Leader of the Pack

by Lynn Richards

  He could smell her? Embarrassment momentarily flooded her, reddening her checks. But then the wilder side, the side she had never shown to anyone else rushed to the forefront. “What kind of animal?” she asked.

  Surely that wasn’t her voice, asking that question? What was wrong with her? Ever since the man had stepped from the shadows she had felt this instant pull. This raw, savage desire.

  “A wolf.” Jared lowered her legs and pressed her belly against the hard bulge made by his raging erection. His bright blue eyes held hers. “I would place you on the ground, on all fours, your buttocks high in the air, waiting for me. You could feel me behind you, my body burning against yours. My fingers would caress your pink, pouting pussy, preparing you. You would be hot and wet, ready for me. Only me.”

  “Oh yes, Jared, yes.” Emily clenched her thighs as he spoke. Sweet wetness gathered between her thighs. She was hot and ready for him now.

  A sound unlike any she had ever heard erupted from deep within his throat seconds before his mouth devoured hers. She welcomed him, opening her mouth wide as he plunged his tongue deep inside. She clenched the collar of his shirt and urged him closer. Her tongue dueled with his. She found the roof of his mouth, the straight even line of his teeth. She couldn’t get enough. When he lifted his head she moaned for more.

  “Are you sure, baby? Oh, God please be sure.” She trembled at the look in his eyes. They were dark blue with a golden light streaking across the turbulent surface. An unnatural power flared in their depths.

  “I’m going to take you. I’m going to take you hard and fast.”

  “God, yes.” She read the intent on his face and a wary blend of fear and excitement snaked through her body. There would be no preliminaries. Just hot, wild, animal lust.

  At her words, rough hands pulled the clothes from her body. The down-filled vest landed somewhere to her right. He tossed her gun holster across a low hanging branch. Impatient with the barriers he encountered, he rent her black turtle neck from throat to waist. The savageness of his actions should have frightened her but instead it fed her hunger, making it stronger and darker. She didn’t fear his strength but savored it because she knew the fire raged in him as well.

  Her black jeans vanished. She had not idea how her bra, shoes and socks came off. With a savage yank, he ripped her panties away. She stood naked before him. The rosy areoles of her breasts, cooled by the autumn air, crinkled into bumpy islands of pink. Before she could be embarrassed about being naked, his mouth closed over one taut peak with a savage growl.

  His hands trembled as he quickly stripped away his own clothes, using them to form a crude pallet on the ground. He placed her on her hands and knees just as he had threatened. Just as he had promised.

  His sculpted body loomed above her like the pagan god of her fantasies. Strong muscular thighs nudged her legs apart. He spread her wide, opening her for his possession. Never had she felt more exposed, more vulnerable, more aroused.

  He ran his hands over the heart-shaped globe of her buttocks before separating her with his thumbs. Long, thick masculine fingers tunneled through her core. Bringing his hand to his nose, he inhaled her scent. “My woman.”

  “Jared?” A slight edge of unease entered her voice as she recognized the savage possessiveness of his words.

  “Hush,” he murmured. He pulled her to him until his balls smashed against the hot entrance of her body. His erection throbbed and pulsed atop the curve of her buttocks. He trailed openmouthed kisses up her spine, his tongue tracing the long column. His hair roughened chest chaffed her back as he moved. He reached beneath her and cupped her breasts as they hung free, swaying like firm, ripe melons. He pinched her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing and pulling them until she moaned. A new gush of moisture coated his sac. The desire that ran through her electrified her. She felt like a harem slave about to be plundered by the sultan, a captive maiden about to be ravished by a pirate.

  A wolf about to be claimed by its mate.

  His hands cupped her shoulders and eased her head to the ground, raising her buttocks even higher in the air. She felt him shift and her legs were forced further apart. He nuzzled her neck with his mouth as he dragged the tip of his cock along her creamy passage and coated himself with her juices. A long, endless shudder passed through her body. She wanted him inside. Deep inside.

  “You are mine, Emily Smith. Now and forever.”

  His teeth penetrated the nape of her neck the same instant his cock penetrated her pussy.

  “Mine, mine, mine,” he repeated in rhythm to his thrusts. Her vision blurred from the ecstasy he created. He plunged over and over again without missing a beat, giving her all of himself. She belonged to him and he belonged to her.

  Lovers.

  Mates.

  His hold on her allowed for no movement, she was being possessed and coming so hard she thought she would die. Before the shudders even faded, his thumb was on her clit, kneading it. She cried out for mercy but none was given. As his fingers wrung another climax from her body, she felt him jettison inside her with one last thrust. His howl of fulfillment echoed throughout the forest.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “You bit me! I can’t believe you actually bit me!” Emily screeched. She emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but the white terrycloth robe he’d left hanging behind the door.

  After they had made love a second time, Jared had picked her up, shoved her into what remained of her clothing and carried her to his big blue SUV parked along the deserted road leading away from the vampire’s lair. Emily, her body limp and sated by their loving, had dozed for most of the way, for which Jared gave his eternal thanks. He didn’t want to explain why he lived so deep in the woods. At least not just yet.

  “What’s wrong?” At the sound of her voice, he looked up from preparing their food –

  eggs, biscuits, hash brown potatoes and a pound each of sausage and bacon. After all, a wolf could not live on love alone.

  He watched her walk toward him, his blue eyes flashing gold as he followed her progress across the hardwood floor. His cabin had a very simple layout. A large great room on one side, a gourmet kitchen on the other. The entire top floor of the house consisted of a bedroom loft and spa bath. Jared didn’t like closed-in spaces.

  “You bit me,” Emily said again, her voice at just a slightly lower decibel than before. The large robe swallowed her and his cock swelled just thinking about the generous curves hidden beneath.

  “Of course I did.” He grinned at the outraged expression his admission provoked. “You are my mate.”

  “What! What kind of man are you?” she sputtered.

  Jared smiled his wicked smile. He wasn’t a man. At least not always. But, he didn’t think she wanted to hear that right now. First he had to soothe some ruffled feminine, human, feathers. He strode across the room and lifted her into his arms, placing her on the kitchen counter. He easily subdued her efforts to get away.

  “Let me see, baby,” he cajoled as he pushed the weight of her hair aside. On the back of Emily’s neck, a bright red circle, the modern equivalent of a hickey, marred her perfect skin. Jared was glad to see the wound had healed so quickly. If she had seen it right after he had first bitten her, there would have been hell to pay.

  He’d marked her as his, penetrating her flesh with his teeth the same as he’d penetrated her body with his cock. Both acts had been a brand of possession. Fortunately, the healing properties in his salvia had already worked their magic on her neck. Thank God.

  “Does it hurt?” he crooned. His lips caressed the soft flesh. “Let me kiss it and make it better.” He licked the tender spot, tracing the circular outline with his tongue. At his touch, her head fell forward granting him access and signaling her surrender. He couldn’t resist sucking the bite mark at her acquisition but instantly regretted his action when she wrenched her neck away.

  “You jerk.” She pushed at his chest. “How would you like it if I bit you?”<
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  “Oh, I’m counting on that, Emily,” he growled. Her eyes widened at his words. “In fact, I’ll let you decide where you want to mark me. Some females mark their mates on the neck. Others prefer the chest. A few choose more intimate spots.”

  “Jared,” she whispered, her body trembling at his words.

  He took both of her hands in one his and held them behind her back. The motion thrust her breasts forward. With a flick of his wrist her robe popped open and revealed the full, ripe roundness of each lovely orb to his hungry gaze. Her skin was warm and rosy from her shower and a soft, powdery scent flooded his senses. His body responded to her familiar smell. His cock grew long and thick. She smelled as fresh and clean as the air after a mid-day storm. But he missed the scent of their loving. The smell of their essences mingling together, earthy and fragrant. Male and female. More importantly, his male pride wanted others to know she belonged to him.

  As he continued to stare, she squirmed on the hard surface and another scent joined the others. One of arousal. His eyes focused on the springy auburn curls barely peeking through the juncture of her thighs. He needed to taste her. “Don’t you have other places that need a little tender, loving care?”

  He grinned as she read the intent in his eyes and reflexively clamped her knees tighter together. “No, Jared, you can’t.”

  “And why not?” He lowered his head and kissed the now puckered tips of her breasts and dipped his tongue into the crevice of her bellybutton. He licked the rounded softness of her belly. He couldn’t wait to plant his seed inside her and watch her grow big with his child. Just the thought turned his cock into a rigid stake of need.

  “Don’t,” she said, trying to move away from his mouth.

  “Don’t what?” he asked, still laving the alabaster skin. He smoothed his free hand from her breast to thigh, caressing her waist, her stomach, anywhere, everywhere.

  “Look, I know I’m not the svelte blondes you usually have. You don’t have to touch me like that. I’m all for another round of raunchy sex. Don’t embarrass us both by pretending you like what you see.” She sat rigid on the counter, her face stiff and her eyes dull.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Jared’s eyes narrowed and he felt the power inside him shift. No one insulted his mate, not even his mate.

  “Let’s just skip the preliminaries. If you want to fuck me again, fine, I’m not complaining. In fact if you let me down, I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”

  He released her hands and grasped the back of her head, his hold hard and deliberately hurting. “You are perfect.” His other hand squeezed her breast. “This is perfect.”

  Emily pushed against his chest, her eyes glimmering with defiance. “Yeah, every man loves big boobs. So what?”

  Jared immediately understood what she was trying to do. Push him away, literally and figuratively. He had yet to make her realize that she was the other half of his soul. His to love and cherish for as long as the powers that be allowed him the privilege. He had yet to make her understand just what a wolf found attractive. He had made her submit to him physically in the forest, now he needed her to submit to him emotionally. To depend on him for her very happiness. As he would depend on her.

  He tightened his hand on her breast until she gasped but he was not concerned. He knew he was giving her more pleasure than pain. “You will never speak of yourself in that way again.” He continued to tighten his hand until she looked him in the eye. “Do you understand?”

  At her nod, he gave her breast a gentle squeeze before moving to cup the curve of her stomach. “You are mine, Emily. All of this is mine.” He caressed the generous swell of her hip and the soft flesh of her waist. “Mine,” he growled. “All mine.”

  He forced her head up, slanting his mouth across hers. A possessive sweep of his tongue across hers had her moaning and clutching his shoulders for support. He fucked his tongue in and out, possessing her as he would soon possess her body. After several minutes, his aggression eased enough for him to release her mouth. He stepped back to admire his handy work – her mouth was a burnt red, bruised and swollen from his kisses, her breast showed the imprint of his fingers.

  And she was aroused.

  “Open for me Emily,” he commanded, his hands on her thighs. When she hesitated he pulled them slowly apart, growling as she resisted. He slapped her lightly on the buttocks. “You do as I say. I want to taste you.”

  “No,” she said stubbornly, still trying to free herself. He ended the struggle by yanking her legs apart and keeping them apart with the width of his shoulders as he bent at the waist. His breath stirred the tops of the reddish curls protecting her femininity. He lapped at the tops of her thighs like a hungry pup. The rough and wet texture of his tongue and mouth elicited her involuntary moan and he grinned. Just after the first stroke of tongue across her slit, a knock sounded at the door. The wolf in him whimpered at the interruption. He had known they were coming but had hoped to have at least a taste of her first.

  Sighing, he stepped back and belted the robe securely around her waist before lifting her from the counter. “This is not over,” he stated as he placed a rough kiss on the center of her mouth. “I will taste you.”

  He projected the image of him fucking her with his tongue and smiled in satisfaction as a small ripple of release shuddered through her body.

  “Hi, bro-o, glad to see you made it back in one piece. Did you vaporize the vamp?” A large blonde-headed giant strolled through the doorway before Jared could stop him. A beautiful dark haired woman followed him. He clapped Jared on the back and laughed heartily. “You’ve only got a couple more days before the full-”

  Jared jabbed his elbow into the man’s stomach before he could complete his sentence. It was one thing for him to hint at what he was another to have it blurted out with no warning. But he knew what Shawn had wanted to say. Once the moon was upon him, he would not be able to control the beast as he hunted and that could mean dire consequences for everyone involved.

  “What’d you do that for man?” The blonde rubbed the tender spot. Before Jared could speak, the woman gasped as she caught sight of Emily by the kitchen counter.

  Emily didn’t know what to do. Here she stood in a strange man’s living room – granted he wasn’t a complete stranger if you counted the fact that they had just had the wildest romp on a forest floor than she’d ever had in her entire life and almost had another round on the kitchen counter – wearing nothing but a borrowed robe and nervous smile.

  She opted for the simplest solution and said hello.

  “Hi, yourself, sweet thing.”

  The man and woman moved across the room faster than Emily could comprehend. One minute they were by the door and the next thing she knew they had surrounded her like a pack of rapid dogs.

  “I’m Shawn.” The man reached out his hand as if to touch her when a low growl stopped him. Emily blinked. Jared stood between her and the other man and she hadn’t seen him move either. Shawn put up his hands as if in surrender. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to invade anybody’s territory. No sweat, Jared. First come, first serve. You know how I like the plump ones. Just let me know when you get done with this luscious piece of tai-”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Jared had thrust him against the wall. A large tanned arm crushed his windpipe. “Mine.” The words were low and filled with menace.

  “My goodness.” The black haired woman moved in a slow circle around Emily. “He bit her.”

  Emily clapped a hand to the back of her neck to cover the love bite. Heat flooded her face as she realized the two strangers would guess exactly how she’d received that rather primitive token of affection. She could still feel the imprint of Jared’s body as he pinned her to the ground and held her still as he penetrated her from behind. The rough, hard thrusts of his cock as it filled her. The walls of her pussy clenched just thinking about it.

  “Are you sure, Maria?” the man asked as Jared released him. He sniffed the air.
“She doesn’t smell like a satisfied woman. But then maybe old Jared here is losing his touch.” His laughter was cut short as Jared tossed him across the room. He dented the wooden wall when he landed. Emily gawked in amazement as he picked himself up and shook the splinters from his coat. He reminded her of a puppy shaking after an unwanted bath. His bones cracked as he twisted his neck from side to side. “Damn it, Jared, I think you broke something.”

  Jared snarled in response. His teeth were bared and his back hunched like a wild animal, ready for retaliation. Emily shivered at the sight.

  “That’s enough boys.” The woman sent a stinging stare at both men. “Shawn you know better than to tease about a mate. And Jared, you should know your own strength by now.” She took Emily by the hand and led her to the couch.

  “I hope we haven’t scared you. The men can be a little rough around the edges at times. Jared has failed to introduce us. My name is Maria Hamilton. And that is Shawn Thompson. What’s yours?”

  “Uh, Emily Smith.” Emily stole a glace at Jared, who stood in the middle of the room, his body stiff and on guard. The man named Shawn grinned foolishly. For some reason, jealousy ate at her over the woman named Maria.

  As if sensing her discomfort, Jared joined them. He placed an arm around her and hugged her to his side. “That’s enough. Why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll finish breakfast. You need to eat.”

  “Alright,” she smiled shyly at the man who held her close. This had to have been the weirdest night and morning of her life. She’d looked for a vampire in an old, abandoned house. Then had sex in the woods. The start of probably her second hottest sexual encounter on a kitchen island. And she had just been introduced to two werewolves who were apparently part of her dark-haired lover’s pack. And they had said something about a mate. Her mind seemed to disconnect from her body at the very absurdity of her thoughts.