by A. B Lee
Rayner squeaked in surprise, and it got caught in the back of her throat as his hand palmed her backside and he lifted her onto his lap. She straddled his muscled thighs and felt the hardness of his cock as it pressed against her sex, and she couldn’t help but grind against it.
The sound he made in the back of his throat sounded like a purr. She had no damn idea that bears purred, but it sure was sexy.
Rayner’s head spun when he pulled away from her lips with something of a grunted sigh and buried his face against her neck, in her hair, and she heard a long growl rumbled through his chest, and felt the vibrations against her hard nipples.
Damn, but she wanted more.
“Damn it, woman. I’m gonna lose my damn mind if you keep playing on my cock like that…” He ground out.
He was only supposed to kiss her – test the damn waters, and now he wanted to get lost inside of her. Claim her as his mate.
“What’s so wrong with a little crazy sex?”
Dane pulled his head back and eyed his mate. Teasing – her smile said teasing, and yet his heart said all in.
“That crazy sex will lead to me claiming you as mine. For now. Forever.” He tried to breathe, but it got stuck somewhere in his lungs, and he couldn’t force it out.
“That’s…” Her bear growled a warning at her, and she knew it was at her because it didn’t come from her lips – just echoed in her mind.
“Scary?” Dane watched her as she considered it.
Her face might have shown little emotion, and yet, he could feel it coming from her in heady waves that sent his bear a little loopy.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
~
“Kind of damn cool,” Rayner admitted and watched as he twisted his head on his neck and narrowed his eyes on her.
“Say what?” His eyebrows shot up on his forehead, and she lifted her hand and ran her fingertips over the deep ridges.
“People think I’m … crazy…”
“You’re not crazy; you’re kickass … with a little mean thrown in.” He was trying really hard not to be distracted by the fact that she was still sitting against his aching cock.
“Mean?” It was her turn to raise her eyebrows at him.
“Hell, the only person you haven’t kicked in the balls since we met is Roland…”
“Must add that to my to-do list…”
“Please do.” He grinned, and boy was that sexy.
“And the vampire, because you’ve gotta be pretty damn crazy to kick a vampire in the balls, right?” She chuckled.
“I’d prefer to rip his head off myself.” Dane would. It would end the uncertainty of his threat against his mate.
“So, you think I’m kickass?” she asked, lifting her chin and reveling in what he guessed she considered praise.
“And nuttier than a damn squirrel’s lunch…”
“Hey!” she growled.
“I kind of like squirrels.” He grinned again and watched her mellow. “Not as much as I like you…”
“I was getting a little jealous there for a moment,” she teased back at him just to see that big grin once more.
“That’s something you’ll never have to feel; a mate is faithful…”
“Like a dog?”
Dane grunted when she shifted on his lap. His mind and body were on overload, and he was using every last bit of willpower that he had to keep from tossing her down on the rug and burying his cock inside of her.
“Better than a damn dog.” He lifted his hips and tortured himself by grinding his cock against her sex.
Rayner’s eyes practically rolled back in her head. Her head went back, and she exposed her neck to his dark gaze – he couldn’t resist – his lips grazed down her throat before he ran his tongue up towards her ear, teeth nipped against her lobe, and she found herself making that purring sound that she liked so much from him.
Her hand left his shoulder, and her fingertips trailed down the impressive ridges of his chest, abdomen, and the muscles clenched beneath her touch. Not as much as when she flicked open the button of his jeans and pushed inside – her fingertips touched the damp heat of his hard cock, and it twitched hello.
That purr was back in his throat as he nipped her lobe once more before devouring her lips in hot kisses that made the wet heat flood her sex.
Rayner wanted him. There was no two ways about it. She wanted that rock hard cock deep inside of her, and she always got what she wanted.
She moved on his lap, gave his cock a little freedom to be able the draw it out of his jeans and into her hand, and her clit mourned the loss of not having it grinding against her.
A heartbeat later and she was flat on her back, her hands pressed down against the rug, with Dane caging her in.
Hell, yeah! His cock was back grinding against her clit, and she was purring like a damn kitty cat.
Mine… She understood that time – her bear was possessive, positively clawing to get to Dane, and she felt the same way.
Dane didn’t have the patience for niceties; he gripped the shirt that was barring his way to her breasts and tore it clean down the front. Then his lips were closing over one hard nipple, and he sucked hard as his tongue flicked and made her back arch.
Slow … he was going too damn slow for her liking. She wanted to feel his cock inside of her, needed his strength all around her as he took her, and she needed it then.
Mine…
“Mine…” she growled, and his gaze snapped up to hers. Gone was the darkness of his eyes, replaced with pure gold.
With a deep growl; he snapped back away from her, ripping his shirt off over his head and exposing that muscled torso to her hungry gaze, her hands, and when he busied himself, getting his lower body loose from his jeans, she pushed up to meet him and claimed his cock in her hand once more.
“Sorry, sweetheart, not going to happen,” Dane growled.
He pushed her back against the rug and took no time at all stripping her clothes away. His eyes feasted on her body, and that damn growl set her on fire.
He parted her legs wide with his knees and dipped to the scent that had been calling him for the last half hour. She took a hard gasp of breath when he licked along her sex, and growled even harder when he devoured her like she was his favorite ice cream.
Damn, but she was lost in the feel of him. His tongue was working against her clit, his fingers were working inside of her, and she could feel that fire burning for more of him, but she never got the chance to tell him as he took her all the way up to the abyss and tossed her off the edge into insanity.
“Mine…” Dane growled as he worked his way up her body and lowered his hips toward hers.
When she opened her eyes at the hard press of his cock into her channel, they were golden. He could have jerked his hips and shot his seed within her right then and there, but he caught himself and pushed to the hilt as she purred up at him.
Buried so damn deep inside of her, he could have lost his mind, and if she hadn’t of wiggled her hips and begged for more – hell, he might have stayed gazing down at her like that all damn night. His body kicked his ass into gear, and he pulled back before taking her all the way down his cock again.
Over and over, he buried his cock to the hilt and drew right back to the tip – until neither of them could stand it a moment longer – and then his wild side kicked in, and he was taking her right back up to that abyss once more, and she was glad to be there.
Dane felt her inner muscles tightening around his cock, making him work damn harder with every thrust. He pushed back, one strong arm wrapped around her body bringing her right up with him until she was back sitting on his lap, but this time, he was inside of her, loving her, giving her what she needed, and taking her like a man possessed.
Rayner didn’t question the dull ache in her gums – her body fevered, her mind was lost to him, and when she buried her fangs in the flesh of his shoulder and torn down, placing her mark in his skin, her beast roared within her.
&nbs
p; A moment of fevered awareness for what she’d done was swallowed up by the orgasm that tore through every inch of her body and swept her away. Dane’s fangs marked her flesh, the taste of her blood on his tongue, and her clenching channel around his cock sent him over the edge.
His cock swelled, and he emptied his seed inside of her, buried deep, his soul merging with hers until they were both done.
Joined as one.
Bonded for life.
Mates.
CHAPTER TWENTY
~
“What the hell do you mean you want Roland to go with you?” Dane didn’t like that idea one little bit.
Why the hell would she choose Roland over him? He was her mate. He was there to protect her.
“Well, you are a little…” Rayner shrugged her shoulders.
“A little what?” Dane growled back.
“Growly.” She lifted her hand and motioned towards him as if he’d proved her point, and Dane snapped off the growl.
“That’s not the damn point — I can stop growling when I need to,” Dane grumbled as he forced his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
The fact that Roland was grinning from ear to ear and chuckling didn’t help matters any. He wanted to plant his fist right in his brother’s face.
“I’m sure you can,” Rayner started, but when Roland slapped his hand over his mouth and chuckled harder, Dane growled louder.
“I will hurt you,” Dane growled the warning to his brother.
“See, that temper of yours…” She shrugged again.
“That’s his fault,” Dane tossed out a hand toward his brother. “Sounding like Mutley, smirking like a damn idiot.”
“Roland is a little more laid-back,” Rayner said. “And when dealing with a threat — I need laid-back.”
“And you’re laid-back?” Dane scowled at the thought of his mate doing anything subtle.
From the moment that she’d turned up at their door, Rayner had been a firecracker in the palm of their hands waiting to go off. Now, she had a bear of her own within her, and that made her a little more unpredictable, a lot more easily riled, and Dane felt that it was his job to protect her — even from herself.
“I’m — working on it.” She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at him, challenging him to deny it. He grunted a chuckle but snapped it off when she twisted her head to one side and glared at him.
“Fine,” Dane begrudgingly bit out. “Take my brother with you — but, if anything happens to Rayner…” He turned that warning on his brother.
“I’ll guard her with my life,” Roland assured him.
“That about sums it up — yeah,” Dane warned him again.
“So protective,” Rayner teased him with a smile and a small chuckle, and Dane mellowed — grinned from ear to ear.
“Well, she’s got your number, brother,” Roland chuckled again as he watched his brother melt like spring snow.
“But I’ll still rip your arm off and beat you to death with it,” Dane growled at his brother.
Bowie was off behind his cabin hammering up a storm, and Rayner eyed her mate for a long moment as she considered the problems that still existed within her new family.
“And while I’m gone, you can make nice with your brother,” Rayner informed him.
Dane snapped a look toward his cabin and then forced his gaze back to his mate. He looked as if someone had slapped him.
“You’re kidding, right?” Dane growled at the thought.
“Call it a mating gift to me.” Rayner folded her arms, tipped her head to one side, and glared back at her alpha.
“You aren’t serious — wow, damn it, you’re serious.” Dane swallowed down on the urge he had to toss his head back on his neck and roar with laughter at the thought of it.
Make nice with his brother! He was still undecided if he was going to kill him or not.
“No, I’m lying,” Rayner huffed.
“After what he did…?” Dane lifted her hand and pointed a finger at his brother’s cabin.
“If he hadn’t done what he did — even, accidentally — then I just might have hightailed it out of here, and you could be standing here mate-less…”
“You think I couldn’t have wooed you?” Dane growled.
“I think you might not have had the chance,” she offered back, and her mate grunted. “Who says I can’t do subtle? If I can be diplomatic then surely I can be subtle.”
Rayner chuckled as Dane did a double take at her. Then he folded his large arms across his broad chest, and made his body look so much wider — sexier — a growl rumbled in her chest.
“That’s what you think?” Dane answered her growl with one of his own.
“I think — that Roland and I need to leave before I get distracted and we end up back in our cabin spending the rest of the day wrapped around each other…”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Dane grinned from ear to ear.
“Oh, it’s not a bad thing — unless I have somewhere else to be, which I do, so, Roland, let’s go.” Rayner was already stalking toward the truck.
“Roland…” Dane growled.
“I know — I know, protect your mate,” Roland grumbled as he rolled his eyes and followed on after Rayner. “You seem to forget that your mate is also my sister. What the hell do you think I’m going to do – throw her to the damn wolves?” He grumbled with a shake of his head in disbelief.
“Wolves!” Dane snapped to attention.
“Damn, Dane, it’s just a saying,” Roland grumbled, but the sound of Rayner’s chuckling made Dane curse out a few choice words at his brother before he took to mumbling himself.
“Alphas — no sense of humor,” Rayner sniggered.
“Of course I have no sense of humor about damn Wolves,” Dane grumbled as the pair of them walked away from him. He continued cursing and mumbling until they were out of sight.
~
~
~
“Damn it, Bute!” Rayner bit out as the heat of anger swept through her body. She could feel her bear just beneath the surface of her skin.
Maybe Dane had been right; maybe it was just too soon for her to keep a handle on her temper and her bear. Hell, it was distracting enough remembering not to growl at the pigheaded idiot of a man sitting behind the desk, let alone trying to keep her bear in its damn cage.
She’d always had the urge to rip Bute’s damn head off, and that should have been a warning sign right there.
“Rayner, I want my damn money,” Bute growled back, but that was a human growl, and she knew that she could do a whole lot better, but that would drop the clan and Bowie in deep crap.
“Maybe if you stopped lending to assholes…”
“Like Bowie?”
“But, I’m guaranteeing he pays…” she snapped back.
“Sorry,” he reached up and tapped the sign on the wall behind him. It read; trust no one.
“That’s how you feel?” Rayner slammed her palms down on his desk and leaned in over the top of it, eyeing the man with a steely glare.
“Rayner,” Roland’s tone warned her to be careful.
It was true; she could lose control of her bear at any minute.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
~
“Yep,” Bute nodded.
“Fine!” Rayner pushed away from the desk, rocking it on its base, and bringing Bute’s attention solely on her.
“Fine,” Bute echoed that sentiment. Then he folded his thick arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair.
“After everything I’ve done for you,” Rayner bit out.
“Yep,” Bute nodded again. “It’s just business — Missy.”
“Just — business,” Rayner gave a slow nod of understanding as she considered his words. “Just business — then you don’t mind if I take my business over to big Jim.”
“Now…” Bute pushed up in his chair. He unfolded his arms, and he rested his palms against the desktop like he was tryin
g to gather the energy to push up, but his brain was otherwise occupied.
“After all, big Jim has been trying to poach me for years away from you.” Rayner folded her arms across her chest and offered him a steely gaze.
“Now, Rayner…” Bute’s attitude had certainly changed. He even tried to crack a friendly smile, although his lips got caught on his teeth and it looked more like a grimace.
“Just business, Bute.” Rayner shrugged.
“Now, you know that son of a bitch won’t…”
“Value me?” Rayner’s eyebrows moved up toward her hairline. “
“Exactly,” Bute agreed.
“Like you do?”
“I pay you good…” He poked a stocky finger through the air toward her. She had the urge to rip it off.
“I was just asking for a little time here, but, I guess I need to go to big Jim to get some…”
“Nothing!” Bute slammed the palm of his hand down against the desk. “That man is…”
“Just business.”
“Fine,” Bute pushed up to his full height.
He was a large man, stocky, but he had more flab than muscle. He looked older than his years, his hair was graying at his temples, and she credited the business that he was in with that weathered look.
“Fine — what?” She demanded.
“You’ll get your extra time — but I want something in return,” he eyed her like he didn’t know if she’d just stolen the family silver.
“Let me guess?” She wasn’t about to try. But knowing the man as she did, he’d definitely want his damn pound of flesh in return.
“I want you to go after the biggest, meanest, son of the bitch on our books,” Bute folded his arms across his chest and offered her a smirk. He knew she’d never do it. Nobody would.
Rayner knew exactly who he was talking about. Others had tried to go after the man and failed miserably. Most ended up in hospital.