by Terry Spear
She was alpha all right, but not in the same way as others were. Better—his.
His fingers fanned through her hair, the satiny mass a tactile delight as she stroked his back with greedy fingers, her heart pounding, her body trembling with the adrenaline rush of passion and arousal and sex racing through her veins.
Her nails dug into his back, and he silenced her moans with a kiss, but he couldn’t do anything about the darned creaky hospital bed. Every time he thrust, he figured all of the hospital staff would hear and know what was going on in the room. He hadn’t expected that. But then again, his attuned hearing picked up what humans couldn’t.
Thankfully, Tessa was so caught up in the heat of the moment, she didn’t seem to notice.
“You’re heaven-sent,” she mouthed softly against his lips, “…a god from Mt. Olympus, my gold, my treasure.”
And she was more to him, a priceless gem, the mother of his future offspring, his legacy, his unwavering and loving companion for life.
He thrust into her tightness, her body stroking him, drawing him to the zenith of pleasure. He groaned as he found release deep inside of her hot, tight body and sank against her. Kissing her mouth, he loved the feel of her velvety lips, but seeing tears glistening in her eyes, he abruptly stopped.
“What’s wrong, Tessa?” he asked, too gruffly.
Already he was mad at himself for being overly zealous, too damned rough, pushing her when he should have seen she needed more time to absorb all the changes she was sure to be experiencing. Hell, what was the matter with him? He loved her more than life itself, and this is how he showed it?
“He can’t have me now, can he?” she asked.
Uncomprehending, he stared at her. “Who? Leidolf?”
She shook her head and rubbed her hand over Hunter’s arm.
And he relaxed some, figuring her upset wasn’t with him. “Yoloff? No, he can’t have you.”
But he could if the gray somehow managed to kill Hunter, although he hadn’t planned on that ever happening.
He maneuvered in the narrow bed until Tessa was lying on top of him. “You’re mine, Tessa. Now and for always.”
“What about my brother?”
He hadn’t wanted to bring up that scenario yet, hoping with the change she would understand how important it was not to let humans know of their existence. But he and most of the others were born with the knowledge that their kind’s safety came first. Some of the wolf’s wariness was instinctive, but dealing with the brother, that was another matter. Her blood ties were apparently as strong as the wolf’s instincts. On the other hand, her brother had lupus garou genes also.
“Hey folks,” Allan said, knocking on the door. “I hate to interrupt, but I just got word the hospital staff is moving someone in here in just a few minutes. You can stay at my place if you like.”
“Thanks, Allan. We’d love that.” Tessa scrambled to get off Hunter. As soon as her bare feet hit the floor, she yanked on her clothes.
Not ready to give up the relaxed and satiated feeling that cloaked him, Hunter climbed out of bed, kissed Tessa’s lips, and then jerked on his own clothes.
Just as they emerged from the room, an attendant wheeled a gurney toward them, carrying an old man buried under blankets.
“Patrol car’s parked this way.” Allan led them down the back stairs. “I’ve got tons of security on the house. ‘Brother-in-law’ sells the stuff so I get it wholesale. No one will bother you. Jacuzzi’s in an enclosed porch. Great for unwinding after a hectic day.” He winked at Tessa and sighed. “Never could find a mate after mine died ten years ago. You wouldn’t happen to have a widow or two looking for a mate in your pack, would you?” he asked Hunter.
“One, but she’s pretty cantankerous,” Hunter warned.
“The red’s got your people at the hotel. Some of his people brought them with them when they came to get Tessa. If you don’t mind, I’ll drop by there and say hello. Anything you want me to tell them?”
“We have three newly turned lupus garous in the pack, and they have an alpha female pack leader now, too.”
Allan smiled. “So that’s what you meant when you mentioned having a heap of trouble. Not concerning the little lady, of course. Three new lupus garous, you say?”
Allan grew quiet for the rest of the drive to his place. Tessa cuddled with Hunter in the backseat. Now that they were mated, he seemed different somehow. Less anxious, more…well, like he was riding on top of the world.
“You wouldn’t need a cop in your area, would you?” Allan pulled into the driveway of a neat, little red brick suburban home.
“I know the sheriff. If you’re interested, I could put in a good word for you,” Hunter said.
Tessa wasn’t sure the sheriff would want anyone working for him that Hunter recommended.
“Good. It’s about time I left this area. I’ve been here ten years already. Maybe Caruthers could come, too. He and his mate, Greta. That way if anyone from your pack gets in trouble, we can circumvent the situation.”
“In California, we lived away from civilization. But I can see where having backup in a more developed area can be beneficial.”
“You bet. We have another four on the force here, so we wouldn’t be leaving the department shorthanded as far as the grays go. Although Judge Graydon might be a little perturbed with me.”
“The one who got me out of jail,” Hunter said, squeezing Tessa tighter.
“Yeah. I’m always bailing his brother out on brawling charges. The judge will just have to train another gray cop to take care of his brother.” Allan went to the car door and opened it for them. “I understand you’re off to see your brother at the prison tomorrow. I’ll put in a word for you before you get there.”
“Grays work there, too?” Hunter asked.
Allan laughed. “No. But some of the guards were former police officers and friends of mine.”
“How’s your ankle, Tessa?” Hunter asked.
“A little sore still, but much, much better.”
“Then you’ll need a lift.” He carried her out of the patrol car and she smiled at him.
“I’m not usually the type who likes to be babied, but when you’re doing the babying, it’s awfully nice.”
Preceding them to the door, Allan unlocked it and turned off the security alarm. “Wine, music, guest towels are by the Jacuzzi. Make it a honeymoon. Knock yourselves out. See you in the morning.”
“Thanks, for everything,” Hunter said.
“No problem.” Allan reset the security, locked up, and left.
Hunter headed straight for the enclosed back porch with Tessa cradled in his arms. “I’m feeling like a nice hot soak in the tub. You?” His eyes sparkled like the devil.
“You bet, as long as it’s hot.”
As soon as they entered the room, a blast of steamy air hit her and she sighed. Perfect for sultry, heated sex.
Hunter flipped on the enclosed patio lights with his elbow, although neither of them needed the illumination to see now, which made her think back to when she gave him the lantern when the electricity was off at her house. Cad.
The soft glow of light caressed the dark edges of the room, soothing and seductive. In sharp contrast to the silky ambience created by the soft light and warm wet air, Hawaiian trinkets dangled from the ceiling: plastic purple palm trees, orange flamingos, floral leis, rainbow-colored parrots. The rest of the room was outfitted with silk palm trees, ferns, and bamboo chairs and tables, making it feel like a retail store’s version of the tropics. But it didn’t matter as long as the hottest male around was firmly entrenched in the scene.
Hunter set her on a chair.
She grabbed his hand and helped herself up. “My ankle’s fine. Just a little sore, but I can walk on it.”
He drew her into his warmth in a bear-tight embrace and kissed the top of her head. “So you just wanted me to get more of a workout.”
“Better you than me.”
He grinned, hi
s eyes already smoldering with deep- seated desire. “Sit, while I get some wine for us.”
She loved how husky his voice grew when she turned him on. She tilted her nose up and breathed in deeply. And his sex, hmm, she could smell his arousal. She could really get used to her enhanced senses. Well, most of them. The chlorine in the Jacuzzi was a little overwhelming. “I’ll get the music.”
He gave her another squeeze and shook his head. “Somehow, I don’t think you’re ever going to listen to me.”
As if any man, even one as sexy as Hunter, was going to dictate her every move.
He released her, crossed the tile floor to a full-sized bar, the glass shelves behind it covered in liquor bottles of every kind, then pulled out two wine decanters. “White or red?”
“Red.” To go with hot-blooded men, a fiery sunset, and heated exchanges.
“Fuller-bodied, light, medium?”
“Hmm, the fullest.” She glanced down at his crotch and smiled to see his arousal straining against the soft fabric of his sweats. “Definitely the heaviest.”
His mouth curved up as he shifted his gaze from the way her tongue swept over her lips to the bottle, and then he hurried to open it.
She flipped a switch, turning on music with a sensuous beat. The flute and drums surrounded them in a tantalizing instrumental rhythm.
Hunter handed Tessa a glass of wine, took a sip of his, then leaned down to kiss her lips.
“I really like this wine on you.” She licked his lips and slid her fingers down his sweatshirt, found the ties to his pants and gave a little tug.
He chuckled, drank a couple more swallows of his wine, and reached out to take her glass. She took another sip and handed him hers. Once he set them on one of the glass-covered tables, he ran his hands over her arms in an amative way. “You can tug on something else if you get the urge.” He wiggled his brows.
“Ohh?” She trailed her finger down lower, until she traced his rock-hard erection through the soft sweats, making his arousal jump.
Pulling her back against his chest, he began to dance slow to the music, molding his body to hers, his groin pressing against her backside, his large hands caressing her breasts through her blouse, his heat warming her. She closed her eyes as her nipples tingled with his sensuous touch, her body sliding against his in a teasing caress.
He nuzzled his face against her neck. “You’re beautiful, you know.” He reached up to splay his fingers through her hair. “Every bit of you.”
“You are, too,” she whispered, caught up in the magic of the moment, pressing her butt harder against him, rubbing, tantalizing him to take it further.
He slipped his hands up her shirt, caressed her lace-covered breasts, tormenting the nipples straining for release. The crotch of her panties was already wet in anticipation, and she was ready to ditch her clothes.
His hands shifted to her belt, and he struggled to unbuckle it. “Ready to get wet?”
“Hmm, already there.”
No more belts, she made a note to herself, wanting to shove his hands away and yank off the annoying leather hindrance herself.
He finally managed to unfasten the belt, unzipped her jeans, and slipped his hand into her panties, down lower until his fingers reached her cleft. And stroked.
She shuddered with need, the bones liquefying in her legs, and she slumped slightly against him, ready to collapse.
“Hmm, yes, nice and wet,” he murmured against her neck, his arm wrapped around her waist to keep her from sinking to the floor as he continued to stroke her. “Just right.”
Wriggling against his fingers to get maximum penetration, she rubbed against his arousal, and he groaned. She smiled.
“Vixen.”
“Let’s move this to the hot tub,” she said, her voice drenched with lust. “But the water better be hot enough. After all the cold weather we’ve been through, I’m not getting in unless it’s super heated.”
“I’ll warm you right up.”
“Not in the water if it’s not soupy.”
He released her. “I guess you’re not willing to take a swim in the Pacific with me from time to time then.”
She turned around and traced his nipples through his sweatshirt. “Not unless it’s by mistake.”
Hunter laughed under his breath and walked over to the Jacuzzi and poked his hand in. Hot, but not as hot as Tessa was. He shook the water off his fingers and turned on the jets.
“Perfect temperature.” He reached his hand out to her. “Join me.”
“I thought I already had,” she said, her voice like smooth satin.
She rested her small hand in his, and he pulled her close. He leaned down and kissed a corner of her sensual mouth, then brushed his lips across hers, and kissed the other corner.
“You realize you have to keep Meara and Cara in line whenever I’m not around, don’t you?”
He slipped her blouse off and held her arms hostage. Dipping his head, he kissed her mouth, deepening the experience. Wet, wild, tasting of fermented grapes, sweet and delectable, rich and full-bodied.
Her heart beat harder and she barely breathed, enraptured with his touch as much as he was with her.
But then her fingers tackled his sweatshirt, and she hurried to wrestle it over his head. And he smiled.
“You didn’t tell me all the details about what I have to do and can’t do,” she said, nipping his bare shoulder. “Not that it means you can tell me what I have to do and can’t do, and I’ll blindly serve.”
“You can handle it. I have every faith in you.”
He pulled her jeans down to her ankles, then ran his hands over her silky panties trimmed in lace. Her eyes were bright and expressive, her brows slightly elevated, her lips rosy and swollen. Already he was at full mast, ready to mate her again.
She yanked off his sweatpants and he kicked them free. “I believe,” he said, stripping off her bra and panties, “you’ve had control over me since you dragged me from your beach.”
She let out a lusty chuckle. “Dragged you. Right. It was only a show so you could get your hands all over me.”
“Worked, didn’t it?” From the moment she’d rescued him on the beach, he’d wanted just that.
He lifted her hot little body and carried her into the Jacuzzi, the steam enveloping them in a warm, wet caress.
“Hmm, after having been so cold, this feels just right.” She sank into the tub, the bubbles bumping against the swell of her breasts.
“Better than right.” He crouched at her knees and spread her legs, opening her up to him.
A smile percolated on her lips.
If anyone had told him he would’ve taken a human as a mate, that she would have been a siren in disguise, or he would be sitting with her in a gray cop’s Jacuzzi for his mating night, he would never have believed it.
He licked the water off her neck, and she trailed her fingers across his muscles making his erection dance.
“You’re all healed. No scratches, bruises, cuts—nothing but blemish-free, golden skin stretched over rock hard muscles.”
“And you,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it.
“Yoloff didn’t bite me hard enough. Nor did you. Nothing remains of the bite marks.”
He ran his hand down her leg to her ankle, his chest touching the water, his eyes focused on hers. “And your ankle is all right now?”
Tessa took a deep breath. “Miraculously, yes.” She kissed Hunter’s neck, her tongue licking a trail down his skin, her warm breath caressing as he gave in to the erotic sensation. His fingers played in her hair while she licked his nipple, then her lips pulled on it gently.
“Tessa,” he moaned, trying to hold onto his last thread of restraint, wanting their lovemaking to last.
She looked up with the most innocent expression, and he cast her a devilish grin back. She was no innocent, the vixen, knowing damn well what she did to him with that sweet mouth of hers.
He bent his head and ran his mouth across her b
are shoulder, and then the other, loving the feel of her water-speckled skin against his lips. She arched her head back, her lips parted, and moaned, offering herself to him, baring her throat, her body. He took advantage of her need, loving her eagerness that only matched his own, pulled her off the seat and switched places, settling her on his lap, her knees spread, readied for his penetration. And he was damned ready to oblige.
She leaned down and kissed his upturned lips, her hair falling around his face, his shoulders, the strands floating on the surface of the water like a mermaid’s silky tresses.
He smiled inwardly—the Navy SEAL had ensnared his mermaid, or maybe just the opposite.
Their tongues mated in a ritual dance as he lifted her onto his rigid erection. Sweet torture as he penetrated her deeply.
With a seductive moan, she closed her eyes and rocked on top of him, her hands kneading his shoulders, her mouth and teeth nibbling his ear. Blazing desire raced through him, making him lose control of his measured moves.
Unable to last much longer, he kept his hands on her hips, directing her, every thrust he made, bringing him closer to climax. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a mate: clever, strong, determined, loyal. And sexy as hell—even in her pajamas and especially bared to him, skin to skin.
She arched her back and he sensed she was near completion, her lithe body attempting to rock harder, her breasts bouncing with a mesmerizing rhythm. He gave into her, drew her to the top.
“Oh, Hunter,” she called out, no longer worried that anyone might hear her cry of jubilation.
He quickly followed, filling her with his seed. “Tessa,” he groaned, unable to say anything further. Sweet ecstasy, she was perfect for him—and his forever, this, only the beginning.
She sank down on top of him, her head resting against his neck, and he kissed her flushed cheek. “Time to get some rest, sweet Tessa.” He hit the button on the Jacuzzi, turning off the jets, then lifted her off his lap, her body limp with satisfaction, soft, wet, and sensuous.
The sly smile she gave him assured him they wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.
Early the next morning, Tessa turned her head toward the front of Allan’s house as she and Hunter grabbed a hasty breakfast. “A car door just shut.” She seized her bagel and headed for the front window as Hunter poured himself another cup of coffee.
