With Her Capture

by Lorie O'Clare

  Obviously Ayden didn’t think so. Not only had he run after her, when he’d been unable to hold on to her scent he’d paid an owl to track her for him. That must mean he really wanted her back.

  Maybe he had a right to know. She should contact one of those owls and have them send a message to Ayden for her.

  “I care about you so much that I’m willing to leave so that you might live,” she said out loud and lifted her head to rub her eyes.

  No. The honorable thing to do was to find Ayden and tell him herself. He deserved that much.

  “You deserve so much more,” she whispered, and her eyes burned so that for a moment her vision blurred. “Don’t you dare start crying like a pup,” she scolded herself.

  As she stood, something swooped to the ground in front of her. She leapt to the side, instantly snarling over the invasion of her space. It wasn’t a something; it was a someone. She curled her lip at the large owl who landed on the asphalt not more than a few feet away from her. Magda swore she smelled amusement and wanted to strike out at those large, round eyes embedded in a face of feathers.

  The owl dropped something it had been holding in its talons. It cluttered to the ground in front of her. She ducked instinctively when it spread its large wings and took to flight. The air stirred up around her when the large bird of prey flew into the night sky and Magda’s hair flew in loose strands around her face.

  “Rude,” she snarled, glaring at the location in the sky where the bird disappeared.

  She didn’t know a lot about their species, other than they were a lot more emotional in their feathers than their human form. She almost yelled for it to come back if it wanted a fight. Her emotions were strung too tight and letting loose, violently, might help put them back in order.

  Then she remembered that the bird had dropped something in front of her. Magda looked down at a cell phone.

  “What the hell?” she murmered, seriously doubting the bird had been carrying its phone in its claws while flying. What would have been the point?

  She picked it up and glanced up in the direction where she’d last seen the owl. It would be stupid to shout into the darkness. Humans didn’t take nicely to behavior like that. It would be her luck they would call their police on her.

  “Magda!”

  It sounded as if someone had yelled her name through a long, narrow tunnel. She heard her name again and looked down at the phone. The screen had lit up. There was someone on the phone.

  “Magdaline?”

  Her heart, which had just imploded, now swelled so much it was painful to breathe. Her hand was damp with perspiration, even though there was a biting chill in the air, as she clutched the phone and brought it to her ear.

  “Yes?” she whispered, her voice cracking.

  “Ma beaute noire,” a rough masculine voice said in a husky, seductive whisper.

  Another tear streamed down her face. It was followed by more. This time she didn’t try and stop them. The owl had brought her the phone. Ayden was on the other end.

  “I’m here,” she said, her voice choking. She wasn’t sure she could say much more.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ayden knew he held Magda’s hand because he feared the moment he let go she’d take off running. It wasn’t as if she’d shown any indication of wanting to get away from him since he’d found her sitting alongside a convenient store. After paying a lot of cash that he hated spending in the first place for information that turned out to be inaccurate, the owls had accommodated by searching for Magda again. If she knew how many of them it had taken to track her, she’d probably be proud of her ability to hide and keep her scent to herself. Ayden was more than a bit impressed. He also wasn’t sure his heart would stand losing her again.

  She didn’t try releasing her hand from his when he led her up the stairs in the Hampton Bed and Breakfast and down the hall to his room. When he finally released her to slide the key card into the slot on the door, then pushed the door open and held it for her, Magda remained by his side, glancing up at him only once before entering the room.

  He turned on the nearest light. Magda walked across the room and moved the curtains from the window to peer outside. As he flicked on the lamp by the bed, she paced back to the tall dresser along the wall and paused to stare at a brochure left by the Hampton nest that advertised attractions in Banff. Then she moved toward the door.

  Ayden fought the urge to leap across the room and grab her. Every muscle in his body stiffened, and didn’t immediately relax when she stopped at the floor-length mirror on the wall. She took in her reflection. He stared at her face through the mirror.

  “You’re safe,” he told her, sensing her anxiety more than smelling it.

  “You’re not.” Magda didn’t smell angry but there was bitterness in her tone. She smelled—sad?

  “We both are.”

  She shook her head once and stalked toward the window again. “I only agreed to come with you because you deserve answers.”

  Magda paced the length of the room, her gait purposeful and fast. “I dishonored you by leaving without telling you this first,” she said when she’d returned to the window.

  Her coat was bulky and fell to her thighs. Those long, slender legs looked real good in the skin tight jeans she wore tucked into flat-heeled boots. It looked like she’d put her hair up, possibly for when she’d gone to that human night club. Any male, even a human one, sniffing around her made Ayden’s blood boil. No matter how many clothes she wore, there was no hiding how incredibly beautiful she was. There was also no hiding how good she smelled. His scent. His female.

  Ayden didn’t feel dishonored. A little pissed maybe, but that had dissolved the instant he had her by his side. “Telling me what?”

  She turned and looked at him. He realized it was the first time since he’d walked to the convenience store where she’d waited for him, that she really looked at him. Her eyes were moist, blood shot. His heart did an odd double beat in his chest. He felt a constriction there but wasn’t sure of the emotion. Magda had been crying.

  When she hesitated, as if trying to form the words in her mind first, he wasn’t able to bear the tension growing between them.

  “Tell me you don’t want to be with me,” he demanded, and took a step toward her.

  Magda began pacing again. She was like a damned caged animal. “I can’t be with you.”

  “That isn’t the same,” he insisted.

  When she started across the room, Ayden grabbed her. She jerked but didn’t struggle to free herself. He was wound too tight. He gave her a slight shake. Her coat fell off her shoulders and crumpled over his hands where he held her arms tight.

  Magda’s head fell back. Her eyes glowed as if they were pure onyx. Her lashes were thick. She blinked, continued looking into his eyes. Suddenly a whirlwind of emotions hit him when she almost crumpled. If he wasn’t holding her he worried she might have fallen to the floor.

  “Tell me you don’t want me,” he demanded.

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  “Why not?”

  “It would be a lie.”

  His body didn’t need his mind to register what she’d just said. He pulled her against him. Sliding his hands under the heavy coat, he aided in it falling to the floor as he stroked her back. Then grabbing her hair, he yanked her head back further and devoured her mouth.

  Her lips were wet. They seemed swollen. When she parted them and let him in, Ayden ceased to think. There wasn’t anything else to ponder. No plotting to do. He didn’t need to figure out his next move. Sometimes in his human form, instinct still prevailed.

  He tangled his fingers into that mass of silky, dark hair and pulled until whatever had clasped it together at the top of her head gave way and thick masses of long, beautiful hair tortured his hands and arms. Ayden plunged in deep, taking everything she offered and demanding more—much more.

  There wasn’t any doubting Magda would give herself to him willingly. Already his skin
grew hot where she touched him through his sweatshirt. Sex between them wouldn’t be a problem. And he planned on having it—probably all night.

  And in spite of his brain not dwelling on how he would possess the rest of her, somewhere deep inside the fog of lust that consumed him, Ayden knew he didn’t yet have her commitment to him.

  For now, he would take what she offered. But soon—very soon—he would demand her heart and soul along with her body.

  “Ayden,” she gasped, breaking off the kiss.

  Her hands pressed against his chest and she pushed. She was panting. All that dark hair fell in tangles around her face and down her shoulders. She looked hot and so damned sexy.

  He had no intention of letting her go. “What?”

  Magda shoved harder, then struggled, turning in his arms. “I have to say something,” she cried out.

  “Then say it.”

  Since she struggled toward the bed, he helped her, lifting her and tossing her in that direction. Her ass looked better in those tight jeans than her long legs did. Fucking tail, his cock was harder than steel.

  She spun around, robbing him of his view. But her blouse, which he recognized as one he’d given her, was twisted enough that cleavage strained against her bra, and damn near fell out the low cut of the blouse. Magda didn’t try adjusting her clothing when she came at him on all fours on the bed.

  Ayden stopped her from climbing off by once again gripping her hair. When she came to her knees he loosened his grip. Magda tilted her head back into his palm of her own accord when she looked up at him.

  “Why I ran,” she said, still panting.

  He breathed in the combined scent of their lust. Mixed with each of their aromas, which already smelled very much the same, it was an intoxicating smell.

  “I’m listening.” He doubted she’d say anything to justify why she left him. If she cared for him the way he did her, and it sure as hell smelled as if she did, the only reason he saw for her leaving was out of fear. He planned on removing any reservations she had out of her mind immediately.

  “A cave isn’t a den.”

  He watched her fight to relax her expression, as if she’d just noticed how pinched in turmoil it was.

  “I’ll build you a den.” If she thought he smelled naïve enough to believe he could take her to his den, she’d learn fast that he’d already thought this through.

  Magda shook her head. More long strands slipped over her shoulder and fell between her breasts.

  “Hunting, while always sniffing over your shoulder, spending as much time looking for prey as being the prey, isn’t good hunting.”

  “Magda,” he whispered.

  She didn’t let him speak. The words came faster now. “Ever since my litter’s den was burned to the ground and our sire and mother killed, my litter has been scattered. We aren’t really a litter anymore. It was necessary. I did what I had to in order to protect my littermates. But it isn’t a life I would wish on any werewolf.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Especially one…”

  “What?” he insisted when her words trailed off. “Especially one that what?”

  “Ayden, you are pure predator,” she continued without elaborating on what she’d been about to say. “You know the world with you at the top of the food chain. You should never have to live with it any different.”

  “I don’t plan on it.”

  Magda smiled. Her eyes weren’t flat the way they’d been when he’d first captured her. They were raw with all the emotions he smelled on her—lust, yet also sadness, determination, and fear. Her smile was soft and didn’t reach her eyes.

  “You shouldn’t have to,” she said, her voice cracking. She sucked in her lower lip and chewed on it as her gaze travelled down her face. “That’s why I ran,” she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard.

  Except he was fine-tuned into her every move, no matter how small. He picked up on the slightest change of her scent every time a new emotion washed over her. And she was experiencing plenty of them. He also heard each sound she made, even when it was nothing more than a soft sigh, or a choked whisper when emotions too strong to control ripped through her and prevented her words from coming out.

  “You won’t run again,” he said, his words sliced with the finality of how it would be. “From this point on, you are by my side.”

  He watched her swallow, search his face, then close her mouth and press her lips together. Maybe she was too stubborn to respond right now. Ayden was patient. He’d wait forever to hear her voice what he already smelled on her, what he saw in her eyes. Magda would have all the time needed to tell him how she felt about him. As long as she was running alongside him.

  He lifted her under her arms and laid her on the large bed while coming down on top of her.

  “You aren’t making this easy,” she murmured.

  He knelt next to her when she stretched out on the bed. It crossed his mind to point out that she was the one making this difficult. Magda covered her face with her hands and moaned.

  “I don’t think you like easy.” He flipped open the button at the top of her jeans then dragged her zipper down until it lodged in the denim.

  Magda chuckled but didn’t smell humored. “You have no idea.”

  “I plan on finding out.” He gripped her hips, pulling on the jeans, then yanked them down her hips.

  She muttered something, but this time under her breath enough it was hard to hear her. It sounded like, “that’s a bad plan.” But he wasn’t sure.

  “Magda,” he said, keeping calm. He ran his hand down her leg to her ankle. “I know you’re tormented, that you believe you are still in danger. I swear to you, though, that I’ll protect you.”

  He’d pulled one boot off and undone the laces on her other when she stretched her arms out on either side of her. She turned to look at him, her lips pursed in a delicious looking pout.

  “Then you’ll be protecting me from myself,” she snarled. “And you’ll be protecting yourself from me as well. Sounds like a lot of tail chasing to me.”

  Ayden pulled off her second boot and tossed it to the floor. “If I had the power to take all the terrible things out of your past, I’d do it in a second. I’m sorry about what happened to your litter.”

  “Don’t you dare patronize me,” Magda snapped and flew off the bed.

  Her jeans were pulled down her hips, exposing her fully shaved pussy. Her boots were off and her socks loose on her feet. For a moment it looked like she might run out the door just as she was. Ayden doubted it but didn’t wait to find out. He flew off the bed after her.

  Fury raged into a fire inside him, spurring his other side to life. By the time he reached her, his spine sparked with the urge to change.

  “I would never insult you or degrade anything you’ve endured,” he snarled, grabbing her and pinning her to the wall. His teeth were too big for his mouth when he continued growling at her. “You think I’m not strong enough to run by your side,” he accused, his temper damn near beyond his control.

  Magda went into a rage. She fought against him, punching him as those long legs of hers thrashed. She kicked and flung her body at him. Her dark hair flew wildly around her face. He was barely managing to hold her. Her teeth were also extended and her eyes were large and wild. A mean growl rose from her right before she sent a fierce blow to the side of his face.

  “How dare you!” she yelled and squirmed out of his grasp, then stumbled across the room.

  He turned, raising his fingers to what would probably be a nice shiner in time to see her pulling her jeans back up. Ayden stalked toward her, catching her before she finished the act. This time he wasn’t gentle when he threw her on the bed.

  Magda spun around, but only made it to her back before he was on her. He grabbed her wrists when she raised her hands. There was no way he was risking another blow.

  “Beaute noire, I most definitely dare,” he said, his voice a deep rumble.

  She opened her mouth, but he didn’t
give her a chance to spew insults at him. Ayden took her mouth, crushing his lips to hers. He tasted blood. It might have been hers or his. He wasn’t sure. But the taste fueled the beast in him further.

  She moaned into his mouth, groaned and howled. More than once she arched up into him, as if trying to throw him off of her. It wasn’t until she exhaled and began kissing him back that he released her wrists.

  His brain was a ravished fever. Never had he wanted a female so desperately. If it meant fighting with her all night, he would do it. Which brought a bit of sobriety to his thoughts. Already he’d questioned his motives while hunting her. His pride had taken a huge blow when she’d run from him. Ayden knew it wasn’t just pride that sent him after her. And it wasn’t sheer determination to win a fight that kept him from storming out the door now.

  Rolling to his side, he grabbed the side of her head by her hair and pulled her face to his then bit her lip. He wasn’t great on speeches. The best way to show Magda where she belonged was to show her.

  This time, when he pulled her up against him, their kiss was fiery hot. Her small hands moved to his shoulder, then down his arm. Everywhere she touched him scorched with need for her touch again.

  “You need to understand,” she whispered into his mouth.

  “I do,” he promised.

  The fever was fogging his mind again. What he understood best was how much he needed to be inside her. In spite of knowing that Magda felt compelled to make him see her side of the argument, those words would wait. He had no problem battling out anything she wished. There was no doubt in his mind that each time they fought it would bring them right back to here.

  He slid an arm underneath her and pressed his hand into the middle of her back. Then holding her in place he began exploring with his other hand. All the while tasting her, dipping deep into her hot, moist mouth and feasting. It was a hunger he doubted would ever be fully appeased. Dragging her blouse up over her breasts, he then rubbed her stomach.

  Magda wasn’t panting anymore but her breath still came hard. The tightening and relaxing of her muscles, while the heat of her mouth flooded into his, got his dick so damn hard that pain ransacked his body.