Captured And Claimed (Wayward Mates Series Book 8)

by Delta James

  Shannon shook her head. “It doesn’t piss you off that if he decides you’ve done something he doesn’t like, he spanks you?”

  “It annoys the hell out of me, but not for the reason you think. You and I both know I am infamous for my temper. Do you know how freeing it is to know that I can express that or if I go too far, he will rein me in and remind me that I’m better than that without any resulting guilt on my part? Once he’s spanked and fucked me, he’s not angry. There are no recriminations, no hurt feelings, nothing. Everything is set back to neutral. Want to know what annoys me the most?”

  “Other than your ass hurts?”

  Catherine laughed. “It’s not just my ass. When Marco has finished with me in the corner, my girly parts have been well used. But that really isn’t the worst part. The worst part is how aroused I am before he mounts me in the corner and how easily aroused I am once he’s done. Most often we end up in bed where he loves me for hours and often knots and ties me to him, which is the single most exquisite feeling in the world.”

  “DeMoncada showed me one of those. For one thing it looks painful as hell to them.”

  Catherine smiled. “It is. Extremely. The only place it isn’t, is once it’s buried in you and has stopped swelling.”

  “It gets bigger? You saw deMoncada; he wasn’t impressive in that department and the thing didn’t look like it would fit.”

  “Once he’s breached you with his knot, and that is not pleasant, he’ll hold you close and as your pain starts to subside, theirs starts as the knot will swell until it has sealed you to him. Once he has you sealed, they really can’t stroke you, but there’s a rocking motion they use to literally rock your world.”

  “And you let him do this to you whenever he wants?”

  “Did you miss the part where I said rock your world? I’m not just saying that to make conversation. It is the single most erotic experience you will ever have. You have multiple climaxes until they finally just flood you with their semen and that usually produces another orgasm or two. Then you’re tied to them until the knot resolves itself and they can ease out of you.”

  “Tied to them? For how long?”

  The look on her sister’s face was of that of a woman whose mate knew how to bring her an extreme amount of pleasure. “Hours. It’s not just sensual; it’s extremely intimate. It’s incredible and I’m so glad you are an alpha’s fated mate.”

  “Why?”

  “Because only alphas can get them in human form. And I have to tell you the whole seclusion thing came about I think so that alphas could take their time initiating their mates to being knotted and tied.”

  “Yeah, well, that isn’t happening. James and I are only pretending to be in seclusion.”

  “I believe you. I also believe that James won’t try to force anything on you. But he is one gorgeous, seductive wolf. And I know from experience that no can turn to yes where your fated mate is concerned. If it does, I wanted you to know what to expect and I wanted you to be able to embrace everything about it.”

  “I might have sex with him because you’re right, he is awfully sexy, but I will never consent to being spanked.”

  “That they don’t much care if you consent to or not,” her sister laughed.

  Shannon couldn’t help but laugh with her. “Your Marco must be hell on wheels in the sack.”

  “Oh, he is, sister mine; he is.”

  “And you’re going to be all right with some guy doing this to your daughter?”

  “If he’s her fated mate? Yes. Granted Marco and I will go at it if she doesn’t want to be mated, but I’ll lose that argument.”

  “Why?”

  “Because most of the alphas you have met have mates who initially wanted no part of being with them. And ask yourself, have you ever known a group of women who were more in love or were loved more than those who were with us in Canada?”

  Shannon thought for a moment. “No. You’re right. All of you seem blissfully happy and your mates seem to dote on you.”

  “They do. Marco loves me more than anything else in this world and he makes sure I know that each and every day. He is the most amazing father to our daughter and will be to any more that follow. I would so love to see you find someone that you can be as happy with as I am with Marco and our pack. I know you haven’t been here long at all, not nearly as long as I wanted, but I hope you can see that life in a good pack has so much to offer.”

  “I do, Cat. That’s why I have to go. My feelings about James are all over the place and I’m not ready to deal with them. But I know going is the right thing to do. I know that being with him will keep him safer and will allow us to more easily help those other girls. I need to be a part of that. I need to help untangle the last of deMoncada’s web.”

  “For what it’s worth? Marco is convinced that James is a good man and he is an excellent judge of character. And even you know he’s your fated mate.”

  “That is just weird. Part of me gets angry when I can feel him reach out to me, and yet the only reason he’s ever done it was to try and make me feel better.”

  “Be advised, they can also let you know just how pissed they are in the same way.”

  “Says the Madonna of the DeMedici?”

  “Damn straight. Tony is a good man as well. And your Will appears to be an excellent omega. You have the framework for a truly great pack. I think you and James together will accomplish all of your goals... even if you have yet to decide what all of them might entail. Just promise me to be safe and to come see us.”

  “Only if you will come see us as well. Us? I have got to stop doing that. I don’t want to give him the wrong impression.”

  Catherine laughed again. “Don’t kid yourself. He has exactly the right impression. As Marco often reminds me, the best mates are often the most reluctant and naughty ones.”

  “After everything deMoncada did to me, how can I have any interest in this way of life? Why am I not totally repulsed by it?”

  “Do you remember Ava?” Shannon nodded. “She maintains it’s the proverbial fatal flaw in a she-wolf’s DNA—especially where our fated mates are concerned. But all it says to me, and all your James sees, is that deMoncada couldn’t break you. You were strong enough to stand up to that bastard for more than a year. You had no one to support you and were subjected to a barrage of lies and physical abuse. And you survived. You weren’t broken like so many of the girls Riley brought to us over the years. For many, their souls were crushed so badly that they may not ever completely recover. But you emerged from that terrible darkness stronger and better than before. I’ve never been prouder to call you my sister. Don’t look back, Shea. That’s not where you’re going. Embrace your happiness. God knows, you deserve it.”

  Shannon hugged her sister. “I love you, Cat.”

  “I love you too, Shea.”

  “Ladies,” Will said quietly from the doorway, “it’s time. We need to leave.”

  Shannon turned from her sister, but was held back. Catherine withdrew a beautiful stiletto from up her sleeve.

  “This has been in our family since before we came to this place. I want you to take it. Hopefully you won’t have need of it. But, I’d rather you had it and didn’t need it than the other way around. Unless you are with James, keep it on your person and be prepared to use it to protect yourself or those within your care.” Catherine’s voice broke. “I hate that you are leaving.”

  “No tears, Cat.”

  “Only happy ones.”

  They wrapped their arms around each other and descended the stairs into the main foyer. Catherine turned her sister loose and joined her mate by his side.

  James held out his hand to Shannon, who took it and allowed him to draw her close.

  “This is what you want?” he asked softly.

  She nodded.

  “Marco, I owe you and yours a debt I can never repay. Once I have secured Ravenscar, everything within my power will be at your disposal and the Coalition will have ano
ther member.”

  “One we will be glad to have. I am not worried about you or the outcome at Ravenscar. You have a strong, capable beta in my brother and an excellent omega in your friend, Will. And you have my Catherine’s sister as your mate. There is no way you will not be victorious.”

  Tony and Will picked up the luggage and headed out to the SUV that would take them to the private airstrip where a small jet was waiting to take them to Ravenscar. James put his arm around Shannon and drew her close. She reciprocated and he gently kissed the side of her head.

  They walked through the massive front doors of the villa followed closely by Marco and Catherine. As James slid onto the seat next to her and the SUV started for the plane, Shannon looked straight ahead.

  “No second thoughts? No last looks?”

  She shook her head slowly. “No. I’m doing what I need to do... what needs to be done. And as Cat said to me there’s no reason to look back, it’s the opposite direction of where I need to be going.”

  * * *

  The flight from the continent to the small, private airstrip at Ravenscar had been rough. The weather over the Northern Sea had been volatile and nasty. Shannon thought it matched her mood perfectly. She felt very storm tossed.

  On the one hand she found herself inexplicably drawn to James. But she had never envisioned herself as the submissive partner in any relationship. Nor, she reminded herself, had she ever thought she would be a wolf-shifter. Her trip to Italy was just supposed to have been a gift from her grandfather left to her in his will. It had turned both her and Catherine’s lives upside down.

  “Stop it,” she said, not quite managing to pretend annoyance at James. She shot him a look sideways and couldn’t keep from laughing as he grinned at her in mock wide-eyed innocence.

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, trying hard to repress his own sense of humor.

  Tony and Will tried hard to mask their amusement.

  “I suppose you three think this is oh so funny. Look at the little human female. She can’t even figure out what she wants.”

  “Quite the opposite, Shea. I’m not sure how any of us would have fared being turned without our consent. Much less having been held captive and tortured for more than a year. You, my mate, are an inspiration to the rest of us... a reminder of what it is to be wolf and to lead where others fear to walk.”

  There was an awkward silence. All four of them had made note that he had called her his mate.

  “Well,” said Will, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s just all admit that perhaps our dear alpha could occasionally choose to use his considerable charm and intelligence and not rub the girl’s nose in it.”

  “As long as he doesn’t want to hit me with a rolled-up newspaper, we’ll all be fine.”

  “When you earn yourself a spanking, Shea, it will only be given with my hand or my belt on your beautiful backside.”

  “You are not going to spank me.”

  “I like the fact that you’ve accepted you’re going to be with me. That’s certainly a step in the right direction,” he cooed at her with a lilting hint of humor in his voice. “As you’ve already put yourself in the position of getting spanked, I think that negotiation around that particular topic has closed.”

  Shannon shrieked in feigned outrage and tossed a pillow at his head.

  “That too is an improvement,” observed Tony.

  “Her throwing things at me?”

  “Yes. Her sister is fond of very old, very expensive, and very heavy pottery. Pillows are cheap and don’t hurt as much.”

  Before he could say anything else, another pillow was thrown, hitting him in the middle of his face and causing Tony to laugh. “Touché, Mistress. You see? Already you understand your place in our pack. You are subordinate only to our alpha as are we all.”

  The plane finally set down and rolled to a stop. The cessation of movement cast a pall over their easy banter. What they were about to undertake settled upon them.

  The plane’s stairs were lowered and as befitted the heir to the leadership of the pack, James emerged first with his mate between him and his beta and his omega behind him. The door to his father’s limo opened.

  “Well, come along, boy, it’s cold. Let’s see what my money bought you.”

  Shannon went to move forward and was shocked as James grabbed her hair at the base of her scalp and pulled her back behind him.

  “We’ve talked about this, Shea. I lead. You follow... always. Must you earn yourself another spanking our first night home?”

  She could feel rather than hear James’ soothing rumble and feel the gentle wash of his energy settling over her.

  She lowered her eyes and said quietly, “No, my alpha. I’m trying to behave. I just forgot. Please don’t punish me again.”

  James caught his father grinning from ear to ear. He really did hope that his father wouldn’t go quietly and that he would challenge James. While James might be younger and stronger, his father was a crafty bastard and the victor in many such contests against opponents that he should have lost to. But the need to avenge his mother’s death and whatever else his father may have inflicted on those women who had the bad misfortune to fall within his sphere of influence was strong.

  James released her hair and turned to Tony. “You will stand watch over my mate when I cannot be in the room with her. She is not to leave unless she has my permission.” Tony nodded dutifully. “You and Will can alternate shifts.”

  James placed his hand on the small of Shannon’s back and then slid it down until he cupped her rear, patting it lightly as he helped her into the car. The wince she gave was real. She was still feeling the effects of her spanking up at the top of the vineyard. He sat on the seat beside her and rested his hand provocatively and protectively on the inside of her thigh as he leaned into her and kissed her temple.

  “That’s a good girl. Good girls get stroked and pleasured. You like being pleasured, don’t you?” She nodded silently. He turned to his father, “That pig deMoncada may have left most of us to die, but he did a lovely job with her initial training.”

  His father smiled lasciviously. “She is a pretty thing. Are her thighs as soft as they appear?” the old man said, staring at her covered sex.

  “You will never know, old man. She is mine.”

  “Bought and paid for with my money.”

  “Pack money.”

  “Same thing.”

  Shannon thought the aging leader of Ravenscar might actually start drooling. She blushed profusely when he sniffed the air and grinned.

  “She must like your fucking, boy, she grows aroused with your hand just resting there. Would you like him to diddle you, girl, while your new pack leader watches?”

  “James?” Shannon said, only slightly exaggerating her concern. She could feel evil rolling off of his father. If possible, he was worse than deMoncada.

  James stroked further up her thigh but continued to resonate calm reassurance to her. Shannon decided to play the shy but lustful new mate. She had to hide her smile. The shy might not be an act, but his father was right; James placing his hand possessively near the apex of her thighs was incredibly arousing.

  “It will be all right, Shea. If you behave like a good girl, you will only know pleasure at my hands. You liked that last night, didn’t you?”

  She nodded demurely and purred at him, the little turned human smitten with her alpha male wolf. “Very much. Did I please you, my alpha? Master deMoncada said it was important that I please you.”

  He chuckled. Shannon could feel his arousal increasing to match her own.

  “You pleased me very much. You can be a very good mate, can’t you, sweetheart?”

  “Yes, James. I’m trying.”

  He trailed his fingers up the inside of her leg a bit higher. “When we get to the main house, I will have you shown to our room. You go upstairs and get naked and into our bed. You’ve been under a lot of stress. Your belly won’t quic
ken with our child as easily if you are fearful. I’m going to have Tony or Will outside the door at all times when I’m not with you. No one but me will ever touch you again... for pain or pleasure.”

  She nuzzled him. “Yes, my alpha. I long for the day I deliver our first child to you. I am sure I will be able to match my sister and present the heir to Ravenscar with a shifter-born female.”

  “Female or heir, it doesn’t matter. There will be plenty of both. I plan to plow you regularly.”

  Shannon giggled. “Yes, my alpha.”

  The car rolled to stop in front of what was once a stately manor but had obviously been allowed to fall into some disrepair. As they exited the car, Mona, the long-time housekeeper and reputedly the frequent bedmate of his father came forward.

  “Master James,” she said.

  “Mona, this is Shannon, my mate. Take her upstairs to my room and see her safely into my bed.”

  “Should I prepare her in any way for you?”

  Shannon watched as James just barely controlled the grimace and his growing anger.

  “That won’t be necessary, will it, my Shannon? She will be waiting naked and with her thighs parted for my... entrance.”

  The blush she could feel creeping up her face was real. Mona led her away. She was glad of Tony’s calming presence behind her. She felt very much like Alice when she’d fallen through the looking glass.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  James followed his father into his study. This too would soon be his.

  “I take it my money bought you a mate who is a pleasure to breed?”

  “She is. Very enthusiastic and looking forward to having me breach her with my knot.”

  “Why haven’t you knotted her yet?”

  “I wanted to give her a bit of time to settle with me. Even though his training produced desirable results, what deMoncada did to her is not something I will forgive... or forget. She is finding pleasure in our coupling. I figure the more she enjoys it, the easier she’ll be to breed when she comes into heat and her body is ready for me to seed her womb with my heirs and daughters. Perhaps had you provided my mother any pleasure at all, she would have been a better producer.”