness and molten lava melting and a tight shuddering shaking pleasure that enveloped her. She had no consciousness of individual body parts, but she knew a force like she’d never known kept her gripped in a never ending orgy of waves and waves of delight.
When she at length opened her eyes, Darius gazed at her, much like he had moments before, but this time his eyes were brown, and his smile revealed human-sized canines. His cock still nestled deep inside her, but she could feel it softening.
“You’re mine,” he said, his voice raw. He ran his finger over the spot where he’d bitten her. “Mine, forever.”
What had she done?
Chapter 11
Aislinn lay beside Darius, fighting the urge to sleep. He hadn’t been kidding about staying up. But finally, his breathing evened into a regular rhythm telling her he’d fallen asleep.
After everything they’d done that night, she felt guilty leaving him, as though she were betraying him. She didn’t know how bad he’d hurt if his mate left him but it must be bad. At the same time, she couldn’t stay. There were too many things stacked against them.
She slowly sat up, disentangling herself from him. He lay on his side and had had his arms and one leg wrapped around her. As she shifted, he rolled onto his back, one arm flung wide while the other rested on his bare abs.
How could she leave him? She didn’t know how this was supposed to work for humans who were werewolves’ mates. Was it normal for her to feel so attached to him? Was he right about the magic that bound him to her—did it also bind her to him? Because even though she knew she had to go, she couldn’t make herself leave the bed.
She tore her eyes from him. From where she sat, she couldn’t see through the window to the lights twinkling in the forest, but she could imagine them. They weren’t her salvation or her rescue. They were her one hope for avoiding bloodshed. She had to go.
Without looking at him again—if she did, she might not leave—Aislinn climbed out of bed and gathered her clothes from where they’d been strewn across the room. She slipped into them, then carried her shoes to the door, grabbing a book with a map of the castle along the way.
When she turned the lock, the click reverberated through the quiet. She held her breath, but Darius didn’t move. She must have worn him out.
She didn’t breathe again until she had stepped into the hall and closed the door as silently as she could. Still carrying her shoes, she headed down the hall in what the book told her was the direction of the front door.
***
Darius floated in a haze of bliss. He had his mate in his arms, his mark on her shoulder, and everything was right with the world.
Soon, he’d push himself to full consciousness and wake his little woman for another round. If she thought they were done for the night, she’d better think again. But for now, he’d content himself with a light nap while he gathered his strength.
He’d drifted for a while, how long he didn’t know, when Aislinn stirred. She sat up and gazed at him. Not quite ready to start making love again, he rolled to his back and let her look her fill. He concentrated on keeping his breathing slow and steady, wondering what she’d do. Try to seduce him? If she looked much longer, his cock would rise to the occasion sooner than he’d planned.
Then she got out of bed. He cracked his eyes to see her dressing. Where did she think she was going?
Out, apparently. He feigned sleep while she opened the door and slipped into the hallway. The pain that stabbed through his heart nearly stopped him cold.
She was leaving. How could she leave after the night they’d had together? And the guard…she’d specifically asked him to get rid of the guard. At the time, he’d thought it sweet, but now he understood. She’d had a plan all along. The pain that shuddered through him felt so strong he had no choice but to shove it deep, as deep as he could get it.
Once the door had shut behind her, he swung to his feet and grabbed his pants off a nearby chair. Ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach, he yanked his pants on. Then, forgoing a shirt or shoes, he opened the door and peeked outside. His little mate rounded the corner at the end of the hallway. As soon as she left his sight, he left the room and headed after her.
Aislinn wouldn’t escape.
***
Aislinn headed down one hallway after another, trying to keep her bearings. Even with the map, the place was confusing as all get-out. She wasn’t half bad at navigation but with no compass, she knew she could easily get turned around. She tried not to picture herself lost for days in the maze of stone-lined hallways, finally being found shuddering in a corner, weak from dehydration. And the harder she tried not to picture it, the more unsuccessful she was.
All the same, she couldn’t let herself get caught. There was still a chance she might find her way out. She reached another cross-corridor and peered around the corner, seeing only another long, empty hallway dimly lit with moonlight coming in the high windows. If she wasn’t mistaken, this hall went in the direction of the front of the Holding.
She rounded the corner and continued on her way, moving as quickly as she could. If someone else entered the hallway, she’d be caught—there wasn’t a single place to hide.
The stone felt cold again
st her bare feet, but she didn’t want to put her shoes on and make a lot of noise as she hurried through the castle.
A few minutes later, she reached yet another cross-corridor. This one was different, though. A wall lay dead ahead. The corridor stretched to both sides but to the left it opened wider into an area punctuated by columns holding up the ceiling. And by one of the columns, she saw a dark shadow moving.
A man.
She pulled back a little, holding her breath. He was too far away to actually hear her breathe, even if he was one of the wolves, but nevertheless she didn’t want to make a sound. Still she watched him. If she wasn’t mistaken, the front hall had those same kinds of columns in it. If she was lucky, she’d found the front door. She just had to wait until the man left.
He nearly blended into the shadows at times, but it wasn’t until he turned in her direction that she saw that his face was covered in grease paint.
Her heart beat a little faster. Why was a man all in black with his face camouflaged skulking around the front hall of the Holding? He looked like a commando or something…and she’d seen plenty of them in her time at the compound.
The man leaned down and placed something at the foot of the column. As he straightened up, she got her best look at his face as he passed momentarily into moonlight.
She knew him. Aislinn jerked back, out of sight. She knew him—didn’t know his name, but she’d seen him at the Humans First compound. She closed her eyes as she realized what was happening. That gray box he’d put at the base of the column…it was a charge.
He was trying to blow up the Holding.
She had to stop him. And she couldn’t do it by herself.
Without a thought, she turned and ran in the direction she’d come. Darius would know what to do. She just had to get back to her room and tell him.
No longer trying for stealth, she catapulted around the next corner and ran smack into a hard body. Hands strong as steel wrapped around her arms as she flailed, trying to get away and trying to stay upright at the same time.
Her Forbidden Alpha Page 9
