A Wolf's Pride

by Jennifer T. Alli

  “How would you know?” she taunted, trying to force his hand. “You haven’t even touched me.”

  “I don’t need to angel. I can smell how ready you are. It’s driving me crazy. Have you been thinking of me?”

  “Driving you crazy?” she scoffed. “You aren’t the one that’s been in this condition since morning. Ryan, help me. I need you. If it’s really driving you as crazy as it is me, then do something about it.”

  Her goading seemed to have worked as he pulled her back against him, rubbing his heavy erection against the soft cheeks of her ass. “I intend to angel, I intend to.”

  A string of kisses were planted against her throat, his lightly whiskered cheeks deliciously abrasive. His hands cupped her breasts through her shirt and she gasped as the material pushed against her sensitive nipples. He smiled against her neck pleased that his plan had been a success.

  “You’re very sensitive today,” he commented casually as though he’d had no hand in making her so.

  “It’s your fault, you –” Her attempt to scold him trailed off on a loud moan, pleasure racing through her as he pinched and pulled at the distended nubs through her shirt. “Ryan!” Any thoughts of scolding him fled, thoughts of joining with him taking their place and the place of any other thought she might have had.

  “I know angel. Let me help you.” He spun her round to face him, gazing at her flushed cheeks with masculine satisfaction. “I love you Chloe, let me show you just how much.” Their lips met in a kiss so searing it were as though electricity had struck them and welded their feet to the floor. Hands that had been desperate for skin to skin contact roamed over the other’s body, pulling them close as their tongues met, clashing with the need to taste more, to take more. Moans of pleasure filled the air as it became ladened with the potent scent of desire.

  His mouth never left hers as Ryan walked Chloe backwards into the bed. When her calves came into contact with the hard wood, he pushed until she fell, landing heavily atop her frame. Her hard nipples stabbed his chest through the layers of clothing that they wore but it wasn’t enough. Ripping his mouth from hers on a rough growl, he sat back tearing the clothes from her body with deadly claws and pinpoint accuracy. She shivered slightly as the cool air touched her skin but her body quickly heated under Ryan’s gaze. His hands lifted to his shirt preparing to shred the material from his body but she stopped him, quickly placing her hands atop his and stilling his movements.

  “No Ryan.”

  He looked at her confused, the desire in his eyes warring with his anger at what he interpreted as a rejection. “Don’t you want this? Have you changed your mind?”

  “Never. I just…let me do it.”

  He calmed immediately though his heart was still racing, the blood rushing through his veins at an unnatural speed. His hands dropped to his sides and he waited, eager for her to begin. Her hands reached forward, inching beneath his shirt and Ryan sucked in a ragged breath, struggling for control. The feel of her hands against his skin made his heart race and his desire for her strengthened, threatening his tenuous control. She moved slowly, rubbing the tips of her fingers over his strong chest before running her nails across the prominent ridges of his abs. His body trembled slightly in response to her slow pace, showing him once again just how much power his mate had over him. A simple touch from her could have him hard for hours, a slight lifting of the corners of her mouth and he was ready to do whatever he had to do to make her smile. He was sure she had no idea of what she did to him, how he lived to please her, how she was the one who truly held power in their relationship.

  She finally pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it aside but instead of continuing to strip him, she showered his chest with light kisses, intended to tease, designed to inflame his senses, meant to drive him wild. In that moment he wasn’t so sure she was unaware of just what she did to him. Her tongue made a languorous sweep over one of his small, brown nipples and his tremors magnified. He didn’t know how much more of this treatment he could withstand without snapping. His low groans of pleasure filled the room, encouraging Chloe to speed up, to release him from the confines of his clothes so he could be bound intimately with her. Her hand inched down his chest, crept over his muscled stomach and swept over his engorged shaft before retreating. Ryan had had enough. There was only so much he could endure and after a day of unfulfilled desire, he was at his limit.

  He pulled away from Chloe’s soft fingers with a growl that heated her skin before the pleasure settled between her aching thighs. His clothes were torn quickly from his body and then he was blissfully naked. Her heart sped up in trepidation though anticipation was thrumming through her. His body slid up hers, the contact searing, causing her to moan in pleasure from the simple meeting of skin. He moved swiftly, pulling her hard nipple into his mouth, sucking and laving the small pebble with his very talented tongue. Her moans increased in volume, her breath coming in short pants but when his fingers drove suddenly into her wet heat, she screamed.

  Ryan smiled against her breast, switching his attention to its neglected partner and engulfing the other nub in the heat of his mouth. He toyed with her slick folds, his fingers confirming what his nose had smelt. His mate was soaked, drenched with desire for him. Her breath hitched as his fingers made lazy circles on her clitoris, drawing pleasure from her. Two fingers inched their way into her body, withdrawing and entering her with long, slow strokes as his thumb continued pushing her closer and closer to the peak.

  “Come for me Chloe,” he ordered, sliding a third finger into her body.

  “Ryan,” she moaned, his name forming a soft entreaty. “Ryan. Ryan. Ryan.”

  “Yes angel, come for me. Now.” The fingers within her sped up, curling at unexpected moments. His heat, his touch…it was all too much and with a loud scream, she exploded, the pleasure too much for her to handle. Her back bowed, her sweat slickened limbs falling useless to her sides, now completely boneless.

  He couldn’t take it anymore; he had to be buried within her. Ryan pulled his fingers from her body, desperation making his body tremble. “Chloe,” he groaned, spreading her thighs. Her heavy eyelids opened at the sound of her name and she watched him position himself between her legs, a question burning in the depths of his eyes. Her arms were heavy, but she lifted them to him in invitation, welcoming him into her body. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, guiding the head of his heavy erection to the entrance of her still pulsing core. He pushed, embedding the head within her body, a low groan spilling from his lips but this time it was in pleasure not in pain. The instinct wasn’t going to punish him for this. Gripping her hips tightly within his hands, Ryan pushed hard and sunk deep. Her velvet heat encased him and he roared in response. The pressure within him built to an almost unbearable level but it wasn’t enough.

  “More,” he groaned, gripping her hips tighter. “You have to take more. You have to take all of me Chloe.” He lifted her hips, changing the angle of penetration before wrenching her along his shaft. Chloe moaned, long and loud as he filled her, her body so full with his that she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to get him to leave entirely. She wasn’t even sure she wanted him to. He gave her no time to rest, moving against her as though his life depended on it. Her body shook with the force of his thrusts, lifting from the bed as he moved within her and yet she found herself demanding more.

  “Harder Ryan,” she panted, her hands reaching greedily for his skin. “Faster.”

  Ryan increased the speed of his thrusts in response to her demands as their groans of pleasure filled the room. His hands roamed her body, eliciting surprised gasps from Chloe as he randomly tweaked a nipple or brushed a knuckle over her sensitive clitoris. Pulling his head down, she met his mouth in a heated kiss, panting heavily into his mouth. She could feel the pleasure building again, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts as she sought to reach the pinnacle. He pulled back, almost leaving her body completely before thrusting hard against her, grinding against her over sensitised
clitoris. Chloe screamed, each one louder than the last as he continued his hectic pace. Her body finally went limp as her climax tore through her, sending her adrift in an ocean of pleasure, Ryan the only thing keeping her afloat as she held tightly to him.

  A snarl of frustration left Ryan’s lips as Chloe’s inner walls clenched around him, desperately trying to milk him of his seed but to no avail. His mate’s glorious heat surrounded him, the intoxicating scent of her arousal engulfed him and yet the instinct seemed to have abandoned him. There was nothing within him that was insisting he mark her, the claiming words that would bind them together for eternity were stuck in his throat. He sat up, feeling increasingly frantic. He could bite her but what good would that do if the instinct wasn’t guiding him to do so? Would her life not be truly linked to his? Would it still be possible for her to die?

  Never, he snarled.

  A beam of moonlight hit his skin in his new position and he felt it. Felt the voice that wasn’t truly his own, that was bigger than him or any wolf, he felt the instinct. He turned his head away from the tempting sight Chloe made, sprawled out on the bed, ready for him to have her again and placed a hand in the shaft of light. The instinct grew louder, though its words were still unintelligible, and he knew what he had to do. Though it pained him almost like a physical injury, he pulled away from the haven of Chloe’s body. Her heavy eyelids opened, an empty feeling settling within her as soon as Ryan left her. She watched, confused, as Ryan pulled the bed closer to the window. His shaft still stood hard and erect and doubts began to assail her. Why hadn’t he come? Had she done something wrong?

  The time for doubts was brief as Ryan turned to her, a feral smirk on his face. He was quick to rejoin her on the bed, turning her over onto her stomach and repositioning her onto her hands and knees. He ran his hands over the soft cheeks of her ass before entering her swiftly. Her sex throbbed around him as he renewed his thrusts. He was wild, frantic, and he growled angrily as the instinct continued to elude him. The pressure in his loins had yet to abate and he was desperate for the release he should have been able to find in his mate’s body. The pleasure simply continued to mount, but there was no release. She clenched around him again, another orgasm tearing through her body but he gave her no time to rest, his hectic pace continuing regardless, driving them onward to the final goal.

  Chloe’s head was heavy but she managed to turn around far enough to see Ryan’s face and realisation dawned when she did. His head was straining to reach the light from the moon, an expression of desperation etched onto his handsome features, his hands grasping for the beams of light almost blindly. She had done this to him. Her fears had brought him to this. He’d told her the claiming needed to happen outside but for her he was prepared to do it inside walls where the moon was unable to reach him, the small windows casting insufficient light into the space and now something was going wrong. Her gaze returned to the door she’d stared at with hatred for the majority of the day and her decision made itself. She could feel another orgasm rising, her body primed for release as Ryan pumped into her with a power and force unlike anything she’d ever felt before. He pulled from her body but before he could return, she’d slipped out of his grasp, sliding from the bed and rushing to the door. She was outside before he’d even realised what was going on.

  “Chloe,” he growled, chasing after her.

  Moonlight bathed his skin as soon as he stepped out and the instinct returned in force, demanding that he claim his mate and bind her to him. He looked around, expecting her to have run away from his forceful handling of her fragile body but instead she was kneeling in the grass, her breasts pressed against the soft turf, her ass high in the air, her sex glistening in invitation.

  “Please Ryan,” she pleaded, rocking her hips back and forth to attract him.

  He was entranced by her movements, his shaft swelling to its fullest but he managed to keep his desire under control long enough to ask, “Here?”

  “Yes.” She lifted her hips even higher and the scent of her arousal began to waft towards him. “Here.”

  He needed no further invitation. He was behind her within a second and buried within her in two. His wild pace slowed as he took in the finger shaped bruises forming against her hips. Scowling at himself, he allowed his fingers to ghost over the marks, ashamed of his lack of control. I’ll be more careful with her this time around, he promised himself. His lips wandered over the length of her spine and Chloe moaned in contentment, eagerly awaiting the next place she would feel his lips against her. His lips left her back abruptly as he pulled her upwards until her back was flush against his chest. She moaned in pleasure, her head thrashing at the change in position.

  His whiskered cheek came to rest in the crook of her neck, his breath feathering against her sweat slicked skin. The warmth of his hands crept over her stomach, rising higher until he cupped both of her breasts firmly within his grip. “Chloe,” he growled, pulling lightly against her pebbled nipples.

  She panted, “Yes.” As he twisted her nipples between his talented fingers she could feel a corresponding ache begin in her core. She needed him to move. Now.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. You’re mine Chloe. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Say it angel.” He pulled harder against her throbbing nipples, tugging the turgid peaks before twisting them carefully between his fingers.

  “I’m yours. Ryan, please… I need you.”

  Her desperate pleas for fulfilment were beginning to affect him and he began to move slowly, thrusting shallowly within her. “I’m yours until your heart stops beating.”

  “What?”

  He snarled against her throat, nipping her slightly in punishment. “I’m yours until your heart stops beating. Say it dammit!”

  “I’m yours until your heart stops beating.”

  Finally, he groaned, thrusting hard and fast within her. Her breathy moans quickly filled the air as pleasure began to wrack her body once more. “I love you angel.” He couldn’t have said the words more simply but the emotion behind them was real.

  “I love you too Ryan. Love you so much.”

  Her words struck him straight in the heart. His mate loved him. Life was perfect. “I claim you for my own. I’ll stand by your side for all eternity because you are my mate, the only one for me.” His pace sped up, once again becoming wild and frantic. Her inner walls began to spasm around him and he knew she was close. Licking her neck wildly, he prepared her for his bite, for his mark. Mark her. Mark her. Mark her. Mark her. The instinct was riding him hard now that he was fully within its grip.

  “Ryan,” she gasped, the breath leaving her body on a shuddery sigh as her muscles tightened around him.

  Now. Fangs erupted in his mouth and he bit down hard, breaking the skin as she was catapulted over the pinnacle of pleasure. The sweet taste of her blood exploded on his tongue as he licked her skin, his tongue swirling around on her skin as he drew his initial on her flesh, marking her as his own and claiming her for all time. He drew his mouth away from her as he began to seek his own release, thrusting within her desperately. Her breath caught as Ryan moved more forcefully within her, pushing her to reach for yet another orgasm. She didn’t know how much more her body could take but reached for it blindly regardless. His climax snuck up on him, ripping right through his body and he couldn’t resist sinking his fangs into Chloe’s tender flesh once more as she spasmed around him. Now there were two sets of teeth marks on her neck, telling others of his possessive nature. Chloe was the most important person in his life and anything or anyone who tried to separate them wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Chapter Forty Three

  Standing outside the heavy doors that led into the kitchens, Ryan could easily make out the sound of Chloe’s infectious laughter amidst the many others on the other side of the door. Before the claiming, he might have felt anxious leaving his mate alone in a room where the major
ity of its occupants were male but things were different now. His mark was in place, the two seemingly vicious bites against her neck acting as a warning to others about the consequences of approaching Chloe with bad intentions. He should have been relieved, she was beginning to find her place within the estate and people were accepting her. Now that he’d claimed her, those who had entertained notions of Chloe being a hunter had put their concerns to rest. After all, no hunter would tie themselves to a wolf. Word had also spread about the kindness she had shown towards those who had tried to harm her or make her life difficult and people were now eager to find themselves in her good graces.

  Things had been going well, extraordinarily well, until she’d asked him what day it was. Unaware of the importance of the question he had answered quickly and without hesitation, ‘Sunday’. A sad look had come over her face instantly confusing him. She had been quick to explain her family tradition to him, reminding him that despite her constant smiles, she still thought of her family. Her expression had fallen further when she realised this was the third Sunday she would be missing and his heart had fallen along with it. She had perked up when he offered to continue the tradition with him and his family, rushing off to the kitchen and leaving him behind to deal with the details and his swirling thoughts.

  “She sounds happy,” Sebastian commented, coming to stand beside him.

  “Yeah,” Ryan sighed. She sounds happy but is she?

  “I’m proud of you Ryan.”

  His brow furrowed in confusion at Sebastian's words. “Proud of me?” he repeated. “Why?”

  “There were times when I really thought you were going to mess this up, that your actions would push her further and further away until she was out of your grasp. But you’ve really changed.” Sebastian nudged him lightly with his shoulder. “See, I told you that when your mate came along things would be different, you would be different and I was right.”