Tall, Dark and Furry (The Elementals Book 1)

by Meredith Allen Conner

  Oh yeah, he definitely craved her.

  His body trembled over her with his desire. She laid her hand on his cheek, her mark glowed brightly, lava surged. Sela cried out.

  “My mate,” Mac growled, he turned his head and kissed her mark. The glow died down and the pain receded.

  The pain left her body in a heated rush, her wounds no longer hurt, her mark didn’t burn and energy flowed through her. Mac shifted. Sela sucked in a quick breath. Not quite all of the pain.

  “Are you ready?” He asked. “I can’t wait any longer.”

  He hung over her, sweat dripping onto her breasts, his every muscle straining.

  Sela wiggled a little, experimenting. Mac shouted. He pulled out and thrust back hard. Too late. She wasn’t given a chance to answer. Ready or not, he couldn’t wait any longer. She grabbed his shoulders and held on.

  Mac thrust again and groaned. He shifted his grip on her cheeks and arched her into his next thrust.

  “Ah.” Shocked, she lifted her legs alongside his hips. “Do that again.”

  She was too late. With a loud growl, Mac thrust deep one more time, his release pouring into her. He hung over her for a moment longer and then collapsed. His weight pressed her into the mattress.

  Well, that hadn’t been great. Not even good. Actually, in some respects, awful seemed to be the best description. At least in terms of the physical. But the look in Mac’s eyes . . . Holy Hannah, being craved . . . it almost balanced out the rest.

  Not that she wanted to do that again. Twice was a good limit. Sheesh, it hadn’t hurt that much the first time when she had been a virgin. Although she felt surprisingly good right now. Fantastic actually. Even with Mac still inside her. Weird.

  Still, her experimenting days were over. Sela sighed. Mac weighed a ton plus. He would have to move soon or she would pass out. She needed to get going. Despite his offer of a home. Safety. Mac didn’t understand. He wouldn’t want her once he understood everything that came with . . . well, her.

  But he craved her.

  Could she really give that up? She obviously trusted him with her body. Could she risk trusting him in every way? Letting go of some of her valued control and allow him in?

  That strange warmth wiggled its way around inside. Sela stomped it down again, but her attempts weren’t quite as determined as they were at first.

  She thought she might be suddenly discovering a heretofore undiscovered soft, mushy female side of herself, but she knew better. At least her head did. She couldn’t take a chance and trust this, trust him. She’d learned that at an early age.

  And how long could this go on without total trust?

  Chapter Ten

  Mac grunted in response to the thump on his shoulder. He could not remember the last time he felt this good. Hell, he’d never felt this good before. He’d never had a mate before. He’d never mated.

  Another thump. Mac lifted his head. “I’m suffocating here.” Sela scowled up at him, her brow wrinkled, blue eyes irritated. Mac grinned. He gently eased out of her, wrapped his arm around her waist and rolled.

  Sela shrieked. He arranged her so that her hips rode his lower stomach and her breasts hung within easy reach. He noted her skin was smooth and perfect once again aside from the old bullet wound scar. Mac rubbed his fingers lightly over it. In complete satisfaction, he cupped her face and planted a wet kiss.

  Sela sputtered, bewilderment racing over her face. Mac laughed, delighted with her. Damn, but he felt good.

  “Are you always like this after sex?”

  Some of his good mood dissipated. “We did not have sex, Lupa. We mated.”

  “We mated? Because you claim I’m your mate?”

  “Yes. You’re my mate. It is only like this with you. Always with you.”

  Women loved to hear romantic stuff like that. Mac wondered if she might even tear up a little.

  “Are you telling me that it was supposed to be like that between us?” She fluttered her hand back and forth between them. Serious alarm invaded her voice and expression.

  Mac nodded, supremely satisfied.

  Sela began shoving at him, attempting to get away. Mac gripped her waist. She pushed hard against his shoulders and sat up, her bottom flush against his penis.

  He began to harden immediately despite having come just minutes before. Hell, he hadn’t just come, he’d exploded, every part of him pouring into her. And still he was hardening for her, ready to explode all over again.

  Mac grinned. Mate. Hell yeah.

  Sela’s deep blue eyes widened in response to his growing erection. She tried to shift away, but Mac held her firm. He liked her just where she was.

  “Whoa. You can forget it. I’m not doing that again. Not with you.” Sela pushed her shoulders back. Her small breasts arched outward. Mac eyed her nipples. He hadn’t spent enough time with those sweet little buds. Damn, he didn’t think he’d spent any time with them.

  Mac reached up, intending to rectify that situation when her words finally hit him.

  He froze in shock. He could not believe she’d said that. Didn’t she understand? There would be no one else for her. No one else for him. They were mates. Just the thought of another man touching her . . .

  Mac rolled them again. He shoved his knee between her thighs, pressing his fully erect cock into her heat. He grabbed her wrists in one hand and stretched them high over her head, making sure his claws did not scratch her delicate skin.

  “There is no one else for you.” His beast vibrated through his entire body. He knew his eyes were solid amber. The full moon was always a dangerous time of the month, its power pulled at him, her words almost enough to send him over. Damn it all, his clan men knew enough to run like hell when he became angry.

  Sela on the other hand thrust her chin out. “Don’t you go all macho on me. I am not into pain and that hurt.” She shouted the last few words in his face.

  Mac’s claws retracted. Ah, shit.

  “I’m sorry sweetheart.” He relaxed his grip on her wrists. He nuzzled her neck, breathing her in. “I should have gone slower.” He’d waited centuries for her and then rushed her through the mating. Rushed? Hell, he’d slammed into her. No stroking, kissing, sucking. Just three hard thrusts. Maybe four.

  Sela was tiny. Maybe average by human standards but fragile next to him. And not experienced. He almost thought not experienced at all, but he hadn’t felt any barrier, although these days that didn’t necessarily mean not virgin. And she’d screamed. Loudly.

  Shit, what kind of a mate was he?

  “I’m sorry sweetheart.” He said again. Regret twisted in him. “I should have gone slower for your first time.”

  Sela shoved her face into his. “That was not my first time.”

  Tiny feathers flew into the air around them when his claws punctured the pillow. His mate was bound and determined to turn him. The little Elemental had no idea what she could unleash.

  Very few women were virgin these days. Mac knew that. He truly did, but to have it slapped in his face by his mate . . .

  “How many?” He roared.

  “How many? That is none of your damn business.” She huffed.

  He lowered his full weight onto her, his claws held stiffly away from her skin. He bumped her nose with his and allowed his beast into his voice. “How many?”

  Sela tightened her lips. “Get off,” she grunted. “You’re too heavy.”

  “I’ll move when you answer me. How many?”

  She bucked beneath him. He growled back. Little Elemental . . .

  “Ugh, not many. Okay?” She grumbled.

  “How many?” His fangs lengthened.

  Sela eyed his fangs. She looked to be deep in some thought, but she did not appear alarmed.

  She licked her lips. Going to turn me . . .

  “One.”

  Mac shuddered. Another man had been with his mate. Before him.

  “You look seriously pissed.” Sela said. “Why would you be angry about som
ething that happened before I met you?”

  Because he was a possessive, dominant man, one of the alphas in his clan. He didn’t share period. He didn’t care that it happened before they met. Logic had nothing to do with his mate.

  His chest muscles stretched, broadening. Mac concentrated on his breathing. He did not want to change, damn it.

  “Would you get off of me now? I want to breathe again.” Sela shoved at his shoulders. Even mad, her soft hands felt good on his skin. She still did not appear to understand the seriousness of the situation.

  Sela huffed out a breath, ruffling his hair. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, that time sucked as well. I’ll probably just give up on sex all together.”

  Fluffy white down swirled around them in a mini feathery snowstorm.

  Sela spat out a feather. “Okay, fine. I get it. You’re just in a bad mood. It’s not my fault that you are so bad at sex. Don’t take it out on me. Just. Get. Off. So. I. Can. Breathe!”

  ****

  Sheesh, let a little thing like being craved get to you and then look what happens.

  Did he honestly think she’d been living in a bubble until she met him? Okay, so she lived her life on the run. Okay, so she didn’t have time for dating, or love, or stuff like that. That didn’t mean she couldn’t give it a whirl, did it? She tried to live as normal a life as she could.

  She deserved a little fun. Even if it had sucked royally, that didn’t mean she couldn’t give it a go. It hadn’t even been worth a repeat experiment. Not until Mac. And look where that got her.

  And why, oh why, did that possessive look on his face make her feel like she needed to justify herself? Or maybe it was the not-so-good-feeling that she might have hurt him somehow?

  Men were so sensitive.

  Oof, she needed to breathe. Lack of oxygen apparently affected the whole thinking process.

  Before she could shove at him again, Mac made an odd garbled sound and rolled off of her. Sela inhaled deeply, several times. With her lungs back to full functioning capacity, she turned to look at him. He lay on his back with his arm over his eyes. Intermittently he made odd choking sounds.

  The man put every Greek god she could think of to shame. And then some. Sumptuous rock-hard muscles, finger-itching body hair – hmm, would that be fur? – hot, ever so deliciously hot, male skin and a fully erect cock. Impressive enough to have any woman doing a happy dance. Or run screaming from the room.

  And to think it was all false advertising.

  Damn.

  Double and triple damn too.

  She’d give him credit for the bathroom experiment. Extra credit points too. His fingers might be incredibly talented, but the rest of him sadly, very, very sadly, fell short.

  Sela eyed his erection. Maybe short wasn’t the correct term.

  She should look elsewhere. And think about something else. Something very boring. Her thought process and her hormones had a short circuit. In fact, her hormones were completely oblivious to Mac’s deficiency of skill.

  Knock me down and serve me up . . . no, no. Been there, done that, remember?

  She deliberately turned her gaze to his legs. Drat. The man did have sexy knees. She closed her eyes. Remember the pain, the burning lava, pouring through her entire body. Could that have something to do with the mate thing? She frowned, wondering. Maybe the bad sex wasn’t all due to Mac’s poor bed skills.

  Whatever way she looked at it, the big picture stayed the same. Despite the drool inducing visual he provided, if she had sex with him again, she could expect some pleasure, no foreplay, a lot of pain and no screaming orgasm.

  And to think she’d counted on multiples. She sniffed.

  Damn it all.

  So why did she feel so wonderful, so full of energy and ready to take on the world? She should be bemoaning her luck or buying Mac the book ‘Sex for Dummies’.

  She’d been burned, stabbed, cut and bruised and she could now take on the world? Lousy sex as a cure all for her ills?

  Even to Sela’s convoluted and slightly warped way of thinking, it didn’t make sense.

  She opened her eyes and looked at her left shoulder. Her jaw dropped. She looked at her other arm. Her mouth snapped shut then dropped again. She turned, twisted, rubbed and patted, but the view stayed the same.

  Her injuries were completely gone.

  Holy Hannah.

  She’d be positively thrilled if this didn’t provide further proof her non-humanity.

  Maybe she could escape out the window again before Mac noticed? He might be a werewolf, but she didn’t know what she was.

  “It’s part of the mating.”

  Sela’s eyes shot to Mac. His arm now rested above his head, his dark eyes narrowed, focused on her.

  “What’s part of the mating?”

  Mac tilted his head toward her body. His eyes heated as they traveled over her skin. “The healing.”

  “Huh?” Just call her smart and witty.

  His lips twitched. “Your body will now heal quickly, as in supernaturally fast. It’s part of the mating. A perk, I guess you could call it.”

  So lousy sex really did cure her ills - who knew?

  He frowned. “If we had mated before you escaped, your wounds would have healed almost immediately.” He frowned harder. “If we had mated before, you wouldn’t have been able to escape. I would have known the moment you tried to leave.”

  “So, what? Another part of this mating is that we have some sort of bond now?” A bond with Mac. I wouldn’t be alone anymore.

  Never gonna happen.

  “Not just some sort of bond, Lupa. A mating bond. We’re mated together. Forever.”

  Warmth bloomed and unfurled, she knew her attempts to stomp it back down were wussy at best. But, what if? What if they could make it work? What if the MIBs left her alone? What if she could find something to take away the pain? What if she bought Mac that book?

  Could she trust him? Could she stay?

  Mac certainly seemed determined enough.

  A loud pounding at the door interrupted her train of thoughts. Sela froze. So much for that, the MIBs have found me already.

  “Easy now.” Mac stroked her arm. “It’s just Cam and Roc. They’re here to talk. There’s nothing to fear.”

  “How do you know?” She glanced at the window, easing her legs to the side of the bed.

  Mac wrapped an arm around her waist, halting her move off the bed. He tapped his nose. “Werewolf, remember? I can smell them.”

  “Really? From all the way up here?” She couldn’t help it. She sniffed several times. Sweat and the scent of sex, she could smell that, but nothing else.

  However, she could feel something. “Holy Hannah, we just had unprotected sex!” She shouted.

  Mac grinned. “I know”

  Sela sputtered. “What? Aren’t you worried? I could have some weird disease.” She paused, considered. “You could have some horrible disease.”

  The pounding came again, a little louder this time.

  Mac stood up and stretched. Sela swallowed.

  He tapped his nose again, “I know you’re healthy and werewolves can’t get those kind of diseases.” Sela shuddered in relief. How could she be so careless? Another stream of wet stuff slithered down her leg. Shit, shit, shit. She had other things to worry about than catching some awful disease. What if . . .

  “We’re mates now, Sela.” Mac snagged a pair of jeans and stepped into them. He headed towards the door. “We should have children.” He picked up her clothes and tossed them to her. “You need to get dressed. Cam won’t wait long.”

  He disappeared out the door.

  Children.

  She’d never thought about having one, much less the plural version. Mac, on the other hand, seemed to be taking children for granted.

  Sela eyed the window.

  Mac stuck his head around the door. “Sela, remember that I can track you anywhere now. You won’t be able to leave the house without me knowing.
” He disappeared again.

  Arrogant, bad-at-sex werewolf.

  Mac’s head reappeared. “And Sela?” He waited until they locked eyes, his glowed with heated promise. “Next time, you won’t have any complaints.” He whistled as he walked away.

  Arrogant, whistling, bad-at-sex werewolf.

  But he craved her. And wanted children with her. The plural version. And if she bought him a book, found a way around the pain, maybe . . .

  Sela sighed and rubbed her head. She couldn’t think. She eyed the window and then the door. Choices. A large bag of chocolate peanuts right now would go a long way towards helping the decision making process.

  She jerked on her clothes and stepped quickly to the window. Nothing wrong with having an escape plan. The window wouldn’t budge. She reached for the lock . . . crushed.

  She shrugged, no worries. There were plenty of other windows. The large grin on her face as she passed the dresser mirror stopped her in her tracks. She rubbed her lips.

  Mac effectively halted a means of escape, she might be pregnant and she . . . smiled? Hoo Boy, getting in deep here, Chickie.

  With a man who craved her.

  Well, no harm in having a quick chat with this Cam person and finding out what he wanted.

  Certain that Mac had killed all the MIBs in the building before they got a call out to their fanatical comrades, Sela had a little time before she had to make a definite decision.

  A little bit of time. Lots of dead MIBs. No screaming orgasm. She stopped whistling. A book to buy.

  Oh, the possibilities.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sela remembered Roc from the bar, almost identical in size to Mac, but with longer hair. The slight curl in his ponytail in no way diminished his masculinity.

  Good Golly Miss Molly. It should almost be a crime to keep this much devastating masculinity to oneself. She snorted. Like I’m gonna share Mac.

  She didn’t recognize the third man from the bar. She might have only been in the bar for a few minutes, but the long scar running from his cheek down the side of his neck, was not something to forget. That and the distinct, quite distinct, air of menace that surrounded him.