Wolf Soldier

by Candace Ayers

  Smartass. I shook my head and braced myself on her doorframe. Looking down at her, I blew out a rough breath. “I should go.”

  “Do what you want.” Tease. She stepped into her home and turned to face me full on. She kicked off her heels and reached up to remove the clip in her hair. She pulled it out and her hair fell, framing her heart shaped face. “What do you want, Holt?”

  I grasped her around the waist and dragged her against my body threading one of my hands through her hair. The strands were like silk, and I tugged to angle her face to mine. A breath away from her mouth, I hesitated, studying her pretty eyes. In the dark, I couldn’t decipher between the dark brown of her irises and black of her pupils.

  “I want to carry you inside and strip you out of that dress, then I want to find out if you taste like wild berries everywhere, then I want to fuck you until you scream my name.”

  Her breath brushing over my mouth as she whispered my name was the last straw. My mouth crashed over hers in a desperate kiss. Kissing Sonnie felt like someone had turned the lights on in my soul. Like I’d been living in the dark, and suddenly found illumination. Instantly, I felt every hair on my body stand on end. I gasped in air that was laced with her scent and felt it embed itself into my DNA. She was my mate. A part of me.

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and one of her legs wrapped around mine. She plastered herself against me and opened her mouth for my tongue.

  The taste of her drove me wild. I couldn’t get enough. I grabbed her ass and lifted her so I could carry her inside. She was tiny in my arms. Both her legs wrapped around my waist and I stumbled at the feel of her warmth against my throbbing erection. I knocked into something. The resulting sound was of glass breaking, but neither of us looked over.

  A few other things crashed to the floor before my legs hit something that felt like couch and I went down.

  Sonnie giggled as she tugged at my shirt. “You broke my house.”

  I kissed down her neck and sucked at the skin just below her ear. “I’ll buy you another.”

  She ran her hands down my back and cupped my ass. “Just fuck me. We’ll call it even.”

  I growled, every part of me feeling like I would combust if I wasn’t in her soon. I pulled her dress over her head and groaned at the sexy bra she was wearing. All straps and lace. Running my hand over her chest and down her stomach, I felt her suck in a breath as I shifted and my thigh brushed against her core.

  She tugged at my shirt until it slipped over my head, then her hands were working to unbutton my pants. The angle was bad and she was getting impatient. “Get these off, Holt.”

  I smiled and nipped her collar bone. “You’re impatient.”

  “You’re slow.”

  I moved to get more room and we both ended up on the floor. She was on top of me, though, and I had an easier time getting her panties off. I slid them down her hips while she worked at my jeans. Our mouths were locked in a kiss the whole time, our tongues exploring, our lips desperate to be together.

  After she gave up on my pants, I had them off in less than a second. I rolled us over again so that I was on top and made quick work of her bra. It went sailing across the room. I cupped her breasts and tasted her pebbled nipples. I loved the breathy little gasps she made when I rolled my tongue over them.

  Her hands ran over my chest and cupped me through my briefs. “So big.”

  I grinned into her stomach before biting the skin under her belly button. “We’ll make it work.”

  I lifted her thighs to open them wider and settled my shoulders between her knees. My tongue slid through her slick heat. As the taste of her arousal hit my tongue and I had another one of those lights on moments. I’d heard there was nothing as sweet as the taste of a mate. Now I knew for sure.

  I licked and sucked her from back to front working her with my tongue, occasionally circling her clit. She screamed the loudest when I straightened my tongue and used it to fuck her. Her nails scraped across the top of my head and she arched into me. Her voice grew hoarse quickly as she cried out for me again and again.

  I couldn’t get enough of her. The screaming, the taste, the smoothness of her soft thighs… I wanted more. I growled into her core and swore when her legs locked around my head and a wash of her juices hit my tongue. Her screaming peaked and she locked up underneath me.

  The sound of her coming filled me with pride. It was better than anything I’d ever heard. I moved up her body and took her nipple between my teeth, gnawing gently while freeing my dick. I slowly entered her. Her body was tight and hot. I nearly came apart when I sank into her. Her walls squeezed me so tightly and the feeling of her heated skin rubbing against mine was exquisite torture.

  I moved slowly allowing her body to adjust to my girth. When she started to move her hips under me, I pumped into her harder. My thrusts gained force and speed, spurred by her cries, until I felt like I’d lost control and couldn’t get it back. Maybe ever. The feeling of her body under me, around me, squeezing me…I knew I’d never be the same.

  Then she did something that took me over the edge. She buried her face in the crook of my neck and her teeth scraped my skin. The imitation of a claiming bite pushed me too far. My body released my seed in a throbbing, spurting euphoria. Sonnie cried out, clinging to me as her orgasm followed. I turned my head to the side, doing everything I could to avoid sinking my teeth into her and marking her. I held her tight, probably too tight, as we both came down slowly. I never wanted to move. She was everything I had ever wanted and everything I would ever need.

  All night I laid on my side behind her, holding her tightly against me, whispering into the shell of her ear how beautiful and perfect she was. She felt like something I hadn’t known in a very long time. Home.

  11

  Sonnie

  I woke up and stretched, feeling that amazing ache in parts of my body that hadn’t felt anything in too long to remember. My body sang, pleasure still lingering from the night before. I rolled over, eager to have a repeat with Holt, but found his side of the bed empty.

  My stomach instantly sank, along with the happy feelings. I sat up and pulled on my robe. I wanted to believe that Holt was just in another part of my house, but I knew that wasn’t true. Even as I walked from room to room, looking for him, I knew he was gone.

  Glass littered my entryway, a broken picture on the floor. A few other things were on the floor, knocked over in the previous night’s scuffle. One of my favorite things, a blown glass flower, lay on the ground in front of my console table, most of its petals broken off.

  I was close to tears. My house was beat up and my emotions were worse. I should’ve known he wouldn’t stay. I should’ve known that the words he whispered while he held me were just words. I should’ve known.

  I grabbed a broom and swept up the glass, tossed my sheets in the washing machine and got in the shower. I refused to cry. Nope. I was human, but I wasn’t a weakling. Still, there was a lump in my throat that refused to budge.

  I was being incredibly stupid. Holt was a shifter. I was human. He knew that I wasn’t his mate, so why would he bother to waste time with me? Why wouldn’t he wake up and go about his business? I should’ve been flattered that he’d felt such an intense attraction to me. Unless that was bullshit, too.

  I scrubbed myself hard and rinsed before drying off and throwing a pair of leggings and an oversized sweatshirt on. I towel dried my hair and left it damp around my bare face before grabbing my purse and heading out. I’d never been one to sit and stew in a bad mood. I needed to get out and be around people.

  Living with regret was no way to live. I needed to avoid thinking about Holt, and after walking a few yards in the warm sunshine, I decided that maybe I’d overreacted. For all I knew, he’d tried to wake me and I’d been so worn out that I’d slept through it. Maybe he had somewhere to be and planned to come back later.

  My gut told me I was full of shit. But, my hopeful, idiotic heart wanted to believe in best case sc
enarios.

  As I was walking down Main Street, I ran into Carter, Alec and Jellybean. They were coming out of Muddy’s mom’s store, Another Woman’s Treasure.

  “Sonnie!” Carter gave me a big hug. “I heard your speed dating event was a success last night. Everyone is talking about it. I think you’ve got something big growing.”

  I grinned. “It would seem so. It was a really cool thing to watch happen.”

  As Carter and I chatted, Alec swung Jellybean onto his shoulders and she let out a squeal of delight.

  Carter grinned at her perfect little family and I felt a pang of envy. “What are you up to today?”

  I shrugged. “I just wanted to get out and about. It seemed like the thing to do.”

  She waved at someone behind me. “There’s Denny. She and Raif are going with us to Smith to see the new zombie movie tonight. The one with Channing Tatum. You should come with us.”

  I forced a smile. I wasn’t a huge fan of zombie movies—or Channing Tatum, but I suddenly felt hollow and lacking. The mates were all perfect for each other. The perfect mates were going on a perfect double date and they wanted to know if little ole me wanted to tag along. No way.

  Denny caught up to us just in time to hear Carter’s invite. “Sonnie! Tell me you’re coming with us. We could always use another woman to outnumber these men.” Denny flung her arm around me, but tripped over the curb and almost took us both down.

  I shook my head and tried to hold myself together for a few more minutes. “I’m in need of a slow day today. I’ve had a lot going on lately. Today, I’m just going to walk around for a bit, do some errands, then go home and clean. My sheets are in the wash right now. You know, exciting stuff.”

  Alec stepped in closer to me. “Are you okay? You seem upset.” Dammit. He scented me. He was a wolf shifter. Wolf shifters had one of the best senses of smell of any shifter species, well, most wolves. Not Charlie.

  I nodded and backed away a few steps. “I’m good. Just exhausted.”

  Carter arched one of her eyebrows, as if she didn’t believe me. “We’ll be gone today, but if you need something, Charlie’s at Muddy’s having breakfast. Isn’t she, Denny?”

  “Yeah, they’re having breakfast with Charlie’s model friend, Dana. She just set up an appointment with me to take new headshots. I can’t wait to photograph her. She is stunning.”

  At the mention of Dana, I’d had quite enough of the conversation. I turned to hurry away, waving over my shoulder at Denny, Carter and Alec. “Gotta go. Upset stomach.”

  I jogged away, not the least bit concerned that they probably thought I had diarrhea. I’d rather that than them see what little control I had over my baseless envy. I was being silly. Why be jealous of the woman just because she was a beautiful, successful wolf-shifter who had a crush on the same man I did? Hell, I was the one Holt had pursued. I was the woman he spent the night with. Maybe she should be jealous of me.

  With a little more confidence, I strutted into Muddy’s B&B to grab some breakfast and maybe join the ladies. It wasn’t unusual for me to walk into Muddy’s kitchen and chat with her while her new cook made me something special.

  I headed past the front desk and through to the dining area, which was packed. Good for Muddy. Business must be booming. I finally spotted Muddy’s mane of red hair in the corner. It wasn’t until I reached the table that my blood turned cold and I froze in place. Sitting together on one side of the table, Holt and Dana faced Charlie and Muddy. Holt had his arm along the back of Dana’s chair and she was beaming.

  Our eyes met and he stiffened, but that was the only sign that he was caught in a weird predicament. It cut like razor blades to see his arm where it was, yet I couldn’t stop staring at it.

  Holt followed my eyes, and when the realization hit, yanked his arm away like a kid who was just caught reaching into the cookie jar. I considered turning and running, but fuck him. I had more pride than that. I simply forced a phony-as-hell smile.

  “Hey, Sonnie!” Muddy grinned as soon as she saw me. “What’s up?”

  Charlie looked around for a free chair, but the place was full. Sunday morning breakfast at Muddy’s was usually busy. It wasn’t just overnight guests that ate there. Muddy’s had become a popular breakfast place for the locals, too. “I would ask you to pull up a chair, but they’re all taken.”

  The odd woman out. Story of my life. Not that I’d have taken her up on the offer anyway. I shook my head, trying to appear lighthearted while inside, my heart shriveled. “I have stuff to do today. I just came to force Muddy’s chef to show me special treatment.”

  Muddy stood and gestured to her chair. “Take my seat. I’ll tell Jay what you want.”

  There was no way I was staying at the table with Holt and Dana. He was staring at me, and looked like he wanted to say something to try and smooth over the awkwardness, but I was avoiding his gaze.

  “I think I need to tell Jay my order directly. You always get something wrong.”

  Muddy slapped my hip with her notepad. “I resent that.”

  I considered my pride and how it would look if I just turned and bolted, but I couldn’t stay around with Holt and Dana having breakfast just a few feet away. “Oh, shit. Never mind breakfast. I think I left my coffeepot on. I’ve got to go check.”

  I didn’t give anyone a chance to respond, just ran out of Muddy’s and rushed home, before the tears fell.

  12

  Holt

  Fuck my luck. Sonnie was sound asleep when I left. I was planning to grab some breakfast for two of us, and then come back and clean up the mess before she woke up. I’d first stopped at Carter’s Cakes and Cookies, but it had a closed sign, so I headed to Muddy’s B&B. How was I to know my sister was there having breakfast with Muddy and Dana? If I’d known, I would have avoided the place.

  When the ladies spotted me, I stupidly gave in to Charlie’s pouting and sat for a few seconds in the only vacant chair—which happened to be next to Dana. I sat back, bored while Dana and Charlie leaned over the table discussing some photoshoot Dana had set up with someone named Denny.

  If it was up to me, I would have just announced that I was with Sonnie last night and I was picking up breakfast and heading back. I didn’t know how Sonnie felt about that, though. I figured I better ask her first if she was okay with me telling Charlie. I was just about to make my excuses and head back to Sonnie’s when she showed up.

  That was the truth about why I was at Muddy’s sitting next to Dana. Fuck, it sounded lame even to me.

  How did everything suddenly get so screwed up? I tried to figure out what I should have done differently, then switched my thoughts to figuring out what I could do to fix it.

  It was obvious to me that Sonnie was upset. Of course she was. Why wouldn’t she be? I wanted to go after her, but what flustered me and made me pause was the fact that she had been glaring daggers at me. Then, she’d fled the room like she was running a marathon.

  Charlie hesitated for a second when she saw Sonnie leave, but Dana thrust her phone under Charlie’s nose, full of pictures of fancy gowns, distracting her.

  Muddy was more intent. She watched Sonnie leave and started to follow her when someone grabbed her attention for another drink. She looked like she was going to ignore them and go after Sonnie, but when another customer called for her, she gave up and went back to work.

  I sat there, stunned, glued in the position I’d been in when Sonnie walked in. Through her eyes this must look terrible. I’d been distracted when I put my arm on Dana’s chair. I was listening to them talk and my brain was on Sonnie and I’d just done it. I was used to stretching out. I doubt Sonnie wouldn’t see it that way.

  She was my mate. The same way I would rage if I saw her that close to another man, she had to be furious that I’d been close to Dana. Things just got complicated.

  I could tell Charlie that Sonnie was my mate. But that was jumping the gun. I needed to talk to Sonnie about it first. I wasn’t even sure if Sonnie k
new we were mates. How could she not, though? My feelings for her were so intense, didn’t she feel at least some of that intensity, too? I didn’t know about human mates. I knew that shifters occasionally mated humans, but I didn’t know any personally.

  I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to go to Sonnie. I’d figure out what to do and say once I got there. I cleared my throat and rose from the table. “It’s been nice, ladies, but I’m going for a run.”

  Dana smiled. “We could come with you.”

  “I wouldn’t want to intrude.” Charlie wore a devious smirk. “You two could go together.”

  I wanted to strangle my sister. Instead, I waved, already heading to the exit. “It’s a solo run kind of day. I’ll see you at home, Charlie. Nice seeing you again, Dana.”

  Before either of them could respond, I was gone. I jogged across town and didn’t stop until I was on Sonnie’s porch. I knocked and waited for her to answer, but after a few minutes, I got antsy.

  I knocked again. “Sonnie? It’s Holt.”

  When I concentrated, I could smell her in the house, sweating. Her pulse was elevated and she was breathing harder than normal. I feared she was being attacked. My defense skills swung into action. I tried the knob and found the door unlocked, so I let myself in and stealthily, but quickly crept through the house looking for her.

  When I did find her, she was in her bedroom, headphones on. She was following some workout on her TV. Air boxing. Her form was impeccable and it was obvious it wasn’t new to her. It surprised me, seeing her into something that seemed so unlike her. It made me want to learn more about her.

  I lightly touched her shoulder and got a hard elbow to the stomach. I held up my hands and blocked a punch as she spun around.

  Panting, Sonnie yelled, the headphones messing with her hearing. “What the fuck’s wrong with you? You scared the shit out of me!”