He squeezed her tighter against him and kissed her forehead. “I’m fine though.”
“Yes, you made it through this one. Next time, you might not.”
“I doubt I’m in any kind of danger. I’m meant to go through it.” Then it dawned on Ryder why Wren would be so uneasy with it all. “It’s because of your mom. She was mortal and died from an incurable illness.”
“Yes.” Wren looked down and played with the tie on his pajama bottoms. “What you don’t know is I was her primary caregiver. I did everything for her when she no longer could for herself, right up to the end.” She paused. “Seeing you lying there on the bed, not responding to anything, brought back all the memories of what my mother had endured. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”
Ryder scooped Wren up in his arms and placed her on his lap. “What is happening to me isn’t caused by cancer. It’s supernatural. My ancestor is waking up my dormant powers. Instead of growing into them, as I did with what I had before, it’s coming awake suddenly. It will have some side effects, but it won’t kill me. You said so yourself last night that you ‘saw’ me with my full powers. That means I’ll be fine.”
Wren met his gaze. “And us? Are we going to be fine as well?”
He let Wren change the subject. It was obviously something she’d remain uncomfortable with. “I’m not going to lie. I didn’t think we could be together, even after I gained my full powers. I was afraid I could hurt you if I got caught up in the moment, let my guard down and ended up striking out at you. But after what you did, I don’t think that way anymore. You have some kind of sway over me. A simple touch and you reinforced my control.”
Wren shifted so she straddled his lap, facing him. She put her arms around his neck. “That makes me happy because I wouldn’t have let you walk away from me anyway.”
She lowered her head and kissed him. Ryder soon took control, once again getting caught up with the arousal that pounded through his body. His cock hardened, rising between his and Wren’s bodies. She dropped a hand to it and stroked it through the material of his pajama bottoms. He groaned.
Ryder stopped Wren after a minute more. He would be pushing it if he let her continue for much longer. He broke away from her mouth and tugged her hand off him. “Enough,” he said as he fought to catch his breath. “We can’t.”
“But you didn’t get to finish in your dream.”
“And I’ll have to wait for another one before I can.” Not wanting to test the limits of his restraint, Ryder set Wren onto the bed next to him and then climbed out. “I’m going for a quick shower, then we can get something to eat.”
“Fine, I’ll behave. Don’t take too long.”
Ryder grabbed some clean clothes before he headed for the bathroom. Night couldn’t come fast enough. He ached to have Wren naked and aroused in his arms once more. He hoped like hell his ancestor didn’t interrupt them and cock block him again. Once was more than enough.
Chapter Five
Wren thought the day couldn’t drag on any longer than it already had. She couldn’t wait to go to bed and meet Ryder in his dream. Now that they had established there was something between them, she craved more of him. It drove her a little crazy that she couldn’t do anything but hug and kiss him in the real world. And from the heated looks he gave her when no one was watching, he had to be feeling just as frustrated as she.
Brice came by, wanting to talk to Edensaw and Ryder. Wren would have left the living room when the men came in to sit down, but Ryder sat next to her and held her hand, preventing her from getting up. The local pack leader noticed and sent her a smile. Brice had come by the house often enough to know she’d set her sights on the sentinels’ shaman.
“So what is it you want to discuss?” Edensaw asked Brice.
“I think I’m going to have to do something about Greg and Tanner’s brother Drew. I can’t keep them imprisoned forever. For one thing, they’re immortal. Plus, they’re getting very restless all of a sudden. I don’t like it.”
“What would you like us to do?”
Brice looked at Ryder. “This is where I’m hoping you can be of help, Ryder. You were able to remove the darkness from Kajakti when Andre used that spell on him, can’t you do that for Greg and Drew?”
Ryder shook his head. “The counterspell I used won’t work on them. They were turned whereas Kajakti was only spelled with dark magic.”
“Can you come up with a new one that will work on them? Once they’re no longer dark wolves, I can free them. Drew was never really bad. As for Greg, I doubt he would have stolen his brother’s mate if he hadn’t been turned dark.”
“Before today, I would have said I couldn’t, but now it might be possible.”
Brice perked up. “You’ve finally come into your full powers.”
“Not all of them. I went through the first stage this morning. I’m a lot stronger than I was. Give me a couple of days to go through all the new information I was given that went along with the power increase. I should hopefully come up with something to remove the dark magic.”
“If it does work, it gives me hope you’ll be able to do the same for Tad and Lara once we find them. I feel I let them down since I wasn’t able to stop Tanner from turning them into dark wolves.”
Wren had heard the story about the mated pair from Brice’s pack, how Tanner had used Lara to lure her mate to him, then turned them both. The wolf brothers had done their best to rescue Tad and Lara, but Tanner had used a spell to hide his and his pack’s presence, along with the newest dark wolves, and had escaped.
Ryder nodded. “That will be the next thing I do—try to locate Tanner’s hideout. He’s using his dark magic to keep it from me.”
Brice stood. “If you do find it, you’ll have me and some of my strongest men from my pack at your back. It’s time Tanner and his dark wolves were put down. Permanently. I should go. I had to do some errands before I came here. If I don’t get back to Marta before we start to feel the separation anxiety, she’ll take her displeasure out on my butt.”
“Leaving already?” Cassidy asked as she came into the room with Wyatt in her arms.
Brice smiled and nodded. “Yes, sorry. But I have enough time to give Wyatt a little cuddle before I go.”
Wren watched the large pack leader handle the baby expertly as he held Wyatt in the crook of his arm and gave him a big kiss. Since joining the sentinels’ pack, she had come to learn children inside a werewolf pack were protected and loved by all its members. Even though they weren’t part of Brice’s pack, he considered them like family since he was descended from Ketah. So in a way they were. Wren was descended from Wachei. That made the wolf brother and his mate Eryn technically her grandparents, though many generations removed, at least from Wachei’s standpoint. Eryn had already made it very clear she in no way wanted Wren to call her “grandma”.
Once Brice had his cuddle with the baby, he passed Wyatt back to Cassidy, then left with the promise to call Ryder in a couple of days.
Cassidy looked at her mate. “We’re getting short on diapers and baby wipes. You said you’d go to the store with me.”
Edensaw nodded. “Of course. Do you want to take Wyatt with us or leave him at home?”
Wren quickly spoke up. “Ryder and I can watch him if you want.”
Cassidy smiled. “That would be great. Sometimes it’s easier to not take him with us.”
“It’s no problem,” Ryder added. “But if he poops his drawers while you’re out, Wren’s changing it.”
Wren chuckled. “I can manage that.”
“We shouldn’t be very long. If he gets hungry, there’s a bottle in the fridge. I pumped this morning just in case we left Wyatt at home.”
“Go on, we’ll be fine.”
Cassidy handed Wyatt over to Wren and gave him a kiss, as did his father. The couple left the room hand in hand. A few minutes later, Wren heard the front door open and close.
She sat on the couch with the baby held close in her ar
ms. Wyatt smiled up at her. Wren looked at Ryder as he took a seat beside her. “So you won’t change any poopy diapers, huh?”
He grinned. “Not if I can help it. I did one yesterday. It’s your turn.”
“We’ll see. Right now it isn’t an issue.”
They ended up not having Wyatt all to themselves for very long. Eryn and Wachei came into the room and did their best to steal the baby. Then it was the rest of the household’s turn. Wyatt didn’t seem to mind being passed from person to person. He remained all smiles.
* * * * *
That evening, Ryder helped Wren take her belongings from the main floor up to his bedroom. It wasn’t much, basically just her clothes, since she’d sold the furniture she’d owned while living in her apartment with Riya, Capac’s mate. It had only been taking up room in the garage, and she really hadn’t liked the stuff all that much anyway.
It had been Ryder’s suggestion that she officially move into his room. Wren had quickly said yes, barely letting him finish. She’d then sealed the deal with a kiss that had left them breathless and wanting more.
Ryder put her large suitcase on the floor by the dresser. “I emptied a couple of drawers in my dresser for you. We’ll have to get you one of your own.” He motioned to the clothes she carried over her arms. “There’s room in the closet for those as well.”
Wren smiled. “No rush on the dresser. I’ve been living out of a suitcase for months. Actually having a couple of drawers is an improvement.” She walked over to the walk-in closet and hung up her clothes. They’d formerly been taking up residence in the front hall closet.
Ryder stood in the doorway. “You know you brought that on yourself. Meadow and Durlach offered you your own room at their place.”
She turned toward him. “Yes, but if I’d left, you would have managed to push me even further away than you already had.”
He chuckled. “Very true. And here I thought I was doing the right thing when obviously I wasn’t. We’re better together rather than apart.”
Wren finished hanging up her clothes before she took hold of Ryder’s wrist, tugged him inside the closet with her and brought his lips down to hers. She soon found herself wrapped in his embrace as he kissed her senseless. She growled softly and put her arms around his neck, rubbing herself against him. Another growl pushed out of her when she felt his erection pressed between them.
Ryder was the one to end their kiss. He rested his forehead against hers. “This is really killing me. You’re way too tempting.”
She tilted her head back and smiled. “Well, you know how to fix that, right? You have to go to sleep, I’ll come into your dream and we can continue this.”
“Except it’s too early to go to bed. Dinner was only a couple of hours ago. And I doubt I’d be able to fall asleep. I’m not tired yet. I’d just lie there and frustrate myself.”
Wren sighed dramatically and stepped out of his embrace. “I guess we’ll have to wait then. And to make it less frustrating for you, I’ll make sure I don’t touch you until bedtime.”
Ryder did a great imitation of a growl. “Like hell you will.” He yanked her back into his arms. “It might frustrate me, but I like having you touching me.”
He picked her up and carried her to the bed, where he threw her onto the mattress. Wren giggled as she rose to a seated position. “I thought you said it was too early to go to sleep.”
He took a seat next to her. “It is. We’ll have to settle for watching TV to fill up the rest of the time.”
Ryder pushed backward until he was up against the headboard, then lifted his arm for her to slide under it. Wren shifted into position and rested her back against his chest. She breathed in his scent, content to be where she was. Unbeknownst to Ryder, she already thought of him as her mate. Him not being a werewolf, he’d never be able to fully claim her, have the mating bond form between them, but she’d be happy with ordinary mortal marriage vows. Ending up with him as hers was the most important thing.
Wren became caught up in the movie they watched, and didn’t feel as if the time dragged. It was actually really nice to sit there with Ryder, cuddled close. It wasn’t until a yawn snuck up on her that she realized how late it had gotten.
Ryder turned his head to look at her. “I think it’s time we went to bed. What do you think?”
“I’m tired.”
“You can have the bathroom first to change.”
Wren nodded, then slid off the bed. She took out a pair of pajamas from the dresser before she headed out of the room. She understood why Ryder didn’t want her changing in the bedroom. Stripping naked in front of him wouldn’t be very fair of her.
It didn’t take her long to brush her teeth and switch into the clothes she’d sleep in. Ryder was already in his pajama bottoms, once again shirtless. After he went to take his turn in the bathroom, Wren climbed into the bed.
Ryder returned, turned off the lights and slipped under the covers next to her. He rolled toward her and gave her a kiss before lying on his back and taking her hand in his. “Good night, Wren. I’ll see you in my dream.”
“Good night. I’ll be there.”
Wren hadn’t been sure if she’d have a hard time falling asleep. Knowing what she and Ryder would be doing once she was able to get into his dream had her heart beating faster with excitement and anticipation. But she managed to go to sleep in a matter of minutes.
Unlike the night before, there were no scary-looking trees or the four dark wolves. She found herself once again in the wildflower-studded clearing, though. Ryder stood in the middle of it, waiting. Wren smiled and practically ran toward him.
After closing the distance between them, she threw herself into his open arms. His mouth landed on hers as she tilted her head up to his face. Now in Ryder’s dream, Wren didn’t have to hold back. She explored his body as his lips took hers in a carnal kiss.
She ran her hands down his back to his waist. From there she caressed her way to his front. Reaching lower, Wren cupped the front of his jeans. His cock was long and hard and ready to go. Her pussy clenched, wetness pooling as an ache throbbed deep inside it. This time she’d have all of him inside her, taking her until they both came. If Ryder’s ancestor decided to show up, she had no problem telling him to get lost until they were done. Nothing was going to get in the way of her having Ryder.
Ryder pulled away from her mouth on a groan as she stroked his cock through his pants. “That feels so damn good. I waited all day to have your hands on me again.”
“You and me both.” She nipped his chin. “Make us naked, Ryder. I don’t want to wait to get skin-to-skin with you.”
All her clothes vanished in a blink of an eye, as did Ryder’s. It was Wren’s turn to groan at the feel of his nude body pressed against hers. She kissed the hollow of his throat before she started a journey downward that would end with her eye level with his erection.
Wren pressed her lips against each of his defined pecs, then flicked both of his flat nipples with the tip of her tongue. Ryder’s heavy breathing filled her ears as she continued down from the center of his chest to his abs. She breathed in his musky scent, the wolf in her loving the smell of the man she’d chosen for her mate.
She went down on her knees and stared at the part of Ryder she wanted most. His cock stuck out straight from his body and was fully engorged. It jerked, and Wren licked her lips in anticipation of tasting it.
With her gaze locked with his as she looked up at him, she wrapped her fingers around his shaft and gave him a couple of good pumps. Ryder’s mouth fell open on a quiet moan. His hips thrust toward her. She tightened her hold on him and circled the head of his dick with her tongue, all the while still staring at him.
Another groan escaped Ryder, louder than the one before. “Wren, take me inside your mouth. Suck on me.”
In way of reply, Wren parted her lips and took his cock between them. She sucked him back as far as she could, then slowly slid him out until her mouth was only around the flar
ed head. She closed her eyes and stroked the sensitive spot just under it with the flat of her tongue before she took him back inside. Wren continued this slow and steady movement. Ryder’s shaft grew harder, the sounds of pleasure he made ramped up her arousal. Wetness leaked onto her inner thighs. She squeezed her legs together, trying to alleviate some of the ache inside her pussy.
Ryder thrust his cock into her mouth, fucking it. Wren looked up at him briefly to find him intently watching what she did to him. His face wore a mask of pleasure. He breathed harshly, with moans and groans coming every few seconds.
“God, Wren,” Ryder said in a strained voice. “I’m getting too close. You’re going to have to stop or this will be over before it’s begun.”
Ryder would lose his erection if he came in her mouth. She didn’t want that to happen. Unlike male werewolves, who could keep an erection for hours after coming several times, Ryder didn’t have that capability. Not that Wren had any experience with it since she’d only ever been with male mortals.
She released him and stood. “Make love to me, Ryder. I’m more than ready to have you inside me.”
“Your eyes are glowing.”
Of course they were. It was a testament to how turned-on she was. Werewolves’ eyes took on a muted glow when they were very aroused or angry. She was definitely feeling the first one.
“You did that to me,” she said.
Ryder put his arms around her and gently laid her on the soft grass. He settled on top of her, his hips wedged between her spread thighs. Wren moaned as his hard cock brushed against her. He thrust against her, not going inside, wetting his length in her juices. He did it again and again until she begged him to take her.
Wren lifted her hips as he slowly worked his cock deep inside her pussy. He stretched her deliciously, filling her all the way once he was seated to the hilt. She’d lost count of how many times she’d pictured them like this, their bodies joined in the act of love.
He lifted himself onto his bent arms, then pulled back only to thrust deep inside her once more. She squeezed her inner muscles around his plunging cock, increasing both their pleasure. He kissed her, his tongue mimicking what his shaft did to her. She matched his strokes, loving the feel of him taking her over and over again.
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