by Kate Douglas
Jake’s tongue stroked over the wet fabric, licking Shannon between her legs. Slow, steady strokes, the sensation blunted by wet satin, teasing strokes that brought her hips forward, made her fingers tighten on his shoulders. Made her tremble.
He nipped at the fabric, pulled it aside with his teeth, catching the elastic in the crease between Shannon’s leg and her labia. The narrow band pressed against the side of her clit, forcing that tiny bundle of nerves forward.
Jake gently ran his tongue over her, then blew cool air over the damp trail. Shannon closed her eyes against the waves of ecstasy, shivered and locked her knees to keep from falling.
He tugged at the scrap of wet fabric with his hands, then pulled her panties off. Shannon lifted one foot, then the other. Though she’d been wearing little more than a thong, she suddenly felt even more exposed, more naked than she’d been.
A stream of liquid trickled down her leg, hot where it left her sex, cooler as it moved slowly along the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. Jake tilted his head to one side and licked the cooling trail from knee to groin, then lapped her fluids at their source. His tongue was a hot, fiery brand, marking her.
He licked as if her juices fed him, stabbed deep inside her swollen cunt then suckled her throbbing clit. Shannon’s climax built, the tension in her muscles strained her entire body. Her fingers clutched Jake’s shoulders, she thrust her hips forward. Jake’s big hands stretched across her buttocks, holding her to his mouth. Biting and sucking, licking and nipping he lifted her against his mouth until she balanced on her toes while Jake sucked her clit between his lips.
His hands squeezed her buttocks, rode the sweaty cleft back and forth. Shannon felt the blunt end of one finger probing against her ass, pressing slowly, inexorably moving forward, finding entrance and thrusting deep.
Reason fled and Shannon screamed. Her legs buckled, her fingers dug into Jake’s shoulders and she collapsed against him. Held upright by his ravaging mouth and two fingers buried deep in her rectum, she felt boneless, nothing more than a clenching, spasming mass of sensation.
Jake’s fingers slipped free of her ass, his arms lifted her, and Shannon felt herself being draped belly down over the back of the large leather couch. Somehow, the fact she still wore the lacy bra, still felt the tight clasp between her breasts made her feel even more naked, more exposed. The lace rubbed against her nipples. Her breasts felt too constrained, trapped within the fabric. Lying this way, belly down over the chair, the lace confining her breasts emphasized the fact she was bare everywhere else.
Vaguely, Shannon heard the familiar sound of foil tearing, then a rustling whisper when Jake’s pants and boots hit the floor. Moisture seeped between her nether lips. She felt the cool trickle of fluid along the inside of her thigh.
Jake’s hands stroked the smooth skin of her buttocks. Shannon’s heart rate sped up and her pussy clenched in anticipation. Not many men were interested in taking her this way. None with Jake’s sensuality, his gentle yet passionate touch.
His hand slid along her backbone, found the edge of her bra and traced it around to the front. He released the clasp, freeing her breasts, then pulled the cups aside until her nipples pressed into the soft leather couch. He left the straps on her shoulders, the narrow band across her back emphasizing her nudity even more.
Then Jake rubbed something cool and slick between her cheeks. Shannon shivered when he stroked her there with the broad head of his latex-covered cock. Her nipples puckered, her fingers tightened on the smooth leather.
She felt the head of his cock pressing solidly against her anus, the rough texture of his hair-covered legs rubbing the backs of her thighs. Forcing herself to relax, spreading her legs wide, Shannon waited for the burning, stretching pain that would quickly give way to pleasure. Waited impatiently for Jake to breach one more of her defenses.
Jake wrapped his fist around his cock and counted to ten. He’d grown past counting to gain control years ago, but something about this woman kept him right on the edge. Her taste? Maybe that was it. Shannon’s flavor was ambrosia, her fluids the milk of the gods. Damn, he felt like an absolute fool around her, but she drew him, her body calling to his as if there were no other man on earth who could satisfy her insatiable needs.
In spite of the fading bruises from her ordeal, Shannon’s ass was perfect. Like two halves of a peach, the pale flesh was firm and smooth and all his. He didn’t have any regular lube but the hand lotion he’d found by the sink would work. Shannon didn’t seem to mind. Damn, she was as ready as he was.
She was always ready. He’d never found a female anywhere who came even close to satisfying his needs, but Jake had the feeling this amazing woman was just warming up.
He rubbed the lotion along the narrow cleft between her cheeks, pressing against her perfect little asshole with each pass. She pressed back, inviting penetration, but he teased her, circling the muscle, slipping down to massage her perineum, then once more pressing against her tight sphincter.
They hadn’t said a word, not a single thing since he’d kissed her. Jake wondered if Shannon was searching for the link they’d shared last night. He hadn’t felt her in his mind yet, though he’d kept his thoughts open, accepting.
She moaned and moved her butt as if she were begging for his penetration. Jake grabbed his cock and slipped it back and forth along the hot valley between her cheeks, finally halting at the rosy ring of muscle, pressing. Retreating. Pressing again, harder this time.
Shannon whimpered, a sound of need, not pain. The muscles in her back flexed, her legs straightened as she raised herself to meet him. Jake held his cock in his fist, squeezing himself to the point of pain for an ounce more of control. He pushed the broad crown against her tightly puckered opening. Felt the muscle relax just a fraction and increased the pressure. This time he gained entrance.
The feeling of that taut little muscle grabbing his cock, surrounding it, almost took Jake over the edge. He realized he was counting again, this time the number of deep breaths he took to hold on to what little control remained.
Shannon pushed back against him as he surged forward. Hot flesh grasped his cock, squeezed him, pulled him deeper. He wanted to shout out some kind of cheer when he finally slipped all the way inside her hot channel, when his balls touched the wet folds of her pussy.
Shuddering, his breath rushing in and out of his straining lungs like a bellows, Jake held perfectly still and fought off his need to come.
Shannon wouldn’t have it. She thrust back even harder against him, then pulled slowly away. Not to be outdone, Jake took a deep breath and matched her rhythm, driving into her heat, slipping out almost to the very end of his cock, then thrusting hard and deep again.
He knew he couldn’t last, not with sensation this powerful, but he rode her as hard as he could, realizing almost at once this woman could take him. All of him. Could easily take whatever he offered, would welcome anything he did to help her find release.
He reached forward and caught her breasts, one in each hand. Pinching and tugging at her taut, puckered nipples, Jake added his groans to Shannon’s cries. The room filled with the hard slap of flesh meeting flesh, of harsh breaths and loud groans, the creak of wood and leather as Jake forced Shannon against the back of the couch with each penetrating thrust.
Suddenly Shannon arched her back and screamed. Her muscles tightened around Jake’s cock like a vise. His control slipped another notch. He knew he had only seconds before his climax boiled up and out of his balls, knew there was no time left to even appreciate the process.
It happened then, the link he’d searched for. He felt the pressure, the fullness of a huge cock filling his ass, only it was Shannon’s experience and he was in her mind and she was in his. He knew she felt the clenching pleasure that was almost pain, would feel the hot coil of seed exploding from the end of his cock, the frustration of feeling it caught in the latex reservoir of the condom.
What if she questioned his frustration?
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br /> He had no choice but to use protection, no choice but to maintain the deception he was fully human. Until he could tell Shannon the truth, Jake had to continue using condoms as she would expect any lover to do.
Would her mind catch the reason why he protected her each time they made love? Would she understand the depths of his deception? The fact he still couldn’t be sure, couldn’t know until she’d had at least a week of the supplement, enough time to make the change from human to Chanku?
Jake shut those thoughts down the moment they entered his mind. He couldn’t risk her wondering, couldn’t chance her questioning him.
Shannon arched her back and cried out as Jake pounded into her receptive body. Her long, low cry took Jake even higher, caught his final thrust as he filled her. Shouting incoherently, his voice harsh and inhuman in his own ears, Jake gave in to his climax. Gave in to the rush of semen from testicles to release, the taut pressure in his balls, the overwhelming pleasure of this woman’s body.
Jake’s spasms went on for what seemed forever. He lay across Shannon’s back, lungs heaving, heart pounding, his balls aching from the power of his orgasm. It had never been like this.
Never. No other woman had affected him so powerfully, crawled so far inside his mind that he’d actually been her. Jake had felt his cock plowing into her ass as if it was his own butt getting reamed, still felt the softening pressure as if his own ass muscles squeezed and surrounded a man’s cock.
It was unsettling, to say the least. Unsettling and exciting as hell. Jake sighed and wrapped his arms around Shannon’s waist, buried his face in her tangled hair and planted a soft kiss on the back of her neck.
She must be Chanku. She had to be, but until he knew for sure, Jake would wait. Already he felt the need to claim her. To take her as wolf, to tie with her in the way of Chanku and make her his mate forever.
Not yet. He couldn’t. Not until she’d had the supplement long enough for the changes to happen. Until Shannon could become wolf. It would happen. It had to. No normal human could affect him like this.
He let out a deep breath, still covering Shannon’s body with his own. His cock throbbed deep within her swollen tissues, her muscles clenched and pulsed around him. The sense of being Shannon faded slowly away. Jake tightened his arms around Shannon’s waist and nuzzled the back of her neck. She turned her head, her eyes drowsy and sated, her lips swollen, and stared solemnly at him.
“Jake? What’s Chanku? Why do I hear that word in your mind? It sounds familiar, something I remember from a long time ago.”
He shook his head, let her think he was too exhausted to answer. There were no words. Nothing he could say until he knew for sure. Only one thing was certain.
He would run tonight. Once Shannon slept, Jake would find solace in the forest, in the primeval depths of the thick woods where the wolf held mastery of all around him. He would run and he would pray to whatever gods watched over the beasts of the forest, whatever gods protected the man he was. He would pray that soon he could take this woman to mate.
PART TWO
Discovery
Chapter 5
They showered together, made long, slow love once more beneath the stinging spray, then shared a steak and salad for dinner. Shannon rarely ate red meat but for some reason the rare beef tasted like ambrosia. She stared at the bloody piece of meat on her fork and shook her head, caught between amusement and dismay.
It must be all the sex. Damn, she’d never felt so sated…or quite so sore. Of all the men she’d been with over the years, none was quite as insatiable as this one.
Or so well endowed. She looked up from her meal and grinned at Jake. He smiled back. The flickering lantern light turned his hair to molten gold and his eyes to liquid amber. Shannon noticed a brilliant glow about them, a sparkle that hadn’t been there before. She might be exhausted, but Jake looked ready for anything.
He reached for the bottle of wine to refill their glasses. His shirt gaped open and Shannon noticed he hadn’t replaced the bandage on his throat. Whatever injury he had was almost healed, but a jagged red scar ran from the side of his throat to just above his collarbone.
“I keep meaning to ask what happened to your throat.” She thought of his rescue of her, the way he’d avoided the men searching for them with such ease. “Did you get shot?”
Jake shook his head as he poured wine into Shannon’s glass, then his own. “No. Attacked by a large, justifiably pissed-off canine. Luckily, he missed.” He concentrated on the wine so she couldn’t see his eyes. The thought of an animal going for this man’s throat terrified her. “He didn’t miss by much. What were you doing?”
Jake looked up at her, finally, but his expression appeared guarded. After the intimate evening they’d shared, Shannon felt as if he’d suddenly erected a wall between them.
“I tried to take something he was protecting. I guess he wanted to teach me a lesson. Are you familiar with Pack Dynamics…Ulrich’s company?”
Talk about your non sequitur. “Tia said it’s a detective agency.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. Something like that. We do a lot of different jobs. Last week, I stuck my nose where it wasn’t wanted and I paid for it. End of story.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and took a swallow of wine, but Shannon had the feeling there was a lot more to the tale than he told.
It was just as obvious she wasn’t going to hear it tonight.
Suddenly she yawned. It felt so good, she did it again, stretching her arms over her head. “C’mon. Let’s get the dishes done. I really need to get some sleep.”
“I’ll do them. It’s been a long day for you. Go on to bed. I’ll be in later.”
Shannon nodded. She carried her plate to the sink and kissed Jake as if they’d known each other for years, but sexual intimacy such as they’d experienced tended to do that to people. Grinning, she headed for the big bedroom with the king-size bed. As tired as she was, Shannon was thankful she’d taken the time earlier to make it up with fresh linens. Even though the cabin had two other bedrooms, there’d been no discussion of sleeping arrangements. They didn’t need to talk about the obvious.
Jake took his time cleaning up the kitchen, grabbed a big pillow off the couch and walked quietly on bare feet back to the bedroom to check on Shannon. She slept soundly, her hair glistening like burnished copper across the pillow in the low, flickering light from the one candle burning in the room.
He leaned over her and felt an almost painful pressure in his heart, as if that damned organ wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the rush of feelings that swamped him when he looked at Shannon Murphy. More than just beautiful, she had the spirit he needed in a mate, the intelligence and humor and sense of self Jake had never experienced with another woman.
Not even Tia Mason.
He stood up straighter, aware that the guilt he’d carried over wanting Tia was gone. Replaced by need, by an emotion he feared to name.
Replaced by love. Jake closed his eyes against the sharp sting of tears. Damn. That was so not what he needed now, not until he knew for sure.
Quietly tucking the bolster pillow in beside Shannon, Jake bunched the down comforter over the lumpy form. With a last look at Shannon sleeping peacefully in his bed, Jake turned away, and went outside.
Brilliant stars blanketed the autumn sky, a pale sliver of moon hung in the south and there was a hint of frost in the air. Jake stood on the porch for a moment, listening to the sounds of the night, breathing in the utter stillness and fresh scents of the forest. Then he stripped off his clothes, folded them neatly and set them in a corner of the porch. For a brief moment, he glanced back at the house, shivering in the chill air.
No sign of Shannon. Thankfully, she still slept.
Jake shifted quickly, leaning over as he made the change. His hands hit the porch as wolven paws, ebony nails digging into the wood. With a last glance toward the house, the wolf leapt off the porch and raced toward the dark forest. He paused, very briefly, to take a quick gla
nce at the silver motorcycle parked in front. Then, tail held high, the beast blended into the shadows.
Shannon awakened to total darkness, at first disoriented, then merely groggy from sleeping so soundly. She knew she’d been dreaming, but of what, she wasn’t certain. Someone or something had called to her, awakened her. The candle had burned itself out and the only light came from the silvery moon hanging low on the horizon, shining through the parted window curtains.
Quietly, so as not to disturb Jake, she grabbed her sweatshirt off the end of the bed and pulled it on, then walked out into the main part of the house. Padding quietly on bare feet across the icy cold, wooden floors, she shivered in the darkness.
Moonlight glinted through the front window, calling to her. Still half asleep, Shannon grabbed an afghan off the couch and wrapped it around herself, then opened the front door. The night air felt icy against her bare legs. Moonlight glowed on the small clearing in front of the house and the forest hovered, dark and mysterious, on the far side.
The ethereal beauty stopped Shannon in her tracks. She listened for a moment, wondering once more what had awakened her, then walked slowly and soundlessly across the porch and leaned against the wooden railing. She almost went back for Jake, so strong was the need to share this moment, but she knew he was exhausted. Tonight, she’d let him sleep.
As cold as it was, she didn’t expect to be out there much longer, but it was just so damned beautiful.
A flash of something caught her eye, a slight movement on the far side of the clearing. Straightening up, Shannon squinted, as if that would help her see in the almost total darkness. Again. Something big. What the hell was that? She leaned over the railing, staring until she thought her eyes might cross.
Suddenly, an animal moved out of the shadows, gliding into a sliver of silver moonlight. A big dog? No, the ears were wrong, the body too large, too powerful.
Her mouth went dry. It was a wolf. Wild and free, right here in the front yard of Jake’s home. Damn. She wanted to get Jake, to share this with him, but Shannon knew the minute she made a move the creature would disappear as silently, as mysteriously, as he’d arrived.