by Ranae Rose
He kissed her neck again, and his stubble tickled her throat. She squirmed a little but resisted the urge to giggle; she couldn’t laugh, not now. Not when the heat of Jack’s breath against her neck made her think of the vice-like grip of a wolf’s mouth on her shoulder, fangs poised to sink into her flesh. It should have frightened her, and it did, just a little, but mostly it made her long for it to actually happen. Jack was her mate; she wanted his mark. The pain was irrelevant; it would be like getting a tattoo – a little bit of pain for a permanent mark that meant something. In this case, something amazing.
“We’ll have each other’s marks, Mandy.” Jack’s voice carried a hint of a growl that enhanced the vividness of her imaginings, reminding her of him in his wolf form.
“Really?” A shiver of anticipation raced down her spine, and she was hyper-aware of everything about him – the way his entire muscular body had gone tense, the hardness of his erection against her thigh and most of all, the hot rush of his breath against her face and neck.
“If you’re sure. I won’t make you take my mark if you don’t want it.”
“Jack…” She wrapped her arms around his neck and did her best to draw him a little closer, though that was virtually impossible. “How could you ever think that I wouldn’t want anything you wanted to give me?” She pressed a kiss against his lips, just in case he was thinking of protesting or implying that she’d be better off without his mark.
He kissed her back, slipping his tongue quickly past her lips and teeth to claim her mouth. With his arms around her body, he drew her into as snug of an embrace as her belly would allow. His erection was more noticeable than ever, firm and warm against her inner thigh, causing her skin to heat and her core to tighten as it pressed against her flesh, so close to where she’d begun to ache for him.
“When?” she gasped, pulling away from his mouth, breathless.
“Not now,” he said, placing a hand behind her head and cradling it, drawing her back within kissing range again. “I’ve been thinking of this ever since last night. Wantin’ you is killin’ me, slowly but surely.” He pressed his mouth firmly against hers and resumed where they’d left off, stroking her tongue with his.
The only time Mandy really minded being pregnant was during moments like this. Her rounded belly made it impossible to get as close to Jack as she really wanted to, to press her body flat against his and urge him to take her in the most immediate way possible. But they’d figured out ways around that, and there were benefits to some of the more accommodating positions they’d discovered. Jack delved deep into her mouth with his tongue, dissolving her fixation on the marks they didn’t have. That could wait until a little later, at least…
He rolled her onto her back, propping himself up with his hands against the mattress, careful not to squash her belly. With a wicked smile, he started peeling away her clothing. “You know how hard it was to resist doing this when you met me at the edge of the woods today?” He tossed aside her pants and slid his hands beneath her shirt, his calloused palms gliding over her skin and sending a thrill of pleasure through her.
“When you got back from your patrol with Daniel and Clarissa?”
“Yeah.” After her shirt was off, he made short work of her bra and panties, pausing to cup her breasts in his hands. They swelled over the edges of his fingers – since she’d gotten pregnant, they’d increased significantly in size, and no longer fit neatly into the palms of his hands – and her nipples hardened against his skin.
She giggled as he removed his hands from her breasts and settled between her legs, gently nudging them apart and kneeling between them, slowly sliding a hand up her inner thigh. “Good thing your excitement didn’t, uh, show.” She vividly remembered doing her best to shield the most intimate bits of his naked body from the others’ view as he’d embraced her, apparently in no particular hurry to get dressed.
“I made myself think about accounting when the urge to make love to you got too intense,” he said solemnly.
“Hey! You think my job is that boring?”
“Uh-huh.” He’d finished sliding his hand down her leg at last; now he dipped his fingertips into the apex between her thighs and teased the seam of her sex, his fingers gliding against the dampness his kisses had caused. “No offence.”
Her attempt at a reply quickly turned to a breathless exclamation as he slowly slipped a finger inside her. In and out, he went gently, teasing for a while before he added a second finger. Her pussy tightened, and the sensation affected her entire body, flooding it with eager heat. She rocked her hips, causing his fingers to penetrate her more deeply, touching a place inside that made her want to climb on top of him so he could replace the teasing presence of his fingers with the toe-curlingly satisfying length of his cock.
As if sensing her thoughts, he quickened his pace, pushing his fingers deeper and deeper until she forgot all about any notion of getting up off the mattress or moving at all. She bore down with her hips – maybe she’d just come like this. Yes, she was already so—
Jack stopped, withdrawing his fingers slowly from her sex. Their tips grazed her folds, making her core clench with longing.
“Jack,” she protested. “You’re cruel.”
“No I’m not,” he said, his lips tilting in a crooked smile as he lowered his head.
His breath streamed over her thighs as he knelt between them, and when his tongue met her clit, she nearly melted. Heat pooled inside her, red-hot and desperate to escape. It built up again as he stroked her with his tongue, quickly bringing her to the brink of release. This time, he didn’t stop.
Her hips seemed to move of their own accord, thrusting against his open mouth. She could feel the light scrape of his teeth, the hot pressure of his tongue and the moistness of his lips, all combining to make her cry out, emptying her lungs of every last little bit of air. Even the rasp of his stubbled jaw against her tender skin felt good. Her channel tightened arrhythmically and her clit tingled with pleasure beneath Jack’s tongue. When he moaned, the sound low and rough, she reached her peak.
Jack placed his hands on her hips and gripped; the simple pressure of his fingers denting her skin felt amazing. He used the hold to keep her still, applying pressure with his tongue. As the waves of pleasure that had been rushing through her became less intense, he bit down lightly, and for a split second, the pressure of his teeth against her clit brought them back in full force. Her pussy tightened and she arched her hips, gasping again before relaxing, feeling suddenly spent as her thighs trembled faintly.
Jack rose from his kneeling position and smiled, his lips gleaming damply from what he’d just done. “Still think I’m cruel?”
“Maybe,” Mandy said breathlessly. “After what you just did to me, I don’t think I can move.”
“There are worse problems in the world,” he said, sinking down onto the bed and lying beside her.
With him at her side, that seemed to be true. She let herself relax for a moment as he wrapped an arm around her, just above the upper swell of her belly, though the hardness of his erection against her thigh reminded her that they were far from finished. That was just as well, because when he placed a hand on one of her breasts and squeezed gently, she felt the ache for him flare up inside her again. Her pussy tightened in memory of his fingers, in anticipation of his cock. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but there were times when she just couldn’t get enough of him – and she’d thought that had been true when she’d first met him. If anything, she wanted him even more now.
He teased her nipple with his fingertips, causing it to spring up small and hard. They felt more sensitive than ever lately – that was probably because of the pregnancy too. When he propped himself up on one side and pressed his lips against her other breast, she gasped.
His tongue felt hot, alternately soft and firm against her nipple as he licked the tight bud, eventually drawing it into his mouth. His jaw pressed into her soft flesh, and the rough stubble would’ve tickled if it
hadn’t felt so good.
Reaching below, she let her fingertips skim over the flat ridges of his abs and the dark hair at his groin until they met smooth, firm flesh. He groaned when she wrapped her hand around his cock and began to stroke him. Touching him that way made what he was doing to her feel even better; his every movement and sound sent her arousal spiking a little higher and made his tongue feel that much hotter against her sensitive nipple. After a few moments, she was aching to have him inside her.
With a low groan, he lifted his head, his lips brushing the lower curve of her breast as he met her eyes. He quickly repositioned himself, slipping an arm beneath her legs and lifting them in one deft movement. Still lying on his side, he positioned himself to enter her, guiding his cock so that the head pressed against her wet sex.
A thrill of anticipation went through her, reigniting the anxious heat she’d felt just minutes ago as he slowly parted the seam of her pussy. He’d removed his arm from beneath her knees, and she let her toes rest on his hip, even as they curled in response to his entrance. She sucked in a breath as he slid inside her, carefully forcing his way into her tight heat, inch by inch.
When he was all the way inside her, she exhaled, letting herself breathe again. His cock stretched her channel pleasantly, and her entire body tingled in response. She could still feel the phantom heat of his mouth against her nipple; it remained hard, and went even harder when he settled a hand on her breast, teasing it with his fingertips as he drew his hips back and rocked into her.
She gasped as the mattress sank beneath them, the bedsprings squeaking so faintly that the sound probably wouldn’t have been audible if it hadn’t been for Mandy’s enhanced shifter hearing. She could also hear Jack’s breathing, a deep, steady rushing that ebbed and flowed to the rhythm of his thrusting. She closed her eyes and focused on the sounds as she slipped into a world of sensation. Jack’s scent suffused her sense of smell, as deliciously piney and masculine as ever. At that moment, he had to be breathing in her scent too – the aroma of rain and wildflowers that had attracted him to her. No one else could detect the scents that marked them invisibly as each other’s mates, but there was no question that they were mated. Irrefutably, happily mated. Forever.
Jack thrust deep into Mandy, his hipbone pressing against the underside of her thigh. “Not hurtin’ you, am I?”
“No. I’m fine.” Jack had become more cautious since Mandy had become pregnant. It was sweet that he didn’t want to hurt her or the baby, but he wasn’t in danger of that. In fact, his last thrust had touched a place inside her that had left her breathless. She took half a moment to steady her breathing. “Do that again…”
He obliged, flexing his hips and delving deep inside her. Her core tightened, embracing his cock and enhancing the sensation of fullness his deep stroke had caused. When he removed his hand from her breast and slipped it between her legs instead, she tensed against the mattress. As he found her clit and began to massage it with his fingertips, she sighed. Combined with the way his cock filled her, his fingers felt just as good as his tongue had. It wouldn’t be long before he sent her over the edge again.
The position they were entangled in made it easy for him to make love to her; when she opened her eyes and let her gaze sweep over his body, it was obvious that most of his finely-cut muscles were going to waste. Each thrust was deep but effortless, and completely breathtaking. She bore down with her hips, allowing him to drive his cock deep each time. Her breathing turned to gasping and she squeezed her eyes shut again, focusing on the dual pleasure of his hard flesh inside her and his fingers against her clit, giving an intense massage. It felt so incredible that she tried to resist climax, to hold out and ride the anticipatory pleasure a little longer, but it was impossible. Waves of ecstasy swept through her, causing her hips to buck involuntarily as her pussy clenched around Jack’s cock.
He didn’t slow his thrusts or his touch, just groaned, sending her hair streaming over one cheek in a hot rush of breath as he pushed her to the peak of orgasm. She cried out as he picked up pace, and her bones might as well have turned to water; she melted against the mattress, the solid presence of Jack’s cock inside her and his hand on her body the only things that anchored her to reality as her body hummed with pleasure. She could feel the dull burn of excitement and satisfaction heating her skin and knew that if she’d been looking into a mirror, she would’ve seen flushed cheeks and swollen lips. She bit down on one lip and moaned as Jack stroked her clit one last time, his fingertips brushing the place where her skin parted to admit the stiff rod of his cock.
At this point, she always thought of herself as being too spent – too satisfied – to truly appreciate anything that might happen afterward. This time – as usual – she was wrong. When Jack began rocking into her again, it felt exquisite.
Her body had been left extra-sensitive in the wake of her two orgasms, and even the gentlest of Jack’s strokes caused starbursts of pleasure to erupt somewhere in her middle, making it impossible not to moan in appreciation. When he picked up his pace and began to thrust harder, she placed a hand on his arm and let her nails dig into his bicep as she clutched a handful of the bedsheets in the other.
His arm tensed beneath her touch, but he didn’t say anything, just thrust harder, settling into an urgent rhythm of deep strokes that made her arch against the mattress. He cried out when he came, and his breath buffeted Mandy’s face, increasing the burning warmth in her cheeks and lips as he spilled liquid heat inside her. During the last few strokes, the bedsprings squeaked loudly enough that any normal human would’ve been able to hear from inside or outside the bedroom – maybe even from outside the cabin. Mandy breathed deeply, even after Jack stilled, remaining inside her for a few moments before withdrawing and sliding up the mattress to lay straight by her side.
He was still breathing hard – a little harder than the exertion accounted for. He pressed his forehead against the side of her face and his breath streamed around her neck, encircling it like a hot, invisible collar. His chest rose and fell against her arm as he lowered his head, a ghost of a growl rumbling in the pit of his chest as his lips brushed her shoulder.
A shiver of sensation zipped down Mandy’s spine, and her nipples went instantly hard. Jack’s lips were soft and full against her skin, inflamed from kissing and sex, but beneath were his teeth, hard and sharp. Fangs, if he shifted into his wolf form. It would be so easy for them to sink into her flesh, marking her as his forever in one brief moment.
She hardly dared to move when he parted his lips, letting his teeth dent her skin lightly, their pressure as teasing as the heated rush of his breath. His cock was still hard against her thigh, wet from their lovemaking, and she couldn’t help but think that receiving his mark would be as pleasurable as it would be painful. Her body tingled with arousal she hadn’t thought herself capable of experiencing as his teeth dug a little deeper into her skin. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply so that his scent filled her lungs and clouded her thoughts as she waited for whatever would happen next.
Slowly, Jack eased the pressure of his light bite and let his parted lips trail over her shoulder, meeting the upper swell of one breast. He extended his tongue to touch her nipple, dragging it over the tight bud and causing it to go even harder. “Mandy, my mate…” He closed his lips around her nipple, letting his teeth graze her sensitive skin. After a brief moment he raised his head, allowing his lips to brush her jaw and tickle her ear. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Jack.” She tried to relax as he settled down beside her, the tension going out of his muscles as he pulled the quilt over their bodies. He had the coveted ability to fall asleep almost instantly, and after a few moments, it was clear that he’d slipped into slumber.
Squeezing her eyes firmly shut, she resolved to do the same, but couldn’t stop thinking of the press of his teeth against her shoulder, the hot blast of his breath against her tender skin. He’d been sorely tempted to mark her then and there – she was
sure of it – so why had he stopped? He’d have to sooner or later; he’d promised, after all. As she rested beside him in the dark with his piney scent filling her lungs, she knew she’d dream of the phantom scrape of his teeth against her shoulder – this night and every night until he claimed her with his mark.
****
Working from home wasn’t bad. It gave Mandy something to do while the others took turns going on the multiple daily patrols that Jack had organized, still hunting for any sign of the wolf they’d scented as a group during their pack run several days ago. Not a trace of the mystery wolf had turned up since then, but Jack and the others remained as vigilant as ever. When Jack wasn’t working, he was usually patrolling.
A part of Mandy wanted to believe that they’d simply scented a lost or adventurous animal, perhaps one of the red wolves that inhabited the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. However, like Jack, she erred on the side of caution – anyone would, after what they’d gone through at the hands of the last strangers who’d invaded Half Moon territory. Every time Jack left on one of the patrols, her heart beat a little faster until he walked back through the door, whole and safe. She worried about the others too, of course, but not like she worried about her mate.
When Jack was gone, she really had to get lost in her work, or worrying about him would drive her crazy. Currently, he was around the cabin, beginning work on an addition he’d been planning that would serve as a nursery for their baby. Having him home made it easy for her to focus on her work – until Clarissa entered through the cabin’s front door and approached the little desk Mandy had set up in one corner of the main room.
“What do you think?” Clarissa asked, beaming expectantly as she strode across the room. She held a pair of baby booties in each hand – one blue and one pink. “They’re for one of the games.”
“Cute,” Mandy said, her heart doing a tiny flip-flop as her gaze settled on each pair of booties in turn. Was she having a boy or a girl? Clarissa had more or less taken over Mandy’s prenatal care, and like the other shifter midwife Mandy had seen, she didn’t have the luxury of an ultrasound machine – not out here in the Smoky Mountains, anyway.