He growled, his nose dipping down to my cheek where it traced out some indecipherable message. "It will only hurt a moment."
He seemed to wait. For my acknowledgement of his promise. Like I had no idea what to expect. Men. "I know."
That barely audible reply launched his thrust.
Deep. Piercing. I clawed a handhold into the supple flesh of his upper back and hissed, harpooned.
The sting vanished as quickly as it had occurred.
But the amazing force of his hardness lodged deep inside me made me want to wiggle my hips. Dance with him. Embedding him even deeper. So he couldn't ever leave me. I slid my palms down his powerful back to the firmer lower curve lacking the supple mounds of muscle around his shoulders and rocked my hips, turning my lips to the firm cup of his ear. "Please move, Hostillian. I need you to move."
His solid shaft slid out, plunging back into my tight channel, wedging me open more and more with each of his thrusts until he settled his firm groin against mine, rocking as if to make certain he'd wormed his way in as deeply as possible.
Gods. Those hips just shoved mine wherever he needed them to be. He felt amazing. Hard. Thick. Throbbing. Move, dammit.
He did. So fast. So wildly. I had to latch my ankles together at his lower back. As he slapped my ass with what had to be his balls. Gods. The sensation. So perfect with his iron rod rubbing every inch of my inner walls. No, scraping. It's like no matter what he did inside me he just kept filling me. Wedging in more tightly. Striking that tiny place I'd heard of women having. Knew I had now because of the way he made me gasp and clutch at the flexed muscles of the arms he used to prop himself up so he could fuck with his slim hips.
He'd shifted into a machine. A gloriously perfect machine now staring down at me with fiery Wolf eyes that made me wish he'd never stop rocking me. That his hardening cock wouldn't burst the uncontrollable bubble of need building inside me. That if I clawed hard enough, he'd think about the pain of my peeling off his flesh instead of the ecstasy he had to feel and never let this moment end. Like my welling scream. Gods. To scream. But the students might hear. Fear for me. I grated my teeth and tried to swallow the howl.
The phantom cry shook me deep inside my chest.
Forced my head back. My eyes shut. All I could do was maintain my grip on Hostillian's rock-hard body. And hope he'd take pity on me.
His body went completely rigid.
Freezing. Around me. Inside me.
Suddenly, his cock jerked. Deep inside me as he hissed.
Not a howl. No declaration of Wolf taking possession. Just a wicked exhalation. Like he'd burned himself inside me. But I couldn't look. Dare not suck in a breath. Just hang on. Or I'd burst into a million bits.
He wedged some fingers underneath my thigh and started pumping that sweet lance in and out of my slick channel again.
Slicker by far now than moments before he froze. Greased with his seed. Yes. His. But he didn't seem to take note of that little detail.
His fingers wrenched until I slid my legs from his narrow waist. He shoved my thigh up to my elbow and squirmed around to thrust into me from some other angle.
I couldn't move anymore. Couldn't flinch the way he'd locked me down. But I could open my eyes. Stare into the determined glowing gaze overhead. What is he thinking?
Inches away, he studied me, pounding into me slower and slower.
Gazing into my eyes. Like a man intent on understanding. What? That I'd enjoyed my dance with him? That I'd caught his seed? Could he even begin to guess my feelings for him? That I could never be happy with any other man? Not after lying beneath him. Welcoming him inside me. Trembling and pleading wrapped inside all of his protective muscles. He had to know. Had to sense my weakness. Didn't he? Would he? Or had my body just been convenient for him?
But he'd held me. Loved me. Even if only for convenience. Now, I can move on. Leave. Face the wilderness alone. Never wonder what life would have been like without Hostillian.
With one last weak thrust, his weight settled atop mine, his gaze still commanding I stare into his yellow Wolf eyes.
No. This can't end. I need more. Him. With me. Driving away everything while our hips thrust mindlessly against each other. That's reason to live, right?
He had no idea how much I needed to cry. To sob. To make everything vanish the way he had miraculously done with his touch and kiss. I pulled my fingernails out of his shoulders and snaked my arms around the strength of his neck.
Won't let go. Won't let him leave.
He rumbled with a faint growl, dropped his nose to my cheek, and slid his stubbled face along my skin until he couldn't move anymore against the pillow.
No biting. He hadn't claimed me. Why would he? I'm Josie. He can't stand being in the same room with me. If he pushed away, rose, climbed from the bed, I'd die. He can't. I snuggled my cheek against the firm shell of his ear and squeezed my arms tighter around his head and shoulders. "Please don't go. Don't let go." Gods. What must he think of me now? I'm weak. A joke with all that hanging onto him and begging like that!
Chapter Four
I could have sank into Josie's sleek curves with her pleas. Stay? Hold her? How paradoxical. I was the one thing she despised. Why the confusion?
And how I had choked back Wolf and avoided my Wolfskin, I don't know. But the rattle of Josie's heart quieted beneath me with Wolf's. He had enough sense to stay in the chasm. Or I'd have to resort to drastic measures like running my furred tail through the moonlight until I could control Wolf completely again. Josie didn't seem to want me to leave based on her last words. Just what does she want then?
Josie. Oh, Josie.
Her sleek curves pressed into my chest, abs, and groin.
Demanded I face her. Confront the one thing that haunted me for over half my life. How? She's everything I ever wanted. Yet, she can't stand having me in the same room with her. I think. She just begged me to stay. Maybe because of the sex. I had made love to her. Gods. Yes. To appease Wolf. To ensure she wouldn't despise me even more for crawling into her bed and sniffing her. Well, Wolf wasn't leaving after he took control and bullied his way through the doorway. He'd crawled into my nose and insisted I smell her. I had no choice but to cooperate or lose every grip I had on reality and take her in Wolf form. That would have been a fiasco after Wolf learned she was a virgin.
How in the hell had she kept her maidenhead all these years? So slim. Beautiful. A woman like her attracted attention from all sorts of Shifters. The answer had to lay in this horrible thing she refused to confess. Her secret.
Not for long. I'd hear her story and decide if she had any reason to rant like an insane woman. Because she sure as hell isn't ranting now. More like cooing. Touching. Kissing. Mating. All these things brought her back to being a Normal. Brought out the woman she kept hidden inside her. Helped calm her. That's what she needs. Calming. And no man had ever brought her to this moment before. Everyone heard how she refused two worthy Shifters.
Why had she remained a virgin for so long?
This female is full of mysteries. Puzzles that require solving. And if she thinks I'll just let her climb on her stallion and ride out of here at sunrise, she's wrong. Blame it on Wolf. Blame it on warm curves and a throbbing pulse clinging to me where she lay trapped beneath my chest. But a real man wouldn't allow a distraught woman to wander off into danger. I ran my palm down her ribs to the hard little swell of her hip.
I'd gain her trust. Just because it deserved to be gained. Because she opened herself to me. Gave me the gift of her virginity. Welcomed me. I owed her respect. The one thing I should have given her all along. But she's so reckless. I've had to fight her defiance and the confrontations for so many years. To save face.
Why did she challenge me, over and over, until I thought I'd just relocate to another clan? Find myself some peace. Escape Wolf's demands for mating. Maybe W
olf would focus on another female too. But she'd returned to her sire's lodge. Saved me from losing all the connections and status I'd gained during my teens.
Too many questions arose from Wolf's antics. Stupid animal. We just needed to get comfortable so we could sleep. So I can think clearly again. I rolled off her warm softness onto the softer cooler bedding onto my side.
Those solid little arms didn't release me, kept her with me as I rolled. Her chin stayed tucked tightly against my shoulder and head as I shifted position.
Mine, Wolf said smugly.
Wolf and Josie are as determined as usual. I choked down a chuckle.
Maybe I'm crazy for thinking her a weak female. She could obviously hold her own. Even when a Wolf took what he wanted. But she isn't ranting. Nor yelling. Glaring at me? No. All those curves are molded against me, right where they needed to be. As if she wants to stay. I ran a palm from the top of her head down to her bumpy spine where her silken hair fell away to the bed. "Let go, Josie. And roll over. So we can sleep."
She sighed, almost groaned, moving with reluctantance without shooting me a glance. Surely I'd angered her. But she scooted her tight little ass into my groin and edged her shoulders back into my chest with a few graceful moves. So sweetly I couldn't help but snake an arm around her tiny flat waist and solid ribs to pull the warmth of her even closer against me. Into my humming Wolf.
Mine, he snarled.
You have to convince her of that. I tucked an arm under the pillow, shifting the lump of goose down to where she could lay her head on the mass's other end.
The top of her head brushed my chin.
Just barely. But she fit right between my thighs and chin. Perfectly. Where I could wrap around her.
Mine, Wolf snarled protectively.
Oh. Yes. He didn't need to remind me to protect this one thing.
The air eased out of Josie's body in one long exhalation, easing the tension from her form.
Like she sighed. Relieved. Just the way I felt. Fuck sunrise. She could sleep all day. I'd be right here. Protecting her.
****
Dear. Gods. It was so warm. So damned cozy in the bed that I didn't want to crack my eyes or crawl out of bed. Augustus surely had plans to keep me busy today. Hell. My uncle and his ideas always tried to force me into some cockamamie scheme of his. Chores. Mating. Ugh.
Something brushed my belly.
I jumped.
Leapt. Into a sitting position from the weight of a thigh in camouflage pants wedged between my legs from behind and a massive muscled arm wrapped around my waist.
Hostillian.
He looked back at me from where he stretched out on his side, slowly drawing his other arm out from under a pillow like a slow-moving methodical serpent's slither, tucking the hand under his head, muscles flexing in that arm, his other arm sliding down my waist to rest at the bend where my thighs and belly almost touched.
Against the thatch of my pubic hair.
Sex.
We'd had sex. He made love to me. Not just slammed me down and rammed his cock inside me. And the curious look in his eyes only reiterated his participation had been an act of love, even if the proclamation was to the shadowy room.
The scent of cooked eggs and bacon wafted around me.
Set my stomach into a growling fest.
One of his black eyebrows arched.
Questioningly. Well, my gut spoke for itself.
His fingers started gently rubbing the skin where my hip curved around my side.
Tickling me. Gods damn, this is awkward. But he'd made love to me. And he wasn't shouting orders. Yet. Should I find a way to high tail it out of here? Or linger? After all, he kept me here in bed with him. He slept with me. After I'd asked him to. And he hadn't let go of me. I have to still be asleep. Dreaming.
"I'm ready for breakfast if you are." His calm quietly-spoken words shook me from where I stared at his strong jawline.
Oh to throw myself at his chest and burrow into the strength of him. Again. To finally not be alone. "Yes." I blinked a couple thousand times.
A smile curled into his left cheek.
Coy or accusing? Knowing the truth behind that gesture might not leave me feeling all happy. If he's just smug, he can keep it to himself.
The arm at my waist glided up my torso, tightening around me, pulling me backward toward his serpentine half smile.
All the way back to where I pressed against the soft bed and his solid bare chest. Hairless chest. Arms. Amazing supple flesh. My subconscious keeps thinking he's snake-like. Why can't I buy into that? Why can't it bother me enough to push me away from him? Oh. Dear. Gods. This can't be right.
His hand whispered across my ribs, caressed over the side of one of my domed breasts, to my shoulder and curled its fingers around my cheek. "You," he almost chuckled while whispering, "look confused." He studied me.
Maybe I am. But he reeks of me because he made love to me. And he's so close with my scent still painting the shadow of stubble where he normally shaved his facial hair into the perfect sinister black circle beard. That was Hostillian. Dark. Mysterious. And completely sinister after making love to me.
His thumb brushed my cheek's flesh.
What can I possibly be confused about? Everything. And just what am I supposed to say?
He didn't wait for my answer, leaning down, covering my mouth with the soft suction of a warm tender kiss.
One I could dangle from all day. Forever. Fooled by my own female scent.
My body melted, seasoned beneath the salty taste and smell of my sex, like a rump roast warming in his cauldron. His kiss even sizzling the juices right out of me. To pool between my legs.
He didn't seem to care.
His lips kneaded along, sucking kisses across my face, almost driving away the presence of his hand.
The hand sliding down my neck. His fingers gently lingering, conforming to the curve, as if searching for the patter of my pulse. If only that firm palm would brush lower. Everywhere.
His mouth marched to my ear.
Kissing and kissing. Sending wave after wave of skittering gooseflesh across my body. Knotting my nipples. I had to grab onto his massive iron bicep to keep from flinching.
My accursed body just wanted to writhe against the pliant hardness of his. Wallow a hole through the bed. Wiggle until his hands ventured to other places begging for his touch.
He growled a deep throaty sound of possession and leaned the point of his nose into my ear. "You'll be staying, won't you?" His weight shifted. His head retreated to lock a demanding stare on me.
Stay? After how he treated me in bed, maybe there is something different in his behavior. Would asking affect his content façade? Better to learn now than find out later. "I thought you hated me."
An almost-comical twist to his mask grabbed his handsome features. "Hate you?" He didn't blink as his words hummed the faintest chuckle. "Who said I hated you?" His grasp slid away from my neck.
Down to curve infectious little tickles around the underside of one my breasts. Dragging his demanding gaze along with it.
His thumb whisked across my sensitive flesh to brush the taut pearl of the happy nipple.
Gods. It was all I could do to remain still. But he'd answer me.
His gaze snapped to mine. "Is my touch one of hate?" he gurgled a growl while whispering.
Definitely not as long as I get what I want. I wagged my head.
He winked. "When the boys have left for the fields, I'll show you how much I hate you." He grabbed my nipple between two fingers and squeezed the aching flesh, leaning toward my face.
Empty jolting need shot from his pinch down to my aching groin.
"You stay here." He shot me another wink but an inch away. "I'll send them off and come back to prove you're wrong."
Oh how he
needed to kiss me. Pin me down. Rub away the ache low in my belly as I wrapped my legs around his thrusting hips. I just wanted to grab his shaved head and wildly pump my hips to end this madness of need.
His friendly gaze pinched with seriousness. "What's wrong?"
Well, forget avoiding the question. "You're so different now."
He chuckled outright. "They say everything changes after a good night's sleep." He carefully placed his palms on the mattress and maneuvered over my body onto his feet beside the bed.
More like a good night's sex.
His camo pants hung loosely at his hips for an instant until he jimmied with the waistband, pulling both sides together and securing the button. "You," he whispered, "don't walk in front of the fireplace until you've put clothes on." A wicked smile consumed his features. "Everyone can see through the hearth."
What? Like he had. Who else had?
My gut twisted.
He chuckled and angled his long powerful body bulging with amazing musculature toward the table across the long room.
Clan leaders or those earning pack leader status like Hostillian got nice perks. One like this large room. But he's so oversized anyway. He needed a room big enough to house his long bed. One that swallowed little old me. The Big Bad Beast's bed proved mighty big. Somebody would have to rewrite Little Red Riding Hood.
He stopped, the taught muscles straining the red scratches on his wide back blocked the view of ceramic bowl and pitcher of water he kept on that end of the room. Those dancing muscles in his upper back showed he poured some water into the bowl and washed his face and hands.
Cleaned away my scent. Before the students would catch a whiff. Maybe. But a Wolf wasn't one to wash away the scent of its mate. Well, for someone so anxious to keep me here, he hadn't marked me. Nor had I seen a hint of his Wolf other than its glowing golden eyes. He hadn't lost control during sex enough to shift. So, he didn't want me around enough to bite me and keep me as his mate. Right? Well, that doesn't matter. Really. And if I washed up too, the youths probably wouldn't know we'd had sex. Okay, that had to be obvious since we slept in the same room together. Maybe it didn't matter if we smelled guilty.
Big Bad Beast (Werescape) Page 6