by Anya Bast
He released her and backed away. Scarlet opened her eyes to see him staring speculatively at her, a satisfied-looking smile curving his sinful lips. "I thought so," he said, then turned and walked toward the house.
"You thought so. What?" She called after him. "What exactly did you think, Roane?"
"Thought the attraction went both ways," he called over his shoulder. "Now I know for sure."
Yep, she was in trouble.
* * * * *
"Why did you come to Tranquility, anyway?" Scarlet asked, fingering the neck of her bottle of beer.
Roane had fixed Hogan's car and headed here for a drink, since the work day was done. She figured, why not? Roane knew she was supposed to be spying on him for Marcus and he was aware of her undeniable attraction to him.
She'd waited in the car, contemplating all of this, for the hour it took for Roane to work. When he'd returned, she'd suggested they go somewhere to talk, somewhere away from Tranquility, away from Marcus' paranoid eyes. So they've made the ten mile trip to the nearest town, where the Wolven had no need to go. Here, there were only humans.
It was Friday night and the bar was packed. They were sitting closely at the bar ostensibly so they could hear one another, though Scarlet didn't mind the proximity of him, the warmth of his body and the scent of him.
It had been too long since she'd been with a man, and this particular one worked the last of her will to resist with every breath he took.
What she gave him to him, just this one night? What if they slept together, did everything she'd already done with him in her fantasies, in order to simply slake their need? Maybe the desire would fade then, and she could go back to normal.
"You've asked me that before."
She nodded. "And you never really gave me much of an answer."
"Because I'm not a lone wolf," Roane replied, taking a swig of his beer. "I need a pack."
"Why'd you leave your old pack?"
"My brother and I were both contenders to rule, dictated by the council of elders. They decided whoever took this woman to mate…her name is Nikki and she's a cat shifter, would attain the highest status in the pack. I left so I wouldn't have to challenge my own brother for her."
Her brow furrowed. "You didn't want Nikki?"
He shook his head, "Merrick, my brother, had a kind of chemistry with Nikki. They were meant to be mates. It was better I left." He paused and glanced at her. "Chemistry like what you and I have."
Scarlet ducked her head and studied the neck of her beer bottle fiercely. "So, as a natural alpha, you came here and caused a ruckus."
"I don’t want to be alpha of this pack. I don't know how many times I have to say it. This was bound to happen to anywhere I went, but it was cause a ruckus or live alone. I'd rather cause a ruckus."
Yes, he was good at doing that. The man didn't even need to say or do anything to cause a stir. He just had to exist.
She used her thumbnail to peel off the damp beer label. "I believe you," she said sincerely.
"I'm glad." His hand covered hers. She looked up at him. "They say that peeling the labels off bottles that way is a sign of sexual frustration."
His eyes had gone dark, the pupils dilated. Scarlet could scent his arousal roll off him in a wave of heated musk. Suddenly she felt like a deer caught in headlights…or caught the hunting gaze of a predator.
"Yeah, well, they might be right," she responded in a shaky voice.
"Really? How intriguing." He reached out, grabbed her bar stool and yanked her close to him.
Scarlet gasped, feeling a rush of adrenaline through her body at his body practically flush against hers.
He gave her a slow, confident smile that pissed her off a little. That reaction was drowned in the pool of her own need, however. "I want you," he said low. "I want you in my bed tonight, Scarlet. I want you slow, and then I want you hard and fast. I want you all night long."
She glanced away, her breath hitching. "I want you too, Roane. More than I can say. “She licked her lips nervously.”But to sleep with you would be like, like—"
"Betraying your brother?"
She nodded. But it was Marcus' fault she was in this position in the first place. And who was her brother to dictate with whom she slept with anyway?
“Scarlet?" he asked in a velvet smooth voice. She looked at him. "Fuck your brother."
He let his face drift closer to hers. She didn't move away, couldn't move away. Their breath mingled, lips brushed, and then he kissed her. Her lips felt wooden beneath his for a moment, and then she melted and kissed him back. Every nerve in her body shot to life with hunger.
She twisted, leaning into him so she could feel her breasts against his rock hard chest, and eased her hands slowly up his arms, over the bulge of biceps, to his broad shoulders. In his arms she felt so fragile, so small…so protected. She'd never pegged herself for the kind of woman who enjoyed that, but she had to admit that she felt safe in Roane's arms, and that she liked it…a lot.
Roane slipped his hands to her waist, then slanted his mouth over hers and flicked his tongue against her lips. Damn it. She wanted to crawl into his lap. She wanted him to undress here right here in this crowded bar and fuck her senseless right on this stool. God, she craved this man on a molecular level, every inch of her body screamed to feel his hot skin on hers, his thick cock sliding deep. The stool would be just the right height….
She parted her lips for him and he slipped his tongue inside. She could taste beer faintly on his tongue, and it made her feel pleasantly drunk. They broke the kiss, both breathing heavy
"Scarlet, there's a hotel not far from here," he murmured hoarsely against her lips. "No one in Tranquility will ever know." He groaned and eased a hand between her knees. "I have to touch you."
She whimpered deep in her throat as he slid his hand between her jean-clad thighs, his actions concealed by the overhang of the bar and the dim light. He found the seam where it covered her swollen, sensitive clit and pressed and rotated, sending little charges of pleasure through her body.
He kissed her again, working the bundle of nerve exquisitely, pushing her toward the fastest climax of her life. She shuddered against him. "Do you think they know I'm going to make you come right here at the bar?" he whispered against her lips. "Does it feel good, little one?"
She sank her white teeth into her lower lip and nodded. "Yes."
"It's frustrating for me. I want you naked and beneath me on a bed right now." He pressed and rotated, pressed and rotated, making her clit more swollen, so very aroused and sensitive. "I want my tongue here."
She gasped against his lips. "I'm coming," she whispered. "Oh, god, don't stop."
"Never." He slanted his mouth over hers as the orgasm hit her full-force. She felt the sweet rush of her come as she came against his stroking hand. Roane caught all her little moans and pants in his mouth.
When her climax had eased, he let her sag a little against him. "Let's get out of here," he whispered in her ear. "I want to fuck you till you can't think anymore."
All she could do was nod her agreement.
As they rose and left the bar, neither of them noticed a dark-haired Wolven in the corner by the jukebox, watching them.
* * * * *
Somehow they made it into the hotel room. They sealed their bodies together as soon as they were inside and Roane kicked the door shut behind them and pressed her up against it. He grabbed both her wrists and pinned them on either side of her head as his mouth worked over hers—lips siding, teeth nipping.
Scarlet drowned in it, in the scent of him, the feel of him, the sound of his breathing. This was an itch she'd needed to scratch in a major way. It was wrong, so very, very wrong. At the moment, Scarlet could not have cared less.
"Bed," she whispered between kisses. "Bed. Now."
Roane released her wrists and lifted her around her waist. He stumbled the five steps to the bed and threw her down on top of it. She bounced and let out a laugh of surprise t
hat quickly died in her throat as she looked up and watched Roane pull his shirt over his head. Smooth muscle rippled, revealing the lean strength of a Wolven male.
Masculine splendor was definitely a quality Roane could claim in spades and the sight of him made every nerve in her body that hadn't already flared, come to complete attention. She bit her bottom lip as she took her fill of him, and let the sight wipe every remaining fear of her brother from her mind.
He tossed his shirt to the floor and slowly bent to take first one foot and then the other and remove her shoes. Then Roane leaned over her, his hair shadowing his face and his gaze centered on hers. After he'd given her a lingering kiss, he grasped the edge of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head, leaving her clad in just her white lace bra. Then he dropped his hands, unbuttoned her jeans and pulled those off too.
Now she lay in just her bra and panties while Roane stood above her, his gaze running hungrily over her body. “Take them off,” he commanded in a low, rough voice.
She slipped her bra and underwear off. Roane watched her do it, dark eyes filled with lust, jaw locked.
His lids had gone heavy and his cock pressed against the zipper of his jeans. “Lie back against the pillows. I want to look at you.”
She lay back and his heated gaze ate up every inch of her.
“Gorgeous,” he murmured, crawling onto the bed over her. Balancing on one muscular arm, he cupped her breast with his free hand and rubbed the nipple to a stiff peak with his thumb. Then he sucked her nipple into his mouth, his masterful tongue exploring every ridge and bump of her erect peaks, each in turn.
She moaned, closing her eyes.
His hand dipped between her legs, pushed her thighs apart roughly and slid his hand between them, taking her clit between two fingers he rubbed it until she moaned. She felt her cheeks flush and heard her breath thicken. He stroked his hand over her folds, petting her clit. She squirmed beneath him in need, but he held her in place, sinking a finger deep inside her cunt. Then he added a second and thrust in and out slowly. She answered him with a rush of fluid and a long moan.
“You’re so soft, warm. Like satin,” he growled. “I can’t wait to sink my cock into this pretty little cunt.” In and out he pumped, rocking her against the mattress with his movements.
He added a third thick digit. She gasped and squirmed, her body struggling to accommodate the girth. But, oh, it felt good the way it stretched her intimate muscles.
Roane grumbled his approval at the way her passage relaxed enough to take it. “I’m not a small man, Scarlet. Do you think you can handle me?”
She moaned, her body rocking on the bed in pace with his thrusts. “I want to find out.”
“You gonna come for me already?” he teased, petting her clit with his other hand.
Her body jerked and she let out a slow moan. Yes, she was. The edge of a climax toyed with her body, taunting her.
“Come on, baby. Let it go.” He pressed down on her clit, thrusting his fingers in and out of her the way she wanted to feel his cock.
An orgasm burst over her body, washing through her so hard and fast, it bowed her spine. She cried out and he rode her through it, stroking her clit with his thumb, while the muscles of her cunt pulsed and contracted.
When it was over and she lay limp on the bed, he backed away from her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Scarlet sat up, snagged her finger in the waistband of his jeans and pulled him forward. “I’m not done with you yet.”
He came forward a step, wearing a satisfied grin on his face. He was proud he’d made her come so hard.
She had every intention of wiping that smile off his face.
Holding his gaze, she unbuttoned his jeans and lowered the zipper. She watched his pupils dilate as she worked his jeans down low enough to get his cock out.
Like the rest of him, it was long, wide, strong…and very aroused.
She traced one of the heavy veins down its length, entranced with it. Roane shivered and groaned. Then she leaned forward and took him into her mouth. She could barely do it. He hadn’t been boasting about his size.
He gasped her name and gripped her shoulders, as if trying to hang on while she worked her tongue over him. She loved the way he reacted to her mouth on him, loved the fact that she could make this dominant wolf obey her merely by the touch of her lips.
Before she could blink, he had her back onto the bed. "I wanted you the first time I saw you," he breathed against her lips.
In response she kissed him and dragged his lower lip slowly between her teeth. He growled low in the back of his throat, a wolf's growl. It raised the hair on the back of her neck.
Roane pressed his knee between her legs and forced them open, setting the head of his cock to her entrance. He held her gaze steadily as he pushed inside her. Her mouth opened as the width and length of him breached her, stretched her muscles until she could take all of him. Neither of them looked away until he was seated all the way inside of her.
He dipped his head and laid his lips to her bare shoulder. His breath eased over her skin as he dragged his lips over her collarbone to the place where her neck met her shoulder. There, he bit gently.
It was a gesture of dominance, ownership. It was primal, erotic. She closed her eyes and whimpered, feeling her cunt plumped and hot with arousal. He bit down a little harder and goose bumps erupted all over her body.
Little by little, Roane’s strokes grew harder and faster. Her whole world became his cock inside her, possessing her, owning her. The soft slap of their bodies connecting over and over met her ears. Every stroke went base-deep.
“Ah, baby,” he growled. “You feel so fucking good. Like a velvet glove.”
Her head fell back and her eyes closed. Her fingers found his shoulders and she held on under the swell of pleasure rising within her. Then it burst and washed over her in rippling, overwhelming waves that stole the very air from her lungs for a moment.
It had been so long….
While the ripples of her orgasm still barely held her in thrall, Roane pulled out of her, flipped her to her hands and knees on the mattress. Hauling her hips up, he roughly pushed her thighs apart and thrust his cock inside her from behind.
She gasped, her fingers curling into the blankets at the delicious roughness of it.
His hard body cupped hers, rocking against it as he took her harder and faster this time, her sex having adjusted to his size to make movement easier. Pleasure built once more, swiftly, driving all rational and coherent thought from her brain. As it crested and set to explode once more, Roane leaned over her and took the back of her throat in a firm hold between his teeth.
Mine, the action said.
Scarlet climaxed again, hard enough to steal the gasp from her throat. Roane rode her through it, and when her climax had nearly passed, he matched her. His cock jumped and he released her throat with a low groan.
After a moment they collapsed onto the bed, both breathing heavy. Before she could catch her breath, he pulled her against him, rolled her beneath him and tangled his fingers through her hair. Right before his mouth descended on hers, he breathed her name.
She wound her arms around him and kissed him back, overwhelmed by the intensity of him. Scarlet had not expected this…tenderness from him. It seemed so at odds with his personality.
He broke the kiss and pushed her hair away from her face. "When will you be missed?"
With the question, the outside world came crashing back in. She felt irritated too. Her brother would be checking up on her and it pissed her off to no end that she had to answer to him this way. Apparently she wasn't as submissive a Wolven as everyone supposed. She blinked. "I supposed I'd be missed after around seven pm."
He glanced at the clock and hung his head. After a moment, he raised his head and fixed her with his dark, hooded eyes. His voice felt like warm honey when he spoke. "I want the whole night with you, but I don't want you to catch a bunch of bullshit from your bro
ther either."
He wanted to spend the whole night? With her? She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that. Well, okay, she was sure how she felt about that; it made her kind of tingly...in a good way. Tingly and Roane weren't a good mix. She was getting in way over her head here. Even worse was how the idea of spending the night with him made her salivate just a little.
She swallowed hard and glanced away. "Yeah, I need to take a shower to get the smell of you off me." That was a decidedly unromantic comment and she welcomed the way it fell with a thud between them, distancing them. It was true too. Her brother and other Wolven would scent him on her in a heartbeat and know every last lovely erotic thing they'd just done together.
Roane waited a heartbeat and then rolled to the side. Scarlet willfully squashed the sense of loss of him—his scent and body heat. She rose, gathered her clothes and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. She felt his gaze on her every step.
Scarlet turned the water on and stepped under the spray, groaning in pleasure at the sluice of warm water down her body. A recalcitrant part of her hoped Roane would find his way into the shower, but he never did.
As she dried herself, sounds came from the main part of the hotel room. A door being kicked in, yelling…and growling.
She dressed quickly and opened the door. There in the middle of the room stood Roane in full wolf form—a huge black male with molten silver eyes.
And there, standing just in the doorway was a huge white wolf with its hackles raised—her brother. She stood watching them circle each other, her blood cold.
Scarlet backed up against the wall, watching the two animals circle each other, hair raising growls curling from their throats. It made her own Wolven respond with a primal kick in the center of her stomach.
She gritted her teeth against the change to shadow, but the urge was irresistible in the face of her alpha's anger. Marcus's emotions slipped into her and forced it. The change didn't slip over her the way it normally did. It exploded. Pain shot through her as her limbs shifted and her form altered. A moment later she stood there as the medium sized red-furred Wolven female she was.