Olivia peered at Cajun from beneath her lashes. He hadn’t worn a condom earlier. Could she be pregnant now? Did she want to be? Too much uncertainty remained between them. Even so, she didn’t care if the Cleric race lived or died. “I’d prefer all my children to be shifters anyway.”
“Your daughters will only ever be sorceresses, and unless we save our species, all of your daughters will die too.”
“She’s speaks the truth.” Cajun squeezed her fingers, and she only then realized he still held her hand. “Will you allow an entire race to die simply because of a few bad seeds?”
She stared at Cajun a long while, contemplating the pros and cons of a world without Clerics. “What is your weakness, Skarlet?”
Another stutter by the redheaded Key, and her eyes closed on a sigh as she said, “Tigers.”
“Truth. How much time does she have left before she bleeds out?”
Olivia observed Cajun. In his eyes she could tell he fretted over the safety of the other woman. She couldn’t care less if the other woman lived or died, but he was a good man. His ethics and moral standard were obviously higher than hers.
“I want to meet with the other Keys before I make a decision. You’ve got two days. After that, I’ll be gone again.” She waved her hand and teleported the five women safely off her land.
“What are you thinking?” Cajun nudged her inside and shut the glass door, locking it even though her wards blocked any would-be intruders from entering.
“That I don’t like her, don’t trust her, and damn sure don’t trust her Cleric friends.”
He walked to the kitchen and retrieved a beer from the fridge. “I sensed only the one lie from her. Is there any way you can find out if your kind is in danger of extinction?”
She plucked the bottle from his grasp and took a swig before returning the alcohol to him. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she stared at his mouth thinking of all the amazing things it could do.
Shaking herself out of her lusty thoughts, she walked toward the bedroom. “Maybe.” The last thing she wanted to focus on was the Key and her prophecy of doom. “I’m getting a shower.”
“Olivia, are you intentionally ignoring the elephant in the room?”
Chewing on the inside of her mouth, she turned to face him. They stared at one another, and something about his scrutiny left her feeling insecure. Crossing her arms over her chest, she would’ve hidden from him if she could’ve made it happen.
“What is the elephant?” she asked for no other reason than to try and sidestep the conversation.
“Denial.” Hurt flashed in his eyes, and she despised hiding from him. He finished off his beer and nodded his head. “We have something special between us, the potential to be great together. Skarlet and your mother through her diary have both told you to accept the siren song. You leave in a few days. I don’t want to push you, but I can’t keep pretending all is good. There’s a shitstorm brewing, and I don’t even know if you’ll let me protect you.”
This siren song was like a goddamn drug she couldn’t get away from because even his annoyance turned her on. Having so little control over her feelings toward him made her angry. But she wouldn’t hide from him.
“I want you to bite me. I want to give you my siren song, but I have no control, and I hate feeling like a drug addict.” She wanted to blow shit up with her magic, but held herself together. “You want my forever, and I’m afraid I can’t give you a month much less the rest of my life. I know nothing about relationships, nothing about love or trust or anything else that a relationship requires. I’m cold and detached, and I don’t give a damn if the sorceress world lives or dies.” When she realized her hands shook, she shoved them in her blue jeans’ pockets. “Most of all, I’m terrified I’ll never measure up to what you want or need.”
“Why would you think that?” He scowled. “You’ve gotta know you’re the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about.”
“It’s the mating heat, Cajun. It’s making us both crazy and irrational. Once we’re mated, you’d realize I’m not all that likeable.”
“I like you just fine.”
“You don’t know me. I’m self-absorbed—”
“A self-absorbed woman wouldn’t have given a shit if Aunt Barbara and the family was in danger. A self-absorbed woman would’ve ran for safety and said fuck them. Don’t get me started on your big-sister routine, so don’t try that bullshit with me.”
She loved the Wolfes so she’d do anything to keep them safe. And those girls needed someone at their back, needed to know they were worthy, they were special, or they could easily end up part of the criminal system. “I’m messy, and I can’t cook for shit. I don’t even know if I want babies.”
“I’m not exactly tidy.”
“Your house was spotless.” He was a bachelor, and she’d been surprised by his pristine home. “Dust free.”
“So you keep your maids. No different than you hiring on Campbell’s maid when he sold this place. How’s that a hardship?” He drew nearer; close enough she felt his heat against her crossed arms. She battled the urge to reach out and touch him. If she made contact, she’d be dragging him to the bedroom and riding him.
Fuck this goddamn mating heat! This was the definition of insanity, forget the Key-curse that’d drive her there.
“I can cook, like to cook, so that’s a non-issue. As for babies, you might change your mind.”
“I might not.” She was pretty sure she could abort it with magic, if she chose. The thought left her cold inside and suffering a sadness so strong she wanted to curl into a ball and weep. In that moment, she admitted she’d never kill anything he helped create. A baby by him would become the most precious gift to her.
He eyed her a long while before trailing a finger along her flesh that met against the neckline of her shirt. “If you don’t, we won’t have any, but you might already be carrying my child. What will you do if you are?” At the reminder, her heart sped up. “I hear your heartbeat. You’re not nearly as indifferent as you want me to believe, catin.”
Damn shifters and their intuitive senses.
“Why are you pushing me away? You’ve already admitted you’re mine, so why the sudden change?”
She was his, no way she could deny that, but so much could go wrong with their pairing. The danger her kin brought to her door had terrified her, reminded her what she had to lose. She’d rather know Cajun was alive than have him and watch him die because of her. “Why are you so quick to pick a woman based on cosmic fate?”
“Wanting you has absolutely nothing to do with the mating call.”
“Bullshit, Cajun. We’re both feeling it. I want to tear your clothes off and fuck you every single minute of every single day. Nothing normal about that.”
A pleased grin curled his lips. “I want to be inside you all the time too, but the urge to mate you doesn’t control me. Fuck, yeah, I want to mate you because I selfishly want to show what’s mine off to everyone. I also want to protect you and make you stronger.”
“If we do this, you might realize later I’m not a good fit for you. Or you’ll decide you don’t like me. Or I’ll do something horrid, and you’ll realize I’m the worst mistake you ever made. Or—”
Suddenly Cajun was in her personal space, his chest bumping against her arms. He cupped her face and kissed her, shutting her up. Olivia fell into the kiss like she always did, fisting his shirt to halt from climbing him. Jesus, she wanted him to mate her so bad the words to do it were on the tip of her tongue even as she tried to save him from a life of danger. Being safe, gaining power, or saving herself from the insanity had nothing to do with her desire either. It had everything to do with wanting to be his. But how could she know he wouldn’t regret claiming her? She didn’t want to ruin his life, or make him miserable.
“All I want is your happiness,” she said against his lips.
“Catin, that is further proof you’re not self-absorbed.” His thumbs planted beneath
her chin, and he notched her head back. “I don’t know what bug you’ve gotten up your ass.” Holding his gaze, she strained not to go cross-eyed as he grazed his lips against hers. “I also know you’re not the self-doubting type. So we don’t know each other well. I know all I need to know to commit myself to you, and enjoy the rest of our lives getting to know one another. I can’t wait to find out all the things you do that drive me crazy.” His fingers shifted into her hair, his grip firm on the strands. “My family loves you, and they don’t adopt family for the hell of it. My dad’ll love you, and mom will try to fatten you up.”
“Your family’s approval isn’t enough to mate me.”
“I agree, but it’s a solid reference.” She tried to shake her head at his nonsense, but his grasp firmed, and he went on. “I’m a thirty-three-year-old bachelor. I’ve had women come and go in my life, and none of them have made me feel the way you do.”
“That’s the mating heat,” she reminded, feeling like a parrot.
Disagreeing with her, he clucked his tongue. “So jaded and stubborn, catin. It has nothing to do with the wolf’s primal need to mate you. For the record, it has nothing to do with the way you look, either. I was smitten before you revealed yourself to me. Imagine my surprise when you divulged I’d drawn my fantasy woman for your tattoo and it was you.”
He kissed her forehead, a gesture that felt more heartfelt and loving than his epic smooches that made her all sorts of ridiculously wet.
“Olivia, I’ve already fallen in love with you.”
Her breath hitched in her throat, and her heartbeat sounded in her ears. Joy slammed through her, and she could’ve sworn the shield she kept around her heart broke and fell away.
“When I look at you, I see my future in your eyes, in your smile, in your laughter.” Much the same as her, because when he smiled, her entire body vibrated with his happiness. “Your smile lights up the room, makes me feel like for the first time in my life, I’ve got something good going on, someone worth fighting for, someone that isn’t perfect but is perfect for me.” Again she felt the same about him. “When you come, I feel like a ten-foot superhero.” Emotions rampant, she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against him, relishing his strength and warmth. He didn’t let her hide though, but used her hair to tug her head back to peer into her eyes. “Olivia, I promise you, I’ll love you the rest of my life regardless if you mate with me or not. You’re my heart, my soul, the oxygen I breathe. Love’s been limited in your life, but I’ll spend the rest of mine showing you the beauty, strength, and agony of love. I don’t expect our road to always be easy, but nothing ever worth having is. I’ll fight for you, kill for you, and give you all of me, all of my support even when you’re in the wrong.”
His words were the most beautiful words she’d ever heard uttered. They were vows to a life she wanted, a life she could only have with him. She could take a chance on him, or she could make them both miserable. There really wasn’t a choice. “I want you, Theodore. All of you, and your mating, but I also want to give you all of me with my siren song.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you. I want you to be certain this is what you want so you’ll have no regrets. But I want you safe, and your people frighten me a little. If doing your siren thingy makes you stronger, then I want all of it because I can’t bear the idea of losing you.”
An ache constricted about her heart because she’d made him experience self-doubt too. Never would she put him in that predicament again if she could help it. “I didn’t want to rush you either. I’ve been on my own so long, reviled by my own people all my life, the last thing I wanted was to drag you down with me.”
“I think it’s the other way around.” Devilry shined in his eyes. “I hope you realize if you lie with dogs, you’ll get fleas.”
Olivia laughed and hugged him. She loved his sense of humor. “I’d slay your fleas for you.”
“Ditto. Your dragons to slay are my dragons to slay.” He Eskimo kissed her.
“I wouldn’t mind being the mother of dragons.”
Cajun groaned. “Good lord, woman, I’m not sure Blue Creek could handle baby dragons. And since we’re keeping a low profile in Hollywood, not a good idea there either.” He bent his knees and swung her into his arms, setting off up the stairs to the bedroom. “We’re in this together, catin, now and always, so if baby dragons will make you happy, I’ll suffer through their fire-breathing bad breath for you.”
TWENTY-ONE
Olivia
That he’d find some way to give her baby dragons was all the evidence in the world she needed to know Theodore Gustav “Cajun” Wolfe was the man for her. She looped her arms around his neck as he took the stairs two at a time.
“Will you marry me?” Sure, he should be doing the proposing, but she’d never fit into a particular mold anyway.
“Oh, yeah, we’re getting married. I want everyone to know you are mine in every way.” He kicked the door closed. “Do you plan to take my last name?”
Why’d that question send a thrill through her? “I’d love to.”
“Olivia Wolfe.” He tried out her soon to be new name, his gray eyes glowing with his wolf. As he settled her on her feet in a slow transition, her entire body dragged against his. “I like the way Olivia Wolfe sounds.”
I do too.
His kiss was like a live wire to her flesh, and goose bumps broke out across her skin. She dove her hands beneath his shirt and slid them upward, caressing him as she shoved his shirt up so they could remove it. The material fell at her feet, and then he was ripping her shirt and bra off in the next breath.
“Sorry. My wolf’s anxious to claim you. I’ll try to slow down.”
“Don’t bother. Need you now.” Licking her lips, she yanked open his jeans and shoved them downward, taking his boxer briefs with them. “Go slow later.”
He pushed her down on the bed and shredded her jeans, flinging them aside with a snarl. “On your stomach. Good girl,” he crooned when she complied, running his palms over her ass, one of his thumbs dipping between the crack to press against her backdoor.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Tell me what you want. This orgasm is about your mating, Cajun. The next orgasm is about my siren song, and I’ll dictate how you fuck me.”
The wolf imprinted over his features just a moment, a growl rumbling from his lungs. He caught her hips and pulled her toward him until her knees rested on the edge of the bed, with him standing behind her. His fingers created a ponytail out of her hair. “On your hands and knees,” he said, as he yanked her up into the position he wanted.
Olivia gasped, her core clenching and leaking juices at his manhandling. Finally, someone that wouldn’t treat her like she was breakable. “Fuck me. Make me yours.”
The way he positioned her gave him the perfect angle to control her. She craved the vulnerability and letting him not only dominate her, but take care of her too.
“You’re mine, Olivia.”
“Yes.” After he bit her, there’d be no going back.
The hairs on his legs slid against the back of her thighs, and his cock butted against her delicate lips. He glided his length through her folds, coating his dick in her arousal.
“Fucking mine,” he snarled as he slammed into her.
Olivia cried out at his abrupt penetration, and he paused.
“Don’t stop,” she panted as her core twitched around his pulsing length. “Make me feel it, Theodore.”
He yanked her back by her hair, and Olivia gasped as her hands came off the mattress and her spine struck his chest. His other hand wrapped around her waist, clamped on her opposite hip, and he pounded into her. Cajun nuzzled her neck, licking and nipping at the flesh as if he prepped the spot for his bite. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the exquisite feel of him driving her passions higher with each thrust.
“C-cajun.” Her core heated, felt like lava poured from her, and threads of pleasure tore apart and splintered through
her body.
Fingers mixed with her hair curled around her throat. Olivia whimpered at the slight constriction, but her cunt squeezed him.
“You gonna come for your mate, catin?”
“Yes,” the word was nothing but air, and she wasn’t even sure he could hear it.
He dragged sharp canines along her skin. “Then do it.”
His hold relocated from her hip to her pelvis where his fingers plucked at her clitoris.
“Oh, god,” she moaned, arching her ass backward to meet his thrusts and take him deeper. He hit that glorious spot deep inside her too, and before long she was whimpering and moaning, loud and breathy noises that sounded nothing like her typical self in the bedroom. “Oh, god, Cajun.”
Fire exploded from her core, and she came. A snarl sounded next to her ear, and then his teeth buried in her neck, and she cried out at the pain that somehow sizzled into pleasure causing her to climax a second time. Cajun growled as he came with her, his seed bursting inside her as she took all he had to give.
They fell forward, but right before they crashed onto the mattress, he twisted so they lay on their sides, spooning, with his dick buried inside her pussy and his teeth in her flesh, as if neither man nor beast wanted to give up his hold on her. After several swishes of his tongue around his teeth, he released his bite and licked at the wound, a bit more abrasive feeling than normal.
“That was phenomenal.”
As his hand shifted off her neck, a chuffing noise emerged from him. He kissed the bite. “Outta this fucking world, catin.” Cajun nuzzled her neck. “Maybe you can control yourself better next time, and we’ll go slower.”
Olivia twisted just enough so she could peer at him as she ran her fingers along his jaw. “I like it rough, but slow is always good too.”
“I’m glad you like it when I’m an animal with you.” He lifted his head from her shoulder and kissed her, a languid smooch. “Like I said, perfect for me. Did I mention you make me feel like a ten-foot superhero?”
Sassy Ever After: Kissing Sassy (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 12