by Jade Allen
"No. Come with me to my room. Let me take care of you."
Affection mingled with intense attraction flashed in his eyes and he nodded. Ariel slipped her sweater off and draped it carefully over his wound so that anyone they may encounter wouldn't notice the blood. She knew this wound would not act the same as it would on a normal human; it would heal much more quickly and didn't require stitches or other measures. Cleaning it, though, would soothe his pain and help it to begin to heal.
She guided him through the hotel to her room and stepped inside. Daniel was still sprawled across the bed, snoring deeply, and she led Max carefully through the suite and into the bathroom. Locking the door behind them, she started the faucet in the soaking tub and reached forward to unbutton his shirt. Her hands shook slightly as she undressed him, revealing his gorgeous body beneath the shirt.
She wanted to touch him further, but the wound on his shoulder kept her back. Placing her hands on his hips, she guided him gently backwards so that he sat on the wide edge of the tub. Ariel sat beside him, positioning herself on her hip so that she could reach down into the tub and fill a soft sponge with warm water. Kissing his chiseled arm muscle tenderly, she brought the sponge to his shoulder and squeezed it so that the water flowed out across his skin.
****
Ariel bathed his shoulder until as much of the blood as possible was gone. Dropping the sponge back into the tub, she rested her hands on his neck and swept one leg over him so that she straddled his hips but stayed sitting up on her knees, propped up by the marble tub on either side of him. Her mouth lowered to the curve of his neck and shoulder to kiss along his warm skin until she reached the freshly cleaned wound. The primal urges within her took over and she let the tip of her tongue slip out to run along the cut.
Max's hands gripped her hips and a low growl rumbled deep in his throat. She knew that growl meant that the wolf inside him wanted to be let out. She shook her head at him and licked his skin again, soothing him as his kind would.
"I need you to stay human for me," she murmured against his neck.
She gasped as Max pulled her down onto his lap, lifting his hips to meet hers so she felt the hardness of his desire for her nudging into her hot, wet core. She rocked her hips into his lap, reveling in the way the firm swell of his erection built dizzying pressure low in her belly.
"For how long?" he asked through labored breath.
Ariel kissed him, drawing his bottom lip into her mouth and biting it playfully.
"Until I've had you inside me."
Max growled and lifted her off of his lap, positioning her on the edge of the tub. He pulled her shirt off, and then made quick work of her bra. His mouth touched her breast and Ariel moaned, arching into the touch. As he continued to kiss her breasts, Max slid his hands over her hips and grasped the sides of her pants and panties. He stepped back to remove the garments, and then stood to loosen his belt. She reached up to stop him.
Max met her eyes and she continued to gaze at him as she unfastened his pants and carefully undressed him, lowering his pants and trunks until he could kick them away. Parting her legs on either side of him, she wrapped her hands around the backs of his thighs and gently pulled him forward so he stepped between her knees.
Ariel finally looked down and saw him fully, his beautiful cock standing so hard and strong, it made Ariel's mouth water. She indulged her craving for him by leaning forward and running the tip of her tongue slowly up the underside. Max's erection jumped slightly in response to her touch and he gasped.
Pleased with his reaction, Ariel parted her lips further and drew his erection in along her tongue until she held him completely. She felt one of Max's hands grip her arm and the other come against the back of her head. He groaned loudly and she took a moment to focus just on the tip, holding the base so she could withdraw him nearly all the way and suck just on the head before taking him in fully again, letting him dip into her throat.
Max gently thrust into her mouth and guided her into a smooth rhythm with the hand on the back of his head. Ariel delighted in the feeling of every ridge and vein as she worshipped his body. Suddenly he stopped her and withdrew from her mouth.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Max got on his knees in front of her and took her face in his hands.
"Tell me you understand that we are meant to be together."
"What?" she asked.
"Tell me that you understand, that you know what it means to have me mate with you," she recoiled slightly and he sighed, "to have me make love to you."
When she didn't answer, Max pushed back and stood up, grabbing his clothes off of the floor and getting dressed.
"Max, wait," Ariel said, bounding off of the edge of the tub toward him, "Why are you leaving?"
"I can't do this, Ariel. You are supposed to be mine, my mate, my partner, but if you don't understand that…" he trailed off and looked at her painfully, "I can't let myself go that far knowing that you are just going to walk away."
"I want to be with you, Max."
"Will you want to be with me when I'm a wolf? Would you still want me if I shifted in the middle of the night and you woke up to a wolf in bed with you? Do you want me enough to join my pack and be my mate?"
Ariel touched his cheek.
"I want to be with you, Max," she repeated, putting extra emphasis on the word 'you', "Isn't that enough?"
Max took her hand in his and turned it so that he could press a kiss to the inside of her wrist.
"No," he whispered and rushed out of the room.
****
Ariel left the next morning before the convention even began, knowing she couldn't bear to see Max again. Her mind was still reeling from the brief time she had spent with him, but even more intense than the confusion was the searing pain in her heart each time she thought of him. She so badly wanted to give herself to him, all of herself, but she struggled to make sense of what he told her, to bring herself to believe it.
Enough men had hurt her with words like those before. They told her that they loved her, that they were meant to be together, but it would all dissipate just as quickly as it had formed. It was a ploy meant to tell her what she wanted to hear.
Several days after leaving the convention, Ariel was going through her last conversation with Max again. She felt emptier than she ever had in her life, as if a piece of her had been removed and she was having to learn to live without it. Max's words washed over her, just the sound of them in her ears comforting in the darkness that had seemed to form around her.
Suddenly a realization struck her, something different about the conversation that she hadn't recognized before. Max had not told her that he loved her—he had told her that they were made for each other and that he couldn't bring himself to be with her if she didn't understand their connection, but he had not told her that he loved her.
In that moment, Ariel realized that not saying those words expressed their true meaning more than speaking them ever could. In not saying he loved her, Max held their bond as precious and sacred, refusing to simplify it into that phrase until she was able to fully express it on her own.
Her need for him surged within her, and Ariel knew that no matter how frightening his world could be, it was not nearly as frightening as the prospect of being without him. She was meant to be by his side, to truly live in the world that she had fantasized about through his books, knowing now that in his heart she already always was.
Ariel grabbed her phone and started to write an email to Max to the address listed for fan mail, laughing at the thought that she had always thought she was his biggest fan, but had never sent him a message, now she was trying hard to craft a love letter to send to his fan mail in the hopes that he would actually read it.
She struggled to come up with the right words to express her longing for him. After several false-starts and frantic, almost violent hitting of the "delete" key, she let out a long breath, typed a message, and pressed send. It contained the name of
the hotel where they met and a date three days in the future above a simple message.
I need you. I understand. Please come back.
****
The door crashed open and Ariel saw Max enter. He circled her slowly and her fingers touched his thick black fur. The pressure of his body against her legs made her lower herself to her knees and she ran her hands down his body, memorizing the curves of his muscles beneath his coat. He nudged her with his face until she settled onto her hip and laid down on the floor. Max's tongue slid along the underside of her chin, her throat, and down along the center of her chest.
Finally he took the front of her dress in his teeth and tore it open. Max ducked his head to touch his tongue to her stomach and Ariel felt his fur disappearing as he took on his human form.
Fully human again, Max licked back from her stomach to her mouth and kissed her. His tongue delved into her mouth and he shoved the shredded dress away from her body. Not removing his mouth from hers, he carefully lifted her back off of the floor so he could reach behind her and release the hooks on her bra. He ended the kiss and she heard him let out a moan of appreciation when he saw her full breasts. He lowered his mouth to suck each taut, pink peak, opening his mouth to draw more of her breast into it and give a primal bite. Ariel gasped beneath the sensation, luxuriating in the feeling of him taking possession of her. She smiled as she felt a gentle lick follow the bite.
Ariel reached for his shirt and pulled it away from his body. His skin felt luscious against hers as he stretched himself over her. Suddenly his hand was at the front of his belt, but he paused. She knew this was her moment to show him how much she understood the connection between them and leave no questions in his mind.
Lifting her hips a few inches, she slid her panties off and tossed them away. She was totally bare beneath him and she presented her body to him, completely submissive to his touch. Max growled and swept her up into his arms so he could carry her to the bed. He knelt over her hips and stroked his fingertips from the center of her chest down her stomach and onto her pubic bone.
Max changed his position so that he was on his knees between her legs and eased her thighs apart. Ariel was not expecting the intensity when he drew his finger up through her folds. She was wet and ready for him, the warmth spreading across her inner thighs as he traced the pad of his finger in slow, deep circles on her sensitive, swollen pearl. He stopped and Ariel moaned her protest, but fell silent when she realized he was unfastening his belt and pushing his pants to the floor.
Max removed his trunks, revealing an erection that made her bite down on her bottom lip and whimper. She wanted to open her thighs and ask him to touch her again, for him to make her come and to watch him lick the slickness from her body. More than that, however, she wanted to show her submission and let him be her Alpha.
Holding his gaze, she reached down between her thighs and let her fingers delve into her own body, mimicking the slow torment he had performed on her moments before. She gathered the hot liquid onto her fingertips and sat up to touch him, wrapping her wet fingers around his shaft so she could glide her hand across it. Ariel leaned forward and opened her mouth to let the head of Max's cock slide onto her tongue as she stroked.
Max cried out and even in his human form, Ariel could see the wolf inside him. He was what she had always wanted, what she had craved with her mind and body, and she was ready to give into the intense draw she had felt from the moment she saw his picture.
"Max," she said and he opened his eyes to look at her.
"Yes?" he said and she could hear his trembling growl just beneath the words.
"Please mate me."
Max plunged forward, filling her suddenly and deliciously. He was thick and hard, and Ariel cried out at the blissful intensity of their bodies melding into one. He fit within her with such perfection it was as if she was crafted specifically for him and she truly knew now that she was.
Max groaned as he sank deeply into her in a fast, steady rhythm. His hand came to her neck, cupping around it with gentle but insistent pressure that showed his dominance and intensified the pleasure he was sending through her. After a few moments, Ariel gripped his hips to stop him and pushed up so that he withdrew from her body. She wrapped her hand around his glistening cock again, subtly twisting her palm over the head as she stroked him.
"You are my wolf?"
Max panted with her masterful strokes, but nodded.
"Yes."
"My Alpha?" she whispered and he groaned, digging his fingers into her thigh as her words pushed him close to the edge of his control.
"Yes."
Ariel smiled rolled onto her stomach, arching her back to lift her hips and present herself to him.
"Show me."
A primal growl poured from Max's mouth and he entered her with one hard thrust. She felt him wrap an arm under her hips and pull them up so she was on all fours. Her body shivered as his tongue touched the small of her back and licked up along her spine until his body stretched across hers, his chest and stomach creating luscious pressure on her back.
"Good girl," he whispered into her ear and Ariel whimpered, feeling her body respond even more intensely to him.
He nipped at her neck and bit into her shoulder before sitting back on his knees; he used one hand to press down on her shoulders so that her elbows bent, her nipples brushing the sheet. In this position he pounded into her with animal intensity, each hard thrust eliciting a sharp cry of pleasure. She felt his hand slip around her hip to slip between her thighs and within seconds her walls contracted deliciously, leading him into his own orgasm as she gripped him tightly within her.
The beautiful feeling only intensified as Max throbbed within her, spilling hot streams into her body that made her feel even more bonded to him. She struggled to catch her breath, sounds like small sobs gasping from her throat at the intensity of their passion. Max rolled his hips slowly, riding out the last waves of his orgasm with her final tremors.
He stopped and carefully withdrew from her, and Ariel felt his hands on her arms, gently turning her around so that she looked into his eyes. She adjusted her position so that she knelt in front of him, her body pressing against his as she kissed him slowly, trying to drag out this deliciously sweet, sweaty moment a little longer.
Max's hands stroked along her hips and around the ample swell of her behind, pulling her against him so he could return her kiss.
"I love you," he said when their lips parted.
Ariel sighed at the words. They had come, exactly as they were meant to, after she first allowed herself to realize the impossible and believe the fantastical; when she gave herself over with unwavering trust that his was the story she wanted to be a part of for the rest of her life, and had for her entire life.
"I love you, too.”
"You are mine," he whispered, leaning down to nuzzle her neck.
"Always," she whispered back, running the tip of her tongue along the soft dip between his collarbones to lick away the sweat.
"You will lead the pack with me," he said, kissing her neck, "and we will create the most incredible stories together."
Ariel pressed against his kiss and sighed, her body responding to him, the ache building within her again as their primal connection took over.
"I just have one question," she asked, bringing one hand up to tangle in his hair and the other between them to run her fingertips along his shaft so it started to spring to life again.
He gasped and grabbed her arms as if to steady himself.
"What's that?" he asked.
"When do we get the sequel?"
His eyes met hers and she saw them sparkle. Max gave a playful growl and flipped her onto her back, coming down on top of her again. Ariel squealed with delight, wrapping her arms and legs around him and opening her mouth to him as he captured it in a deep kiss.
THE END
Bearer Of Secrets
“And now, the ride you’ve all been waiting for. The final ride of
the night, and folks, this is for all of the proverbial marbles, and I ain’t kidding. Now this young man, Dean Longstrider, he’s got a lot on this ride. He had the highest score on Thursday night. He had the highest score on Saturday night, and folks, if he gets a score of 92 or better, he’ll win this purse, and this purse is nothing to sneeze at. No sir, it’s not. This purse has been generously doubled by our good sponsors at Franklin’s Chevrolet and it’s up to twenty thousand semolians, and you don’t need me to tell you, that’s a lot of semolians.”
It was a lot of semolians, especially for an amateur night in Cody, Wyoming.
Marisol whipped her apron off as the event announcer, Rocky, rattled on, filling the time between the bull riders. “I’ll be right back, Mama! Dean’s about to ride.”
“Did you clean the range?”
“Yes, Mama, everything is cleaned and the money box is counted up. I’ll be right back!”
Marisol flew from her mother’s food truck and under the packed bleachers to the tall fence around the arena. The chute gates were on the opposite side and her heart jumped to her throat as she waited for the sound of the buzzer that would mark the beginning of Dean’s ride. He was going to win the purse. Everybody knew it. Nobody could ride a bull like Dean Longstrider. Not even his uncle Rory, and Rory was a legend on the pro circuit.
Marisol grew up watching young men risk their necks and their lives on the backs of raging bulls. Her father, Ernesto, was a bull fighter and had been saving the lives of those young men for over twenty years. When she asked him if he’d ever seen anybody sit a bull like Dean, Ernesto had admitted that he couldn’t think of a single cowboy. Her heart had swelled with pride for her friend as she nodded in her head in agreement.
“He’s the best,” she’d gushed. “I think he’s the greatest I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s not the best. Not yet. Boy still has a long way to go to prove himself.” At her crestfallen face, Ernesto had added, “But he’ll get there. He’s got the talent, anyway.”