Allen had turned to Naythan then, asking Naythan and Mac if they wanted to join them. Naythan started to accept but Mac jumped in, interrupting.
"Thank you, but we'll pass. You two go, get to know each other alone. We'll head that way as well, but we'll eat by ourselves. We have some pack business we need to discuss in private."
"Very well. Where should I take her whenever we finish?"
"To our tents," Naythan said. "We've set up a small tent for her between mine and Mac's."
Allen nodded and offered Sandra his arm, leading her off. The pair were already deep in conversation, their heads tipped toward each other so they could more easily speak as they walked. Naythan and Mac followed behind at a slower pace to give them space but still keep an eye out.
"What pack business do we need to discuss? These caravans are easy, we provide security, bust some heads on occasion, and keep the peace. We left pack business behind yesterday," Naythan asked Mac, confused, as they settled into chairs at a table across the clearing from Sandra and Allen.
Mac didn't waste his time or mince his words when he responded.
"What the hell are you doing? I have yet to scent my mate, but I've seen it happen to others repeatedly. You've scented Sandra, have you not? It's in the tenseness of your body, and it's in the heated need in your eyes. I've seen you go after a piece of tail before, I've seen you clouded with lust, but this is the polar opposite. Not only are you not trying to bed her, you're trying to help your fated mate marry another. What the fuck Naythan? This isn't like you at all."
"I don't want a mate. The last thing I want is to tie myself down to one woman, and besides, you heard her. She isn't looking to be some second-in-command wolf shifter's mate. She's after comfort and safety."
"She's running scared is what she is. She's meant to be yours, and you know damn well you could give her comfort and safety. You could take care of her better than any prince, you have an entire wolf-pack at your disposal. If anything ever happened to you she would always have a place in the pack, she would want for nothing."
"I told you, I don't want a mate."
"Hmmp. What does your wolf have to say about that?"
She smells so good. She smells like snow and sweet hot cocoa. She smells like home. She smells like Christmas and love and forever. I want her, no I need her. I need to kiss her, I need to bury my face between her legs and see if she tastes as fucking amazing as she smells. I need to lick her until she grips my hair in her fists and her thighs squeeze me in pleasure and then I need to taste her some more until she screams out my name and her body bucks with need.
I want to bury my cock in her warmth and rock with her. I want to take her from behind and howl as I fill her. I need to spill myself inside her and sink my teeth into the warm, tender spot on her neck and bite her. I need to mark her as mine for the world to see. I need to see her get round with my cubs and I need to take care of her and protect her and keep her warm and safe forever. And I swear if that prince keeps looking at her like this farce of a wedding is a real possibility with MY MATE I will rip his heart out and feed it to him as I laugh.
"He's not pleased," Naythan answered as he tried his best to ignore the wolf inside him.
"I'm guessing that is an understatement," Mac said with knowing eyes. "Seriously Naythan, why are you really doing this? Why would you not give in to your wolf? Selecting the same mate your wolf scents practically guarantees a happy union. Fighting your wolf's choice and picking another, or worse- not taking a mate at all, is not good for anyone, you or the pack. What is really going on here? If your Alpha knew you scented your mate and denied the call..."
Naythan looked away from Mac and focused on Sandra instead.
She kept glancing back over at them, meeting Naythan's eyes as she spoke to Allen and then ordered as the food tent owner's daughter stopped at their table. It almost hurt him to watch her with another, even though he'd only met her a few hours before.
He was the only wolf he knew that dreaded the day his wolf scented a mate. Every other wolf, even Mac, a bear, longed for the day the animal inside them found their other half, but Naythan always hoped it wouldn't happen to him.
He was happy being single. He needed no attachments beyond his pack. He had no real responsibilities and he always told himself that he liked it that way. But if he was really, truly honest with himself, he knew that was a lie.
He turned back to Mac fully intending to keep feeding his Alpha's best friend the same lines he always told himself- that he liked the freedom of chasing tail and having no one to report to or take care of. That he liked having no responsibilities above and beyond the pack.
As he opened his mouth to lie to Mac, his wolf pushed through again.
You owe him the truth. Above that, you owe me the truth. If you are really planning on denying me my mate, OUR mate, at least give a real, honest reason. Say it out loud.
"I'm not good enough to take on a mate."
The way Mac blinked at him, and then narrowed his eyes in thought, told Naythan that was the last thing the bear had expected to hear.
Mac didn't argue or try to convince Naythan otherwise. He turned to their waitress as she approached, ordered for the both of them, and then as she walked away he just quietly asked Naythan, "What makes you say that?"
"I have too much of my father in me. I'm afraid I'll turn out like he did, and that I'll treat my mate the way my father treated my mother. I'd rather die alone than do that to someone. Forgive me Mac, but I'm not hungry anymore. If you need me I'll be in my tent."
* * *
Naythan heard Mac greet Allen just outside their tents, and after they said their goodbyes he heard Mac show Sandra to the tent they had pitched for her earlier. He heard Mac leave Sandra to her own devices and excuse himself to take his shift on patrol.
Bane, Naythan's Alpha, had opted to take the first shift. He had been following and keeping an eye on the caravan from a distance all day in his wolf form, and Naythan knew that Mac was headed to relieve Bane and patrol into the night.
Naythan was already bedded down for the night, as he knew it would be his turn to take over for Mac in the morning. Naythan planned on introducing Sandra to Bane in the morning, once his alpha had slept, and right before he headed off to relieve Mac. Since Mac would probably sleep most of the next day, and he himself would be patrolling that same time, Bane would need to know that the pack had basically taken responsibility for Sandra until any betrothals had been made.
Once the night had quieted again, Naythan felt his eyes fighting sleep, listening for any movements Sandra made, but as she was quiet as well, he started to drift off.
That is, until he heard a soft, scratching knock on the flap of his tent.
"Naythan? Are you in there? Are you awake?"
"I am now. Hang on."
Naythan sat up, letting the blankets he'd been burrowed under fall to his hips as he reached for and then lifted the flap to see what Sandra wanted.
She was bent over to be able to see into his tent. She filled the open flap with her head and shoulders, and he found himself looking down the cleavage of the wedding dress she still wore.
Shit, he'd meant to get her a change of clothes, but she was in such a hurry he'd forgotten. He mentally shook himself- how stupid had it been to introduce her to the prince she was trying to land while she was still dressed in a get-up that screamed either 'marry me now, I'm ready,' or 'I already ran away from one possible groom today.'
Naythan wasn't sure which proclamation was worse when they were trying to marry her off to royalty.
His wolf, on the other hand, had no issues with her dress. He was actively trying to get a better view down the front of it as she stood there asking him if he had a few minutes to talk.
"Remind me to get you some clothes in the morning. Do you have any money at all? Never mind, don't answer that. Consider it my treat. Save anything you may have brought with you for later, we can call it a dowry."
"You don
't have to be an ass about it. I'm already well aware I don't have anything, dowry or otherwise. No need to rub it in. I don't need your charity, I just needed your introduction, it seems. I'm sure my new fiancé will have no problems buying me more suitable clothes tomorrow. Besides, my understanding was that you didn't have anything either."
"I said I wasn't rich, or the marrying type. I didn't say I was poor. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of any..." he stopped himself, the other thing she'd said catching his attention instead. "Did you say 'your fiancé?'"
"I did."
"Well, that was fast."
"He liked our idea. He gets to bring a fiancé home after the winter holidays, and I get to take care of my mother. Neither one of us has any real claim on the other, and we both get to do whatever we want as long as everything looks legit when we are on his lands. We've agreed to be subtle, otherwise, in our...umm, diversions."
"Diversions?"
"Yes. He let it be known that he was dropping me off at my tent and he had no intention of returning to his own. I believe he said there was a 'round and very spoiled ass waiting for him to debase it' and that if I decided I had any debasing of my own to do..."
"And you came here?"
"I know it's forward," she continued. "But you did mention something before about picking up where we left off. I figure that if I'm going to spend the rest of my life fulfilling my own needs, needs that my future husband has no interest in fulfilling, well... the least I could do was offer to...celebrate... our successful joining of me to someone who'll... and now I'm just rambling. I'm not very good at this. Or very forward, usually, it's just that..."
She sighed then, a heavy, resigned, never-mind kind of sigh, and it wasn't until his wolf reacted by grabbing her wrist and tugging her inside that he even realized that he wasn't dreaming her.
She was real, and as he zipped up the tent's flap, with her inside, he thanked his wolf for reacting when he hadn't.
My pleasure, trust me. You'll see. She's destined to be ours, in our arms is exactly where she belongs.
Naythan pulled her a bit more, until she spilled into his lap. As his lips found hers for the second time today, he answered his wolf.
She's ours for tonight, that is all. That's all I dare.
Chapter 5
Sandra was glad when he finally tugged her inside and into their own little world. Tonight had gone way better than she'd expected. She'd found a rich husband, and a man she hoped would be a gifted lover. And a werewolf, to boot. How many women got to cross off 'I slept with a were' before tying themselves up with matrimonial bounds.
Safety, security, and adventurous bucket-list shifter sex, all in one day. All while still wearing the wedding dress she'd started out a completely different plan with just this morning.
It's good to be me.
She let herself melt in his arms, kissing him back as good as she got, fully aware that he was only available for tonight. He had made that abundantly clear in words, and in the efforts he'd gone to in order to chase off the redhead named Candace.
She knew she was being impulsive, and possibly stupid, but she had no idea how her life would unfold with her new fiancé, and she was bound and determined to get some enjoyment out of this day, this man, before she walked away from both in the morning and toward her new life.
Sandra realized she was still thinking. Here she was, in the arms of the man who'd driven all thought from her brain hours before with a single, unexpected kiss, and now she was concentrating on her future instead of enjoying the moment, as usual.
With another gentle pull, Naythan guided her onto his lap. As she looked into his eyes in the seconds before they kissed, she realized that she'd have to be careful with this one or she'd lose herself in the depths of his gaze and never be able to climb her way back out again.
She closed her eyes partially in pleasure, and partially to protect herself. She wanted tonight, hell she needed it badly, but she couldn't let her guard slip. The last thing she needed was to let his kisses derail her plans for a better future.
Just tonight, no more.
Sandra let Naythan wrap her in his arms as she sat cradled in his lap, and as her lips met his again, she gave herself up to his touch, letting the rest of the world take care of itself just for a bit.
This kiss took her breath away even more than the first one had. Maybe it was the fact that they were secluded in his dark tent instead of standing on the side of the road, but whatever it was, she the effect was potent.
She sighed as his tongue parted her lips and she tilted her head to better fit her mouth to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned against his mouth when she felt his hands find the hooks on the back of her dress and slowly open them.
His palms were warm on the skin of her back, and when he pressed her to him she pulled her mouth from his, offering her neck to his kisses.
She arched her back as he licked and nipped a trail starting behind her ear, following the curve of her neck until he gently bit her collarbone before kissing the swell of her breasts as he tugged the dress down until it pooled at her waist.
He slid his hand from her back and found the heavy globe of her bare breast, lifting it in his palm and running his thumb across her nipple, sending shivers of pleasure straight into her core. He lowered his mouth to lick the peak of her before pulling on it and sucking gently.
She fisted his hair in her hands, arching herself, pressing her breast more fully against his kiss.
"Oh yes, please..."
She wasn't sure how to end the sentence, so she let it hang there in the air around them.
It had been so long, she almost wanted to yank her skirts up and lower herself onto him right here where they sat, but the way he was teasing her made her crave his slow kiss all over every inch of her first.
She wanted both to push him onto his back and straddle him, to use him for her physical pleasure before letting him use her, but she also wanted him to flip her around and set her on her knees, riding her hard from behind until she couldn't take it anymore.
Her thoughts, paired with the slow sucking on her nipples, was driving her crazy with need. She gripped his hair in her fist harder, yanking some, as wanton words slipped from her lips.
"I need you inside me, now, please."
He answered her by biting her nipple and she moaned again with need.
He flipped her then, rolling her to her back underneath him, but instead of yanking her panties aside, pulling himself free and filling her hard and fast, like she hoped, he raised her skirts until she was lost in a cloud of white silks. He spread her thighs, pinning them each with an elbow as he nipped at the center of her instead.
His heated breath teasing her through her panties made her buck against him. When he started to suck on her over her panties, the thin fabric no real barrier to his wet mouth, she thought she was going to lose it.
He slid the fabric aside then, slipping a finger into the slick proof of her need and rubbing it over her, teasing a circle or two around her clit before sliding back down along her folds and then sliding inside her.
He fingered her, filling her and pulling out, as his mouth teased her clit, licking and sucking until she gripped his bedding in her fists under her hips.
She rocked herself against him, powerless to do anything else. She let go of his sheets with her hand, fisting his hair again instead, guiding him as she rocked.
He picked up his speed, following her lead, and she heard encouraging moans from him between her thighs. The rumbles of his encouragement tickled just right and she felt her thighs try to squeeze closed as her orgasm broke loose, but his elbows held her open. He licked every drop as she came in his mouth, and it wasn't until the first waves started to fade that he undid his own breeches and kneeled between her thighs.
He teased her slit with the round head of his cock, sliding over her and her through her juices before aiming himself inside her. He filled her slowly, inch by inch, as she started to c
atch her breath.
"You taste so good. I could feel you squeezing my finger as you came and I wanted nothing more than to slide myself inside you and feel you squeeze my cock the same way."
Another moan escaped her lips at his words. She loved hearing what he wanted to do to her, and she ached to feel him fill her and move deep inside her.
She rocked her hips as he slid home, angling herself so she could take every inch. She wrapped her legs around him, linking her ankles against his back, locking him deep for a breath before allowing him to move.
They pulled apart and came together in a rhythm older than time, moving with and fighting against each other, driving the pleasures higher and higher.
He started to drive deeper, stroke harder, and she met him stroke for stroke, digging her nails into his back as she told him how good he felt in heated dirty whispers against his ear.
He was getting close and she knew it, his strokes carried more purpose, driving toward a goal.
She rocked and wiggled her hips, circling as he drove deep. She used his strokes to rub herself against him, and she started to call out his name, coming again as they moved faster.
"Oh yes, come for me. Squeeze me with your pleasure, that's it. I'm...oh yes!"
She felt him swell inside her and his strokes got shallow and quick and as she fell over that cliff again herself, she took him with her. She felt his release and she reveled in the pure feminine pleasure of being the one to make him lose himself in her as she'd lost herself in him.
As he stilled and fell over her, she wrapped her thighs tighter around his hips and her arms around his neck, keeping him buried in her, content and spent as they came down from their high together.
Now that was exactly what I needed, she thought as she started to drift off to sleep with the weight of him still mostly draped over her, keeping her warm against the chill night air outside.
Shifters in the Snow Page 24