“Good. Everyone, thank you for your help. I’ll see you back here day after tomorrow.”
They all left. Hanna snuck a glance over her shoulder at him and winked.
Yep, she was definitely getting her butt spanked tonight.
Chapter Ten
“Hanna, you are in so much trouble,” Marcus whispered in her ear as he stepped up behind her in the small, secluded clearing. They were both naked. His hard cock nestled in the small of her back as he pulled her close and, leaning down, nipped her neck in reprimand.
“So are you,” she surprised him by saying. “Letting that bitch get so close to you. I ought to insist you be deloused before you touch me.”
His eyebrows rose as he reached around and cupped her breasts. He twisted her nipples sharply. “Deloused? Jealous, Hanna?”
She snorted. “Not hardly.”
“You have no reason to be.” He tried to reassure her. “I’m not interested in Olivia.”
“I know that,” she said scornfully.
“Then what’s with this reaction?”
“You’re a man.”
Puzzled, he played with her nipples as he pondered that statement. “And what’s that got to do with anything?”
“Men are dumb, oblivious to women like Olivia. She’s manipulative and cunning. Before you know it she’ll have your pants down around your ankles, her mouth on your cock, and you’ll be too far along to push her away like you should.”
The insult was not one he intended to ignore.
He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, heading toward a stump.
“Hey!” she screamed. “What are you doing?”
He slapped her ass. Hard.
“Well, I was only going to give you a playful spanking for insisting on helping with the construction work, even knowing I wouldn’t approve. That’s why you did it in such a public setting, isn’t it? Don’t think I didn’t know I was being manipulated, Hanna.”
She stiffened and he knew he was right.
“But after you just called me a brainless idiot who’s led around by his dick, I’ve decided you’ve earned yourself a real punishment.”
“What? Marcus, no!”
He sat and pulled her across his lap. He held her easily despite her struggles. Securing her hands behind her back with one hand, he smacked his hand down on her butt. Hard. Fast. Over and over. Her cheeks turned pink, then glowed red.
“Stop, Marcus, stop!”
“You, my love, need to have more faith in me.” The skin beneath his hand burned by the time he’d stopped, both of them breathing hard. “I would never allow myself to get into that sort of situation and you insult my intelligence, and the depth of my feelings for you, if you think I would.”
He gave her butt a few final smacks and she let out a loud sob.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” she cried.
Marcus quickly flipped her, holding her close as tears dripped down her face.
“I don’t know what came over me. It’s just that there were women like Olivia in my old pack. And they were the ones everyone noticed. I guess I was feeling insecure and stupid.”
Damn, I’m an asshole.
“Oh Hanna, I’m so sorry. Forgive me?” He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, chasing trails of tears.
Hanna wiped her cheeks. “For what?” she sniffled.
“I should have realized how you were feeling. Your wolf is calling to mine because she needs the bond between us. This is my fault.”
“No, it’s not. I guess we’re both just riding some high emotions at the moment and it’s wearing on our tempers and good sense.”
“Yeah, except you didn’t spank my ass,” he said ruefully.
“Well, I can always spank you if it’ll make you feel better.”
He chuckled and stood. Turning, he presented his ass. “Take your best shot, honey.”
“Hmm,” she replied. “Now that is too tempting to resist.”
She whacked her hand down on his butt. Hard. He glanced over his shoulder at her in surprise. “Been working out, Hanna?”
Giggling, she shrugged, looking so sweet that he barely managed to resist the urge to take her into his arms and push her up against the closest trees. Gone was the pinched, frightened look she’d had when he first met her. And she’d stopped obsessing over security. She still had her moments, but they were fewer and farther between.
“Those self-defense classes showed me how weak I was, so I’ve been working out with Cade and Connor.”
Standing, he turned and narrowed his eyes, jealousy rearing up. “Have you just?” he growled, the wolf prowling close.
Immediately she curved against him, softening him. “Not like that. You know that I’m just friends with them.”
Forcing himself to relax, he took her into his arms. “Sorry, baby. My wolf is all over the place at the moment as well.”
“I know what will make me feel better.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“You and me,” she whispered. “Together.”
He bit her ear before soothing the skin with his tongue. “Tell me exactly what you need. Where do you want me? Where do you need my touch?”
“Here.” She dragged his hand down to her breast. He cupped her, not moving.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
She pushed her chest into his hand. “Touch my nipple. Rub it between your fingers. Please.”
Marcus did exactly as she asked, rolling her nipples between his fingers until her breathing was coming in harsh pants.
“I need you to touch my pussy.”
“Here on your clit?” He brushed a finger over her engorged clit. “Or do you want my fingers inside you, pushing deep?”
He pressed two fingers inside her, holding her up as she wobbled.
“There, oh there.”
“Is this what you want?” he asked, pumping his fingers in and out. Damn, she felt like hot, silken heaven around his fingers.
“Yes, yes,” she cried, her head thrashing back and forth as she held on to his shoulders for dear life. Marcus flicked her clit with his thumb.
“Come for me, baby. I know you need it. You can feel it taking you over, can’t you? Come now.”
She let out a low groan as her pussy clamped around his fingers. Marcus didn’t let up until he had wrung every last bit of her release from her. He would never tire of watching her like this. Yet right now he needed to be inside her. Immediately. He reached down for his jeans and pulled out a condom. Holding her steady with one hand, he ripped open the packet.
“Let me,” she said, her voice raw. She took the latex from him and spread it onto his thick erection. The feel of her hands on him almost had him coming immediately. As soon as the thin layer covered him, Marcus grasped her around the waist, lifted her in the air and set her down on his cock.
“You feel so hot,” he muttered in her ear, pushing her up and down his cock.
“Take me, Marcus. Fuck me.”
“With pleasure.” He pounded his way home. Her nails dug into him, driving him wild, the slight pain like a badge of ownership. He held her tight, needing her close, wanting to lose himself in her.
Balls tightening, sensation rocked through his body as release shuddered through him while Hanna stroked his shoulders, his hair, anything she could touch. He could barely hold them both up, his muscles mush.
“Thank you, baby,” he whispered in her ear.
“For what?”
He pushed back so he could stare into those beautiful violet eyes.
“For loving me.”
*
“You’re getting worse at hiding it.”
“Hmm?” Marcus turned from watching Hanna smiling at a baby held safely in his mother’s arms to Cade standing behind him. “Worse at hiding what?”
What would it be like to have a child with Hanna? A little girl with her beautiful eyes? The longing hit him like a freight train, nearly knocking out his knees. He wanted
that. Wanted a family.
“Your feelings for Hanna,” Cade bluntly said.
Marcus frowned, glancing around. But there was no one close to them. They’d finished their first cabin and this barbecue was to celebrate and get everyone together in a social setting.
Although some of the pack had been reluctant to join in at first, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Maybe he’d make it a monthly thing.
“Lower your voice.” He motioned for Cade to step farther away. Hanna walked over to the buffet table and started stacking her plate with food. He was gratified to see her eating well.
The other man snorted. “No one can hear. Besides, anyone watching the two of you closely can see the sparks flying. Claim her already.”
“Are you forgetting she’s supposed to be yours?” Marcus asked incredulously.
Cade shrugged. “So we’ll break up. You can wait a bit then claim her.”
“Just like that.” Marcus was skeptical.
“Don’t know why you’re fucking around at it. This sneaking around shit is going to get you into trouble. These people need to trust you. You need to tell them the truth.”
“Yeah, then they’re really going to trust me. I’ve finally started to get them on my side. Telling them who she really is will not help anyone, least of all Hanna.”
“She’s a lot more confident now. First week we were here, the bathroom shone and there wasn’t a speck of dust in the place. Now I’ve got toilet duty.” Cade curled his lip in disgust. “But she needs you to claim her. Although she may not say it, she’s still a bit insecure.”
Marcus rubbed his forehead. “You’re right. I’ll talk to Hanna then I’ll come clean.”
“If you’re holding back through worry for Hanna and how they might treat her, I wouldn’t. They love her. You, on the other hand… Well, they think you’re okay.”
Marcus gave him a look of disbelief. “Oh yeah? And how do you think they feel about you then?”
“Me? They think I’m odd. Touched in the head.”
“Hmm, pretty smart, aren’t they?”
Cade just grinned.
*
Hanna snuck away from the barbecue with a plate full of food. She’d taken to delivering Jesse some baking a few times a week. Sometimes he came to meet her, other times she just left the food for him there.
One evening he’d appeared out of nowhere, scaring the living daylights out of her. Then he’d proceeded to lecture her on the dangers of wandering about by herself in the dark.
So she’d changed her schedule, going in the early evening before dinner instead. It made it harder to sneak away without being seen, but at least it got Jesse off her case. Tonight she figured that there was so much food that she’d take him some.
She’d tried to convince him to come back with her and talk to Marcus, but the pain in his eyes as he’d refused had convinced her that he wasn’t ready. He was entitled to his privacy, even though she worried about how his wolf was faring, being separated from others of its kind.
She knew all too well how it felt to be starved of touch. She couldn’t imagine how she’d survive on her own the way Jesse was.
Reaching their meeting place, she set the food down and turned to leave.
Pain, sharp and blinding, struck her head. She crumbled. The agony enveloping held her immobile, mute. She took one sharp breath then another.
Move. Stand up. Run.
“Damn,” a deep voice rumbled. “Thought we were never going to get the dumb bitch by herself.” Her arms were jerked behind her back and tied. The pain in her head intensified, almost causing her to pass out. She bit her lip, pushing herself to stay awake through sheer force of will.
“Yeah, I thought that stuck-up cow had it wrong.” That voice sounded familiar. “What’s she doing, leaving food in the middle of nowhere, anyway?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s get the fuck out of here before someone comes looking for her.”
“Time to go, bitch.”
Suddenly Hanna was suspended off the ground, agony racing through her body before she fell into unconscious bliss.
*
“Where the hell is she?” Marcus roared as he paced up and down. Most of the pack sat on the ground looking up at him solemnly. They’d gone from happy and carefree to scared in the space of an hour. But he couldn’t concentrate on soothing them right now.
He needed to find Hanna.
“Who saw her last?” he asked.
Blair raised her hand. “I saw her about eight. She had a plate of food in her hand.”
“Anyone see her after that?” Marcus asked.
There were some head shakes and murmurs. It was eleven now. He’d tracked her scent to a clearing. There he’d found a plate of food sitting on the forest floor, untouched. Why would she have taken a plate off into the forest?
The strange scents he’d found there had his guts in a knot. Someone had taken her. They had to have. They weren’t scents he recognized. Well, there was the faint scent of someone he’d once known. A packmate. But he had to have been mistaken about that because there was no reason for Jesse’s scent to be there.
Who were they? Where had they taken her?
His wolf snarled, his protective instincts on overdrive. He’d never felt anything like this before. When he was tracking, he always remained calm, collected, almost aloof. But now the urge to protect overwhelmed him. Tense white faces looked to him, waiting.
“I want the pack locked down,” he ordered. “Everyone who isn’t looking for Anna should be in their cabin or the house. No one goes anywhere alone, not until I find out who has dared to invade our territory.” He turned to his enforcers. “Get everyone safely home then meet me back here.”
His enforcers started rounding everyone up.
“Why bother?” a voice called out.
Everyone stilled, staring. Olivia stepped forward.
“Why bother what?” Blair asked, her lips pinched.
“Why bother looking for Anna? Or should I say Hanna?” Olivia drawled.
Marcus resisted the urge to glance at Connor, not wanting to give himself away in case Olivia was grasping at straws. Cade had disappeared as soon as Marcus had finished tracking Hanna’s scent.
“What are you talking about?” he snarled.
“I’m talking about the fact that she’d been lying to us all,” Olivia said loudly. “She betrayed us. She’s the one who sold out Leonard, the one who got him killed. She’s been making fools of us all along.”
“The only fool around here is you, Olivia.” Blair glared at the other woman in disgust.
Olivia snarled back. “I’m not the one who betrayed us.” She pointed at Marcus. “He’s known who she was all along. I overheard them. They’ve been making idiots of us all! We’re better off without either of them. I say we let whoever took Hanna keep her.”
“Sounds like we owe Hanna a huge favor,” Ryder said, stepping forward to glare at her. “Leonard was a dangerous, ruthless asshole, Olivia, and if you think any differently then perhaps you don’t belong here.”
“I don’t belong here? I don’t belong here?” she screeched, waving her hands around at Marcus, Connor and the other Shadowpeak wolves. “They’re the ones who don’t belong here. We need to get rid of them, now!”
“My god, you were fucking him, weren’t you?” Blair asked with amazement. “How did we never know? You were in love with Leonard.”
“Yes!” Olivia screamed. “And they killed him!” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Enough!” Marcus roared. “What did you do to Hanna, Olivia?” He resisted the urge to shake her. Just. But if she didn’t start giving him some answers then he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
“I sent her home.”
Fear shuddered through his veins and he grabbed her shoulders. “What do you mean? Where is she?”
“Like I said. Home with her pack. Back where she belongs.”
Holy fuck. The crazy bitch had c
ontacted Hanna’s old pack.
“Didn’t take much. I have a lot of friends. I called around and wouldn’t you know it, I found her pack. They were more than happy to come collect her.”
He shoved her away from him, afraid he’d snap and harm her. “Lock her up. I’ll deal with her later.” He turned to Connor. “Call Cooper. Tell him what’s going on and that I’m going after her.”
“You know if you’d mated her properly you’d be able to sense where she is,” Cade said as he strolled up.
“Yes, Cade, I fucking know that, all right.” Deep breaths. Keep calm. “Get everyone home. Ryder, you’re in charge while I’m gone.”
Flabbergasted, Ryder shook his head.
“You’ll be fine until I get back,” Marcus told him hurriedly, his mind racing ahead to what he needed to do.
“Course I would, if I were staying. But I’m going with you.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We’re all going.” Blair stepped forward with a stubborn look on her face. “She’s our friend.”
Marcus narrowed his gaze, staring thoughtfully at those standing before him. All the families with young children and older wolves had left, but the rest of the pack still stood there, ready to stand with him, ready to help.
“None of you seem surprised by Olivia’s declaration.”
Honey snorted. “Of course not. We’ve known Hanna’s been hiding something for ages. We just weren’t quite sure what. She’s a terrible liar.”
Rafe nodded. “We caught her out a number of times.”
“We love her and we want to help save her,” Blair said. “Now when are we heading out?”
“Immediately,” he replied. “I just wish to hell we knew where to go.”
“Oh, I can help with that,” Cade said, holding up a tablet. “I’m tracking her as we speak.”
*
“I can’t believe you planted a GPS on her,” Marcus said, shaking his head as he took a corner too fast. Cade sat in the passenger seat, staring at his tablet. The assholes who had taken Hanna had a good head start on them. But he had a chance to rescue her. Because of Cade.
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