by Moira Rogers
"Maybe." He freed his cock and lifted her, grinding her against the shaft. "This full moon will be yours. We'll fuck you every way you want."
It drove away rational thought with one pure pulse of bliss. Ashley gripped his shoulders, positioned her hips, and took him, slow and hard.
All of him.
Blake hissed and slid his free hand up her spine to lock over her shoulder. He tugged, tilting her back, driving her onto his cock as the bow of her spine lifted her breasts. "Hold them up for me. I want to suck your nipples while you're riding me."
Trusting him to move her, to hold her, Ashley cupped her breasts, pinching her fingers tight around the aching peaks as she lifted them to his mouth.
He licked over and between her fingers, teasing her until she edged them aside. Then he sucked her nipple into his mouth, drawing so hard that she felt the pulse of it between her thighs. But when she squirmed, he held her in place, forcing her to endure the taunting tug of his lips and tongue.
And when she thought she couldn't stand another second, he switched to the other breast and started all over.
She almost let go, slid her fingers into his hair, but stopped herself. "Is it how much I want you?" she asked fuzzily. "Is that the part you like?"
'"You want me." He lifted his head and dragged her closer, close enough for him to nip at her jaw. "And you want pleasure. You've been starved of so many things, but you never have to be again. This--" He rocked her hips, dragging her down hard enough to force a cry from her. "This is what I was made for. Giving you everything you want."
There had to be more to it, this delicate dance between giving and receiving, thought and instinct. Pleasure and duty. "But that's not all it is," she whispered. "You want me--" More. She bit her lip, leaving the thought unspoken, even though she knew it was true.
The others liked her, were fond of her. Maybe, in time, they might love her. But even when need burned brightest, hers and theirs, no one else looked at her with the same fire that Blake did. Like he was dying--of thirst, hunger, desire--and only she could save him.
"I want you," he echoed. A lie, because it was there in his eyes now, that wildness, the intensity that turned want into need.
There was only one way to learn what it meant. "Show me."
Blake moved fast, blurring the world as he spun and tumbled her back to the bed. She barely had time to register the loss of him before he was touching her again, sliding his hands up her legs to curl around the backs of her knees. In a heartbeat, he had them pressed up toward her chest, immobilizing and opening her in one efficient movement.
She could barely squirm as he thrust into her again, slow and big and insistent. "Tell me if it's too much like this," he ground out, watching her face as he plunged deeper.
Her breath gathered in a shocked scream that caught in her throat and turned into a desperate, strangled moan.
Another thrust, and he was as deep as he could go. He froze, his breath rasping in and out, and tightened his grip on her legs. "Look at me, Ash."
The moment her eyes locked with his, he began driving into her--hard, relentless, almost brutal. Pleasure splintered through her, and she gripped his thighs with shaking hands. "Blake."
"That's right, hold on to me." He held her gaze as he withdrew until only the broad head of his cock nestled inside her. "I know just how to fuck you this time."
He made it sound like a revelation. Maybe it was, but certainly not one he needed. He'd always been able to make her heart race, ever since that first glance, that first touch.
Even now, without the fever riding her, flames licked at her. Ashley arched her hips, eager to feel it hotter, deeper. To watch him catch fire, too.
And he did, but it was a slow, delicious burn. His first thrusts were slow, deliberate, spaced out as he watched her face and adjusted his grip until he found the perfect angle that hit every spot just right.
His hands flexed on her legs, all the warning she got before he started fucking her in earnest. Hard, fast, intense, his thighs slapping against her ass every time he sank all the way in.
"Oh, God." Sensation bowed her spine, the familiar, penetrating pressure that felt better than good--beyond, somehow, as if it could do more than tip her over the edge of orgasm. As if it could shatter her from the inside out.
"Let it happen." Another rough thrust punctuated the command. "Let it take you."
Her fingers slipped on his skin, and it wasn't until she caught the metallic scent of blood that she realized she'd scratched him. "Fuck."
Blake groaned and pushed her knees higher, and the burn of her muscles joined the overwhelming jumble of pleasure and pain. He was fucking her with his whole body, forcing her to find the limits of her own--
But he was still watching her. She could feel it, even with her head tilted back and her eyes closed. His awareness was tangible, a prickling she could feel as if they were connected on some impossible level.
Let it. The pressure intensified, expanding until it overtook everything else, until she couldn't stand it, until the only thing keeping her in one piece was that connection. She would have screamed, but it wasn't enough, because no sound could ever encompass the ecstasy tearing at her.
"Look at me," he snarled. "Watch me. Watch me want you." A hard thrust. "Need you." Another, even deeper, stealing her breath and even the hope of crying out. "Take you."
She opened her eyes. His were sparking gold, compelling her, daring her to look away, as focused as the rest of him was wild. Sweat slicked his skin, and he trembled above her, over her. Inside her.
Ashley managed one breath, one syllable. "Yes."
"Watch me fuck you." He bit off every growled word on another rough advance. "While your sweet, hot pussy is squeezing me so tight. While you come and come..."
Her pulse pounded in her ears, through her whole body. She clutched at him, clawing at his chest, trying to steady herself against the storm of pleasure that battered her.
Her nails broke the skin, leaving marks, and he hissed and reared back. The movement only shoved him deeper, and for a moment she didn't know if she could take it.
Then he groaned and went rigid, his muscles bunching. His cock swelled inside her, rubbing her inner walls with every heartbeat, every rhythmic clench of bliss rolling through her. It dragged one last noise, pleading and choked and desperate, from her raw throat.
Blake panted over her as the shuddering pleasure eased. After a few moments, his grip on her legs gentled, and he guided her legs carefully to the bed before collapsing next to her. "Okay?"
Dazed, she shoved her hair back from her face and nodded.
"Hey." He lifted himself on one elbow and caught her chin, forcing her to look at him. He studied her in silence before cupping her cheek. "I didn't mean to ride you that hard."
"You're cute when you worry." But his concern made her ache with sympathy, so she offered him a smile. "I'm fine. Are you?"
"Mmm." He settled back to the bed and dragged her closer to his side. "Better than last night."
She rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand. "Didn't you sleep?"
He shook his head. "Jud wanted to crash in a motel, but I said I'd finish the drive."
Because he wanted to get back to her. "You didn't have to."
"Yeah, I did." He smiled sleepily. "I brought you your books. They're downstairs. You have a lot of them, huh?"
It took her a moment to digest the words. When she did, she sat up, ignoring her screaming muscles. "You brought my books?"
"Yeah. And a couple bookcases."
"Really?" Her books were more than possessions. They'd been her constant companions, sometimes her only occupation, and her sole comfort. "You remembered that?"
His lips twisted into a smile so self-deprecating it brought the ache rushing back to her chest. "I'm not as charming as Jud, but I listen."
"Shut up." But the words held no bite.
He caught her arm and tugged her back down, tucking her against h
is side and pinning her in place. "I got you some new books, too. Don't know if they're any good or not. I just brought the ones that looked the most worn into the store and told the lady to get me more like those."
The mental image came so easily, and she almost laughed at the thought. Blake, his arms full of books, scaring the hell out of four sales clerks before finding one who didn't mind having a dozen tattered paperbacks shoved in her face. "Thank you."
He shrugged and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I want you to feel like this is home."
She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, touched not only by his words but by the gesture. The thought behind it all. "I do," she whispered. "It is."
"Good," he rumbled. "Now get some sleep. This afternoon, we're putting together bookshelves."
She had already slept, but he seemed to need her close. Already, his tension was seeping away, and she couldn't deprive him of that. She wouldn't. So she curled closer, made herself comfortable in the warm circle of his arm, and closed her eyes to listen to him breathe.
Chapter Eleven
Judging from the shrieks and moans that had drifted down the stairs that morning, sending Blake away hadn't accomplished a damn thing.
Lucas scrubbed his hand over his face with a groan. Hell, it might have had the opposite effect, what with absence making the heart grow fonder, and all that shit. He'd meant to give the man a little time and space, and instead he'd brought Blake's infatuation into even sharper focus.
No. Lucas had seen infatuation. It was harmless, nothing like the straight-up obsession that could grip a wolf in the throes of instinct. And he'd seen that go bad more times than he wanted to admit. More times than he wanted to remember. It was terrible enough when it turned to fixation, addiction. But when the woman in question ended up choosing another wolf as her mate, things got downright deadly. He had witnessed challenges based on nothing more than sorrow, all because some heartsick wolf hadn't been able to deal with the woman he wanted not wanting him back. In those cases, it seemed as though a quick, bloody death was preferable to the torment of being alone.
Lucas had meant to explain it all to his men, his pack. He'd planned on it, but then Ashley had already been in heat, receptive, and there just hadn't been time.
And now Blake had gone and fallen for her.
"Fuck." His curse echoed in the empty great room, answered only by the crackling of the fire. The whole damn thing was like spinning out on an icy road--too late to do anything but hold on and hope for the best.
"Trouble, boss?"
"Not at all, Connor." Lucas lifted his coffee and wished, for the thirtieth time, that he'd chosen a stronger drink. "Not a damn thing is wrong."
"For now." Connor dropped onto the couch and held up a folded piece of paper. "Message from Ivan. Those wolves from the Great Lakes want to meet up."
Lucas snatched the note with another curse. "When? And where?"
"Soon." Connor scowled. "And here."
"Impossible." He flipped it open. It was actually a picture of the message from the Great Lakes pack along with a typed note from Ivan, because the motherfucker was nothing if not thorough. Or maybe he just wanted to make it crystal clear that the barely literate words were direct from the other alpha, and certainly not his.
It seemed like an Ivan kind of thing to do.
Lucas skimmed the note, then crumpled it up and shoved it back at Connor. "No way. Not with Ashley in this condition." They'd managed to keep the peace in the lodge so far, but if a bunch of strange wolves showed up... "Blake would lose his shit."
"If by lose his shit you mean kill them all, yeah. Probably." Connor shrugged and smoothed the paper flat again. "But it's weird, right? They've never wanted to make friends before."
"Maybe they're out of money." Or maybe they'd heard about Ashley.
"Want me to find out?"
It was damn hard to track wolves, even under the best of circumstances. It was almost impossible to do so with the ones who stayed off the grid. "No, you know what? We can do better than that. You can go see them. Take Mac and Jud with you."
Connor tilted his head. "That could work. They'll piss themselves when Mac growls, so they won't see Jud coming."
A distraction, just for now. They couldn't afford to turn away friendly overtures--provided the Great Lakes pack was sincere--but they could buy some time. Time Lucas could use.
"You were with her last night," he observed.
"You weren't," Connor replied, his voice easy, his gaze slightly averted.
Words meant to elicit a reaction, so Lucas gave him one--a smile. Probably not the one he wanted. "That could change."
Connor snorted and shook his head. "It better. When that girl finds her feet, she's gonna eat the rest of us alive. What if you're the only one who can handle her?"
His smile almost faltered. Then he'd lose one of his oldest and best friends, his second. His beta. "I'll do what I have to do. And so will Ashley."
"I guess so." Connor rose to his feet, taking the note with him. "What happens if she doesn't pick one of us at all? Does she have to wait until she goes into heat again?"
"That's not going to happen."
Connor went still. His sudden tension wasn't surprising. Neither was the darkness in his expression. "Shit wasn't supposed to go wrong last time, but now Mac has nightmares."
Of course he did. "There were things Serena had gone through. Things none of us knew about until it was too late."
"Okay." Connor gave himself a shake, and then he was him again, easy, relaxed, and obedient. "I'll have Ivan set up a meet in neutral territory."
"Good. Find out what he wants." Lucas hesitated. "Connor?"
"Yeah?"
"Ashley wants to be who she is. That makes a big difference. All the difference in the world."
Connor rubbed the heel of his hand over his chest, a familiar gesture that usually surfaced when his wolf wasn't sitting easily inside him. "I guess so."
That was the real terror, wasn't it? Connor wasn't afraid that Ashley would lose her mind, just as poor Serena had. He was afraid he would. "You're all right."
"I am," Connor agreed, letting his hand fall. "So far. But if I'm ever not...you have to take care of it, Lucas. Promise me."
"I promise."
"Good." He smiled abruptly. "Maybe it won't come to that. She helped, a little. Maybe that's what we need. A full pack."
It had been just the five of them for a long time, but Lucas could remember vividly the comfort to be found in larger numbers. "I'm working on it."
"I know you are." Connor tossed him a teasing salute and headed for the stairs.
His coffee had grown cold. Lucas abandoned it and headed into the study in search of that stronger drink. Besides, he needed to plan. Sending all his men except the two strongest was a message in itself--don't forget who has the power here--and he had to be ready for a reaction from the Great Lakes pack. Anger was the likeliest, though he supposed they might be desperate enough to take it with a forced smile.
But just to be sure, to be safe, he had to make other plans, as well. Because if they were coming here, to his territory, Ashley had to be protected. And the best way to do that was to have her mated by the time any strangers arrived.
Chapter Twelve
Blake had been pissed at Lucas for sending him away, and now he was pissed at Lucas for keeping him home.
It was irrational. Even he could see it, now that he'd vented the first thrust of his temper by chopping enough wood to heat the lodge for a week. But leaving Ashley alone while he poked at an empty house wasn't the same as leaving her while he dealt with a possible enemy.
Mac and Jud could be ruthless, but ruthless wasn't enough with Ashley in their lives. They had to be proactive now, too. Decisive. Brutal. So fast the potential threat didn't realize they were coming.
If anyone found out she was here...
Blake swung the ax too hard, and the blade shattered the log and sank heel deep into the stump ben
eath it. Blowing out a frustrated breath, he abandoned it to gather up enough firewood to heat the great room. It was getting dark already, and the last thing he needed to do was sink the ax into his leg with another reckless swing. He wouldn't be a damn bit of use to Ashley then.
He wouldn't be of use to her if he couldn't keep his temper under control, either. Too bad she was the one thing that seemed to spark everything so hot and fast he was always burning now.
Even her voice twisted him up inside. He heard it as soon as he nudged open the back door, the last murmur of words and her warm, honeyed laugh as Lucas said something undoubtedly charming.
His temper and his jealousy. Two things he'd never had to struggle with before. Two things that could drive her away.
Biting back both, he carried the firewood into the great room and found a smile for Ashley. At least those came as easily as the jealousy did. "You two having fun?"
She was wearing a tank top, and her hair slid over her bare shoulder as she turned to look at him. "I was just asking Lucas why he can't manage to keep you all at home. He admits that he's insufferable."
Blake huffed and moved to add more wood to the fire. "We take turns running errands and picking up jobs. Keeps us all from getting on each others' nerves."
"Not that Blake has any problems with that," Lucas said smoothly, reaching for a bottle on the coffee table. "Do you like wine, Ashley?"
A tiny smile tilted the corners of her mouth. "Sometimes."
Wine. Firelight. Blake shot Lucas a look, but couldn't read his alpha's expression. "Do I get wine too?"
He tapped the neck of the bottle against the edge of a third glass. "Of course."
His jealousy vanished before it could truly form. Whatever game Lucas was playing tonight, at least he wasn't excluded from it. He finished tending the fire and moved back to the couch, relaxing a little more when Ashley welcomed him with another smile. "Quiet nights can be nice, too," he said softly.
"Yeah." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Where did they go?"
"Another pack wants a meeting," Lucas told her. "We're not sure why, so they've gone to find out."