by Laina Kenney
She swiped the flat of her tongue across the broad dark head and gathered the musky taste. It sank into her and her body reacted with a soft melting wetness that made her moan.
His eyes flashed and claw tips pricked the back of her head.
She took him in her mouth as far as she could and pulled off with a pop. She liked that, so she did it over and over, until her hips were rocking in tandem with his while he growled in his throat and clutched at her hair.
She was getting into the rhythm of it, had even tasted the first powerful pulse of his release, when he pulled her away. She resisted, but he was stronger, and another stream of white landed against her throat. In a heartbeat she was standing, pressed full against his hard body.
“Iselle,” he said and his voice betrayed an overwhelming hunger.
Iselle licked her lips and sighed, and Balke’s glowing eyes fastened on her face. His lungs were heaving and he staggered before catching himself.
There was something so beguiling about reducing a strong man to a panting, shaking statue of flesh.
She smiled at him and saw with a startled glance that he was harder than ever. She knew he had released. She could still taste him in her mouth.
He grabbed her and they rolled over and over on the carpet. They ended up against the bottom of the couch with Balke on top and Iselle wedged in with one leg over his hips.
His thick erection nudged against her and she gasped.
“How?” she asked, and his only answer was a grin and another stronger push.
She shuddered as her body responded with heat and need. He sliced through her shirt and bra with one gleaming claw. Her knees twitched at the first strong pull of his mouth on her breast and she thought dimly that it was lucky she wasn’t standing or she would have fallen.
He quickly dispensed with her jeans and panties in the same manner in which he had shredded her shirt. She lost more clothes that way, but she didn’t care.
She pulled him over her and reveled in the feeling of being covered by his big body. If that was primitive, so be it. In that moment, it was all that she wanted out of life.
Balke nudged his hard cock against her body and just the tip slipped in to tease her. His penis penetrated a bare inch. They were still new to each other and for Iselle the shock was strong, intense. He shoved again, hard, and then once more until he was fully seated and she was writhing around the heat of his cock piercing the core of her body.
The world narrowed until all she knew was the driving power of his body over hers and the giddy, exhilarating drop into a vast pool of pleasure.
Sweat gleamed on his wide shoulders and chest, and dripped down onto her breasts. It burned her and she arched under him over and over, demanding more from his body until he groaned harshly.
They moved together as if sharing the same choreography. It was beautiful and wildly exciting. Their bodies came together in a pounding, heated rhythm until some internal core temperature was reached and they detonated together in an explosion that stole all light and all breath. Overwhelmed by sensation, she winked out like a dying star.
* * * *
Balke was afraid Iselle would smother under his weight, but it took every ounce of discipline he could call up to move. He anchored one arm around her hips and rolled them so that she was on top. She snuggled her cold nose into his throat and sighed.
He patted her butt lazily, but she didn’t even moan. She was already asleep, poor thing. He had worn her out.
His smug grin felt good. She had exhausted him, too.
It was supposed to be that way with new mates. And when they got to know each other body and soul, it would be hotter, better. Sometimes, he had seen his parents standing side by side, and with just a smile, his father could still make his mother blush. That was the kind of soul-to-soul connection that he wanted to create with his mate. They didn’t know one another well, yet, but he thought they were well on the way.
She hadn’t even hit him when he had smashed her door down to save her from a nonexistent villain, though she had certainly made her opinion known. And even knowing that he was not human in any way, she had stood toe-to-toe with him and gave as good as she got. She had more than her share of courage in that slender, silky body to take on a wolf without blinking.
But, his Alpha and Queen were having their first child, and he had one more thing to ask of his beautiful human mate. He took a breath and hoped he wasn’t asking too much too soon.
Only one way to find out.
Chapter 12
“I can’t believe we’re getting ready to leave at three a.m. I’m not sure I’ve been awake and dressed at this hour since college.”
Balke pulled on his shirt and buttoned it.
“The heir is coming tonight. It will be soon, and I need to be there. You do not need to come if you would prefer not to.”
“Of course I want to be there.” Iselle knew she sounded a little defensive, so she tried to think of a way to explain as she pulled some clothes on. If her life was going to include these extraordinary beings, the amazing man by her side, she was going to embrace it with an open heart and learn as much as she could.
“I want to be part of your life,” Iselle said slowly. “I’m not saying that I want to do everything you do, or be with you every single second, but I want to be with you for the important things.” She sighed at the blank look on his face. “I’m not doing this very well.”
Balke pulled her into his arms for a hard hug.
“I think you are doing very well. I also am inexperienced at having a mate. I just realized that I pulled you out of bed in the dark hours of the morning without even thinking of you first. I also have much to learn.”
Iselle smiled against his chest and pulled back to look up into his gorgeous green eyes. She brushed a strand of hair back from his square face.
“We’ll figure it out,” she said. The softness of her voice embarrassed her, but the tender fire in his eyes made it worthwhile.
He brushed a quick kiss over her lips and lingered for another, deeper taste.
Iselle broke away, laughing. “If you keep that up, we won’t get out of here for another hour.”
A wicked light entered his eyes and he reached for her. “I’ll hurry,” Balke said and drew her against him.
“You never hurry,” Iselle said breathlessly, but she didn’t protest. The heat was already rising in her veins to match his hot mouth at her throat, pulling her back into the whirlpool of need he created so effortlessly. He had trained her body well, and she responded without thought.
* * * *
Two hours later, standing in the vast candlelit ballroom at the Sidarov Estate outside of Boston, Iselle reached for Balke’s hand. His fingers closed around hers with satisfying strength.
She couldn’t explain it, couldn’t come up with any reason, but she was nervous.
She was surrounded by numerous large men and a few women, wolves in human form, and the atmosphere was one of joy and anticipation as they waited for news of the Queen’s delivery. Some were pacing and some were chatting in small clusters, but her new sixth sense let her know that none were human. That could be reason enough for some nervousness, but Iselle didn’t think that was it.
It wasn’t the fact that they were wolves that was bothering her.
She didn’t know why it should matter, but she didn’t know anyone except Balke, and she was the odd man out. Human, not wolf. Female, not male, and she had never before met anyone whose first name was Queen. It was intimidating.
Iselle squeezed Balke’s hand and tilted her head to indicate the man descending the long stairs.
Balke stepped forward and Iselle was pulled down to her knees when he dropped to his.
The man on his way down stopped on the curved landing and braced one hand on the balustrade. He raised his other hand and cleared his throat.
All sound and motion came to a halt then came the sound of many people kneeling.
“Alexi Branik Bradley Si
darov, Defender and Protector, your Alpha Heir, is born. Nine pounds, healthy and alpha strong.”
A cheer went up and Iselle found herself clapping and cheering as well. And why not? A healthy baby was always cause for celebration.
“His mother the Queen is well, and has requested two ham sandwiches and a ginger soda.”
A smattering of laughter circled the room.
“The little Queen has decimated the pig population during this carrying,” an older man beside Iselle said, and his female companion smiled and nudged him.
“Just as I did for our son,” she said.
Iselle had to look away from the blazing intimacy of the older couple, and her eyes found Balke’s and held.
Yes, she wanted his baby. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes stung with tears.
He smiled tenderly and pulled her against his side.
“I will be very happy to give you a child to love,” he said softly, and the fact that he knew what she was thinking didn’t even surprise her.
She didn’t know if it was her body trembling or his, but she wrapped her arms around him and clung.
He was a strong man, mature physically and emotionally. He was everything she had always wanted and had hardly dared to believe even in dreams. She hadn’t even thought to have a child with her last boyfriend, since he had never grown up himself, but with Balke, everything was different. He was the man she loved. And though he ran through the forest as another creature, he was also a man whose values she could respect.
The thought of holding his child in her arms had her heart beating fast.
“I want your baby,” she whispered, and felt the instant response of his body against hers.
His rueful chuckle had her raising her head.
Couples were embracing all over the room, murmuring to each other, with the single warriors looking on hungrily.
“This is so fast,” she said in awe. “I shouldn’t feel so connected to you so quickly. I shouldn’t love you already.”
“As I love you.”
Balke brought her hand to his lips and nuzzled her skin. His tongue flicked out and tasted, and she shivered.
“This is natural for our people, so I do not have the reservations that you seem to have. I have no thoughts of what I should or should not feel, only what I do feel. And what I feel for you is a staggering mix of heat and love and lust all wrapped up in the wonder of your scent. I intend to keep you, Iselle. We are forever.”
She shivered again as he caressed her with his words. He knew the right things to say, but the crazy thing was, she believed every word. He wasn’t a player, or some guy in a bar who was saying exactly what he thought she wanted to hear.
It didn’t make sense, but she could feel in the connection between them that he meant what he said. She trusted in the strength of his vow because she trusted him.
Chapter 13
“Damn,” Iselle muttered in annoyance and put her paintbrush between her teeth to grab her wildly blowing hair in both hands. She turned her face to the harbor wind and began to braid her hair tightly. Her jaunty orange scarf and ponytail were blowing in her face with every gust of wind off the ocean and she couldn’t concentrate on her painting of the noonday sun glinting off the whitecaps breaking against the dock.
She already had enough distractions in the lingering soreness of her body from Balke’s repeated possessions. She had to admit, several times she had been the instigator, but the past week had put a hitch in her step and a smile on her face.
She loved painting down at the Boston Harbor. There were so many interesting moments with the sun highlighting the rolling wave forms and the reflections of the buildings and the boats, but the wind off the ocean was murder.
She tied off the braid and turned around to find two teenage boys staring at her work. She hoped they would pass without bothering her, because Balke was picking her up in a few minutes. She really wanted to finish the blue wash before he got there, since she had already started it. In all her years of art classes, she had never found a technique that worked for stopping and starting in the middle of a watercolor wash. She had ruined more paintings that way.
“Nice,” one of the boys said admiringly, and she almost sighed.
“Thanks.”
She dipped her brush and started painting.
“Hey, lady, what are these for?”
The taller boy had grabbed her paint set, and she resisted the urge to snatch it back.
“Those are good-quality paints,” she said, and took them back carefully.
The other boy snickered.
“Yeah, Shawn, they’re good quality. Which means you sure as shit shouldn’t be touching them.” He laughed at his own humor but Shawn didn’t laugh. He was watching Iselle with an assessing gaze.
Iselle went back to painting, trying to ignore how the boys were slowly crowding close to her. She was right at the edge of the dock already, because that was the best place to catch the three-masted schooner in the background of her painting. But, with the bodies brushing up against hers, it was impossible.
“Please step back, you’re preventing me from working,” she said. She was willing to try being polite one more time, but if they persisted, she would have to get mean. Her painting time was precious.
The boy named Shawn stepped up so close that she could smell the peppermint from his gum.
“I’ll make it worth your while to stop painting and pay attention to me,” he said suggestively.
“Aw, he likes you,” the second boy said with a revolting high-pitched giggle.
Iselle suppressed a sigh. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get out of this one without shoving both boys into the cold harbor, but from the looks on their faces, they could both use a dip in the icy cold water.
“Thanks for the offer, boys, but I’m not interested. My,” mate “boyfriend is on his way here to take me out for lunch, so I need to make the most of my painting time.”
“Don’t be like that,” Shawn said. “You don’t gotta lie to me to make me more interested by pretending you got a man. I’m interested in you.”
Iselle did sigh then and turned to pack up her paints. There was no point trying to paint when she was getting frustrated. Her emotional state would change the feel of the painting.
When he saw that he had lost her attention, Shawn grabbed the paint box from her hand and threw it down on the ground.
“You sure got a mean streak, lady, but you make up for it by looking fine.”
Iselle glanced down to make sure where the edge of the dock was in relation to her feet.
The boys had her cornered and they were hassling her, true, but she didn’t feel anything more than annoyance until she looked up and saw Balke running flat out down the dock, the look on his face cold and predatory.
Her heart tripped in fear, fear that her mate would do something rash to defend her.
Quick as a wink, she shoved the nearest boy Shawn as hard as she could and he tottered for a moment on the edge of the dock before he fell backward, almost in slow motion, his yowl of shock and anger rising in pitch the further he fell. His flailing arm smacked his friend on the shoulder, and the other boy went headfirst into the water with a scream of shock.
Balke skidded to a stop right beside her. His eyes were glowing with a fierce light and his fangs were very much in evidence.
He turned his back as the security guard ran up and made a show of looking down into the water. Iselle hoped he was using the time to get his fangs to behave.
“I was on my way. Why did you shove them into the water?” the security guard asked, puffing slightly.
Iselle couldn’t help but notice that Balke wasn’t even winded, and he had run farther and faster than the guard.
Iselle shrugged. She could hardly tell a security officer that she was saving the boys’ lives by giving them a cold swim in the Atlantic. She didn’t think she should draw attention to the fact that a werewolf was standing beside her, giving every indicat
ion of wanting to eat the boys as soon as they managed to climb back up the ladder.
“They needed to cool off,” was all she said. It was the truth, just not nearly all of it.
“Couple of hotheads, huh? Hormones taking over?” the security guard asked. He looked Iselle up and down then peered over the edge to where the boys were clinging to the side of the dock. Iselle could hear them cursing at each other, so she knew they weren’t hurt.
“I handled it. I’m sorry,” she mouthed to Balke.
He nodded stiffly, and she knew that the issue wasn’t over. She knew that she would be hearing about this as soon as the security guard left.
When the boys finally climbed back up onto the dock, shivering with cold and dripping water everywhere, the security guard grabbed their arms and frog-marched them from the end of the dock.
“You’re damned lucky that nice lady didn’t want to press charges, or I’d be handing your sorry butts over to the cops right now instead of just calling your parents. She saved your necks, plain and simple,” he said as he passed Iselle, and the lecture continued all the way up to the little guard shack.
“Yes,” Balke said softly, “you did save their necks.”
The coolness in his tone sent a shiver down her spine in spite of the unseasonably warm day.
“I saw you coming, but I handled it,” she said.
“If you saw me coming, then you should have trusted me to take care of you.”
Iselle sighed, frustrated. “I trust you. It has nothing to do with trusting you or not trusting you. They were just a couple of kids who had their hormones going.”
“They had you cornered. Their behavior was unacceptable to me.”
Iselle gestured to the water. “I took care of that. And I took care of you, too.”
“What do you mean to say?”
Shock was clear on his handsome face.
“I saw your face. You were going to annihilate those boys.”
“I would not have killed them. I was merely going to protect my mate.”
“Well, I protected my mate from going to jail,” she said, stepping right up to his chest. “I was handling it. Get over it.”