Hunter's Heart: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 5)

by Kimber White

  Oh, God. I probably wasn’t ready, but at that moment I so didn’t care. I threaded my fingers through the thick, soft hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him back down into a kiss. Derek shifted his weight and pulled me into his lap. He held me against him; heat surged through him and into me. I knew what this was. It would be hot. It would be quick. It would be perfect.

  I slid my shirt over my head and threw it to the ground. Derek picked me up and laid me gently in the grass. I wriggled out of my pants and lay before him. Exposed. Naked. Panting with expectation.

  Derek hovered above me, resting his weight on his hands. He gave me that sexy smirk then leaned down to kiss me. I ran my hands down his strong back and cupped his muscled ass.

  “Please,” I gasped. Yes. I wanted to beg him. I wanted to give everything to him. I just wanted.

  I spread my legs and drew him down to me. Derek let out a low, rumbling growl of desire. It was just a moment. A fraction of a second before he entered me. I knew there would be no going back for either of us. And I also knew in that instant I never wanted to go back. I wanted this. I wanted him. It was everything.

  I arched my back and begged for him. Whatever self-control he had melted away. Derek kissed me hard and slid into me. My slick wetness eased his path, but he was so big, so hard he stretched me wide. My eyes snapped open as he sheathed himself to the root. Pleasure flooded through me. It was so quick. Just one thrust and I already felt myself starting to come. I felt born for this. Born for him.

  “Jessa,” he whispered my name against my temple as he started his slow, powerful thrusts. I brought my legs up and wrapped them around his hips, bringing him into me even deeper. Pleasure flowed through me, building momentum. He held his weight on his palms and looked down at me, eyes flashing with desire.

  “Yes,” I gasped. Oh yes. This. More. Always.

  With each thrust, I grew wetter for him. He was thick and solid and all for me. I clawed his back and he bared his teeth. A thought flashed through me. The instant it did, I knew how badly I wanted it. The silent command pulsed through my head. Bite me!

  “Please,” I gasped. Derek twitched inside of me, and I knew he was close to his release. So was I. He thrust deep and held himself there, his cock pulsing within me as he waited for me to grind out my orgasm. I had one hand on his buttocks, the other digging into the ground to get the purchase I needed. I thrust up, grunting. Though he had a beast inside of him, I was the one who felt wild.

  I let myself go and gave in to it. As Derek held himself still within me, I let wave after wave of sensation swell through me. A starburst of color exploded behind my eyes as I took my pleasure from him. When I reached the top, Derek finally began the slow rhythm that would take me down and down. Pleasure. Light. Heat. He was everything. He was in me. And he was mine.

  Derek pulled out of me and flipped me. Dizzy, he had me on all fours, my ass angled high for him. Oh, yes, this. His pulse filled me as he entered me again. I dropped my head down, letting my hair fall to the side. A new pulse seemed to grow in my core and spread out in a wave of heat. It centered on that space at the base of my neck. I knew what I needed. What he needed.

  Derek growled and his body went rigid as he poured himself inside me. I took it all, bracing myself against the earth. He filled me with his heat and his power. He sated himself and me. And yet, there was still something else. Finally, his body went limp and Derek drew me to him, cradling my body against him, both tender and strong. When I looked up at him, the first evening stars glittered over his shoulder and seemed to fill me too.

  For the first time in my life, I knew exactly where I belonged.

  Chapter Twelve

  I don’t know how long we lay together like that. We took our time, exploring each other’s bodies with lazy fingers and soft kisses. It seemed like forever, but I knew it was only minutes. We didn’t have time for anything else. Maybe we should have waited. We’d stolen a few moments of pleasure amid the chaos. But, now that we had finally given in to what our bodies craved, I felt like I could think straight again. I also sensed it wouldn’t be long before I’d need him like that again.

  “If we stay out here much longer, your father is going to come out here and shoot me for good,” Derek teased as he leaned down and kissed my nipple.

  “Ugh. You’re right.” No sooner had the words left my mouth when my pile of clothes started to beep. Static crackled, and my father’s voice came over the walkie I’d hooked to my waistband.

  “Jessa. Check in, please.”

  Derek gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and leaped to his feet with agile grace. He held his hand out to help me up. I reached for my pile of clothes, only finding my pants and t-shirt.

  “I had a bra and underwear around here somewhere.”

  Derek’s soft laugh sent gooseflesh skittering along my back. He circled his arms around me and drew me back to him.

  “Is this what it’s like bedding with a wolf?” I said, my words sounding more like a purr.

  Derek kissed the top of my head. “It’s what it’s like for mates, Jessa. At least, so I’m told. I’ve never actually had one before.”

  I whirled in his arms and felt the color drain from my face. “You mean to tell me that was your . . . uh . . . first . . .”

  Derek’s brow arched to the sky. “Ah. No. I don’t kiss and tell, baby. But I’m talking about mates. I’ve never had a mate before. Wolves generally only get one.”

  I stabbed my arms through the sleeves of my shirt and wriggled back in my pants. My boots lay on the ground a few feet in front of me and I slid my feet into those. I slung the rifle back over my shoulder and waited for Derek. He didn’t need much prep time, or really any. He’d come out here in the wolf form and had no clothes. As soon as we got closer to the trailers and in sight of the cameras, even though it was getting dark again, I realized that might pose a problem.

  Derek saw me looking and laughed again. “Don’t worry. I’ll wear the wolf. Wouldn’t want to give Grammy a heart attack.”

  “Can you read my mind?” I asked. Derek took my hand and we started walking back. We were easy together now, sated, and the immediate threat from the enemy wolves had abated. Plus, touching Derek now seemed the most natural thing in the world. If anything, not touching seemed awkward.

  He didn’t answer my question right away. He scanned the horizon and sniffed the air, ever vigilant.

  “Derek?”

  He looked down at me. “Ah, no. Not exactly. It’s just you happen to have a very expressive face.”

  We kept walking. In about fifteen yards, he’d need to shift again if he wanted to avoid marching into my father’s Quonset hut in the buff. I found myself slowing my pace. My need to have Derek all to myself almost overwhelmed me. In fact, a different growing need started to bloom inside me, heating me through and through.

  “You wanted to bite me,” I said. It just came out. The instant it did, it felt like a cop out. It wasn’t just Derek wanting to bite me. It was me wanting to get bit.

  Derek’s pace slowed and he squeezed my hand. “Yes,” he answered plainly.

  “I wanted you to. God. Derek. I wanted it more than I’ve ever wanted anything. Why didn’t you? I think I would have let you.”

  “I know.” He took a breath and stopped, turning to me.

  “So what stopped you?”

  “I told you before, I won’t mark you as mine unless you’re absolutely sure it’s what you want.”

  “I did want it. That’s what I’m trying to say. I want it now.”

  “But it scares you. Confuses you a little.”

  I bit my lip and looked up at him. “Yes. Truth? Yes.”

  He nodded and drew me to him. “And that’s why I held back. You have to be ready. Because, Jessa, when I do mark you, I mean for it to be forever.”

  He took my breath away. His words and everything about him.

  “Grammy said when an Alpha marks a woman, they’re connected forever. That you’ll be able to k
now what I’m feeling all the time.”

  He nodded as he took my hand again and we started to walk. “And you’ll always know what I’m feeling. And marking is a process; it’s not just one bite. The deeper I mark you, you’ll eventually hear my thoughts. It’s how I can always protect you. Always know when you’re in danger. We become part of each other. Forever, Jessa. That’s why I want to make sure you’re one hundred percent ready. Plus, I don’t know. I kind of wanted to pick a spot with a little more romance than a junkyard.”

  He laughed at the last part, low and deep, sending warmth flooding through me again. I laughed too. It was absurd. At least a little. But, I wanted to tell him it didn’t matter. Wherever we were seemed like the most romantic place on the planet. And knowing that made me understand how right he was. This was new. This was intense. Before I was willing to give myself to him completely, I needed to know for sure.

  “We’re getting close,” I said. About ten yards ahead of us, Dad had a camera affixed to a utility pole. When we came over the next rise, we’d be in range of it.

  Derek gave me a nod. He squeezed my hand then let it go. He took one step as a man, the next as a wolf. The power and speed of his shift sent a thrill through me. Derek stretched his paws and arched his back, shaking his tail out. He looked back at me and let out a chuff. I put a hand on his back, sinking my fingers into his rough, silvery coat. My wolf. My man. My protector. We headed back to the hut.

  Grammy and my father stood just outside the doorway. Dad had his rifle pointed at the ground; Grammy had her hands on her hips.

  “Everything okay out there?” Dad shouted. I raised my hand in a wave and gave him a nod.

  “They’ve moved off,” I said. “Derek thinks we’re safe, at least for now.”

  “Good,” Dad answered. He gave Derek’s wolf a dubious glance then turned to Grammy.

  “Head back on in, Thomas,” she said, giving him a hard pat on the back.

  “You okay?” she said, turning to me. She put a hand on my arm and jerked her chin at Derek. She held a pair of folded jeans under her arm and she tossed them on the ground in front of him.

  “Those are Thomas’s old ones,” she said. “They’ll do in a pinch. Why don’t you make yourself presentable while I take my granddaughter inside?”

  Derek lowered his head to acknowledge her, then Grammy put an arm around me and we walked back into the hut together. Grammy rubbed the center of my back and leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek.

  “You two sure didn’t waste any time.” A hot blush flooded my face.

  “Oh, God, did he see?” Dad had gone back to the security monitors and had barely acknowledged me as we walked back inside. Oh, God, indeed. Had we been careless? Had Dad installed another camera I didn’t know about? When Derek and I . . .

  “Relax,” Grammy said. “Nobody saw nothin’, darlin’. But I know that look on your face. It’s not one I see very often. You look happy. You look . . . well . . . in love, honey.”

  Love. The word flooded through me and forced the air from my lungs. Love. In love. Was I in love with Derek? I needed him. I craved him. When he touched me, it felt as though my heart started to beat for the first time. Was it love? I’d never felt it before.

  “Everything under control in here?” Derek came up behind us. He put a light hand on my shoulder, sending a trickle of pleasure through me. God, would I ever stop feeling this way around him? Would the wanting ever stop? In that instant, I knew I didn’t want it to.

  “Your friend is getting more and more agitated,” Dad said. He came away from the monitors and pointed his rifle at the prone form of the enemy wolf. He still lay on the floor of the cage, but his fur rippled and he bared his teeth.

  “Time to have a conversation, I think,” Derek said. “You wouldn’t happen to have shifter-strength shackles lying around, would you? I need him human for a while, and that cage isn’t big enough.”

  “As a matter of fact,” Dad said. He opened a drawer beneath the table and tossed wrist and ankle chains to Derek.

  “Everybody get to the other side of the room,” Derek warned. “Tinker and Jessa, keep your weapons aimed at his head and heart. If it looks like you should, shoot him. Just make sure you don’t hit me on accident.” He gave my father a pointed look. Dad let out a low laugh, but moved to the back of the room as Derek instructed.

  The wolf growled when Derek got close to him, but he put his head down. He seemed to understand Derek’s intentions and knew he had no choice. Derek moved quickly. He opened the cage door and pulled the wolf out by the scruff of his neck. The wolf snapped at him, but Derek got right in his face and said something in his ear. He looped the wrist cuffs around the wolf’s front paws. They were far too large, but Derek said something else to the wolf, and almost instantly, he shifted. A painful, tearing sound. Not smooth or graceful like Derek’s shift. This one seemed forced against his will, and I knew instantly that’s exactly what it was. Derek made this wolf do his bidding.

  “How’d he do that?” Dad asked, giving voice to my thoughts.

  “He’s an Alpha,” Grammy said. “He might not be that wolf’s Alpha, but it doesn’t matter. If Derek wants him to shift, his ass is going to shift.”

  The wolf became a man. He was dirty. Long, streaky blond hair, dark brown eyes, and high cheekbones. He looked malnourished, with his shoulder blades sticking out and a deep hollow beneath each clavicle. Derek shoved him forward. Dad had folding chairs around the table. Derek forced the man into one of them and looped the wrist and ankle chains around it. Then, he twisted the chains around his own forearm. If the man tried to run, Derek could have him down on the ground in an instant.

  Grammy came forward and threw a towel over the man’s privates as Derek shoved the chair closer to the table.

  “Who are you?” Derek said, nearly growling it near the man’s ear. He clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to talk. But, Derek with his Alpha strength seemed to act as a human lie detector, compelling him to speak.

  “Jensen, Boyd Jensen.”

  “Who sent you, Boyd?”

  Boyd Jensen trembled in his seat. He really was a pitiful creature. Sulking. Wretched. He buckled under Derek’s considerable power over him. Boyd looked from Derek to me and back again. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to take slow, measured breaths. He was just no match for Derek. Derek jerked the chains binding him, forcing Boyd’s back straight.

  “Dammit! Stop that!”

  “Oh, I don’t think I will,” Derek said. “You tried to kill that nice lady over there.” He bent low, pressing his temple against Boyd’s. He pointed to Grammy. She straightened her back. I knew what this cost her. Boyd Jensen made her relive one of the worst experiences of her life. A part of me . . . well, actually, most of me . . . wanted to watch as Derek ripped him limb from limb.

  “Who sent you?” Derek asked again.

  Boyd laughed. “You really are an idiot, you know that?” He wasn’t talking to Derek. Boyd looked straight at my father. Dad stepped out of the shadows and pressed his hands flat against the table.

  “Son, you’re the one chained up in my bunker just at the moment. The rest of your friends were smart enough and fast enough not to get caught. Who’s the idiot again?”

  “He’s got a point there, Boyd,” Derek said. “Now, I don’t have a lot of time. I know your pack isn’t going to quit. I also know they weren’t sent here for me, were they?”

  My heart raced.

  “We hired you to do one job,” Boyd said, still looking at my father. “You know full well what happens if you don’t hold up your end.”

  My father flinched. He took a step back and pointed a shaking finger at Boyd. “What the hell are you talking about? I don’t work for you, asshole.”

  Derek pulled Boyd’s chains tighter. He winced but didn’t break my father’s stare.

  “I work for the Harlans,” Dad said, but something in his tone faltered. His skin turned ashen. I went to him, putting a steadying hand on his b
ack.

  Boyd sucked air through his teeth, trying to fight off Derek’s influence and failing. The words he spoke were forced from him, they seemed to stab through the air and hit my father like a thousand knives of truth. “The Harlans are just the middlemen, Tinker. You work for us. Everything you own, you paid for with our money. Not the Harlans.”

  Boyd started to laugh, sounding more hyena than wolf as Derek broke him. My father sank into a chair on the other side of the table. Grammy stepped forward. Her color drained from her face just like my father’s. What Boyd said was impossible. Wolf blood. Wolf money. All this time?

  “That’s right,” Boyd said. “Every bit of it. We own you, Tinker. The Kentucky Chief Pack owns you.”

  “No.” My father shook his head. “That’s not true. The Harlans pay me to put down rogue wolves who break the treaty. Killers.”

  Boyd leaned forward, his words coming out in a stream of vitriol. “It was easier to let you think that, Tinker. If that’s what helps you sleep at night. But it’s a lie, and I think deep down you know it. You kill the wolves who make trouble for the Chief Pack. That’s all. You kill those who’ve tried to escape and those who try to challenge us.”

  The air went out of my lungs as Derek drove Boyd’s head against the table. Even he couldn’t stand to hear another word. Because it couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be right. They’d used him. Used us. Because if what he said was true, it meant my father was working for the very wolves who’d destroyed my grandmother’s life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As Boyd’s words sunk in, I thought my father would be the one to start breaking things. But, Grammy beat him to it. First, she threw a chair with enough force to break one of the legs off. Boyd growled and thrashed in his seat. Derek held his chains tight and grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling his head sharply back, exposing his neck.

  “Say it again,” Derek said. “Slowly.”

  Boyd bared his teeth, and his nose began to elongate. His fingernails turned black. But, he was no match for the keyed up Alpha wolf standing right behind him. Derek jerked Boyd backward again and hissed something in his ear. Boyd’s features melted back to human and his breathing slowed. Derek’s pulse, however, slammed inside my head. Only I knew the herculean strength it took for him not to tear Boyd’s head off.