by Eve Langlais
“Is that so?” he asked. His voice was husky and raw, and it set my nerves alight.
I wanted him. I wanted him in my arms right then. The cold outside, the primal light of the fire and the taste of the rabbit, his nakedness, all of it mixed to make me feel more like an wolf than a human. And this wolf wanted her mate.
Turning to Hutch, I let my hand slide down and touch him where he was already hard. His lips found mine, and he seized me in a kiss that shivered my entire body. His arms wrapped around me tightly, his mouth hot against me.
Our naked bodies twined together as Hutch lowered me to the cave floor. The earth near the fire was warm with the heat of the coals, and I arched my back against the ground, raising my hips up against Hutch. His cock throbbed on top of my thigh, and I growled.
“Are you letting her out?” Hutch asked. He bent so that his face was only inches above mine, and I could feel our breaths mingling between us.
“Yes,” I said. The wolf inside of me was clawing to emerge, and I wanted her senses. I wanted her to be part of this mating. This was the wilderness, and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to be wild with Hutch.
“Do it,” he whispered breathily into my ear.
I took a deep breath. It had been some time since I had let the wolf out while making love. It was hard to balance her presence with my own human self, and although I was getting better at it, it still scared me a bit to show my animal side.
Eyes closed, my lungs full, I went inside myself. She was there, waiting, as she always was. I opened the door, just a bit, for her to peer through.
There. All of my senses heightened in an instant. The flames of the fire were individual pinpricks of heat on my skin, and the chill from outside brought the scent of the snow and the pines into the cave. The warm earth under my back pushed up against me, and I could feel myself almost turning. I pulled back, keeping myself from shifting.
Balance.
I opened my eyes, and the sight of Hutch above me, his wolfish grin, sent another thrill of desire through my body. Then his eyes flashed amber and I moaned. The scent of his musk, his desire, filled my nostrils and sent my body reeling. I ached to have him inside of me.
“Hutch,” I gasped. “My mate.”
Hutch’s mouth moved down my chin, hot and wet and sending thrills of electricity through the nerves of my skin. He kissed my neck and I twisted under his grasp.
“Take me,” I moaned. “Please. Oh God, Hutch, please. I need you.”
“Not yet,” he whispered. His breath was hot against my skin, and his tongue slipped out, tracing a line down my collarbone.
My breath caught as his mouth found my nipple and his lips sealed around it. Fire raced through my body, and if Hutch hadn’t been pinning me down against the ground, I would have gone flying in all directions. With the wolf pushing up against my surface, I felt nothing but the intense desire for him.
I needed him inside of me. The hollow inside of me made my core ache with need, and as he sucked at my nipple, I cried out loud, my hands scrabbling against his back.
“Please, oh please oh please oh please–”
I throbbed with need, and still he pushed down on my hip, not letting me move. Then one of his hands slipped down between my thighs where I was already slick and ready for him. The single touch made me scream, but as soon as he had touched me he retreated, leaving me empty and gasping.
“Hutch, don’t–”
“Tell me what you want.”
“Oh God, Hutch–”
“Tell me.” His voice was a growl that made me tremble.
“Fuck me,” I gasped. “Please, oh god, Hutch, I want you. I need you inside me. NOW.”
My last word was a hoarse snarl of desire, jagged in the air.
Without another word, Hutch spread my thighs and plunged himself into me. I cried out sharply in painful pleasure as his cock slid into me, thick and hard and so wonderful, god, so wonderful. I shuddered as the orgasm ripped through me. It had come upon me so quickly that I wasn’t ready, and my fingers scraped at Hutch’s skin as I shivered in climax.
He didn’t stop, not giving me any rest. Before the first wave of my orgasm had died down, he thrust upward, sending another, deeper wave of desire through me. I could sense it through my whole body, down into my soul. He was my mate, and he was claiming me as his.
I opened my mouth to moan but then his mouth was on me, and his hands were all over me, gripping me, massaging, pulling me down onto him. He released my lips and I screamed for air, but then he was kissing me again, sucking my bottom lip between his, his tongue tickling my flesh.
He rocked back and then forward, working his swollen cock into me inch by agonizing, wonderful inch. The blizzard outside roared, and Hutch roared with it, the sound filling me as I gripped his hard muscles and pulled him into me deeper, deeper.
My core began to kindle again as he rocked back and forth. The flames danced over our heads and the wind sang at the cave entrance, and I clenched him tightly as he worked his way into my deepest parts.
“Natalie,” he groaned, and his hand ran through my hair, grabbing it at the roots and tilting my head back. I leaned back willingly and his tongue ran over my skin, as though he wanted to taste every part of me through my neck. As though he wanted to eat me up whole. The wolf inside of me growled in pleasure, and I shivered as the desire began to pull me again towards the edge.
His skin was slick with sweat now, from the fire and our lovemaking, and he had to hold on more tightly to keep me from slipping. My body twisted in pleasure as he rocked again and again, forward into me.
“Your wolf,” I gasped. “Hutch.” I needed him to join me, to let our wolves meet together. I felt the draw toward the wild side, and I wanted to let go completely, to let myself run free with him.
He grinned, and I saw the amber glow. The sparks from the fire reflected in his eyes as his wolf emerged. I felt my body reach up to grasp him and then he met me.
We had never made love like this before. His body slammed up into me, his cock filling me, stretching me, as I screamed in pleasure, my screams carried away by the wind. The wild wolf inside of me found her mate and our bond pulled me forward into his embrace.
He was hard, pulsing, his body jackhammering mine, and his breath was ragged in my ear. I felt another orgasm building inside of my core, pushing me closer and closer to the edge. The pressure inside of me was impossible – I thought that I would explode in flames if it lasted any longer.
“Ohh!” I cried. “OHHHHHH!”
Then Hutch howled, and my wolf howled along with him, and my body fell headlong into an orgasm with him. I milked his throbbing cock with my tight muscles, crying out as I felt his hot seed fill me. He jerked once, holding still at the top of his thrust, his breath held as he shuddered with me and we tumbled into each other, our climax coming as one, rolling over and through us in a hot trembling wave.
Hutch collapsed against me, rolling to his side as he gathered me up into his arms. His lips pressed against my forehead and he kissed me over and over again, on my nose, on my cheeks, on my lips, until I gasped for breath again.
“Hutch!”
He smiled and drew me into a hug that flattened me. I breathed heavily, enjoying the scent of his skin and his seed, letting my wolf settle down under my surface.
“At least we know how not to freeze to death,” I said, pulling myself closer against his hot chest.
“Mmm,” he hummed into my ear. He was silent for a moment, and all I could hear was his breath and mine, the crackling of the fire and the howling of the wind outside, sounding more distant than before. I let myself relax into his arms, my eyes fluttering shut. I was tired, so tired.
Before I slipped into sleep, I heard Hutch murmur something else into my ear.
“Thank you, Natalie. That was… that was a really good Christmas memory.”
Chapter Four
Hutch
I was up at dawn.
Natalie was still asle
ep by the fire, curled up in a t–shirt that made her look all kinds of sexy. I was tempted to wake her. I was tempted to work my way up between her legs and wake her in a way I knew she’d love.
But I knew my girl. And while she might enjoy that particular wake up call, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be in the mood for a breakfast of cold rabbit and beer afterwards. Not to mention the fact that I needed to pee real bad.
I pulled on my jeans and headed to the entrance of the cave. As much as I enjoyed the previous night, I knew we couldn’t stay. Not unless I could retrieve Nat’s pack.
As I exited the cave, I realized that wasn’t going to happen. All around, as far as I could see, the ground was covered in a substantial layer of snow. I mean, of course it was, but I hadn’t realized just how thick it would be.
Great for postcards, not so great for finding discarded backpacks.
I sighed as I unbuttoned my fly and prepared to leave my mark on the pristine white blanket. It would have been nice to stay a little longer. I know it wasn’t what Nat had planned, but I’d been enjoying myself. It was exactly what I needed right now.
As I relieved myself, I spotted movement in my peripheral vision. Something fast, moving from tree to tree as if it was trying to stay in cover.
I sniffed the air. Deer. Interesting. Not to mention more substantial than rabbit. Except… I sniffed again. Shifter. So venison was definitely not on the menu.
I was surprised. There really weren’t many deer shifters around here. I knew the location of a couple of herds, just across state lines, but this was wolf territory. And, for obvious reasons, deer tend to be pretty skittish around our kind.
Once I was done, I turned to face our incoming visitor. Making it clear I knew she was there, but showing no sign of aggression.
She hesitated, before bounding out of the trees towards me. Shifting, when she got within half a dozen yards.
Shit. You see, the thing about doe, they’re beautiful. I don’t mean regular beautiful, I mean how–can–that–be–real–it’s–fucking–with–my–mind beautiful. You just can’t stop looking at them. They’re skittish, little things, tend to be pretty shy, but they have the kind of body that would make a swimsuit model weep with jealousy.
But most men, or most people for that matter, never really get that far, because once you catch a glimpse of those eyes, those massive, brown eyes that practically begged you to take care of her and look after her and protect her, it was pretty hard to tear your gaze away.
“He’s coming. You gotta get out of here, Mister. He’s coming.”
“Yeah, I uh…” I tried to tear myself away from her eyes and only ended up ogling her breasts instead. Perfect, pert mounds that looked like they’d been carved by the guy upstairs himself. Almost as nice as Natalie’s. Shit. I needed something to help me focus.
“Hutch! What the hell?”
That did the trick.
Nat came shuffling out of the cave in my t–shirt and way–too–big boots. She looked confused, as if she suspected she was still dreaming, and, impossibly, more beautiful to my eyes than any big–eyed deer.
She hurried towards my side as fast as my oversized boots would allow and clamped her arm around my waist possessively.
The doe responded with a wry smile. It probably wasn’t the first time someone had responded like that to her presence.
“Hey, Hutch. Who’s your naked friend here?”
“She’s a deer.”
Nat raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Dee–ee–ee–are. Deer shifter.”
“I’m Jane,” she said enthusiastically. “I like your t–shirt. You guys are wolves, aren’t you? That’s so cool. But he’s coming, we need to go.”
Nat gave me a questioning look and I shrugged in reply. Her guess was as good as mine. Deer were skittish, but this one was all over the place.
“Hi Jane, this is Hutch and I’m Natalie. You need to back up a bit. Who’s coming?”
Jane was starting to look pretty cold. The residual heat from her run was fading. I wasn’t really in a position to offer to warm her up and it wasn’t like we had any spare clothes.
“Lets get back in the cave first and you can start from the beginning,” I said.
***
“So I was supposed to marry this stag, but ugh, not my type, so I ran away instead.”
“So that’s who’s coming? A stag?” I asked.
“Oh hell no. Neville would never leave the herd. And even if he did, I’m pretty sure I could kick his ass, let alone a big guy like you.”
She took a deep breath and continued in the same half–ditzy tone.
“No. I ran away and hooked up with this wolf. I mean part of it was this whole rebellion thing, but part of it was that wolf guys are just plain hot right? I mean…” She looked over at Nat with a conspiratorial grin. “The hair, the muscles, all that primal rage, not to mention how good they are in the sack right?”
I couldn’t help puffing myself up a bit and smirking. Damn straight.
“Yeah, except he turned out to be a real asshole. Always getting into fights, chasing other women, only interested in beer and sex.”
“Now that does sound familiar.” It was Nat’s turn to smirk. “So he’s the guy that’s after you?”
“Oh no. He’s long gone. After I dumped his ass I got a job working behind the bar down in the valley. There was this guy who kept coming in and trying to chat me up. I mean I may have flirted a bit, he was a good tipper.
“Then one day, out of the blue, he straight up asks me to marry him. I’m like, ‘what the hell, no, get out of here.’ But he won’t take no for an answer. He just picks me up and carries me out of there like I was a sack of potatoes.”
“Then he took me to his cabin and… and…”
I could feel Natalie tense and hold me tighter, “Oh no, he didn’t…”
“Oh no, no, no. Nothing like that. Well something like that, I mean he abducted and imprisoned me against my will, so I’m not like his biggest fan or anything. But he hasn’t hurt me or tried any funny stuff. Says that can wait until after we’re married. Says that’ll happen after winter when his head isn’t so fuzzy and he can think better.”
Nat looked up at me confused, but I was starting to figure out what was going on.
“And he’s the one you’re running away from?”
“Yeah, I tried to fight him, I’m pretty good in a scrap.” That seemed… unlikely. “But in the end I had to run. He was just too big and strong. He’s coming for me though. I can pick up his scent now and then. He’s close.”
Nat gave Jane a comforting smile. “Well you don’t have to worry about that anymore. You might be pretty good in a fight, but Hutch is… well, fighting is one of the things he does best. You can just sit back and enjoy watching a good, old fashioned ass–whupping.”
Unfortunately, Nat’s confidence in my prowess was misplaced.
“Is this guy a bear, Jane?” I asked.
Jane nodded, her impossibly big eyes looking up at me as if I was her saviour.
“Nat.” I turned to face my mate. “Take Jane. Go back to Scraptown. Find Gina and… Rob or Ross maybe. Actually, both of them. Tell them where we are, but you and Jane stay in town okay? I’ll try to slow him down until they arrive.”
“Hutch?” Nat looked confused, “I don’t understand. What’s going on? Just kick his butt and we’ll all head back together.”
If only it were that easy. I glanced at Jane who was looking at Nat with an incredulous expression. She knew.
“What?”
“He’s a bear, Nat. Bears are… three wolves, who knew how to fight, who knew how to work together. Maybe they could take him down. I’d rather have four to be safe. Bears are strong and it sounds like this one has gone native.”
“Gone native?” She asked.
“Kind of like the bear equivalent of a loner.”
Loners, or lone wolves, were what the old werewolf myths were based on. If a shifter spent t
oo long alone and too long in wolf form, they tended to lose touch with their humanity. The line between wolf and man blurred and what emerged was something wild and uncontrollable.
For bears it was different. Bears that went native tended to fixate on a single thing and didn’t stop until they got it. They pretty much became nature’s version of The Terminator.
“Well you beat a loner once.”
“That loner almost killed me. If it hadn’t been for you–”
“And Tommy.”
“Yes, thanks for that, it’s been almost a week since someone reminded me. If it hadn’t been for you and Tommy I would have died. And even then, given the choice, I’d rather fight another loner than come face to face with a bear that’s gone native.”
Nat stubbornly folded her arms. “Well, I’m not going to let you fight him alone.”
I could use the voice on her. I could pull rank and command her to go back. She was my mate. She was my wife. I didn’t enjoy forcing her to do my bidding. It didn’t feel right.
“Fine. But don’t go anywhere near him. Stay back and protect Jane.”
“Hey!” Now it was Jane’s turn to object. “I can help. I can fight.”
“I’m sure you think you can but this is–”
“I’ve been doing Krag Maga since I was five, Mister. It’s a tough world out there. I might be small, but us folk at the other end of the food chain need to learn to look out for ourselves. Your kind taught us that the hard way!”
Okay. Surprised and kind of impressed. It looked like there was more to Jane than met the eye.
“JANE? JAAAAAAANE? WHERE ARE YA? WHY YA RUN AWAY?”
Damn. He was here. The slow slurred speech of a bear gone native was unmistakable. Bears weren’t exactly the brightest beasts to start with. But, as their humanity slipped away, they became almost childlike. If children were six–hundred pound killer beasts.
“Fine. It’s too late now anyway. Listen, I don’t care if you’re some kind of ninja, Jane, you stay away from him. Just keep moving. He’ll be coming for you, so try and keep him off balance and confused.”
