Rescued & Ravished: An Alpha's Conquest (A Paranormal Ménage Romance)

by Sophie Chevalier

  He bit her shoulder hard. There was an electric spark of pain as he broke the skin, but it only brought her closer to orgasm. She wailed.

  “Mine, Harper,” he rumbled, licking where he’d bit. The two of them were tangled up and moving savagely together, covered in a sheen of sweat. “You’re mine. Stay mine. Stay with me! I’ve never had a better woman. You make me hard as iron—You’re hot as sin—I can’t resist you, I want—”

  “Ride me!” she begged, interrupting him deliriously. “Fuck my pussy! Make me come!”

  “Is that what you want, Harper? You want to come on my cock?”

  “Yes!” she almost screamed. The molten waves of pleasure rolling up from her ravished pussy were pushing her to climax. She only needed a little more, more of his power, more of his size, more of his ferocity.

  “Say it!” His teeth were on her ear. “Tell me what you want!”

  “I want to come!” she cried. Her next words came from somewhere deep inside, somewhere primal. “Claim me, Hudson! Make me yours!”

  Hearing that did something to him. He hammered her like a true animal, rutting with abandon—and it was just what she wanted. Gasping, thrusting back at him, she dropped her head and squeezed the bedclothes tight. Her knuckles went white.

  “Ohh, Hud—Oh—Oh—”

  This was what sex was supposed to be. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—go back to how it was before with normal, human men. This was what she needed; this was what she was meant for. A primeval breeding with a strong, rugged man was the only thing that would ever satisfy her again. It was so hot, so good, so fierce.

  Her pleasure crested—

  “Come for me, Harper!” he rumbled, feeling her tighten. “Come on that big cock! Be mine!”

  That was it. The sweet tension between her hips seared away, and suddenly, fierily, she came.

  Her pussy seized on his thrusting, insistent cock, rippling creamily along his length as she orgasmed. It was so, so good—and so, so freeing! She bucked back at him, moaning with such ecstasy that she thought the whole compound must hear.

  The wet, tight squeeze of her pussy forced him over the edge. With a low, masculine groan, he erupted deep inside her, burying himself to the hilt as he climaxed. Her toes curled as he filled her with the hottest, thickest come she’d ever felt.

  It was the best orgasm of her life.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Suddenly, Chance was awake. It was the middle of the night and he was alone in a dark, wind-stirred field.

  Harper. He’d dreamed of Harper again. And she’d told him that she was supposed to be his. His pulse was racing. He’d taken the Harper in the dream. Her soft, pale flesh had been as yielding as cream, her pussy had been as sweet and slick as fruit, but as hot as fire. Even now, thinking of it, his cock was impossibly hard. It was being bitten by his zipper, and its throbbing head was wet with the spend of more than one orgasm.

  “Ah, shit,” he muttered, his voice coarse. He had never, ever wanted a woman the way he wanted Harper. Her scent… her body... her smart, level gaze… her heart-stealing smile… these dreams. He needed her like he needed air.

  But he also needed to get home and change. If Briar was still there, he’d have to carry her out bodily—she would just be in the way. He was surer than ever that no woman but Harper would satisfy him.

  Getting to his feet, he headed back to his cabin.

  ***

  “Damn, Harper,” Hudson murmured, squeezing one of her large, soft breasts. They were curled up together in his bed. “You have curves like I’ve never seen. It’s enough to put a spell on any man. Lord knows it put a spell on me.”

  She bit her lip as his other hand settled between her generous thighs. “You’re not so bad-looking yourself, Hud.”

  “No?” He sounded chuffed; she shifted a leg so he could cup her raw, flushed pussy. His warm palm felt soothing against her swollen lips. “That’s good to hear. Tell me something about me that you like.”

  “About you? Seriously?” She grinned at him, prone in his arms. Fingers of firelight wavered on the far wall.

  “Seriously. Let me hear it.” His dark eyes glittered in the dim.

  “Okay.” She chewed her kiss-swollen bottom lip. “I like your eyes. They’re… different.”

  He snorted. “They’re just shifters’ eyes.”

  “They’re not ‘just’ anything. They’re beautiful.” She gazed at them. “Do all shifters have gold in their eyes like that?”

  “Yeah. It’s not all quite the same color of gold, but yeah. What else do you like?”

  “What’s not to like about your body, Hud?” she asked seriously. “You’re tall and broad-shouldered and you’ve got abs like a god. I’m pretty sure you were actually carved from stone.”

  “Heh.” He smiled, a dry, crooked smile, one that filled her stomach with hot syrup. “Maybe.”

  “I like the way you taste,” she murmured, wriggling closer. “I like how hot and firm your skin is. I love your chest hair and your stubble. I like your stupid sense of humor and your killer smile and your shrewd brains and, if you must know, your big, thick cock. And everything else, too. I like everything. I really do.”

  His look had softened and darkened to something more serious.

  “What?” she murmured. “What is it?”

  “I’ll take you back to Banff, Harper,” he whispered, hands in her hair. “I meant it.”

  “But you’ll catch hell here if you do that,” she whispered back, loving being so close to his hot, hard body.

  “That’s my problem. Just let me take you. I’ll take you tomorrow.”

  She gazed at him for a long time. “I thought you had to fight Chance tomorrow.”

  “After that.”

  Chance.

  Thinking about him reminded her of her feelings for him—if they could even be called feelings, after just a few days. But they felt like feelings… how could that be? Why did it seem like she’d known him longer? And like she’d known Hudson longer, too?

  “Harper?”

  “Okay.” She ran her knuckles along his thickly stubbled jaw. “Just… promise you’ll take me somewhere safe? Somewhere human? When you can?”

  “Promise. I’ll get you home, Harper.”

  Home.

  Why did it disappoint her to hear him say that?

  She had to leave. Good sex wasn’t worth her life, and her life was what the elders wanted.

  “God, but you’re beautiful,” he breathed. She saw the gold glittering brightly, hungrily in his eyes. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and that’s the truth. Your face… your body… you’re irresistible, girl. You’re worth your weight in gold.”

  She kissed him. It was a deep, slow kiss.

  “Why aren’t you mated, Hud?” she breathed against his mouth. He tried to kiss her again, but she turned her face slightly away. “Women must want you.”

  “Why’re you asking me this?”

  “Because bear people seem obsessed with pairing off, but you’re alone.”

  “Are you asking if I’m defective, girl?” He tried to kiss her again, and this time she let him, just for a moment. It was a hard thing to resist.

  “It just doesn’t make sense to me. You’re strong and handsome and smart and they trust you. They think you’re good enough to be their Alpha! So why aren’t you with anyone?”

  “I haven’t found my woman yet.” His voice was low, husky. “If she even exists.”

  “Why wouldn’t she?”

  “What is this, the hot seat? That’s enough from you.” He covered her mouth with a large hand, playfully; she pulled it off.

  “I’m serious! There are lots of women in this clan.”

  “I know it.”

  “So? Once of them isn’t right?”

  “So I lost a clan once. It’s hard to believe it won’t happen again.” The gold in his eyes cooled. “Can you understand that, Harper?�
�

  She softened, mollified and sorry. “Yes. I can. I lost my family too.” She turned into him, nuzzling into the space between his shoulder and his neck. “I can completely understand.”

  He stroked her hair slowly. For a while there was no sound but the pop and hiss of logs in the fire.

  “What did you do with Chance, Harper? Did you talk? Or… what?”

  “What did I do with Chance? You mean, the day he was guarding me? Why?”

  “Just tell me.”

  “Why, though? What’s it matter?”

  “It matters to me.”

  He sounded jealous, but he couldn’t be. She didn’t mean anything to him, and he… he didn’t mean anything to her either, or he shouldn’t. What was there to be jealous about?

  “That’s not your business, Hud. Is it?”

  He frowned slightly. “No. I guess it’s not.”

  She gazed at him, her eyes liquid. “Are you jealous?”

  “Guess so,” he murmured.

  She kissed him. Don’t be she wanted to tell him, but that wasn’t quite right. Maybe he should be. Because she liked him just as much as she liked Chance, and either way, her feelings didn’t make sense.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The morning was clear and cold, unseasonably so for spring. Chance ignored the weather; he could barely feel it. He was swinging by Jason’s cabin before he began the trek up to the Grounds, the meadow where men of their clan traditionally had their combats.

  Jason, Galangal, and Hazel were on the porch. They looked at him like they had been expecting him. Jason spoke first.

  “Are you going up to the Grounds?”

  Chance frowned. Hudson was important to him, but his blood was on fire with rutting hormones, with the male grizzly’s need for dominance, with his desire for Harper. What else could he say but yes? It was too late to stop this fight.

  “Yes, Alpha. I’m going now.” He could hear that his own voice was lower and coarser than usual. Thicker.

  “Defeat him!” Galangal said in his stern, wavery voice. “Defeat him, boy. He’s born of stranger stock. We need a native son to lead us.”

  Jason went forward to grip the younger man’s shoulders. “It doesn’t matter that Hudson was born far afield. You and I both know that, Chance.” He squeezed hard. “He’s a good man. But it’s you I want to win today, son. You know that, too.”

  “I know. I will, Alpha.”

  “You’re ready to lead us, Chance. You’ve got the character and the ability to do it. You’re what this clan needs and you’re damn dear to me.” Jason pressed Chance into a brief, sudden hug. “Win, boy! Beat him! Come back down to us with your head held high… and then you can have that girl you want.”

  Chance startled. “Girl?”

  “I know you too well, Chance. I’m talking about that human girl, the pretty stranger. You want her just as bad as Hudson does, and trust me, boy, he wants her bad.” Jason clapped him on the arm. “So win her from him—and win your rightful rank in this clan. Win everything. And don’t let him kill you!”

  Chance clapped Jason’s arm, too. “I’ll do it. I swear.”

  “Chance,” Hazel called from Jason’s porch, wrapped in a rust-colored shawl. “Be all bear! Be an animal!”

  “She’s right,” Jason said lowly. “Be savage. Don’t try and resist it... be wild! Now get out of here. Go face him. Do this.” His eyes goldened. “Lead us!”

  ***

  Harper sat cross-legged on Hudson’s bed, anxious. Her hands squeezed a fold of quilt worriedly and she was chewing the inside of her mouth. He had left almost as soon as it was light to fight Chance, giving her barely more than a kiss goodbye; she didn’t know what she should expect now. How long would this bear-men showdown take? And why was she so scared, for both their sakes?

  A knock on the door made her jump.

  “Who’s there?” she asked, scrambling to her feet. “I’m… I’m not dressed!”

  “That’s alright, honey.” It was a voice she didn’t recognize, a woman’s. “I brought you new clothes. My name is Gorse. I’m Jason’s mate, and I’m here with one of the elders, my mother, Hazel.”

  “Oh… oh,” Harper stammered, shocked. She’d heard about Jason the Alpha and Hazel the elder, of course. If this was Hazel, then her visit had to be very important. But what could it mean? Nervously, she went to the door and unlatched it, cautiously pulling it open.

  There were two women standing there. One was a lovely lady in middle age. Her red hair was long and free down her back, and she carried a woven basket full of what looked like folded clothes. Next to her was the ancient Hazel, leaning heavily on her walking stick.

  “Hello, daughter,” Hazel said, gazing at Harper as if she truly were her daughter.

  “Hello,” Harper said uncertainly, feeling underdressed in her underwear and one of Hudson’s shirts. The two women came in, Gorse guiding Harper to the table and sitting her down.

  “Here, dear,” she said, setting the basket on the tabletop as Hazel sat in the chair right next to Harper’s. “I have some things you can have for wearing. Here, try this one. Let’s see if it fits.”

  She held up a homespun dress the color of fallow leaves. It was long, with a button front, an open neckline, and wrist-length, fitted sleeves.

  “Come on then, out of that,” Hazel said, pointing to Hudson’s shirt. “Let’s see you in the dress, daughter.”

  Seeing no alternative—and, privately, not opposed to trying on a pretty dress—Harper slipped off the oversized shirt. Hazel made an approving sound.

  “That’s a beautiful, fertile shape she has,” she said to Gorse. “We should both be thankful. The girl’s hips are as wide as the range!”

  Harper flushed. Gorse helped her put on the dress. It fit perfectly.

  “I’ve been sewing it,” Gorse said appraisingly, looking at how it hung and tugging at various places. “Mother told me what the sizing should be.”

  “But… but we’ve never met,” Harper said, confounded. How could the fit be perfect if she’d never been face-to-face with either woman? “Did Ivy tell you what I—”

  “No, daughter, nothing like that,” Hazel said, gazing at Harper from out of half-clouded, knowing eyes. “Ivy told me nothing. I knew your shape before you ever came here. I had Gorse sewing these dresses long before she even knew who they’d go to! Lord knows we have no girls here with your figure!”

  “What?” Harper’s brow furrowed. “How did—”

  “My mother is a seer,” Gorse said, patting Harper’s shoulder. “Sit down, honey. I’ll make us some tea and some lunch.”

  “Lunch?” Harper asked, confused by everything that was happening. Where had these women come from? Why were they coming to her now? And what was happening with Chance and Hudson?

  “Beer braised chicken and onions,” Gorse said, patting her shoulder again and slowly pushing her into the chair. “Just sit a spell and talk with my mother.” With that, she hustled to the woodstove.

  “Daughter,” Hazel said, reaching out for Harper’s hand with her dry, knotted fingers. Harper let her hand be taken. “Listen to me now.”

  “I’m listening,” Harper said, meaning it.

  “Good. Now, child, tell me true: do you dream?”

  “Dream? I dream all the time.”

  “Psh! I don’t mean normal dreams, girl. I mean dreams about the future.” Her eyes narrowed, and her thorny fingers tightened on Harper’s. “Did you dream about us, before you came here?”

  Harper flushed. What should she say?

  “I… I don’t. Maybe.”

  “What did you dream?”

  The smell of melting butter filled the cabin as Gorse prepared the pan. Harper bit her lip, wondering how much to say, and how much she was even sure of.

  “I dreamed… I dreamed about… about bears. I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t. Or maybe it was just. Even if I did, it was just a coincidence. I don’t
think I—”

  “There’s no coincidence in this, girl. You dreamed of us, as I knew you would.” She stroked Harper’s thumb. “You’re meant to be one of us.”

  “What does that mean?” Harper’s brow knit. “What do you people want with me?”

  “Us people, is it? Listen to me, child, these are your people too. Sometimes, when the bloodlines run thin, when the clan grows small, then the spirits send us a fresh man or woman to join us. You are that woman. You were meant to come here, and choose from our men, and live with us.”

  “No, I wasn’t! I have a life. I have a really good job. I have—”

  “—no family,” Hazel said, seeing right through her. “No lover. No home.”

  “I don’t belong here.”

  “You do. Don’t think you can hide your true heart from me, child. I can see that you want to stay, even if you won’t admit it to yourself. You already gave yourself to Hudson.”

  There was a pause over where Gorse was working at browning the chicken thighs; Harper could feel the woman’s surprise. She flushed.

  “I didn’t.”

  “You did, and it was everything you wanted. And you like our other favorite son, too, don’t you, girl? I know. I know everything. I dreamed it!”

  “I’m not—”

  “Shh, sweet girl. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t be angry.” Hazel raised her spotted fingers to Harper’s face. “Look into my eyes, child. Let me unlock your dreams for you. You already know the truth.”

  ***

  The Grounds were further up the slopes, in the subalpine zone. Here the trees were nothing but conifers: Englemann spruce, lodgepole pine, Rocky Mountain fir. Chance could smell almost nothing but their needles. The sky overhead was a hot, saturated blue, and the uneven peaks of the mountains shot straight up above him, closer than ever.

  Pushing through the thick, brushy forest, he finally reached the glade they called the Grounds. Ragwort and valerian bloomed among the wild grasses in its clearing.

  He could barely think through the red haze of testosterone. The entire way up the mountain, he had felt fiercer and wilder and hotter-blooded than ever. All he knew now was that he had to fight, he had to win. And, once he won, he had to mate. With Harper. If she’ll have me.