Luke slowly lifted his gaze and looked up at me, a strange challenge in his eyes, and there was no denying it. I felt a little twist of jealousy deep in my stomach, even though I knew it was ridiculous. These guys didn’t owe me anything. And yet, I couldn’t help but press my lips together to keep the frown far away from my face, because knowing that there were girls in that town who got to get their hands on any one of these men…yeah, I was envious.
Green with it, in fact.
Stop it, fool.
“So why don’t you go down there and stock up for winter?” I wondered aloud.
“We do, sometimes,” Anton explained quickly, like they had more important things to be moving on to. “We supplement there when we have to but we prefer to stay out in the woods where we can. It’s safer for us out here, and we’re used to it by now anyway.”
“Right.” I nodded, hugging the shirt around myself once more. I bit my lip. I should probably just stay behind, not impose any more than I already had.
“Could I come hunt with you?” I blurted out. Rafe and Luke instantly exchanged a look, and I could tell from the tightness of their expressions that they weren’t exactly enamored with the idea.
“All right,” Anton said with a clipped nod. Him being the obvious alpha of the group, I knew that the decision was made. “If you’re feeling better when we go, all right?”
I nodded, pleased. With the war and fighting, and then time in the cell, it had been too long since I’d been on a hunt with other wolves, and already I could feel my inner wolf rejoicing.
“I could do with a drink,” Luke growled, getting to his feet. “Anyone else?”
“Get the bourbon,” Anton suggested and Luke vanished off to the kitchen and returned with five small glasses, none of them matching, and slammed them down on the table in front of each one of us. He slopped a fair helping of bourbon from an unmarked bottle into each one, and I picked mine up and lifted it to my nose. The smell was potent but I knew it would help with some of the pain I was still feeling from the attack earlier.
“Where do you get this stuff?” I peered at the amber liquid in my glass, as the rest of them set about drinking it already.
“We distill it ourselves,” Ethan replied, a tinge of pride to his voice – I wondered if this was his job within the group, making the booze and making sure that it was damn good, damn strong stuff. I shrugged and took a sip; it was heavy, but the warmth of it spread across my tongue and then through my entire body in turn.
“Mmm, that’s good.” I closed my eyes for a moment and savored it. “So how often do you guys go into town?” I found myself asking.
No reason.
“Maybe once a month or so,” Anton replied, and there was a flicker of a smile on his face as he looked at me; I couldn’t quite figure out what he was grinning about but the feel of his gaze on mine was enough to get something heating deep in my stomach.
“And other than that, the four of you live completely off the land?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Luke leaned back from the table, a little mellowed by the alcohol already. “Have done for years.”
“That’s amazing.”
I opened my mouth to make a comment about my clan, and how we relied on the accoutrements of the human race to get us through, but I swiftly shut up when I remembered that they weren’t my clan any longer. I felt another pang of sadness in my chest; I wasn’t sure that would ever go away, that pain when I thought of them, when I thought of how far removed I was from them now.
I took another sip of my drink, and focused instead on the sultry burn of it in my belly.
I stayed with them, talking hunting and supplies for a bit, but my body was burning through energy as it healed itself, and soon enough, my head felt as heavy as my heart.
“I should probably be getting to bed,” I remarked, getting to my feet. I needed rest if I was going to hunt with them tomorrow night, which I fully intended to do. “Thank you for the clothes. And the drinks. And…all of it.”
“Whatever you need.” Anton bowed his head, and I smiled.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, knocking back the last of the booze in the hopes that it would help me get some sleep the rest of that night.
I made my way back to my bedroom, and I could feel their gazes on me as I walked away.
I knew that if I turned around right then, I would have found all four of them watching me. But I didn’t mind. No, if anything, I found myself reveling in it, enjoying it; Four gorgeous men had come saved me from an attack in the middle of the woods and were now nursing me back to health. It was like something out of a fairytale, so I was allowed to let myself feel something like a princess for just a minute before reality came crashing back in.
I closed the bedroom door behind me and slipped beneath the heavy covers on the enormous bed. It was warm, between the thick clothes and the giant blanket that lay across the bed, but I found myself shivering anyway. And, even though they were just a few feet away, I realized it was because I missed them – missed the camaraderie that came with being around the four of them, the warmth of the atmosphere that seemed to settle around me when I was near them.
If this was a fairytale, I couldn’t help but wonder which one would’ve been my Prince Charming…
Chapter 5
Cold. That was all I could feel – cold. And then, the harsh sensation of the earth beneath my paws as I ran, ran hard and fast, ran as far away as I could from the people pursuing me. I shot a look over my shoulder and saw them coming, saw them bearing down on me – my pack. I wanted to turn around and stop, to beg them to take me back, but I knew they would tear me apart if they got anywhere close to me. It was what I deserved after everything I’d done. They’d cast me out and now they would kill me, and all I could do was run and run and run and hope that they never caught up with me.
The forest seemed endless and they were gaining on me, fast – the breath was tearing in my throat as I tried to keep going, tried to force myself to keep running, but my energy was sapped and I could feel the aches deep in my bones as I tried to keep moving. I felt as though I was wading through treacle, the air tightening and stiffening around me, specifically to slow me down – and that’s when I saw him.
The boy, the little boy, the boy I had released from that cell, the boy who had started all of this, was just standing there in a clearing a few feet from me, staring at me as though his purpose should have been obvious. And then I realized – it was. I was leading my pack to an ambush. How hadn’t I realized it before now? Why hadn’t I stopped it? I came to a skittering halt and turned, hoping there was still time to chase them away, to send them back – but it was too late. They were on us. The MacLarens.
They were bearing down so fast that there wasn’t time to send any of the rest of them away; even if I could have sent them back, it would have been too late. My pack was doomed. There were so many of them – how could there be so many of them? – and they were attacking, tearing and biting and slaughtering, and for some reason my pack wasn’t fighting back, was just standing there dumbly as though nothing was wrong, and the blood was coming so thick and so fast-
I shot upright, my brain yanking me from the horror that I’d been torturing myself with and back into the real world in an instant. I swallowed heavily and tried to center myself, and realized that it was a scream that had pulled me from my nightmare, the sound of it still echoing around the room. My own scream. There was sweat swiftly drying on my brow and my breath was still coming fast. I could all but feel that blood as it coursed over me, fresh from my dream.
I looked around – where the fuck was I? These heavy covers felt as though they were choking me, like I could barely catch my breath. I shoved them off and clawed at the sweats I had on, pulling them off and kicking them away, trying to get a little air on my skin so I didn’t feel quite as suffocated. I looked around again, head still fuzzy, and tried to place where I was and what I was doing here. I couldn’t remember…
&nb
sp; And then, I heard footsteps on the floorboards rushing closer and it all came back to me.
I let my head fall back against the pillow, my breath still tearing in my lungs, and closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe I’d actually woken the whole house with my silly nightmare. This was so humiliating.
Anton threw the door open and entered the room, followed by the other three; they were all in some state of undress and I quickly glanced away, and then realized how obvious it was that I was looking away, and looked back, trying to stay casual.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, it’s fine, I just had a-” I tried to keep my voice neutral but found myself hiccuping slightly, fear and grief wrapped up in my tone so obviously that I was surprised I didn’t burst into tears right there on the spot.
“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Anton soothed me, dropping his voice like he was talking to some kind of wild animal. Which I supposed he was, in a way.
He glanced at the other three guys and nodded, a clear directive to the others, because they backed off at once and closed the door behind them, leaving just the two of us.
I was shaking badly, my entire body trembling, the dream still so fresh in my head it was as though it was a memory instead of some bullshit my subconscious had stirred up to mess with me.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and I tucked my legs up beneath me, aware that it was only the length of the shirt that was keeping me from flashing him something I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted him to see yet. I tugged the covers up and over me and flushed slightly, embarrassment mixing with the panic still fresh in my head.
“You can talk about it if you need to,” he murmured, his voice low. I shook my head. I knew I would need to at some point, but I couldn’t face speaking about it to him yet – it would have made everything that much more real, and I couldn’t cope with that, not now, not when everything felt so fresh.
“I don’t want to,” I replied, and lay back down on the bed. “And you don’t have to stay, really. It’s okay, I was just having a bad dream-”
“No, it’s fine,” he assured me, and to my surprise, he lay down on the bed next to me; the weight of him there, of his body near mine, made me relax at once. I had spent so much of my life surrounded by people that it felt good to have Anton this close to me. “As long as you want me to stay,” he murmured, and I realized he was checking in with me, making sure that I was alright with having him around.
“I do,” I admitted, and found myself reaching out to touch him; he was just wearing a pair of sweats that were little better-fitting than the ones I had on, and I suddenly craved the feeling of his warm skin against mine. I brushed my fingers across his arm and he smiled softly, as though surprised by my touch. I closed my eyes and inhaled a long, deep breath.
I knew that I was playing a dangerous game, letting him stay here and letting myself touch him like that, but I needed it right then and there. I closed my eyes and shifted towards him, and to my surprise, he reached out to pull me closer to him.
Don’t get used to this, Arianna.
But just for a moment…
I let him hold me close, him on top of the covers and me beneath, and savored the feeling of his strong arms around my body. I knew I should have put a stop to it, that I should have brought that shit firmly to a close before it went anywhere, but I was too relieved for this comfort.
For a long while, we stayed that way, and slowly but surely, the panic began to abate. Soon enough, I found myself burrowing closer, and relaxing, all wrapped up in Anton’s strong arms. I tried to fight it, but my eyelids grew heavy and sleep claimed me once again.
When I woke next, it wasn’t to the state of unremitting panic that I had the first time that night. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but the deep dark of the night had lifted and the first hints of watery morning light were beginning to peel through the windows around me. By now, Anton was beneath the covers, his arms still wrapped around me and his body so close to mine that I could-
It took me a moment to realize what I was feeling, smashed up against my butt like that. We were entwined, so tight that our bodies had practically molded into one around each other, and my ass was firmly pressed against his cock.
Worse yet—or maybe better?—he was hard as a stone.
I mean, it was just morning glory – all guys got hard-ons when they woke up, right?
This was nothing to do with me specifically, but that didn’t stop my body from reacting, or quell the rush of excitement that coursed through me in a hot rush.
Tentatively, I shifted my hips back and forth, and he let out a little snuffling noise behind me before his breathing returned to its steady pace.
I bit my lip as longing built low in my belly as I rocked against him again, very gently, just enough to know that his cock responded to my movements every time I made them. I closed my eyes and snuggled right up against him, knowing I should stop, but enjoying this moment too much to want to bring it to an end so soon.
My nipples went hard and my breath came short as I moved more quickly. Jesus, he hadn’t even touched me and I felt like I was on fire. Desperate to come. Desperate for more of him. Aching to feel that thick, hard cock bare against me. It was only then that I realized he had begun to respond in his sleep, unconsciously moving his body against mine, one hand sliding down to grip my hip and hold me in place as he ground mercilessly against me. I let out a moan, not realizing it was on the tip of my tongue until it escaped.
“Keep going like that and you’re going to get more than you bargained for, woman,” he murmured from behind me, and I sucked in a sharp breath – how long had he been awake?
And, more importantly, had he been enjoying this as much as I had?
Chapter 6
I rolled over and looked at him; he had this dozy expression on his face, his mouth turned up into a lazy smile. My heart was hammering in my chest as I stared at him and tried to figure out what was going through his head.
I knew what was going through mine – how badly I wanted him, how good his body felt next to mine. I could imagine how good it would feel. He was such a man, the way he moved and spoke and took control, an alpha through-and-through. So far removed from my ex, who didn’t seem to know how to touch me even when I showed him.
His eyes were dark in the morning light and I realized that I was actually craving him. Craving him like it was the only thing in the world that I needed.
We were shifters, and shifters functioned on instinct, and my instinct was telling me now, more than ever, that I should go for this. I slid my hand down his body and found his massive length, my lips parting as my fingers tightened around his swollen erection. He let out a growl, deep down in his throat, and rolled on top of me.
His mouth was on my neck at once, his body heavy on top of my own – but it felt so good to be near him like this, so good to lose myself to the way he felt. I closed my eyes and let his warm breath on my skin ignite me. His hand was moving up and under my shirt, his fingers on my breast, pinching my nipple between his fingertips and drawing me to hardness. I let out a moan, and he pushed the fingers of his other hand into my mouth, keeping me quiet.
“Don’t want to wake the others,” he murmured as he pushed my legs apart and began grinding on me properly, positioned exactly where I needed him so bad.
His cock felt so damned good pressing tightly against me, my body reacted to him in ways I didn’t even know were possible until now; the intensity of everything that had happened the last few days seemed to crest and break into this moment, and I tipped my head back and let it take me, wrapping my legs around him and drawing him even closer to me.
His hands were all over my body and in that heady, sleepy state I was in, I could pretend it was all of them – that all of them were there, touching me, needing me, enjoying me. The thought sent me into overdrive, my back arching off the bed, and I bit down lightly on his fingers in an attempt to work out some of the tension that was building in me. He lifted his
head from where he had been nipping my neck.
“You’re so hot,” he growled and slid his hand between my legs. With a groan born of desperation, I shucked off my borrowed pants in a harried rush. A second later, I let my thighs fall open, reveling in the flexing of his jaw as he looked down.
“Gorgeous,” he gritted out, a moment before slipping his hand down to press his fingers against my aching clit.
“Oh, god,” I breathed, arching helplessly against his hand. But he didn’t linger long before working down, down, and pushing them inside of me.
I opened my mouth in a silent cry of pleasure, twisting back and forth on the bed, lifting my hips and grinding hungrily against his hand like it was the only thing in the world that mattered to me at that moment. He moved his fingers into me slowly, taking his time, and I knew at once that they wouldn’t be enough.
I needed more.
And I needed it now.
“Please,” I breathed, my voice as low as I could keep it while I was still sure he would hear me, and he looked up, his gaze lasering into mine. He had a great smile, the kind that was tinged with a hint of dirtiness, so far removed from the intensely in-control alpha vibe that he threw out. He slid his fingers from me and slid them into my mouth again. I could taste myself on them, taste the mingling of me and him on my lips, and it only made me want him even more badly.
He pulled down his sweats just far enough that he could take his cock in his hand, and pressed himself up against my slick entrance; I was glad his fingers were muffling me again because otherwise I would have let out a groan that would have echoed around the entire cabin and woken up the lot of them.
I hooked my ankles behind his back, crossing them together to pull him into me, and finally, finally, he pressed the broad head of his cock into me, stealing my very breath.
Her Howling Harem 1: A reverse harem fantasy (Arianna's Story) Page 4
