WithHerCraving

by Lorie O'Clare

  “We would be honored to come visit.”

  David’s words meant more to Jarvis than he could ever howl.

  He glanced down when he smelled the tears on Katrin’s face. She wiped them away and smiled at David and Molly. “If you would honor us with that visit, then I feel very safe in saying any debt that you feel you owe to me or Jarvis is paid.”

  David didn’t smile at her but understood. He met Jarvis’ look and his expression was grave. “Not everyone on the mountain will be as understanding,” he said, voicing what was already on all of their minds. “Malta werewolves are feared. The government ordered their deaths.”

  “I’m sure there were some very bad ones,” Katrin said, and all three of them looked at her. “But my sire was a good male. He raised my littermates and me to run with honor. I didn’t understand before but I do now. I found out while in Prince George of my true heritage and the gift that my sire left me.”

  “A gift?” Molly asked, smelling as if she really wanted to understand.

  “Yes,” Jarvis said. “Katrin’s gift is her ability to move trees. She only recently found out she could do it. Although if she’s terribly upset, she has been known to send a werewolf flying,” he added, and gave his mate a squeeze. “We’ll leave now. Neither of us wish to upset your cubs by going inside and possibly making trouble for your den.”

  “Actually, both of us would like it if you came inside and shared our kill,” David said, surprising them. “You see, my mate also has a special gift.”

  “She does?” Katrin smelled surprised and looked at Molly. “You do?”

  “Yes, she does. When I don’t show my manners and properly honor our litter, she has a very special way of telling me so without anyone else hearing.” David took his mate’s hand, which had been on David’s back. “She pinches me until I come to my senses.”

  His light joke broke the tension that Jarvis saw now had hung heavily in the air between the four of them. He laughed along with David. Jarvis wasn’t sure how it would all play out, but with his old friend and his litter on their side, he prayed there might be more on his mountain who also were open-minded. It would be a fool’s game though to believe there wouldn’t be just as many ready to see Katrin dead.

  “Please come inside,” Molly offered.

  “I really am a mess,” Katrin complained, not able to hide her fear.

  “You have my word as a Cariboo that in my den, not one male or female will lay a claw on you. Do you understand?” David asked, his voice lowering to a very serious growl.

  “Do I know everyone in your den?” Jarvis asked, deciding he wanted to know who they were up against.

  “All we have to do is convince Stefen Runner that Katrin is a female worth having on our mountain, and the rest will howl their support,” David said.

  Jarvis remembered the older Cariboo. He glanced down at Katrin, who once again looked too pale for his liking.

  “Stefen Runner is from a very old den of Cariboo,” he explained, hoping if he got her thoughts on something other than her fate, it would put color back in her cheeks. Jarvis knew the Cariboo on this mountain had a lot of respect for David’s den. When the male howled that Katrin would be safe inside, Jarvis knew it to be true. “The Runner litters have been on this mountain for at least a hundred years.”

  “If not longer,” David added. “They used to be the Running Paw litter but changed their last name.”

  “I think it was Stefen’s sire who changed the name,” Jarvis continued. “They run by an old and honorable code. No male or female on this mountain would ever snap at a Runner. They have that much respect. But because of their old ways and beliefs, their litter knows discrimination. It will be in our favor.”

  David and Molly turned and led the way into their den. Katrin paused and Jarvis thought she would balk. When he looked down, she was looking up at him and smiling.

  “What?” he whispered.

  She shook her head. “It’s just that I love you so very much. Maybe you didn’t notice, but for the first time, you just defended me being half Malta werewolf.”

  She was right. “And I hope you forgive me for not having done it a lot sooner.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Katrin walked around the den after a nice hot bath, feeling like a new female. Jarvis had promised he would put in a bathroom door that would lead into the den. But until they mastered plumbing, the lean-to next to their brand-new den suited her just fine. She would allow him a few days before she started playing the dutiful role of a loving mate and howling that they start figuring it out.

  They had just nailed the last nail into their den. In spite of the cold weather and her wet hair, she paused a moment to stare at the cabin that they had finished together. Jarvis had agreed using her gift would make their den more uniquely theirs. Katrin’s heart had soared the entire time she had helped knock down trees then create perfectly sanded boards. She’d grown used to how drained it made her after using her mind to knock the trees over that Jarvis selected for their den. After explaining what the process did to her mentally, he became incredibly attentive.

  Once she’d knocked a tree down, he was by her side insisting she rest. As much as she hated feeling so worn out when pushing her gift to its extreme, it was equally as nice having her male holding her and growling how incredible she was.

  Jarvis came strutting around the opposite side of their den. She smelled his pride, his love, which was the same as her scent, and happiness that filled the air around them with a stronger aroma than the perfumed soap she’d just used in her bath.

  “What?” she demanded when she also sniffed out amusement.

  His blond hair was windblown and soft curls wrapped around each other and fell past his ears. It had grown since they’d first met and she rather liked the wild look in his human form. Piercing blue eyes captured hers the minute he rounded their den. She had only a moment to take in his muscular legs and how sexy they were in his faded denim jeans. He wore a t-shirt in spite of the hard chill in the air, with his sleeveless jacket unzipped and hanging over his broad, muscular chest.

  In that moment, while he approached her, Katrin took in the full package. There wasn’t a better-looking Cariboo lunewulf on the entire mountain. Probably not even the entire Canadian Rockies.

  Katrin accepted that she hadn’t sniffed out as many males as some, but she knew in her heart and her soul that no other male would have accepted her as she was. Cariboo males were a stubborn lot, set in their ways, and seldom bent to the will of others. Jarvis hadn’t submitted to her. That wasn’t in his nature. But after that horrible night a week before, something had changed in his scent. He’d become more protective, his growl a bit fiercer, his entire stance a bit more powerful. The love she smelled on him matched her own. It was a raw, energizing scent that didn’t smell like anything else describable. And she’d never breathed in anything more alluring.

  Jarvis reached her with a few long strides and scooped her into his arms.

  “What are you doing?” she yelped and slapped wet strands from her face as she laughed.

  “Waiting for you to finish your bath.” Jarvis adjusted her in his arms.

  “You could have joined me.” Since almost losing each other because she was half Malta werewolf, they’d done everything together. “I bet there’s room in that tub for two.”

  “I’d rather join you doing this.” Jarvis leaped up the steps to their front porch and pushed the door to the den open with his foot. “I need to carry my mate over the threshold.”

  “How very human of you,” she teased and giggled when he dug his claws into her rear.

  “Let me show you how human I’m not,” he growled into her ear, then extended his teeth and nipped her earlobe.

  Katrin squirmed in his arms until she fought him to let her down. Her feet reached the ground while she laughed hard enough to fill their small den with the clean smell of happiness. She breathed in his lust and need swelled to life inside her.

/>   “I know there’s nothing human about you,” she growled as her heart thumped against her ribs. Already her pussy was soaked, but she wouldn’t simply roll over and belly-up for him. She slid one of two kitchen chairs in his way to block his path.

  Jarvis tossed the chair to the side. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor, landing on its side. “I’m going to fuck you.”

  “I haven’t brushed out my hair.” Not that she cared. But she wasn’t ready for him to know that.

  “I like the wild look on you,” he grumbled, his teeth still extended and the silver streaking over his irises adding to how damn sexy he looked. “Now come here.”

  Katrin squealed and leaped over the table. She landed on her feet and gripped the edge of the table. Leaning forward, she eyed him through wet strands of hair.

  “I need to train you to say please,” she purred, as adrenaline brought her natural predator to life.

  “Playing hard to get means nothing when I can smell the lust on you,” he growled, his smile fading as he pulled his jacket off and threw it to the ground. Muscles bulged against his t-shirt. He stalked toward her and grabbed the other side of the table.

  “Destroy my brand-new table and I won’t be playing,” she challenged.

  Her heart raced too hard in her chest. Katrin stared into Jarvis’ eyes, anticipating his next move. Her breathing came as hard as his and she fought not to start panting. She wanted him. They would fuck soon. The excitement of making him hunt her, even if it were in the small space of their den, caused heat to explode into fire and burn through her veins.

  There wasn’t enough time to calm her heart before Jarvis roared. “Come here, my little bitch.”

  She’d give him credit. He didn’t throw the table he’d made for her to the side. Instead he used it to hold his weight as he held on to the side and leaped around it. Jarvis was one hell of a good carpenter. The table held his weight. The change was strong in him, though, and muscles hardened and bulged as he damn near flew at her. She heard the tearing in his t-shirt when his body moved closer to the change.

  Katrin squealed, darting to the other side and racing around their small living area. There wasn’t really anywhere for her to go. Not that she planned on escaping.

  Jarvis scraped the table to the side and let out a dangerous-sounding growl when he pounced at Katrin. The sound of it sent shivers rushing over her flesh. Sparks ignited up her spine. A fever fed the fire in her blood, causing her insides to explode into pools of lust.

  Suddenly it sounded better to be the aggressor instead of the hunted. She didn’t pounce on Jarvis. Instead, Katrin leapt into the air. Jarvis rushed into her and she landed in his arms, her breasts pressing into his face.

  “Now you’ll do as I say,” she howled, wrapping her legs around his chest and her arms around his head. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”

  “Do you now?” Instead of trying to climb the ladder to their loft, Jarvis went to his knees. He leaned forward, his grip around Katrin so tight she didn’t even slip down his body, and laid her on her back before the fireplace. Eventually she planned on having a throw rug before their mantel. But for now, one of the extra sleeping bags Jarvis had brought up the mountain when he had initially followed her from Toubec’s ranch sufficed. It was rather comfortable when Jarvis pressed her down onto it, with his powerful, muscular body stretching over her.

  “Our first time was to be in our loft, but the fireplace will do nicely as well.”

  Katrin didn’t care where they made love. Her back was on their smooth wooden floor, made from boards she’d sanded using her gift. Jarvis’ strong, capable arms were still wrapped around her. She wasn’t sure which words it was that she had howled, but something had finally sunk in and enabled Jarvis to believe her gift wouldn’t make him less of a male.

  They had built their den together, neither of them able to have completed it with the speed and quality of craftsmanship they put into it without the other.

  “I might allow you to carry me upstairs,” she murmured and arched her back so she was better able to rub against all of his hard muscle.

  “I might decide to pick you back up.” He chuckled then nipped at her neck.

  “Jarvis,” she gasped, every inch of her going rigid from the abrasion of his teeth against the sensitive flesh above her nape.

  He raised himself off her then slid his hand under her sweatshirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra after her bath, and the oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants had already twisted on her body. Jarvis used his arm to raise the cloth over her breasts while his fingers tweaked her already hard nipple.

  Katrin grabbed his shoulders and fisted his t-shirt in her hands. There wasn’t any way to pull it over his head with him positioned over her. Katrin fueled the fire inside her, feeling sparks ignite just underneath her flesh. When her incisors grew and pressed against her lips she grinned up at him, all the warning she cared to give. One of the many blessings of being werewolf was allowing her nails to grow at a moment’s notice. As a cub she had watched the adults and envied how they controlled the change. Now she mastered the energy sizzling under her skin. She let go of his shirt long enough to puncture the material with her nails.

  “Sweet little bitch,” Jarvis rumbled at the sound of tearing material.

  His growl consumed her, feeding her desire and making her crave even more.

  “I want to feel flesh,” she informed him, and the rough purr in her voice only added to the excitement building between them.

  “My mate shall always have her heart’s desire.” Jarvis offered no other warning.

  Katrin experienced the sensation of being tossed up and down as her sweatshirt ripped up the middle. Jarvis didn’t let her head hit the floor, or her body slap back down. He moved with the speed their species was known for and cradled her in one arm as his eyes glowed with pure male satisfaction.

  “My sweatshirt,” she complained, although she didn’t care at all that he’d just torn it straight down the middle.

  “Is now a sweater,” he finished for her.

  Jarvis shoved the material away and lowered his head to her breast. He growled again, this time as he suckled her nipple deep into his hot mouth.

  “Oh yes,” she moaned, and relaxed her head against his arm.

  She closed her eyes as her damp hair pressed against the back of her neck. It barely offered relief from the heat pumping to dangerous levels inside her. Jarvis scraped her puckered nipple with his teeth and it was as if lightning shot straight to her pussy.

  Jarvis chuckled when she jerked at the abrasion and tightened his grip on her, holding her back inches off the floor. He sucked her deep into his mouth and Katrin’s world toppled to the side. It had taken so much for them to get here. They were making love, both feisty and full of energy and the love they felt for each other. Katrin wasn’t sure they would have arrived at this spot any other way, although she never wanted to look back.

  Instead, she wanted to move forward, and the sooner the better.

  “My turn,” she whispered, then applied a fair amount of strength to push him to the side.

  When Jarvis rolled to his back she knew he had relented. It didn’t bother her that he possessed more physical strength. That didn’t mean he would ever dominate her. She didn’t take time to move her hair, other than to shove damp strands away from her face. Katrin wanted to see. She wanted to feel. She very much wanted to know that what she did affected him as much as what he did to her.

  “I said flesh,” she warned him and grabbed his shirt.

  Jarvis moved so fast she didn’t see his arm move.

  “And I’ll give it to you,” he whispered, his deep baritone raw and aroused.

  His hand clamped around her wrist. Katrin’s fingers were extended and her nails long. She barely touched his t-shirt. Even as she used all her strength, with the change bordering dangerously close to consuming her, she wasn’t able to tear his shirt the way he had hers.

  “I don’t wa
nt you to give it to me,” she said, her teeth clenched with determination. “I want to take it.”

  Fighting him had her insides swollen with lust so raw, so thick and overpowering, she wasn’t able to control it and remain in her human form. She hadn’t changed without willing it, let alone inside a den, since she was a cub. And she wasn’t about to do so now. In flesh or in fur he was stronger than she was. Katrin was equally as cunning though. And there was nothing more satisfying, more exhilarating, than taking on her mate in all aspects of sex.

  “What do you want to take, female?” he asked, his face lit with amusement and flushed with carnal desire.

  His arm muscles bulged as he prevented her from tearing his shirt. There was a trace of a grin, of that age-old annoying male superiority that he believed he held over her. Katrin continued struggling, forcing him to hold her in place. Then, as he had, she showed how speed ran as thick in her blood.

  Katrin pounced, taking him off guard when she quit struggling to grab the shirt. She relaxed her arm but used the muscles in the rest of her body to shove him to the floor. Then straddling him, she grabbed the bottom of his shirt and shoved it up his muscular chest.

  Taut, rippled muscles appeared. Katrin loved the spread of tight blond curls that stretched over his chest and narrowed to a thin line and disappeared under his jeans. She spread her fingers and pressed her hand against his warm, smooth flesh.

  “Don’t move,” she instructed. “Don’t try to get up. Don’t do a thing I don’t say to do.”

  The hint of a grin turned into a dangerous smile. His heart was a solid thump against her palm. Her heart raced when he met her gaze and stared into her eyes.

  “And if I do?” he dared.

  She held her position. Her pussy was on fire and his cock tortured her with its continual jerks. There was still too much material between them.

  “I won’t do this,” she teased, and moved her hand down his body to the top button on his jeans.

  Flicking it open with her finger, she continued staring at him. He wasn’t moving but Jarvis was far from relaxed. He was an animal in a man’s body, watching her, waiting for the precise moment when he would try to overpower her.