by Renee Rose
I stagger backwards because my legs are confused. Fight or flight? Run or hug Deke?
I settle for licking my lips. “You're a wolf,” I state the obvious. The impossible.
Deke hesitates, like he’s not sure if he should approach. “Don’t be afraid,” he murmurs, hands open. Deke prowls out from the brush. Without the bushes between us, I realize something else.
My lips twitch. “Um, you're naked.” Except for the dog tags. Those glint on his impressive chest, drawing the eye to the cut rows of his abs, then down, following his happy trail to…
Okay. So evidence suggests he and the wolf did not switch places. That they are, in fact, one and the same.
“You’re a…” I can’t say it. It’s too insane.
He nods. “That’s my darkest secret.”
I drag my eyes back up to his face. It’s hard. There’s so much of him for my eyes to feast on. “Okay.”
His brows shoot up. “Okay? Is that all you’re going to say?”
“What should I say? Did you expect me to run screaming?”
He shrugs. “Pretty much.”
“Well I’m not. I’m not sure I can run, actually. Excuse me.” I drop down onto a large rock because my legs stop working.
Deke squats slowly, tucking his entire body into a crouch, so our eyes are still level. His movements are eerily fluid. Like the wolf’s.
“You’re a wolf,” I repeat.
He nods.
I reach out and touch his wolf tattoo. “Oh my God.” I pass a shaking hand over my face. I have this insane urge to laugh. “Oh my God. This is your secret.”
He’s motionless, waiting. Waiting for me to pass judgement or tell him to leave or something. Just waiting.
“You’re a wolf,” I say wonderingly and touch his face. He closes his eyes and turns his head, so I’m stroking back his hair. Petting him. “Deke,” I whisper.
“Sadie,” he groans into my palm. He nips at my skin.
And then I wrap my arms around him and kiss him. He kisses me back. I surge over him, bearing him down to his shins, so I can straddle his waist. “Is this okay? Am I hurting you?”
“No,” he says between rough kisses. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Before I can ask what he means, he’s got his hand down the back of my leggings. I groan as he cups me from behind, his fingers seeking my heat.
It’s the work of a second for me to kick off my boots and wriggle and tug them off. He’s already naked, all six feet plus of him.
“I don’t have a condom, Sadie-girl.” He looks pained.
“Oh.” Nope, I do not accept clam-jam this time. “You could pull out?”
“Deal.” His biceps bulge as he picks me up by the waist and lowers me over his dick. He’s unbelievably strong. Now I know why it was so simple for him to just pick me up and carry me off whenever he had the urge.
Deke lifts and lowers me over his cock, slowly at first, then working up to a bounce. My breasts rise and fall with the momentum, and I feel porn-star sexy. It’s delicious. I’m screwing a werewolf. Under the open sky.
It’s perfect.
His stubble scrapes my face as we kiss. I cry out as all the danger and adrenaline and threat roll into some primal feeling, an epic orgasm to celebrate the way I faced the wolf and survived. I’m alive.
Deke groans his eyes changing to green. “I can’t,” he mutters. I catch the glint of wolf-teeth in his mouth. “I can’t.”
Can’t what? I want to ask but he’s still bouncing me, pushing me towards another climax. This time, when I break, he curses, lifts me off him, and pumps his cock to release onto the soft earth. His breath blows harsh against my jacket, and as he comes, he slashes his lip with a sharp tooth, sending blood dripping down his chin.
Deke
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” I apologize, even though we’d agreed I would pull out. Still, it felt disrespectful. Disappointing.
Unnatural.
Fate wants us to mate.
That’s the thought that flits through my head, and this time the idea goes beyond just marking Sadie as mine. It goes to our future. To living together. Making pups. Raising a family. Everything Sadie said she wanted, I crave to give her. I want it, too. The whole package.
“You’re bleeding,” Sadie exclaims, bringing her thumb to my chin.
I hurriedly swipe the evidence away. “Sorry, I—”
She studies me, concern and curiosity glinting in her warm brown eyes. “What are you sorry for?”
I swallow. I should explain it all to her. But is she ready? Are we there yet? I haven’t even talked to Rafe. I don’t know what I’ll do if my alpha stands in the way of me claiming Sadie.
“Wolves, uh...we mark our mates.”
“What?” She doesn’t sound shocked. Only confused.
“With our teeth. That’s why I’ve been going for so many runs and not sleeping in the same bed as you. I, ah, have the urge to claim you.”
“Claim me?” Her eyes are wide. Not frightened, though. That’s good.
I scrub a hand over my face then pick up her yoga pants from the ground and hold them open for her to step back into. “It may not work,” I admit the sour truth.
She draws in a gasp. “Do you mean, like, turn me?”
A surprised chuckle pops out of my throat. “No. We’re not vampires.” I can’t stop smiling. She’s so damn cute. “We’re a different species. We usually mate our own kind.”
Her disappointment is palpable. My wolf wants to howl, to fix it. He wants to make her happy for the rest of our lives. So do I.
I tug her back onto my lap. “I want you for my mate.” I need to make it clear.
She touches my face. “I want that, too. I mean, I think I do. I want you, Deke.”
“Then we’ll work this out. We’ll figure it out, together. All right?”
Her smile is brighter than the morning sun. She presses her lips over mine. “I love you.”
“Fuck, Sadie. I love you, too.”
I detect the sound of voices coming up the trail. Scott may have returned after his supreme show of cowardice to “rescue” Sadie.
“Someone’s coming, Sadie-girl.”
She kisses me again. “I don’t care.”
“I’m naked.”
“Oh!” She laughs and scrambles off me.
“I’ll meet you back at the resort in twenty. Okay? Are you all right on your own?”
She lets out a soft scoff. “Of course.”
Of course. She was the one prepared to fight off a giant wolf with nothing but a branch. My Sadie can handle herself.
I shift, my wolf preening when Sadie gasps and buries her fingers in my fur. I risk another moment to let her stroke my ears and rub my head, then I bound up the mountain in the direction of my clothes.
When I reach the top, I turn and look down at Sadie, unable to keep my back to her for long.
She’s still standing there, watching me with a wondrous expression on her face. She waves, and I lift my snout. But Scott and two resort employees are rounding the bend, so I take off, getting out of site as quickly as I can.
Chapter 14
Sadie
“Well, that was fun,” I say as the resort grows smaller in the Mercedes rear view window. “Sex in the forest. Guess I can cross that off my bucket list. Sex with a werewolf, too.”
Deke’s eyes crinkle, but—characteristically—he says nothing.
After he met me back at the resort, we stayed and had another round of epic sex in the room, skipping the farewell wedding lunch.
I called for a late check-out, and we showered together then had a very late lunch before packing our bags and checking out. As much as the resort and the crowds aren’t his scene, I got the feeling Deke didn’t want to leave.
Like, maybe he doesn’t want to get back to the real world yet. Maybe he’s worried about us.
Something suddenly occurs to me. “So the no mixing with civilians thing, was that really, no mixing with… human
s?”
He hesitates. “Yes and no. The thing about me being dangerous, Sadie.” He looks over and my stomach cinches up. “It’s real.”
“We already talked that through,” I say stubbornly.
“Yes, but what you didn’t understand when we talked it through is that I have a wild animal inside me. And sometimes, I lose control of him.”
I suddenly want to cry. Not for myself but for him. His pain is palpable.
“You didn’t lose control this morning. I mean, you tackled Scott, but you didn’t hurt him. You definitely wouldn’t have hurt me.”
He seems to consider this. His shoulders relax a bit. “Yeah. You’re right. I think my fear over hurting you kept me in control.”
“So you’re safe. I know you’re safe.”
I do. I know it to my bones. There’s no other man—werewolf—on the planet more safe for me.
As we come down a mountain and back into cell service range, my phone wakes up. It chirps at me, announcing a missed call and voicemail.
“Is that Scott?” Deke growls low. His hands instantly white-knuckle the steering wheel. It had taken me a while to shake off Scott after he so gallantly—(not)—came to my rescue with resort security. Deke showed up, though, and showed a touch of menace when he told Scott to stay away from me, or there would be trouble.
“No. My dad.” I click off my phone, ignoring my missed messages. He’s probably calling to see if Scott and I got back together.
It’s evening when we pull up to my townhouse. It feels later than it is. The sky is dark and heavy with clouds. Deke parks, and I climb out of his ride. Before I can ask, Deke grabs my suitcase and walks me to my door. He sets my bag inside but remains outside. His big hand grips the doorframe, and he leans closer like he wants to come in but needs permission.
“I should get back to headquarters.”
I don’t want to pressure him, but I suddenly have this irrational fear that once he gets back to his own kind, they’ll talk him out of being with me.
“Can you just spend the night tonight? Go back tomorrow?”
He scrubs a hand over his face. “I want to, baby.”
“Please?” I might be doing puppy-eyes.
“Fuck, you’re hard to say no to.”
I smile.
He follows me inside.
Okay, you got him inside. Now what? “Wine?” I offer, in an attempt at hospitality.
Deke shakes his head.
Since I’m already in the kitchen, I head to the outlet I use as a charging station. I plug in my phone, and it turns on, buzzing like an angry hornet.
“Ugh,” I growl when I see who’s been calling me. “It’s not Scott,” I say to Deke, who’s lurking in my living room, a giant, gloomy shadow. “Hang on.” I hold up a finger, and I call my father back. It goes straight to his voicemail.
I hold Deke’s gaze as I leave a message. “Hello, Dad? I’m not in the mood to talk to you. Not today and probably not for a while. Scott and I are broken up. He’s a creep, and we’re done. And if you don’t stop trying to control me, I’m done with you too.” And I hang up.
“Fuck him,” I mutter and toss my phone back on the kitchen counter.
Deke blows out a breath that sounds like a laugh.
“Did you like that?” I approach him slowly, like he’s a wild animal ready to run.
“Yeah.” Up close, his eyes twinkle.
“I should’ve set boundaries years ago,” I say. Step by step, I get closer. “I just needed help.” When I’m close enough to touch Deke. He hasn’t moved. His hands are by his sides.
“You help me, Deke. You make me brave.”
“You don’t need me. You’re brave all on your own. You were going to rescue Scott from a wild wolf this morning.”
I laugh, remembering. I still can’t believe he’s a wolf. I mean, I can—it seems exactly right—but it’s all so fantastical.
“Well, that wild wolf likes me,” I say, batting my lashes.
His eyes crinkle again.
“What about your friends? Are you worried they won’t accept me?”
He hesitates, tension returning to his shoulders.
I take his hand and tug him toward the bedroom. “We can figure this out,” I whisper. He follows, scooping me into the air as I cross the threshold and carrying me to the bed.
“Yeah. We’ll figure it out.”
Deke
I somehow manage to go slow with Sadie. I guess the fact that I’ve already had her three times in the last twenty-four hours has soothed my wolf enough that he stays under control. I climb over my beautiful female and undress her, kissing down her neck, between her breasts, to her belly button. I avoid the most erotic zones, saving them for after the build-up. With my tongue, I trace a circle around her belly button. Then I skip to her inner thigh, flicking my tongue in a path toward home, but not touching her where I know she needs it most.
She shivers and trembles beneath me, croaking my name in those hoarse, beautiful sounds.
I take mercy and brush my thumbs over her nipples, listening to her sweet gasps, loving the way her thighs clamp together. I take one puckered bud into my mouth and suck it, hard. She arches off the bed.
“You’re so beautiful, Sadie,” I murmur. She should hear it. Often.
“Where would you bite me?” she asks. Like she’s been thinking about it.
I freeze. “Ah, well… normally a claiming bite is here.” I bring my lips to the place where her neck meets her shoulder. I kiss her there, drag my open mouth over her soft skin.
“But on a human, that could be dangerous. Shifters heal instantly, so a she-wolf doesn’t mind being marked.”
“Ohhh,” Sadie says, eyes wide. “Can you do it… some other place? Somewhere safer?”
My heart raps quick and steady against my ribs.
Sadie wants me to mark her.
She wants to be claimed.
Do it now! My wolf roars to life, no longer content to wait.
I rear back from her, my vision sharpening as the wolf comes to the fore.
Her fingertips trace lightly over my forearms. “It’s okay,” she murmurs softly. I’ll bet she can comfort her students in seconds with that voice. “You’re in control,” she tells me.
She pushes at my chest, trying to sit up. I instantly climb off her, thinking she wants space, but she pushes me to my back. “Let me take care of you, Deke,” she purrs, straddling my legs and unbuttoning my jeans.
I fist the bedcovers beside my legs as she frees my erection and runs that wet, velvety tongue around the head of my cock.
I growl, low in my throat, a growl of pleasure. So much pleasure.
Sadie licks me from balls to the tip of my cock, then flicks her tongue only over the tip a few times.
I shudder and shake beneath her, transformed by the utter satisfaction of having my female’s mouth on my cock. “Sadie,” I rasp. My voice doesn’t sound like my own. It’s deep and rough. Desperate.
She holds my gaze and slowly takes my full length into her mouth, as far as it will go before it hits the back of her throat. She uses her fist at the base to make up the difference, and starts sliding her fist and mouth up and down over my cock.
I jerk, my thighs already trembling. It feels so incredible.
“Sadie, Sadie, Sadie,” I chant, losing all brain cells. “Sadie.”
She hums her agreement, sending a vibration straight down my shaft to my balls. They draw up tight in reaction.
“Sadie, my sweet little human. Perfect, beautiful, wonderful Sadie.”
She smiles, momentarily breaking the suction, then resumes at a faster pace. I want it to go on forever, but I won’t last another minute.
I lock my knees, flexing my ankles back. My fingers wrap up tight in the bedcovers.
“I’m going to come,” I warn her.
She doesn’t stop, she just keeps sucking hard enough to kill me with bliss.
“Fuck!” I come in her mouth, and she goes still, then
swallows and smiles.
“Oh fuck, Sadie. You are the most incredible woman on the planet.”
She smiles wider.
I flip her onto her back. “My turn.”
I have big plans to make Sadie scream until she’s hoarse before we both fall asleep.
Deke
Darkness and humidity cover me, a warm wet cloth over my face. Suffocation, slow death, the scent of decay. I’m in a shack, bound with silver chains that burn my shifter skin. Outside is the jungle.
It’s a dream. Just a dream. I fight to the surface, clawing my way out of sleep. Sinister laughter leaks into my dream, drowning out sounds of the jungle.
I jerk awake. I’m in Sadie’s bed, her scent surrounding me. Her small form is beside me. But there’s someone else here. Something’s moving in her closet, and it’s sniggers echo around the room.
“Don’t you want to play?” a mocking voice cackles.
I shift and leap, ready for the kill.
Chapter 15
Sadie
I’m half asleep when the creepy laughter fills my dreams. Deke jerks awake next to me, launching out of bed.
I half sit up. “What?”
The canned laughter sounds again.
A terrifying growl shakes my walls, and I realize what’s happening.
“No! Deke!” I shout. Too late. The black wolf flies at my closet, his nails scraping down the wood. It rises on hindlegs to tear open the door. Snarls fill the air.
“Deke!”
Oh crap! He thinks someone’s lurking inside, and he’s trying to protect me.
I get out of bed, intent on stopping him, but the snarls are too frightening. I remember Deke’s warnings, his fear of hurting me. I’d be stupid to get between him and the perceived danger right now.
A crashing sound echoes off my walls as the wolf fights my closet doors and wins. Then an awful chuffing sound—the sound of a wolf devouring a stuffed toy.
“Deke.”
Adrenaline flashes through me. I reach over and flip on the lights just in time to see the wolf toss the torn jackalope up into the air. It finishes it off with a snap. When he turns his great head my way, he looks like a rabid animal—no sign of humanity burns at all in that glowing green gaze.