by M. L. Briers
“As far as I am aware you haven’t been with a man or a woman since you arrived in town.” Blake thrust his arms into his top and yanked it on over his head. Nadia had to admit, she’d been enjoying the sight of his broad, muscled chest, even if she’d never admit it to him. Big lug headed, egotistic, manwolf that he was.
“And how would you know?”Nadia was caught somewhere between grateful that she had been vindicated and annoyed that he’d known the details of her nonexistent love life. She mentally rolled her eyes. How did things get so damn complicated around him?
“I have eyes and ears…”Blake shrugged just one of those broad shoulders and stared back at her, guarded in his response.
“You’ve been following me?”Nadia got the message loud and clear. The Alpha’s lapdog had been on her tail from the moment she set foot inside this damn town. How wrong was that? How weird was that?
“You’re Fae…”He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to say that it wasn’t just at his Alpha’s request that he’d kept a watchful eye on her. There wasn’t a night in the last few months that he hadn’t checked in on her at her cottage, sat outside her bedroom window, just to listen to her sleep. He’d become more than fond of her. She wasn’t his life mate, his soul mate, but she was special to him and he couldn’t look at another woman the way he looked at her.
Nadia rushed to judgement on his statement before he’d even finished it. It was the two words that she needed to hear. ‘You’re Fae.’ Those two words said it all. For a moment there she’d thought it could have been something more, that maybe there was an attraction on both sides of this crazy adversarial relationship that they had developed over time. But as usual in life, she was wrong.
“Screw you, Blake.” Nadia twisted her face in disgust. Starting back towards the kitchen door she faltered in her step when she felt his hand close around her arm and he yanked her back towards him.
CHAPTER NINE
“Don’t make this harder than it is for me, Nadia.” Blake growled down at her. She noted the way he chewed his jaw on every word, the tension within his muscles as he stared down at her. His dark eyes swept over her face once before he locked his gaze with hers.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”Nadia shot back. They were words she’d heard a lot from him over the past few months, the only difference was he was usually referring to her making it harder on herself and not him. She felt his hand palm her cheek and his warmth seeped through her.
“I’ve wanted to be with you since the day I watched you walk into town…”He growled out every word. He didn’t even blink as he stared at her and for a long moment and he held his breath in anticipation.
“I’m not your mate…”Nadia put her hand against the hard muscle of his abdomen and tried to push herself back from him, but his other hand locked against the small of her back and he kept her in place. His body was so close to hers that she could feel the heat coming from him.
“My mate died when we were young. I have no mate…”Blake said those words for the first time without longing, without remorse for what had been, what would never be. He believed Fate worked through them all, and for some reason his mate had been taken, but they’d brought Nadia into his life, and he had felt a strong attraction towards her from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.
“I’m sorry.” Nadia knew that must have pained him to know he would never have his soul mate by his side. But still…
“For the first time in forever, I’m not.”He went to dip his head towards her, to taste her lips the way he had wanted too for so long, but she dropped her chin and closed him down.
Nadia wanted to feel his lips on hers. She’d probably wanted that for the longest time, even imagining it when she lay in bed at night, staring up at the damn ceiling in the darkness and imagining him there with her. But she couldn’t do it, not now. She couldn’t lead him on. She’d already made the decision to leave town and it wasn’t as if he could go with her.
“Blake, you’re a nice guy…”She wanted to ease the moment for both of them. “Most of the time, when you’re not growling and commanding me to do stuff…”She didn’t bring her chin up or her eyes up to his for fear she just might reach up on tip toes and taste his lips herself. “But I’m leaving town.”
Nadia felt his hand tighten around her arm and heard the low growl that rumbled through him. She wondered if that was the possessive side of the man and beast that had given that reaction. But when he loosened his grip and his hand fell away from her back she dismissed the idea. They weren’t mated, they weren’t mates. He wouldn’t have that reaction to her words, would he?
“When?”Blake felt as if someone a lot bigger and meaner than she could ever be had just sucker punched him in the gut. He’d waited too long to tell her how he felt and now she was rejecting him. Maybe if he’d done it sooner, months ago, she might have had time to grow to feel for him the way he felt for her. But why would she? All she saw was the Beta that had made her life hell since she moved here, not a potential mate.
“As soon as I pack my stuff.” Nadia still didn’t bring her eyes to his and he knew why. She only used eye contact with him when she was goading him. Right now she was trying to keep him at arm’s length.
“Where will you go?”Blake took a long step back from her. His wolf whined within him, sensing his loss. He watched her shrug her small shoulders, either she didn’t know or she didn’t want him to know, both ways led to the same outcome, he felt the hope slipping away inside him. “I wish you well, Nadia.” He turned on his heels and was gone before she’d even rushed to thought on his statement.
Nadia closed her eyes and felt the part of her that was empty spread through her body. It made her bones feel cold and she wrapped her arms around herself for the warmth that she knew she was unlikely to feel in a good while. She liked Blake, she liked him a lot, but she couldn’t live inside her sister’s shadow again.
Natasha turned away from the window and glared up at her mate. He’d given her a blow by blow account of every word her sister and Blake had uttered. It was the only way for her to know what was being said as they became quieter. Hell, she wanted to throw open the window and demand they speak up, but she didn’t think that would sit well with either of them.
“Don’t glare at me. The messenger doesn’t want to be shot before he mates with you.”Colt offered, sensing his mates anxiety at what had unfolded below them. He’d felt her rush to hope when Blake had declared his wanting Nadia, and then her disappointment when her sister had rejected the Beta. Now she was angry, annoyed and a rush of other emotions that were coming too fast and changing so quickly that he couldn’t peg them all.
“I’m not going to shoot the messenger.”Natasha snapped up at him and watched as he raised his brows, questioning her.
“Fire doesn’t look good on me either.”Colt teased and watched a she took a long calming breath.
“I’m fine. I’m just disappointed…”
“There’s a lot more than just disappointment going on in there.”He reached up and stroked his thumb down her cheek to sooth her.
“That’s good, distract me before I kill some…”She didn’t get to finish. He covered her lips with his own and caged her inside the walls of his arms. Her body hummed with his closeness, with the mating pull that rushed through her and made her heart beat faster inside her chest. Her hands were already seeking the feel of his skin, naked from the waist up and wearing only a bath towel from the waist down, he was easy prey for her touch. She ran her fingertips down his abdomen to where the bath towel hung low over his hips and yanked it free. Now she could touch him wherever she wanted, and she wanted…
“Are you coming on to me?”Colt pulled back and stared down at her with an air of amusement that brightened the gloom that hung like a big, black raincloud over her head. “Because a man likes to be wooed.” He teased, reaching for her top and stripping it over her head before he tossed it aside.
“I don’t do wooing. But I can do this.�
� Her hand wrapped around the hard length of him and she saw his eyes close for the briefest on moments as a groan of pleasure escaped his lips. Then his gaze was back on hers.
“And you do that very well.”Colt knew his little witch wasn’t backwards in coming forwards and he liked it.
“It needs a little something…”Natasha dropped to her knees and took just the tip of him into her mouth. The long groan of pleasure he let out this time was tantalising like a reward to her senses. But she was sure he could do better. Slowly she eased her mouth down the length of his shaft, inch by inch, she took him as far as the back of her throat and then in one swift movement she pushed down and swallowed him further inside her.
Colt didn’t just groan with pleasure, he groaned, sighed, squeaked, growled and practically bit his own tongue off with the absolute heaven of what she was doing to him. Back and forth over his length, her tongue swirling and playing before she took him so deep that he thought she just might swallow him whole. It damn well felt like it.
He couldn’t keep his hands from fisting in her hair, couldn’t keep his hips from swaying back and forth. The urge to take over from her was so great that he had to grind his teeth together just so he didn’t thrust, because what she was doing was far more pleasurable that the madness of climax. Although he was damned well looking forward to that as well, just not yet…
“Natasha…”He offered her a warning of just what she was doing to him. He wanted to close his eyes and savour every swipe of her tongue, every suck against the corona, and every deep push within her throat that she gave him and yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her eyes were on his and he could see her emotions without needing to read her. She was enjoying bringing him so much pleasure just as much as he was enjoying receiving it, and boy was he enjoying receiving it. Too much…
“Natasha…”This time he hissed down at her. His eyes were warning her without words that he was getting close to losing his control. He saw the glint of amusement in her eyes and he was sure she grinned around the length of him. The one thing she didn’t do was ease up or pull back from him. If anything she sucked harder, her cheeks massaging around his length before she swallowed him down.
Colt could have pulled away. Could have ended the glorious torture of trying to keep himself from letting go, but it appeared that neither of them had the willpower to do that. She wanted him to let go and she got her wish. His hips moved and he took over his own pleasure from her. Keeping his eyes locked with hers for any sign that she wasn’t enjoying this anymore. He stroked back and forth, faster and faster until he stayed buried deep in her throat as his orgasm swept through him. Over and over he took his pleasure in long deep strokes and felt her massage the very last drops that she could with her mouth before he pulled away.
“Well, I’m damn wooed.”Colt breathed out. His muscles quivered around him for a long moment before he regained himself. Reaching down for her, he swept her up against his body and wrapped her legs around his hips. He stalked towards the bed with her with the sheer purpose of making her feel as damn good as she had done for him. He claimed her mouth. Not in a gentle kiss, but in a fevered possession that gave her mind and body little choice but to return the passion.
Natasha could feel the mattress beneath her back and his hands on her body. He’d already discarded her top and her bra went the same way. A moment later she felt him peel her jeans down her legs and somehow she was free of them too. But his lips never left hers. The man either had very long arms or he was good with his feet, either way she didn’t give a damn when the length of his naked body was pressed against hers.
The feel of his erection, already hard again, pressed the fabric of her panties against her sex and she moaned with need. She wanted to feel his naked flesh there too, more than she wanted to breathe. The anticipation of the feel of him pressing inside her channel was almost too much to take and she squirmed beneath him, seeking more.
“I need to woo you.” Colt grinned down at her for a long moment as she tried to take in his words. Her brain was kind of preoccupied with other matters and it took her a while to catch up. But the glint in his eye practically drew her a mental image of his words and she knew what he wanted to do.
“Later, just…”His tongue drew circles around the hard peek of one nipple, and she caught her breath as his fanned out over the wet skin and heightened the feeling. She went to open her mouth again but his blunt teeth nipped the bud and all she managed was a moan. Then he covered her nipple and sucked it into his mouth and she felt that jolt deep within her. By the time he had taken to multitasking, licking, sucking and nipping she was lost to thought.
His hands were everywhere. Fingertips touched and teased all over her body and then his lips followed. He moved her back and forward against the mattress, one moment she was on her stomach and he was tracing the line of her spine down her back with his tongue and the next she was on her back and he was nipping over her hip bone. But the place she needed to feel him was a no go zone so far and she felt the frustration building inside her.
“Can we get to the wooing…”She almost begged for his attention. Colt’s gentle laughter drifted over her thigh. He was savouring the moment that he would taste her sex for the very first time. The scent of her arousal called to him and he’d ignored it for far too long. His mate was getting antsy for his touch and he wanted to please her, damn did he want to please her.
Colt ran his hands up her inner thighs and pressed her knees wide open for him. Kneeling back on the bed he took her in. She was beautifully flustered with her cheeks on fire with passion and a hungry look in her eyes for more of him. He couldn’t wait to give her more, and more, and finally every last inch that he had to give inside her body. In one easy movement he reached out and tore the panties from her body. He ran his tongue down the length of her inner thigh and her back arched off the bed as her hips pressed up.
“Cheating…”Colt teased, sliding his body low against the bed, he wrapped an arm around her leg and kept her in place. He somehow didn’t think that his mate had his gift of willpower that would ensure she didn’t move against him, didn’t take her own pleasure…
“Desperately needing to…” She moaned long and hard as his tongue tasted the length of her. His groan of pleasure matched her own and he savoured her taste on his tongue. “More wooing…”She breathed out when he stopped for too long.
“How’s this?”Colt breathed out against her sex a moment before he devoured her with a frenzy that made her hips try to force upwards against his hold. A half moan, half sob left her lips as he forced her body towards what would have been the quickest orgasm of her life, had he not stopped…
“Don’t…”She gasped. “You…” She accused.
“Stopped? I was just checking if the wooing was good for you?”Colt teased her folds with his fingertips and she tried to rock against his touch.
“Good…”She could feel her body relaxing. The moment was over and she felt an air of frustration rise within her.
“Well ok then.”Colt was back against her again. Nipping at the sensitive folds and nub, his tongue doing wickedly sinful things over her flesh as his fingers found the sweet little spot inside her channel that made her body involuntarily move with every swipe over it.
Natasha climbed back up towards her release, and boy did she climb. Slow teasing strokes of his fingers within her and his tongue over the hooded nub gave way to another frenzied attack on her senses. Sucking the nub hard and rhythmically in time with his fingers, he grazed his teeth over her flesh and licked fast strokes under the little hood until she saw stars that she had never seen before on the backs of her eyelids.
Colt’s thumb replaced his mouth and he withdrew his fingers from the hard throbbing of her channel to thrust his tongue within her and taste her very essence. Her body had been well and truly claimed by his loving. The hard pulses of pleasure that shot through her body consumed her, slowly dying away until she was more than aware of his touch against her sensi
tive body and when she squirmed, he reluctantly released her.
Colt climbed up her body, tasting and nipping her skin as he went. By the time he reached her neck, where her pulse still throbbed wildly, and ran his tongue up the vein where he ached to bury his fangs and taste her life blood, she was back with him in the moment. Her fingertips ran up his spine and made his body quiver with anticipation of more.
“You so want to taste me…”Natasha breathed against his ear and he brushed his cheek against hers as he pulled up to look down on her. Flushed with the afterglow of her release, and gazing up at him from under hooded eyes, she was everything he could ever desire in a mate.
“I so want to taste you.”He agreed with a devilish grin that warmed those dark eyes as they swept over her face.
“Fae blood is good.”She teased and his grin didn’t fade as he lowered his body against hers. Holding himself up on his elbows he ran his fingertips down her cheek and over the vein in her neck while keeping his gaze locked with hers.
“Fae blood is very good, and your blood will be even better.”He assured her as his hardness probed the entrance to her channel that still fluttered from her orgasm. He pushed just the tip of him inside and she opened her legs further around him, beckoning him on. Slowly, inch by inch he pushed into her, stretching her muscled walls around the length of him as he buried himself to the hilt and took her lips in the most tantalising of kisses that made her heart swell with each beat.
Colt felt her body opening up to his. Felt her stretch around his length and girth until she relaxed within his arms. He had forever to spend with her and yet the rush to taste her, to feel her come undone while he was buried deep within her was a powerful thing, a force that couldn’t be denied. He moved inside her, as slowly as he could without going totally insane with the need for more. Building that fire back within her body that would call for her release once again.