“I will,” she promised. To herself as well as Donovan. She would give them both a chance.
He leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers too quickly for her to react in any way, then grinned at her and led them onward. She held a finger to her tingling lips and wondered if it was because of his kiss, or because she’d been once again thinking of Gareth.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The first week was one of torture. The second, more so. Every day an obstacle course of male ego and feminine hormones. Gradually, she got to know Donovan. She knew his favorite color was purple, because growing up he had scampered in a field of lavender with his mother, the days seemingly endless. She knew that he had a fear of heights – most wolves did – and she also knew that he was a superb kisser.
She knew that he had visions of not only a cease-fire between their packs, but a relationship of continued growth and friendship. He wanted them to feel free to roam each other’s lands, safe in the knowledge that the old hurts had been healed. He, like Beth, had not yet been privy to exactly what those old hurts were, but he was confident that through communication and friendship, anything could be healed.
He had a wicked sense of humor and an impish streak that meshed nicely with her fun-loving attitude. She could feel their relationship growing into something more than a forced pairing. If she gave him the word, she knew she could be content with him. She would rear their cubs and keep their Den House, and slowly suffocate under his good-mannered charm. There was no passion to their relationship. She despaired of it.
Her relationship with Gareth on the other hand, had come to a steaming halt. They barely spoke, and when they did, it was only to snipe or snap at each other. Still, she wanted to climb inside him and curl up in his soul. She wanted him. Fiercely, and uncontrollably. She avoided being alone with Gareth as much as she could for fear the spark of attraction would burn them both to cinders. And he knew it, damn him.
He grinned at her now across the dinner table. The Alphas had decided that while it wasn’t usual for her to live alone – as yet being unmated, while at the same time being mated twice – but living with her Den Parents, while trying to entertain both of her mates was even less practical. So, she’d been assigned a cottage. It was two rooms only, a kitchen cum living area, and a bedroom with en-suite bathroom. It was hardly a mansion, but it would do. She had her privacy from the prying eyes of the pack, who were – in her opinion – too interested in her dating and/or mating life.
The downside was sitting across from her as she picked at a veal casserole Bea had reluctantly delivered for her and Gareth this evening. She felt like a child from the ordinary human society. Her parents were divorced and she was near to torn down the middle as to who to see at any given time. Tonight, Gareth had won the Beth-lottery, and Donovan had stayed behind in the Alphas’ house, brooding and wondering whether they were kissing each other or killing each other. Either would be just as likely.
“Good casserole,” he muttered.
Oh goody, it seemed he was up for some discussion. She lived for these moments. Not. “Yeah. Bea’s specialty, not mine. I don’t know how to boil eggs.” She laughed good natured and returned to her meal. The casserole really was good. There was a new flavor in it this evening. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact ingredient, but whatever it was, it was tasty.
“I couldn’t care less if you burned boiling water,” Gareth whispered, “so long as you just look at me, Beth.”
She swallowed. “This isn’t working out, is it?” It seemed they were closer than ever to killing each other, and she just had enough. “Maybe it’s a good thing that the trial period is coming to an end in a few days’ time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded, voice raising an octave in temper.
Wonderful. He was angry with her. Again. Just what she needed, another fight with Gareth. It seemed a long time ago he was simply her Guardian, and she, simply a willful girl with a wild streak. How she longed for her creek right now. “Nothing, Gareth. Just…nothing.”
“Everything you say means something. I’ve learned that the hard way.” His eyes pierced her. She resolutely stared at her food and concentrated on shoveling it into her mouth. It had lost its appeal. All she wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep. Maybe she’d let a couple of tears escape this time around. It was just so hard, being with Gareth lately. Her every word was guaranteed to raise his temper, and his every tantrum was guaranteed to drive her that bit further away.
She knew Donovan expected her to name him her true mate in three days’ time. His confidence wasn’t false; she probably would. He was less complicated. “I think I’ll have an early night,” she replied, ignoring his statement. If it wasn’t a question, it didn’t require an answer. She’d learned that the hard way.
“Beth,” he whispered, reaching across the table. He took her hand in his, and she could feel the calluses on his palm. Donovan didn’t have calluses. He had soft hands. Hands that had never done real work. He had been the pampered heir to the Alpha throne. She wondered how he expected to keep the mantle of Alpha if he’d never done a hard day’s work in his life, and then she remembered the way he pinned Gareth during the mating ritual. Easily, it seemed.
“What, Gareth?”
“God, but I love the way you say my name.” Her fingers disappeared inside his much larger palm, and she suppressed the urge to rise and go to him. “Let’s take a walk.”
“I don’t–”
“I do. In three days you’ll be free of me, Beth, and I’d like to make the most of it. Even if you don’t.” He tugged her to her feet and she went willingly enough. He only ever had to crook his damn finger and she was willing to crawl to him. Not that she’d ever let him know. Besides, lately being around him was just so damn exhausting. All they ever did was fight, and all she wanted to do the whole time was kiss him until he was breathless.
“Alright,” she replied, resigned to the fact that the night would end in tears, but she’d enjoy it until then. “Where to?”
“Let our feet decide,” he announced, smiling. He pulled her out the door, almost running, and she scrambled to keep up. A girlish giggle erupted from her lips and she stifled the impulse to out run him. This time, she wouldn’t leave him in the dust. This time, she’d stay with him to the very end. After all, in three days she’d be leaving. She hadn’t realized her decision had been made until that very moment.
It made her a little sad, and a little scared. But most of all, it relieved her. She had made her decision, and she would stick to it.
“Why here?” she demanded, anger rising now in spite of her earlier good mood. “Why Gareth?”
“I thought you loved this place?” he replied warily. She knew she had no reason to be angry. She did love the creek. She just didn’t want to share it with him again. Selfish, yes, but there it was.
Standing on the rocks she used as a sun lounger, she whirled to face the creek. “I do,” she answered slowly. “It’s just…it’s mine, that’s all.”
“Really?” He sauntered around her, stood directly in front of her and smiled. “I had begun thinking of it as ours.”
“So arrogant, Guardian,” she whispered, a dreadful twinkle in her eye. She strode toward him. “Both times we came here, you caught an eyeful of me naked. And you made me wear damp clothes the last time.” She grinned, stretching her arms out and grabbing a fist full of his shirt. He relaxed – big mistake – and she leaned in close. “Payback’s a bitch,” she muttered, before giving an almighty heave.
Gareth came up spluttering and swearing, while Beth perched on the rocks and laughed so much she had a pain in her jaw. Doubled over in hysterics, she missed the hand that snaked out of the water and only had time to pull in half a breath before she too, took a dip in the freezing creek.
“Ayoooooo! It’s damn cold!” she shrieked, still laughing.
“Cold? Try sub-zero, you sneaky little wildcat!” Gareth roared, trying and failing to keep a straight face.<
br />
“Well, I was going to say we were even,” she grinned. “But now that you’ve got me in here, I still owe you one.” Throwing caution to the wind, she wrapped both arms around his neck, and smiled into his shining, chocolate eyes. It was so dark she could barely see; the sliver of moon cast hardly any light through the thick canopy of trees, but managed to show her just enough in the creek.
“What will you accept in payment, Little Wolf?” His teeth chattered, and his lips were turning blue, but he still smiled back at her. She’d tried her best, damn it, but she’d still fallen head over tail for him.
“A kiss,” she croaked, all signs of laughter now gone. “I want you to kiss me breathless, Gareth. I’m done denying this…attraction. I’m done running away and I’m done trying to fight it. Kiss me and to hell–”
His lips crushed down on hers, cold but hot at the same time. She met him eagerly. His tongue dipped into her mouth, slip-sliding around into a comfortable rhythm that heated her blood so much she forgot about the freezing water.
“More,” she demanded when he broke away to catch his breath. She didn’t care if they both drowned. She just wanted – no, needed – more. She needed everything. She wanted everything. To hell with the recriminations. She would have one thing for herself before she signed her life away to the Tall Grass pack.
“I’ll give you more. I’ll give you more than you ever dreamed!” Half dragging, half lifting her from the creek, he laid her on a bed of crackly leaves and soft earth. She snatched at his shoulders when she thought he was leaving, only to blush a deep red when she realized he was only lifting his shirt over his head. “I’m done fighting too,” he whispered into her mouth, before searing her to her very soul with a kiss.
If she’d been thinking straight, she might have had a thought for Donovan, the man who would be her husband, the wolf who would be her mate, but she only had eyes – and thoughts – for Gareth this night. He was hers, and she was his until the sun rose on a new day.
His hot hands swept her own tee shirt from her body, and she lay there, bare to his gaze, reveling in his touch. He tweaked a pebbled nipple as she moaned into his mouth, smiling against her lips as her body responded so readily. She was on fire for him. More so than the night in the cabin. If that was a fire, this was an inferno. She had to have more. More of him, more of this. More.
“You like that?” He tweaked harder and she whimpered, her entire body seeming to melt at his touch. “You still want more, Little Wolf?”
“Yes, oh yes.”
“You want me to make you feel like I did before?”
She groaned. Every little stroke was erotica to her right now and she felt like the world was already crashing down around her.
“Say it,” he demanded. “Tell me you want it.” He paused, thumbing her hard nipple, rolling it between his fingers, bending his head to flick a tongue across the very tip of it, bringing an agonizing gasp from her throat, wrenching the words from her lips. “Tell me you want me.”
“Yes, Gareth. I want you. I want this. I want it all.” Her mind whirled. Her eyes rolled up and she sucked laborious breaths through her teeth as he laved first one hard nub and then the next, his tongue the most wonderful torture device she could imagine.
An ache built between her legs, and she wriggled and writhed on the forest floor, trying to ease it. Gareth noticed and chuckled. “You’re on fire, Beth.”
“Yes,” she moaned, tortured. “Please…”
“What, honey?” One of his hands slipped down to her waist, pulling at the band of her pants. “You want these off? Are they in the way?”
“Yes!” Beth fumbled at the catch, and whimpered when she couldn’t get her fingers to work, damn it. “Please, Gareth, please. I can’t stand it anymore.”
“Can’t stand what, anymore?” His expression dead serious, he gazed into her eyes.
Beth wriggled a little more before stilling to meet his gaze. “I can’t stand the torture of wanting you every time I see you. I can’t stand walking into a room and ignoring every one else in it, because I’m too attuned to you. I can’t stand not having you.”
“You have me,” he replied, still serious. “You always did.”
“And now you have me,” she replied on a breathless gasp. “So please, please…” She whined again, fingers still refusing to cooperate.
He growled deep in his chest, a growl of satisfaction and hot, dark lust. She heard the material rip as it gave way to his tearing hands and reveled in it. She wanted those strong fingers right on the center of her ache. He moaned, catching the scent of her honeyed arousal, tracing a finger around her belly button, making her squirm. She wiggled upwards, bringing his finger to the apex of her thighs.
He slipped one finger between her folds and she almost died on the spot. Her flesh was so sensitive and his fingers so cold that she felt like an icicle had landed on her. It was the most superb feeling she’d ever experienced.
“So wet,” he marveled.
“Yes.”
“So ready…” He slipped a second finger between her folds, capturing her ache between them, scissoring back and forth. She thought she’d just break apart, it was so sublime. “More,” she whispered. “Need….”
“I know, Beth, I know.”
Faster and faster his fingers worked her sensitive nub, until she was panting and crying and screaming beneath him. She was so close. Any second and she’d float right up into the clouds.
Her climax caught her in the middle of a groan and her breath left her in one loud whoosh. “Oh, Gareth…it’s….I’m…ohhh…”
“Come for me, Little Wolf. Fall apart for me. That’s it.”
His fingers never lost their rhythm and she shattered into a million pieces, each one flying high and toppling over the very edge of sexual discovery. “Gareth!” His name fell from her lips before she lost all sense, and she never realized that tears had begun to seep from her eyes to mingle in her hairline.
Still crouched over her, watching her replete form lying on the earthen floor, Gareth bent to kiss her forehead, and Beth instead lifted her head and caught him on the lips. “That was…well…”
“Not the first time you’ve fallen apart in the arms of another man?” he grinned.
“You didn’t believe that for a second, did you?”
“Not even a millisecond, although,” he frowned. “The mental images did drive me insane for a while.”
Beth caught his hand as he reached for their clothing, and shook her head slowly. “More,” she whispered.
“Are you serious?”
“Oh yes, deadly serious.”
“Are you sure? There’s no going back from that.” He frowned again, tiny worry lines appearing on his forehead. She smiled. “I wouldn’t want to go back. Gareth, take what I’m offering.” She shrugged. “Please.”
“No need to beg. I want this as much as you.”
“Good.” She nodded slowly, rising on to her knees and pushing him to the forest floor instead. “My turn.”
“Your–”
His breath rushed out as she unsnapped his jeans and reached inside. He was hard as a rock, but yet his skin there was so soft she wanted to rub her cheek against it. So she did.
Slowly, slowly, she worked his jeans down his legs and threw them with the remains of her own clothing. And then she crawled back up his legs, until she was straddling his knees. Her hair spilled across his hips in a wet and tangled mess as she rubbed the side of her face against that intimate part of him. “Shit,” he groaned. “You’re killing me here.”
“You’ll die happy, I promise.”
“No doubt.”
Not quite believing she could ever dare, she ran her tongue along the length of him, from base to tip. He shivered. She did it again, earning herself another groan that might have been a garbled swear word. Smiling against his skin, she took the very tip of him between her lips, tasting him. He was wet and slippery, juices weeping from the tip. She licked it off, feeling power
ful and sexy when she felt him buck beneath her.
“Anymore of that, and I’m afraid I’ll disgrace myself by shooting early.”
She giggled, empowered by his coarse words, daring to take him in her mouth again, sucking him deep, deeper, past her teeth, and gliding over her tongue, until he hit the back of her throat. She felt like she might gag, but the deep rumble from his chest told her he liked that, so she did it again, and again.
He growled a warning and then twisted her beneath him, taking her mouth in a savage kiss. “God, Beth. God!”
“Gareth…” she mumbled against his questing lips. He trailed kisses down her throat, making her squirm all over again, and then paid particular attention to her breasts and nipples. She felt the tension building inside her again, and was astonished at her body’s complete and utter greed where this wolf was concerned. He dipped a tongue into her navel and laughed when her belly spasmed. His breath tickled her further and she laughed with him.
Her laugh stopped short and sudden when he dipped his tongue into a far more secret place, finding again that engorged little button and flicking it slowly with the tip. “Your smell has always been my weakness,” he murmured, face cuddled up to her inner thigh. “But my God, your taste is something else, Beth.”
Her hips jumped at his casual speak of her feminine flavor, his words making her hotter than ever, and he grinned. “You do like dirty talk, huh?”
“I like any talk as long as we’re not fighting, Gareth,” she laughed. “Please…I want to do this, but to use your own words against you, I’m in danger of shooting early too!”
“Turn you on that much, do I?”
“You know you do.”
“I could always smell you getting wet when you were near me, Beth. It made me so damn hard, I’m surprised you never noticed.” He lazily brushed his tongue across the hollow of her thigh, and she almost screamed in pleasure.
“Gareth,” she warned.
“I like that I turn you on so much, Beth.” His tongue dipped into her folds and found her entrance. He lapped up the moisture like a cat with a bowl of cream. “I love how wet you are right now. And I love hearing you say my name like you’ll die without me.”
Bound by Fate (Moon Bound Series Book 1) Page 9
