by Dannika Dark
When Denver stepped out of the room, Austin gave him a tight hug and patted his back several times.
“We’re going home,” Austin said.
Denver held on, his hands clenched into tight fists and his eyes squeezed shut. I’d never seen the two embrace like that.
Realizing his man card was about to be revoked, Denver stepped back and cleared his throat. “How?”
Austin stepped aside and motioned toward me. “You can thank Maizy.”
Denver blanched and took a step back, his lips pressed tight. The look he delivered was crushing as he swung around and stormed down the hall.
“Hold up,” Austin yelled out as they neared the elevators up ahead.
“No, I’m not holding up. I’m outta here,” Denver said, throwing up his hand. With each stride he took, we grew farther apart. “I can’t believe you let her do that!”
My feet still rooted in place, I watched as Denver disappeared into the elevator.
“Will you wait?” Austin slammed his hand against one of the buttons.
“She’s not riding in here with me.”
Austin looked in my direction as I approached. “I’ll talk to him. Take the next elevator up. We’ll be waiting up top.”
So just like that, they left me in the hall of an underground prison. It was almost laughable.
Almost.
“I can’t believe this!” I shouted. I beat my fists on the elevator doors, hoping they could hear me. “You’re the biggest jackass, Denver Cole!”
A chuckle sounded to my left and I glanced over my shoulder.
One of the guards sized me up. “My mate says that to me all the time. It must be love,” he sang, walking into an office across from me.
“Idiot,” I murmured, tapping my foot on the floor and waiting for the elevator. I could hear the electric whine as it slowed down.
When the doors parted, a hand reached out and snatched my wrist, yanking me inside. I gasped and almost tripped until I landed in someone’s arms.
Denver’s arms.
The doors closed and his mouth was on mine. “I’m sorry,” he said between kisses. The heat of arousal engulfed me when his mouth slowly dragged down to my neck and his hands curved around my ass.
Suddenly his right hand slammed against a button and the elevator quietly stopped. He dropped to his knees and began undoing my shorts.
My fingers gripped his hair. “Wait. The alarms…”
His molten gaze traveled up the length of my body. “They don’t use alarms. It makes the prisoners think something’s up.”
“How do you know?”
I gasped when he tugged down my shorts and pressed a hot kiss below my navel. “I checked with the guard up top. He said we’ll have all the privacy we want.”
When my panties slid down, his fingers disappeared between my legs, stroking my sex. I prayed there was enough air in the elevator, because I was sucking it all up with each heavy breath.
His strokes were skilled, as if he wanted to collect each gasp and gentle word that fell from my lips.
Denver rose to his feet and delivered a salacious kiss while he pleasured me. His coarse whiskers rubbed against my skin, and every rough and smooth part of his body ignited my senses. Then he broke the kiss, heated breaths warming my cheek.
“I need to claim you. Right here. Right now.”
I swallowed thickly, lost in a fog of naughty thoughts. “You want to fuck me in the elevator?”
His body moved against mine. “Don’t say it like that unless you’ll let me,”
he said, lips next to my ear, voice rough with need.
I shuddered when he pulled his fingers away and looked at me with invitation in his eyes.
“Are there cameras in here?” I asked.
A smile crossed his expression. “If there are, it won’t matter in a minute.”
“Why?”
My heart leapt in my chest when the lights went out and submersed us in darkness.
“They conserve energy when the elevators are inactive,” he whispered while unzipping his pants. “Standing up or lying down?”
I smiled, moving my lips to his ear. “In and out.”
He groaned, and then I felt the hard press of him at my core. His hesitation made me tremble with need. We were on the verge of doing something very wicked in a prison elevator.
It excited me. Made me want to find an alarm button just so people would know what we were about to do.
“We’ve got less than four minutes before it starts moving again,” he said, urgency in his voice.
I lifted my leg and locked it around his. “Then you better get moving.”
His restraint was killing me.
“It won’t be romantic like the first time. It’s a craving I can’t fight, and I’ve never felt this kind of need for another woman. If we do this, it’ll be rough, hard, and fast. I need to claim you, and that means fucking you right here.”
I ground against him, arching my back and on the brink of expiring. “If you keep talking to me like that, I’m going to come.”
He penetrated deep, and the heat of him burned like a brand. There was no time to savor the moment. With an urgent rock of his hips, Denver gripped my right thigh and found my mouth. Our tongues twined, and the cold wall pressed against my back. I grew wetter with every thrust, every needful kiss.
I nibbled on his lip and dug my nails into his shoulders. He was lean muscle, the kind most women preferred over the men who looked as if they were on steroids. Strong hands, strong arms, full of boundless energy.
Denver released a growl, low and possessive. “Say something.”
“Why?”
He nibbled my lip. “So I know it’s you I’m claiming.”
He couldn’t see me, and as sexy as this was, I knew how he felt. I wanted to see his fervent gaze and admire the shades of blond in his hair while my hand fisted it.
What does he want me to say? “I don’t want to sound like a bimbo in a cheesy porn flick.”
“Three minutes,” he breathed.
“Are you counting in your head?” I asked in horror.
“Don’t break my concentration.”
I wanted to laugh, and I did. Probably the worst time you could choose to laugh, and yet the energy shifted in that room. The sexual tension swelled into something hot and untamable. Denver lifted my other leg and I gripped his shoulders.
Sweat touched my brow as our motions began rubbing me in just the right places. “Denny, don’t make me come in here.”
“Christ, I can’t stop.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck since my back was rubbing against the wall.
“One minute left,” I whispered, trying not to laugh. “Hurry. Seven… six… five…” I clenched my legs against him and began to ride out a wave, feeling the urgency of time that was not on our side.
Any minute.
Any second.
The lights would come on. The elevator would move. The doors would open. They could catch us.
The friction of our bodies sent a surge of energy rippling through me like lightning, one that moved with such ferocity that I began to see small specks of light piercing through the darkness. When I came, every muscle in my body locked. I gasped and my cry reverberated against the walls.
Denver’s thrusts were animalistic, and I finally understood what it meant to give in to the primal nature of being a Shifter. A moan rose in my throat and Denver buried himself deep.
I rocked my hips and he released an anguished sound, his body shuddering through a powerful climax. Out of breath, I collapsed in his arms, limp and completely spent.
All that existed was our heavy breathing and racing hearts. It was exquisitely sweet to be in his arms that way as we tumbled back into reality. Nothing could have taken me out of that moment.
Until the lights switched on.
“Shit!” He lowered me to the floor and made an agonized grunt when he pulled out, cursing under his breath while he yanked up h
is pants.
I was in full-blown panic mode. “My shorts!”
The elevator continued its ascension, rising higher just like my heart in search of my throat.
Denver grabbed my jean shorts and held them out for me to step into. With a quick tug, he pulled them up and situated his shirt.
I glanced down in horror at my black panties. Denver caught the direction of my gaze and bent over to snatch them up.
The door opened and my eyes went wide. Austin turned around and I swallowed hard, trying to maintain cool composure even though I was covered in sex sweat.
One of the guards lifted a cup of coffee in his hand and grinned. “Looks like someone used the Stop button.”
Denver sprang to his feet and stuffed my panties into his back pocket before anyone noticed.
I casually blew a strand of hair away from my flushed cheeks. “Well, I’m ready to go home,” I said, my voice breathy.
Denver stretched out his arm and cracked his neck. “Yeah, I could go for some barbecue. Prison food almost killed me.”
Austin darkened his gaze at Denver. “Is that what you were talking to the guard about? The button to stop the elevator? Get your ass in the car.”
He smacked the back of Denver’s head when we passed him and gave me a scolding glance. I smiled and hunched my shoulders—as if ashamed—but didn’t feel a shred of remorse. Austin was one to talk. I remembered many a night when he’d come home late with Lexi and I’d see him outside washing the hood of his car beneath the moonlight. Maybe I didn’t know what was going on back then, but I put the pieces together in later years.
Denver wrapped his arm around me and looked back at Austin. “Don’t act like you and Lexi don’t get it on every chance you get. Remember last month at the movies? We all know your trip to the concession stand was for more than just a snack.”
“Get outside,” Austin grumbled as we walked out the door.
“Whatever, Aus. All I’m saying is someone got their popcorn buttered that night.”
I covered my mouth and laughed, leaning against Denver. His humor was what I loved best about him.
He kissed the top of my head and peered down at me with a subdued smile.
“Did you really think I would have mated Prince to set you free?” I asked.
Denver slowed down until Austin passed us. A few frogs were croaking in the distance—a sound I hadn’t heard in a long time. “I didn’t give you enough credit. I thought you’d make a stupid choice to save me.”
“Well, if we hadn’t found the diamonds, I might have participated in the most elaborate prison break in the history of prison breaks.”
“In those sexy shorts? If you tell me you’re packing a Colt .45, then I might have to marry you like they do on television.”
“Denver…” I stopped and pulled him to face me. “I love you. Maybe I shouldn’t be the one saying it first—or even at all—without knowing if you feel the same way about me. But that’s how I feel. I’m over the moon about you, and I can’t imagine going on another day in my life alone. I feel more than passion when I’m with you—I feel alive.”
He stepped forward and cupped my face. “Look here, Peanut. All that bullshit about you moving on was so I wouldn’t have to worry about you locking yourself in a room for the rest of your life, thinking I was the best you could do. It’s pretty obvious I don’t stack up to guys like Prince, but I am devoted to you, protective of you, fascinated by you, and deeply, deeply in love with you.”
“Why didn’t you say all that before?”
“Because I’m a man, and we fail miserably at romance.”
His mouth reverently touched my lips.
When the car horn blared behind him, he gave Austin the finger.
“If we can’t stay in the pack,” he continued, “then I make a decent living as a bartender. It’ll take time to find a new pack, but I’ll take care of us while you look for work.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about Austin kicking us out.”
His brow arched. “I killed a Packmaster. He forked over millions of dollars to the higher authority—who now have his name on a naughty record somewhere—and while he was releasing me from prison, you and I had sex in the elevator. That might be grounds for dismissal.”
I gripped his hand and led him toward the car. “Come on, Denny. Face the firing squad like a man.”
“That’s what my warden said.”
I slapped his butt playfully and he growled with approval, pulling me tight against him. He opened the back so I could get in and then scooted next to me.
“Don’t you want to sit up front?” I asked in a quiet voice.
Austin tilted the rearview mirror, making it obvious he didn’t want any hanky-panky going on in the backseat of his Challenger.
Considering my panties were in Denver’s back pocket and it was a long drive home, I wasn’t sure if that was possible.
But content and in the arms of the man I hoped to spend the rest of my life with—if he’d only ask—I curled up in Denver’s embrace and listened to him tell us his amusing spin on his adventures in prison.
Chapter 27
After returning home from Breed jail, we stayed up with the family for hours, eating and drinking in celebration. After midnight, I fell asleep and Denver carried me up to bed.
His bed.
But we didn’t sleep together—at least, not in human form. I woke up to a long tongue cleaning my face. Denver’s wolf had sat next to the bed through the entire night, guarding me.
Needless to say, I was on edge when I went downstairs and saw the Cole brothers lined up near the front door, quiet and watching my descent.
“We’re going to introduce you to the pack,” Austin announced.
“Now?” I briefly wondered how fast I could run back upstairs and lock myself in the bathroom.
He cracked a few knuckles and looked at Denver’s wolf, who had trotted down the stairs and was sitting beside me. “Starting with him. I have no doubt you’ll get along with the rest of these meatheads, but Denver’s the one I’m concerned about. I’ve asked everyone to supervise in case something goes wrong. Males aren’t normally aggressive toward female wolves, but Denver’s never been normal.”
Jericho snorted. “You can say that again.” His attention snapped away for a moment. “Isabelle, stay upstairs. We’ll call you down when it’s your turn.”
Austin looked up at her. “I don’t want to spook her wolf with too many people watching.”
Izzy leaned over the railing. “Can’t I just watch from here?”
When Austin put his hands on his hips, that was her answer, and she hurried out of sight.
Denver nudged my hand and I scratched his ear.
“What if we tear up your house?” I asked.
Reno chuckled in his raspy way. “I’d be more worried about you two getting it on.”
Wheeler grimaced. “That’s not something I want to see. There’s not enough therapy to erase a visual like that from my mind.”
Trevor elbowed him in the ribs. “Denver’s wolf didn’t kill me.”
Wheeler put his arm around Trevor’s shoulder. “Remind me to tell you the story about how your wolf almost mounted him.”
Trevor’s eyes went wide in horror. “Shut up, you lying bastard.”
Wheeler chuckled darkly and shook his head, strolling next to Austin. The men in the house loved riling each other up, and half the time you didn’t know if they were joking or serious.
“Hell no,” Austin said, snapping his fingers and pointing at the same time. “Someone get the damn cat out of here.”
Spartacus looked like a statue mounted on the living room floor, his tail straight and slightly bent at the tip. His eyes were wide, as they always were, like golden orbs. When Wheeler stalked in his direction, the only thing that moved was his pink tongue poking out, as if he were doing it deliberately.
“Come on, Sparty. Time for you to hang out in the study.”
Jer
icho murmured, “Sparty?”
I shrugged. “Sorry. I think I accidentally gave him that nickname. Naya doesn’t care for it, and maybe that’s why it stuck with Wheeler.”
The door shut to one of the rooms and Wheeler resumed his position. They were forming a semicircle, as if cornering us in the sitting room. The only place we’d have to retreat was upstairs.
I glanced up worriedly.
“Spooked wolves will never run upstairs. Instinct tells them to stay at the lowest level,” Austin said reassuringly. “Anytime you’re ready. It’s just going to be a quick shift, so if you start to feel yourself slipping, I want you to shift back. Don’t worry if you can’t, but I’d rather not make you.”
I knelt down beside Denver and he lapped at my jaw, happily wagging his tail. I was too scared to create distance between us. My wolf hadn’t met another Shifter wolf, and I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be. But she might be spooked with all these men staring at her and decide to attack.
“Don’t bite me, okay?” I whispered, stroking his soft ears. He had the most beautiful blue eyes against his grey-and-white coat—trusting eyes. Maybe everyone else thought they were crazy eyes, but I’d never once been afraid of his wolf.
Austin widened his stance. “Call to her. She’ll listen.”
“Wait a second.” I sat back with my legs beneath me and looked up at them. “I’m not going to shift back naked in front of you guys.”
The men exchanged glances, eyes sparkling with laughter.
“They’ll turn around. Won’t you, boys?” Austin threw them a frosty glare.
William went over to the closet and pulled out one of his long black jackets. He had a peculiar style that seemed Old World.
“M’lady,” he offered, handing me the jacket.
I crumpled it beside me and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”
Denver released a whine, sensing something was going to happen. I’d never really called to my wolf, but I’d heard Lexi talk about it. I mentally called out to her and she rushed over me like water. That’s what it felt like to shift—like I was going down a waterslide. Our souls connected, and it was indescribable.