by Ashlee Sinn
He smiled, our teeth hitting and forcing us both to laugh. “Mmm,” he mumbled. “The big bad wolf wants to come out and play.”
“Oh,” I breathed, “you have no idea.” Rhys slipped his hand between my legs and sucked on my neck. My breath hitched with the sensation, making me realize just how much I needed a release. And when he started flicking my clit, I stopped breathing all together.
“Let go,” he whispered. “I won’t let you fall.”
My memory flashed back to a time when we were kids and he’d forced me to climb too high in a tree. Portia had jumped down with no problem at all. So had Rhys and our other friends. But when I’d walked out to the edge of the branch and looked down, panic glued my feet firmly to the bark and I couldn’t make myself move. It was Rhys who’d promised to catch me and it was because of him that I’d finally took the plunge.
And now, here he was, all grown and all man, asking me to trust him once more.
Letting out a breath, I relaxed into his touch. Lips found every inch of my neck while his fingers explored all of my sex. The pressure built quickly in my core and in no time at all, I found myself guiding his hand against my folds. The ground was cold and damp and soothed my aching body. I also ached for Rhys to push inside. I wanted to feel all of him after years of wondering what it would be like. Grinding my hips against his hand and his erection, I let him know exactly what I needed right now.
Rhys chuckled and kissed my lips. “Patience,” he teased. And then he pushed two fingers inside and watched me squirm beneath him. “You are beautiful, Natasha. You deserve to be treated like a queen.”
I found his words amusing, but the heat between my legs kept me focused on just that. My skin tingled with anticipation, and when Rhys bit my nipple, I let the fire explode from within. He continued to play with my sex as I orgasmed against him. Wave after wave of aftershocks raced through my body, and a feeling of total euphoria engulfed my brain. I’d needed this. I’d needed this and Rhys knew it.
He said he could help me and he had.
Lying beneath him on the cold ground, I smiled at the instant calmness circulating about. My wolf was silent. My anger was silent. And even the fear of being hunted was silenced temporarily. I looked up at Rhys, his hair hanging over his face again and that damn smile knowing just how amazing he was, and said, “Thank you.”
He laughed a moment before squeezing my hip. “No, thank you,” he cooed.
“So, is this what you had in mind when you said you could help me?”
“No, not exactly,” he said with a grin. “But I’m not against trying out other methods too.”
Letting out a breath, I closed my eyes. “I needed this right now, but you can’t fix everything with sex.”
“No?” he teased.
“No,” I said, that sadness slowly starting to seep back in.
Rhys sat up and pulled me along with him. “Let’s get back to the camp and we can figure out what we’re going to do the next several days, okay?”
“Is Portia gone?”
He hesitated before saying, “Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?” he asked.
“For dumping my issues on you. On Eagle Creek. I would have never come here if I’d had a choice.”
Rhys’ smile dropped and he helped me up to my feet before speaking again. “Well, I’m glad you’re here now.”
Knowing I’d said something to offend him, I stayed silent and kicked myself on the inside. There I go again…fucking up everything good as soon as I get it. Rhys didn’t need to be offended by my words. He just needed to ignore me and discard me like everyone else.
As we walked back to the camp, I slowly started to pull myself away and prepare for the inevitable disappointment that would be coming sometime during my stay. Portia didn’t want me around. My father didn’t want me around. And soon enough, Rhys would learn that I only bring trouble.
Eagle Creek might be better off if they turned me in to Cade Jenssen and his pack. I would only bring them pain and the sooner they recognized that, the sooner we could all get on with our lives. I really enjoyed the brief encounter with Rhys…it was a friend helping a friend. But unfortunately, my presence would only hurt this little community and the life he’d built here.
And I would do anything in my power not to hurt him.
Natasha smelled sad. Even after our little tryst and even after I gave her my shirt as we walked home, I sensed her slipping into that darkness of hers again. I’d tried to get her wolf to back off by having her think about something else…and granted, I certainly didn’t mind the opportunity to explore her sexy body. Man, I’d forgotten just how much of a hold she had over me. She was always the icing on the cake. The unattainable girl too good for me and my bloodline, and way too beautiful to ever give me a second glance.
As we approached my cabin, I noticed her staring at the bags on the porch. Portia had dropped them there before I went after her sister. And while Natasha had given into the fact that she was staying in Eagle Creek, I think the visual of her packed bags left alone on my front porch, made it truly sink in.
Or perhaps it was the line of bodies standing in front of the stairs.
A small growl rumbled from Natasha’s chest as she looked at Donovan, Max, Fawn, and Mariah all waiting for us. The girls had mischievous smiles on their faces. The guys…well, they didn’t look too happy.
“It’s okay,” I whispered to the woman beside me. My wolf felt protective and fearful for her, and I wasn’t quite sure why. But before I could think about it too much, Fawn rushed forward and held out her hand.
“Hi, I’m Fawn.”
Natasha hesitated. “The raven.”
“Yes.”
“The one who tried to attack me?”
Fawn sighed. “I was trying to direct your wolf away from my stepson.”
Natasha stood still with her arms crossed. “I would never hurt a child.”
“Good to know.” Fawn held her hand out again and this time Natasha complied.
“This is Natasha Dunanski and she’s going to stay with us for a while,” I said once the women dropped their arms.
“You mean hide with us?” Max asked with a frown.
I gave my friend a glare. He didn’t need to be a dick.
“I’m Mariah, Donovan’s mate. Why don’t we go paint our nails while the boys talk?” She spoke to Fawn and Natasha and was already walking toward her cabin at the other end of the road.
“Nails?” Natasha whispered to me.
With a shrug, I pulled her close to my chest and kissed her on the top of the head. “Just go along with it so I can talk to my alpha.”
Natasha leaned against me and let out a breath. “Fine,” she mumbled and I was shocked at how quickly she’d complied. Perhaps sex was the cure of her aggression after all.
Smiling while she walked away, I watched as the hem of my tee shirt swayed back and forth against her upper thighs, and thought about what lay underneath. Her curves, her naked ass, her incredibly inviting sex that called to me so deeply, I’d been surprised that I hadn’t made her mine in the woods. Maybe tonight. Maybe as soon as I got this meeting over with—
Donovan cleared his throat and Max chuckled. “Whoa, Rhys. You’ve got it bad,” Max laughed.
I turned and narrowed my eyes at them once again. “Let’s talk inside.” Stomping up the stairs, I grabbed Natasha’s bags and pushed through the door. The cabin still smelled like her, like my Natasha who I’d never stopped thinking about for nearly a decade. Was it fate that she was here now? Could I actually be that lucky? Would she stay?
“What the fuck is going on?” Donovan demanded, yanking me from my daydreams.
I set the bags on my bed in the corner of my one room home, and turned to face my alpha. “She needs our help.”
“Who’s after her?”
I hesitated long enough for Donovan to let out a sigh of frustration. “Cade Jenssen’s pack.”
“Why?”<
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“It’s not important—”
Before I could even finish the last syllable, Donovan had rushed to me and grabbed my shoulders, practically lifting me into the air. “I have a family to protect. A crew to worry about. Don’t dick around with me.”
“I’m not,” I said, pushing away from him. Rolling my neck, I did my best to shove the animal back down. My wolf was an alpha. He liked to be the one in charge. I’d been fighting that instinct ever since Donovan stepped into my life. I didn’t want the responsibility of being alpha anymore, but sometimes my animal forgot that.
“What’s she running from?” Max said, handing both of us a beer to make sure we didn’t start beating each other.
“She killed Cash Jenssen. Cade’s twin brother. Well, her wolf did. He was abusing her and her animal just…”
“Protected her.” Donovan didn’t ask, he simply knew. In fact, he probably understood better than all of us what it was like to be beaten and striped down to nothing. “Are we at risk?” That was Donovan. Straight to the point.
I shook my head. “Portia doesn’t think so but—”
“But what?” Max interrupted.
I growled at him. “But Cade’s put a hundred-thousand-dollar bounty on her head.”
“Shit,” Max grumbled. “That will draw them out.”
“Who?”
“The crazies. Maybe even some of our own.”
“Our crew would never turn her in,” Donovan quickly said.
“Okay, but—”
“No!” Donovan stopped Max cold. “Our crew will protect her if that’s what Rhys wants.” He’d looked at me on that last word and I felt the pressure of his dark, calculating gaze. Natasha’s life depending on what I said next.
“Yes, that’s what I want.”
Donovan nodded. “Then it is done. I’ll let Mary and some of the others know so they can be extra diligent. I assume she stays off the registry?”
“It’s only temporary. She won’t be here forever.” My two closest friends exchange a pointed look. “What?” I shouted at them.
Max’s smile grew and I was tempted to slap it off his face. “We’ll see how temporary this visit is.” He’d used air quotes when he said temporary, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.
“You’re connected to her,” Donovan stated.
“We grew up together. But that was a long time ago. We’re different now.” Yet even as I said those words, it felt rehearsed and untrue. Where we really that different?
Max slapped me on the shoulder and walked toward the door. “Okay, brother. If you say so. I’m hungry.” He left without another word and in the distance, I heard him calling for Micah and saying something about cooking his dad a steak.
Donovan hung behind and continued to watch me in his stalker cat kind of way. “Stop staring at me, Donovan.”
“I’m not staring.”
“Why are you still here?”
As though the question threw him for a loop, he shook his head and stood a little taller. “Be careful,” he warned. “A woman’s heart is fragile.” The front door opened and closed before I had a chance to question his odd words. Donovan was an enigma that I’d yet to fully understand. And as I watched him kiss Mariah and her belly when she walked Natasha to my door, I marveled at the way this dominant, brawling shifter could be so insightful and poetic sometimes.
Donovan Bain—a constant surprise.
Natasha silently walked inside my cabin and closed the door behind her. She stood there, lips pressed together and tears sparkling in her eyes. I felt her pain. Her sadness. And her regrets. They filled the tiny space and I had no choice but to rush to her side. My wolf needed to comfort her, and so did the human part of me.
Wrapping my arms across her back, I pulled her in tight and rested my chin on the top of her head. “What’s wrong.”
She sighed. “They’re so nice.”
“What?”
“Fawn and Mariah. They’re...good.”
With a laugh, I gently held her back far enough to see her face. “What do you mean?”
“I just haven’t been around nice people in…while in a long time.”
Oh. I understood and I instantly wanted to rip apart every wolf in Cade’s pack who had hurt my Natasha. What she must have endured once she left Canada was nothing I would have ever wished for her. She deserved more. She deserved happiness and kindness and love. She was a queen. I’d always thought that. And despite what Cash and the pack tried to do to her, I vowed to make sure she never felt unwanted ever again.
Natasha’s hand slid around my hips and landed against my groin. I looked down in surprise and raised my brows. “I smell your wolf getting angry and I have an idea about how to keep him under control.” Her voice oozed sex and I had an instant boner pushing against the seam of my jeans.
“I thought you said sex doesn’t cure everything,” I teased.
“I think we should test that theory.” She bit her bottom lip and squeezed my erection to the point that I couldn’t stand having clothing between the two of us anymore.
With a growl, I pulled her shirt up over her head and kissed her neck several times. Going lower and lower, I complied every time she let out a little moan. But then I had to stand back and just…look at her.
“Holy fuck, your tits are amazing.” She giggled and it was so fucking cute I wanted to eat her.
“I’m not a teenager anymore.”
“No, you definitely are not.” I bent forward and put one of those sexy breasts against my lips. Sucking on her nipple until the hard nub fit perfectly in my mouth made me want to put my tongue on every single part of her body.
She unzipped my jeans and in a few seconds, I was standing naked before her totally exposed and enjoying the way her hungry eyes devoured my body. “You’re all grown up, too,” she cooed, eyes specifically lingering on my erection. When I moved my hips and my boner danced back and forth, she let out another giggle. “Okay, don’t do that again.” Rubbing her nails against the sides of my ribs, she caught my stare as she lowered herself to the ground.
“Where are you going?” I whispered, unable to form sound at the anticipation of her next move.
She said nothing, and instead licked the full length of my shaft while giving me those sexy eyes. I shivered beneath her touch. And when she took me in her mouth, my knees almost gave out. I’d always wanted Natasha. Always thought she was the sexier of the two sisters. But I never made my move and instead allowed her father to ship me away before even trying.
Her mouth slid slowly up and down my erection and she gently stroked her nails along the inside of my thigh. “Holy shit,” I moaned. And when her hands dug into my cheeks, I couldn’t help but press myself deeper and deeper into her mouth.
Little Natasha was all grown up and she certainly knew how to bring a man to his knees.
Before I finished in her mouth, I stepped away and took a breath. Natasha stood again, eyes the color of her wolf and face smiling in a way that made my animal want to hunt her down and fuck her for days.
“Come here,” I growled.
She smiled and sauntered to me. Bending forward, I crushed my mouth against hers and pushed my tongue inside. Without hesitation, she welcomed my kiss, wrapping one of her legs around my hips and grinding her moist, warm folds against my dick. I lifted her up and continued tasting every inch of her mouth, her neck, and her shoulders. So sweet. So delicious. My wolf was in a frenzy at how good she felt to us both.
Natasha bit my earlobe and grabbed my hair. Yanking my head back, she leaned forward enough to suck on my nipples and that was when I decided I needed to be inside of her or I’d die. Adjusting her hips, I held her up just high enough to press this tip of my cock against her opening, and then waited for her to give permission. She licked her bottom lip, looked me in the eyes, and lowered herself onto me.
We both let out a breath, shivering with how good it felt. We fit perfectly together, so much so, we just held still for a moment an
d enjoyed it. I felt her folds tighten around me, making my cock even harder and begging for more.
“You’re so fucking tight,” I moaned.
“And you’re so fucking big,” she said with a breath.
I couldn’t wait any longer. Wanting to fill her up from the inside, I started pounding into her. Holding her ass as she clung to my shoulders, I bucked forward further and further until our hips slapped together. She leaned back, mouth open toward the ceiling, calling out my name and begging for more. Her perfect scent had me in a frenzy, so I carried her over to the table and gently laid her down without pulling out. She smiled up at me when I slid her ass closer to the edge, and then she wrapped her strong, long legs around my hips and started to control the rhythm. With hands glued to her perfect tits, I slammed my dick into her over and over until she screamed my name with her release. Her sex pulsed around me like a glove. I almost lost my shit, watching her writhe and pant and whisper my name on her lips. But I wanted more.
I’d always wanted more.
Holding back as much as I could, I pulled out of her, flipped her around on her stomach, and pulled her back far enough that she could stand. With my hands in her hair, I gently tugged to expose her neck. “You want more?” I whispered.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I want more.”
Without another thought, I kicked her legs out to the side and took her from behind. My dominant wolf needed this position to secure his mate. The human side of me loved that we’d each had our turn and now it was up to me to finish us off. Bucking harder with every stroke, I enjoyed the way Natasha moaned and whimpered each time I filled her up. Her hands clenched the table and her breathing increased.
“Rhys,” she said, my name dancing off her lips as she reached her climax. And when she pressed her lips together and screamed out my name again, I let go. It felt so amazing I could barely concentrate. My legs weakened and my dick hardened with each shot. Digging my fingers into her hips, I pulled her ass tight against me while I pumped my seed into her. Her breath started to slow, and when I collapsed on top of her, she let out a sigh.
