by Anya Bast
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
He turned away. “It was a long time ago.”
“Why do the Magica hate the Lycaon so much?”
“We’re a threat. We could take over their civilization if our fertility rates weren’t so low.”
“They created you with the intention of controlling and using you. Now that they’ve lost control, they want you destroyed because you frighten them.”
“Exactly. It’s been that way since the beginning of our recorded history. It will never change.”
Her jaw locked. “What a bunch of assholes.” Seemed like there were assholes everywhere, didn’t really matter which reality you were occupying.
“Yeah.” He finished the dishes and turned toward her. “You must be exhausted.”
“Unbelievably.”
“Your bedroom is up there.” He pointed at the loft. “Warmest place in the house. There’s a big feather bed and I set out a nightgown and pair of slippers for you. There is also a selection of clothes in the wardrobe, including shoes.”
“Thank you.”
He walked over and kissed her forehead. “Good night.”
She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Even such a small act, walking over, kissing her forehead, made her body burn. The warmth of him radiated out, soaking into her skin. The faint scent of leather touched her nose and his voice rumbled through her so deep and lovely.
Exhaling slowly, she managed to say good night, then turned and went up the stairs.
* * * * *
“No, Doug!”
She woke in a sweat and with the soft sheets tangled around her body. In the dark, a huge form loomed over her, pinning her wrists. Kaitlyn screamed and thrashed, managing to free a hand and score the man’s cheek with her nails before he pinned it again.
“Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn, it’s Lucas. I won’t hurt you, baby. You were having a nightmare.”
She stilled, breathing heavily, remembering where she was. Swallowing hard, she assessed the situation. The dream came back in a rush and a shuddering breath escaped her. She’d probably been screaming in her sleep and Lucas had come in to wake her. To do that he’d draped himself almost completely over her.
His chest was muscled, his thighs strong. She could see the strain of his biceps as he pinned her wrists, apparently in an effort to keep her from moving her arms and hurting herself. And just like that, she was suddenly very aware of the hard male body against her.
Very aware.
That damn mating bond made times like this very inconvenient. Her mind said knee him in the balls, but her body said fuck me. Fuck me hard and fuck me long. Her nipples had gone erect and sensitive and her sex had become warm and aroused. Just the scent of either Lucas or Rafian could bring this on. Their very presence sent her into heat.
Lucas must have noticed it, too, because he went very still.
She stared into his eyes. She wanted him to yank up the hem of her nightgown, force her thighs apart and thrust his cock deep into her. She wanted to feel that hard length pistoning in and out of her until she orgasmed so hard she saw stars. Kaitlyn had no doubt that this fine specimen of manhood was capable of it.
One more minute of this and she would beg him.
“Get off me, please,” she whispered.
Lucas hesitated, then rolled off her, putting a hand to his cheek.
She pushed up and looked at the damage she’d done. Blood marked his skin. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing. Tell me about the dream.”
She sighed, not wanting to answer. Instead she went into the bathroom, returning with a damp cloth. She sat down next to him and pressed it to his cheek. God, help her, the man was shirtless. He just had to be shirtless, didn’t he? The man was a menace. Both of them were. A double threat to her sanity.
As she explained, she idly traced over the tattoos on his forearm. “The dream is from something that happened in my past. My ex-husband was a nice guy, and then he wasn’t. I’ve had some version of this nightmare a few times. I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” She studied the mark she’d made on his face. His scar was near it. She ran her fingers down its length. “How’d you get this?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Yep.”
“I got it trying to defend my parents from the hunters. I was young, just into my teens. I thought I was strong enough to defeat them, but they backhanded me away like a puppy and killed them.”
It made the trauma she’d experienced at Doug’s hands seem so trivial. “I’m glad they didn’t kill you too.”
He pulled the damp cloth from her fingers and set it on the bedside table, then cupped her cheek. “Your skin is clammy and you’re shaking.”
“Yes, that nightmare has a tendency to do that to me. No more sleep for me tonight.”
Being this close to him was torture. Desire steamrolled over her at the scent of him and the warmth of his too-close body. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the sensation between her thighs, primed for him even though he hadn’t touched her in sexual way at all.
The thought of him touching her in sexual way sent her right over the edge.
She pulled away, stood, and stalked away from him. “This mating bond thing is pretty rough.”
“It’s hard on me and Rafian as well.” His voice came out rough. “Mere proximity sets it off.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Because we are—”
“—meant to be together. Right.”
“It’s more than that. It’s chemistry. Our bodies crave each other’s.”
She paced to the wall and back. “I’m really not going to get any sleep now.”
“Let me touch you. Let me make you come. That’s what you need. Release.”
She stopped in her tracks, hating how good that sounded. “I barely know you.”
“That’s not true. You know me. You know me and Rafian better than you have known anyone else in your life.”
She really hated the truth of that. She’d only met Lucas a few hours ago. She didn’t know much about his history, what his favorite color was, or what he ate for comfort food…yet on some deep level she did know him. Her soul knew him.
And, wow, her body really wanted to make his intimate acquaintance too.
“So let me touch you.” It was like he was reading her mind. His voice was a low, soft purr. Seduction by voice. “I can do it with my hands and mouth.”
Guh.
“What about Rafian? Wouldn’t he be jealous?”
Lucas held her gaze. “Maybe, but that’s the way it is. Sometimes I’ll be with you without him and vice versa. We both know that.”
She took a step away from him. “I’m not that way. I don’t just fall into bed with just any man, let alone two of them.”
He leapt to his feet and stalked toward her, his eyes flashing with irritation. “I’m not just any man. I’m your man. You are mine, Kaitlyn.” He crushed her to him, dragging her up against his chest.
She grabbed his waist, inhaling the scent of him, feeling him so hard and warm against her. The beat of her heart increased and her body softened. The now familiar haze of sexual need clouded her mind, dulling her senses. It was the side effect of her body taking over for her good sense.
He ran one strong hand up her back and into her hair, gently took a handful of it and used it to tip her head to the side, exposing the column of her throat. It was clearly a wolf move, forcing her to expose her vulnerable throat this way. Her heart beat out a staccato rhythm, body tensing. He lowered his mouth to her sensitive skin and tenderly bit her.
He was showing her he meant her no harm.
She gasped and clutched his shoulders. His teeth closed around her skin, not breaking the flesh. It didn’t hurt at all. On the contrary. It made goose bumps erupt over her body and a flare of pure need shoot through her, pooling between her thighs.
This was an act of possession. Lucas was marking her, making her his. She knew that she should
be outraged by this, that she should fight him off, slap him silly and make her inner feminist proud. But the primal part of her, the deeply sexual core of her, wanted to be his. It was a war between brain and body that lasted only a few seconds.
Her body won.
He gathered the hem of her nightgown in one hand and dragged it upward, pinning the material to her waist with his hand. Releasing his hold on her throat, he spoke close to her skin. “I can feel how worked up you are. The mating bond is playing havoc with you, just as it taunts me. Let me take the edge off.” His voice was a silken rasp moving over her throat. “Give me permission to touch you, Kaitlyn. On my honor, I will be gentle.”
Gentle was the last thing she wanted from him right now. She made a small sound of acquiescence.
Making a low growling sound of approval, he slipped his hand between her thighs and found her swollen, aroused clit. She gasped as he fingered it, teasing it back and forth. Pleasure arched through her body and she had to force herself not grind down, seeking more contact.
He groaned. “You’re so excited. Do you want me to make you come?”
She swallowed hard, clinging to his shoulders. Her sex was hot and damp, aching for his hand, or, better yet, his cock. “Touch me, Lucas, please.”
He brushed his lips over her earlobe and murmured, “Part your legs for me, baby. Let me in.”
She spread her thighs as wide as they’d go. He slicked his finger over her damp folds and rubbed his finger back and forth against her swollen clit, pushing her body until the edge of a climax tormented her. She was embarrassed that she was so close to coming so early, but the way he touched her seemed to bring animalistic ecstasy straight to the surface.
Her sex had flooded with sexual awareness, priming itself, making itself ready to be thrust into. Her breasts felt heavy, the nipples erect and sensitive.
“Do you like that?” he asked softly.
“Let me come.” Her voice came out an agonized rasp.
“Not yet.”
Lucas pressed his free hand to the base of her spine and slanted his mouth over hers. At the same time, he traced over her labia, making her shiver, and then pressed one thick finger deep inside her.
She gasped at the invasion and how stretched her muscles felt with only his finger inside her. It had been a while since she’d had sex and she was tight. Gently, he thrust in and out, widening her, easing the way. He did it so slow she thought she’d go insane. Finally, he added a second finger, widening her even more. Pleasure poured through her, making Kaitlyn groan deep in the back of her throat.
Just when she thought he would push her over the edge and she would orgasm with his hand between her thighs, he retreated. Pulling her nightgown over her head, he tossed it away, then looked his fill of her body. She stood on weakened knees, her sex heavy and needy.
Reaching out, he toyed with her breasts, exploring each nipple in turn. Arousal made his eyes dark and the soft pants he wore were tented with a massive erection. She sighed and moaned as he lowered his mouth to her breasts and sucked one nipple into his mouth, bathing it thoroughly with his tongue. It popped from his mouth hard and reddened like a berry.
She reached for his cock, wanting to stroke him, see if he was as hard as he looked, but he caught her hand. “Not yet. I want you on the bed. I want you to show me how you like to be touched. I want to watch you make yourself come.”
“You want to watch me touch myself?”
His eyes flashed. “Intensely.”
She hesitated. She’d done it plenty of times, of course, but never for an audience.
“On the bed, Kaitlyn,” Lucas ordered softly.
She walked over and lay down.
He pushed down his pants and his massive cock sprung free. She bit her lower lip, taking in his beauty. Lucas stood at the end of the bed. “Lie back against the pillows and part your thighs wide, so I can get a glimpse of all that prettiness.”
She parted her legs, bending her knees and bringing her heels up to touch her inner thighs. In this position, she was completely open to him. He had a view of her pouting labia and her swollen, excited clit.
He drank in the sight of her like a starving man, eating her up with his gaze. He wanted her badly. She was sure he was only barely holding onto to his control. If she played this game with him, maybe she could get him to lose that thread of control. Perhaps she was crazy for wanting to bait a man like Lucas. If so, she was definitely crazy.
She held his gaze boldly, even as her cheeks heated a bit. Dragging her hands up between her legs slowly, she cupped her breasts, rubbing her thumbs over each nipple. One of them was still wet from his mouth, which made the image of his tongue wrapped around her nipple flood her mind. Pleasure shot straight to her groin. She ran the pads of her index fingers over her rock-hard nipples, first brushing across them, then slowly circling the pebbled peaks. Her hips thrust forward and she moaned.
Then she slid one hand down between her thighs, found her sensitive bud and toyed with it. She gasped at the bolt of ecstasy she gave herself. Raising her gaze to meet his in challenge, she spread her labia apart so he could see the heart of her. Teasingly, she ran her fingertip over herself, then sank two fingers deep inside. She whimpered at the sensation and slid down a little in the pillows, her hips thrusting forward as she slowly drew them in and out. Closing her eyes, she imagined it was his cock inside her. With her other hand, she caressed her clit, running the pad of her finger up and down it.
Lucas groaned and she opened her eyes to find him standing at the end of the bed, pumping his cock from base to tip over and over. His gaze was fixed on her sex and the way she touched herself.
“Lucas,” she entreated.
He was on her in a flash, pushing her knees up and out, completely spreading her for him. He lowered his mouth between her thighs. She yelped with surprise, then moaned as his tongue rasped over her folds. He eased his tongue deep inside her and fucked her with it, making her back arch as she moaned.
She bucked under his mouth, breathing heavily. The sight of his dark head moving between her thighs as he went down on her sent skitters of excitement through her body. He found her clit and tongued it just the right way, using the tip of it to tease her, then sucking the sensitive nub into his mouth. While he stimulated her clit with his tongue, he eased one finger into her, then two. He thrust in and out of her hard and fast, rocking her body on the bed.
An orgasm exploded through her. Her back arched and she bucked, but he held her down, riding her through the pleasure that poured through her body, stealing her breath and her ability to think. He made a low growling sound in the back of this throat and licked her all over, seeming to love that he’d made her come this way.
Before the climax had completely ebbed, he’d flipped her to her stomach and hauled her hips up. She bowed her back, tilting her pelvis and spreading her knees, offering her swollen and aching sex to him completely. Finally, he was going to fuck her.
He placed the crown of his cock to her entrance and pushed inside. She cried out at the massive penetration and the way it stretched her muscles. Inch by slow inch, he pushed inside her until he was seated base-deep and she was panting. This is what she’d wanted from the moment she’d seen him. He filled her like no other man ever had. She couldn’t believe she’d been able to take all of him.
Grasping her hips, he pulled out of her and pushed back in, shafting her slowly.
“Faster,” she rasped. “Harder.”
He increased his pace, giving her what she wanted. His cock slid easily in and out of her despite his size. She moaned, pleasure coursing through her. Having him inside of her was pure ecstasy, was perfect, was utterly right in every way.
Lucas reached around and played with her breasts, rolling her nipples between his thumb and forefinger as his cock eased in and out of her. Then he delved his hand between her thighs from the front, found her clit and stroked it. Every inward thrust rocked her swollen bud against his fingers, bringing her orga
sm closer and closer until it washed over her.
Her head snapped back as it overwhelmed her body, making her cry out. The muscles of her passage pulsed and contracted around his thrusting cock. He kept up stroking her clit, forcing a longer, more intense climax from her.
Then Lucas groaned low and his cock jumped deep inside her.
They collapsed on the bed when it was over and Lucas drew her against his body, brushing her sex-tangled hair away from her perspiration touched skin. He kissed her forehead, her cheek and, finally, her mouth, pushing his tongue deep inside.
Even though they’d both come, he wasn’t done. His hands skated over her body, as if hungry for the touch of her. His tongue trailed over her skin, down her neck and collarbone, catching at her nipples. His hand eased between her thighs and found her slick with the mingled evidence of their sex. He seemed not to care. He touched her again, easing his fingers over the folds of her labia, and her climax sensitive nub, massaging it.
She came again, more gently this time, shuddering against him as he stroked his tongue up against hers in the depths of her mouth.
As he tucked her against his body again, apparently satisfied that he’d made her come a whooping three times in a row, he drew the blankets over both of them. Kaitlyn drifted off to sleep feeling utterly cherished and protected, and more sated than she ever had in her life.
Chapter Five
Lucas watched Kaitlyn wake up slowly, her eyelids fluttering and then opening. She glimpsed and smiled. His heart nearly stopped for a moment. She was so beautiful.
She stretched and rolled toward him, nestling her head against his chest. He’d slept all night with her in the loft. The memory of what they’d done in the wee morning hours made his cock go hard. He wanted to do some variation of that with this woman every night for the rest of their lives.
He pushed her hair away from her face and she smiled. “I’m sore everywhere.”
“Sorry.”
Her smile widened and she glanced at him. “No, you’re not.”
