Blaze of Glory

by Mandy M. Roth, Rory Michaels

  He sighed. Fighting the pull was pointless. His body knew who she was to him. So did his mind. He was just being bullheaded.

  Steel steeds approached, pulling an iron wagon, and his stomach coiled. Eli glanced back at him, obviously guessing who was in the wagon.

  Three local whores Jonathan used to find release twice a month with. He tensed as he realized Molly would see them. Didn’t matter that she was engaged to another man. He wanted her and only her and this could jeopardize his chances of making that so.

  “I’ll head ’em off,” his cousin said, partially under his breath.

  “Head who off?” Molly questioned.

  Cole glanced at the wagon, peering slightly. A calculated smile slipped over the man’s face. “Is it me, Sheriff, or are those women from the whorehouse in town? I could have sworn they’re the same ones I passed late last night. The same ones who tried to convince me I really did want a fuck, a suck and a shave.”

  Molly’s anger rolled off her in waves. So much so that Jonathan actually had to take a step away from her. His beast was concerned for its safety too. The woman was most certainly a hellcat. He expected her to blow her lid and kick up a fuss. When the look of rage on her face gave way to hurt, his chest tightened.

  “Molls,” he said, reaching for her.

  She jerked away, going straight to the arms of the marshal. Cole held her close, all the while glaring at Jonathan. “You don’t deserve her,” the man mouthed.

  “Yoohoo,” one of the whores yelled from the wagon. “Sheriff, you ready for a good time?”

  Molly touched her lower stomach and paled. “I’m going to be sick,” she said, rushing off.

  Eli turned and punched Jonathan in the face so hard and so fast that it knocked him off his feet. Stunned, he rubbed his jaw as he pushed to his feet. “What in tarnation was that for?”

  Eli’s chest heaved. “He’s right. You don’t deserve her.”

  “How the hell was I supposed to know Molly would be here when they showed up?”

  “You knew she was coming to town,” stated Cole. “You came sweepin’ in knowing you’d not let her marry Gerald. You had to know you’d be bringing her back here.”

  The man was right.

  It made Jonathan dislike him even more.

  Cole grunted and shook his head. “And to think Molly carried a torch for someone like you all these years.” He stormed off in the direction Molly had gone.

  Eli’s look of disgust reminded Jonathan the whores were even closer.

  “Get rid of them for me. Please.”

  His cousin gave a short nod and Jonathan went in search of his woman.

  Chapter Seven

  Molly bent her head, refusing to let Cole see her cry. He stood silently near her as she clutched the jacket tightly around her body.

  “Want me to shoot him?” Cole offered.

  She laughed through her tears. “No, but can I reserve the right to change my mind later?”

  “Of course.” Cole winked. “Offer stands.”

  She wiped her cheeks, sniffling still. “He wanted to know why I’m marrying you.”

  “Guess that means you didn’t tell him the truth then, huh?”

  Fixating on the ground, she shook her head. “I would have but the whore thing was too much. It’s bad enough I thought he was married for the last several years. Coming home to find he’s into keeping company with women like that is almost worse than seeing him happily married to someone.”

  “I can’t say he’s made much in the way of a positive impression on me, Molly, but I’ve spent long enough with you to know it’s him you cry out for in the middle of the night and it’s his scent you wear.”

  She stilled. Jonathan had said something similar. “What do you mean?”

  Cole shuffled his feet, his thumbs hooking in the belt loops of his jeans. “When I first met you, you had a certain something extra in your scent. Something only another shifter would pick up on. Since I’ve got some shifter blood in me, it was noticeable to me. I thought it might have come from the rape. I didn’t want to believe any man who could do that to you could be your mate but you were so adamant that Jonathan wasn’t a shifter that I couldn’t help but assume it was Gerald.”

  She shivered at the idea of ever wearing Gerald’s scent.

  “But meetin’ Jonathan in the flesh, I can say with all certainty that it’s his scent you wear. He started the claiming process on you already, Molly. A shifter male doesn’t do that with just anyone and they sure the fuck don’t do it if they don’t want to be with that woman for life.”

  Molly tried to wrap her mind around what her longtime friend was saying. “No. Jon must have accidently done that when he was saving my life. He doesn’t want to spend his life with me.”

  “Right, so he just keeps looking at me like he’s wantin’ to rip my head clean off because he’s bored. Got it. Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact I’m the man you’ve been with for almost eight years now.”

  The way he said it made it sound as if they were an item. She let out a long, slow breath. “I need to head to town and straighten this mess out with my father and Lynnette.”

  “Lynn’s staying at Parker’s place. I’m less than thrilled by that but it is what it is. That doctor doesn’t much seem to want to let her out of his sights. For now, she’s safe and sound. And your father deserves whatever happens to him.”

  “Cole.”

  “Molly,” he mimicked. “The guy is trying to marry you off to a man who raped you.”

  “It’s within in his rights,” she said, hating the truth of the law.

  Cole lifted a brow. “No. It’s not. See, when the good Sheriff started the claiming ritual with you, he took the place of decision-maker in your life, Molly. At least according to pack law. You and I both know pack law overrules human law in cases of mating and pack hierarchy.”

  She thought about what he was telling her. “Wait? Jonathan decides who I can and can’t marry now?”

  “No,” Cole said with a grin. “Jonathan is, for lack of a better word, your fiancé for life, regardless if you want him or not. You’re promised to him in the eyes of the pack. And, Molly, yesterday when you shared your power with him, you acknowledged his claim on you.”

  “Meaning?”

  “You’re his and I think you know that.” Cole came to her, pulling her against his frame. He kissed her temple. “If you’re not ready for him and all he’ll bring into your life, say the word and I’ll whisk you away from here. He can go on thinkin’ you want to be with me and you can go on hiding from the world.”

  “I’m not hiding,” she snapped, already knowing it was a lie.

  “Right.” Cole cupped her face. “How many men have you let touch you like this in your life, Molly?”

  She opened her mouth to speak.

  “Since Gerald did what he did to you, how many men have you let this close to you?”

  She trembled. “You and Jonathan.”

  He trailed his hands lower, going for her breasts. She let him. “And this? How many have you let do this? Just us?”

  She nodded.

  When Cole made a move to slip his hand between the jacket and her legs, she caught his wrist. He kissed her forehead. “And how many men have you let touch you here?”

  Tensing, she exhaled slowly. “J-Just you and Jonathan.”

  Cole seemed surprised by the news she’d allowed Jonathan that many liberties with her.

  “It happened this morning.”

  “Are you all right?” Concern coated his words. “Physically and mentally?”

  “Yes, Jonathan would never hurt me.”

  “Molly, aside from me, the last man who touched you intimately did so without your permission. I think it’s safe for me to ask if you’re mentally all right with having Jonathan doing it.”

  She pulled free of Cole’s embrace. “Jonathan’s touch is nothing like that monster’s. Nothing at all!”

  “Never said it wa
s,” added Cole. “But it’s good to hear as much from you. I’d have shot the prick for sure otherwise. Still might. Though, him thinking you and I are a couple might be punishment enough.”

  She eased her arms around his waist, her cheek going to his chest. While in the past they had been intimate, it had more or less been to use one another for sex. The love she felt for him stemmed from their friendship. At some point along the line, Cole had become like family to her. As had Lynnette.

  Cole lifted her long, soaked hair and twisted it, wringing some of the water from it. “Molly, tell me you were really ready to come back here and face your father, Gerald and most importantly Jonathan.”

  She nearly said yes without thinking but stopped. “I’ve spent a long time becoming someone who can stand up for myself. I’m ready to face my father and that monster Gerald.”

  “And Jonathan?”

  “I thought I was, I really did.” She choked up. “When he was laying there on that were-coyote, all I could think was if he died, I wanted to die too. Look at me with him. I’m so green with jealousy that I nearly lost what little bit is still in my stomach at the idea of him beddin’ down with whores.”

  “I’ve been there,” Cole confessed. “You know I have. When you met me, I was a mess. You helped to turn that around. Speakin’ from experience here, sometimes a man has to be a man regardless and it’s easier to do what needs to be done with someone you have no attachment to than it is to lie with someone who can twist your heart all up.”

  Was he defending Jonathan’s actions? Cole had never been a saint. In fact, he’d had a thing for loose women, liquor and gambling when she’d first crossed paths with him. Under all of that bravado lurked a good man. A man with a past he didn’t care much to talk about but with a future that looked better with each passing day. His judgment was one she trusted fully.

  He tilted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Molly, he didn’t go and get hitched while you were gone. That’s sayin’ a lot. If I’m right, and I think I am, he waited for you as best he could. He’s still a man—more than a man, really. He has needs. They weren’t being met by you.” He stopped her protest with a well-timed finger to her lips. “You weren’t ready to be that for him. You needed time to heal in more ways than one. All I know is he means something to you. A whole lot of something. It was hard for me to come to terms with that and, frankly, I don’t see what it is about the man that attracts ya to him but I gotta think nature had a hand in it too.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. A tiny gust of wind made its way up the back of the jacket, moving over her exposed backside. She groaned, embarrassed. “Ohmyword, I stood naked in front of the man and his cousin without a care in the world.”

  “Should you feel the need to do so now, know I won’t be objecting any.”

  Laughing, she hugged Cole and planted a kiss on his cheek.

  Chapter Eight

  Jonathan observed from the sidelines, clenching his fists as Molly kissed the marshal. It was hard to keep his beast in check but he did. For Molly.

  He’d overheard her talking with Cole. Heard that while they had clearly been an item at some point in their past together, they no longer were. He let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. A part of him was madder than the dickens that she’d given herself to any man other than him. The rest of him understood that she did indeed need time to heal. Now she was back and it was high time she became a MacSweeny.

  He worried his jaw with his hand, wanting to go to her and give her the comfort she needed. Cole looked over the top of her head, his gaze meeting Jonathan’s. He gave a slight nod, kissed Molly’s head and then stepped away, giving her a tiny tap on the bottom. “I’ll go talk with Eli about the escapee and the price on your head. You take some time and think.”

  He walked toward Jonathan. That was brave, considering just how much Jonathan wanted to pummel the man. Cole leaned in, seemingly unafraid. “Go to her. Make her understand how important she is to you. And if you don’t complete the act by night’s fall, I’ll see to it she’s my wife.”

  Jonathan snarled, his hand finding Cole’s throat.

  Cole merely grinned. The man was insane. “I’m not letting that bastard Gerald have her. Either you man up and finish what you started or get the hell out of the way and let someone else do it.” He brushed Jonathan’s hand away and whistled as he walked in the other direction.

  The goddamn prick was right and Jonathan well knew it. He stepped out from behind the row of brush and strolled to Molly. Each step made him lose an inner struggle with the beast within him. Sweat trickled down his temples and his heart raced. He tried to pivot and walk away. It didn’t work. This wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to go to her and comfort her. Not claim her outright, like the beast fully intended on doing.

  Molly turned and faced him, her eyes rimmed with red. The vision of her upset struck him in the gut and his beast reacted fiercely. It wanted to kill something to let out the aggression of seeing its mate upset. So did the man.

  Whatever Molly saw when she looked at him had her rushing up to him. She took his hands in hers and pulled them up to her tender cheek. “No fighting with Cole. Please.”

  Unable to help himself, Jonathan extended his hand and grasped her at the back of her neck. He pulled her forward with one hand and thrust open the front of her jacket with the other. His breathing was off the charts. Her scent nearly demanded he continue. With a harsh voice, he managed to speak, “If you’re not willing to accept me, call your Cole to you now, Molls. He’ll have to put me down because I don’t think I can stop myself.”

  Fire lit in her eyes. She went to her tiptoes, her lips greeting his. The kiss was explosive. He ate at her mouth, savoring the taste of her. She was everything good in the world wrapped up in one. The decent thing to do would have been to pick her up and take her back to a proper bed. Too bad Jonathan wasn’t feeling very decent.

  Apparently, neither was Molly.

  Her hand darted to the top of his jeans. She undid them, exposing his cock. Taking it in her hand as best she could, she began to stroke him.

  Jonathan yanked on her hair, forcing her head back, increasing his kiss. He used his other hand to skim down her chest and palm her breasts, taking time with each. His cock throbbed. When he pinched her erect nipple, Molly moaned in a way that nearly had Jonathan coming where he stood.

  She pumped his cock and he slipped his hand down more, going for her pussy. Gods, the woman was tight. Her cunt wrapped around his fingers and her cream coated them. Using his thumb, he rubbed her swollen clit. If there was anything Jonathan knew, it was how to please a woman, and his Molly would be well and thoroughly pleased by the time he was done with her.

  You’ll never be done with her, MacSweeny.

  It was true. He wouldn’t.

  “Make me come, Jon,” she whimpered, her lips still pressed to his. “Please.”

  “With pleasure, darlin’.” He rubbed her clit more, striking the perfect rhythm that she required. Her pussy fluttered around his fingers as she sank against him, a cry tearing free from her in the process. He knew she was coming.

  Pride welled in him for satisfying her but he wasn’t done. Far from it. He wanted so much more. He wanted all of her. He tweaked her clit more and her pussy continued to close around his fingers as he prolonged her orgasm.

  Panting, she dropped her head against his shoulder. “Jon, please.”

  He withdrew his fingers from her and used her cream to coat his cock. He lubed it thoroughly and then grabbed hold of her waist, lifting her. Molly wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “Good girl,” he coaxed. “Now.” He reached between them and took hold of his shaft, guiding it to her soaked entrance. “Take me a lil’ at a time, sweetheart, or I could end up hurtin’ you. I don’t want that, Molls. I want this to be…”

  She rammed herself down on him, impaling herself on his cock. She screamed and he drank it away with a kiss, holding her to him as she clawed
at his upper arms and back. It took her a spell but when she could, she began to move on him, slow at first. Jonathan let her keep the pace to start with. When he was secure that he’d not harmed her, he took hold of her hips and controlled her actions, lifting her up and down on his long, thick cock.

  She felt divine. Like a velvet glove that was made just for him.

  His balls drew up and Jonathan tried to stave off his pending orgasm, wanting to prolong the pleasure but Molly felt too good. Her cunt grasped at him, drawing him back in as it clenched on him. She came again and he lost control then, slamming into her, going balls-deep. He exploded, doing something he’d never in his life done before—spending his seed in a woman.

  He held her hips, keeping her in place as his cock continued to twitch as seed erupted from him. Slanting his mouth over hers, Jonathan shook. Never had anything felt as amazing as this—as being in Molly.

  She returned his kiss and then some, smiling against his mouth. She put the tip of her nose to his. “I missed you, Jonathan MacSweeny.”

  He grinned, still buried deep in her. “I missed you too, Molly MacSweeny.”

  She paused and he knew what had transpired between them was sinking in on her. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “Ohmygods, this means we’re—”

  “Fully mated,” Jonathan finished with a wide grin. “Yep. You’re mine totally and completely now, Molls.”

  Defiance lit in her eyes. “I belong to no man.” She attempted to wiggle and get down.

  Jonathan held her in place, his cock twitching, wanting more. “Correction. You belong to me, woman, and you would do well not to forget that. See, I find myself likin’ the law more and more when it applies in my favor.”

  Much to his surprise, Molly not only managed to push off him but she delivered a rather wicked punch to his jaw in the process. She stamped her foot, looking almost childlike. “Why you… you… grrhh!”

  He rubbed his jaw and stared down the length of her. She was a sight to be seen. The most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Even fired up she was gorgeous. He grinned. “The word you’re lookin’ for is husband, dear.”