by Woods, Erica
Eyes still closed, I shook my head.
“Hmm.”
That sound . . . it reached into my stomach and yanked. I wanted to gasp, to moan, to say something, but the air had frozen inside me.
No, not frozen, but turned into tingly little whirlwinds that made me feel like I was floating and falling all at once.
Hot breaths tickled at my lips. Mine buzzed with awareness. Then a touch, so slight I barely felt it.
“How about now?”
I shook my head again, and the calloused hand covering my hip squeezed. Once. Just once. But it was enough that my mouth fell open on a gasp, and Jason took full advantage.
He played with me. His tongue thrust into my mouth and ignited a fire he refused to extinguish. Instead, he pulled back, nibbled at my lips, ate my moans, teased my tongue. “And now?” he murmured against my lips, the beginnings of a growl in his words.
“Jason . . .”
“Enough.” That was a growl. A growl with the word buried deep inside. I was flipped around, and Ruarc’s rugged face filled my whole vision.
Hot. His silver eyes were so hot they’d turned liquid.
“Mine.” He took my mouth in a scorching kiss—no, a claiming. I arched my back and wound my hands around his neck, but it wasn’t enough. I pulled at his hair, tried to bring him closer, and he snarled into my mouth.
His hand on my hip grew rough. His movements grew frenzied. He was everywhere, melding our bodies together, engulfing me in his scent, his heat, his fire.
My fingers dug into his back; explored hard, straining muscle and taut lines.
Pulling. Wanting more.
I was out of my mind. And the sensations only grew when I felt lips on my shoulders, trailing up my neck, scraping teeth over my pulse point.
My heart pounded in my chest. Like it was trying to escape. I squeezed my thighs together, the heat becoming unbearable—
The unmistakable sound of bare knuckles meeting wood.
Ruarc froze with one hand at the back of my head, his lips still fused to mine. He pulled away, only an inch, eyes burning.
My heart continued its relentless rhythm.
“Ruarc.” Lucien knocked again, the sound impatient. “Whatever you are doing can wait. Trey needs us.”
Trey? Who was that and couldn’t he wait?
A low chuckle from Jason and a snarl from Ruarc. “Fucking now?”
“Yes, now.” A short pause. “Jason can stay. For the time being.”
Ruarc cursed again and sat up. He glared at Jason. “Better not touch my female while I’m gone.”
“We’re already touching,” Jason replied, a smile in his voice.
“Pup . . .”
Jason nuzzled my neck and my pulse spiked, my eyes drifting closed.
Lucien’s third, aggravated knock was drowned out by Ruarc’s growl. He jumped out of bed, stalked around to Jason’s side, and yanked him off. “She’s not ready. You don’t to push her, you hear me?”
I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs, watching Jason’s grin melt away to be replaced by a strangely somber expression.
“You know I’d never do that.”
Looking only slightly mollified, Ruarc pushed the other male away and motioned me over. A strange, throbbing had taken over my body, and I didn’t hesitate. The minute I stepped into his space, he crushed me to his chest, pressed his lips to the top of my head, and muttered, “Be back as soon as I can.”
I couldn’t wrap my arms all the way around him—he was too big for that—but I did the best I could and squeezed back. “It’s not dangerous, is it?”
He scoffed. “Wouldn’t leave you if it were.”
“Y-you wouldn’t?”
“Course not.” Calloused fingers trailed down my cheek. “Protecting you comes first.”
A sudden, heavy lump settled in the base of my throat, and I couldn’t speak, so I hid my face against Ruarc’s torso and nodded.
Had I ever come first with anyone before?
“Take care of her,” he told Jason while rubbing circles on my back. Then he brushed his lips over my temple, muttered a few words I couldn’t understand, ending with ‘mo chridhe’ and reluctantly stepped away.
The door slammed shut behind him, and the room suddenly felt smaller. Smaller and colder and just a little more empty.
That was, until heat stroked along my back and strong arms snaked around my waist.
“Only you and me now, love.” Jason’s smoky whisper caressed my neck. “You ready to have some fun?”
7
Jason
Convincing our girl to leave the house at night was surprisingly easy. Watching her tip her chin up, close her eyes, and soak in the night sky was surprisingly hard.
She always did that when we were outside. Looked at the sky as though seeing it for the first—or last—time. That look, desolation mixing with joy, was enough to tie my insides into knots.
“Come on, love,” I said after giving her as much time as my aching heart could survive. Forcing a cheer I didn’t feel, I tried to banish the images that snuck into my mind like the ethereal wisps of old—existing neither in this world or the other, but somewhere in between.
It was no use.
I saw her, as clearly as I did now, alone and abandoned to a horrible fate. I saw her, my Hope, with those bruised, hopeless eyes she’d set upon us when we’d first met. I saw her, curled up in some dank basement, dirty and desolate and wishing nothing more than to see the stars.
“The lake isn’t far.” It came out rough, like rocks scraping over the mountainside, and I had to clear my throat twice to avoid choking.
This wouldn’t do. This wouldn’t do at all.
I pushed it all away—speculating without knowing the truth would only bring pain—and held out my hand.
She took it right away, so trusting, our girl, and followed me into the dark forest.
I loved being outside at night. I loved the quiet, the stillness that came over nature, the peace. Nature offered a kind of comfort found nowhere else, and I wanted to share that comfort with Hope.
“What are we gonna do by the lake?”
I grinned. “Why, swim, of course.”
Hope stumbled. “Swim? But . . . it’s cold!”
“It’s not that cold.”
“Yes, it is!”
It was so cute how her voice rose and went all shrill. Well, not shrill, but certainly a little squeaky. Like a mouse. A sinfully attractive mouse.
Did that make me a cat?
I hissed in good humor and swept my eyes over her face. Beautiful wide eyes. Rosy cheeks. Strands of silky hair the wind would not stop teasing.
It took everything I had not to lean down and steal a kiss.
“Why did you think I brought a towel?” Said towel was slung over my shoulder.
“I thought it was to sit on. You know . . .” She blushed. “Like last time. Our picnic?”
All my pleasure fled. “This won’t be anything like that.” That time, I’d nearly lost her. She’d been taken because I’d failed to protect her.
With the Assembly looming, will you fail again?
I swatted aside a branch, ignoring the way my stomach hollowed. No point dwelling on it; we’d keep her safe. Through the games and both votes, from the Council and all the lycans that would want to end her, we’d keep her safe.
“I don’t have a bathing suit,” she blurted.
“You don’t need one.”
“But . . . I can’t swim in my clothes.”
“True.” I grinned at the way she wrinkled her nose, trying to figure out what I was up to. It would have been funny if she weren’t so darned adorable. I couldn’t be around this girl without my dick getting hard, and that made walking exceedingly uncomfortable.
“So . . .”
“So,” I repeated, putting my hands on her waist and lifting her over a fallen log. She felt so good. All soft and feminine and warm. I let her slide down my body, enjoying the way her breath
hitched, the way she blinked up at me with her slightly dazed expression.
Then she bit her lip, and I groaned.
“Jason—”
“Come here, love.” I tipped her chin up, allowing myself one taste of her lips. Just one. We didn’t have time for more, and I didn’t want to push her. Not without Ruarc. Not until she was ready.
But fuck, she tasted like ambrosia.
Her lips parted beneath mine, and I couldn’t help myself. I entered.
She kissed with such unbridled, innocent passion. Not an ounce of fakeness existed in this girl. No artifice. She was just there, in the moment, feeling.
A soft moan slipped out of her, and I claimed that moan as my own.
I’d wanted to give her a night of fun. Give her something to look back on with a smile. I wasn’t supposed to seduce her, dammit.
With a groan, I pulled away and kissed my way down her neck. Long and elegant; the skin there tasted like sunshine. Like Hope. Like the best damned thing I’d ever tasted. Except maybe her mouth.
Fuck, if I ever got my mouth between her legs . . .
I’d die.
Another groan tore from my throat and I stepped back to look at her. Swollen lips, eyes closed, breathing ragged.
“Shit!”
Her eyes flew open. “W-what? Was it . . . Did I do something wrong?”
I dragged the back of my hand over my mouth and shook my head. “Nothing wrong, love. Too right. Can’t get enough of you.”
Soft pink spread up her neck and pooled in her cheeks.
I wanted to lick them.
What the fuck, Jason? You can’t lick her face.
“Oh,” she said, and it sounded like a moan.
My dick pulsed and I squashed the urge to slap it. Hope would think I’d gone insane. Not to mention, it would hurt. Though it deserved some pain, the fucker, for not letting me enjoy a peaceful midnight stroll with my girl without pushing so hard against my jeans I’d be left with a permanent imprint of my zipper.
Bad night to not wear underwear.
Entwining our hands and pretending I wasn’t chafing in places a male should never chafe, I dragged her forward. “Never mind me, love. Tonight is about having fun. Not that kind of fun,” I hurried to add. Last thing I wanted was for her to feel pressured. Smiles were what I was after. Maybe a giggle or two. Or three. Some carefree laughter and shining eyes free of nightmares.
And no more kisses.
Not. A. Single. One.
Her scent, warm and sweet and utterly indescribable, lingered in my nose.
I was so screwed.
Luckily for my dwindling sanity, the lake came into view only a couple minutes later.
“Is that it?” Hope tipped her head to the side, revealing smooth skin and a fluttering pulse.
I was a beast. That was the only explanation for why the sight made me go from hard to diamonds-couldn’t-cut-this hard. It was only a neck, for the love of god!
“You’re killing me, love.”
Her gaze shot to me, eyes widening. “What do you mean?”
“Just that you need to have more fun.” I purposely widened my eyes to match hers—trying to look innocent and not like the besotted idiot that I was. “You have the prettiest smile. Can you blame a male for wanting it to be a permanent fixture?”
She ducked her head, but not before I caught a glimpse of one of those shy smiles I’d come to love. “You make me smile,” she murmured.
I brought her hand to my heart. “Ah, my lifework is complete.”
She shook her head. “Jason . . .”
“Hope.” I pulled her closer to the lake—though to call it a lake might have been an exaggeration. It was more of a swimming hole. But calling it a hole didn’t seem very romantic. Skinny-dipping in a lake sounded exciting. Thrilling.
Skinny-dipping in a hole just sounded dirty.
“I’d have taken you back to the waterfall,” I began, drawing her close, unable to resist the bare expanse of skin at her neck and brushing my lips over the tasty smoothness, “but it’s too far. With the Strays—” I cut off before I could ruin the moment with fear. “This is better. And it’s safe, I promise.”
She turned in my arms, looking up at me with her heart in her eyes. “You didn’t mean it, did you? The swimming thing?”
That look . . . It made me ache.
“I did.” I cupped her cheek, brushed my thumb over her bottom lip. Indentations from her teeth marked the soft flesh. “But I’d never make you do something you didn’t want, you know that, right?”
“Jason, I . . .” Her face was pale, her lip trembled. When she spoke again, it was on a shamed whisper. “I can’t swim.”
“You can’t swim?”
She shook her head, refusing to look at me.
Something hot and ugly and so damned strong it threatened to tear out of me formed a burning fist in my chest. She couldn’t swim. She couldn’t swim, and it shamed her. The bitter scent of that particular emotion only appeared when she thought about her past, about the unknowns she’d suffered.
What other innocent joys had her tormentors stolen?
My teeth ground together. “I’ll teach you.”
Her head flew up so fast she almost bashed it into my chin. It would’ve been my fault—I was standing with my arms around her, dipping my head to draw in her scent, to keep her near, to protect her.
“But . . .”
I banished the rage I felt at her abusers to a dark corner of my mind. No point dwelling on the past when I could make her happy in the present. “No buts, sweetheart.” I grinned, made myself remember why I was there, what I wanted. “It’s time you experienced a teenage girl’s dream.”
“What’s that?”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Skinny-dipping with the hottest guy in school.”
For a moment, it looked like she’d pass out. But my girl was made of stronger stuff than that. She might have looked shocked, but her voice was clear when she said, “We’re not in school, Jason.”
I shrugged. “Hottest guy in school, hottest guy in the house. All the same.”
Soft lips pursed, she started to shake her head, and then she burst out laughing. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I do my best, love. Now, stop stalling and take off those clothes.”
It took quite a while to convince my little human to join me in the hole—err, lake. She wanted to, I could see it in the way her eyes kept flicking toward the water, but she was nervous. Not scared, just nervous. After several minutes of back and forth—no, taking off our clothes outside was perfectly okay, and no, she didn’t have to feel shy, it was dark and we would be covered by the water—she finally caved.
I had to promise again not to look. A promise I kept, to my dick’s great dismay. I had to get into the water before her so I could keep her from drowning when she got in—her words, not mine. And I had to wait several, torturous moments with my back turned while I listened to her gasp, moan, and squeak as she tried to slowly—too slowly—lower herself into the water.
Meanwhile, all I could think about was the vast expanse of bare skin glistening under the soft light of the moon.
I groaned, silently thanking the gods that the water was cold enough to keep things mostly shriveled. Sort of. Fine, not shriveled at all, but mind over matter, right?
Gods, when did I turn into this lecherous, unruly beast?
“You ready, love?” I asked, and if my voice was husky and tinged with images of my female writhing beneath me, then so be it.
“A-almost.”
The chattering of her teeth proved to be my breaking point. I turned around, eyes closed, ignoring her shriek of protest, wrapped my arms around her waist—very, very careful not to touch anything I wasn’t supposed to—and threw myself back until the water reached my neck. My toes still touched the ground, but Hope was too short. In her panic—or maybe because she was cold—she wrapped her legs around me and pressed close.
“J-Jason it’s c-cold!”
/>
She shouldn’t have done that. She really shouldn’t have done that.
“J-Jason?”
That . . . that spot I couldn’t even name in my own head for fear of losing all control rubbed against my stomach. She probably wasn’t aware of what she was doing; lost in these new sensations, her worry about drowning—which was bloody ridiculous, as if I’d ever put her in any danger—and the amazement of being nearly weightless. Though, her death grip on my neck kind of ruined that last part.
“Just . . . give me a moment, love.”
“A-are y-you o-okay?” she said through teeth that clattered around in her head like loose change.
She was cold. My female was cold.
Doubt hit me hard. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Could she get sick? I didn’t know that much about humans; it’d been too long since I lived among them, and even when I had, no one had cared if I got sick. It wasn’t as though my mom would’ve wasted any money on medicine for me, not when everything she possessed went into feeding her demons.
My arms went around Hope’s back, our fronts glued together. I ignored the way her breasts pressed against me, and Hope was too preoccupied to notice. She had never been naked with me before, only with Ruarc, and I’d thought this would be a good way to start. Fun, light, no pressure. And we wouldn’t see each other either, only feel.
It seemed to have worked, but maybe not in the way I’d wanted.
She shivered.
No, definitely not in the way I’d wanted.
“Let’s go,” I said, and started wading back to the shore.
“W-wait.”
“You’re cold, love. This was a bad idea.” Why couldn’t I do shit right?
“N-no, I’m f-f-fine. I’m fine,” she said again, stronger this time. Her hand went to the back of my head, fingers fiddling with the hair there, never knowing how much that show of casual affection meant to me. “I w-want to learn, J-Jason. Please? Just don’t look,” she added, blushing so bright a small smile forced its way to my face.
I rubbed it against her cheek. “Don’t want you to get sick.”
“I’ve never been sick a day in my l-life. I doubt a little c-cold will do it. And s-see, I’m getting better.”
