“What happens if I don’t go back there?” she asks, nearly panting. “Can’t I say I got sick or something?”
I shoot a quick glance around the corner. There are still five women to go before her turn. I’m not supposed to touch Ivy, but I just don’t care. Not when she’s grinding her hips against mine and all but begging for release. I could give it to her. Satisfy her every need.
I’m right there with her.
“He’ll be able to sense if we fuck.” Grasping her hips, I hoist Ivy up and wrap her thighs around my waist. The heat from her pussy radiates through me, bringing my cock standing to attention beneath my zipper. She squeals as I spin her around and press her back against the wall, but I silence the sound by crushing my mouth to hers. “There are other things I can do to you,” I bite out, assaulting her neck with feverish kisses. “Things I’ve been wanting to do from the moment I saw you in the garden.”
“What things?”
Clutching at my shoulders, she licks my lower lip and sweeps her tongue against mine, sending a cacophony of sensations rippling down my spine. Her mouth tastes like passion and indulgence and no regrets, so I set her in the corner where she’s cloaked in shadow.
“It’s better if I show you.”
Kneeling in front of her, I part the sides of her crimson cloak and groan at the sight of her bare flesh. She’s impossibly smooth, without a single patch of hair covering her sex. Her legs are defined with long, lean muscle, but her stomach isn’t flat as a board. There’s softness and curves to her that I want to explore with my hands first, and then my mouth. A femininity that steals the air from my lungs. Unable to hold back from touching her any longer, I stroke her toned legs, from her ankles up her calves to her quivering thighs.
“God, Reaper,” she says on a throaty moan. “My body is trembling, but you haven’t even really touched me yet.”
“You have no idea what I’m going to do to you when I get more than a few stolen minutes.” I slide my fingers to the juncture between her hip and leg. “Just wait.”
“I…can’t.”
“You have to.” Sliding a hand beneath her rear, I lift her right leg and open her up for me. The scent of her arousal hits me like a sledgehammer and I commit it to memory: soft and faint, feminine, and sweet as a raspberry. As I flick my tongue out over her clit, she bucks against my mouth and lets out a needy sound that hardens every muscle in my body. “Oh, you like that?”
Sagging against the wall, she digs her hands into my hair and leads my head where she wants me. I could die right here, right now, and never regret a single unlived day. Savoring the taste of her bittersweet arousal on my tongue, I lick her from front to back and back again before focusing on her pleasure spot. She shudders against my tongue, her moans of pleasure echoing off the walls of the alcove.
If someone were to walk by, they’d see us. The possibility heightens my arousal, drawing me tight.
“Don’t stop,” she moans, and I’m happy to oblige.
I suck at her clit and gently rake my teeth against her swollen flesh. It’s not enough. I need more. “I want to be inside you so bad,” I rasp out. “Filling you. Stretching your pussy tight. Feeling you come around my cock.”
“Oh God.” Her voice is broken, her thighs quaking around my head. “Your voice…your tongue…you’ve got the sexiest mouth, you know that?”
I smile as I slip my finger into her wetness. “All the better to eat you with.”
As I thrust my finger deep, adding a second to stretch her flesh, I angle myself so I can kiss her clit at the same time. She comes hard, dragging me to the edge with her. I’ve never been so turned on by pleasuring another, and I’m all fucking over it. I watch her body writhe as the orgasm rocks through her. Her breasts bounce. Her lips fall open in a seductive O. She slides along the wall, unable to hold up her own weight. And then she bursts out in a string of laughter, covering her mouth with her hand.
She’s laughing—officially the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
How is it possible that she can be both sexy as hell and really fucking adorably innocent at the same time?
I withdraw from her heat when what I really want to be doing is drowning in it. My balls are aching and I can barely stand without stripping down and plunging into her wetness, but I refrain. Barely. I pull the sides of her cloak to cover her body and then tower over her, planting one hand on either side of her shoulders.
“What’s funny?” I ask, swiping a hand over my mouth.
“Nothing.” Her cheeks are glowing from the remnants of her pleasure. “I just giggle when I’m nervous.”
I find it strangely funny. And endearing. “What do you have to be nervous about?”
“Everything.” She looks up at me with bright icy blue eyes. “I don’t usually do this, you know. This isn’t like me. I don’t let strangers touch me in gardens, and I certainly don’t sneak away from really important ceremonies to have oral sex.”
“If you’re trying to tell me you’re a prude, I’m not buying it.”
“Not a prude, exactly, but I’m…shy.”
“Shy? Present circumstances beg to differ.”
She quirks the corner of her lip, so I stamp a kiss there. And then another square on her mouth. What the hell has come over me? She stares as if she’s confused, too.
“I’m just not normally this kind of girl.” She sighs heavily. “I’m the only one out of all those pre-shifters back there who doesn’t have a single mate lined up for the shifting ceremony. Believe me, if I did this all the time, I’d bring all kinds of boys to the yard.”
“What yard?”
She started to sing a ridiculous rap song, but waved it off when I gave her a blank stare.
“He won’t know, will he?” she asks, straightening her robe. “I feel like he’s going to be able to smell you on me. Do I have a scarlet letter burned into my chest?”
“No adulterous letter to be found. Even if you did, the color of your robe would hide it.”
“True.” She glanced down. “I’m crimson red. One giant scarlet letter.”
I know she’s joking, but the thought crosses my mind that she’s not entirely wrong. I have marked her, in my own way. And if Lukas realizes I’ve touched her, she’ll be banned from ever joining the pack. She’ll be cast out from our secret society without a pack for protection. And I won’t be able to protect the Omega if I’m exiled with her.
“He shouldn’t be able to tell,” I say, though doubt seeps into my chest. “But you could distract him and throw him off base if you think he’s starting to suspect something.”
Another name is announced. I glance around the corner, spotting one other woman cloaked in canary yellow. I’ve been so focused on Ivy, I didn’t hear the other women who’ve been called.
Time’s up.
“I have to go, don’t I?”
I nod, though I can’t move. She’s still trapped between my arms.
“After I meet him, does he make his choice right away, or—”
“No,” I interrupt, my voice darker than I’d meant it to be. “The rest of the women have already gone back to their rooms. You’ll go back, too, and I’ll meet you there. If you’re chosen he’ll send his guards for you. But we’re not even going to talk about that because you’re going to make yourself as undesirable as possible.”
“Right.” She nods decidedly and twists her face into a snarl. “Like this?”
A laugh ruptures from my gut, and I’m sure my packmates shuffling about in the main hall below can hear. “No, even then you’re appealing, but I don’t think you can help it. Be certain of yourself. Speak clearly and confidently. He likes women who are soft-spoken and appear timid and weak. He likes his women…submissive.”
“Good to know.” She bats her thick eyelashes at me. “Anything else?”
Why can’t I let her go? It’s not like I want to be the mate she chooses during the ceremony. Screwing in gardens and hallways is one thing, but my heart is too dark and s
carred to be offered to someone as good and pure as Ivy. I’m not the werewolf who’s going to sit in Arcana Castle and rule the pack with a bonded mate at my side. After I find the person responsible for the Omega’s headache, I’m headed back to Europe to finish what I started years ago. Until I know who killed my parents, I can’t stay in one place. And having a woman at my side—especially one as distracting as Ivy—will make things infinitely more difficult.
Bottom line? I’m going to have to come to grips with the fact that Ivy is either going to be claimed by Lukas or bonded with a male pre-shifter of the Omega’s choosing at the ceremony.
Either way, I only have a few hours with Ivy left.
And I haven’t had my fill of her yet.
“Yeah, there is one more thing.” I drag her into my arms and brush my thumb over her kiss-swollen mouth. “I want to be the only one who tastes your lips tonight.”
“I’m not kissing the Alpha. No way,” she teases, smiling brightly. “I don’t even know him.”
I can’t go another second without possessing her mouth again. I lock my lips on hers, infusing the kiss with every ounce of desire rising up inside me. She melts into me so seamlessly, I have to rip her out of my arms and push her into the hall to separate her body from mine. Breaking away from her causes me physical pain.
But it has nothing on watching her disappear into Lukas’s private chamber.
Chapter Three
Ivy
As the chamber doors click shut behind me, my steps weigh heavy with dread. Nerves pinball through my stomach, and I can’t catch my breath. I tighten the cloak around my body, and close off every thought of Reaper lingering in my head. I don’t know what to expect from the Alpha, and the anticipation is killing me. All I want to do is finish this quickly and escape back to my room where Reaper will be waiting for my return.
Even though I’ve had more action in the last hour than I’ve had in as long as I can remember, I can’t seem to get enough of him. I’m not proud of my sexual drought, but I’m also not ashamed to admit it’s been two—okay, okay, four—years since my last major anything that turned out to be nothing at all.
What’s the harm in having a little fun? Nothing at all, I decide, continuing the trek deeper into Lukas’s private quarters.
His room is dark and empty, and the curt smell of well-oiled wood and cinnamon tingles my nose. From what I can tell, there’s no one here. I spin around slowly, taking in my surroundings, searching for the Alpha in the shadows. Fire hisses in the massive stone hearth to my left, and logs splinter apart beneath its oppressive heat. Floor-to-ceiling windows in front of me look out over a smattering of pine trees. Pillows of snow cling to the wide windowsills, creating the feeling that this place is a cabin rather than a castle. The largest bed I’ve ever seen is situated to my right, and as I step closer, I glance up. The ceiling over the bed is covered in a giant backlit mirror.
Kinky.
The sound of water rushing suddenly fills the room. It’s coming from behind the closed door that’s situated between the bed and the windows.
He’s here.
I’m about to meet the Alpha and he’ll see through me, I know it.
My thighs are quivering, my knees are knocking, and my core is aching from where Reaper stretched me with his fingers. I’m still so messed up from the orgasm in the hall, I can’t even walk straight.
What we did was forbidden by pack law, but it wasn’t like we were hurting anyone. If anything, I have the most to lose by being with Reaper. Every minute spent with him is one I’m not using to search for a possible mate. He may want me physically—and damn, did it feel good to be on the receiving end of his passion—but from the rumors swirling throughout the pack, he doesn’t want to bond with anyone. Ever. He’s a nomad who roams the world in search of something most shifters believe he’ll never find.
He’s not Mr. Right, but Mr. Right Now is a hell of a lot of fun.
And what is wrong with that?
The door to the bathroom creaks open and Reaper’s words fill my head: speak clearly and confidently and don’t kiss him.
I raise my chin, feigning confidence I don’t feel, as a dark figure in a suit and tie steps out of the bathroom, drying his hands on a towel. His slacks are black as night, starkly contrasting against the brilliant white hue of his dress shirt. He has Reaper’s stature, with strong, broad shoulders and a wide jaw. He’s leaner than his sexy cousin, though, and looks more like a businessman who’d grace the cover of GQ than an MMA fighter.
I didn’t expect him to be so handsome. I’m not sure why—most of the pre-shifters talked of nothing but his striking good looks. He’s clean-shaven and his dark hair is cut close to his head. I bet he’s one of those anal-retentive guys who has to cut the tags off everything in sight.
“You’re the last one,” he says, stopping in the doorway. Light spills from the bathroom behind him, creating a dark silhouette of his formidable frame. He exudes confidence as his gaze rakes me over. “The woman we had to chase down in the garden.”
He knows.
I swallow down my nerves and lock my eyes on his. The only way he could know what happened is if Knox told him what he’d witnessed, even after he said he wouldn’t. It was the ultimate test of loyalty.
Throwing the towel into the bathroom behind him, he says, “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“I did.” If I were searching for orgasms, I’d certainly found them and knew where to look for more. “Sorry to keep you waiting, sire.”
“Lukas. Please.” He pauses, taking time to measure me with his dark eyes, and then motions for me to take a seat in front of the fogged windows. “What’s your name?”
I breathe out a small sigh of relief as I perch on the edge of a large wing-backed chair. If Knox had told Lukas about what he’d interrupted in the garden, it would all be over by now.
That meant one thing: Knox was more loyal to Reaper than his current Alpha. I’m curious, but can’t possibly ask what that means.
“Ivy Douglas,” I say quickly, hoping I haven’t taken too long to respond. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
“We don’t have a Douglas surname on record with the pack. I know because I’ve spent years studying the ancient logs.” Lukas tugs on his tie, jerking hard to loosen the knot, and then slides it down the right side of his chest. He drapes the tie over the lampshade beside the bed and unfastens the top button of his shirt, revealing a smooth patch of his muscular chest. “Where are you from?”
While he kicks off his shoes beside the bed, I tell him about my father’s illness, and my mother’s last wish for me to join his pack. I mention San Diego and my time there, and how I never really felt as if that place was my home. As I babble on and on, I realize he’s taller up close. Leaner, too. If Reaper is built for brute strength, Lukas is built for speed and agility. They’re like two sides of a coin, each intriguing for completely different reasons, yet cut from the same steel.
“You haven’t been here long enough to be influenced by anyone in our pack,” Lukas says rather decidedly. “You’re the only pre-shifter who wasn’t raised in this area.”
I don’t know how to respond, so I fold my cloak over my legs and shake my head. “I guess not. I mean, I don’t know anyone really.”
No, wait. I’m hiding beneath the cloak. Sitting on the edge of the chair as if I’m anxious. Speaking quietly. Doing everything wrong. He likes weak and timid and unsure, and because of the nerves rattling through me, that’s exactly what I’ve become.
Determined not to screw this up, I shift in the seat and cross my legs so that my thigh is exposed through the slit in the cloak. I rest my elbow on the arm of the chair, and fluff my hair over my shoulder. From here on out I’m going to be confident and self-assured and he’s not going to want anything to do with me.
I’m not his type.
“Brandy?”
“Ivy,” I correct loudly. “Ivy Douglas.”
“No.” He laughs, and holds
up a decanter situated on top of the dresser. “Would you like some brandy?” He turns, offering me a glass as he strides closer. “To soothe your nerves?”
“No, thank you,” I say, and then stop short. I should take what I’m offered and drink without apology. Forcing myself to be the woman the Alpha doesn’t want, I change my tune. “On second thought, I’ll have a double.”
His lips quirk into a smile and I’m startled. He has a gorgeous grin. Straight teeth. Full lips. Dimples pricking either cheek. I’m pretty sure there weren’t any butterfly releases on schedule in my stomach for tonight, but a few escaped anyway.
“A girl after my own heart,” he says, and pours long.
He wasn’t supposed to like the fact that I’m drinking. Total backfire.
I repress a grimace as I tip back the drink and the heady taste of spice, pepper, and cinnamon sloshes down my throat. I hate brandy, and I’m a lightweight to boot. Sniffing the liquor alone was probably enough to get me drunk. Not really, but close.
“Brandy, like a fine woman, is meant to be savored.” He doesn’t move, I realize, as I watch him walk from the windows toward the fire. He ambles. As if he doesn’t have anywhere else in the world to be at this very moment. He sits in a leather chair in front of the fire and rests his right ankle over his left knee. Holding his glass at chest level, he swishes the brandy around. “You have to breathe in the drink from a distance and take your time. Inhale softly, absorbing the floral notes and subtleties that others might overlook in their haste to drink it down.”
Although I’m sitting across the room from him, the heat from Lukas’s stare burns the side of my face.
“I noticed you earlier,” he says, taking me aback.
Did he see us in the garden? In the hallway?
Panic latches onto my throat and squeezes. “When?”
“During the rehearsal in the main hall.”
A relieved sigh punches out of me, and I’m too late to catch it. One of his eyebrows hitches toward his hairline as if he senses my anxiety. Whether or not he knows the reason, I’m still not sure.
Desiring Red (A Dark and Dirty Tale) Page 3
