Pia’s shudder racked her body, and she mewed—the sound making a shivery vibration on his cock that hardened his balls to stones.
Close. She was so close he could feel the slow, building spasms inside her channel and taste her fresh enthusiasm.
He circled a thumb over her anus and observed a marked increase in her quivering. Her breaths came in shallow pants. Feeling powerful, he pressed the blunt, thick ball of his thumb inside, noting the tightness of the orifice. He nearly spilled his seed then and there at the thought of pushing his cock past that tight little ring of muscle.
The warm glove of her mouth lifted. “Oh Max!” Pia gasped. “I’m right there. Please, I’m gonna come.”
“Don’t stop sucking me, Pia,” he said, making his voice low and dangerous. “If you do, I won’t give you what you really want.” He licked her cunt as a reminder.
She dipped her cunt lower over his mouth. “What if I give you something…unexpected,” she said, her voice husky. “Something hotter than you’ve ever imagined?”
He knew she was talking about the gift of a vampire’s bite. Somehow, the thought of Pia drinking his lifeblood wasn’t distasteful. If he allowed it, she’d know what he was. Perhaps now was the time to tell her—when she was so wrapped up in her own arousal, she wouldn’t be able to stop until she’d fed well. Perhaps when she had the essence of his life warming her belly, she’d be ready to listen…to understand. “Show me, baby.”
Her hands stroked his belly and thighs. “I’ll be the best you ever had, Max. Promise.”
Max turned his head and kissed her inner thigh. “Baby, you already are. Just don’t bite my cock.”
Chapter Eight
‡
“I promise you’ll only feel a prick,” Pia said. “You’ll love it.”
He bit the tender skin of her thigh. “Maybe, but just the thought of…”
Pia laughed, a strangled sound that ended on a groan. “All right. I won’t bite your cock.”
Max rolled his chin on her pussy. “And what do you want, baby?”
She groaned again. “You’re not going to make me say it, are you?”
“Uh huh.” He rubbed her anus with his thumb. “Tell me.”
“Oh, do that again.” Her hips pulsed back, then forward, until she rocked. Shallow pulses, Max wasn’t sure she was even aware she made. “I want…you to fuck my ass with your fingers while you lick me with your incredible tongue,” she said, her words coming out in a rush.
“All right. I think I can handle that. You ready?”
“Are you?”
Damn, she sounded sexy. Max didn’t answer. Instead he put two fingers in his mouth and wet them. Then he stroked his incredible tongue deep inside her body while pushing one finger past the tight ring of her asshole. He rotated his hand, easing her tight muscles before pressing another finger inside.
“Sweet, sweet Jesus!” she moaned. “Oh, that feels so good.” Her body told him how much she approved when her cunt tightened rhythmically around his tongue. Pia went to work, gliding her tongue up and down his cock, lubricating it so her hands glided easily along his shaft. Then she licked his balls.
At first, Max felt only the rasp of her wet tongue, and then he noticed a slight, burning that turned to a tingling sensation. He recognized the cause—she’d released the enzymes in her mouth, the ones that numbed the flesh of her hosts. Christ, she was going to bite his balls!
Max’s thighs tightened, his cock felt ready to explode—if she bit him there, he wouldn’t last a second. He had to distract her.
With his tongue stroking her vagina and the fingers of one hand pumping inside her ass, he brought his free hand to the top of her pussy and pushed back the skin covering her clitoris. He found the hard, slick knot and touched it with the pad of his finger.
Pia widened her stance, bringing her cunt lower still. Her belly quivered now against his. Then he felt her mouth close around his balls, and he tensed.
There, where his sac snuggled against his groin, he felt the prick of her teeth. She hadn’t lied—the pain was slight so he relaxed a fraction. Then she drew blood, and he heard her gasp.
He didn’t give her time to think about what her tongue tasted—about the undeniable fact his wolf’s blood revealed. He rubbed her clit, working his fingers back and forth, faster, as he finger-fucked her ass and laved her juicy channel.
Pia shuddered and drew again, sucking hard, pulling blood from his extremities in a rush of cold-hot sensation that brought him to the brink, but held him there. His cock was so hard the skin that clothed his shaft felt tight enough to burst. His balls, nestled in the cavern of her mouth, grew hot and impossibly harder, but she controlled his release, keeping him at the brink until he thought his heart would explode in his chest it beat so fast.
Then she moaned and her hips rocked, and he was flying, his cock erupting in a geyser of cum that never seemed to end.
Pia’s cunt convulsed and she cried out, the spasms stroking his tongue. Until they both slowed their rhythmic shudders.
She licked the punctures closed and let go of his cock, laying her head on his thigh as she dragged air into her lungs.
Max eased his fingers from her ass and gave her one last soothing lap of his tongue, and then swept his arms around her hips, holding her tightly for a long moment. Giving her time. Time he knew she used to gather herself, to consider what she’d just learned.
Then she tensed and struggled against his hold.
He let his arms fall to his side and lay on the bed while he watched her climb off him and turn.
Her expression was wary, then her eyes widened. “It was you on the beach.”
Max nodded, waiting to see what she’d do next.
“I didn’t want to believe…” Her lips twisted in self-disgust. “I smelled wolf all over you. I just wanted to think you’d rolled on the ground with one of those monsters—but I knew better when I cleaned your wounds.”
“I wondered how long it would be before you pieced it together,” he said softly.
Pia’s cheeks grew red as her anger built. “I didn’t want to believe what my brain was telling me all along. But you knew what you were doing—deflecting me with sex. You must have thought I was incredibly stupid. Probably laughed at me the entire time.”
Max kept his expression shuttered and he shook his head. “Never.”
But she acted like she hadn’t heard him, lashing out at him. “I should have known. You’re stronger than any human I’ve ever encountered. And your tongue! No human has a tongue like that.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “There are advantages to having a werewolf lover.”
Pia’s eyes narrowed. “I would never have fucked you that first time if I’d known.”
“Well, now you can’t deny it.” He kept his voice deliberately mild. He needed her to let loose all over him, so he prodded. “What are you going to do about it, sweetheart?”
Pia launched herself at him, her hands curved into claws, her mouth open, teeth protracted to slash at his flesh.
He caught her and rolled, pinning her to the bed.
She bucked, nearly unseating him, but he straddled her body at the tops of her thighs to keep her legs in check, and held her arms above her head. “Listen to me.”
“No! You’re a goddamn werewolf. I knew it! You were too good to be human.”
“You knew it all along. Don’t pretend otherwise.” He pressed her hands into the mattress. “In the back of your mind you had to know. Did it excite you? Having an animal between your legs?”
“Bastard!” She bucked harder, panting with exertion.
Max felt his belly tighten in renewed arousal. “Did you like what my tongue did to you? Would you like a wolf’s cock fucking you?”
“Get…off…me!” she said between gritted teeth. “We don’t mix. It’s impossible. We’re mortal enemies, and it’s my duty to kill you.”
Max held her, not an easy task since she was strong and writhed like a snake. He ignored his
arousal stirring between his legs. “Mine too, baby. But I saved your ass. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
Her eyes blazed with anger and betrayal. “It only tells me you’re more devious than the hounds who slaughtered those vampires.” She lifted her head and banged her forehead hard against his chin.
Max tasted blood from his split lip. “Pia, stop fighting me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“And I should believe you?” she yelled. “You lied to me.”
Max heard the hurt and confusion in her voice. “I never lied.”
“Then you should have told me.”
“I just did. I let you bite me for fucksake!”
She halted her struggles. “You should have told me,” she repeated. This time her voice broke on a whimper.
“Like you told me you’re a vampire?” he asked softly.
“That’s not the same!”
“But it is, baby. What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Pia. I’m a werewolf.’ Could I trust you not to tell the others? I work surrounded by your kind. How long do you think they would have let me live?”
“They aren’t monsters.”
“And I am?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Damn you!”
“Sweetheart.” He sighed and let go of her hands.
She didn’t fly at him. She covered her face and sobbed.
Max climbed off her and gathered her into his arms.
“Wh—what are we going to do?” she asked, burrowing her head into the crook of his shoulder.
He stroked her hair and her back. He didn’t know what to say.
*
From a distance, Max heard the muffled rattle of his garage door opening and the roar of a motor. Alec was back. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly dusk.
With Pia sleeping like the de—well, like a vampire, Max decided not to join his brother in the kitchen. Alec could eat his way through the groceries for all he cared. He had more important things to consider—like the woman lying in his arms and his future, now that he’d been outed.
He wouldn’t ask Pia to keep his secret. Too many weighed on his conscience as it was. Besides, an idea had planted a seed. One that could potentially grow to bridge their worlds.
The garage door closed, and Max heard a car engine rev. Alec was in a hurry. Max settled his head in his pillow, ready to return to sleep, and then a niggling thought brought him wide awake.
The golden wolf. Not so unusual a shade. But he remembered something—something masked by his transformation the evening before. A scent. One familiar.
Max rolled out of the bed and quickly donned a pair of sweatpants. Then he headed to the garage. He flicked on the light switch. As usual, Alec hadn’t bothered to give the bike a wash before returning it. As meticulous as he was about his appearance and his own belongings, he wasn’t careful with Max’s things.
Max knelt beside the bike and sniffed. Above the scent of gasoline, rubber, and oil he smelled traces of wolf. And on the seat, beneath a leather strap, he found a tuft of hair—from a golden wolf’s coat—and a smear of blood.
A cold knot of anger settled in his belly. Dammit all to hell.
*
Max quietly entered Alec’s apartment and followed rustling sounds down the hallway to his bedroom. He eased open the door to see Alec slinging clothing into a duffel. “Little brother, what have you done?”
Alec froze, but kept his back to him. “What you should have been doing. Killing vamps.”
“If your cause is so righteous, why are you sneaking away?”
“Because you’ll never approve. You always follow some rulebook the rest of us haven’t read and don’t understand.”
“You killed humans at the vampires’ den. What do you think our pack will think about that?”
Alec’s broad shoulders tensed. “They’ll understand. Those humans were garbage. They fed vampires—willingly. Besides, I didn’t kill them. I just couldn’t stop—”
“You couldn’t control those mindless beasts you made. Could you, brother?”
“No.” Alec turned, his gaze was fevered. “I didn’t intend for it to happen. We talked about it beforehand, but once we were there, they seemed crazed by bloodlust.”
“It was you at that bar last night, too. You knew how unstable your cubs were, but you brought them anyway.”
“Yeah, and we would have killed every last vamp in that bar.” Alec picked up a shirt, wadded it into a messy bundle and stuffed it into his bag. “What of it? You stopped me from killing your girlfriend. Your vamp girlfriend.” He tossed the duffel aside and turned, his fists clenched at his sides. “She had your scent all over her. Can you imagine how sickening it was to discover you’d fucked one of those creatures? You! My own brother?”
Max felt his body go cold. “Go home, Alec. Don’t come back. If you do, I’ll have to kill you.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
“You’d kill your own?” Alec screamed after him. “For what? That bitch? That fucking vampire whore?”
Max left the apartment, climbed on his bike, and sped to the station. He needed to see Pia. Needed to hold her and remind himself why he was turning his back on his own kind.
*
Pia slid the keys to the sedan across the conference table.
Joe raised an eyebrow. “What’s this? Max still not feeling well? He didn’t drive you?”
She shook her head. “No, he left me a note to say he’d meet me here.”
The conference room grew still. Pia glanced around the table and noted for the first time that only vamps were in the room—Dylan, Quentin, and Joe.
“He was on his bike then?”
Pia wondered at Joe’s pointed question. His gaze was too alert for it to be a casual inquiry. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen a bike. Why? What’s going on?”
“The team ran a check on all the vehicles parked along the boardwalk last night,” Dylan said, his voice even—a little too controlled. “Max’s motorbike was among them.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do we,” Dylan said. “That’s why we asked.”
“But he didn’t drive there on a bike. He arrived with Joe and me.”
Quentin cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “What do we really know about Max?”
Pia turned to Joe. “He was your friend before you turned.”
“We drank beer,” Joe said, his eyes narrowing, “and watched each other’s asses on the job, but I wouldn’t say we were ever bosom buddies. I didn’t even know he had a brother in town.”
That caught her short. “A brother?”
“We ran some checks on my old buddy. Max has some deep, dark secrets.”
“We’re thinking he has some big hairy ones actually,” Quentin said.
Pia blushed guiltily.
“You know, don’t you,” Quentin asked softly.
She raised her head reluctantly, afraid they’d read Max’s secret in her eyes.
Quentin’s narrowed gaze pinned her to the spot. “He’s a fucking werewolf, isn’t he?”
Fear for Max instantly dried her mouth. Her heart pounded in her chest.
Joe rose from his seat and grabbed her upper arms. “Pia! This is important. Is Max a werewolf?”
Tears pooled in her eyes and trickled down her face. “He’s not dangerous to us.”
His face grew red, his mouth twisted with anger. “Well, fuck!”
“Where is he?” Quentin asked, rising from his seat.
“H—he’s supposed to be here,” she whispered.
“All of us are supposed to be here,” he said, his voice deadly calm.
“Lily! He’s going after Lily!” Joe released her. “We’ve got to get back to The Compound.”
“He’s not like that,” Pia cried out. “He wouldn’t hurt her. Why would you think he’d hurt her?”
“If he finds out she’s carrying vamp kits, he’ll fucking kill her!” Joe shouted.
“She is?” Pia grew cold. “I
wondered, but the women were so tight-lipped.”
“She’s having my babies—and if anything happens to her, I’ll kill anyone responsible.”
“Let’s go,” Dylan said. “Call the women on your cell, Quentin. Let them know we’re on the way.”
A phone. Shocked and feeling like events were whirling out of her control, Pia could only think that she needed to get to a phone. The second part of her mission was accomplished. Navarro needed to know his hunch was right, a breeder was pregnant by a vampire.
Instead, she let the men herd her outside the station and into the sedan. As the tires spit gravel, she wondered where the hell Max was and hoped he’d gone to ground. He’d been right. If the vampires found him, he was a dead man.
*
Finally, the sedan came to a screeching halt. Max waited long, heart-stopping minutes before he opened the trunk latch and climbed out onto the driveway inside The Compound.
His impulsive action to hide inside the sedan had paid off. Although their voices were muffled, he’d discovered they were on to him. His life in Vero was forfeit. After he learned the truth for himself about Joe’s wife, he would disappear. He couldn’t return to the clan. He couldn’t remain in his “blended” world either.
He couldn’t have Pia.
Her tearful comments to the rest of the SU vamps had tugged at his heart. He was warmed by her defense.
“He wouldn’t hurt us,” she’d said. “He saved my life last night.”
“I don’t know what Max’s game is,” Dylan had said. “But there’s a reason he’s still hanging around. I just hope it’s not the one I’m thinking. If it is, we have to hope like hell he hasn’t had time to tell others of his kind.”
What had they been talking about? They were speeding toward The Compound. He knew because Quentin called the women to tell them to make sure the place was locked up tight. The only reason Max could think for their desperation was that he’d been right about the woman, Lily.
But he had to know for sure.
Max kept to the bushes next to the house, looking for an unguarded entrance. Finally, he spied one, fifteen feet above him—a balcony. He stripped in the darkness and shifted into werewolf form, telling himself to follow the scent of the breeder. Hoping he’d remember his purpose once he’d changed.
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