by Susan Bliler
“Tyson,” she shot an almost embarrassed glance at the BloodMoon pack. “Please don’t reject me too.” She shook her head, her eyes drifting closed. “I honestly don’t think I can take another person throwing me away.”
Opening her eyes, she looked up at him and the tears that glistened there had Tyson’s gut clenching. “I’d never…”
“Then claim me!” She pulled her shirt to the side like he’d done earlier. “Let me believe I’m worth it to at least someone.”
“Cersi,” he began, but she cut him off.
“Tyson, I swear to God,” she shot another glance at the BloodMoon pack. “If you don’t do this now, I’ll never have the courage to believe you. I’ll never have the courage to tell you all the things I need to say once we’re back home. Please,” she breathed.
It sounded so damn much like she was begging that Monster instantly snapped to attention. He didn’t like Tyson making their mate beg them for anything.
Claim her, Monster snarled in his head.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he grabbed Cersi and pulled her body into his. She let out a soft little gasp, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he’d surprised her or because there was no way she could miss the hard length of his erection as it pressed into her soft belly. Yeah, he was worked up. Just the thought of claiming her and making her his had him ready to bend her over and pound into her. The claiming was only complete with consummation, and Cersi clearly didn’t know that, but Monster did. Yet even with the fierce need to fuck her and make her fully his pounding through him, he forced himself to be as gentle as he could as he lowered his head and sunk his teeth into her shoulder.
He knew the pain was fierce by the way Cersi’s body tensed. He made it as quick as he could, but he had to bite deep to make sure it scarred, and as Cersi’s blood flooded his mouth, he swallowed it down and prayed he hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of his life.
Don’t hate me, he pleaded inwardly.
Pulling his teeth free, he was careful not to tear her skin. He licked the wound to keep blood from running onto down her shoulder and onto her shirt. Pulling back, he stared down at Cersi, but she was blinking rapidly, and he could scent her imminent tears. Badass that she was though, she sucked in a breath and looked up at him, flashing him a reassuring smile as she nodded and offered a shaky, “Th-thank you.”
Thank you? Thank me? God everything was so messed up now. Pulling her into a hug, he squeezed her tight and just let the relief that he’d gotten to her in time wash over him. At her ear, he breathed, “I’ll fix this, baby. Don’t worry. This won’t be it for you. I won’t force you to be stuck with me.”
She shook her head and muttered something against his chest, but it was washed out by Haddix’s who boomed, “One last thing.”
He was looking right at Mary Alex who blinked at him as she waited.
“I’m requesting permission to hunt Kylon RedFang. He attacked my pack without justification. He’s the reason for all of this now.”
Mary Alex’s eyes almost disappeared as she flashed a knowing crinkled smile. “Something tells me you’ll hunt Kylon with or without The Elders’ permission.”
Without hesitation, Haddix dipped his head in a nod. “I will, but it’d be nice to have it all the same.”
Mary Alex pursed her lips and nodded. “Granted. Now, take your BloodMoon’s back to BlackLodge, Haddix and know that there will be changes made here.” She shot a scathing look to The Council. “It’s time everyone is reminded who is really in charge.”
Chapter 30
The ride back to BlackLodge was long and draining. Exhaustion kept trying to tug Cersi under, but she fought it like a champ. Noah had ridden back with her and Tyson because Haddix’s truck had been pretty crowded with the rest of the pack. Noah’s presence in the back seat kept Cersi from saying anything to Tyson. She wanted to though. They needed to clear some things up because she could tell he was confused and riled up by the way he kept strangling the steering wheel and then releasing it.
The entire ride, Noah had filled Tyson in on what had happened. Cersi wished he hadn’t because the more he talked about Regan and his men storming BlackLodge and taking Cersi, the more worked up Tyson became.
When Noah got to the part where he saw Regan carrying Cersi’s unconscious body out of the main house, Tyson ticked his lip up and snarled something fierce.
“Noah,” Cersi admonished, and for once the younger shifter understood.
“Shit! Sorry, Ty. I’ll zip it.”
And he did. The trip grew quiet. Cersi managed to doze off a time or two but startled awake each time. And every time her head snapped up, her gaze darted about the cabin of the truck frantically as she tried to get her bearings before Tyson would reach over and squeeze her thigh with reassuring words that soothed her.
Eventually, they turned onto the road that led up to BlackLodge and Cersi was so relieved she wanted to cry. She’d never admit it, but all the drive home, she kept checking the passenger side mirror to make sure none of The Council shifters were chasing them down. The politics of it all was surprising, and there was a lot she didn’t understand, and sadly, right now, she was too tired to try.
Tyson pulled the truck to a stop in front of the main house but kept it running. He looked in the rearview mirror and shot Noah a dismissive, “Goodnight.”
With a snort, Noah climbed from the truck. “Night you two.” He slammed the door just as Cersi clicked off her seatbelt.
She didn’t want to be presumptuous and stay in Tyson’s truck, but she really didn’t want to leave him either.
“My stuff is in my car, so I guess I’ll…”
“Uh-uh,” Tyson cut her off and pulled the truck away from the house. The drive down the snow-filled road to his cabin was quiet, and when the truck slid to a halt in front of his place, he told Cersi, “Stay there.”
She didn’t know why. She thought maybe he was grabbing something from his place, but he circled the truck, opened her door, and lifted her out.
“Snow’s deep.”
She didn’t complain though. No, being in Tyson’s arms after the day she’d just had felt like being home.
He carried her up his front steps and then shoved his door open and carried her inside.
Alone in his cabin, disappointment swamped her when he set her down and went to the kitchen where he blasted on water and rinsed the dried blood from his hands and arms. Watching him, Cersi wrung her hands as she paced the length of his living room twice before turning to face him. “Tyson, look I…”
Heavy steps pounded up the front steps, interrupting her, and Cersi wanted to scream in frustration. From the look on Tyson’s face, he didn’t want visitors either, but maybe it was more than that.
Without a word, he crossed the room and planted his big body between her and the door. He was protecting her…again.
“It’s just me,” Haddix announced a second before he pushed open the front door and stepped into the room. “I just wanna talk to Cersi. I’ve got a few questions.”
A rolling growl was filling the room because Tyson was still too worked up.
“I…I don’t wanna talk right now, Haddix,” Cersi stammered. “Can it wait?”
Before Haddix could answer, Tyson glanced over his shoulder at Cersi, gave her a nod and then turned his attention back to Haddix with a snarled, “Leave!”
“Jesus fuck man, calm down!” Haddix tone was irritated, but he must have understood because he heaved a sigh and acquiesced. “I’m just trying to make sure this never happens again. I am Alpha around here, just in case you forgot.” Some of the venom left his tone when he said, “Tomorrow, Cersi. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Then he was gone, and when the tension and worry over Tyson attacking Haddix faded, Cersi realized she was dead on her feet.
“I’m exhausted,” she announced tiredly. “I can’t do this right now. I-I need some sleep.” Without thinking, she turned and headed for Tyson’s room, only stopping
when her hand was on the doorknob. Looking up at the door, she caught herself just before she went in.
Holy crow! She’d gone to his room like it was hers like it was…theirs. She’d acted on instinct and had barely caught herself. Tired, she told herself. I’m just tired.
Whirling around, she found Tyson standing right behind her. He didn’t look confused though. Hell, he didn’t even look thrown. Nope, he looked like he’d followed her down the hall to his room a thousand times. He was acting like her strolling to his room for her nap was the most natural thing in the world.
“I wanna know,” he growled.
Dainty brows spearing down, Cersi hesitated only a moment before asking, “Know what?”
“I wanna know if love is real.”
With a feminine snort, Cersi clenched and unclenched her hands, glancing to the side of him and wondering if she could squeeze past. She stepped to the side to go around him, but he took a step too and cut her off. Frustrated, she sidestepped to his left, but he blocked that way too. Even if she could beat his speed, it didn’t matter. His shoulders were too wide, almost brushing both walls. She’d never get by him. With his room at her back and him blocking the hall, she had nowhere to go.
Shrugging to feign indifference she said, “You’re asking the wrong woman. I don’t know about love, not the kind you’re talking about.”
His voice was gruff when he asked, “You incapable of love, Beautiful?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I mean my parents didn’t even want me, so I…”
“Don’t!” he snarled, cutting her off as his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “You’re not gonna stand here in front of me and talk shit about yourself.” He rolled his head on his shoulders like he was trying to alleviate some of the tension there. “Monster’s already riled up. Don’t push him over the edge.”
Unblinking, Cersi held his gaze. “Wasn’t talking shit, Tyson. I was speaking the truth. If you’re looking for a lesson on whether love is real, I can’t answer that for you. I just… I wanna talk about us. I need to talk about us, but I’m so tired.” Her eyes turned imploring. “I’m exhausted, Tyson.”
When he made no move, she tried to push past him, but he caught her arm in a lightning-fast move that had her gasping.
Her eyes dropped to the strong fingers holding her, and for the first in a very long time, Cersi was afraid of something. She wasn’t afraid of him hurting her. No, she’d never fear Tyson or his Monster. What she was afraid of was looking up. She was afraid to meet Tyson’s eyes. She was afraid of him seeing what was hidden there. She was afraid he’d see her hope and smash it to oblivion just like everyone else had always done.
Swallowing hard, she tried for that steely resolve that had never failed her before. It was failing her now. It had completely abandoned her. She searched frantically within herself for her typical snarky comeback. She found nothing, and she needed it because she was terrified. She was petrified to talk to Tyson about what was happening between them because she was afraid that on the drive back to BlackLodge he’d changed his mind. She’d walked on him after all. She’d basically thrown his offer of love back in his face, and now she was worried he’d do the same to her.
Before he could get the chance to hurt her like that, she lifted her chin and locked hard eyes on his, declaring, “I said we’d talk later. I’m not sure yet what it is I want.” It was cowardly, and she knew it. She was running. She was hiding. She knew exactly what she wanted. Him. She was just too damn cowardly to ask for it. “Now take your hands off me.”
Tyson stared at her intently. After a moment, when she refused to blink, he pulled her harder into him.
Her mutinous little chin lifted to keep eye contact, and as hard as she was trying to hide it, she knew that the flare of his nostrils told him what he needed. His cheek twitched one second before the corner of his mouth lifted. “Your lies smell so fucking sweet they make my dick hard.”
“It-it’s not a lie,” she countered, trying to jerk back. “I don’t know how to show you if love is real, Tyson. Maybe something else. I can give you something, but I can’t give you that.”
“Funny,” he angled his head. “You had something for me when we were in my cabin.”
A flare of color hit her cheeks. “I…I was just messing around.”
He pulled her closer still until his nose touched hers. His voice shook when he growled, “I wasn’t.”
Grabbing the back of her neck, he kissed her so fucking deep that she forgot whose air she was breathing.
Chapter 31
Tyson devoured Cersi’s mouth and even just simply kissing her felt like a sigh of his soul. He was home.
Lifting her off her feet, he shelved her ass with one arm as he backed her into the wall. Their kissing was frantic, his heart hammering with the realization that not only was Cersi not fighting him off, but she was kissing him back.
Growling against her lips, he broke free and trailed his lips across her jaw and down to her neck where he licked and then sucked the skin there into his mouth. Cersi moaned and bucked against him. When the scent of her arousal filled the air, he realized his little badass liked his attention on the sensitive spot. He kept at it, licking, nipping, and sucking until Cersi was writhing against him, panting as she demanded, “Tyson!”
He knew what she wanted, what she needed. Hell, the smell of her wet pussy was perfuming the air and shredding his control, but he wasn’t having her like this.
Collaring her throat, he pulled back and stared down at her. Her lust-filled eyes fluttered up to lock onto his.
“We aren’t doing this without the words, Beautiful.”
Her delicate brow furrowed and he continued. “Cersi, if I take you to my room, to my bed, then I’m taking you into my heart.” He shook his head once. “Hell, you’re already there, but this ain’t about what I want. You know I want you. Always have. But you gotta be in this too.” His eyes dipped to her mouth when she bit her lip. “I’m giving you me and my Monster. If you want that, if you want us, you gotta say so now. I need something too.”
His heart hammered as he waited and he had to mask his worry that she’d reject him again. His anxiety only heightened when her eyes glistened, and she looked away.
“Tyson,” she breathed quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Dread filled his belly.
“I’m so sorry,” she looked up at him just as a tear streaked down her cheek. “I shouldn’t have run from you. I was a coward and afraid.” She snorted a watery laugh. “I’m afraid right now. I didn’t want to give myself to you and have your realize later that you’d regretted it. I didn’t want you to be disappointed and toss me away, so I didn’t give you a chance. I thought if I just pushed you away that I’d keep my heart safe, but when I got home, it felt like I was dying inside. You wanted to know if love is real, but I want to know if you are.” Lifting a hand, she cupped his cheek, her brows spearing down as she studied him. “You feel too good to be true, but I can’t walk away. Every time I walk away from you, I die inside, and for once I wanna live. I wasn’t joking about not knowing how to love, but if you’re willing to be patient with me, I’m willing to learn…for you.”
Jaw ticking, he released a pent-up breath and lowered his head until his forehead was pressed into hers. “I love you, Cersi, and if you let me, I’m keeping you.”
Eyes locked on her mouth, he saw her smile before she spoke the most powerful words he’d ever heard.
“I love you, Tyson BloodMoon, and I ain’t asking permission.” She pulled back to stare deeply into his eyes. “I’m telling you. I am keeping you, and I’m keeping my Monster. You’re both mine, and I’ll do what I have to do to keep it that way.”
Swallowing hard against the emotion that clogged his throat, he lowered his lips to hers and this time his kiss was a gentle confirmation, a seal of their vows. And because he was a Monster, the tenderness only lasted a moment before his kiss grew frantic. Dropping his lips back to Cersi’s throat, he coaxed her bac
k to the edge. He smiled when he pulled back and saw that he’d given her a little hickey.
Latching back on, he nipped and sucked until Cersi’s breath tore from her in ragged pants. By the time he straightened and shoved off the wall with her, she was squirming in his hold, her hips pressing against him as she bucked and latched her teeth onto his neck. Bitey little badass was gonna get herself fucked in the hall if she wasn’t careful.
Turning, he shoved the door to his room open and carried her over the threshold. Inside, he used the sole of his boot to shove the door closed behind them before he carried his prize to the bed. She hadn’t been back since that first night they were together, but Tyson had gone out of his way every single day to keep the space clean and to keep his bed made in case she ever graced him with her presence again.
In the room, he settled her on her feet and quickly looked around. Disappointment filled him at how ordinary everything looked, so he held up his hands when Cersi reached for him and backed toward the door. “Wait… wait here. I have candles, and an I-pod somewhere, we can have music too. I can make this romantic. I can make this right!”
She opened her mouth, and he knew she was going to protest, but he was gone before she could.
In his kitchen, he rummaged through the drawer and found three fat stubby candles that he kept for power outages. Grabbing three soup bowls from the kitchen, he hurried back to the room to drop off his wares before he intended to go searching for his I-pod.
Three little saucers in one hand, one candle tucked under his chin and two-fisted in the other, he stepped into his room and slammed to a halt.
Cersi stood waiting, gloriously naked. He couldn’t have kept his eyes from sliding down her frame if she’d paid him. As he watched, she climbed up onto his bed on all fours and stopped once she was facing away from him. She spread her legs a little wider and grinned over her shoulder at him, but his eyes were locked on her pussy.
“Forget romantic. You coming?” she asked.
Damn near, he wanted to say but didn’t. Instead, he dropped the candles and the saucers right where he stood. Glass shattered, but he didn’t even bat an eye. He couldn’t. He was too busy being mesmerized by the sight of her glistening pussy that was garishly gaping open in invitation.
