Boundary

by Ebony Olson

Rising, Dale opened the door and grabbed two papers bags from a delivery man, then came back to the kitchen. "I warned you the urge to mate would be powerful. Ever eat take out?"

  Shaking my head, I moved towards the wonderful smell coming from the bags.

  "Get ready for your first take out experience then." Opening the dishes along the bench, Dale handed me a plate and told me to take what I'd like.

  Serving a spoon of everything onto my plate, I tried a bit of everything. Some of it was delicious, others not so much. Waiting while I dished myself more of what I liked, Dale then put the rest on a plate for himself. Stealing my plate, Dale made his way over to the lounge. "Come and eat."

  We sat on the lounge eating. When I'd finished eating, I sat watching Dale. When he finished, he stood up and took my plate from me. "Want dessert?"

  Following him to the Kitchen, I eyed the beautiful kitchen with eagerness. "Sure. Want me to make it?"

  Grinning, Dale caught my waist and lifted me to the kitchen bench. "You already did." With a wicked grin, Dale pulled my pants from under me, leaving my bare bottom on the kitchen counter.

  "Dale!"

  Smirking with evil intent, Dale lifted my feet to his shoulders and ducked his face to nose my slit. Inhaling me, the air rushed past my moist skin as he breathed me. Griping the edge of the kitchen bench as his tongue tasted me, my eyes went wide. Biting my lip as Dale ate me in a way I'd never even imagined.

  Foreplay had always been a few rubs and kisses, never this. My eyes rolled back in my head as Dale licked and sucked my clit and folds. Dale's tongue teased my entrance. The sensations eliciting moans, gasps, and other sounds from me that I'd never made before.

  My legs were shaking, and I was whimpering in new pleasure when Dale pulled back to assess me. Gazing into my natural eyes, Dale blew across my trembling clit. My body thrashed about uncontrollably. Holding my hips tight, Dale buried his face again, licking and sucking my orgasm from me. He continued until the aftershocks of pleasure finished, leaving me limp and boneless.

  Standing straight, Dale kissed my abdomen, then lifted my mouth to his. I could taste myself on his mouth, like apricot nectar. Kissing across to my ear, Dale used his hands in my hair to turn my head and tonged my ear lobe. "Best dessert I've ever eaten."

  Voice rough from singing his praises, I gripped his shirt. "Dale, this better not be a dream."

  Laughing, Dale scooped me up into his arms and carried me into bed. "Vera, this was just the start. You're in my bed for two nights, and I plan to have you gegging for it by Wednesday morning."

  "Gegging?" I grunted when he dropped me on the bed.

  Leaning over me, Dale lowered his body over mine. His erection pressing hard into my very sensitive areas. "To lust after something," Dale rocked his hips against me, and I bit my lip on a moan, "especially a desire to have sex."

  "The sex isn't the problem. I'd do that now if it weren't for the commitment that comes with it."

  Smoothing my hair from my face, Dale gazed into my eyes. "Sex is always a commitment of some sort for women. Don't let modern thinking fool you. You are letting someone inside you. Opening yourself to someone like that, it leaves you at your most vulnerable." Dale nipped his teeth along my jaw, and my nails dug into his triceps a little. "Sex is also power, Vera. You hold the power of my pleasure and your pleasure when we are together. I don't want to give you power over me unless I know you are in this for keeps?"

  "Do I have any other choice?"

  Looking hurt, Dale caressed my face. "You will always have a choice, Vera. You could have left; you could have refused to mate with me. True, had you made that choice, you would have found others and sent their pack insane. Now, that you know the outcome, that would have weighed on your conscience, but it was your choice."

  Turning my face, I swiped away the tears that had started to fall.

  "Not much choice, granted, but still a choice." Dale rubbed his face around my neck, scent-marking me. "You still could leave. It would hurt us both, but you could." Tensing suddenly, Dale lifted himself from me. "Damn it!"

  The brown pushed out the indigo in his eyes, his wolf-gold trying to take over. Pulling back from him, I huddled against the bedhead wondering what happened.

  Climbing from the bed, Dale put his back to me. "Alpha wants me to take you, to make you ours, to fill you with cubs and fuck you so hard you can't stand to walk, let alone leave. So, I'm going to go do a few laps in the pool to calm down. Get some sleep." Walking out, Dale left me there.

  Swallowing hard, I remained still until the apartment door shut. Exhaling dynamically, I collected myself and my bag and changed into my pajamas. Tired after training with Jeremy, I climbed between Dale's bamboo sheets and went to sleep.

  Vaguely aware of Dale climbing into bed, I took a deep breath and relaxed into him. Snuggling me to him, the dream of things he could do to me on a kitchen bench stole me away.

  Waking with a smile in the morning, the sound of a man panting and the bed rocking a little greeted me. It took me a second to recognize the noise, then everything I had not to move or show I was awake.

  Dale's pumping grew faster, his restrained moans climbing to a crescendo. "Goddess, Vera!"

  Getting his breathing back under control, Dale rolled towards me, placing his mouth to my ear. "That was some dream, Sweet Pea." Kissing me quick, Dale moved out of the bed.

  Watching him walk naked into the shower, I enjoyed the view from behind. Dale was such a delicious specimen; I wanted to eat him all up. The image of joining him in the shower and doing just that made me snicker.

  "I felt that, naughty girl. Either put your mouth where your mind is or think of knitting. Some of us have to work, and a cold shower does not put me in a good mood."

  Biting my lip, I rolled onto my back and touched my sensitive flesh. Everything was still tender from the tongue-lashing last night. Imagining Dale's mouth on me again, I gasped.

  A groan sounded from the shower. "That's just mean!"

  "You could always do it for me."

  The bathroom fell quiet for a moment. The shower shut off and Dale didn't even bother drying as he walked back towards me still dripping wet. "You're asking for trouble, Sweet Pea."

  Gesturing to the bed, I rose to my knees. "Lay down. Let me show you how naughty I can be."

  Smirking, Dale laid on his back. Straddling his face, I licked down his torso until I reached his full and thick glory. "Nice recovery."

  "That's you, Vera. Your desire will always call me to you."

  Taking him in hand, I lowered my mouth as I sunk my hips down over his face. Best way to start the day.

  Chapter 19

  There is something about men in suits. Yes, I've seen one or two that suits do not look good on, very few though. Dale in a suit, with his model looks, fit body, and the power he already exuded …it's the stuff of wet dreams.

  "Are there gay Lycan's?"

  Dale's eyebrows lifted over the newspaper at me. "Are you trying to tell me you think you're gay? Because you react to me pretty strongly."

  Setting a Spanish omelet in front of him, I returned to the kitchen to serve up my breakfast. "You're my mate, I'd react to you even if I was gay. Also, I'm pretty sure you could make a few of the lesbians in the world move their orientation closer to bisexual."

  Dale laughed. "There are a few. Alexia swings back and forth on occasion."

  "The doctor is gay right?" Taking a sip of coffee, I flipped my omelet.

  "How'd you know? Most don't pick it."

  "He didn't react to me. Not that I'm egotistical, but he was touching me, close to me, and he didn't look at me the way straight men do." Plating up, I set the pan back on the stove to cool.

  "He reacted to you, Vera, just not in a way familiar to you. Why do you think he was keen for us to mate?"

  "Oh." Looking down at my meal, I remembered how determined I'd been not to mate with Dale. That hadn't even been a week ago. Lifting my eyes to Dale's, I wondered how I got so turned a
round.

  Throwing back his chair, Dale stood. "Don't, Vera. Just don't."

  Shaking my head, I started backing away. Striding towards me, Dale pulled me to him, kissing me passionately.

  "Stop!"

  Dale kissed me harder, deeper.

  "Dale, please?"

  Yanking away, anger rushed out from him like someone opening a hot oven door. Spinning away, Dale swiped his hand across the bench sending plates and coffee cups crashing to the floor, smashing on the porcelain tiles. Food and drink splattered everywhere.

  Exhaling roughly, Dale leaned onto the kitchen bench. "Damn it! Don't put that wall back up, please? I am trying so hard to prove you can trust me. You don't understand what this is like for me. Our bond was instantaneous. My need for you has been overwhelming since the moment I caught your scent. It should have been the same for you. You're not a virgin, not a child, there was no reason we didn't mate immediately. When you fight your nature and fight our bond, I feel that physically, like a sore tooth in the back of my jaw. It's unbearable."

  Standing straight, Dale wiped his hands over his face. He didn't turn to look at me, cowering in the corner, struggling to breathe through his frustration.

  "I constantly feel like I'm dancing with you, Vera. Two steps forward, one step back. I can't keep this up forever. I came so close to losing control of my wolf last night. I want our mating to be something you want to do. Not just because I get you hot and bothered, but because you want to spend the rest of your life with me. Eventually, the wolf will win over if you keep backing away from me."

  Taking a pained breath, Dale clenched his fists by his sides. "Especially when you whimper in the corner like you are doing now because my instinct is to protect you, Vera. To come over there and make love to you until you remember I'm your mate, and I'd never hurt you."

  Leaving the kitchen, Dale grabbed his stuff and walking out the door. When the oxygen levels returned to normal, I crept forward and started cleaning up the floor. I cried the entire time I cleaned. Not because I feared Dale, because he was right. Every time I pushed Dale away, I was going against my instinct. I'd never felt more alive or happier than in his arms or in his presence. Dale made me feel whole, safe and loved. So, why was I fighting against my instincts? It's not like I'd ever experienced this with Malcolm, so I should be able to trust my instincts.

  Sitting hard on the floor, I hugged myself as I rocked back and forth. Malcolm. He knew I was alive, and no doubt searching for me. Malcolm was the reason I wouldn't get my hopes up, or allow myself true happiness, for fear of having it taken all away.

  Yet, Malcolm was the reason I should let this happen sooner rather than later. If I was with Dale, Malcolm couldn't touch me, he'd start a war trying. At the same time, I knew why that reason was holding me back also.

  Getting up, I went to the bathroom and washed my face. Grabbing my phone, I called Jeremy. "I need your help with something."

  "If it's mind-blowing sex, as much as I'd love to help you out, I have to pass," Jeremy teased.

  "Close. I need a chaperone through this city."

  "That was more fun than I expected. When Jeremy told me you needed someone to hold your hand, I worried I'd be taking you to the bank."

  "Sorry to disappoint."

  When Alexia first turned up at the apartment, she'd been anything but happy about being my escort. When I told her I needed to go dress shopping, she was full of beans. We'd spent most of the day out, had lunch together, shopped for a few other things together and sort of bonded.

  We arrived at a floor, and Alexia led the way off the elevator. "Here to see the boss, Caprice," Alexia announced to the receptionist.

  Caprice, a lithe blond in her late forties, didn't even look up. "He's in a meeting, on the next level. Can it wait?"

  Alexia smirked at me and lowered her voice. "She doesn't know I'm Dale's daughter. She thinks Hymn and I are banging the boss because he just lets us walk in whenever we want."

  Finally glancing up from her computer, Caprice finally noticed I was there. "Who's this? You know any newbies get vetted by the agents: take her down there."

  "This is the bosses girlfriend, or actually, his fiancée, her name is Vera."

  Mouth falling open, Caprice recovered a moment later. "Like he'd let you hang out with his fiancée. Get lost, Alexia. I'm not in the mood."

  Rolling her eyes, Alexia took my arm and led me down the corridor. "Fine, don't believe me. Vera will wait in his office until he gets back."

  "What?"

  "Trust me, Mr. Hearn will be happy."

  "No, wait!" Caprice tried to stand up to stop us, but got tangled in her phone headset and started cursing.

  Hauling me through a glass door into a smaller office space, Alexia chuckled. "This is Jeremy's office." Shoving open the next door, Alexia came to a stop. "This is Dale's...oh, that's what she meant by next level up."

  Dale was in his office, standing in front of a naked woman. This might have upset me, but there was also a naked man in front of a green screen. Standing with a camera in his hands, Jeremy watched as Dale gave the models directions.

  "Alexia," Dale greeted his daughter without looking over at us. After adjusting something on the woman, Dale moved, allowing me to see Hymn and Adam were the naked models. When Dale indicated the shoot to continue, Jeremy nodded at me before lifting the camera.

  That's when Dale saw me. He smiled brightly, frowned, and then looked at me waiting for me to let him know if he should be happy by my being here.

  Smirking at me, Alexia shooed me forward.

  Licking my lips, I moved forward to meet him. "Should I ask?"

  Glancing over his shoulder, Dale sighed. The man was holding the woman, covering her breasts and pretending to bite her. "We do shoots for underground media too."

  "Underground Media?"

  As if on cue, the male forced the woman onto all fours before him. Staring wide-eyed, I watched as his body became hazy, like he was evaporating, and fell to the ground. A billow of charcoal smoke hung where his body was, then it sucked down into the form of a wolf.

  Stepping forward, I stood mesmerized as the wolf mounted the girl from behind and licked up her spine. "Oh!"

  In the pit of my stomach, I felt empty. You know that feeling you get when you go over a hill quickly, and your stomach drops out? That's what it felt like. Placing my hand over my abdomen, a waking dream swept over me.

  In the yard behind my cottage, I was sunbaking on a towel. A shadow loomed over me. Opening my eyes, I smiled at alpha. He sniffed my crutch, and I laughed and tried to push his head away. When he licked up my stomach, I giggled with how ticklish I was. When he licked over my breasts, making the bikini wet with his slobber, I tried to cover myself.

  'Dad, look at her eyes.'

  Frowning, I looked around for Alexia.

  'Shh,' Dale hushed from my other side.

  Swinging my head to find him, I found myself alone in the yard. The sun had gone, and darkness was closing in, so was the cold. Rolling onto my stomach, I stood up, looking around the yard. My heart was pounding, my breath rasping. Something wasn't right.

  Grabbing up the towel, I went to go back inside. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark shape move in my vision. Stopping, I turned to look, but nothing was there, and yet, I knew something was here. Scanning the backyard as I moved back to the steps, I struggled to breathe through my fear.

  Reaching the steps, I turned my attention to the cottage. I froze at what waited for me at the top of the steps.

  "Did you really think you could get away from me, Viridia?" Malcolm took the steps down toward me. In his black suit, he looked good, his power emanating from him, but I'd met Dale now, Malcolm was a shadow on him.

  Resisting screaming, I backed away. "You can't have me."

  Moving faster than I could, Malcolm grabbed my hair in his fist and yanked me toward him. I whimpered, tears streaming down my face. Fear was suffocating my body. "You belong to me!" Hissing, Malco
lm crushed his mouth to mine.

  Screaming, I thrashed against him. Taking my bottom lip between his teeth, Malcolm bit down hard. Blood burst into my mouth, Malcolm moaned, so I returned the favor.

  "Bitch!"

  Pulling back, his lip still caught in my fangs, Malcolm swung and punched me in the face. Falling to the floor, lights burst in my vision. Pain swarmed my brain like wasps, blocking out the sound of my surroundings. Spitting out the piece of Malcolm's lip I'd taken with me, I blinked to stabilize my mind.

  "Oh, you want to play rough, do you? Let's play rough then." When Malcolm paused, I looked up at him. He smiled down with his bleeding lip. "Vera."

  "No!"

  Swinging his leg, his foot caught me in the stomach, sending me flying across the room where I impacted with some furnishings and a wall. Crumpling to the tiled floor, I lay there crying.

  "Vera?" Dale was beside me, rubbing my back. When I risked checking it was actually him, his eyes fastened on my bleeding lip. The gold pushing into the indigo and chocolate, Dale touched my chin, but then removed his hand. "How close is he?"

  Alexia was standing right there behind him, her face pale with shock.

  Spitting blood out of my mouth, onto his floor, I groaned in pain and slumped into his hold. "He knows my name."

  Holding me, Dale moved me to the sofa to rest while the photo shoot finished. Using his resources, Dale tried to see where a search on my name could lead them.

  My bond with Dale sped the healing process, so I could soon sit and watch the rest of the shoot take place. Moving to Jeremy's side, I observed the shots he took. Once he finished the publication shots, he asked me if I wanted a go. Instructing me on the basics, Jeremy let me have a play. Hymn and Adam hammed it up for me, Hymn even doing her partial shift and pretending to attack Adam.

  "You've got a good eye, Vera." Concentrating on the shots I took, Jeremy looked across the room. "Alexia, join the party."

  Squealing, Alexia jumped in with Adam and Hymn. They mocked out a threesome. About the time they forgot there was a camera in the room, I stopped photographing. Cheeks hot and feeling flustered, I handed the camera back to Jeremy.