by Zena Wynn
“You don’t have to clean after me.” Rory rose to help.
“And you don’t have to slave for me. I’ll do my share.” She took one last glance at the room to make sure everything was in place. As she tossed the dish towel into the sink, she told him, “Let’s go take a shower and snuggle. It’s been a long day.”
Chapter Nine
Shay’s dreams were filled with dark and disturbing, yet strangely erotic images. She woke with a gasp on her lips and a fire between her legs. In the way of dreams, all faded but one startlingly vivid picture of Shay on her hands and knees while a half-shifted, furry Rory claimed her from behind as the faceless members of their pack watched angrily. Shay found herself rubbing enticingly against Rory’s morning erection, strategically positioned between the crease of her buttocks.
“Does my hellcat want her kitty stroked?” Rory asked in a low, rumbling murmur. The heat of his breath on her earlobe sent a shiver racing through her.
“Your mate wants your cock in her pussy,” she half pleaded, half demanded, arching her hips to get that hard, thick part of him where it would do the most good.
Rory trailed his hand down her stomach to lazily stroke her clit. “And does my mate want it hard and fast, or long and deep?”
“Decisions, decisions, decisions,” she gasped out. “Why can’t I have both?” Shay rocked forward and backward, unable to determine which she wanted more, the finger shooting sparks through her or the head of Rory’s penis teasing her opening.
“Greedy this morning, aren’t you?” he asked with a husky chuckle.
“Very.” She reached an arm behind her and caught a handful of his hair, adding a small tug for emphasis as she ordered, “Now give me what I need!”
“Your wish is my command.”
“Can I get that in writing?”
“After I’m dead and gone,” he promised as he lifted her leg and curved closer, sinking his shaft deep. They both moaned at the contact.
“Deep enough?”
“Let me see.” Shay swallowed. “I don’t taste you at the back of my throat, so no.”
“Darling, if you want a taste of my cock, I’m in the wrong end.” He nibbled on her neck and pinched a nipple, but otherwise didn’t move.
Shay canted her hips and pushed back. “Don’t toy with me, wolf boy. Give it to me.”
“Like this?” Rory braced a hand on the mattress, lifted his hips, and thrust deep.
Matching his movements, Shay nearly hummed in pleasure. Instead she taunted, “If this is the best you can do, I guess it will have to suffice.”
“Feeling sassy, huh? Brace yourself.” He shifted them until Shay was on her belly, shoulders pressed to the mattress, ass in the air. Shay felt his fingers part her sex where they’d been joined, widening her opening for his possession.
She pressed her forearms down and dug her fingers in, readying herself for the pounding to come, only to almost leap out of her skin when she felt the broad swipe of Rory’s tongue. “Ahhh! Rory, what are you doing?”
“Eating breakfast. Now be quiet!”
He took his time, capturing every drop of cream her body produced. Incoherent, Shay wondered if this qualified as the long or the deep, as the tongue he used couldn’t possibly be human and reach the depths of her core as it did.
Just when she was ready to come out of her mind, he stopped. Shay emitted a small scream of protest. He growled in response, his breath hot on her pussy. One last swipe of the tongue curling around her clit set her off. Shay bucked in his hands, her squeal muffled by the bed.
Rory rose over her, and Shay felt the bulbous head of his erection nudge her nether lips. As he tightened his grip on her hips, the pinprick of his claws nipped her skin. His muscles tensed, and the phone rang.
“Answer and die!”
He slid in an inch. Shay tried pushing back to take more, but Rory held her still. The phone rang again.
“You wanted long,” he reminded in a gravelly voice.
Another ring.
“I wanted hard and deep too. We did the long. Give me the rest.”
The answering machine clicked on, loudly in the room. “Rory, I know you said not to bother you, but we have a situation at the McCormick site. You better get down here quick. The city inspector’s here, and it’s not looking good.”
Rory’s body tensed. Then he lunged for the phone, cursing. A rapid-fire conversation followed, and minutes later he was dressed and striding out the bedroom door, casting one longing look at her still-naked form.
Shay sighed. So much for morning nooky. Next time she’d pick option A instead of being greedy and wanting it all. She roused her still-quivering flesh and trudged into the bathroom to shower. Then she cooked and ate a full breakfast, heavy on the protein. Rory still hadn’t returned by the time she cleaned the kitchen, so she took advantage of the opportunity to give Shannon a call.
Shannon’s cell phone rang a number of times before her groggy voice answered. “Shay?”
“Keeping vampire hours now?”
“Vampires aren’t the only nocturnal being. Wolves are too.” She yawned. “How are things with my brother?”
“Fine. He gets a little stubborn sometimes. Nothing a good two-by-four upside the head won’t cure.”
Shannon chuckled. “I’ll remember that the next time we get into it.” She could hear Shannon moving around, the whisper of bedcovers. “Seriously, Shay, is everything okay between you?”
“He said he loves me,” Shay heard herself admit. And this, she realized, was the real reason she’d called.
“You don’t believe him?”
“Yes, no…maybe. I think he believes it.”
“But you don’t.”
Shay sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think. Part of me thinks, if he really loved me, he wouldn’t have tried to get rid of me. But another part of me knows that was simply Rory being stupid and in a strange way, it is actually proof that he does.”
“Did he ever say what that was about?”
Face flaming, Shay explained how Rory had claimed her in front of his men.
“Oh man. No wonder he went off the deep end,” Shannon murmured.
“I’m the one that was embarrassed,” Shay muttered.
“No, Shay. I’m not making light of what you may have felt. It’s just that, well, my mother was a very beautiful woman. Even as she grew older, men would make plays for her. My father’s answer was to publicly claim her, every time. When I was younger, it would horrify me. As I got older, I realized she provoked him. Rory swore never to be like our father, in any way. Now do you understand?”
“Yes.” The idiot. “No offense, Shannon, but the more I hear about your father, the less I like him.”
“Try having to live with him. You know, Shay, I used to blame my father for a lot of things. It’s only since I’ve been with Nikolai that I realize how much of a role my mother played in my father’s behavior. Their relationship was really sick and sometimes twisted. It left scars on us. Be patient with Rory.”
There was a small pause as Shay let that sink in. Then, unable to hold it in anymore, she hesitantly asked, “Shannon, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You told me about you and Nikolai, how you came together. What convinced you his love was real?”
“Boy, you don’t ask easy questions.” She was quiet for a bit. “I think the first thing to catch my attention was that Nikolai wanted me, in spite of my wolf, not because of it. And he stopped having sex with me,” she added with a laugh.
“What!”
“After my heat had passed, he stopped. Oh, we kissed and touched, but he refused to mate with me. Nikolai romanced me instead. Said he didn’t want sex clouding my mind. That he wanted me to come to him out of love, not lust.”
“Rory’s introducing me to the pack tonight,” Shay blurted.
Shannon, well used to Shay’s manner of conversational ball play, bounced right along with the change of topi
c without a quibble. “He called a howl? You want me to come?”
Shay thought for a moment. “While I’d welcome the support, I think you being here would send the wrong message. I need to handle this on my own. I just wish I was more confident in my relationship with Rory.”
“If you change your mind, let me know, and Shay, the rest will come. Give it time.”
Time was the one thing Shay didn’t have.
“Since you don’t want me there, tell me how I can help,” Shannon said.
“I need information. I asked Rory what to expect, but he’s a man. They don’t see things like women. Give me a handle on what to expect and who to watch out for.”
They spoke for another half hour to forty-five minutes before Shayla was content that she had the knowledge she needed to handle the coming night. Once she hung up, she realized Rory had been gone now for three hours. Rather than sit in the house and twiddle her thumbs, Shay decided to go outside and explore the grounds.
She tucked her cell phone in her shorts pocket and made sure both the front and rear doors were unlocked before venturing out. Stepping off the front porch, Shay walked into the yard before turning to study the structure. The house appeared to be a ramshackle hodgepodge of additions that had been added to the main one-room log cabin and modernized. Between the basement, the main and upper levels, the building could comfortably house twenty. The kitchen and main rooms were huge. Shay knew that upstairs were seven comfortable bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Shay glanced over the yard. The front lawn was manicured, containing trees and rocks and a bubbling brook running on one side of the property. A few feet in any direction and the land sloped up, fading into trees. She walked down the drive to the one-lane road and glanced in either direction. Though she could see no houses, she noted a few driveways branching off, indicating the presence of neighbors.
Turning, Shay took one of the paths leading around to the rear of the house. At first glance the backyard appeared to be more rugged, less cultured and slightly overgrown, but someone had installed a freestanding wooden swing in the midst of it. Shay sat and set it in motion.
In the calm quiet, Shay reflected. What direction did she need to take next? Her family wasn’t particularly religious, but Auntie Miri had been, or at least she’d become that way after her husband died. She’d dragged Kiesha and Shay with her to a little Baptist church. Shay hadn’t really minded going but had felt obligated to complain because Kiesha had.
One sermon in particular had stuck with her through all these years, the one on reaping and sowing. The minister had taught it in such a way that even as a child she’d understood the concept. Everyone reaps what they sow so be careful how you treat people, because what you do to others comes back to you threefold.
Based on what the minister had taught, Shay had a decision to make. She could continue to sow mistrust, disbelief, and fear into her relationship with Rory and receive a crop full of the same. Or she could believe in him, in his love for her, and the mate bond forming between them. An intelligent woman, something she prided herself as being, would do the latter.
Shay rocked in the dappled sunlight, face lifted into the breeze, and allowed the rest of her doubts and concerns to drift away.
* * * *
It was late afternoon before Rory arrived home, dirty, sweaty, muttering angrily about code inspectors who don’t know their assholes from their armpits. Dinner simmered on the stove. Shay spared him a glance from the computer game she played at the kitchen table.
“Shower first, then dinner.”
Rory stopped and looked around. “You didn’t have to cook.”
She shrugged. “You worked. I cooked. It’s not like I had anything else to do.”
He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sorry I had to run off—”
“Don’t,” she interrupted quietly. “It’s your job. I understand. There will be times when I’m called off to handle a project. Will I need to apologize for doing my job?”
“No.” He frowned. “We need to discuss the amount of traveling you do.”
Shay smiled. “After you shower. We’re on a schedule. What time is the pack arriving?”
He cursed. “I forgot. They’re not coming here. We’re gathering at our meeting place in the woods.”
Shay had a flash of her dream and prayed it wasn’t a premonition, though she’d never been prone to them. “Um, about tonight. There won’t be any public claiming, will there?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Rory’s forehead scrunched. “Claiming?”
“Fucking—you and me—in front of the pack.”
He sputtered, “No! Where would you get a ridiculous idea like that?”
“You haven’t been very forthcoming about tonight’s festivities. What am I supposed to think?”
“Not that.” He bent over, undid the laces of his work boots, toed them off, and set them by the door before rising and placing his hands on his hips. “We’ll go, I’ll introduce you to the pack, the council will acknowledge our mating, and the pack will submit to the alpha pair.”
“You make it sound simple. A mere formality.”
He began unbuttoning his shirt. Shay’s gaze was drawn to the flesh being slowly revealed. “It will be.”
She squeezed her thighs together. “Hurry up and get clean. I’m hungry.”
Rory glanced at the clock over the stove. “Be down in a few.”
Shay rose, gave the food a last stir, and turned off the burners on the stove. As the sounds of the shower reached downstairs, she set the table with place mats, ice-filled glasses, napkins, and silverware. By the time Rory’s footsteps sounded on the stairs, she was scooping food onto dinner plates.
“Smells good. I could eat a deer. Didn’t get a chance to eat today,” he said as he sat.
Shay set a plate heaping with food in front of him, then went to the fridge to get the sweet tea, pouring them both a glass before placing the pitcher on the table. She picked up her plate and settled beside him.
Rory glanced from his to hers. “I thought you were hungry.”
“I am,” she stated. “I never said for what.” The look she shot him was scorching.
His fork hung forgotten halfway to his mouth as his eyes narrowed, arousal tightening his features. Shay nudged his arm. “Eat. You’ll need your strength.”
They ate in silence. When Rory’s fork scraped the now empty porcelain, Shay rose and held out her hand. “More food?”
“No.” His gaze was intent as he handed her the plate.
As she set it on the countertop, she asked, “Tea?”
“No.”
Hands braced on the counter behind her, she commented, “You still look hungry.”
“I am.” He slowly rose to stand.
“There’s ice cream,” she offered.
He stepped toward her, shaking his head.
“Cookies?”
“Later.” He trapped her against the sink.
“The table—”
“Can wait.”
“Oh thank God.” Shay dived into his arms. “I’ve been going crazy all day.” She tugged on his jeans, frantic. “Inside me now. No foreplay.”
A few swipes of his claws and Shay’s clothes were shreds. He lifted her by the waist, and Shay wrapped her legs high around his. Hands gripping her butt, Rory swung around and began to lower her.
“Not the table,” she squeaked.
He smoothly switched directions and braced her against the wall. “Free my cock.”
Shay reached a hand down and pushed at his briefs. “Why are you wearing underwear? You never wear underwear.”
His cock sprung free and slapped her mound. Rory readjusted his hold, warning, “Hold on.”
The first thrust made her see stars. The second had her crying out his name. Then Shay held on as Rory took her the way she’d wanted to be taken since waking that morning—hard, strong, and deep thrusts that filled her to the brim and hit every hot spot. His pubic bone appli
ed steady friction to her clit. Shay clawed his shoulders and, when the pleasure reached crisis point, buried her teeth in his neck. Rory howled as he came, grinding his hips sharply into her. Legs limp, they slid bonelessly to the floor, panting.
Rory rested his forehead against hers. “If this is the way you greet me, I need to get called on emergencies more often.”
“Yeah…well…” Shay, her brain fried, was too sated to think of a good comeback.
Eventually she caught her breath, planted her feet on the floor, and shoved up. The angle left her naked, glistening sex in Rory’s face. Not one to miss an opportunity, he immediately latched ahold with his mouth, licking and sucking.
Shay let her head slump to the wall, angled her hips to give him greater access, and closed her eyes on a sigh of pleasure. No man had ever loved her the way this one did. The sex alone was reason to stick around.
Rory lifted her right leg onto his shoulder. Already weak-kneed with pleasure, Shay shot out both arms and called a warning. “I’m going to fall!”
Rory reclined on the floor, pulling Shay with him so that she straddled his face. For a brief moment Shay had a vision of his men walking in on them again, then all else was forgotten. She arched her spine, lifted her face to the ceiling, and let the orgasm rush over her.
After crawling from beneath her, Rory bent and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.
“Where are we going?”
“To bed to finish round two in comfort.”
“Whoopee!”
* * * *
Much later in the truck, Rory kept sending scowling glances at his mate. “I can’t believe you wore that.”
“It’s just a skirt—”
“That barely covers your ass,” he muttered.
“And a tank top—”
“So thin I can see the outline of your nipples,” he snarled.
“—and I’m wearing your shirt to cover it all,” she reminded. “You keep clawing the clothes off my body and soon I’ll be forced to walk around naked.”
In truth the ensemble she wore wasn’t that revealing. What was making Rory’s cock hard was the excuse for panties Shay almost wore beneath the denim and the knowledge that with one tug, she’d be bare for his possession.