Taming the Beast: Eleven Paranormal Romances

by Alyse Zaftig

Yes.

  She’d said yes!

  Now I was running with Faye tucked against my chest, her hands wrapped around me and mouth nibbling distractingly at my throat, her soft little sighs heating my blood to a rapid boil. I’d refused to take her there and then on the dusty lane, nor would I carry her into the forest and press her up against a tree. Though I’d filed away the idea for later.

  The first time we came together it would be special. It would be an event goddamn worthy of the woman who’d agreed to become my mate. I would show her with my body how much she meant to me, even if it killed me.

  “Bash?”

  “Do you have to call me that?” I grunted, slamming through the front door and taking the steps two at a time.

  Her hand caressed my cheek, her nails dragging across the rough stubble.

  I should shave. I could hurt her.

  “Bastian!”

  I was already on my way to the bathroom, having deposited her on the bed. I eyed the room critically, trying to see it through her eyes. A large wooden four poster bed, dark navy blue linen, solid oak dresser, and not much else, since I’d sold everything. It was lacking refinement and warmth, something I hadn’t even cared about until right now, having only considered it a room to pass out in after a late night. She was staring at me as if waiting for something. “Yes?” Even I could hear I sounded distracted. But if this was really all I could offer her, she—

  “Bash! Look at me.”

  Demanding little thing. I dragged my eyes away from cataloguing my home’s many faults, back to the woman kneeled up on the bed. “You deserve so much more than this. I’m virtually bankrupt, a shifter whose beast has deserted him, and I’m a drunk.”

  “You’re not really a drunk, and haven’t we covered all this? Wait a minute, are you getting cold feet?” She slumped back onto her heels, her eyes widening in a way that would have been comical, if not for her obvious distress.

  “No. I’m not. I…” I tried to put it into words, finally throwing my hands in the air on a growl. “It wasn’t meant to be like this.”

  She gestured me over, giving me a glower when I didn’t move fast enough. “It never is. My first marriage was meant to be forever, do you think I went into it thinking that I’d be emotionally abused and divorced within a couple of years? I wanted kids, a family, the whole nine yards. I learned from my mistakes and grew a backbone. I ended up alone … until I met you.”

  “You want kids?”

  “I do. With you,” she added, as if I might deliberately misunderstand. Her face dropped, her hands tugging at the comforter. “You do want children, don’t you?”

  “I’ve always wanted kids, it’s why I—” I stopped myself at the last minute, cursing silently, but it was too late, her eyebrows were already knitting together.

  “Why you what?”

  “Joined a dating site. That’s where I thought you’d come from.” Shit.

  “A dating site that I presume you will be canceling just as soon as you get near a computer?” Her prim words might have sounded like a question, but there was no mistaking the steel underlying her words. She was deadly serious. Staking her claim.

  Damn. It was hot. “What dating site?” I replied, earning a small smile.

  “And I’m an accountant, among other things, so the whole woe-is-me-I’m-bankrupt crap isn’t really a viable excuse.”

  “Who the fuck are you and what did you do with my shy and timid Faye?” Before she could answer, I lowered myself down onto the bed in front of her, nudging her back until she was laying beneath me. “You, my love, are a bundle of surprises. And I’m pretty sure I’ve met my match.” My head lowered, lips hovering as I watched her eyes darken with desire, and scented her sweet, sweet arousal that perfumed the air.

  “Oh, you definitely have,” she whispered, sliding a hand around my neck and closing the gap.

  Faye

  He’d calmed down, the spooked look fading from his eyes, but for a second there I’d thought he was going to revert back to square one of self-inflicted punishment. But the way he was moving over me, his hands plucking at my clothes and peeling them away until my breasts were bare for his touch, his mouth hot and demanding against mine, banished the doubt from my mind. Banished everything from my mind, actually, except him.

  I groaned against his mouth as his hand reached inside my jeans, easing the zipper down and burrowing beneath my panties. Desire curled in my stomach, fogging my mind as he sank a finger deep inside me, a low hum of satisfaction vibrating up through his chest.

  My bare chest brushed against cotton as my hips arched up into his hand, chasing the elusive high, head thrown back and lips parted on a silent moan.

  Work roughened fingers cupped my breast, thumb sliding over sensitive nipples back and forth, circling around and around in mimicry of his finger inside me.

  “Bastian…” I gasped, bucking against him as he plunged harder inside me, stroking and teasing, his mouth lowering to tongue my distended peak, biting down and flicking with his tongue, his hot, moist breath heating my skin.

  “You sound so sweet now,” he growled, moving to my neglected breast and lavishing it with attention. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I—I…” I couldn’t. My head thrashed, heat flooding my cheeks.

  “Do you want slower?” His hand slowed, until it was barely moving.

  “No!” I gasped out, grinding my teeth.

  “Harder?” he murmured, sounding cool and calm.

  My eyes flashed to his, ready to tell him exactly what I thought of his little game, but I stopped short, the snappy retort dying on my tongue. His face was flushed, skin tight with tension, his jaw clenched and lips parted. This was killing him as much as it was killing me.

  “Harder,” I forced out, and was rewarded with a satisfied grunt, another finger working its way inside me to duel with the first.

  Fuck! My eyes fluttered shut against the strain, my breath whooshing in and out of me in ragged gasps.

  “If you tell me what you want, I promise to make sure I always give it to you.”

  “You.”

  “Me?”

  “Inside.” Even though my eyes were still shut—a blessing, as I was pretty damn sure I wouldn’t be able to say that while looking him in the eye—I could feel his eyebrows shoot up, his hand jerking in hesitation as his breath caught in his throat.

  “Whatever the lady wants.”

  A pathetic noise left my mouth as he pulled his hand away, his weight lifting off me and taking the delicious heat with it. I cracked an eyelid. It was worth the effort.

  His shirt came first, tugged over his head and discarded in seconds. Then his jeans, the fly ripping open and then they were off.

  “Wow…” It was barely a breath as I fought to choke air in and out, the sight of him stripped down, ready and waiting—and I mean ready and waiting—derailed all natural responses but one. Want. Need. Now. I was reduced to a cavewoman level of intelligence, the sight of my future mate standing tall and strong in front of me igniting primal urges I didn’t even know I possessed. Muscles carved a path through his tanned skin, creating shadows and valleys I longed to explore. Ridge after ridge adorned his stomach, curving into narrow hips wherein nestled the prize. Or should I say, pointed to the prize. His cock jutted out, thick and long, and pointing straight at me.

  “Do you approve of your mate?”

  I gulped. Yeah, I actually did that. But the thought of him sliding that mammoth instrument inside me had my thighs clenching and insides dissolving into mush.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” His hands grabbed my ankles, dragging the denim and my panties down and off in one smooth slide. “Now you are what I’d call the ultimate prize, sweetheart.”

  His frank appreciation had my skin flushing and pulse jumping as his eyes roamed my body. My hands crept to my sides, sliding up and over my chest.

  “No. Don’t cover yourself.” His knee hit the bed, dragging my attention back to his thick shaft as i
t bobbed between us.

  My hands fell away.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “I know I’m a curvy girl.” And it had never bothered me, not until my ex-husband had taken it upon himself to ridicule and belittle my attempts at seducing him.

  “Thank fuck for that.” His enthusiastic dismissal of my concerns had a smile tugging at my lips.

  “Really? You don’t mind that I’ve got a little too much…” I made a vague gesture, hoping he got the gist.

  “Mind? My love, you’re perfect. I can’t believe my luck, that someone as gorgeous as you chose me!” He took my hand, giving it a squeeze, and I relaxed. That was, until he drew it down and wrapped it around his thick shaft. “Look at what you do to me, Faye,” he said in a voice husky and filled with longing.

  I gave it a tentative squeeze.

  He groaned, his head falling back and chest expanding. “Fuck, your hand on me feels good.”

  Encouraged, I slid my hand back along his length, increasing my grip. “Like this?”

  “Yeah,” he bit out, his hips thrusting forward.

  I experimented, adjusting my grip and speed until his eyes rolled back in his head and his stomach clenched with every flick of my wrist. I had him exactly where I wanted him. Under my—

  Oomph. My back hit the mattress, my ass bouncing high in the air. Strong hands cleaved my thighs apart, shoulders bracing them there, then his hot—really hot—wet tongue licked straight through my core, tracing each slippery fold and lapping at my center. My fingers dug into the bed, clawing at the comforter as he tortured me relentlessly, his dark hair flopping forward and hiding his face from view, shielding his intentions until all I could do was feel.

  His hands slid around to my ass, lifting me up and holding me open like an all you can eat buffet, the noises ripping from his chest leaving no doubt in my mind that he was enjoying this just as much as I was.

  Well, maybe not quite as much, I amended, as a shudder worked its way up my spine, crashing into me with the force of a hurricane and leaving me gasping in its wake. A taste of the real event, I discovered, as a wave of pleasure rippled through me, curling my toes and arching my spine, gibberish falling from my lips and coloring the air with screams.

  He lifted his head, the cocky expression I’d expected after such a performance absent, and in its place raw, naked hunger that drove his earlier words home. He licked his lips. “You taste like tart cherries. I want more.” His head dipped.

  I grabbed a chunk of his hair, giving it a yank. If he went down on me again I would probably pass out, and I was too eager for the main event to even consider it right now. “Later.”

  He was kneeling between my legs before I’d even drawn breath, his cock teasing my slick opening with feather light glances. Large hands gripped my hips, holding me in place. “You sure? Because once I’ve made you mine, there’s no going back. I’m a selfish bastard.”

  “You’ll be mine too.”

  “I’m taking that as a yes please, fuck me, Bastian,” he decided, sliding his thick length inside me with one smooth stroke of his hips, not pausing until his pelvic bone bumped against mine. A hiss fell from his lips, his jaw clenched in sweet agony. “Breathe, sweetheart,” he half mocked.

  But he was right. The moment he’d entered me, stretching me wide and filling me completely, I’d forgotten everything. How to breathe, how to think, how to … see? Everything! I wasn’t even making sense in my head!

  I sucked in a deep breath, grounding myself in the moment, letting every detail sink in: how the scratch of hair on his thighs brushed against me as he rocked back and forth, and the tiny twist to his mouth as he bit the inside of his cheek. The unbelievable feel of him sliding back and forth inside me, brushing against nerve endings I never knew I had. The smell of the fabric softener from the comforter below me tangling with his raw, masculine scent, puffing up in clouds invisible to the naked eye.

  The bed creaked beneath our weight and the power of his thighs as he quickened the pace, thrusting into me with a wild glint to his eye. His thumbs stroked tender circles around my hip bones, at odds with the way his nails dug into my behind, imprinting himself in my skin.

  Hoarse sounds filled the air, along with soft cries as he drove himself harder inside me, faster, loosing all finesse as his body demanded one thing of him. To join us as one.

  Heat rolled inside me, stretching my bones in that tingly-good way that signaled my impending launch to the stars.

  Bending at the waist, his mouth sealed against mine with an urgent fervor that I matched, our tongues lashing out in a teeth bashing, skin slicked tangle of a kiss that needed no soft words to help translate.

  My hands slid up his back, hugging him to me, fingers clawing and hips bucking to meet him stroke for stroke as I stole his breath, and he stole mine.

  Breaking free, he locked his eyes with mine, his swirling with silver heat. “You’ve made me whole again, Faye, my true mate. I promise to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me. How much I love you. You won’t regret choosing me.” Without warning, he ducked his head, sliding his teeth into the base of my throat.

  Pleasure rolled over the sharp pain, blotting it from my memory.

  Rearing back, his back arched as he shuddered, cursing under his breath, but his hips never slowed. They sped up, plunging back and forth, pushing me higher.

  “What was that?” I gasped out.

  “The true mate bond—soul to soul. My part, anyway.”

  It sounded … magical. And I wanted to be bonded to this man, I’d never been so sure of anything before in my life. “What do I do?”

  “Tell me how you feel and claim me as your mate.”

  “That’s it? No…” I mimicked biting, gnashing my teeth together.

  Deep laughter erupted from him, but it didn’t dislodge the strain lines that stretched out from his mouth. “No biting needed, my love.”

  Phew. Though I’d have done it for him. Probably. I cleared my throat, the feel of his cock still plunging inside me throwing off my game. “I love you and you’re my mate,” I blurted out as the orgasm appeared out of nowhere, throwing me straight past the stars and into oblivion. Heat hit me in the chest, the soul bond carving a spot in my heart as emotions poured into me, his, mine, ours, they were one, sending me even higher, not letting me drift back down, another wave crashing over me again and again until my vision blurred and my body was weak with spasms.

  He thrust harder, a roar tearing its way out of his chest, his hips jerking and thighs trembling as he reached his own climax, freezing as he found his completion deep inside me.

  Collapsing to the side, he dragged me against his chest, smoothing my now wild curls away from my face with a trembling hand.

  At least I wasn’t the only one who felt like she’d been put through the wringer. If all orgasms were going to be like that, then I’d better work on building my stamina. Pressing my cheek against his skin, I listened to the steady thump of his heart, curling my leg over his and twining them together. Calm suffused every cell in my body, a quiet contentment that I’d never known, never thought existed. It was a day of firsts.

  “I thought I was the one that was blunt.”

  I brushed away his retort with a wave of my hand, not bothering to lift my head. I’d said all my pretty words earlier, anyway.

  A strange sound came from him, kind of a cross between a cough and a chuckle.

  “What is it?” My hand trailed across his chest, following the scattering of darks hairs and smoothing them this way, then that.

  “My dragon. He’s talking to me again. I mean, he occasionally spoke to me before, but only to tell me how pissed he was with me. But now…” Hope cracked his deep voice.

  I held my breath. “And?”

  “He forgives me.”

  I snuggled closer, pressing so our bodies touched from head to toe. “About time.”

  “He says it’s because I forgave myself. Because I stopped self-sa
botaging my recovery.” He snorted, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him shake his head. “Egotistical bastard.”

  “Takes one to know one,” I drawled in a light voice.

  At once strong arms dragged me off the bed and I was airborne, clasped to his chest in an iron tight grip. “Little minx. I think I’d better show you exactly how I earned that ego.”

  My hand snaked up his neck as he carried me into the bathroom, tugging his head down until we were nose to nose. I flashed him my own version of his trademark smirk. “I’m waiting…” I whispered.

  Epilogue

  Faye

  A month or so later…

  Bastian’s hand tugged at mine, dragging me along the dusty lane and into the forest, his low chuckle at my soft protests music to my ears. When we’d first met he hadn’t laughed much at all. Or smiled, apart from that devious smirk that I now knew he used as a shield against the outside world. Which he still did, but not with me, unless I was purposely riling him, or he was being deliberately obtuse, as he was now.

  “Where are we going?” I was kind of hoping it wasn’t to visit the school, as I didn’t want to share my mate with anyone this afternoon. We’d snagged an afternoon off, our schedules synching for once, and I wasn’t giving it up for man or beast. Even for the children’s sake.

  Especially for the children’s sake. If we were going to make our own, then we needed every available moment to practice.

  He pulled me off to the right and I let out the breath I’d been holding. We were moving away from the school. Maybe he was taking me back to that little clearing, the one with the large boulders each a perfect height for clinging onto as he bent me over and thrust into me from behind. Or leaning back on as he buried his head between my legs, wringing scream after scream from me. Or the tree with the smooth bark, perfect for when he’d braced me high in his arms, teasing me with slow, shallow thrusts designed to reduce me to a gibbering wreck.

  “I know where your mind just went,” he murmured, pausing to steal a kiss. Which turned into an embrace, our lips breaking away to gasp and stare at each other in wonder.