by Cara Morgan
He wanted her. There was that, too. Wolflight burned in his eyes. The scent of his arousal filled her nose and mouth, causing her womb to flutter every time she inhaled. She was wet for him. She couldn’t deny the fact that she wanted him, too.
The way he’d touched her marks convinced her they might have a chance. He’d been careful, as if she were a fragile thing that might break beneath the stroke of his hands. She wasn’t fragile, but Declan made her feel as delicate as a flower. And what was she supposed to make of that? The big bad wolf didn’t want to hurt her after all. Eat her, maybe. But not hurt her.
So she was trusting Case, Eli, Carson and Jack. She was trusting her wolf, and she was claiming Declan as her mate.
If he’d have her.
Before she could speak the words, Declan’s hand tightened on her breast and she groaned. She leaned closer, but his other hand settled on her hip to hold her in place.
“Whoa, there, little wolf,” he said, his voice gruff. “There are a few things we need to work out.”
Her mind was foggy with lust. The heat was rising fast, making her skin tingle and her pussy ache. She felt empty and she needed to be filled. It was simple. They didn’t need to talk.
But Declan’s expression was grim. He was scowling again. She lifted her hand to his face and brushed a thumb over the deep frown line beside his mouth, trying to smooth it away. His nostrils flared and wolflight danced in his eyes, but the frown line didn’t budge at all.
“I won’t be a tame pup like Carson or Jack. I won’t spoil you like Eli, or try to order your life like Case.”
“What will you do, Declan?”
She couldn’t seem to breathe as she waited for his response. She had the feeling that he didn’t even know what he was going to say yet. She moved her hand to place her fingers on his lips. They were surprisingly soft, warm and cushiony. She felt the heat of his breath as he sharply exhaled.
“Fuck,” he said, closing his arms around her. He lifted her right off her feet and carried her to the rumpled bed. He threw her onto the mattress and covered her body as soon as she landed. He settled himself between her legs as if he owned the spot. Sure of his welcome there. Well, he was a cocky bastard. Too observant not to know what she intended and too honest to pretend otherwise.
The towel covering her hair had come unwound and he tossed it aside to sink his fingers into her damp, wild curls. He angled her head so she had no choice but to look him in the eye. “I’ll fuck you whenever you need a hard cock. I’ll protect you. You and any children you bear. That’s all I have it in me to promise. Will that be enough?”
She wrapped her legs around him, tilting her hips to slide herself along the hard ridge of his cock. He was still wearing jeans and it was so frustrating she nearly cried out at the injustice of it all. She was truly beginning to hate clothes.
Declan held himself immoveable, every muscle in his body locked down and rigid.
“It’s enough,” she said.
His fingers flexed in her hair. It was the only thing about him that moved.
“Say the words,” he growled. “I need to hear you say it.”
“I claim you, Declan.”
He moved, grinding his hips against hers as he lowered his head to claim her mouth in a ruthless kiss. His tongue pushed between her parted lips, bumped against her teeth and explored the cavern of her mouth with possessive thoroughness. He stole her breath and then gave it back to her when she whimpered. Her hands clutched at the heavy muscles in his shoulders. It was all she could do to hold on and let him claim her. When he lifted his head, he studied her face for a moment and then smiled slowly.
“I claim you as my mate,” he said, punctuating the last word with the press of his hips. “Man to woman and wolf to wolf, you are mine as I am yours. My body I give to your protection and pleasure. My life to your service. My seed to our future. We are pack.”
Tears sprung to her eyes as she felt the bond settle around them. She’d been so worried. With each of the others, as soon as they’d spoken the words, she’d felt at peace with her choice. With Declan, she’d been afraid she’d dive into the dark water and strike her head against a rock. There was no rock, only a deep and abiding certainty that she’d made the right decision.
Declan felt it, too. She could see that. He groaned and a great shudder ran through his big body. The scent of his arousal increased and he kissed her again, just as thoroughly as before, but this time he was much more gentle. Almost too gentle. She wasn’t really fragile and she wanted to feel the force of his desire again. She needed skin. His hard cock. She wanted to feel the bunch and flex of those powerful muscles as he moved inside her.
She broke kiss. “Take off your clothes.”
He arched a single brow. “I’m not your puppy.”
“You’re stubborn and frustrating. That’s what you are.”
“And you have no manners.”
“I have no manners?”
He grinned. “You know it’s bad when even I see it.”
Swallowing a growl, she lifted her hips to press herself against his erection. “Please take off your clothes.”
“Much better. I’ll have you trained in no time.” He tried to kiss her, but she bit him first. He jerked back, eyes wide. “What was that for?”
She smiled sweetly. “I’m not a puppy either.”
He pushed off the bed, pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it aside before reaching for his belt. “Good. I eat puppies for breakfast.”
She snorted. He wasn’t as scary as he liked to pretend. He…dear God, he was insanely gorgeous. She hadn’t seen him fully naked yet, and she hadn’t been truly prepared for the sight. He was all hard sculpted flesh and smooth golden skin. He might have been carved out of stone. A statue that they’d put in a museum for schoolgirls to giggle over while their mothers drooled. He was the living embodiment of pure, untamed masculinity. And he was reaching for her.
“Like what you see, little wolf?”
She swallowed twice before she managed to work her way up from his thick, curved cock, past his ridged abdomen and bulging chest. Heat seared her veins and moisture flooded her pussy. His nostrils flared, scenting her answer, and the wolflight in his eyes glowed brighter. Her wolf rose, hungry and intent. She felt the shiver of her change press against her skin, the wolf trying to get out.
“Come here,” she said, lifting her arms. “Let me show you how much.”
But Declan, being Declan, was still trying to prove to her that he wasn’t hers to command. He placed his knees between her legs to spread them wider and then lowered himself to the mattress.
She dropped her head back against the pillow. “Oh, God. I can’t, Declan. Not now. I hurt.”
“Do you?” He blew against her damp folds. It was the lightest caress, but it raised goose bumps all over her body. “How much does it hurt?”
“I need you.”
He lifted her knee and turned his head to softly nuzzle her inner thigh. He didn’t have a beard like Jack, but he hadn’t shaved this morning and the scrape of his whiskers against her sensitive skin made her moan. She could feel his breath against her pussy.
Just a few inches closer…
She lifted her hips and he pulled back, laughing softly. “None of that.”
He snaked an arm under her left leg and over her hip. His hand was heavy and warm on her belly, the weight of it holding her firmly in place. He teased his tongue along the seam where her thigh met her hip and then, after a breathless pause, turned his head to kiss her other thigh.
“I like you like this,” he murmured against her skin.
“In pain?”
“You’re not in pain. You’re still trying to control your wolf. Let her come out and play, Maggie. I want to meet her.”
With his free hand, he deftly parted her folds while somehow, infuriatingly, avoiding her clit. He stopped to look at her and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. No one else had taken the time to study her like this, not with
their wolves demanding that they seal the bond. And there hadn’t really been time since then for more leisurely explorations.
Now wasn’t the time.
She wanted skin. Flesh. His hard cock pounding into her. She didn’t want to be biting her lip to keep from begging him for more.
Declan, she suspected, would very much like to hear her beg. She sank her teeth into her lip and tasted blood. Declan licked her in one deliciously long swipe from her dripping pussy to her throbbing clit. She shuddered. When she tilted her hips, he pressed on her belly forcing her down.
Her heels dug into the mattress. Her breath broke on a sob. “Please.”
The warm, wet tip of his tongue pushed through her folds, tasting her. He hummed, a low sound of satisfaction that slid across her skin like silk. His lips closed over her clit and he worried at the swollen nub before releasing it. He scraped the edge of his teeth along her labia and then pressed his tongue into her pussy.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Please. I need more.”
He lapped at her with gentle insistence, with tongue and teeth and lips, until her whole body was trembling with the need for release.
“I can’t… Declan, please. I can’t!”
A soft laugh gusted from his mouth. “You can. Let the wolf out.”
“Need…”
“I know what you need.”
He pressed a finger into her with a slow, wet glide, withdrew, and then added a second finger with the next stroke. Her back arched. His hand on her belly flexed, pressing her down. His thumb stroked low on her abdomen. Her womb clenched with every slow pass. Release remained just out of reach.
If only he would…gah.
He hooked the two fingers planted inside her, dragging the pads along her inner wall, exploring her with devastating intimacy. “You want to come.”
“Ye…yes. Yes. Please!”
The please wasn’t working on him anymore. She wondered if cursing would make him hurry. She wasn’t quite brave enough to risk it.
His fingers pressed against a spot that made her jerk in surprise and cry out. He lessened the pressure but didn’t retreat. Instead, he turned his hand slightly so that he could massage her there in small, lazy circles.
Her bones melted and all of her awareness narrowed to the slight movement of his hand.
He kissed her clit and she jerked again. “Tell me you want me.”
“I claimed you,” she wailed. “Of course, I want you.”
“Tell me.”
She opened her eyes to glare down at him. “I want you.”
He smiled. “Tell me you’re mine, whenever I want. However I want. You won’t deny me.”
“That’s not…”
He stopped. “Not the way it works? We decide how it works.”
“You’re torturing me to get your way.”
His eyes gleamed. “I’m setting you up for the best orgasm of your life.”
He moved his fingers and she gasped. Gritting her teeth, she only managed one word. “Cocky.”
“You’ll get used to it. Say you’re mine.”
“The pack...”
His voice softened. “I know you already belong to them. I’ve seen it for myself. Case, Eli, Jack and Carson already have a place in your heart. That’s not what I’m asking for. I only want the words.”
Through their bond, she felt a sharp twist of some old pain. He wasn’t trying to torment her, she realized. Not really. He was trying to protect himself. She reached for him, threading her fingers through his hair and tugging so he looked up at her again.
“Yours. I’m yours. When you want me, how you want me. I promise.” Pride gave her smile teeth. “But it works both ways, Declan. You’re mine, too.”
His eyes narrowed, but he gave a sharp nod and lowered his head. His mouth settled directly over her clit. He licked her as his fingers began to move again in her pussy. Deep, insistent nudges that rebuilt the fire he’d deliberately cooled. Within seconds, she was writhing against his mouth. His big hand kneaded her belly in time to the pulsing strokes of his hand. His tongue—his amazing tongue—was doing ungodly things to her. He shouldn’t use it to speak. He should just save it for this.
When her hands clenched in his hair, he murmured something she couldn’t make out and pressed his long, thick fingers deeper. Holding them hard against the sensitive spot inside her, he sucked at her clit, tugging and rubbing it by turns until she finally flew apart.
He didn’t let up. Not even when she tried to pull him away from her. He softened his touch. The stroke of his tongue gentled, but he didn’t withdraw. She was surprised when her body responded, the warm hum of another orgasm sweetly winding through her, tightening slowly. She was too dazed to hold back the wolf when she came. Too blissed out to care when her teeth began to lengthen and her nails sharpened to claws. She pressed the points against Declan’s skull and he grunted.
Looking up at her, he smiled. “There she is.”
Maggie growled and bucked her hips, dislodging him from between her thighs. When he rocked to the side, catching his weight on one arm, she followed him over, sprawling on his chest and then driving him onto his back.
The smell of him filled her nose and mouth. Wild. Masculine. Mate. Only he wasn’t her mate completely. Not yet. He would not deny her any longer. Hooking a leg over his hip, she slid lower, arching her back when her pussy met the hard line of his cock. She moved against him, rolling her hips to wet his shaft.
Her hands splayed on his wide chest, her nails—claws—pierced his tanned skin. She could feel his heartbeat under her palms and in the cock pressed so intimately against her. She could hear the sound of it thundering in her ears, mixing with her own.
“In me,” she growled. “Now.”
“Not. Your. Puppy.”
His hands gripped her hips and he rolled her beneath him. She snarled in outrage, biting his shoulder as his weight drove her into the mattress. He kicked her legs wide and settled himself between them. One flex of his hips positioned him at her entrance. Another hard thrust and he was inside her. Full, thick and hard. Her back arched at the invasion. She choked on a scream as he pulled back and slammed into her again.
“This,” he said, punctuating the word with another sharp thrust. “This is what you want from me.”
“Yes!”
He cursed, sounding unhappy with her answer. What was wrong with wanting him? She didn’t understand, but there was no time to worry about it. Declan pulled out of her abruptly, swatted aside her reaching hands and flipped her onto her stomach. Before she could push herself up, he was inside her again. One arm reached around her torso, wrapping right under her breasts. His other hand slipped between her body and the mattress. His parted fingers bracketed her clit. Every thrust rocked her forward, driving her clit against his hand.
Her skin shivered with the change. Her wolf was too near the surface for Maggie to rein her back and for a moment she panicked, clawing at the bed sheets, trying to regain control. Declan was having none of it.
He nipped at her neck. “Don’t cage the wolf.”
“She’s… The change.”
“You won’t change. Trust me.”
He sank his teeth into the muscle at her shoulder. His cock rammed into her again, touching her womb. He turned his hand and his fingers rubbed against her clit, demanding a response.
It was stupid to trust him. He didn’t even like her. She’d claimed him for the sake of keeping the pack together.
But she did trust him.
And even if he never came to like her. She liked him. He scared her because he didn’t hold anything back. He was a wolf, a shifter, and he’d never tried to pretend to be anything else. She’d hidden what she was her entire life, but Declan had always stood firm in who he was.
More than any of the others, Declan forced her to recognize and accept the parts of herself she’d always been ashamed of. He challenged her to be whole and free.
She let the wolf run. The wolf’s howl erupted
from Maggie’s mouth as a scream and Declan growled his approval. His cock swelled, locking inside her, though he continued to move with short hard thrusts. The teeth piercing her skin lengthened and blood dripped from her collarbone to slide down her breast. Heat burned through her body, turning every human thought to ash and leaving only the animal behind. Raw. Needy. She welcomed every hard stroke. The slap of Declan’s hips against her ass. The strength of his arms crushing the breath from her lungs. The weight and scent and power of him.
Her mate.
He rolled her clit between her fingers and she came, her womb clenching tight and convulsing over and over again. Declan came a heartbeat later, his seed splashing against her womb in a warm rush. He emptied himself into her, continuing to thrust through the aftershocks as she panted for breath.
She tightened around him with every thrust. When he finally stilled, she whimpered. Declan released her shoulder and licked his mark. Rolling her onto her back, he stared down at her for a long moment. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he looked concerned.
“It’s what you asked for.”
She smiled, her teeth still too sharp for her human mouth. They scraped against her lips, drawing blood. “You didn’t hurt me,” she said. “We should tell the others that I claimed you.”
He smiled crookedly. “They’ll know.”
She raised her eyebrows. “How?”
“The sounds you make. The smell of you when you’re aroused. It carries all through the house. Why did you think I spent so much time running?”
“I thought you were avoiding me.”
He gave a short nod. “True enough. I haven’t had a good track record with women. Female shifters in particular. I needed to keep my head clear with you.”
She moved, stretching. Her breasts pressed against his chest and a shockwave of desire passed through her. She was surprised to feel it again so soon. It wasn’t that cramping pain she felt whenever she fought the wolf, or the sharp ache of denied hunger. This was like a fever in her blood, every nerve ending hummed with desire.