by Karin Tabke
“Open your eyes, love,” he whispered.
Falon swallowed and opened her eyes. She caught her breath. Lucien’s golden eyes had darkened to a deep burnished bronze. His features sharpened to that of a predator. Something had fundamentally changed in him. She was afraid to know what it was. Because here was a man who was not ruled by honor, laws, or a code of ethics. He was ruled by his primordial soul and what his soul craved was her.
If she wasn’t careful, he would become an obsession that could destroy her.
This thing between them, it was too much too soon. She wasn’t ready—
Shhhh.
He pushed her arms over her head, then slid his hands along them in a slow caress. When his fingers entwined with hers, he softly said, “I want to watch you come this time.”
“I can’t—” Her body was over capacity.
“I’ll help you,” he said against her lips.
And he did. She could not deny him. Did not want to.
Slow and unhurried, he let her body settle down and made love to her mouth with his lips and tongue. He did not move inside her, he just filled her. Her swollen vagina cradled him as it recovered from the shock and awe of his insurgence. When his lips meandered down her throat to her breasts, she loosened. He nipped at one sensitive nipple, then another. Her breasts swelled, and her pussy clenched.
He nuzzled her breasts, licking them, kissing them, sucking them. The heat that had never left her body flared. Just as he moved inside of her, he looked up at her, catching her watching his assault on her breasts. He smiled a wolf grin. “That didn’t take long.”
Her lips parted and he captured them. His body swelled above hers. And then, in an unhurried give and take, he made love to her as if she were the most delicate creature on earth.
He made love to her as if… he loved her.
And because of that, Falon’s heavy broken heart trembled, and opened just enough to take a chance that Lucien might one day be allowed inside.
LUCIEN HAD NEVER been so tender with a woman. Nor felt as possessive. He fully understood his brother’s willingness to fight to the death for the woman in his arms. He would do the same, even if it meant the death of his own blood.
Even as he felt a twinge of pain and loss, his beast snarled. Lucien soothed it. He and Rafael were enemies and it would always be so. But here, now… He did not want to ruin this.
He traced his fingers down the inside of her arms to her face and slid his fingers into her damp hair. She arched into him, moaning against his lips. Lucien drew back to look into her deep blue eyes. They truly were the windows to her soul. He saw everything in them as he slowly moved in and out of her. Arousal, fear, and the shadow of the she-wolf that—hell, he could barely admit it to himself—scared him as much as it intrigued him.
Wolf to wolf, he wanted to fight beside her.
Alpha to alpha, he wanted to lead beside her.
Lover to lover, he wanted to mark every inch of her body.
She was a worthy partner.
His cock thickened painfully. His balls hurt. He needed to come. Then he wanted to do it again. His rhythm picked up. “Falon,” he breathed against her lips, “come with me now.”
She trembled in his arms and met him thrust for thrust. Grinding her hips into him. He held her gaze as his balls tightened, preparing for release. She pushed her head back and her full lips, swollen from his assault, parted. The pink tip of her tongue darted out. She strained against him as he pressed her back. Her heavy lids drooped over her eyes. Her nostrils flared as a dewy sheen of perspiration erupted along her skin. God, she was beautiful.
“Luca—” she gasped. “I—”
“Now, Falon,” he hissed and came in a wild, reckless explosion. His body jerked hard against her, but he did not pull his eyes from hers. She stared at him as if she had seen God, and then followed with such a powerful orgasm, it rocked straight down his cock to his balls.
It rocked more than his cock, it rocked the world he knew, the world he had control of, the world that had tilted on its side and would never be balanced again.
Their passion was epic, and it was dangerous.
And so was Falon. She meant something to him now, something more than an instrument of revenge, and because she was more, he was vulnerable.
Rolling onto his back, Lucien brought Falon into the fold of his arms. Her body tensed, but he refused to let her go. When she realized it, her body loosened. His arms tightened in acknowledgment, then loosened as well, a silent indicator he would not force her to stay.
But she did not go. His chest tightened painfully.
There was nothing to say. No words to describe what just happened. So he said nothing. He closed his eyes, as fatigue settled into his bones. It had been a hell of a month. The last few days, brutal. Physically he was spent. Emotionally… he was sucked dry.
Falon’s warm breath teased his neck. When she readjusted herself, and her hand slid down his belly, Lucien hissed. Damn if his dragon did not raise its tail.
Falon’s body stilled. But the flutter of her heart against his belied her hesitancy. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting that part of him that wanted to sink into her again but knew her tender parts needed time to recover from his lovemaking. He slid his hand down his belly to hers. Entwining their fingers, he slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.
“I’m scared, Lucien,” she whispered against his neck.
She was not talking about the rising that would take place two months from now. She was talking about the rising between his thighs. This thing between them was powerful; so powerful if it was not managed, it would burn out of control and kill someone. “So am I.”
He pulled their entwined hands up to his chest and fought for sleep.
IN THE HUGE four-poster bed, Falon slowly came awake to sun streaming through the window. She stretched and whimpered. Every muscle in her body ached. “Ugh.” She slid her hand between her tender thighs and touched her swollen tissue. Her eyes flew open as every detail of what she and Lucien had done came back in vivid Technicolor. Heat flamed her cheeks. Closing her eyes, she lay back into the pillows and exhaled. What had happened? And why? How? How could she lose herself so wantonly when she loved Rafael?
Guilt, shame, and recrimination swept through her in droves. How could she betray Rafa by—by allowing Lucien to do to her what he had done? She rolled over and buried her face in the pillows, mortified by the debauchery of it all. Even with Rafa, even though he had tried, she had not allowed him to touch her so wickedly.
But even as she tried to pretend she had not enjoyed it, her body loosened in remembrance. It had been wild. Lucien was—well, he was just wicked. She craved that part of him. But he had also been tender, caring. Loving. A side of Lucien she never expected existed. A part she cherished. A part that made her more uncomfortable than the wicked part.
She rolled over and cried out in alarm. Lucien stood at the foot of the bed, staring hotly at her.
“You startled me,” she said, not wanting to acknowledge the white elephant in the room.
“I did a lot more than that last night,” he said arrogantly.
So much for the tender Lucien.
“You don’t have to be so smug about it.” She pulled the sheet around her and slid off the edge of the bed.
“Don’t you think we’re a little beyond that?” he asked, indicating the sheet.
“I—don’t know what’s going on inside of me.” She let out a long breath and looked straight at him. “We need to talk about what happened last night.”
“What is there to discuss?”
“I’d like to get a shower and get dressed first.”
“I’d like to discuss it now.”
Falon nodded. Fine. No time like the present. “Okay. First of all, you caught me at a weak moment.”
A devilish smile twisted Lucien’s full lips. “I caught you at several weak moments.”
“Stop it! I’m trying to be serious here. I—Last night shoul
d not have happened.”
“Why?”
“Because, Lucien, you cannot try to control me through sex! That’s why.”
He nodded and crossed his arms. “Okay.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
“So no more sex like last night?” Yes, no more emotional sex. Last night had been incredible on so many levels, but the most incredible part was Lucien allowing her into his heart. She did not know what to do with that. Until she did, there could be no more repeats of last night. But how to make it seem like something else entirely…
“No more sex like last night.”
Falon narrowed her eyes. “Okay, Lucien, let’s stop the games. Because I am your chosen one, we’ll—we’ll occasionally have to have sex. But normal sex.”
“What exactly is your version of normal sex?”
“Well, I can tell you what is not normal. None of that shifting while I’m still like this,” she said, sweeping her arm down her body.
His lips lifted into a knowing smile. “Oh, but you liked my wolf and what he did to you.”
If it was possible to blush and cream yourself at the same time, Falon just did. “That’s irrelevant. It can’t happen again.”
“I’m beginning to understand why you’re saying that. It’s because you liked it a little too much and are afraid you’ll want more. That maybe”—he uncrossed his long arms and moved slowly into her space—“maybe next time you’ll want my wolf’s cock inside you?”
“Never!” But she was lying. And she was dying to know if he had ever done it that way.
His smile widened. “No, Falon, my wolf has never completely taken a human woman.” He pulled the sheet from her and yanked her naked body to his. Heat shimmered through her. “But I’m not going to lie—with you, the idea intrigues me.” He nipped at her bare shoulder. “A lot.”
She ignored the heat his body stoked in hers. “That’s against the law in most states!”
“So is what we did last night.” Embarrassment colored her pink. He titled her chin up with his hand, and then threaded his fingers through her unruly hair. “We are Lycan. Mortal laws do not apply to us. And, I’m discovering, with you, Falon, most rules don’t apply, period.”
“There has to be rules. Rules keep order. Rules—”
He shushed her with his lips. “No rules.”
Falon twisted away from his lips, afraid she would end up on her back, and Lucien would reveal yet another amazing facet of himself that would suck her in deeper still. “Speaking of rules, we need to set some ground rules. I—”
“You need to set rules, and be my guest to set them for yourself. But understand this—rules do not govern me.”
“That’s your problem! You do as you damn well please and the rest of the world be damned.” Including turning my world upside down for your revenge! Oh, she wanted to scream it loud and clear, but they would end up rehashing the same thing again. The brothers would never budge on their stance until there was irrefutable proof to knock one of them down.
Lucien scowled. “As alpha, I must do what is best for my pack. Rules get in the way of that.”
“But rules prevent anarchy.”
A knock on the door abruptly halted their conversation.
Lucien wrapped Falon back in the sheet, then said, “Come in.”
Janice, one of the younger females, came in, eyes downcast, and said, “The Amorak elder, Sharia, is here.”
Lucien stiffened. “She has nothing to say that I wish to hear. Tell her to go.”
Of course, Janice did not question Lucien’s authority. But as the woman turned to close the door behind her, Falon did.
“Why do you refuse to see Sharia? She gave me to you; the least you could do is thank her.”
Lucien’s head snapped back. “Her ancient ways have no place in my modern world. I no longer give the Amorak authority over my life.”
Falon threw a hand up in the air. “Then why am I here?”
His head snapped back and he looked at her with possessive eyes. “Because you are mine.”
Falon laughed at the absurdity of what he just said. “But if you no longer honor the Blood Law, I’m free to go back to Rafael.”
“You are mine.”
“I am yours only if you respect the Blood Law, Lucien. There is no Lucien’s Law! There is only the Blood Law.” She moved closer to him. “You cannot have it both ways. Which is it?”
“Regardless, it changes nothing between us.”
“The hell it doesn’t! Are you purposely being obtuse? Because, I’m not a slave. I have free will. Only because Rafael lives and breathes honor did I agree to abide by the council’s decision. You chose to respect it because you knew it would deliver your vengeance. Now if you choose to reject what the Lycan nation has lived and died by the last three hundred years, you are no more fit to be alpha than Janice!”
“What do you care about the nation?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, dumbass, I might not know who my parents are, but I am Lycan! A Lycan who wants to live past the rising. A Lycan who wants a family. A Lycan who does not want to live in fear, cooped up in a damn compound because there are Slayers hunting outside her door.”
“You walk freely among humans.”
“Not while there is one Slayer alive.”
“Why are you talking me into the Blood Law when doing the opposite could conceivably return you to your beloved Rafa?”
“What has everyone—including you—been shoving down my throat? The rising is coming, Lucien, in case you forgot. I want to survive it and live to be an old woman. To that end, we need Rafael alive and healthy. He possesses the ring. We need you alive and healthy. You possess a cunning and strength that is unequaled. Mondragon is strong and with you and Rafael leading the packs, they will come together and fight as one. Between you two, the ring, and my powers, the united packs will go into battle, knowing they can win the day! What happens after will be determined by everything leading up to it.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, with the world free of Slayers, we will no longer walk in fear and the Blood Law will have to be redrafted to reflect the new beginning.”
“It will not change that you are mine.”
Startled by his words, Falon suddenly understood the battle Lucien fought. “Are you afraid that if you unite with Rafael to defeat the Slayers, you will lose me to him?”
“He will have another mate by the rising.”
By not answering her question, Falon knew what it was. “As I already do, but a lot can happen between now and then.”
“That is what I am afraid of.”
Ah, and the cat was finally out of the bag.
“The future is full of promise, Lucien. It will be all that we make of it.” She dropped the sheet to the floor and walked to the bathroom door. “Give me fifteen minutes and we’ll go to Sharia together.”
She shut the door behind her and let out a long breath when he did not challenge her.
Seven
AFTER SHE DRESSED and returned to him, Lucien’s anger was palpable. Falon did not understand it. He had what he wanted. Revenge. The Blood Law had not forsaken him as it had his brother. If anyone had a right to be furious, it was Rafael.
Her mood softened at just the thought of Rafa. He had a way of calming her, making her look at things more clearly. Rationally. In her gut, she knew Rafael was not the greedy power monger Lucien made him out to be. Mara had been a Slayer. Rafael had done exactly what Lucien would have done if their positions had been reversed. Because, while one brother honored the Blood Law to the letter and the other in spirit, the result was the same.
There had to be a way to prove to Lucien that Mara was a Slayer. It would be the only way the brothers could reconcile. And if they reconciled? She would be caught right in the middle of them. There was something to be said for the nonexistent life she had been living just a couple of months ago. It had been hard but uncomplicated. Now
she was living in a blender on puree.
As she and Lucien walked down the metal stairway to the common room, he said, “Once this conversation with Sharia is concluded, we’re going to visit Hector, my armorer, and have you fitted for a sword.”
“I would love that!” she said, excited by the prospect of her own sword. Rafael’s had been too heavy for her. She looked up at Lucien as he looked down at her and flashed her a dark, sexy smile. Finally, a peek at the Lucien who made her feel as if no other women existed for him but her. Oh, God, did she just think that? Because it was not true.
“You are bloodthirsty.”
She could not help but mirror his smile. Yes, it was true. And she didn’t care. She didn’t care because she was quickly discovering there were more layers to Lucien Mondragon than a giant onion. Layers that intrigued her. Layers that challenged her. And that most fascinating layer at his core that revealed the true man he fought so hard to mask. She was also learning a few things about herself. She had a feral side. And she liked it. A lot. “You have that effect on me.”
He cocked a dark brow. His eyes twinkled mischievously. “I won’t forget that.”
Playfully, she touched his forearm. “If you want to live, you won’t.”
He threw his head back and laughed as they descended the last step into the large common room. He abruptly stopped when, Sharia, the gnarled and stooped spirit leader of the Amorak, turned intense brown eyes on them. Several of her people, a few Falon recognized from the council, stood nearby.
Falon felt like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Not only had Sharia heard Lucien’s genuine laughter, but she had also caught Falon’s mischievous smile and her playful touch. Sharia was not the only one. A good portion of the pack had gathered. They were quietly alert, but their anxiety since she chose to stay had all but evaporated. Replacing it was excited anticipation for Mondragon’s future.
Heat stung Falon’s cheeks. Did they know what had happened last night? She wanted to hide in a hole somewhere. Until she realized the pack’s demeanor was probably due to their own wild rutting last night. Despite what happened to Joachim.
