We moved a little deeper into the copse to stay out of sight, but with no supplies to make our stay more comfortable we were forced to hunker down in the growing darkness as the moon came up. We kept our distance from one another, neither of us speaking as we waited, eyes open and ears alert for the signs of other wolves approaching, friends or foes.
After a few minutes Thorne slipped behind a tree, his shoulder and arm just visible as he sat down and reached for his back pocket. I heard the faintest crumple of paper, and realised he was reading whatever he'd found in the box back in the den. Why was he so intent on hiding it from me? I tried to distract myself by plucking the leaves off a fallen twig, but every time Thorne shifted his position or made a sound my eyes were immediately drawn back to him, my curiosity returning, along with my frustration, my exhaustion... and my instinct.
I couldn't take it any longer. Snapping the twig in half, I climbed to my feet and marched over, leaning around the tree just as Thorne folded up his reading material again to hide it from view.
"What is that?" I demanded.
He paused, looking up at me impatiently before answering. "Letters. They're private."
"Letters from who?"
"I said they're private." Thorne stood up, towering over me now as he returned my glare.
"You got them from that box in the den, didn't you?"
He pressed his lips together, remaining silent.
"Is that why you came out with me in the first place?" I said hotly. "Just so you could have a partner to watch your back while you picked up your mail?"
"Of course it wasn't." The corner of his mouth twitched menacingly, real anger creeping into his voice now. "What's the matter with you? I said it was private, now drop it."
"So private you've kept it hidden from me this whole time? You won't talk to me, you won't make decisions—"
"I tried to talk to you. You were the one who decided to behave like a silly little girl," he growled. "And I've been making the decisions that have kept us safe from those wolves out there—and from each other. Don't pretend I'm being the selfish one here because you don't want to face reality. We can't be together, Lyssa."
"Yes we can! You're just so hung up on— on being safe that you won't even give us a chance!"
"And that's a bad thing, is it?" Thorne moved in close, putting his free hand against the tree trunk, trapping me between the bark and his body.
The anger inside me tingled with furious desire, remembering when Cyan had cornered me in a similar position.
"Do you want me to be like him?" Thorne said, as though reading my thoughts. "Taking whatever I want, whenever I want? Does it bother you that I actually respect other females?"
A surge of inexplicable guilt rushed through me. He was wrong. That wasn't it at all. "Don't you dare," I hissed. "You can be better than Cyan, you just won't let yourself."
A flicker of doubt registered on Thorne's face, and my anger intensified.
Just stop it! I wanted to yell. Just— just...
I moved to the side and snatched the folded letters out of his hand, half a dozen sheets of paper scattering across the ground as I opened the bundle up, darting around the tree as Thorne grabbed at me.
"Lyssa!" he growled, a deep and threatening note in his voice.
My eyes skimmed the hand-written page quickly, my feet stumbling as I tried to stay out of Thorne's reach.
...miss you... it read. ...not your fault...want to see you...
Thorne grabbed me by the shoulder and tore the letter out of my hands, shoving me up against the tree as he snarled furiously.
"Is that from your friend?" I shot at him, struggling to pry his unyielding fingers away from my shoulder.
"Do you really want to do this here, Lyssa? Right now?" He panted, eyes glinting with feral hunger. I slapped him across the cheek, hard, and in an instant he had my wrist pinned against the tree, shoving my body against the bark so suddenly it hurt. His lips locked with mine, kissing me with feverish energy, his tongue pushing, teeth biting, driving me to submit. My instinct was awake and wild, fuelled by my anger and frustration, driving all sense of reason from my mind. I squirmed in Thorne's grip, fighting him, denying him, and was rewarded with the wicked pleasure of his fingers digging in harder, his teeth tugging on my lower lip ravenously as he fought to overwhelm my desire to resist.
"Yes, those letters were from her," he snarled as he broke the kiss, his green eyes burning into mine, barely inches away. "Someone who learned not to do this to me. You have no idea, Lyssa."
"I think I do," I gasped, lunging forward to take his lower lip between mine, sucking furiously for one delicious moment before he pulled back out of reach. "I finally woke up that alpha, didn't I?"
"Oh yes. And you never should have done that." Thorne's eyes glowed with aggression. I'd never seen him like this before, not even in the cave the last time his instinct had taken over. His wolf was in complete control of him now, savage, primal, pushing all of that quiet reserve and consideration to the side. My body simmered with excitement, wanting every bit of it.
He grabbed me by the neck, gripping insistently, possessively, tilting my head back as he brought his lips close to my ear. "You're not Cyan's any more, Lyssa. You're mine."
A gasp of longing escaped my chest, and I pressed my hips forwards, rubbing myself against his muscular body, feeling the intense hardness between his legs. This was the Thorne I'd dreamed about. Taking me, claiming me, making my body his. I didn't care about the danger. My wolf was in control now, and all she cared about was being mated by the most dominant male she'd ever set eyes on. It didn't matter that this was the wrong place, the wrong time, or the wrong way of doing it. All of the tension and pent-up emotion of the last few days was spilling over, and I was lost in the flood.
Thorne wrenched my jacket off my shoulders, throwing his own to the ground before I leapt on him, locking my arms around his neck and grinding my lips against mouth, feeling the scratch of his rough stubble against my chin. With a growl he pushed me back, slamming me against the tree with a hand against my collarbone. His fingertips pressed into my chest hard, his palm flat against my skin and the strap of my tank top. He held me down even as I scratched and clawed at his biceps, raking my nails over the bandage around his upper arm. He didn't even wince, ignoring my passionate struggles completely as he lunged forward to bite my neck, kissing and sucking ravenously as his teeth teased my delicate skin.
Thorne's male scent filled my lungs, the smoky musk of his body overwhelming me as I clutched the back of his neck, groaning as his teeth tightened till it hurt. A sharp stab of pain shot through my left shoulder as he grabbed the strap of my top, ripping the fabric away and snapping it like it was nothing. A fingernail caught against my skin as he tore the strap, leaving a searing scratch all the way from my neck to my shoulder. I gasped in pain and dug my fingers into the back of Thorne's neck harder, relishing the tender sting that only fuelled the fire burning inside my body.
His mouth moved down my neck, nuzzling and growling as he tasted me. It wasn't the slow, deliberate string of kisses that a lover might leave to please his partner, but a hungry, impassioned motion driven by desire. His tongue licked the scent of my body from my skin, his teeth latching on and digging in as he worked his way down to my bare shoulder, filling himself with the taste and smell of the female he craved.
I gasped with desire, my body tensing and straining, yearning to push him for more and yet anxious to give up and submit. Thorne's furious strength was frightening, his grip almost bruising as he clutched my hips, devoid of gentleness and reserve, driven only by his wild, unbridled lust. He spun me around and shoved me forwards, driving a moan from my lungs as he forced me up against the tree, pressing with his hips and chest until every part of me was crushed against the rough bark, my hands clinging to the trunk in desperation.
My knees trembled as the sound of Thorne's panting breath filled my ears, his powerful body encircling me from behind, trapping me,
pinning his female in place so that he could take her. I was ready to be taken, wild for it. My instinct ebbed and surged inside me like a fever dream, letting little glimpses of my human mind shine through every few moments to tinge my desire with anxiety, an intoxicating mix of emotions that only made me want Thorne even more. Everything over the past few days had been building to this moment, and no matter how hard I tried there was no going back now. I knew the relentless drive behind Thorne's actions couldn't be halted. I was committed to this, our passions spiralling out of control as we lost ourselves to our instincts.
His hands went to my hips, dragging down my jeans and underwear in one furious tug without bothering to go for my belt buckle first. The friction of the tight fabric being yanked down my hips left my skin warm and tender, exposing my thighs and sex to the cool night air. I tensed in anticipation as the gentle breeze caressed my wet folds, a disarmingly soothing sensation compared to what I knew was coming. Thorne kept his chest pressed hard against my back, forcing me up against the tree as he freed himself from his jeans, the sharp clink of his belt buckle punctuating the silence for an agonising second before I felt his hardness pushing between my folds. My lover snarled in satisfaction, and his hands flew up to clench over mine, pinning me firmly as he thrust all the way inside with one powerful stroke. I cried out in pain and pleasure as he filled me completely, his length stretching my aching lips and bottoming out against my back wall. He pushed into me again, bending his knees and driving himself upwards so hard that I had to stand on tiptoes to take the fullness of his thrust. I bit my lip, eyes screwed shut, but my cry of discomfort degenerated into lusty moaning as he withdrew and drove himself back into me again, hard and sudden, his friction against my sensitive front wall sending sharp sparks of ecstasy up through my belly.
The roughness was what I wanted. Any domineering partner could sell the fantasy of being the one in control, but this was more than a fantasy. The pain told me I belonged to Thorne, that I was his, and that nothing in the world could change that. It was the most primitive and primal of sensations, something my wolf craved on an instinctive level. It would never be enough for me to have a partner who held himself back. Sooner or later, I needed to feel the forceful passion behind my lover's desires.
My body tensed and shuddered as Thorne drove into me, his thickly muscled chest never letting up against my back for a second, his hands enveloping mine as they kept my palms pressed firmly against the tree. His body felt like it was completely engulfing my smaller frame, pinning me in place with his thighs, his chest, his biceps.
We were so tightly entwined that it was impossible for one of us not to feel every twitch and squirm of the other. Thorne's muscles clenched as he held himself inside me, his breath quickening in response every time I gasped and squeezed around his girth, shudders of ecstasy running down my back and encouraging him to thrust harder. The only sounds we made were breathy exclamations of exertion and pleasure, and they carried the same heated intensity that had boiled over from our argument.
Thorne let out an assertive growl as his hips slapped against my soaking thighs, and I hissed through my teeth at the dull ache of his shaft slamming hard into my deepest places. The adrenaline had turned my pain into ecstasy, my simmering emotions driving me to provoke my mate further, challenge him, dare him to break me. He rose to every disobedient gasp and huff with a primal energy, crushing my body against the bark until it was sore, driving into me with vicious, jarring thrusts until I could barely breathe and my cries were replaced with unintelligible squeaks of desire. His chin was on my shoulder, clamping down as his hips thrust up, trapping me in the vice of his body. I could feel every growl in the back of his throat rumbling against my bare skin, his stubble scratching at my neck and cheek as his mouth panted inches away from my own, perspiration from our tired bodies intermingling to create a slick friction between us.
My defiant little cries began to dim as he drove the will to resist out of me, his relentless stamina going on and on with no signs of stopping. I could feel the churning need for release growing stronger in my belly, overwhelming my urge to fight as pain and pleasure blurred together into a desperate, all-consuming urge. My hard nipples dragged against the bark through the fabric of my top until they were sore and tender, my knees gripping the trunk bruisingly hard, my rear glowing with warmth as Thorne's steely hips slapped into me over and over again. I began to whimper, my back arching as he took me, sticky arousal running down my quivering thighs as my need for release overwhelmed everything else. In that approaching moment of bliss, I finally felt my churning emotions calm as I relented and gave in to my instinct completely. I wasn't thinking about the wolves waiting for us out there, or Cyan and his pack, or whether Thorne and I would still be together tomorrow; all I cared about was the man pinning me against the tree, his hands tight around mine, not with aggression, but passion. His thrusts driving between my tender folds were hard and rough, but they weren't brutal. There was still anger in his actions, in the tension of his body and the shortness of his breath, but there was no malice, no cruelty or desperation. I felt none of the reserve I'd noticed the last time Thorne's instinct took over, but none of the wild, untamed viciousness either. He growled into my ear, his teeth tugging on the lobe firmly, insistently.
"Mmh— Thorne..." I moaned, and his left hand slipped away from mine to curl through my hair, tilting my head towards him until his tongue found my mouth and slipped inside, hot and firm between my lips. A shuddering rush of ecstasy filled my body, my free hand dropping down to clutch Thorne's thigh, my fingernails digging in around his tight muscles as I pulled him into me, my climax boiling over. My cry of release was muffled by his mouth as it bubbled up from deep inside me, my eyes rolling back as I groaned and struggled to control my spasming muscles. My slick walls squeezed hard around his shaft, clenching and massaging every inch of him as he pushed himself all the way in, forcing the intense shivers of pleasure deeper into my belly with every burning stroke. My knees buckled and my hands slipped, but Thorne kept me upright, crushing his powerful chest into my back and forcing me against the trunk as his tongue delved hungrily into my mouth.
My orgasm didn't last long, but it was breathlessly intense, leaving me sensitive and shivering in the afterglow as Thorne's muscles tightened and the possessive growl caught in the back of his throat. He gripped my neck hard, his tongue tensing in my mouth as I felt him twitch inside me, his thrusts becoming quicker, shorter, and then he buried himself deep with a groan, his climax spilling out so powerfully I could feel its warmth deep in my belly. He clung to me so tight it hurt, my neck aching by the time he finally let his hand slip down to my shoulder, releasing me from the crushing embrace.
I slid down the tree with a moan, Thorne moving with me until the pair of us were both curled together on the ground, our tired bodies heaving with exertion in the dappled moonlight. I was sore and hurting, but still very much in one piece. He hadn't gone too far with me. Almost as soon as the elation of knowing I'd been right filled my heart, it was overpowered by a crushing sense of shame and disappointment in myself. This had been stupid. Horribly, childishly reckless.
The tug of my instinct had disappeared, and now that I was thinking clearly I could barely believe how eager I'd been to provoke Thorne, knowing full well what might happen. He had been right to be cautious. His way of doing things had been smart, careful; and the best way of keeping me safe.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered, clinging to Thorne's arm where it lay across my hip. "I never should've... I was being a selfish idiot."
"I know," he breathed in my ear, his voice husky but calm. "You silly, impulsive girl. But you were right."
I shifted position so that I was looking at him, his loose brown hair hanging across his face, skin glistening with perspiration as he gazed back at me.
"You didn't want to hurt me this time, did you?" I said. "Your instinct didn't make you."
"No. It was there, just as strong as ever, but... my wolf knew wher
e the line was. I wanted to make you submit to me, but I knew I didn't have to hurt you to do that. When I stopped trying to fight my instinct, it felt like it stopped trying to fight me back."
I smiled at him, caressing his cheek with my fingertips. "You're not the same person you were when you left the Wood Pack. You've grown since then. I think my wolf could tell, deep down. Sometimes our instincts know better than we do."
Thorne returned the smile, and kissed me softly. It was a true kiss, the first kiss we'd ever shared that hadn't been borne of our instincts running wild. Despite the Mine Pack wolves stalking us in the distance, and the uncertainty about what tomorrow might bring, and the desperate exhaustion gripping my body, I felt safer and more content than I had in days.
"I'm sorry about your letters," I said. "I understand why you didn't want to show them to me. I should never have been so silly about it all."
Thorne sighed, his fingers tracing the scratch he'd left on my shoulder and the broken strap of my tank top. "It's been a tough few days. Come on, we can't sit here all night. It's not safe yet."
We corrected our clothing and Thorne helped me to my feet, tying the ends of my broken strap back together again and helping me on with my jacket. I picked up the crumpled letters I'd snatched from him and pressed them back into his hands, closing my fingers over his as I kissed him. "We don't need to stay with the Wood Pack," I said. "Not any more. We'll be okay by ourselves, we'll find other wolves."
"Maybe." He frowned. "I want to, Lyssa, I really do. But with Cyan out there, and the Mine Pack—"
"You can protect me from them. We could even go back to the city, we'd be safe there. Our instincts wouldn't be a problem now, not if we had each other. We'd be careful."
He paused for a moment, and I could tell from his expression that he was finally daring to believe that he might just be able to have everything he wanted. Maybe for the first time in years. A grin sprang to my lips, daring to hope, too. We could control our instincts. The one thing that had been a weight around my neck ever since becoming a werewolf suddenly seemed so much lighter. If we had each other, there was no need for those animal impulses to overwhelm our human restraint ever again.
Wild Instincts - Complete Edition (Werewolf Erotic Romance) Page 12
