[Pack 01.0] Defying Pack Law

by Eve Langlais

  Tears filled her eyes. “But they’re not the ones claiming they never stopped loving me or looking for me in the last twelve years.”

  “I was horny, and you were gone. What the fuck did you expect me to do?”

  Dana understood with some part of her mind that she acted irrationally, not that she cared. The thought of Nathan touching another woman, pleasuring some slut like he’d pleasured her, drove her to it. And broke her heart. “You know, there’s something called masturbation when you get horny and the one you love isn’t around. Or, if your hands aren’t good enough, then you should have invested in a fucking pocket pussy.”

  Nathan stood and glowered down at her. “Why the fuck would I do that when I could get the real thing anytime, anywhere?”

  Dana stood and yelled back, even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “Because you said you loved me.”

  “I do love you, but you didn’t expect me to stay celibate, did you? After all, you’re the one who made it clear you wanted nothing to do with me and ran away.”

  “So why chase me then? Was it pride that made you come after me? ’Cause it certainly wasn’t because your body couldn’t live without me.”

  “I came after you because you’re mine,” he growled.

  “You have a fine way of showing it,” she retorted bitterly.

  “Get off your fucking pedestal!” he shouted. “You were gone for twelve years. Are you trying to tell me that you spent the last twelve years by yourself and didn’t let any other men touch you?”

  “Pathetic, isn’t it?” she cried. “The thought of letting another man touch me was repugnant. The one I wanted was you, and yet, apparently, you meant more to me than I did to you because you had no problem sticking your dick in another hole.”

  “It was just sex,” he bellowed.

  “Well, I hope it was worth it.”

  “You are such a fucking hypocrite. You talk about me like I’m some kind of man whore, and yet, I don’t see you staying true to this love you supposedly have for me. Hell, only here two days and you’re planning to mark and bed three of us.”

  She slapped him. “Make that two,” she spat.

  “Dana . . .” Nathan reached out for her, but Dana dodged his hands and ran for the stairs.

  Tears blinded her as she took them by twos, but once at the top, she hesitated. She didn’t want to go back to Nathan’s room and the bed he’d probably fucked those sluts in. She followed her nose to another door and slipped in.

  John’s calming scent filled the space. She didn’t pay attention to her surroundings. She crawled into the large bed that dominated the center of the room and hid under the covers.

  Then she cried, her shoulders heaving as the rose-colored glasses she’d worn for the last twelve years shattered.

  It seemed stupid, and naïve, of her to think Nathan hadn’t moved on. And yet, she’d thought just that, especially when he’d come looking for her, declaring his love.

  Why on earth did I think he’d never touched another woman? He was young, virile, and right about one thing—she’d left him. But that never changed how I felt about him and what we shared.

  Dana had tried dating, but human males held no interest for her—a man she could snap in two just wasn’t hot. Irrational as her jealousy was, she couldn’t help the feelings of hurt.

  She loved Nathan, but she had to admit there were parts of him that were a little domineering, and cocky. But isn’t that one of the things I love about him? Ultimately that was what it boiled down to—she loved him, caveman mentality or not. However, she needed time to get over the shocking news that he hadn’t stayed true.

  She briefly thought of running, escaping the pain of yet another betrayal. But she’d grown out of the immature girl who’d escaped before when things got tough. Not to mention, she knew she could be happy here. Her fight with Nathan didn’t change the fact that she still wanted what they offered.

  However, one thing was sure; the order she’d claim the men had shuffled.

  She wouldn’t reward Nathan tonight, petty as it made her. He and his alpha attitude needed to realize she wouldn’t bow or give in to him just because of his size or loud voice.

  It’s time he learned that he can’t just order me around and treat my feelings like they’re not important. If he loves me, then he’s got to respect me.

  And if it took punishing him by not marking him first to see he couldn’t bully her around, then so be it.

  It’s not like claiming John will be a hardship. I can’t wait to see my calm doctor lose control between my thighs.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kody shook his head at Nathan. “You are such a fucking idiot sometimes.”

  Nathan glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I think he means that bragging about how you fucked a ton of women and telling Dana she should accept it because it was her fault crossed a line,” John replied.

  Nathan scrubbed a hand through his hair. “What the hell else should I have done? Lied?”

  John shook his head in disbelief. Nathan’s male arrogance sometimes knew no bounds. “You could have tried playing it down instead of flaunting it. Couldn’t you see how hurt she was to find out?”

  “Dude, she is seriously upset,” Kody added, peering with a frown in the direction of the stairs.

  “What do you both care?” Nathan growled. “You heard what she said. She doesn’t want me anymore.” Nathan poured himself some more wine and took a swig of it.

  “Give her time—” John started saying.

  Nathan threw his wineglass at the wall, where it shattered, spraying the red wine. “I’m tired of fucking waiting. I waited twelve goddamn years. What did she expect from me? Would you have stayed celibate for twelve years?”

  Kody shrugged. “I’ve just met her, and I can say I don’t understand how you could even look at another woman after having her. I haven’t even thought of another female since she arrived in my life.”

  Nathan’s gaze narrowed, and he tilted his head toward John. “And what do you have to say?”

  John’s jaw tightened, and he didn’t give Nathan the excuse he was looking for to justify his actions.

  “I would have never let her leave in the first place. Don’t forget, I know the whole story. Despite your declarations of love, it took you five years before you seriously started looking for her and that only because the council passed on that report about the lone Lycan female who matched her description.”

  “I never forgot her,” Nathan yelled.

  “Then you did a piss-poor job of showing it,” John shouted back. Like Kody, after having met Dana, feeling the connection between them, he couldn’t imagine ever being with another woman, let alone dozens like Nathan had.

  Nathan growled. “She left. I thought I’d get over her like my dad and everyone kept saying. You think I didn’t think of her when I fucked those other women? Do you think it wasn’t her face I pictured? I know none of those women measured up to Dana. Maybe it was wrong of me to fuck everything with a pussy hole, but damn it, I wanted someone to take away the pain. But I learned my lesson, all right? I discovered I can’t live without her. That there is no other woman who can satisfy both me and my beast. Why can’t it be enough that I came to my senses finally and brought her back? Not that it does me any good. She doesn’t want me.”

  “Maybe if you acted like a man in love instead of an alpha trying to dominate her at every turn, you wouldn’t be in this position,” John retorted. “You should have told her how much it hurt, how it took dating other women to realize she was the only one, instead of blaming her for the fact you were horny.”

  Nathan let out an inarticulate cry of rage, and muscles bunching in his shoulders, he grabbed the dinner table and upended it. The dishes cascaded off to crash and shatter on the floor. Nathan regarded the mess with glowering eyes. “You can both fuck right off. I don’t need your advice. Besides, isn’t this just perfect for you and Kody? I’m out of the pictur
e now. You get her all to yourselves.”

  “That’s not what either of us wanted,” Kody said. “And I don’t think it’s what she wants either. Give her a chance to cool down, and you’ll see. You just shocked her. Once she has a chance to think it over, she’ll realize she can’t be pissed at you for something you did while she was gone. Especially if you apologize and explain you did it ’cause you were lonely.”

  “I’ll talk to her too,” John replied, his anger at his friend warring with his pity for him and his pain. “Take the night to cool down and think of a way to make it up to her. Get her flowers or something. Make her breakfast in bed. Plan an apology speech.”

  Nathan’s shoulders slumped. He turned to Kody. “What’s your advice? You’re the Casanova around here.”

  Kody grinned. “My plan is usually make her come until she forgets why she was mad in the first place. But somehow, I think trying that right now might go badly for you and your nuts. Come on. Have a beer with me while John-boy here goes and talks her down. I swear that man could talk a nun into dancing naked around a stripper pole if he tried.”

  Nathan’s lips turned up into a smile at the attempted humor, but John could see the mirth never touched his eyes.

  John left them nursing beers, Nathan sitting silent and dejected while Kody held up the one-sided conversation. John didn’t like the simmer brewing under Nathan’s seemingly calm surface. Here’s to hoping he sleeps his anger off and doesn’t end up blowing his top like a volcano.

  John jogged up the stairs. He made to turn to the left in the direction of Nathan’s room, where Dana had been sleeping, but a sniff of the air made him raise a brow in surprise. He followed her scent to the door of his room. He paused outside, listening to the stifled sobs from inside, barely noticeable over the murmur of voices from downstairs. John hesitated before entering because logic said Nathan wouldn’t like that Dana had searched for comfort in John’s room.

  He’ll like it even less if I go in there and something happens between us. But while John wanted to aspire to an altruistic nature, selfish desire, and a burgeoning love for the woman inside, made him not care what Nathan thought. He had his chance and fucked it up.

  John intended to make things right again between Dana and Nathan, but at the same time, he was only a man. A man who will do anything to make her happy. Anything . . .

  Dana cried into the pillow, her tears soaking the fabric. How could she not when she heard Nathan bellowing? A part of her ached to go to him, to clasp him in her arms and say all was forgiven.

  Another part of her feared that, by caving to him, he’d think nothing of hurting her again in the future. She covered her ears with her hands, unwilling to listen to his obvious anger and distress. A light touch on her shoulder made her thrash wildly, her flailing fists striking flesh.

  She rolled and opened her burning eyes, expecting to see Nathan, come to hunt her down and beg her forgiveness—or force it. Instead, she found herself wrapped in John’s arms, his soothing presence a balm to her turmoil. Her tears flowed anew. He dragged her onto his lap as she sobbed, stroking her hair and rocking her as she wept for the twelve years of her life that she’d wasted running. Wept for the life she could have had if she’d only looked past her fears. Wept because she couldn’t stem the pain that, once again, she’d experienced, even if unthinking, at Nathan’s hands.

  “I am such an idiot,” she finally sniffled. “I mean why wouldn’t he have found someone else?”

  “I’d like to be a dick right now and say he shouldn’t have, but truthfully, I can’t blame him. And hate me for my words if you want, but he did the right thing. The only thing he could do in his situation. He didn’t know if he’d ever see you again. I know firsthand how lonely and lost he was after you were gone.”

  Dana hiccupped. “I kn-know. But it hurts. All those years I spent alone, I figured he did too.”

  John brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Just because he wasn’t alone didn’t mean he was happy. Nathan wasn’t lying when he said he loved you all that time. But it took bedding those women to realize none of them could replace you.”

  Dana sniffled. “A rational part of me understands that, but the selfish part is pissed and hurt.”

  “Then hit me. Take out some of your frustration.”

  Dana craned her head back to peer at his face. He returned her gaze with a calm brown-eyed one. “Are you insane? Why would I do that?”

  John grinned. “Because sometimes hitting things feels good.”

  Dana gave him a weak chuckle. “Thanks for the offer, but I couldn’t hurt you.” Seated on his lap, her tears at bay, she noticed how nice his arms felt wrapped around her. She inhaled his scent, and her wolf stirred, along with a primal hunger. Awareness of him as a man flooded her senses, bringing a tingling arousal with it. “Actually,” she murmured, “I can think of a better way of relieving my frustration.” She reached up to cup his face in her hands and kissed him.

  Earlier she’d thought about doing this as part of a revenge against Nathan, but encased in John’s arms, she could admit that she was just using that as an excuse to touch him. She wanted John, wanted him in her life and as one of her mates. With him, there was none of the chaos she got with Nathan, none of the naughty playfulness that she saw with Kody. John was like a rock—steady, dependable, and hard where she needed him.

  He broke the embrace, his breathing ragged and his erection firm against her bottom. “I don’t want to be used as a way of getting back at Nathan,” he warned.

  Dana stroked his cheeks and smiled at him. “Oh, don’t worry. I have many uses for you, and I’m afraid they all have to do with pleasuring me. This is probably going to sound corny, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  Apparently that was all the answer he needed. His arms crushed her tight to him as his lips found hers in a torrid kiss that stole her breath.

  They fell back on the bed, his heavier weight atop her body. She loved it and could have kissed him all night, but her body clamored for more. John, as if sensing this, slid his lips away from her mouth down to the column of her throat. He kissed her pulse, and her breathing hitched. He shifted his body to the side, and she opened her eyes.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “Once we start, I don’t know if I’ll have the willpower to stop.”

  “Make me yours, John.” She grasped the edge of the dress she’d worn to dinner and pulled it up.

  With her head caught in the fabric, he took advantage and rubbed his face on the soft skin of her belly. She untangled herself and saw him staring with smoldering eyes at her underwear.

  “Please tell me that isn’t a thong,” he said, his voice husky. She rolled over, and he groaned. “Damn. I am so glad I didn’t know that at dinner, or I would never have managed to eat—well, food anyway,” he ended with a tease.

  His breath brushed the skin of her buttocks as he placed a kiss on each cheek. Dana trembled, and the thin fabric, stretched taut across her cleft, moistened.

  “You smell so good,” he murmured, his face pressing against the crease of her thighs where they met her ass.

  She parted her legs, and he fanned his warm breath over her sex. The wet tip of his tongue traced the material that barely covered her mound, an erotic touch that brought forth a moan. The sound emboldened him, or so it seemed, because he grasped the string with his teeth and, with a growl, snapped it. Dana held her breath as she waited for his next move, a long, wet lick across the length of her slit.

  “Oh.” Again, he laved her, probing between her lips, thrusting his tongue into her pussy. Dana clutched at the sheets on his bed, her body afire.

  He pulled back, his breathing ragged. “Roll over,” he demanded, softened with a, “please.”

  She did as he asked. His head returned to its spot between her thighs, and he licked her before circling his tongue around her clit. He used his lips to hold and suck on her sensitive flesh, and she bucked involuntarily. He placed his hands on her stomach and h
eld her down, pinned her as he tortured her clit with his mouth. She moaned, and her head arched back as he drew her desire taut. Then stopped.

  She opened her eyes, prepared to beg him to continue, and was caught by his burning gaze, and the fact that he still wore clothes.

  She went to her knees and tugged at his shirt. He stripped it off, exposing his lean, hard body. She stroked her hand down his lightly furred chest until she reached the barrier of his pants. He aided her in unsnapping them. Then he left the bed to stand for a moment to pull them off. Clothing shed, she could clearly see his erect cock, which curved slightly at the end and jutted proudly from his loins.

  John returned to kneel on the bed before her. She reached out a hand and ran it down his hard belly to his rod, but he caught her hand before she could grasp him.

  “Save that for later. I don’t think I can handle that right now.”

  Dana smiled at him, pleased at his lack of control. The calm doctor kneeling in front of her already looked wild, and they’d only just begun. “So does that mean I’m not allowed to give you my first-ever BJ?” Something she’d read about but never actually experienced. A fact she’d rectify very soon.

  He growled at her and clasped her body to his, the skin-to-skin contact scorching. More moist heat pooled in her cleft, and she moaned at the feel of his hard cock pressing against her belly. His lips latched onto hers, and she opened her mouth to him, allowing their tongues to clash in a wet duel.

  Her nipples pebbled against his chest, and as if sensing their presence, their burgeoning desire, John leaned her back so that he could bend and take one into his mouth.

  Dana moaned as his tongue swirled around the tip. Her pelvis bucked forward, trying to get closer to him.

  John growled, and she opened eyelids heavy with desire to see his eyes glowing, his expression intent—and fucking gorgeous.