by Alisa Woods
Piper was keeping silent, obviously struggling for words. He gave her time, not pushing.
Eventually, she said, “Daniel’s going to stay here in Seattle at the Joint Base. Partly, I think, to make sure my father pays for what he did. Partly because Daniel’s finally out from under his shadow—now he can have a career of his own. Taking down his own father and this horrible shifter experimentation program might even be what launches it.”
“Good for Daniel.” Jace waited, but it was clear he was going to have to force this out of her. “What about you?”
“What do you mean?” But he could tell by the way she was avoiding looking at him that she knew exactly what he meant.
Jace slid his hands up from her waist, along the soft length of her arms, and up to hold her cheeks gently by his fingertips. He tilted her face and brought her eyes up to meet his.
“I know you don’t want to mate,” he said softly. “And I get why. Your father has ruined so many lives, I’m sure you can’t imagine mating as anything other than being horrifically trapped.”
Her eyes were wide, and her lip trembled a little. It reminded him of when they made love, and how open and vulnerable she had been to him. His wolf responded to that sweetness and surged inside him, wanting to protect her from anything and everything that might hurt her. Including mating with him, if that was how it had to be.
“Having a mate…” He swallowed thickly, the words getting caught in his throat. “Well, it’s not something I thought I would be able to have. But thanks to you, my wolf and I have a new understanding—one that doesn’t involve him rampaging at night, out of control. And one where I listen to him, keep him close. As it should be. And right now, he’s telling me to sink my fangs into you and claim you for my own.”
Her lips parted, and he could feel her chest heaving. He pushed one hand back through her hair and pulled her in for a quick kiss, soft and light and full of the tenderness he held in his heart for her.
Then he pulled back and continued, “It wasn’t possible before, but now, I think I could—and I have you to thank for that. You’ve settled my wolf in a way he never was, even before what happened in Afghanistan. I have a faith in him that I didn’t have before, now that I know the truth about what he did. What we did, together. But that doesn’t change how you feel about mating—I understand that.”
She shook her head in small rapid movements. “You should have a mate. It’s not right for you to finally know the truth and not be able to reclaim everything an alpha like you should have.”
He smiled. “I won’t lie. Having a mate would be… incredible. Everything I’ve ever wanted. But it doesn’t matter… all I want is you, Piper. You said before that you would stay—did you mean it?”
She visibly swallowed, and he didn’t want to push her, but he was dying to know—was this just a three-day torrid affair like many she must have had before? He didn’t think so, but he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t just walk away, now that her brother had been found. He needed to hear it straight from her lips, whatever the answer was going to be.
“Well, Seattle is a pretty city,” she said, her voice trembling, “and there’s plenty of counterintelligence work to do here—not least, I’d like to figure out what Krepky is really up to.” She was changing the subject again.
And he wasn’t going to let that happen. “I thought you liked traveling the world.”
“I think, maybe, I’ve had enough of the world for a while.” She touched him again, tracing her fingers from one scar to the next. She seemed to be searching for words, so he waited. “There’s only one person my wolf has ever cried for,” she whispered. “Only one she was ever willing to do anything for… including submit.” She dragged her dark eyes up to meet his.
His heart swelled. “You would?” He held perfectly still, holding his breath, unsure he had even heard her right.
“Only for you.” She bit her lip.
The joy welling up inside him was almost too much to contain. He let his hands slide to her shoulders and pulled her in for another kiss.
“Are you sure?” he gasped, his lips brushing hers. “If you do this, Piper, I promise—I’ll never be anything like your father.”
She smiled, her lips curving against his. “I know.” She pulled back to look him in the eyes. “You’re already a better man than anyone I know. And your wolf… goddammit, Jace, your wolf is fucking hot.”
A bubble of laughter rose and burst out of him. “I’m fairly certain you’re the only person who’s ever thought that.”
She looked askance at him. “I doubt that.” She slid her arms around him and rose up in his lap, pressing her T-shirt clad chest against his bare one. “And if so, then everyone else is a complete idiot.”
He gripped her hard, kissing her, barely believing she was actually doing this. Actually willing to do this. For him. With him.
He had to ask one more time. “Piper Wilding, I’ve never wanted anything so badly in this life as I’ve wanted to claim you as my mate. Please tell me you mean it. Please tell me that you believe me when I say I’ll do everything in my power to love and protect you all the days of my life.”
This time, there was no hesitation, just a smile. “Love is daring to be who you really are with someone. At least, that’s how it should be. How I want it to be. And I want to take that dare with you.”
His wolf growled in his need for her. Jace tipped her back on the bed so that she was lying on top of the blankets and his body was covering hers. “Goddammit, I want you so badly,” he growled into her neck between hungry kisses. He really didn’t need the words—his rock-hard cock was already pressing into her belly, explaining everything for him. What he needed was to remove all her clothing instantaneously.
“I like the sound of that,” she whispered, holding his head and opening her neck more to his fervent tasting. But then she pushed him back and wriggled out from under him. She shifted to her wolf form as she went, rolling off the bed and landing on her paws in one smooth motion. She stood there, with her glistening black fur silver-tipped by the moonlight, eyes bright and shining for him. Then she stretched her paws forward, leaning back with her rump in the air and dipping her head.
The submission pose. She was submitting to him, and it charged his body with magic… and he wasn’t even in wolf form yet, where it would be ten times more powerful. He brought his wolf out, and the magic surged inside him. The aches of the surgery and his wounds quickly faded, erased almost literally by her love.
He jumped down from the bed—his wolf form was so large that his ears had nearly been brushing the ceiling. He stood on all fours before her, tail erect, standing proud, striking the alpha pose that her submission automatically wrenched out of him.
I pledge everything to you, my alpha. Her thoughts made his heart soar, and then the magic of it rushed him—her magic had a wild feel to it, untamed and strong. He didn’t need to ask—he knew she had never submitted to anyone voluntarily before. His wolf had always been strong, filled to the brim with magical power, but her submission supercharged him even further, literally strengthening him. He had submitted many times to his brother Jaxson, the lead alpha of the River pack, so he knew what it felt like on Piper’s end of things—the rush of magic, the surge of power, wasn’t something he drained from her. It was something they shared—each stronger for it. He could see the shine in her eyes grow brighter, her wolf’s mouth dropping open and panting with the heat of it. He was desperate to claim her, right then and there—take her as his mate, claiming her with his bite and his love. But his hottest fantasies about claiming a mate hadn’t taken place in his dingy bedroom. This was the place where his wolf had thrashed and raged so many nights. They needed to go somewhere else. A special place for something as magical as this.
Rise, my love. He sent the thought to her, releasing her from the submission pose with words he never thought he would be able to say.
She leaped up and hurried over to him. His wolf was so large, she h
ad to lift up on her hind legs to rub her muzzle against his. He dipped his massive head down and rubbed his face all over hers, along her body, covering her with his scent. He wanted to touch every part of her, and soon enough, he would do exactly that. Again and again, forever.
Run with me, my love. She yipped in response, and he led her out of his bedroom, charging down the stairs and rushing in a headlong chase through the kitchen that had him nipping at her as she playfully tried to catch him back.
Jace vaguely noticed there were other people in the house, milling around in the kitchen and the great room. They gasped in surprise as he and Piper raced past them, heading out into the night.
The others were unimportant.
The only thing that mattered to him was taking Piper Wilding out to the forest that was his home, making mad love to her, and claiming her forever as his mate.
Chapter Eighteen
Piper raced to keep up with Jace’s wolf.
Her paws pounded the hard-packed dirt outside the back kitchen door, but he was so big and strong and… fast. She could tell he wasn’t even trying to race ahead, he just had to keep slowing down to stay close and loop back to nip playfully at her rump. They raced toward the forest outside the River family compound, and he was gorgeous in the moonlight–his thick, black fur shone with the magic of it. His wolf form radiated power, and as he turned back to her, she caught a glimpse of his giant-wolf-sized cock, hard and ready for her. A shudder ran through her—there was no way that thing could fit inside her, but she wouldn’t mind running her tongue and hands along it. Her mouth watered just thinking about it—she wasn’t joking when she said his wolf was hot. And that was before he had a monster erection. She suddenly got why Jace was so freaking well-endowed in his human form—it was a reflection of his wolf—and she couldn’t wait to have him inside her again.
Not much further, Jace’s thoughts came to her. He pulled ahead a little, leaping over fallen tree trunks that she could barely clear, his stride four times longer than hers. She struggled to keep up, but the power of the submission bond spurred her on.
She had been frankly terrified of submitting to him, but the bond turned out not to be a cage around her mind, the way she’d always envisioned it had trapped her mother. Submitting to Jace had lifted Piper up. Energized and empowered her in a way she never suspected was even possible. Her magic was strengthened, but even more—she felt adored. Protected. Loved. It was a literal feeling that enveloped her body, like a warm blanket wrapped around her tenderly and yet lifting her up. Rather than trapping her, submitting to Jace had set her free.
Now she was even more eager for him to claim her—mating was supposed to be the pinnacle experience of every wolf’s life. The best orgasm. The most intimate bond. The greatest love. All the things she’d heard for years, then cast off as ridiculous lies or simply something she would never have, suddenly became very real and very possible… and very much in the next few minutes. Her body thrummed with the excitement of it, and even in her wolf form, she was already wet for him. She’d never made love as a wolf—and with Jace’s monster cock, it wasn’t even possible—so she hoped they would quickly move on to the human part of the night’s activities.
Piper caught up to Jace in a clearing in the forest. It was a flower-filled meadow of tall grasses, but all the flowers had closed up for the night, nudged into sleep by the moonlight. She met him in the middle of the wide open space and went up on her hind paws to nuzzle his face. She was desperate for him to shift back to human and plant that hot mouth of his on her… but first, there was something she wanted to do.
Hold still, she commanded, then she dropped back down to four paws.
Hey, I’m the alpha here. I’m the one who’s supposed to— He cut off as she dived underneath his massive body and ran her tongue along the length of his monster-wolf cock. Holy fuck—
Then she couldn’t hear his thoughts anymore because she had shifted human. She grabbed his cock with both hands—it was just that damn big—and now her human tongue was running across it. The growl that came from deep inside Jace’s wolf was a rumble that vibrated through his cock and into her fingers. She stroked him and took him into her mouth. She could barely get the head to fit, with her jaws as wide as she could stretch them, but she devoured that tip like it was the most delicious and decadent lollipop she’d ever tasted.
Suddenly, he pulled away from her and shifted human. “Jesus Christ, Piper!” he panted, hands on knees, his erection still tall and bold in the moonlight. It was still enormous in human terms, but not the Mount Everest of Cocks she had in her hands and mouth a moment ago. “Are you trying to drive my wolf insane? Because I just got him under control.” His voice was ragged.
She grinned mischievously and crawled across the grass on hands and knees toward him. They were both naked now, and she had every intention of making the most of that. “I just couldn’t resist the temptation. I told you, your wolf makes me hot.”
When she reached him, she planned on sliding his human cock deep into her throat, the way she hadn’t been able to when he was wolfish and huge, but Jace pulled her up to standing before she could get hold of him.
“How the hell did I manage to land a Wilding?” he breathed. His face was equal parts amazed, horny, and adoring.
It melted Piper’s heart. “You don’t land one, you big, sexy beast. You earn one.”
He pulled her close, crushing her chest to his and sandwiching his cock between them. Her nipples were hardened in the cool breeze of the night, and they pressed into the rigid muscles of his chest. His cock felt like a silky-hard piece of heaven held against her. His hands were running wild over her back, down to her rear end, up to her breasts… like he wanted to touch every inch of her skin. He kissed her briefly but fierce—and it sent a gush of wetness between her legs. She was so ready for him, she prayed he would take her soon. And hard. And again and again. If they spent the whole night in the meadow, she wouldn’t complain.
He was breathing hard. “I don’t know what I did to earn a Wilding, but I’ll tell you this, Piper Wilding: I’m going to make you come so hard you scream my name. Then I’m going to bite my love into you.”
“Yes. Please. Now.”
He smirked, and that look made the muscles low in her belly clench tight. He had better not draw this out. She was too desperate to wait much longer.
“The submission,” he breathed, one hand sneaking up to work her breast while the other found her bottom. “That turned me on so fucking hard.” He slid his hand down between her legs and groaned. “God, Piper, you’re already so wet for me.”
Her hands clawed at his back, and she hiked her leg up over his hip to give him more access. “Stop teasing me, Jace River.” She ground her hips against his. “I need you inside me.”
But instead he moved his hand away from the touch she was craving. “Are you absolutely sure about this?” His breath was still ragged, but his voice had softened. “I can take you, pleasure you, give you more orgasms than you can count… but stop there. We could just make love, now, while the submission bond is at its height. But it will wear off eventually, at the next full moon. It’s not permanent.” His hand threaded into her hair and fisted, pulling her head back and exposing her neck to him. He bent to it, running the tip of his tongue along it, down to the crux where her neck and shoulder met. “This is where I’ll mark you. This is permanent. This is everything I have to give to you, forever bound, forever loving you. But I want you to be absolutely, completely sure.” He released his hold on her hair.
She moved her hands up from his shoulders to his face, holding him hard and staring deep into his eyes. “I am absolutely sure that if you don’t fuck me right now, I might actually die from want. And if you don’t claim me for your own, right here, tonight, sinking your fangs into my flesh and giving me everything you have, I’m going to die of a broken heart.”
His eyes shone, and she didn’t know if it was tears or if her own watery eyes were fooling he
r, but it didn’t matter… because in the next instant, he gripped her bottom with both hands, hoisted her up, and then impaled her with his enormous cock. It went so deep and so hard, she shrieked.
Her head tipped back. “Oh, God, yes!”
He held her tight, standing upright in the meadow with her legs wrapped around him, and kept thrusting up into her with short bursts that shot her through with sparks of pleasure. Her climax was quickly building, and her panting rose with it. She clung to him, moving with him, meeting his every thrust with a downward stroke of her own. He was so big, filling her so completely, she felt like he was possessing her body outright, stretching both her body and soul with the power of his passion. Her orgasm rushed at her, unexpectedly, overtaking her so fast and hard, she screamed his name out into the night.
He groaned and slowed his pace, leaving her body and setting her down on her feet again. His cock glistened in the moonlight, slick with their lovemaking and engorged, even larger than before, if that was possible. She was light-headed, afraid that somehow he was done, but she wasn’t thinking straight.
“Down on your knees.” His voice was hoarse and heavy with need.
She dropped to her knees in front of him, eager to take him into her mouth, but she only got a taste before he fisted her hair, pulled her mouth away, and tilted her head up toward him towering over her.
