by Terry Spear
Tanner chuckled. “Spicy vinegar, just like the old days, eh, Bella?”
“Volan won’t like it if we split up,” Argos warned, glancing over the seat at her.
She shoved at Tanner to move his leg, uncomfortably wedged against her thigh, but he wouldn’t budge. His brother patted her bare thigh. “About time you returned to the pack. Sure missed having you around.”
She slapped his hand.
“They’ll catch all of us if we don’t split up,” Devlyn countered, shifting his attention from the road to his rearview mirror, and gave his cousins a dangerous glare.
Murmured objections filtered forward, but by pack rules, Devlyn was older, and since Argos, though the eldest, had stepped down from pack leadership, Devlyn made the decisions.
“Bella stays with me. Everyone else takes whatever route they need to, to make it back to Colorado,” Devlyn clarified.
Argos took a deep breath. “And the two of you?”
“We’ll have a time with Thompson.” Devlyn shook his head at Bella. “You sure have confused him.”
She jerked Tanner’s fingers free from a coil of her hair. “Touch me again and you’ll lose your fingers.”
The cousins all laughed, but Devlyn gave them a look like he’d be the one to follow through with Bella’s threat if they didn’t behave.
When they arrived at the hotel, the time approached one in the morning. With obvious disdain, Devlyn’s cousins reluctantly drove off into the dark in separate vehicles. Argos gave Bella a warm embrace in the parking area of the five-story hotel. He’d been the father she’d lost so long ago, and her heart sank with the knowledge that she might never see him again.
“Welcome back to the pack, Bella. We’ll see you soon.”
Instantly, he stoked her ire. She was never returning to Volan, ever. “It’s good to see you again, Argos. You take care.”
He’d always been kind to her, protecting her when the overly rambunctious males had overextended their boundaries with her during her teens, keeping in touch with her all of these years. She loved seeing him again, even briefly. But she knew she’d never be able to correspond with him again for fear Volan would discover her.
Argos nodded as if he knew her thoughts and acknowledged she would make Devlyn’s life hell if he contemplated returning her home.
He shook Devlyn’s hand. “Keep her safe and bring her home.”
“Will do.”
Argos quickly disappeared into the blackness, too.
Instantly, being alone with Devlyn sent a spark of concern through her. All male, he was the right age to crave mating with a female in heat. Would he make a move on her while Volan remained out of the way?
Secretly, the urge to mate with Devlyn wreaked havoc with her feelings. She couldn’t encourage his attentions, or both would suffer Volan’s wrath. But still the desire to have Devlyn’s kiss again—
Devlyn grabbed her arm and pulled her into the cement stairwell, their footsteps echoing all the way up to the second floor. Down a long, carpeted, dusty-smelling hall, he hastened her to his room.
“You’re barely able to stay on your feet and your eyes look soggy, half-drugged. We’ll sleep here for a couple of hours and then move.” He shoved the keycard into the slot and then opened the door into a living area furnished with a sofa and a couple of chairs.
At once, the idea that he’d take her back to the pack leader stirred her blood all over again. “You’re not taking me back to Volan.” She didn’t have to say it, but she wanted to state the facts up front, to let Devlyn know that, even if he thought he was the boss of the situation, she had other plans.
He walked her across the living room and then pulled her into the bedroom. “Whatever you say, Bella.” While blocking her escape path through the doorway, he yanked off his leather jacket.
The black shirt he wore fit over shoulders that had broadened since the last time she’d seen him. Were his pecs as hard and well sculpted as she imagined them? She was dying to see. On the other hand, she couldn’t let him know how much she desired him.
She folded her arms. “You’re not staying in here with me.”
He crossed the floor to her, pulled the way-too-big jacket from her shoulders, and then dropped it on the floor. “You’re not sleeping by yourself so you can give me the slip. We’ll have enough running to do. That Thompson fellow is like a bloodhound. He won’t be satisfied until he gets you back.”
“You mean the wolf back.”
“Yeah, and that means you.”
Her eyes remained riveted on his buttons while he worked to remove his shirt. When he pulled it off and dropped it on the floor, she stared at his dark-haired chest and chiseled abs. She sighed at the sight of his well-toned body. Already her hormones were set in high gear. She would be attracted to any male, she reminded herself, as much as she desired to mate. But she couldn’t help the feeling that this one stirred her like no other.
Her nipples tightened and her breasts swelled in anticipation of his touch. She was sure the short curls between her legs were drenched with expectation, as much as she ached for him. Damn being in heat.
She folded her arms again and hoped to both stop what she figured he had in mind and still leave herself a chance of escaping him. “Volan won’t like it if you share a bed with me.”
“He doesn’t have to like it.”
She raised her brows to hear his defiant words. “So, does that mean you’ve finally grown some balls?” If he were ready to fight Volan—
“Don’t, Bella. Don’t make anything more out of this than a bad case of necessity. You’ll run if I don’t stay with you. That’s all. You’re going home to the pack where you belong.”
She curbed the anger that simmered beneath the surface. He didn’t want her after all. He only used her to get in good with the leader of the pack. “Why didn’t you have Argos stay with me instead?”
“He’d have let you have your own way.”
She didn’t believe Devlyn for an instant. Sure, Argos had always been good to her, but she was certain he felt she’d be safer at home with the pack and wouldn’t have let her off that easily.
“And your cousins?”
“Any one of them would have tried to have their way with you. They’re immature and would lose their heads over the thought of you naked in bed with them.” He reached over to touch her belly. “As ripe as you are, your smell is an aphrodisiac.”
She slapped his hand away. His intimation that her alluring scent was the only reason the other males wanted her forced a chill of irritation across her skin. But hell, maybe he was right. Maybe Volan was the only one who really desired her for a permanent mate. Her stomach rolled with nausea at the idea.
Devlyn walked over to the bedroom door and shut it. With a click, he locked it. But it wasn’t half as secure as the zoo cell. She smiled inwardly but glowered outwardly. He returned to the bed, sat, and pulled off his boots.
Considering his words again, she observed his actions. “But you won’t lose your head over me?”
“I have a bit more control than that.”
Right.
She walked over to the bed and jerked the solid green comforter back. “Good for you, though I’m not removing anything more anyway.”
Crossing the floor in a flash, he pulled her around to face him. His unbridled actions signaled danger. She sensed he was close to losing control. He’d done it before when he kissed her, and the fire burned and the anger smoldered in his darkened eyes now like that day long ago. His gaze dropped to her lips as her heart sent the blood rushing to her ears. He wasn’t as immune to her as he pretended. Why couldn’t she meet a human male who aroused her like he did? But Devlyn could never be her mate. He would always be Volan’s lackey.
She tried to pull away, but he shoved her back on the bed, making her sit. Glaring at him, she folded her arms.
He yanked off the cardigan sweater and then unbuttoned her shirt. Once he’d pulled it from her shoulders and dropped it
on the floor, he said, “I won’t sleep with something that smells like a human male.”
His gaze dropped from hers to enjoy her nudity. He smiled appreciatively.
“You’ve seen me naked before.” She slid into bed and then yanked the covers over her.
“It’s been a good long while and you’re a bit more mature now.” His eyes sparkled with intrigue and his lips still smiled.
She assumed he wouldn’t try to make love to her.
But then he dropped his pants and she saw his erection. He was one gorgeous hunk of a gray lupus garou. She hadn’t remembered him being that big. She wasn’t sure he could hold back and not attempt to mate with her. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure she wanted him to stop himself, either.
He yanked the covers off her. “Slide over.”
“Go around to the other side of the bed,” she growled.
“You’re on my side. But if you prefer to sleep here, too…” Letting his words trail off, he climbed on top of her and pinned her to the mattress.
Clenching her teeth, she tried to wriggle out from underneath his hard, naked body, but his hands seized her wrists and he spread his legs on either side of her, boxing her in. His thick arousal pressed hard against her mound and liquid heat pooled between her legs.
“Like it here still?” he asked, licking her cheek.
Lost in the feel of him, his heart beating rapidly against her chest, his skin hot, his body hard, and his smell wild, out-of-doors, and musk, she fought parting her legs for him; the ache to have him penetrate her feminine folds was overwhelming.
His erection stirred and he swept his lips over the sensitive skin at her throat.
Was he having a difficult time maintaining his subservient position in the pack?
“Get off me,” she growled, although she wanted to encourage his actions.
“I gave you ample opportunity to move and you wouldn’t listen.” His voice sounded drenched with lust. His mouth caressed the line of her jaw, making her skin tingle in heady expectation. “When you’re in a pack, there are rules.”
Unable to control her body’s reaction, her heated core ached for him to follow through. “Yes, and one of them is not to seduce the pack leader’s intended bitch,” she said, meaning to sound irritated and put him off, but her voice seemed sexually frustrated instead.
Devlyn cast her an evil smile. “I’m not seducing you. You’re still suffering from the effects of hypothermia. I’m merely providing necessary medical attention.”
Again she tried to squirm free, to show him he couldn’t control her, but every wiggle only made her more aware of how ready his body was to take hers. She swore she heard him muffle a groan.
“Yeah, right, Devlyn. Volan would really believe that line as much as I do.”
He ran his fingers through her hair and touched his lips to hers, softly this time.
She couldn’t help but respond, desperately needy for a mate’s touch…Devlyn’s touch. The doubts she had about Volan, Devlyn, or wanting a human male all faded from her thoughts in an instant. She licked his lips and then nipped the lower one.
He issued a deep-throated growl.
She paused. What the hell was she doing? He said he could control himself, but not the way he touched her. His erection throbbed against her waist as the sweet ache between her legs intensified. She didn’t want him to stop. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t encourage him. Volan would kill him for certain.
When she stilled beneath him, Devlyn took a long, ragged breath and then rolled off her. “Get some sleep, Bella. We’ll have several long days ahead of us.”
She turned away from him, hurt, confused, angry. She wanted him to be her mate forever and didn’t want to wait for that day.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her against his arousal, her backside bared to him, and she wanted him to take her like a wolf would in the wild.
“To ensure you don’t get any ideas of slipping away in the night,” he said, his face nuzzling her hair.
She attempted to jerk away from him.
He tightened his iron hold on her. “It’s hard enough for me to…well, just lie still, Bella.”
But she couldn’t sleep, let alone think; the ache between her legs begged for satisfaction. She rubbed her bottom against him, offering herself to him, and he growled in response, the kind of growl that meant he was losing control.
Chapter Four
BELLA STROKED HER BOTTOM AGAINST DEVLYN’S RAGING arousal, triggering an undeniable lust for the woman he’d coveted endlessly.
“Damn it, Bella, stop it.” To still her actions, he tightened his hold on her waist, the insatiable urge to take her filling him with feral aggression.
“I can’t help it. Your scent and your touch are driving me nuts,” she growled.
“You only say that because you want me to let you go, but I don’t trust you.”
Ignoring him, she pressed herself hard against him, challenging him to mate.
No human or lupus garou bitch boasted the same alluring scent as Bella. Taking a deep breath, he drank in her wild fragrance, a heady aphrodisiac compelling him to mate with her against all common sense. He nuzzled his face in her silky red hair, making the attraction stronger, not controlling his behavior as he should.
Devlyn ran his hand over Bella’s side, down the gentle curve of her hip, to her inner thigh. She parted her legs for him, and he groaned with insatiable lust. Sliding his hand up her belly, he reached her breast and squeezed the full soft mound.
She moaned and pressed against his heavy loins again.
“Be still,” he whispered into her hair.
“You don’t want me to be still,” she growled. “Not if you’re going to keep touching me.”
Hungering to mate with her, he lifted her leg over his.
She stiffened her back.
“Nothing that will get us into too much trouble, Bella. Just going to relieve some of your tension.”
As soon as he slipped his fingers between her legs, into the hot, wet, swollen folds, she trembled. Stroking her, he whispered next to her ear, “How does that feel?”
“Harder, faster,” she managed to get out.
The thrill of having her tight against his body, naked as he had imagined for so many years, filled him with primal need. “Breathe, Bella. I don’t want you passing out.”
Squirming against him, she prodded him to quit talking and do more.
Reveling in the sweet musky scent that was all Bella, he stroked in and out and then touched her nub again. She placed her hand on his, pressing his fingers harder against her, forcing him to rub faster. Arching her back, she groaned. His arousal stretched out to her like a pike readied to enter her virgin territory, touching her between the folds, but not penetrating. Her moans of ecstasy and writhing lithe body undid him. With Bella’s body squirming against him, his erection sliding against her folds, he fought losing control.
Her body shuddered, she cried out, her inner muscles contracting with her climax, and he quickly pulled away before he finished what he’d started.
She gazed at him with darkened amber eyes. “Are you okay?”
His hormones raged out of control, his arousal ached for release, and she had to ask if he was all right? In a husky voice, he motioned to the bathroom and said, “Why don’t you wash up, Bella.”
“Right.” She crossed the floor to the bathroom, her silky skin covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, her red hair in tangles as though she’d been well loved.
God, how he wanted to make her his mate for real.
He was a fool to have touched her, knowing how she turned him on, but even when he’d played with her when they were young, there was always the need to conquer her, to make her his own. Pacing across the room, he tried to get his wolf instincts under control, when instead he wanted to join her in the shower and lick and nip every inch of her delectable skin and penetrate her slick folds.
The shower ran for a short while and then
shut off, and she walked out of the bathroom—the towel wrapped around her head, the rest of her naked, her rosy nipples extended, willing him to touch them with his tongue. He took a ragged breath and stalked toward the bathroom. “I’ll wash up.” A dip in the icy stream back home would cool him down nicely about now. He paused at the door, scowling at her while she slipped into bed. “Don’t leave, Bella.”
A sly smile curved her lips, stirring his libido all over again. “Why would I do that when you can relieve my…tension, so well?”
He growled. “Don’t mention it.”
“We didn’t mate,” she said softly, pulling the cover to her breast. “Don’t give it another thought.”
As if that could ever happen. He’d think of every stroke, every moan of ecstasy she’d made, the feel of her soft wet folds, her musky sweet scent, every bit of her forever. Just as he couldn’t get out of his mind the kiss he’d given her so long ago.
Not trusting her to stay put, he hesitated. She watched him, her expression curious as he pondered what to do. Then he gathered their discarded clothes that were piled on the floor. He didn’t think she’d try to run without them.
She cast him an annoyed look. He gave her a tight smile and hurried into the bathroom, leaving the door open. A quick shower with the curtain pulled aside would have to suffice, as he didn’t trust little Bella to not run off.
After he finished showering, he towel dried and then strode into the darkened room. His blood heated when he saw only pillows stacked together where she’d lain down.
He yanked the pillow away and stared at the vixen. Bella was sleeping soundly, as innocent as an angel.
Innocent, my ass. There was no innocence in the way she tasted, smelled, or felt.
He walked around to the other side of the bed and slid between the coarse bleached sheets. As soon as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his body, she hummed. “What took you so long? And why didn’t you make me move over for you this time, Devlyn?”
He grunted. “I thought you were asleep. Guess you were only pretending.”
“Nearly asleep,” she said, her voice soft, alluring, tempting him.
