TerrIIItory

by Susan A Bliler

  A short time later, she made her way down to the large kitchen. The space was roomy and warm with its earthy tones. She was relieved to find only Evander leaning leisurely against the counter while Clay sat on the kitchen island in the center of the room.

  As she entered, Clay hopped down to eye her. Evander still stood with one hip leaned into the counter and both strong arms crossed over his thick chest. She noticed he stood like that a lot.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Her eyes only touched on Clay before her attention centered on Evander.

  “Clay’s got an idea, and I think it’s worth a try.”

  Nerves suddenly flitted to life in Bethany’s belly, and Evander must have sensed it, because he uncrossed his arms and his tone turned gentle. “It’s nothing crazy. Just hear him out.”

  Clay stepped forward. “We’re all in agreement that you should have fully healed by now. Even injured, you’d at least have begun the process, but nothing’s happening. You said your wolf only peeks out when you’re around Kane.”

  Bethany flicked her eyes to Evander and blushed at Clay’s statement. Didn’t the guy believe in some form of doctor/patient confidentiality? To her relief, Evander seemed proud rather than put off.

  “So,” Clay continued. “I think, if we can force your wolf to come out fully…”

  “Force?” Bethany stepped back.

  Kane’s soft growl of warning had Clay shifting uneasily. “Coerce.” He amended quickly. “If we can coerce your wolf into coming out, she can heal you.”

  “And just how do we coerce her?”

  Clay smiled and shrugged negligently. “Easy. Mate mark.”

  Bethany felt the color drain from her face. “W-what?” She looked from Clay to Evander.

  “If your wolf knows she’s claimed, and that she’ll be protected, she might come out willingly, Beth.” Evander walked closer.

  “But you can’t mark me. You’re not my mate.”

  His angry growl of dissent sounded loudly through the room.

  “I thought we discussed this.” She was pleading with Evander. “My wolf only attached herself to you because she’s traumatized. She attached herself to the first strong male she found.”

  Steely green eyes narrowed on her, and she watched as Evander’s jaw ticked.

  “I’m sorry, Evander. I’m not trying to insult you. I just don’t want you making a mistake because my wolf is all screwed up.”

  He took a step closer to her. “You.” Then another step. “Are.” Another step. “My.” He was right in front of her now and reached for her. Strong arms lifted her easily, and he turned to place her on the counter, so she sat eye level with him as he positioned his large frame between her knees. “Mate.”

  Clay simply smiled when she looked to him for help.

  “Tell him this is a bad idea,” she implored, but Clay shook his head.

  “It’s worth a shot, Bethany.” Clay seemed pleased with the idea.

  “Worth a shot?” She pushed at Evander’s chest when he crowded her. “If he’s not my mate, and he marks me, then what?” She scowled at him. “Then you’ve claimed me, and I’m not your one! That isn’t fair to you, and it isn’t fair to me.”

  “Admittedly, your wolf is a little screwed up right now. Right?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and refused to respond.

  “And since my wolf has a clear head, I think we should trust that he knows what he’s doing.” When Bethany dropped her chin, Evander used a strong finger to force her head back up to meet his gaze. “I’m not trying to take advantage of you here, Beth.”

  “I didn’t say…”

  “I’m trying to help heal my mate. You need to trust me. You need to let me do what I can to help your wolf. She’s injured, and she’s afraid.”

  He dropped his hand, gripping her thighs to pull her closer to him. Bethany sucked in a sharp breath at the action, and he scented her sudden interest.

  “I am going to do what I can to fix you. And you are going to let me.”

  The words hung in the air for long moments before Evander prodded. “Agreed?”

  Heart pounding, and unsure what else to say or do, Bethany simply nodded once.

  Without taking his eyes off her, Evander growled menacingly, “Leave us!”

  Bethany didn’t have to look up to know that Clay had exited the room.

  She couldn’t tear her eyes from Evander. Her heart literally skipped a beat when his hands on her thighs tightened and he pulled her closer still. “I’m going to go first.”

  His tone was deep, and held the barely restrained hint of a growl. He was excited, and so was she.

  Lifting a hand with borrowed courage, she swept her hair to one side and tilted her head, the whole time keeping her eyes locked on Evander. Bethany felt her face flush. It’s no big deal, she lied to herself. Wolves do it all the time.

  She licked her lips in nervous anticipation and felt an ache center low in her belly when Evander’s eyes dipped to watch her mouth. She knew the voluntary display of her throat was submissive and against her nature, but she wanted this done quickly. Already the room was beginning to heat and scent of her more than piqued interest in the Alpha, which didn’t bode well for her belief that she wasn’t his. Her belly churned with equal parts nervousness and excitement. This was it. If they were truly mates, then his mark would call out her wolf, and she’d begin to heal. She struggled to keep from getting her hopes up, while a secret part of her clapped excitedly and prayed she was his.

  Chapter 10

  Evander stared at Bethany’s offered throat, and he couldn’t stop the eager growl that rumbled forth. Her gaze jerked to his, and he cleared his throat, attempting to hide his wolf’s natural response to her. His eyes darkened, and he had to fight to remind his wolf to take it easy. Their mate didn’t believe it was a true claiming, and now that he was finally getting the chance to prove it, he didn’t want to scare her off.

  His hands slid to her hips and tightened as he leaned into her. Slow, he commanded himself as he heard her startled gasp. No doubt she felt his erection as it pressed into the cradle of her thighs. His lips parted, and his canines elongated. He ignored the tremble in his hands and the pounding erection in his jeans as he strained against the need to crush her to him and sink his teeth into her before she could change her mind.

  Inching closer, he drew in the soft scent of her. Pumpkin spice and caramels. His lips tweaked. His mate smelled like Halloween. Good enough to eat!

  He felt her tremble when he brushed his nose against the satiny column of her throat. By the Gods, he loved her reaction to him. What if he… Before he could stop himself, his tongue stroked along her fiery skin at the bend between her shoulder and throat. Hell, she even tasted like Halloween; sugary, dark, and a little naughty.

  Bethany jerked, and her body tensed. Before she could open her mouth to protest, Kane had his teeth resting against her skin. Her breath hitched once, and then she held it. Inside, Kane’s wolf was jumping excitedly, demanding the claim.

  With a groan, Evander sunk his teeth into her exposed throat. His hands held her firmly in place, even as his eyes closed against the sweet, addictive taste of her. His tongue lapped at her blood while his teeth remained inside her, and he struggled to keep from pushing her backward on the counter and fucking her. Her breathing hitched to match his own, and his heart thundered loudly in his ears. In that moment, everything in the world ceased to exist but her. He was lost, and there was no going back. Regardless of what she thought, he was claiming her, and he was going to keep her one way or another.

  Forcing his teeth to retract, he kept his lips in place to gently lap at the blood that spilled free. He cleaned her with his mouth, and slowly pulled back, knowing what she’d see.

  ***

  Bethany felt her wolf stir and forced her eyes open to stare up at Kane. Maybe… His lips were full and bright-red with her blood. The eyes that met hers were darker than she’d ever seen them, and she could clearly
read their lustful intent. He was fighting his wolf’s natural instinct to do more than leave a mate mark. It was a shitty thing to do to their wolves, and she actually felt a pang of guilt.

  “You’re turn.” Evander’s tone was rough, and so deep that his words were barely distinguishable.

  Without asking, he lifted her off the counter and shelved her ass with a strong arm. Awkwardly, Bethany wrapped her arms around his neck and, unsure what to do with them, wrapped her legs around his lean hips, hoping to offer an assist to the effort of holding her up.

  When he turned his head to the side, Bethany didn’t hesitate to lunge at him. Get it done quickly, get it done quickly, get it done quickly! She slammed her eyes shut and bit him, hoping he ignored the scent of pheromones that perfumed the air when he’d bared himself to her. It was more erotic than she’d ever expected to have a strong Alpha offer himself up. She knew that the sight of him baring his neck had never been witnessed by another, and she found it more erotic than he’d ever know.

  She was in trouble! This was supposed to be an easy deal. Mark each other and either prove he was hers or he that he wasn’t. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy for her? Her teeth sank into him, and she was going to pull out quickly before ever getting a taste of him, but that didn’t happen.

  She froze with her teeth half way out. When his blood dripped on her tongue, she slowly pushed her teeth back into him and drew in a mouthful of the coppery nectar. To her utter shock and mortification, she wrapped her arms and legs tighter around him just as an orgasm seized her. It was bliss, and her brain clouded with rapture as she ignored the hissed, “Fuuuuck!” that escaped Evander as she moaned long and low, pulling him hard into her as she rubbed sensually against him.

  She was supposed to simply bite him and pull back, but the need to drink from him couldn’t be ignored. Her lips locked onto his throat, and she continued to rub against him shamelessly, riding out her orgasm as she continued to drink. One of his hands left her hip to ease around and grip her ass, his fingers settling into her cleft. She was lowered slightly, and when she felt her throbbing clit rub against something long and hard, she ground against it.

  At her ear, Kane’s breathing quickened, and she could feel his heart thundering in his chest, pulsing at her lips.

  Oh God! She was going to come again! She drank more of him and rubbed harder, loving that both his hands were suddenly cupping her ass, gripping and squeezing. He lifted her to create more friction, grinding against her. When climax hit her again, she jerked her teeth free, and threw back her head to scream, “KANE!”

  The sound was drowned out by Kane’s roar, and with him still holding her, Bethany could only cling to him as they both came down from whatever in the hell had just happened.

  Realization was mortifying. She’d just dry humped the Alpha to completion, while …drinking his blood? She scrambled frantically in his arms until he lowered her, his eyes finally opening. “Easy, baby, you’ll fall.”

  As soon as her feet hit the ground, she spun, and with a mumbled, “I’m not your baby,” she raced out of the room. What in the hell was that?

  It wasn’t so much the dry humping she was concerned about; although, that was humiliating. Right now, she was more concerned, not just with the fact that she’d drank from Kane, but with the fact that she’d really, really enjoyed it.

  Shifters didn’t drink blood. It was a vampire trait… She slowly lifted an arm and traced absently at one of the many bite marks she’d suffered while being held captive. Could I be?

  She hurried down the hall to the living room and took the stairs two at a time to get back to her room. She couldn’t face Kane. Not now, not like this! She needed a minute to sort through what had just happened.

  Kane’s scowl deepened. He stood dumbfounded as Bethany rushed from the kitchen.

  Damn! Their reaction to each other was overwhelming. It hadn’t been his intention to go as far as they had, but how in the hell could he have known what her teeth in him would do? Add to that the fact that he’d never marked a female before. He licked his lips at the taste that lingered there. Her taste! She’d been exquisite and he wanted more, but first he needed to change. Damp seed from his pubescent-like eruption soaked the front of his jeans and was highly uncomfortable as well as deflating. He wanted to be inside his mate, not grinding against her fully clothed body. More importantly, he wanted to know why the obvious proof of the fact that she was his was so upsetting to her. It was a hell of a blow to his ego.

  Chapter 11

  Twenty minutes later, in fresh briefs and jeans, he found himself stomping out to the front porch for some fresh air. What he truly wanted was to check on Bethany, but he figured meeting her true mate was a lot to take in, so he’d opted to give her time to accept the fact.

  He had only just stepped onto the porch when his feet stuttered to a halt. There, in the wooden swing that hung from the porch, was his Bethany. She looked tired and lonely, and he noted how her frame tensed when his scent was picked up by the wind and pushed toward her. She didn’t look at him.

  He ground his teeth together and tromped down the porch steps to circle the house. He could feel her eyes on him. Minutes later, he was in his jeep and pulling up in front of the house before he threw the shift in park, hopped down, and circled round to open the passenger door before frowning at Bethany. “Get in,” he growled.

  Dove-gray eyes met his, before she dropped her head. She didn’t move. “Where are you going?”

  “To eat.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “I am.”

  ***

  Bethany chanced a glance at Evander and could tell by the set of his jaw that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. She actually was pretty hungry, though mostly she was subdued. Something was off. They’d marked each other, she’d dry-humped him, and then she’d drank from him, but none of that was the problem. The problem? She didn’t feel any different. Granted, she’d never mated before, but she’d known people who had. There was always a change, but she couldn’t sense any.

  “Get in,” he commanded again, drawing her from her reverie.

  Reluctantly, she stood. Too tired and deflated to fight him.

  As she approached the vehicle she felt her wolf stir and that, at least, was comforting. Since meeting Evander, her wolf only came out of her shell when he was near, and the longer they were around each other the more her wolf’s confidence grew. Her wolf trusted Evander, but she couldn’t bring herself to do the same.

  They rode a few miles in silence before Evander asked, “Why’d you take off like that?”

  Her cheeks singed in humiliation. “If you’re going to make me uncomfortable, I’m going to get out.”

  As if he were worried she’d do as threatened, his foot jerked off the accelerator and the car slowed considerably. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I just want to know what’s going on. I want to know that you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine.” Her voice came out too brittle, and she knew he recognized the lie in her words when he turned to look at her. She avoided his gaze by turning her own head to stare out the window.

  “Beth, if something’s wrong you can talk to me. I’m not just your Alpha, I’m your mate.”

  Her head jerked back around. “You’re not my Alpha. You’re just some shmuck who saved me and fooled my wolf.”

  “Fooled your wolf?”

  She scented his anger even before she saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

  “What do you mean, fooled your wolf?”

  Christ! She should have kept her mouth shut. “Nothing.” She faced forward and crossed her arms over her chest. “Let it go.”

  The jeep began to slow, and Bethany panicked. “Don’t you dare stop this vehicle. I don’t want to talk about what’s bothering me, and if you try to force it, I’m walking!”

  The jeep eased to a halt and Evander turned in his seat to scowl at her. When she reached for the door handle, it locked and her angry ga
ze cut to his.

  “I mean it! I don’t want to talk. Feed me or let me out.”

  Evander regarded her for several tense moments before his scowl relaxed, and he blew out a frustrated breath. Turning forward, he shifted the jeep into gear and hit the gas. “I thought you weren’t hungry,” he muttered.

  “I lied.”

  Evander drove into town and stopped at a little café. Full windows in the front showed a small restaurant with only a few tables occupied by patrons. Exiting the vehicle, he raced to get Bethany’s door as he helped her from the jeep. Bethany accepted his hand, but only because the jeep was taller than normal, and she was worried about falling flat on her face if she attempted to get out unassisted.

  On the sidewalk, Evander kept his hand locked just above her elbow as he led her into the diner and directed her toward a booth near the window. Once seated, a plump waitress arrived and the lines in her face smoothed out as she beamed a smile at Evander. “Good evening, Kane. Long time no see.”

  Evander smiled warmly at the woman and reached across the table to snag Bethany’s hand. “Good to see you, Vi.” He’s eyes slid to Bethany. “This is Beth. My mate.”

  Bethany felt herself blush, and tried to pull her hand from his, but he only tightened his grip. The woman, Vi, turned to Bethany with shock, quickly replaced with a teary-eyed smile. “Oh, Kane! It’s about time. I’m so happy for you!” Without asking, the woman bent and enveloped Bethany in a French fry scented hug. “So happy for you both!” The woman beamed. When she finally pulled back, Bethany smiled and looked from her to Evander, uncertain how to respond.

  “Th-thank you.”

  Vi clucked her tongue and stared at Bethany as if taking her in for the first time. “Oh, but she’s gorgeous!”

  Bethany felt herself blush again and repeated, “Thank you.”

  “So, what’ll it be?” Vi pulled a pen from her hair and a pad of paper from her apron. “I assume you want the usual, Kane, but what about your wife?”

  Wife? The word set Bethany on edge, and she eyed the restaurant wondering if any of the other patrons were shifters and could scent the lack of claiming. She felt like a fraud.