The Broken Barrier (Shadow Claw Book 4)
Page 58
She jumped when Luke licked her quickly on her throat. The reaction of her animal was worse. It sat up, and it was too late to realize the sexual implication that the lick had had on her animal.
Cassie put a hand on Luke’s chest to push him back, but she found she did not quite have the strength. She glared at his bent head when he licked her again on the same spot, slowly. Her eyes closed as she felt some of her strength dissipate.
Luke felt the looseness in her limbs. He had not meant to lick her. But his bear wanted to be in control, and he was trying to push it back and fight against the heady scent of his little captive. However, her reaction to his momentary loss of control shook him.
He looked up at her face to say something, but her eyes were heavy lidded, and there was a dazed expression in them. The flush on her cheeks and the way her scent had become spicier told him all he needed to know about the situation.
His own animal became agitated, and the human side of him struggled weakly. This was a losing battle.
When he put his teeth on her neck in a gentle hold, he heard Cassie’s moan. The excitement of his animal was startling. He experimented with another quick lick, and he felt her fingers on his pants.
Cassie feared the way her beast was shaking off the layers of control and chains under which it had been hidden. This could not happen. She had to pull back. There was something about him that had roused her animal from years of subjugation. Her body felt so good, and she wanted to give in to Luke.
He wore a confused look on his face when he looked at her again, and she whined.
His golden eyes turned molten, and she saw when the human in him gave way to the animal.
His mouth crashed on hers, almost violently.
His big hand cupped her face, and the shock of the sensations made her reel from the raw and primal impact. Cassie gasped into the kiss and felt her breasts swell and the place between her thighs quiver. There was nothing gentle about the way he moved his mouth on hers. He took what he wanted and demanded more. When she moaned, he nipped at her lower lip. She tentatively reached out with her tongue, and she felt him smirk and suck on it.
His mouth travelled lower, and Cassie felt the excitement of her beast – the need. It was useless trying to restrain it any longer. If she could keep it from showing, then she could enjoy this moment. She rarely got the chance to get intimate with a partner of equal strength.
She watched as his head went lower and lower, and then he jerked her up and slammed her against the wall. He gave her a cocky grin. “Easier access,” he said.
Kicking her legs apart, he settled one leg between hers, and using his claws, he ripped off what remained of her damaged blouse. One thumb ran across her taut peak and when she dug her nails in his shoulders, he grinned. One large hand stroked over her jaw to her throat and remained there, a possessive hold.
The next kiss was deeper, hotter than the first one. It was a kind of claiming and Cassie tried to reach up and offer more – take more – but he refused to let her take control. Her fingers clutched at him and when her abdomen clenched, she realized she was riding his jean-clad thigh.
The knowledge did not stop her, and as he lowered his mouth to bite the lush swell of her breast, he kept rubbing her with his thigh and she gasped as she pushed down. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips parted, as she concentrated on taking the pleasure that her body so desperately craved.
Had she been herself, and not in a lust-induced haze, she might even have been embarrassed, humiliated. But, right now, there was nothing but need and from the fiercely intense look in his eyes, her partner was not thinking about social protocol as well. Instead, he ran a hand over her back, cupped her ass, and squeezed, making her gasp. Then that very hand slid down and shifted her into a more intimate position on his thigh.
Her eyes were wide when that hidden muscle deliberately rubbed against her most intimate spot. He pulled away from her breast and watched her, a smug smile on his face as he brought her closer to the edge. Then she shattered with him watching.
He did not give her time to come down from her high. Seeing her come apart in front of him made his animal roar and he ripped off her pants. Making quick work of his jeans, he grabbed her, put her on his cock, and thrust inside roughly.
Cassie screamed.
The power behind his thrusts did not falter. He tugged her legs around him and forced her back to the wall. He pulled out and entered again, making her sob in pleasure. He kept watching her and her eyes opened, clouded with confused pleasure.
He smiled.
It was not a cocky smirk or a satisfied grin.
It was a genuine smile.
When she threw her arms around his neck to find some stability, he grabbed her ass and his thrusts turned harder until Cassie exploded, and he followed.
His animal relaxed. The contentment which filled him, made him kiss the side of her neck happily.
As he drifted into an unusual slumber, he grinned sleepily. Kevin had been right. This was what he had needed.
He did not see the glowing on his chest just above his heart. As the strange symbol glowed and then faded, Cassie’s unconscious form snuggled into him, and he wrapped his arms around her.
****
It was not light yet when Luke woke up.
Feeling this well rested was very unlike him. Since last year, he had not been able to truly sleep. Their entire den had been uprooted after the attack, and it had taken time to recover their stability again. Most of their fighting force had been killed in that unexpected attack. The children and elders had been moved immediately and most of them had survived.
Their pack was not to be taken lightly though.
Once they had settled in their new home and Luke had incorporated the modern human security systems along with their own patrols, he and his best lieutenants had paid the panthers back in kind. The bloodshed had been minimal, but they had damaged the panther pack at their core.
There had been no sign of the panthers after that, but Luke had tightened the patrols, and every adolescent underwent training. They were quite good at it, and although Luke was not one for sitting and laughing with them, he provided a form of comfort and security to them. He would often be tracked down by his pack members, some wanting to tell him about their training progress, some of them wanting to enroll in modern IT classes, or similar courses, which they felt would benefit the pack. Some would just come up to get some physical contact from their alpha and leave.
He was their glue and their center, and although he did not dislike it, he could not be their friend. He did not have that sense of bond in him. He could protect and he could nurture, but he felt a huge deficiency in his emotional state, and he did not know how to fix that.
He sat up and watched the girl sleeping next to him.
He could not believe he had stooped so low as to sleep with a witch. Rubbing his face, he groaned internally. He would never hear the end of this.
He should leave now and send some younger packmate back to make sure that Cassie left.
Putting on his clothes, he tossed out the ruined t-shirt and searched for something one of his people might have left behind. He found a 90s-band t-shirt and, scowling at the rock star whose tongue was hanging out in the printed image, he put it on. He laid out some clothes for Cassie as well. He was not that much of a bastard.
Before he left, he gave another look at the sleeping woman and then left the apartment.
****
Cassie waited until he left before opening her eyes. She had awoken the minute she had heard him moving about.
Always on the run with her mother, she had become a light sleeper, her senses always attuned to her surroundings. She threw the back of her hand on her eyes, shuddering. What had she done?
She felt the mating bond inside her quiver, and she surrounded it by her will of steel. No. The shifter could not realize what had happened.
How could she not have noticed? Now that the bond was in place, she could tell from his streng
th and power that he was an alpha. She could not mate with an alpha. Her eyes darkened as she clenched the sheets to her chest. Her mother had suffered enough. She knew firsthand what alphas did to their kind.
She knew he would not be back anytime soon, but she could not risk his coming back. She saw the clothes on the chair and was about to grab them, but hesitated. Glancing outside, she determined that it was dark enough for no one to be up at this hour. Opening the window, she glanced down.
She had jumped from worse heights.
Her landing was smooth and in the shelter of the dark alley. She shifted into a large bear and ran into the streets, her clothes in her mouth.
***End of Preview***
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