Ayden imagined her sounding that way after he fucked her. He wouldn’t want her whispered thanks, though. He had no intention of servicing her for gratitude. He would want her blissful submission, her limp next to him or possibly draped over his naked body. Ayden pictured her cheeks rosy pink and her hair tangled much the way it was now. The only difference would be her eyes glowing with happiness and his scent embedded in her flesh.
“Are you warm?”
“I am.” She looked at him for the first time since she started eating. Those dark eyes were still flat.
Somehow he needed to gain her trust. Since they started eating he’d grown more comfortable. Ayden reclined on his side, propped up on his elbow. If he wished, all he’d have to do was extend a finger and stroke her outer thigh. If he did, something told him she would leap to the other side of the fire.
Possibly she believed now that he wouldn’t kill her. Magda remained cross-legged. Her back was straight. Other than the pink hue on her dark cheeks, nothing about her had changed. Even her scent still reeked of her wariness.
He wanted to kiss her. More than his next breath he wanted to taste her. If he wrapped his hand around that thick mane of long hair and tugged until her face was close to his, it would be a start to bringing life back into her tattered soul.
Magda had been hunted far too long. He wasn’t sure what compelled him. But he knew his mind was already made up. This incredible beaute noire would be his, and he would kill to insure she was never hunted again.
Chapter Four
Magda woke curled up in the thick sleeping bag Ayden had left her. She buried her nose in it for a moment, breathing in his scent. No one had ever treated her the way he had the night before. No one other than her sire or mother, and they were both dead.
She refused to think of her littermates right now. They had to be safe. She wouldn’t have the strength to get through the day if she believed otherwise. Magda inhaled again, filling her lungs with the masculine, compelling scent laced through the sleeping bag.
It was enticing, too. A temptation she didn’t need. If Ayden hadn’t left the night before when he had, she wasn’t sure what she might have done. When he’d sprawled out along the fire, he’d been inches from her. Fool that she was, she hadn’t moved. Ayden was a deadly creature. Every muscle in his body—and she’d stared at all of them by the end of the night—was proof of how dangerous he was. Why did danger turn her on? It never had before.
She always had the sense to run when her life depended on it. Granted he’d brought her food, made a fire for her, and left her with clothes and a sleeping bag. That didn’t smell of a male who planned on killing her. It smelled of a male planning on seducing her. Yet he hadn’t.
Maybe some wild sex would help her mood. She needed rejuvenating. She’d been on the run since their den burnt to the ground. That had been almost two months ago. Since then, she hadn’t awakened from a sleep and remained curled in warmth this long.
The moment she stuck her nose out of the bag a cold chill hit her. She lowered the bag some more and risked exposing her entire face. Then staring at the wood piled at her cave entrance, she willed a large branch to break in two and enter the cave. The wood split and tumbled to the rocky floor. Instead of making the sound she expected, Magda heard a loud clanging sound.
“What the hell?” She sat up, her heart instantly in her throat.
What kind of fool was she to believe lying in bed leisurely was an option?
The cold didn’t matter anymore. She unzipped the bag. Her boots were next to her. She groaned approval when they still held the warmth from last night’s fire. After slipping them on she sniffed the air and approached the entrance to the cave, stepping over the long branch, now broken in two next to hot ashes from the fire. There was something shiny on the other side of the remaining logs and rocks. When she’d snapped the closest branch with her gift it had caused the branches on the outer edge of her pile by the entrance to fall on whatever was out there.
Magda worked her way around the pile of wood and stone, holding on to the waist of the oversized sweats she still wore, and gasped. A large wash pan, shiny and silver, had been left on the other side of her camouflaged door to her cave. She took a step toward it, straining to peer inside the wash pan but not get too close. It had no scent. That didn’t mean something might not be inside. It was empty.
No sooner had she determined that fact then her nose did pick up on something. Her stomach growled so loud she swore it echoed off the neighboring mountain. Magda shot her attention to the edge of the cliff outside her cave.
An elk—a beautiful, full grown, well fed elk—lay dead on its side. Its neck had been ripped out. The smell of its blood, of exposed raw meat under its torn fur, did a number on her. Magda’s teeth grew before she gave any thought to making the change. Her stomach roared, reminding her how long it had been since she’d truly enjoyed fresh kill. The need to refurbish her body outweighed any coherent thoughts.
Magda leapt at the dead elk, embracing the change mid-air. The oversized sweatshirt hung on her when her body covered in fur. The pants slipped right off her.
Clothes were something she’d worry about later. The fire in her veins, as the change rushed through her, lasted less time than usual. Magda transformed with such fury it made her dizzy.
By the time she landed, Magda was on all fours. She swayed, and her world blurred.
The rich, beautiful, intoxicating aroma of fresh kill kept her firmly planted on her four paws. It also cleared her vision. She needed to make sure that what she saw in her flesh was still there now that she was in her fur. Magda wagged her tail and let out a yelp that she was glad no one heard. It was the sound of an excited pup, and a sound she hadn’t made since she had been one herself and her sire had laid the litter’s kill before his three cubs. He had then sat back on his haunches and watched, smelling of pride and satisfaction while Magda and her littermates snarled and fought for the best meat. She let go of her memories and enjoyed the elk meat.
It wasn’t until she was done eating, feeling sated and lazy that she noticed the soup pot on the other side of the wash pan. She sniffed at it. The pot was covered with Ayden’s scent. He’d done this—all of this. He had killed the elk. And while she’d enjoyed the best night sleep she’d had in months, he’d dragged his kill, the pot and wash pan up the mountain for her to find outside the cave.
Taking her time, Magda searched down the rocky decline of the mountain. She studied the scattered trees growing sideways amidst boulders and crevices. She squinted and sniffed in the direction of the rushing water loaded with trout. There wasn’t much to see above her, but she looked anyway. A strong breeze rustled through her coat and she breathed it in. She didn’t smell Ayden, or any werewolf for that matter. Magda relaxed and focused on the soup pot and wash pan. At least Ayden hadn’t seen her behave like a pup in her excitement over his gifts.
Magda scooped the sweatpants up with her teeth and dropped them into the pot, then one at a time, dragged the pot and pan into her cave. After building up the fire, she changed into her human form. She was going to have a bath. A long, leisurely hot bath. Magda pulled a thick, large towel from the soup pot and laughed. The sound stilled her.
“When have you last laughed, Magdaline Keller?” she mused, but didn’t try remembering. She stared at the contents that had fallen from the towel.
Bath salts, fragranced soap, shampoo, conditioner, a wash cloth—and a hair brush.
“Oh fucking tail,” she cried out, and laughed some more. “I might just mount you before you can decide when the right time is to fuck me.”
Ayden considered himself lucky that Magda hadn’t spotted him down the mountain. A strong breeze blowing through at just the right moment had helped matters. If she’d spotted him, he wouldn’t have had the pleasure of hearing her laughter in the cave.
She was so run down that another day on her own and she wouldn’t have had the strength to keep running and hiding. He’d sni
ffed her out just in time. If the fates were to be believed, and there were times when he definitely believed in them, then they definitely had their paws in this one. She was so excited over fresh kill and a hot bath. It made it worth it sniffing out the perfect hiding place after leaving his kill and the gifts for her outside the cave. Although the elk hadn’t brought her back to perfect health. A female in her prime would have searched more to find who left her gifts. In spite of thinking that Magda had a pretty good idea who left the elk and pot and pan for her, he still definitely needed to protect her.
Ayden stayed where he was, on a perch not too far from the cave. He smelled her while she feasted on the elk. He heard her when she laughed inside the cave. Now he imagined her in her human form, naked and preparing for her bath. Picturing how she looked, with her tan skin and long black hair tumbling over perky breasts got his dick hard. Not to mention that her happiness and enthusiasm created a feeling inside him he wasn’t sure he’d experienced before.
Sure there had been happy moments while growing up with his litter. When his sire and mother had still been alive he’d been thrilled when they were impressed by something he’d done. When he’d killed his first deer, been the first to sniff out danger, or times when he’d been left to protect his mother and younger littermate while his sire hunted had all made him incredibly happy and pleased with himself. And there had been many times like that. Ayden would be the first to howl he’d been whelped into a happy den. But none of those moments compared to the satisfaction, and the thrill he’d known when he easily smelled her reaction to his gifts.
Magda dragged the wash pan and soup pot into the cave. If he’d had lips while in his fur he would have grinned like a fool at the sound coming from the cave a few moments later. She’d found the toiletries he’d scrounged around for. He’d never tell her how hard it was for a single male to gather pretty smelling female bathroom things without being sniffed up one side and down another to see if he told the truth as to why he needed them.
If need be, he would have lied. And granted, he might have taken some advantage knowing what most on the mountain thought of his litter. His great-great great grandsire had first brought his litter here from the north when they’d hunted their way down from Alaska. His mama’s litter had lived on this mountain almost as long. There wasn’t anyone on this mountain who didn’t know and respect him and his littermate.
Ayden would run with his head held just as high tomorrow for what he said today in order to get the supplies for Magda. He had howled to two different dens, litters he knew had females living there. Of course they sniffed him from head to toe, giggled and smelled incredibly amused at his request. Mamas pushed their unmated daughters out the front door of their dens to hand over supplies and flirt mercilessly with him, but he had gotten what he’d needed. Maybe a few of them believed a litter that had been hunting buddies with his sire and mama had a sick female, who couldn’t get out on her own, and needed a few personal items. Part of what he’d howled had been the truth. He did know a female who wasn’t able to run and get toiletries.
Ayden left his thoughts and where he’d waited and began climbing the rocks toward the cave. He breathed in the smell of perfumed soap, vanilla smelling shampoo, and conditioner. He heard a fire crackling with decent strength. He smelled and saw smoke bellowing out from behind her rocks and branches hiding the entrance to the cave. This wasn’t ideal hunting ground and the mountain water grew deeper as it curved around the mountain making fishing better there. Hopefully no one would wander to this location and sniff out the smoke, or worse yet, an unmated female.
Once he reached the ledge outside the cave, Ayden dropped the bag he’d been carrying in his mouth. The change turned his blood to fire. His spine prickled and electrical charges sizzled his flesh when his hide softened.
Right before his senses muted, Magdaline sighed. It was the sound of a female content, at peace with her world. Ayden bristled, causing the change to freeze momentarily in his system.
The pain tore at him but didn’t last long. In truth, he barely gave it a thought. His mind whirled at his ability to transform this female from a hunted, angry werewolf into one sounding so happy.
Ayden adjusted his weight and stood on two legs, instantly frozen by the mountain air and frigid chill embracing his bare skin. He struggled with the bag he’d hauled with him, pulling out clothes that he then hurried into before once again securing the bag.
“Magda,” he said, making sure his voice didn’t carry outside the cave.
He pushed branches aside and squeezed around rocks that were harder to pass than they would have been in his fur. As soon as he was inside the cave, warmth from the fire began thawing his frozen flesh. He probably would have instantly warmed had there been no fire. Ayden stared, transfixed, at Magdaline as she soaked in the makeshift tub he’d brought her.
Her eyes were closed and long, damp black lashes fanned just above high, perfectly sculptured cheek bones. Her dark hair was wet and she’d twisted it above her head so as to wash the rest of her body. Thick streams of soapy bubbles trailed down her dark skin. She’d filled the tub enough so that she sank into it, leaving the swell of her breasts to her nipples exposed above the water.
His gaze locked on the tip of those round brown buds. He saw how they puckered. Just under the water, her hardened nipples peaked at the center of perfectly round, full breasts. The previous night, with her in the baggy sweatshirt, it hadn’t been as easy to see the details of her figure. But now, with her knees sticking out of the water and her hands moving, creating waves that splashed against flesh the shade of cinnamon, Ayden saw a perfect female.
She brought water up in her hands to splash against her face.
“Magda,” he repeated, still keeping his voice low. Although this time so not to scare her.
The aroma from the wood burning and mixture of scents from the soap and shampoo would make it difficult for her to smell his presence, especially in her human form. Spotting the towel he’d brought her folded next to the tub, he stepped forward and picked it up.
Magda splashed water on him as she rinsed her face. He watched more sudsy trails glide down the swell of her breasts.
“Oh my fucking tail!” Magda exploded when she finally noticed him.
More water splashed against his jeans when she panicked inside the tub. Ayden immediately regretted not being more insistent that she know he was there when he smelled her shock, fear and instant outrage.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Males and females of their kind often saw each other naked when changing before group runs. An unmated female on a run, however, was usually shrouded by her litter, protecting her from the hungry eyes of unmated males. Ayden didn’t doubt for a second that was the look he gave her at that moment. Hungry. Fucking starving!
In spite of holding her towel up for her, from his new vantage point, it was easy to see into the water. Magda’s pussy was completely shaved. It was all he was able to manage not to start drooling as he stared.
Magda pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, robbing Ayden of his view. At the same time, the bar of soap that was in the water flew out of the tub.
He was thankful for quick reflexes. Ayden ducked before the wet bar of soap nailed him in the forehead. He masked his expression and did his best to keep his scent from revealing his thoughts. Although, he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or get pissed. Letting her sniff out either emotion probably wouldn’t be in his favor at the moment.
“Ma beaute noire,” he grumbled, his voice scratchy, the only indication of how aroused she had him at the moment. He was proud of himself for not drowning out the heady smells of burning wood and her scented bath with his lust. “I ran a fair bit of this mountain today trying to get clothes for you that I hope will fit.”
“I’m not your black beauty,” she said flatly.
“That water will get cold.” He ignored her comment and held up the open towel he’d
picked up off the cave floor. “Come here.”
Magda sighed, taking her attention off him and to the towel that he held spread open for her. Relenting, she stood. She was tall, willowy with refined muscles in her legs and arms. Her tummy was flat, smooth, but not too hallowed. He already knew she’d been on the run, although not yet for how long. Apparently she hadn’t completely starved. She wasn’t skeletal. Far from it. Magda had curves in all the right places and smooth, soft, silky looking skin that wasn’t marred with too many scars or bruises. Her dark hair clung to her back. Water droplets rushed down her body into the bath water. When she stepped out of the tub, Ayden reached for her, assisting and wrapping her in the large towel.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked instead of thanking him. Magda secured the towel under her arm so it stayed put, hiding her beautiful breasts and incredibly desirable pussy from him.
“Doing what?” He remained where he was when she walked to the fire.
Since he’d been there she’d found the perfect size and shaped rock to use as a place to sit. It was situated by the fire and she sat on it, stretching her long legs out in front of her.
“This.” She gestured around her, then picked up the hairbrush he’d brought her with the other toiletries and held it up as an example.
Ayden decided to use it as an invitation and moved behind her, taking the brush before she lowered her hand. “You didn’t like your bath?” Without asking, he lifted her wet hair and began untangling it.
Magda sighed but didn’t stop him. She obediently stared ahead and allowed him to brush her hair.
“You don’t smell stupid,” she said after a moment of silence between them passed.
“I’m not.”
“Yet you ask questions you know the answers to and pretend not to understand when the meaning is clear. Maybe you are.”
Ayden chuckled. There weren’t many females who were good at bantering. It was almost as arousing as a good fight before foreplay.
With Her Capture Page 4