by Aspen Drake
I put the ice in my mouth and worked my tongue and the ice against her again. She squirmed and tried to shift away from me, but I held her in place and worked her with my mouth. She moaned as the ice melted and only my hot tongue remained.
I’d shifted twice while fucking her over the past few hours and had never felt so incredible and in control in my life. My inner wolf wanted to come out and play again, but I kept it at bay. Lily was covered in bruises, but not in pain. When she asked why it didn’t hurt, I explained that while I was shifted, my canine teeth secreted a numbing agent. Regardless, I didn’t like seeing her covered in bruises. I did like the bite marks though. It was like I was claiming her, and my inner wolf was delighted.
At almost forty years old, I needed to mate. I needed a woman in my life. It couldn’t be Lily, but for a while, I could pretend it would be her. I nipped at her folds and licked away the sensation of pain. My inner wolf was getting more and more restless by the moment. Once a werewolf found his mate, he wanted to bed her as often as possible. He wanted to fill her with his seed and see her become round as she carried our pups. As I looked up at the swell of Lily’s breasts, rising and falling, I felt a howl erupt from my lips before I could stop it.
Within seconds, hair covered my body and my muscles bunched and shifted. I grew larger and more powerful. I stood and looked down at her tiny frame. With a single claw, I easily cut the ropes, releasing her. Most women would have run, but she looked at me like I was a gift from God.
When she turned and presented her backside to me, I howled again. I wrapped my furry hands around her waist and then slid them up to her breasts. I held there before gliding my hands back down to her rump. I spread her legs a bit more and ran a claw gently across her clit. She shivered in response, and her core dripped with anticipation.
I moved closer to the bed and placed the tip of my cock at her entrance. I tried to control myself so that I didn’t fuck her so hard. I knew she was getting sore, but I couldn’t get enough of her. I slowly slid into her wet channel and groaned at how wet and tight she was. When she clinched her muscles around my cock, I growled and reached back up to her breasts. I massaged one breast as I leaned in an angle to thrust in and out of her. She moaned and bucked against me with as much need as I felt.
This woman would be the death of me.
My canines dropped farther, and I bit into her ass cheek. She screamed out my name and bucked against me. Her juices soaked my cock as I pumped into her even faster. I couldn’t fuck her as hard and as fast as I wanted. Not in this position. I crawled onto the bed and got on my knees. I lay her on her back and placed her legs on either side of me. Holding her by the underside of her thighs, I slid her up and down my cock at a rapid pace. As I watched her breasts bob and shake, I could feel my release tickling the edges of my senses. She brought her finger up to her mouth and bit the tip. It was then that I exploded, filling her channel with everything I had.
I pulled her mouth to mine and kissed her deeply, feeling her breasts rub against my chest. God, she was fucking perfect. She fit into my arms so nicely. I rubbed up and down her back as my dick continued to jerk in ecstasy.
A few more times, and I’d have her out of my system. My desperate need for her was just a passing phase. I shouldn’t have let my inner wolf out because he was making it much harder for me to resist the fairy. But I wasn’t falling for her. That couldn’t happen. Yet there was something there. Something I couldn’t resist.
I had to go back to the club that night, so I took Lily with me. There was no way I would let her stay home when I wasn’t there. She seemed upset that we were going to the club, but I was part owner. I had to do my part.
“Would you please tell me why you’re so upset?” I asked as we drove to the club.
“It’s nothing,” she said as she crossed her arms.
“Oh, really?” I asked sarcastically.
“Really.” She stared out the window and refused to look at me.
“You’ve been to the club before, Lily. Why does it upset you—” Shit. Shit. Shit. Of course, it would bother her. We’d been fucking like teenagers for the past couple days. I was such a dick to not realize this would make her uncomfortable. I reached for her hand and held it tight when she tried to pull away. “I won’t be fucking anyone tonight, Lily. Except maybe you.” I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed the back of it.
She breathed out a deep sigh, and I felt her muscles relax instantly.
We arrived at the club, and I took my place behind the bar. Lily sat in front of me and sipped on a Cherry Coke as I helped the guys keep up with drink orders. It was a weeknight, so the club wasn’t too busy. A few women asked about Room Two, but the guys knew I wasn’t working in there tonight. I wasn’t one of the Doms who could be bought. I chose who I fucked and when. I’d only ever become a Dom in the first place to help me find release. But I’d never had a release like I had with Lily. As far as I was concerned, as long as Lily was willing, I’d never need another woman.
I was surprised to look up and see Willow walking toward the bar. “Hey, Anwell. Is Logan around?”
“Sorry, but it’s his night off.”
She looked around the bar and spotted Lily. “How is she doing?”
“Pretty good. Why don’t you go talk to her?” I wiped down a glass I’d just washed and placed it on the rack beside me. She smiled and made her way down to Lily. A few guys had tried to sit down and chat with Lily, but before they ever made it to her side, I’d sent them walking with a simple glare. Most of the people who came to this club were regulars, and they knew me well. When someone was off limits, no one questioned why. I watched the two girls talk and laugh. Lily kept looking up at me and whispering to Willow. I’ll admit I was curious about what had them giggling so often.
Before I had a chance to find out what was so funny, Steve walked in. He spotted Lily and Willow and made a beeline for the two. I glared at him, but he didn’t even notice me. Before he made it within ten feet of her, a security guard had him by the arm.
“Let me go, motherfucker,” Steve said before he turned and blew black smoke into the guard’s face.
I pressed the button in my ear. “Walker, we’ve got a situation. Send the team.” I rushed to Lily’s side, trying to see through the black smoke. I grabbed onto an arm, but it was Willow’s. “Where is she,” I shouted over the chaos.
“There.” Willow pointed over my back.
I saw Lily being dragged behind Steve.
“Anwell,” she called out to me. Something within me roared. The shift occurred in a fraction of a second and before I realized it, I was running at Steve. He took one look at me and panicked, releasing Lily from his grasp as he ran.
“Get him,” I yelled at my team as I reached for Lily and cradled her in my arms. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” she choked out. “But whatever was in that smoke has made my throat raw.”
“Your dad is sending a team. I’m sure he’ll be coming as well.” I held her close to me as I pushed through the crowd. “I doubt it was much more than colored smoke. Are you allergic to smoke?”
“Yes,” she said as she clung to me. “As a flower fairy, smoke causes a horrible reaction.” Her voice seemed strained and hoarse.
“Shh. Try not to talk.” I didn’t know how bad the reaction could be, but I still worried all the same. When the team arrived, I was happy to see her father in the lead. “She inhaled some black smoke,” I said as I placed her on a sofa.
“Lily, it’s okay. I know you’re scared, but it’s okay.”
I wasn’t really sure what the big deal was. It was just smoke. I knew her throat was sore, but they seemed overly concerned about it. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes.” He leaned in and whispered, “She had a traumatic incident with a fire as a child. The allergic reaction is no worse than anyone else’s, but smoke triggers the bad memories.”
“Is there anything you can do?”
“Yes.”
He grinned at me as he poured a brown liquid into a double-sized shot glass. “She doesn’t drink alcohol because she can’t handle it.” He looked down at the floor and laughed. “You may have to deal with her trying to take her clothes off, but she’ll forget about the memories.”
I gulped. I wouldn’t take advantage of her while she was drunk, but if I had to keep that woman’s clothes on for the night when she didn’t want to, I wasn’t sure which one of us would win that battle.
19
Lily
I woke up the next morning with a bad headache and the taste of vomit in my mouth. Ugh. I got up and was walking to my bathroom when I tripped over something hard. Before I could fall, there were hands wrapped around my waist, keeping me upright.
“Good morning to you, too,” he laughed. “Though a smile or even a morning blowjob would be better than kicking me.”
Anwell was looking up at me with a smug grin. “What on earth are you doing down there?”
“I’m here to make sure you aren’t summoned again.”
“I know that.” I held my head as pain and dizziness gripped me. “I mean, why are you on the floor? I told you the bed was big enough for two.”
He sat up. “To be perfectly honest, you were trying to tear my clothes off, and I wasn’t about to take advantage of you when you were drunk.”
“I don’t drink.” Again, my head pounded in protest. “Did someone slip me something?”
“No, something happened, and your father gave you a shot of alcohol to calm you down.” He sat up and the sheet slipped down his bare chest. If I wasn’t so nauseous, I might have jumped his bones.
“What happened?” I sat down on the bed and closed my eyes, hoping the room would stop swaying.
“Steve tried to take you from the bar, but we were able to stop him.” He stretched his arms above his head, revealing the hair that led down into his boxer briefs. “Unfortunately, he slipped through our fingers.”
I sighed and leaned back against the headboard, pulling the covers over me.
Anwell stood up and started folding the bedding that was on the floor. “I’m going to get some coffee going.”
“None for me, thanks.” I curled into a ball and tried to go back to sleep. It almost worked, but a few minutes later, I felt Anwell’s hand on my shoulder.
“Here, drink this.” He held out a glass of water and gave me a couple pain killers. “The water will help with your dehydration, and the pills will help with the pain. And I’ve got some toast here on the nightstand to help with the nausea.”
I sat up and smiled gratefully as I sipped my water and took the pills. “Thank you.” I took a tiny bite of toast but wasn’t really hungry. “It means a lot to me that you would take care of me.”
“I would say that’s what I’m here for, but it’s honestly because I want to.” He gave me a smile that touched my heart. He was sexy as all get out, but I felt something more. He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost two. Do you need to get some work done today?”
“Ugh. Yeah.” I threw the covers back and got out of bed. I continued to sip the water as I shuffled to my office, carrying my toast with me. “I’ll try to make this quick. I want to make you a nice dinner to thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
Anwell grinned. “Sounds nice. I’ll leave you to it then.” He closed the door behind him, and I got to work. For once, I didn’t have trouble getting started. The words just flowed. Three hours later, I had knocked out almost ten thousand words. It was a personal best for me. I smiled as I pushed away from my desk and went to get dinner started.
Dinner was a creamy garlic and cheese pasta topped with grilled chicken and a Caesar salad with garlic bread on the side. “That was absolutely wonderful, Lily,” Anwell said as he got up and started to clear the table. “I’ll clean up. It’s the least I can do since you made dinner.”
“If I weren’t so tired from this morning’s hangover, I might protest.” I leaned back in my chair and allowed him to take my dishes.
As he rinsed the dishes, I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. “Seriously, thank you so much for taking care of me.” I felt his muscles stiffen, and I wondered if I had overstepped my bounds. “I’ll just go watch some TV.”
I was watching a home improvement shop when there was a knock on the door. I got up to answer it, but Anwell beat me to the door. “Better safe than sorry,” he said on his way. He looked through the peephole before opening it up. “Willow.” He stepped out of her way and waved her in. “Come in.”
She gave him a strange look, one eyebrow cocked. “Um, okay.” She looked at me. “Is he your butler now?”
“Nope, still security,” he said as he closed and locked the door. “You’ll have to get your own drinks and shit.” He laughed as he went back into the kitchen.
Willow looked at me and shook her head as she came to sit next to me. “You doing all right, hon?”
“I think so. But I had a horrible hangover this morning.”
She nodded in understanding. “I figured you would.”
“There was smoke, wasn’t there?” I turned off the TV. Willow looked down at her fingernails and tried to avoid my question. “Willow, I know I was given something to calm me down, and that’s usually the only reason.”
She sighed heavily. “There was. Steve came into the club and tried to take you. When we stopped him, he used black magic to create a smoke screen. When your dad arrived, he thought it best to ‘medicate’ you so you wouldn’t have an episode.”
I remembered the smoke and how I’d reacted. Smoke always triggered the memories. I still felt the fear from that night trying to pull me down, but I shook it off. It was so long ago, and I didn’t need to go down that road again.
20
Anwell
I tried not to listen to the girls talk as I cleaned the kitchen. Although, I was curious what had happened to Lily to cause such a reaction. Since it was none of my business, I kept cleaning and then headed to my guest room. I called Walker to let him know Lily was doing much better than she was in the morning. He told me his men had narrowed down the area where Steve was staying, and they had an idea of who the older man Lily had seen was. The only problem was that man had supposedly died during one of the battles almost a hundred years ago.
The next item on my to-do list was to check in with Matt. I hadn’t talked to him since I’d convinced him to keep playing it cool with my sister. When he answered the phone, he sounded happier than usual and a bit out of breath. He answered a couple questions and said things seemed to be going pretty good. Maybe it was just me trying to find a way to kill time, but it was like he rushed me off the phone. I tried calling my sister next but got her voicemail. I left a message asking her to call me when she got a chance.
With my phone calls made, I opened my laptop and started doing more research on the creepers. Walker had sent me some photos of the man who might have been in Lily’s dreams. There was a photo of the man talking to Steve outside a university building, and there was another photo from over a hundred years ago. The two looked almost identical. The only differences were the clothing and hairstyles. I believed the two were one and the same. The only question was how it was possible. How was this the same person?
I stared at the two photos until my eyes began to cross. Sighing, I closed my laptop and got up from bed. I headed into the living room, slipping my jacket on as I went. Willow was already gone, and Lily was dressed and ready to head to the club. I was scheduled to be the manager on duty tonight, but I wasn’t manning the bar. I’d be there if any problem arose, but keeping track of Lily was my main objective. I wasn’t going to let a repeat of last night happen.
When we arrived at the club, it was still rather quiet. It was only ten, and there were only a few people chatting at the tables and only one room was in use. I poured some sweet tea for Lily and grabbed a bottle of water for myself. We headed to a back corner where I could watch the room and keep my eye on her at the sa
me time.
It was a curved booth, yet we both scooted to the very back until we were side by side. I told myself she was sitting so close because she felt safe by my side. But we both knew the truth. We had a strong attraction to each other, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore it. It wasn’t just the mind-blowing sex. There was something much deeper going on, and the more time we spent together, the more that something grew.
I was taking a deep drink from my water when I saw Steve come into the club. I placed my hand on Lily’s thigh to let her know she was safe. As soon as she saw Steve, she inched closer to me. If she got any closer, she’d be in my lap – not that I would mind. Steve looked around the room before grabbing a table to the left of the main floor. He couldn’t see us in the dark booth, which offered us a lot of privacy.
As the night went on, more and more customers filed into the club. I kept my eyes on Steve and watched as he tapped his foot to the beat of the music. He had a couple drinks, but seemed alert. If he were a werewolf, I’d say he was on the prowl. As a human male, that probably wasn’t too far off point. He chatted up a few ladies in the bar, but didn’t hookup with any. He seemed to be waiting. If he was waiting for Lily, he could sit there until he rotted. She wasn’t leaving my side.
It was almost closing when Steve made his move. He approached a fairy who frequented the bar and they left the club together. But they didn’t leave alone. Walker’s men were waiting outside to follow the couple. Wherever he took the fairy, she would be safe with Walker’s men following behind.
Once Steve was gone, I helped the crew clean up the club for the night and checked to make sure the rooms were sanitized. Lily was practically on my heels as I did the nightly routine. It didn’t bother me a bit, even when she stepped on the back on my foot multiple times. “I’m so sorry,” she said for the tenth time, putting her hand on the small of my back to keep from stumbling.
