Claiming Hope [Wolves of River's Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Suzette Rose Cauler

  He leaned in close, quickly examining her for signs of injury. “Are you okay?”

  “Okay” she was not, but she had no injuries, so she nodded. She didn’t feel capable of speaking yet.

  “Stay in the car,” Adam ordered, kicking the damaged driver’s side door with both feet until it surrendered and opened with a sickly sound. To Hope, it looked as if he shifted before his feet touched the ground. A fierce growl split the air, and Adam was no more. A huge black wolf stood in his stead.

  From the direction the car faced, Hope could clearly see the car that had hit them, its front crumpled like an accordion. A man climbed out of that mess, shifting just as quickly as Adam had, and another man followed, shifting, too, but not before Hope recognized him. Goose bumps cropped up all over her body as she realized he was the bald scum who’d attacked her in the bar, so it wasn’t hard to guess the identity of the other man.

  The three wolves circled each other, teeth bared, their loud growls sending chills up and down her spine. Adam was the largest of the three, but Hope worried for him. He’d already had an exhausting day, and there were two to fight off. The other wolves, one a faded grey and the other grey and black, darted forward and lunged back, snapping and retreating while the black wolf appeared to bide his time.

  Suddenly the black wolf gave an eerie howl and lunged, catching one of the smaller wolves by the leg. The two wolves bit and clawed at each other, rolling around in the middle of the road. The other gray wolf joined in the fray, keeping to his bite-and-retreat dance. After diving in again and again, he struck home, sinking his teeth into Adam’s back.

  Hope’s scream mixed with Adam’s howl as he tried to shake him off. When that failed, Adam lunged heavily to the side, managing to throw the biter off, even as he continued to wrestle the gray-and-black wolf.

  Hope didn’t know if it was his sheer size or his fighting skill, but he caught the gray-and-black wolf by the neck this time, shaking the animal around like a rag doll. The animal clawed and fought, but it was obvious he’d already lost the fight. Adam tossed him away like he weighed nothing and lunged for his partner in crime.

  Every growl pierced Hope’s body as she watched, knuckles white from the tightness of her grip on her seat. Should she do something to help? Could she help? What if Adam lost?

  When Adam suffered a bite to his leg, Hope quickly scanned the car for something, anything to use as a weapon. She grabbed the only thing she could find, a rusty old tire iron from the floor in the back, and slid out of the car, darting toward the fight before she could stop herself. She’d hit the devil wolf over the head and stun him enough to make the fight easier for Adam, even with his injury. At least, she hoped that would happen.

  She’d almost made it to the tangled knot of fur, claws, and teeth, when she was thrown to the side, the tire iron flying from her hand as something knocked the wind out of her. Hope scrambled to get to her feet, realizing belatedly that the wolf she’d assumed dead was still alive, badly injured but strong enough to stagger toward her, baring his teeth. His sick growls filled her ears as she lunged for the tire iron and practically fell on it, turning at the same time.

  Everything happened so quickly. She gripped the tire iron in both hands, feeling sick to her stomach with dread as the wolf stumbled closer. The menace in his eyes was as clear as when he’d been human. Hope lifted the tire iron, yelling with fury, determined to put him down for good just as he lunged for her. She swung and missed, the force of her blow sending her careening to the side just as Adam slammed into her attacker, knocking him off his path. Her heart beat wildly in her throat as she watched the huge black wolf, her Adam, leap on him, viciously tearing his throat out before her eyes. Adam turned to stare at her then, blue eyes practically glowing in the darkness.

  She had only a moment to feel relieved before the battle resumed. The other wolf was bleeding and obviously weak from the fight but apparently not ready to give up. Hope couldn’t understand why he hadn’t just run away while Adam was busy with the other one or why he continued to fight. His friend, partner in crime, buddy, or whatever wolves called each other was dead, and Hope had no trouble predicting his future. Adam would kill him, too.

  Getting to her feet again, Hope noticed a bright light in the distance, growing closer by the second. They were headlights. “Adam! A car’s coming. Get out of the road!”

  The wolves broke apart, darting out of the way of the quickly oncoming car. It screeched to a halt just feet away from where they’d been fighting. She recognized it. The car belonged to Levi.

  Wasting no time, Levi slammed out of his car and took in the scene, glancing quickly her way before shifting into a wolf every bit as large, dark and menacing as Adam.

  The gray wolf stood his ground for the briefest of moments before turning tail and sprinting away. Hope was surprised he could run so swiftly, given his injuries. She watched as Adam turned his huge head toward Levi, who took off after him, disappearing into the brush.

  Another howl from Adam brought several other wolves racing toward him, and a silent communication Hope didn’t understand sent them in the same direction as Levi.

  With the fight over, she wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to contain the tremors that took over her body. The man she was coming to love, the massive black wolf with the lethal jaw, trotted over to sniff the body of the dead wolf. He had killed someone, and as if he’d heard her thoughts, he turned his head toward her, his eyes boring into hers, filled with emotions she could somehow feel but not name.

  As Adam stalked toward her, his large form threatening yet beautiful, Hope backed up, not thinking, unable to process what she felt, her feet moving of their own accord until she felt something hard and rough against her back and realized she’d backed into a tree. Fuck.

  He stopped, stared at her for a long moment, and then shifted from the lethal black wolf back into the man who’d somehow taken hold of her heart. “Are you afraid of me, Hope?”

  Should she be? “No… It’s just that…you killed that man.”

  “I’d kill an army of men to protect you and never lose a moment’s sleep after.”

  “What about the other one?”

  “I sent Levi after him.”

  “What if something happens to him? What if he gets hurt out there? There could be more shifters waiting to jump him!”

  “You saw the other wolves, right? They’re from River’s Bend. I sent them after Levi. He’s fine.” He advanced on her, and she took in his raw, naked form, the intensity of his gaze--his cock. Oh God, he had an erection.

  “If you’re not afraid of me, why are you trying to press yourself into that tree?”

  He was right. Her back ached from the pressure of her back against the tree bark. She’d never witnessed a death before, and he was the one responsible for this one. Protecting her or not, the fact that he’d killed someone in front of her sent her reeling. “I just never saw anything like that before.”

  He was so close she could smell him, his scent, dirt, and sweat. “This is the life of a wolf shifter. We live like humans in many ways, but we will fight to the death to protect those we love.”

  Love? Was he saying he loved her? She opened her mouth to ask him, fear fading in the face of that question. But before she managed to get it out, he was on her, hard, naked and molding himself to her body.

  His lips slid down her neck as his hot breath growled in her ear. “This is what I’m trying to protect you from. This fight was nothing compared to what you could see if we end up at war.”

  His words were far from sweet nothings, but she couldn’t care less. The heat of his body had inflamed hers, and her pussy was as wet as if he’d spent the last several minutes stroking her. She felt his hands at the waist of her jeans and heard the snap pop and the rasp of her zipper before he tugged them down. “Here? Now?” Had he forgotten the body lying in the road?

  “I need you, Hope. I need you so badly it hurts. I thought…he…he could have killed you
.” He nuzzled her thighs as he bent to push her jeans further down and she stepped out of them. “I could have lost you today.”

  She couldn’t speak. It felt as if his hands were everywhere on her body, though she knew that was impossible, and when he ripped her shirt in an effort to free her breasts, she groaned and moved forward, trying to press her pussy against his thigh. Nothing mattered at the moment, not the attack or the body, only Adam. He needed her.

  Where the unbridled desire came from or why it had caught fire in her, she couldn’t say, but she couldn’t have denied him if she’d wanted to. The more he touched her, the more the world around them receded. Perhaps she should worry about the fact that he’d just ended a life with his teeth. Maybe she should feel bothered as that same mouth seared kisses along her neck, her breasts, her shoulder. But all she could bring herself to care about was the feel of his big palms as they squeezed her ass and lifted her up higher, the strength of his arms as he held her in midair, and the eagerness of his cock as he drove himself into her without further delay.

  Instinct took over, pushing fear and shock away as she wrapped her legs around his waist and hooked her arms around his neck. He threaded one hand in her hair, pulling her head back to expose her neck, and buried his face there as he pounded into her pussy hard and fast, commanding, pushing her inexorably toward a blinding release that left her whimpering in his arms and capable of thinking only one thing. Never let me go.

  * * * *

  Adam hadn’t planned to take her, certainly not out there in the woods with a wolf carcass just yards away. But the thought of what could have happened to her if he’d lost the battle or if those wolves had come upon her and Sarah alone had left him raw and exposed. He needed to be inside her, needed it to hold himself together, but also to hold back the anger that simmered just under the surface. She’d disobeyed and put herself in danger, but he couldn’t think about that just then, not with her scent in his nose, her smooth skin yielding to his touch, and her pussy squeezing his cock like a vice as she found her release.

  He couldn’t have held back even if he’d wanted to. The climax built in his body like an explosion and roared out of him like a freight train. He claimed her mouth and kissed her deeply as he shot his seed deep inside her. Her pussy’s last post-orgasmic contractions milked his cock until the last drop had left him and he stood, heart beating frantically, holding her in his arms and trying to catch his breath. Kissing her neck, her forehead, he pulled out of her, wishing for all he was worth that the rest of the world would simply go away.

  Damn she was beautiful, even covered as she was in his sweat and the leftovers of his battle. “Fix yourself, and I’ll take you ho—” He’d been on the verge of saying he’d take her home, but River’s Bend wasn’t her home, and maybe it never would be.

  She pulled her jeans back on and did what she could with her shirt, then stood with her arms crossed, shivering again, though the early-evening air wasn’t truly cold yet. “What about Levi?”

  “He’ll meet us there.” In the moments before he’d turned back to Hope, he and Levi had quickly communicated the basic plan. “He’ll catch the prisoner and meet us back at the lodge.”

  “How do you know? What if something happens to him?”

  “Nothing will happen to him,” he snapped. “He’s strong enough to handle one wolf by himself. Now, come on and get in the car.” Adam couldn’t curtail his frustration. She just didn’t get it. The world he lived in could be calm, peaceful, even beautiful, but it could also be violent and harsh. When he gave an order, he expected those he protected to follow it. Otherwise, they could fall victim to whatever he sought to protect them from.

  In her world, things were different, but hadn’t she just seen the result of disobedience in his? “This is exactly why you have to go back to your own town. And the sooner, the better. You don’t belong here.”

  Hope glared at him. “You’re still trying to send me away, even after…after that?” She gestured toward the tree she’d pinned herself to trying to get away from him.

  “That…should never have happened. It was wrong of me to take you like that, after what you just witnessed.” He walked over to take her in his arms again. “God, I’m sorry, Hope. I lost control. I know you must be frightened by all of this.”

  “I was upset. I was scared to death, but all of that faded when you touched me.” She looked up at him expectantly. “It’s always like that, whenever you and Levi touch me. Is it the same for you?”

  Adam fought the part of him that was thrilled to hear that. “I have to get you back to River’s Bend where it’s safe. Get in the car.”

  “No.” She walked back over to the tree that had just recently helped support her and leaned against it again. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  “Why are you acting like this? I’ve told you Levi is fine.”

  “So I’m just supposed to let you take me back there where you can continue ignoring me and refusing to talk? No, I’m not leaving until you get it through your thick head that I can’t go back to my world. It’s too late for me. I belong with you and Levi. This is my world now.”

  He’d wanted to hear those words from her so many times, just not now. “Do you think this is a joke? What if someone else comes along and tries to hurt you while we stand out here debating where you belong?”

  She appeared to reconsider and took a step toward the car before stopping in her tracks. “You think those two weren’t alone?”

  “No, they were definitely alone. If there were others nearby, they’d have attacked by now. I’m sure they were alone.”

  It was the wrong thing to say. She turned to him, hands on her hips and irritation in her eyes. “Then I’m not really in any danger, am I? You just don’t want to talk about it, so you want to hurry back to River’s Bend where it’s easier to avoid me.”

  She was right. He didn’t want to talk about it at all. He was too afraid she’d talk him out of doing the right thing. “Get in the car, Hope. I mean it. Now.” Adam kept his voice low and even in an effort to keep control of himself, but when she shook her head again and refused to move, his patience snapped. “Get your ass in that car now! When I give you an order, I expect you to obey it.”

  Hope actually looked surprised, lifting her eyebrows at him, but she didn’t look inclined to move. “What’s this, the army?”

  Really? She was giving him sass while they stood only yards away from the shifter he’d killed to protect her? “No, it’s the Liekos Clan, and here, mates obey or someone could get hurt or die. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you today? Those wolves weren’t after you for a friendly chat. They could have raped you or murdered you, or worse.” Adam didn’t like to think about what could be worse than death, but of course, he knew such things did exist.

  “I’m not part of your clan, remember? You’re sending me back out into the human world the moment my sister is joined, and you’ve refused to claim me. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m no more your mate than I was when I got here.”

  She lifted her chin and straightened her spine. He didn’t know what she was playing at, but he wasn’t having it. “You’ll move your ass now, so I can take you home, or I’ll move you.” He strode over and stood so close she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.

  “You won’t.” She sounded so confident. Too bad she was wrong.

  Done with the debate, Adam picked her up and slung her over his shoulder as she kicked and screamed, slapping at him. “Stop struggling,” he ordered. She continued, so he delivered three swats to her bottom. They weren’t hard, just warnings, really, but she immediately froze. Then she did the weirdest thing. She started to laugh.

  * * * *

  Hope laughed so long and so hard she almost threw up. She couldn’t stop, even as he deposited her into the passenger seat of Sarah’s banged-up car and fastened her seatbelt. He’d tossed her over his shoulder like some sort of throwback caveman, and then, while she hung upside down, he
’d smacked her on the ass. It hadn’t hurt, only stung a little, and she should be angry. Instead, she’d erupted into hysterical laughter.

  She’d only just managed to move from crazy guffaws into a sort of weird combination of hiccup and giggle when Adam slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and turned to face her, wearing his concern for her like a badge. “Are you okay?” he asked, and that was all it took. Hope tumbled into a fresh attack of laughter.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve just always had this weird reaction to stress. At the oddest moments, I just lose it and end up laughing instead of crying or screaming.”

  Adam glanced at her and then back at the road. “Which was it this time?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you want to cry or scream?”

  Hope giggled at that question, and Adam gave her another worried look. “Don’t worry,” she said, holding up her hand. “I think I have it under control now.” She cleared her throat and thought about his question. “I guess I wanted to scream at you, but honestly, I was just shocked. I can’t believe you actually did it.”

  “You practically dared me to.”

  She had to agree with that. She’d had no good reason to refuse to go with him, but she’d taken pleasure in digging her heels in and provoking him. It had made her feel good, possibly a little powerful after what he’d said, the way he’d rejected her again. “I guess I didn’t really think I could get that much reaction out of you, except when we’re having sex.”

  “I can’t think of anyone more capable of drawing a reaction out of me.”

  “You could have fooled me.” Hope sighed, not wanting to bring it up, preferring to hold on to her pride but unable to just let it go. “You haven’t exactly been attentive to me since you made your big decree about sending me home.”

  Adam’s hand tightened on the wheel, and she watched him clench and unclench his jaw. He was silent for so long she didn’t think he’d respond. “Look, I don’t want to send you home. It’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. We’re raised on stories about each wolf having a destined mate, or mates, and how that bond will be mind-blowing. But even after hearing that for so many years, even after witnessing others go crazy over their fated, I wasn’t prepared for how much I need you. I’ve had to put some distance between us. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to let you go.”