by Chloe Cole
Instinctively, he began to pump his hips in counterpoint to her motions, fucking her mouth in long strokes. So good, that his whole world became a pinprick, and his vision blurred. His balls drew up tight against his body as hot liquid snaked up his shaft, locked and loaded for launch.
He called on his last functioning brain cell to muster two words. “Inside you.”
He yanked her hair hard, pulling her puffy mouth away from him and pressing her back against the bed. He leapt onto the mattress, sparing a quick glance between her thighs to see her glistening sex before settling there. Hands shaking with the intensity of his want, he tested her readiness but there was no need. She was slick and ready again, and she cried out as he thumbed her plump clit.
Hot pokers of need branded his very soul as she writhed beneath his hand. Every whimper, every low gasp sent another rush of blood to his already distended, aching cock.
“Please, god, Drake. Please…”
He let his eyes drift open again and groaned at the sight. Looking at her was a catch twenty-two because it wounded him to the core knowing this was it. He was looking at everything he ever wanted and would never have again. But even that didn’t stop him from taking his fill and burning her image into his brain so he would never forget.
She was gorgeous. Head tossing against the pillow restlessly, hips fluttering, muscles straining as her body hurtled toward release.
“Drake,” she begged, her wide, glassy eyes piercing his soul.
Muscles quaking, he pushed the head of his cock deep and then slid in, inch by inch, until he filled her completely. He hadn’t even moved when she started to chant his name.
“Drake, ah, Jesus.”
Her back bowed as she strained against him, trying to draw him deeper, but she needn’t have worried. He couldn’t have stopped if the place was on fire.
He pulled back and plowed forward, burying himself to the hilt. Her tight channel clutched at him, squeezing and releasing and she bucked beneath him. He bent low and took one, hard nipple between his teeth and then sucked, even as his hips pistoned against hers, driving his thick length into her again and again.
Her chant became a scream as she tensed around him, milking his cock, clenching and releasing until he couldn’t hold back a second more. He bellowed her name and then followed her over the edge, twitching and jerking as hot come spurted from him into her.
His muscles went to straight liquid and he slumped over her, giving her his weight, which she didn’t seem to mind, as her arms slipped around his waist. The sounds of their harsh breathing filled the room, and the pounding of their hearts beat between them, but louder than both combined was the single word blaring in his head.
Mine.
He hated himself for his weakness, but damn, was it true. Nothing was ever simple with her, and what was supposed to be “just sex” only reinforced the bond he’d felt with her.
He rolled to his side, letting the scent of Willa’s hair fill his nostrils and swamp his senses as she rolled with him. She burrowed close, burying her face in his shoulder and nipping him there before letting out a happy, sleepy sigh.
He didn’t know how long they lay there like that, but it wasn’t long before her breath went slow and even, and her body relaxed next to his in slumber.
He couldn’t blame her. It had been a rough twenty-four hours and they were both working on almost no sleep from the night before. And tonight would be no better for him, he realized with a sudden, blood-chilling clarity.
He’d vowed to be so careful…to stop her from drawing him in any deeper. But not a full day had passed and already he’d failed. The lure of her was just too strong. As angry as he was at her. As much as she’d betrayed him, he couldn’t deny it any longer. Etienne was right. He loved her. Body and soul, top to bottom, and nothing was going to change that.
And that meant he had to let her go.
His dragon pulsed inside him, already railing against it, roaring to life, ready to fight for what was his.
But she wasn’t his.
She never had been. Her parents had handed her over, unwitting and unwilling, and he’d taken her because he wanted her. Yes, he’d rationalized it all neatly so it would be easier for him to swallow. Told himself that, if she just gave it a chance, she’d want to stay and that, if they weren’t able to work it out, eventually he would let her go.
Now, though, he recognized it all for exactly that. Rationalization. Because once he’d tasted her, he was never letting go. His fury at her near-escape was just another convenient excuse to do what he’d wanted all along and keep her here with him, whether she wanted to stay or not.
She deserved to choose her mate. To shape her life however she wanted it to be, and as much as it hurt to admit, there was no reason in the world for her to choose him. A gruff, sometimes cruel bastard on an equally unforgiving hunk of stone, away from everyone she knew and loved.
And even harder to admit was the fact that his enemy was one of those people. Greyson West might be a cocky asshole and foolhardy to a fault, but he’d cared enough about Willa to risk his own life and that of his packmates to protect her. That alone earned him Drake’s grudging respect. The man had done no less for Willa than he himself would have done for one of his own. As much as it galled him, killing the man for being an honorable alpha and trying to protect her was flat out wrong.
He pulled his arm gently from beneath Willa’s head and carefully rolled to the edge of the bed before standing. His foot connected with one of Willa’s discarded chains and it jingled softly, another subtle yet painful reminder of his cruelty.
When had things gone so far off the rails?
He’d been so angry at her, but what would he have done had he been subjected to the fate she had? Forced to wed someone she didn’t love? Wouldn’t he have fought tooth and nail to get out? Jumped out a window to escape? Lied, cheated, and betrayed for a chance at freedom?
Not only did she deserve better than this, she deserved better than a selfish bastard like him. He might not ever be able to make up for what he’d done by keeping her here, but he could damn well make sure that her life going forward was her own.
It would kill him to do it, but there was no other way. This night would be the last that she would spend under someone else’s thumb. She’d finally have what she’d always wanted. Freedom to choose. Freedom to follow her own path, with no one getting in her way.
Which meant he had some work to do.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Moonlight streamed through the windows and Willa’s lashes fluttered open. She must have fallen asleep. She rolled to her side and lay there for a long moment as the events from earlier in the night came rushing back to her.
Drake.
A shiver ran through her at the memory of it. He’d been so intense and tender all at once, and she wondered if it would always be like that between them. Hot and needy with an undercurrent of rightness so strong that it brought tears to her eyes.
She reached out a hand to feel the pillow next to her and realized with a start that it was cold. Not in the bathroom, then. In fact, he must have been up for a while.
She stirred under the blankets and swung her legs over the side of the bed, reveling in the welcome ache between her thighs. Maybe once she found him she could lure him back up for an encore performance.
She crossed the room to grab a t-shirt and a pair of jeans from the dresser and tugged them on before making her way to the bedroom door. She turned the knob and then froze as it turned just a hair before catching.
Locked.
She jiggled the knob again before her brain processed what was happening.
Drake had fucking locked her in again. Her gut churned as she thought back over their night together, and with every passing second, she grew more furious. He’d touched her like she was his everything. He’d looked into her eyes and bared his soul. He’d held her afterward like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.
How could h
e just walk away like that didn’t mean anything to him and then lock her up again?
Enough was enough. She’d put up with him treating her like his enemy. She’d put up with him locking her in a room and chaining her up like a criminal. But she’d be damned if he treated her like some after hours hookup that he could just use and walk away from. Not when he’d rocked her to her very marrow. Not when he’d made her feel like the most beautiful, sexy woman on earth.
Not when she loved the shit out of him and knew, deep down, that he felt the same.
She stared at the door and, without hesitation, her wolf took the reins, moving restlessly beneath her skin, ready to fight for its mate. She didn’t stop it. She closed her eyes and let it take over, relishing in the pull of her muscles as they lengthened and the shift of bone.
When she opened her eyes, everything was crisper. Clearer. Her sense of smell keen and sharp. Her wolf mind was very aware of her all-too human emotions, but her thoughts and responses were far more basic. And on a most basic level, she needed to get free from this room. Then? She needed to find her man and throttle him.
She eyed the door and centered herself, gathering her preternatural strength. Then, she let out a fierce snarl and she raced forward, battering against the door with her entire body.
The impact reverberated through her, rattling her teeth, jarring her hard as she bounced off the door. She blinked hard and refocused, a carnal satisfaction rolling through her as she noted the wood had splintered down the center. It hurt, but if she kept at it, the door would be history. She’d be free.
Free to run Drake down and force him to listen to her. To keep talking and not stop until he stopped being a stubborn asshole and believed her.
Her resolve only strengthened and she shook herself off before padding backward again and lunging forward, smashing into the door a second time.
This time, it worked and the door cracked straight down the center, leaving a gap wide enough for her to claw the rest of the way through. She’d lost the element of surprise, because surely Drake had heard the ruckus from wherever he was in the keep, but she couldn’t find it in her to care.
She finally felt like she was where she needed to be, emotionally. She was strong, and determined, and she was going to fight for the life she wanted, tooth and nail.
She ran down the stairs, shifting back into human form and kicking aside the shredded remnants of her clothes with a muttered curse.
“Enough is enough, Drake,” she said, rounding the corner and stepping into the great room.
He stood by the fireplace and turned toward her, the surprise on his face quickly fading back into a blank expression. “Ah, Willa. We were just talking about you,” he said, his voice low but markedly cooler than it had been when she’d last seen him.
“Yes, your ears must’ve been burning.”
She gasped and whipped around to find Etienne standing behind her, a coffee mug in hand. His golden gaze traveled from her flaming face to the tip of her toes before trailing back up again.
“You’re looking especially lovely this night, ma petite,” he murmured, but his sad little smile didn’t match the playful tone of his words and that only confused her more.
She wrapped one arm around her breasts and pressed a hand between her thighs, so thrown by Etienne’s presence that she could barely form a coherent thought. All the anger and righteous indignation drained from her, leaving behind only abject terror that something was horribly wrong.
Had Greyson come and she’d slept through the entire battle? Dear god, what if her former packmates were all dead?
She looked to Drake, who stood beside the basket filled with robes he kept by the fireplace for when he came home after shifting, but he didn’t offer her one. Instead, he leveled her with another cold glance before turning his back on her altogether and facing the fire. “What’s going on, Drake?” she whispered, the words sticking in her dry throat.
“There’s been a change of plan,” he murmured, pausing to take a long pull from the glass in his hand before setting it down on the mantle. “I’ve been called back to Scotland on family business so I won’t have time to entertain your wolf friends and their games, mores the pity. I’ve decided it’s best to end it here so that Etienne doesn’t inherit my baggage. Best for him if he makes nice with the locals, since he’ll be staying in Montana. In order to facilitate that and as a gesture of goodwill, he is going to take you back to your pack tonight, along with the nullified contract between your parents and I.”
Her stomach dropped to her toes and tears burned the back of her lids. “What are you saying, Drake?”
“I don’t believe I stuttered,” he said, his tone downright icy now. “I don’t have time for games, so do me the favor of not arguing just this once, would you? Go upstairs and dress. Etienne will be waiting for you when you come down.”
His shoulders were stiff and his head was bowed, and no matter how hard she willed him to, he wouldn’t turn around.
She looked helplessly to Etienne who just shrugged and averted his golden eyes. What was she supposed to do now?
“Drake, can you come up with me? I’d like a moment to speak with you in private,” she murmured softly.
“That won’t be possible. We’re under a time crunch here. Greyson West has been notified and is awaiting your return as we speak. Being late might cause him to fear that it’s a trap and cause all sorts of problems. I want this to be as easy for Etienne as possible.”
“But—”
“Go.” The word was no more than a harsh, raw whisper, but it was filled with such conviction, such finality, it might as well have been a roar.
He was done with her.
This was the end.
And even if she was right…even if he loved her the way she thought he did, he would never forgive her for what she’d done. If she’d learned anything in her reading of dragon lore, it was that they didn’t forgive a slight easily, and one of this magnitude?
He would send her away with his nemesis, back to the arms of his sworn enemy in a bid to get rid of her, and then he would leave the country. What else needed to be said?
Despair washed over her in a wave and she turned, running up the stairs, blinded by tears. Jesus, was there anything sadder than this? Waiting her whole life for him. Finally getting her wish to mate with someone she loved and having it all come crashing down because of nothing more than stubborn pride.
Whoever had said it was better to have loved and lost had never felt like this.
“That was harsh, friend,” Etienne murmured, stepping up to the fire to stand beside Drake. “Don’t you think you owe her the truth?”
“I didn’t lie. There is family business I can manage in Scotland, after all.”
“Right,” he said. He started to say more but Drake just held up a hand. He was hanging onto his composure by a thread and it wasn’t long before he exploded. He needed to take care of the rest of his responsibilities, and then he needed to fly. Far and fast, maybe do some hunting. Anything to ease the ache fairly burning a hole in his chest.
Etienne closed his mouth with a snap and nodded.
“Okay. Well, I’ll take care of this for you, and make sure they know that this reprieve is a gift that they shouldn’t squander. It should all work out fine. When are you leaving for Scotland?”
“I have one more thing to take care of tonight, and then I’ll come home and pack. Tomorrow. The next day, at the latest.”
“And when will you return?”
When I can be within a thousand miles of her and not want her anymore, he wanted to reply.
“Hard to say.”
As it stood, he couldn’t imagine a world where he didn’t want her. Where every cell in his body didn’t feel the pull of her, like steel to a magnet.
He stepped away from the fireplace and glanced at his watch.
“I have an appointment to keep, and I’d rather not have to deal with another goodbye. I’m going to leave now. Wait here f
or Willa, and just lock up when you leave. Once you’ve left her safe in West’s care, give me a call. I’ll feel more settled once I know she’s been delivered safely.”
He didn’t wait for the Frenchman’s response, instead wheeling around and heading toward the door, grabbing his leather satchel with a change of clothes in it as he passed the closet.
Without a backward glance, he broke into a loping jog and finally gave in to the feelings bubbling inside of him, exploding into dragon form and taking to the sky.
The night winds battered his face as he tore straight upward before diving down in a free fall. It hadn’t been five minutes and already he missed her. Already, the loneliness he felt was too great to bear.
Already he felt like his heart had been cleaved in two.
His appointment was at midnight but he opted to show up twenty minutes late. Partially to work off some pain that was so close to the surface, it was in danger of bubbling over with even one wrong word, and partially because a reminder of who was in charge wouldn’t be amiss.
By the time he landed on the ground of the overlook that was the very spot he’d first met Willa, he’d effectively managed to put a lid on his emotions, but it was a shaky lid that wouldn’t hold for long, so he’d have to keep it short and bitter.
He shifted back into human form and tugged a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans from his ankle bag before making his way to the grey sedan parked a dozen yards away. He approached the passenger’s side window and rapped sharply on the glass. The woman behind it jerked in surprise and then swung the door open to step out, her male companion following suit.
“Blackbourne,” Jacob Stone said with a nod. He held out his hand for Drake to shake it, but Drake ignored the gesture, reminding himself once again that it wouldn’t be prudent to kill Willa’s father in cold blood.
“I’ll make this brief. I called you to meet me tonight to let you know that our business has concluded.”
Willa’s mother cocked her head to the side, and crossed her bony arms over her chest. “Meaning?”