He hung his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is.”
He clenched his jaw. “Fine. It is so simple. So, if Roland came into the woods alone and that man—” He waved toward Embry.“—found him on his own, he wouldn’t have killed him? He would have given him a chance to explain himself? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Embry’s eyes hardened as he took in Roland once more. “I would have killed him,” he said, without a bit of remorse in his voice.
“It’s not the same—”
“It is. Look, I’m trying. You’re trying. It’s going to take time. We can’t change people’s feelings overnight. They’re afraid, Lindy. They see a wolf and they see their friends dying. They see a pup and they don’t see a child, they see the potential for it to grow into an adult and hurt their people. It’s going to take time.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew he was right. But how long would it take? When would they stop seeing us as monsters? It’d seemed feasible before, but now; forging any kind of peace with the humans seemed like an impossible mountain to climb.
Red
Carefully honed instincts had me waking to sudden awareness without moving a single muscle. Every one of my senses strained to hear what had caused the disturbance in the air, what had made my instincts blare in alarm.
Someone was in my room. I was sure of it.
Cloaked in night, I could barely make out the outline of a body near the window. Forcing my breathing to remain even, I carefully tilted my head in their direction to get a better look. No moonlight came through the window and it took several seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dark.
Smaller and curvier than a man’s build, a lone figure leaned against the wall. I frowned. Why would a woman be sneaking into my room?
At that moment the figure turned, the movement slow and unhurried. My heart pounded in my chest and I clenched my fists beside me, waiting for the attack I was certain would come.
I’d grown complacent. My weapons were all too far away. I had a dagger in the nightstand, but I’d never get to it before whoever was here was upon me. Still, I had to—
“Good, you’re awake,” a familiar voice said.
I relaxed, relief washing over me, and pushed myself into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “What are you doing here, Lindy?”
She strode closer to the bed, her features still hidden in the darkness. She took a seat on the edge of the mattress, her back facing me and her attention on the night outside the window.
“Your heart rate slowed down. Does that mean you find me safe?” she asked.
I tilted my head, trying to get a better look at her, but the room was too fucking dark to make out more than the outline of her profile. “I’m not worried about you sneaking in to kill me if that’s what you’re wondering.”
A nod.
“Why are you here?” I asked again.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice sounding hollow and lost.
My stomach clenched, and I leaned forward until I could wrap my arms around her and turn her to face me. “How’d you even know I was here?”
A shrug. “I followed your scent.”
O-kay. “You shouldn’t be here. If anyone else knew…” I trailed off.
She let out an agitated breath, knowing full well what was at stake. “Right. They’d probably capture me. Maybe kill me. Right?”
“Lindy, I’m one man. I can’t change the world. Even if I wanted to.”
Abruptly she stood. “Do you want me to go?”
Yes. No. Fuck. I didn’t know. My silence seemed to be answer enough for her though, and she strode back toward the window, her intention to leave the way she’d come abundantly clear.
On a curse, I threw my legs over the bed and went after her. “Wait.”
She paused, her expression a mask of indifference.
“Stay.”
“Why?”
Pressing my lips into a tight line, I mulled that over. I didn’t know why I wanted her to stay. I only knew that the thought of her leaving like this, angry and hurt, physically pained me. I couldn’t deny my attraction to her.
“I want you,” I admitted. I didn’t have pretty words or promises to offer her. But I could give her the truth. At least this small truth.
“I thought you didn’t want to take advantage?” she asked, turning to face me and stepping forward until her body was a hair’s breadth away from mine.
“Do you feel taken advantage of?”
She shook her head in a definitive no.
“Good.” Yesterday had gone to shit. I was ready for today to have a better start. I reached out and tugged her close to me. It was the only warning I could give her before dipping down and pressing my lips against hers. She opened for me and I angled my head, deepening the kiss until we were both gasping for breath.
God, I could never get enough of her. I backed her into the wall and kissed her harder, my hands finding her breasts and squeezing through the thin material of her dress.
I should release her. Tell her to leave.
She wrapped one bare leg around my hip and I ground myself against her core, gripping her thigh to achieve a better angle. I couldn’t let her go.
Her short breaths were proof enough that she was just as affected as I was. She was so small in my arms. So delicate and fragile. But the strength in her hands as she pulled me closer let me know she was anything but. Lindy was wild and fierce and capable. And so damn sexy.
Letting my hands wander, I cupped her ass and lifted her into my arms, her other leg coming around to grip my waist. She sank her teeth into the flesh of my bottom lip and I groaned. She wouldn’t be a meek lover. I wouldn’t have to be careful with her.
Wearing a simple dress, the feel of her bare legs against my bare back had my already thin control slipping. I needed to be inside of her. Needed to feel her pussy squeezing my cock as I thrust in and out of her.
I walked back to the bed, carrying her, careful to keep my steps slow, so I didn’t trip over anything in the dark. Our lips stayed fused together. Our kiss getting more and more aggressive.
I dropped her down, her back meeting the mattress for only a second before I was on her, pressing my body against hers, feeling her warmth seep into me.
“This is a bad idea,” she panted, her chest heaving up and down as I kissed a trail down the column of her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin and taking pleasure in the soft moans she made with each bite.
“A very bad idea,” I agreed, slipping my hands beneath the hem of her dress and finding her wet through her panties. Fuck. I groaned and ground the heel of my palm over her core.
She gasped. “We should stop.”
I smirked and nipped at her neck again, eliciting another moan from her.“No, we shouldn’t.”
She stilled beneath me and I pulled back far enough to look at her face. “This is a bad idea. This. Us.” She turned away, her gaze once again on the small window behind me.
“I want you,” I said, removing my hand from beneath her dress and bracing myself over her. “And I know you want me.” I wasn’t going to let her walk away from this so easily, not without an explanation, because she’d come to me. Whatever invisible threads connected us had brought her here.
“You’re going to leave eventually, right? You don’t plan on staying in Lethbridge long?”
I nodded. “I don’t.” Did that bother her? The idea of me leaving? It sure as hell bothered me, thinking I might not see her again. But there was nothing I could do about that. I might as well enjoy the now. I could worry about tomorrow when it came.
“Then there’s no point in forming any attachments.” Her expression pinched, and I fought the urge to kiss the furrow between her brows. She was adorable when frustrated.
I cupped her cheek and forced her to meet my gaze. Her eyes glowed in the darkness, her wolf close to the surface, and something about that knowledge sent a thrill through me. I loved seei
ng the primal side of her.
“You want this. Want me the way I want you. You want to forget just as badly as I do how fucked up the world can be.”
She didn’t answer.
“Are you looking for a mate?” I asked. Need was a vicious beast inside of me.
A delicate snort. “No.”
“Commitment then?”
She shook her head.
“Then why can’t we do this? Why can’t we help each other forget our problems? Give one another pleasure? We’re both consenting adults and—” I ground my length against her, showing her just how badly my body wanted hers. “—we both want this.” There was no denying it. She was wet and shaking with need. It didn’t matter what she said, her body couldn’t lie.
Her breath hitched but instead of answering with words, she wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled my face down to hers. She pressed her lips to mine, and I returned the kiss, tangling my tongue with hers as we both gave into the need to feel the other.
I pulled away and turned on the bedside lamp, needing to see her before I took her. I wanted to watch her cheeks flush, see her face as I slipped inside of her.
I nipped at her lips, trailing kisses down her face and neck, letting my tongue linger along her collarbone.
I pushed her dress up, the fabric bunching beneath her arms and exposing her breasts before she lifted her arms up. I ripped the offending fabric up and over her head, exposing every inch of her sun kissed skin. God, she was beautiful.
I tore her panties away from her body next, needing to remove all barriers between us.
My mouth watered and my dick throbbed, aching with the need to be inside of her.
She hooked her fingers in the waistband of my sweatpants and slid them over my hips. I sat back, stripping them off and tossing them to the ground before climbing over her and lining up our bodies. I couldn’t help touching her. Trailing my fingers over every inch of exposed flesh. I took a deep breath, the smell of sex heavy in the air, and I hadn’t even fucked her yet.
Her eyes met mine as I traced one finger between her slit before sliding into her heat. “Red.” She bucked against me.
“You’re so fucking hot against my finger. Already ready for me.” I gently flicked my thumb over her clit. “So fucking wet.” I groaned and pumped my finger in and out of her, watching as her pupils dilated and her breaths grew more and more choppy.
“What do you want?” I asked, needing to hear it.
“You.” She gasped, her back arching off the bed as I stroked in and out of her, my thumb playing with her clit as her release neared. But I wasn’t going to let her come. Not yet.
Lindy was a dominant wolf, but here, in this bed, I was the one in charge.
“Look at me,” I ordered.
Her eyes met mine, and I forced her to hold my gaze. “How do you want me?” I asked.
A stunning blush spread up her face.
“Are you getting shy on me?” I asked with a grin. Who would have thought she’d shy away from a little dirty talk?
She tried to lean up and kiss me, but I pulled back. “Nuh uh. I asked a question. I want an answer.” I continued pumping my finger in and out of her, adding a second. She was so wet and the sounds she was making made my cock harden to the point of being painful.
“I want you to fuck me.” She said, her words almost hesitant.
I pulled my fingers out of her, looked right in her eyes, and licked her juices from them.
She visibly swallowed.
I reached over to the bedside table again, retrieving a condom from the drawer and slipping it on. Her eyes never left me. I gripped my cock in my hand, pumping myself twice as I came back to the bed.
“Red.” My name was a plea on her lips.
I settled myself between her spread thighs and crushed my mouth to hers, swallowing her pleas with my kiss. I slid into her in one swift thrust. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened on a silent gasp. Her hands wrapped around me, her short nails digging into my back, and her hips arched up off the bed, encouraging me to move.
I grinned. “Impatient?”
“I need you. Now.”
Unable to deny her, I slid out before thrusting into her again in another swift motion. God, she felt good.
She tilted her hips slightly, bringing me deeper.
“Fuuuuuck,” I groaned and kissed her.
She blinked up at me, her eyes glazed in pleasure. I sped up my thrusts, one hand bracing myself over her, the other holding her hip in a bruising grip.
Lindy met me thrust for thrust as I fucked her into the mattress until we were both crying out each other’s names. My balls drew up tight, letting me know I was close. I needed her right there with me. I hooked my arms under her knees, lifting her ass off the bed as I pounded into her as deep as her body could take me.
Her pussy spasmed around my cock, spurring on my own release. I groaned her name as both of our releases swept through us in a tsunami of sensation. Her nails dug into my back and a strange caveman-like feeling swept through me. I wanted to be marked by her. And I wanted to mark her in turn.
Shit. I couldn’t afford to get attached.
Breaths heaving, we lay there, me over her, my cock still deep inside of her as I rested my forehead against hers. “That was…” she trailed off, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
I kissed her nose and slid out of her, settling beside her as I pulled her body flush against my own. “Incredible,” I finished for her.
She murmured in agreement and nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck. Contentment thrummed inside of me. A part of me was stupidly happy at what we’d done together, and another part wanted to throttle myself for letting things go this far. But I couldn’t help myself from smiling. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and while I was here, I was determined to make her mine.
Even if it was temporary.
Lindy
I slipped out of Red’s room just before dawn while he slept, brushing a hand over the rich, brown skin of his cheek, I lingered just long enough to give him a chaste kiss, careful not to wake him. He looked so peaceful when he slept, and while I was loath to leave him, I couldn’t risk being discovered.
Halfway back to the Den I came to a sudden stop, finding Embry waiting for me. I’d avoided him the previous day after finding Aiyana, but evidently he wouldn’t be avoided any longer.
Dressed in low-slung jeans and a flannel shirt, he sat atop a large boulder as though he didn’t have a care in the world.
My heart stuttered in my chest and I braced myself for the coming confrontation.
“Did you enjoy fucking him?” he asked. Jumping down from the rock, he stalked toward me, his eyes predatory.
My cheeks heated. There was no point denying I’d slept with Red. I smelled like sweat and sex, and as much as I claimed Embry was an idiot, he wasn’t that big of one.
Ignoring his jab, I kept moving, trying to brush past him. A firm hand on my arm brought me to a stop. I stared up into amber eyes brimming with barely restrained fury. “Nothing can come from a relationship with him.”
“I’m aware of that,” I snapped, ignoring the pang in my chest.
His nostrils flared, and he released me, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you know you can’t be with him then why are you fucking him?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Because I wanted to. Because he made me feel things I didn’t know I was capable of feeling. Not that I’d admit that to him. And because like he’d said, I’d wanted to forget just how messed up our world was even if only for one night.
Embry gripped my chin, his eyes boring into mine. “You’re mine. My mate. Mine to fuck. Mine to own, mind, body, and soul.”
I tried to pull away, but his grip was punishing and he refused to release me. My claws pricked the skin of my fingertips and my wolf rose inside me at the challenge.
Before I could say anything, Embry continued, “If you need to fuck him out of your system to realize that you’re mine, so be it. I’
ll allow it. But only to a point.”
I bristled. He’d allow it? Where the hell did he get off?
“Have your moment of rebellion but know that when this little relationship comes to an end—and it will. You and I both know you could never be with a human long term—” I swallowed hard, hating that he was right. “—you’ll wind up back in my bed where you belong, your legs spread out for me.”
Defiance swept through me. I wouldn’t be his. Even if I couldn’t be Red’s, I wouldn’t belong to Embry.
Embry pressed his face into mine and I fought the urge to step back. I refused to show him just how rattled he made me.“Melinda Chogan, you are my mate whether you are ready to admit it or not. But my patience is not infinite and I will take this Pack by force if need be in order to show you exactly where and who you belong to. Do you understand me?”
Sudden dread crashed over me.
“You wouldn’t!” I tore away from him, and slapped him across the face, hard. It happened so fast I didn’t have a moment to consider the consequences before it happened.
His head whipped to the side before turning back with exaggerated slowness. His jaw ticked.
Oh, crap. I held my breath, waiting for him to explode in fury.
He sucked in several lungfuls of air, closing his eyes to force calmness. When he opened them, they were amber without any hint of gold. He’d suppressed his anger. Suppressed his wolf.
I bit my lower lip, and for the first time since we were teenagers, my wolf perked up at his display, his obvious control.
Embry invaded my space, backing me up against the boulder he’d previously been resting on. His eyes met mine, and I found myself itching to look away. Was he… ? No. He couldn’t be. Could he?
The corner of his mouth curled in satisfaction. “Are you still the dominant one in this relationship, Lindy?”
My lip curled into a snarl and I fought every instinct telling me to look away. My wolf rode me hard and sweat formed on my brow as the seconds ticked by.
Trouble with Wolves: An urban fantasy romance novel (Magic and Bone Book 1) Page 9
