by Leilani Love
Those words seemed to unleash something in him and he picked her up pinning her to the shower wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he lowered her onto his thick hard cock. Her body wasn’t totally ready for him and she let out a small gasp that he muffled with a hard kiss.
There was something sexy about being pinned against the tile shower wall and the feel of the water hitting her naked flesh. Warrick held still inside her until she nipped at his neck, a demanding growl escaping her. His chuckle caused his chest to rub against her sensitive flesh and she let out a happy sigh when he finally started to move inside her.
Warrick thrust hard and she moaned using the muscles in her legs to raise and lower herself. Hope whimpered as he pulled out slowly, and let out a moan of pleasure when he thrust hard into her. With her nails on his shoulders, she felt her fingers curl and knew her nails were digging slightly into his flesh. When he thrust in again she panted, “Oh god Warrick, I love you.”
He grunted again and began to thrust harder into her. At this angle, every time he pumped into her she felt him brush her clit, which only enhanced her pleasure. When he picked up the pace she leaned back against the wall and cupped his cheek forcing him to look at her. He still hadn’t said anything since she’d said I love you and was starting to feel a little vulnerable.
Hope moved her hand to the wall to get better leverage, then captured his mouth with a rough kiss. His tongue thrusting into her mouth at the same tempo as his cock.
When she moaned, he captured it with another kiss and she felt her legs tighten around him. She needed him to move faster and showed him with her body. Her free hand slid into his hair, her nails digging slightly into his scalp. As her legs tightened around his waist she pulled him deeper and when he thrust his tongue back into her mouth she sucked on it.
A small giggle almost escaped her when she heard his growl. He then began to thrust faster, harder into her while his other hand slid up her side to tease her breast. Her nipples were so hard she was sure there was an imprint on his chest. When he began to tease her nipple she let out a small gasp breaking the kiss as her head fell back. Small currents of pleasure ran from her breast to the spot where their bodies were joined, showing how her body was connected and all centered on her release.
She felt Warrick begin to lick and kiss along her jaw and neck, his teeth teasing the column of her neck. She shuddered as he got close to his mating mark and continued to thrust. His breath burned hot against her flesh.
When she felt his breath right above where he left his mark she heard him demand in a rough, thick, unrecognizable voice, “Say it again.”
The need echoed her own and she turned her head to slide her teeth down the column of his neck. When her teeth scraped over her mark on him she felt her canines lengthen and she whispered, “I love you Warrick.”
The second those words had left her mouth she sunk her teeth into his flesh, into the mating mark and felt his growl as it echoed off the walls in the shower. His thrusts picking up and the shared pleasure from him inside her joined their bodies as they again marked each other as mates. It was all too much and she screamed against his neck as she felt herself go over.
Hope distantly heard his grunt. He thrust hard into her, her body tightening in response, as he went over with her. When they both started to come down she smiled against his neck her tongue coming out and licking where she’d bitten. She felt his tongue licking his bite mark and she smiled against his neck feeling that list twitch of his cock still deep inside her.
When she pulled back to look at him, she cupped his cheek and kissed him tenderly, their tongues dueling slowly this time and she could taste her blood on his lips. When he slipped from her core she let out a small whimper, missing the connection before slowly sliding her legs down his thighs.
They stayed that way for a few minutes, exchanging a few light kisses as the water continued to caress their bodies. After a bit he turned her so she was back under the water. She watched as he put shampoo in his hands, rubbing them together he moved in behind her and started to wash her hair. Massaging her scalp gently with his hands she moaned. When he was done she felt him start to rinse her hair.
Hope let him continue and watched as he put a decent amount of conditioner in his hand. Warrick slid it into her hair. She stopped him from rinsing it right away and shook her head, “I let it sit in my hair for a bit while I…”
When she blushed he smiled, kissing her tenderly. “Let me take care of you tonight.”
She nodded, her eyes on him as he soaped up his hands. Warrick started with her back, massaging her muscles before going lower and massaging her backside. A moan escaped her but before she could enjoy it too much he lowered himself to his knees and massaged the back of her thighs. When Warrick finished, he tapped her leg telling her to turn around and she saw him grab the soap again.
This time he started at her feet, working her calf muscles before sliding up to her thighs. Higher and higher he went until she felt his fingers slide between her folds. Her lips parted as she let out a sigh and he cleaned her sensitive flesh.
“Warrick,” she said his name on a sigh.
He stood up and continued his slow path washing her stomach moving up to gently clean her breasts while massaging them, before sliding down her arms, massaging every muscle down to her fingers. He then angled her back in the direction of the water to rinse her hair.
She felt treasured. The touch of his hand on her skin, the way he gently caressed her body. When he was finished washing her she watched as he quickly washed himself. Done in a fraction of the time it took him to wash her, she couldn’t help but smile.
The water dried off and he patted her skin before simply wrapping the towel around himself. A small gasp of surprise left her when he picked her up again and carried her to the bed. “I can walk you know,” she said as he laid her in the middle of the bed.
“I know,” he said as he tucked her in.
Hope watched him walk back to the bathroom. She could see his shadow as he dried himself off. When he walked back out of the bathroom she couldn’t help but admire his form. The scars on his body and face added a hint of mystery to his rugged handsomeness.
Warrick lay next to her in the bed and pulled her close. She heard his heart beating, listened to the sound of his breathing. He didn’t say a word, just held her tight to his chest. After a few minutes she could feel him start to fall asleep. She knew enough about adrenaline to know that soon she would be joining him. A yawn escaped her and she nuzzled his chest giving in to the urge to close her eyes and let sleep claim her.
27
Warrick worked with Aithne to try and piece together where his brother had been. Their ultimate goal was to see if they could find where his brother hid the pack’s money and find out more about the witches that had taken Hope and Damien’s mother.
While Warrick did that, Hope and Kassandra had found a box of papers and receipts. Both of them spent their days trying to see what they could learn. That left Damien who spent most of his days with Chase putting the extra guards to work finishing up the town.
The morning after Hope was taken they woke up to find the house surrounded by their pack members all wanting to make sure Hope was okay. Some asked about Warrick but they lavished their attention on her. That made him smile, he remember his father ran the pack but his mother held it together with love and grace. Hope, in a few short months had won over the hearts of their people just like his mother had.
“Your brother loved his GPS,” Aithne said looking up at him. “He thought he’d erased his history but he obviously didn’t know much about computers.”
Warrick grinned at that. “Nice to know I’m not the only person who doesn’t know much about those things.”
“To be fair, he definitely knows more than you do. But not nearly as much as I do,” Aithne said with a hint of humor to her voice.
“You know you don’t act much like a queen,” Warrick said, leaning back in his chair.<
br />
Aithne laughed at that, pushing her long red hair behind her ear. She was wearing a plain green t-shirt that brought out the color in her eyes and a pair of faded blue jeans that looked like they had seen better days. Most of her hair was tied back in a braid but a few of the strands had escaped, framing her face.
“I think I should say thank you, but I’m not sure if you meant that as a compliment,” Aithne said. She leaned back in the chair to look at him. “To be fair you don’t look like what I picture when I think of an alpha wolf.”
Warrick nodded with a casual shrug. Something in his reaction must have caught her attention because she instantly frowned. “Not for what you’re thinking, Warrick. You’re here with me going over the few belongings we could find. Back in my day, leaders used to sit around and watch others work. Claiming what others did as their own while they sat on a gilded thrown.”
“Thank you,” Warrick replied giving her a smile that said he understood. “I also forget you look amazing for how old you are.”
That made her laugh and she picked up what looked to be some kind of ball and threw at him. She missed him by enough that he knew that it was on purpose. “You’re in rare form today. But if you can be nice I’ll tell you what I found.”
Warrick couldn’t stop smiling as he walked over to see what she was looking at. On the phone she held in her hand was a list of addresses she had pinpointed on the map on the computer. There were several plots between the cabin where they’d found him and West Virginia where the pack was previously located.
“There. This spot right here in Kentucky he seemed to frequent a lot. When I pulled up a satellite picture all I can seem to find is this cabin surrounded by woods. Not much else.”
When Aithne showed him the image, Warrick found himself again humbled by all the things he had missed. He never imagined this would be possible. The cabin was in a clearing in the woods. Even from this angle he could see it was large.
“Is it me or is that cabin large?” Warrick asked.
Aithne nodded. “It is pretty big for a cabin. It’s also on twenty-five acres. I looked it up and it’s owned by several shell corporations. It is going to take a few weeks to find out if he owns it or not.”
“What is something like this worth?” Warrick asked curious.
“The cabin alone is probably worth about a million dollars. The land is probably worth several million.”
Warrick let out a small whistle. That could be all the packs money right there if it belonged to his brother. What would that mean if it turned out his brother had taken all their money and bought that? Would it be possible for them to get it back? Could he just sell it?
He let out a sigh rubbing the back of his neck. Aithne looked over her shoulder at him. A look of understanding crossed her face, “We’ll figure it out. If it turns out your brother owns this place, good thing you two are twins. Go home. Kiss Hope. We will figure out the answers later.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
He thanked her again before leaving, excited to get back home to his mate. On the drive home he wondered what else they would find at the ranch. If his brother was there a lot, there had to be a reason. Warrick was excited to get home and tell Hope what they had learned. She had texted him earlier and said she was home but she didn’t mention finding anything so he knew she could use the good news.
Hope heard Warrick pull up. She smiled as she checked on the chicken in the oven. Every night he kissed her senseless, making love to her as he asked her to tell him she loved him. He never said it back, instead he made love to her body. Worshipped her with kisses and didn’t stop making love to her until she was so satisfied the idea of moving made her tired.
The front door opened and she listened as he walked down the hall to the kitchen.
“How did it go with Kassandra?” Warrick asked as he gave her a kiss.
“Your brother seemed to have kept every receipt he ever got, for no particular reason. He also paid a lot in cash so we haven’t been able to find a credit card for Kassandra to track down,” Hope said. He heard the pout in her voice.
“Aithne was able to pull up his history on his GPS,” Warrick told her as he started to get the plates down from the cabinets.
“Oh?” she asked curious.
“There’s a cabin he kept going back to in Kentucky. She says it’s on twenty-five acres and between the land and the house might be worth a few million dollars.”
Hope stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “Few million…” she started to ask when he nodded. “Wow, is it his?” she asked, curious if that was where all the packs money went.
“Aithne says it is owned by several shell companies and it will take a bit for her to sort it out.” She could feel Warrick’s eyes on her as she took all the food out of the oven. They made their plates. The two of them talking about their day.
Hope loved how he constantly touched her. When they were done, he cleaned up and went upstairs where the two curled up in bed and made love until she couldn’t move. Despite the fact that he constantly showed her that he cared for her, the longer he went without saying I love you the more she began to doubt that he did.
The moment Hope fell asleep she knew something was off. She was standing outside a door. Her hand came up to open it and she paused. Whatever was on the other side was going to change her life. The scent of roses hung in the air that reminded her of her mother and she felt an invisible hand touch her back. Even though she had very few memories of her mother the smell of roses always made her think of her.
With a deep breath, she grabbed the handle and opened the door. As she stood in the open doorway she could smell Warrick and the coppery smell of blood, a lot of blood. It smelled worse than the room they had found him in.
“Warrick,” she whispered. As she took a step into the room, the door she stepped through disappeared, leaving her no choice but to go forward.
There was no answer, just an eerie silence that made her skin crawl. As she walked farther into the room she saw Warrick hanging by his arms. He had fresh cuts on his body and there was a big bowl on the ground. It had been positioned to collect his blood.
Hope reached out and her hand slid right through him.
“Hope,” she heard him whisper before he groaned and opened his eyes. She wondered at first if he was able to sense her until she realized he was dreaming.
A loud bang from the opposite side of the room made her jump. Gabriel stumbled in drunk. “Still dreaming of your mate, Big Brother,” Gabriel said. She wrinkled her nose when she smelled the alcohol on him. “She deserves better than someone like you. You couldn’t save our parents. You helped us kidnap her mother. If you think you have it bad you should see what they’ve been doing to her mother. Yet here you hang, providing the blood to keep her people tied to me.”
Hope felt her eyes tear up at his words. The idea that her mother had been tortured just like Warrick made her sick to her stomach. Gabriel walked over with a blade he grabbed from the table and sliced along Warrick side. “Let her mother go,” Warrick said.
“Forever the hero,” Gabriel said as he twisted the knife a bit into his side. “Holding onto the idea that if you do enough, your mate will love you back. You’re broken, beaten, and you only live now because you begged me to let the witches use your blood to bind everyone and not Hope. She would never love a guy like you.”
Hope couldn’t stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks. His words so cruel she couldn’t imagine anyone having to listen to that for fifty years. The torture, the cruel words, constantly being told how no one could possibly love him. Hope’s heart broke for Warrick.
28
Hope awoke with a new understanding of what Warrick went through. Tears were still streaming down her face when she awoke. She wiped the tears from her eyes, smiling when she felt him roll over and pull her close as if sensing she needed his comfort. How could someone have gone through so much and still be so thoughtful?
B
eing held by him calmed her down, recalling her to the present. His brother was dead otherwise Hope would kill him herself. Too bad she couldn’t kill him twice. As she drifted back to sleep she realized that she would need to find a way to show him that he was worthy of her love.
Over the next few days Kassandra worked with Aithne trying to figure out who owned the cabin in Kentucky. Since they didn’t have much to do, she and Warrick started to make their rounds with the pack members. Damien was constructing a new gym for the kids and told her it was her job to represent him to help make the decisions.
The problems the people came to them with were small disputes between neighbors and advice on what to do to move forward. As they walked around the town talking to different pack members she watched Warrick listen intently to their problems. When he gave them advice or a solution the people hung on his every word. She doubted he knew how much he meant to them.
After making their rounds Hope laced her fingers with his. “They love you, you know.”
Warrick looked over and she followed his gaze to see a few kids watching them from behind the house. “They’re scared of me.”
Hope smiled at the kids waving at them, they giggled and ran off. “I don’t think they’re scared of you. Just curious.”
Warrick shook his head and she realized that he was really bothered by it. She picked up his hand and brought it to her lips kissing it. “You’re their alpha. Trust me they’re in awe of you. I remember the kids used to watch my father the same way.”
When she turned to look at him she noticed he was frowning. The walk back to the house was quiet, both of them lost in their own thoughts. When they got inside she ordered pizza. Not the romantic dinner she had planned but it would work in a pinch.
After dinner Warrick left to go help Damien finish working on the house next door. Damien was eager to start his family with Kassandra and wanted their house to be perfect. Hope touched her stomach smiling. She’d told Damien that morning she thought she would get pregnant before Kassandra. Damien had laughed, both agreeing to a small bet. If she got pregnant first Damien would pay for her sunroom, if Kassandra got pregnant first, Hope would paint a mural on the baby’s wall. Both of them knew, regardless who won, that she would do that for him.
