by Moira Rogers
It was too big for one person--the room, the bed, even the tub--and her cheeks grew hot as she realized none of it was meant for just one person. "This is gorgeous."
Finally, he smiled. "I told you. We've been looking for you for a long time."
"I guess so." She shivered in her sweatshirt and rubbed her hands over her upper arms. "It didn't seem real until just now. How different my life is."
He came to her then, wrapping both arms around her and tucking her head under his chin. "I wish I'd gotten there sooner. You would have had time before..." He trailed off, his fingers tracking lightly down her back. "Tell me what you need."
She needed to make it completely real, to touch the last elusive part of this new life. "I want to shift. Can you show me?"
"Of course." He stroked her back again and gathered the hem of her shirt in his hand. "I need to shift soon, anyway. It's been a few days. It makes me..." He huffed. "Mac says it makes me twitchy."
She hid her smile against his shirt. "Unfathomable."
"Hey." When she looked up, she saw that his face had grown serious again. "Shifting relieves one kind of tension, but it can trigger another. I don't know if that'll make you feel better or worse right now, but... Either way, I'll take care of you."
"You keep saying that." She tugged her sweatshirt over her head.
He hissed out a breath. "Get used to hearing it, because I won't be the only one saying it." His warm fingertips grazed her waist as he took a careful step back. "Take off your pants, too. Take off everything."
She felt almost shy now as she disrobed. Before, she'd been out of her head with lust, sure that if he didn't touch her soon, she'd lose her mind in truth. This was different. Every movement was deliberate, her faculties intact and fully functional. A choice. She was taking off her clothes because she wanted to.
She unhooked her bra, draped it across the end of the bed, and dropped her panties to the floor. She stood there before him, unashamed, watching him as he watched her, his gaze holding hers forever, as if he was struggling not to look--
His control broke. Raw hunger filled his eyes as his gaze drifted over her. Just one slow, reverent perusal before he tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, his hands curled into fists. "I need a second."
She wanted him to find her desirable as a woman as well as a wolf, and there was no denying the thrill of attraction that arced between them. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears as he began to undress, and she allowed herself the luxury of looking at him--really looking--for the first time.
His face possessed a sensuality that softened its hardness and made her want to trace its lines with her fingers and her mouth. He towered over her, his body big and powerful. Instead of making her feel small or threatened, she felt protected.
She stared at the tattoo on his left shoulder. She had touched it, scratched her nails over it, but she hadn't really looked. It was big, covering most of his upper arm--a forest scene with the moon high above and a wolf resting at the base of a tree.
Without thinking, Ashley took a step toward him, her hand outstretched. "Is this you?"
He watched as she touched his skin, his breath hissing out again, and muscle flexed under her fingertips. "It's close."
He was aroused. Seeing the proof of it sparked an answering heat that settled low in her belly and curled through her veins. "Blake?"
"Shh." He caught her shoulders and turned her to face away from him. For a thrilling, arousing second, her back was to his chest, his erection pressing hard against her ass. Then he urged her to her knees and followed her down, both hands warm and firm on her shoulder blades. "Close your eyes. Feel your wolf. Feel what she feels. Want what she wants."
Blake's body against hers. His lips on her ear. His tongue in her mouth.
Ashley whimpered.
"That's it." He ran his fingers down her arms. "She wants to come out, doesn't she? So many years of fighting it. So many years of hiding."
A searing pain tore through her midsection, and she bit her lip to hold back a startled cry. Blake's grip tightened on her wrists, urging her forward until she was on her hands and knees, panting for breath.
"It only hurts for a few seconds," he promised, his lips hot on her shoulder. "The less you fight it, the faster it goes. You were born for this."
The pain was nothing compared to the feral rush of magic that churned in her gut. The pain could be borne, but this was something else entirely--more than animal instinct, something akin to fury, a storm that threatened to sweep her away in its wrath.
She'd been locked up inside for so long.
Her skin rippled. Her bones ached. Ashley curled her fingers into the heavy, plush carpet beneath her, desperate for anything real to hold on to. She opened her mouth to scream--
And howled instead.
She staggered, disoriented by the shift in her center of gravity. The world was brighter, noisier. She tasted the air, could smell the hot rush of blood in her own veins. And she'd been so stupid, so silly to think her human self could grasp anything real, because the only thing real was this.
"Look at you." His hands were still on her, hot and strong and sliding through fur now. The rasp at the edge of his words told her it was a whisper, but he was so loud. "You're beautiful, Ash. You're perfect."
Maybe not perfect, but alive for the first time. She danced away, just a few feet, then stretched her front legs and stared at Blake. Daring him to follow her. To join her.
He rose, crossed the room to the sliding glass door, and hauled it open. "Follow me."
He walked out onto the second-level porch, his skin bared to the late afternoon sunlight. Ashley trailed after him, bumping his leg with her nose. He leaned down to rub the top of her head before leading her down the steps and to the edge of the woods.
"Run," he said quietly, pointing to a small path between the trees. "Run as fast as and hard as you can. Because as soon as I change, I'm chasing you. And Ash?" He caught her muzzle and tilted her head up to look at him. "The harder you make me work for it, the more you're going to like it."
She snapped at him, closing her teeth just an inch shy of his fingers.
Blake just grinned, baring his teeth. "That's my brave, wild girl. Now run."
She took off across the grass, relishing the sleek strength in her four legs. Woodland smells filled her nose, and she tilted her head up toward the sky as she picked up speed before diving into the underbrush.
Her heart beat wildly, its rapid thump singing through her. She chose a path at random, then veered off of it completely and headed for a deeper part of the forest.
Bound by no inhibitions, she ran. She embraced this wild sense of liberty, let it fill her with confidence and clarity.
The old Ashley had been scared, imprisoned. But this one was free.
Copyright Information
Protecting Their Mate, Part One
Copyright © 2015,2017 by Moira Rogers
Previously published in two parts under the name Mia Thorne.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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