A lump rose up and down on Dane's throat and his eyes were narrowed as he listened.
Trina sighed. "I'm barely thirty and my goal was to be married by then." She chuckled nervously. "Guess I'll get my wish after all, minus the glamour, glitz, and fairy-tale ending…for six weeks at least."
Dane frowned, pushed his chair back, and traveled around to her end of the table. He leaned against the edge, reached for her hand and pulled her up to stand. "You are an amazing woman, Trina. I would have never instigated this if I wasn't truly interested in you, which is why I made all this inquiries before inviting you to meet me. If you feel you need to back out…I'll understand."
"The papers are signed already."
"I have lawyers lined up waiting to earn their retainer. Nothing is ever set in stone."
"No. I actually want to do this. I need the money, yes, but…" She blushed.
Dane pulled her closer toward his heated body and between his thighs. "Yes, but what?"
She'd been with other men before, but they didn't compare to him. How he'd made her feel the first time they met and what he'd done to her on the chaise lounge had surpassed any and all expectations she had of Dane Magnus. Thinking about her legs spread while he thrust inside of her with urgency sent a rush of desire through her spine.
"You're unique," was the only reply she could muster.
His nostrils flared. "Your arousal turns me on."
Dane's groin was hard against her belly. Heat spread across her belly and she took her bottom lip between her teeth.
"I can't stop thinking about what you did to me?"
He grinned. "Neither can I."
The moment their lips met a kaleidoscope of light flickered behind her eyelids. She was hungry for his touch and taste. Her pussy clenched, needy and wet. Their lips met and tongues tangled over and over again. Before long they were standing amid the dining room, kissing hot and heavy against the table in the center of a heap of clothes.
"Turn around. I want to see your pretty ass."
Trina obliged his request, gripping the edges of the table as the sound of his voice turned her legs to putty.
A deep growl erupted from behind her and big hands kneaded at the plumpness of her backside. Her body shook in anticipation the moment he began to rain kisses across her shoulders and back. His palms gripped her ass firmly as he kissed her body. Gentle fingers slipped between her legs to caress her moist sex.
Lips, nose, tongue, and teeth. He used them all to caress her skin. Moving unbearably slow across her back and up and down her spine.
Dane knelt lower and she cried out when he nipped her ass. Big palms pressed against the bottom of her spine, pushing her downward until her breasts were smashed against the top of the table. Her ass was now held high in the air for his exploration.
"Dane—" She choked on his name as two fingers speared her pussy.
He pumped into her with the same agonizing slowness of his earlier kisses, then removed them. The moment he left her entrance unfilled, she ached. Her nipples tightened to the sound of moans of satisfaction escaping his lips. She peeked over her shoulder to see him licking her nectar from his fingers.
"You taste like warm milk and honey," he said. He took a long swipe at the back of her thigh with his tongue. He teased her until her legs trembled, moving closer and closer to her needy center.
"What are you doing?" she panted.
"Eating you for desert."
Dane buried his lips between the folds of her pussy, burying his tongue deep into her wet core. He dipped his tongue in and out of her heat and back and forth across her clit. He was relentless in his rhythm and drove her near the edge numerous times. He ate hungrily, driving his tongue against her pussy. Her feet barely touched the ground, her tiptoes the only thing keeping her balanced. She clutched at the edge of the table as he devoured her. When she came, she screamed and it echoed through his house.
He never gave her a chance to come down from the orgasm. He rose and entered her from behind without warning. There was nothing nice about the way he fucked her. Hard male flesh beat into her pussy with vigor. She loved it. Every last second.
He tugged a fistful of her hair and her spine arched downward as he pulled. Nothing could be heard except for the consistent slap of his balls against her wet folds and his pelvis against her ass.
He growled. "Trina. Kitten."
Her body plummeted into another climax. The intense sensations rained down on her like a comet shower. His release was right behind hers. His seed burst into her like a shooting star, coating and burning her insides.
When it was all over, he leaned against her, breathing hoarsely against her back.
Dane picked her up and gathered her in his arms after their heart rates had returned to normal. He walked them out of the dining room.
"Where are you going with me?"
"You ask too many questions," he teased.
"I need many answers."
"I'd like a second helping."
She lifted her eyebrows. "Of what?"
"Your pussy."
A sharp pang of ecstasy ran up her spine, causing her nipples to harden even more. "You should have told me I was marrying a sex fiend."
He reached the stairs and climbed them without a stumble. "I wanted that part to be a surprise."
There was a relatively large shower in what appeared to be a master bedroom. He set her down near the shower and leaned inside to turn on the water.
"I hope you're not afraid to get your hair wet."
"You've already messed it up and I fully expect you to remedy that." She stepped backward into the shower.
He grinned. "I thought you were a nice girl."
"Nice girls get naughty too, especially when there's a really big present involved." Her gaze fell to his massive erection. He had to have at least been at least ten inches long. The swift way in which he brought her to orgasm also told her that he was thick enough to hit the right spots.
Dane entered the shower, closing in on her like a hungry wolf. Her back hit the wall and he hefted her up by the thighs, wrapping her legs around his waist.
He slid inside her sex with ease, but there was nothing easy about the way he fucked her. Before long, Trina forgot the number of times the hungry wolf took her that night.
Chapter 14
Trina was jarred awake by a set of large hands. Before she opened her eyes, she registered Dane's scent. Her muscles were sore from the numerous rounds of sex the previous night. Had this man woken her up to have sex again? Was this man that insatiable?
"What is going on?" she asked, groggily, lifted herself from the bed.
"Sssh," Dane said. "I need you to throw this on." He handed her one of her dresses. "We have to get out of here now. I sense danger. It's time to leave."
"What?" She looked around at the window. The sun had barely risen. "You said we were leaving later today."
"Please. We don't have time to talk right now. I'll explain everything when we're on safer grounds. Stay close to me."
Her heart began to beat nervously as she caught the hint of urgency in his voice. She said nothing else as she pulled the long sundress over her naked body. Dane grabbed a duffle bag from the closet, threw some items inside, including her purse, and reached for her.
"This way," he urged.
As soon as they opened the door, smoke billowed into their faces. Her own senses kicked in as she heard the telltale signs of a house on fire.
"Shit, Dane. What is going on? Tell me."
"The left end of the ranch is on fire. Stay low." He pushed her out into the hallway and down the stairs. Once they were on the first level, he grabbed her hands and his rushed steps turned into a jog.
Trina held her breath against the putrid smoke until they reached the sliding glass doors of the papers. They moment they hit the deck she breathed exhaled deeply.
Crackled flames caught her attention and she snapped her head to the right to confirm Dane's confirmation. The le
ft side of the home was engulfed in flames and lit up the morning sky.
"Oh my God. We need to call the fire department," she said, following Dane done the patio steps.
"No human authorities involved. They'd done enough damage already. There's nothing of value in the home. The land is what I'm after."
Trina noticed his strained voice and turned to see his canines dropped in anger. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"Yes and no. I want to get you out of here safely. I promise we'll talk later."
His irises sparked brightly with specks of gold. It seemed as though his wolf half was taking over. He lifted his hand and brushed some hair away from her neck. He narrowed his gaze, stroking at the crevice near her throat. His lips fell open.
"Trina, where did you get this?"
"This what?"
"This mark."
"What mark?"
Dane's eyes widened. "I had a feeling…Impossible."
"What are you talking about?" She coughed when the wind pushed more of the smoke toward them.
He took her hand again and rushed them further away from the burning home. Pausing near a tree, he took her chin gently and lifted her neck again.
"Why the heck do you keep looking at my neck? Do I have a pimple?"
"You're wearing my mark, Trina. And I haven't even bitten you."
"Bitten me?" This time she looked at him strangely. "Of course you haven't bitten me. I would know. If you bite me, I will slap the hell out of you."
She slid her palm against the area he'd examined. "I don't feel anything."
"It's not that type of mark. Your's is natural." Dane turned and pointed to the nape of his neck. "Look at the back of my neck. What do you see?"
She stepped closer to him, squinting against the first rays of sunshine. There was some type of birthmark near his hairline, similar to a tattoo, but the coloring was all wrong. It was imbedded, not inked, into the skin.
"Two figure eight signs. Like an infinity symbol. They form an X."
He turned around and rubbed the area near her throat again. "This explains why I can't get enough of you."
"I can see what you're seeing, Dane. Do you mind telling me what you're talking about? And why the hell is your house on fire? Did we leave a burner on after dinner or something?”
“Yes, the house is on fire, and no, we didn’t leave the stove on. About the mark…mated pairs carry matching ones. It only appears as the result of a true union. You're my intended, Trina. There will be no need for me to temporarily mark you as confirmation to my people, because you are my true mate."
"What…" She shook her head. The smoke must have gotten to him.
"Hey!" The voice to the behind him them came from a male. "Hey, you two! What are you doing out here?"
Dane spun around and quickly shielded her. The man had a gun, pointing it toward them from several yards away. As she held her hands against his back, he felt the vibrations that came along with his growls.
"Hey! Answer me! Are you a wolf?"
Dane turned slightly to issue his order. "Get behind the tree."
He didn't have to tell her twice as he scrambled behind the massive oak tree. Two shots rang out sending her heart into frenzy. Her fingers trembled against the bark of the tree as she pressed her back hard against it.
The next growl was so deep and animalistic that it had to have come from a wolf. Three more shots rang out and the man screamed. There was a scuffle on the ground and then complete silence.
The atmosphere was so quiet that all she could register was her own panicked breathing and the sound of fire burning the house.
A black wolf emerged from the corner of her eyes. Its eyes were gold and majestic. Its body was large and muscular and the fur was shiny and sleek. At the sight of such beauty, her muscles relaxed. It was a reaction she didn't understand, but yet she felt she knew this wolf.
"Dane," she whispered, her hands still gripping the bark. Her breathing became erratic as she tried to withstand the polluted air around her.
The wolf shook its massive head and torso and out of the haze of what Trina could only describe as magical and luminous, Dane Magnus appeared.
He came to her and she walked right out into his arms.
“It’ll become difficult for us to breath with all the smoke,” he said. “Let's get out of here now. I have a cell in the storage pack on my motorcycle. I’ll call the fire department.”
Chapter 15
"What the hell was that about?" Trina croaked out the moment she got the motorcycle helmet off.
Dane had come to a full stop in front of a one story brick house. As soon as they pulled up in the yard, the porch lamps flickered and the lights inside came on.
"He was a trespasser. He was looking for something but he didn't say what,” Dane said, lifting her off of the bike and setting her down on her feet.
Trina swore that her blood pressure had sky-rocketed five times over, and plus this mark that Dane insisted was on her throat felt like an annoying skin irritation. She rubbed her throat as she said, "Well what happened to the guy? Did you kill him?"
"No, but the way he was firing to kill I probably should have. I caught his scent before he ran off. I really need to find out what's going on."
"Is this your other home or something?"
Before answering, he slid his fingers against her neck and back along her nape. He gave her a single kiss on the forehead and then said, "Don't worry. You'll find relief soon from the mark. It's the first time it's risen on your skin, so it's going to be noticeable. As time passes, it won't bother you as much."
"About that…" Before she could finish her sentence, his brother Brock opened the door to the brick house and came to stand out on the porch.
"I need to have a word with my brother before we head into town," he said, taking her hand.
When they reached the front steps, the brothers greeted each other silently, and this time Brock gave her a respectable nod.
"You're mated," Brock said, as they crossed the threshold into the house. "Forgive me for ever doubting you, brother," he added, and then closed the door.
"That's what brothers are for…and yes, we most certainly are."
"Have a seat." Brock motioned toward his couches. "Can I get the new Mrs. Magnus something to drink?”
She nodded. "Water or juice, if you have it."
"Be right back." Brock exited the room.
“Explain this mating mark to me," Trina said, following Dane to a small closet near the other end of the living room.
She watched as he grabbed one his brother's flannel shirts and shed his torn and tattered shirt. He'd sustained a few bruises and scrapes from the recent scuffle. She hadn't seen the fight with the trespasser, but it appeared that he'd been knocked across the face a few times too.
"You're feeling okay, right?" she asked, reaching out and taking his forearm and then letting her fingers slide over the scratch on his jaw.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." He took the hand that was on his face and then urged her into a small guest bathroom near a kitchen. “Look at your neck and tell me what you see." He adjusted the folding medicine cabinet so that she could see both sides of her face and neck.
Her attention moved to her throat where she'd felt the changes on her skin and sure enough the mark was there, right above her collarbone. "Two infinity signs, forming an X. How did this happen?"
"It's a birthmark. It's been there since you were born. Sometimes, they're not visible until something happens to activate it, like meeting your mate."
"Just meeting?" She grinned.
"Us not being able to keep our hands off each other sped up the process," he added.
Dane must have heard Brock waiting in the living room because he walked back out. Brock handed her a glass of ice with a bottle of orange juice and a bottle of water.
Once they were seated on the couches, Brock asked, "You got something?"
"Yeah." Dane reached into his back jeans pocket and pulle
d out a ripped shred of clothing and handed it to his brother.
Trina recognized instantly that it was the same type of fabric from the trespasser’s shirt.
Brock held it up to his nose and took a whiff. "Smells of cigarettes and processed meat."
"That's what I got from it. He either has connections to one of the butcher shops or the meat market."
"Then, it'll be easy to find him," Brock replied.
"I would have ran that bastard down and beat the answers out of him, but I wasn't going to leave Trina out there alone with the house burning down."
"Understood. I know you were going to tear that old house down anyway, but he and the person who set him up to do this needs to be found. He either needs to be turned in or dealt with."
"That too, brother," Dane agreed. "But I'm also interested in why he was snooping about on my land in the first place. I'll need you to help me to gather some scouts. I want the answers that he ran away with."
Chapter 16
Trina peered out through the visor of the motorcycle helmet at the long row of retail shops as Dane brought his motorcycle to a halt in front of a local post office. They'd ridden almost thirty miles before crossing into the side of town known for its abundant shifter population.
In a matter of days, her life had completely changed and she was still trying to process everything. She kept having to remind herself of the deal she made with Dane Magnus, and more importantly, of the reason she was in this place now. In less than six weeks, she wouldn't have to worry about where the money would come from to pay for her dad's surgery. And more importantly, she had a reason to be happy with Dane.
Trina had concluded days ago that the pull she felt toward Dane would've still been there had it not been for the money. There were many questions to be answered. Not only was she intrigued by the man itself, but by his declaration that she was his intended true mate. She loved the ring of it more than she loved the notion of their 6 week marriage of convenience.
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