Bending Steele

by Sadie Hart

  His jaw flexed.

  This was a version of the man she hadn’t seen before. She’d seen the ruthless King when he’d been with the tribe, she’d seen the soft man when he’d been trying to lure her trust…but this was different. The man standing in the room with her now was both of those combined. The King in him wanted to protect his people, wanted to be out there hunting. He cared, and that compassion lent him a ruthless, lethal edge that stalked his gaze now.

  Caring didn’t make him weak, at least now. It made him all the more dangerous.

  Steele leaned back against the couch and watched him. His inner struggle played out over his face, a dark storm raging in those green-gold eyes.

  “You cared about her,” Steele said. Hexe started to shake his head and Steele snorted. “Don’t bullshit me. It’s driving you nuts that she died.”

  “I was her King. This bastard is striking on my land. In my mountains.”

  A smile toyed at the edge of her lips as she waited for him to relent. But when Hexe turned his attention back to her, a different fire blazed in his eyes. Not the furious rage from a moment ago, but hunger. Desire. He shoved away from the counter and stalked towards her, making the hair rise on the back of her neck. Steele instantly moved to get her feet under her, tensing for a fight, but something inside her insisted he wasn’t dangerous.

  Not to her.

  “I care about you in a different way,” he said, his voice low, dark. It reminded her of the eerie howl outside. Primal. When he reached a hand out for her face, Steele didn’t back away. She couldn’t help but remember his kiss. It felt like years ago after the day they’d had and she wanted another.

  Wanted to taste him again.

  His thumb traced the edge of her jaw and Steele reached up and caught his hand in hers. She slid it around the back of her neck and stepped closer, helping him draw her in. Surprise flickered in those emerald eyes and she smiled, dark and predatory.

  She liked shocking him.

  His shirt clung to him. Tucked into his pants, it outlined every muscle down the length of his torso. The hard, jagged edge of his face that had so fascinated her once was softer now. Around his eyes the skin was still raw from the weather and Steele wondered if she looked like that too.

  Silence stretched between them as she stared up at him, the quiet whir marred only by the snap of the fire and the rush of the wind outside. Standing here with Hexe, it was almost easy to forget that a woman had died today, that a killer was still out there. It was even easier to forget why she’d wanted so desperately to push him away.

  He hadn’t run. He hadn’t left that girl like her father had left her mother. Hunger burned in those cat-green eyes, a dark, devouring aching look that made Steele catch her breath. She swayed as his thumb traced her jaw again, and she realized with a painful clutch of her heart that she wanted this. One hand skimmed along her waist, only to slip under her shirt and she felt the heat of his hand against her bare skin.

  Still clothed in his night black shirt and loose cargo pants, she felt more naked than she ever had. He’d stripped her of her defenses, seen her as her. Steele. Not just the vicious cat bitch that lingered on the outside of the tribe, the one who liked her solitude, and only liked the group from the fringes. He saw the woman.

  The little girl who’d lost her mother, who’d been abandoned by her father.

  And more importantly, he hadn’t once given up on her or anyone else. Every time she’d pushed him away, he’d come back. When she’d needed him out there, when she’d broken down, he’d held her. And when that woman had needed help, Hexe had followed her. He’d tried.

  For once, maybe, she was seeing the man.

  “You just don’t stop, do you?” she asked, but this time it wasn’t with the bitter bite of anger. Instead she followed the words with a smile. He never stopped.

  Before he could answer, Steele shoved her hands into his chest and sent him toppling backwards. Swiping one leg behind his, she tripped him and sent Hexe crashing to the floor. Surprise gave her the advantage she needed. She slammed her lips down over his and he let her in, yielding. He was still tense, waiting for a fight, but he kissed her back. His hands locked on either side of her face he held her to him, drinking her down. Tasting her every bit as much as she tasted him.

  And damn, but he tasted incredible.

  Her hands roved the broad width of his shoulders, down the lean muscled ridges of his arms. There was so much strength there, carefully held back. Steele broke the kiss first, only to rake teeth down along his jaw. Hard enough that he shivered beneath her and she could feel the twitch in his cock pressed against her belly, the thin fabric of his khakis leaving little to the imagination.

  She kissed him again, softer this time. “Fuck me, Hexe.”

  His attention flicked to the door and Steele nipped at his jaw.

  “We barely found our way back. He’s probably slipped off the edge of a frozen cliff somewhere.” And died an excruciatingly painful death if there were any gods in this world.

  His hands found her hips, but the hunger in his eyes had faded. “Why the change in heart, Steele? A week ago, you wanted me dead.”

  Damn. She started to shove away. If they were going to sit around analyzing feelings she’d take her chances on the storm. But Hexe held her there, groin to groin, and she could feel the bulge in his pants. He wanted this just as badly as she did.

  So why was he doing his best to chase her away?

  “It’s not a change of heart.”

  “So you still want me dead?”

  Her jaw tightened and she looked away.

  “I already said I didn’t. Fuck, Hexe. Don’t.” She swallowed. “What I want is a night with you. We don’t have to analyze why.”

  His hands turned soft against her hips, blunt fingertips kneading into her muscles. “Yeah we do.”

  He held her, patient, and Steele didn’t want to look at him. She knew what she’d see. Those cat green eyes—damn, but those eyes—watching her, waiting. Seeing everything. Frustrated, Steele jerked away, stumbling to her feet.

  “Fine. Never mind.” She turned to grab a blanket and crash on the couch when Hexe caught her, his grip gentle on her arm, but he didn’t let her when she jerked to get away. For a moment, old habits kicked in and she started to reach for her knife only to stop herself.

  She stood there frozen, torn. A week ago she’d wanted nothing more than to be left alone, but now, the thought of going back to complete silence again ate at her. Hexe didn’t press her either. He waited and the silence stretched between them. When she finally looked back at him, she could see the King, the ruthless warrior of a man that no one dared to challenge. It wasn’t just in the sharp cut of his jaw, the wild, feral light in his eyes. It was the intensity in which he watched, knowing he’d pick up every nuance, down to every breath, every blink.

  Nothing would get by him.

  She knew he could see her inner struggle and he was letting her decide.

  She took a step towards him and then shook her head. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I don’t, I can’t—”

  His thumb traced a circle on her forearm. “You want to know what I think?”

  Steele squeezed her eyes shut. Her body still warm with pleasure, tuned to his every movement. Ready, waiting. But he’d always been one to read her so well, even before he’d Marked her, when she’d lingered on the fringes of the tribe. He’d known her better than anyone else, called her bluffs, told her things she hadn’t been ready to hear. Her heart still wasn’t sure she was ready. “No.”

  Hexe reached out brushed fingertips over her breast, down her side. “You hate being vulnerable. Hate thinking someone might actually give a damn about you.”

  Steele forced herself to snort. To laugh. “I don’t care what someone else feels.”

  “You also hate that you might give a damn back.” Hexe stepped closer, closing the gap between them until the hard length of his body was pressed against hers. “And if yo
u open yourself up for that again, you risk losing another chunk of your heart if they go away.”

  He kissed her, just a soft mingling of lips. Tender. “I’m not going anywhere, Steele. I haven’t yet, have I?”

  No. He hadn’t.

  Not over the months she’d tried to rebuff his friendship or while she’d lived in his house.

  And there it was, hanging between them. The fact that she cared about him. Might have even loved him. Him and his smiling picture of his parents. The soft way he looked in pride at his house and labored over every last detail. The way he’d held her out there in the snow and said things she’d tried to tell herself but had never been able to believe.

  Until Hexe.

  He’d forced his way past the ice in her heart, but she didn’t know what to do now. Walking away… Eyes burning, she felt a tear slide down her cheek. A moist kiss against her skin. Walking away might not be an option anymore, if it ever had been.

  Hexe swiped a finger under her eye, his gaze suddenly soft. “Don’t cry. Damn woman, I never meant to make you cry.”

  She snorted. “It was just one. Don’t get cocky.”

  He laughed, a rusty, deep-throated sound that she wanted to hear again and again.

  “Why’d you pick me? Every other woman in the tribe would have been happy to have you. You wouldn’t have even had to fight.”

  Something inside him seemed to draw back. Hesitate. Steele wanted to toss his words back at him, when Hexe turned and looked at her. “I wanted to fight. You were who I wanted. No one else.”

  “Why? You didn’t know me.” But he had and they both knew it.

  “The standoffish woman with ice around her heart? I wanted a partner, Steele. Someone who’d stand at my side as an equal, in every way. You were the only one that ever had that chance.” His lips found hers in a quick, delicate kiss. “The only question that ever existed for me…is if you’d ever care back.”

  In answer, Steele reached up and fit her lips against his. Tentative at first, but when his tongue swept at the seam between her lips, she opened and let him in.

  Chapter Eight

  The hesitant, tentative way she kissed him this time burned through him, igniting a wildfire under his skin. He leaned into her, nibbling over her plump lower lip, loving the sweet taste of her mouth. He slanted his lips over hers, exploring, drawing little shivers through her body as she reached up to bury her hands in his hair.

  He lifted her, carrying her towards the bedroom. With one arm wrapped around her waist, he opened the door and stumbled inside, dumping her onto the bed. Hexe slid down over her, pressing her back into the soft folds of his bed. When her legs parted, his hips slipped between them, drawn instantly to the heat of her core. He pressed against her, rocking as he tasted her mouth again.

  Everything about Steele was a heady mix of light and hard. Dangerous and loving. She nipped, then soothed away the touch of her teeth with tongue and kisses. Her nails bit into his shoulders only to bury into his hair. Her legs wrapped around his hips and suddenly he wanted more, needed it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted someone this bad.

  He ground against her, a ragged groan tearing out of his lips as his hands skimmed along the edge of her shirt and then slipped under. She was softer than he’d imagined, smooth until his right hand bumped the old ripple of a scar. He traced it and felt Steele gasp underneath him, her eyes going wide as he pulled her shirt up, revealing all that pale skin to his eyes.

  The scar was a long, thin white line against the cream of her skin and he leaned down to taste it, lapping over the edges, and her thighs squeezed around his hips, begging. This time when his lips found hers, the kiss was fierce, feral. Her hands stroked at his shirt, catching in the fabric as she tried to tug it up and off. Hexe broke away and in one quick movement the shirt was gone.

  Steele made a low sound of appreciation in her throat, her eyes intense as she looked at him, her pupils dilated. Blood pulsing in his cock, Hexe slid his hand into her hair, down the length of her braid and tugged it loose. He watched as the black locks spilled out over the bed. Lifting her, he laid them out around her head. Her pink lips were swollen from his kisses and she quaked with desire.

  He’d never seen a sexier sight in his life.

  Fucking beautiful.

  And he wanted inside her, driving deep and hard, with Steele locked around him, thrusting to meet him with every rolling surge of their bodies. Steele reached up, wrapped her hands in his hair and dragged him back down to her again, plunging her tongue inside his mouth. Hexe loved the taste of her. He couldn’t get enough of it. The sweet, lingering taste of cocoa, the rich spice that was Steele. They blended together, making her irresistible. He’d starve without another kiss, another taste.

  His hands found the button on her pants and he flicked it open, only to slip his hands inside and slowly draw them down, pants and underwear alike. He left her lying there, stretched naked over his bed and froze, his breath lodged in his throat. One look and he couldn’t breathe. Didn’t want to.

  Then her body arched up, a wicked smile flashing across her face. “Hexe.”

  Her gaze dropped to his jeans, a silent command there, and he couldn’t help but laugh. He’d never stripped so fast in his life. Shucking his khakis aside, he slid over her again, her legs spread to welcome him inside. His hands found her hips as she lifted them, her head tossed back against the covers, eyes on him.

  “It’s been a little while,” she said, even as the muscles in her thighs clenched. God, but she smelled delicious. Ready and ripe, just for him. Hexe leaned down and nipped over her belly, loving the involuntary shiver that coursed through her. Sexy as hell.

  Unlike other shifters, they rarely left their mountain homes, using the magick found here naturally to light their homes, to call the tribe, and for some, as a birth control. Hexe watched the faint glow of the Mark lingering over her chest ebb. He leaned down and blew across it, drawing goose bumps over her breasts, but then an answering tingle of magick filled him, stroking down his back, then lower.

  His balls tightened, the cool touch of magick unwelcome, but then the head of his cock slid across the slick wetness between her thighs and he pressed slowly inside. She closed around him. Her body hot and wet, tight as her muscles closed in around him, dragging him in. Hexe blew out a breath, hissing between his teeth as he filled her.

  He pulled out and drove back in, slow at first. Each stroke diving deeper, harder. Steele rocked into him, her hands finding his shoulders as she dragged him down closer, legs locked around his hips, making him work for every stroke. Her nails dug little crescent moons along his skin. She surged against him, frantic, a low mewl in her throat and Hexe felt his control snap.

  Fuck, but he couldn’t get enough. Couldn’t move fast enough.

  Her eyes met his, wide and vulnerable, and he held her gaze as they came apart in each other’s arms. Open, there was nothing between them. He could see everything, the raw want in her eyes, the fear, and how damn much she really cared.

  Then her hands found his hair and she dragged his lips down to her neck, only for him to feel the snake of her teeth slicing over his skin. Marking him back. Claiming him. An answering need for possession stalked through him and Hexe came then, thrusting, he dove deeper even as his mouth found the swell of her shoulder and he bit down.

  Mine.

  Hers.

  ***

  They lay there, tangled together, their racing heartbeats a distant drum that filled the silence in the room. Hexe lay curled around her, one hand tossed over her hip, his head still buried in the crook of her neck. His tongue stroked over the bite, soothing, and Steele did the same to the twin bite mark on his shoulder.

  She’d claimed him.

  Mated him.

  A curl of unease twisted through her stomach as she kissed the red, puckered skin. He’d held back, he hadn’t been going to do it, not until he’d felt the bite of her teeth against his neck. She’d done it. Her choice. I
t wasn’t permanent, not without a blood seal, but it was easier than trying to put her feeling into words. It let him know she cared. That she didn’t want to let him go just yet.

  Hexe lifted his head, his green-gold eyes lazy as they scanned her face. “You regret it?”

  “No.” Not yet.

  Maybe not ever.

  That last though rocked her to the core. Could someone really feel that way after only a week? Fuck if she knew.

  Instead of saying more, she leaned forward and nipped over the mark, drawing a soft purr from Hexe. “I think I’ll keep you a bit longer,” she murmured.

  “Good,” he said.

  The wind howled outside, rattling along the side of the house, and Steele cuddled deeper into his arms, letting Hexe’s body wrap her in heat. Her fingers played along his chest, tracing the ragged outline of a scar to the edge of an old bullet wound. She toyed with the dark hair over his chest to run her finger in a circle around one nipple. He drew in a soft breath, his body going tense beside her. “Where’d you get the scar?”

  She touched the long jagged line that wrapped up over his shoulder.

  “The accident. The one that killed my parents.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Hexe touched her chin and tilted her head back, his eyes searching hers. “Don’t be.”

  He kissed her again and the emotion in that one kiss, the tender, gentle feel of his lips on hers tugged at her heart. She’d fallen for him, so hard and fast it was unreal. But anytime she looked in his eyes, especially when he kissed her like this, there was no out running the intelligence in his eyes…or the love there.

  Hexe dragged a blanket over the pair of them, his hand rubbing down her back, and Steele listened as he fell asleep, the memories of their love making replaying in her memory. With it, also the realization that she didn’t want to let him go.

  Because just maybe she was starting to love him too.

  Chapter Nine