by Delta James
He softened and smiled. “Seriously. I knew you were my mate from the first moment I laid eyes on you. Had you still been here when I returned from Europe after you were turned, I would have taken you to mate at that time. I’ve come close several times, my Rozalyn, to catching you and bringing you home. I may have wanted and needed a physical release and tired of providing my own, but not once did I lay intimately entwined with another woman.”
“Aren’t you supposed to knot and tie a female at least monthly?”
“It is painful and very frustrating if we don’t, but it can be managed. And when the need became too great, I found a female shifter and had her in her wolf state.”
“So, the other night when you knotted and tied me to you it was the first time in… years?”
He chuckled. “Yes, sweetheart, years.”
She rubbed her entire body along his, far more like an alley cat in heat than a she-wolf. “Then we’d best make up for lost time.”
* * *
Roz spent the next few days wrapped in an erotic web of Oliver’s making. Meals were brought to them with a discreet knock on their door. Other than that, they saw and spoke to no one save each other. Oliver kept Roz naked and sated. He found that she had a voracious appetite for sex and enjoyed taking his knot. She would often pout if he chose to suppress it and instead pleasure her with long, hard strokes instead of the rocking motion imposed by the knot. More and more she came to enjoy the intimacy of the tie and they often fell asleep tied together.
While he could have happily spent the remainder of his life with only his mate for his companion, Oliver knew he had to bring their seclusion to an end.
“But I don’t want to share you with anyone,” she said, tied to him yet again.
“I know, sweetheart, but we have a pack to run and care for. Your sister has done an admirable job, I’m sure, getting ready for the party later this month, but you need to help her and start taking on some of those duties.”
“Liza is much better at parties than I am. Let her play hostess.”
“That is not Liza’s responsibility; it is yours. If I think you’re shoving it off on her, you will need to stand the entire evening as your backside will once again be too tender to sit down with any degree of comfort. Do I make myself clear?”
“Maybe you and Bash married the wrong sisters. Although I would have killed him those first few days.”
Oliver laughed. “I think, my love, you would have found that as difficult to accomplish as did your sister.”
“You mean Liza didn’t just fall for him upon awakening?” While she knew that was an exaggeration, she had always thought it was only a slight one.
“Oh, good lord, no. By the time you saw them, they’d been together nearly two weeks and Bash too had holed up in their suite when he first took her to mate. It seems the Kincanon sisters are most easily managed with a combination of a well spanked bottom and a well fucked pussy.”
“Why, that little hussy,” she laughed. “But I would have had to take out my sister as well once I found out about that whole knot thing… God, I love that.”
Oliver laughed out loud. “Yes, I’ve become aware of that and thank the powers that be every day for it. I also thank your Skylar for alleviating your fears so our first time together could be pleasurable for you.”
Roz crawled up into his lap and began to nuzzle his neck, nipping along the lines of his throat.
“The most amazing experience. She was right; the pleasure after the initial breach is so intense that you don’t care how much it hurts. But Oliver, that alpha mark thing has got to end. Christ, that hurt and the motherfucker is still sore.”
Oliver quickly flipped her over so that she was face down across his knee. As she was still naked, when his hand connected with her ass it was painful.
“Ouch, Oliver. I’m sorry.”
He paddled her bottom until it was a nice rosy shade of pink.
“Last warning, Roz. Next time, it’s a full spanking preceded by a mouth full of soap. Clear?”
“Yes, sir,” she cried. “I’m trying and I’m doing better.”
He rubbed her bottom sensually and slipped his hand between her legs, chuckling to find her wet even from the abbreviated punishment. He turned her over and sat her on his lap but kept his hand between her legs. He alternated rubbing her clit, fingering her pussy, and playing with her nipples. She wriggled and moaned.
“I know you’ve been trying and you have improved even in this short amount of time. Thus, the reason I only warmed your backside. But you need to be more mindful of your language especially in front of others. This party is important. Many of the local bigwigs will be here. Some of the uber-rich idiots I couldn’t care less about. But we have worked hand in hand for many years with the police department, Coast Guard, and the like. I love you, my beautiful Jersey girl, but at functions like this, you will need to play the role of the great lady.”
“But what if I fu—mess it up?”
“You will be surrounded by your pack, who only want to see you succeed. You will be quite the sensation. You will most likely need something to wear. Can I trust you to go with a couple of the other girls and an escort?”
“Honestly, babe, I hate shopping. I am the girl online shopping was made for. Can I send Liza instead? She knows what looks good on me and loves to shop.”
Oliver laughed. “How did I get so fortunate to have such a beautiful, sensual, sexy woman who hates to shop?”
“And would rather be naked with her mate any day?”
He nuzzled her and began to finger her with more intention. “Yes, there is that.”
Roz threw back her head. “Oliver, please?”
He stood up and tossed her onto their bed. She landed on her back and spread her legs, thrusting her pelvis up in invitation. He smiled at her, enjoying the view as he divested himself of his clothing. He grasped her by the hips, slipping his hands under her buttocks, lifting her up, and impaling her on his hard cock.
She cried out as she orgasmed and he began to hold her half off the bed as he thrust in and out of her. His grip on her thighs kept her still and elevated at the perfect level for his cock. Roz’s hands grasped the bedcovers and she tried to find some kind of leverage so that she could move with him. He held her steady while he plowed her, enjoying her response to his dominant mastery over her body and sexual response.
As he released his cum into her core, he realized he could not recall a time in his life when he had been happier or more content—not to mention sexually satisfied.
“You beast,” she said half seriously as she laughed.
“Of course, I’m a beast—I’m a wolf shifter. It’s at the very heart of the definition of our kind.”
Oliver stayed inside her as he laid her gently back down on the bed and followed her down. He had found that even when she wasn’t physically tied to him with a knot, Roz seemed to be reluctant to have him leave her until his cock had lost most, if not all, of its rigidity. He smiled as she reached up to draw his head down to hers so she could kiss him.
“Had I known what you could do to me when we have sex… I might have waited around for you to get home from Europe,” she said with a peaceful, happy, and satisfied tone.
“And had I known how perfectly you would respond to me and how happy you make me, I would have had Bash lock you in the dungeons to ensure you couldn’t escape.”
“We have dungeons? Really?”
“I tell you that you’re perfect and that you make me incredibly happy and what you pick up on is that we have dungeons?”
“Well, yeah. You’ve told me all that romantic fluff before…”
“I share the secrets of my heart and you deem it romantic fluff?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her nipples against his chest. “It’s okay, babe, I like your romantic fluff. And I think you’re pretty damn perfect too. I know I didn’t enter into his union of my own free will, but if I had to get paired with anyone,
I’m awfully glad it was you. And truth be told, if none of this wolf stuff had ever existed and we’d met somewhere, I’m pretty damn sure I’d have ended up with you. There’s just something inevitable about us, don’t you think?”
He kissed her eyes, her nose, and then captured her mouth.
“I do indeed, my beautiful Rozalyn. That is why those like us are referred to as fated mates. You are human born. I am wolfen born. We should never have come together. And yet here we are against all the odds. You are mine as I am yours.”
* * *
Roz took an interest in their business dealings and was a quick study in financial matters. Oliver enjoyed sharing his work with her. He realized that she was more interested in and suited to things with a purpose. Once he had pointed out that some of those invited to the upcoming party would be good for some of their business interests, Roz became far more engaged in ensuring it was successful.
Roz investigated their computer network and systems and deemed them inadequate. She asked Oliver if she could invite Anna and Josh, who were with the Calon Gwyllt pack, to the party and have them assess and overhaul their systems so that the pack could more easily access and disseminate information.
After they had accepted, Roz told Oliver, “I should warn you, Anna only likes to use the best and this could get expensive. But I think it will be worth it to be less reliant on outside systems or networks. Skylar says Dylan is convinced trouble is coming. Do you think the other packs are that angry with how he handled disbanding Bae Diogel?”
“Many of them aren’t happy at all. He was able to place all of the Bae Diogel girls with packs who had supported him at the Council where the resolution to disband Bae Diogel came down. They are especially unhappy that the New Orleans pack ended up with three of you naughty girls. But no, there’s been a lot of saber rattling since before that Serbian pack attacked Bae Diogel. There seems to be a critical shortage of female shifters in Europe. The packs in Great Britain seem to be doing well, but the packs in Europe proper, especially Eastern Europe are seeing their female numbers dwindle. There is some talk that human women are being turned without their consent and that some packs are mating women to more than one male.”
“Can they do that?” she asked.
Oliver nodded. “It’s not unheard of especially in some of the packs based in Greece, the old Ottoman Empire, and points east. What’s the most concerning is that the women are given little to no choice. Their numbers are getting smaller and the younger, more aggressive males want mates. That raid by the Serbians shouldn’t have been a surprise. Had the existence of Bae Diogel been more widely known, I’m not sure it would have been. But once the existence of your former pack and the attack on it were known, the Council should have been meeting and coming up with a strategy to ensure the safety of our women.”
Roz touched his arm. “You’re really concerned.”
He nodded. “Yes, as are other alphas along the East Coast. We’re the ones sitting on the front line. I’ve had Bash increase the number of guards and frequency of their patrolling. I don’t want to be caught unaware. Jean-Michel in New Orleans has done the same as has Dylan.”
“I know geography isn’t my strong suit, but even I know New Orleans isn’t on the East Coast.”
“No, but it’s one of the largest ports of entry in the world. It would be an excellent place for packs to slip in unnoticed and raid inland. Frankly, the packs in the middle of the country have always depended on the packs on the two coasts to be the first line of defense. I don’t know that they are capable of really defending themselves.”
“Why isn’t the Council meeting to come up with a plan?”
“Because they’re a bunch of foolish and frightened old men who would rather stick their head in the sand than face the reality that Europe is a powder keg just waiting to explode.”
“But you and Dylan and this Jean-Michel guy are meeting?”
“At this point more talking and planning than meeting, but I think after the party we may end up either back at Calon Gwyllt or down in New Orleans at a kind of war council.”
* * *
Several weeks had passed. In the interim, Roz had started what she had described to her mate as a yoga and stretching class for the girls. They went down to the beach and she taught them different yoga poses and stretches. While she did incorporate both stretching and yoga, she also introduced them to the idea of how to properly take down an assailant, general self-defense, and tactical thinking. If trouble came, she wanted the women of her new pack to acquit themselves in the same manner as they had at Bae Diogel. The women had agreed that their training sessions would be downplayed and kept as a secret.
Meanwhile, Liza and Roz had been planning the gala celebratory event at the end of the month and going over the details, including what Roz would wear. Liza was more than happy to go into town and find her sister the perfect dress. She knew Roz hated to shop. She, on the other hand, enjoyed it immensely. Liza went looking for Oliver and found him in their room.
“Oliver? I’m heading into town to get Roz’s dress and accessories. How much can I spend?”
“Buy whatever you think she will like best.”
Liza giggled. “You do know that means she’ll be wearing a leather biker jacket, tank top, and skin-tight jeans, right?”
Oliver smiled. “You can get her that too, but I’m trusting you to buy her something appropriate as mistress of our pack.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you? I could go spend ten thousand dollars and you wouldn’t bat an eye.”
“If it made your sister smile? You could spend five times that much.”
Roz joined them, overhearing the last part. “Hell, for that kind of money, I’ll go and buy a new Harley.”
Oliver pulled her close and kissed her. “You will not. I will be the only thing between your legs providing you with any pleasure.”
“Nothing I’ve ever straddled has given me even half as much excitement and pleasure.”
Liza shook her head. “Please. Get a room.”
“Uh, sister mine? This is my room.” Roz grinned at her sister, who was beaming from ear to ear.
“That’s true. Well, I’ll leave you to ride your mate instead of a Harley and go spend a whole lot of Oliver’s money.”
Giggling, she left them as two of the stronger members of the pack joined them, carrying an enormous table.
“What’s that for?” Roz asked.
Oliver smiled. “That is an antique partners’ desk that’s been in one of our warehouses since before I was born. I believe it dates back to the mid-1800s. It was used by two pack members who were partners in a law firm. It has a central drawer on both sides. I thought I’d replace the desk I used to use with this one so we’d both have ample room to spread out. If you’d rather, I can just have a desk brought up for you to use.”
Roz wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body into his. “No, I rather like being partners with you so it’s only fitting that we have a partners’ desk.”
The two men who put it down were smiling. Their alpha had indeed found his perfect mate. She was beautiful and spirited. The pack had also found her to be kind, smart, and quick to laugh. But more than that, she seemed to give Oliver a contented serenity he had been lacking before he took her to mate. They put the large, ornate desk in its new home and removed Oliver’s old desk and chair. They returned shortly with two matching chairs and then left the couple alone.
“Sort of looks like it should have always been there,” said Roz as she walked around it, trailing her fingers across its smooth finish.
“Much like the woman beside it.”
Roz blushed.
“It is also big enough that there should be ample space to bend my mate across it when she is in need of correction—either from a firm hand or a hard cock.”
“Hey! You only had to correct me once about my language since we got here,” she said defensively.
Oliver nodded. “Yes, you have been on
your best behavior thus far. But you and I both know that won’t last.”
He laughed as she threw a paperweight at him.
Chapter Sixteen
The day before the big party, Oliver reached for his mate as the sun began to climb from behind the horizon and cast its warm, soft glow on the ocean before it. But his hand found nothing on her side of the bed but cold bedclothes. He sat upright and was only somewhat relieved to find her sitting at their desk going over her list. She had on a pair of his sweatpants rolled down onto her hips and a sports bra that only barely contained her ample breasts. She sat sideways in her desk chair, parallel to the desk with her legs over the arm.
Oliver studied her face. Her brow was furrowed and she was ticking items off her list, making notes and talking to herself. He knew she was putting enormous pressure on herself to ensure that her first event as mistress of the Hamptons pack was an extraordinary success. He too wanted the party to be memorable, but not at the cost of her emotional and mental composure.
“Sweetheart, it’s too early for you to be up and fretting. Come back to bed.”
“Are you kidding me? I have way too much to do. Throw a party, he said. It’ll be fun, he said. Fun for you. A major pain in the ass for me. I can’t do this, Oliver. I really can’t. I’m not Skylar. Shit! I’m not even Liza. And we weren’t raised this way. We’re just a couple of girls from Jersey and…” Her tone was laced with anxiety.
“Rozalyn. That’s enough. Put down the list, get naked, and come back to bed.”
“I don’t have time…”
“Mate,” he said with a growl. “Did you not hear me tell you to come back to our bed?”
“I heard you, but I’m telling you no. I realize you alphas aren’t used to hearing that word much less from a mere female, but…” She yelped mid-sentence.
Somehow Oliver had risen from their bed, crossed the room, and had a handful of her hair at the nape of her neck. He brought her to her feet and took away her list and pen, placing both back on her desk. She tried to reach for them, but he slapped her hand away.