by E A Price
“Yes, only you, always you,” she babbled as his fingers pumped in and out of her.
She pushed her hips against his hand as tiny claws sliced through her fingers into his shoulder. He pushed his palm against her sensitive nub, making her arch against him, crushing her plush breasts against him. He dipped his head and laved each of her creamy orbs with his tongue. Her bucking motions against his hand went wild and she grasped his head, clutching him to her. He sucked as much of her flesh into his mouth as he could before releasing it and nipping little love bites around her nipple.
“Going to… almost…” she panted.
As he felt her cresting, he thrust a third finger inside her, and she came, jerking against him almost violently. He withdrew his fingers and drove his aching manhood inside her; her orgasm made her almost painfully tight, and he fought the urge to come straight away and let her milk the essence from his body. Determined to last, he gritted his teeth and held still as her inner muscles clamped and suckled at him.
When she finally calmed and slumped against his body, he gripped her hips and began rocking in and out of her body. Soon enough, her legs were wrapped around him, and she was racing toward another climax. As she screamed in ecstasy, Cutter roared and spilled himself inside her.
For the first time in his life, he had an urge to sink his teeth inside the quivering woman he held in his arms and make her his forever.
*
Once Cutter relaxed, dinner was actually quite a pleasant experience. Xander and Eric bore him no ill will, although they couldn’t help chuckling as he scooted his chair right up next to Lucie’s and dropped a proprietary arm over the back. He was hardly the chattiest of wolves, but he listened, and he laughed, and he didn’t do anything crazy like hit anyone – again.
She was thankful that the SEA had not made the hunt for Cutter public. It might have been a bit tricky trying to explain why Cutter’s face was currently plastered all over the TV for being a wanted fugitive.
Delmonte made an appearance part way through dinner, cuddling up to his owners, fawning over Lucie and spitting and Cutter. Xander and Eric fussed over the oversized cat, telling him how much they missed him while Cutter rolled his eyes and returned the hiss the animal gave him.
When it came to saying goodbye, Xander gave Lucie a big hug and told her how much he liked her new boyfriend. Lucie didn’t have the heart to correct him, so she just said thank you.
Lucie found Cutter in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed after she waved a final goodbye to her friends. She only hesitated briefly before pushing her way onto his lap. What? Who knew when she’d have the opportunity again? Her hedgehog agreed – enjoy every moment while she still can. She quivered excitedly as she felt his arousal, thick and hard beneath her buttocks. Cutter let out a martyred sigh and wrapped his arms around her.
She curled her fingers into his sweater. “What are you doing hiding up here?”
“I didn’t want to watch those bozos pawing at you,” he admitted, gruffly.
“They’re gay bozos – and they’re not bozos! We were hugging goodbye – it’s what friends do.”
“I don’t do that with my friends,” he replied sullenly.
Lucie giggled. She imagined watching Cutter and Gunner hug would be a strange sight to behold. Although, she certainly didn’t want him to start hugging Isis or Avery; her little beastie growled at the thought of those long-legged felines touching her wolf. Maybe she could see where he was coming from.
“They’re like brothers to me. Xander’s family aren’t exactly thrilled about him being in a relationship with a man, Eric’s live in Canada, and I don’t have any family so we all kind of stick together.”
Cutter cupped her face, bringing her gaze up to his luminous green eyes. “You don’t have family?”
Her face dropped unhappily. “My parents died when I was 10, after that I went through a few foster homes.”
“I had no idea,” he muttered, tensing in annoyance. Her hedgehog mewled. Annoyance at her? Surely not.
“I ended up at a really nice home with a lady called Mae – we called her Aunt Mae. We stayed close until she died a couple of years ago. I do keep in touch with a few foster brothers and sisters, but they don’t live in Los Lobos anymore.”
Cutter stroked her cheek and in a surprisingly cutesy move, kissed the end of her nose. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I should have known.”
Oh, her little honey bunny! He was angry at himself for not knowing.
Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. “What’s with the animal dream house?” He nodded at her little doll house – or rather, hedgehog house – and also her pride and joy. Hey, kids’ toys aren’t just for kids.
“Oh, I used to have one when I was little, but after my parents died I went into foster care, and I couldn’t take it with me. I used to love it, so after I got a job, I bought one. I still play with it now. You’re never too old.”
“I have a son,” he blurted abruptly.
“What?” Her head snapped up so quickly she swore she got whiplash. “You do? I never heard that, and I thought I knew everything a stalker could about her prey. How am I just hearing about this? What happened?”
Cutter chuckled hollowly. “There’s not much to tell. After Annie got knocked up… uh, after she found out she was pregnant we got married. It didn’t take long for us to realize that had been a mistake, but we both loved him, so we tried to make it work for his sake.” He let out a long breath. “And then there was the whole Maroni thing… After that, she was… she was scared of me… and she was scared I’d hurt our baby. So she left me, took our baby boy, found someone else and joined his pack.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want your pity,” he snapped.
To his surprise, Lucie bopped him on the head. “That’s not what it is you dummy.”
Cutter tried to bare his fangs at her, to show her he was a big bad wolf, but he couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corners of his mouth. She imagined she was the first hedgehog ever to hit him, although it was only playfully.
He rearranged her slightly, so she was straddling him and resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. “Things are better now. Now I talk to my boy on the phone, and I visit when I can. But after that, I knew I wasn’t meant to be anyone’s mate. How could I be with someone that I could hurt?”
Lucie stiffened in his arms as a sliver of disappointment eked down her spine and deflated her inner animal. “Is this your oh-so-subtle way of reminding me that there’s no future for us?”
“Lucie…”
“Don’t. I already told you; I care about you, but I’m fine with whatever we have right now, you don’t have to worry about me. But, to be clear, I’m not afraid of you. No matter how much you’re pushed I know you wouldn’t hurt me, right?”
She traced a finger around his collar, grazing his skin, and he shuddered ever so lightly.
“No, I wouldn’t… not permanently anyway.”
Hmmm, not the most romantic declaration but she’d take it… for now. “I’m sorry about your son.”
Cutter shrugged as he started running his hands up and down her back. “His name’s Dean, and his stepdad's a good guy. He’s better off with him. I’m not exactly a good dad. Annie said I’m incapable of being firm with him - I just keep giving him treats when he’s naughty.”
Lucie let out a hoot of laughter. “You, not firm? Merlin’s beard!” The idea of the Agency’s grouchiest wolf shifter – a crown that took a lot of grouchiness to obtain – was just downright hilarious. “How old is he now?”
“Four,” he muttered.
She could tell he was a little put out by her humorous reaction… which just made her laugh even harder. Boy, how would he be if they had some terrible little ankle biters running around? Literal ankle biters – she was a menace when she was young. She felt a twinge and her hedgehog snuffled. Not that she was certain they would have any kids… sigh.
“Do you miss your wi
fe?”
Cutter looked at her like she was insane. “No, definitely no. I’m sorry I don’t see Dean more often, but it’s better than him seeing the worst of me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Fuck, don’t feel sorry for me!”
“You’re right – I’m not sorry at all. Happy now?”
“Very.”
“Good.” They sat in silence for a few minutes before Lucie had to put a stop to that. What was the point of having a mouth if you didn’t flap it around? “You thinking about Clayton?”
Cutter grunted. “I have this feeling like I’m missing something important, but I don’t know what.” He was sitting, pondering as Lucie started humming. “What was the name that Avery gave to you earlier?”
“Oh? Umm, Bruce Knightley, I think.”
“Bruce… Bruce Knightley.” He rolled the names around his mouth before his whole body went rigid, and he shot to his feet. “Mother fucker!”
Chapter Nineteen
Lucie held up the freshly printed picture. “So this is Bruce Knightley?”
Cutter plucked it from her hands and studied it distastefully. Lucie fidgeted on the hard kitchen chair. When he leaped up from the bed, she had taken a mighty tumble to the floor and, frankly, her ass still smarted. He apologized profusely, rubbed her cheeks repeatedly and even went so far as to kiss it better. At that point, he got a gleam in his eye, and she put a pin in their activities while he explained what had him so riled.
Seeing her squirm, Cutter pulled her onto his lap. One hand massaged her behind while the other clutched at the photo.
“Officially, yes, but he never went by that last name. I knew him as Bruce Connors. He preferred his mom’s last name.”
At Cutter’s insistence, Lucie called Jessie on her cell phone. Surprisingly, Jessie was at work and Lucie chastised her for working such long hours, and then felt like a heel for asking Jessie to help her with something work related. Jessie didn’t mind, and she e-mailed Lucie a picture of Bruce Knightley.
“We kind of grew up in the same pack,” explained Cutter, grimly. “Bruce’s dad was a real piece of work - treated Bruce’s mom like crap. He wasn’t allowed to join our pack. Every so often she’d turn up black and blue dragging Bruce with her, they’d stay for a while, and then his dad would show up and his mom just ran right on back into his arms.”
Her heart twisted. “So, this is the Bruce who got you a job in Maroni’s gang and then tortured you?”
His eyes narrowed even more. “Yes.”
“That… that butthole!” exploded Lucie. Her irate hedgehog was definitely in agreement on that.
“Whoa, steady, language,” commented Cutter, surprisingly amused at her outburst.
“I thought he was dead.”
“I thought he was too, but if his DNA is showing up at murder scenes, he’s probably not quite as dead as I thought he was.”
“So maybe he’s the one who tried to kill Sadie.”
He nodded. “It would make sense, I did try to rip his throat out, he might have had a bit of trouble healing that and he might have scars.”
Lucie jumped up, ready for action. “We need to show his picture to Sadie, if she can identify him, maybe we could take this to the Director.”
“Maybe.” His amber infused eyes didn’t stray from the photo. Perhaps he was trying to divine his location just by looking at his image or make Bruce’s head exploded with his mind – either way.
“You don’t sound excited.”
Cutter opened his mouth to bare his fangs. “I’d rather find him and rip his throat out again.”
His wolf was close to the surface, perhaps too close. He might not be able to think rationally. She needed to calm him, so she resumed her seat on his lap and kissed his neck, nibbling on his collar bone and nipping his chin. Ah, the sacrifices she had to make.
He tried to remain stoic, but he crumpled at her teasing onslaught. “Fine, we’ll do it your way, call Primrose, and let her know we’re on our way.”
To show that there was no shame in defeat, she gave him a thorough kiss before grabbing her phone to call Primrose. There was just one problem – Primrose didn’t answer. Lucie kept trying, but she didn’t get an answer.
“Maybe she’s in the bathroom,” she suggested uneasily. “Or maybe they’re both asleep – it’s getting late.”
Tersely, Cutter told her to try again. She did. No answer.
“I don’t like it; I’m going over there,” he declared.
“I’ll get…”
“No.”
“But…”
Cutter gave her a ‘don’t fuck with me’ stare. Usually, she’d ignore it and just carry on with whatever she was doing, but for some reason she actually thought he meant it this time.
“I don’t know what we might be walking into, and I sure as hell am not willing to risk you.”
“But…”
He softened but only marginally. “Please, Lucie, stay here. I love how stubborn you are – even though it bugs the hell out of me, but please, do as I ask. I don’t want to lose you.”
Son of a motherless goat! How could she say no when he admitted to loving a part of her and then actually came out with something sweet.
“Okay.”
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll call you as soon as I know something.
“Just be careful,” she pleaded, following him to the door and wringing her hands.
“I will.”
He gave her one last meaningful look fraught with some emotions she really didn’t want to identify at that moment. Maybe later, when she had him in her bed and completely at her mercy. For now, she looked to the skies and begged the hedgehog deity to watch over him.
But in the meantime, perhaps some more earthly help would come in useful.
*
Cutter raced to the storage depot. His wolf was furious at leaving Lucie behind, but even the unreasonable beast knew it wasn’t a good idea to bring her along. A thought reinforced when he arrived to find the fence hanging limply from its hinges and the guard in the office shot dead.
He abandoned the car and proceeded on foot to Primrose’s storage lockup. The rest of the facility was eerily silent, making the cries and yells from Primrose’s even more conspicuous.
Moving quickly and silently he sidled into the lockup. Sadie was huddled in a corner, crying while Bruce kicked a naked Primrose. She must have tried to shift, but he overpowered her. He was too bent on his task, too enthralled by the whimpers she admitted, and the pain he caused to notice Cutter’s arrival. Sick fucker.
Cutter didn’t even bother to pull out his gun. He wanted to enjoy this; he didn’t want it to end too quickly. A sentiment his itchy pawed wolf agreed with. The sooner they got started, the better.
“Bruce!” he roared.
The other wolf stopped and slowly turned to look at him. He wasn’t nearly surprised enough to see him.
“Cutter,” he rasped, his voice only a distant whisper of what it used to be.
Cutter surveyed the angry scars on Bruce’s neck. They really looked like they hurt. He should have taken his fucking head off.
Bruce smirked. “About time, I was beginning to think I’d never get a chance to kill you. I mean I would have been happy just to gun you down in the street, but my brother reckoned that would look bad for him, so I had to wait, and it has been fucking hard.”
Cutter looked between the two women. Sadie didn’t appear harmed – just shaken. Primrose on the other hand looked bad. She had managed to crawl over to Sadie, and the two hugged. Every instinct he had told him to rip the wolf apart - his own beast was virtually tearing himself apart to get out – but he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.
“Why now?” Cutter growled.
“Why not?” Bruce ran his tongue over his fangs as his eyes sparkled amber. “You know how long I’ve been wallowing in a fucking Mexican hospital waiting for this to heal?” He stroked his scars. “I lost three years of my fucking life t
hanks to you; they say I’m lucky to be alive, I don’t feel lucky.”
“Should have stayed dead then.”
Bruce chuckled horribly. “Everyone thought I was, my brother saved me though, got me to safety.”
“How’d you find them?” Cutter inclined his head at Sadie and Primrose.
“You’re not the only one who’s been talking to Marie’s boyfriend. My brother suspected the girlfriend was Primrose, so he had a tracker on her car, and when he found out she stole that medicine, he figured it out and had me come down here to sort the mess out.”
Cutter’s muscles twitched and grew. “Your brother works at the SEA?”
Bruce smirked. “You have no idea, do you?”
“He our surprise mystery guest tonight?”
The other wolf’s expression turned downright feral. “Nah, he has his hands full on the other side of town dealing with a prickly little brunette.”
Cutter tensed as red-hot rage poured through him. Bruce just babbled on, apparently uncaring as to the danger he was in.
“This isn’t how I wanted it to go down. I had plans to kill Lucie slowly in front of you. But then this bitch had to ruin it,” he sneered at Sadie. “She should have died when she was supposed to. Still, never mind, killing you will still make me feel better.”
Cutter was barely listening. His wolf howled ferociously, and his blood boiled. Lucie. His Lucie. No, he wouldn’t let her down – she needed him. He roared savagely as his muscles and bones started twisting and reshaping themselves. He didn’t even try to fight the shift.
Bruce’s eyes widened slightly in fear. Fucking stupid wolf! He had no hope against Cutter to begin with, but now that he had threatened his female he’d be dead within seconds. He lunged at the other wolf with a bloodthirsty snarl.
*
Lucie fretted. She paced, she tried to watch TV, she ate a whole box of Fortunate Charms – they were a cheap knock off breakfast cereal of which she was an addict – but nothing could soothe her or her worried beast.
She made the right decision in calling for backup. He may want to run around playing action lone ranger wolfman or some gobbledygook like that, but she wasn’t giving him the opportunity to get killed – he still had to give in and admit he loved her – he wasn’t getting off that darn easily!