He pulled me away, his fingers tangled in my hair. “I love kissing you.”
“Then why’d you stop?” I had to keep reminding myself to take it slow. I wanted to rock back and forth in his lap, to feel the length of his hard cock against my body.
“Because.” The corner of his mouth turned up and his flush wasn’t from the heat. “I want this to last as long as possible.”
“Oh.” So I’d come on a little too strong. “We don’t have to do that if you’re not ready.”
“I’m ready.” The words came out in a gravelly rumble and there was no denying what he wanted. “I’ve spent forever dreaming of this night. Of finding my mate. And I want to get it right. So show me, Delilah, what you want me to do to you.”
Holy hell. Gunnar might not have a whole lot of experience, but that was the sexiest thing a man had ever said to me. I had to think about it for a second, because I wasn’t usually given the opportunity to take requests. “I want you to—”
He put his finger over my mouth. “I said, show me.” There was that rumble again. “And don’t let me move onto the next thing until I get it right.”
I stared at the camera in the corner of the room. Looking directly into the lens was a silent code for shut that thing off. When the green light faded, I pulled the string of my bikini top free from the back of my neck and let the fabric bobble in the water. Gunnar’s gaze followed the motion. I wasn’t exposed, not yet. I traced my finger over my collarbone, terrified I’d electrocute myself with the current flowing from my fingers. I’d never been so turned on by my own touch before. I’d also never had a smoking hot buck watching my every move with such rapture.
Trailing my fingers down to my breasts, I toyed with the edge of my bikini. My nipples strained against the fabric and I wanted Gunnar to touch me. From the way his eyes were on fire—the honey glowing like the hottest part of a flame—I was willing to bet he wanted the very same thing. I reached back and unhooked my top.
Gunnar rumbled in approval.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he said, leaning forward. But he still didn’t touch me. My body ached, every inch of me desperate for his touch. His gaze was glued to my chest, moving with the rise and fall of my breasts as I gulped for air. Breathing wasn’t automatic anymore. I wanted to hand control over to him—all of it. I wanted to feel safe and cherished and all the things that finding my soulmate promised. But first, I had to show him how to make me feel that way.
I closed my eyes, circling my breast with trembling fingers. My nipples were taut, and I trembled when I touched them. I squeezed one between my fingers.
“Open your eyes, Delilah,” Gunnar said softly. I did as I was told. He was even more beautiful than he had been before. Wet and ready for me and so, so close. He nodded when I met his gaze. “I want to know I’m doing this right.”
He followed my journey. The trail of his finger would leave a tattoo. I’d never forget the way his touch felt, how he made me feel. Like I truly was the most beautiful woman in the world. Like he wanted nothing more than to please me. His touch tickled when he dipped into my cleavage, his fingers disappearing in the water, then gliding across my skin. He sucked in a sharp breath before he moved to my breast.
I didn’t know where to look, at the trail of his finger as he grew braver, getting closer to my nipple, at his fingers, or into his eyes. He mimicked my move, taking my nipple between his rough fingers and applying pressure. I moaned in approval.
“Am I hurting you?” His voice was as rough as the tips of his fingers.
“Not exactly. It hurts but it feels good.” I closed my hand over his and encouraged him to go harder. He had me up against the edge of the tub, and I put my head back to let the sensation roll over me like the bubbling water. His cock was so hard against the inside of my thigh, and I pushed myself against it. He made that rumbling noise again, the one that I was quickly becoming addicted to. I’d push and tease to make him do it until he exploded. It was okay if he wasn’t perfect. He was mine.
Gunnar moved to the other breast, repeating the motion. I squeezed my eyes closed, and he took my chin in his hand.
“Keep them open. I want you to watch me. You need to teach me, Delilah. Show me what’s next.”
I took his hand in mine, and my throbbing nipples missed his touch immediately. Bringing his fingers to my mouth, I sucked each one of them, electricity dripping on my tongue like rain. I loved the way we burned together. He snaked his other hand into my wet hair, holding me close to him. I barely had room to move our hands between us. I kept my fingers laced between his as I led him down the front of my body, underwater, leading him to my bikini bottom.
There was that noise again. He didn’t need any guidance to trace the edge of the fabric, slipping his fingers inside the edge.
“Don’t be afraid to touch me.” I was breathless. If he hadn’t held my head, I would’ve been floating—my bones turned to jelly in anticipation of this man touching me. Of being his very first. I’d forgotten how exciting it was. To be the one and only. Usually, the world was so big and it made me feel small. But as Gunnar slipped his fingers lower, deeper, I was the center of his universe.
The bikini bottom had to go, I wriggled in his lap, pushing it down my thighs.
He chuckled. “Let me.” He gave it a good yank, pulling my hips above surface before the fabric gave way.
“You ripped it off me?”
“Yeah.” He cupped my pubic bone as I sank back into the water, his fingers still over my throbbing clit. “Is that a problem?”
Someone was a little excited. “Sometimes I forget there’s an animal in there, that’s all.”
“I’ll make sure you never forget again.” He pushed me against the edge of the tub, his knee between my legs as he kissed me. He didn’t need instruction anymore. That animal had been dying to be set free for too long. Instinct took over, his fingers moved against my clit again, exploring further, deeper, as he kissed me in time with the rhythm.
My buck was smart. Pressure built deep inside me as he took my clit between his fingers just like he did with my nipple. I moaned into his kiss, and pressed my body against the hard, muscled plane of his—anything I could do to let him know I wanted more. I gripped his shoulders, letting his power course through me as he thrust his fingers inside.
He hissed against my lips as I raked my nails down his biceps. The corners of my vision had gone black as he brought my climax roaring to the surface. I wanted him inside me. I wanted us to be one. I pushed his shorts down, but it was hard work when I couldn’t think straight. Lightning struck my brain with every flick of his fingers.
“Delilah!” A voice that didn’t belong to a buck sliced through the room. Gunnar stilled his fingers and jumped back from me. The only movement in the room was the gurgling water in the tub.
Tessa stopped short, her eyes wide. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but you better come with me.”
Chapter Ten
DELILAH
I charged out of the hot tub room in nothing but a towel, with Gunnar on my heels. His rumbling didn’t stop, but it had taken on a new tone. Protective. He kept his hand on my back.
My heart pounded. The shock of being interrupted as my orgasm crested sent my system into a tailspin. This had better be good. We hadn’t broken any rules. Not that there were many to break. As long as we didn’t willfully hurt another person on the show or talk trash about one of the sponsors, everything was good.
Tessa led us into the production lounge full of long-faced crew. Shit.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Tessa licked her lips. I hadn’t noticed how pale her face was until now. “Naomi called. There was a break-in—”
“Is Jeremy okay?” I couldn’t waste time with details if something happened to my son.
“He’s gone,” one of the other girls said.
Gunnar caught me before I hit the floor. Everything came crashing into excruciating slow motion. This horrible sense of déjà-vu wa
shed over me, practically drowning me. It was the same feeling I got when I answered the door in Phoenix and found two police officers waiting to give the worst news of my life. My heart had been ripped out of my chest that night and I wouldn’t survive going through that again. I could not lose Jeremy.
There had to be a mistake.
“What do you mean by gone?” Gunnar asked. I couldn’t speak.
“Naomi was hysterical, so it was hard to get the details, but there was something about a pack. Revenge. They left with Jeremy.”
Stefan.
“What about Sebastian?” Gunnar asked. “Is he with her or with them?”
How could he think about Sebastian when my kid was in danger? I wanted to lash out at him, but it was a perfectly logical question. He was pointing a finger in the same direction as I did. Stefan had come for his brother, and my son was a sweet bonus in their war.
How could I be so stupid? Leaving Jeremy with him. Exposed.
“She didn’t say anything about him,” Tessa said.
“We have to find Jeremy!” I could hardly breathe. “He’s ten. He—”
He’s my everything.
I lost it, sliding down the front of Gunnar’s body into a heap on the floor. His strong arms offered no comfort. It was a mockery. Here I was, slutting it up under the guise of trying to be a good mother. Like I was doing this for him. Jeremy didn’t need a father figure as much as he needed a mother he could respect. I failed him.
“We’ll find him.” Gunnar smoothed my wet hair away from my face. “I’ve been dealing with Stefan my entire life. One thing never changes—he’s a coward. He won’t hurt Jeremy. He’s using him as bait to get either me or Sebastian to fight. I’ll give him what he’s looking for.”
“I don’t care if you fight him. I want my baby back. Safe. With me.” And when it happened, I was never letting him out of my sight again. “We have to go. Now.”
“What can we do to help?” Tessa asked.
“Get dressed,” Gunnar said to me, his voice pure animal. It should’ve scared me, but it didn’t. He picked me off the ground, gripping the towel and keeping it against my body. He pulled me into him, strong and steady. I was shaking. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “They won’t hurt him.”
“You don’t know that!” I wanted to push away and run to a place where none of this was happening. I had to find my baby and make sure he was safe forever. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t shield him from that pain. I’d never felt like more of a failure. “We have to go. Now.”
I didn’t know where or how. I couldn’t think straight.
“I’m bringing you to Sebastian’s house. Stay with Naomi,” he rumbled, turning to Tessa. “And you. Don’t follow us. Keep your cameras far away.”
Tessa nodded. “Should we call the police?”
The police. The corners of my vision blackened as I pictured those two cops at my door. There’s been an accident...
No.
“Don’t bother. They have no jurisdiction over pack law.” Gunnar guided me by the shoulders over to the dressing room.
“I’m coming with you,” I said when the door closed. I let the towel drop and scrambled into my clothes. I’d laid them on the bench, so hopeful at the beginning of the night. When my biggest problem was that I might not connect with this man. Or his animal. Never thinking that it was possible to connect too much. To be used as a pawn in a war I could never understand, and pay a price I could never recover. “I have to find him.”
His grip on my shoulders tightened. “I can’t keep you safe out there. There’s no telling what will happen.”
“Then how can you tell me that they won’t hurt Jeremy?” I collapsed onto the bench. I’d be nothing but a liability. I hated that. But I had to get my shit together and be strong. No. It wouldn’t happen again. “He’s my son. I can’t give a shit about pack politics right now. I won’t sit by and do nothing.”
“You won’t be.” Gunnar sat next to me. We were wasting precious moments. “I’ve got a good idea of what Stefan will do, but we need someone at a home base that knows what’s going on with everyone. Someone there if he comes back. We have to cover all our bases.”
I nodded. Fighting with Gunnar about the best thing to do wasn’t helping find Jeremy. I’d let him fight the wolves. But if he thought I’d sit idly by while my son was missing, he was a fool. “Aren’t you going to get dressed?”
He shook his head. “I’ll shift soon.”
The world passed in a blur. It wasn’t far to Sebastian’s condo. Naomi was out front with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. There were men everywhere. Some of them I knew better than I wanted to admit.
The Bloodhounds.
Naomi ran to me when I got out of Gunnar’s truck. “I’m so sorry,” she said between sobs. “We heard a crash, and they were everywhere. I fought as hard as I could. I don’t want you to think I let this happen. I know what he means to you.”
She could never know, but her words helped. “What’s their plan?” I asked, jerking my head toward the Bloodhounds.
Naomi jumped back, frowning. My words were flat and I was outside my body, like I was watching this happen to someone else. Seeing everyone made it real. We were here and Jeremy wasn’t. “They waited for Gunnar, figuring he was the most familiar with what Stefan might actually do. There’s no ferries to the island until sunrise. He’s here, somewhere. This is good—”
“How can you say that?” I was hardly able to listen to her. That tunnel vision was back and this time there would be no one there to catch me when I fell.
“Listen to me. We have a fuckton of different animals here, and they all have different strengths. This isn’t wolf on wolf. This is a bunch of guys really pissed off that a bully decided to pick on a kid. It’s not going to end well for Stefan.”
I wasn’t the only one with something to lose. “How does Sebastian feel about that?”
She shrugged. “His focus is on Jeremy.”
“What am I gonna do?” I didn’t try to be strong anymore. I went down into the wet grass, onto my knees, dragging Naomi down with me. She put the blanket over my shoulders and rocked me. “I need to find him.”
“They want us to stay here,” she whispered, rolling her eyes before looking over her shoulder. “But I call bullshit on that, too. What do you want to do, Delilah?”
“We go to the island on the first ferry.” I didn’t believe for a second Stefan was waiting around for public transportation. “And we get my son back.”
Chapter Eleven
GUNNAR
This is what you get, my buck roared as it broke through my skin, for putting yourself before the herd. For coveting a human and exposing her to danger. She’s not meant for this life.
Shut up. My buck and I were about to become one. My humanity would fade away and deep in the forest in the small hours of the night, it would barely be a shadow of my animal. This was a dangerous time. When I thought only of beating Stefan, and not of the world around me.
She’s not your mate, he took a parting shot without giving the human part of me the chance to answer before he dissolved.
My fur ripped through my skin. It was usually a relief to turn buck because it meant freedom.
It would be different this time. All I could think of as I led a pack full of angry animals through the forest was Delilah. Her stunning body, wet from the hot tub and trembling in anticipation of my next move. Oh, that happened in another lifetime, and my buck had the audacity to laugh at the foolish human who held him hostage. But even as a buck, she haunted me. My beautiful, unattainable dream. The echo of her hope being snuffed with those two little worlds, he’s gone. Her body giving up, the light going out. I had to get Jeremy back. Especially since I brought this danger to her.
Stefan wanted me dead. He hurt his brother by hurting me—but deep down, he hoped Sebastian would come around. Put his old pack and their ancient traditions before everything else. Sebastian was a distraction to Stefan, but I
was an obstacle. Something that had to be removed if he had a prayer in Hell of succeeding. He’d never been able to strike before, because his pack was weaker than he’d ever admit. With the Bloodhounds snarling behind me—animals Stefan had no experience fighting—now was an unlikely time for him to make a stand.
But he finally had a way to bring me to my knees. Delilah. He didn’t have to kill me if he could break her.
I knew better, and it made so much more sense when I was a buck. But it was too late. Didn’t matter what form I was in, I could never let her go.
The complex where the Bloodhounds lived backed up to a thick, wooded area. If we ran far enough, we’d be in the mountains. The scents were unfamiliar, but Stefan had an unmistakeable stink, like rotten meat.
“He’s not here.” I turned to Sebastian. “How much of a head start did he get?”
“Not much,” he said. “But they could’ve had Jeremy before they let us know they were there. That crash—that was a warning shot. They wanted to get caught.”
“Why weren’t you paying attention?” My roar echoed through the woods.
“He went to sleep hours ago—we were in bed, doing the same thing you were.” Sebastian growled. “I didn’t put the kid in danger.”
Not like you. He didn’t have to say it out loud. I’d never fought with Sebastian and I wouldn’t start now. This was how Stefan would get Faraway Island back. Divide and conquer. Or so he thought.
“Gunnar, you’re most familiar with the land here." Landon Fox, our quarterback and no doubt the alpha of the Bloodhounds, came between us. "Where do you think Stefan would take him?”
Problem was, I didn’t know the land in Holiday Falls. I hardly ever left Faraway Island. So I knew that was also the case for Stefan. We did have something in common. We both loved our home. I’d always thought there was room enough for both of us, and now I knew Stefan was right all along. There wasn’t.
“He’d go back to Faraway Island.”
“There are no ferries until dawn,” Sebastian said. “He could have his own boat, or he stole one. Wouldn’t put it past him.”
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