Last Wolf Standing

by Rhyannon Byrd

  “I meant every word, Mason. I do love you, and I’m so proud of you,” she told him in an aching whisper, lifting her head from his shoulder. With her raised hand, she brushed his damp hair back from his temple in a tender gesture of caring. His arms trembled, holding her tighter, and she grinned, a spark of wicked excitement burning in her eyes. “Now that it’s over, where are you taking me?”

  “Home,” he grunted, wincing at the primitive hunger roughening the edges of his speech. “Then I’m taking your sweet little backside straight to bed, and I’m not letting you out of it for at least a week.”

  “I’m good with that.” Her gaze lowered, following the movement of her fingers as they stroked against the warm skin of his throat. “Are you going to make a bond with me?” she asked.

  Hanging on the verge of something feral and violent—something beyond his control—his gaze dropped to her mouth. “You believe that I won’t hurt you, Tor?”

  It made Mason’s heart do some weird skipping thing, the way her tender smile bloomed like a promise—something fragile and sweet and beautiful. When she lifted her gaze, her eyes glistened with breathtaking emotion. “I believe you’re the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me. Of course you won’t hurt me.”

  “Torrance, I’m sorry for being such a blind jackass these past few days,” he muttered in a rough, breathless rush of words, his heart pounding in his chest to a violent, thudding rhythm. “I just couldn’t let go of the fear, sweetheart, like it was locked up inside of me. And then, when I thought I’d lost you, everything broke open. I…I knew then that I loved you, that I’d been falling in love with you from the moment I found you, and I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t want to stop it.”

  “I wanted you to make the bond in the cave,” she admitted, her voice velvet-soft as it stroked his senses. “I still do.”

  Mason closed his eyes as the hunger swept through him like a hot wind, bringing with it the piercing eagerness for what was to come. “I need it, Tor. I need that connection to you.”

  She pressed her mouth to the corner of his jaw, the touch of her lips so innocent and yet wildly evocative. “I need it, too, Mason.” Then she shifted in his arms, tilting her head to the side, away from his body, and with trembling fingers she pulled the long waves of her hair over her shoulder, exposing the delicate line of her throat.

  With burning eyes, Mason stared at the tender vein pulsing sweetly beneath the fragile skin…the most tempting thing he’d ever seen. His human half raged at him to keep walking, to get her home and into his bed, where she belonged—but the dominant hunger of the wolf could no longer be denied. “Torrance,” he breathed against her temple, halting beneath the silvery moonlight, the swaying trees and rustling wind coming to a strange stillness, like captivated spectators. “I…I can’t wait any longer.”

  “I don’t want you to wait, Mase.” She turned to look up at him, staring deeply into his eyes as she cupped the hot side of his face in her palm, her fingers cool against the burning heat of his skin.

  “Do you know how I won tonight, Tor?”

  “You kicked his ass,” she said, giving him a mischievous grin.

  “I thought of you,” he told her, smiling with the joy of everything that he held in his arms. “Of everything I want with you. Want to be for you. Of the life I want to share with you. Thinking about how much I love you, regretting like hell that I hadn’t told you sooner. And then you gave me the words, and it was like something coming to life inside of me. After that, there was no way I could lose.”

  “Mason…”

  He kissed the corner of her mouth, the smooth arc of her cheekbone, the delicate line of her jaw. “I love you, Tor. The human half of my soul loves you. The wolf half loves you just as strongly. I love you because you’re my heart, and simply because you’re you, so beautiful and perfect and strong, inside and out. I know you deserve more than a nighttime forest,” he growled, even as he panted against the delicate, milk-white length of her throat, his gums burning as razor-sharp canines began to slip free—the need to bite her pulsing through him like a raw, angry wound. “But I can’t wait.”

  “Haven’t we already waited long enough?” she asked, and he could have sworn there was a smile in her voice.

  “I needed you to see what I’m capable of becoming,” he grated, his chest heaving. “I needed you to see that, before you accepted this.”

  “Mason…” She sighed, and he could hear the desire thickening her words. “Don’t you know I think you’re beautiful, no matter what skin you wear?”

  Groaning deep in his throat, he let her feet slip to the ground, his hands shaking as he ran them down the front of her body, her back to his chest. She shivered when his head lowered, his tongue flicking out to taste her skin—and, unable to wait a second longer, he sank the sharp points of his teeth into her sweetly yielding, vulnerable flesh.

  Torrance cried out a sharp, sobbing sound of excitement, and his arms clutched at her with desperation, one wrapped around her hips, the other across her chest, his fingers cupping the perfect weight of her breast in his hand, her nipple swollen and hard against his palm. He stiffened against her, shuddering with pleasure as the breathtaking sensations rolled down his spine. It was too good, the rush of ecstasy so dark and sweet as her taste filled his mouth, warm and wildly exciting, and he pulled her hips tighter against him, his hardened shaft thickening to the point that he ached. He drank her in for as long as he dared, then pulled his fangs free with a gasping breath, nuzzling the small marks he’d made in her tender skin.

  “I love you,” he whispered, his voice shaking as he put the words into the warm curve of her throat. “God, Torrance, I’ll love you forever.”

  She made a soft sound of satisfaction, and he lifted his head, watching the hard, evocative pleasure she’d experienced from the bite slowly drain away, leaving her drowsy and replete. “It felt so right,” she murmured, a small smile of wonder on her lips.

  “And perfect,” he rasped, pressing a tender, reverent kiss to the hollow of her throat, the trembling curve of her jaw—and then he was cradling her against his chest again, his long legs eating up ground, aware of the need to get her home…now…before he ended up taking her right there in the forest. He carried her straight to the bathroom when they reached the cabin, stripping her before pulling her into the shower with him, quickly washing away the evidence of the nightmarish evening they’d survived.

  And then finally…finally he was laying her down on his bed, covering her with the heat of his body—and everything in his world was right.

  * * *

  Lying on the cool, crisp sheets, Torrance gasped, lost in a heightened state of pleasure as Mason pressed a damp kiss to the curve of her breast, just before he took the nipple into the scorching, vivid heat of his mouth, suckling her with strong, deep pulls that made her writhe. He laughed a low, sexy rumble of sound as he moved to the other breast, pressing a kiss to the sensitive tip before sliding lower, his fingers biting into her hips—and she squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that brilliant, glittering sparks of crimson burned on the backs of her eyelids.

  When his wicked tongue flicked against the tender indentation between her hip and thigh, she fisted her hands in the sheets, a low moan shivering in her throat as the rough slide of his palms pressed her thighs wide.

  For one heart-stopping moment, she could feel the hungry, provocative press of his gaze—and then he touched her with his tongue.

  “Your taste is unreal,” he groaned in a broken rumble, his voice guttural and raw with unmistakable lust…and something darker. Deeper. Something surging from the animal side of his nature that called to her fragile humanity and made it melt. “I can’t get enough of you.”

  “Please,” she sobbed, begging, not even sure what she was begging for, but knowing that only Mason could give it to her. “Please.”

  “Come for me,” he growled, the deliciously graphic words spoken against her tender flesh, pulling the pleasure up o
ut of her. “I want to feel it, taste it. Come on, angel,” he whispered, the erotic tickle of his breath adding to the overwhelming sensations rushing through her, making her crazed. “Come for me.”

  She couldn’t have stopped it even if she’d wanted to. One second she was strung out on the painful, desperate edge of need, and then everything pulled tighter…closing in on her, hard and hot and brutal, and she went crashing over. The harsh, aggressive rush of ecstasy pushed her into a star-kissed, pulsing, blinding unknown, where nothing existed but the perfect, beautiful spasms rolling through her with vicious intensity. Deep and hungry and erotically intimate, his tongue thrust into her with carnal demand, taking everything he wanted—everything she had to give.

  “Mason!” she gasped, arching and crying out as the pleasure consumed her, drowning her in wave after wave, until everything went black and still and warm in her mind.

  When she came back, strands of hair stuck to her damp cheeks, her lips raw from the bite of her teeth as she’d tried to keep from screaming the roof down. She was destroyed, both inside and out, and yet he stared down at her as if he thought she were the most beautiful thing in the world. Gone was the dark, delicious brown of his sexy gaze—his eyes shining the golden color of his wolf once more.

  She licked her swollen lips, blinking up at him while her body hummed, tingling sweetly from her temples down to her toes. “Wow. I hate to say it, but that was so amazing, I don’t think there’s any way you’ll be able to top it,” she taunted him playfully, her voice husky with satisfaction.

  The warm line of his lips curled the barest fraction, making him appear endearingly boyish for a moment. “We’ll see about that,” he whispered against her mouth…and then there was no more breath for speaking. No more air. Nothing but Mason. He was everywhere. In her reeling senses, in the thoughts spinning deliciously through her head. The animal wildness of him slipped beneath her skin, intoxicating her, making her feverish with renewed desire. She groaned as his tongue stroked deep, conquering her mouth, his breathing violent and harsh as his hands clutched at her, their bodies damp with sweat, writhing against each other, unable to lie silent and still.

  “Torrance,” he whispered, and there was no mistaking the aching emotion in the roughness of his voice. “How do you do this to me?”

  “Because you do the same to me. You know, all this time I thought I was waiting for a man who could match my ideal,” she panted, working to get the words out over the thundering of her heart, wanting him to understand. “Someone who existed only in my mind, because it was safer that way. That way no one could let me down and drag me down with them. But really, all along, I was just waiting for you. Dreams are nothing but a way of passing the time until we find what we really want, Mase, until we realize where we’re really meant to be. For me, that’s here with you, and trust me when I say you’re so much better than any dream I could have ever had.”

  * * *

  Mason groaned from the surge of emotion that rushed through him at her words and lowered his head, sharing the air between their parted lips, aware of every decadent point of contact between their naked bodies. With a smile on his lips, he kissed his way into her mouth, and it was too good, too hot—deliciously wicked and yet poignantly reverent. He wanted to worship her, love her, take care of her. Cherish her. He wanted to make a life with her—and he wanted to make a life inside of her. Plant his seed and make a baby that had her fiery hair and beautiful green eyes. Hell, he wanted a whole horde of them. He wanted the warmth and love and miracle of being surrounded by the ones he loved—more than anything in the world.

  He smiled, knowing she could see his wolf in it. The sharp points of his teeth. “I love you, Tor.” Her lips formed the words as he braced his weight on one arm, watching her eyes as he pushed inside of her, loving that sharp flair of awareness, as if he were reaching into her soul.

  “It’s gonna be hard this time,” he warned huskily…and it was. His body powered into her, deep and thick and hot, pushing the pleasure up into her until she was sobbing out raw, choking cries of ecstasy, pliant and flushed, his to do with whatever he pleased. And when the star-studded darkness of release crashed over them, they clutched at each other, their hands slipping across the damp heat of their skin, struggling for a hold.

  The hours flowed together in an endless whirl of pleasure, their limbs tangled, bodies coming together again…and again. They twisted and turned, investigating every angle, rolling across the bed, shoving at each other in a battle for pleasure that had them sweat-slick and panting, the intensity so much greater for the love that bound them together. And when they finally collapsed in exhaustion, their bodies drowsy with satisfaction, Torrance snuggled against his side. “Hold me,” she whispered, laying her hand over his heart.

  With loving reverence, Mason wrapped her in the possessive hold of his arms…and pressed his mouth to the tender marks on the column of her throat. “Forever.”

  * * *

  The cry of a hawk pulled him from sleep, or maybe it was simply his internal alarm that warned him his mate was no longer by his side. Rolling to his right, Mason ran his palm down the empty space beside him and closed his eyes in quiet regret. He had hoped that being held in his arms would keep her nightmares at bay—and he couldn’t help the twinge of regret in his gut that she hadn’t turned to him in need. He knew he was being unfair, but old doubts prickled at the back of his neck, making him swear foully under his breath. He rolled out of bed and grabbed his jeans, hitching them up over his hips as he set off toward the door.

  With one hand on the knob, Mason found himself wondering if he could actually use the blood bond they’d made to find her. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply in and out, then reached out for Torrance with his mind, with his heart…and realized he knew exactly where she was.

  “Cool,” he laughed under his breath, a foolish smile playing at his lips as he set off for the kitchen. Seconds later he found her perched on the counter, a bowl of Neapolitan ice cream in one hand, a spoon in the other.

  “Hey, there,” she said the moment she set eyes on him. Grinning, she scooped up a heaping spoonful of chocolate ice cream and held it out to him. “Wanna share with me?”

  Moving toward her, Mason placed his hands on her knees and opened his mouth for the spoon, enjoying the sugary burst of flavor on his tongue as he swallowed. “I was afraid that you’d had another nightmare,” he told her as she set the bowl on the counter, one of the straps of her cotton tank top slipping off her shoulder.

  “No, I was just hungry.” She laughed softly, a mischievous twinkle in her big green eyes. “I think all this physical activity must be good for my appetite.” Lifting her hand, she touched the heat of his face with cool fingertips as her expression turned gentle. “And I doubt I’ll be having any more nightmares. I think they’ve been put to rest, Mase. Thanks to you.”

  “In that case,” he rasped, forcing the words past the lump of emotion in his throat as he scooped up a dollop of the three-flavored dessert on his fingers, “I think we should celebrate, sweetheart.”

  Then he dribbled the ice cream onto her shoulder.

  * * *

  “You fiend,” Torrance gasped, the breathless sound turning into a shivering moan as Mason leaned down and lapped the freezing cream from her skin with his tongue. “I can’t believe you did that!”

  “Are you really going to complain about it?” he asked, his dark eyes glittering with laughter as he licked a bit of chocolate from his bottom lip, then stepped between her legs, his big hands resting on her bare thighs.

  She narrowed her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth were twitching with humor. “I guess there’s not much point,” she admitted. “After the way we met, I should have known you’d turn out to be a devil.”

  “I’ll show you devilish,” he whispered in her ear, his long fingers curving over her hips as he pulled her against him, the evidence of his arousal impossible to miss.

  Torrance trembled, moving restl
essly against him, amazed that desire could burn again so quickly. “D-did I mention insatiable?”

  “I’ll show you insatiable,” he growled playfully, nipping her throat, making her gasp at the same time he pushed forward, thrusting against her, the rough denim of his jeans creating a decadent friction against the soft cotton panties she’d slipped on before heading out of the bedroom.

  “And sinful,” she moaned, her breath catching, deliberately egging him on. He grunted a provocative sound of hunger against her shoulder, teasing her with his teeth. “I’ll show you sinful, woman.”

  “And delicious,” she giggled, thoroughly enjoying their game.

  “I’ll show you how delicious you are,” he warned, one hand pulling down her tank top while the other smeared strawberry ice cream over the swollen tip of her breast, the cold shocking against her sensitive nipple. When he closed his warm mouth around the chilled tip, Torrance screamed, arching her back, the intensity of the sensations shooting straight to her core.

  “Grab the bowl,” he rumbled moments later, in a slow, wicked slide of words. When she had it clutched in her fingers, Mason pulled her off the counter, his hands under her bottom, her legs wrapped around his lean hips, and to their mutual delight, they spent the remainder of the night in playful, erotic splendor…discovering that ice cream is so much sweeter when enjoyed by two.

  By the time they opened their eyes the following day, the noontime sun was climbing on the horizon, bathing the glade in saffron shades of sunshine beyond the high windows. Squinting against the brilliant light, Torrance lifted her face from the warmth of Mason’s shoulder and tried to make out the blurry numbers on his digital alarm clock.

  “What time is it?” he asked, his deep voice still scratchy from sleep.

  “Heck if I know,” she laughed tiredly, dropping her head back onto his firm shoulder, nuzzling closer so that she could press a kiss to the warm column of his throat. Drawing in a deep breath, Torrance wanted to purr like a jungle cat, his scent was so delicious. So masculine and warm, going straight to her head. There was a sense of rightness, of peace, in her heart that had never been there before. A sense of completion, heightened by a breathtaking feeling of hope for the future. “You know I’m blind without my glasses, and I’m too comfy to look for them.”