He did not like her defending the other wolf.
Briggs made his way through the broken pieces of chairs and tables and the jagged shards of glass and McQuade snarled at him.
“What the hell were your thinking?”
“I was thinking to keep your mate safe, bro,” he answered, a little put out by the anger in McQuade’s voice.
“By bringing her into the lion’s den?”
Briggs laughed and McQuade frowned when he realized what he had said. Damn, his side was killing him.
“Had you rather I let her come here by herself? Cause believe me, pal, she was coming with or without me. And I did call.”
“After the damn fact.”
“I can’t help it if you picked a hard-headed woman to mate.”
“Would you two stop talking about me as if I wasn’t here. I am a grown woman, capable of making my own decisions and taking care of myself.”
“No, you’re not.” Both men spoke at once.
One delicate brow rose. “I’m not capable of making my own decisions?”
McQuade heaved a large, overblown sigh. The woman was going to give him trouble for the rest of their long, long, lives together–and he was going to love every freaking moment.
“Cut him some slack, Rose. It isn’t every day a lone wolf takes a mate. Besides McQuade’s knowledge of women is much, more limited than mine. I knew I had no chance of talking you out of your decision to come here.”
“I don’t need your help here, Asswipe.” McQuade growled. Then immediately groaned as the movement pulled at the stab wound. What had the damn hyena stabbed him with, a solid silver knife?
“You need to go to the hospital.” All of Rose’s anger vanished in a moment.
“No. Give me another minute. And a drink of water.”
“I’ve heard this story before,” Briggs commented to no one in particular as he walked around assessing the damage. Pulling out a wad of bills, he threw them down in front of the bartender.
“You really need to go to the hospital.” Rose had retrieved a bottle of water from the bar and knelt down again. He remembered the feel of her wet mouth as she’d sucked him off. She’d do it again, tonight after he bent her over his knee and turned her plump ass a bright red. She’d disobeyed him for the last time.
“No, I don’t.” He pulled the soaked napkins away from his side, throwing them on the table. The bleeding had slowed, but the wound still gapped open.
“She’s right, McQuade,” Briggs chimed in. “You have some pretty big pieces of glass sticking out of your back. It’s really gross.”
He saw the worry in Rose’s eyes and gave in to the inevitable. He couldn’t shift to heal the stab wound until the glass was out anyway. He knew he couldn’t remove all the pieces himself and sure as hell wasn’t asking Briggs. The damn wolf would probably push them in deeper. He didn’t want Rose to have to deal with it either.
“Don’t let this go to your head,” he warned, “because it doesn’t mean you’ve won.”
“I won’t,” Rose grinned, helping him to his feet.
Once at the hospital, McQuade dragged Rose into the cubicle with him. Since a shifter’s rate of healing was so fast, the emergency room workers took them straight back to deal with the wicked looking pieces of glass sticking out of his back. If the glass wasn’t removed quickly, his skin would simply close over it, forcing the doctor to go in and cut them out.
He sat on a gurney as the doctor worked on his wounds.
“Now, tell me what you were doing in the bar.”
“Alice called–”
McQuade gripped her chin, demanding that she meet his eyes. He knew they glowed a dark gold. He was pissed at the events that had occurred during the last hour and he wanted her to know. “Listen to me well, my little Rose ‘cause this is the last fucking time I’m telling you. Your sister will never put you in danger again.”
Instead of being upset, Rose seemed to glow under his concern. He’d thought for sure she’d have him by the balls for interfering. Go figure women.
“I know. I’m done with Alice.” She went on to explain how Alice had been after her necklace all along. McQuade growled, the sound more wolf than man. He could understand why Rose had wanted to confront her sister, but it didn’t excuse Briggs’ lapse in judgment in allowing her to go to the bar. The wolf was going to pay for that little slipup. And pay dearly. But that could wait for another day. Right now his mate was standing between his legs, running her hands over him again and again as if searching for any other injuries.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Her voice was shaky.
McQuade stilled her hands by taking them in his. Even though he liked the idea of her concern, he didn’t like seeing her upset.
“I’m positive, baby.” He lifted one hand to his mouth, placing a soft kiss in the center of her palm. “Although there’s one place that could use some tender loving care.”
He moved the same hand he’d just kissed to the hardening flesh between his legs.
“McQuade!” her voice was indignant, but she allowed him to cup her hand over his cock. She had no willpower when it came to him. Her hand tightened, drawing a groan from him.
Immediately she stilled. “Did I hurt you? Are you hurt…there?”
The doctor cleared his throat as he removed the last fragment. “I think I’ll just leave the clean-up to you Nurse Spencer.”
Rose blushed as the doctor left the room. “I can’t believe this,” she whispered, knowing most doctors stood outside the cubicle for a few moments to make chart notes. “I have to work with that man on a daily basis.”
“Good, then he’ll know you’re mine.” McQuade’s grin was positively wicked. “Now do what the good doctor said and clean me up. You can use that pretty little mouth of yours.”
He squeezed her fingers, indicating where he’d like her to start.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“And I’m not even at my best right now. Wait ‘til we get home, sweetheart. I’ll be sure and bring my A game.”
*****
Shoving the hair from her eyes, Rose rolled over to her side. Her body ached in places she didn’t know a woman could ache but, Lord, did she feel wonderful. Pillowing her head on her arms, she studied McQuade, having rarely seen the serene expression on his features. When he was awake, he could be so fierce and distant, but when he took her in his arms, he could be so tender and patient, it made her want to cry. He was demanding and bossy, but she rather liked that, especially in bed. They would still have to talk about what it meant to be in a relationship. And what the word compromise was all about. She understood why he was angry. She had forced Briggs to take her to the bar, but he needed to understand why she’d wanted to go. That she was not a cowering, simple-minded woman who thought the big, bad wolf should constantly save and protect her.
His face was turned toward her, his breathing steady, slow and deep. The wound on his side had healed as soon as he’d shifted once they’d gotten home. It had reduced to a thin pink line and he’d assured her it would fade completely once he shifted again.
Neither that wound nor the places from the glass had slowed him down last night. He had definitely brought his A-game.
He was so peaceful in sleep just watching him could lure her back to sleep in an instant. They hadn’t gotten home from the hospital until late and then, well then, Rose had learned things about shifters she was sure the general population would never know. To be taken, to be claimed…she shivered. Every woman should experience it.
And now, her mouth drooled at the sight of the hard, aroused outline of his cock beneath the sheet. A sigh escaped her a moment before she realized he was awake. He hadn’t moved other than to open his eyes. He was really good at the silent predator thing.
His gaze was so intense she swore she could actually feel his heated look. He pulled her body snug against his. And his early morning erection. Suddenly she wasn’t sleepy at all.
“I want to mark you.” His voic
e was a low rumble, so sexy it made her shiver.
“You already have.”
“No I haven’t. Not as my mate.”
Rose’s breath froze in her lungs. “You want…to mate with me?”
His hand, which had been resting on her hip, moved up her side, caressing her shoulder, before cupping her face. “I want you as my mate.”
Rose shook her head at his words. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Yes, you do,” he smiled. “But if you need to hear the words, I’m more than willing to say them. It means I love you, Rose. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. However long that may be.”
To say she was stunned was an understatement. She’d dreamed, she’d even secretly hoped he felt something more for her than a desire for sex.
He moved his arm and encircled her waist, arching her back, pressing her mound against his shaft. Bending down, he teased her nipple with his tongue. It swelled and hardened instantly. “Stay with me always.”
His mouth found hers and this time he branded her. His. Forever. It was in the possessive caress of his hands, the hard stroke of his tongue. When he wanted her to give him more of her mouth, he grasped a handful of her hair and drew her head back until her breath became gasps. There it was again, that fire that consumed her every time he touched her.
“Can’t get enough,” he mumbled, his tongue flicking over her nipple again before he drew the taut tip into his mouth, suckling it with enough pressure to make her toes curl. Not wanting the pleasure to be all one sided, Rose found his cock beneath the sheet, caressing the hardened flesh. She rubbed her palm across the jutting head, absorbing the pre-cum already leaking out then closing her hand around his shaft, she pulled upward, then slid her hand down to the base before repeating the process.
“Rose…”, his hips lifted. “Damn, baby, you’ve got to…” his breath hissed out as she increased the rhythm.
“I’ve got to what?” She pulled her hand away, smiling up at him impishly.
“You’ve got to do that again.” He flipped the sheet off and drew her hand back to his erection, thrusting upward as she pleasured him.
She loved the feel of him beneath her fingers. The hard slide of skin over steel. Using her thumb, she explored the head of his cock. He was so big, she was surprised he’d ever gotten inside her. The slit was wide, weeping a steady stream of cum.
“Stop,” he ordered. “I’m too close.”
Instead of the order making her pull away, it intrigued her. How close was too close? Would one more stroke have him erupting all over her hand? Would the touch of her mouth send him over the edge?
“Oh, no, sweetheart.” Recognizing her intentions, he pulled her up, flipping her under him easily.
Rose spread her legs, opening herself for him eagerly. When he slid into her, she locked her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper. “Is this where you want to be, my wolf?”
McQuade groaned as her heat surrounded him. “Always, my mate.”
He began to move, slowly, letting her feel the length of him as he moved in and out of her. With his lips, he kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose and finally her mouth.
As her tongue met his, his rhythm changed, his thrusts became harder, more urgent. “Come for me, Rose. Let me feel that beautiful pussy pulsing around me.”
They’d been here before, but the feel of him inside her was nothing like the other times. He’d asked her to be his mate. For a shifter that meant a lifetime commitment. Nothing that had gone on before mattered in that moment. She loved him. She’d take him for as long as the universe allowed. She let it all wash over her, the hunger, the heat, the need. The pleasure, the pain, and the promise of sweet satisfaction.
“That’s it, baby.” He pushed into her one last time. With a groan, he stiffened, straining to be as far inside her as possible as he spilled his seed. Lowering his head, he sank his teeth into the side of her neck. As he bit her, she swore she could feel his climax wash over him and it trigger another one inside of her.
*****
McQuade walked down the hall of the hospital, the sights and sounds a little too familiar after his first and last visit eight months ago. The damn slivers of glass had hurt like hell—worse even than the stab wound. Shifters usually didn’t need medical care. The young pups sometimes needed a quick patch up since it was harder for them to shift, and some had human mates who still needed help. Even though a shifter’s mate would enjoy the same longevity as their wolf, they were still human with human frailties.
He vowed once again to always protect Rose and keep her safe. It had become his life’s mission. She stood at the nurse’s desk dressed in even more voluminous clothing than the day he’d met her thanks to the pup growing under her heart. She was six months pregnant and he was one proud father-to-be. The only fly in the ointment of his happiness was that he wanted her to quit work but she wouldn’t listen to him. He wanted to howl, demand she obey him. He’d bred her. As ego boosting as that sounded, he did know enough about women to know he could never say it out loud to her. He’d save his virility boasting for Briggs’ ears.
Only true mates were able to conceive. When he’d shared that fact with her, her face had lit with joy, his words putting to death any remaining doubts she might have harbored about his love for her. Now he just had to convince his stubborn-headed mate that nothing in this world was more important to him than her life and the life of their unborn child.
She wore a pair of white scrubs, topped with a white smock featuring grey and white wolf cubs. As cute as they were, he wanted to strip them from her body and feast on her delicious curves.
Every minute of every day.
“What are you doing here?” Her chin came up a notch, the gleam in her pretty eyes letting him know she was ready for battle. He came to the hospital during each of her shifts, checking up on her and trying to convince her continuing to working wasn’t necessary. He would have laughed at her belligerent expression but he knew it wouldn’t improve his chances of swaying her. He had to convince her that his way was the right way.
“I’ve come to take you home.” He leaned against the desk, facing her.
“My shift isn’t over for an hour. I’m trying to work here.”
“Which you know you don’t need to do anymore.”
Rose wanted to work until she had the baby. Frankly, he was scared shitless. Compared to him, she was so small and so fragile. Anything could happen in the next three months and he wanted her with him every minute.
“No.”
“Come on, honey. I’ll rub your feet. I know how tired they must be after your shift.”
The nurses next to her sighed and he knew he’d scored some points—at least with them.
“No, McQuade. Now go away. I’ll be home as soon as my shift is over.”
“I’ll rub your cl–”
“Stop! Don’t you dare.” One of her small hands pressed against his lips. He kissed her palm, keeping her hand in his. He leaned closer so only she could hear his next words. “Not even when you tell me to, baby. I won’t stop. I’ll rub that sweet little nub with my thumb until you explode all over my hand. Then I’ll eat up all that sweet nectar and start all over again using my tongue. I won’t stop until I make you come again and again.”
“Oh, you egotistical…” She pulled her hand away, snatching up a chart from the desk.
“You’re blushing.” When she was about to turn away from him once again, he slid his fingers through her hair and tilted her face to his, glad to see her coworkers had moved away to give them some privacy. Not that he would have any trouble saying the words he was about to say in front of them, or a whole army of people. “I need you, Rose. More than I need the air I breathe. I need to feel you under me, over me, any damn way I can take you. I need to hear those little noises you make when my cock stretches you, fills you, and you can’t stand it anymore and come all over me. I need to kiss you, taste you, lick the cream from your body, smell how much you wan
t me.” Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her as close as the baby wolf would allow, loving the feel of both heartbeats. “But most of all, honey, I need to keep you safe.”
While the love behind his words went straight to Rose’s heart, her independent side balked at his over-protective tendencies. Someday, she thought as she snuggled against his broad chest, she was going to set him straight.
But right now, his arms were an incredible place to be.
ABOUT LYNN RICHARDS…
Thank you for purchasing this book. It is our desire to give you erotica with strong elements of romance and always a happy ever after.
We always welcome and appreciate honest reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords or any other vendor’s website (or blog!).
Lynn Richards is actually the pseudonym chosen by two best friends who started writing together back when we were both young and idealistic. Though no longer exactly young, we’re still best friends and still pretty idealistic. We enjoy reading (and writing) romances ranging from sweet and pure, to spicy hot and erotic. We love hearing from our readers. Please E-mail us at [email protected] and let us know what kind of reads you like and what you’d like to see from Lynn Richards in the future. And thanks for taking time to read Lynn Richards’ romances!
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McQuade: The Lone Wolf Takes a Mate Page 14
