Wounded Kiss (To Be Claimed Saga Book 1)

by Willow Winters

  “Fuck, Grace, I’m trying to be good for you,” he says as my gaze searches his face. His eyes are closed and his head is tipped back while his mouth is parted. It’s so fucking sexy. I part my legs to straddle him. The move makes my hard clit throb. Resting my elbows on his shoulders, I spear my fingers through his messy hair before jerking his head to the side to bite his neck again. The move makes his dick twitch and it hits my sensitive clit. I let out a moan against his throat.

  “Please.” I don’t even know what I’m begging for. All I know is that I need him. He can make this right.

  “You want me to fuck you, Grace?” He breathes his words although they come out as a statement and not a question. I nod and faster than I can perceive, he’s already moving. His fingers dig into the flesh of my hips as he lifts me up quickly, throwing my body onto the desk so that I land on my back with my legs spread wide.

  “I told you to speak when I ask you a question.” His tone is laced with danger as he takes a step back and backhands my clit through my jeans. Fuck! A fire ignites so hot in my core that my head thrashes and my limbs shake from the intensity. Yes!

  As I come down from the overwhelming sensation, I realize he’s undressing me, practically ripping my jeans off of me. With a snap and a rip, the jeans are torn halfway down my body.

  Before the torn clothing even hits the floor, his tongue is on me. His rough stubble scratches against my inner thighs and it’s even better than I imagined. Feeling his hot mouth on me is a dream come true. I arch my back on the desk and push myself into his face. Any sense of control is gone; I’ve fallen off the edge of a cliff. He growls with approval into my heat as he angles me so he can fuck me deeper with his tongue.

  “Please,” I beg him again. I need him. He continues taking his sweet time, but the sound of his zipper gives me hope. I wriggle on the desk, needing more. My body is impatient and my head thrashes from side to side. I need him now.

  “Please!” I can’t stand the torture any longer. I need my release. He moves from between my legs and hovers over my body while wiping my glistening arousal from his mouth with the back of his hand. His lips are swollen and his silver gaze doesn’t hide his desperation to be inside me in the least. At least both of us are affected.

  “You need me to fuck you, Grace?”

  I don’t hesitate in my answer. “Yes, I need you.” As soon as the last word leaves me, his hands grab my hips and pull me to the edge of the desk while he pounds into me all the way to the hilt without a hint of mercy or shame.

  “I promise it’ll only hurt for a moment,” he groans and I’m caught in his silver gaze. My breath is stolen, my nails digging into his forearms as he towers over me, fully inside of me. If I could speak, I’d beg him to move. It’s too intense, too much.

  The intense pain from being stretched begins to slowly ease as he moves inside of me.

  My head drops back and I moan, the pleasure-filled waves riding up my body with every hard thrust.

  “Fuck yes,” he growls at the ceiling with his eyes closed and his mouth parted. He doesn’t stop his steady pace, though. His head slowly drops and he opens his eyes to find mine. It’s then that I notice his fangs and the hunger in his silver gaze. He is the epitome of power and lust. In this moment I am only his. I want nothing more than to bow down to him and give him every pleasure possible. My heart feels weak and raw. He has complete control of it. Sheer terror jolts through my body, freezing my hot blood. But in a flash, it’s gone, leaving only the heat to scorch my sensitive skin.

  My head drops to the desk and my eyes roll back from the intense pleasure radiating through my body. With one hand still on my hip and the other now wrapped around my throat, he picks up his pace and pistons into me with a primal need. I tremble as a numbness rises from the tips of my fingers and toes, threatening to overwhelm my body. I part my lips to beg for my release, but as I do he squeezes tighter around my throat and hammers into me as my pussy clenches.

  “Come for me.” His words are my undoing and I shatter beneath him. I shatter for him.

  Grace

  Devin leaves me for a moment, a chill draping itself around me as my body immediately notices his absence. I lift my head just enough to see him enter what looks to be a bathroom on the far side of the expansive office. As the aftershocks of my orgasm settle, my mind finally feels as though it’s clearing. Like it’s waking up from a fog. The realization of what just happened hits me with a force that makes me want to throw up.

  This is why they took us.

  My head shakes in denial. Shame immediately strips any sense of pleasure remaining from our bout of passion. They intend to use our bodies for their pleasure. No. I continue to shake my head, covering my face with my hands.

  I couldn’t even help myself just now. I wanted him to use me. Will I be like that around all of the other werewolves? Their very presence is a drug. It’s hard to lift myself from the desk, the room spinning at the realization. Even if my body is begging for their touch, I don’t want to be a whore available to them whenever they want. I want more from life. I need more. I push away my sadness as anger replaces it with a fierce need to rally.

  Lizzie.

  They will not touch her!

  I push off the desk and land on my bare feet, my legs still shaking. Half-naked, I sprint to the door. The sound of my bare feet padding against the wooden floors is nothing compared to the screaming in my head. My camisole barely covers my ass, but I don’t care. I need to get out of here. My limbs shake, but I run as fast as I can.

  I make it to the door as Devin exits the bathroom and curses under his breath.

  He’s fast, but I’m at least able to grip the knob and rip the door open. I scream, “Lizzie!” Adrenaline races through my blood. There’s no way I’m going to make it before he catches me. I’m going to fail her. I already have. As I run down the empty hall, I shout her name again. I don’t make it more than a few feet before I hear the heavy thuds of men running toward me from both sides. I stumble as I realized I’m trapped and I start to fall. My eyes dart to a door on my left, but before I can open it Devin grabs me from behind, lifting my feet off the floor and spinning me around as I scream.

  “What the—” a baritone voice starts to say but Devin cuts him off as I push against his hold and squirm.

  “Leave us.” His hard voice echoes in the hall and footsteps scurry away in the opposite direction. His arms are wrapped around me too tightly for me to escape. But I refuse to give up, fighting and straining against him. I work one arm free and slam my elbow as hard as I can into his face.

  “Fuck!”

  I doubt it hurt him but it shocks him enough that he drops me and I land hard on my ass; my palms hit the ground so hard that the resulting pain makes me think I broke my wrist, but at least I didn’t smack my head on the floor. I try to get to my knees at the thought of Lizzie going through what I just did. When I glance up, breathless and weighed down with worry, two silver eyes stare back at me. Lev is wide eyed at the end of the hall with his mouth agape.

  Devin’s hand grabs the nape of my neck as he lifts me off the floor with one arm. “I said leave!” he screams at Lev with rage vibrating off the walls. I whimper in his grasp as he wraps one arm around my waist. My hands fly up to my neck and try to pry away his fingers.

  “Calm down, sweetheart.” His gently spoken words against my ear are at complete odds with his powerful grip on me. But my body obeys him without my conscious consent. My hands drop to my sides as I start to see white spots dance in my vision. My body may be willing to listen to him, but my mind isn’t okay with any of this. He must know that on some level because he loosens his grip but doesn’t remove his hold on me. As I try to come to terms with being trapped in his arms, he tells me again that everything will be okay and that I just need to trust him.

  But I don’t trust him. I don’t trust any of them.

  Devin

  I leave for one fucking minute and she bolts? Rage courses through me but outw
ardly I’m doing my best to remain calm. Humans like controlled, collected behavior from shifters and typically I am. I have to stay composed for my mate. My mate who doesn’t even want me.

  A coldness settles inside of me, one I haven’t felt in over a year. Not since I noticed her at the offering. I’ll be damned if that thought doesn’t hit me like a bullet to my chest. My wolf doesn’t like it either. My pride is wounded. The only solace I have is that she’s letting me hold her. Grace is finally settling in my arms. At least her body is. I can see in her eyes that she’s resisting me. Struggling to find words to make sense of it all, I do my best to rein in my resentment that she ran right after she gave herself to me. How could she not feel our connection? How could she deny how perfect it was?

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have fucked her the second you got her in the house.” Lev’s words ring in my head. I grit my teeth to keep my irritation from showing. After all, Grace can’t hear him. I don’t want her to think my annoyance is with her.

  “Watch it, Lev.” I manage to keep a low growl from rumbling in my chest.

  “I’m just looking out for my big brother. I really think it would have been better if you’d waited.”

  “She’s in heat … What the hell was I supposed to do? Let her suffer?”

  I wait a moment for him to answer. His silence pisses me off.

  “She was barely coherent.” I sneer the words in my head, all the while staying relaxed on the surface for my Grace. Her body molds perfectly to mine. I’ve witnessed the heat before, in my old pack. I’m surprised it took me so long to realize that’s what was going on with her. Especially with that sweet, intoxicating smell filling up the room. My head wasn’t right with her looking at me like I was dangerous. Like I was going to hurt her. She shouldn’t feel like that around me. With my touch though, she reacted like she should have.

  Peering down at her small, huddled form, she presses against me with her eyes closed. She’s so beautiful and serene, and now she’s right where she belongs.

  “How about you give her some space? The farther away she is from you, the better she’ll be till the full moon.”

  The young wolf has a good point. I’ll be able to claim her then. There wasn’t a part of me that thought I’d fuck this up like I just did. “She’ll still be in pain.” The heat’s a bitch. She’ll writhe in agony once it hits her again.

  “It won’t be as bad if you stay away from her.”

  Grace shifts in my lap, nuzzling into my chest as her breathing evens out and deepens. Just the thought of staying away from her makes the wolf within me whine in pain.

  “Easy for you to say. I’ve waited a year to have her. You haven’t even met your mate yet. And the pull will only get stronger as the moon waxes.”

  I stroke her back to settle her and it seems to be helping. “I should explain everything to her. Maybe that’ll put an end to whatever’s going on in her pretty little head.”

  “How do you think Lizzie will react?”

  I stifle a sigh. Lev makes another good point. My little brother has always been more logical than me. More empathetic, perhaps. Caleb and Dom aren’t ready to tell her and Lizzie isn’t in any condition to hear that news. As the Alpha of the pack, their needs come before my own. My heart hurts for my mate, though. She doesn’t trust me or anything that she’s feeling. For fuck’s sake, she thought I drugged her.

  “You could let them see each other. Caleb and Dom are going crazy because Lizzie won’t come out of the bathroom and she’s crying again. Something is really wrong with her. That’ll give your mate something to focus on.”

  “Did you get their paperwork from Vince yet?” More silence from Lev answers my question. “He isn’t back yet, is he?” I clench my fists and scowl before I can catch myself. Thankfully, Grace has fallen asleep on my chest. The last thing I need to do is to frighten her anymore.

  “Not yet.”

  “When he gets back, I’m going to kick his ass.” Motherfucker can’t listen to orders for the life of him. I know him being MIA has something to do with finding his mate, but he could’ve waited until things were settled here. “What about Caleb?”

  “Haven’t heard from him yet. He’s probably still packing up their stuff.” I nod my head even though he can’t see me. The fresh scent of Grace’s hair wafts toward me and I breathe her in. She smells just like she tastes, like caramel apples on a crisp autumn night. My mouth waters at the memory.

  “You want some privacy, alpha?” I can hear Lev’s laugh.

  “Fuck off.” Even as I say it, I smile. I’ll get my mate’s worries worked out and then everything will be perfect. It has to be. My fingers twine with her brunette locks and I bend down just enough to kiss her temple.

  “Where do you want all of their shit when it gets here?”

  “I want it set up exactly as it was in their place. Put it all in the east wing.”

  “You don’t think that will freak them out?”

  “They need comfort and privacy right now. They want to go home so we’ll give them their home to run to.”

  “That’s fucking crazy, Dev.”

  A low growl rumbles deep within my chest, causing Grace to whimper. Fuck. I stroke her back until she settles again.

  “I’m surprised she’s bothered at all by your growl. I could feel those vibes you threw at her. It knocked Jude on his ass.” I can hear him chuckle.

  “Yeah? It didn’t get to you too?” I know it had to because it took everything in me to get her to bow. The moment she did, though, I regretted it. She’s my equal. My temper will be our undoing.

  “Course it did. But I stopped doing my laps and bowed like a wolf. Jude fucking dropped like a pussy.” I chuckle and the movement wakes Grace. At first she’s content and almost nuzzles back into me. Then her eyes open wider and she stiffens.

  Damn it. This isn’t how finding your mate is supposed to be.

  “Well, your mate is human.” My lips form a thin line at Lev’s words. I run my fingers through Grace’s hair and she melts back into me, although her eyes don’t close.

  I sigh heavily, loving the added weight of her on my chest. This would be so much better if she were a shifter. So much easier if she knew what to expect. If Grace had witnessed a heat firsthand, maybe she would’ve recognized it. At least her body perceives me as her mate. That’s more than I can say for Dom and Caleb’s mate.

  Lizzie

  Every inch of me shakes and won’t stop. The nightmares come back, full force and with details that took years to forget. I’m scared to death, huddled in the corner of the shower with the curtain closed as though they don’t know I’m in here. It’s only an illusion and one not a piece of me believes, but it’s all I have. I wonder if they know I’m not human. I pray they don’t. I can’t go back to what I once was.

  I’m not even completely sure what I am. Latent, maybe? My old pack said I was useless and a waste. They sold me to some assholes who beat the shit out of me, trying to force my wolf to come out. Tears stream down my face and my body shakes.

  They’re going to hurt me. Dom looks just like him. Like the shifter who brutalized my body over and over again. I shudder and squeeze my eyes shut, willing the memories to go away. I thought I’d escaped all this. I thought I was finally free. How could this happen? My shoulders shake uncontrollably as sobs wrack my body. I gasp for breath, but my throat dries and closes, suffocating me.

  I remember the pain shooting through my back while they whipped me. Taking turns and betting on whether I would break or if the wolf would show. The small spikes piercing into my skin and gripping on before being ripped away, taking bits of bloodied flesh with it, leaving nothing but raw, broken skin and blood. Although my vision was blurred, I can still see the splatters of my blood as they hit the wall. So much blood. I can still hear their laughter as my wounds closed before their eyes, although the brutal pain remained. That’s all the proof they needed. They kept at it, saying they would beat the latent out of me. That’s how it wor
ks with latent wolves. They show eventually … but mine never did.

  I prayed every night for the healing to stop. I begged any and every deity who might have been listening to have mercy on me. Some nights I prayed for them to let my captors kill me. And then one night, my prayers must have been heard. I stopped being able to heal. Their confusion gave me relief, but it was short lived. They continued to torture me. They brought me to death’s door over and over again. Each day they invented new ways to damage me. To bring out my wolf, but she left me. Left me or died; I’m not sure which. I’m not sure if she ever even existed.

  It took years before they gave up and tried to get their money back. They wanted to return me because I was broken. But my “pack” didn’t recognize my scent. They denied me. I was thrown away and left in human territory for them to claim me. No one ever did. It took nearly two years of living at the shelter for the Henders to take me. They got a check for keeping me. It wasn’t enough to stop them from the occasional smack and grab and push, though. Just like with everyone else, I was worthless to them. At that point I was so numb to the abuse I just accepted it as a way of life. At least they only struck me with their human fists, and I was grateful for it. They never tried to get “creative” like the shifters did.

  I only started to heal when Grace took me in.

  “Grace.” I sob her name into the cold tile wall. Please come help me. I can’t even speak the words aloud since my throat hurts too much. Come hold me. I wrap my arms around my shoulders and rock back and forth. She’s the only one who’s ever cared about me. I squeeze tighter as my head falls and rests on my knees. The only one who’s ever touched me in a kind way. I won’t survive here. I know it. This will kill me. With my last bit of energy, I whisper, “Please save me.”