“Fine,” Tracy, Ryan and Paige answered together. And then Craig was gone, stalking back to an empty table in the center of the room.
“Well.” Paige turned back to Caelan, her cheeks pink again—something Derek couldn’t wait to see on her while she writhed beneath him. Naked. “I guess he has a date later. Or something. So, um, I’ve got to…we were here, you know, working, kind of. Anyway.” She gave a wobbly smile and Derek pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh.
When he glanced up from her adorable face, Ryan was flexing his fingers and watching the byplay closely. Derek wondered at the action briefly before shrugging it off. Wasn’t his concern, and Paige was definitely giving off the “I’m single” vibes, so he wasn’t worried about honing in on any man’s territory.
Then there was the low grumbling still being emitted by Tucker. It was starting to piss Derek off.
“You’ve got a lot of admirers.” He wanted to touch her. To run a knuckle down one of her cheeks to see if she’d lean into it or flinch away.
“Huh?”
“At least a couple of men who don’t seem to like you and I being near each other.” He didn’t apologize for the frank observation.
“Oh, well, I’m not…” She thumbed over her shoulder, “I’m not with anyone.”
Derek grinned. A second later, Paige did too. It was a killer. A perfect mouth except for the slightest overlap of her two front teeth, framed by lush lips. Lips he wanted to crush with his own, just to see what she tasted like. Christ, he had it bad.
Tracy reached for Paige’s forearm. “Don’t mean to drag you away, but Craig is throwing daggers with his eyes, and if we don’t get back, I’m afraid they might become literal.”
“Right. I’ll—”
Tracy pulled her away before Paige could finish. For a second, she resisted, a panicked look on her face, until Caelan leaned in and spoke in her ear. Derek heard him anyway, but didn’t know what to do with it.
“He’s not going anywhere, Paige.”
Her eyes widened at Caelan’s words and her gaze darted back to Derek before she was hauled away completely.
Just what the hell had Caelan meant?
Paige gripped the steering wheel and peered at Petri’s front door through the light wash of rain that had started to fall. Her mate was still in there. Derek.
She’d heard the name before but couldn’t place where. Even on a good day she wouldn’t have recognized all of the men working for her cousins’ security firm and had no clue why a human had been among the group of shifters there tonight.
But he had been. And was now. While she sat out here in her car, pathetically waiting to see him again and nearly bursting at the seams wanting him. A human.
Her mate.
A thrill shot through her, making her womb clench again, for what seemed like the millionth time tonight, and her clit throbbed, seeking pleasure.
She imagined marching in there and demanding he quench her thirst for him by putting his mouth on her pussy until she shook with the force of an orgasm…
…and then sighed. Damn. A human. Her tummy turned over. How would she ever tell him what she was and not run him off?
He’s with a group of shifters, stupid, doesn’t that mean anything?
Maybe he already knew. Maybe she wouldn’t have to explain. Maybe he wouldn’t care what she was.
And maybe she was dreaming. He could be a client and have no clue—like most of the world—shifters even existed.
Tap tap.
“Shit.” Paige jerked in her seat, heart in her throat, and squinted to see who was knocking on her driver’s side window.
His devilish grin filled her vision. Damn it. How had she missed him coming out? Rain ran in rivulets down his unprotected face, and she hurried to hit the power button and lower the window.
“Why are you sitting out here?” The gravelly voice made her insides quiver.
She licked her lips. “I was…”
One of Derek’s finely shaped eyebrows rose. “Waiting for me?” he murmured.
Hell yes. Paige swallowed and nodded. What else was there to say? He knew she wanted him.
He leaned over, dripping water on her. “You’ll follow me?”
“Yes.” Pitiful, pitiful woman reduced to a croak.
His lips parted and Paige craned her neck to meet him.
Their mouths meshed, their tongues tangled. He cupped the back of her neck with his hand as she savored her mate for the first time. He was perfect. Minty as though he’d popped a candy after eating the garlicky spaghetti she’d seen on his plate. For a crazy second, she wondered about her own breath.
Who gives a shit? The man kissed like a god. Her mate. Her human.
Ugh.
Derek broke it off first, dragging his hand and fingertips across her ear and cheek, then pausing over lips that felt swollen. Holding his sapphire-eyed gaze, Paige clasped his wrist and tenderly kissed the pads of each finger.
“You keep doing that and I’m going to pull you from your seat and take you against the car.”
“Please.”
His eyes widened, his nostrils flared. Mortified, Paige realized she’d spoken out loud. Those chiseled lips of his curled at the corners.
“Much as I’d like to, I’m not much into sharing.”
“Does that mean you have?”
“Shared a woman?” He shrugged. “Once. Not my thing, really, but what I meant was I don’t relish other men seeing the woman I’m with in all her glory. And trust me…” His voice dropped to a rasp. “I want you to be in all your glory, not thrust up against the car with our pants around our ankles. What I intend for you will take time. Lots and lots of time.”
Oh Lord. Every sexual instinct in her body shot to the surface. For a second she wondered if she would come without even being touched. His heated gaze was more than enough to do the job. She squeezed her thighs together to stave the impending orgasm off.
“Stay close. I don’t want to lose you along the way.”
She scoffed at him. “You won’t.” Trust me.
He gave her a wink that made her heart skip a beat, and she squirmed in her seat. Something she’d been doing since before he tapped on her window. Damn. She wanted to mark him as hers, make everyone in the shifter world know she had taken a mate. That he was no longer available.
“Mine, mine. All mine,” she murmured, watching him in the headlights as he walked, unperturbed by the rain, around the hood of her car. There was a definite bulge in his jeans. A rather large one, which she anticipated would fill her already drenched pussy quite nicely.
Man, she had it bad.
He stopped at a sporty little dark car. She couldn’t tell the make or model from a distance, not that she knew shit about cars anyway, but from what she could tell, it suited him.
Paige trailed behind his taillights, not really believing she was following a stranger home for what was sure to be an evening of wild, hot sex.
The anticipation was almost her undoing. Her wolf’s heat clamored to be released, rising inside her and making her skin tingle. She gripped the wheel and ordered it to back down. A funny sensation shimmied through her.
She would never be loved in wolf form by her mate.
Had she ever wanted to be? Did it matter?
Staring at the outline of Derek as he drove in front of her, she decided no. She’d had the experience once and it hadn’t really appealed to her anyway. Sex in human form was much more desirable.
She would have said the drive took hours, but a look at the clock showed it was only about fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes too damn long. She pulled in behind him in the driveway of a small ranch-style house and realized it had stopped raining at some point. Normally she might have looked closer at the place he called home, but right now her lust-filled brain was focused on one thing.
Derek’s ass as he exited the low-slung car.
Then he turned to her, snaring her with those beautiful blue eyes that reflected in her headlights. Tonight, she had a feeling, she was about to find out what heaven on earth was really like.
Paige found herself in his arms, her lips engaged with his, and no clue how she’d even gotten onto the porch.
Their breathing came in heavy pants. Derek fumbled at his side, and it was only when the door opened she realized he’d been trying to unlock it while she practically mauled him. They stumbled inside, still lip-locked, and Paige hitched a leg high on his thigh, as though she could somehow get closer. She ground her pussy against his erection, jerking her hips like a dog humping and not caring in the least.
Not one ounce of shame ran through her when an orgasm exploded at her core.
“Oh my God. More.” Still rippling with wave after wave of release, she attacked the button and zipper of his fly. The material peeled apart and his glorious cock sprang free. All eight saluting inches of him.
Paige disentangled herself. “Commando?”
“Hell yes, and I’m damn glad now,” he said, shoving the jeans to the floor and nearly tripping in an effort to get both them and his shoes off. They made hollow thumps on the hardwood when he kicked each one loose.
Then his fingers worked on her jeans. Before she could blink, he’d stripped her of those and her Doc Martens. They too landed with thunks, which echoed in the small foyer.
He groped beneath her shirt. The rough skin of his palms tickled her sides before he cupped her breasts tenderly through her bra. She bit her lip and moaned when he plucked at her beaded nipples.
A second later he had her shirt off. He flung it over his shoulder and reached behind her for the clasp of her totally utilitarian bra.
“Time for me to see you in all your glory,” he murmured, nuzzling his mouth along the column of her neck. “You smell so good.” His tongue rasped up her throat. “Taste good too.”
“I know something that’ll taste better.”
Derek paused and he leaned back to look her in the eye. She should be humiliated. Her face should be flaming right now. Maybe Derek didn’t like going down on women. Maybe her boldness would piss him off. Maybe—
“Baby, you don’t know what you’re doing.” He bent and picked her up like she weighed nothing. Long, quick strides brought them to his bedroom, where he flicked on the overhead light. Before she caught the surroundings, he had her on the bed, naked except for the bra and her panties, and was crawling between the sprawl of her legs.
“If only you knew how much I wanted to taste you earlier.” He licked his way up from her knee to her apex, bypassed her starving pussy, leaving her a whimpering mass of goo, and kissed down the other leg.
Her eyes were glowing. She felt them as her wolf leaped to the forefront, and she dropped her head back until she could control the reaction. She would not scare him off just yet. Not before she shamelessly sated herself with her mate. Hopefully not afterward either. She’d find a way to make a quick exit and save him from seeing her shift.
Derek delved into her panties with his fingers and dragged them off. They landed somewhere behind him as her shirt had done minutes ago.
“This too.” She struggled to sit up, at the same time tackling the bra he hadn’t quite gotten apart.
“Let me.” He moved over her body, straddling her and forcing her to brace herself on her elbows. His cock bobbed right in front of her face, the opening glistening with a drop of precome. The look in his eyes was feral, probably very close to her own.
She couldn’t resist. With the flat of her tongue, she swiped at the broad head, tasting his essence. A low growl burst forth above her as she sucked the tip behind her teeth and flicked at the rim. When she glanced up, she saw his jaw was taut and ticking.
“Stop,” he groaned and pushed a thumb into her mouth, breaking the suction she had on him to pull out. “I’m too close.”
She licked her lips.
“Fuck.” He reached behind her back, but instead of working the hook and eye catches of her bra, he tore them. Fabric ripped. With a hand on the center of her chest, he pushed gently, laying her back again, and freed her from the ruined cotton confines.
“Gorgeous,” he said with real reverence in his voice. He covered the twin globes with his much bigger hands and massaged them, pinching lightly at the distended nipples.
Paige’s mouth went dry, but her pussy wept. She could almost feel the moisture leaking from her slit.
He lowered his head, and she watched in slow motion as he clamped his teeth around one nipple. His lips covered the areola and he tugged her deep into his mouth. Paige hissed and dug her heels into the mattress. Her fingers curled into the bedspread and her hips shot upward.
“Yes,” she breathed. And then he was gone, lifting off her and depriving her. “No, no,” she cried, reaching for him.
“Shhh,” he soothed. “Just getting us on equal terms.” His arms crossed at his waist, gripped the hem of his shirt and yanked it over his head.
Lord, was he fabulous. His stomach muscles twitched as she observed him, his cock jerked.
“Please.” Hell, she wasn’t above begging at this point.
Derek spread her legs and moved back between them. “I’m sorry.” He lowered his mouth to her slit and his tongue glided between her drenched lower lips. “This first time is going to be fast and furious.”
“I like fast.” Paige lifted her hips when he gazed at her across the length of her torso. “Just need you,” she pleaded.
He stretched out, aligning their bodies in the most primitive way. The head of his cock nudged at her entrance as his tongue, bringing with it her own flavor, urged her mouth apart.
“Damn it,” he groaned, dropping his forehead to hers.
“What? Don’t say damn it. Not damn it.” She was on the verge of hysteria.
“Condom,” he said succinctly.
“Oh. I don’t…I’m good. Clean and everything.” Please don’t stop.
His gaze met hers. “Seriously?”
“Yes.” He didn’t need to know right now that he was the only man who could impregnate her or that she didn’t get diseases like humans did. And what if she did get pregnant?
His indecision fled with a grin, taking her partial worry with it. She squirmed beneath him, but he seemed intent on taking this at his own pace.
His hips flexed slightly until the head of his cock sat snugly inside her. Her pussy yielded to the invasion. Paige contracted her vaginal muscles, trying to suck him deeper, to no avail.
“I thought you said fast,” she snarled, wrapping her legs around his thighs and squeezing.
Derek laughed and nibbled on her lower lip. “I was trying to make it good for you.”
“It won’t be anything but.”
“What if I’m a lousy lover?”
She snorted. No way Derek made a lousy lover. “It wouldn’t matter if you were.” She placed her hands on his cheeks to hold him still and kissed him.
With one thrust he sank into her to the hilt. They both sighed, as if they’d finally come home after a long journey. This was where he was meant to be. Buried inside her, part of her, just as she was a part of him. Paige sucked in a breath and held on to him, wanting to relish this moment forever.
Derek had other ideas.
He retreated, almost pulled all the way out, then thrust in again, making her shudder. She clawed at his back. Literally marking him as hers so everyone would know it. His head nestled next to her ear, tempting her to bite at the exposed crook of his shoulder. She would. When the time was right.
Each press of his penis through her sheath brushed her clit. Teasing her. It wasn’t enough.
“Please,” she cried out, arching for better contact. Sweat had formed between them, making t
heir skin slick and providing excellent lubrication. His chest hair tickled her nipples.
Derek complied with her begging. He braced himself on one elbow and reached between their bodies to press on her swollen clit. That was all it took. Her climax shook her. She spasmed around his cock as it burrowed in and out of her.
He thrust one last time and held himself rigid deep inside her pussy. Still throbbing from her orgasm, she felt each spurt of his seed against the entrance to her womb.
Placing her teeth on his neck, she bit down, forgetting about her vow to wait, and marking him with more than scratches. Something every shifter would identify with. In the throes of his own release, he probably barely realized what she’d done. She licked the small wound, cleansing it and giving him back a little something of her.
For long minutes they lay together, Derek still embedded in her pussy, breathing hard. When their sweat had nearly dried, he stirred, wanting to push himself off. She was content to keep him right where he was.
“I don’t want to squash you, Paige.” He kissed her temple. The tenderness almost undid her.
Her wolf howled inside her to be let out. She wanted to run and rejoice in the mating she’d just partaken in, to feel the wind through her fur.
Paige had to leave. It would kill her, but worse would be if she shifted in front of Derek and he freaked. If she left now, she’d be able to see him again without the threat of shifting. At least for a little while.
The desire would return, perhaps often, until she got used to having a mate.
Her heart thudded. How would he react?
“I have to go,” she whispered, running a hand down the strong arm that held her close as he slipped out of her and lay beside her, leaving her completely empty except for his seed.
“Now?” The incredulousness was there and she didn’t blame him. Not when they’d shared such an explosive encounter and she was about to run out on him.
She nodded, afraid to speak. Derek pushed a lock of her damp hair behind her ear. The affectionate gesture lifted her spirits.
“Do you regret what we did? Did I hurt you?” She heard the hurt in him and almost gave in to staying in his arms, where she belonged.
Ultimatum: Graham Pack Mates, Book 3 Page 2
