by Dia Cole
“Continuing that interview was one of the toughest things I’ve done. All I wanted to do was set you on my desk and bury myself inside you.” His voice was rough and low.
My breath grew choppy at the memory of our first encounter. “All I wanted to do was mount you on your office chair.”
Nathan let out a groan. “Please tell me you forgive me, Vana. I love you so much.”
His words rang with truth.
Something inside my chest broke open and released all the anger and bitterness inside. No matter how I’d tried to deny it, I was still in love with him and I always would be. However, I didn’t want him to think he could win me over so quickly. “Fine. I forgive you. But you have a lot of groveling to do. A lot.”
“I’ll be your personal slave for the rest of your life, if that is what you want.”
I smiled at the image of him waiting on me hand and foot. “As tempting as that is, what I need right now is your promise never to lie to me and never to keep anything from me.”
“I swear on my life.” He brushed his mouth over my knuckles. The sensation of his lips on my skin sent a shock wave of need crashing through me.
A moan escaped my lips.
His hungry gaze met mine and a surge of desire flooded our bond. I didn’t know if the lust I felt was his, or mine. Frankly, I didn’t care.
I leaned over the chair. “Kiss me.”
He let out a low growl. Then in one fluid movement picked me up and dragged me into his lap. His mouth claimed mine. Our lips and tongues danced as our hands tore at the fabric barriers between us. He pulled open my robe at the same time I unknotted his blanket.
A hiss escaped my lips as he latched on to my nipple and suckled. Arching against his mouth, I reached down and took his thick hard cock in my hand. I couldn’t wait to have him inside me again.
15
Nathan
Praise the fates. My daughter and I had survived insurmountable odds and my female had forgiven me.
Vana slid her hand back and forth on my cock, mastering me with her soft touch. Each stroke drove me more insane with lust.
I fought the urge to throw my head back and howl. Instead, I thrust wildly against her palm, all my reputed self-control going up in flames.
As I lost focus, Vana’s nipple fell out of my mouth with a small pop. I wanted to lick and suck that dusky peak the way she liked, but I was held captive by her measured strokes. My balls tightened to the point of pain. I needed to be inside her. It’s been too fucking long.
“Only three months,” she said, with a teasing smile.
It should’ve been shocking she could read my thoughts so easily. Not even Tasha could breach my mental blocks. But Vana and I were bonded now, and a lifetime of sharing my mind with my best friend Ty had made it second nature to open myself up to someone I loved. And I love Vana above all others. “Those three months were an eternity.”
Her eyes glowed in the firelight. “Then we should take our time.” Her strokes became tortuously slow.
Damnation. I didn’t know if I could take this much longer.
She froze as if remembering something. “We need to talk about the others.”
“You said Mira and the humans would be safe next door.” After we’d mated we’d go check on them. I drew Vana’s nipple back into my mouth.
“I don’t mean the survivors—ah…” she broke off as I suckled hard. “I-I can’t think when you do that.”
I inhaled deeply, drawing in her scent. Chlorine had muted her exotic floral scent, but it couldn’t overpower the sweet musk of her growing desire. She wants me. That knowledge burned through me like a blowtorch and triggered my inner wolf. Raw, primal need clawed to the surface.
Fuck going slow. I shifted her thighs open wider.
She stiffened and braced her hands on my shoulders. “Nathan, I have something very important I need to—”
Lust rode me so hard, I couldn’t pay attention to her words. I couldn’t pay attention to anything but her core poised an inch from my throbbing dick. The need to be inside her ravaged my mind. All it took was a rock of my hips and I was buried inside.
Her golden eyes rolled back. “Oh, Nathan,” she moaned. She flattened one hand against my chest, grasped the arm of the chair with her other hand, and rolled her hips. She was hotter and wetter than she’d ever been before.
I gasped. “Yes, my little wolf, take all of me.” Why hadn’t we ever fucked with her on top before? It was mind-blowing.
She rocked up and down, teasing me with achingly slow pumps. She didn’t understand how close I was to losing control.
“Vana,” I pleaded.
She looked down at me, her eyes heavy with passion. “What?”
“Next time we’ll take our time,” I promised. All the while we’d dated, I’d kept a tight rein on the raging beast inside me, only allowing her to see small glimpses. Now that she’d transitioned, I didn’t need to worry about hurting her. I could unleash it all.
Gripping her hips, I lifted and dropped her on my cock with such speed and intensity that her head snapped back. As I brought her down over and over, I punched my hips, driving deep into her.
“Nathan!” she cried in delight, writhing against me. Incredibly she moved with me, taking it all and demanding more.
My incredible female. I captured her mouth and matched the thrust of my tongue to the wild tempo of our coupling.
Her nails scored down the sides of my shoulders, drawing blood as I pounded into her.
I couldn’t have cared less. Merciless lust drove me to mate her as hard and fast as I could. I’d missed this so much. The music of her moans. The feeling of our slick skin rubbing together. The viselike grip of her pussy around my cock.
The animalistic sounds of our pleasure filled the room.
She trembled over me, her thighs quivering around mine. From experience, I knew she was close to climaxing. How I wanted to tie her down and draw out her orgasm. Make her beg for it. But raw, primal need had taken over.
“Yes!” She ground against me, chasing sweet release.
Needing to give it to her, I slipped my hand between our bodies and stimulated her clit.
She came apart. “Yes. Oh, God! Nathan!”
As she screamed her orgasm, I couldn’t hold on anymore. I pumped into her once, twice, and then came so hard my vision flickered.
Breath sawing in and out, she collapsed on top of me.
I crushed her against my chest, my cock still pulsing inside her. I didn’t want to break the connection between us. Ever. “I love you,” I panted.
“I love you too,” she gasped.
Thank the fates. The enormous weight I’d been carrying for months evaporated into the air. Since the night Tasha forced me to deny my female I’d felt only half-alive. With Vana in my arms, all was right in the world. After we’d mated at least three more times and I’d properly restaked my claim on her body, we’d go next door and get Mira. Then we’d head to Sanctuary with the humans and plan the next step in our lives, together. Nothing would impede our happiness. Nothing. Not the apocalypse. Not Tasha. Not—
The sound of heavy footsteps brought my head around.
Three males stood in the middle of the lobby staring at us.
I immediately recognized Mason and Liam, but it took me a second to place the scowling dark-haired male. Gabriel, Tasha’s favorite Enforcer, looked different without his eye patch.
Although rationally I knew the males had helped to save our lives, I couldn’t stop the instinct to snarl at them. Having three unclaimed males that close to my naked female wasn’t acceptable. I swung Vana off my lap and jumped in front of her protectively. “Give us a moment, please.”
The males ignored me.
“What the fuck, princess? You said you were going to unclaim him.”
Vana stepped away from me, her eyes darting furtively around the lobby. “I was. I-it’s more complicated than I thought.”
Liam crossed his arms over his gar
gantuan chest. “Doesn’t look that complicated to me. You mated him.” He turned to look at Mason. “You were right, Doc. You win the bet.”
The doctor gave the redheaded giant a smug grin that faded as he stared at Gabriel’s thunderous expression. “Gabriel, take a deep breath. You need to relax, mate.”
Why the fuck did Gabriel care that we mated?
Tasha’s Head Enforcer clenched his jaw so tight it popped. “Relax? How can I relax when our Alpha is fucking him?”
Gabriel’s words confused me. Tasha is his sworn Alpha, right?
“It’s her choice, mate.” Mason looked over at Vana, a forlorn expression on his face. “You know how I feel about you. It will hurt like bloody hell to let you go, but your happiness matters more than anything.”
Let her go? I inhaled again, picking up something I’d missed before. These males weren’t unclaimed. They carried the scent of my mate in their blood. They were hers. All. Fucking. Three. Of. Them.
A knee-jerk kick of denial hit me in the gut. No. No fucking way.
I spun around to confront Vana.
The pained look on her face told me all I needed to know.
Fuck the fates. “You claimed these males.”
“I-I tried to tell you before…” she trailed off.
Pain lanced through my chest, wounding me deeper than any torture Tasha had ever devised. How did this happen? Vana was mine. Mine alone. Ty had assured me she hadn’t so much as been on a date with anyone else these past three months. How could everything change in ten days?
“Why?” I had to ask her. Why didn’t she wait for me? Why wasn’t I enough for her?
She chewed her lips. Lips that just minutes ago had been fused to mine. Lips that the other three males had no doubt tasted.
An inferno of rage erupted inside me. “You betrayed me.”
Vana lifted her chin, her eyes sparking with anger. “I did no such thing. You broke up with me.”
“I know, little wolf.” My words were not for her. As painful as it was to admit, I couldn’t fault my female for taking a lover. Not when I’d made her think I didn’t care. But I sure as shit could blame the dark-haired bastard I’d entrusted with her care.
I swung my gaze to Gabriel and growled at him. “I warned you what I’d do to any male that touched her.”
The motherfucker had the nerve to stand his ground. “She claimed me, Nathan. I am hers.”
“I am hers,” murmured Liam.
“I am hers,” echoed Mason.
Their words triggered the territorial beast inside me. “No!” The calm veneer I’d worked so hard to adopt as the Winterhaven ambassador sheered away leaving only the snarling wolf behind. “She’s mine!” I let out a roar so loud the ornaments on the Christmas tree shook.
Liam dropped his gaze.
Mason lowered his head in submission.
Gabriel glowered back. “We belong to her.”
The Beta dared to challenge me? Rage pumped through my veins. My vision tunneled.
Vana said something. I couldn’t hear her over the popping of my joints and bones. As soon as my paws hit the floor, I charged Gabriel.
The Enforcer yanked off his pants, shifted into a wolf, and met me halfway. We ripped into each other with snarling teeth and razor-sharp claws.
Blood spewed.
Fur flew.
We were closely matched in size and had trained together as boys, but I’d spent too much time inside boardrooms while Gabriel had been honing his fighting techniques. It was all too clear the other male had the upper hand when he pinned me down and tore a sizable chuck out of my hide.
Fuck. That hurt.
“Stop!” screamed Vana.
Liam locked his arms around her to keep her from getting between Gabriel and me.
“Stop it, right now!” Vana cried, struggling against Liam’s hold.
Gabriel turned his head to look at her, giving me the opening I needed.
I lunged for his throat.
Sensing my attack, Gabriel shifted into human form. His sudden increase in size threw off my strike.
I shifted too and pounced on the male.
Then it was a flurry of punching and kicking.
Damn the fates. Gabriel was good.
While I was unleashing every ounce of my fury on him, I got the sense he was holding back. That infuriated me even more. I let out a roar.
He responded with a nasty uppercut to my jaw. Fuck! I spat out a mouthful of blood, grabbed Gabriel by the shoulders, and slammed him into the lobby counter.
Papers scattered and a small silver call-bell crashed to the floor with a loud ting.
Vana had somehow gotten free from Liam. “Gabriel! Nathan! Stop it right now!”
There’s no stopping this. I gnashed my teeth and planted my fist into Gabriel’s stomach.
He let out a gratifying oumpf.
Before I could savor the hit, he roundhouse kicked me in the chest and sent me careening straight into the Christmas tree. The nearly twenty-foot Douglas fir and all the ornaments smashed to the ground.
Gabriel stalked over while I was trying to untangle myself from a string of Christmas lights. “Stay down if you know what’s good for you.” He raised his fist over my head.
I never played dirty, but this wasn’t a fight I could afford to lose. “Knock yourself out,” I shouted with a heavy dose of Alpha power.
Gabriel froze. An expression of helpless rage crossed his face. He shook his head trying to fight the compulsion, but there was no way he’d succeed.
At the end of the day, I was an Alpha and he was a Beta. Our position in the Lykos hierarchy had been established at birth and, no matter how skilled a fighter he was, I would always dominate him.
With a frustrated growl, he punched himself repeatedly in the face.
“Hey! No fair using powers,” shouted Liam.
“Enough!” Vana’s voice held more power than any Alpha I’d ever encountered.
Stunned into silence, I could only watch as she strode over to Gabriel. “Disregard Nathan’s command.”
Gabriel stopped hitting himself and gave me a disgusted look. “Resorting to compulsion makes you look weak, Alpha Steele.”
“I don’t care what you think, Enforcer Perez,” I spat.
"I'm Gabriel James now," he replied, looking over at Vana.
Vana stopped in front of me, looking like an avenging angel with her hands on her hips and her eyes spitting fire. “Nathan, you will never under any circumstances use compulsion on my mates. Do you understand me?”
Her shout reverberated in my suddenly aching head. So this is what it’s like to be compelled? Never before had any other Lykos been able to mind-control me. I’d thought she’d only been able to compel me earlier because I’d been near death. Obviously it hadn’t been a fluke. Helpless to resist her power, I nodded.
“I need to hear you say it,” Vana demanded.
I gritted my teeth. “I swear to never use compulsion on your mates.” Damn the fates. This isn’t at all how I hoped our reunion would go.
Mason walked over. He swept a clinical gaze over my body. “You have several contusions. You should shift and heal them.”
“I’m fine.” I glared at the blond Omega. I’d never considered Tasha’s doctor a threat, but knowing he’d mated my female made me want to snap his neck.
Avoiding Mason’s outstretched hand, I stood. The bruises on my face and torso throbbed, but I’d be damned if I showed these males they bothered me.
As I approach Vana, Gabriel and Liam moved in—forming a protective Lykos shield around her.
Aggravation made me fist my hands. “Move out of the way.”
Liam called out, “We don’t want to fight with you, Nathan.”
I snarled. “Then you shouldn’t have taken what was mine.”
Gabriel snarled back. “We’re hers, accept it or—”
Vana let out a shrill whistle. “Guys, go back over to the lodge and check on the survivors. Nathan and I n
eed to talk. Alone.”
Gabriel gave her a disgusted look. “We all saw how well that turned out last time.”
“Now, Gabriel!” her voice boomed.
“Fine,” he snapped. Gabriel stepped forward, so we were eye to eye again. “I’m looking forward to a rematch. The next time I won’t hold back.”
The need to assert my dominance had me snarling, “I’ll break you in half.”
“Doubtful.” Gabriel sneered.
Vana huffed. “I swear to God if you two fight again, I will compel you to be best friends.”
She wouldn’t?
Gabriel and I exchanged an uneasy look before he and the other two males headed for the door. Once there, Gabriel looked back at me. “We’re hers, Alpha Steele. Deal with it.”
“Oh, I’ll deal with it all right.” Whatever bond Vana had formed with these assholes would be undone as soon as possible.
16
Havana
I bit back a relieved sigh when Gabriel stepped out the door. The crackling tension in the room dissipated and Nathan relaxed his aggressive posture.
For a minute I’d worried the two of them might actually kill each other. I hadn’t expected that reaction from Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected, but maybe I should have. Clearly, I didn’t know Nathan as well as I thought I did. I leaned back against the front desk and studied him.
Nathan stared at the front door, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I usually side with diplomacy over fists, but Gabriel betrayed my trust.”
“Like you betrayed mine?”
Nathan twisted his head around so fast he might’ve gotten whiplash. “I thought we’d cleared everything up.” He motioned at the armchairs by the fireplace.
I put my hands on my hip. “I may have forgiven you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget what you put me through.” Those emotional scars would last a lifetime. Pain balled inside me as I dragged in a deep breath. “Do you know when I was a child I used to dance around my tiny room in the trailer imagining the prince who’d rescue me from my lonely life?”
