Wolf's Temptation (Caedmon Wolves Book 7)

by Kirk, Ambrielle

  “How about I come with you?” he asked.

  I smiled. “I think I need some recovery after last night.”

  He chuckled against my shoulder. “You are irresistible.”

  “Am I now?” I pushed my ass back into his groin. “Maybe you’re just a little anxious.”

  “I’m a whole lot anxious to claim you completely.”

  I leaned against the tiles and pressed my swollen sex back against his entire length, including his balls. I ground into him until my clit was pulsing with readiness. The water and my aroused slickness made it easy for me to turn a semi-erect cock into a super hard one. He cupped my breasts and stroked my nipples tenderly. An orgasm threatened to explode from me, but what I’d discovered with Dawson last night was that the build up was just as sweet as the actual climax itself.

  He groaned, gripped me by the hips, and tilted me forward until I was bent over almost ninety degrees. I glanced behind me, only to see his cock standing firm between us, water cascading down his shoulders and over him. He stroked himself with one hand and kneaded my ass with the other. I almost creamed at the sight of it.

  I positioned my pussy onto his cock head and pushed back, taking his thick, meaty cock inside of me. When he was only halfway inside, he decided to take control. He leaned forward, braced a hand on the wall, held my waist firmly, and slammed into me to the hilt.

  “Ungh!” I screamed in surprise and came undone. There was no holding anything in, he’d orchestrated and forced my climax right out of me.

  He drove into me over and over again while I gripped at the slippery tiles and tried to hold myself steady. My feet even came up off of the floor with the force of each and every one of his thrusts.

  He came just as fast and forcefully as he had entered me. I milked him dry, taking all I could, hoping that this union would not be our last.

  Not only did Dawson look like a sex god. He fucked like one, too.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alessia

  “Alessia?” Dad exclaimed as I sauntered into the house through the kitchen. “I was worried about you.”

  He rushed toward me in panic.

  “I’m okay, Dad. I met up with a friend of mine and spent the night over at his house,” I said, dropping my bags on the counter.

  “Oh?” Dad frowned. “Oh…”

  “I should have called, but time got away from me,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t do that to me, Alessia. If you’re going to be late, please just call or text. I almost had a heart attack!”

  It looked like he was wearing the same suit as he had been the morning before. His hair was a mess, and he had bags under both eyes. He’d been up all night.

  I felt guilty for not calling. We had an agreement to always call if we were going to be late coming home. “You’re right, Dad. I won’t do it again.”

  “I called you twice last night,” he said. “Did you get my messages?”

  “My phone’s battery died. I charged it up in my car on the way here, but I didn’t think to check messages from last night.”

  “You’re okay, right?”

  “Yeah. I told you, I just met a guy and—”

  “You just met a guy?” My dad looked confused. “You just met a guy! Did you sleep with a guy you just met?”

  “Oh, my God, Dad. Really?” I grabbed my bag and tried to exit the kitchen.

  He caught my arm when I passed him. “Wait a minute, Alessia. That’s not right. Let’s talk about this.”

  “Dad, this is a really embarrassing conversation.”

  “What’s embarrassing about it, huh? We all have sex. But here’s the thing, we have to have safe sex. I hope you’re still on birth control,” he rambled.

  “I am,” I said, hoping to settle this conversation and move on to another one.

  “Good. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Do you still have that supply of condoms I gave you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Dad.” I hadn’t had sex in over a year before Dawson. I couldn’t even remember where the stash of condoms was. What did he think? That I was a loose cannon?

  “Jesus, Alessia. You’re scaring the shit out of me,” he breathed, pacing the kitchen floor.

  I could tell he was telling the truth. I could literally hear his heart beating wildly in his chest. The veins on one side of his neck even pulsed uncontrollably. Bits of fear and panic passed from him to me. I was going to ask what scared the shit out of him more: me sleeping with a guy I just met, or not coming home one night, but then I decided against it. Instead, I watched as he cooled down. Most of the fear and panic subsided, but not all of it. Some of it even lingered in the air around us.

  His eyes fixed on me again, and a knowing expression marked his face. He knew I was reading him and his emotions. He didn’t look surprised by it either.

  “Your twenty-fifth birthday is less than four days away,” he said out of the blue.

  “Right.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “Listen, I haven’t been looking around as much as I should for my own place. I had other things on my mind. Lots of things came up over the past few days.”

  “That’s totally fine, but that’s not what I was concerned about. You can stay here forever if you want. As you can tell, I’m a little too frazzled to think and talk clearly right now. Let me think it all through today. Why don’t we have dinner tonight?”

  I didn’t have any plans yet, but I was already longing to see Dawson again, even after being away from him for less than an hour.

  “Let’s do it, then. What about at 7 P.M.? Does that work?”

  I figured I should go ahead and mark the time before something else came up. Talking to Dad about my feelings and what I planned to do was important. He was all I had. When everyone else was against me…he was all I had.

  He smiled. “Perfect! Don’t worry about cooking. I’ll do the honors.”

  “I gotta go get dressed for work,” I said, backing out of the kitchen. “I’ll see you tonight at seven.”

  I felt his stare on my back as I disappeared around the corner, and I wondered what he was thinking. Would he ask about Dawson tonight? Should I remind him that I could see wolf spirits and tell him that Dawson was a shifter? I had no doubt that Dad would keep Dawson’s secret, but would he welcome our relationship?

  I hurried up the stairs. Once inside my bedroom, I closed the door and threw myself on my bed. I was relieved, exhausted, panicked, and satisfied at the same time. Couldn’t I just experience one emotion at a time?

  After straightening out my emotions as best I could, I got up and made my way to the closet. On the way, I caught a glimpse of the stack of mail I’d brought from the mailbox at my gallery on Tuesday. I’d been so busy and absentminded about everything else but Dawson and my interim situation that I’d forgotten to open the letters.

  One of the letters was a credit card bill and statement. The other envelope was letter-sized with a return address from Sweden. I recognized the address as the home of a long-term client that I had been painting for going on three years now. It was likely a picture of the latest thing or person that he wanted me to paint using my signature style. The third envelope was black and had no return address. Not even a stamp. In fact, there was only a set of initials on the front.

  A.O.

  Who the heck was A.O.?

  My fingers trembled as I fumbled with the red rubber seal, which was the only thing holding the envelope closed. I pulled out a folded strip of notebook paper.

  “Hello, Ms. Alessia Osborne. We’ve been waiting for you,” it read.

  I dropped the envelope and letter and clutched my chest over my heart. I shook my head.

  “No.”

  Osborne was not my last name.

  I swallowed down a lump of apprehension and bent to pick up the folded strip of paper again.

  “1906 Edgewood Trl. The house is gone. The yellowwood tree remains. We won’t tell you who you are. We’ll show you. Come alone. Bring no one. They�
��ll never understand us.”

  My heart thudded in my chest. My breathing was labored and my blood raged through my veins. The paper trembled in my hand and then suddenly flew out of it.

  Any objects that weren’t held down by a weight stronger than mine rose from their surface. The curtains whipped against the walls. The alarm clock, my jewels, even some chairs rose in mid-air and rattled. I dared not look around me any further. I had done this.

  I closed my eyes and took several short breaths to calm my nerves. My things tumbled to the floor. When I opened my lids again, things were back to normal.

  Normal? Maybe not.

  The letter was still on the floor and I could still see the initials, A.O.

  Describing this situation as normal was a grave exaggeration.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alessia

  As soon as I pulled out of the parking lot after work that day, my cell phone rang. It was Dawson. My heart jumped a beat in anticipation of hearing his voice.

  I connected the call and directed it to come through the car speakers.

  “Hi, Dawson.”

  “Alessia.”

  I sensed his smile across the line and my lips broke out into a grin. “How was your day?”

  “Great, actually. I got all my work done in record time and took off a little early. It’s amazing what a little motivation will do. I want to see you. I’m headed your way actually. Want to go out for burgers or something?” he asked.

  Or something. Even though he was being suave about it, I knew exactly what the “or something” entailed. A spark of desire and zeal consumed me.

  “I would love to, Dawson, but something came up and I left work early. I’m not even at my gallery right now. I’m also having dinner with Dad tonight.”

  “Oh.” There was a long uncomfortable silence. “Maybe we can meet up a little later after dinner?”

  Images of me gripping the mysterious note in my hands came back to me. It had been all I could think about all day. I had a migraine that just wouldn’t let up. Two packets of BC powder spread throughout the day had not done the trick, so I concluded that something stronger than what meds could solve was causing my stress and the migraine.

  Either way, I couldn’t involve Dawson in trouble that was mine to resolve. He’d given me some answers already and now it was my responsibility to link the pieces together. He’d said it the other day. Witches and wolves no longer concerned themselves with each other. The bond was broken. Nothing had been done to repair it. If witchcraft was in my blood, I certainly wasn’t going to start up another war.

  “Let’s just give it a rest for a little while,” I said. “Okay?”

  “Give it a rest for a little while,” he repeated. “What is it exactly?”

  “I care about you, Dawson, but I think right now we should wait to see each other again.”

  “What happened, Alessia?” He sounded panicked and confused.

  “Nothing happened. While I was at work today, I was just thinking about us and everything you told me. Isn’t it kind of against your Pack laws to be with me, knowing that I might be…I don’t know…a witch?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “But is it not against your Pack laws to be with an outsider whose mother was a witch?”

  “It’s not against Pack laws to claim a true mate. No.”

  “A true mate?” I shook my head. “You never actually told me anything about this true mate thing.”

  “I’ve enough evidence to believe that you are my mate. Every wolf has a mate, and it is within that wolf’s best interest to find her.” He sighed. “In either case, I don’t care if it’s against Pack law to be with you. I want to be with you. My wolf and I will have it no other way.”

  “Your wolf?” My palms tightened around the steering wheel as I made a swift turn to the left onto the interstate.

  “Gods, Alessia…there is so much I have to tell you. So much. Almost too much. I wish it weren’t so complicated and all. I just want to be with you…that’s all.”

  “Dawson, whatever I did…” I swallowed. “Maybe I did something to you with my powers. Jesus, I don’t know. My condition, I mean…I don’t know what I mean.” A searing migraine pain rang through my forehead and temples.

  “This relationship between you and me… it’s for real, Alessia. Tell me what you feel for me isn’t real. Tell me and I might believe you then.”

  “We had sex a bunch of times last night, okay? Maybe you’re confused about this? Maybe you’re confusing sex with something else. Men do that. I’m fine with it. Sex is just that, sex.”

  “No, Alessia. That’s not how I feel about you. I’m not confused about wanting you,” he countered. “I wanted you in my life before we had sex.”

  “I care about you enough to want to stay friends,” I said. “That’s why I don’t think it’s the right time to be in my life right now. I don’t want you caught in the crossfire. Maybe I have to figure this all out on my own. Alone.”

  They’ll never understand us.

  Strong negative tension tightened just behind my temples.

  “Alessia…”

  “Don’t make this decision hard for me. All I ask is for you to give me a few days to think this through.”

  “A few days? Really, Alessia?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything. Your troubles are mine. I don’t care if you’re evil,” he admitted, hurriedly.

  “Don’t say that!” I breathed in and out deeply. “You cannot do that. Whatever happens, you will do what’s best for you and your Pack. Promise me that. We went into this not knowing what we know now.”

  There was a brief silence on the other end. “Did something happen today that changed your mind?” he asked.

  “This has been a long time coming, Dawson. I can feel it. Every day I get older, my powers grow stronger. I understand now. This isn’t a condition. My powers are real—and dangerous. Is my destiny inevitable? Will I become the witch my mother was?”

  “No…”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow morning,” I said.

  “Ale—”

  I disconnected the call before I changed my mind.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Alessia

  1906 EDGEWOOD TRAIL.

  I maneuvered my sports car onto the long trail. It had been too long since I had come to this place and couldn’t remember where the dirt road began. There was also about three inches of snow on the ground. The debris from the house fire had long been cleared away, so 1906 Edgewood Trail was just a desolate lot. There was literally nothing here. Just miles of barren acreage and tall grass. Just like the letter had indicated, a massive yellowwood tree was still growing just yards from where the house once was.

  The property was now owned by a private trust fund. Even I didn’t know the name of it. Dad had organized it that way, so that no one would ever be able to link us to it. I’d know soon enough once the details of both trust funds were released to me. One trust fund held my mother’s money, which had grown from a mere $5,000 to just over a million dollars. Another trust fund held the deed to the land. All of it would be released to me. Why my dad had chosen my twenty-fifth birthday, I might never know. But I suppose whatever he wanted to talk to me about tonight would include his reasons.

  I knew I should have taken precautions by letting Dad know where I had gone, but I didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of my decision. I had to know. My need to know overrode most of my fears, but would my curiosity cause me to lose my life?

  I waited in the car for several minutes before I realized that no witch would come flying over the empty lot on a broomstick. I had no idea who had written that letter, or if the person was even a witch at all.

  I was looking into nothingness. This empty lot where my home had once been would not bring back any memories. At least not by me just sitting here staring at it. My memories had been selectively deleted from my consciousn
ess. But had Mother Nature or someone else carried out the act?

  I opened the car door, grabbed my leather jacket from the passenger side, and slipped it on. I exited the car. The snow was deeper than I thought, and I was buried up to mid-calf in it. Good thing I had worn flat boots instead of heeled ones.

  My warm breath clouded out in front of me, mixing with the cold, dry atmosphere as I walked. I felt the crunch of the dried grass beneath the soles of my boots, even below the snow. A light wind came from the north, blowing my curls into my face.

  It didn’t take long to get to the yellowwood tree. The tree was absolutely massive and breathtaking even with the absence of leaves. It had to be at least one hundred years old. I painted trees like this, and there was no doubt that I’d end up painting the tree from memory when I got back to my art gallery.

  Just like the land, the tree was barren. But it was very much alive, just dormant during the winter months. I circled around the back of it and noticed a long slash down the middle of the trunk as if something had cut through it. The cut looked unnatural, and it unlikely that the tree had grown this way.

  I walked up close and pressed my hand to the rough bark.

  A flash of white, electrifying light blinded my vision. Lightning. I jumped back and peered at the unnatural cut gouged into the trunk again.

  A lightning bolt had struck this tree.

  A memory of something my dad had said when I was a young teen came back to me. “Many thunderstorms rolled through the area that night.”

  I closed my eyes and let the memory take me until a vision of my dad revealed itself to me.

  “None of them caused the house fire as confirmed by the fire department. We found your tennis shoes near the big tree on the property. Investigators uncovered evidence that lightning had struck the tree. Further tests on you concluded that you might have been near the tree when the lightning struck it. That’s probably when your memory was wiped out.”