by Sarra Cannon
Zack dropped to one knee just as Jack and Cade ran into the room.
“Oh hell...” Jack took one look at her and turned to face the wall.
Cade kept his eyes on hers, he kept advancing. The Chaser picked up a discarded sheet and threw it over her body. She moaned as the fabric touched her over-sensitive skin, abrading her nipples. The soft touch sent shivers through her body. The heat inside her rose and with it the need to be filled.
Gaby heard a thump as Phoenix kneed the skin as he tried to rise. Zack fell onto his back.
Cade worked on the knots at her wrists. She bit her lip to stop herself from moaning every time his skin touched hers. Gaby had to keep her eyes on Phoenix. Couldn’t lose her focus. The need to be filled was taking her sanity. She bit down harder, tasting the metallic tang of blood.
Phoenix straddled the downed skin, his knees at Zack’s shoulders.
“Hey, big guy. Let’s cuff the skin. He needs to go in,” Jack spoke. His back was still to Gaby.
“He’s going to die,” Phoenix growled, his eyes were glowing.
“Phoenix, we need to take him in.”
Phoenix casually reached down with one hand and snapped the skin’s neck. There was a sound of fabric shredding as he partially erupted, sharp deadly claws extended on his hands.
“You should look away,” Cade said as he undid the last bind.
She couldn’t. Didn’t want to even if she could.
There was a tearing sound as Phoenix ripped the skins head off. There was no regenerating from that kind of damage. Relief flooded her as her need to be taken grew. Gaby tried to pull herself into a ball, but the touch sent shock waves through her pulling forth a drawn out moan.
“Get. Out. Take that with you,” Phoenix gestured at the body in the corner, his deep voice washed over her. Desire coursed through her veins.
“The babies,” she groaned the words like she was already in mid orgasm.
Phoenix growled, “Cade and Jack will stay with them.”
There was a sound of frustration from Jack followed by a door closing.
The bed dipped and Phoenix pulled her into his arms. Her skin felt impossibly tight. Her exposed nerve endings sent shivers of desire all the way through her body.
“What did he do to you?”
She swallowed hard. Her body literally shook with need. “He bit me.” Having Phoenix so close by. Smelling his strong male scent.
Phoenix roared in anger.
“Did he touch you?”
She shook her head. There was a sigh of relief.
“Look at me, sweetheart.”
She did and was met by his dark, concerned eyes.
“Please, Phoenix.” She couldn’t sit still, she rubbed her thighs together trying to relieve some of the ache. It became worse. “Please...his bite did something to me.”
He growled again. “You’re aroused.” He turned away from her and when he looked back his eyes were clouded...he looked hurt. “Another man aroused you.”
Anger helped her fight the need. She slapped him. “His bite did this to me. I never wanted him. He wanted to mate with me, said that his bite would arouse me. It was against my will and certainly not for him.”
His eyes softened, “I’m sorry. I’m a jealous asshole. I nearly lost you.”
“You’re right, you’re an asshole. I would never...,” she moaned.
He touched her lips, there was another featherlight touch on her wrists and again on her throat where the skin had bitten her. He growled. The sound menacing. It turned her on in ways he would never know. “You’re hurt.”
She shook her head, “I’m fine.”
“You have smears of blood on your chin and your forehead. We need to take you to Doc Devlin...”
“No. Please, Phoenix...” She looked him in the eye. “I’m fine.” She moaned as her skin tightened some more. Another trickle onto her thighs. There was not much control left in her.
His nostrils flared and his eyes darted down.
“I need you to fuck me, please.” When he didn’t respond right away. “Now.”
His eyes flew back to hers, they were glowing. His face taut with need. He nodded once. “I need to make something very clear.” He pulled his shirt over his head and she gasped at the sight. Male perfection. “Look at me, Gaby.”
Her eyes snapped to his. “It will be me making love to you. Not that skin.”
Back to his possessive bullshit. Her need for him increased. He ripped off his jeans, his cock jutted from his body and she gasped again, having to form a fist with her hands to prevent herself from touching him. His nostrils flared and his eyes dipped. She followed his gaze. When had she opened her legs? Almost without thinking, she widened them further. Somehow it helped to ease the ache.
“I said look at me.”
She did. Her big, bristling male kneeled on the bed, quickly covering her with his body.
Sweet contact, as hard muscle meshed with her softness. She moaned as he slid over her, coming to rest on his elbows. “Say it.” His erection pushed up against her core. She longed to rub herself up against the hard length of him, but his body held her captive.
“What?”
“Who is making love to you?” his eyes burned into hers.
“You are.”
His eyes narrowed, “Say my name.”
“Phoenix.”
His body tensed. His eyes were glowing, they were still narrowed on her.
“Please, Phoenix, please—”
He shoved into her in one hard thrust that had her coming instantly. She screamed his name. Phoenix wrapped his arm around her leg which tilted her pelvis and opened her even wider, all the while he kept on thrusting.
“Look at me,” he ground out.
Still riding the wave of her first orgasm and already she could feel the second one building. His jaw was tight, his mouth a thin white line. He roared her name and hot jets of semen filled her. He jerked into her deeply. The feeling had her spiralling over the edge a second time and in less than a minute. This time she hissed, her teeth and nails erupted and the need to mark him hit her hard as her orgasm ripped through her.
He collapsed onto her, breathing deeply. “So fucking hot. So sexy.” He nipped at her ear and again at her neck. She hissed again and a surge of energy rushed through her as her demon grew stronger. She gripped Phoenix’s shoulders and rolled putting him on to his back.
She snarled.
— —
Fangs, claws, hissing.
Phoenix felt his cock twitch back to life. Still the same vanilla cinnamon hair in a wild tangle down her back, those long stunning legs. Her breasts were much fuller, her areolas and nipples darker. Still the same Gaby he loved, only she had gone from being enticing and sexy to outright, drop dead, gorgeous. She hissed again and he very nearly lost his load. The tiny strip of hair at the apex of her thighs taunted him.
“Don’t move,” her voice was deeper, her eyes shone light green through the hazel. Her demon was growing stronger. She maneuvered her long limbs into a better position and sank down onto him, throwing her head back as soon as she hit balls.
It was his turn to moan.
Up...down. Slow and easy. She worked him with precision. Just watching her arch and moan as she took her pleasure from him made his balls pull up. He grit his teeth to keep from coming. When it came to Gaby, he had zero willpower. She moved faster. Sliding up and down in a delicious friction that he hoped would never end.
Sweat beaded on his brow. “Gaby,” he whispered so enthralled with her face, her eyes, her body, her. To think he had almost lost his female. In such a short time she had become everything to him. Now that she was back, there was no way he was letting her out of his sight. He grabbed her hips, anchoring her in place and drove into her.
Tight, wet, perfect.
She bared her fangs and hissed. Dropped forward and grabbed him by the shoulders, her nails digging in deep. “I said not to move.”
He ignored her, fl
ipping her onto her back instead. Gaby lunged at him. Her teeth were aimed at his throat. Phoenix managed to twist to the side just in time, but her fangs still sank into his shoulder. Not deep enough to do major damage, but deep enough to sting like a bastard. He continued to thrust into her tight sheath.
Gaby let go and let out a strangled sob. He stopped moving.
“Oh God...I’m so sorry.” His blood stained her lips. Strangely enough, he liked that she had bitten him. “My demon...” She glanced away from him and bit her lip.
“Don’t be sorry. You can bite me anytime, I plan on biting you back in the very near future.”
She gasped, “Does this mean we’re mated?”
He shook his head, “I have to bite you and spill my seed.”
“The Lores are so freaking sexist.”
“I don’t know if it will do any good, but I’ll look into it. Maybe some of the Lores need changing.”
“That would be great.”
“If it helps any, the bond is strengthened if the female bites the male as well.” He waggled his eyebrows. “You look disappointed. Does that mean you finally agree to us mating?”
She shook her head and her eyes clouded. “That skin said that my parents had given me to him. Can you believe that?”
Phoenix felt a rush of adrenaline at the mention of the male. If he wasn’t already dead, Phoenix would kill him all over again. He shook his head, not trusting his voice. His throat felt like it had closed up.
“He didn’t see what he was doing as rape because skin Lores state that I became his property once my blood parents gave me to him. The fact that my parents had given me up many years ago didn’t make one bit of difference.” She pursed her lips for a few beats. “I told him it would be rape and he had the audacity to get angry with me for saying such a thing.”
He pulled out of her, feeling like a complete jerk for the way he’d first acted. Deep down he knew that Gaby would never want to be with another man. He’d heard her rebuff the skin even though she had been in the throes of whatever his bite had done to her. Phoenix tried to move away, but she wrapped her arms around him.
“What I’m trying to say is, I’m not like that. I might be a skin, but I didn’t grow up with them. I’m aggressive and I like blood, but I would never kill an innocent. I would never hurt someone because a dumbass Lore said I could. I’m not sure if the whole species are like Zack was, but I’m sure as nuts not anything like him.”
“No, you’re not.” He cupped her chin.
Her eyes were back to normal now. They roamed his face, seeming to take him in. “I love you, Phoenix.”
His heart raced. Finally. “I think you may’ve knocked your head or maybe I knocked mine because you’re talking like a crazy person.” He was grinning so broadly that it felt like his face might crack.
“I said I love you, you big oaf. One thing that kept me going was that I hadn’t told you. I regretted that I’d never said it back even though I loved you first.”
He kissed her. “Not a chance, I loved you first. Do you finally agree to us mating, or do I get the admission of your feelings but not the commitment?”
“I still think you need to get to know my demon better.”
He slid back into her and she gasped.
“I think you might be right. So far I’m loving your demon, in fact I think I might start to love your demon more than you, which trust me is enormous amounts.”
She made a noise of disgust. “We’re one and the same, you can’t love one of us more than the other.”
“You’re finally catching on.” He nipped at her. Gaby squealed and slapped his rump driving his dick deeper into her. He grunted. She groaned. She took ahold of his ass. Claws dug in.
She eased her hold just a fraction. “Oops sorry, I’ll try and rein her in a bit.”
“I can take it.” He shoved in deeper and they both moaned.
“Skins struggle to be gentle.” She gasped as he thrust back in.
“Wolves can be highly aggressive.” He pulled out and whipped her onto her hands and knees, sinking into her in one swift move.
“We struggle with submission.” She twisted, grabbed him with her legs and knocked him flat on his back.
He put his hands behind his head and she straddled him taking him inside her hot, wet channel. “I think I’m going to enjoy being dominated...some of the time.”
“Oh honey”—she smiled a wide toothy grin that had his cock twitching inside her—“I think you’re going to love it. Hold on it’s going to be a wild ride.”
Phoenix grinned back and took hold of the headboard knowing that it wouldn’t be long before she let him claim her as his mate.
— —
It was an hour or so later when they finally emerged from the bedroom. Cade and Jack lounged on the sofa. They had checked on the babies who were still sleeping blissfully.
Jack grinned. “I never took you for a screamer.” His eyes were firmly on Phoenix.
“Shut it human, or you will bleed.”
“No, really, you obviously have some woman there.” His grin grew wider as he glanced at Gaby. “I’ve never heard a grown man make noises like that before. So freaking loud.”
Phoenix couldn’t help it as a low growl escaped. “Be careful.”
Jack chuckled.
“For once I have to agree with Jack,” Cade almost smiled. “I’ll call DCA. A clean-up crew will be here in five. We’ll need a statement from you within the next twenty-four hours. Jack and I will back you.”
“Thank you.” Phoenix threaded his fingers through Gaby’s. “Let’s get the girls.” Her hair was still tousled and her lips were swollen from his kisses, a sight he wanted to see as often as possible.
Chapter 11
One month later.
Phoenix put his hand onto the small of her back. He smiled down at her. I love you, he mouthed. He readjusted the small baby in his arms. Both girls slept, totally oblivious to the crowd that had gathered in their honor.
“A great day for our pack,” Gray’s gruff voice had her looking up. The Alpha held Ash’s hand. She’d learned that wolves enjoyed touching their mates whenever they were close. Phoenix’s hand caressed her back.
Her mate.
She would never tire of saying those words. It had taken less than a week after her demon had returned for them to seal the deal. Phoenix, it seemed, reveled in her demon. He couldn’t get enough of her even after her demon had come back to full strength.
Just as she suspected, he was a fantastic father.
“Phoenix, please step forward and name your pups. Let their names fly with the wind. Strengthened by pack and all of nature.”
Phoenix stepped forward, a light breeze ruffled his hair. “Gaby and I would like to name the girls together.”
Gray’s eyes widened for a few seconds before his lips pulled into a grin. Light shone through the great oak, causing dappled light to cross his face. He nodded, “Of course.”
They both stepped forward. A baby in each of their arms, with hands clasped in the middle. Phoenix squeezed her hand.
“Alexandra and Cameron.” they said in unison before pausing. They continued as rehearsed, “May your place in the pack strengthen and unite. May your lives be long and your contributions great. Know that you will always have a place as a member of the Wilderness pack.”
Some of the pack clapped, while others erupted and howled.
Her demon was back. Full strength. Yet her eyes stung. A hot tear slid down her cheek. She didn’t cry. Not normally. Yet knowing that her girls were accepted, that they would have a place to call their own made emotion well within her.
Phoenix slid his arm around her and pulled her into his warmth. Her place was with this man. Wherever he went. Whatever he wanted. Not that she’d give in easily. Her demon would fight for dominance just as his would push back. They would both always win in the end though, because they had each other.
Chapter 12
Adrenaline surged
through her system. Her fists pumped at her sides. Although she had been hot on his tail for ten minutes already, she had yet to break a sweat.
The demon blood up ahead of her made a desperate sound, making her grin. She was toying with him, could’ve had him at their first encounter but this was so much more fun. This bastard had brutally murdered four women including Macy, but he’d grown complacent and his fifth victim had escaped. The traumatized woman had shown great strength when she’d assisted the DCA with a description of her abductor, remembering small details like a tattoo on his left bicep. The information was enough to identify the killer as accountant, Jeff Butler. He’d been described as quiet but friendly by his neighbors. Little did they know of the savagery that he was capable of.
Keeping his victims for days so that he could torture them before finally, gratefully tearing their throats out and draining their blood.
Having worn Macy’s skin for all those weeks had made her feel some sort of kinship to the woman. Gaby looked forward to removing this scum from society. This way she could protect innocent human women from his vile existence.
Her only disappointment was that it would be over far too quickly, once she got her hands on him, he was dead.
The blood stumbled before righting himself. His breath came in ragged pants. Gaby allowed him to run ahead. Let him think he was losing her. Nothing like a bit of hope to make his defeat taste all the more bitter. She could see him easily in the darkness. It was a moonless night. They had just headed down an unlit side alley. It all seemed fitting.
Her claws extended further. She ran her tongue along the sharp edges of her multiple rows of teeth, much like that of a great white shark. Anticipation of her kill made her whole body hum with excitement.
The demon blood’s puny fangs would have nothing on her.
The weight of her company issue firearm rested reassuringly on her back. Since almost dying, she carried it with her everywhere, even to the bedroom on a couple of occasions, which only seemed to heighten the heat levels.
Right, enough playing. It was time to get back to her family. This blood had already been found guilty of murder and had been sentenced to death. The Demon Control Agency didn’t take demons slaughtering humans lightly. Especially in the cruel manner in which this blood had gone about things.