Roan (Shifters Elite Book 1)

by Ava Benton

  “I don’t want to rush you,” he snarled as his fingers played with the button.

  My breath escaped me quickly with each movement of his fingers on the button. Each motion his fingers made, teasing and torturing me.

  Frustrated, I reached for the button and released it from the fabric, letting him know he wasn’t pushing me into anything that I wasn’t willing to do. I was more than willing. I craved him. It was an exaggerated yearning that I didn’t understand and couldn’t imagine not succumbing to.

  His lips landed on mine in a kiss that had a harshness to it, as if he wanted to know I was for real. That I didn’t intend to back down, or vanish.

  And then, just as quickly, his fingers moved through my buttons, releasing them and parting the fabric of my top. He leaned back, studying the creamy tops of my breasts, ivory swells rising above my bra.

  “Beautiful.” His fingertips traced the bra’s line, drifting off the fabric to flirt with my flesh, teasing me in the most decadent of ways that resulted in a buzzing that ran through me.

  His fingertips tiptoed their way down the center of my bra, over my stomach.

  “I need you,” he rumbled, touching the button on my pants, flicking it open.

  The sound of the zipper going down was lost in the cracking of the fire and the panting coming from my lips.

  “I want you.”

  Had those words just come out of my mouth? They had.

  I did want him. I wanted everything he was, from his strength, to his smile, to the intensity behind his eyes, to his eagerness to be with me, to the eternal promises his eyes made, to the fierceness of his wolf.

  I couldn’t stop my hands from rising to his shoulders, feeling the muscles tightening beneath my fingers. They snuck up the back of his thick, strong neck, and were lost in his hair. I combed through it, my hands rising to the top of his head, wanting to pull him up to a kiss, but at the same time yearning for what he I hoped he was going to do.

  His tongue followed the path his hands had forged, leaving a hot, wet trail from the top of my bra to the center of my abdomen, heading down to my panties, which provided a barrier waiting for him to cross it.

  His slick wet tongue ran the hemline of my panties, pulling my pants lower, tracing the panty line from hip to hip.

  “Up,” he groaned, pushing at my hips and thighs.

  I pushed off the table. He slipped off my pants, then set me back down as he parted my legs.

  His breath heated my stomach, a sign of the pleasure he would deliver between my legs.

  My groan pushed him further.

  He continued to travel downward, every breath warming my body. He pushed my panties aside, licking his way lower as his tongue pushed my panties downward. My clit throbbed.

  He nipped at the tender skin.

  I closed my eyes, expecting him to lick me slowly.

  I jumped when his entire face dove into me with a ferocity that revealed his hunger for me. My body ached with desire for him. My breath rushed in and out of my chest, lungs burning with a need for oxygen.

  He sucked, completely taking me into his mouth, then releasing with a popping sound that urged my desire to new heights. He devoured me repeatedly, mercilessly, until finally he plunged his tongue in, then out, taking me over and over with his tongue.

  My hands grabbed the edge of the table, gripping tightly. I bit down on my lip to keep from begging.

  The moan that slipped from me made his tongue move faster.

  “Please,” I whispered.

  Electric pulses shot off in my blood. My toes curled. Would he give me release? I couldn't wait anymore.

  “Roan.”

  “What?” His voice was more of a growl.

  “I need you.” I forgot all about my grip on the counter. My restless fingers traveled to his hair, pushing his face closer to my desire, taking his tongue deeper.

  I flinched in surprise and pleasure when he slipped a finger in and moved his mouth to my clit, and began sucking while his finger fucked me.

  A low moan began and rose to a crescendo, quickly becoming a scream as my channel flexed and contracted.

  With a fierceness I hadn’t expected I came, wrapping my thighs around his head.

  My body shook.

  An occasional tremor coursed through me, even after that climax.

  A little later I’d captured my breath and enough strength to want him again.

  I traveled my finger down the length of his chest, where I knew his treasure trail led directly to the very treasure that sparked my curiosity.

  He took a deep breath, his chest filling, pushing the sharply defined muscles outward.

  He groaned, spurring me into a forwardness. I shoved my hand into his boxers. Sometime during my recovery time, he’d lost his jeans it seemed.

  His length, a hard, thick, hot shaft, pushed against my palm. I wrapped my fingers around it.

  God, I want him. So do it. Now.

  I talked myself into what I wanted to do more than anything at that moment. I squeezed him between my fingers and palm.

  “Hope.” He growled my name.

  His response was the kerosene my fire needed.

  His head dipped, his mouth closing on my neck, his teeth nipping, his tongue licking, reminding me of all the things he’d done to me earlier.

  He made a noise, somewhere between my name and another growl.

  I released his thickness from his boxers. When my fingers wrapped around it again, Roan’s hand wrapped around mine, his grip tight, his head thrown back, his eyes rolling backward.

  I lowered my body, shifting downward, wiggling until my head was poised and my mouth perfectly lined up, my ass in the air.

  I opened my mouth fully, taking him in, just the head, marveling at how thick he was, and how long. I lowered my head, driving him deeper into my mouth.

  I tried to open my mouth wider, barely able to take enough of him in, definitely not as much as I wanted. I wrapped my fingers around the rest of him, stroking him upward and down while lifting and raising my head.

  His thickness rested against my tongue. I knew he was fighting it. Had been since he’d eaten me out earlier.

  He pushed me away. “I need to be buried deep in you.”

  He pulled me down so I was straddling his stomach. He struck swiftly, latching his mouth onto a nipple and sucking.

  I moaned.

  That was incredible. I became even wetter, moisture pooling downward, soaking his stomach.

  He trailed his finger over my stomach, lower, over my mound, seeking my center. He found what he was looking for, sliding between my lips, closing in on my clit.

  He parted my lips with one hand, his other flicking at my exposed button, rapidly beating a pulse into it.

  His mouth sucked harder on my nipple.

  I rose, giving him full access. He slid a finger in and I ground on it, gasping when he slid another in.

  I rocked on his hand as a wave engulfed me in a climax.

  He lifted me and dropped me onto his length, plunging deep with his thickness.

  Another orgasm rocked my body, the intensity catching me off-guard.

  I screamed his name and arched my back. My frantic movements became more intense. I rocked on him, moving up and down.

  He lifted me again as if I was nothing and dropped me on his cock, pushing himself even deeper inside.

  I let out one last scream as I was seized by an overwhelming orgasm, that made me fling my arms out, my head back as I cried out his name.

  “Fuck. I’m coming. Now.” The words were ripped from him.

  He yanked me close and held me down, his shaft pulsing as his desire traveled the length of him, pulsating deep within me. Each of my convulsions pulled his cock deeper, tighter, demanding more.

  I dropped onto his chest.

  Spent.

  15

  Hope

  I woke up in a tangle of sheets, feeling like a Mack truck had run me over. Only it wasn’t a Mack. It was
the man in bed beside me.

  Not a man. Well, he was a man. But more. It was all too confusing.

  All I knew was when he told me his story and I heard the pain in his voice and remembered him putting his life on the line for me, there was nothing to do but give myself to him.

  The best part was, I took as I gave. We created something together. The memory of pleasure was still fresh. I could almost feel his hands on me even as he snored away.

  A shifter.

  Nobody would ever believe it. Not like I would tell anybody. His secret was safe with me. I only wished he had told me sooner—it might have explained some of his standoffishness, the way he would shut down whenever I’d get too close to his secret life.

  He stirred, rolling his head from one side to the other until we were face-to-face.

  “Hey,” he whispered sleepily.

  “Did I wake you?”

  “Nah.” He rolled over until he was on his side, facing me, and I curled up in the warm little cocoon his body created. There wasn’t much room in the bed thanks to his massive body, but as long as we were both on our sides we could snuggle nicely.

  “You okay?” he whispered against my ear.

  His breath tickled the little hairs on the nape of my neck, making me shiver even when his body was like a torch. I was glad for the heat, since the temperature outside had dropped.

  “Better than okay,” I whispered back.

  A chuckle rumbled through him.

  “I didn’t hurt you?”

  “Did it seem like you hurt me?” I smiled, twisting my head around until he could see my face.

  “No. The opposite.”

  “Well? There you go.” I wiggled against him a little and he growled under his breath.

  That growl, even though it was only playful, reminded me of who I was really in bed with. But he wouldn’t hurt me. I knew that for sure.

  The goosebumps that broke out over my bare skin were more from the promise of that growl and what it held for later on. Because there would be a later on. No way I could go without him ever again.

  “It’s just that you’re so small.”

  “I’m not that small.” I ran my hand up his arm, until I reached his shoulder. The shoulder I had gripped for dear life as he drove into me and tore me to pieces with pleasure I had never known possible.

  “Smaller than me.”

  “Anybody’s smaller than you,” I giggled. “You’re enormous.”

  “You, ahem, didn’t seem to be complaining,” he joked.

  I laughed until my sides ached. It was even better knowing he was laughing with me.

  Even so, when the laughter quieted down, I couldn’t keep from apologizing. “I’m sorry for what happened earlier. With the flashlight and my meltdown and all.”

  “You told me to stay away from you. I didn’t. I got what I deserved.”

  “You didn’t deserve for me to act like an idiot.”

  “You did what any animal would do when they feel cornered. You lashed out, then ran away. I should’ve known better than to push you.” He sighed gently. “Now that we’re on the topic, I have to tell you that I think you’re cornering yourself worse than I ever cornered you.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “You’re thinking and thinking and thinking. You’re letting everything spiral out of control in your head. I’m here with you, right now.” His arms tightened. He nuzzled my neck. “You’re safe. Let yourself relax. You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “When do you get to relax?” I asked as my eyes slid shut.

  He chuckled softly. “I don’t. But this isn’t about me.”

  I fell back to sleep with a smile on my face and his arms around me.

  16

  Hope

  “Damn it.” I looked around the kitchen with my hands on my head. I had completely forgotten about the mess I made when I threw my little fit. Looking back at how badly I’d behaved made me want to smack myself.

  I was stressed out then—yeah, a night in bed with Roan had eased that stress somewhat, but I couldn’t forget that hopeless feeling. It was still inside me, burning like a flame. The ever-present knowledge that my father was out there somewhere, looking for me. Did he know his hitman was dead? If he did, he probably knew I was still alive.

  I found cleanser under the sink and scrubbed my heart out to get the stains off the wall and floor. I put all my hopelessness into that scrubbing.

  “Wow. Smells like hell in here.” Roan held his nose as he walked downstairs. When he saw what I was doing, a look of understanding came over his face. “I guess we forgot about that.”

  “Yeah, I guess we did.” I gave him a wicked grin as I stood and stripped off my rubber gloves. “I’d say it was worth it.”

  “You did a good job. I should hire you to be my cleaning lady.” He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me close, nuzzling my neck.

  “You might as well. I’ll need a job when this is all over.” I tried to stay lighthearted, but it wasn’t working. I went stiff in his arms.

  He sighed and pulled back.

  “Hey. One thing at a time, you know? Don’t let that make you feel even worse. Once this is all over, you’ll be able to do whatever you want.”

  “How can you say that? How can you be so confident?”

  “I’m a very confident person, in case you didn’t already notice.” His arms tightened protectively. “I would never let anything happen to you. Don’t you know that by now? I’ve already run head-first at an armed gunman. I’ve faced down a black bear. What else do I have to do?”

  He was teasing me, but there was truth in his words. I knew he wouldn’t let me get hurt—but what did that mean for my father? I couldn’t stomach the thought of Roan killing him like he’d killed the man in the alley, no matter what he’d done or what he wanted to do to me. He was still my dad. It was all too much to figure out. I settled for leaning the side of my face against his chest and letting him hold me. It felt good to be held.

  After endless minutes, Roan kissed the top of my head. “Come on. I need to get away from the smell of cleanser, and there’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a few days.”

  “Didn’t we already do that last night?” I asked with a wicked grin. “I mean, we could do it again, if you want.” I hoped with all my heart that he would say yes.

  “That’s for later. A man needs to rest, you know.” He brushed his lips temptingly over mine, making my knees shake with need. “No, I was talking about another sort of stimulation.”

  The next thing I knew, we were straddling his father’s old Harley—only this time, I was the one with my hands on the gears.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked with a nervous laugh.

  “We don’t have to go on the main road. It’s better that we don’t.” His chuckle was dry.

  “Thanks for your confidence.”

  He went on, ignoring me. “But as long as we stay on the access road, it’ll be fine. Just go slow. Keep your eyes focused ahead of you—you can look back and forth if you have to, to get an idea of what’s around us, but make sure to return to center right away.” He reached over my shoulder, pointing his finger straight ahead. “You’ll steer in the direction your focus goes. So even if you want to go straight, you’ll veer right if you concentrate on the right.”

  “Got it.” I only hoped I’d remember when the time came.

  “I’ll be right here, reminding you.” His arms encircled my waist, making my heart leap and sparking a low, pleasant buzz between my thighs before I even started the chopper.

  When I did start it, my pulse took off like a speeding train. I couldn’t believe I was actually controlling something so powerful.

  Once I took a pass up and down the road, struggling at first to keep the bike straight, it was joyful. I itched to get out on the main road and let her go. I would’ve loved to see what she could do.

  Still, even though it was the most fun I’d had since forever, Roan p
ut it to an end about an hour in. He hopped off before I even turned the key in the ignition.

  I noticed the strange angle his head was cocked. The way he seemed to sniff the air.

  “What is it?” I whispered.

  It was chilly out there, but I hadn’t felt really cold until just then.

  “Get inside,” he whispered back. “Go. Now. The key’s on the ring.” He stripped down as he spoke.

  “What do you smell?” I whispered, even as every instinct told me to run.

  I needed to know.

  “My brother,” he said with a scowl.

  Then, right before my eyes, he shifted into his dire wolf form. I hadn’t seen him in daylight before then. He was almost as big as the bike, with huge paws and a thick coat of gray and white fur. Just like the wolf on his shoulder.

  God, the clues were everywhere. How did I not see it? Because it was unfathomable, that was why. Who would jump to such a conclusion on their own?

  He looked at me, eyes burning. He was telling me to go.

  So I did, dashing up to the front door and locking the door behind me once I was inside. I watched through the window as he loped away.

  He was beautiful, no mistake. Graceful and gorgeous, wild and dangerous and protective. Protective of me. It was still a lot to process.

  I was so busy thinking about his dual nature, and how that animal protectiveness seeped into whatever he did as a human, that I didn’t notice the back door stood ajar.

  17

  Roan

  I could smell him, faint but present. What was he doing there? How long had he been back?

  I trotted through woods that were as familiar to me as the back of my hand, waiting for the scent to get stronger. What would bring him back and why hadn’t he told me he was coming?

  I had talked to Mary every night but she never gave me any idea of a problem or issue that would make it necessary for Slate to come back.

  I followed a well-worn path to an old rock overhang which sat at the spot where two streams converged. It was a good place to take a fresh kill, to enjoy it away from other animals while protected from the elements. The smell strengthened. And it wasn’t just him, I realized in shock. It was all of them.