by T. S. Joyce
“Don’t run.” Dang her voice as it trembled, but she was scared. If she let him know she knew, would he kill her? Would he be forced to silence her by whatever laws he and his people abided by? Would he leave and never come back? Miller, Miller, Miller. That man had been crazy and would’ve killed her if he knew she knew. Would Dalton react the same? No. She had to believe he wouldn’t. Had to believe her heart wouldn’t fail her twice. Slowly, she turned around and peeled her thin, red, cotton night gown over her head. She wore panties but no bra so her shameful scar would be visible.
Shaking, she covered her breasts to feel less vulnerable, even though he couldn’t see them with her back to him.
She didn’t hear him approach, but she knew he was there, standing just behind her. A soft touch traced the shameful bite mark in the middle of her back.
“Who besides Miller has seen this?” he gritted out.
“Just you.”
“Did you ask for it?”
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Couldn’t release a single word because admitting this would expose her feelings of helplessness.
Dalton turned her slowly, then hooked a finger under her chin and forced her gaze to his. “Did you?”
“No,” she choked out. “I thought…”
“Say it.”
She closed her eyes, because the fury in his face was terrifying.
“I thought I would turn into one of you. For months, I lived in fear that he would come back and hurt me again. That he would come back and kill me. That I would turn out to be just like him.”
“Open your eyes.” When she did, he said, “That’s not how it works.”
“Well, Miller didn’t exactly explain anything. The sex was consensual, but the bite was not. He left afterward, laughing. He said I was stuck with him now, and I would make a pretty little breeder.”
“That’s not how this works either,” he ground out.
“He disappeared. Or…died. And I didn’t Turn. I figured I was safe when nothing happened.”
“Who have you told?”
“Only you.”
Dalton’s eyes were so light, a blazing gold now. “Just so you know how I am, so you know what I’m capable of, if Miller was alive, I would avenge you. I would kill him, and then I’d leave his body for the ravens to pick clean. I wouldn’t have any regrets taking his life. If that scares you, tell me to leave.”
“You do scare me.”
Dalton took a step back, acceptance slashing through his inhuman eyes.
“But not because of what you are. I’m scared because I don’t want you to hurt me.”
“I won’t.”
“You will if you run. If you leave. If you realized I’m not enough, like everyone else does.”
“You aren’t scared of the animal?” he asked.
“Should I be?”
Dalton shook his head slowly back and forth. “He’s yours.”
“Are you mine?” she whispered.
Chest heaving, Dalton dipped his chin once.
Relief was a tidal wave washing through her. Closing her eyes, she sighed at how amazing it felt to be wanted. “Good.”
When she opened her eyes again, Dalton was pacing beside the couch, wild eyes on her.
“Come here,” she murmured.
He was to her in three long strides. His hands gripped her waist as his lips crashed onto hers, urgent and possessive. She opened for him because she understood. She’d felt this way when he’d mentioned Shelby, and she’d just shown him the mark on her back. She didn’t know what the bite meant, not yet, but it was big. It angered Dalton.
His tongue pressed into her mouth in smooth strokes as he ran his fingertips up her ribcage and cupped her breast. With a moan, she arched against him. Dalton eased back just far enough to work his sweater over his head, then pressed against her, skin to skin. He was so impossibly warm, felt so incredibly right touching her. Breasts aching for him, she gripped his hair and eased him downward. His lips were perfect, sucking, biting down her neck as he ran his hands down the sides of her arms, drawing gooseflesh where he connected with her. She gasped as his mouth clamped onto one of her sensitive nipples, drawn up tight in arousal. His tongue laved over and over until her knees buckled.
With a growl, Dalton straightened up, taking her with him as he walked her to the bed. His arms were flexed and sexy where he held the backs of her knees, and when he laid her on the mattress, he followed. He ripped her panties like they were paper, then threw them on the floor. She was writhing, begging with her body as he worked his kisses down her stomach. She drew her knees up and spread her legs for him as he bit her gently on the inside of her thigh.
“Eat me,” she begged.
His chuckle reverberated against her skin. So close. “Brave little human, commanding the wolf to eat you.”
He gave her a flash of those beautiful gold eyes before he slid his tongue up her wet slit. She bucked against him and gripped his hair. A soft growl reverberated from his lips as he pushed his tongue deep inside of her. He stroked into her until the pressure was too deep, too bright. His teeth brushed her sensitive clit, and he sucked once.
“I’m going to come,” she said.
Dalton pulled away from her immediately and when he climbed over her, his pants were undone. Excitement filled her as he lowered his hips to hers.
“So close,” she murmured, rolling her hips against his, silently begging for him to fill her.
Dalton clamped his teeth on her neck and snarled. When he released her skin there, he pushed the head of his cock into her, then eased out.
“Dalton!”
He gritted his teeth and pushed deeper. Tingling pressure was already building again. He felt so good inside of her, so big, stretching her, so long. How was he this long? His abs flexed against her belly as he slid fully into her.
“Oooh,” she moaned, raking her nails down the rigid curves of his arms.
Dalton was losing control, bucking harder, faster. So sexy.
“Harder,” she dared him on a breath, because if she was going to come this fast, she wanted him right there with her.
Dalton slid his arm around her backside and slammed into her again and again. He leaned down and kissed her, then gritted his teeth against her lips. “Uh,” he grunted as his cock swelled inside of her. He went rigid and yelled out her name as the pressure became blinding. Orgasm exploded through her, pulsing around him as he shot hot streams inside her. She met him blow for blow as he emptied himself, driven to madness with the intensity of her pleasure and a little spark of pain in her chest.
“Dalton,” she said in a whisper as she ran her fingernails down his back. He felt vital now. In this moment, he was everything.
Dalton bucked into her a few more times, then slowed down and kissed her softly. He rested his forehead on hers, eyes closed as he let off a long sigh. Rolling over, he took her with him and hugged her tight to his chest. “I shouldn’t have taken you like that. I should’ve drawn it out for our first time.”
She smiled against his chest, still shocked at what they’d just done. At how perfect it had felt. “I liked our first time just how it was. Dalton?”
“Hmm?”
“I want you to trust me.”
He grew quiet for a long time, and his breathing evened out as she lay snuggled against him. But just when she thought he’d fallen asleep, he kissed the top of her head and let his lips linger there. “I’m a werewolf,” he whispered.
Kate tightened her arms around him and smiled. “And what am I to you?”
Dalton’s heart raced faster under her cheek. When he leaned back, she could see the waves of emotion there in his light gold eyes. Surprise. Regret. Acceptance. Tenderness. Adoration. Then lastly, honesty. He whispered, “You’re my mate.”
Nestling closer, she kissed him, a reward for not running. “Good.”
“Yeah? And what am I to you?”
“The human equivalent. You’re my man.”
“Your man,” he rumbled. “I like that.”
Before she could chicken out, she blurted out, “What does my scar mean?”
Dalton softly traced the raised circular shape near her spine. “If it was consensual, which is how it is supposed to be done, you would’ve been his claim. No one else could touch you. No other shifter, or he would have rights to challenge them.”
“Challenge them how?”
“To the death.”
She propped up on one elbow and frowned. “I don’t understand why he did it. He didn’t really like me that much. He wasn’t nice to me at the end. That’s when he bit me, at the end.”
“McCalls go crazy. It’s bad genetics, a bad bloodline. Miller hunted a friend of mine.”
“Elyse?”
“Yeah. Her mate was hibernating—”
“Hibernating?” she yelped.
Dalton chuckled. “Wolves aren’t the only shifters.”
“So Ian Silver is what? A bear?”
“Grizzly. He doesn’t hibernate anymore. There is a cure for that now, but the first year he and Elyse were together, Miller called his entire insane pack to hunt her.”
“Why?”
“Because the Silver brothers are the enforcers for shifters. If one of us does wrong to humans, like Miller and his brother Cole did, the Silver brothers are ordered to go in there and protect humans. After Ian fulfilled a kill order on Cole, Miller went after him and Elyse as revenge.”
“Enforcers keep the peace by killing them?”
“By putting them down. McCalls usually get themselves put down sooner or later. Miller chased his own death by going after Ian. Elyse is a warrior, and one of the pack turned on Miller. He helped Elyse.”
“Who?”
“Lincoln McCall.”
“Your alpha.”
Dalton smiled down at her. “You sure do understand a lot about a lot.”
“You weren’t very careful with your secrets around me.”
His darkening eyes danced and he nipped her nose. “Maybe I wanted to get caught by you.” Dalton pushed out of bed, leaving her skin cold. He pulled the covers over her hips, leaving only her breasts bare, then strutted into her kitchen like a proud rooster. He glanced over his shoulder with that teasing, naughty smile of his. “I like the way you look, just like this. Hair wild, skin flushed, satisfied.”
“Tits out.”
“Yes, if you can figure out a way to always be tits out around me, I’d sure appreciate it.” Dalton opened the cupboards and pulled down a couple of plates and glasses, then found the pans and opened the fridge like he knew exactly where everything was. “Where did you get bacon?”
“Hardware Jack,” she answered, fluffing up her pillow beneath her cheek so she could better ogle the muscular curve of his back and butt. “He works at the—”
“Let me guess. The hardware store.”
“Good doggy.”
Dalton snorted and pulled a carton of eggs and the bacon from the fridge.
“He cut his hand on a saw last week, and he hates spending time in the medical center and doesn’t have much money for it anyway, so we traded.”
“Stitches for bacon?”
“Exactly.”
“God, you’re sexy.”
“Says the hot, growly, tattooed, naked guy cooking breakfast in my kitchen right now. This is better than a porno.”
He huffed a surprised laugh as he turned on the stovetop. “Have you watched many pornos?”
“You mean besides the one I starred in?”
The smile dropped from his face, and Dalton went quiet as he cracked several eggs into the pan.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I shouldn’t bring that up.”
“The video is gone.” When Dalton crossed his arms and leaned back on the counter, the inhuman color was back in his eyes. “It’s gone, Kate. You won’t be haunted by what Miller did anymore.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I called in a favor.”
In a rush, she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, stumbled out of bed, and ran for her laptop. Her fingers flew as she typed in the first address. It was some doggy-style-lovers website, but when she typed in her name, nothing came up. And when she typed the exact title of the video, a blank screen popped up that read this video is no longer available for viewing. What the heck?
She searched another website, and another. She typed her name into the search engine but got no results other than a couple of pictures she’d uploaded to a social media account a few years ago.
“How?”
“I have a friend with powerful connections. I owe him a favor now.”
Her face crumpled as she stared at the glowing computer screen that no longer damned her family’s name—that no longer damned her. She clapped the laptop closed and hugged it to her chest as tears streamed down her face.
And Dalton was there, rubbing her back. He’d moved too fast, but that didn’t scare her. Miller’s unnatural speed had terrified her, but Dalton was good. Miller had let her down and so had the police when she’d tried to report the video, a huge breach in her privacy. Her parents had been embarrassed so badly they’d pulled away, and her sister had been open in her disappointment.
But Dalton…
Without her even asking, Dalton had come into her life and fixed this awful event that had happened to her.
“When did you do this?” Her throat tightened with every word.
“After I left here.”
“After you said goodbye? After you said I wasn’t yours to worry over?”
Dalton hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. “Yeah. Turns out you are mine to worry over. I planned on leaving. I was going to go back to Kodiak. Let you carry on with your life and forget me, but I hated the way Miller hurt you with that fucking video.”
“So you fixed it.”
“Yeah.”
Wiping her eyes, she turned and smiled at him, hugging the computer. “Thank you.”
Dalton gave her a lopsided grin and kissed her quick, then strode for the kitchen to stir the steaming eggs. “Anytime, human.”
Slowly, she set the laptop down and padded across the cold tiles until she reached him. The phoenix snaking down his back meant more to her now that he’d shared Amelia’s story. He wasn’t out of the ashes yet, but she was going to help him get there if it was the last thing she did. He deserved happiness after all he’d been through.
She laid tiny kisses on his back and hugged his waist from behind as he made them eggs and bacon. “You’re a good man, Dalton.”
He huffed a humorless laugh. “If you knew what I was thinking, you wouldn’t say that.”
“What are you thinking?”
Dalton didn’t answer. Instead, he busied himself with filling their plates with breakfast. “What time do you work today?”
“I don’t.”
“Good.” He gave her a bright smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Suspicious, she followed him to bed where he was carrying the plates.
“Dalton, what are you thinking?”
He bared his teeth, the look there and gone in an instant. It wasn’t a smile or a grimace. It was an animalistic show of displeasure. Dalton set the plates on the crumpled covers and sat down, then pulled her waist gently toward him until she stood between his legs. “You’ll think I’m a monster.”
“I won’t.”
“You’re human. You won’t understand the instinct.”
“I will if you explain it to me.”
His eyes were full of disgust when he lifted his attention to her. Slowly, eyes on her, he leaned forward, pushed the blanket away from her naked body and kissed her belly. “I’m distracting you so you don’t take a birth control pill.”
“Dalton,” she whispered.
“You want to know what I’m thinking? My wolf hopes you’re pregnant. I hope you’re pregnant.” Dalton released her and gave her an empty smile. “And now you’ll be the one running.”
“No, it’s not just that. I’ve haven’t wanted to have a baby with anyone since Shelby. I’m not in some mindless procreation mode where anyone will do. I want a baby with you.” He rested a palm on her flat stomach. “Want to see you growing my pup. Holding my pup. Nursing my pup.” His voice had gone growly and strained. “I know it’s too soon, but my wolf doesn’t care.”
“And what if we had a girl?”
“Link and Nicole have a baby girl.” Dalton winced in pain. “There’s a cure. Too late for my baby, but Link got his.”
“Oh my gosh,” she murmured, pulling him in close as her heart ripped apart. To miss the cure by so little, and now his alpha had a girl baby.
As heartbreaking as his loss had been though, Kate wasn’t capable of giving him what he desired so soon. She wasn’t ready, but maybe someday. “Dalton, I want breakfast in bed with you. I want you to hold me, make me feel safe in that incredible way you do, and then I want to sleep beside you. Then I want a second date and a third, and I want to keep growing this bond between us because you feel so important to me, like we could have a great love story. Take care of me, and I’ll take care of you, and someday, maybe, we’ll get to the life you deserve.”
Dalton cupped her cheek and kissed her. There was promise in it. Forgiveness that she’d denied him, gratefulness that she hadn’t run, and adoration above all.
I love him. Oh, she did, but it was scary feeling so attached this soon. But with every tender kiss she could almost hear his feelings, and they ran as deeply as hers. They were just as terrifying, and yet he was still here, falling with her.
She wouldn’t admit it now because they’d both been burned by betrayal and needed time to build trust, but she could imagine him holding their baby, and growing a family together. She could imagine his gold eyes in their smiling child’s face.
Dalton’s wants and her wants were one in the same. Only she wasn’t governed by animal instincts, so she would be strong for them both until they were ready.
Chapter Nine
Kate smiled at the other nurse at the medical clinic. Lacy had been a godsend over the last few years as Dr. Vega’s mood had plummeted. She could always count on an understanding smile from Lacy and occasional drinks at the bar after particularly brutal shifts.
