“It shouldn’t be like this without a bond,” she said.
His expression closed and he scooted back, quickly getting redressed. “Do us both a favor, and don’t compare what we have together with what you had from Wyatt.”
She almost laughed. There was no comparison. This was ten times more intense and Billy actually cared about her satisfaction. One look at the hard line of his jaw, though, and she kept that thought to herself. She slid down from the counter, reached for her own clothes, and carried them with her down the hall to the shower.
She was in and out in a couple of minutes, and wrapped herself in a towel. As she exited the bathroom, she found Billy pacing around the bedroom. Unable to leave it alone, she blurted out the question she was dying to have answered.
“Why was it so intense?”
He stopped and met her eyes across the room. He stood perfectly still, his gaze boring into her, and when he answered it was as if he knew her deepest fears. What if the myths were wrong? God, what if they weren’t? she couldn’t decided which was worse.
“Because we are true mates,” he said. “Our souls, our bodies, know each other.”
She exhaled a heavy sigh. That was part of the old legends. She’d never doubted it before Wyatt and didn’t really now. Not after last night and this morning. Walking to the bed, she picked up her shirt and wondered if she could get it on without dropping the towel. Too late for embarrassment.
“Don’t,” he said gruffly.
She tipped her head to the side. “Don’t get dressed? If you expect me to prance around naked all week, you definitely have the wrong girl.”
He smiled and the vise around her chest loosened. She hadn’t even been aware of the tension his unusual solemnity had brought about. Snap out of it, Chloe! She was getting much too attached much too quickly.
“My week,” he said, “my rules. Remember?”
Was he serious? He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, and waited. He was serious. Exasperated, she dropped the towel and threw her hands in the air.
“Now what?” she asked sarcastically.
He arched an eyebrow and jerked his head toward the bed. In a huff, she walked over and sat on its edge.
“In the center,” he said, with a grin so wicked she had to clench her thighs together. He walked to her dresser.
She climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged in its center. What was he up to now? She didn’t know if she could take another marathon round of orgasms yet. He came to the side of the bed and she saw he held two silk scarves and a black sleep mask she’d tried a few months ago out of sheer desperation. It hadn’t helped.
She met his gaze. It took a moment for his intent to sink in and then her mouth went dry. No freaking way. That was the ultimate expression of trust. She wasn’t there yet, and she seriously doubted he was planning on letting her tie him up and blindfold him.
They said werewolves could smell fear, and he was obviously in full possession of his senses. He sat next to her on the bed and took her face in his palms.
“Look at me, baby. Have I ever hurt you?”
Unable to force words from her throat, she shook her head no.
“Do you believe I could?”
The question caught her off guard and it shouldn’t have. He already knew her too damned well. She took a deep, steadying breath, dragging his scent into her lungs as she did so. It calmed her fears and helped settle her nerves. He would never willing harm her.
“No,” she whispered.
He slipped the mask over her eyes and leaned close. “No is a good word. If you want me to stop, at any time, use it.”
“Isn’t there supposed to be some kind of safe word?” she asked.
“Sure. Pick one.” She heard the smile in his voice.
She muttered, “‘Pick one’, he says. Like it’s that easy?”
“I don’t know. Isn’t red the accepted choice?”
“Red. Hmm,” he murmured against her skin. “Played this game before, baby?”
Never. But she’d read enough erotic fiction to get a few ideas.
“No,” she mumbled.
“Good.” Hot breath teased her nape seconds before a careful nip. “I think this is something I want all for myself. Red means no, baby.”
Then with one hand on her shoulder, he gently pushed her down, positioning the pillow under her head so she was comfortable. He took her right wrist, wrapping the scarf around it securely and stretching her arm to the bedpost, where he tied the other end. He repeated the process with the other hand.
She felt a blast of cool air when he moved—he’d been blocking the A/C vent—and ears straining, she heard the rustle of clothes. The bed shifted as he lay down next to her, brushing against her. He skimmed one hand up her side, leaving goose bumps in its wake and awakening a fresh sense of awareness within her.
He walked his fingers up her torso to her breasts and cupped the underside before swirling his calloused fingertips over her nipple. It hardened to the edge of pain, and she arched her chest into his touch. She needed more. Was she allowed to demand he take it into his mouth? She didn’t know the rules of this game.
She was so distracted by the thought that she nearly jumped out of her skin when his teeth suddenly closed over the opposite nipple. Sparks shot through her pussy and her back bowed off the bed. Moisture slicked her thighs and she wanted to feel his mouth there too. He concentrated on her breasts, palming them, massaging them, rolling her tight nipples under his tongue and between his fingers. The contact brought her to the brink of orgasm and held her there. She was beginning to think Billy was trying to punish her for denying him his place in her life for so long.
Finally, finally, he rolled over her and licked and nibbled his way down her body. She was feverish with need, desperate to come, and she didn’t care how it happened. When his tongue brushed against her clit, the slightest briefest touch was enough to set her off and she exploded, crying out his name in the quiet room.
It went on forever, her body wracked by tremors. He kept her on that precipice of ecstasy, his tongue driving into her pussy and fucking her, his fingers dancing over her clit. She came over and over again, eventually sobbing, begging him to stop and fuck her for real. It never occurred to her to say no. She wouldn’t dream of ending the exquisite torture.
She expected him to be wild and out of control when he entered her. He wasn’t. His strokes were slow and gentle, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep. Wearing the blindfold, she couldn’t judge his expression, but his body vibrated with the tension of holding back. It was outside of her experience and she struggled to figure out what it meant. This softness, this care, was the loving way a mate should be treated, and made her heart expand. Did he love her? Was he trying to tell her that with his body? Her mind shied away from the idea, but her soul sang its tune.
His tempo increased, became a steady plunging in and out of her core. The lightest touch feathered over her clit and all at once, she was coming again, all worries about the future and Billy’s intentions flying from her mind.
He stiffened, groaning her name and collapsing on top of her. Several minutes later, after his breathing evened to normal, he released the ties and blindfold, pulling her to his side where she was tempted to fall asleep.
“What happened to your meeting?”
He sighed, rolled his head to the side, presumably to check the clock before turning back to her.
“It got postponed. I have enough time to jump in the shower and get over there. Want to join me?” he asked with a look on his face she could only describe as avaricious.
She punched his arm. “No. I have to face my parents in a little bit and I’d prefer to walk without wincing when I do.”
He froze and she rolled her eyes. “I’m not hurt.”
He searched her gaze, a gleam slowly entering his. “Tender?”
“Let’s just say recovery time is not a bad thing.”
He grinned and she shook her head.
He looked pretty damned pleased with himself but she didn’t say anything. She was pretty damned pleased too.
Nine
He hadn’t seen his mate in five hours and he was impatient, so he snarled louder than he normally would have when someone tapped his shoulder behind him just as he was about to enter the Half Moon. He spun around, ready to give that someone a lesson about approaching a dominant wolf from behind and squashed the instinct. Very few people knew it, but one didn’t teach manners to one’s Regis.
“Gage,” he greeted him instead.
The other werewolf smirked, and king or not that just wasn’t cool.
“I take it you’re meeting Chloe?” Billy nodded. “I won’t keep you long then.”
They stepped off to the side of the door to talk more privately.
“You’re having dinner with Ryder and Patrick tonight?”
“Yeah. I take it you want us to feel them out?”
“If you can. Carefully.” Billy got the impression he wanted to say more, but he just grinned and gestured at the door. “Better not keep your mate waiting.”
Oh hell no. He grinned back and ducked inside. The interior was dim and it took him a minute to locate her in the busy bar. He growled when he did and stalked towards her. She was leaning over the bar in deep conversation with the bartender. The young, werewolf bartender. Billy recognized him, one of Gage’s stronger soldiers, but they hadn’t met.
Billy stepped up behind Chloe, crowding against her back as he squeezed her nape. He couldn’t quite repress the rumble in his chest. She stilled a second before relaxing and the werewolf smiled.
“You must be Billy Cagle,” he said.
“Why do you assume that?”
“Because if you weren’t she’d have thrown you on your ass.”
That surprised him. “Learning new skills, baby?”
What else had she been up to? She shrugged one shoulder. “More like taking up an old one.”
Before he could ask what it was a waitress waved them over to a newly cleaned table. Chloe grabbed her drink and led him to it, but when he would have sat across from her she shook her head and slid over.
“We’re waiting for Eric and Mary,” she said.
The other couple joined them before he could ask why, and Mary immediately took over the conversation.
“What was all the whispering about at the bar?”
Chloe huffed. “The rumor mill, and it’s not even about the Dallas pack. Apparently Ryder met his mate last night and made a very public claim in the middle of the party that almost started a brawl. Instigated by said mate.”
“We must have left before that,” Mary said.
The waitress showed up for their orders. “What’s good?” Eric asked.
“Best burgers in town,” Chloe answered.
A minute later, food handled, Mary asked, “So who’s the mate and why the brawl?”
“Carisma Yates.” She paused to let that sink in. “Yep, her daddy is Isaac Yates, alpha of the Vegas pack. Suffice it to say, Carisma has no interest in being mated to a werewolf much less an alpha. Her daddy, on the other hand, is thrilled. And I’d guess Ryder has his work cut out for him.”
“We are never having daughters,” Billy muttered but not low enough.
Chloe gaped at him, like she hadn’t even considered the consequences of this week, and Mary laughed, patting the just getting visible bump of her stomach.
“We are.”
Eric went pale but Mary just caressed his cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetie, it’ll be fine.”
His old friend and mentor looked like he wanted to argue but wisely kept his mouth shut.
Maggie Sanders, whose family owned the bar and restaurant, stopped by the table with everyone else’s drinks, grinning widely at Chloe. “Have you seen the board?”
“The what?” Billy asked.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Betting board. I assume I’m no longer the hot topic of conversation?”
Maggie chuckled. “You two are old, boring news, babe. Now the money is on how long it will take Carisma to maim Ryder.”
Billy winced, imagining the nature of the maiming. Was this why Gage had warned him to be careful tonight? He’d never met Carisma but her father wasn’t likely to follow Gage just because of his lineage. The western alphas were an older generation and fiercely independent.
The conversation drifted to shared friends, then Mary asked how Chloe liked the Panhandle pack. She smiled vaguely, waited while the waitress passed around their plates.
“It’s not much different than any of the other packs I’ve been around, but I don’t think I could get used to the flatness.”
He hid a grin. That sounded like she’d made the decision to go home to him. He didn’t give into the urge to ask her straight out, though. She was beginning to relax with him, that hint of wariness nowhere in her gaze right now, and he didn’t want to fuck it up. The rest of lunch went quickly and Eric and Mary went their own way, promising to catch up more later.
“Do you have plans this afternoon?” he asked Chloe while he walked her to her car.
“Amazingly, no. I’m free until dinner.”
“I feel like playing hooky. Want to go snorkeling? I hear you can do that at the state park on the beach.”
One of the local pack members had told him about the park when he’d asked what there was to do in the area. He’d love to take her home and spend the day with her in bed, but she’d made it clear last night she wanted to be courted. Since that meant spending time with him, he couldn’t imagine her objecting a trip to the beach.
She looked down at the pretty sundress she was wearing. “I need to go home and change first but why not? It sounds like fun.”
It didn’t take long to do that, both them putting bathing suits and a t-shirt on. She paired hers with another pair of those short sexy cut-offs. It was hours later that he sat next to her on a towel on the beach and asked how breakfast had gone.
“What did your dad say about Dallas? Is he willing to take on a new pack?”
“He didn’t say much and he didn’t mention becoming its alpha, but mom and I got invited to lunch tomorrow with the women who came with their delegation. I think they’re checking out a few people here, not just dad.”
“Yeah that makes sense. If they pick an alpha here and the other alphas agree to it, it’s going to be a damned difficult job. That’s a lot of trust to put in someone you’ve never seen in action.”
She agreed and she looked worried. He wanted to kiss her until her expression turned to bliss instead but if he did that here they’d probably get arrested for public indecency. Neither his alpha nor his future father-in-law would appreciate that, though Gage would probably find it amusing. You never knew with him.
“We should get going. Jackson will never let me forget it if we leave them alone with Ryder too long. He’s not likely to be in a good mood.”
She snorted, stood and shook out her towel before stuffing it in a bag and pulling a loose wrap on over her suit. He took her hand and they walked up the slope of the beach and headed down the boardwalk to the parking lot.
“It’ll do him some good. Have you met Ryder?”
“I have. He’s the most arrogant man I’ve ever met and that’s saying something where I come from.”
Grinning, Chloe pulled her hand free and turned to the woman who’d come up behind them. He didn’t know her but he could guess who she was. After a quick hug Chloe introduced them.
“Carisma Yates this is Billy Cagle.”
She looked him over before extending her hand, her gaze serious and assessing. He wasn’t sure if that meant he’d passed some kind of test or something, and he wasn’t going to ask.
“Billy’s the Appalachian beta,” Chloe said.
He was a lot more than that. His snarl was low but he thought he’d caught it in time. Obviously not. Carisma cocked an eyebrow then broke into a rueful grin.
“The arrogance must be genetic,” she said drily.
/>
Chloe laughed and they continued their walk to the parking lot, Carisma falling into step with them.
“Are you going to be at this dinner tonight?”
“Yeah,” Chloe replied. He shared the surprise he heard in her voice. “I’m surprised you are. I figured you’d be giving him hell.”
“He’s demanding I get to know him and dad threatened to fire me if I don’t. It’s like the man wants to get rid of me or something,” she said sarcastically. “And if I hear the word grandchildren one more time I’m shooting someone where it hurts the most.”
Billy wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole and Chloe didn’t either.
“What do you do? You work for your pack?”
He tried to remember if he’d heard anything about that and came up blank.
“I’m a doctor. I’m in a private practice but we only have patients from the pack.” She shrugged. “I could get another job but dad would probably make it a pain in the ass.”
They’d reached his SUV and he tossed their things into the backseat, then opened his mate’s door.
“We’ll see you there,” Chloe said.
Carisma scowled. “Where? All I was told is he’ll pick me up and to wear a dress.”
She looked horrified at the thought. He didn’t tell her anything but Chloe didn’t hold back. She frowned.
“When Michelle invited me she said they were picking up Chinese food. We’re eating at their suite.”
“That son of bitch,” the other woman muttered. Lifting her hand in a wave, she walked away. “See you there,” she called back.
Ten
Dinner had to be the most tense meal Billy had ever sat through. No matter how much Ryder tried to temper it, his dominance showed through, and Carisma was having none of it. It probably would have been amusing if it hadn’t felt like watching two firing squads circling each other. Even Jackson and Summer hadn’t been as bad, and Billy hadn’t been sure in their early days if there would be a survivor of their mating. Thank god, he and Chloe didn’t have a personality conflict. They had enough other issues.
“So why did you suggest this dinner, Jackson?”
Lunar Mates Volume Two: Books 4-6 Page 5
