by Sean Thomas
How could I lose him after all this time? It didn’t matter that he was with other people. I realized that now. I just wanted him back. I wanted him to wake up and tell me I was stupid for being captured. To scold me for not leaving with Jacey. I would give anything to feel his arms around me again. That’s all I wanted. California and hunting meant nothing. Dash was what I wanted. He was the only thing I wanted.
Bodies were around me now, filling the air with warmth and the thick scent of sorrow. Hands rubbed my shoulders and pulled me into an embrace. Marco held me and I fell against him.
Grady leaned closer to Dash, head cocked to one side. “His heartbeat is faint. He’s still alive.”
“What?” I cried and touched Dash everywhere I could. “We need to get him to a hospital. Right now.”
I was so lightheaded from joy and hope, but I held myself together. We had to get Dash to a hospital. He would live.
“Help me get him up.” I started to lift Dash, carefully, but Grady put his hands on mine.
“He won’t make it.” His soft words sank to the bottom of my stomach, the heaviest of any I ever heard. “His spine’s been severed. He’s bleeding out too quickly.”
“No.” That wasn’t possible. Dash had a chance. He was strong enough to make it.
I looked around the group frantically, not understanding why his pack brothers wouldn’t help him. “What are you all doing? Help me get him up.”
The faces around me dropped and with them my hope.
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry. Hands shaking, I took his into mine. Time slowed around me and I took in every piece of Dash I could. The strong line of his jaw and the scruff that covered it. His long eyelashes that tickled me when we kissed. His full, red lips and perfectly aligned teeth. I pulled him closer and lay my head on his as tears continued to stream down my face.
And then my scar burned. First, it was an itch, and then it turned into a roaring solar flare that spread through my body and down into my hands. I cried out, but I refused to let go of Dash. Was this what happened when your wolf died? Did I finally get my stupid wish of having the scar disappear? No, I needed it.
“What’s happening?” Marco asked, pulling away from me.
The pain was almost unbearable now, but I welcomed it. Take me, I begged the fire that raged through me. I didn’t care. The blaze now sat in my right hand as if I held the sun itself. Just take me, I screamed each word clearly to the pain. I hugged Dash further into me and willed myself to go with him. The inferno flared so hot that I wasn’t sure if my screams were internal or out loud and then, all at once, it stopped.
My entire body trembled as hands pulled me backwards. Gasps escaped from the men around me and my eyes landed on a glowing red handprint on Dash’s lower side. What did I do? The light burned for another moment and then settled into a fresh scar, the perfect shape of my hand.
“What did…” I didn’t finish because Dash jolted and coughed.
“The hell?” Carson spoke for everybody.
I grabbed at him, turned him as he spit out blood and caught his breath. Dash opened his eyes and looked right into mine. Confusion at first, darting back and forth in panic, but then relaxing as he recognized my face.
“Tanner.” His whisper was the most beautiful thing I ever heard.
“Dash.” I bawled over and over in between kissing him. “You’re ok.”
His hands reached up and brushed my cheek. They were gentle, as always, and his eyes took in every part of my face. I felt weightless in that moment, like I was air itself. The pain, the sorrow, the hell ride I just went through fell free from me.
Dash lifted himself slightly and pulled me closer to him. His warm lips rested on mine and the magnificent scent of burning wood filled me.
His lips parted ever so slightly. “I love you.”
I laughed as I cried and kissed him back. “I love you, too.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
My hands were still shaking. Dash had almost died. Two hours later and I couldn’t steady my hand enough to turn on the shower.
“I can help you.” Dash started to reach forward.
“No.” I grabbed his arm and held him in place on the edge of the tub. “What part of you almost died don’t you understand?”
“But I didn’t,” he reassured me.
“We’re all very happy about that,” I said, turning the hot water on. “And now you’re going to let me take care of you.”
I half expected Dash to drop dead at any moment. I could still see his body on the ground, unmoving and covered in blood. At that moment I was sure I had lost him forever. That wasn’t something I could just get over.
Dash was touching the scar at his side, feeling the outline like I had done a million times with mine. A tingle spread across my palms and down my neck. Dash was thinking about me.
“So this works both ways now, huh?” I cocked my head at the scar.
He nodded. “Apparently. Sylvia’s never seen it before, but somehow you marked me. Never knew it was possible.”
His look of pure amazement summed up exactly how I felt. I, a human, marked a wolf. This was an unexpected twist.
“So I’ll always know when you’re thinking of me. I’ll feel it?”
“Mhm.” He pondered that for a moment, not nearly as shocked by it as I was.
I scratched at my thumb nail. “So this also means you knew when I was thinking about you…and the emotion I was feeling at the time?”
Dash smirked up at me, a sexy part in his lips. “Every time.”
“Well, damn.” That meant that along with the thousand angry thoughts I had towards Dash, he also knew about the ten thousand fantasies that included him.
From his sitting position, Dash put his arms around me and pulled me in between his legs. He rested his cheek against my stomach and held me. “If only you could have felt the times I rolled with your thoughts.”
Then he laughed to himself, his head bouncing against my abdomen. The image of him grabbing himself all too vivid.
“So not fair.” I dropped to my knees and gripped him under his arms. “Now time to get in.”
I pulled him to his feet, Dash only wincing once. The wolf’s healing ability had all but closed his wounds and healed his spine. Sylvia suspected I transferred some of my energy to Dash with the mark, which is why he was able to even stand right now. I didn’t understand it and I honestly didn’t care to. Dash was alive and that’s what mattered to me.
I took my time unbuttoning his pants, making sure to slowly drag my hands against his legs and I slid them off. The tickle was back, only this time it was along my balls. The erection threatening to pop out of his boxers was a good indication as to what his thoughts consisted of. I pulled down the boxers.
“Interesting.” I looked up at him over his length, his dark stare accompanying a lip bite. “What ever will I do with this?”
“Can’t think of a single thing.” His voice the same temperature as the running water.
I stood up and Dash started to lift my shirt. “Nu-uh, mister. I’m taking care of you tonight. You just get in that shower.”
Dash narrowed his eyes for a moment and I knew he was contemplating the idea of giving control over to me. With his eyes on me, I took my time removing my clothes. Tingles erupted over my body, but the core of it nestled in my groin. Damn, I understood what he meant by going with the flow.
I stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed behind us. Dash and I held each other’s gazes for a moment, his giving me authority to take control and mine blazing with the promise that I would. I picked up the bar of soap and massaged circles into his chest. I worked my way lower, never breaking eye contact as the image of me on my hands and knees flashed through my mind.
Dash buckled and let out a moan.
Oh yeah, this whole being connected by supernatural scars thing was going to be fun.
“Turn around.” My voice was heavy with command, but light with a surprise.
My hands scrubbed at his concrete shoulders and my eyes traveled the length of his body. The curve of his back led to twin dimples and an ass that begged to have teeth sunk into it. Powerful thighs turned into calves that could only have been handcrafted by God himself. The sight of him made my cock so tight it was almost painful. It pulsated and slapped against my skin.
Dash turned around and immediately began to kiss me.
His hands cupped my lower back and arched me into him. Wet and hungry, his tongue searched my mouth with desperation and I willingly accepted him. We pressed against the wall and I shoved my length deeper against him. His fingers scratched at my back and I could hear the moans emanating from my throat. He pulled away and kissed the side of my cheek and then my neck, rubbing his scruff against my smooth skin.
Oh God.
I wanted this. I needed this.
My hand slipped between our bodies and I took hold of his girth. He fit perfectly and I tugged his length toward me, alternating between rough and smooth.
“Uhh.” Dash let out, his hot breath on my face. He forgot how well I could handle him. He dropped to his knees. One hand cupped my balls while the other guided my length into his mouth. I bit into my lip as I slipped past his soft, smooth lips and met his flickering tongue. He worked circles around my head and then sucked ferociously. Oh man, I found paradise in this man. If he kept it up I wasn’t going to last much longer. I pulled back, but he fought against me.
“I wanted you in me, baby.” And Dash wasted no time turning me around.
“You want me inside of you?” the wolf in him breathed into my ear, hot and hungry. When Dash allowed the wild side of him to take over I fell into complete submission. It meant our sex would be rough and exhausting, just how I craved it.
“Fuck yes.” I bent lower and spread my legs. “Don’t be gentle.”
I knew I was supposed to be in charge, but I never needed anything as much as I needed Dash inside of me right now.
His tip pushed at my hole and I backed myself against him, welcoming his length, as the shower added the lubrication we needed. I had forgotten how Dash filled me up and took me completely. His thrusts started out slow, allowing me to adjust, but then they became deeper and more vigorous. I couldn’t catch my breath after a minute and the familiar lightheadedness clouded my vision.
His arms wrapped around my waist and his lips closed over my ear, his tongue tracing it. My eyes rolled backwards and my moans grew louder. His tongue moved down to my shoulder and his teeth bit into me.
“Ohhh.” My brain was mush and I was nothing more than endorphins.
Dash grunted as his balls slapped against my ass and I pushed back against him, frantic to prove I was still the power bottom he loved. I squeezed myself around him, my legs trembling underneath. He bit harder and reached around to jerk me off in sync with him. I held myself against the wall and allowed the chain reaction of fireworks to explode through me. Every molecule of our bodies intermingled together.
“Oh baby.” The tremor of his voice was pure sugar to me. He was close.
“Come inside me.” It was exactly what Dash needed to hear.
His hands gripped my arms so tight I knew I would have bruises and his desperate hammering told me he was nearing his ecstasy. I beat at my cock like a wild man and bucked against him, spreading myself as wide as I would go. His body spasmed as his hot juice shot deep into me. Over and over he emptied himself and when his body collapsed against my back, my own cum shot from my tip and splashed against the shower wall. My soul jumped from my body to touch the sky and then fell back into my body, like a slinky stretched to the capacity and snapping back into place.
We both trembled, our legs failing to hold us. He slowly pulled out of me and we stood there, under the hot water, riding the aftershocks together.
Panting, Dash sat down in the tub and pulled me to him. I nestled against his chest and closed my eyes, wanting nothing more than to stay in this moment forever. I could hear his heart beat quiet down as his fingers brushed along my arm.
“Oh, baby.” I couldn’t form any other words.
Dash laughed. “Oh yeah.”
While Dash and I had had more sex than I could count it had never been so voracious before. I didn’t know how I had been able to survive without Dash’s sex these past four years, and I knew I would never survive without it going forward.
“You were supposed to let me take charge,” I said dreamily.
He kissed my forehead. “Baby, you did. You spent me.”
“Good.” I smiled against him.
CHAPTER NINE
The sky was cloudless and the sizzling Colorado sun provided me with the perfect end of Summer tan. Face down on a blanket, with Marco’s incessant hammering to accompany me, I soaked up every ounce of sunlight I could. It was midday, just before lunch, and my goal was to be bronze before dinner.
“You know, you could be helping me,” Marco called from the back porch, he was repairing for my father.
“You’re getting paid, stop complaining.” I called, not even bothering to lift my head.
“Way to guilt a guy,” he said, the hammering stopped.
I squinted over my outstretched arm, “Oh, don’t be a sourpuss. My dad’s been meaning to fix that porch for years.”
Marco wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “Still don’t feel right taking his money. Guy’s like a father to me.”
“You need to make a living.” I propped myself on my elbows. “And you’re only charging him half of what it would have cost, so stop feeling bad.”
He opened a cooler at his feet and tossed a water bottle at me. “Take a drink before you dry up and shrivel…and would it kill you to wear some shorts.”
Marco was referring to my active no-show briefs. Besides being the sexiest pair of underwear I owned, they also doubled as great tanning attire. It covered the bare minimum and allowed for maximum sun exposure.
“I gotta look good for my man,” I called to him.
He laughed and shook his head. “I’m hoping you’ll refrain from telling me about your sex life now that you’re older?”
I took a sip of water and poured some over my head, the chill making me squirm. “How about I only tell you the really amazing stuff? Deal?”
“I hope your conversation doesn’t involve me.” Dash walked around the side of the house, lunch in hand.
My face broke into a squinted smile at the sight of him. Damn, I had one good looking boyfriend. He was wearing another pair of one-size-too-small jeans with boots and a white t-shirt. He held a bucket of chicken in one hand and a case of Coors in the other. The sun seemed to gather around him, illuminating his bold features, like a spotlight.
When he caught sight of me, his eyes narrowed and I immediately felt a tickle between my ass cheeks.
“Naughty,” I yelled and one side of his mouth creased apart.
“Thank. God. I’m starviiing.” Marco jumped up from the porch and clapped his hands together.
I pulled on my shorts and headed to the table. “We can’t start until Jacey gets here.”
Marco threw his head back. “Am I the only one who works around here?”
“Grady’s working,” Dash replied. “Carson too.”
“Oh, he doesn’t count.” Marco ran inside to wash his hands.
I walked up to Dash and kissed him on the lips. He tasted like cinnamon, his favorite flavor of gum.
“Hi,” I said, scratching my chin with my thumb.
“Hi,” he replied, taking my hand into his. His strong, solid fingers gave me a light squeeze as his eyes lowered over my bare chest.
Marco popped back outside. “You two wanna get a room, go for it, but I’m starting without you.”
I squeezed Dash’s hand back and made my way to the table set up in the grass, guiding him along with me. Since last week we were always touching. His hand in mine, my leg against his, his fingers brushing my knee under the table. It was perfect this way, Dash and I t
ogether. We were made to be two parts of one person.
“Sorry I’m late, guys.” Jacey trotted around the house, red hair bouncing behind her like a red mane. “Please tell me you weren’t waiting for me.”
“We were waiting for you.” Marco glared in her direction.
“No we were not. Dash just got here with the food.” I waved him off.
Jacey sat down next to Marco with a huff and a puff and set her TAB soda can down, the red lipstick stained straw sticking out.
“How do you still get that?” Marco pointed to the TAB can, a confused look on his face.
“I know a girl.” Jacey lifted the drink to her mouth, flashing Marco a squinted face.
“Oh really?” He raised his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together.
Jacey smacked him in the arm. “Not like that, you dope.”
“Not yet anyway.” And he licked his lips dramatically.
Jacey grabbed for his nipple, but Marco pulled away. Then she smiled and looked at me. “She’s this cute girl at the supermarket. She saves a case of soda for me once in awhile. That’s all it is.”
“Sounds serious,” I said, popping the lid off the bucket of chicken.
Jacey slapped at Marco’s eager hands going for the bucket. “Speaking of…”
Dash gave my thigh a squeeze under the table. We had been waiting for lunch to share the news with them. We exchanged a quick look and I couldn’t help but smirk.
“Oh my God, you two are getting married.” A piece of chicken still hung from Marco’s mouth.
“No.” Dash shook his head, eyes closed.
I took a breath, excitement fizzing at being able to reveal the news. “I’m moving back to Amber Pines.”
“What?” Marco stood up, the chicken raised in his hand.
“Get out.” Jacey slapped the table before she ran over to give me and then Dash a hug. “Really?”
I nodded and placed my hand in Dash’s waiting hand. We spent half of the night talking about our future and I knew without a doubt that I couldn’t leave Amber Pines again. It was my home. Dash and the pack were my family.