by Unknown
Blood roared in his ears as she repeated the process over and over. Since he couldn’t take his eyes off of her, his own food laid untouched.
“You not hungry anymore?”
“Not really.”
“That’s too bad. It’s really good.” She licked the last of the sugar from her lips, picked up her cocoa, and lapped at the whipped cream. The damn woman tempted him to his core, which here in public was not the best of ideas.
A low growl sounded from his throat before he could think to stop it, and her gaze shot to his. Questioning him.
“It’s time to go.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Lucas flipped through his wallet, grabbed some bills, and threw more than enough on the table to cover their meal and tip before grabbing her hand and dragging her from the restaurant.
“But I wasn’t finished!” He simply growled in response.
When they stepped outside the diner, Lucas dragged the cool night air into his lungs searching for his control. Only two things could happen right now: shift or fuck. Neither option seemed viable until he noticed the woods across the road. The urge to change and go for a run crawled up his body, taking over and making his skin too tight. He inhaled the clean scent of pine trees, the musky earth, and various small wildlife.
He yearned to run free again. To be at home in his mountains where he didn’t have to watch his back with every move and worry as much about exposing secrets. It had been too long. He crossed the street and headed for the cover of trees and shrubs, away from the busy restaurant and cars.
Without considering the consequences, he allowed the familiar prickling of his skin as the changes rushed across him, fur quickly covering his arms. A branch snapping behind him reverberated through him like a gunshot, startling him back from his selfish thoughts as he realized what he’d almost done. He’d been about to change in front of the enemy. The very thing he’d fought against all these weeks. After taking a few moments to regain control over his traitorous body, he turned to face Kira.
Her eyes were wide and full of questions, yet she said nothing. Did she already know what he was or would it shock her to see him turn into a wild beast? While carefully watching her responses, Lucas motioned behind him. “There’s a pathway across the street. Do you feel up to a short walk in the woods?” Surprisingly, he didn’t smell fear on her at his request, and her heartbeat had only increased a few beats per minute.
“Yes, please. I’m not ready to get back into that car again or go inside anytime soon. I’d love some fresh air. And then I’d like to know what the hell happened back there.”
He snorted. “You like the woods?”
“Grew up in them. There were miles and miles of unspoiled beauty back home I could roam and play in. Loved getting lost so much I took to disappearing for days. Drove my mother berserk.”
His chest clenched at the genuine smile of happiness her memory created. “Where at?” Kira’s smile faded and he realized he’d pushed too far.
“A long way from here.”
He waited for her to reveal more, but her face remained closed. Stepping forward, he gripped her hand and led the way deep into the woods. The instant he touched her a connection sizzled between them, sending heat throughout his limbs. His body reacted, growing taut with desire. Once again the urge to take her in every possible way consumed his thoughts. Time or place no longer mattered. Pure, primal need for her coursed through him.
What is wrong with me? Since when can’t I control myself with a woman? Especially this one.
He knew she’d been sent to draw information from him. Just how far would she go to succeed in her mission?
She was obviously telepathic, what other abilities did she possess? He wanted to focus on the anger those thoughts created, but the animal clawed into his gut to get out when he did. Something he couldn’t allow. So he’d focus on the woman—the sassy woman he’d glimpsed in the diner, the one who spoke of spending her childhood in the woods. Kira abruptly stopped and whirled around to face him.
“You’re wrong about me you know,” she blurted out. “I’m not who you think I am.” Despite the nervous way she bounced from foot to foot, her eyes blazed, daring him to challenge her.
Her lush mouth mesmerized him. Lucas couldn’t focus on what she’d been saying over the roaring rush of blood in his sensitive ears. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. The memory of that tongue pressed to his skin flashed through his mind and his entire body tightened further. He fought the urges until lust seeped from every pore and he snapped.
He grabbed her shoulders and crushed her against his chest.
“What—” Before she could finish, he took her mouth with a rough, demanding kiss. He thrust his tongue past her teeth and devoured her taste, reveling in the silken warmth. Stroking into her heat, he gave up fighting the need anymore. His beast wouldn’t be denied. Lucas wanted her more than his next breath and, by damn, he was going to have her. Now.
* * * *
The hardness of his chest pushed up against her breasts and his heat burned straight through to her skin. She wanted his cock buried deep inside her.
Now.
She grabbed his hair and tried to pull him closer as their kiss became frantic. He bit at her lips then stroked her with his rough, textured tongue. She thought about trying to stop—this was too soon, too fast—but when Lucas lifted her skirt and ripped her panties away from her trembling body, she lost the last of her doubts.
“The scent of your arousal is enough to make a grown man weep and beg. Tell me to stop. Make me believe you’re pussy isn’t dripping wet with need.”
She trembled in his arms. Words couldn’t form so she shook her head instead. Here with the heat of his body pressed against her, a wicked lust visible on his face, she could forget about the future. She needed this pleasure, and when it was over she’d exorcise him from her dreams and be done with him.
Helplessly, with no control to stop herself, she arched her back, urging him on.
“This time it’s not a dream. Are you ready for that?” He moved closer, his teeth grazing her jaw line in the direction of her ear. “You smell wild and sweet, like the mountain forest after a soaking rain. I love the rain.”
He sank two fingers inside her and started pumping in and out with agonizing slowness, driving her mad.
“Akira, baby, I ache for this. I’ve tried to resist but I just can’t. I’ve suffered with the scent of your need filling my head. It’s driving me crazy, but I won’t take you until you tell me.” He hesitated, waiting for her response. He looked into her eyes, demanding her answer.
Hunger raged between then and, when she didn’t answer right away, he thumbed her clit. Her body jolted, arching into his hand, striving to find the hard pressure that would satisfy her ache. He needed to quit toying with her and get on with it already.
Her breath caught in her throat when his fingers hit the sweet spot inside her. “Please, Lucas. Please.” She couldn’t fight, not the pleasure, not him. It consumed her.
“Please what, baby?” He delved further, scissoring to stretch and fill her. They both breathed harder, their pants echoing around them.
On a desperate whimper and breathless cry, she screamed out, “Fuck me, Lucas! Fuck me now!”
With her words, the animal she suspected inside him broke free. He reached down and, in one smooth jerk, ripped her shirt and bra open to bare her breasts and belly to his gaze, then pinched one of her dark, hard nipples. She shrieked, excited by his actions, and her pussy clamped down harder on his fingers.
Common sense fled and she found herself on the verge of a pleasure precipice, and she was afraid he knew it. As he alternately pulled and sucked at her nipples, she began fumbling with his pants in an effort to get his cock free. After a tense, struggling moment, his swollen erection sprang out. She grasped it, marveling at its size and the contrasting sensation of baby soft skin covering hard steel. As long and thick as he was, she understood why he was readying her with
his fingers. So he would fit without hurting her. The ruddy color of his shaft contrasted against his lightly furred, tanned abs. A bead of precum formed at the tip of the purpled head and she longed to take him in her mouth and drive him as crazy as he drove her.
At her touch, Lucas seemed to lose all of his control. Low, loud growls emerged from his throat. He pushed her back against a tree, pushing her skirt farther out of the way, lifting her legs around his waist, and plunged his cock deep into her pussy with one urgent stroke.
Oh, God.
Lucas covered her mouth with his own, muffling her screams and moans, while not moving as her body adjusted to his size. After a moment of stillness, she wrenched her mouth free, gasping for air.
“What are you waiting for?” she cried.
“You’re tighter than I expected, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Fuck that.” She’d crawl out of her skin if he didn’t move. “I need it hard and fast...hurry.”
That was all the encouragement he needed to move. He struggled to pull his entire length back out but her body was too eager and his cock so thick. The pleasure ripples alone were almost more than she could bear. Already the tease of release tugged at her womb, sizzled across her clit.
“Dammit. So fucking tight. You’re going to make me come too fast.”
She wiggled against him wildly when everything exploded, little splinters of light and sensation rushing through her, leaving her breathless. Her nails clawed at his back, sinking deep into his flesh. Ecstasy burned straight through her, filling her, mending pieces of her soul she hadn’t even realized were broken. Until a not so tiny piece of her wanted to admit she did indeed need her mate. A fact she didn’t know how to handle at the moment.
She rode out the orgasm, wrenching every last drop of pleasure. His body tensed, rigid and stiff underneath her arms and legs where she was wrapped around him seconds before he bellowed out his own release. Exhausted and satisfied, she slumped forward against his chest and listened as his wild heartbeat began to slow and finally beat nice and steady.
What am I going to do? He’s my mate.
If she hadn’t been sure before, the tingling and tightening of her birthmark was a dead give away. Until now she’d ignored the sacred mating mark she’d been born with, unwilling to believe she had no control over her fate. God, she didn’t have time to deal with this in her life right now, let alone how he must feel, but without him she’d die. As far as he was concerned, she was just the enemy he wanted to fuck. She doubted he thought anything beyond a whambamthankyouma’am. Yet, he’d taken her with a force and need far more complex than a simple “once is all I need.” What would he think when he found out who and what she was to him? How could he not already know? None of this made sense.
She pushed away her desperate fears and straightened her spine, remembering who she was and her own abilities. Not only could she handle this, but much more if she had to. She did not need a man to complete her.
Lucas withdrew from her and lowered her to her feet, taking an awkward step away from her. “Uhm, it looks like I ruined your clothes.” He avoided her eyes as he spoke, and she’d bet her last dollar he wanted nothing more than to get away from her. She couldn’t blame him. Being alone right now would be a helluva a lot better than this awkward “what now” feeling.
She had to fight the urge to jump when he turned his fiery gold gaze her way. His change in eye color unnerved her. His pupils had dilated enlarging the golden centers and leaving very little of the dominant green hue she’d seen before. Add to that the fact he didn’t look too worried, in fact he looked smug.
“It’s okay. My skirt is fine, and I’ll just tie my shirt together until we get to the car. I have plenty of clothes in the trunk to change into.” She did her best to stand there, head held high, as if it was all no big deal, when inside her stomach churned.
He watched her every move as she gathered herself together. She couldn’t tell whether he wanted to run or go again and the uncertainty left her uneasy. She curled her trembling fingers into the fabric of her shirt, determined to hide her weakness from him.
“Can we go back now? I want to get cleaned up?” Exhaustion began to set in as she pressed a hand over her eyes.
“Yeah, let’s see about finding a motel for the night, so we both can shower and get some sleep.”
* * * *
Kira savored the steamy water rolling over her body. She winced when the heat stung some of the scratches from the tree. The momentary ease had been worth each and every scratch and scrape. Even now she couldn’t get the image of Lucas taking her so frantically and roughly out of her mind. She still felt his lips pressed against her burning skin, tasting and taking whatever he wanted. It had happened as if he needed her, much more than simple want. Yeah right, wishful thinking again. I could never ask him to sacrifice himself to mate with me and save me from the madness. How much longer would she be able to control it? Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against the cool tiles and shut her eyes, reliving the incredible sexual episode they had shared in the woods...
As Lucas pumped his cock into her, he taunted, “Is this what you wanted, whore? Planning to fuck me until I don’t care what I tell you about my family?” His anger was clear as he slammed his cock into her again.
“No, you don’t understand. I am like you, but different.” She pleaded for his acceptance, though she knew from the anger in his eyes he would never give it.
“You are a liar and a whore. Trading your body for information.” He grunted as he fucked her faster. “I hate women like you.” His words were harsh and rough. Her own protective instincts rushed forward, filling her body with rage. She pounded on his chest, trying to make him stop, but her body was pinned tight with no way to escape. He laughed at her, the tone so mocking she couldn’t breathe....
* * * *
She fell to her knees in the shower as the water pounded against her back. No. No. No! Not the truth. Not the truth. Not how it happened. Her fist slammed into the tiled wall in frustration, splitting the skin of several knuckles. This had to stop. As she stayed there, clutching her arms around her waist, her memories began to clear and she realized her condition had worsened. In that moment in the woods, Lucas had loved her like no other man could. The way a mate would. And now her mind wanted to play stupid tricks on her again.
No way would she succumb to the anger and hatred eating away at her mind. She could control it. She knew right from wrong and damn it, there had to be a way to fight the change. When the water ran cold, she struggled to stand and turned off the shower. Enough. I will find a way out of this on my own.
* * * *
Lucas heard the water shut off. Kira had been hiding in the bathroom since they’d arrived at a nearby motel. It was apparent she couldn’t wait to erase him from her body. He sighed. Probably for the best considering what happened in the woods had shaken him to his very core. He didn’t understand how things had gotten out of his control, but it was time to get it back.
Was this all part of her plan? For the first time since he’d grabbed her, Lucas began to think kidnapping Kira was a really bad idea. The sooner he got away from her the better. He hesitated. For some reason the thought of not being able to touch her again caused his stomach to cramp. Yeah, definitely time to get rid of her. And despite what happened, she couldn’t be trusted.
In the morning, he’d leave her and go home alone. She was a big girl and could find her own way back to wherever the hell she came from.
He rubbed his face between his hands, wearier than ever. He needed to get some rest in order to think straight. The thoughts and urges running through his head made it impossible to lay still. He stood up to pace instead. Instinct told him big changes were happening around him and he’d learned long ago to trust that kind of gut reaction. It was Kira. From the moment she’d walked into his dreams, everything had shifted and he’d become obsessed.
Even now the thought of her rubbing her lush body with a
towel at this very moment was enough to make his mouth go dry and his mind and body fill with lust. Everything earlier had been rushed, now he wanted a chance to explore, to sample. Her pale skin would be moist and succulent, flushed from the heat of the water. His cock stirred again. He was afraid for her to come out because he knew she would be irresistible. He stared at the bed and imagined her lying underneath him, begging for more. He would savor every minute of pleasure he could give her and she would reward him with those soft eyes and little cries of need.
He shook his head in disgust. Get a fucking grip, man. Hell, if he didn’t pull himself together he’d find himself at her mercy or worse.
As the door opened and Kira stepped out of the bathroom, he froze in midstep.
“What?” she asked.
The sight of her in the simple green tank top and running shorts was enough to make him lose it. Memories of that outfit from a dream sent cold chills racing up and down his spine. The material barely covered her ass, and her tanned legs went on forever. Fuck, he wanted her now even more than in the woods, if that was possible.
“Nothing. I was just going over what I need to do tomorrow.” He walked to the window and took some deep, hopefully calming breaths, attempting to slow his racing heart. His hand pushed on his cock, desperate to find a comfortable spot for it in his pants. The beast pressed at his skin, tempting him. The animal inside wanted her as much as he did. Interesting.
“Are we going to Dragon Tail?”
He froze. What the hell? How could she know? The thought that his home and haven had been compromised caused searing pain deep in his chest. It was his duty to protect them at all costs and yet he had managed to lead them to the front fucking door. Fresh rage beat down the arousal.
“What do you know about that?” He turned and slowly stalked her, waiting for an answer.
Her eyes glinted as she spoke, “It’s our home.”
