Blake stands there breathing hoarsely, head hanging low. Silence. I feel like an earthquake just hit. Like the house should have toppled.
"Hot damn," I whisper. "Ain't nobody ever fucked me like that."
I see the flash of his smile, but then it's gone. He leans forward and kisses me, and this is gentle, this pressing of his lips against mine. I close my eyes and return the kiss, taken aback by how tenderly he kisses me. He wraps me in his arms and holds me close, our bodies molding to each other. And holy mother of wet panties, he's still hard.
We wriggle up onto the bed, and he turns me so that we're spooning, his body wrapped around mine, his cock hard and wet against my ass. He slips his arms around me and cradles my breasts. The aggression, the tension is gone. In its place is a caressing gentleness that almost takes me to a different place. I kiss him over my shoulder, and then slowly he slides back into me. I sigh as I wriggle back onto him, impaling myself on his cock. He doesn't thrust, though, just stays within me as he continues to kiss me, caress me, exploring my body with his hands. I slowly gyrate my hips so that his cock stirs me deep inside, and then I lose track of time.
I don't know how long we lie there, lost in each other's arms, his cock buried within me, his lips ghosting over my skin, along my shoulder, down my arms, his face burying itself in my neck. I close my eyes and lean my head back, allowing the glorious sensations to build, simmering and smoldering. Nobody has ever fucked me like he just did, but this - this is making love. He's scenting my body, licking, nibbling. Claiming. Possessing.
Slowly he begins to slide in and out of me. I'm still soaked, my cream making his entry and exit heavenly and smooth. But he takes his time. Half an hour? Forty-five minutes? I have no way of telling. All I know is that my whole body is aroused, aflame with desire.
Only at the very end does he pick up the pace, our bodies moving in perfect unison. I reach back and clasp the back of his neck, our bodies one sinuous whole.
"My mate," he whispers into my ear. "My Rachel."
I can only groan in response. This is like drowning slowly in pool of dark chocolate, burning in the flames of true passion. This isn't about my body. This is about me, Rachel, the woman I am, the woman Blake sees.
We come together, not the furious explosion of before, but a soul-shaking climax that's quiet and strangely even more powerful for it. Shaking, I feel tears running down my face, the intensity of the emotions breaking forth from my depths. All the pain of years of disappointments, humiliations, of dealing with men like Paul, the dark edges of my soul that I hide even from myself are cleansed. Washed away. I feel those old jagged cracks heal, my doubts, my fears. Here in Blake's arms I feel whole. Sensual. Truly loved.
We lie there in the dark, the rhythm of our breathing matched. Without knowing what I'm doing, I reach out for Simon Two. Grasp the cold wood. "Simon. Lower the hex ward."
It is done, I hear him say in the depths of my mind.
I set the staff down and turn to look up into Blake's golden eyes. "You're free. The ward is down."
I hear his breath catch. "I will return. As quickly as I can. I will find my pack and bring them with me to help protect Honeycomb Hall."
I smile up at him. "I know you will. And I'll wait for you here."
He caresses my cheek with the back of his finger, and then leans down to kiss me. "You're mine, Rachel. I've claimed you."
"I know," I whisper. "I'm yours. You're mine."
"Forever," he says. "Wait for me."
"Always," I say, a shiver running down my body.
Then he's off the bed, springing up to land on all fours on the bedroom floor. He hits the ground in wolf form, and streaks out into the landing. A moment later I hear the front door burst open as if hit by a tornado. I rise to my feet and run to the window, and catch sight of Blake racing down the white gravel driveway, his timber wolf form a streak of fur in the light of the moon. A flash, and he's gone, out into the night, hunting down his pack, hunting down the false alpha, Maric.
"Godspeed, my love."
The night suddenly feels darker, more menacing. Blake's gone. I'm alone.
Chapter Ten
It feels amazing to run through the gates and out into the world. Amazing and painful beyond belief. I'm leaving her behind. My Rachel. Leaving her alone without anybody to protect her. Each step I take carries me closer to my pack, and further away from her. The contradiction in desires makes me want to stop and howl in pain. I want to stay with Rachel. I need to be the alpha of my pack. My human and wolf sides are at war. And yet it's not that simple. My human side knows that as alpha I can bring my pack back to help guard Honeycomb Hall. My wolf side wants to protect my mate and our den.
Our den? Has Honeycomb Hall become my den? I run through the night forest and realize it's true. At some point after Rachel arrived, I stopped thinking of the large old house as a prison and instead as a home. Our home. Where we'll raise our cubs.
That thought makes me run even faster. It's true. I want her as my alpha mate, the mother of our cubs. She's strong. Stronger than she knows. Seductive. Dangerously sexy. That body of hers, how it responds to mine! I can give her all I have, whether it's tender or sweet, and she takes it with a groan and a smile. And gives back. By the Earth Mother. Who would have thought my imprisonment would result in my meeting the perfect woman? With her lush body, her intoxicating mix of vulnerability and confidence? That full ass I can grab, that petite body with all the right curves in all the right places.
Would my pack agree to a permanent den? Shifters are nomadic by nature. We stake out a vast territory, and then wander across it, following our prey. To fix on one permanent spot would be against our natures. But I'm the alpha. If that's what I decide, that's what will happen.
All I have to do now is defeat Maric in combat, expel him from the pack, and then I can return to Honeycomb Hall with enough strength to make sure no pack - not even the Blood Moons - will ever think of messing with Rachel while under her roof.
I sprint even faster, deeper into the hills, racing along the valley bottoms between the mountains. I love the wild smells. The beauty of the wilderness. It's been too long. Too long since I simply ran like this, deeper and deeper into the forest. My nose picks up a tapestry of scents, everything from delicious-smelling prey to warning boundary marks of other shifters. Where's my pack's scent? Maric has to have them close. My body is fueled by inexhaustible stamina. Even though my breath is burning in my lungs, still I go faster.
Rachel is alone. Rachel is undefended. I need to be back there, with my arms around her, my nose buried in her hair, her body snuggled against mine.
There! I pick up a faint trail. I haven't scented Mara in more than two years, but her scent is unmistakable. She's a member of my Hidden Moon pack. We grew up together as cubs, learned to hunt together, and she supported me when I became alpha when my father died.
The scent grows stronger as I follow it along a silver stream, and then it's joined by Jared's scent, dark and heavy. Excitement lurches in my heart. My pack!
I burst out into a clearing surrounded by high fir trees, and there they are. All eight of them, my family, my friends, the center of my wolf's sense of self. Eight heads rise up, eyes slitting as they stare at me in surprise, and then as one they leap to their feet, eager, alert, yipping and calling out their excitement.
But I'm not the alpha. I'm the omega if anything. Maric is in his wolf form, lean and rangy, and he steps to the front, eyes narrowed in anger. And fear. I can smell it. Fear. He knows I'm about to kick the shit out of him.
"Maric," I say, the fur on the nape of my neck bristling. "I challenge you for the alpha position of the Hidden Moon pack."
Maric's lips writhe back from his lips. "I deny your challenge. You're not a member of our pack. You have no right."
I'm stunned. What? I see the other wolves look at each other in confusion. Not a member of the pack?
"You're scared." I begin to circle him. "It makes sense. You know yo
u'll lose. You use human thinking to hide from my challenge. It won't work. I will fight you. The winner will be the alpha."
Maric looks to a huge wolf who moves to stand by his side. Hugo. The former omega of my pack, a dull brute of stunning strength - and now clearly Maric's beta. Hugo's piss-yellow eyes are locked on me. Maric seems to reach a decision. "Well, then, before we fight, let me tell you one thing."
I pause. What could it be?
"You should know that -" And then he breaks off speaking and leaps upon me, teeth bared, going into full attack.
I roar and leap back onto my hind legs. Maric's jaws snap at my neck, and just barely miss. I snarl and lunge in, going for a foreleg, looking to crunch it in two, but Maric dances back. He's always been quick. We circle, snarling and growling. The rest of the pack is watching with intense focus. The future of the Hidden Moon pack depends on this fight.
I have no patience. Two years I've been trapped. Two years Maric has led the Hidden Moon pack and ruined our reputation with his cowardly decisions. I abandon subtlety and rush forward, using my greater size to force him back. He leaps from side to side, snapping, desperate, but he can't get his balance. I hit him hard with my shoulder and he goes down, rolling and trying to come back up on his feet. A surge of triumph floods through me. It's almost over! I go to leap on him, and am hit by a freight train.
What the fuck? The world goes upside down, I hit the ground, and see Hugo bearing down on me. The rest of the pack howls in outrage, but I don't have time to wait for them. Hugo's great jaws close on my neck, his fangs cutting deep. Roaring my fury, thinking of Rachel, how she needs me, I force myself to my feet, ignoring the searing pain as Hugo goes to crush my windpipe. Maric is on his feet, and he darts in and closes his jaws around my rear leg.
Incredible pain. They've broken the rules of a challenge. All bets are off. Fuck them.
I shift into my warform. This is never done unless you plan to kill. One moment I'm a large timber wolf, the next I'm a hulking massive machine of death. It takes them both by surprise. Did they think me so passive I'd allow them to cheat and win? Hugo's jaws are pried open by the sheer amount of muscle and thick fur that covers my neck, and he falls back, going to shift into his own massive warform. Before he can do so I bring my huge talons down upon him, and nearly cut him in half. Blood sprays. He goes down.
I whirl around and see Maric in his own gangly warform, but with Hugo down, he knows he doesn't have a chance.
"You coward," I growl. "You have no honor. You never deserved to be the alpha."
"He killed Hugo!" he whines, looking to the rest of the pack. "He needs to be killed!"
Mara and Jared step forward in their warforms. They form a wall with me, all of us against him. I feel it right away. The solidarity. We're a pack. I'm the alpha. They're on my side.
Mara speaks, her voice rich with contempt. "Enough. We all saw you cheat. You are not our alpha."
Maric's eyes dart from one side to the other, and then with a yelp he spins and sprints into the darkness. I throw myself into wolf form, intent on catching him, only to trip and fall. I try to rise and fall again. I feel lightheaded. Dizzy. Growling, I shake my head and yelp in pain. The wound in my neck is terrible. Hugo nearly killed me.
Mara is by my side, whimpering and licking at my bloody neck. "Maric," I growl. "He can't get away."
Jared growls, deep and powerful. "I will catch him."
"Lyra," I say. "Kiril. Follow Jared." I fight to stay awake as the three wolves dive into the woods after Maric. But as the adrenaline recedes, I feel the pain swamp me. No. I have to get back to Rachel. I have to be strong! I rise to my feet, my whole body shaking. Mara whines in alarm. I take a few steps and crash back down.
"Rest, alpha." She's by my side, along with the others. "Heal. We will guard you."
No, I want to say. Guard Rachel. Protect her. But I can't speak. I can't even growl. The world spins faster and faster, and then everything goes dark.
Chapter Eleven
I awaken alone, with a deliciously aching body and a broken heart. He'll be back. I tell myself that as I stand up and stretch slowly, carefully, wincing at the soreness.
He'll be back, I tell myself as I brush my teeth. As I shower and then get dressed. The sunshine coming in through the windows is clean and white and hints at autumn. The house is silent. I know Hui and Anita will be showing up soon, but for now, it's just me and my thoughts. My memories. Of Blake's strong hands, his wicked smile, the sparkle in his golden eyes.
Anita arrives as I'm making coffee. She knocks on the kitchen door and I start, almost spilling my cup in surprise. She smiles and gives me a little wave through the glass panes, and I feel a flood of relief rush through me.
"You're early! It's not even eight o'clock yet!"
Anita gives me an embarrassed one-shoulder shrug and curls a strand of her midnight black hair behind one ear. "I know. If you want, I can come back after nine."
I grab her hand and pull her inside, exasperated. "Of course not! Come inside and have some coffee. I was just surprised to see you."
Anita glances around the kitchen, and I realize it's a possessive look. Checking that everything is where she left it. I feel another surge of warmth. I love that she's become so invested in Honeycomb Hall so quickly. It makes my own dreams for the place seem that much more real.
"To be honest," she says, grabbing a mug, "I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about all the things that need to be done today for Blood Moon's arrival. The cleaning, the cooking. I have to pick up the steaks from the grocers at eleven, and then I couldn't decide - should I season them or not? Do wolves like a light black pepper and garlic flavor, or do you think they want it raw?"
I laugh as we sit at the breakfast table. "I have no idea. Half man, half wolf, maybe they'll like it either way?"
Anita sighs. "It's really hard to cook when you don't know what your guests want. I guess I'll figure it out. Do you think it would be a bad idea to hand out little survey cards after each meal?"
"Survey cards? To the Blood Moon pack?"
Anita nods. "Yes. You know. 'On a scale of 1 to 5, please rate how happy you were with the amount of blood drizzled over your soufflé.'"
I stare at her for a moment until I catch a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth, and then we both break out into laughter. "You know, I think you should do it. I'll point my staff at them and threaten to turn them into toads if they fail to fill it out completely."
Anita smiles, pleased at the success of her joke, and for a moment we just sip our coffee in a companionable way. Then she blinks and looks around. "Where's Blake?"
My happy mood slides away like rainwater into a storm drain. I look down at my coffee. "He's gone."
"Gone? But I thought he couldn't leave."
I nod miserably. "I found a way to set him free. So I did."
"And he actually left?" There's shock in Anita's voice.
"Of course. He's gone to become alpha of his pack once more."
"Oh." Anita's shoulders slump a little. "I could have sworn he'd stay." She gives me a hesitant look out of the corner of her eye. "From the way he was looking at you, that is."
Just remembering the intensity of his gaze sends a shiver down my spine. I miss him so much already. Nobody has ever made me feel so sensuous, so loved, so beautiful. No man has ever looked at me and seen the woman I believe myself to be. Know myself to be. "Yes, well. What about you? Is there somebody special in your life?"
Anita gives a little laugh. "Oh, no. There was going to be. But." Suddenly her face grows pale.
"Anita?" I don't want to push too hard. "What happened?"
She stares down at her hands. "My father was going to make me marry the son of his best friend." She glances up at me, eyes wide. "Something about an old debt from when they were kids. I still don't understand it. But I hated Gerry. My fiancé. Hated him. He made fun of me. Said all I was good for was cooking."
"What?" I can't believe it. "And your dad
was still insisting?"
Anita nods miserably. "He said he had no choice. And that as long as I lived under his roof, I had no choice either."
"You ran away." Anita nods and won't meet my eyes. "And that's why you need this job so badly. You don't have any money of your own."
She shakes her head. "I have a little, enough for me to rent a room over Mindy's store. That's where I was working odd jobs till I saw you put your notice up."
I smile and take her hand. "Well, I'm glad you saw it. I can't imagine having any other cook at Honeycomb Hall. You're welcome here for as long as you need work, and then beyond that too."
Anita's smile is like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. I beam at her, and then we both startle in our seats as the front door crashes open.
I jump to my feet. Blake?
I dart into the hall and hear somebody running heavily up the stairs to the second floor. What the hell? I run out into the entry hall and see the huge front door hanging from one hinge. My stomach turns into an acidic knot. Who the hell?
"Anita, go back into the kitchen."
"Hell, no." My eyes go wide at the nervous anger in her voice. Somehow she's had the presence of mind to grab a chef's knife, and is holding it point down.
I take a shuddery breath and begin climbing the steps. It's the last thing I want to do, but I have to. I have no choice. Who else is going to protect Honeycomb Hall? I scoot up quietly, the sound of somebody tearing the place apart growing louder. Crashing wood, shattering doors. Who the hell? I need to get to my bedroom, get to Simon Two. Now.
Whomever it is is in my bedroom already. With Anita behind me I creep up to the door, terrified. A massive form is raging in there. Blake? It's a massive wolf on its hind legs, warformed. No. Not Blake. My heart sinks and my mind fills with terror. Maric.
He tears open the door of the wardrobe, swipes a hand through Mama B's dresses, then tosses the wardrobe crashing down onto its side. The knowledge hits me like a truck: he's after the staff. He hasn't seen it yet propped against the desk in the corner. He's like a whirlwind in there, a tornado of fury. I have to get to the staff. I have to! Even though my knees are jelly, and I feel like I have two left feet, I take a deep breath and run into the room.
Den and Breakfast: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Honeycomb Falls Book 1) Page 8
