Sanctuary's Price: Red Rock Pass, Book 3

by Moira Rogers

  So Sasha crawled out of the bed and stood beside it, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Tell me what to do. How to make sure you don’t hurt me.”

  He stepped over the threshold and closed the door. A moment later he reached for the lock, fumbling with the old-fashioned hook until it rested safely in the ring attached to the wall. Every movement was slow, painfully careful. His hands shook as he curled them in his T-shirt and tugged at it. “Don’t move fast,” he whispered, the words muffled by the fabric as he pulled his shirt over his head.

  “All right.” She slipped her own shirt over her head with trembling hands. “What else?”

  His gaze swept up her body, and the fire in his eyes grew more intense as he dropped his hands to his borrowed sweatpants. “Take the rest of your clothes off.”

  Her pajama pants hit the floor, and she slid her panties down her legs. The raw passion burning in his eyes made her skin feel tight, and she licked her lips as her breathing quickened. “Can I kiss you now?”

  “Soon.” He was already barefoot. The sweatpants landed near her feet and he stood in front of her, naked and hard. His gaze roved over her, slowly this time, lingering on the bruise on her hip and the marks of Prudence’s fingers along her upper arms. When he reached the small bandage on the side of her neck his breath hissed out and an upset noise rumbled out of his chest.

  When he moved, there was nothing human about it. He stalked around her in a wide arc, as if trying to study every inch of her for bruises or injuries. Only after he was satisfied did he step close enough that his fingers could skate along her shoulder. “You’re safe now.”

  The words hovered somewhere between statement and question. “Safe.” Sasha turned to look at Dylan, and her eyes met his. “I feel out of step. I think I got used to being in your head.”

  His hand smoothed down to the slender, finger-shaped bruises forming on her arm. He bent his head and pressed a soft kiss to the bandage covering the bite mark on her throat. “My head’s not pretty right now. You’re the only pretty thing there.”

  “I don’t believe that.” He still seemed jumpy, but she needed to touch him, so she laid her hands lightly on his shoulders. “This is who you are. Maybe not usually, not even under normal circumstances, but sometimes. And there isn’t anything ugly about you, Dylan.”

  He trailed his fingers up her shoulder and curled them around the base of her neck. “I need you.”

  “I’m here. I’ll give you anything.” Sasha’s pulse jumped, and she pressed her open mouth to his cheek and jaw. Her own words shocked her because she felt them so deeply. Completely. “Anything you need.”

  “Anything.” When he repeated the word it sounded rough. Uncomfortable. He tilted her head and forced her to meet his gaze. “Then give me a promise. Promise that you won’t give me everything I need. If you tell me to stop, I can stop. But I’m terrified you won’t until it’s too late.”

  “No.” She pulled his hands away from her, her entire body numb except for one sick spot in the pit of her stomach. “No, Dylan. If there are things I can’t give you, then you keep looking until you find them. It’s not fair to either of us if you have to push parts of yourself down just to be with me. I won’t do it.”

  He staggered back a step, then spun and braced both hands on the wall. The tight muscles in his bare back trembled as he sucked in a low breath. “You don’t know what sort of things are inside me. Have been inside me since the fight. I want them gone.”

  Sasha’s eyes burned and tears slipped down her cheeks. “I could take them away,” she admitted, “but I wouldn’t be doing you any favors. You could tell me, though, and maybe it would help.”

  “I killed.” The words escaped as a hoarse rasp, and his fingernails scratched into the wood of the walls. “As a wolf. I killed. And it felt good to win.”

  “Of course it did. Winning feels good, that’s universal. It doesn’t mean you wanted to kill them.”

  “I wanted to take you. When you touched me in that house, I wanted to turn around and take you. I wanted to fuck you on the goddamned floor with a dead vampire five feet away, because I won and you were mine.”

  Every muscle in his body was tight with pain, and his aura was thick with fear and a loathing she knew was self-directed. “But you didn’t do it.”

  He shuddered. “I almost did.”

  “But you didn’t.” She walked up beside him and leaned against the wall beside one of his outstretched hands. “We won, and we managed to stay alive doing it. So you wanted to celebrate that, and there’s no more visceral, immediate way to do that than with sex. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.”

  He moved so fast that her hands were pinned on either side of her head before she realized he’d gotten her back against the wall. “Are you scared of me?”

  He still looked damn near feral, and she should have been. She should have been scared as hell, if only because she knew he didn’t trust himself. “No. Ugliness scares me, Dylan, and I already told you. There’s nothing ugly about you.”

  Something flared inside him, strong enough that it flickered in his aura. Confusion. Hesitation.

  Hope.

  He groaned and crushed his lips to hers, the kiss starting off bruising hard. His teeth scraped her bottom lip before he sucked it into his mouth.

  Heat swept through her, and she tried to free her arms to wind around his neck. But he held her still, wrists firmly but gently in his grasp, as he deepened the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth, and Sasha moaned and arched her body into his.

  Dylan guided her wrists up until he could trap them both under one hand. The other tickled down her arm and along her shoulder before inching low enough to cup her breast. He lifted his head just enough to whisper his next question against her lips. “Do you still want me?”

  Now and forever. But words weren’t enough, so she raised one leg and rubbed the inside of her thigh over his hip. She used her trapped hands for leverage and stretched up on her toes, just high enough to angle her hips to graze his cock.

  His fingers tightened around her wrists and he bit her chin hard enough to sting before soothing it with his tongue. His body shifted to the side, pinning her to the wall with her legs straddling his thigh. “No.”

  Instinct and frustration drove her to bite him back, and she closed her teeth on his jaw.

  He laughed, low and rough, and his thumb played over her nipple. “No. You want something inside you, you ask for it.”

  A shiver claimed her, and she rolled her hips against the hard muscles of his thigh. “Please.”

  “Please what?”

  There were a thousand things she wanted, and the words that tumbled out surprised her. “Kiss me again.”

  Dylan hesitated. Hoisted her a little higher until she was balanced on her toes and his mouth was inches from hers. Some of the wildness in his eyes faded as he brushed his lips over hers in the softest kiss before moving his mouth to her cheek. “I need things Cindy couldn’t give me. Maybe things no one but you could give me.”

  It wasn’t the most opportune time for him to be mentioning his ex-lover, but his worried expression eliminated any thought of comparisons. “Tell me. Trust me.”

  His hand released her wrists and dragged down her body as he dropped to his knees. Strong fingers curled around her hips as he rubbed his cheek against her belly. “I’m not like the alphas. I don’t want your submission. I just want your pleasure.”

  “I’ve never had an alpha.” Sasha knelt in front of him and pushed at his shoulders. He landed on the floor, and she climbed over him. “But pleasure is a really good place to start.”

  Dylan reached for her hips, dragging her up his body until she was straddling his chest. “I want you to show me what feels good. Tell me how to touch you. Tell me what you’ve always wanted.”

  “That’s easy.” She moved his hand up to her breast and hissed in a breath when his fingertips skated over her nipple. “I want you to tease me.”
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  “Do you?” His thumb and forefinger caught her nipple and tugged at it. “Is that all you want?”

  Desire spiked through her, leaving behind a throbbing tension that made her rock over him. “No. Teasing’s only good if there’s a payoff, like feeling you inside me.”

  The hand on her hip slid around to her ass. His eyes blazed as he pulled her higher, easing her so close that his breath tickled her inner thigh. He turned his head to press a kiss to her sensitive skin, and she felt his tongue on her as a groan shook through him. “You want this.”

  “Want what?” Sasha had to reach back and brace her hand on his stomach so she wouldn’t fall over. “You?”

  “Me.” He bit the inside of her leg and soothed it with his tongue. “Even like this.”

  “Why wouldn’t I want—” Her voice melted into a sharp moan as he touched her again. “God.”

  He didn’t answer. He didn’t say anything as his hands locked around her hips and held her steady, poised with his breath falling hot against her. He stayed like that for an endless moment, the air between them buzzing with tension and building anticipation.

  Then he growled and swiped his tongue over her, dragging it all the way up to tease her clit.

  He definitely had the teasing part down, and Sasha squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to grind down against his mouth. “What I’ve always wanted,” she echoed in a whisper. “I’ll show you, if you want. In a minute…”

  The world upended. His fingers stayed locked around her hips as he rolled to his knees and launched them both toward the bed. Her back hit the mattress, and Dylan planted his hands on either side of her head. He stared down at her with wild eyes as he gasped in desperate, panting breaths. “If anything is too much, tell me,” he whispered.

  Her fingers drifted over his cheek and she nodded, entranced. “I promise.”

  Magic sang inside him, everything made of restless hunger. His mouth blazed a path down her throat, licking and biting and returning to the places that made her react.

  She expected him to move quickly, to urge her thighs apart with his shoulders and resume teasing her with his tongue. Instead, he continued to explore, skimming over her breasts and shoulders and even the curve of her waist.

  It went on and on. Sasha arched and panted and clenched her fingers in his hair, desperate for him to take her beyond the steady waves of pleasure coursing through her. “Dylan.” Her legs tangled with his, and she pulled lightly at his hair. “More. Now.”

  He chuckled against her breast and stroked his fingers between her legs, teasing just inside her before coming up to circle her clit. “Come for me.”

  She bucked and groaned when he kept the touch light, fleeting. “Not until you tell me what you want.”

  Dylan lifted his head and stared at her. “I want you to come. I want you to feel so good you can’t imagine anyone else touching you. I want you to be mine because I give you everything you need.”

  It was everything she loved about him, distilled into a few whispered words. His needs were irrevocably tied to hers, and Sasha trembled as she reached up and ran her thumb over his lower lip. “I knew all that the first time I kissed you, Dylan.”

  “Please…” He stroked her more firmly this time. “Come, Sasha.”

  Her legs shook as pleasure streaked through her, and his name left her lips in a breathless cry. She turned her head to his neck and bit him as wave after wave burst through her, and he dragged her head back and covered her mouth with his own.

  He didn’t stop touching her, didn’t stop kissing her, not until she was coming again. His hand drifted over to her thigh, lifting her leg. He drew back and whispered her name, low and full of longing, and thrust inside her.

  It coaxed another cry from her throat, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. “Love you. I love you.”

  He’d been gentle with her before, but the wildness she sensed inside him was too intense for slow, soft lovemaking. He drove into her hard enough to inch her body up the bed. In the next heartbeat they moved, tumbling on the bed until he was on his back and she was above him, his fingers still digging into her hips so hard she knew she’d have bruises.

  One hand raced up to tangle in her hair, and he urged her head up so he could look at her. “I claimed you,” he whispered hoarsely. “Now take me.”

  Sasha’s breath hitched as she stared down at him and slowly sat up. She grasped his wrists and pressed them up into the pillows. A few slow, smooth rolls of her hips gave way to a single hard grind. “Slow or fast?”

  He licked his lips and arched against her. “Fast.”

  He may have been beneath her, pinned to the bed, but his words were commanding. Sasha bit her lip to hold back a moan and leaned forward, bracing her weight on their hands. When she moved again, it was with a hard, deep thrust, one made so much better when he ground up to meet her with perfect timing.

  His gaze stayed locked on hers as he met her movements, her name falling from his lips with every rocking thrust. He watched her like he needed her, needed her pleasure and her acceptance and everything she was.

  For a moment, it almost felt like being connected with him, like being in his head. “I can’t imagine anyone else touching me.”

  “They better not.” The words were a possessive rasp. “No one. No one but me.”

  “Just you.” Sasha could barely choke out the words through the haze of pleasure tightening around her. She let go of Dylan’s wrists and rocked faster, circling her hips over his, her hands clenched around the top of the headboard.

  He lifted his hands and touched her. Her hips, her breasts, her legs. One hand wrapped around her waist to guide her movements as the other dragged down her body. He splayed his fingers over her abdomen and his thumb found her clit, rubbing in rough, jerky counterpoint to her movements.

  She couldn’t stop the curse that hissed between her clenched teeth, and she faltered as fire streaked through her. “Jesus, Dylan—”

  “I can’t—” He growled as his head arched back, the strong muscles in his throat stretched taut. “Fuck. Fuck, you feel so good.”

  Sasha opened her mouth to tell him how good he felt, but all that came out was a tormented moan. She pushed harder, desperate to reach the pinnacle, to come for him again.

  He made a desperate noise, then another, this one lower and edged with frantic pleasure. His touch grew more insistent, and Sasha threw back her head and screamed as a second orgasm took her. She couldn’t breathe, could only grind down against him, trying to get as close as possible as paroxysms of bliss shook her.

  Dylan’s hand shot up and wrapped around the back of her neck, dragging her body to his. The world spun, and she landed on her back, his mouth pressed to her skin as he ground into her with a hoarse shout. His teeth closed on her neck, hard and possessive, and she felt the last of the wild power burst free of him in one dizzying rush of pleasure and satisfaction.

  Sasha lay there, panting, stunned by the depth and intensity of what they’d shared. She threaded her fingers through Dylan’s hair and trembled under him, unwilling to speak and break the sensual spell they’d woven.

  Finally he eased away, not far, but enough to urge her onto her side. He curled up behind her and dragged at the disheveled blanket until it mostly covered their bodies. His movements were slow, exhausted, and his breath tickled at her neck as he sighed in quiet contentment. “You okay?”

  “Better.” She held his hand over her heart. “You need to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  He murmured something soft and unintelligible as the tension that had ridden him so hard melted away. His breathing evened out and his arm became a heavy weight over her body, but even in sleep he stayed wrapped around her.

  Sasha tried not to let lingering doubts mar the soft pleasure Dylan’s touch always left glowing in her. Surely it wouldn’t be so hard to know what to do or say when he felt better. Surely things would be the way they’d been before, when nothing had mattered but how
they felt about each other.

  It took her a long time to fall asleep.

  A clatter from the bathroom woke him.

  Dylan rolled over and found the spot next to him empty, though the faintest hint of warmth still lingered on the sheets. The bed smelled like Sasha and sex, and it brought back hazy memories of the previous night.

  He sat up and winced as his body protested. He was sore today, and not just from the bite and claw marks that were already visibly healing. His muscles ached and his body felt drained, like the hangover from a full moon multiplied a thousandfold.

  The only blessing was that he felt like himself, with no trace of the furious, feral magic that had clawed its way free last night.

  He found the pair of borrowed sweatpants on the floor and pulled them on, promising himself he’d figure out where his belongings had ended up later. After he’d found Sasha, after he’d reassured himself that she hadn’t slipped from the bed to hide distress…or bruises. Please, no bruises.

  Knocking on the bathroom door took more courage than he wanted to admit. Luckily, Sasha opened it in only a few seconds, and she did so with a broad, sheepish grin. “I’m sorry. I was trying not to disturb you, but I’m a klutz.”

  His gaze dropped to her throat, to the bruise rising in the mark of his teeth. It wasn’t a light love bite, but a rough mark. Terror churned in his stomach as he tried not to consider what else her clothing hid. “Did I—did I hurt you last night?”

  “What?” Her hand shot up to touch the bruise, and she shook her head. “No. You didn’t hurt me, Dylan.”

  Relief made his knees weak. “Or scare you?”

  Her amiable smile faltered a little. “I wasn’t quite sure what to do or say, but I wasn’t scared. I was…worried about you.”

  “I don’t blame you.” He leaned against the side of the doorframe and let himself relax a tiny bit. “Let’s not pump me full of crazy feral power again unless the end of the world is nigh. I’m not sure I like it.”

  Sasha laughed lightly and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Actually, I’m fairly sure you hated it. At least, that’s what you said last night.”