by Alisa Woods
His smile grew, both at the idea of having that gorgeous hair fisted in his hand as he made love to her and at the idea that she might be able to hurt him with her white-wolf kitten claws. He tipped her chin up to nibble at her neck. The delicious sound of her gasping breath came again. His heart hammered. He was going to do this—make love to her, help her embrace her wolf—even if it cracked him wide open and everything that he was tumbled out.
“Shifters have incredible healing powers,” he whispered along her sweet, tender neck, then down further to her delicate collarbones. “Let your wolf loose, sweet Grace. I promise there’s nothing you can do that wouldn’t just turn me on even more.”
She gasped as he laid a line of wet kissed down to her breast. “I don’t… I don’t want to hurt you.” But her hands were deep in his hair, urging him on.
“Trust me,” he said, taking a quick taste of her nipple. “Pain is not what I’m going to feel.” He lifted her bottom so he could unzip and slide off her skirt. Her delicate, white panties were practically see-through with the wetness already gathered there. His mouth watered, and that unbalanced feeling came back—only he wasn’t teetering on the precipice any longer. He had taken the leap and was free-falling down. He was going to make love to this gorgeous woman, and it would break him open. There was no going back, and most strange of all... he didn’t want to.
He edged her panties down, gently at first, then ripping them with a slightly shifted claw just because he was impatient to have her. She sucked in a breath, watching him as he kissed a line across her sweet belly straight down to her sex.
“Jared.” She said his name like a plea, so he picked up his pace. One hand cupping her deliciously tight breast, the other sliding along her thigh to open her up to him. When his tongue reached her sex, she gasped his name again and clutched his shoulders with both hands. She trembled underneath him, and he hardly had time to settle in and enjoy her before she was bucking her hips against him and moaning his name. She was already so wet, he stopped tormenting her nub just so he wouldn’t get her there too quickly.
“Goddammit, Jared, don’t you dare stop!” Her words were half gasps.
He just chuckled and thrust two fingers inside her, using his thumb to give her nub the attention it needed. She shrieked and bucked again. He lifted himself away from tasting her sex, running his tongue up the length of her body, tasting there instead. He was still fully clothed in his dress shirt and pants, and that needed to change. Soon. But for the moment, he was going to give Grace a hell of a warmup—he wanted her first time to blow away every other experience. She was panting when he reached her lips, so he just nibbled the side of her jaw. Her gorgeous hair was spilling all over her body as she bucked against him.
“Oh, God. Oh, God.” She kept saying it over and over again, and he could feel her quivering, racing toward her climax. He slowed the thrust of his fingers slightly, deepening their reach and drawing it out for her. Her answering moan was almost as gratifying as the claws that came out and dug into his back, shredding his shirt.
He gritted his teeth, but the pain was just making his cock pulse. “Embrace your wolf,” he whispered into her ear. “She’s part of you. She wants this as much as you do. Give it to her. Let her enjoy it.” Grace’s moans turned into small cries, peaking with each thrust of his hand. God, he was aching to be inside her, to feel that quickening around his cock. Soon… very soon.
Her claws retracted back into fingers as she bucked even more strongly against him.
He feasted on her neck, hoping to bring it faster. “Come for me, Grace,” he panted against her skin.
She cried out, grabbed onto his shoulders, and arched up from the bed. Her body clenched around his fingers, squeezing hard in an orgasm that rippled across her skin, making it shiver in the most delicious way possible. She called out his name at the height of it, and he felt her pleasure like it was his own, washing through him in warm waves.
The waves broke, and the seams came apart inside him. All the pieces and pain and frozen hardness he’d kept locked away were powerless against the satisfaction of giving this to Grace. Of being her first. Of earning her trust. Of bringing her together with her wolf.
He wanted to be inside her—and he would just as soon as she was ready—but she was already inside him, burrowing deep and shattering him hard.
She’d somehow found his heart and laid it bare.
He didn’t know if he would be worth anything after this was done, but he was seeing all of it through, no matter what. He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her sweet, sweet lips. Her body was flushed with the pleasure he’d given her, and he’d give her more—so much more—before he was done.
But she already owned every part of him.
Grace was still seeing stars from the last orgasm Jared gave her while he quickly tore off his white shirt and dress pants. The shoulders of the shirt were shredded from when her claws came out, but he just tossed it aside and quickly slid his deliciously hot, iron-muscled body on top of her again. She had already come harder than she ever had before, and the boy had been just using his hands and mouth. With that enormous cock of his poised at her entrance, and waves of pleasure still rippling through her, she was afraid she was going to hyperventilate before he could manage to take her… and become the first man she’d ever allowed inside her in that most intimate of ways.
He was waiting. Probably for her to stop panting so hard in his face, which was gazing down at her with a soft expression that captured her heart.
“I want to be inside you, Grace,” he whispered, soft lips against her cheeks, gently alternating kisses with words.
“Please, God, yes,” she managed to get out.
She felt him smile against her skin, but her urgent grip on his massive, hard-muscled shoulders didn’t make him move any closer to giving her what she wanted. Her fantasy before had been one of wanton sex with a hot man—now she just wanted Jared River inside her, connected to her, as close to her as she could hold this gorgeous, amazing man. The need wasn’t even for her anymore—she had a sense that, as strong as he was, as good as his heart was, that this large, powerful man was fragile. That he needed her help. The wounds inside him had shut him down, closed him off from the world, and right now, at this moment… he was opening up. He needed her in a way that no one ever had. She wanted to give herself to him not just because he would take her to pleasure heights she’d never known… but because he needed that connection with the world again. Through her.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes. God, she was falling for him.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” His voice was so gentle.
“I couldn’t be any more ready.” Her breathing was calming a little, and she felt less delirious than a moment before. Maybe that was why he was waiting, gently hovering above her, but not taking her.
He kissed her on the lips, just a soft brush. “I’m not in the habit of deflowering virgins.” He glanced down, between their bodies, to where they were almost-but-not-quite-yet joined together. He eased a little closer, apply pressure to her entrance with his cock, but not entering.
She groaned. “Stop teasing me!”
“I’m not.” But he grinned like he was. “But I am rather on the large side.”
She grabbed his face and forced him to look into her eyes. “Why do you think I chose you? I didn’t want just anyone for my first time. A girl has standards.”
He chuckled, and his smile flushed a warmth through her that had nothing to do with his blazing hot body pressed against her, taunting her. Okay, maybe a little, but dammit… she really was falling for this man. This shifter.
His smile dimmed to seriousness. “I don’t want to hurt you, Grace. I’ll go slow. You tell me if you need me to stop, all right?”
She dug her fingers into his shoulders. “If I have coherent words, they’re going to be of the form don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop.”
He flashed a grin again, then it smoldered into a wicked look.
“That’s my plan, sweet Grace.” But he still didn’t enter her. Instead, he dropped his head down to give slow, nibbling kisses along her neck. She tilted her head for him, because God, that felt good. One of his hands held the weight of his body off hers, but the other was now roaming her, squeezing her breasts, toying with her nipples, then dipping down to brush her sex. His touch sent small electric shocks of pleasure through her—the circles he was drawing over her sex were quickly ramping her heart rate. Then his body started slowly rocking, and she felt the pressure of him easing inside her—one inch at a time, slowly stretching her, then retreating, forward then back. It was slow and hypnotic and intensely erotic as he teasingly filled her body with his. Her panting turned to moans, then to small cries as he took her.
“Oh, God, Jared,” she managed to get out when he finally sunk all the way inside.
He stilled. “Am I hurting you?” His voice was hoarse, and she loved the sound of need inside it.
“No… just… please move!”
He groaned, pulled back, then pushed all the way into her in one swift stroke. She cried out with the shock and pleasure of it and clenched his shoulders tighter. He pulled back again and took her harder. Then harder. Each stroke was stronger than the last, and she clung to him like she was riding a hurricane, his body owning hers, possessing her with his groans and thrusts and body.
“Grace, you’re so damn tight,” he said as he thrust into her again. “I can’t… baby, come for me!”
She couldn’t even respond—she just whimpered as her pleasure grew stronger with each pound. He shifted position, pulling away, lifting her hips, and angling deeper—she shrieked as he plunged into her again, reaching farther than he had before. His hand slipped down to her nub as he thrust into her again and again. A scream erupted from her lips as that extra touch hurtled her right over the edge. Her body bucked furiously against him, wave after wave of pleasure possessing her like the most delicious of demons. He was still thrusting through it all, and just as she thought she couldn’t feel anything more, he slammed deep and held, groaning and growling in pleasure. She could feel his cock twitching inside her, pumping out his release.
Then he collapsed down on top of her, his body pressing against hers, still buried inside her. Leftover shock waves were twitching his body. She held onto him fiercely. She’d never felt anything like this—not just the pleasure, but the intimacy. The utter completeness of sharing everything she was with another person. The warmth that suffused her wasn’t just afterglow… it was very much like love.
How had she fallen so fast and so hard for this man she barely knew?
But that wasn’t the truth—she knew everything she needed to know about Jared River. Even in these hot, sticky moments just after they’d both climaxed, he was showing the kind of man he was—gently kissing her and asking if she was all right; carefully keeping his massive weight off her body while lavishing attention on it with his hands and mouth and hot, hot gaze; even the tender way he eased down to the bed next to her and brushed a tendril of hair from her face. All of it spoke of the man who was claiming her heart.
“You’re so beautiful, Grace,” he whispered, reverently, and her heart filled to overflowing. If she could have this man, even once, her life would never be the same. If she could hold onto him for longer… but she tried not to think of that, for the moment. This was just one time, one act, and there were so many unknowns lying ahead. She couldn’t know what the future held, not yet.
She turned to face him on the bed, both of them lying on their sides. She touched the slight stubble growing on his cheek. His smile in return made her glow inside. Then she realized…
“My wolf didn’t come out this time,” she said with awe.
His eyes sparkled. “Because you’re not fighting her anymore.”
He was right. Her wolf was humming with the pleasure they’d both had at the hands of their alpha. Wait… what? Her eyes widened, and she peered into his. “Are you an alpha wolf?”
His eyebrows hiked up, but his arms snuggled her closer. “I haven’t been anyone’s alpha in a long time. Why do you ask?”
“I’m not even sure what an alpha wolf is, not really.” She bit her lip. “But my wolf is saying you’re my alpha.”
The expression on his face morphed from surprise to an inscrutable expression so intense, it made her heart quiver. “Is that bad?” she asked, afraid she’d said the wrong thing.
“No.” It was a whisper. He pulled her in for a gentle kiss on her forehead, then he cleared his throat. “An alpha is the dominant wolf of a pack. Or a mating pair. Your wolf is saying… she’s saying she wants me to claim you.” His voice trembled, just slightly, and her arms automatically went out to hug him, hold him, beat back whatever was causing this torrent of emotion to run through him. She imagined he had locked away all his feelings for so long, and if he was anything like her at the moment, he was inundated with them. His large hands fanned across her back, holding her tight.
When they loosened, she pulled back to look into his eyes. “There’s so much I don’t know, but I don’t want you to explain if it’s going to… hurt you in some way.”
“It’s all right.” He cupped a hand against her cheek. “Although I will say that having you naked next to me makes pretty much anything bearable.”
She smiled, and her heart did that swelling thing again. Then she gave him a bashful look. “What does it mean to claim someone?” she asked softly. “Did we… I mean, we only made love, right? But it was incredible. Was that you… claiming me?” She shivered slightly at the word, and her wolf was back to panting and wanting Jared between her legs again. The sound of it was so… possessive and male and hot. Whatever it was, she was up for trying it.
She must be way off base because he just grinned. Not unkindly, but it made her duck her head, her cheeks heating with embarrassment.
“Hey,” he said softly, lifting her chin with a finger to peer into her eyes. “Never be ashamed to ask me anything, okay?”
She nodded. There was so much she didn’t know, she couldn’t afford to be embarrassed by that—not if she was going to embrace this shifter thing and live in their world. Because that was the leap she had already taken.
He stroked the long length of her hair spilling over her shoulders. “Claiming is the most intense sexual experience a wolf can have.” He grinned as her eyebrows lifted. “But it’s really much more than that. When a wolf mates, the female pledges her submission to the male, and—”
“Wait, what? Submission? Is that some kind of kinky thing?”
He laughed—the strength of his large chest heaving shook her entire bed, bouncing her along with it.
“Okay, okay,” she said, clinging to him, so he wouldn’t edge away with the shaking. “So, I’m clueless. I’ll shut up now and let you explain.”
He tamed the laughter then quickly rolled her on her back, pinning her to the bed and kissing her. When he let her breathe again, he said, “The only time I want you to shut up, Grace Krepky, is when your mouth is on mine. Or other parts of me.”
A warm gush of heat flooded her swollen and sore nether parts. Holy Christ, what would it be like to go down on Jared River? Her mouth watered just at the thought of it.
“What were we talking about, again?” she asked. “I’m feeling the need to have other parts of you in my mouth.” She gave him a dead serious look.
His eyes hooded. “You have no idea what that’s doing to me.”
“Let’s find out.” She licked her lips, hungry for him.
He groaned and rolled off her, but then drew her close again, cuddling. “Sweet Grace, we’ve already spent too much time alone in your room. We’ll have to get dressed soon. And wash the sex off us. Human ability to scent isn’t as strong, but it would take an idiot not to realize what we’ve been doing. And your father’s not an idiot.”
Her father. Right. She was going to need to tell him about all of this… at least the part where she was a shifter. But she ha
d to make a plan before rushing into that. And before she could make a plan, she needed to know more about wolves.
She tried to put on a serious face and ignore the fact that an extremely hot shifter was lying naked in bed next to her. And that she wanted to have sex with him, many different ways, again and again. As soon as possible. “All right. Back to business. Tell me about this claiming thing. And I have other questions after that, but I’ll try not to interrupt.”
His smile was warm. “All right. Let’s start with submission. Any wolf can submit to an alpha—either as part of a pack or a mating. It’s a magical bond that ties them together: the alpha pledges to protect their pack or their mate, and wolves who submit are pledging their obedience.”
“Obedience,” she said coolly. “That sounds… yeah, I’m going with kinky again.”
He tapped her nose with his finger. “It’s not like that. The pledge strengthens the alpha in a literal, magical sense. When the alpha is stronger, the pack is stronger. Or the mate pair, including their pups. And the alpha would never hurt those who have submitted to him. It’s really in everyone’s interest, and it feels… amazing. You’ll have to experience it to see. For mated pairs, it starts with submission, but it goes beyond that. Once the female submits, they make love. And during the act…” He trailed a finger along her jaw, drawing a hot line down to the crook of her neck. “He bites her.” He leaned in and nipped deliciously at her neck.
She couldn’t help sucking in a hot breath.
The grin on his face was wide when he pulled back.
She swallowed. “Okay, that’s hot even when you’re not actually biting me.”
He licked his lips. “You have no idea, sweet Grace. When the male claims his mate with his bite and his love, his magic flows into her. The pleasure is like nothing you’ve ever experienced.” His face shadowed, and he suddenly grew quiet.
Her eyes went wide as she remembered. “You had a mate once,” she said softly.
His expression locked down. “She’s dead now.”
