by Sarah Blake
“Hello, earth to Trish,” came Sarah’s voice as the other woman took a seat on the booth opposite.
“Hi, sorry, I was in a world of my own there.”
“Let me guess, you’re worried about your mate, who’s worried about this Clint thing and you’re not getting enough sleep?” she asked.
“That obvious huh?” Trish laughed.
“Nope, just that I’m in the exact same place as you.” Both women shared a sad smile about the situation. They ordered lunch when the waitress arrived, then decided to talk about something else.
“So, how’s things with you and Luke?” Sarah asked, sighing as she took a drink of her coffee. “Oh how I’ve missed this wonderful stuff.”
Trish had to laugh. The woman had drunk at least ten cups of coffee a day before falling pregnant. “Things are great. I still can’t believe I’m mated. I honestly never thought it would happen.”
“So you’ve given up on the whole ‘I’m never mating because he’ll leave me or cheat’ bullshit you thought?”
“Shh, keep your voice down. And yes. Well sort of. I try not to think about that anymore. But I still get this feeling sometimes, deep down, that I’ll wake up one day and find him gone. Guess that’s not gonna change in just three weeks. Not after thinking it for sixty-three years. Hey, how did you know I feared he’d leave me or cheat on me?” she asked.
Sarah didn’t answer the question, instead she blurted something out while laughing.
“Oh my god. You’re a cougar!”
“Will you shut up! Yes, Luke is younger than me. You don’t have to let the whole pack know,” Trish said, throwing a napkin at the other woman’s face to try and stop her laughing.
“Thirty-one years younger. I’m only five years younger than the age gap between you two.” She laughed again.
“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d kick the crap out of you, Miss Faints at the Sight of a Wolf.”
“Hey, no fair. Werewolves are a heck of a lot bigger than normal wolves and come on, if you were me, you’d have passed out too. Even if it was a normal-sized wolf.”
Both women were laughing as their meals arrived. They were rudely interrupted by a man rushing out of the café from the booth behind their own, who knocked the waitress almost into Trish’s lap.
“Jeez, that guy stank. I don’t know what was worse. The stale beer and smoke or the clothes. He must not have washed in a month.”
The rest of the meal passed as normal. And Trish felt in a better mood when they parted. She went to the grocery before going home. On her way back, she passed a beautiful little cottage. The current owner, David Saxo, was standing on the front lawn, watching the local realtor hanging a “For Sale” sign on a post by the mailbox. Trish had been in the cottage once or twice and had always liked it. On her way home, she thought of something she never before considered. Now she had a mate, perhaps it was time to move out of her small one-bed apartment and into something larger. The cottage had three bedrooms as she remembered. They could turn one into an office for her and Luke and when the time came, there would be a room for a baby. Or two. She hadn’t even told Luke, but she wanted a large family. She would shower her children with the love a mother was meant to.
Cringing at the thoughts that entered her mind after thinking of having children, she scolded herself. Yes, being mated was a dream come true seeing as Luke hadn’t left her, but that didn’t mean children would be the same. She decided not to think about that anymore and thought about how to bring the idea of the cottage to Luke.
With her idea in mind, she began preparing dinner for her and Luke. She decided to make an English dish she loved. Shepherd’s pie. She only made enough vegetables for herself, as the only vegetable Luke ate was potatoes. So she made extra to mash for him.
She was just picturing what the cottage would look like once they decorated when Luke came home.
“Something smells good,” he called from the hallway. When he walked into the kitchen, he grabbed her round the waist and spun her around, kissing her till she was breathless. “Food as well,” he murmured, kissing her neck.
“Yes, and said food will be burned if you carry on with that.” She had to threaten to put the meal in the trash can before he finally let her go to get the dish from the oven.
When they were both eating, she decided no time like the present and asked what he thought about the cottage. “Luke, I’ve been thinking. This place is a little small for the two of us, isn’t it?” She noticed his frown after she spoke and guessed he got the wrong idea. “It’s not that I don’t love living with you, because I do. When I was coming home from the store today, I passed a cottage that’s up for sale. I’ve loved the place for years. It’s got three bedrooms, and we could turn one into an office for—” Her words were cut off when Luke leaned over and kissed her.
“Are you asking if I want to buy a house with you, Red?”
“Yeah,” she answered in a small voice. She couldn’t read his expression and was worried she had moved to fast bringing it up and scared him off.
“I guess a home office would be handy,” he said. She was a little disappointed at his response and decided she would forget the whole idea.
He laughed as he took her hand. “Red, I was joking. Well, I wasn’t but I meant it as a joke. I’d love nothing more than to buy the cottage with you.” His smile was genuine and hers joined his. She felt as if a ton of weight had been lifted off her chest. She was shocked at how worried she was to bring it up.
After dinner, they cuddled on the sofa to watch a film. Halfway through, Luke’s phone beeped, indicating he had a message. When he read it he looked a little confused.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, wondering if the deer killer had made another move.
“Nothing, it’s just an old friend,” he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. He seemed a little distracted for the next ten minutes and Trish became fed up with it.
“Luke, tell me the truth, what was that message all about?”
He sighed and finally looked at her. “It’s from a woman I used to hook up with from time to time. She was asking if I wanted to meet up later tonight. I don’t understand. She knows I’m mated now and wouldn’t do something like that.”
She tried to concentrate on the rest of the film, but she couldn’t. All she could think about was Luke running off with someone else. She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t help it. Luke seemed to notice her change of mood and spent rest of the night playing with her with items from a bag of tricks and Trish went to sleep sore in places she never wanted to forget.
* * * *
The next day, Luke was on patrol in the forest near town when he caught a familiar scent following him. He slowed down and let the woman catch up.
“Hey, Carla, how you settling into the new town?” he asked.
“Hey hot stuff. I’m glad I caught up with you. I was thinking,” she said in what Luke thought may be a seductive tone. His guess was proved correct when she came up to him and all but rubbed herself against his side while running a finger down his chest. She was practically purring when she spoke. “We haven’t had a chance to have some fun since moving up here. How about you come over to my place when you get off?”
“Carla,” he said while removing the blonde off him. “I’m mated now. And not interested.”
She pretended to pout at him before speaking again. “So, it doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun still. I won’t tell if you won’t.” Again she moved toward him. Luke took a large step back. She was starting to piss him off now.
“The answer is no. Not now and never again. Understood?” he told her, adding a little threat to his voice.
“Whatever,” she spat at him as she walked away.
First Emma with the text last night and now Carla? They all know I’m fucking mated, he thought as he continued on his patrol. As he was nearing the end of the route he was on, he noticed something a little strange. There was a large patch of earth on the forest
floor that had been disturbed. Normally this wouldn’t be cause for concern, but with the letter they all received and the dead deer, he wasn’t overlooking anything.
He was about to squat down and move a few layers of soil to see if he could dig up anything when his cell rang. He answered, spotting Brax’s number.
“Hey, man,” he greeted his Alpha.
“Luke, have you checked your mail today?”
“No, why?”
“We’ve all received another letter. Same sort of thing. ‘Tick Tock’ then a few threats after it. It’s been soaked in piss again by the same person. I think we may have to look somewhere else other than Clint. We’ve been watching him for weeks and got nothing.”
“I think you’re right. Look, I’m gonna call Scott, he’s taking over my patrol in an hour but I’m gonna ask him to come now. I want to get home and check the mail before Trish. I don’t want her finding something like this. I’ll have a think about possible suspects when I’m there.”
He called Scott on his way back to his car and sent up a prayer of thanks when the soldier agreed to cover for him.
When he got home, he found the letter and burned it. He didn’t want the thing anywhere near his mate.
When Trish came home, he was sitting and staring at the large white board he’d written all the incidents on, trying to spot something they may have overlooked.
He greeted her in his favorite way of kissing her until she was breathless. “Hi,” he whispered when he finally pulled away.
“Hi,” she said back. Her smile was replaced by a frown as she sniffed his shirt. “Where’ve you been?” she asked, pulling away.
“I’ve been on patrol, why?” he asked, confused. He lifted his shirt to his nose and immediately knew what was wrong. Carla’s scent was still on him. He had forgotten all about her. “Trish, it’s not what you think. An old friend saw me out patrolling and hugged me.”
“Really? A quick hug doesn’t leave that much of a smell on someone. Just tell me the truth, Luke.”
“Fine, look she came on to me okay. She followed me on my route and rubbed up on my side. I told her to piss off and she did. That’s all. I swear. I would never cheat on you, Red,” he told her truthfully. She seemed reluctant at first, but then let it go.
He felt like shit for allowing the woman to rub up against him like a cat in heat. He should have showered as soon as he got home. While Trish went into the kitchen to get a drink, he went and turned the shower on. He planned to make it up to his mate but would wash the smell off him first.
After scrubbing himself clean and stepping out, he put the plug in the bath and ran the hot water for Trish. She loved a hot bubble bath after work. He dropped a large dollop of her favorite lavender bubble bath into the hot running water and went to get his mate. He had an idea how to make it up to her and needed her out of the way to get things ready.
Chapter Nine
Trish was feeling a little insecure. First the woman last night, and another one today. She had seen some of the women of Water Sun and they were beyond stunning. Just as she was begging to let her fear of Luke cheating on her raise its ugly head, the man himself picked her up from the chair she was sitting on. “Luke, what are you doing?” she asked when she got over her shock.
Her anger melted away a little when he walked into the bathroom and she saw he had drawn her a hot bubble bath. She thanked him with a kiss as he set her on her feet and started stripping her.
She let the warm water wash away he fears of Luke cheating on her and her hard day at work. Werewolves didn’t die of many things, but accidents still happened, bones could still be broken and they had their own versions of common human illness, which were nasty if caught. She lay soaking for thirty minutes before washing. She didn’t bother wetting or washing her hair as she only did so this morning. She was just finishing drying herself when Luke came back in. Without a word, he placed a blindfold over her eyes and picked her up.
He carried her to the bedroom and lay her down on the bed. She smelled the most amazing aroma and went to ask if it was a type of flower, but Luke brought his lips to hers before she had the chance. The kiss was soft and gentle, burning her body slowly. When he pulled away, he lifted her and placed her on her stomach in the middle of the bed. She could feel his erection pushing behind his zipper as he lay over her, kissing from her neck down her back. When he sat up, trapping her legs inside his spread ones, she heard a bottle being squeezed. Thinking it was lube, she was shocked when a trail of cool liquid trailed across her shoulders. She moaned at the feel as Luke rubbed the liquid in, massaging it into her skin.
“That feels so good,” she said, feeling the tension of the day fading further and further away. By the time he had massaged every inch of her body, front and back, Trish felt like Jell-O.
“Now, let the real fun begin,” he told her, jumping off the bed. She heard him moving around the room. It sounded like furniture was being moved. When he joined her back on the bed, he placed the cuffs on her wrists and ankles. He pulled her to the edge of the bed, lifting her to her feet. “Walk with me,” he told her before taking her hands and walking her a few steps.
She was so turned on she couldn’t tell where he placed her in the room and didn’t care. When she was facing the way he wanted her, he lifted her left arm and connected it in place with another cuff. He repeated the same move with her other wrist and both ankles. She didn’t know how he managed it, but he had her spread-eagled, unable to move her arms or legs in the middle of the bedroom floor.
After he stretched her ass with lube and fingers, he placed a butt plug in. Next he came and stood in front of her. “You look so fucking hot like this. But I think you need something with a little sparkle,” he told her. She sucked in a startled breath as he nipped and twisted her nipples before placing clamps over them. Her cursing earned her two sharp spanks to her ass. “Do. Not. Talk. Unless. Safe. Wording,” he said in a voice that never failed to get her juices flowing. “I did a little shopping yesterday. Bought a new little toy for you. Want a go?”
She wasn’t sure, but guessed she didn’t really have a choice unless she used her safe word. She knew she never would. She trusted Luke with every fibre of her being and knew he would never take her past her limit.
That’s what she thought before he opened her pussy lips and attached a clamp to her clit. “Think about what will happen if you say those naughty words you’re about to, Red. You’ve had your warning. You probably guessed by now what your new toy is. It’s a pretty green clit clamp. It matches the ones on your nipples. Sexy as hell.”
Her words turned into a whimper at the feel of the clamp. She didn’t know how long she would be able to leave it on. Then she thought she never wanted it to come off. The pain of the blood rushing back to her nipples when the clamps came off them was torture, she couldn’t even begin to guess what it would feel like to her clit.
His fingers rubbed over the entrance to her pussy. “Feel how wet you are, Red,” he told her before removing his fingers. To her shock, he rubbed them over her lips. “Open,” he ordered. When she did, he immediately pushed his fingers into her mouth. “Suck,” came his next order. She didn’t know how she felt about tasting her own cream. It was dirty and taboo, but Luke making her do it was such a turn on.
When his fingers were clean, he placed them back at her entrance. Not giving her much more notice, he plunged two into her. Starting off slow, he quickly worked up to a fast, hard rhythm. Despite the clit clamp, it wasn’t long before she was panting and moaning. He changed the angle and pushed against her G-spot, causing her to cry out. He knew just how to play her and it wasn’t long before she was at the edge of the cliff he never failed to take her.
“Come, Red.” That was all she was waiting for. Just as she jumped off the cliff into the abyss of pleasure, he removed the clit clamp. The scream that tore from her throat was almost loud enough to shatter the window. Soon though, the pain intensified her pleasure and her scream turned to a mo
an, groan and what she could only describe as an attempt to communicate with whales.
She came down from the high to the feeling of being pushed forward. With her arms chained in the air, it meant she had to use them to take some of her weight as she leaned further over.
She thought he would remove the plug and fuck her ass but he didn’t, instead slamming his cock into her pussy. She still couldn’t get over how amazing it felt to have him entering her, stretching and filling her up. Their joined moans and shouts at the feeling sounded around the room.
The hard and fast thrusts were almost brutal and had her nearing the edge of the cliff sooner than she would like. Luke seemed to notice she was trying to hold back, and slipped his hand from her hip and rubbed two fingers over her clit again and again. All she could remember before passing out from the pleasure was Luke’s growl before biting over her mating mark as he came.
Chapter Ten
Luke couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips as he thought about the cottage Trish had showed him as she’d driven him to his meeting point. He was patrolling the outer perimeter of pack territory and had taken over from Lux about an hour ago.
As he thought about the cottage, and the night before, he heard two voices up ahead. Once he’d recognized them as two pack members, two young men if memory served him correctly, he made his way to them to find out what they were doing so close to the pack border.
“Hey guys,” he said as he drew closer. He noticed one of them was sitting on a large duffel bag and had a sad look on his face. “What are you two doing out here?”