by Elsa Jade
He held still for a moment as his wolf snarled and fought him. It wanted to claim the female. Now. Before she turned completely and any other males got near.
The man argued. There was no way he could claim her during her needing. During the heat phase, a female would agree to anything as long as sex was involved. A male could easily get her to agree to mate.
Yes, sex. Yes. His wolf—a horn-dog at the moment—was more than happy with that idea.
Her fingers bit into his shoulders when he turned and strode toward the house.
“Needing. It’s a female’s heat phase.”
He shouldered the front door open. It was never locked since the place was open to all the pack and their other forms didn’t have pockets for keys.
It was no more than a few steps to the couch, but it seemed like a thousand miles. Her scent, laden with wildness and need, became chains wrapped around his limbs. His dick jerked savagely in his pants. It wanted out. Wanted to be buried deeply inside her. Wanted now.
As though she sensed his inner struggle and was determined to torment him further, she moaned and arched her back. The move pressed the swell of her breast against his chest.
“Is that why I feel so weird?” she moaned, the human color of her eyes almost eaten up now. The darkness of desire and the amber of her new wolf fought for dominance and real estate.
“Do you have a boyfriend? Lover? Husband?” His own wolf snarled in fury at the question, but he had to ask. He wasn’t an asshole who would use a woman’s vulnerability against her. No meant no. If it meant him locking her in the basement to ride out her heat phase, then he would. Even if it gave him the worst case of blue balls he’d ever had.
“No.” She shook her head so violently he thought it would spin off her shoulders.
“What about Tom?” Fuck. He really was determined to punish himself, wasn’t he? The thought of her with the smooth-voiced human sent a wave of jealousy through him so strong he felt fur trying to poke through his skin.
“Tom?” For a moment she look genuinely confused, then laughed. “Hell, no! We’re like brother and sister. Ewww, just ewwww!”
Thank fuck for that. His relief allowed the merest hint of a growl to escape his throat.
Instantly, her gaze riveted on his and he was forced to suck in a hard breath. It was a look he’d never seen on any human before, and not many wolves, either. Certainly not when they looked at him. It was the look of a predator. One that had sighted its prey.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine and around to caress his balls.
“Good.” Shit, his voice was way too low. Way too rough. It betrayed his need. “Because if you’d said yes, I’d have tracked him down to rip his fucking throat out.”
As he bent his head to claim her lips, he realized he meant it. She was his, all his, and no other man would touch her again. Not as long as he drew breath.
Chapter Seven
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Riley’s lips claimed hers. In that instant, everything Ce thought she’d known about herself was blown away like autumn leaves in a whirlwind. She’d always considered herself a modern, independent woman. The kind who took care of herself, both financially and emotionally. A sexually liberated woman, confident in her own identity, who didn’t need a man to complete her.
Yet when his mouth covered hers, demanding entrance, she was ready to yield to his every desire. Ready to submit like the heroine of one of her grandmother’s bodice-ripper romances. The ones she’d always made fun of but had secretly love to read.
She moaned and wriggled to get closer to him. Hard to do when he still held her in his arms. His tongue stroked hers. A dance of pure primal need.
God, the man could kiss. She whimpered, the sound muffled under the pressure of his mouth. He let go of her knees, slid her down his hard, muscled body even as he demanded her response with a wicked tongue.
And was that… Oh my.
A thrill ran through her as the thick, hard length of his cock pressed against her soft belly. She’d felt him before, but each time he seemed bigger. Would it even fit? Heat rolled to center in her core, and liquid heat slipping to dampen her panties.
He broke the kiss, his lips leaving a trail of hard, almost biting, kisses along her jaw.
“You’re mine, Ce.” The words were low, rough. Each one marked with a kiss down her throat as if to underline his claim. “The moment you ran from me, you were mine.”
She couldn’t make her brain form words to reply, not when he had her pressed against him like this, his arms wrapped around her and his mouth on her skin. A mouth she wanted places other than her neck and shoulder. Then his teeth—blunt in his human form—scraped her throat and her knees buckled.
He caught her and urged her backward in the same movement. Her back hit the cool leather of the low couch and within a second he covered her. A heartbeat after that and his lips were on hers again. The heat of his body braced over her, mere millimeters from hers, scrambled her ability to do more than breathe. And respond.
Screw talking. It was overrated and they seem to be communicating just fine at the moment. She let all her worries go and allowed the need she’d been denying to race through her. To take over.
Sliding her tongue against his, she nipped his lip as she pulled his shirt free of his jeans. He hissed when her hands slid under the fabric, caressing the satin skin before she raked her nails down his back. Not hard enough to break skin, but not softly, either. She didn’t want soft.
“That turns me on… Do it again,” he ordered, lips teasing hers. She did and his body jerked, a moan of pleasure whispering over her lips.
Their hands were everywhere. Tugging at clothing, the fabric ripped in their haste to get hands onto skin. Her top disappeared, dropped on the floor somewhere, her jeans following. She didn’t feel self-conscious, not with the way he looked at her. As though she was the sun, moon, and stars combined.
His belt came free with a snap, and the buttons on his fly offered little resistance to her determined fingers. She shoved a hand beneath the denim, and cupped him. Her fingers barely fit around his thick shaft. She stroked and their groans filled the air, masculine complementing feminine. His lips grazed hers, not quite a kiss with barely a hairsbreadth between them. His breathing rasped from his chest as she worked him.
“That’s good, darlin’. Feels real good.”
Oh yeah, it felt good. His cock was awesome… Awe-inspiring and put even her biggest toy to shame. She couldn’t wait to get him inside her. But not until she’d teased him more. He closed his eyes, expression tight, body taut and totally under control. Lifting up, she kissed along his neck as she stroked, adding a sweep of her thumb over the slick head every so often. Using his own pre-come to wet his shaft.
His groans became a growl, and she had barely half a second to register the change before he snatched her hands and pinned them above her head. Their gazes locked, and the tension rose to boiling point. A small muscle jumped in the corner of his jaw as he obviously fought for control.
“Slow… We need to slow down.”
She frowned and shook her head, not liking the idea at all. Slow was bad. Fast. Hard. Furious. These were words she liked, especially with the wildness inside riding her hard. A wildness that wanted to reach out to him, a connection she didn’t understand but instinct said was right. Nothing they did could possibly be wrong. It felt too good.
“Slow next time. Fast now.” She lifted her legs to hook them around his hips, and pulled him down to her. They both groaned as the thick blade of his cock pressed against her satin covered lower lips. She rolled her hips, rubbing against him, and he spat a curse.
His eyes blazed amber when he opened them. Reaching a hand between their bodies, he hooked a strong finger in her panties and tore them from her. She gasped, as much from the quick sting of the fabric biting into her skin as from a thrill at the dominant action.
Then he was there. Cock head pressed against the entrance to her pussy. He didn�
�t hang about. Wrapping a hand around his cock, he used the tip to spread the juice of her own arousal over her lower lips. The whimper broke loose before she could stop it, a desperate little sound of need. It felt fantastic, he needed to do it more… Or not. He needed to be inside her. Now. An hour ago. Yesterday.
As though he could read her mind, he dipped his hips and set his cock against her. The slightest movement and he sank into her half an inch. She closed her eyes. Bit her lip. He was big, stretching the delicate tissues around his invading cock. He didn’t pull back. Didn’t seesaw to work himself in. Instead, he pushed. One big hand holding her thigh around his waist, he slid into her slick wet pussy in a long, slow ride of delicious sensation. She felt every inch. Every thick inch as he pressed into her. Her pussy throbbed around him, stretched wide. Not to the point of pain, that would so not have been sexy, but more than she’d ever been stretched.
He was all in, balls pressed against her ass, cock pulsing within her. His nostrils flared, his eyes fully amber as he let go of her wrists and braced his hands either side of her head.
Then he started to move.
Fuck. This was what sex was all about. She was no innocent, but she’d never had a man take her with the power and precision Riley did. He moved over and within her, every muscle in his powerful body bent to one purpose: pleasure. Hers. Theirs.
His expression was tight, body controlled. Each thrust took her higher, until she soared. Sensations washed through her, like waves on the beach. Effervescent and light, a delicious top note to a darker symphony. Undercurrents took her by surprise. She’d been concentrating so much on the sensation of his cock sliding into her and back, her climax rolled up out of the blue and hit her like a storm. She gasped, spine arched, as ecstasy exploded from her core. A tight, hot, liquid rush of sensation that weakened her limbs and drew a sibilant moan from the depths of her soul.
So complete was her pleasure, she barely registered Riley speeding up, or his growl of lust. Rough sounds she could barely hear, but registered deep within. Stretched her pleasure out until… He thrust again hard. And stopped. Threw his head back and howled his completion as his cock jerked and pulsed. Her inner walls were bathed with his white-hot seed and something deep within growled in approval.
He collapsed over her, skin slick in sweat, but didn’t crush her. Instead he held himself over her, braced on his forearms as they both panted, and fought to come down from the high of their climaxes.
“That was…” She couldn’t find the words, a flush hitting her cheeks now that the need receded. Blinking, she lifted her head and looked around. They had. They’d fucked barely steps inside the door.
“Amazing,” he interrupted her, taking his weight on one arm and using his free hand to brush hair back from her face. “And something that’s gonna happen again.” His cock pulsed within her, as though agreeing with that idea and he grinned. “And fairly soon.”
She smiled, relief rolling through her that wolves didn’t have the hang-ups about sex humans did. Was that just Riley? Perhaps he did this all the time. With all the new female wolves in his pack? She cut off that line of thought before it could take root. He was here now, with her, and that was all that mattered. She was a big girl. Surely she could have a one-night stand.
Okay, make that a one-day stand, since the sun was still up.
“Happen again, huh?” She arched her eyebrow. “I’m ready when you are, stud. How quickly can you get it up again?”
His grin was slow and sexy, a devastating little smile she had no doubt he wielded like a weapon where women were concerned. Deliberately he flexed, his cock pressed inside her. “Ever-ready. In case you didn’t notice, I’m already up.”
He’d just pulled back when the sharp jingle of the cell phone interrupted them. They both froze, listening.
“Well, it’s not mine. I’m incommunicado, remember?” she commented.
“Fuck!” He slid from her, rolling off the couch to pad to the door, where he’d dumped his jacket. As he bent over, she admired the sliver of toned ass visible over the edge of his jeans where they’d slipped down his hips.
“Yeah. Riley. This had better be fucking good,” he snarled into the cell. Then his expression changed, every muscle in his body tightening up. “What? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
She sat up immediately, grabbing her jeans on the floor and hauling them on. Next was her shirt, a little torn, but she didn’t care. She might not know the pack, and she might have only known Riley a day but she knew that tone of voice. Something was wrong, like on an epic scale.
“Okay. I’ll be right ther—” Riley’s face set as whoever he was talking to cut him off. Max, the pack alpha, for a guess. The tones she heard even across the room were masculine not feminine. And from what she’d learned of the pack, Riley was second-in-command or something. Which meant not many people would be able to talk to him like that. Not without getting their heads ripped off.
“Max, I’m pack enforcer… it’s my damn job.” His expression grew darker as Max cut him off again, the sound from the other end of the line becoming more agitated and loud. “You’re the damn alpha, you can’t wade into shit like this.”
Ce crept to the edge of the couch, watching Riley’s face for a hint of what was going on. What shit? What had happened? Were the bikers back?
“Yeah, she’s right here. She’s fine. No problem at all.” Riley flicked a glance at her, and her heart fell. Crap. He was out of action because of her. Because he was babysitting her he couldn’t do his job.
“What happened?” she mouthed, seriously contemplating just taking the phone and asking Max herself. She was pretty sure she could do it. Sure Riley was bigger, and like…a werewolf, but he wouldn’t be expecting her to go for him. She had the element of surprise. And with her own wolf apparently waking inside her, who knew how strong she was now?
She’d certainly be stronger than Riley anticipated.
He tucked the phone under his chin to speak to her. “The bikers came back…”
Ha! She knew it. She knew they weren’t done.
“Took a couple of pack kids out of their back garden. Mother was there, but human. She didn’t stand a chance. Max is at the hospital now… We don’t know if she’s gonna make it.”
“Oh shit…” She couldn’t think of anything to say. What did you say to that?
It got worse.
Max said something on the other end of the line, a crackle of sound she couldn’t make out. Riley bit back a snarl, lips curled back from his teeth. “No, she doesn’t need to know. Pack business.”
“What don’t I need to know?” she demanded, a horrible suspicion uncurling in the center of her chest.
Riley sighed, closed his eyes at another burst of sound from Max, then open them to look at her. “The bikers… They weren’t after Kelli. They were after you. Max received a call… They want to swap you for the kids.”
Her stomach lurched, the bottom falling out as she registered his words. Without thinking, she was on her feet.
“Bastards! Okay, when and where?” She was already halfway to the door before Riley’s voice stopped her.
“You’re not going.”
She stopped, turned to him slowly, her expression like granite. “Run that by me again?”
Max yelled something down the line, but neither of them listened anymore. Instead, they were locked in a battle of wills, a staring contest as she stalked toward Riley.
“You. Are. Not. Going.” He enunciated each word precisely, so much so she could practically see the full stops. Each one held a little bit of a growl at the end, one she felt like matching as rage boiled within her.
“Let me get this right,” she said carefully, less than a foot away from him. “Those assholes kidnaped some kids and want to swap me for them, and you’re saying no?”
His gaze shifted a little. She had a point and he knew it.
“They won’t hurt the kids. They’re wolves, there’s no way. They’re pack. Honor
and all that.”
“Yeah? And these are the same assholes who shot at your pregnant sister? I don’t know about you, but from where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like they give a shit about kids.”
His expression closed off but still he shook his head. “You are not going anywhere. You are staying here, safe and sound, and I’ll check it out. Max and I can deal with anything.”
Another tactic was called for. Shrugging a shoulder, she made like she wasn’t bothered.
“Okay, as long as you’re both going to be there… Then, it seems okay. Has this place got cable?”
She made to turn away, watching out the corner of her eye. A look of relief washed over his face and he sighed, turning to grab his jacket again. That was when she moved. Grabbing a heavy vase from the side table by the door, she brought it up and over in a fast arc. It shattered over the back of his head, and he collapsed like a marionette with all its strings cut.
Not knowing how long a blow like that would keep a wolf out, she grabbed his truck keys and his cell, then beat feet out the door. Racing towards his truck, she expected to hear a roar behind her any moment and the sound of pursuit. Didn’t happen. Crap, had she hit him too hard?
Her hand shook so much she had trouble getting the key in the ignition, but finally managed. The truck roared to life and she rammed it in reverse, spraying dirt up from the tires as she gunned the engine. The vehicle spun wildly, almost toppling over before she got it under control. Shifting to drive, she floored the pedal and headed down the drive.
The gates were closed, and she had a moment’s panic before she remembered the remote on the dashboard. Hitting it, she counted down as she raced towards the gates. They were opening too slowly. Crap, she was going to hit them. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she lifted her foot off the accelerator, ready to plant the brake, but the gates swung open enough. With a sigh of relief, she sped through and onto the main road.
