Mate of Her Heart

by Butler, R. E.

  Pulling a purple vibrator from the box, she climbed up on the bed and rolled to her back, spreading her legs apart. The vibrator turned on with a button on the bottom and had three speeds. Her pussy was soaking wet and her clit was throbbing. She knew it wouldn’t take much to set her off.

  Closing her eyes, she clicked the vibrator on its lowest setting and set the humming silicone toy against her clit. Her body clenched and she gasped as she arched up, rubbing against the toy as pleasure swarmed her. With one hand she kept the vibrator on her clit and with the other she rubbed her fingers across her hard nipples.

  It took only one image of Luke in her mind for her body to split apart with climax and she screamed his name, imagining that it was his tongue on her clit and not a toy, his fingers plucking and tugging at her nipples while she writhed. Plunging the vibrator into her pussy, she arched high off the bed with a sharp cry as pleasure stole her breath and her body heated and pulsed as she came again.

  The bed rocked as she went limp, the vibrator slipping from her pussy and tickling her thigh. Breathing hard, she closed her eyes. She’d never come twice in a row in her life. She hadn’t taken many lovers, but none of them had ever rocked her world like that vibrator.

  She gazed up at the rough-hewn ceiling of the cabin and chuckled. No wonder some men didn’t like sex toys. They couldn’t hope to keep up. Her thoughts drifted immediately to Luke. He didn’t strike her as the sort of man that would be intimidated by a sex toy, but would rather do anything to be sure that the woman he was with was satisfied. A snarl came from her throat that surprised her. She’d never really thought about the females that Luke had been with before. She knew he’d dated, the same as she had, but they’d never really talked about those people.

  She reached for the vibrator and turned it off, dropping it next to her on the bed and closing her eyes. It didn’t matter if Luke had been with anyone else before her, the same way that it didn’t matter who came before him in her bed. From the moment that they chose to become mates, there would never be anyone else for either of them.

  When the pleasure from her two orgasms subsided, she had expected that there would be a lull before her body would start to heat up again. But within minutes, her heart started to pound and her stomach started to quiver. The orgasms, although wonderful, had felt empty in some way, and she knew that it was because she was alone. She might be able to deal with the heat by artificial means, but her body knew that there was no male with her, and that left her feeling unsatisfied.

  It’s going to be a long week.

  By the time the sun set, Eveny had come so many times that her body felt hollow from the inside out. She was physically exhausted but she was also hyper, unable to do more than doze off between sessions. She had burned out the batteries in the vibrator after the first couple hours and had trouble replacing them because her hands shook so badly. Then she’d switched to a different vibrator, a Rabbit that twisted and turned inside her pussy. Then she’d tried a bullet vibrator. They all made her come. Made her tingle with pleasure. But after the first few climaxes, she stopped feeling satisfied at all. If anything, the climaxes seemed to make her need even greater.

  She contemplated getting into her car, driving to Luke, and begging him to help her, but she knew that was a pipe dream. She’d never make it the thirty miles to town. Not only because she couldn’t seem to go ten minutes without trying to make herself come, but also because once she hit town, even in her car, the scent of her heat would attract the unmated males in her pack and she’d end up leading them right to Luke. They would see him as a threat and they’d kill him.

  She soaked in the tub, but the hot water made her sweat and as it cooled, it chilled her until she shook. Drying off as best she could, she glanced at the kitchen and the thawed steak on the counter and knew she should cook it and try to eat, but she couldn’t bring herself to stand at the stove.

  She stood in the center of the cabin and looked at the bed with the crumpled sheet and box of sex toys on the floor in front of it. Then she looked at the walls of the cabin. Her wolf whined pitifully in her mind and she mentally stuck her fingers in her ears. She could see now what a bad choice she’d made in trying to go through this on her own. If she had been smart, she would have told Luke a week ago and brought condoms. Then she would have had his help with the heat but not tied him down with the mating and a baby until they’d had a chance to talk.

  She wanted to smack herself for not considering that. She’d made her plan - to delay until after this heat and then give Luke plenty of time to understand the consequences of their mating - and she hadn’t allowed herself to see any other alternatives.

  Her stomach cramped again, and the need to have sex filled her mind. She’d definitely made a mistake. Several of them.

  Lights hit the back wall of the cabin and then disappeared. She heard a vehicle pull to the side of the cabin and stop abruptly, the brakes squealing some.

  Her head cocked to the side as she realized she recognized the sound of the engine. It was Luke’s truck.

  She moved to the bed and pulled the sheet off, wrapping it around her body. She began to walk to the door, but Luke’s voice carried through it.

  “Ev? Lock the front door and don’t let anyone in but me.”

  “Luke?” she questioned, pausing with her hand on the door. Her voice was scratchy and her throat was raw from overuse. And the sound of Luke’s voice made her belly clench. After all the orgasms over the course of the day, her body lit right up for him.

  “Did you hear me, Ev? I fucking mean it. Don’t open this door for anyone but me.” He was angry. Really angry.

  She swallowed hard as she heard another vehicle arrive. This engine was louder than Luke’s, and she didn’t know who was driving, but Luke was agitated enough that whoever it was couldn’t be good.

  She looked at the deadbolt that her father had installed when she was fourteen after a group of teens from another town had jimmied the door lock and gotten in and partied, trashing the place.

  “It’s locked, Luke.”

  “Baby, if things get bad, go out the back and get in your car and get the hell away from here. Got it?”

  “Luke?” she asked, confused and scared.

  “Baby?” he reiterated.

  “I promise.”

  She clutched the sheet tighter to herself, went to the window next to the front door, hooked her finger in the curtain and pulled it open enough to peer out. She gasped in shock.

  Luke stood on the front porch, facing the front yard and an SUV. All four doors of the SUV opened and Vince, Rufus, Barry, and Taylor climbed out. What the hell were Vince and his cronies doing here? How had they known where she was?

  “What are you doing here, human?” Vince demanded.

  “Protecting Eveny.” Luke widened his stance and slipped his hands behind his back. She couldn’t see what he was reaching for in the darkness, but her gaze traveled down his legs and she saw a baseball bat and what looked like two police batons at his feet. He was going to fight them?

  Her heart began to race. Fear and relief twined together inside her. Relief that he had come for her, but fear at what he was facing.

  Vince snorted and the other guys laughed. “You’re only delaying the inevitable. I have permission.”

  Luke’s voice came out on a snarl. “Fuck that. Acksel did not give you permission to invite your asshole friends up here to join in.”

  Vince laughed loudly. “Fuck Acksel.”

  “He’s your alpha.”

  Vince snorted. “When he finds out what I’ve done, he’ll be so torn up with grief that he’ll go berserk, and we’ll be waiting for him. He’ll be crippled so badly by losing his only sister that he’ll be easy pickings.”

  Eveny’s mouth fell open. Was Vince saying he was going to rape and then kill her so that he could take over as pack alpha?

  “If you want to be alpha, be a fucking man and go challenge him. Only a pussy attacks a female when she’s most
vulnerable.” Luke said.

  “You know nothing about us, human. Leave now while you can.” Vince ordered.

  “You leave now. I’m not going to tell you again.”

  She saw Luke pull two small canisters from his back pockets and make some motions with his thumbs.

  “You ready to die, human?” Rufus growled, cracking his neck.

  “For her? Absolutely.”

  The four males were a few dozen feet away from the porch. She didn’t know what they were doing at the cabin, but she could tell from the looks on their faces, illuminated by the SUV’s headlights, that they didn’t have anything good planned. She didn’t understand how they’d come to find out where she was, but it seemed as if Acksel was involved somehow.

  Luke’s hands whipped out from his back and liquid arced and splashed on the faces of Barry and Taylor, who had moved slightly closer. They howled and went down, rubbing their faces and rolling on the ground. He’d maced them. She’d never seen mace work on wolves before, so it must have been a special kind.

  While the two men were growling in frustration and temporarily blinded, Luke grabbed the two batons and she heard the hiss of electricity.

  Vince shouted, “Get him, Rufus.”

  Luke swung the batons, nailing Rufus in the head as he raced forward. Rufus snarled and righted himself quickly, snagging one of the batons with his hand. He jerked on the baton and Luke stumbled down the steps to the ground, rolling onto his back. Her heart leapt into her throat and tears stung her eyes.

  Rufus lifted the baton and swung it in a downward motion, attempting to stab Luke with it, but Luke lifted the other baton and thrust it between Rufus’s legs. There was a buzzing sound, and Eveny could see small flashes of electricity. Rufus froze with a strained grunting sound and then hit the ground. Luke rose to his feet, jamming the baton further against Rufus’s crotch as Rufus grunted and his body jerked.

  “Eight million volts, asshole,” Luke said, dropping the baton and rising to his feet.

  The two wolves that he’d maced were still blinded, rubbing at their eyes and trying unsuccessfully to get to their feet. “That just leaves you, Vince. Be smart and take off. She’s mine.”

  He’d said she was his! Even in the middle of the fight, she smiled. He might not understand what she was going through right now, but he was protecting her. And doing a good job of it. Hope sprang inside her that Luke would make it through the fight and she could be with him. Now that he was here, she wanted him even more. He’d come to fight for her and was willing to go up against four of her brother’s best fighters to do so.

  Vince growled and Eveny saw his fangs elongate. “Acksel will never allow her to mate with a human. He would kill her first.”

  Eveny’s breath caught in her throat at the statement and then she shook her head. Acksel would be pissed off, but he wouldn’t kill her or Luke, he’d just shun them.

  “He can try,” Luke said.

  Vince roared in fury and launched himself at Luke. Eveny gasped, her hand tightening on the curtain as she watched Vince and Luke grapple. If Vince shifted, he would tear Luke apart.

  Terror swamped her. She could see Vince’s eyes shining in the headlights from the SUV and knew that he was going to shift. She yelled for Luke and he shoved away from Vince and raced for the porch, grabbing the other baton with one hand and picking up the baseball bat with the other. He spun and swung out with both hands, but Vince was right behind him and knocked the baton and bat out of Luke’s hands.

  Luke punched Vince in the face; and Vince stumbled back and then threw himself forward and caught Luke in the stomach with his shoulder. They went to the ground together and Vince straddled Luke and began to punch him. She saw Luke get hit once. Twice. Three times. Then Luke kicked his legs and managed to pin Vince. He put his hands around Vince’s throat and pressed his knee into his stomach, leaning forward with all his weight.

  She saw the claws sprout from Vince’s fingertips and Luke cursed loudly as Vince raked his claws down Luke’s arms. But Luke didn’t let go. When Vince dug his clawed hands into Luke’s sides, he bellowed in pain but kept squeezing. Eveny moved to open the door but Luke seemed to sense what she was about to do.

  “Eveny.” He said her name loudly with an even tone that told her if she stepped outside that he would be furious.

  She was as helpless as a human right now, and even though it warred with every protective instinct in her body to stay inside while Luke fought for her, she listened to him. The heat-cycle prevented her from shifting, which was her only hope in a fight against a male. She wouldn’t do anything but get in the way or distract Luke. Rufus was still unconscious from the electricity. The two other wolves had crawled towards the SUV. She didn’t know if they were trying to escape or looking for something to help with their blindness from the mace, but as long as they kept out of the main fight, then she didn’t care what they did.

  Vince tossed Luke off himself and Luke rolled on the ground and came up into a fighting stance. He was bleeding down his arms and from his sides. She could see the wetness staining his dark shirt.

  Vince howled and shifted, his clothes ripping away in the process as his human form twisted and broke until a large gray wolf stood before Luke. Vince had shifted into his form during a fight, which told Eveny that Luke was beating him and Vince was going to cheat. It was unfair for a wolf to fight a human.

  She pressed her palms against the window as tears filled her eyes. What hope did Luke have?

  The wolf charged, and at the last minute, Luke leapt to the side and Vince passed by him, his claws digging into the dirt as he tried to round on Luke but missed. Vince snarled and bolted towards Luke, leaping into the air and landing on top of him, knocking him to the ground. There was a cracking sound and Eveny feared it was Luke’s neck, but then she saw a brilliant red light and heard a wolf’s pain-filled howl.

  Her eyes widened as Vince’s fur caught fire as Luke pressed whatever the red glow was against Vince’s body. Luke shoved him away and the wolf rolled to the side, a flare sticking out of his side. The flames died quickly and Luke stood slowly and turned towards the SUV.

  “Get out of here and take your friends with you,” Luke said, his voice filled with fury. She’d never heard him sound so commanding.

  Taylor, who had been hiding inside the SUV, came out slowly, his head ducked down in deference and his hands at his sides. He didn’t speak, but moved swiftly to Vince’s body and lifted him, carrying him to the SUV. Barry roused Rufus and helped him to stand. She didn’t know if they could see with the mace in their eyes well enough to get back to town, and she actually didn’t care.

  When the SUV pulled away, she slipped to the floor in relief and let the tears fall. She’d been too keyed up to actually cry, and she shook with residual fear. Luke could have died. The last words that she would have spoken to him would have been, “I promise.” Not I love you or I want you to be mine.

  “Baby?” Luke knocked on the door. “They’re gone. Let me in.”

  Her whole world centered on the sound of his voice and her wolf howled in her mind. Luke had rescued her. Saved her life. And he was here now and, yeah, she was still in heat. Her body flooded with heat immediately, all fear washed away as a tide of powerful need rolled through her.

  This wasn’t her plan. Her plan had been blown sky high when those wolves showed up. She was relieved that Luke had saved her, but she wasn’t ready to talk to him about her heat-cycle.

  What would happen if she opened the door?

  What would happen if she didn’t?

  Chapter 6

  Luke watched the SUV pull away. The tires spun on the dry ground and rocks spit behind them as it lurched forward in their attempt to flee. He’d never seen wolves act so frightened before, but they sure did seem to be scared of him. Which was a good thing. He didn’t want them to regroup and come back up here with reinforcements.

  The smell of burnt fur and skin hung in the air and he looked at the place whe
re Vince had been. He wasn’t sure if the wolf was alive or dead, and he didn’t care. He had successfully defended Eveny and even managed to live to tell the tale.

  He looked down at himself. He couldn’t see much in the darkness, but the spill of light from the cabin window was enough to illuminate the blood on his arms. They hurt like a bitch, as well as his sides, and some other places on his body he was sure had cuts and bruises. He didn’t want Eveny to see him beat all to hell, but he needed to get into the house and make sure she was okay and then clean up. He hoped there was a medical kit in the cabin. It hadn’t occurred to him to bring one. Probably because the pessimistic part of his brain didn’t really think he’d survive against four wolves.

  He picked up the weapons and put them back in the bag. One stun baton was dead and needed to be recharged, but the other was almost full. The mace cans were empty, but he still had two flares and the baseball bat. He didn’t expect any wolves to come back tonight, but if they did then he would be prepared for them. Knocking on the cabin door, he told Eveny that the males were gone and she could open the door. He could hear her crying but she didn’t answer him.

  He knocked again. Called her name.

  When she got quiet, he knew that something was wrong.

  “Baby? I’m bleeding all over the front porch. Let me in so I can clean up.” He figured appealing to her desire to take care of him would work. And it did.

  The door cracked open. She looked exhausted. She licked her lips. “Just to clean up?”

  Frowning, he said, “What’s wrong, Ev?”

  “You, uh, you can’t come in, Luke. Not to stay with me.” She opened the door and stepped away. “The bathroom is back there, but then you have to go.”

  She was trembling from head to toe. Her eyes were bright gold, like coins, and her skin was flushed and dewy with sweat. He took a step towards her and her voice came out guttural and animalistic. “Don’t, Luke. Please.” She moved until a ratty couch was between them and clutched at the sheet that was draped around her.