by Lisa Ladew
Cora’s hands were instantly at his waistband, pulling the fastenings free, burrowing in his pants for his rapidly hardening cock.
Before he could guess what she was about, she’d stretched across the seat and pulled him fully out of his pants. Jameson held in a groan through sheer willpower, forcing his attention to the road.
A breathy moan passed over his too-sensitive skin. Jameson gritted his teeth and took one hand off the wheel to slow Cora’s pace. But when he looked down, when he saw the desperate lust in her eyes as she pumped him, licking her lips, he knew they wouldn’t get any further.
Cora’s tongue snaked out for a taste and Jameson’s eyes nearly crossed with the pleasure. He pulled over onto the scant shoulder and shut the truck down, hoping the darkness would offer enough privacy to defuse what was quickly becoming explosive. Cora pressed a closed-mouth kiss to the head of his cock. Jameson saw stars.
He turned in the seat, giving Cora full access to his body. “I’m yours, Cora.” He meant more than the words could convey, but they would have to do, for now.
No sooner had the words left his lips than Cora’s mouth took him deep, and all the oxygen in the atmosphere disappeared.
She held his balls tenderly with one hand while the other pumped his shaft with wicked intent. Her hazel eyes locked on his, the abandon in her gaze making him swell against her tongue. Cora moaned lustily and took him deeper.
She worked him until he felt close to release. He was about to warn her, when she pulled her mouth off of him and scrambled on top. Her lips locked on his just as her small hand wrapped around the base of his shaft and guided it inside her.
They moaned in concert, hot breath mingling in the slice of air between their mouths. Jameson had never felt any woman so tight, so hot and wet and raring to ride. Her pussy clenched at him with soft undulations, tugging at Jameson’s cock with every wave of her inner muscles.
He growled deep in his chest and felt her nipples tighten against him. A sexy smile crossed Coralie’s face as she leveraged herself upright, sitting tall and rolling her hips to take him deeper. “It’s hot as fuck when you growl.”
Aw, hell yeah. Jameson growled again, then threw in a snarl, earning a wicked smile from his woman. He crunched his abs, sitting up so that he could take her nipples in his mouth and suck deep, groaning with the pleasure.
Cora lifted up and slammed down on his cock, impaling herself over and over. “God, yes. Don’t stop.”
Jameson wasn’t stopping anything. He surrendered completely to Cora’s prowl, to her need for him. As she bounced on his lap he wrapped his arms around her back and over her shoulders, pushing her down harder, feeling himself bottom out inside, stretching her deeper.
Cora screamed out her ecstasy. “Fuck! Harder. Deeper. Please!”
Sweat trickled down Jameson’s temple, the warm summer air scented with their exertions. The wet slap of Cora’s body on his was the most erotic symphony he had ever heard. The harmony of her moans and gasps made the blood pulse in his cock, harder and thicker than ever before.
He released one of her shoulders and found his way to her clit, used two fingers to rub the swollen nub. She contracted in response, clamping down on him like a silken fist, a moan in her throat that he felt all the way to his balls.
Pushing her harder, Jameson grabbed both Cora’s hands and held them behind her with one of his, then went back to her clit. A pained sob of arousal wrenched her chest, her pelvis churning on his in rhythm with his calloused fingers on her tender flesh.
Jameson felt the clenching around his cock, the squeeze and release that signaled her coming climax. He pulled harder on her arms, forcing Cora’s back to arch, her breasts to thrust to the sky, every muscle in her body to string tight as he relentlessly teased her clit.
She was beautiful like this. No inhibition. No thought. Only wild longing and joining. With him. In the low light, the angles of her cheeks called to him and the waves of her chestnut hair danced across his arm. He’d been a fool, but that was over now. In that warm moment, he fell in love. Not heartbound. Not coventwined. Love, plain, simple love, and it wrecked him.
Her eyes met his, locking on as the clenching started, drawing him deeper with every wave. Her expression was almost pained, but a delighted moan shivered through her lips. Cora’s eyes rolled back in her head as Jameson kept the pounding pace going, bouncing her up on his cock as she slammed down.
Once again she carried him away with her, the clasping pull of her wet heat too much to ignore in his heightened state of arousal. Jameson’s muscles clenched as he speared high into Cora’s welcoming body, felt their juices mingling once more, and the blessed, sated weight of her coming to rest on him.
Cora was exhausted when it was over, but Jameson had a sense she wasn’t done. He needed to get her home and into bed so she could rest between opportunities to spend her bloodlust on him. He moved her gingerly so he could drive.
She fell asleep with her head in Jameson’s lap, waking when they arrived at her house to unlock her front door. One small hand found its way to his, leading him to the master bathroom. There she stripped them both bare and stepped into the shower, offering herself to him with narrowed eyes, bending over in the hot spray, her ass raised high in unabashed invitation.
Jameson accepted without a moment’s hesitation, slipping inside her, taking advantage of the new, quieter need and the opportunity to love Cora slowly, thoroughly. Before long the prowl took over and she was frantic for more. Harder. Now.
He pulled her up, her back to his front, trapping her face-first against the shower wall as his feet bracketed hers. Cora’s hands came up and Jameson pinned her wrists, holding her in place for his punishing thrusts until she squirmed and screamed and came all over him. When his climax hit it rushed him like a steam engine, all fury and no finesse. Somehow he got them both from the shower to the bed before they collapsed into sleep.
The whole night went that way, Cora waking him with sweet and dirty invitations that he always accepted, then settling into the aftermath and what rest they could snatch from her prowling instincts.
Contentment like he’d never known. Heartbound? That shit was nothing but love with magic sprinkled on top.
He would have to tell Carick.
Chapter 35
One day of prowl sex later, they sat propped in bed with Jameson’s arm cradling Cora’s shoulders.
When they weren’t fucking, they were talking, and that part was just as good. He cooked for her, fed her, cleaned up a bit, loving the bits and pieces of her life he found on her shelves and in her closets.
When she discovered he was rich? Having invested in electricity with the erection of the first power grids? She’d clapped her hands in delight. “Strong. A town legend. And rich. The perfect man.”
Jameson told her about the Reckoning. Didn’t tell her that he’d seen the vampire who had killed his family just before he’d come to her. Had him in his own hands. It wasn’t the right time. They were happy. He wanted to be happy. For once in his life.
Cora’d planted a kiss on Jameson’s lips and told him if she ever came across the vampire who killed his family, she would stick him with her spike. His heart had zinged with fear, but all he’d said was, “That’s because you’re a badass.”
And now they were snuggling like they were a couple. A real couple. He hadn’t heard from Carick, and he didn’t care to. Not now. Flint had texted with a message that all was good, and he should take care of Cora. They’d call if they needed either of him.
He’d been desperate to know if the shifters had walked away with any vampires, but when no word came, he kept his full attention on Cora. Finally Flint had sent him a short message. We had three vampires. Police showed up. Had to let them go. No sign of bloodblades.
Cora wriggled against him, working her way out from under the covers to straddle his thighs, then licked one flat nipple and sent a shiver down to his balls. Her hands found his waist, then lower.
&nbs
p; He gripped Cora’s hips, digging his fingers into her sweet ass. “Prowl coming back on you?”
Chestnut waves caressed his chest as she shook her head. “No. This is just us.”
Jameson’s breath stuttered out of him as she lifted up, taking his hardness in her delicate grip and bringing him into her soft shelter. Every prayer he’d learned in his whole long life fluttered through his mind, cementing the gratitude he felt at having his woman in his arms.
She came close, resting her breasts against his ribcage, pressing her lips to his chest and flicking her tongue at his nipples again.
Jameson wanted more. Deeper. Now.
He sat up, wrapping Cora’s legs around his back and his arms around her torso. Pressing her down hard and taking her mouth as she moaned out her pleasure. Her breath inside him; his heat inside her. Together.
Jameson eyed the tender curve of Cora’s neck. There was further they could go but Jameson wouldn’t ask it now. They needed time. But he could start them on the path.
His heart burst out of him on panting breaths. “I love you, Cora.”
She looked down at him, never breaking rhythm, and smiled into his eyes. “I know you do. Even if you don’t say a word.”
Jameson crushed her to him, his heartbeat thudding against hers. “I’ll tell you every day. Every breath.”
Cora’s lips smiled against his. “Just this once, kiss me instead.”
He took her mouth, her body, like a raging storm. Lashing her to him with his arms and thrusting his body deep, sending them both crashing into waves of ecstasy.
Cora cried out her love as he filled her, then fell asleep draped across his chest.
Jameson lay awake for hours, fulfilled and heartsick all at once, holding Cora close and wishing they could stay hidden for eternity. That they could hold off forever the war at their doorstep.
Chapter 36
Two more days of prowl sex later, Cora sipped her coffee and thought about the man in her bed. Ok, it was just regular sex, but all sex with Jameson felt like prowl sex. She couldn’t wait to try the real thing out again, though, see if she remembered any more of it this time.
Her phone buzzed. Lynessa. Shit. How to explain any of this to Lynessa? She downloaded a picture of an ocean view off the Internet and texted it to her friend, hoping it would make her think Cora had tried to drown her sorrows in the Caribbean. A random picture wasn’t actually lying. Right? It could have been allegory. A statement on the potential joys of hiring pool boys named Paco.
Jameson came downstairs, fully dressed, and she pouted. “Rule in my house is all men attend breakfast naked.”
He just smiled and shook his head, then accepted her offer of coffee. “You get the paper yet?”
She and Jameson were both among the last of a dying breed: subscribers to the actual newspaper. Cora shook her head. “Not yet. And since you broke the rules and got dressed, you can be the one to go out and get it.”
Jameson smiled and squeezed her ass on his way to the door. “Cheeky.” Cora blushed like a teenager and followed to watch Jameson through the glass door.
He unrolled the paper while still at the end of the driveway. Heathen! That would be the first thing she changed about him. Ha ha. Not. Maybe. He stiffened as he read the headline, his face going stormy. She stepped onto the porch, holding her robe together at the chest. “What is it?”
Her man turned to her slowly, holding up the paper. Five Hills’ Mythic White Wolf Sighting, First in 50 Years!
She grimaced. “Guess the wolf’s outta the bag.”
He rolled the paper back up and headed for her garden. He loved it as much as she did and he’d taken a tour of it every morning he’d woken up there.
“What the shit?” Jameson snarled, his eyes on the ground.
She hurried over. Bootprints. Oh. “I love my neighbors, but I think I might need to stronger boundaries.”
Jameson knelt and stared at the footprints. “Neighbor? You sure?”
Cora shrugged. “Who else would it be? If it was a vampire I’d have felt it, right? And as far as I know ex-literature professors don’t even have disgruntled students, so… yeah, I say neighbor.”
But her big, bad wolf wasn’t ready to let it go. He looked at Cora, an expression of puzzlement on his face. “I just realized I don’t even know if you have family.”
Cora’s heart twisted for him. His family was gone. He’d thought maybe hers was, too. “I am alone, except for my friends. Ah, friend. Singular. I don’t see my family, Jameson. Haven’t even talked to them in months.”
He waited patiently for her to tell the rest of it.
She took a breath. “Typical story, I guess. My parents got married because my mom was pregnant. They never seemed to like each other. My dad disappeared when I was three, came back when I was ten. I’m pretty sure he was in jail but he never said what for. My parents barely spoke after that, to each other or to me. I got out as soon as I could and never looked back. My mom thought my dad was a whore and an asshole, and my dad thought my mom was a bitch and a nag. Fun times.”
Jameson moved closer, folding Cora into his arms. “I’m sorry, honey. You deserved better.”
She squeezed his middle, rubbing her cheek against the soft cotton of his t-shirt, turning her smiling face into his chest. “And now I’ve got it.”
He lifted her face to his for a kiss. “You bet you do.”
Jameson tucked her head back against his chest and held her close. Cora closed her eyes for a minute and soaked up the love.
Jameson rested his chin on her head, deep in thought. Then he snapped out of it, chugged his coffee, and aimed them for the house.
He growled in her ear. Sex time again. Goodie.
***
Jameson steered Cora up the stairs. The boot print in her garden made him feel pissed, overprotective. Protecting her made him think of fucking her, and fuck if he was going to get anything figured out until he did the latter. He was sore. But the good sore of way too much sex with someone you fucking loved.
Cora bounded up the stairs in front of him, wiggling her ass invitingly. He caught her around the hips and pulled her down to the wooden steps.
“Jameson!” she cried giggling.
He pushed her dress up, thrilled that she almost always wore one, not pants, then ripped her underwear to the side. Her breath came quickly and she thrust her ass out at him, her core wet, glistening. So ready for him already. He pushed her up the stairs just a bit and latched on to her with his mouth, wanting her so ready she was slippery. But she wanted his cock. Only liked this for short bursts. Which was killing him. He would pin her down one day soon. Make her take his tongue. She pulled away, tried to reach behind her for his zipper. In one swift motion he was out of his pants and in her and she cried out into the stairwell. Fuck, yes. “You’re mine, Cora,” he growled.
“I am. Only yours.” she said heatedly, thrusting back against him. His gaze fell on her neck, in the curve where it met her shoulder. He gripped her there with his hand, used it to lever her against him harder. But fuck if he wanted his hand there. He wanted his teeth.
“What, what is it?” she said, her breath coming in pants punctuated by his thrusts.
“What is what?” he growled.
“You got all… strange. I could feel it.”
He could only tell the truth, especially when he was buried inside her. “I want to claim you, Cora. Mark you as mine forever.”
“Do it,” she said and the rough edge to her voice made him almost spill inside her.
“Don’t you want to know-”
“Do it,” she said again, interrupting him. She didn’t have to tell him twice. They would figure the rest of their lives out together.
He fell on her, ever wary of the killer she was, wondering if she would turn on him when his teeth pierced her skin. Shit! Her resonant! He hadn’t seen it since the night in the forest. But it didn’t matter at the moment. His fangs lengthened in his mouth and he struck, penetrati
ng her soft, delicate skin with a vicious snarl that was all for her.
Cora’s scream pierced his sensitive ears, but it turned to a lusty moan so quickly he knew she was feeling no pain. Her ass thrust against him and her legs twined around his, locking him to her, squeezing his hard flesh with her soft strength. “So good.”
Her glow flared, blinding him, but she didn’t seem to see it. It pushed him right to the edge to find her already there. Jameson felt the electricity surging through his body at the two points where they joined. as if they’d completed a circuit, allowing the energy to flow freely between them. A vibration began in his solar plexus and shuddered through his whole body, sending him careening into the most incredible orgasm Jameson had ever experienced.
From the way Cora was thrashing and crying out beneath him, her clenching core pulling him deeper with every spasm, hers was just as good.
They came back to themselves slowly. Jameson’s fangs receded so that he could kiss Cora’s neck gently, reverently as it healed before his eyes. He was still buried inside her, and she shuddered as he softened and slipped out, turning to find her shelter in his arms.
Jameson carried Cora to the top of the steps, then brushed hair from her face, surprised to find tears on her cheeks. “Ah shit, I hurt you.”
She shook her head, a smile shining through the tears. “Not at all. You chose me.”
Jameson grinned back, his heart lighter than it had been in one hundred fifty years. “I’ll always choose you, Cora. I’m yours. I’ll never be anyone else’s.”
From somewhere in the house, his phone rang. Then hers. Then his again. Text message after text message came in.
“Emergency at the ranch, it sounds like,” Cora said in a teasing voice. “Vampires need killing or something.
Jameson was glad to hear her phone ringing too. He’d seen how badly Flint and Bryce had been torn up, seen the way Riot had shied from Cora. He was afraid they thought of her differently now. That would kill her.