I greedily lapped it all up, feeling an immense satisfaction at having pleased her. I’d never made love with a woman who burned quite as hot as she did, and strangely, something about her made my inner beast growl. For once, the two souls within my body were in complete damn harmony.
Finally, her cries quieted into a sigh of contentment as she relaxed back down onto the bed. “Wow,” she breathed, eyes closed. “That was really good. I think I’m ready to turn in now.” Her lips curled up into a smile.
“Hell no, you aren’t,” I growled, pulling out a condom from my wallet before stripping off the rest of my clothes.
I tore the package open with my teeth and quickly took out the latex. In seconds, I sheathed my cock. Her eyes flew open as I pulled her up into a sitting position and removed her tank top.
“You’re going to come at least a few more times before I’m done with you, darling.”
“Well, that sounds really promising.”
Her lips curved into a seductive smile that I quickly wiped off her face when I lifted her onto my lap and impaled her with my stiff shaft.
“Holy shit!” she groaned, sucking in a breath. Her eyes closed before she moaned in pleasure.
I couldn’t help my own moan at the feel of her tight slit squeezing my rock-hard cock. Her inner walls pulsed around me, hot and wet, and it was so exquisitely good that I almost came right there. But I wasn’t some horny teenager who couldn’t control himself. I took a deep breath through my nostrils to calm myself before gripping her hips and starting to move her against me.
“Celine, open your eyes,” I demanded. “Look at me while you’re riding me.”
Her eyes fluttered open, blazing gold, and I could see my own irises glowing gold in their reflection. She slid herself up on my shaft and then back down, slowly working my cock in and out of her. Hissing, I squeezed the globes of her curvy ass, and then I took one of her nipples into my mouth. Her breasts hovering close by was too great a temptation to resist. I was rewarded with her growing mewls of pleasure, and I began pumping my hips up to meet hers, forcing her to increase her speed, until I could hear the sound of her flesh slapping against mine, our sweat-slicked skin gliding against one another.
Her inner walls clenched around me, and she cried out, “Gunner,” before she broke apart, shuddering all around me.
I growled before sitting up, gripping her hips, and rolling her onto her back. I started thrusting into her harder as I got closer to my own peak. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head with another orgasm just as I felt the wave of my climax approach. My entire field of vision went white, hitting me with the force of an oncoming train. Colors exploded in front of my eyes, swirling kaleidoscopes, seeming to coalesce into two separate figures dragged together like magnets and then merging as one, drawing all the colors into one big sphere that eventually burst into shimmering light.
I might have tried to dissect what the hell I’d just seen if my mind weren’t so completely overtaken by the sheer, unadulterated pleasure of being inside Celine and fucking her hard. My body convulsed, and I collapsed, breathing hard into her neck.
Holy shit! What the fuck just happened?
CHAPTER 9
Celine
“DAMN,” GUNNER MUTTERED INTO my ear, his weight pressing me into the mattress, his heart galloping against my chest. “That was the best orgasm I’ve had in . . . shit . . . since I don’t know when.”
I knew I should answer him, but I couldn’t. I was trying to avoid a damn panic attack, something that was becoming increasingly difficult with Gunner on top of me. “Can’t . . . breathe . . .” I managed to choke.
“Oh. Damn. I’m sorry.” Gunner immediately rolled off me, concern in his eyes, which had faded to silver gray once more. When we had been having sex, his irises had been a fiery gold. “Did I hurt you?” He reached out to stroke my cheek, a tender gesture that made my heart ache. “I thought you were enjoying it.”
“I was,” I quickly shot back. “I did. I am.” Realizing I was babbling, I grasped his fingers, pressing them to my lips to stop myself from talking. It was the truth. I had enjoyed myself immensely, more than I had with any other lover I’d ever had. At first, I’d simply chalked it up to his raw sexual prowess, but that was before our simultaneous orgasm when the swirling colors had danced before my eyes, bringing a message from the gods and goddesses that every shifter waited to receive, some even going their entire lives without ever getting it.
Gunner is my true mate, and I can’t have him.
“Good,” he replied, sounding relieved. He pulled me in close, snuggling against my chest. “I was worried there for a moment at the end. It’s been a while for me,” he admitted. “I thought maybe I’d lost it.”
“You haven’t lost a damn thing,” I assured him, trying to sound relaxed and satisfied, like I should be, instead of strung tight as a bow.
This certainly wasn’t his fault, any more than it was mine. From his reaction, I gathered he had no idea what the vision we’d just shared meant—or that it even was a vision.
It hurt like a motherfucker that the one thing I wanted—him—wasn’t remotely possible. Not now . . . not ever.
Damn. Why do I have such fucked-up luck?
Blinking back tears, I took a breath and tried to distract myself with what he’d said to me. “I wouldn’t have guessed it had been a while for you,” I mused, running a hand down the side of his rib cage where his skin was smooth and taut.
He stiffened a little, but I could tell by the way his pulse was slowing he was on his way to la-la land. “Had a fiancée,” he muttered sleepily, burying his face into my hair. “She left me. She wanted more . . . human.”
I felt a pang in my heart at his words. There was a serious heartbreak and pain lying beneath them. It was a story I knew was all too familiar among those who had been changed. Once turned, they often lost their friends, family, or loved ones—many times, all of them. It was hard to try to coexist closely with humans when half of you wasn’t one. I was glad I’d been born into a shifter family. At least I’d been raised with people who understood me. I had been taught from an early age how to blend in among the human population. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for Gunner.
A thought popped into my head about that, but looking up, I saw he was fast asleep. I stayed where I was, tucked into his arms, for a few moments, and then I gingerly eased myself out and gently tucked a blanket around him. He stirred once, mumbling something, and I couldn’t help but smile at how peaceful he looked in sleep, almost childlike. Certainly nothing like the forbidding hybrid shifter and ex-soldier I knew he was.
We could stay with him, my inner wolf suggested. No one would blame us, and after all, he is our true mate.
Her words were so tempting . . . but, no, I couldn’t do that to Dad. Though my relationship with my dad had grown distant and strained as of late, he was still the only family I had left, and I loved him dearly. And, as much as I hated Carter, if Dad needed me to marry the bastard, then I would do it . . . for him.
I began pulling on my clothes and boots. Marrying Carter was the only way to make sure Dad’s company stayed intact. I realized there was no point in holding out anymore, not when the gods and goddesses had shown me my true mate was someone Dad would never in a million years agree to let me marry.
Finished dressing, I stood over Gunner, taking one last long look at him. He is nothing like Carter. That was probably why I had been drawn to Gunner in the first place.
Pushing down my emotions and swallowing the lump in my throat, I turned and left before I could change my mind and crawl back into bed with him. I knew, if I did, it would be for forever.
CHAPTER 10
Gunner
I AWOKE, CRACKING MY eyelids, and stared into an unfamiliar room. I quickly sat up, trying to figure out where the hell I was. Gray walls and floor-to-ceiling windows stared back at me, and I swung my legs over the bed to get up. Then I realized I was stark naked rather than in m
y usual boxers.
What the hell?
The smell of wild roses, sunshine, and sex hit my nostrils, jolting my brain fully awake. Twisting around to look back at the bed, I half expected to find a naked woman with wild raven curls sprawled across the white cotton, and I felt a pang of disappointment when I saw only rumpled sheets.
Celine, I remembered.
I detected an ache in my heart that surprised and bewildered me. I hadn’t known her very long, and it had been clear that this was only meant to be a one-night stand.
So, why the fuck do I miss her?
Leaning over, I sniffed the sheets, which were still laden with her scent. I growled, recalling the feel of her satiny skin beneath my lips, the sensation of her locks wrapping around my fingers, her sweet, melodic voice crying out my name over and over in ecstasy.
Damn . . . what a night . . .
A flash of black lace caught my eye, peeking out from between the sheets. Tugging on it, I pulled out a pair of black lace panties, and my breath caught in my throat. Somehow, this scrap of fabric was the confirmation that the woman I’d had mind-blowing sex with last night truly existed.
Shit! And, now, she’s gone.
I felt another pang, this one sharper than before, and I clenched my hand around the fabric, suddenly angry with myself.
Why the hell am I acting like some damn jilted lover?
We’d had what we’d had, and she’d gone back to her normal life, just as I should be going back to mine. Not that I had anywhere to be since today was Saturday. Still, I had laundry to wash and fold and shirts to iron, and a book was sitting on my nightstand, waiting for me to finish it.
Damn, is this what I’ve been reduced to? Security guard by day and a lonely man by night?
When had I started to be afraid to live my life?
Since I no longer knew what my life was supposed to be about.
But the longing in my heart did not fade, and I knew, for whatever reason, it wouldn’t until I found Celine again. Somehow, she’d wormed her way into my head, and I was going to have to find her so I could pry her ass out of it.
Only problem was . . .
Where the hell am I going to look?
* * *
“Well, you’re back late,” Jimmy remarked as I shut the door behind me. “For a while there, I was worried you were never going to come home.”
“Yeah, same here.” I wiped my dirty, rain-slicked boots and pushed my wet hair out of my eyes.
I’d sent him a quick text earlier this morning to let him know I was going to be running errands and would be home early afternoon, but that had turned into early evening as I scoured the city for any signs I could find of Celine. A downpour had caught me at sunset, forcing me to finally make my way back to Jimmy’s.
“For a while out there, I thought I was going to get swept straight out into the Hudson River.”
“It would have served you right if you had been,” Emily declared briskly, bustling into the living room with a towel and a blanket.
She handed the first to me, and I gratefully accepted it, patting myself dry.
“I have no idea what was going through your head, walking about in the rain like that. You could have caught pneumonia.”
“Obviously, I wasn’t thinking very much,” I answered with a rueful smile intended to disarm her.
There was no point in telling her I couldn’t catch pneumonia—or any of the usual human diseases for that matter. At least not according to Guadalupe, the wolf-shifter chieftain of the Achamuco tribe who had taken in my squad, teaching us everything they knew about how to survive as shifters.
“I apologize.”
Slightly mollified, Emily nodded. “Sit down and let me bring you some coffee, so you can warm up.”
“What kept you so long, bro?” Jimmy asked, putting down his newspaper. “Must have been important. You didn’t even stop by the house for a change of clothes.” He raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “I just decided I wanted to do some exploring. I was struck by the need to get my feet moving.” The latter was true, and while I had gotten to see a fair amount of the city, I’d only been looking for one thing, and I hadn’t found her.
“Oh, yeah?” Jimmy smiled. “Well, I’m glad you finally decided to get out of the house.” He waited until Emily had brought me a mug of coffee, and when she left, he added in a lower tone, “I guess hopping in the sack with a new lady must have been good for you, after all!” He waggled his eyebrows.
I would have laughed if not for the fact that I was still highly confused about what the hell had happened between Celine and me last night. I settled for a faint smile instead. “I guess you’re right. She sure was something else.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Jimmy carefully studied me. “You planning on seeing her again?”
“Don’t know,” I retorted with a shrug, trying to act nonchalant. “She was gone when I woke up this morning. So, unless we run into each other, it’s doubtful.” I sipped the coffee Emily had brewed for me.
“Damn. That’s too bad,” Jimmy replied, his mouth turning down a little. “Seemed like the two of you really hit it off.”
You have no idea how great we were together.
* * *
Later, after Jimmy and Emily had retired for the night, I showered and changed. Tired of being cooped up in my room, I slipped back downstairs and into the living room. Sitting in the armchair, I pulled out my cell and quickly tapped on the Chicago number.
“Hello?” a sleep-roughened voice answered.
“Hey, Eli. Sorry to wake you. It’s Gunner.”
“Hey, Gunner.” Eli cleared his throat. “It’s been a while.”
After my squad and I had been discharged, we’d all gone back to our respective homes across the country, and we hadn’t spoken since.
“Yeah, too long. I’ve been meaning to call, but you know how it is. Life got in the way. Anyway, the good thing is that I’m settling in New York City . . . at least for a while. How are things with you?”
“Eh,” Eli answered, “I’m adjusting. There’s a fair number of hybrid shifters around here in Chicago, so I’ve been learning a lot, though most of it has been the hard way and not without some danger. But, bigger than that, what are you doing in New York, bro?”
“I moved up here. Got a job as a security guard for a museum, and I’m staying with a friend until I can figure things out a bit more.”
“I see.” Eli paused. “Julia with you?”
“No. She didn’t take it too well when I showed her what I really was. So, we broke up.”
“Man, I’m sorry. That shit has to be rough.”
“Yeah, well.” I was surprised to realize talking about Julia wasn’t nearly as difficult as it used to be. “Shit happens. I’ve got bigger problems now.”
“Oh, yeah? What did you run into? You stepped on someone’s toes already?”
“Not exactly,” I answered with a snort. “Have you ever met an actual pure-blooded wolf-shifter?”
“Sure, I know a few. Most of the shifters around here are jaguars, bears, and mountain lions. But wolf-shifters seem to be about as rare to the shifter community as we hybrids are to the supernatural community. What the hell were you doing with a pure-blooded shifter?”
“I had sex with her.”
Eli laughed. “Oh, damn. Did you know she was a pureblood before you fucked her?”
“Yeah, I did. She told me, along with the fact that she’d never met a hybrid wolf-shifter before.” I launched into the rest of the story, telling Eli about how we’d gotten a room and how I’d had a weird hallucination. “It was pretty crazy,” I finished, shaking my head, remembering it all over again. “And she was gone before I could ask her about it.”
“Did she experience the same thing?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I fell asleep without asking her, and like I said, she was gone when I woke up. She did seem a little uncomfortable afterward, though. Come to think about it . . . maybe eve
n a little freaked out about something. Although she told me everything was fine when I asked.”
“Hmm.” Eli was silent for a long while. “That’s interesting because I thought she would have . . . except maybe . . .”
“What?” I snapped. Eli’s mutterings were setting me on edge. “Spit it out, Eli.”
“Gunner, what exactly do you know about this woman?”
“Not much,” I admitted. “I spent most of today trying to track her down, but all I could find out from a few people I asked was that she’s some rich guy’s daughter.” This explained the free luxury room last night. Celine’s father probably owned the place.
“So, she didn’t really tell you anything about pure-blooded shifters other than the fact that she was one?”
“No. I mean, I know enough about them. Purebloods can change into their full beast, and we can’t. Why? Is there something else I should know?”
Eli sighed. “Well, from what I understand, purebloods are different from us in a few other ways. I mean, apart from the fact that purebloods are born, not made, and unlike hybrids, they can actually get pregnant.”
My jaw dropped. “Oh.” Shit. Thank God I used a condom.
“And there’s something else.”
“What is it?” I replied impatiently.
“Those hallucinations you had? It sounds a hell of a lot like what my friend experienced when he found his true mate.”
“His what?”
Eli sighed. “I have a buddy at work who happens to be a pure-blooded wolf-shifter. He was telling me about his wife and mentioned how lucky he was to have her because she was his true mate. Apparently, every pure-blooded shifter has one, but not very many ever find theirs. He said something about having a vision, and that was how he knew that she was the one. And that light show you were describing to me seems like it could have been something like that.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” I protested. “Why would I have had a vision like that if I’m not a pureblood? Guadalupe never mentioned any of this true-mate shit to us.”
“Look, man, I’m not an expert on any of this bullshit,” Eli replied. “And maybe Guadalupe didn’t mention any of that because, as far as I know, hybrids don’t have true mates. Female hybrids can’t even reproduce. But we can produce human offspring with a human female, and I’m guessing that means it wouldn’t be pure-blooded with a shifter. I don’t know why the fuck this is happening to you, man. I’m sorry. Besides, I’m probably totally off with my info.”
Operation Wolf: Gunner ~ Sedona Venez Page 5