Frustrated, Dominic tossed and turned on the couch, attempting to find a way to arrange the lumps of stuffing into something that resembled comfort. As the dripping of raindrops through his roof continued for the second night, and he lay there, blanket-less while Olivia slept cozy with all of his, he struggled to get himself warm.
Once again, the question raised itself in his mind…. had it really been worth it to steal his brother’s fiancé?
Had he not done that, had he let his smug, wimpy, perfect brother just get married to that girl, then he’d still have his own place in the castle and be able to sleep on velvety soft sheets and eat lavish food at every meal. He would have been able to continue to spend his days in any leisurely way that he pleased, knowing that unless something happened to his father and then his brother, Dominic’s own responsibilities in life were almost non-existent.
Maybe it hadn’t been worth it to take revenge on him. What had that bit of trickery gotten him? A drafty and damp cabin in the woods where he was to stay with a small pack and use his brawn as protection for the kingdom. He was more of a soldier rather than a prince.
Ah, but Dominic couldn’t help the smile that drifted on his face. His body relaxing just slightly, he remembered the priceless look on his brother’s face when he caught Cherise in Dominic’s own bed. It wasn’t exactly Dominic’s fault, she hadn’t been in love with Ronald from the beginning, so it had been easy to seduce her away from him.
Of course, Dominic hadn’t wanted her for himself, and she hadn’t wanted that either, opting instead to break off the engagement and find someone that was fated for her. She knew Ronald was more of a fling rather than fate.
When Dominic had heard that she had broken it off, it took every bit of strength he had not to laugh in his brother’s face. His whole life he’d spent living in his brother’s perfect shadow, being told to be more responsible like he was, and generally never adding up to the future king. But there was one department that Dominic was always better in, and that was women.
Sleeping with Cherise had knocked that perfect smile from Ronald’s face and though it resulted in the nastiest brawl Dominic had ever encountered and had gotten him removed from the castle because of the hand he’d played in making her realize that she wasn’t fated for Ronald, that moment of satisfaction felt worth it.
Though, Dominic did feel a little guilty, only because he had to wonder if his pathetic brother would ever find a woman that would actually want someone so passionless and dull, but he supposed that eventually a woman as equally dull would come along. Not that Dominic had ever felt anything for Cherise, but she was nice enough and cute enough that he knew he’d spared her from a life of monotony.
In fact, there had never been any girl, no matter how attractive or interesting, that had ever made Dominic think of as more than a fleeting thought. None had ever gotten him riled or excited. The only one that had come close to making him feel anything was laying in the next room, having taken his bed and his blankets. But Dominic couldn’t figure yet if the wolf inside of him was stirring because of his attraction to Olivia or because she annoyed him so easily.
With his thoughts still stirring, Dominic lay on the couch just barely resting when he heard a snap outside. A branch, snapping under the weight of something, made Dominic sit up quickly, all thoughts of sleep and everything else quickly vanishing. Hair stood on the back of his neck and his wolf paced inside of him, ready to rip out.
Dominic took a few steadying breaths, listening as closely as any wolf could, to any other sounds outside. There was a rustling, like that of wet leaves on the ground, and it was right outside of his cabin.
Quickly he stood from the couch and raced to the front door. If there was about to be an attack then it wasn’t going to be on his watch. He opened the door but his eyes weren’t as good in the night unless he had shifted. Unsure if he was overreacting, he stood at the door for a moment, catching any unfamiliar scent in the night breeze, waiting for a shadow to move through the dark, but there was nothing. Still, he sensed something was lurking outside, just in the woods near his cabin.
Unable to calm his wolf, he shifted. His hands grew into paws and the bulk of his body landed heavily on all four. His ears, now even more keen to the sounds around him, twitched as he heard the slightest movement. His head snapped to the direction, his fangs showing, and ready to rip into any threat that was out there.
There. It was just there. The tiniest bit of light flickered among the trees, too close for comfort.
Dominic tore through the dark of the night, prepared to take down whoever it was that was out there.
Chapter Eight
Olivia
The night air, though drizzly and chilly, felt good in her lungs. Almost immediately she felt like her old self, which was both good and bad, but comforting all the same. She was an adventurer, always had been and always would be. Living under someone’s rules or watchful eye had never sat well with her. Running through the woods, even if she was alone, had always felt like freedom.
There’d been a small sense of freedom while living in the dorm, though her dorm monitor had often times gotten on her nerves with her rules. There was no feeling like that of running free in the woods; it was her home, as confining as it felt sometimes.
Maybe, she thought, she was more like her pack than she thought. Maybe there was some animal instinct inside of her that made her crave the feel of the earth underneath her and the soft scrape of branches against her skin.
Behind her something rustled and Olivia turned quickly. There was a prickle on her neck, the feel of eyes on her. Something was near and a knot twisted in her stomach. For as many times as she’d been out in these woods, she’d never had the sense of being watched, that something was lurking in the shadows.
Her heart began to pound and her breath came in short gasps. Something was there, she was sure of it. She made a mistake, she never should have left the safety of Dominic’s cabin. What had she been thinking? It was dangerous, attacks were happening on packs all around the country, and she had thought it a good idea to wander out into the dark, alone?
Foolish. Simply foolish.
She needed to get back to the safety of the cabin— and fast, before anything bad happened to her. Turning, she didn’t even take one step back to the cabin before she was knocked on her back and landed flat on the ground. The breath from her lungs slammed out of her and a heavy body sat tense on her own. Unable to catch her breath, she couldn’t force the scream to push out of her body. She lay on the ground, dizzy and disoriented, unable to see her attacker.
“Olivia?” a voice growled.
Even in her terrified state of mind, she recognized the deep rumble of that voce instantly.
“Dominic,” she whispered.
Quickly he jumped off of her and she could feel him pacing.
Just to be sure it was him, her hand scrambled on the ground until her fingers clutched around her phone which still shone its light. Shakily she brought up the light and saw the golden streaks of his fur.
“What were you doing out here?” His growl was deep and Olivia could see how agitated he was. “I could have killed you!” he shouted.
“I…I…I just needed some air,” she stammered back. Her senses were still coming back to her as air filled her lungs again and her heart slowed its pace.
“You were told to stay with me! Not go running around in the dark!”
He was still shouting at her, his anger filling the night air. For a moment she felt shaken by what had just happened and almost a little guilty at causing his shift and the rage that she could hear in his voice. But then, she thought again. With strength returning in her body and a clear head, she finally stood from the wet ground.
“And you were supposed to protect me—not almost kill me! Do you always go around trying to kill things before you even know what it is?” she snapped at him.
“You have no idea how dangerous it is out here,” he said through clenched teeth. Sh
e watched him look around the woods, still on edge, that something might be out there.
Dominic stopped pacing and the two stared hard at each other. Olivia’s eyes narrowed in challenge and they held each other’s gaze for a moment before the animal finally grunted and turned back to the cabin. It was clear he was still angry but he wasn’t going to fight with her any more sitting there in those woods. She followed behind him, ready to continue their battle inside the cabin if he was going to continue to yell at her.
Once inside, the wolf wandered back to the bedroom, where he could shift back in privacy. He emerged in the doorway, sweat still dotting his body, in just a set of boxers. The site made the anger in Olivia dissolve as her eyes roamed over his body, her feet betraying her as she walked toward him. The hard planes of his chest, the deep lines of his hips that lead teasingly under his boxers. His arms were tight with veins that bulged with his muscles. With a body like that, so strong and manly, she couldn’t stop herself from staring.
Dominic watched her taking him in, and a cocky smile appeared on his face.
“Like what you see?”
“What’s it like?” she asked, her voice quiet with awe.
“What is what like?”
“To….to…shift. To be human one minute and animal the next.”
Dominic held her stare, a burning gaze. “One minute you feel completely normal, then the next there is something stirring inside of you, a storm brewing. With every heartbeat it gets stronger, makes your body hot and restless. The pressure builds and builds until finally your body comes undone from its own skin. Only when that pressure releases can you breathe again, though you’re no longer human.”
Olivia felt herself blush and she wanted to look away, but it was as if she was drawn into him like a magnet. Something had come over her and she suddenly felt like she had no control over herself, as if something else was leading her. Tentatively she stepped toward him and reached a hand out to his almost naked body where her fingertips brushed those stomach muscles that only a second ago she’d been admiring.
The heat of him scorched at her fingertips, but she didn’t pull away. Looking up into his eyes, she lay her palm flat against his body and she could hear the animal rumble within him. He looked down at her, his amber eyes glowing brightly in the firelight. She didn’t need him to tell her what he was thinking, she could read it all over his face, the primal desire for her.
She felt it too. An instinct, as clear as any thought she ever had, told her that this was completely right.
Intensely, she stared up at him, her eyes searching his to see what he was going to do next but it didn’t take long for his lips to burn hers in a kiss. The breath was nearly knocked out of her as he gripped her arms tightly and kept his body as close as she could considering she was still clothed. For a moment she feared that it would just be one kiss, one perfect, hot, passionate kiss but then his mouth began to open, his tongue twining with hers.
His hands moved from her arms to her hair, tangling her strands into knots and yanking lightly to pull her head back. She yelped a little in a mix of pleasure and pain and his lips made a hot trail down the soft spot on her neck, down to her collar bone, while his hand grasped at her breast under her shirt. The way he touched her made her dizzy with pleasure. Ripping at her shirt, he tossed it aside and her nipples were already peaked with desire. His mouth moved suckled and nipped at her breasts and left her gasping in pleasure.
Hooking up with Dominic was probably not the best idea but she’d never felt so turned on in her life. She wasn’t sure how far he was going to go with her, how far she should let him go, but she didn’t have time to think about it as he worked at her pants and yanked them down to the floor. The anticipation of what was about to happen was causing her to tremble and Dominic, sensing her nerves, lightly pushed her back onto the bed, his eyes burning into hers.
That was the last she saw of him before he disappeared between her legs, his tongue running in hot swipes at the inside of her thighs. She could feel herself pulsing in need, and by the time she finally felt him touch her she was already wet and needy. The way he licked at her, moving his tongue along her most tender spot, she wouldn’t have been able to look up at him if she wanted to. Too delirious from the pleasure he was giving her, all she could do was say his name over and over begging for more, begging him to make her come undone.
She was sure she could picture his face, gleaming the way that it did when he was having far too much fun at her expense and the picture in her mind made her wild. Just at that moment, as if sensing how close she was to unraveling, he moved his finger inside of her and started to move in and out while his tongue kept up its pattern.
The screams that escaped her could have woken up any of the neighboring pack members as she came into his hand and his mouth, her body being broken apart in pleasure. She should have known that Dominic would have been good in bed but she never would have expected that he would have been that good. When she came down from her high she couldn’t help but think that if he was that good with just his mouth and hand, she couldn’t imagine how good he would be at the rest of it.
Chapter Nine
Dominic
Dominic was already up and out of bed, dressing and admonishing himself for his ridiculous mistake the night before. How could he have let that happen? How could he have let his guard down with Olivia? That had been a stupid mistake, one that he couldn’t let happen again.
Olivia was still tucked in his bed, the blankets draped casually around her naked body, sound asleep. There was a small smile on her lips and Dominic had to look away from her. The wolf in him was too tense, too confused by what had happened. There had been many girls in the prince’s life but none that had overtaken him the way that Olivia had.
“Once you meet the mate you’re fated for, you know it. It’s instinctual.”
That’s what Dominic’s father had been telling him his whole life but as carefree as he was, Dominic had never cared about finding a fated mate. It was far more fun to run free and with so many females in the world, there was no sense in tying himself down to just one. That idea sounded absurd to him, that there’d ever be one female that could capture his interest for the rest of his life. It just was impossible. Not to mention that Dominic very much doubted the theory that fated mates even existed. After all, in a world where there were countless people, how could there be just one that instinct told you was your mate?
Since he’d first begun sniffing around the opposite sex, Dominic had been fed this notion that one day he’d meet her and his world would flip upside-down. Respectfully he would nod his head in agreement while stifling eye rolls, yet run around with whatever attractive girl he found. But after his night with Olivia, he was starting to question everything.
There had been something so different about what happened between them. It had been more than a hook-up, more than just physical, though the physical had been damn impressive. There had been something primal and animalistic about it. The whole night, from the moment he ripped at her clothes to the way she clawed at his body, and even the way they’d fallen deeply asleep, spent from each other, had entirely messed with his mind. Being with her had made him feel more wolf than man and that turmoil was still reeling inside of him when he woke up next to her.
The last time he’d let his wolf fuel his decision was when he’d let the feeling of anger destroy his brother’s life. When his father had made the announcement that Ronald was being trained to be the king. As Dominic sat there across the long table, seeing the cocky smile spread on his brother’s face, he couldn’t help that his wolf felt ready to explode from inside of him. It wasn’t as if he expected his father would choose Dominic himself to be the next king, but he detested the smugness of his brother.
It didn’t seem fair that a weak wolf like that should be ruler of a kingdom, that he should get everything in life, so Dominic’s jealous wolf lead him to sleeping with his brother’s fiancé. Then the fight that ensued after�
�that thought was one that Dominic tried hard to block from his own memory. Because of that fight, he had been kicked from his royal place in life and the fall from grace had been painful. There was no chance he was going to risk falling any further down.
If Atticus found out what had happened between Olivia and himself, he was sure to be kicked from the pack as well. After being removed from the castle and then kicked out of the small pack on the outskirts of the kingdom, there was no way any other pack around would let him in. He’d be forced to be a lone wolf; traveling far until hopefully some far away pack would take pity on him and let him join. Dominic shook his head, it was not a life he had any intention of living. He was better than that, but he also knew that the longer he spent around Olivia the harder it will become to control his animal desire for her.
Especially since he had already had her and the feel of her skin was burned into his body.
He couldn’t become a lone wolf and he didn’t want to— no wolf did. With that thought, Dominic knew there was only one thing he could do.
The day was breaking and with the light meant the dangers of a night attack had faded away. Dominic checked one more time to make sure that Olivia was still deeply asleep before he slipped out of the house and locked it safely behind him. It was early, he hoped that he wasn’t going to wake Atticus but knew that he couldn’t wait. There was no possible way that he could spend more time with Olivia, specifically every minute of the day as Atticus had demanded. He was getting in over his head; more than he already was, if that was even possible.
Atticus lived only a few minutes away. Almost everyone in their small pack lived close by, so Dominic was at Atticus’ porch before he’d come up with what he should say. The Alpha was already outside on the porch, puffing at a pipe, grey smoke hanging in the morning air.
The Bear Shifter's Baby Page 34