by M. L. Briers
“Real up close and personal, like with my nose pressed right up against…” yeah, I didn’t get any further than that in words, but I did find myself right up close and personal to the wall… for quite a while.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~
LUCY
I’d been squished in the back of Syrus’s truck with Cane all the way back to Scott’s house. I had more damn room when there were four of us in the back on the way up to the faerie house, and I was sure that Cane had done it on purpose so that the mating pull took more of a toll on my senses.
I had kind of wished that he’d done the male thing and had called shotgun, but he had a plan and he was sticking too it…
Now, I was fidgety. There was something brewing inside of me like a spell that had taken hold and wouldn’t let go until it either drove me insane or had its way- and that was his fault too. Him and damn fate, oh, how I hated them both right now.
Scott- the traitor- had invited Cane right into the damn house. The smirk that the vampire gave me was proof enough that he enjoyed my plight, and was firmly on the side of my mate. Muppet.
My sister wasn’t much better, with her knowing looks, girlie giggles, and stupid innuendo- until I’d taken refuge in my room. Now, I was pacing like a caged beast ready to claw its way out to freedom- only freedom from what ailed me was to mate with Cane.
Gulp.
I knew exactly where that shifter was too. Right outside my bedroom door- I could hear the man pacing up and down in much the same way that I was. Good to know that I wasn’t the only one suffering.
The trouble was- his pacing was getting on my very last nerve- and I wanted to go out there and zap his backside all the way back to pack land…
I stomped towards the door and snatched in open- he was standing there like a statue, frozen in place, his muscles locked tense with his hands fisted at his sides, and those black eyes on mine… boy, did he look ready for action in more ways than one.
“Aren’t you an alpha?” I demanded, and for a long moment he just stared at me like I was speaking in tongues. “Don’t you have a pack to take care of?”
“No,” he answered slowly, too slowly, like he was caught in the headlights of a car or something…
“No?” I put my hands on my hips and tipped my head to one side to watch him… then he shook it off, whatever it was.
“Yes,” he said. The deep rumble of a growl underlining his words and rolling towards me like thunder.
“Yes,” I echoed.
“And if they want me they know where to find me,” and he was back in the moment, back in that self-assuredness of being an alpha male and having his prey right there in front of him.
“Well you’re annoying me,” I tossed back, and watched a slow grin take his face.
“How so?” He took one step forward and was just on the other side of the threshold to the room. He reached up and rested one of those thick, muscled arms that I liked so much against the doorframe and leaned in towards me…
That clawing only got worse the closer that he got. I was so tempted to slam the door in his face and hope that it hit home- before crawling into bed and hiding under the damn duvet.
If bears could hibernate- why couldn’t I?
“Pacing,” I announced, my mind elsewhere- like on the way his shirt clung to the muscles of his chest as it stretched.
“I don’t seem to be the only one- pacing,” he offered back and my nose twitched in annoyance.
“Which is your fault,” I shot back.
“Glad to hear it,” his grin widened to a smirk. I guessed I’d dropped myself right into that one. “You know, I can help you scratch that itch.”
Goddess, but that sounded so damn tempting to my ears and my body. I was sure that I swayed slightly towards him, and I was sure that he’d picked up on that, because that growl of his got deeper and longer, and a wee bit more hungry.
“I can scratch my own itch, but thanks,” I dropped myself right in it again- and I know that because of the way that his tongue practically lopped out of his mouth and his eyes widened and flashed those hungry signs.
Whoops.
“Oh, I’d really like to see that,” he drawled and practically drooled.
“I’ll bet you would,” I hissed back.
“That’s not a no,” he took a step, letting that arm drop and putting a foot inside the room.
My heart hammered like a damn freight train. I felt that rush of heat, not as potent as before, but still I wanted to turn on the damn fans to cool down. I took a step back, not a big one, but I should have been holding my ground- shouldn’t I?
“Wasn’t a yes either,” I managed to push out the words, even with him taking another step… those eyes looked hungrier now, and they flicked from me to the bed and back again…
Double gulp.
“Maybe I can persuade you-”
Another step and I almost swallowed my tongue. I backed up and he followed, his hand swung the door closed with a thump of wood on wood, and I was almost sure that I was about to have a heart attack right there and then- it would serve him right if I died at his feet- after all, it was him that was standing there looking so damn…
“Maybe I can zap you,” I rushed out- the back of my knees hit the side of the mattress and I was falling- it felt like an eternity until my back hit the soft cushioning, and my eyes locked onto him- looking like the most deadly of predators to ever walk the face of the earth, and his prey was me and only me…
Oh, lucky me…
“A strange invitation, but one I’m happy to accept,” he growled this time, an honest to goodness growl that rolled over my body and made the hairs stand on end, along with my nipples… boy, were they perky!
I tossed up my hand and held it out as I lifted my index finger. Warding him off with just a look.
“Wait right there,” I snapped, and he did. Sure, he was panting like a dog- we’ll not really, but you know? But he didn’t move a muscle…
“Is it time for the show?” he teased me- his eyes doing a slow decent down my body.
“Do your own dirty work,” I hissed back, and that was definitely the wrong damn thing to say…
“Now that’s an invitation,” he growled and I managed to get most of my body on the bed before he was above me, caging me in with his hard body, and staring down at me like the wolf that definitely got the bunny… but he didn’t move, barely breathed… and I had to wonder what the hell he was waiting for as that itch inside of me begged for relief…
“Well?” I demanded and caused the biggest damn smirk I had ever witnessed to spread across his face.
A heartbeat later and those soft lips came down on mine- that menopausal heat fired through me again, along with a lightening shock of pure pleasure that fired my womb to life and made my stomach flip. I was done fighting it- the mating pull had won- he’d won- and as my hands took on a mind of their own and searched under his shirt for that muscled chest- I knew I’d won, big time…
Clothes- what clothes? Cane ripped, tore, and stripped me naked faster than I could comprehend, and all the time he devoured me with the hottest kisses I’d ever felt before.
I have to admit that I was no slouch when it came to the whole getting him naked so that I could touch where I liked thing… happy to find that he was naked under those jeans, and happier still to get a fist full of his hard length in my hand and hear that growl turn ravenous…
One moment he was there- right above me- right in the palm of my hand, so to speak, and the next he was working his way down my body- opening my legs as wide as he could to nestle between my inner thighs, and before I could take a breath- I felt the hot, wet swipe of his tongue over my sex… and I’m sure I almost suffocated him as my backside shot off the bed and my hips pushed up for more…
One hand on my hip put paid to any thought or prospect of me moving my lower body again as he devoured me with the kind of passion that my sister used on chicken legs… I banished any thought o
f Joss from my mind as his thick fingers pushed up inside of me, making my inner muscles convulse around them without my brain giving out any instructions whatsoever…
I held out little hope that his search would prove fruitful for that inner spot that was supposed to make a woman purr with delight- nobody had ever managed too… oh- lordy- lordy, now I knew exactly why it made you purr… the friction his fingers created was almost as good as his tongue on my clit, almost, but not quite… but what it did do was send me harder and faster towards an orgasm- that- when it hit- almost blew my non-existent socks off…
Wow! Whoa! Double whammy!
Cane didn’t let up… as I came back down, so I went soaring right back up again… it might have been the fact that he knew where that little inner button to push was- or it might have been the fact that his growl was rumbling over my clit- and I had the frustrating desire to rip his head clean off of his shoulders and yank him away from me- and the overriding need to feel that way again…
Bam! Kapow! There it was… my friggin body was alive from head to curly toes…
This time I begged, a lot, for relief, for a respite from the glorious torture of what he was doing, and thankfully- he gave in.
My eyes locked on his as he crawled up over my body looking like the hungriest predator in the pack- well, he was the alpha, and I couldn’t help it when my eyes flicked down to see that hard, thick, loooong, length of his swaying as he moved.
Gulp!
If that thing wasn’t going to impale me right up to my belly button then I didn’t know what was… but I wanted to try it for size… I almost choked out a giggle… but there was no time for laughter as he lower his body to mine and I felt the pressure of just the crown pushing into my channel…
“Mine,” Cane growled and I swallowed down half on my tongue before I could reply.
“Yours…” I assured him…
And mine… I thought as I flicked my eyes down to his length once more, slowly disappearing inside of me, stretching my inner walls, demanding that my muscles allow him entry, and filling me up to the point where I almost tried to push upwards in the bed to get away from anymore…
“Relax, Lucy, you were made for me,” Cane growled beside my ear. Then I felt his breath against my shoulder, and his blunt teeth biting down against my flesh…
I moaned at the feeling of being claimed by him… he hadn’t bitten me, not yet, but I guess my mind and body didn’t know that- I relaxed every muscle and felt him hit home with his length- damn, I didn’t know it could feel this good…
His breath was against my ear once more.
“Told you,” he whispered, rolling his hips and making the friction of his length feel so damn good as he stretched me out. I wrapped my legs around his velvet hips and urged him on as my nails clawed down his back, and was rewarded with the kind of a growl that should have warned me off, but didn’t.
His hands reached for my wrists and trapped them above my head. Now I really was caged- now I really was at the mercy of my man, my mate, and that sent a jolt of excitement through me like no other…
“You don’t want me to bite before you’re ready, do you?” he growled against my ear.
“Yes,” I breathed out as his hips started to move back and forth and made that friction from his fingers before feel like nothing compared to his cock. He pulled back and looked down at me… questioning my sanity.
“Just a bite, just a nip, mark me…” I almost begged for the feel of his fangs entering my skin. I’d been fed on by a vampire, I knew how fangs felt, and I wanted that now- needed it from him…
“You like a little pain with your pleasure, sweetheart?” Cane’s growl was amazing- it seemed to be some kind of damn aphrodisiac all on its own without what his cock was doing to me…
“A little more than a little,” I admitted- kind of hoping that didn’t sound too slutty, but the way that his tongue practically lopped out of his mouth told me that he liked it.
“In that case…” and he was gone before I could snap my inner muscles around his length to try to keep him inside of me…
Before I could even speak; I found myself up on my knees, facing away from him, and those big hands were on my hips keeping me in place as he pushed back into me… deep, deeper, deepest ever… I might just choke on it, but there was that element of pain in with that pleasure as the crown tried to push into my damn cervix, and oh, the joy of a man who knew just how to use what his God had given him…
I curled my spine and took him as deeply as I could… I heard him curse and grunt when I locked those inner muscles hard around him, taunting him, making him work harder…
“Fangs…” I begged, and not a heartbeat later, with a strong arm wrapped around my body, he was pulling back against his chest, and his hot breath was on my shoulder…
“Sure?” he growled- and I could hear that beast within his voice- I knew his fangs were down…
“Please, Cane,” I begged. I wanted to know that in the bedroom he was the boss- for now…
There was a moment’s pain, a sharp sting that took my breath away and made my mind focus on that one point as his length sped within me, almost blindsiding me as he thrust me into another orgasm…
Then he bit down hard and I saw stars. Every inch of my mind, body and soul reached for him- my mate- and I felt him knocking on the door to my mind and welcomed him with open arms. Bonded- joined as one- I could feel his wolf- I knew him…
He released his fangs and I heard the howl that was torn from his lips echo around me… even that heightened my pleasure as he became almost fevered inside of me, his body wrapped around mine as he took me back down onto my hands and knees.
His chest hairs were like a silken friction against my back as his body curled over mine- he was as close to the beast side of himself as he would ever get with me, and I loved it. So strong, so powerful, so damn out of control, as his pelvis slapped my backside with each, hard, fast, deep thrust of his cock into me…
I was climbing again, so fast that I couldn’t quite catch my breath. I could hear the pants, the grunts, the growls from his lips and matched them with my own moans and curses…
Then I came undone. The hard, powerful clenching of my inner muscles sucking at his cock, begging for his seed, and I felt him explode inside of me- over and over, he buried his length and gave me that seed…
“Mine…” he growled as he nuzzled against my neck.
“Mine,” I answered him in the only way I knew how, by claiming him right back. Damn, if that didn’t start his hips all over again- faster now, more desperate- as if he’d never had me before, as if he’d never come, as if he couldn’t get enough of me…
Erratic in his thrusts and causing a different sensation every time he ploughed into me… God, I think I might black out as the pleasure overwhelmed my body… I couldn’t catch my breath- I was so close to tipping over the edge once more, but I couldn’t seem to completely fall… and then I heard his roar of release, and felt the hot splash of his seed once more and I was gone, done for, that’s all she wrote…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
JOSS
There was something about a mating howl that could tear you right from sleep and snap you fully awake in a heartbeat- and it had. Hawk sat up in bed beside me and grunted his respect.
“And there goes your sister,” Hawk said with a small chuckle.
“And that means that she’s living in my town now too,” I reminded him and got a different kind of grunt back from him.
“True, but she will be pretty occupied,” Hawk turned in the semi darkness of the room and grinned at me.
“True, but still here where I have to see her,” I shot back, not as happy for her as I suppose I could have been.
“You know, we could move. I don’t have a pack-”
“Sure you do,” I replied. “Me and the pup, for starters.” I reached out and ran my hand down his back, and he snagged my wrist and turned in the bed towards me, comi
ng down beside me.
“You’re all I need,” he kissed my hand and made me feel like a Princess, like I was the only other person in the world. I liked that. “Which is why we can move out any time, just say the word.”
“Not yet,” I assured him. I would at least have to give birth first- there was the whole matter of needing a witchy midwife, and stuff… I hated to admit it, but I was kind of nervous about leaving my family behind… not that I appreciated them being here, invading my life in the way that they had- but fate was fate for a reason.
Just then the telephone rang out on the bedside drawers beside me and I almost shot up like a cat with all four paws embedded in the damn ceiling. I growled, Hawk growled back, and I tossed him an apologetic look…
“You’re getting too good at that,” he chuckled as I wrestled with the covers and snatched up the phone.
“What!?” I snapped and growled some more, and Hawk did the same.
“Joss,” Doug’s whispered tones came down the line, and I almost wished that I could reach down the phone and strangle the man.
“Do you know what time it-?”
“Oh course I bloody do,” he growled, “but I see the ghost.” His harsh whisper snapped me out of my growling and I pushed up.
“Where?” I looked around the room, don’t ask me why, put it down to baby brain- but my searching set Hawk off and he jumped from the bed, ready to take on all comers- I had to snigger as I shook my head. Hawk looked deflated…
“In the town’s square, I’m following it towards his house,” Doug whispered.
“Marmaduke’s house,” I said aloud, “but Reginald is staying there.” I hissed back, not knowing why I felt the need to whisper.
“He’ll have a surprise,” Doug chuckled and I growled again.
“We’re on our way,” I whispered back and cut him off as I pushed up from the bed.
“Where do you think-?” Hawk started, but I guess he caught the daggers from my eyes that I was tossing in his direction. “Fine, but let’s call the others.”