by T. S. Joyce
“You protected me during the hunt. I remember. I’ll always remember. I got separated, but you pulled off the hunt and stayed with me. You didn’t have to, but you put yourself between me and those two wolves who were messing with me.”
“I wasn’t just kissing Dean’s ass by protecting his ward, Marissa. I was making sure you were safe. Making sure you knew you weren’t alone because, good God, I’d been alone for so long, and that does something awful to a kid.”
She inhaled deep. “Yes, it does.”
“I was a watcher. I could see how uncomfortable you were around males, and I didn’t want you to group me with them. So, I gave you space. Grey says space isn’t so good sometimes for you ladies.” His fingertips brushed her hair. “I probably confused us both because I wasn’t brave enough to test you.”
“You should’ve tested me,” she whispered.
“Really?”
She nodded and exhaled slowly as his fingertips brushed through the back of her hair.
“I stuck around for two years with something awful building in me.”
“What was it?”
“My wolf. I’d never had much control, and it was getting worse. Grey and Dean saw it. I hunted animals just to make them bleed, and Grey and Dean hid the bodies and tried to convince me I would be okay. They talked to me. Mentored me. They wanted to fix me, I guess. And then Grey quit trying to fix me, and he came up with a plan to help me embrace the wolf I was turning into. The man I was turning into. He and Dean said I went off for school, but I don’t have the education people think. They tracked down my Maker to try and figure out why I was broken. Grey met with him in Arizona. Brought me along. Rush is a monster. He’s like the ones in the old legends who would kill a whole village of people in a night. He is Grey but with less morals. Livin’ alone in the desert, off-grid. At first, he was money-motivated, so Grey made a deal with him. Rush would train me to be the fighter I was supposed to be, but he had a set of rules he had to instill in me. Rules he didn’t believe in at first. Rules that gave me a set of killing skills but gave me the moral compass to use them only when I needed to. It took a year for Rush to like me. Or maybe tolerate me. Then there was a shift. He wasn’t obsessed as much with that paycheck Grey sent him every couple of weeks. Eventually, he didn’t talk about money at all. He didn’t call me names. Didn’t bleed me just to see how close he could get to killing me. He focused his efforts and started teaching me the rules, not just because he was told to, but because he was starting to believe in them himself. He was supposed to fix me, but I think in the end, I fixed him just as much. Now ask me, Marissa. Ask me why I put myself through two years of training. Everyday. Fighting. Pain. Blood. Dominance training. Up at four in the morning, no days off, not even one. Ask why I did that.”
“You did that to take over Grey’s pack,” she murmured.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Grey asked me to.”
Marissa gasped and twisted around, looked up into his lupine eyes. “What?” she whispered.
“Grey needed a successor in case he ever lost the throne. He needed me trained so when the day came that he was too old or tired to protect you and Morgan and his pups, he had someone to throw a challenge at whoever was trying to take over his pack. Someone who would kill everyone Grey couldn’t. I’m the safety, Marissa. I’m the last barricade. I’m not betraying Grey. I’m making sure his family is safe if he ever fails.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “He made you into a weapon.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. His eyes were so soft right now as he looked down at her. “He gave me a purpose. He gave me a job that keeps me close to you. That keeps the monster in me manageable. He helped me find my place in the world. He gave me Rush. The old coot turned out to be like a father to me. A really fucked up, one-eyed, scarred, grumpy, foul-mouthed old asshole, but family ain’t always blood. I learned that.”
“But…Morgan told me to save you. Why did she think you needed saving?”
He shrugged. “She never liked me and Grey’s plans. She wanted me to have a normal life, whatever that is. Or maybe she wanted me to have a childhood because she knows where I came from. I was too grown when I pledged to Dallas, though. There’s no making up for a lost childhood. There was no fixing my wolf either. It was train him or put him down.” He swallowed hard. “I think you’re the only one who can really understand what I mean by ‘no making up for a lost childhood.’”
Marissa turned to him and slipped her hand to the back of his leg and massaged it gently. Tilting her chin back so she could look up into his face, she said, “I do. It’s okay. Not everybody gets one. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you, Levi. Your story isn’t bad. It’s just different.”
“I don’t want you to pick Cassian,” he said softly. “I mean, if you pick him, I understand. It’s to keep your pack safe. I would do anything to keep them safe, too. I would really understand. But I don’t want you to just the same.”
“Well, then ask me,” she whispered.
“Ask you what?”
“Ask me out. You waited all this time. Make it sweet.”
The smile on his lips was slow and consuming. It was like sunshine hitting her face after ten days of rain.
“Marissa Henry, will you accept all the dark in me? Will you be patient when I don’t understand what you need? Will you give me a chance to make you happy?” He brushed a curl away from her face. “Will you let me take you out to eat sometime?”
Her smile felt wonderful. Damn, he was good. She’d never been asked out like that before, and something deep inside of her said she never would again. And that was just fine with her. “Yes to all of it.”
“Good, get dressed in something comfy. I saw a taco truck down the street.”
She cracked up. “Of course, the first date would be a taco truck.”
“They’re your favorite.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because when I lived here before, when the packs got together for taco night, you smiled more.”
Oooh, she loved him. This is what it felt like. That breathless, heart-pounding sensation where he could freeze her up with a sentence. He’d really paid attention. He’d really watched her.
“I was never invisible at all, was I?”
He shook his head. “Not even for a second. Not to me.”
“I’m gonna be expensive,” she warned him. “I’m going to eat at least eighteen tacos.”
“Hell yeah you are,” he said, heading to his room. “We’re competing.”
She giggled as she slipped out of her dress in her room.
“I forgot something,” Levi said from the doorway.
Marissa yanked the dress in front of herself on instinct. She was only wearing white lace panties, and thank the lord she’d dressed in pretty lingerie before she left the house because, right now, through the reflection in the dresser mirror, Levi was staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
No man had ever looked at her like this, and it made her brave. Slowly, facing the mirror, she dropped her hands and let him look. And she really looked at him, too. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and, good God, he’d sure changed since the last time they’d gone werewolf together when they were younger. Thick muscles tensed and moved as he leaned on the doorway and scratched his beard. Massive arms, perfect abs, that sexy V of muscle that delved into his low-slung dress pants. His torso was scarred now, but his earlier admissions explained why. Rush had pushed Levi’s body to the brink. Got him used to the pain, perhaps. He looked like a man, now. A fully capable, confident, powerful, silently dangerous man. He was perfect, scars and all.
The smile that curved his lips was downright wicked.
“What did you forget?” she asked.
He closed the space between them in three strides and turned her around, gripped the back of her neck and her waist, and kissed her hard. She was shock
ed into stillness, her hands pressed against his bare chest. It took her exactly three seconds to play back. One, two, three, and she was melting against him. His chest was stone under her touch, his lips fire against hers. His tongue was forceful, bullying past her lips, and she loved every moment of this.
He pushed her backward until her ass hit the dresser, and then he lifted her onto it. Kissed her…kissed her more…and then back, back she went until her head was pressed against the mirror glass. She was totally trapped, but this wasn’t like with her Maker. This was Levi. This was fun. This was safe.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight, held him close. He changed directions and kissed her softer. The growl in his throat sent delicious shivers up her back. He cupped her breast but didn’t go under her bra. She let off this little helpless sound. God, she wanted to feel his touch there. But instead, he trailed his fingers down her stomach to her hip, and then he broke the kiss when he reached the longhorn skull tattoo on her upper thigh.
“I saw this earlier,” he murmured, tracing the outline with the tip of his finger. “Saw part of it through that slit in your dress and been thinking about it all night, wondering what it is.”
She’d never felt so sexy in all her life. The submissiveness of her wolf didn’t exist right now.
“I like touching you,” she whispered.
“You can do whatever you want with me,” Levi assured her.
So, she did. Marissa ran her hands down the curves of his chest, down every mound of his abs, and then back up his sides, dragging her nails lightly. She reveled in the gooseflesh that rose on his skin. The moan in his throat as he locked his arms around her hips. She traced his strong shoulders, then his biceps and down to his hands where she touched the raised scars on his knuckles. He wasn’t the same quiet, unintimidating boy who’d left Dallas. She leaned up and kissed him, gentler than he done to her. While she plucked at his lips, she bathed in the taste of him. Nipped his neck and then kissed him again. And when the snarl in his throat sounded more like a purr, she reached between his legs and felt his thick erection. Mmmmm.
He leaned into her touch, rolling his hips forward as he groaned.
Good noisy boy. So sexy.
Slowly, she unfastened his belt, then the top button of his pants, and then the zipper.
Levi leaned into her again and kissed her deep, slipped his hand down the front of her panties. Marissa gasped when his fingertips found her wet folds. She spread her knees wider for him and threw her arms around him again, gave into his kiss. He teased her, dipping his finger into her by millimeters, then he withdrew and touched her clit. She was getting so wet. Wanted more.
She moaned a pleading sound and brushed her tongue past his lips. With a growl, Levi pushed forward and slid his finger into her, then two. She writhed against his touch. He could have her in ten strokes, she was so worked up.
She felt his arm as he fingered her, all flexed up. She gripped the back of his elbow and pulled his arm to her over and over, rolling her hips.
When she whispered his name, he lost it. Good man. She liked when his control slipped. Riiiip. Her panties got tossed to the floor and Levi yanked her off the dresser and laid her on the floor without breaking the kiss. And then he shoved his loose pants down his hips, settled into the cradle between her thigh and slid deeeeeep inside her.
He was big, and she stretched but, oh, it felt so good. Arching her head back, she gripped the back of his hair as he worked her body over. She was already close. So close. “Harder,” she begged.
Levi slammed into her with a snarl in his throat. Pulled out slow, blasted into her again. It felt like every inch of their bodies was fused, and his skin was so warm. Nothing had ever, or could ever, feel this good outside of being in his arms.
He held one of her hands above her head as he slammed into her faster. Faster. She was moaning with every thrust now. Fuck, it felt so good! “Levi, Levi…Levi!”
Her body broke into a million pieces as she came, and on the third overwhelming pulse, he rammed into her hard and held, his dick throbbing with his own release as he gritted out her name.
The intensity of her orgasm jacked up with the feel of his swollen cock emptying inside of her. She clawed at his back with her free hand while he settled his teeth on her neck, bit her hard, but not enough to break the skin. Fuck, was she coming again? The pulsing in her body grew stronger.
Levi eased back and slid into her again, in rhythm with her throbbing. Damn the man knew how to draw this out. He didn’t quit, didn’t let her orgasm die easy. He dragged it out until she was spent and panting, legs like Jello, lips swollen, hair a mess, and a devilish part of her wishing he’d actually marked her with his teeth.
As if he could read her mind, he sucked hard right there. Hard, harder, harder. He lapped at her skin, and she ran her nails through his hair as he worked. At the wall, she smiled languidly. Good wolf, making sure she would remember every time she looked in the mirror tomorrow how he’d owned her body.
Dominant, sexy, powerful, clever wolf.
He stayed buried inside her as his sucking lessened and then turned to gentle kisses and nips on her neck. He stayed inside her even as he propped up on his elbows and smoothed her hair back, allowed her to look at his bright blue wolf eye. He stayed buried deep as he kissed her lips gently, gently, even more gently, as though coveting her.
When Marissa’s stomach growled, he snorted and then chuckled. He pressed his forehead against hers and then kissed her nose before he slid out of her. “Time to feed you,” he murmured.
“You know,” she teased, “you should feel really flattered. I never have sex on the first date.”
“You won’t have to worry about first dates anymore and, besides, you didn’t.” His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. “Technically, it’s before our first date.”
“Oh, even better,” she said with a laugh. “I’m a ho.”
Levi gave a belly laugh that filled her whole soul. “No, you aren’t. Wear your eating pants. You need energy.”
“For what?” she asked innocently.
He turned at the door. “For what I’m gonna do to you tonight.”
Her face went slack. “I want that,” she whispered.
Levi nodded. “Good, you’re gonna get it. Also,” he said as he turned to leave. “Your hair looks fucking awesome right now.”
Flattered AF, she stood and looked at herself in the mirror and oh…my…God. Her hair looked like a ratted-out lion’s mane. The pound of hairspray she’d put in it earlier was now holding it in a mass of sex hair, no matter how much she tried to pat it down. Her makeup was smeared clear across her face and her lips were swollen. And the hickey he’d given her was one for the record books. She would be mortified that Levi had seen her like this if he hadn’t seemed so proud of himself for leaving her a mess. And honestly? She felt high as a kite right now, so she couldn’t really draw the energy to care. Let him see her as she was. That’s what this was, right? This love thing. It was being comfortable with a person and all their flaws. He looked like a flexed-up Adonis after sex, and she looked like she’d been sucked into a vacuum cleaner, but whatever.
She’d never seen this smile on her face. It wasn’t timid or slight. It was big, effortless, and made her cheeks all rosy. She didn’t mind looking like this. Not if he liked it.
Messy bun it was.
Chapter Eight
“I think I played my cards wrong,” Marissa said as Levi came back with two full trays of tacos.
They were the only ones here at a picnic table with a red and white tablecloth, strands of outdoor lights above them.
Levi sat down and held up his beer in a silent toast. She clinked the glass bottle neck of hers against it and took a sip.
“Played them wrong how?”
“Morgan used to give me speeches about how to keep a man.”
Levi laughed and pushed an entire tray of tacos to her. Marissa adjusted her oversize hoodie and crossed
her legs. “Marissa, you gotta tease them a little,” she said in Morgan’s thick southern accent. “Let them get hooked, make them addicted, and then let them feel like you’re a treasure they had to work very hard for, and they won’t take you for granted.”
Levi took a huge bite and rolled his eyes. Around the bite, he said, “That speech works well enough, but we’ve known each other a long time. Technically, I hunted you for five years. A+ job, Marissa. I’m addicted.”
She nearly choked on a taco laughing. “Yeah right. I’m just me. I’m not some beguiling siren that draws the men in.”
“False, Omega. You’re exactly that. I just got addicted to the person you are. The omega shit will just put more pressure on me to keep you safe is all.”
“Tell me your favorite memory from your time with Rush.”
Levi’s dark eyebrows arched up as he finished a big bite. “Are we doing twenty questions?”
“Yep! Let’s fill in the gaps. We both changed over the last two years.”
“Favorite memory…” He rolled his eyes heavenward and puffed air out of his cheeks. “Okay, I’ve got one. I was about a year into my training, and Rush was fucking awful. Just…worst person on the planet. I hated him. I hated him, but I wanted to please him, which was impossible. He didn’t have a single nice or supportive thing to say ever. ‘Levi, you bleed too much. Levi, you’re not bleeding enough. Gonna break your hand throwing punches like that. You throw chairs like a little pussy. Why would anyone in their right mind be scared of you? Need a tampon today? You gonna cry?’ He would ask that when I was nearly dead after a fight with him. He shot me once!”
