I tried to give Spencer and Eliza as much privacy as I could as they urgently whispered to each other before he returned to me. The slamming of the door behind her wasn’t a good sign.
“You didn’t know she was your mate?” I asked incredulously.
“No, and now I’m going to have to convince her she really is my mate since I’ve treated her like a casual lay for the last year,” he admitted ruefully.
“A monogamous one at least.”
“And thank fuck for that,” he replied. “Because it’s going to be hard enough to explain why I’ve held her at arm’s length emotionally when I should have marked and mated her months and months ago.”
Grace lay sleeping in the room connected to mine—the one I had decorated for her the week she arrived in town. Creeping silently inside, I gazed down at her when I reached the bed. The tight feeling that had been in my chest ever since I met her eased at the sight before me. Her chestnut locks were spread across the pillow she hugged to her cheek. She looked more peaceful than I had ever seen her, and I wanted nothing more than to climb into bed with her and hold her close. But there were things which needed to be done first so I could see to her safety.
“She’s relaxed in the weeks she’s been here, but she’s never truly let her guard down,” I lamented as I shut the door.
“She’s been too busy running like a startled rabbit whenever you come near,” Spencer pointed out to me.
Like I needed him to tell me something that was painfully obvious. And the worst part was that she had settled into my bar, my town, my pack, and now my home without a problem. She didn’t appear to have the same issue talking to any of my male pack members. Not that I wasn’t happy that she was making friends within my family, but I longed for her to open up to me as well. It was just with me that she didn’t let down her guard. If it weren’t for the faint scent of arousal and the hint of attraction I saw in her eyes whenever I managed to get close, I’d swear she didn’t share my interest.
My wolf whined each time she was near, not understanding the games humans played in the name of courtship. To him, it was simple. She was his match—the one woman built specifically for him. And he was quickly running out of patience. I’d only managed to make it through that first full moon because Grace’s fear had still shone from her eyes every time she looked at me.
With another full moon drawing closer, I needed to resolve the situation between us. Moving her into the family home was a big step towards this, but I wasn’t happy with how it had happened. If Eliza’s dream was true, then the danger that was stalker her was drawing closer and more serious than I had expected it to be. A mating would make her safer, but so would the information I’d hoped she would eventually share with me on her own.
“Call in all the favors you can. Gather every detail available about her life before she arrived in town,” I instructed Spencer.
“We’re no longer waiting for her to trust you with the story? You know she may push you away if she learns you had her investigated,” he warned.
“The alternative is her possible death, so I’ll just have to cross that bridge if it comes to it.”
Four
Grace
When I woke up the next morning after tossing and turning for hours, the events of the night before were a blur of fear and adrenaline. One thought stood out in my brain—Hunter came for me. It had been so long since I’d had someone I knew I could trust in my life. When I had been with Sam, I’d driven away my closest friends, leaving me with the one person I never should have trusted. Then, when I ran, I moved from place to place, worried he would find me. There was no way for me to know if he was searching or if he’d given up. I couldn’t run the risk of calling anyone back home to ask because if he was looking. That would have given him the edge.
So I ran any time my instincts told me that it was time to go. Knowing that Sam would stoop to bribery if he had to meant I never let anyone get close enough to learn anything real about me. Life on the run wasn’t exactly conducive to real friendships anyway. Friends were likely to ask questions if you just upped and disappeared.
I felt like everything had changed when I had come to Wolf’s Point and walked into The Den. Although I had already made the decision to stay and face whatever came next, I hadn’t been prepared for the feelings Hunter inspired in me. If I was going to be brutally honest with myself, the depth of what I felt for him in the short time I’d known him scared the living daylights out of me. He had a power I’d never given Sam over me and I just didn’t know how it happened. How he made me feel things I had no right feeling at this point in my life—not until I knew I was safe from Sam and able to move forward with my life. Although Hunter had let me dance around our attraction since we’d met, my instincts told me that he wasn’t going to allow it now that he’d gotten me under his roof. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to fight this thing between us any longer.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I glanced around the room. There were three doors. One was cracked open and led to a hallway. Another looked to be to the closet, so I assumed the third led to the bathroom. I pulled the door open and was stunned to see Hunter standing in front of me in nothing but jeans with a towel hanging over his shoulder. Beads of moisture dripped off his hair onto his bare chest and I was mesmerized by the sight.
“Grace,” he said, repeating my name as he walked towards me. “Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh,” I murmured as I dragged my gaze away from his body and tried to focus on anything but his chest. I finally realized that the door led to another bedroom that apparently connected to mine.
Hunter breathed deeply and a growl rumbled up his chest. “You want me,” he rasped out before taking the last few steps that brought him within touching distance.
My fingers moved without my thinking, compelled to touch his skin. It was firm and warm, rippling under my fingers as I trailed them along his body. I was completely distracted by the sensation and almost missed what he had said as he repeated it.
“Grace, you want me.”
After all the months of loneliness, I wanted to feel close to someone. I desperately needed to feel desired, and there was no mistaking the lust shining from Hunter’s eyes.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I want you, Hunter.”
He nodded his head firmly, as though coming to a decision, before pulling me into his room and towards his bed. His mouth swooped down and crashed into mine for a deep kiss. When he pushed me backwards, we both fell onto his bed. The feel of Hunter’s lips against mine and his warm body pressing against me had me panting for breath and throbbing with need.
He broke our kiss and worked his way down my body with his lips, flicking his tongue over one of my nipples as his fingers squeezed my other breast. He sucked hard and I felt the pull deep in my pussy. When he bit down on it, my back arched as I tried to get even closer to him.
“More!” I whimpered.
“Don’t worry, Gracie. I’ll give you more,” Hunter murmured against my skin as his lips trailed between my breasts.
There was no warning before he gently bit down on the other nipple. My hips left the bed, desperate for his mouth to move even lower.
“Please,” I begged. It had been so long since I’d climaxed with anyone other than myself, and my need was already driving me crazy.
Nibbling his way across my skin, Hunter held me down against the bed as his lips moved along my stomach. When his hands swept farther down to grip my legs, I offered no resistance as he parted them. Once they were spread wide, he moved over me and I felt his breath through my panties. My hips jerked and his hands tightened on my thighs, holding me still. He licked the seams of my panties, and I felt moisture dripping from me, drenching them. Then he released one of my legs and his fingers teased over my folds, finding the dampness.
“Up,” he ordered as he tugged my panties down my legs. “Fucking beautiful,” he whispered. “You’re so wet for me, Gracie-mine.”
His hands were hot a
s they gripped my upper thighs, his fingers spreading me open. He blew against my pussy lips before running his tongue up and down my clit. My eyes clenched tight as my body went taut at the feel of his mouth on me.
“Eyes open!” he snapped. “You watch me, Grace. When I eat you, when I let you suck me, when I fuck you—I’ll do it with your eyes on me.”
My eyes popped open at his command, but it was difficult to keep them that way when his tongue flicked out and stroked my clit. I plunged my hands into his hair, trying to bring his face even closer to me. Stiffening his tongue, he buried it deep inside me, tongue-fucking me until I was writhing with need before he replaced it with two fingers. His fingers were so large that they stretched me wide as he rubbed against my G-spot.
“So close,” I muttered, feeling my climax starting to build. My legs tightened against his head as I tried to gain the added pressure I needed to set me off.
Then he wrapped his lips around my clit and sucked hard before gently biting down. The combination of pain and pleasure was enough to throw me over the edge. Screaming as my climax hit my body, I held his head to me so I could grind my hips against his mouth.
My body was boneless, covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Hunter gave me a few last licks before rubbing his mouth along my thigh. When he sat up, I could see my wetness coating the stubble on his chin. He had a satisfied smirk on his face and a lustful gleam in his eye. My pussy fluttered, feeling empty at the loss of his tongue and fingers.
“Hunter, please. I need you,” I pleaded with him.
He’d whipped my body into a frenzy and my pussy was clenching at the thought of him filling me up. The climax that had blown through my body had done nothing to lessen my desire for him.
“I want to sink my cock inside your hot little pussy more than anything. But not yet. Not until I know you’re ready to be mine completely,” he growled, kneeling before me at the edge of the bed.
We both knew I wasn’t ready for that yet, but there was no way I was letting him leave this bed without driving him as wild as he’d made me. I crawled towards him and traced my finger over his zipper. His cock was straining against the fabric of his jeans and jumped at my touch.
“Then let me have a little taste of you,” I asked as I unbuckled his belt.
His hands wrapped around my wrists, stopping my progress. “That’s not what this was about,” he muttered. “You don’t need to pay me back for making you come. It’s my pleasure to make you scream in bliss.”
“Wanna make me really happy?” I asked, looking up at him while licking my lips. I waited for his nod before continuing. “Take off your jeans and let me lick you. I want to feel your cock inside my mouth. Now.”
His dark eyes flared with lust and a flush swept across his cheeks. Disappointment crashed over me when he pressed my hands onto the bed. I thought he was going to turn me away until he pulled his belt from the loops and dropped it to the floor. Then he flicked the button to his jeans open with a twist of his thumb and drew the zipper down his hardened length. When he shoved them down his legs along with his boxer briefs, his cock sprung free.
I licked my lips at the sight before me. Naked Hunter was utter perfection. All rippled abs and lean muscle, he had a body any woman would want to worship for days. My gaze moved down his chest to his cock. Beads of moisture gathered at the tip. I wanted them on my tongue, but I needed to feel his length first.
Rubbing my thumb over the come at the head of his cock, I wrapped my hand around him. Or at least I tried to. He was so big that my fingers weren’t even close to meeting each other. When he did finally fuck me, I was sure I would feel him inside me for days after. His cock felt like steel wrapped in silk, hot and smooth against my fingertips.
“Suck my dick,” he ordered in a raspy tone. “You said you wanted to taste me, and now, I can’t wait for you to wrap those pretty lips around me so I can feel you sucking me off.”
I moved closer so his cock was level with my lips. Although I had barely recovered from my own climax, I trembled with need. I’d never wanted anything more than I wanted him right now. Parting my lips, I flicked my tongue over the head of his cock to taste the come that beaded there. His taste exploded on my tongue, driving me wild. I opened my mouth wide and slid his smooth length inside as far as I could go.
“Fucking amazing, Gracie,” he groaned above me. “Your mouth is magic.”
I loved the desperation I heard in his voice. The sexy rasp spurred me on as I bobbed up and down on his cock. Flicking my tongue side to side, I grasped him in my palm so I could pump his shaft while I sucked him. His skin was wet from my trail of saliva and my motions made a slapping sound on each downward bob.
Hunter slid his fingers into my hair and pulled the stray strands away from my mouth. When I peered up at him, the desire I found stamped on his face blew me away. His fingers gently glided over my chin and up my cheeks until they tangled in my hair. I slowed down my pace, applying more pressure to his cock with my tongue, tightening my lips around him, and sucking harder with my mouth. Moving more slowly made it easier to blow him because I had better control over how deep I took him—until he took that control away from me.
Gripping my hair tighter in his fists, Hunter limited my ability to move. He held my head in place as he began to pump his hips. I breathed deeply through my nose and hummed lightly as his cock nudged the back of my throat. Then he stilled, planted deep in my mouth.
“My Gracie is a naughty girl,” he murmured. “Trying to make me come when she knows I’m the one in control.”
I glanced up and found his eyes locked on me, watching my mouth as he slid his cock out inch by inch before slowly slipping back inside. When I moaned, his hands clenched against my skull as his hips jerked. Semen splashed across my tongue, spilling into my mouth and down my throat as he climaxed. I sucked greedily, determined to not lose a single drop. Once he was done, his hands relaxed in my hair and he pulled away from my mouth. I swallowed his come and swiped at a small drip on my lips before sucking it off my finger.
“So much for control,” he chuckled.
I knew I’d satisfied him, but my heart soared when he joked about losing control. I’d been worried he would be angry since I had wrested it away from him. Hunter was such a dominant man that I hadn’t been certain how he’d respond, but I hadn’t been able to resist the temptation to push him over the edge any way I could even though it was unusual for me. Knowing he wasn’t mad was a relief.
“I’ve never been naughty before,” I admitted. “Must be your influence.”
“I think you’ll find that lots of things are different with me,” Hunter said as he gathered me in his arms and settled me on his chest before lying back on the pillows.
“Hmmmm, really? Like what?” I asked, wondering what he meant by that.
“Pretty much everything.”
“Is that why won’t you fuck me yet?” I asked sleepily.
Although I was completely sated, a small part of me was upset because I feared he didn’t want me enough.
“You’re too important for me to take you until we’ve settled some things between us. There are parts of me I keep hidden, but I don’t want to hide anything from you. I want you to know all of me and I want you to let me past that barrier you keep up to protect yourself. And I need this to happen before I fuck you, because once I’ve had you, there will be no looking back. No getting away from me because I will never let you go.”
His reply proved to me that I had been wrong and the opposite was true—if anything, he wanted me too much. I wasn’t ready to accept what he was telling me as true, and if I hadn’t fallen back to sleep, I probably would have run again.
Five
Hunter
“Has she told you yet?” Spencer asked me without bothering to say hello or observe any of the usual niceties.
I felt like I had missed part of a conversation here, but that was impossible since he’d just walked into my office. “Has who told me what?”
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br /> “Grace,” he began, instantly catching my interest. “I’ve gotten a couple of feelers sent my way about her. I’m not sure if they’ve actually traced her here, but her ex is definitely searching for her and he’s getting closer.”
“Fuck!” I hissed.
We hadn’t discussed her ex-boyfriend and what he’d done to send her running. Hell, we hadn’t really talked about anything over the weekend. Although I refused to take her until she knew what I was, we’d done just about everything else possible without sinking my cock into her pussy. I hadn’t planned to do anything more than satisfy her needs, but when she’d crawled across my bed and reached for my cock, I hadn’t been able to withstand the temptation to feel her lips wrapped around me.
Once we’d crossed that line, I’d had no desire to go back. We’d spent the last two days barely leaving my room, completely wrapped up in each other. For the first time since meeting Grace, my wolf wasn’t pushing for control. He was finally relaxed and almost sated. I hadn’t marked her yet, but after this weekend, I was convinced she wouldn’t be able to walk away from me. I was still concerned about her reaction to the news that I was a shifter, but after finally getting a taste of her, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would never let her get away even if she tried.
Spencer tossed a folder on my desk. “I pulled everything I could find on your girl, but there wasn’t much. She doesn’t have a record. Hell, she hasn’t even gotten so much as a speeding ticket. She turned twenty-one a couple of weeks before she showed up here. Her parents were killed in a car accident about a year and a half ago. She hooked up with a cop shortly after. Sam Carson. That’s where things get interesting.”
A growl escaped at the thought of my Gracie with another man. “And what did you find on him?”
[Black River Pack 01.0 - 03.0] Crying Wolf, Shoot for the Moon, Thrown to the Wolves Page 4