Chapter Six
Ketah smelled the bitter scent of Haven’s fear in the air around them, burning his nose. She sat on the cave’s floor and looked at him, wide-eyed. She was scared of him, not by a little but by a lot. He knew if he allowed her the opportunity she’d run for the hole and try to get away from him. Even though his blocking her attempts was only increasing the fear she felt, he couldn’t let her leave until she accepted what he was, what they were to each other.
Try to slow your breathing, Haven. You’re safe, I would do nothing to hurt you, he urged, speaking in her mind as all werewolf sentinels were able.
She rapidly shook her head. “I don’t think I can handle this. Seeing you like you are now is just too scary. You need to shift back.”
No, not until you stay calm around me in this form. You have nothing to fear from me. You are my heart, my mate. I’ve waited so long to find you. Touch me.
“I can’t.”
Yes, you can. Even though I would normally consider this an insult, think of me as a dog. Pet me like you would one.
“You expect me to think you’re a dog? There is no way I can do that while I can see you.”
Then close your eyes. Just feel me.
Haven slowly lifted a shaky hand in his direction as she closed her eyes. Ketah ducked his lupine head and brought it under her outstretched palm. He rubbed against it until he felt her make the first tentative move to pet him herself.
The scent of Haven’s fear receded bit by bit, but didn’t totally go away, as she ran her hand through his fur along his entire body. He angled his head to look at her and saw she no longer had her eyes closed. Her gaze followed her movements while she stroked him.
Are you okay now?
“Not totally, but I don’t feel as if I have to worry about you ripping my throat out.” She met his gaze. “Can you shift back now?”
Ketah took a step back and reached for the spark of magic inside him to bring on the change. He took on his human form, willing on his clothes at the same time. He reached down to Haven, and once she placed her hand in his, he pulled her to her feet. He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. Haven flinched a bit but didn’t jerk away.
“Are you ready to believe what I have to tell you?”
“Yes. I saw you shift so I can’t say you aren’t a werewolf. And you being a dire wolf, they only lived during the Ice Age. I guess I have to believe you actually were from that time and that you slept in this cave for ten thousand years. What more is there besides you claiming I’m your mate?”
“I’m not just saying it, Haven. There is no question that you are mine. The first time I saw you trapped in that crevasse, I knew it the instant I caught your scent and it set off my mating urge. Only the woman meant for me could do that.”
“So what does that mean for me? I’m not exactly an immortal werewolf like you.”
“It means I want to claim you as my mate. Once I do, our souls will join and the mating bond will snap into place. After that, we’ll be tied, bonded, together by something stronger than any marriage. We literally won’t be able to stand to be apart from each other or we’ll suffer separation anxiety.”
“You’d never be able to leave me once it’s done?”
“No, never. I wouldn’t want to. I know you say you don’t believe in love, but I fell in love with you the second after I realized what you were to me.”
“You truly mean we’d always be together? I would never have to worry about you dumping me for someone else?”
“There will never be anyone but you. Even now I have no interest in another woman. I only want your hands on me. I wouldn’t be able to tolerate anyone touching me but you.”
“How would you claim me?”
“Making love to you fully for the first time would do it.”
“Then let’s do it. Now.” Haven shrugged off her backpack and dropped it to the ice cave’s floor and unzipped her jacket.
Ketah watched her tug it off. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to do this right here and now. You’re going to make love to me and claim me as your mate. Then I want to test this separation anxiety and see how tied to me you’ll be.”
“I haven’t finished telling you everything you need to know to make the decision to accept me as yours.”
Haven bent and untied the rolled-up blanket from the bottom of her backpack. “Then get on with it.”
Ketah watched her spread the blanket out on the cave floor. Now he was the one feeling confused. She’d gone from being terrified of him to wanting him to make them mates.
“Once I’ve claimed you, in the very near future, I’ll want to turn you, make you a werewolf and as immortal as I am. I’ll have to bite you while I’m in my dire wolf form.”
Haven stood and looked at him. “Really? So not only you wouldn’t be able to dump me, we’d also have forever together?”
“Correct.”
“Even better.” She stepped closer, then pulled the zipper down on his jacket, spreading the two halves aside to run her hands along his upper chest.
He brushed her hands aside. “I don’t think we should be doing this here, not now. You’re not in the right frame of mind for it. You haven’t even said whether you can let yourself love me or not.”
She took hold of the straps of his backpack and slid them down his arms. Once he was free of it she placed it next to hers. “I’m already falling for you, Ketah. And now that I don’t have to fear that you’ll break my heart, it will only be a matter of time until I’ll be able to tell you.”
Haven closed the small space between them and went on tiptoe. She wrapped her hand around the back of his head and pushed it down so his lips met hers. She kissed him hungrily and pushed her tongue into his mouth. Ketah’s cock rose to the occasion, but he still didn’t feel that this was right. He’d never planned on their first time being in the ice cave where he’d slept for so long.
He lifted his head and looked at her. Haven’s cheeks were flushed with her arousal, and the scent of it filled his nose. “This isn’t the romantic place where I wanted to do this.”
“I don’t need romance. I just need you.”
Haven reached for the top of Ketah’s jeans and managed to undo the button before he grabbed her hands. She attempted to tackle the zipper but he stopped her. “That’s very nice, but I think you’re going too fast.”
“I don’t think so. Enough talking. Make love to me.”
Ketah took a step back and Haven followed him. They did this a few more times, all the while he had to keep her hands from getting to his jeans. And each time she managed to make contact his cock jerked in response, getting even harder.
Then in a move he totally didn’t expect, she grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and swung him around. She somehow was able to trip him almost at the same time so he ended up falling onto the blanket on his back. She landed on top of him a few seconds later.
“You really are trying to make this difficult,” she said as she reached between them and finished opening his jeans. Her hand shoved inside his underwear and wrapped around his hard cock. “I don’t know why since you appear to be very keen on the idea.”
She stroked him, and Ketah couldn’t hold back a moan that leaned more toward a growl. With his mating urge riding him and Haven taking things into her own hand, literally, his will to resist melted like ice left out in the warm sunshine. He rocked his hips, pushing his erection tighter into her fist.
“All right,” he said in a husky voice. “You win.”
Haven sat up on him, straddling his hips. “Your eyes seemed to have taken on a muted glow. They did that for a bit when you shifted as well.”
“They are now because I’m extremely turned-on.”
“Oh, goodie. Then I can expect to get your big cock inside me very soon.”
She might have pushed him into doing this now, using his own need for her against him, but he wasn’t going to do it in a hurry. Ketah wrapped his arms arou
nd Haven’s waist and rolled with her so she ended up under him.
“You will but not yet,” he said. “There’s something I want to do to you first.”
He pushed up onto his knees and made quick work of undoing her jeans. He removed her hiking boots and shifted to the side to drag her pants and panties off, then returned to kneel between her spread thighs.
He leaned forward so he braced himself on his hands as he took her lips in a heated kiss. He licked and sucked, exploring her mouth with his tongue. Once he had her squirming, he kissed down the side of her neck. Since it wasn’t exactly warm in the cave, he left her shirt in place and continued downward until he was level with her pussy, his shoulders pushing her legs even farther apart.
He dragged his tongue along her wet opening and Haven moaned, her hips lifting. Ketah lapped at her again, loving the taste of her. He turned his attention to her clit, sucking and licking. His mate had her hands buried in his hair and yanked on it as she rode his face.
He pushed a finger into her pussy, pumping in and out, then added a second. Haven’s strong inner muscles clamped down around them. His cock ached. He couldn’t wait to plunge inside her and feel her wrapped around his shaft while he took her.
Haven’s breaths became ragged and she couldn’t seem to hold back her moans. Ketah knew she was close to release, but didn’t want her coming just yet. He pulled his fingers free of her body and gave her clit one last lick. She whimpered and tried to tug him back.
Ketah pushed his jeans and underwear down past his hips, then surged up between Haven’s thighs. He grasped his cock and led it to her slick entrance. He rubbed the head in her wetness and pushed forward. He rocked his hips, slowly seating himself to the hilt. She fit him like a glove, and he groaned at the pleasure of it.
He pulled almost all the way out and slid home once again. Ketah set a steady pace, one that was guaranteed to have both he and Haven coming soon. She wrapped her legs around his waist and matched him stroke for stroke. His cock grew harder as he plunged deep inside her pussy.
In and out he pumped, his dick growing harder still. His balls drew up closer to his body as his orgasm inched nearer. But then a piece of his soul reached out for Haven’s. The first light brush had him sucking in a sharp breath. And when they joined, became one, the mating bond snapping into place, Ketah couldn’t hold back the howl of pleasure that tore out of him. He sank into Haven one final time as she held tight on to his biceps, her pussy rhythmically clutching his cock in release. He followed her with an intense climax. After it ended, he collapsed on top of his mate.
“That was the mating bond, wasn’t it?” Haven asked breathlessly.
“Yes. I’ve claimed you. We’re mated.”
“And you’re still hard.” She shifted beneath him and he slid deeper inside her.
“Part of being a male werewolf. I can stay hard for hours at a time, even after coming more than once.”
“Another plus side to all this.” Haven pushed his shoulders until he rolled onto his back. She followed him, keeping his cock buried inside her pussy. “Now it’s my turn to ride,” she said as she gave him a sexy smile.
She leaned over and placed her hands on his chest as she kissed him deeply. Haven sucked his tongue into her mouth while she rode his cock, lifting up onto her knees, then sinking back down once more.
Haven kept the pace slow and steady, which drove Ketah’s arousal even higher. He lifted his hips to match her strokes, letting her have complete control over their lovemaking this time. He lifted his hands and palmed her breasts through her shirt. Nothing felt better than being buried inside his mate, watching as she took him while the pleasure she felt showed across her face.
Haven moaned. “I’m going to come again already. God, you feel so good.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” he said.
She rode him faster, her inner muscles squeezing him in a tight grip. Ketah reached between their straining bodies and found her clit with his fingertip. He circled it as he watched his cock slide in and out of her pussy. It was a beautiful sight.
Haven’s movements became choppy, then she fell into her orgasm. As her body clamped around his, holding and releasing his shaft, it pushed him into climax. His cock pulsed deep inside her, filling her with his cum. It seemed to go on and on. Another howl of pleasure pushed out of him.
He wrapped his arms around Haven as she lowered herself onto him, her head resting on his chest. There was no going back now. She was well and truly his. His mating urge no longer rode him, and he felt as if there was nothing bad in the world.
* * * * *
Haven pulled on her panties and jeans, feeling well-loved. Ketah had made her come twice more before the coolness of the ice cave started to get to her. He’d still been hard, proving just how long he could last.
She looked over at Ketah as he yanked up his underwear and pants. She smiled when her gaze dropped to his hiking boots, which still had crampons strapped to them. They had been in kind of a hurry, or at least she had. Haven didn’t regret not exactly playing fair to get Ketah to claim her as his mate. Once she’d managed to get her fear under control, and he had shifted back to his human form and explained everything, she’d known what she wanted—Ketah. He offered her something she thought would never be possible. She could give him her heart and she would never have to worry about him breaking it. Nor would she have to go through what her mother had. He would stay with her, quite literally, forever.
Now he was hers, and always would be. Haven had felt the mating bond snap into place between them. It also intensified the feelings she had for Ketah. Without having to worry about him dumping her, the wall she’d erected to guard her heart had come crashing down, never to be raised again. Whereas before she’d been falling for him, those emotions had turned into something more solid. She wasn’t ready to admit to it just yet or say those three little words to her mate. It was too new. Plus, she still had one more aspect of their relationship to test out.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Ketah looked at her. “I really wish you would change your mind about making us go through the separation anxiety. It won’t be fun. You have no idea how bad it can get. You’ll think something horrible has happened to me and that you haven’t seen me for a very long time. All you’ll be able to think about is getting back to me. And I’ll suffer through the same thing.”
Haven sighed. “I know you aren’t thrilled about it but I need to know. I’ll second-guess the bond we have until I learn how strong it actually is. Right now I don’t feel it. The only time I did was when it formed between us.”
“I still think this is crazy. No mated couple I know would ever voluntarily go through the separation anxiety. It’s tortuous and really messes with someone. How long do you intend to make it last?”
“It depends on how long you think it will take to get really bad. I know you hate the idea of this, but I need to experience this for myself, not because I don’t believe you. The scars I have from my parents’ relationship run too deep. This will help heal them, show me I have nothing to worry about, even though the logical part of me already knows that.”
“A couple of hours will be more than enough. Frankly, we’ll be feeling it within a half hour, but if you want the full extent, then two hours. But be forewarned, once we’re together again, the only thing on our minds will be sex. We’ll want to reaffirm the bond we share the instant we are with one another. It won’t matter where we are, or even if there is someone around to watch. We won’t be able to help ourselves.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’ll be waiting for you at my house. Once we get back to the park’s parking lot, you’ll go to your place and me to mine.”
“And talking about houses, you do realize you will no longer be able to live alone. As for working as a guide, the only way it would work is if I came with you every day.”
Haven hadn’t thought that far ahead, and she wasn’t ready to make the kind of decisions needed for both those subjects
. First she wanted to get this test over with.
“We can figure out those things later,” she said as she closed the distance between them and put her arms around Ketah’s waist.
“Well, I won’t go past the two-hour mark. Now that I claimed you, any werewolf will be able to tell from your scent. If the dark wolves were to get a hold of you, they could use you against me. And you still being mortal puts you in a vulnerable position.”
Haven obviously had a lot to learn about the new life she’d entered into, but she still didn’t regret her quick decision. Looking at Ketah, knowing he was hers—really hers—gave her goose bumps. She wouldn’t ever have to worry about him cheating on her, his love for her wouldn’t be phony, and he wouldn’t ever just walk out one day and never come back. The werewolf part, she could get past. She’d have to get used to it, is all. As for her becoming one, she’d do it once she was more comfortable with the whole notion of it.
“Fine, two hours at the most. And what are the chances of the dark wolves getting a hold of me, anyway? We’ve only known each other a couple of days, and it isn’t as if we’ve been going to a whole lot of different places together.”
“We don’t know what their pack leader is capable of. When you’re with me, I know I can keep you safe.”
“I promise this will be the one and only time I’ll ask you to do this.”
Ketah brought his lips to hers and gave her a sweet and tender kiss that had her toes curling inside her hiking boots. “I understand. I don’t like it, and dread what we’re both going to have to go through, but I can see why you need to experience it.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And this will be the only time I do this knowingly.”
Haven stood on tiptoe and nipped his chin. “Thanks, Ketah. This means a lot that you’d do this for me.”
He looked into her eyes. “I’ll do anything for you, my mate.” Ketah took a step back. “Now let’s walk back, taking our time, then get this over with so I can have the rest of the day with you.”
Love Bound in Ice: 3 (Werewolf Sentinels) Page 6
