“Soon.”
That answer would have to do, he thought, grabbing a beer from the fridge. It popped open with a hiss, cool air rolling out the top. He inhaled, savoring the crisp scent. “Good enough. Keep her safe.”
“Always.”
As he hung up, the slightest sound from upstairs made him pause. His house was always open to packmates but no one should be here and definitely not upstairs. He’d been in various meetings all day, dealing with one crisis after another when all he’d wanted to do was hunt Ember down and tell her that time was up. It was time for her to make a decision. A week and a few days was more than enough time for her to figure out what she wanted with him.
After setting his beer on the counter, he slipped off his shoes and hurried up the stairs, going into full predator mode. He froze outside the door when he scented Ember. Her scent was wild and reminded him of blackcurrant. But there was something that underlined it, something that was all her.
When his mate died in childbirth he’d been devastated, blindsided. He’d never thought he’d want to mate again but Ember had knocked him on his ass. Outspoken, smart and beautiful, he remembered the first time she’d told him to pull the stick out of his ass when he’d overreacted to something a packmate had done.
He’d never reprimanded her because she’d been right, and he just hadn’t wanted to cause her any embarrassment in front of other packmates. His wolf had known she wasn’t challenging him for dominance and had been very, very interested in getting to know her on the most basic level, so even his animal side had been in agreement in letting the comment slide.
She’d seemed just as surprised as everyone when he’d laughed off her smart ass remark. That was when he’d realized she’d been pushing him intentionally. From that point on their relationship had been defined by her pushing and him letting her.
Until now.
He was taking everything and not letting go.
“If you don’t get your ass in here, I’m starting without you,” her voice called through the door, immediately loosening the tension in his chest he hadn’t realized he’d been holding onto.
When he opened the door and found her splayed out on his bed, completely naked, all coherent thought fled his mind. He was about to claim his woman.
Chapter Seven
“Is this one of Grant’s places?” Alyssa asked as a hostess led them to a seat by the window overlooking the Gulf.
Reece snorted. “No. I wanted tonight to be just about us without extra ears.”
She laughed under her breath as he held out the chair for her. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Shifters and other supernatural beings had extra sensitive hearing and sight among other abilities, so eating at a shifter-run restaurant increased the chances of being overheard.
When he sat across from her and pinned her with that dark stare, she resisted the urge to squirm. Everything about him was captivating, right down to the way he kept his hair cropped so close to his head. It just made him look even edgier. She wondered what he’d look like as a wolf. Hair color didn’t always dictate what color your fur would be, though it did in her case.
“What are you thinking?” he murmured, not bothering to glance at the menu yet.
“Just wondering what you look like in wolf form.” She didn’t have to glance around to know that no one could hear them. By an expansive window, the place was mostly empty and there wasn’t anyone behind them on either side. She guessed it was because it was mid-week and not tourist season.
He looked surprised by her statement. “You’ll just have to go running with me to find out.”
Before she could respond a server arrived and took their drink order.
“I’d like to go running with you,” she said when they were alone again. Running with a non-pack wolf was a big deal. It implied a certain amount of trust.
“Me too.” His gaze went molten now and she didn’t have to ask him what he was thinking.
She cleared her throat and picked up her menu. More than anything she wanted to skip dinner and just head back to where he was staying. She’d waited long enough to have sex and was glad Reece would be her first. Hopefully her last. A couple months ago she would have thought it was crazy to even contemplate settling down but being around Reece had changed everything. “My wolf feels so calm around you,” she said quietly, just blurting it out.
To her relief, he nodded. “Mine does too. For the most part.”
“Well, yeah.” She hid a smile, knowing what he meant. Her animal side didn’t understand why they were waiting to get naked together, but Reece made her feel safe. She knew at her most primal level that he’d never hurt her. “Is that normal?” She didn’t say “for mates” because they hadn’t used that word since he’d arrived in Orange Beach, but those two words were implied.
“I think so. My uncle never talked much about his mate and I don’t know that many mated shifters.”
“Your pack’s pretty young, comparatively speaking.” Most of his packmates were all under forty and unmated, whereas the Kincaid pack and her own pack had plenty of shifters over a hundred. And most of them were coupled up.
He nodded once. “Once my uncle died, the older members dispersed. They didn’t like the thought of me taking over instead of his son. Though none of them were willing to challenge me over it. They wanted an older leader.” Reece lifted a shoulder and she could tell he truly wasn’t bothered by it.
“Why didn’t your cousin become alpha?”
“He didn’t want to. I…honestly don’t know who would have won in a challenge. He’s strong and smart, but he simply didn’t want the responsibility of a pack.”
That was a big admission for an alpha to make. It meant his cousin was as powerful as him physically. “Do you guys still talk?”
A small smile touched his lips. “Damn near every week. He’s busy trotting around the globe doing God knows what right now.”
“What about you and your uncle? Were you guys close?” He’d never said much about his relationship with the deceased alpha.
“As much as we could be. He was a hard male. Fair, but old school. My father and he had a falling out before I was born.” Reece paused as their server returned with their drinks; wine for her and a beer for him.
After the man took their order and they were alone again she looked back at Reece. “Keep going. Please.” She wanted to know everything about this male.
Taking her by surprise, he reached across the white linen cloth tabletop and took her hand, linking his fingers through hers. The skin to skin contact sent a shiver through her, especially since she knew how talented he was with those fingers. “After my parents were killed he took me in, no questions asked. And he never made me feel like he was doing me a favor or that he cared for me less because of my father. To him, blood and family were important and he took that seriously. Some days I don’t think he knew what to do with me. I was very…strong willed.”
She snickered. “Most alphas are.”
His lips curved up as he nodded. “Yeah. My father wasn’t an alpha though so I think it took him by surprise. When he figured out I had the makings of one, he started teaching me to fight, to take care of myself right away. I miss him. What about you? Was it hard growing up as a pack princess?”
She rolled her eyes at the term. “I never felt unloved. Sometimes I think my dad tried to overcompensate since it was just him raising me.” Well, him and the pack. They all took care of each other. It was the shifter way. “He was just very protective sometimes.” That being an understatement.
“Good,” Reece grunted.
She lifted her eyebrows. “Good?”
He just nodded.
“So…if we decide to maybe…” She felt weird saying the word mate.
“Mate?” Apparently he had no such issue. His eyes went pure wolf as he watched her.
She cleared her throat. “Yes. If we do, are you going to send bodyguards with me if I want to go shopping?”
“
No. I’ll just go with you myself.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“I know. And… I don’t know. If there’s a threat to the pack, yeah, I’ll probably go into crazy lockdown mode and give you…uh, ask you, if you want bodyguards.”
“Ask me, huh?”
“Yes.”
She’d noticed that while he was alpha, he didn’t order her around. Even when he’d been annoyed that she’d been dancing with other males, he didn’t get all macho and crazy about it like she knew some alphas could. Which brought up another question. “I heard from Max that you came to the Crescent Moon bar the other night. The night before you came to see me at Charlie’s.”
His fingers tightened slightly against hers. “I did.”
“Why didn’t you approach me then?”
He paused, clearly measuring his words. “I didn’t want to ambush you. I’d just found out what you’d overheard and you looked like you were having fun. I didn’t want to give you another reason to hate me.”
Their server approached the table with two plates of steaming food, interrupting their conversation. Though she hated to, she withdrew her hand from his. Immediately her entire body mourned the loss of their connection. Soon enough, she planned to feel what it was like to have his skin on hers though.
“Full disclosure though,” he continued. “I waited outside the bar and watched you head back to the condo with Charlie. If you’d left with a male, I don’t know that I’d have shown any restraint… I know I wouldn’t have.” A single pulse of energy rolled off him then, the power he contained undeniable.
She shivered at the dominant note in his voice, liked that he was possessive of her. Because she returned the sentiment. Shifters didn’t share when it came to their mate.
Chapter Eight
“This is a nice place,” Alyssa said, energy humming through her as she glanced around the living room of the guest condo Reece was staying at. She was barely seeing anything though. The furniture pieces were just shapes as she stared at Reece in the reflection of the sliding glass door. He’d asked her back to his place after dinner and she’d said yes.
There’d been no pretense that she was coming over for anything other than sex, but now that they were here, she was feeling nervous. Not because she wanted to walk away, but because…sex. Reece was one of the most powerful males she’d ever met and she knew he had experience. Likely more than she wanted to think about. She was worried she’d be a disappointment.
“You don’t want to talk about the condo,” he murmured, moving in behind her. Her back collided with his chest, the heat he emanated all-encompassing as his big hands settled on her hips.
“No, I don’t.” Taking a deep breath, she decided to just tell him the truth. “I’m a virgin.”
He froze, that big body going impossibly still, but he didn’t pull away. His fingers tightened on her hips. “Do you want to stop?”
“No way.” She turned in his arms and linked her fingers behind his neck. She didn’t want to stop or talk about anything. She just wanted to feel.
His mouth was on hers before she could blink. Moaning, she arched into him, feeling as if she could crawl out of her skin as his tongue teased against hers. The worry was still there, pulsing through her, but when he kissed her like this it was hard to focus on anything but the moment.
He growled in a purely possessive way she’d only ever heard mated males make. The sound sent spirals of pleasure to all her nerve endings, knowing it was for her, that she brought out this side of him.
Before she could lose her nerve, she reached down and tugged on the tie to her wraparound sweater. Her friend had been right. Easy access was the way to go. When it loosened, Reece pulled back a fraction, looked down.
His gaze was pure wolf as it tracked down to her now gaping top. The cheery red sweater was open, revealing just the hint of a lacy black bra with a red bow in the middle and the curves of her breasts. He’d seen them before but it didn’t matter. He let out a groan. “Everything about you makes me crazy,” he murmured, pushing the sweater off her shoulders so that it fell to the floor.
She was barely aware of anything as he bent his head to her covered breasts. She clutched onto his shoulders and it was as if he read her mind. He hoisted her up, letting her wrap her legs around him. He immediately began walking, heading…somewhere. She didn’t care where as long as it had a flat surface.
Reece stumbled into the first door along the hallway even as he sucked on one of her covered nipples. The sensation of his warm mouth and wicked tongue through the lacy material made her moan.
Her head fell back right as she found herself flat on her back on cool sheets. Reece pulled away, making her reach for him. But he was fast, stripping off her boots, jeans and everything else until she was naked on his bed.
She didn’t have time to feel self-conscious. Light from the nearly full moon streamed in the wide open windows, illuminating the room clearly. He was poised at the edge of the bed, his chest rising and falling as he looked down at her. He was, unfortunately, still dressed, but the hunger on his face was enough to make her burst into flames.
“Your clothes, off too.” She could barely get the words out let alone form a coherent sentence.
She wanted that skin to skin contact, had been fantasizing about it since practically the moment they’d met.
Without a word, he started a slow strip, unbuttoning his long-sleeved shirt with a deliberateness that drove her insane.
She propped up on her elbows, watching him intently. When she shifted against the sheets, her breasts pushed up farther, not escaping his heated gaze. His fingers paused once on a middle button, then he finished. She sucked in a breath as he let his shirt fall. Everything about him was pure, raw, masculine power.
Her gaze tracked over the cut lines and striations of his muscles, his eight pack. Shoving up from her position, she went up on her knees and reached for him. She grabbed his waist and before she could tug him to her, he was on her, his huge body covering hers on the bed.
She savored the feel of her hard nipples brushing against his chest as she arched into him. This was what she’d been craving. When she shuddered, groaning into his mouth, he pulled away.
“I want to taste all of you,” he murmured, feathering kisses along her jaw.
She ran her fingers over his skull, through his short dark hair as he carved a path down to her neck, then breasts. When he sucked on a nipple, hard, she cried out in pleasure.
“I scent you and I get hard,” he continued, cupping her other breast, teasing and rolling her nipple.
She wasn’t sure how he could talk right now, but his words had the intended effect on her. Another wave of heat built between her legs. Unfortunately he still had his pants on, but they would remedy that soon enough.
“I wanted to throw you over my shoulder and take you back to my place the moment we met, your scent was that sexy.” He looked up the length of her body then, his mouth hovering right over her navel.
Words and emotions caught in her throat. That was the hottest thing anyone had ever said to her. Because he was speaking the truth. She’d fallen for this male so hard. He’d come down to Orange Beach for her and she knew he wanted her, liked her, but he hadn’t said anything else about mating. She wondered…no, she wasn’t going to worry about that right now.
“I never truly understood the mating call or how primal our ancestors were until that moment.” His wolf flashed in his eyes, wild and heated. “For the record, I wouldn’t have cared if you hadn’t been a virgin, but…I like knowing I’ll be your first. Your last,” he growled possessively before he bent his head and kissed a path straight to the juncture between her thighs.
Still reeling from his words, she cried out the moment his tongue flicked over her clit. She’d stroked herself to orgasm before, and so had he, but this was a new sensation. It was better—the understatement of the century. He growled as she moaned out his name, the vibration of it making her roll her hi
ps against his face.
“Reece,” she groaned as his wicked tongue teased and flicked over her sensitive bundle of nerves. It was too much and not enough. She needed…more. She felt almost empty, aching.
As if reading her mind, he slid a finger inside her slick folds, gently stroking her as his tongue continued that beautiful torture she couldn’t get enough of.
When he slid another finger inside her, she clawed at the bed. “Reece.” His name was apparently all she could manage to say.
Oh so slowly, he began moving his fingers inside her, in and out, with a perfect rhythm. Her inner walls clenched around him tighter and tighter. The faster he started to move, the harder it was for her to catch her breath.
She arched against the bed, the pleasure almost too much. When he sucked on her clit, she lost any semblance of control. Her orgasm punched through her without warning. All her muscles pulled taut as the climax spiraled out of control. It seemed to go on forever, the seemingly never ending wave of pleasure hitting all her nerve endings until she collapsed back against the sheets, her breathing harsh.
Reece made that sexy growling sound she felt all the way to her toes but she couldn’t force her eyes to open. Not yet. She just needed to adjust to the pleasure. She couldn’t believe she’d ever been worried about having a male—Reece—do that to her. Holy hell, talk about a rush.
Her eyes flew open when she felt Reece’s mouth skim over hers. She tasted herself on him, the knowledge of that making her face heat up despite herself. That was when she realized he’d shucked the rest of his clothes.
His erection was thick and long against her stomach as he covered her body with his. Moving on instinct, she reached between them and grasped his hard length. He moaned into her mouth as she stroked him, once, twice, three times.
“You’re going to kill me,” he murmured, before pulling his hips away from hers just long enough to position himself at her entrance.
To Catch His Mate (Crescent Moon Series Book 5) Page 6
