by Bree Younger
“No.” He heard her whispered agreement before she turned around to face him. “No, probably not.” She lifted her face, offering her lips to him.
He told himself that he should back off. That she had no idea what he was like, what he might expect of her. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to explore every inch of her slender body, to find out all the secrets that were concealed beneath her clothes. He knew he was taking a fucking huge risk here. She didn’t know him, barely trusted him. And he still wasn’t one hundred percent sure he trusted her. Still…he couldn’t resist her.
His gaze focused on her trembling mouth as he bent closer, moving slowly to give her every opportunity to pull away. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and he slid his tongue across her lower lip, relishing the taste of her. She was delicious. Somehow he’d known she would be. He moved his hands to her shoulders, trailing them down her arms as his mouth parted hers and he slid inside. He encircled her wrists, pushing them behind her and arching her body into his. His cock nestled into her soft belly.
He explored her mouth, searching out every hidden, dark corner and claiming it for his own. She moaned as he tore his mouth from hers and kissed his way down her neck and across her delicate collarbone. He needed to touch her everywhere. Transferring both wrists to his left hand, he burrowed his hand back under her shirt, pushing it up until he cupped her breast. It was small and delicate under his fingers. Peeling the lace cup of her bra aside, he claimed her nipple, rolling it between his fingers. He pulled back and looked at his hand as he stroked her until she’d tightened into a stiff peak. She was small but perfectly formed, her nipple a dark pink that reminded him of a delicate rose.
“Hawk, please.”
Unable to resist, he took that tip into his mouth and sucked. He heard her moan his name as he drew the nipple between his teeth to nip lightly. The sweet smell of her arousal drifted up to him, and he worked his hand down to the front of her pants, unfastening them and sliding his fingers inside. The moist folds of her pussy parted at his insistent touch, and he wedged his fingers deep inside her. She cried out and arched upward.
“Fuck, yeah. That’s beautiful, Claire. You like that, don’t you?” He dragged his fingers out and pressed back in, and he felt her as she struggled to free her hands from the tight clasp of his. “Be still, Claire. Don’t move, and I promise you’ll get what you want.”
She froze. Damn, this might be a mistake, but he wouldn’t have missed it for anything. She was so fucking responsive. He brushed a finger across her clit, and she whimpered, rocking against his hand. “Please. More.” She was wet but so tight. He’d have to work to get his cock inside her, but it would be worth it. He could just imagine the tight clasp of her pussy around him. She’d be tight as a fucking fist.
“Move your hand.”
He responded, “Don’t tell me what to do, Claire. I’m in charge here.”
She just moaned again when he stopped the motion of his fingers.
“Don’t stop. I want to come.”
“Do you? Beg me, Claire. Beg me, and I’ll let you come.”
Her harsh breaths heated his face. “Please. Oh, please, I’m begging you, Hawk. Anything you want. Just please, let me come.”
“All right, Claire. All right.” His fingers began working her faster and faster, and her moans became louder. “Come for me.” He pinched her clit between two of his fingers, and she let out a little scream. He took her mouth again in a hard kiss, muffling the sounds she made as she went over the edge. Her cream flooded his hand, and the arousing perfume of her climax scented the air.
He held her as she trembled in the aftermath of her release, his cock stiff and aching. When she had quieted down, he picked her up and carried her down the short hall and into her bedroom. Laying her down on top of the soft, pink comforter, he efficiently stripped her down to her underthings and covered her with the light blanket that had lain at the foot of the bed. She blinked and reached out toward him. He caught her fingers and kissed them before pressing them down onto the bed.
“Go to sleep, Claire.”
“But you didn’t—” She looked down at his lap, where his obvious erection pressed against the zipper of his pants.
“No. That’s not necessary.” He’d taken things farther than he should have already. He wasn’t going to demand more of her tonight than she’d already given so beautifully.
“But—”
“I’ll survive. I promise. Go to sleep. It’s almost morning, and we’ve got a busy night tomorrow.” She blinked up at him drowsily, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl on that bed with her and sink himself into her warm heat, but he knew it was too soon. Hell, he needed to think about what he was doing here. Claire was sweet, too sweet. But he wasn’t, not even close. He hadn’t been sweet in a very, very long time, if ever. And he usually didn’t like women who were. He preferred his sex hard and rough, and the women he took liked that, too. They enjoyed being tied up and fucked any way he wanted it. So what the hell was he doing with Claire?
“Maybe we should talk about—”
“Tomorrow, Claire. Just sleep on things tonight. I promise, we’ll talk later.”
She looked at him for a long moment, and he thought she was going to argue with him. Instead she nodded and finally shut her eyes. He stood and walked to the door, turning off the light and taking one final look at Claire as she lay on the bed, already drifting off to sleep. Damn, she looked so innocent and fragile. He should be shot for the things he wanted to do to her. Shaking his head at his own insanity, he left the apartment, making sure her door was securely locked behind him, and headed home.
Chapter Four
Claire sat stiffly in the front passenger seat of the SUV and snuck surreptitious glances at the stone-faced man seated next to her. Hawk had picked her up just after dusk, efficiently loading her suitcase and laptop before bundling her into the front seat in short order. As soon as he’d pulled the vehicle into traffic, his cell phone had rung, and he had been conversing with the person on the other end of the call ever since. She couldn’t help but feel a little spurt of relief that she didn’t have to talk to Hawk yet. After what had happened between them the night before, she wasn’t exactly sure what to say to him. It was all very awkward, another reminder of how little experience she had with men.
Gazing out the window, she turned her attention to the purpose of their trip. Guiltily she realized that she’d allowed her attraction to Hawk to push her concern for Cassidy into the back of her mind for a while the night before. She needed to focus all her energies on finding her sister and not indulging herself in a sexual fling. Mind made up, she let her thoughts drift to other matters.
At last, Hawk hung up the phone and looked at her with a narrowed gaze.
“Sorry about that. Just some business stuff I had to deal with. So, how are you doing this evening?”
“Fine. I’m fine.” She couldn’t quite bring herself to meet his eyes, so she focused instead on the view outside the front window, which basically consisted of trees and blacktop.
She heard him sigh and felt embarrassed at her own ineptitude. Then he spoke again. “Good. It shouldn’t take us too long to get to Bienville.”
“Bienville?”
“That’s the name of the community that belongs to the Piney Woods pack. It’s just a little northeast of Biloxi, off Highway 49.”
“Oh. Of course. I knew that. That’s where the werewolves who work at the casino are from. I’ve heard some of them mention it before, but I’ve never been there.”
“I have. Several times. It’s a nice little town. Ricardo Diaz is the pack Alpha for Piney Woods. He makes sure that only pack members settle there. Or people with a close affiliation to the pack.”
She was intrigued enough to forget about how uncomfortable she’d been feeling. “How does that work? Can’t anyone move there who wants to?”
She saw Hawk shake his head. “All of the land is pack owned. If someone decides to move or sell, it just re
verts back to pack ownership. Nothing is ever advertised for sale, and no new businesses are allowed to open that aren’t pack.”
“I see. Do all the pack members in the area live in Bienville?”
“Pretty much. Except for the ones off at school or who have to travel on pack business. It’s safer for them. And they prefer being with their pack. They’re all pretty close knit. Wolves are a very closely bonded group. Unlike vampires or even witches, who tend to be a lot more solitary.”
“Seems like that would make things difficult depending on what you wanted to do for a career.”
She darted a look over and saw him nod. “That’s one reason why the pack is so grateful to the Buchanans for offering the weres the chance to work in the casino or the hotel. And there are occasionally pack members who petition to move either temporarily or permanently to another pack if there is a job they are interested in or if they meet someone who lives somewhere else and want to be with them.”
“I guess I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to werewolves. I’ve spent most of the last several months concentrating on learning all I can about vampires. Is there anything I should know before we get there?”
“Nah. They’re pretty easygoing. The main thing to remember is that Diaz has the final say in all matters pertaining to his pack. He gets advice from the Elders of the pack, but his is the deciding word.”
“In other words, if he had decided he didn’t want me to see this woman, that would have been it?”
“Pretty much. But luckily Diaz is a reasonable Alpha, and as long as the woman was agreeable, he didn’t see that it would do any harm. That’s not always the case. There are some pack Alphas who can be real hard-asses and want no outside contact beyond what is absolutely necessary. Quinn and Ty have been working hard to establish good relations with Diaz and the Piney Woods pack. They believe that we can no longer afford to keep ourselves so insular. A good example of that is this bloodslaves business. Not enough people were sharing valuable information so we could connect the dots.”
“I guess I really owe a lot to the Buchanans.”
“Yeah, you really do.”
“Maybe I’ll be able to thank them in person when this is all over with.”
“I’ll see what I can arrange.” He shot her a slight smile, and her heart stuttered. If she’d thought he was attractive before, he was even more so when he smiled. Confused at her reaction to him, she quickly changed the subject.
“How will I be able to talk to this female werewolf? I understand that she doesn’t speak English.”
“She speaks a little, according to Diaz. And luckily they were able to find a translator from another pack who has come to stay temporarily and help the woman improve her English language skills.”
“I just hope that she’ll be able to help me find Cassidy. I’m running out of ideas. I have to find her, Hawk. I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t save her.”
“Let’s take this one step at a time, okay? Don’t get too worried if she doesn’t know anything that can help us. There are still other options on the table. Remember that.”
Silence fell again, only this time it was a much more comfortable one. Claire drifted into deep thought, wondering again what, if anything, the woman would be able to tell them. She didn’t dare hope that the woman would know exactly where to find Cassidy, but maybe she could put them on the right track.
A few miles later Hawk turned his blinker on, and they left the main highway to turn onto a narrower two-lane road. A mile or so down and she saw the sign for the Bienville community. Another turn onto an even narrower road, and it wasn’t long before Claire was able to make out the distant lights of some buildings slowly coming into view.
In no time at all, they were passing businesses in what looked to be the main street of the town. Claire spotted a small grocery store, a Laundromat, a hardware store, and a gas station along with a few other small businesses she couldn’t quite identify. It seemed to Claire that the town must be pretty self-sufficient. Hawk took a right-hand turn and entered what looked like a residential neighborhood. They finally turned down a long, twisting driveway which ended at a large two-story, white house. It had a huge wraparound porch that was filled with chairs and swings. Several cars were parked haphazardly around the driveway. She cast a quizzical look toward Hawk, who smiled reassuringly before pulling in beside an old pickup truck.
“This is Diaz’s home. Apparently he thought it would make the woman we’ve come to see more comfortable if we kept this as casual as possible. If I had to guess, I’d say that he’s got most of his hierarchy here with him.”
“Hierarchy?” She didn’t think she’d heard the term before.
“That means his Beta and the others who are part of his inner circle. They are his most trusted pack members and guards.”
She nodded. “I see.”
“Don’t let it worry you. It’s more protocol rather than any lack of trust. Any time they have non-pack members on pack land, they make sure that the Alpha is protected. He is the glue that holds his pack together, and they don’t want to risk losing him. Things were pretty bad here before Diaz took over.”
“How long has he been their Alpha?”
“Only a couple of years. Hammonds, the Alpha before Diaz, was a mean sonofabitch. Diaz challenged him and killed him to become the new Alpha.”
“Killed him?” Claire was shocked.
Hawk nodded. “That’s the way it’s done in the werewolf packs. Pretty savage, I know, but it seems to work for them. Anyway, Hammonds still has a few followers that harass the pack from time to time, and they would like nothing better than to have the opportunity to get rid of Diaz. So they have to be on the lookout for any possible danger.”
She smiled weakly, not wanting him to see just how intimidating she found the idea of being surrounded by a room full of badass werewolves who thought killing their leader was just another day in the pack. “Sure. I am pretty dangerous.”
He let out a short bark of laughter. “Well, you are a vampire. You could drink his blood and drain him dry if you caught him by surprise.”
She grinned. “True.”
“Like I said, Quinn and Ty have worked really hard to have a good relationship with the weres, but it’s still a pretty new thing. It will take time for the werewolves to feel comfortable having a vamp on their land. So just try not to take it personally.”
Taking a deep breath, she unfastened her seat belt. “Okay, let’s get this done.”
After they got out of the SUV, they headed toward the front door. She felt Hawk’s hand come out to rest in the middle of her back and found herself comforted by the warmth of his touch. It surprised her just how much she was beginning to like him.
They knocked on the door, and almost immediately it opened to reveal a very large, very good-looking mountain of a man. His face was the color of milk chocolate, and his eyes were a melting brown. His looked them both over sharply before nodding briefly at her companion. “Hawk. Come on in. The Alpha is expecting you.”
The two men shook hands and then turned their eyes on her. The werewolf raised an eyebrow in question, and Hawk quickly performed the introduction. “Aaron, I’d like you to meet Claire Landry. Claire, this is Aaron Jenner. He’s the Beta for Piney Woods pack.”
Claire held out her hand, and it was enfolded in both of the Beta’s. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Jenner.”
“Oh, no, sweetheart. You can call me Aaron.” His eyes sparkled as he sent her a flirtatious smile. Claire got the impression that, though Aaron seemed good-natured and fun, he didn’t let anything get past him.
Hawk shook his head. “Back it up, loverboy. Claire’s not here to play with you. Besides, she’s taken.” Then he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against his body.
Claire sent him a surprised look, and Aaron laughed. “Gotcha, man. I’m not one for poaching another man’s woman.” He met Claire’s eyes. “But you decide this ugly vamp’s too tame for you, jus
t let me know. You hear? Once you’ve gone were, you’ll never go back.” He winked and chuckled when Hawk frowned at him. “Come on this way. The Alpha’s waiting for you both in the den.”
Hawk and Claire followed him down a short hallway that opened up into a huge room scattered with two large sofas and several overstuffed chairs. Filling all that furniture were some of the biggest men Claire had ever seen. None had quite the bulk that Aaron had, but she imagined they were all well over six feet. Though they seemed to be casually conversing, she got the feeling that these men never relaxed completely. Their eyes were constantly moving, assessing any possible threat to their Alpha. If Hawk hadn’t been with her, Claire would probably have turned tail and run just as fast as her vamp speed would take her in the opposite direction.
Ricardo Diaz sat in a chair directly opposite the doorway they’d entered through and stood as soon as they walked in. There was no doubt in Claire’s mind who he was. An aura of command hung over the man like a mantle. Easily as tall as his men, he had brown eyes and dark-blond hair, which surprised Claire, who had assumed, apparently erroneously, that he would have brown hair because of his Hispanic name. He studied her carefully before offering a small smile and turning his attention to her companion.
“Hawk.” The Alpha stepped forward and held out his hand. “How the hell are you?”
Hawk responded, shaking the were’s hand. They chatted briefly about the Buchanans. Once they’d finished their greetings, the Alpha looked at Claire. “And you must be Miss Landry. Welcome to Bienville.”
“Please, call me Claire.” She offered her hand.
“And I’m Ric.” Her hand was enveloped in his for a short moment before it was released. Claire got the impression of velvet over steel. “Come sit down.” He gestured toward an empty love seat, and she and Hawk quickly took a seat. He introduced his men, and they all nodded briefly as their names were called. Claire knew she’d never keep them all straight. Diaz then asked, “Would you like some refreshments? We do keep a supply of bottled blood on hand for our vampire visitors.”
