His gentle tone irritated her. She wanted to be angry. She wanted to feel the things she was supposed to feel for this monster, this killer. “I thought you didn’t want me to be your mate? If you don’t want me, why would you like looking at me?” She needed something to make sense. If it didn’t, she would tumble down the rabbit hole and Randi didn’t know if she’d ever stop falling. Or how hard she’d hit the ground when she did.
“I don’t. I didn’t want anyone to be my mate, yet. Acknowledging that doesn’t mean I don’t want to look at you now that I found you.”
When he looked at her that way, even though he said he didn’t want her to be his mate, it was with something altogether sweet and gentle. It wasn’t something she’d have expected from him. Not only because of what he was, but because of who he was.
“If you were a wolf and could identify your mate on sight, how would you’ve felt walking in to my office and realizing your mortal enemy was your mate?”
“I’m kind of feeling it right now, but we’re not even the same species.” She shook her head slowly.
“We could be.” He smiled as if he’d just propositioned her for sex instead of offering to alter her genetic makeup.
“Keep your teeth over there,” she blurted, before she could think better of it.
“I’d never bite you without your permission.” His hands weren’t on hers or the gun anymore. They’d moved to her hips, pulling her closer. “Won’t you let me try to convince you how good it could be for us?”
She bit her lip and looked up into his eyes. They glowed brighter, like embers from a fire. For some reason, rather than being afraid, they made her so hot.
Randi’s body remembered what it felt like when he’d chased her and what happened after he took her to the ground. He’d devoured her all right, but it had been in the best way. He brought her such pleasure, such bliss, and she shivered as she remembered the way he’d dragged his teeth across her throat.
He could’ve bitten her then, changed her into something like him. Hell, if he’d asked in the moment, she might’ve said yes. Likely, she would’ve done anything to keep his mouth on her, his hands, and his delicious body grinding against hers.
Blake Woolven had done nothing to hurt her. Nothing to take anything she wasn’t prepared to give.
“I don’t want to be what you are.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid.”
“There are pleasures, my mate, only to be had as wolves.” He leaned closer to her, unmindful of the weapon she held next to his heart which could turn him to ash. Blake scraped his cheek against hers. “But there are pleasures to be had in this body, too.”
She shivered. Randi wanted this with him, but not the rest of it. She wasn’t ready. And she wasn’t entirely convinced he wouldn’t take more from her than what she wanted to give. He was a billionaire playboy who got everything he wanted.
Looking at him, she wondered why shouldn’t he?
He was beautiful, rich, and an animal who operated on instinct.
She’d never seen a wild animal abstain from something it wanted or thought it needed simply because of its impact on another creature.
But why did he want her, aside from the fact she was David Rutger’s daughter?
Evidence of his arousal pressed against her belly but, somehow, she still didn’t really believe it was for her just for the sake of herself.
Randi knew what she looked like.
She was very aware that her hair was too red, her skin too pale, her personality too loud, and her ass too wide.
Randi tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her and the gun slipped from her fingers. Neither of them paid it any attention.
“Why are you pulling away from me again? Haven’t I earned a little of your trust?” His strong fingers tenderly tilted her face up so she had to look at him.
His eyes weren’t glowing anymore. They were warm and sweet.
“I…” She exhaled. Randi couldn’t bring herself to say it. Couldn’t bring herself to bare her insecurities for his scrutiny. It was more intimate than being naked with him.
“Randi, I’ve shown you more than I have any other female. I’ve proven I won’t hurt you. Why can’t you tell me what makes you hesitate?”
“I’m know who I am. I know what I look like.”
“Good. Then you know you’re beautiful. Strong. A fit mate for an Alpha.” He nodded.
“I still don’t believe your secret didn’t have something to do with my father’s death, even if Hector Luna killed him. If he did, it’s because of for the work he did for you. I also know you’d do anything to protect your family and your company. Including making me believe that you care about me.” She looked away. “That you want me.”
He took her hand and pressed it down to the hard ridge of his erection. “Does this feel fake?”
“You could be thinking about Marchessa de la Luna for all I know.”
“Is that really what you think of me?” His erection flagged. “I don’t know how to convince you other than offering the truth. I may not have showed my hand, but I never lied to you.”
“You have to see this from my perspective. Look at me. Now look at you.”
“Yes. We fit. Hot Alpha Bitch. Hot Alpha. Matched set. Yes?” He nodded as if he were preaching to the choir.
“No. Big, bad billionaire. Fat, smart-assed ginger. No, that doesn’t work. Not in anyone’s math.” Randi shook her head.
He made her touch him again and the beast was most definitely back.
“This is what touching you does to me.”
He nuzzled at her neck. She found her hands winding around his shoulders and her back arching to give him access to anything he desired of her.
God, she wanted him so much.
But this was so wrong for so many reasons.
“I love your hips,” he murmured. “I love that I can throw you around and it’s not going to hurt you. I love that I can hold you like this.” His fingers dug into her hips and he brought her forward, hard against him. “I know when I get you naked again, and I’m inside you, these hips will take us both to the stars.”
His words curled low in her belly and the awareness of him bloomed into a pulsing ache.
Blake moved his hands up to her breasts and pressed his lips against her throat as he spoke. “And these are the work of gods, for only in the heavens could something so lovely be wrought for the world of men.”
She giggled. “Shut up. You’re so full of shit.”
He lifted his head and she looked into his eyes and saw that he was deadly serious as his hands moved down to her belly. The rounded softness that made her feel like she was ugly. Like she was less.
“Is this your problem?”
She lifted her chin. “I dare you find something good about that.”
He snorted. “What’s bad? I love how soft you are. The way you’re made to fit with me. If a male is taking care of his female, she should be soft and rounded. Prime to be ripe with pups.”
“I’m not a brood mare.” She snorted.
“No, you’re a she-wolf in human skin. And you’re mine.” His hands were under her shirt now, stroking across her bare, dimpled flesh. “I bet when you Turn, you’ll be all russet and fire.”
“I’m not going to Turn.”
“Yes, you will. I won’t force it, but you’ll beg me to mark you.”
Hell, she was halfway to begging now. She stroked her palm over his erection. He was so hard everywhere.
“Show me first.”
“I’ll show you anything you want.”
“Show me your wolf. Not the pretty, noble beast that ran from the house, but the terrible one. The one like Warner. That’s in you too, isn’t it?”
“That’s our warrior form.” He studied her face. “Are you sure that’s what you want to see?”
“Yes.” She hoped seeing it would kill the desire that raged in her like an inferno. That it would rattle some sense back into her head.
His hands
went to the waist of his pants.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m much bigger in that form.” He eyed her with a smirk. “I don’t want to ruin my pants.”
She licked her lips and held her breath as his trousers slid down his long, powerful legs. Randi didn’t mean to look at his cock.
No, that was a lie. She wanted to see all of him.
She wasn’t disappointed.
He was the most beautiful male she’d ever seen naked—or clothed, for that matter. Part of her wondered if it was actually possible their bodies would fit together. He seemed to be very sure, but she wasn’t.
Randi was no fainting virgin, but seeing his body…it made her doubt herself even more.
She hated the feeling.
She didn’t want it anymore, that sense of not being good enough, pretty enough, smart enough… or just being enough.
She wanted to fling herself into this with both feet because, throughout her whole life, she’d never felt like she belonged anywhere. Blake made her feel like she belonged here. They’d saved her. Protected her.
Welcomed her.
Even knowing she wanted to bring them all down.
The way Blake looked at her now… yeah. She wanted desperately to believe it was real.
But even if it was, so what?
Her father was dead. She was no closer to finding out who was to blame, who had to pay. So why did she have to pay? Why couldn’t she have this one moment?
“Still want to see? Or maybe you’ll let me touch you first. Make you come.”
She drew in a shaking breath. “Like the Woolven Brides of old? No. No flower. Just you. Just me. And the truth.”
He shifted.
The process wasn’t at all like what she’d expected. Nothing like what she’d seen Hector Luna endure.
His transformation looked beautiful, fluid, graceful. It was like a primal dance.
He was huge, as big as Warner. Thickly muscled, powerful. Even though his form was frightening, she saw nothing unnatural about him.
She knew in her bones that he would not hurt her.
Something told her that even if she were to pick up the plasma gun, he’d do nothing to stop her.
Even if he knew she was going to pull the trigger.
Or maybe she just wanted to believe it because everything that made sense to her was all dust and ash. The only solid foundation she had was gone.
She reached out a tentative hand to touch his shoulder and his eyes closed. A low sound rumbled in his chest almost like a purr. Or maybe it was a growl? Whatever it was, the sound reverberated through her.
In this state, there was no hiding what he wanted from her.
His cock was thick and hard, demanding her attention.
Randi was afraid to look. Afraid of what she’d see. That she’d like it, that she wouldn’t. He was an animal now, so what did that make her?
Her eyes were drawn down against her will and her breath caught in her throat.
His voice was so deep, raw. “I won’t hurt you.”
“I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of me,” she confessed.
“Why are you afraid?”
“Of wanting this.”
“With an animal? A beast?” His voice held no recrimination.
“With the man responsible for my father’s death.”
“For the last time, Randi, I didn’t kill him. I swear on my pack, I didn’t.” He morphed back down into the familiar shape of the man she couldn’t resist.
“I know you didn’t kill him with your own hand, but you are no less responsible.” She shook her head. “Yet I still can’t resist you.”
He cupped her cheek. “You seem to be doing a great job of resisting me. Even now, when I’d have you sweet and hot beneath me, you’re standing here tearing my heart out.”
She titled her cheek into the caress. “See? It’s not fair that you say things like this. I don’t know why I ever thought I could fight you.”
“You don’t need to fight against me. Fight with me. I promise, your father’s killers will be brought to pack justice.” He leaned down ever closer. “Your justice.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck was as inevitable as the tide, no matter what he’d said in the moment. She hated herself for that, but the draw between them was magnetic. Her lips fluttered against his and, when is hands locked around her hips, she knew the time for fighting had passed.
Her body had surrendered to the conquering beast.
Only the beast wasn’t Blake, it was her own desire—not just for his body, but to feel wanted. Like she belonged.
Even though he was something from legend, something forged in nightmares, he was the only thing that made her feel safe.
“Goddess, Randi. I can only bear so much. Stop, stop now, or I’m going to take you here amongst all this blood and death.”
“Yes, right here,” she gasped. “Please.”
He growled again and she reached between them, closing her fingers around the length of his shaft. She stroked him slowly and with purpose. Randi wanted him as aroused as she was. She wanted the undertow of this thing between them to pull him out to sea, to the deep water where he couldn’t swim. So he’d know how she felt. So he’d be there with her.
“Drown with me.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own, low and throaty. Seductive.
“I am.” Blake buried his face in her neck. “I’m drowning in the fire of your hair, your scent, your taste—” His tongue darted out against the pulse in her throat “—but most of all, I’m being smothered by your doubt.”
Only, he didn’t pull away.
He crushed her closer, and she fell under his spell.
It was almost like the flower—some drug—the polarity between them inevitable.
He kissed her again, his mouth ravaging hers, and she knew there was no turning back. No stopping. This would happen.
She was so wet and ready, but when it was over, Randi would have to face what she’d done—reconcile all the feelings twisted up inside of her. For now, she just wanted to experience Blake Woolven.
She just wanted to know what it was like to be with a man like him.
Blake lifted her easily and held her aloft as she wrapped her legs around his waist. It occurred to her again how powerful he was, how strong. He didn’t strain or tense as he carried her, it was as if she weighed nothing. That was its own aphrodisiac.
He swept his arm across the metal table where instruments of truth and pain had been so carefully laid out and flung them to the floor, forgotten. Then he eased her onto the table, peeling her jeans and panties down after he’d positioned her at the edge.
This was no sweet unveiling, no tender connection, but it was a joining nonetheless. It was intimate—it was more that the heated friction of bodies, it was home.
As he drew her legs around his hips, his thick, hard cock pushed into her, and she realized the truth of it. She belonged to him in the same way he said he belonged to her.
Blake began to move, pushing deeper, faster, hips pistoning to fill her with his cock. All she could do was cling to him as the pleasure spiraled and made her dizzy with need even as it fulfilled her.
Randi clawed at his back as she tried to get closer, demand more, feel more. He rewarded her with a low growl and the sudden scrape of his predator’s teeth against her throat. She didn’t experience the fear as before. It was still there—because she didn’t want to be a wolf. But her rational brain was no longer in control, but the primal, the animal that lurked deep in her blood. The animal trusted him, needed him.
It was as if he knew all of this.
Because just as she considered her own desires through the haze, he lifted his head away from her throat, his arms tightened around her and he pumped into her with more ferocity. Each thrust stripped away more of her humanity until she snarled and growled back at him, their dance a joining of two beasts, not one.
When her orgasm hit, she bit his neck—hard.
A roar tore from him as he spilled inside of her and the sting of his claws was sharp on the globes of her ass where he gripped her.
But she couldn’t say she minded.
Even as she settled against his shoulder, his strength never flagged. Many of the men she’d been with seemed to lose all of their strength, all of their vitality, after sex. Or maybe the shiny simply wore off the penny. With Blake, he still stood strong and fierce, though his embrace changed.
Perhaps there some tenderness remained between them after all.
Chapter Eleven
Blake considered the possibility she might really kill him.
It took everything in him not to bite down on her throat and infect her with his venom—to mark her as his.
He held her tenderly now, gently, like the lovely bloom she was. When he thought about what could’ve happened to her, everything in him ached with a loss he didn’t think he’d survive.
A loss that his enemies better pray he didn’t survive.
Blake wanted to stay buried in her hair, lost in her skin, but he had a war to fight.
He brushed his lips across her forehead. “I’m so proud of you, Randi.” His chest swelled with emotion. The way she’d faced down Hector, the way she hadn’t hesitated to blast him to nothing, and the way she’d surrendered to Blake—trusted him. She was brave, strong, all the things an Alpha bitch should be.
“For what? For taking your cock like a champ?” She snorted.
He laughed and his cock jerked, rising to the idea. He’d love to take her again, but this wasn’t the time. It seemed the biggest part of being an Alpha had nothing to do with taking what he wanted, as some of them seemed to think, but more to do with sacrifice. With self-denial. He exhaled, schooling his thoughts and his body to obey him.
“For being fearless.”
“I’m so far from fearless.” She tucked herself against him. “I ran to you like a little girl when I saw Hector because you told me you’re the king of monsters and I wanted you to save me.”
“It’s right that you should turn to me, Randi. It’s what I do. I protect what’s mine.” He tilted her chin up with his index finger and thumb. “I care for those people as well. I make sure they have what they need to thrive. That’s who I am—what I am.”
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