If I had had a million years to ponder the reason why Chase left, I never would have come up with the excuse he’d just given. It made sense, though. And, he was right, I wouldn’t have just let him go if he’d told me. And, if I’d known where he’d gone, I probably would have gone after him. If only just to give him a piece of my mind. What would I have done if I were him? Would I have acted any differently if I’d been in his shoes?
As much as I wanted to keep hating him, I felt some of my deep-seeded anger start to evaporate. In fact, as I tossed around the new knowledge and reconciled it with my past memories, it faded more and more with every passing second. Instead of Chase the cold heartbreaker, or Chase the stony-hearted stranger, standing in front of me. I saw the sweet boy I’d fallen in love with who, for the second time in his short life, had had to leave everyone and everything he’d known and cared about.
“Chase,” my voice quaked with emotion, “I had no idea.”
He shrugged. “That was the point. To keep you safe, I had to keep you in the dark. Even if it meant you would hate me.”
I laughed bitterly. “Oh, I definitely hated you.”
He smiled. “Hated? As in, past tense?”
“Yeah …I mean…. I don’t know. I don’t know how the hell I feel about you now.”
“Well, I know how I feel about you. I thought I could live without you. But seeing you again after all these years, I was wrong. Life isn’t worth living without you by my side. If I could go back and change the past, I would. All I can do now is try to change my future. And I want you in that future.”
“Chase.”
“I love you, Holly. I always have and I always will.”
“Chase, this is so confusing.”
“Then let me make it simple for you.”
He leaned down and kissed me. I didn’t know what I wanted from Chase, but I knew that was a good start. I melted into that kiss, losing myself completely in the elation washing over me.
Chase wrapped his arms around me, holding me so tightly it felt like he’d never let me go. Our bodies pressed together with nothing between us. His touch sent crackles of energy sizzling through me warming a path along the way and igniting a fire in my belly.
My fingers traced the hard lines of his chest and his stomach. His muscles rippled and flexed as he moved against me, radiating strength. I reached lower to stroke him. He growled softly as I wrapped my hand around his hard length.
It thickened at my touch, growing hotter and harder in my palms as I caressed him gently, loving the feeling of his physical arousal.
Being together felt so different than it had the previous night. The day before, I’d been so angry with him, and I made sure he knew it. All I’d cared about was easing the itch, soothing the overwhelming desire I still had for him and hoping that giving in to it once would make it go away, or at least lessen. It didn’t and tonight, it was coupled with that old affection reawakening in me. It wasn’t the reckless, whole-hearted love like we used to have. Maybe it was too soon for that, and maybe it would never be that again, but I no longer felt the anger and hatred for him that I’d been harboring for so long. Actually, it was more than that. I felt admiration for him. For his sacrifice and for the pain that I now knew he had also been bearing. I wanted to change that, if only for the moment, transform the painful past into a few moments of pleasure.
As I knelt in front of him and ran my tongue along his shaft, Chase inhaled a sharp breath. His reaction made me feel sexy and desirable in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time and urged me on.
I took the head of his cock between my lips, swirling my tongue around its ridges. When he groaned with pleasure, I took him deeper in my mouth, using my lips and hands to stroke his shaft up and down.
“Wait,” Chase said. His hands pulled me up. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to explode.”
“And?” I asked coyly.
He grinned. “I don’t want this to be over so soon. I want to savor it. I want all of you.”
His strong hands caressed my flesh, igniting fires wherever they went. I moaned at the warmth blossoming in my core.
Chase planted kisses down my neck until he got to my breasts. His tongue swirled around my nipple, teasing it into a hard point while his hand caressed my other breast. This is what my body had been missing for ten years and his touch left me writhing against him. His cock probed between my legs, his hard length slid along my silky folds, and my hips moved to meet him. A dull, empty ache throbbed inside me, begging to be filled. I shifted my hips to slide over him, savoring the delicious feeling. He was still nibbling my breasts, sending jolts of pleasure directly to my core.
As good as it felt, he was doing more than just making me feel good, he was getting familiar with my body again. We were reviving the connection we’d lost while we’d been separated for so many years and I never wanted him to stop.
Chase pulled me down to a soft bed of leaves on the forest floor and gazed into my eyes. The look of raw desire in his emerald eyes sent electricity crackling through my veins.
I kissed him again, letting my lips linger against his. Then I lay back, pulling him down with me. Chase’s body slid over mine. His hard length pressed into me, teasing apart my lips. I reached down and guided him inside me. His hips thrust forward and he plunged into my depths.
I moaned at the feeling of our union. This time it meant something more than just a fuck I the woods. This time we were each expressing our desire to reunite with the other.
Chase moved with a slow, steady rhythm as he gently kissed my cheeks, my temples, my forehead, my lips, my neck… Every lingering stroke of his hard length sent waves of pleasure like shockwaves through my entire body. I writhed beneath him, as he thrust deeper, finding my most sensitive spots and setting them ablaze.
The night before had been more like an angry, grudge fuck, at least on my part, this was so much more satisfying. It was much closer to making love and I think Chase felt it, too.
He quickened his pace. My hips rose to meet his thrusts, moving in tempo with him, urging him to take me to the pinnacle. As the pleasure built up inside me, nearing the crest like a giant wave, I could feel myself getting close. Every stroke pushed me closer and closer until I was ready to explode.
The dam burst and wave after wave of pure, unadulterated bliss washed over me. My body bucked beneath him, tightening as pulses of pleasure radiated from my core. Suddenly, Chase’s hips gave one last jerk, and with a guttural sound, he filled me with warm jets.
As he slid out of me and lay at my side, he reached out to take me in his arms.
And, this time, I let him.
11
Chase
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept so well. My night with Holly had been amazing. I’d been forced to open myself up to her and let her in on my secrets. Some of them, anyway. I still kept the worst from her. It wasn’t easy to, but I’d felt as though I’d had no choice. I couldn’t bear knowing she was living her life angry and bitter because of me.
As scary as it had been, it had also felt good to unburden. I’d told her the truth. Not the whole truth, but it was still the truth. It wouldn’t undo all the pain I’d caused, but it was, hopefully, a step in the right direction. The start of healing.
I knocked on her door just before noon. Zoe answered the door eyeing me warily.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Her hostility caught me off guard. “I’m here to see Holly.”
Her eyes narrowed. “There aren’t any wedding events until this evening. You don’t have to be her pretend boyfriend until later.”
“Oh, so you know about that?”
“Of course, I know about that. I’m her sister. She tells me everything.”
I grinned. “Not everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I told Holly last night that I don’t want this to be pretend anymore.”
Zoe’s eyes widened in surprise. �
�I guess she hasn’t told me everything.” Zoe jabbed a finger hard into my chest. “You better not be messing with her feelings again. You hear me?”
I raised both hands in surrender. “I promise you, I’m not. I love your sister. Hurting her again is the last thing I ever want to do.”
Zoe nodded. “Good. Because if you—”
“I won’t.”
Zoe kept talking over me. “If you do, I will personally hunt you down, chop off your penis, and bury you in the fucking ground.”
My mouth fell open. “Damn, Zoe.”
“I mean it. Every word.”
“You’re a good sister,” I said. “Scary, but good. She’s lucky to have you.”
“I know.”
“And I promise you, I have nothing but the best, most honorable, of intentions. I know I screwed things up before, but I’ll never make that mistake again.”
Zoe smiled. “Excellent. I’ll get her for you.”
She disappeared behind the closed door and a moment later, Holly came out. She was smiling from ear to ear and my heart leapt to know that that smile was for me. “You all right?”
I shook my head. “When the hell did your sister get so scary?”
“What did she say to you?”
“She warned me not to hurt you again.”
Holly nodded. “Nice. And you said…?”
“I told her what I told you last night. I’m all yours, now and forever. For as long as you’ll have me, that is.”
She shrugged. “We’ll see.” She tempered her words with a sly smile.
I smiled ruefully and shook my head. “Well, if the Winters sisters are done breaking my balls, I was going to see if you would like to go for a walk with me.”
“A walk? Is this just an excuse to get me back in the woods alone with you?”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“You dirty dog.”
“But first I was thinking we could have a picnic.”
“A picnic? Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, there aren’t any officially planned wedding events we have to be at. There’s a competition later, but that’s not until midnight. I thought we could get the hell away from everyone and spend some time together. Like old times.”
“There’s nothing I’d like more.”
I took Holly to the spot where we’d taken pictures on the first day. Bright sunlight filtered through the trees at just the right angle to make the waterfall look like it flowed with molten silver.
I laid a blanket out over a shady patch of grass and gestured for Holly to sit. Then, I slung my backpack off my shoulder.
“So, I couldn’t find a picnic basket, but try to pretend my bag is the same thing.” I unzipped the bag and started pulling out food. “We’ve got cucumber sandwiches, prawn canapés, cheese, and grapes. Some fancy crackers. And, of course, wine.”
“I’m impressed. When did you have time to get this together?”
“Well, I might have just swiped all this stuff from the kitchen when the staff wasn’t looking.”
“Chase!”
“Whatever, they were going to serve it to us at lunch anyway. I just got it to go.”
Holly smiled. “Fair enough. For a second I was picturing you making dainty little tea sandwiches. I thought you’d gone soft on me.”
“No, not yet. But who knows? Once I’m settled down with a good woman, all bets are off.”
“Well, good luck with that. The moment you lose your edge, I’m out of here.”
I laughed. “What? Leaving is my thing. Not yours.” She shot me a sour look. “Too soon?”
“Light years too soon,” she said.
“Sorry.” I laid some sandwiches on a plate and passed them to her. “Here. Maybe some stolen food will make up for my bad jokes.”
She took a bite. “Damn, not bad. These Sky Valley wolves go all out for their guests.”
I nodded. “They put out one hell of a spread. But, it’s all a little fancy for my taste.”
“What, you don’t want to live in a huge mansion with an entire staff of servants?”
I chuckled. “No, thank you. There’s way too much going on here. Way too many people around. I’ve been living alone and completely isolated for a while now, and I’ve grown to like it.”
“So, you want to spend the rest of your life alone?”
I met her gaze. “No. No, I don’t. A family of my own would be nice.”
“Yeah, it would.”
“That was our plan, remember? We were going to leave the Winters Landing Pack behind and make a go of it on our own.”
She smiled sadly. “Just you and me against the world. A pack of our own. I remember.”
“I know I messed thing up royally, but if you’re willing to give me a chance, we can still do that.”
She rolled her head back on her neck and looked up at the sky while slowly exhaling a deep breath. “I don’t think I’m ready to make that kind of commitment,” she said. “I’m still processing everything that’s been going on. I mean, yesterday you were public enemy number one. It’s going to take me some time.”
“Understood. Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.” I meant every word. Nothing could tear me away from her this time. It was still a risk, but with the passing of each of the past ten years, that risk had lessened. It was no longer anywhere near as risky as I’d once though. I watched Holly bite into a canapé and marveled at how lucky I was to be given another chance at a possible future with the woman who had always been the only one for me.
Both our heads turned at the same time alerted to sounds of jostling underbrush being crushed and trampled by something heading our way. It was coming from the direction of the estate. As soon as it burst through into the clearing, and I registered what—who—I was looking at, my optimism for the future faltered and the taste of bile rose in the back of my throat.
Mason fucking Winters. Holly’s father.
“Holly Marie Winters,” he roared. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She shot me a troubled glance and then turned to confront her father. “Calm down, Dad. I’m just having lunch.”
“With Chase Stone?” Mason spat out my name like it was a curse.
“Yes,” Holly said. “With Chase Stone.”
Mason shook his head in disgust and pinned me with a stare. “Goddammit, Chase. We had an agreement. You were to stay the fuck away from my daughter!”
Holly looked from her father to me, her eyes widened to saucers and her brow creased in confusion. “What are you talking about? What agreement?”
I shook my head. “It’s a long story.”
“Oh,” Mason said, his eyes gleaming with delight. “So, you haven’t told her, huh? She doesn’t know about your vile savagery.”
“I told her.”
“Apparently, not everything. Not if she doesn’t know about our agreement.”
I got to my feet and glared at Mason. “Part of that agreement was that she would never know about it and I kept that promise.”
“What fucking agreement?” Holly asked.
I sighed. “I made a deal with your father before I left. I promised him I would leave town and never see you again. In exchange for my life.”
Holly soundlessly mouthed words as she processed what was said. Finally, she shook her head and looked at Mason. Her voice raised to a shrill pitch. “You threatened to kill him?”
Mason nodded gravely. “I should have done it, too.”
She turned to me. “So, all that stuff about the Blood Fangs and leaving to protect me. That was all bullshit?”
“No, that was all true, every word. I just left out the part about the deal with your father.” I turned my gaze back to Mason, pointedly. “I made him a promise and I didn’t want you to think badly of him.”
“I don’t need you looking out for me, boy,” Mason spat.
“Can somebody please start from the beginning?” Holly asked. “None of this makes any goddamn
sense.”
“I’ll start,” Mason said. “Your boyfriend is a monster.”
12
Holly
I stared dumbly at my father. “A monster? What are you talking about?”
“I’m not a monster,” Chase said. “I’m a rogue wolf.”
“A rogue wolf,” I repeated. “Why does that term sound familiar?”
“Because shifter parents tell their children stories about rogue wolves to scare them,” Chase said.
“They aren’t just stories,” my father said.
“What are they, then?” I asked.
“We’re all connected to an animal spirit,” my father replied. “That’s how we shift. But most of us learn easily enough to control our animal at a very young age. We let it out when we shift forms, and put it away when we shift back, but in either form, the man (or woman) is still in control of the beast. When the beast takes control of the man, we say they’ve gone rogue.”
“Okay, so you’re saying Chase can’t maintain control over his wolf?”
My father nodded. I turned to Chase.
“But, I don’t understand. I’ve seen you shift. You have perfect control over your wolf.”
“I do. Usually. But, there was a time when my beast took over, apparently. Only once that I know of. I don’t remember it. It’s a blank spot in my memory—a blackout. All I can guess is that I must have blocked it out because it was too traumatic. That one time—one time—ended everything in my life that meant anything to me. But it happened.”
“And if it can happen once, it can happen again,” Mason said. “Once is all it takes and it’s only a matter of time. I’ve been around long enough to know that once a rogue, always a rogue.”
“Okay, fine,” I said. “But so what? So, one time Chase’s wolf ran wild and his human side didn’t have control. Big deal.”
Rogue Wolf Page 7
