by Skye Jones
“If I decided I’ve made a mistake, I can leave, right?”
She shot me a sharp glance as the gates creaked open in front of us. “Of course. You’re not a prisoner here.”
Worried I’d offended her, I shut my mouth and moved from nibbling on my lip to biting the inside of my cheek.
“You’ve not upset me.” She read my mind. “But you need to know you can leave anytime you wish.”
I nodded and blew out a breath as we drove into the compound.
Izzy parked up and helped me haul my bags out of the car. We walked toward Jake’s home, and as we neared, Izzy stepped in front of me and moved to the door. She gently pushed me to one side and put a finger to her lips. I played along and plastered myself to the wall.
The door scraped open, and Jake uttered a weary “Yeah?”
“Got a delivery for you,” Izzy said and then reached for me, pulling me into view.
“Cait!” Jake’s eyes widened at the sight of me. “You here for a visit?”
I didn’t miss the hope in his voice.
“More. I want to stay a while and see how things go. If it’s okay with you?”
“Jesus.” He pulled me into his side. “You have to ask?”
He breathed in deeply, and I did the same, loving the familiar smell of him.
Home, a voice whispered.
“I’ll leave you two alone.” Izzy headed back down the path, and we waved her off.
I didn’t get a chance to catch my breath before Jake grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house.
“Need you,” he whispered in my ear, and just like that, I was ready for him. Wet and aching and needy. But I needed him to fetch Darcy in, and my bags.
“Darcy’s outside,” I said.
He sighed and rolled his eyes, but I saw the amusement in his face and grinned back at him.
“You’ll learn to love one another.”
Three bags and one cat were brought inside, and Jake placed my bags down. He jerked his chin at the cat carrier. “You can let him out.”
I giggled at his obvious wariness and opened the front of the carrier. Darcy shot out, threw Jake a disdainful glare, and went to sit a few feet away from us, tail twitching.
Jake turned all his focus back to me. His hand wrapped around my neck and clutched me to him. Our mouths crashed together, all teeth-clashing and no finesse. I didn’t want finesse or to take it slow. I needed him too badly.
Acting only on pure instinct, I pulled at the buttons on his shirt. My fingers shook, though, and I made a mess of them. So I pulled it up and off over his head. In only a pair of low-slung, faded jeans, he looked like all my fantasies come to life.
Once more, he pulled me to him, kissing me with a need I could taste. He pulled my own loose sweater off and groaned at the frothy, lacy confection I’d worn underneath. Normally a cotton panties and white bra girl, I’d gone shopping with Laura, and I now possessed a drawer full of fancy underwear. The pastel blue bra I wore today cost a fortune, but Jake’s hungry gaze made it worth all the money. He trailed his fingers down over the bra, grazing my already erect nipples. Then he bent his head and sucked one hard nub into his mouth through the lace. The shock of his warm mouth and soft tongue over the rough lace drew a moan out of me.
He lifted his head and flashed me a grin. “Gods, I missed that sound. I want to hear you make it every single day for the rest of our lives.”
He pulled me down the hallway a little ways and into his spacious, square lounge. The sun streamed in through the gaps in the slatted wooden blinds, but no one would be able to see in.
I undid the belt buckle on his jeans and shoved them down his legs. He neatly stepped out of them and turned his attention to mine.
“I want to take it slow. Spend hours rediscovering your body, but this time, I need you too damn much. I don’t want to hurt you, though.”
“I’m not made of glass,” I informed him. “You can bend me over your big leather sofa and take me for all I care.”
His eyes flashing were all the warning I received. One moment I stood facing him, the next he’d spun me around and walked us toward the large couch. “Your wish is my command, princess.”
His rough voice in my ear, the sure way his hands directed me, and his hard length pressing into my spine all combined to make me nearly combust.
“Bend over.” His guttural command had my inner muscles clenching in anticipation.
I bent over the sofa and felt him yank my knickers down. I waited for the expected thrust. Instead, whisper-soft lips found my neck, and his hands sifted through my hair. He kissed and licked up and down my neck, nibbling my shoulder and moving back up my ear, where he sucked the shell into his hot mouth and bit down. Sparks of pleasure sang in my veins.
My legs trembled with the need for him coursing through me, but he didn’t stop his almost lazy exploration of my neck and throat. Rough, callused fingers grabbed my chin, and he turned my face toward his, taking my mouth once more in a harsh, demanding kiss. When it ended, we were both panting.
He continued to run his fingers through my hair, pulling it upward as if to put it into a ponytail but then tugging on it before letting it drop again. He did this over and over, his hands running up the back of my neck to tangle in my nape before he tugged on my hair. Shivers ran down my spine, and my clit throbbed. No one had spent time on my hair in such a way. Who knew it could be so erotic?
“I’ve missed this hair.” He pulled once more, hard enough this time to bring my neck backward, and kissed his way down my jaw, placing a sharp nip to the side of my neck when he arrived there. “I want to wrap this luscious hair around my cock and use it to jerk myself off one day.”
Holy crap!
His warm palm landed flat on my back, stayed there for a moment as if soothing me, and then he bent me forward once more so I flopped over the armrest. My cheek nestled against a warm cushion, but my behind poked in the air. I felt exposed.
A finger dipped between my legs and into the moisture gathering there.
“You’re so fucking wet for me.”
“Yes.” I moaned out the admission.
“Good girl.”
The thick head of him teased my entrance, and I tensed in anticipation.
“Relax, Cait. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I did as he said and focused on relaxing my muscles. When he pushed into me, I sighed at the rightness of his thick length filling me. Making me whole again. He pulled almost all the way out, teasing, and then gave another smooth glide in. He kept this up for a while, but I wanted more.
I turned to look at him and saw in his face how he held back.
“Don’t.” His eyes snapped to mine. “Don’t hold back on me. Fuck me, Jake.”
He groaned and slammed into me to the hilt. The pleasure-pain combination made me see stars. I didn’t normally enjoy it rough, but right then, I wanted this man to own me.
His new pace set me on fire. Each thrust in, his balls slapped against me, and the sound of it, along with his grunts and my whimpered moans, ratcheted up my desire.
He reached under me and placed two fingers either side of my swollen clit. Pressing them together rhythmically, he trapped the bundle of nerves until, with a loud cry, I came, grinding back against him as he pressed his palm over my mound.
He stilled and jerked as he emptied into me, hot and wet and delicious.
When we stopped moving, I tried to stand straight, but my legs turned to jelly. Laughing, he swooped me up into his arms and carried me upstairs. He laid me down on the bed as if I were made of glass. A precious thing to be taken care of always. Unlike human men, Jake wouldn’t cheat on me, if all Izzy said was true. And I understood, deep down, somewhere primal, that he’d lay down his life for me.
Jake would be viewed as a monster to many in the outside world, but to me, he was a beautiful and amazing person. My very own wolf shifter and I loved him.
I blinked as the realization hit. It made no sense. I’d known him me
re weeks. But I’d fallen in love with this strong and handsome male.
He hovered above me, braced on his arms. Deep blue eyes looked into mine, and he smiled. It crinkled the outer edges of his eyes and popped his dimples, and I swear I’d never seen anything more gorgeous in my whole life. I wanted to eat him up. For him to climb back inside me and never leave.
It seemed he shared my desires because his hard length once more pressed between my legs.
“Are you sore?”
I shook my head.
Jake pushed his way into me again, slow and gentle this time. When he pressed himself into me to the hilt, he gathered me in his arms and squeezed us together. Skin to skin, breath to breath, we moved slowly, as one. No hurry this time, we both experienced the need to savor one another. When I reached up to kiss him, he met my mouth with his own. His tongue flickered across my lips, tasting, teasing. I opened for him, and he swept in, claiming me once more.
His body pressed against me, and my oversensitized clit rubbed on his pelvis. Already, I sensed my second climax building and chased it as we moved more urgently.
On a gentle cry, I tipped my head back as waves of pleasure washed over me. I clenched around his hard length, and he, in turn, groaned into my ear and gave me everything of himself.
Afterward, we lay together a long while, wrapped tightly in one another’s arms.
“Are you here to stay, Cait?” he asked.
“I’m here to try,” I replied.
“Suppose I can’t ask for more.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you. It’s not only about the mating bond for me. I love you. You’re simply the best person I know. What you did for me…” His eyes shone as I looked up at him. “No one has done such a thing as you did when you attacked the rogue… You risked your life for me. You honored me that you did that.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “I acted on instinct. I can’t stand to see you hurt. I…I love you too.”
“Then we’ll make it work, somehow.” He kissed me again, and then he changed the mood. “Food. I bet you’re hungry after the journey?”
“I could eat.”
“Great. I’ll make us something to eat while you take a shower and get comfortable.”
I took my time showering, letting the warm spray wash over me and soothe my aching limbs. Whether they ached from the tension of the journey or from the way Jake had taken me over the sofa, I didn’t know. The hot water helped ease any discomfort. Walking into the kitchen, I stopped for a moment to take in the glory of Jake in nothing but a pair of loose sweat pants, standing by the stove. The skin of his broad back glowed under the kitchen lights.
Not wanting to disturb him, I crept in and sat at the table to watch him work. He seemed to know his way around the kitchen. His muscles flexed and relaxed as he stirred one pot and hefted another off the stove and over to the sink
“Pasta good for you?” He spoke without looking at me.
My stomach growled in response, and he laughed.
“Did you know I was here all along?” I asked.
“Yeah. Heard you. Smelled you. Sensed you.”
Okay, I officially loved him owning the ability to sense me so clearly.
He served the pasta in a big bowl, placing it on the table where it sat steaming. Next, he filled another bowl, this time of gorgeous looking Bolognese. He added this to the table alongside some rustic looking bread.
“Eat up.”
I helped myself to some of the pasta and plopped a load of meat sauce on top. The smell hit me, and my mouth watered.
“Wine?” He proffered a bottle of red, and I nodded.
We ate in companionable silence for a while, me ravenous and him seeming to nibble at his as if merely keeping me company. After a while, his behavior struck me as odd. Jake was a big man; he’d most likely have a healthy appetite.
“Don’t you like it?” I asked.
Jake shot me a sheepish grin. “I actually ate about half an hour before you showed up, but I didn’t want you to eat alone.”
My heart lurched with the familiar rush I’d begun to recognize as affection and more. Love. Pure, heady, love. That gorgeous, falling head over heels tumbling you got at the beginning of something special.
“You know…” He broke off some bread and bit it with perfect, white teeth. “If you do decide to stay, we could do with your help.”
“Yeah?”
“You remember those rogues?”
I shuddered at the memory and gave a brisk nod.
“They’re in the medical center. Something is wrong with them, and we’re not sure what. Our healers are working on them and so is Brooke, but you’d be able to help if you can bear it. We think they’ve been somehow influenced by the dark creatures, but we’re not sure how. Any help dealing with them would be massively appreciated. But as I said, only if you can deal with it.”
I chewed and swallowed, thinking as I did. “I’ll help. I like Brooke, and it will be good to work with her. I presume we’ll be safe.”
“Yes. There’re always going to be at least two or three people around watching to make sure you are safe at any time. The state the rogues are in at the moment, though, I doubt they’d hurt a fly.”
“Okay, then. Maybe I can start tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Nah. I want some time having you to myself first. Start the day after.”
True to his word, Jake spent the whole of the next day with me. He showed me around the village. I met new people and got reacquainted with familiar faces. Boyd surprised me by asking after Laura. I told him she was fine and would hopefully come visit me one day soon. His eyes widened at my visit remark, before he made his excuses and wandered off.
In the evening, we went for a walk in the woods surrounding the village, and I laughed in delight as a group of small wolves ran by us, heading back to the gated walls. Jake informed me they were teenagers from the pack. They needed a lot of exercise to help with all the hormonal changes they had going on.
We came to a stop by a gnarled old tree, and I turned to him, a question on my lips I’d been scared to ask.
“So…” I kicked at the ground. Jake raised one eyebrow at me in a look I’d come to recognize. “If you and I make it work and we do the whole bonding, werewolf marriage thing. How does it work with regards to the different ways we age? I mean, I’ll become an old lady while you remain young and virile. Not sure if I’d enjoy it.”
He ran a hand over his jaw and sighed. “You will age faster than me, but not by much. Whilst we are bonded, our tie is so strong you live a lot longer than a normal human female. But the downside is, if anything happens to me, you will age rapidly until you reach the age you’d have been without meeting me. If, say, you’d have been in your nineties, you can reach the age in mere months. Of course, the same goes for if you’d have been dead. You’ll go from, say, a biological age of midthirties to dying in mere weeks or months.”
I sucked in a breath. “Okay. It sounds scary, but then again…I’d rather live to be ninety in a healthy young body and then face a few months of rapid aging, than age slowly and see it all start to go downhill from my sixties onward. Although, I shouldn’t let my gran hear me say so. Woman’s as sprightly in her eighties as at forty.”
“I hope to meet your family one day soon.” Jake brought my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. The gesture struck me as oddly old-fashioned. “Of course, we’ll have to face the fact you’re not going to age as they will expect. It’s something we’ve got no answer for at the moment. All you human females want to keep contact with your friends and family, which we totally understand.” He raised his hand. “But in the past, empathines and other humans who bonded with wolfen, they left their own world completely. It does present somewhat of a problem for us in the future.”
My heart lurched.
“But we’ll face it together, Cait. This, I swear to you.”
His words, in such a serious, low voice, sent a delicious shiver through me. His a
bility to turn me on with a simple sentence put all other men to shame. But then, he wasn’t a man, was he? I should start to use the word male to describe him. Because Jake was no more a man than he was a wolf. Instead, he inhabited both worlds, and in doing so, defied all the man-made laws of physics and rationality. The more I dwelled on the issue, the more I loved the idea of beings such as Jake and his fellow shifters existing. The knowledge gave me a sense of freedom for some reason. I had never been a particularly religious person, but I’d always hoped to see loved ones again. Now, I believed a lot more strongly we all had a spirit and it lived on after the body ceased. Jake’s people absolutely believed it.
They also believed many other things, some of which scared me half to death. On our way to the village, Izzy talked to me about a secretive society called the Shield Warriors. A group who fought to defend not only their preternatural brethren, but also humanity, from the so-called Kikan Myre—the dark ones. The dark ones allegedly wanted to reverse the uneasy ceasefire declared so many centuries ago between humanity and Jake’s kind. They wanted the preternatural to walk among humans once more, powerful and defiant. Jake and his pack thought this wrong and believed they needed to keep their lives secret. It all confused and terrified me. But now that I knew monsters did exist, I’d rather be with Jake, safe in this village and among a pack who’d protect me with their lives.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his ear. “Take me home.”
He smiled, slow and sexy, and picked me up as if I weighed nothing. Striding through the woods with me back toward home, he held me close and tight. I shut my eyes and snuggled into his neck. Wherever I went in the world, so long as I had Jake by my side, I’d be at home.
Epilogue
I stayed with Jake and the pack for about four months before I made any concrete decisions. Day after day, I grew closer to him. We got on like a house on fire most of the time, but boy, when we argued did we blow up at one another. Not that I minded too much, as the making up proved to be fun…and hot.
