Maddox was stunned by the amazing sight of Evangeline’s bare breasts bouncing gently in front of him. Holy shit, she wasn’t wearing a bra. This time he had to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.
The pinch hurt. This was all real. Didn’t mean he had half a clue what was going on here.
“Evangeline, what are you doing?”
“My mate,” she answered before boldly reaching for his cock again.
The stupid thing didn’t know when to stay down. At her touch, it stiffened and rose, like a dog begging for more.
Too bad it wasn’t getting anything else. Not from Evangeline. Maddox was an asshole, but he wasn’t a fucking asshole.
“Angie,” he groaned her name as she gave him another experimental tug. Grabbing a pillow, he covered himself before moving out of her reach. “You can’t.”
“Are you telling me no?”
“I’d rather die, but you don’t understand.” His mind racing, the scent of her heady arousal doing a number on him, Maddox scrambled for an excuse that wouldn’t leave his mate believing that he didn’t want her. He wasn’t that much of a dick. Between showing her the marriage certificate and now, something had switched inside of her. Instead of swearing that she never wanted to see him again, now she was giving him a handjob and propositioning him like she used to.
If he thought she was serious, that she really meant this, he’d be on top of her in a heartbeat. But as much as he dreamed of a wet and willing Evangeline, he knew he’d be the world’s biggest asshole if he took advantage of her.
And then it hit him. “We can’t because I don’t have any condoms here.”
Maddox might have been willing to do anything to have his mate back with him but, despite what Evangeline accused him of, he wasn’t delusional. He hoped for this, he prayed for this, but he never expected that she’d ever let him touch her again. So condoms? Not on the list of things he had Colt prepare for him.
Boy, was he regretting that oversight now.
Maddox was the one who always insisted on the condoms. He had to. Even though he and Evangeline had been each other’s one and only so diseases weren’t an issue, unplanned pregnancy was. Because a shifter could only be with their fated mate—and because mating ensured future generations of pups—any time there was unprotected sex, pregnancy was not only possible, it was almost guaranteed. When they first started mating, he and Evangeline both agreed to wait until they were a little older before they thought about starting a family.
That wasn’t the only reason why Maddox refused to go bareback. To claim his mate, Maddox had to do two things: bite her in a claiming bite at the exact moment he released inside of her. The temptation would have been too strong to claim her if he knew she was willingly accepting his seed and the possibility of carrying his child. She’d been adamant that she didn’t want to be claimed until after they were married.
It was the biggest regret of his life. But if he listened to her now, claimed her, then had to hear Evangeline say one more time that she wasn’t his… it would kill him. What the Cage didn’t accomplish, what the silver collar didn’t manage, she would do with a simple denial.
So, as much as he was delighted to have Evangeline in his bed again, he wouldn’t dare go another step further without any protection.
“What if I said I didn’t care?”
“I’d say that’s a quick turn around. Remember your ankle? You messed it up trying to escape, and now you want me to believe you changed your mind about me?”
28
She bit her bottom lip. Maddox wanted to slap himself in the head. Here she was, warm and willing and in his bed, and what did he do? Force her to confront the shitty thing he did that led her there.
“I’m sorry, Ang—”
“No. Don’t be. You’re not wrong. Three days ago, I would’ve rather broken my leg than even think of doing this… but I’m beginning to remember. I think— I have this… I don’t know… this hunch that this is the answer.”
Hunch. Maddox’s wolf sat up. A hunch to a human was like his instincts. Maybe she wasn’t sure that taking this step—taking this amazing, wonderful, final step—could bring back the rest of her memories. But if she could sense something was there between them…
“Angie, I—”
“Shh. Please, let me finish. I have to… I have to say this before I lose my nerve. Okay? Some kind of tie is here. I’ve been trying too hard to deny it. Something is here. I… I feel it inside of me. I think I always have. I’m your mate, right? It’s what you’ve been telling me for days. What if doing this together is what helps put it all in place?”
It sounded like a dream come true to him.
Still, he had to ask. He had to make sure she understood that regaining her memories might not be the only thing she got out of this mating.
“Are you ready to have my pup? Because that could happen. You are my mate. My body knows it. I release inside of you, you could very easily get pregnant. Knocked up. Get it?”
To his surprise, Evangeline didn’t even quail. With a bold grasp, she took his cock in her hand and squeezed.
She fucking squeezed.
He almost nutted right there.
“I’ve lost the last three years of my life. Our life together. We were married. That cabin… you were supposed to claim me there if the accident never happened. I kinda guessed… now I know. Tell me, Maddox, baby: how many pups could we have had already?”
Oh, shit. He wanted to. He wanted to so bad. The image of his wife swelled with their pup—was this payback?
Was this torture what he got for taking her the way he had?
And baby… she hadn’t called him baby since seconds before the crash. It was her pet name for him. Big and brawny and a dangerous alpha wolf, and Maddox was always her baby.
He gulped.
“You’re killing me, Angie. You know that, right? I’m trying to be the good guy here—”
“Too late for that, I think.” Her husky laugh went straight to his throbbing cock. The damn thing started to weep against the pillowcase. He didn’t blame it one bit. “You already kidnapped me. Maybe we should cut straight to the ravishing now?”
Who would have thought she’d be the one trying to seduce him?
Relying on the one thing he could think of to talk sense into her, he said bluntly, “If I fuck you, I’ll claim you. You’ll be mine forever. What do you say about that?”
“I… I remember we had this talk before. You wanted to claim me, and I said we had to get married. Well, you definitely proved that part earlier, didn’t you? ‘Til death do we part… to me, that’s the same as forever. I claimed you. Now it’s your turn to claim me.”
Wrong answer. Or, rather, the right answer if the question was how to get Maddox to throw the pillow away and lunge for her without any further hesitation.
All he wanted to do was sink right into her but, in the haze of his lust-fueled mind, he managed to remember what his size could do to Evangeline if she wasn’t ready for him.
He slipped his big hands between them, running two fingers up her slit, testing how wet she was. From the arousal perfuming the air, he expected to find some moisture, but she was so hot and so slick, he managed to fit two fingers inside of her without even trying.
She was tight. So fucking tight. There was resistance as he slowly slid in and out, stretching her slightly as he moved his fingers just enough to fill her. Evangeline gasped every time he went back inside, pausing to rub her clit with his thumb so that she continued to get wetter and wetter.
Her pants were the same as they were back. Just like she used to, Evangeline took charge, maneuvering his hand so that he was rubbing her right where she liked him to. He hadn’t forgotten the way his mate liked it, and as she rode his two fingers, he felt her muscles clench as she came on his fingers.
Holy shit. She was totally into this.
There was no turning back now, though Maddox knew he would hate himself forever if he didn’t give
her one last chance to back out.
His voice hoarse, his wolf coming to the front so that they could do this together, he asked her, “Had enough?”
“One orgasm?” she teased. “Is that all you got?”
Not even close.
Once he managed to fit three fingers in, he knew she was as ready as she was going to get. Later, if she left him do this again, he would take his time. He would pleasure her lazily with his tongue, nibble her clit just the way she liked, fuck her for hours until she was crying with frustration. She always came the hardest when he took his time, though she never used to have any complaints when he went hard and rough and fast.
Which was a good thing because, as close as he was, that was exactly what she was in for.
He placed the tip of his cock to her entrance, his wolf keening in his throat. Over the course of the last three years, he’d relived what it had been like to thrust his cock inside of her pussy, his fantasies the only thing that kept him going through the lonely, awful nights in the Cage.
With one thrust, Maddox was seated all the way inside of Evangeline. It was a hundred times better than he remembered. The way she gripped him, how hot she was, how incredibly tight. She squeezed him so much, it took him a second to regain control before he exploded before he’d even had the chance to stroke in and out once.
He wasn’t the only one who needed a moment. Evangeline let out a low, throaty moan when he entered her, shifting just enough to let him know that she feeling every inch of his length.
“You okay?”
“I know we’ve done this before, but, uh, it’s been a while for me. I just have to adjust—” She let out a rush of air, breathing in, getting used to his size. “It, wow, this feels amazing.”
Maddox felt his chest puff out. If just sliding inside of her once got a wow, wait until he really got moving. He braced himself on his elbows, careful to keep his weight off of her, drawing out until just the tip was left inside. Then, when she was ready, he slammed back in.
Once he got going, he didn’t stop.
Evangeline’s tits bounced as he mounted her, thrusting with everything he had. He dipped his head low, aware from the flash of concern on her face when he got close that he had shifted enough to worry her. He could feel his fangs lengthening, but he knew he would only use them for the claiming bite.
It had been forever since he proved to Evangeline that he knew how to work around his fangs. Once he took her breast between his lips, lathing her nipple with his tongue, she forgot all about his glowing eyes, his extended fangs. He didn’t know what happened in the time since he left Evangeline alone in that room, but the woman who came to him knew exactly who he was—what he was—and as she fell prey to the pleasure he gave her, the only expression she wore was one of bliss, never fear.
He wanted to go forever, but he already knew he wasn’t going to last. After making sure she got off a second time, rubbing her clit forcefully in time to his powerful thrusts, Maddox knew that he wouldn’t make it that much longer.
One last time.
He’d give her one last time to change her mind.
Maddox needed to make sure she was still with him. It was one thing to mate her. She could take it back tomorrow and, sure, it would fucking hurt, but he’d understand. If this was just another way for her to convince him that she was harmless before she tried to run, he could forgive her using his body this way. He totally deserved to be treated like a plaything after everything he did to her.
But bonding?
It was forever.
“Are you sure?” he panted. His fangs were the longest they’d ever been without entering into a partial shift, aching to plunge into her skin. “If you changed your mind, I can still stop. We don’t have to do this right now. Give me the word and I’ll put out. I don’t have to bite. We have forever, Ang, and I’ll take your word for it. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
They had mated countless times before, but the urge to bite—the urge to claim—had never been as strong as it was in that moment. Just like Evangeline wouldn’t sign the bonding license until they were officially married, Maddox refused to claim his mate until they were legal and bonded.
The marriage license was safe in the top drawer of his nightstand. Fuck the bonding license. He needed to make Evangeline irrevocably his. The government wouldn’t decide that. His claiming bite would.
But only if she wanted it.
Her little breaths as she came down from her last climax were music to his ears. And even they paled in comparison to the way she moaned out her answer.
“Don’t you dare stop. Claim me, baby. Do it now. Make me whole.”
That was a tall order. He had no way of knowing if claiming her would help her regain her memories. It would strengthen the bond—he was almost positive that it would—but that didn’t mean everything would go back to the way it was.
He fucking hoped so, but he didn’t know.
Call him a selfish bastard. Maddox didn’t give her even a second to reconsider her answer. The bond wouldn’t let him. With one last thrust, he shuddered and emptied himself into her. It was the first time his wife accepted his seed without anything between them and that realization sent his orgasm into the atmosphere. At its peak, he buried his mouth into the supple curve where her neck and her shoulder met and struck.
His fangs slid into her flesh like a hot knife through butter. Maddox had hoped that she wouldn’t feel any pain and from the way her pussy clenched down on him and her fingers dug into his shoulder blades, he figured she got as much pleasure out of the claiming bite as he did. Her blood was hot, rich and tangy, and he decided it was only right that he had some of her inside of him while she had him inside of her.
Evangeline let out a squeak of surprise, then a low throaty moan as her muscles clenched, squeezing his cock. It sent another jolt of pleasure through Maddox.
When he had finished, when there was nothing left to give her, he lapped leisurely at his bite, sealing it for her. His cock was softening, the force of the claiming enough to drain him for now. It wouldn’t last. He’d be ready to go before long, but it took a little wrangling of his hips to keep the connection.
He left the tip of his cock inside of her, desperate not to leave her heat. Evangeline didn’t seem to mind. She snuggled into him, pressing her lips to his left pec, before closing her eyes.
He tucked his mate into his side, wiping her sweaty brow, running his palm gently over her hair. The long dark strands were everywhere, tangled and knotted from the mating. As she snuffled, snoring softly, her breath blowing on his overheated chest, Maddox urged her closer.
Their breathing slowed, the scent of sex, of lust, of Maddox and Evangeline filling the air. It was fucking delicious and, as he calmed his racing heart, he let it settle over him.
Evangeline was quiet. He was almost sure she had fallen asleep right after he claimed her. She would need the rest—she was a human, and the claiming would knock her on her ass for a bit as her body changed to be a match for Maddox’s—and he was secretly proud of himself for boning her into unconsciousness.
A few minutes later, though, he heard her murmur his name.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I just wanted to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
Her hand slid across his belly. To his slight disappointment, it didn’t travel south, but drifted upward instead. She laid her hand over his heart. “You have a tattoo. When I saw the date, I was so confused. I thought it was the date of my accident. I… I remember a little. You didn’t use to have it.”
His heart gave a joyful beat when she said that she remembered a little. Holding onto the thread of hope that her recent memories were the catalyst for their bonding, Maddox leaned over, pressing a kiss to the top of her damp hair.
“When you were in the hospital… when they told me you died, they gave me a choice. Cage, no memories of you, or death. I couldn’t live without you, and I couldn’t live without
my memories of you, but the pack… Colt… I couldn’t die, either. Maybe it’s because I knew you were still alive, even if our bond was gone. I spent three years in the Cage, missing you. Loving you. One of the other guys gave me the tat. Of course I picked that day.”
She was quiet again. Maddox almost thought he had put her to sleep with his story when she whispered, “Why’s that?”
“That day… it was the best day of my life. The worst, too, ‘cause I thought you had left me. But the best because, even if it was only for a few hours, you were my wife.”
Maddox wrapped his arm around her, tugging her into his embrace. They fit like a glove.
“Now it’s the second best day,” he told her.
“What’s the first?” she asked shyly.
Did she not know?
“Tonight, when you finally became my true mate.”
29
For the first time in years, Evangeline slept peacefully.
She didn’t have a single dream, and when she woke up the next morning, wrapped in Maddox’s arms and his musky, manly scent, she knew exactly why.
Why would she dream up a fantasy man who lurked in the shadows of her consciousness when she had the real thing right there with her?
Her lover.
Her husband.
Her mate.
Maddox was still sleeping. Man slept like the dead. His senses were extraordinary, though. If he so much as caught a hint that she might be in danger, or that she might need him, she did not doubt that he would be up without a second’s hesitation. She’d seen him do it a thousand times before—
Evangeline went giddy. Because that certainty didn’t come from her last few days with Maddox. It came from a year’s courtship where she met and fell in love with an alpha wolf shifter named Maddox Wolfe.
Evangeline Wolfe.
She was Evangeline Wolfe.
She blinked. Only yesterday, that realization would have had her testing her ankle as she tried to run away from him—run away from the feelings that he brought about in her. Now, though?
Hungry Like a Wolf (Claws Clause Book 1) Page 27