by Sabrina Rue
“Ryker.”
“How do you feel, Mate?”
“I’m warm to the bone for the first time in a long time. Most of my physical pain is gone.” She rested her hand on his where it was spread over the bare skin of her low abdomen.
He flexed his fingers and her lips parted in surprise and unfamiliar need.
Ryker said softly, “Your Wolf reaches for mine. Heat or no, she recognizes me.”
Embarrassed, she replied, “Considering how she fucked with your head, you’re being pretty understanding.”
“If I didn’t want you with every drop of blood in my body, she wouldn’t have been able to push me into Fever.” One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Her needs are simple and selfish. Our Wolves behave like demanding children. We balance giving them what they want and reining them in.”
Her body arched into his touch and she whispered his name.
Sliding his hand around her side, he didn’t look away from her face as he stroked over the skin of her back under her shirt.
“When I made my vow to you in Lebanon, I did so to bring you under my protection immediately.” She nodded. “As much as I want you, I don’t want to push you.”
He kissed her forehead. “As strange as it seems for me to say it, there’s no rush, Harmony. Now that I have you here, safe and within touching distance, my Wolf can be patient.”
“Mine can’t…”
He stilled, his fingers tightening on her. She stared at him without fear as his canines lengthened. He knew his eyes glowed as his Wolf stretched toward all she represented.
“Harmony,” he growled.
“Mate,” she growled back. He watched as her own Wolf roared into dominance. “Do your duty, Alpha.”
A simple and well-known fact about Were kind, something that affected Wolves from every social class, was that their males were easily provoked to both sex and violence.
His Mate was deliberately provoking him and Ryker was almost powerless to resist the bait.
Harmony backed her body off the couch, gaining a low crouch on the hardwood floor of his den. Low rumbles vibrated from her body but he knew she was unaware of making them.
Ryker moved slowly. Maintaining a tight rein on his Wolf, he sat up, reached for her, and gave a sharp huff as she swiped at the back of his hand with her claws. Glancing down at the bleeding scratches, he bared his teeth with a dangerous bark.
His Mate was unimpressed.
She straightened and assumed a fighting stance. He stood and kicked the couch they’d been relaxing on across the room, slamming the door to the hall and blocking it from intrusion.
“Be sure, Harmony.” It was the one and only warning he would be capable of giving her.
“Alphas do not ask permission,” she answered in a voice that held few human qualities.
Harmony never took her eyes off his face. The green glowed and her own canines wouldn’t hesitate to take a chunk of him if he underestimated her.
“So be it, Mate.”
He lunged for her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Harmony was half-human, half-Were. All her life, there had been no illusions in her mind about the sexual relationship she would experience with her Mate.
Were males were dominant by nature.
Harmony was not submissive by nature.
Before her death, Journey spoke with her oldest daughter at length about what to expect with a man like Ryker Blackwell.
“He’s much like your father, Harmony. Arrogant, driven, with many dozens of passive sexual conquests in his past.”
Tired and pale, her mother held her hand. “He hasn’t met you yet. He does not know you, Harmony. In his mind, you’re nothing more than an acquisition. You hold great value to such a man. As a Kassis and a half-breed with a familial history of female births.”
She shook her head. “He will fall to you, as your father fell to me…but you cannot make it easy on him. I was unable to match your father in battle, of course. I exerted my power in other ways. You will have the advantage of beauty, strength, and your father’s cunning.”
Harmony tilted her head, trying to interpret what her mother was trying to tell her.
Male Weres had never held much interest for her. They seemed too concerned with pounding their chests and snapping their teeth to have much intelligence.
“My oldest and strongest child, when your Mate thinks to claim you, make him earn the privilege.” Reaching up, she smoothed a lock of hair behind her daughter’s ear. “Start as you mean to go on. Show him that the daughter of Slade Kassis should never be taken for granted or underestimated.”
Her smile was devious. “Ryker Blackwell thinks himself a great catch, as they all do. Show him what you inherited and what you learned. The one thing that will create an unbreakable bond is your Mate understanding at the core of himself that you are true equals.”
That afternoon, Harmony stretched out beside her mother on the bed she was rarely able to leave and asked questions she never would have considered asking before.
The advice from the feminine, delicate woman served Harmony well over the years as she fought to survive.
As she braced for the sexual onslaught by her Mate, she was not afraid, she was not weak, and she would not give him a single inch that he did not earn.
The first-born of Slade Kassis did not simply submit.
She stared at him across the luxurious room. The scent of orange on every surface told her this space was one that he used often.
It was where he conducted business, made decisions, and met with members of his Pack.
This was likely where Ryker learned a Shaman had found his Mate almost seven years ago, where he was told about a half-breed girl named Harmony Kassis, and where he methodically plotted the ways she would expand his dynasty.
Now her Wolf looked at Ryker and took his measure.
Not as her Mate but as nothing more than another male in a long line of males who would be left bloodied by the most powerful female of their kind.
It didn’t matter that she was half-human. It didn’t matter that she’d run when she wanted to fight. It didn’t matter that papers were written and signatures attained.
To the uncomplicated creature that coexisted inside Harmony, those were trivial details that meant nothing if he couldn’t best her in a fight.
If he was not stronger, her Wolf would not bow.
The day she learned about Ryker, her father predicted, “You will lose a pint of blood the day he tries to claim you. Make sure you take a pint of his in return, daughter.”
As he leapt in her direction, she easily evaded him and watched him skid across the hardwood floor.
Crouching on top of his desk, her Wolf purred as she kicked his papers on the floor without an ounce of respect.
He tilted his head, watching her.
As much as he shouldn’t underestimate her cunning, she’d never be so foolish as to miscalculate Ryker’s skills.
An Alpha didn’t build an organization as large and successful as Texas Pack without strength and cunning.
She watched him kick a padded chair toward the bookcases and two small tables against the far wall.
From the corner of her eye, she noted that Redbird and Jax stood outside the large window. She didn’t acknowledge them.
He lunged again, this time raking his claws across her calf as she flipped over his head. Hissing in pain, she barked at him.
Purring, he licked her blood from his fingertips.
He walked to the center of the room and waited. A direct challenge to face him in hand-to-hand combat. She circled his body, stopping when she was within three feet of him.
Brilliant blue glowed from his eyes and he couldn’t have concealed his teeth if he’d tried.
Snapping hers at him, she flipped her body, bringing up her foot. It cracked against the side of his face.
There was no more dancing. As she landed, he grabbed her with both hands. Dropping low, she used her momentu
m to push off his body. He stumbled back a step before he caught himself.
This time, when he turned, he growled menacingly at her. It was a sound meant to frighten her, meant to make her second-guess her ability to beat him.
Every Kassis assumed victory from the start.
Blindingly fast, he attacked, his fist catching her cheek as she turned to avoid it. She laughed before returning a hit to his temple.
Then they were in full battle. Trading punches and kicks when there was distance between them, using teeth and claws when the opportunity presented itself.
It was impossible to know how much time passed but she could hear many voices outside the window and in the hall.
They were unimportant.
All her focus remained on her Mate, on the male determined to make her bow to his strength and submit to his will.
Around the room, they fought without mercy. Using furniture to gain a height advantage, Harmony’s lighter body was faster as she took her shots before he could turn to block them.
For every hit he landed, she landed one of her own. For every kick she accomplished, he caught her foot and attempted to throw her off balance.
They were bruised, bloody, and soaked with sweat when Ryker went still in the middle of the room and threw his head back in a howl that shook the glass.
His Wolf was dominant when he lowered his head. He stared at her without blinking through glowing blue eyes. Her own Wolf stared back at him, daring him again to beat her.
She paced in front of him for several minutes. Her hair a wild tangle around her body, her clothing ripped and torn, her own blood and his mixed with the sweat that ran over her skin.
He didn’t move, he barely blinked. The male simply watched her pace. She snapped her teeth and he didn’t respond.
It took a single pause, one hesitation as she questioned his reason for not attacking her.
In that fraction of a second, he saw his opening and took it. He tackled her to the floor, getting her off her feet for the first time.
He wasted no time in gripping her wrists in powerful hands. Using his legs, he trapped her lower body in a vise.
Harmony growled at him and he purred. She snapped her teeth in his face and he licked across her chest. Fighting to free herself, he did nothing more than hold her still.
Then he rocked his cock against the center of her body and her Wolf, confused at the change of tactic, went quiet in her mind.
She blinked up at him, flat on the floor, pinned by a man who outweighed her by more than a hundred pounds.
He’d gained the upper hand with a weapon she never expected him to possess. Patience.
Holding her tightly but not painfully, he moved his head and positioned his teeth over her breast. The bite could barely be felt but it was a message.
Lifting his face, he ordered in a voice no human would have understood, “Submit, Mate.”
“No,” she answered sharply.
His hips moved against her, the underside of his cock rubbing over her most sensitive flesh. She gasped at the sensation.
A low growl rumbled from his chest. “Remember when you told me to come to you? That you wanted me to touch you? That you were wet for me, waiting for me?”
“I was weak!” she screamed at him.
Thrusting himself against her, he watched her face. His teeth receded slightly, the glow of his eyes calmed. “You’re not weak now, Mate? You don’t need what I have for you? What I so desperately want to give you?”
“No.”
“You’re a powerful female of our kind, Harmony. The strongest I have ever met. For years, you’ve fought bravely and survived odds full-blooded males of our species would have fallen to.”
“I do not submit…”
“And yet, you purr for me.”
Her eyes widened as she registered the sound leaving her body without her knowledge or permission.
“Your Wolf knows my strength as my Wolf knows yours, Harmony.” Ryker’s voice normalized as he regained control. “It wasn’t easy to best you. I feel intense relief that you’ll fight at my side should the need ever arise.”
She stared at him, breathing hard, his body holding her down and making her think every wicked thought.
“I can smell your need, Mate. I can feel the heat of you against my cock. I know your pussy is wet, aching.”
Her lips parted on a soft gasp and she had to focus on not meeting his thrusts with her hips.
“I acknowledge your strength, Harmony Kassis. I honor your power. I respect your skills.” He rubbed his face along hers, their sweat and blood making their skin slick. “Submit to my claim as your Mate. Let me work myself inside you and fill you with my seed. Claim what is rightfully yours and assume your position at my side as the Alphas of Texas Pack.”
Ryker moved higher so he could look directly into her eyes. They stared at one another for several minutes in silence.
He was vulnerable.
She could head-butt him and reclaim the advantage. She could use her teeth on his throat to make him submit.
Her Wolf didn’t want to fight him and Harmony did need him, did ache for him, did want to claim her place.
And discover everything he had to show her.
Years of running, of fighting, of struggling to survive had led her here to this moment. To the powerful man, the Mate, destined to be hers.
It was hard to fully submit when she could have continued to fight. It went against her nature to release control when she was not truly beaten.
She considered her father.
As powerful, even terrifying, as he could be, her mother had him wrapped around her finger.
Many times, he compromised to make Journey happy when he didn’t have to. She’d been incapable of forcing her wishes.
If Slade Kassis could occasionally submit to a little human woman without a mercenary bone in her body and zero upper body strength, Harmony figured she could let Ryker think he was the biggest, baddest Wolf in their relationship.
Smiling up at him, she winked. “I submit, Mate.”
One side of his mouth lifted and he murmured, “Don’t think I’m unaware of the fact that you could have kept going or that you’re making a conscious choice to lay down your weapons, so to speak.” He pressed his cock firmly between her legs. “I don’t give a fuck. As long as I can get inside you, I’m willing to let you placate me, Harmony.”
“Now’s when you shut up and fuck me, Ryker.”
“You’re so hard core.”
“I’ve proven my point. I’m really, really curious about what you’re gonna do with that hammer you’re rubbing all over my lady bits.” She crossed her eyes.
As he started laughing, she listened to the sound of pounding feet retreating from the window and door now that the Pack knew neither of their Alphas would kill the other.
Dying of pleasure would probably be a top-three way to go if Harmony was being honest.
Wiggling her wrists, he released them and she pulled her t-shirt over her head. It was quickly followed by her sport bra.
He stared at her naked breasts, growling.
“That’s not accomplishing our end-goals, Ryker. Let’s go, Mate. It’s time to go Alpha on my ass.”
Male Weres were so fucking easy to trigger.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Their ragged, bloody clothes were gone quickly. There was no more talking as his mouth came down over hers and their tongues dueled for a different type of supremacy.
Unlike humans, there was nothing unusual about their first Mating taking place on the floor of a destroyed room. The scratches and bites they’d given each other were healing but the blood and sweat they’d shed remained.
The musk of their Wolves permeated the air.
Ryker’s hands were all over her and she gripped his hair in a fist to bring his mouth back to hers. He licked her on his way to give her what she wanted.
They were skin-to-skin, sliding against each other. She couldn’t stop the sou
nds her Wolf made as his cock slipped along folds that were audibly wet for him.
“More,” she growled impatiently.
He moved down her body and she tried to hold him with a frown. Grabbing her wrists, he held them against the floor.
He licked and sucked sensitive skin in an act she never would have considered. As his mouth made contact with nerves no male had ever touched, she arched from the floor with a gasp.
Knowing he had her attention, Ryker released her wrists so he could grip her hips.
“So good,” his voice groaned against her. “Wet and hot.”
His tongue was heavy and slightly rough, used as a different sort of weapon as he slipped it into the tight entrance of her pussy. Her muscles flexed, tried to hold him inside.
His low snarl announced his Wolf’s presence. The vibration against her made her eyes roll back in her head.
“Give me more of your slickness, Mate. More.”
A strong hand stroked along her inner thigh and two fingers slipped around the entry, pressing twice before entering her. Harmony gasped at the sensation that was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
“I need! I need!”
His fingers sank deep as his tongue worked wickedly over her clit. Her hands went into his hair, the tips of her claws raking his scalp.
“Don’t stop…”
Pumping his fingers deeper, she knew he pressed against the barrier that professed her purity.
Most Wolves, male and female, were sexually active long before they considered finding their Mates. Harmony had never cared about such things one way or the other.
Still, it felt right that Ryker should have this part of her.
Breaking through the delicate tissue, he growled as he removed his fingers and licked away the small amount of blood.
“Mine. Mine in so many ways.” Planting several kisses over her, he rumbled, “I want you to come for me, Mate. I want cream from your perfect little pussy.”
Then he got serious.
He set his mouth against her clit with purpose as she tried to breathe, to stop the room from dissolving away.
His focus didn’t stray. He nibbled wet folds, circled her clit with his tongue, and suckled the little bud with diabolical precision. All while returning his fingers to her pussy in deep, steady strokes.