Knox
Her scent changed every few seconds. Hurt. Anger. Sadness. Arousal. Thank Fate it landed on arousal last. His nostrils flared at the sweet musky flavor in the air. He took another step toward the foot of her bed before his gaze settled on the ankle wrapped in bandages and propped up on a pillow.
“You’re hurt.” All thoughts of touching and tasting forgotten. He’d failed her already. In his absence the Tribe had injured his mate. He’d not thought they would truly stoop to such actions. But here she was hurt and in pain. A growl rumbled in his throat. “They dared to touch you.”
“What? No. I fell and twisted it. No one did this but my stupid self. I thought I saw you. Your wolf, I mean. I was looking for you and I fell. It was dumb. I would still be out there, crawling through the forest if Connie hadn’t driven past my truck and come looking for me.” Katherine huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “It was so dumb.”
“It was my fault. I should’ve been with you. Katherine. Can you ever forgive me? I don’t know how to do this. I need you like the blood that flows through my veins, but I can’t—”
“Let the Tribe execute those other guys? Even though they helped kidnap Tara?”
“Technically I was a part of that as well. Pack is pack. We act as one, even if we don’t agree. I could have exiled myself. Any of us could’ve left at any time. We are all guilty.”
“Perhaps. But I’ve been alone before. It’s a hard place to be. I understand not wanting to choose that, especially in a brand-new world you don’t understand. I can’t even imagine how hard that would be. And to top it off, you guys aren’t even used to being human.”
“Do you hate me, Katherine? I know you told me not to return. I just—”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t hate you. I never really hated you. It’s just…you hurt me. You betrayed me and I don’t handle that well. I have baggage. It’s my problem, not yours. Well, it’s kinda yours when you’re around me. It’s part of me whether I want it to be or not.”
“Everything about you is just as it should be. You are mine, Katherine. My mate. My match. My soul. You glow for me and I want nothing more than to be with you every moment of every single day…”
“But there’s a dragon and some really big cats that don’t like you.”
Knox sighed.
The weight of the words she’d just spoken pulled his heart from his chest and kicked it to the floor. No matter how hard he wanted to change it. Nothing had changed. The dragon would still kill him on sight. The cats were hunting for all of them. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. There were too many of them and Mystery wasn’t big enough to stay hidden for long.
Sooner or later he would find himself in a corner he couldn’t get out of.
“Can we not think about that in this moment?” Katherine said, her tone hopeful and inviting in a way he’d only dreamt of hearing again. She patted the empty side of the bed. “Will you hold me? Even if it’s only for a few minutes. I just…I need you to hold me.” Her eyes went glassy and a single sad tear rolled down one cheek and then another and another. Both her eyes were leaking. The salty scent of her sadness cut him deeper than any claw ever could.
“My shuarra. Please forgive me. I only want happiness for you, and I fear that I will never be able to give you what you deserve.” He moved around the bed and slipped into the empty space. He slid an arm beneath her body and pulled her close, pressing her back to his chest. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and breathed in her sweet citrus scent mixed with the salt of her tears. “Forgive me,” he said, his words muffled by the kisses he feathered up her neck to her ear.
“I do.”
Those two words were so soft, but they hit Knox like a rock to the breastbone, knocking the air from him completely. She did? She forgave him. She wanted him. She wasn’t pushing him away. She forgave him for betraying her. She let him call her his mate. His beloved. She was letting him hold her close. Letting him breathe in her scent and memorize every detail about the feel of her skin, the texture of her soft hair, and every exquisite curve of her body. A body built exactly to fit with his.
In that moment he wanted to feel her. All of her.
Claim her. Claim our mate. His beast whispered in the back of his mind. She’s ours. Do not lose her again.
“I need you, Knox,” Katherine said, her voice husky and deep. She turned in his arms so that she faced him. “I want to be with you, but—”
“But what, shuarra? Tell me.”
“I don’t want you to bite me. I don’t want to be a wolf.”
Knox’s jaw slacked and words left his mind. He’d forgotten his bite would change her. But without a claiming bite, there would be no true bond. Katherine would forever glow. Forever call to his soul but never truly connect. The completeness they both needed would forever be just out of reach.
It didn’t matter.
She’d stated her request.
He would honor it till his dying breath.
“Of course, my shuarra.” It was the only answer he could give her. He wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want. Never again. He didn’t want to take her humanity from her. He was Reylean. She was human. Sharing a mind and body with a beast had to be a terrifying thought. What his brother had done to Tara without her permission was unforgivable. But even Raish hadn’t known his bite would turn a human. He’d only been desecrating Owen’s mate mark. It’d been a dishonorable dirty thing to do, but Raish hadn’t known she would change.
No one knew a bite could change a human. Could give them Reylean magick.
On Reylea everyone was born with a beast inside them—except the magick-benders. The idea that Fate’s magick could be passed to another race was a foreign concept. Perhaps a magick-bender would know the reason for it, but without a priestess of Fate here in Mystery or somewhere on this planet, those questions would forever remain unanswered.
So many questions. Like why Tara was a wolf instead of bear. He’d seen the mark when she’d been taken. The bear had bitten her first. That was the whole reason Raish had bitten her.
“Make love to me, Knox.” Her softly whispered plea yanked him from his thoughts and made his cock spring to life faster than it had in a long time. His body was on board, but she was injured. She was upset. She’d just been crying. This wasn’t a good idea.
“Your leg. We shouldn’t.”
Katherine shook her head and pressed her mouth to his, nipping fiercely at his bottom lip. “I’m good. Please.” She kissed him again, sliding her hands up his chest around to the back of his neck and into his hair.
His beast rumbled deep in his chest. He fought to keep his fangs from descending. He fought the overwhelming urge to bite and mix her blood with his own. To make her truly his.
No. He would make his mate happy this evening.
No matter how much he wanted more.
No matter what it cost him.
He was hers, however she would take him.
13
Knox
The taste of her was more intoxicating than anything he’d ever consumed. He couldn’t not touch her. Not anymore. His hands mirrored hers, sliding up her supple neck to grab fistfuls of her dark hair. He pulled just hard enough to elicit a slight gasp. The sound made his heart speed up, pounding in his chest like he’d been running a mile.
His mouth turned hard, claiming her with a punishing hungry kiss. He thrust his tongue against hers and they twisted and tangled in a mating dance all their own.
Her hands traveled down his torso, tugging and pulling. They separated with a frustrated huff, just long enough for him to pull his shirt over his head. Katherine took the opportunity to yank hers off as well, sending it flying into the wall on the opposite side of the room.
Her eyes lit with lust, stared at him just as hungrily as he knew he was watching her. Her bared skin glowed in the soft light of her room. So beautiful. Like a full moon on a dark night. Pure sensual light that called t
o his beast.
She unsnapped her bra, freeing familiar breasts he wanted to cup. Wanted to lick and suckle and taste. Wanted to pinch and hear her moan and see her squirm beneath him.
Her hands moved to the snap on her leg coverings—pants. His pulse jumped in anticipation. Everything about her made him growl possessively. The perfect curve of her ass. The smooth line of her hips to her calves.
She was so strong. Her scars only made her stronger in his eyes. More beautiful and she was showing them all without abandon. He’d touched and kissed and told her how proud he was that she was a survivor. A fighter.
She trusted him without hesitation this time and that made the moment the most beautiful of all. After everything he’d done. All the mistakes he’d made. She was giving herself to him anyway. Letting her see everything she kept guarded.
“You are my treasure, Katherine. You know that, right. My mate. My shuarra. No matter what happens from here on out. I promise you I will not leave. Even if I have to go again, I will always come back for you. Know this I vow to you.”
“I know,” she said, her voice a breathy whisper.
“I love you, Katherine.”
“I love you too. That’s why it hurt so much. That’s why I was so—”
He put a finger to her lips. “I know. And I deserved every word you spoke.” He nuzzled her neck, breathing in her sweet luscious scent. He pushed her down onto the bed, sparks flaming in his bloodstream. She groaned, drawing her legs up on either side of his hips.
“You’re still wearing pants.”
He chuckled into her mouth through another hungry kiss. She was the best thing he’d ever tasted, and he’d never be able to get enough of her. He’d been a fool to think he could leave her, even for a while.
Her hands slipped between them, making short work of his pants. She used her calves to push the fabric down, baring him completely. His hard length prodded teasingly at her hot wet opening. Fate. She was ready and willing. He had to take a deep breath and will himself to slow down.
Groaning, he angled his mouth over hers, pushing harder, taking what he wanted. His hips gyrated against her, rubbing his erection up and down over her wet folds. He swallowed the breathy cry his movements wrung from her.
Her legs fell open, an invitation he didn’t fail to observe. The husky moans coming from her arching, panting, glistening body threatened to drive him mad. The pheromones. The arousal. He needed her, but he wanted to hear his name on her lips—desperately.
Knox dipped his head to her neck and skimmed his tongue down her breastbone, loving the little shivers that flitted through her body. She was whimpering now. Begging for more between each breath. He paused at her breast, taking a nipple into his mouth.
“Ah.” She gasped and clutched at his arms, her nails digging into his biceps just a little. He liked the pain. The need her clutching at him conveyed. She arched her hips against his again and he bit down just a little, making her hiss and whine.
Katherine
“You’re enjoying torturing me.”
“Mmmm,” he said, releasing her nipple and dragging a line from her breast to her navel.
Damn. He was going down on her. Again.
“I want you inside me, Knox. Please.”
“Oh, I will. Trust me.” He nudged her legs apart a little further and settled between them. Then did all the things that shouldn’t have been possible with a tongue, but they were for Knox. She arched off the bed again, a desperate cry she didn’t recognize tearing from her throat. She grabbed for his hair, tightening on his long locks at the same time he thrust two fingers inside her while also keeping his tongue working her already throbbing clit.
The pressure. She was going to come apart already. Everything was building so fast. So hot. So tight. She pushed and pulled, not able to decipher whether her body wanted to escape or press closer to his wicked mouth. His tongue and hands and the graze of his scruff against the inside of her thighs drove her higher and higher until incoherent cries fell from her lips.
“Please, don’t stop. Knox. Oh my God! Knox.” Everything was forgotten except the overwhelming pleasure he was wrenching from her body.
He didn’t stop.
In fact, he upped his game and his pace. He added a finger, thrusting inside her slowly but firmly.
The pressure was more than she could take. She screamed. Her fingers tightened in his hair. Her entire body convulsed. The pleasure surged from between her legs, streaming out every nerve ending to her head, her toes, her fingertips. There was no part of her body that didn’t get hit by a tsunami of exploding energy.
Seconds passed like cold molasses dripping from a spoon. Each muscle in her body slowly released and she sank into the bed, surprised she didn’t melt right into the soft mattress. Her whole body was limp and humming at the same time. She hoped he would make the next move, because she couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted to.
Knox’s face was still between her legs, she could still feel his warm breath flowing over her mound. He had withdrawn his fingers and an unwanted emptiness spread through her body. She knew the feeling would only be chased away by his cock. She knew it with her whole being. And she wanted it more than anything to be joined to him in that way.
He’d said to trust him.
Damn.
She had and it’d been well worth it. Last time he’d gone down on her had been good too, but this. This time was beyond anything she could’ve ever imagined. And she was ready. So ready.
Her legs were up on his shoulders, resting on his back. She couldn’t feel them and didn’t know when they’d gotten there.
Knox was kissing her now. The inside of her thighs. Her belly.
He finally lifted his head and gave her the kind of shit-eating grin that only a guy could pull off. So pleased with himself, but she didn’t care one wit. He had literally rocked her world—nine pointer on the Richter scale of orgasms. Holy crap.
His mouth dropped to her skin again. He was kissing his way up her stomach, stopping to pay special attention to each of her slightly raised scars. The tenderness and adoration she felt rolling off him in waves combined with her orgasm high filled her eyes with tears.
He dragged his body up hers until they were face to face again.
“You are amazing, Katherine. So beautiful.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away the stray tears that had spilled over and run down her cheeks.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
His head canted to the side. “Thank you. For allowing me another chance with you. For not shutting me out when you had every right to send me away.”
“No one has ever tried to see past my…flaws.”
“Any man who hasn’t didn’t deserve to look upon you. Plus, then I would need to kill them.” He smiled again, devastatingly beautiful. How could a man be so handsome? How could he be so into her? But he was. She could tell. She could read people like a book and everything he said. Every look he gave her. He was being truthful. Completely truthful.
The tears abated and she smiled back at him.
“I’m not done with you,” he said, his tone deep and gruff. “I need you so badly it hurts to not be inside you, Katherine.”
Katherine smiled again. The way he said her name. It was so formal. So sincere and purposeful. “I want you inside me too. I feel like I’m missing something so important. I’ve never felt like I was ready to do this with anyone, but with you…I want it more than my next breath, Knox. Please.”
He moved slowly, nudging her thighs apart and entering her a little at a time.
She gasped and bit back a whimper.
The fullness was so much. She was so sensitive from the orgasm. And he was so big. So much bigger than his fingers. The initial pain and discomfort quickly faded to a throbbing need that made her wriggle her hips experimentally.
A shudder rippled through Knox’s body.
Her movement had given him pleasure. Katherine could see it in the way his face tense
d. The way his gaze had gone golden. Power surged through her and she wanted more than anything to explore this newfound power. She wanted to make him come as hard as he’d done for her.
He pulled out and pushed back in, dragging every velvet hard inch of himself against her swollen throbbing folds. The same tightness as before began building again, coiling around her insides preparing to implode again. Again? How could she be able to come again after such an earth-shattering orgasm just a few minutes ago? But she was.
He pulled her hip up at an angle that gave him deeper access. He kept thrusting. Harder. Faster. And in seconds she was screaming his name again and shattering around him. Stars exploded behind her closed eyes. Breath was something she fought to suck into her lungs. And if he hadn’t been on top of her, holding onto her bucking body, she would’ve come straight off the bed.
Then he sank into her one more time. So deep it felt as though they truly were one person. He groaned through his release. His warm seed filled her completely. It was a heaven she never had known could exist and now that she did, she’d never let it go.
No matter what it cost her.
14
Katherine
She woke with a start. Smacked the mattress with the palm of her hand. The bed was empty. Her stomach crawled up her throat like something was chasing it.
Knox’s was missing.
“Knox?”
Did he leave?
He wouldn’t have just left.
“Knox?” She called again, her voice rising just a little, panic edging out rational thought.
“I’m in your washroom.” Knox’s baritone rumbled from behind her closed bathroom door and chased away all the tension that’d built up over the last ten seconds.
He appeared a few moments later, naked and wickedly beautiful and all hers. Her eyes fell to his very large very at-attention package and she couldn’t help the smile that immediately tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Wolf At The Door: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 5) Page 12
