by Marilu Mann
I do love a man who knows his Shakespeare.
Micah knew she didn’t mean love the way he wanted her to but he let the words warm his soul anyway. They watched the other wolves for a few minutes, then Micah led the way around the clearing, back to one of his favorite paths. Trotting side by side, he and Olivia covered quite a bit of ground. He showed her his preferred spots along the path, where she could get a drink of fresh water from the one still-running stream because deer frequently crossed there and kept the ice from getting too thick.
For several hours they ran as wolves and Micah could feel Olivia relaxing into her form, accepting the enhanced eyesight and sense of smell. Finally she looked at him. Her teeth gleamed white as her jaw dropped open. His heart tumbled again when she gave him a wolf grin. Her voice teased him as she challenged, Race you back to the lodge.
Micah let out a huff of air. Before he could respond, Liv broke and ran, ears back, legs churning over the uneven ground. The sight of her silky tail streaming out was more than he could resist. Micah stayed hot on her heels. Pine trees flashed by. More than one rabbit took off in terror only to pause when it realized that it wasn’t the object of the chase.
Her laughter rang in his head. Her human smell mixed with her muskier she-wolf scent. Micah didn’t ever want to smell anything else in his life. More, he could feel her down to his marrow. Mine. That one word kept repeating in his brain as they ran.
Time to show you something you missed, Liv. Micah felt her curiosity as she loped behind him. Her chuckle burbled in her head.
I never noticed this before! It makes perfect sense though. A dog door.
Micah snorted. Wolf door, please, my love.
He felt her mood shift immediately and cursed himself for letting the endearment slip. He knew how he felt but she wasn’t ready yet.
Micah, I’m-
It’s okay, Liv. Cutting off her soft words, Micah shifted.
“Do you want me to wait for you?”
At her nod, he leaned against the kitchen counter. “When you are human again, I want you to come to my room, please. And understand that is a big step for us, for you.”
Olivia shuddered in front of him, easily sliding into human form. “Wow! That wasn’t as hard this time, Micah! I did what you said and put the puzzle back together.”
She stared at him then. “Go up. I’ll join you in a bit. I need to think about some things first.”
Micah could smell Olivia on the other side of his door. He waited impatiently, knowing she had to come through it on her own. Suddenly that closed door represented all that he’d shut out of his life for so many years. It was as if he’d been waiting for that perfect woman, his mate, to show up.
For a moment, Micah indulged in the daydream of introducing Olivia to the Pack as his mate. Shaking his head, he realized that would make them see her as Alpha bitch. His cock pressed against his belly like some insistent fist. She was perfect as his mate and he didn’t want to share her with the Pack that way. Just another reason for him to find someone else to take over as Alpha.
Picturing Olivia naked, he silently urged her to come through the door. He’d never made love in this bed. That had always been somehow reserved for the woman who would be his mate. For Olivia if she would just push the door. He thanked all that was holy that Talia was with the other children at Pete and Margie’s. He didn’t want any interruptions tonight.
What he wanted was a petite blonde who could run the woods of his home-their home-with him. One who could give voice to her joy as she surged past him in a race he couldn’t have possibly won. Remembering her beautiful wolf form brought a smile to Micah’s face. Are you ever going to come in?
He lay facedown seemingly relaxed on the bed, wondering if she would overcome her fear and give in to that sweet tangy desire he could smell. A click of the door opening made his senses leap though his body remained still. Sprawled on his stomach, one arm under the pillow bunched under his head, the other hanging off the edge of the bed, he hoped he presented an unthreatening view. If he rolled over now, his cock would probably grow to meet her at the door.
Suppressing the nearly overwhelming need to take her in his arms, he allowed her to look at him. He imagined he could feel her studying him and warmth swept his body. Tracking her movements by sound, Micah heard her come to the foot of the bed. The click of a shutter caused him to raise his head.
“Don’t. I need this memory of you like this.” Olivia’s voice held tension, but Micah thought he detected sadness as well. Need this memory of me? Sweetheart, I am going to be so indelibly stamped on your brain that you will never forget me. Obligingly but with great difficulty, Micah held his position.
He counted the whirrs of the camera as she took picture after picture. He wondered what she looked like-did her head turn? Was her hair caressing the camera? Did she have her tongue stuck out like Talia? With difficulty he obeyed her hissed command to “Hold still, Micah”.
The passion in her voice and his own observations from the past few days told him how much her she loved her work. Micah flinched. His mind had gone right to the thought he didn’t want to acknowledge. But does she love me?
Micah rolled slightly and looked at her through the curtain of his hair. She snapped another shot of him but he could see her smile behind her camera.
“I want you under me, Liv.”
“Oh.” Olivia let the camera dangle from her hand as she moved closer to the bed and ran her fingers from the bottom of his foot up to his butt. She felt his muscles clench and shrieked as he grabbed her, pulling her over his body and onto the bed.
“I didn’t think your magazine was into nude shots.” Micah kissed her between his words, ending his statement close to her ear then sucking her earlobe into his mouth.
“They aren’t.” Olivia could hear the breathless tone in her voice, amazed that he could arouse her so easily, so quickly. Micah had pushed her robe open and moved his mouth to her collarbone. “Those are for me.”
Micah rumbled a laugh against her body even as he licked a path from her shoulder to her breast. Olivia moaned softly as she reached for the nightstand. She put the camera down then put both hands on Micah’s head. She felt her body warming, felt her nipples tightening just as he cupped her breasts. His hands were so large, so strong. He pushed her breasts together gently then licked across the tops of them.
“I’m glad you followed me up those stairs, Liv. We won’t be interrupted tonight. Talia’s with the other cubs until tomorrow. Our time is now and I plan to make full use of it.”
With that he dropped his head back to her breasts. Micah cupped her, pushing her breasts together and licking and sucking at her nipples until both were hard nubs vying for his attention. Olivia tugged at his hair and Micah chuckled as he continued to suck, bite and pinch her nipples. He slid down her body, his goal obvious.
Olivia spread her legs, bending her knees as Micah opened her pussy. He licked once from the bottom of her slit to the top then pushed her legs open even more as he delved deep with his tongue. Dropping her head back on the bed and tugging at her distended nipples, Olivia gave herself up to Micah’s ministrations. He thrust his tongue deep then tickled her clit with the very tip of his tongue.
His fingers dug into her thighs as he fucked her with his tongue, sliding down to rim her rosebud, then up to lick and suck at her clit. Olivia wanted his cock where his tongue was, she wanted him to fuck her hard and fast, to pound her into the bed, to cover her with his warmth. She wondered if he’d been holding back and that was the last thing she wanted him to do.
It amazed her that someone as handsome as Micah could want her as much as she wanted him. Tangling her fingers into his hair and forcing his head back, Olivia met his eyes. “Take me.”
“Liv…”
“No! Take me.” She wiggled under him, wrapping her legs around his hips. She could feel his erection, he was there, right at her entrance. Olivia kept one hand in his hair but ran the other down his back, he
r nails scoring a path to his butt.
She saw his eyes narrow, watched his nostrils flare and heard a low growl. For a moment she wasn’t sure who had growled, then it didn’t matter. Micah moved his mouth to hers even as she pulled him into her body. He sheathed himself deeply inside her on the first thrust.
It should have hurt, he was so large but she dripped with desire from seeing him waiting for her on his bed and from running with him. Olivia pulled her mouth away from his, tossing her head back even as she dug both hands into his butt, urging him to move. His cock pressed against her walls as he buried himself in her. She clenched her muscles to hold him there and was rewarded by his nipping at her lips.
Micah growled, this time she knew it was him, and pulled nearly all the way out of her before driving back in, high, hard and fast. Olivia opened her mouth to pant as he started a hard and fast motion into her body. Sensation rode her as heat built up inside her body. She clamped her mouth on his chest to thwart a scream. Her teeth dug into his flesh. Micah stiffened for just an instant then moved faster and harder than before.
Olivia kept her mouth on him even as she gripped his butt, urging him deeper into her body. Her hips slammed up into his, answering his urgency with her own. She tasted blood as her climax erupted, filling her with heat. She cried out, throwing her head back and digging her heels into his legs.
Micah growled again then dropped his head to her neck. She felt his teeth close on her neck, felt him pumping faster, just moving his hips now, the rest of his big body covering her like a blanket.
A stuttering cry of ecstasy escaped her as his teeth broke through her flesh-as she felt him stiffen and explode inside her. He was so deep she could swear he was touching her womb. He pulsed again and again inside her, not moving anywhere else. Finally, he collapsed onto her, then immediately rolled onto his side, releasing his hold on her neck and inhaling sharply.
As stunned as she was, Olivia reached a shaky hand out to touch his chest. Micah was breathing hard, his heart pounding against the wall of his pecs. She could hear her own breathlessness-feel her own heart pounding as well. She’d marked him, more than that, she’d made him bleed. A perfect imprint of her teeth, just above his right nipple, the deeper marks still trickling blood.
The shock of that sight spawned more shock. He’d bitten her as well. Olivia raised her hand to her own neck. Just where her neck met her shoulder, a tender spot. She touched it gingerly, felt the blood, then raised her shaking hand to her face.
Micah caught her hand in his, bringing it to his mouth. He gently licked her fingers, then nuzzled her, licking the area he’d bitten. She flinched and he faltered slightly, then continued.
“Micah? Why did I do that? Why did you…you bit me!” She struggled then, trying to get away from him. Micah rolled back on top of her, holding her still without hurting her, calling her name soothingly until she met his eyes again.
“Easy, Liv, easy.” She took a deep breath, felt him do the same. His eyes changed, turning more gold than brown. He smiled slightly as he soothed her with his touch. “It’s okay, love, really, everything’s okay.” Suddenly his smile widened.
“I want you on top of me.” He flipped them in the bed, faster than she’d have thought possible. Micah lay below her, holding her still, holding her against his chest. He smiled and traced his hands up and down her sides until Olivia could think of nothing else but filling herself with the erection that hardened so quickly between them. But there was something she wanted just as much. Sliding her hands down his broad chest, skirting the mark she’d left on him, Olivia teased his hard nipples until they budded under her fingers. Tweaking and scratching across them with her fingernails, she watched Micah’s eyes flash.
Leaning forward, Olivia licked first one nipple then the other, much as he’d done to her earlier. She traced an imaginary line between his nipples with her tongue, then slid farther down his body so that she straddled his thighs. She was eye level with his gorgeous cock, still shiny from their combined fluids. Not so tentative this time, she reached out to touch him. Micah covered her hand with his, again showing her just how he liked being touched, then let her take control, moving his hands up so that they rested under his head. His eyes never left hers as she sat up and took just the head of his cock into her mouth.
Micah’s eyes fluttered but never closed as she sucked at him. Sliding her open mouth down his cock to the sparse hair at the juncture of his body, she stroked her hand over him in opposition to the movement of her mouth. Micah’s balls caught her attention next, she licked at his sac, feeling it tighten and draw up at her movement. Sucking him into her mouth, she heard as well as felt him groan.
Olivia moved her mouth back up Micah’s cock, sucking at the head again, then opening her mouth as wide as possible and relaxing her jaw to take as much of him in her mouth as she could. Micah jolted, his hands tightening in her curls, his entire body going tight beneath her. Olivia reveled in the power she held over him in this moment. Now, right now, there was nothing more important than giving him as much pleasure as he’d given her.
She sat up to get a better look at him, then gave a shy grin as he shook at the touch of her hand on his cock. “Now please, Olivia.”
His plea shattered her. She’d worry about biting and clawing later. Now, right now, she wanted to be full of Micah again. Rising up on her knees, she crawled up his body and leaned forward to kiss him as she positioned herself over him. Holding his gaze with hers, she tilted back to open her folds for him. His gasp thrilled her as she dipped her fingers inside her own pussy.
“Want me, Micah?” Olivia couldn’t be bothered with being amazed by the wanton woman taking over her body. She plunged herself down on his cock while pushing her fingers into his mouth. The warmth of his tongue pulling the moisture from her fingers matched the pulse of him inside her. Her nipples sprang up as his fingers tweaked at her breasts.
“Ride me, Liv, hard.” His words sent her over the edge of the world again. Olivia braced herself with her hands on either side of his head as she pumped her hips wildly. She leaned back, feeling him deep inside her body and felt his hands at her hips, supporting her, helping to raise and lower her on his hard cock. Olivia opened her eyes to see Micah staring where their bodies were joined.
“You’re so beautiful, Liv. You’re taking me so deep and you feel so good.” She leaned forward for a kiss and found herself caught. Micah put one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her neck. He held her against his body and pumped his hips hard and fast.
Olivia moaned her release into his mouth, spurring him on even more. Giving another hard thrust, Micah growled out his own release. For a few moments nothing else mattered as they both struggled to slow their breathing. Olivia felt herself drifting toward sleep.
“Run with me again.” His voice pulled her back to wakefulness.
“What?” Olivia managed to lift her head enough to free her lips so they could move.
“Come for a run with me.” Micah rolled so that his body was over hers supporting his weight with his knees and hands. “It’s nighttime now. There’s enough moonlight to really enjoy it. Come for a run with me.”
“Can’t move.” Laying her head back down, she felt the bounce of the bed as he laughed.
“No, you’ll be fine once we’re running.” He playfully nipped at her jaw. “Come with me, love, come run with me.”
She felt something stirring in her body, an almost primal urge but she tamped it down. Micah stared at her, waiting for her answer. Olivia shook her head. “I can’t. What if I want to stay a wolf again?”
She shoved on his chest. Micah obligingly moved off her. Olivia walked into the bathroom and shut the door. She took a deep breath then moved closer to the mirror.
God what is that? That’s not a hickey. That is something much more. She studied the mark he’d left on her neck, just where it met her collarbone. It wasn’t bleeding now. Probing it, she found it tender to the touch-the mark o
f his teeth still visible. A scent hung in the air that wasn’t Micah but was-only more primeval than the smell he usually gave off.
She shuddered as she remembered she’d marked him as well. Olivia had never been into pain, had never bitten anyone in her life intentionally. Flashbacks of what she’d done to Jackson reeled through her mind. His horror matching hers when she realized she’d drawn blood. His rejection of her-would Micah reject her? No, she couldn’t understand why she’d bitten Micah, but she knew he hadn’t minded. Her biting him had spurred him on, sexually.
Olivia wrapped her arms around her waist as she sank down on the floor. Biting Micah had seemed like the thing to do. She’d wanted the taste of him in her mouth, in her system. “God, what’s happening to me? First he has me eating venison, then turning furry and now this. I’m turning into a cannibal.”
“Carnivore, love.” She didn’t jump at his voice. She’d known he was there without even acknowledging it. Micah wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the floor. He carried her back into the bedroom then into his living room. She stayed curled up as he sat down with her, wrapping both of them in the fleece throw from the sofa.
Olivia sniffled and scrubbed her hands over her face then glanced at him. “What do you mean?”
“You’re a carnivore, love, not a cannibal. You’ve been denying yourself the pleasure of meat for some time and your health has suffered. Since you’ve been here, since you’ve been eating properly and getting some exercise your body is recovering.”
She gave him a glare along with a pout. “You’re going to keep force-feeding me, aren’t you?”
He laughed as he hugged her tight against his chest. “I haven’t forced you to do anything, love, much less eat.”
“Why do you keep asking me to run with you? You know I’m not into running as exercise.”
“I mean as a wolf, Liv.”
She stiffened then pushed out of his arms and away from him. Micah sat perfectly still as she paced in front of him.
