Conquer Me (Sawtooth Shifters, #4)

by Kristen Strassel

  My dad taught me how to treat a lady. Not the girls who threw themselves at us at the Full Moon Fever parties. A mate. The one. And it was all going to waste.

  I lay in bed, in what used to be my parents’ room, trying to figure out what the fuck I was going to do to take out Walter. Getting near him was almost impossible. He traveled in a large pack, and the goons that followed him around, hoping for his scraps, were loyal. Too loyal. They had to be keeping tabs on Cass. Twice in one week she’d come to me. She said he knew. He wouldn’t let her get away with making a fool out of him. Wolves were nothing if not loyal.

  That being said, the deal he made with me was a load of shit. I knew it as much as everyone did. Walter had been fucking with me for sport for twenty years, he wouldn’t have a change of heart now just because I muscled him into it with threats that might end up meaning nothing.

  A knock on the door knocked me back into the moment. “Come in,” I said, my arm slung over my eyes. I expected Shea, wanting all the details of his new job. Better keep looking if it’s up to Trina. He’d missed the pleasure of her company, and there was no way she’d put up with his brand of bullshit.

  The bed shifted. “You said I didn’t need an invite,” Cass said softly.

  I tore my arm from my eyes, sat up, and pulled her into a kiss. She squealed on contact, tangling her fingers into my hair and pressing her body against me. Our wolves had yet to settle after the shift. Our lips moved against each other with the intensity I usually saved for stalking prey.

  We separated, breathless. Cass somehow wound up on her back, and I’d been too lost in her to realize I followed her down. She smiled up at me, planting a peck on my open lips.

  “I’m playing with fire, Major. I hadn’t been back to the forest for so long until last night. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. And how much I hadn’t let myself miss it. I went by my old house, and no one’s even cleaned it out. It’s just sitting there, waiting for...”

  She didn’t finish, shaking her head, and fighting tears. “I know, baby,” I said, smoothing her dark hair away from her face. “I was lying here, thinking about my parents when you came in. How my mom would sit in my dad’s lap and watch TV, like they never stopped dating. How he’d bring her home flowers just because.”

  “I’d say it was because he pissed her off, but I can’t ever remember your parents fighting.” Cass sighed, a dreamy smile playing on her lips. “I used to love coming to your house when I was a kid because it was so happy here. Loud, but in a good way. And it’s exactly the same today. I couldn’t believe it when I walked in.”

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t let the guys turn it into a frat house.”

  “Good.” Cass propped herself up on her elbows, her face inches from mine. “All we do is talk about the past, Major. And everything’s good because we’re looking at it through tinted lenses. But what about now? I want a future with you. I want Emma to grow up and have stories about her parents like you just told me.”

  “I’d do anything to have that.” I’d lie, I’d cheat, I’d kill. Everyone in the forest said the Lowes were trouble, but when our backs were against the wall, we fought. There should have been more like us. “Where are you supposed to be tonight?”

  Cass shrugged. “Walter hasn’t been home since the full moon. And honestly, after this week, I don’t care anymore about the fucking consequences. He’s going to kill me either way, I want to die happy. I want to die knowing I showed Emma a better way. To die for her happiness if I have to.”

  Fuck. With her lying in my bed, the taste of her still on my lips, I wasn’t strong enough to tell her to do the right thing. To be loyal to her husband. To go home and take care of Emma. In her own way, that’s what she thought she was doing here. If she got caught, Walter would use their daughter as his weapon. “How long do I have you tonight?”

  She pulled me down onto her body. “As long as it takes for you to prove to me that I can actually die happy.”

  Chapter Eight

  Cass

  This is wrong. You promised one man forever and you’re handing yourself over to another. If you had any respect for yourself, you’d run.

  Tonight I expected to have the same thoughts that invaded my mind on my wedding night. I was twenty-three, a virgin, and I had to clench my teeth to keep from crying out in agony as Walter pawed and prodded at me. Not much had changed over the course of our relationship. But twelve years later, with Major, my mind was amazingly clear as I pulled my sweater up over my head, revealing a sheer rose bra. The flowers of the lace barely disguised my nipples threatening to tear through the delicate fabric.

  I was going to rock Major Lowe’s world. I’d promised him forever a long time ago and I always made good on my promises. I never stopped thinking about him, through all the time we couldn’t be together, the dozen years I endured with Walter. Major had always been there, in my dreams. Now I was strong enough to do something about it.

  Tomorrow I had no idea what would happen.

  Major’s breath deepened, and he swallowed hard. He sat up and peeled off his T-shirt, not taking his eyes off me as he pushed his pants away from his body.

  I’d only seen Major without his clothes once before, we were about thirteen and we shifted together. I was too busy dying of my own embarrassment to enjoy the view. Even though I covered myself and ran home—only to get my ass beat that day for sneaking out with a wolf boy—I could guarantee that Major looked a hell of a lot better now than he did then.

  If he still suffered any ill effects from his incarceration, I couldn’t see them. A few faint white lines marred his shoulder, scars from claw marks. Otherwise his skin was golden and perfect, muscles rippling along his stomach. A trail of dark hair started at his bellybutton and led me to his shaft, thick and ready. I had to cover my mouth—I didn’t want him to think I was laughing at him. Just the opposite. If I explained that he made Walter’s equipment look like a toy that came with a kid’s meal, Major would find the joke pretty funny, too.

  I lay frozen in the moment, staring at this beautiful man beside me. So much wasted time we could never make up for, and I couldn’t move. Story of my life. Thankfully, Major didn’t suffer from the same problem. He brought his fingers to my bare skin, making slow, lazy circles on my stomach. It was an area I kept covered around Walter. He liked to point out how soft it was, and not in a good way. But when Major touched me, I felt beautiful. He popped open the button of my jeans, unzipping my fly. With a tap he instructed me to lift my hips, then rolled the fabric off. His gaze bathed my body with warm light. He exhaled, running his teeth over his lip. `

  “It’s so good to be with a woman.” Major sighed.

  I laughed. “Is that some secret code for I got fat? You try having a baby. Nothing goes back to where it belongs. Shifting didn’t even fix it.”

  Major narrowed his eyes, crawling up so his face hovered over mine. He put his hand on my chin, so I couldn’t look away from him, even if I wanted to. “That’s the last thing it means. What I meant was, it’s nice to be with someone who wants to be with me, not because they want to tell their girlfriends one of the Lowe brothers brought them to Red Heaven.” He released my chin and brushed the backs of his fingers over the lace of my bra, back and forth lightly over my nipple. “I’m too old for that shit now. I want this to mean something. And as for this body, it’s gorgeous. But I fell in love with you long ago. Your heart and your spirit. The fact that you’re sexy as fuck is a bonus.”

  I laughed again, pulling him back up to my face by his hair. He covered my cheeks in soft kisses before I had a chance to say anything. “You’re sexy as fuck yourself,” I said. “And I love you, too.”

  Our lips tangled together, everything around us so much lighter now that those three words that had hung so desperately between us for our whole lives had been freed. Our love for one another had been shackled, beaten, and left to die. It didn’t stand a chance out in the world, but together tonight, we could nourish it, cradle it betw
een our interlaced fingers, and watch it grow.

  “I love kissing you,” Major said, his lips barely leaving mine. “But I’m dying to taste more than just your lips.”

  He gasped when I pushed him on his back. I straddled him, still in my bra and panties. “Just so you know, Major Lowe, you have some pretty big shoes to fill. I’ve been dreaming of this night my whole life.”

  “Me too.” He played with the edge of my panties. My pussy pulsed with his fingers so close, touching nothing but lace. “Show me what you do when you think of me.”

  “Usually I lay like a dead fish under my husband.”

  Major smirked. “I’ll make you forget that asshole exists. But first I want to see what happens when you’re alone and your mind starts to wander.”

  I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before I reached around and unhooked my bra.

  “No,” Major interrupted. “Eyes on me. When I fantasize about you, your eyes are always on me.”

  Placing the sheer lace over his eyes, I kissed the tip of his nose before sitting back up. A slow circle of my hips, grinding against his erection, ripped a moan from his throat. I put my finger in my mouth and bit it, sucking before pulling it out in a long, wet motion ending in a pop.

  I traced a wet line past my chin, on to my chest, dropping to the line between my breasts. Every part of me was throbbing, yet time stood still when my gaze flicked back to Major’s. He’d pushed the bra aside, lying under me with his mouth open, with a look on his face I’d never seen before. He’d never looked more like a wolf. Lust and awe were powerful things, and they rolled through me like thunder. My nipples ached, begging for my touch. I rolled them between my fingers, circling and pulling them. I couldn’t keep my hips still, rocking back and forth on top of Major. His shaft caught between my legs; hot, delicious heat against the lace, but we’d waited this long, and I wasn’t rushing anything.

  Spreading my fingers wide, I glided my hand down my stomach. For the first time ever, I didn’t feel self-conscious of the swell below my belly button. I dragged my fingers across the lace that covered it, tracing the pattern of the flowers. Dipping lower, I caught the edge of my panties between two fingers. I shoved the fabric aside, exposing my lips. Another grind, skin on skin. We groaned together.

  Major narrowed his eyes when I picked up his hand. First I placed it over my heart, so he could feel it pound. His fingers spread over my breast, and I bowed my head, taking them in to my mouth, sucking the tips before releasing them. Once they were all wet, I guided them down to my pussy, dragging them over my clit.

  I had a pretty good feeling he’d know what to do from there.

  Major wasted no time. I kind of expected him to be gentle, he’d been so sweet since we started talking again. But the rest of me would’ve been disappointed if he’d held back, because the thought of this night was the only thing that got me through all the shit my husband slung at me.

  Major did not disappoint.

  He swirled his fingers around my swollen nub, rolling it hard, then stroking it softly before the pressure started to build. I was more than ready for him to slip his fingers inside me. He curled them forward as his thumb continued making slow circles on my clit. The sensation left me dizzy, breathless. I fell forward, hands on his shoulders. My hair fell in his face, but even in the shadows, our eyes locked. He continued circling and stroking. My hips bucked and my joints liquefied as the first tremor rolled through my body.

  With his free hand, Major pulled my face down to his mouth. “My wallet’s on my nightstand. There’s a condom in there. Can you get it? I’d do it, but then I’d have to stop doing this, and that’s the last thing I want to do.”

  “I don’t think I can move.” I nipped as his neck, feeling wilder than I had when I shifted.

  “If you want me to fuck you, Cass, you’ll figure it out.”

  With his finger still inside me, and my body pulsing wildly, I crawled to the edge of the bed. I dropped the wallet on the floor, but managed to get the condom out first.

  Major shook his head when I handed it to him. “You do it.”

  He wasn’t inside me anymore, but I still couldn’t concentrate. He’d clasped his shaft, dragging it back and forth along my slit. My brain was short circuiting, and he expected me to be able to rip this stupid foil packet open? Yeah, right.

  The condom popped out and landed on his stomach. I fumbled the thing like a frigging school girl. Again Major shook his head when I tried to hand it to him. “I said I wanted you to do it.” His words were a growl. I was going to come all over his cock if he kept this up. “This is my fantasy. You roll the rubber down on my dick, and then I’ll show you the rest.”

  Once he stopped moving, I grabbed his shaft. If he thought I was just going to follow instructions, he had the wrong girl. I slid back on my knees, pumping his cock in my hand before I licked the tip of it.

  “Fuck.” Major’s head fell back.

  “Eyes on me,” I teased. “Remember? That’s your fantasy.”

  It was mine, too.

  I took as much of him into my mouth as I could, cupping his balls as I sucked. Major writhed underneath me. I clamped down hard with my tongue, then licked just under the tip. My fingers worked in tandem with my tongue, until Major grabbed me by the hair, pulling me away from my new favorite toy.

  “Cass,” he pleaded. “That’s amazing, but you have to put the condom on me.”

  “I don’t think I heard the magic word.”

  “Now.”

  It wasn’t the one I had in mind, but it would do. I rolled the latex down over him, giving a couple extra strokes to make sure everything was in place. I licked his balls before he hooked his hands under my arms and pulled me back to kneeling position. He moved me like the rag doll I was—it took everything I had to stay upright when he let me go, only to clasp my hips.

  Major stopped. His cock bumped against my opening. “Look at me, Cass.” He pushed up inside me, and my mouth fell open. We’d always been one soul, separated, and now we were one in every way possible. He pulled me down into the sweetest kiss. “Thank you,” he murmured against my cheek.

  I shook my head. There were no words. I could barely think as he started moving inside me. Long strokes, slow at first, building as he found his rhythm. My body came alive moving with his, circling, teasing, and meeting him thrust for beautiful fucking thrust.

  Never had I felt so alive, so much like a woman, as I did with Major pounding against me. The waves of my orgasm couldn’t be stopped now. I collapsed, but Major didn’t miss a beat. He rolled me over on my side, hooking my leg over his body, sliding right back in like he belonged there.

  And he was right.

  Eye to eye, our bodies slicked with sweat, Major caught my lips as I cried out. He rode my orgasm with me, kissing me the entire time. I loved the ones that didn’t quite connect the best—on my chin, cheeks, and even my nose. He swelled inside me, his rhythm quieting with his hot release.

  We lay there together, not saying a word, fingers trailing over each other’s bodies, for a long time. Too long. If only I could figure out a way to make time stop.

  “I can’t believe I have to leave you.” My words shook as hard as the rest of my body. But he’d made good on his promise. I had no idea what waited for me at home, but nothing Walter could do would take this night away from me.

  Major cradled my face in his hands, planting a kiss on my forehead. “For tonight. That’s all. You’re always with me.” He picked up my hand and placed it over his heart.

  Chapter Nine

  Major

  “Stay with me,” I said as I watched Cass get dressed. She was like a vacuum—she’d take my whole world with her when she left.

  Cass blinked rapidly. She sat on the edge of my bed, hair wild, my scent clinging to her. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “You can.” It was going to kill me to watch her walk out that door, sending her home to Walter to do God knows what. I should’ve never touched her w
hile her husband was still alive.

  Stupid bastard. He should be worshiping this incredible woman, instead of treating her as a second class citizen. Shadow didn’t want a class war, but if we were to have any classes at all, it was unavoidable.

  “I have no choice. If it were just me, I’d say screw all of this. Just like when we were kids and we talked about running away. But we’re not kids anymore, Major. I have a kid. I don’t want Emma to grow up and have my life, I have to keep her safe. Even though I’d love for us to be a family,” her voice broke, “the reality is I have to go back to that house and be a voice for her. Figure out how to get her out of this mess. One wrong turn and Walter will make sure I never see my daughter again.”

  It ripped me in two. The wrong answer was the right thing to do. We’d been selfish tonight, not to mention fucking stupid. Walter would use everything at his disposal as a weapon, especially his daughter. “You always have a fucking choice. With me, at least.” I sat up and gripped her arm. “Remember that.”

  There was no staying away from her now. My wolf awakened, and I had no idea it had been slumbering. These emotions were so much more intense than the wild, unleashed ones that always brewed in me. Cass completed me in a way no human woman ever could. Before I thought lust fueled my mission, our magnetic attraction, but now I knew why wolves mated for life.

  No more of this sold off to the highest bidder bullshit. We were meant to choose our mates. So many of the arranged ones seemed happy, and good for them. Maybe they were in love. Or maybe they didn’t know any better.

  Now that I’d been with Cass, I did. And nothing would keep us apart.

  **

  “Oh, honey, she’s beautiful.” Renee ran her hand over the body of the motorcycle, straddling the seat. She batted her lashes at her husband, Mike. “How do I look?”

  “Hot, as always,” Mike answered before devouring her in a kiss.

  “I didn’t know you guys liked to ride.” I’d been surprised to see Cass’s best friend and her husband waiting for me outside the shop this morning. He’d custom ordered two bikes, sparing no expense. These bikes were nicer than the one I always used. I had several, but my first was still my favorite. Of course, I’d been working on it for years, adding things and refinishing when I wanted a change. I loved it and we’d been through a lot together.