by Renee Rose
So I kept quiet about the truth. It would come out when I caught her on pack land. On July twelfth, as she’d said. Hopefully, Gib and Ben would still be away then, and Landry and I could handle her. Because they’d tasked us both with taking care of the pack, and we had to resolve this. In the meantime, I had my inner wolf to satisfy. I couldn’t walk away from her now. No fucking way.
I needed to touch her. Breathe her in. Hear her moan in pleasure. Cry out my name as she came. Know she was dripping with need—for me. I longed for Landry to be here too, to agree with me that there was something about this human that appealed to my wolf. If we were mates, that meant she’d appeal to his as well.
But he wasn’t here. Yet the need to please her was strong. Too strong to deny.
I leaned in, and spoke quietly, as she had. “That is naughty. But that’s in two weeks. How about tonight? Are you naughty tonight?”
Her eyes widened as she stared at me. I watched, and knew the second she caught on. Her pupils narrowed and her mouth fell open.
Then she looked me over as if I was on the menu and she was deciding if she’d eat me up.
3
CAITLYN
“I’m Wade, by the way.” The broad-shouldered cowboy offered his hand.
“Caitlyn.” I clasped his fingers. The moment we touched, I nearly fell off my barstool. It was like the floor tilted. Damn, that wine had really gone to my head.
Suddenly, I was breathless and hot. Completely off-kilter.
Maybe it wasn’t the wine. Maybe it was the attention from the very interested, very hot stranger beside me. And I felt all that from just a handshake.
Well, he wasn’t a stranger anymore. Now, I knew his name. That made it okay, right? To feel something way more than I should for someone I’d just met. For his touch to be practically electrified.
I held onto his hand—his big, dinner plate-sized one—taking him in. He was a jumble of contradictions. He was rugged but clean-shaven. His forearms were pure, corded muscle. However, his hands weren’t calloused. They were warm, gentle, and somehow just that simple hold made me feel… safe. Yet he was definitely a danger to my panties because they were wet, making me want to squirm.
Dave, the bartender, showed up with Wade’s food, and I forced myself to pull my hand away. Wade shook his head at Dave. “I’ll take it to go.” He dropped two fifties on the bar, then looked to me. “Right, sugar?”
I swallowed hard. Blinked. Couldn’t say anything.
“For her tab, too,” he added.
His voice was a deep growl that reverberated right through me. It made my nipples go hard.
“Oh. Um. Wow. Thank you,” I finally said. Wait, did that—very blatantly—mean he assumed we were leaving together? That he would eat his dinner… later?
I should be stunned he assumed so much. That I was, what? An easy lay? Or could he sense that I felt something, more than I would if I just picked up some random guy… some random other guy.
Why did Wade seem different? Why was I not worried? Why did I want him to eat that steak later, but me first?
“Are you picking me up?” I blurted, tucking my hair back. God, had I even combed it since this morning?
“Hmm. Let me see.” He stood and moved behind me, making me turn and laugh because I didn’t know what he was doing. He gripped the sides of my barstool and lifted it into the air. “Now I’m picking you up.”
I laughed, and a slow smile slid across his face. “Show off.”
Dear gawd. He had every reason to show off. Not every guy could dead-lift a barstool with a hundred-pound woman perched on it.
He put me down and rested a casual hand on the back of the stool, leaning close and grinning down at me.
Dave delivered a to-go box and set Wade’s change on the bar. Wade picked up the box, leaving the money as a tip. “Want to get out of here?”
“Oh. Um. Yes. Okay.” If I was nervous, it wasn’t because I thought Wade was sketchy. It was more that I had no game. I usually ignored men’s attempts to flirt when I was here or on campus. Dating just wasn’t worth the hassle. All guys wanted was to get laid, especially in a university environment. Maybe this guy did too. No, obviously he did, but I was the one who felt different.
I didn’t know what made this guy special, but I sensed something new in every cell of my body. For once, my logical mind wasn’t in charge.
My body said yes. My nipples were poking against my bra as if trying to reach him. My pussy ached for some action—from an actual man, not a battery-operated boyfriend. I didn’t care to entertain any arguments otherwise.
He stepped back so I could hop off my stool and grab my purse. “Um… where do you want to go?” I looked up at him… way up, and realized how much bigger he was. At least a foot taller. I had to tip my chin back, otherwise I was staring at the snap on his shirt. I should have felt intimidated, but I felt feminine. The differences between us were striking. He was hard and muscled. I was toned, but had stopped growing in seventh grade. Two of me probably still didn’t equal one of him.
“Your place,” he murmured, sliding a knuckle down my cheek. “It’s a hell of a lot closer than mine.”
Our gazes tangled and held. My breath stalled in my chest as I took in the golden glint to his brown eyes. “Why are you here in Granger?”
He shook his head. “On business.” Taking my hand, he led me to the door, holding it open for me until we were out on the sidewalk. The evening air was cooler. People were out enjoying themselves in the pretty summer night. With the university only having a few summer programs going on, there were fewer students around.
Wade looked at me, and I took in the dark flecks in his eyes. The way they pierced into me, roving, studying, as if searching for something.
Then I realized I was being an idiot. He didn’t know where to go. He was waiting for me.
“This way.” I turned toward my apartment, and he kept his pace to my slower one as we went down the block.
He didn’t live in Granger. Being here for business meant that he didn’t come here often for other reasons.
It’s a one-night stand, dummy.
I shouldn’t have been disappointed that he wasn’t a local, but strangely, I was. Then a terrible thought occurred to me, and I stopped. “Oh God, you’re not married, are you?” I craned my head to try to check for a ring.
He turned to face me. When he saw we were blocking the way of another couple coming down the sidewalk, he tugged me toward the nearest shop entrance. “What? No!” The answer exploded out of him with a laugh like it was an outrageous suggestion, so I relaxed.
I sighed, setting a hand on my heart. “Okay, good. Just checking. So do you, um… do this often?” Gah. My nerves were getting on top of me. I definitely had no game. This probably wasn’t the sort of thing I should ask right before I was about to hook up with a hot cowboy.
“Never, sugar. But it seems I have a real weakness for wolf biologists.” He winked, then stroked my cheek again. His gaze roved over my features, then settled on my mouth. He groaned right before he lowered his head and kissed me.
Oh, shit. The guy could kiss. It went from a gentle brush to more from one second to the next. His hand cupped the back of my neck and held me in place, tipping my head to the side so he could take it deeper.
I gasped, then whimpered when his tongue found mine.
He lifted his head. I blinked, and stared up at him. Licked my now swollen lips.
“Caitlyn…”
He didn’t need to say more than my name because he had me at those two growled syllables.
My panties dampened, and all my nerves melted away. “My apartment’s right there.” I pointed to the next building down. He was still holding my hand, and tugged me along. This time, he was rushing, and I had to practically run to keep up. I didn’t mind. He was eager, and so was I. If that kiss was any indication…
Pulling out my keys, I tried to get them in the lock, but my hand was shaking too much. Wade took over, and
got the door opened. His hand settled on my lower back as he held it open for me to enter first. He was taking deep breaths, as if the kiss had been a workout. The electricity between us grew as we took the stairs up to my apartment.
The moment I got the door open, Wade launched into motion, divesting me of my purse and keys as his lips slammed down on mine once more, as if the few minutes our mouths had been apart was too much.
I gasped, responding to the kiss with more pent-up passion than I knew was in me. God, I was attracted to Wade. Hot for him. Like zero to sixty from one kiss to the next. What was it about this guy?
His size? His hard muscles? His gentle hands? His skilled mouth?
I even liked his taste.
Wade flung off his hat, then stripped me of my jean jacket. My top was pulled off next, and he barely broke our kiss to do it. “You smell so good,” he rumbled against my neck as he backed me against a wall. His hands cupped and kneaded my breasts through my bra.
I let my head fall back, savoring the feel of his touch. My nipples pebbled even further, and it was as if there was some kind of current between them and my clit. I ached. Throbbed. Needed more.
“I-I do?” I laughed. I wasn’t wearing perfume or anything. I was pretty basic when it came to cosmetics, which made it even crazier that he was feeling me up instead of one of the pretty coeds at the bar.
“So good.” He nipped my neck as his fingers worked behind me to undo the clasp on my bra. “Good enough to eat.”
“Oh God,” I moaned, looping my arms around his neck as he lowered his head to flick his tongue over my right nipple.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. It was straight out of a fantasy reel. This was lady-porn right here. Hot cowboy with muscles for miles, who wanted to fuck a the nerdy scientist.
I tugged at the opening of his shirt, satisfied when I popped one of the snaps. Tugging harder, I opened it to his waist, and feasted my eyes on the sight of his sculpted chest. He was the definition of brawny, with a barrel chest tanned bronze and dusted with golden hair. I wanted to taste him, too.
He sucked a nipple into his mouth at the same time as he unbuttoned my jeans.
I helped him, kicking off my ballet flats and shoving my pants down over my hips.
Wade let out an animal-like growl as he dropped to his knees and ripped my panties down my legs.
“Oh my God.” Tremors of excitement ran through me. I’d never done anything like this. Not the random hook-up from a bar—that was new, too—but the level of passion between us was off the charts. I was close to coming, and we’d barely done anything.
I kicked off my pants right before Wade got my panties to my ankles and slipped them off, too. Then he lifted one of my knees and tossed it over his shoulder before he parted me with his tongue.
“Oh!” I wrapped my fingers in his hair as he pressed his mouth against my sex. He licked into me, swirling his tongue over all my sensitive bits, making me moan continuously. I threw my head back.
“Even better than I imagined,” he declared, and I felt the hot fan of his breath… there.
“Don’t stop.” I didn’t even sound like myself. My tone was desperate. Needy. And he’d only just licked me. He hadn’t—
“Oh, I don’t plan to stop, sugar. Not until you’re screaming my name.”
I’d been on the brink of doing just that since the first moment he flicked his tongue over my clit. Now he alternated the movement with firm licks, sucking my labia and penetrating me with his tongue.
“More,” I sobbed, my head heavy against the wall, my hips pinned by his firm hold.
“You need more, Caitlyn? You want my tongue here?”
“Yes,” I panted. “Please.”
“Fingers, too?”
“Mmmhmm.”
He slid a finger inside me, then two, caressing my inner wall with the tips. The sensation drove me wild. My hips jerked against his mouth, my juices leaking to an embarrassing degree.
“Wade!”
“That’s right, sugar. Say my name.” He pumped his fingers in and out with ruthless precision. He knew what he was doing, as if he’d had a manual to my pussy and he’d memorized it.
“Wade, oh please. Wade.” I was going to die if I didn’t come this second. “Please, oh!” The tightly wound coil sprang, and my muscles seized around his fingers, pulsing and squeezing as pleasure exploded from my core to every tingling nerve ending in my body. My fingers yanked at his hair, my hips bucked, my toes curled. “Oh my God, yes.”
I was pretty sure the earth shook. Definitely the floor of my apartment. My neighbors also knew how talented he was, and I didn’t care.
“Wade,” I moaned as the aftershocks eased. He was still sucking my clit, his fingers gently stroking inside me. I would have slid down the wall, but he was holding me up. “That was amazing. You’re… God, very good at that.” I laughed in my delirium.
He sat back and licked his lips, the gloss of my juices coating them. “You are amazing,” he said with a slow smile. He adjusted his cock in his jeans.
I flicked my brows at his obvious erection. “Let’s take care of you now,” I said with my most suggestive smile.
Instead of the Fuck, yeah! I was expecting, a pained expression came over Wade’s face. “I, uh… I need to take a raincheck on that, sugar.”
“What?” My brain couldn’t compute. He didn’t want me to give him a BJ?
He looked disappointed, but it made no sense. I was right here, ready to unzip those jeans and get busy. To give him the same pleasure he’d just given me.
“I’m sorry,” he said, glancing around. It was as if he’d just realized what he’d done, like maybe it had been a bad decision to begin with. “I definitely want to stay, but I… can’t. Not tonight. Don’t worry, I’ll get those gorgeous lips around me soon.”
“Um… yeah. Sure. Okay.” I seriously didn’t understand what was happening. I knew he was into me. Why wouldn’t he stay, especially after he’d taken care of my needs?
I tried not to let the disappointment and hurt threatening the edges of my bliss to seep in. I’d had the best man-made orgasm of my life. Heck, probably even solo, too.
He lowered my leg from his shoulder, ensured I was stable on my feet, then stood. I watched as he adjusted his cock.
He wasn’t unaffected. In fact, based on the thick bulge, he had to be seriously uncomfortable. Then why?
Oh God. It was my pussy. He hadn’t liked it. His hard dick was an automatic response. Was that it, or was I insane? When he kissed my forehead and let himself out of my apartment, I didn’t know what the hell had happened.
4
LANDRY
Present Day
Whoa.
Just, whoa. Caitlyn Shriver, the pain-in-our-ass scientist, was hot as hell.
Fuck, she was even prettier than Wade had described. Prettier than the pictures I’d seen of her online. A tiny thing, she didn’t even reach our shoulders. I caught the strawberry-spice scent of her Wade had described on the soft breeze. One inhale, and that was it.
We were so fucked.
Wade had been right. One hint of her scent, and I knew she was the one. Our mate.
I’d known pairs to find their mate. It happened often enough—my parents included. Still, it hadn’t seemed possible for me. But Wade had found her in Granger. Or, better yet, she had found us. Which meant Fate had intervened. If one believed in shit like that. Which, after today, I was inclined to.
And what an ironic bitch she was, too. Fate, that is.
What were the chances that our one true mate would be the very same wolf biologist who was going to put our entire pack at risk with her research? Who’d refused our alpha’s orders to stay away?
Gib had left me in charge of the pack while he was gone, a job that shouldn’t have been too difficult to manage. Ben had tasked Wade with looking into our sexy scientist. That, too, shouldn’t have been too hard to handle.
But Fate sent us a curve-ball.
&nbs
p; Just like that—one look, one whiff, and our lives changed. At least I wasn’t in this alone. Wade and I stood shoulder to shoulder in the clearing, and had a stare-down with this defiant little firecracker of a woman. The one who could wreak havoc on our peace and safety.
Our female.
She wasn’t meek. She was brave, and clearly passionate about her work.
Which was all about wolves.
Gib was going to lose his shit when he found out. I was only filling in as alpha, and based on the fact that I’d already let Caitlyn onto our land with a tranq gun and microchips, I was doing a shitty job.
She stared at me with a mixture of arousal and wariness—the perfect combination, in my book. It meant she knew who was in charge. We were. And her mates would give her exactly what she needed.
We’d stated plainly to her that we took a woman together. That we had a mutual desire for her.
“What… what kind of punishment?” she asked, her voice soft. Her cheeks were flushed from her hike, but also from interest. Wade had said we would never harm her. I’d agreed immediately because I’d do anything to keep her safe.
“Oh, I don’t know.” I sauntered closer to her, taking in the way her nipples poked through her bra and t-shirt, the way her breath rose and fell rapidly in her chest. “I’m thinking something like leaning you against that fence post and smacking your ass… until you’re good and ready.”
“R-ready for what?”
I glanced at Wade. “Us.”
Her pupils dilated, and my dick hardened. She liked the idea. Whether she was a masochist or just liked someone taking control, I didn’t know. Yet.
We’d find out before we left this field. She’d know who was in charge. Me.
I watched as her tongue flicked out and licked her lower lip. I stifled a growl. Wade had had a taste of her, and my mouth watered for one of my own.
