by Cecilia Lane
“Gray, yes!” How she managed the words, she didn’t know. Other syllables were lost on a hoarse cry and she buried her hands in his hair. Gray didn’t let up until her limbs shook and she orgasmed twice more.
But he didn’t let her rest. Through a head that felt stuffed and a pulse that raced, Gray kissed and sucked his way back up her body. “You taste so fucking good,” he growled in her ear. His tongue traced the outer shell. “I could eat you all night if I didn’t want to feel you come all over my cock.”
Meghan wordlessly groaned and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck to draw him closer. No one ever talked to her like that and she liked it. Heat coiled in her core and she clenched around nothingness. She wanted him to fill her completely. Needed it.
Gray lifted her easily and held her against the tile. The blunt head of his cock pressed inside her, stretching her wide as he eased his way in slow. Controlled thrusts of his hips pushed him deeper and brushed against all her nerve endings. He groaned, muscles bulging and his hands digging into her, until he slid the last inch home.
Meghan panted and her body clamped down on him. His arms shook with all the control it took to give her time to adjust. His lips brushed against her shoulder, her jaw, her temple.
She thought he felt good working his way into her, but it was nothing compared to when he started to move.
“Meghan,” he whispered against her lips. It sounded like a prayer of adoration.
Gray dragged a hand up Meghan’s slick skin to prove to himself he wasn’t dreaming. Every sound that fell from her lips or caught in her throat, the press of her nails into his shoulders or hair, the feel of her surrounding him, it was all too much. Too perfect. He needed it forever.
She was real. Not the person on TV, and not person her ex wanted her to be. He could hear the difference between her fake laugh and her real one.
Mate. He’d known the first night and every night since. He wanted to claim her and see his mark on her skin. He wanted her curled against him, in his den, and nowhere else.
Her breath quickened and her lips parted. He brought his own across hers again. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Or the feel of her. Or her. He just needed her.
Gray thrust harder and drew a rough gasp from her. Her nails dug into his shoulders and she turned her face to catch him in another life-altering kiss.
She was a blusher. He hadn’t missed the color spreading across her cheeks nearly every time they spent time together. And he’d wondered, late at night with his cock in his hand, if the red would spread down her neck and chest. The heat from the water helped, but the red flush of her skin as she slowly came apart in his arms was a sight to behold.
Mate. Mate mate mate. Bite. Claim. Mate.
Gray buried his face in the crook of her neck. The light, airy scent of her filled his nose and his mouth. He wanted to consume her and take her into him. He needed her sense and taste. He wanted them forever.
Mate.
He shoved at his bear. The beast pushed and pushed for more than he would take. Her soft moans filled his head and dug deep into his brain, his heart, his balls. He sucked on her skin and she writhed against him, fingers digging into his hair. His gums ached and his fangs pushed through.
Too close. Too tempting.
Gray ripped himself away. Tiny drops of blood rose up on her skin. His breath heaved and he searched her face for any sign that she detected he’d gone too far. Her head fell back against the tile on another soft cry escaped her lips.
He dropped her to her feet and spun her around before he made a mistake. Her hands slammed against the tile and he pulled her hips back to him. She looked a question over her shoulder, but her eyes fell shut and her teeth caught her lip as he slammed back inside.
Her fingers twitched and grasped for purchase on the tile. The first pulse of her orgasm drove him mad and he fucked harder into her. The force of her release wrapped around him. He gritted his teeth and rode through her orgasm. The silky heaven tightened around him. His balls drew up tight.
“Gray,” she whimpered.
His name on her lips was his undoing. His hand found hers and entwined their fingers together as heat shot through his shaft. He collapsed against her back, hands still twined against the wall and an arm wrapped around her middle.
“Fuck.” He could barely breathe but needed her scent in his lungs.
Meghan simply nodded. He could hear her heart thundering in her chest.
But she was a temptress and he was under her spell. He licked a slow line from her shoulder to her ear, cleaning away the last drops of blood he spilled. His bear pushed forward and his gums ached. He needed to be careful, which went against his very nature.
Chapter 16
A beam of sunlight prodded at Meghan with too much light and a pleasant amount of heat. She took a long moment to get her bearings. Her body felt more relaxed than a trip to the spa, even if her muscles were strained and tired. Her heart swelled at the flood of memories.
Gray.
Sexy, mouthy bear. She lost count of how many orgasms he drew out of her before they finally collapsed into sleep. He shifted behind her and a strong arm wrapped around her middle.
“What time is it?” he mumbled against her shoulder.
Meghan twisted to find an alarm clock knocked askew during the night. She reached for it with the one hand she had free. “Ten. We woke up late.”
Gray stretched up next to her, glanced at the clock, then flopped back down. “So we did,” he said with a small, disbelieving laugh. “Good thing it’s my day off or Callum would be reaming me a new one right now.”
“Day off? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“I would have told you last night, but you kept distracting me.” Gray brushed his fingertips from her knee to her hip. His palm flattened over her stomach and he skimmed his hand up her chest to cup her shoulder and draw her close against him.
“I’m not taking all the blame. There was that brief moment where you were feeding me.” She arched her back in a stretch. Gray’s hand promptly clapped back over her hip. His warm breath bathed the back of her neck as he rocked his erection against her.
Meghan inhaled sharply. Well, good morning.
“Are you always up this early, Hollywood? I thought you’d spend the day being pampered.” He caught her skin between his teeth, then laved away any pain he may have caused.
“Unless I’m sick. I’m a morning person.” Her words turned breathy. “Always have been.”
Gray’s fingers walked down her hip and across her stomach. He scratched his beard against her shoulder. “Tell me. I want to peek into Meghan Wilcox’s life.”
“Depends on the era. When I was acting, sometimes I was up before the sun and prepping in hair and makeup for a day on set. Breakfast was usually eaten in the chair. A few hours in front of the camera, then a break to abide by those pesky child labor laws.” Gray snorted behind her and she smiled. God, she loved making him laugh. Bentley never got her jokes. But she and Gray spoke the same language. “Time with the private tutor was managed at some point. A small lunch, more scenes, trying to ignore my mother’s latest fit. She was constantly at war with someone over some slight. It was embarrassing.”
His fingers crawled lower. An inch more and he could touch her. “And then?”
“I was happy when it ended. Mimsy pushed me to audition for more, and I went along with it to keep her happy, but I already sent in applications to colleges. School on set wasn’t so bad. I had a couple credits under my belt.” She found it hard to focus on the words. He massaged her belly. Tiny jerks of his hips pressed his cock against her and distracted her.
“And then?” he breathed against the back of her neck.
“Meghan Wilcox, the college years.” Gray’s chest shook with a small laugh. Meghan continued, “First time on my own. Still recognized pretty regularly, but everyone there was mostly okay giving me privacy. I still worked my butt off to get through quickly. Between cre
dits I already had and an intense schedule where I was up and in class by eight, I had my bachelor’s in three years and was accepted into the master’s program for journalism.”
“Beautiful and smart. You’re perfect,” he murmured.
Meghan tried to suppress her grin and failed. “I had a lot of free time after I graduated.”
“So you found yourself a fiancé. What were those days like?”
“Mimsy found me a boyfriend, who then became the poorly-fated fiancé. The days were boring.”
His fingers skimmed lower. He did nothing but cup her sex. But combined with his breath against her neck and his enveloping warmth behind her, he had her on edge. Her pulse raced and her breasts grew heavy. She licked her lips and pushed back against him.
He brushed a knuckle against her clit and she moaned into her pillow. “Tell me,” he ordered.
He traced her slit, barely parting her folds. She opened her mouth but only a croak came out.
Gray nipped the back of her neck. “Tell me,” he said again. The rawness in his voice was matched with a single finger piercing her.
Meghan groaned at the sweet invasion. She tried to roll her hips and take more of him, but he pulled back and growled. There was no fighting him. Her words would get her rewarded.
“I was bored out of my mind. He was out of the house by seven, usually didn’t get home until eight or nine. I’d be up with him because I’m a light sleeper. The day would consist of exercising and making sure I looked nice when he got home. Skin and nails and hair, it was a whole routine. Honestly, it felt like I was back in front of the camera. I couldn’t wait to start my new job.”
Gray stilled. “Job?”
“We talked about this,” she said quietly. “I start in just under two weeks.”
“With everything that’s happened— I just thought—”
Meghan twisted to look him in the eye. “Gray, this has been amazing—”
“But?”
But she didn’t want to leave. But she’d miss him so much she’d probably cry every night for months. But he threw a wrench into her plan and she didn’t know what to do to fix it. But he had his life and she had hers and while they crossed paths at the exact moment she needed, there was an expiration date on them.
But he made her feel capable of accomplishing anything and never once made her feel less-than and for that he’d always have a piece of her heart.
She didn’t say anything. Neither did he. Troubled sadness mixed in the dark blue of his eyes and they dropped from hers.
He pulled her back against him and stroked his finger into her. Meghan slid her hand over her shoulder and gripped the back of his neck. His lips found her earlobe and his fingers moved within her. His hips rocked and she could feel him, so big and hard and hers. Heat blasted off his chest and warmed her back.
It wasn’t goodbye, she told herself. They’d acknowledged that they would come to an end were simply enjoying their time together. There was no rush, not yet. And Gray took his time. He worked her with his hands and his mouth, teasing her until she writhed and whimpered for him.
Then he growled and bit her shoulder. His hips shifted and she could feel him between her legs, stroking against her slick lips. “You’re mine now, aren’t you?”
Meghan nodded. He teased her opening with the swollen head of his cock and then pulled back. Her teeth caught her lower lip to prevent the whine escaping. She wanted him. More than what he was giving. More than she wanted to admit.
“Tell me. Tell me you’re mine.” A hint of desperation entered his tone.
Her chest tightened at the sound. “Yes,” she gasped, and meant it.
“Good girl,” he said in a gravelly voice that scratched her in all the right ways. He pushed an inch into her. His fingers dug into her hip and he was done teasing. He pushed deeper and deeper until he was fully seated inside her channel.
Then he proceeded to prove just how much she belonged to him.
He drew back slowly, then slammed hard into her. Slow withdraw and hard thrust, growling in her ear and sucking on her skin. Her fingers clawed at the sheets, at her pillow, at his hand. He felt perfect, made to fit her and please her.
His abs bunched behind her with each thrust. His growl was constant. The snarling sound vibrated through her and sparked the ends of her nerves.
Gray released her hip and swiped fingers against her clit. He stroked faster into her. Harder. Her breath came in gasps and moans, matching the pants that push from his lungs. Faster. His growl change pitch. His fingers pressed harder.
“Gray, Gray,” she chanted.
His teeth caught her shoulder again, even harder than before. But there was no pain. Pleasure, so much pleasure, stretched through her as she shattered around him. He throbbed with her, filling her with warmth. His growl still hadn’t stopped and the pressure on her shoulder didn’t ease.
He brought her down slowly. Soft strokes to her clit and light, scratchy kisses over her neck and shoulder. Her heart still raced and she could feel the blood pounding in her ears. But he didn’t leave her or pull away. He had every right. She couldn’t commit to him for more than a few weeks, but still, he tended her body like a devoted lover. And that, after everything they’d experienced the night before, that was what she would always hold onto. It was perfect and beautiful in his rough and brash sort of way.
Gray had changed her and she didn’t know if she could leave him behind.
Chapter 17
“I have been accepted into the fire academy.” Jacob rubbed a hand over his head and rolled his eyes around the room. “Four spots were open. Two will be for volunteer positions and the other two will be assigned to the night crew. There is a vampire in the class as well, so I think most of the training will happen at night.”
Gray clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder. “That’s great!”
The others also offered their congratulations, but Cole looked like a proud father. He’d worked closely with the wolf shifter over the last year. So much so that most of them had joked at one time or another that Jacob was Cole’s pet. They’d met in a cage when Cole had been taken away by a rogue military commander. They kept each other, and Cole’s mate Rylee, alive through the night. That sort of bond didn’t just disappear, and Jacob lived in Cole’s and Rylee’s cabin.
The year had been as good for the man as it been bad for Gray. Jacob, through what everyone called Cole’s human lessons, found himself little by little and worked to figure out his place in the enclave. And in that time Gray had fallen apart as his bear slowly spiraled out of control. Until Meghan walked into his life.
Just the thought of her brought a smile to his face. They’d spent every night together since the first, either in his bed or hers. For the first time in a long time, he felt almost normal. She was smoothing away his rough edges and acting like a balm to his inner animal.
But it wasn’t going to last. The dark thought always lingered in the corner of his mind.
Nolan stepped away to take a call. Gray tracked him across the room but couldn’t hear him over the noise of the others sharing their experiences in the academy. They’d all gone through at separate times, but one constant remained: a former Strathorn clan member taught them everything they knew. The late Ephraim Strathorn ran classes as often as he could while still running the firehouse. With his passing, the duties fell to Gray’s father. While the old guard didn’t actively fight fires anymore, they still helped bring up the next generation.
Nolan stepped back and put his head together with Callum. Their alpha listened patiently then nodded, eyes fixing on Gray. Nolan’s mouth set in a hard line. “Gray, can you come here?”
Gray slid off the counter where he sat. The others continued to share stories as he followed Nolan outdoors. “What’s going on?”
“I just got a call from Becca. Tawny got picked up again.”
Gray ground his teeth together. “Why did she call you instead of me?” he demanded. “What do you know?”
Gray didn’t like the sound of that. That hinted that something had gone wrong. Maybe deadly wrong. It meant enough disaster that he needed somebody to watch over him.
Nolan was silent for the first few minutes. Gray stared out the window and tried to figure out what Tawny had done. That Becca had been the one to call suggested human involvement. Not ringing up their parents might mean his sister was embarrassed again. That’d be best. A little embarrassment never killed someone.
Nolan glanced at him and cleared his throat. “So, you and the actress.”
“She’s not an actress. She hasn’t been in anything for like, five years,” Gray answered gruffly. “She wants to be a reporter. She went to school for it.”
“Yeah? She going to get a job at the Bear’s Den Gazette and report on the Old Maids trying to make community meetings mandatory?”
Gray shifted uncomfortably. They were right on top a subject he didn’t want to discuss. “She has a job already. It starts in a couple weeks.” Ten days, to be exact. Not that he was counting. And if he factored in driving time, that shortened her stay by a day. Fuck. He hadn’t thought of that before.
Sympathy flashed on Nolan’s face. “She’s leaving? Gray…”
“It’s fine. I’d probably just hurt her anyway. She should get out while she can.” Even he could hear the hollowness in his lie.
“She’s good for you. You haven’t looked like warmed over shit all week.”
He’d noticed that, too. Every night with her eased a little of the tightness within him. He’d been so wound up for so long, he couldn’t feel how bad off he was. The nightmares were still happening, but he didn’t wake up expecting to feel his bones snapping and his bear snatching control. Her light scent filled his nose and he found calm.
“Surprising, huh, cause she keeps me up all damn night.” He tried to grin and make the conversation awkward enough for his friend to drop it.