by Bonnie Vanak
“You always play with your beverages?” she teased.
“I’d rather be playing with you,” he countered, his gaze flicking to her breasts.
When she finished the chicken on her plate, he got up and fetched her more. “Eat,” he prodded. “I want my female well-fed.”
“Too much food and I’ll be rounder than I already am.”
“I like you well-rounded.” His heat gaze swept appreciatively over her body.
Desire tightened her nipples, turning them hard as pearls. She shivered.
“Cold?” Ryder asked.
“A bit.”
David noticed and loped over, unzipping his sweatshirt and shrugging out of it. He handed it to her with a flourish, but before she could thank him, Ryder snatched it with a scowl.
“Keep it.” A low growl rumbled deep in his throat.
Slinging the garment over one shoulder, David winked at her. “He was just being polite,” she told Ryder, who watched his lieutenant walk away.
“I don’t want you covered in any other males’ clothing but mine.”
Her eyes widened as Ryder unbuttoned his checked flannel shirt and tugged it off, placing it around her shoulders. The gesture screamed ownership and claiming. His chest was smooth with muscle and the sight made her boneless with sudden desire. Breathing in his rich, deep scent of pine and masculinity, she felt warm and safe and cherished.
“I like you in my shirt.” He rubbed his lip again.
“I like you out of your shirt.” Oh yeah, maybe a little too much. As in wanting to lick him all over, run her tongue across his small brown nipples, taste each valley and crest of his abdominal muscles and then maybe tug down the waistband of his jeans and put her mouth there…
Kara put her hands to her burning face.
“Guess you’re not cold anymore.” He gestured to her face. “You’re all flushed.”
She removed his shirt and handed it back to him. “I think you need this more than I do.”
Grinning, he slipped it back on. They sat watching the festivities. Ryder nodded at a younger couple heading for the stairs, followed by another set a few minutes later.
“Ah, methinks there will be another few additions to the pack in about nine months,” Ryder murmured. “About time, too. We haven’t had any births in more than five years.”
“There wasn’t much occasion for celebrating when Alastair was alpha. Doesn’t make for a relaxed atmosphere. And my sire never remembered birthdays.”
Not even mine.
“Did Aiden remember?”
She smiled sadly. “He’s a wonderful brother, but things were too hectic with trying to start his pack.”
He frowned. “When was the last time someone celebrated your birthday?
“Two years ago, when a certain arrogant and bold male brought a chocolate cupcake with a candle to my room and told me to make a wish.”
Ryder gazed at her intently. “Chocolate with blue frosting. Your favorite. Did your wish come true?”
Sadness arrowed through her as Jason successfully split the piñata with the baseball bat. Candy splattered over the floor.
“No. Aiden and I fled before it happened.” Kara faced him, her heart squeezing tight. “I wished I could have a lover who’d cherish me as much as my father had cherished my mother.”
Silence draped between them as he studied her face.
“I wished for you, Ryder.”
“Wishes can come true. Especially birthday wishes, if you want it badly enough,” he said softly.
Someone switched on the stereo in the corner to a thumping dance tune. Couples began gyrating and swaying to the melody. Ryder stood and held out a hand. “Dance with me, Kara.”
She went into his arms.
Kara leaned into his embrace, resting her cheek on his broad shoulder. Contentment filled her for the first time in years. Murmurs rippled through the air. Glancing up, she saw everyone had stopped to look at them. Many were smiling and some of the older Lupines nodded in approval.
They wanted this match. She sensed it.
Ryder buried his face into the curve of her neck.
“I want you in my bed, now. Your scent is driving me mad,” he whispered. “I’ve dreamed of it, tried to forget it. Every night I spent dreaming of lavender and vanilla. Going outside and searching the fields, the garden, desperate to see your face one more time, hold you in my arms. And then I wake up, my arms empty, my dreams shattered. I’m afraid to open my eyes in case this is a dream.”
Halting, she framed his face with her hands. “I’m not a dream. I’m very real.”
Ryder’s nostrils flared. The warmth of her touch burned through his shirt. He kissed her hand, and then trailed his fingers down the softness of her unmarred right cheek, across to her slender neck where a pulse beat hard and fast beneath his thumb. He stroked the big vein.
“This is where I’ll bite you and put my mark on you.”
Kara trembled harder. “Will it hurt?”
“They say it stings, but then has an unimaginable pleasure.” He blew a hot breath against her skin. “It’s an intimacy only mated couples share, intoxicating both male and female into consummating their bond.”
“And if they do not…”
Tunneling his fingers through the heavy fall of her ebony hair, he tugged her head backward, gazing down at her.
“I don’t believe there’s been a case of Lupines who didn’t consummate the bond. I imagine it would be quite unpleasant. But it’s not an experience I intend to have.”
He kissed her, relishing how sweet she tasted, and how she opened for him on a sigh. Kara’s lips were plump and ripe as cherries and the flavor bursting onto his tongue tangling with her rich, female scent shot straight through to his groin.
Hello.
Ryder slid a hand up her back, holding her tight against him, never wanting to release her.
That awareness of connection surged again. He felt awake and free, and wanted to laugh with the joy of it. Two grim years spent without Kara, and with her in his arms once more, he felt alive.
Her lips were lush, plump and wet as he ravished her mouth. Ryder kept kissing her, feeling her light push away the darkness consuming him since her departure.
Sensuality was in their nature, the craving to touch and connect, but for a long time he’d only felt the touch of Alastair’s lash. The memory of Kara’s kiss had eased that sting.
Ryder surrendered to carnal bliss as he licked and tasted in a kiss meant not only to claim, but to awaken.
Kara responded sweetly, her body curling into his, her scent wending around his body in ribbons of erotic spice. He grew drunk and dizzy from her taste. This was the mating bond.
Breaking the kiss, he gazed down into her smoky eyes, aware of their ragged breaths and pounding hearts. Sex with Kara would not be fleeting pleasure.
It promised total consumption, dry wood set aflame.
And tonight, he intended to burn both of them. Ryder tugged her hand. “Come Kara,” he said softly. “Upstairs. It’s time.”
Chapter 8
He wanted her and she wanted him equally.
With a hand at the small of her back, Ryder escorted her upstairs to the third floor. At the end of the hallway he opened a door, revealing a room with a bed big enough to sleep eight Lupines.
“My only indulgence,” he said, leaning against the doorframe and hooking a thumb into his jeans pocket. “I redecorated the alpha’s room, and bought a new bed. Purged all the bad memories.”
“I’m glad.”
There were many more to purge as well. Kara closed her eyes, breathing in his scent, trembling with need as he tugged her inside. Ryder closed the door and caressed her cheek with a thumb.
“Open your eyes, sweeting. I want you to undress me,” he told her.
She unbuttoned his shirt, tugged it off with an impatient yank and threw it to the floor. Ryder looked amused as she stared at his naked chest. Kara reached up to flatten her palm against
his smooth skin, and drew it away.
“You can touch me,” he said softly. “It’s okay now. No one will punish you.”
Drawing in a wondering breath, she trailed a finger across his chest. So warm and solid, smooth flesh over steely muscle. Kara grew bolder and began to explore his body. Muscle and sinew flexed beneath her fingers. She traced the ridges of abdominal muscles on his belly, marveling at the differences between them. Teasing, she dipped a finger into his naval. Ryder closed his eyes and shuddered. Having this big, strong male at the mercy of her exploring hands gave her a heady sense of power.
For two years, she’d pined for his touch, dreamed of his lips on hers, and what it would be like to finally surrender to the passion blazing between them. Tonight, she’d finally find out.
His eyes flew open. Ryder caught her wrists and shook his head. “If you keep this up, I’m going to come in my jeans and that’s no good for either of us.”
So as he sat on the bed, she helped him tug off the weathered Western boots and the thick socks. Then he stood and Kara unzipped his jeans, hooked her fingers around the waistband and tugged them down. Ryder helped her as the jeans slithered down his legs. They pooled at his ankles and he stepped out of them.
He was magnificent. Legs strong and dusted with hair, chorded with thick muscles. Her gaze traveled down each long, sleek limb up to the ridged planes of his muscled abdomen and the hard V of muscles diving down to a thick nest of dark, wiry hair and the heavy sac of his testicles. Ridged with veins, and flushed red, Ryder’s penis was thick and long, rising from his groin.
He gave a slow smile. “Like what you see?”
Kara nearly whimpered. “You’re perfect.”
But his smile faded. “Not quite.”
The beatings. She walked around him and bit her lip hard. Dear gods, what her father had done to him…
Ridges of old scar tissue flared on the thick muscles of his back. Alastair’s whip had cut deep. Moisture escaped her eyes as she traced the cruel marks.
“Dear gods,” she said thickly. “He put salt on your wounds too, to keep the scars.”
He turned and wiped away her tears with the edge of his thumbs. “Do you find my scars repulsive?”
She shook her head. “Only that they’re there as a reminder of how much you suffered. You could never be ugly to me.”
He placed a hand on her burned cheek. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Ryder drew her into his arms and smoothed back her long hair. “We both have our wounds, Kara, our scars. Mine no longer hurt. It hurt more being without you these past two years.”
Kara felt shyness take over as he undressed her. Hunger filled his gaze as he studied her naked body. Ryder touched her collarbone. “My turn now,” he said softly.
His palms splayed her breasts. Ryder studied her with a reverent look, then began to flick his thumbs over her cresting nipples. Stubble scraped her jaw as he bent his head and nuzzled her neck. He smelled so good, all male and spices. Arousal bit, sharp and sweet, as he ran his hands down her body, cupping one rounded hip, and then sliding behind her to squeeze her bottom.
He pulled her tight against him, his erection prodding her soft belly.
Ryder slid a hand behind her neck and angled her head to kiss her. Warmth surged through every vein as his mouth moved lazily over hers. Beneath the subtle pressure of his lips, she opened her mouth, letting him slide his tongue inside. Kara swept her tongue over his, the need spiking to feverish levels.
When they parted, their breathing ragged, amber flashed in his eyes, signaling the rise of his wolf. Apprehension mingled with arousal. When a male’s eyes flashed amber during sex, he risked going feral and turning savage and rough. Usually it happened only to mated couples. Only a strong, experienced female could match that ferocity of lovemaking.
Ryder dragged in a shuddering breath and his eyes returned to normal. Kissing the corner of her mouth, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed.
She wanted him, this wolf who looked at her as if she were the only female on earth. Anticipation shivered through her as he parted her legs and knelt between them. Ryder stroked a hand over the soft flesh of her inner thigh. A low moan escaped her as he cupped her sex. He slid a finger slowly across her wet core in a teasing stroke.
Whispering a plea, she arched against his touch. A fiery glint touched his eyes. Ryder looked dangerous and tense, his jaw clenched. He stretched out beside her, and palmed her breasts, then took a nipple into his mouth.
Gasping, she arched her hips as he suckled her. Ryder put his hand between her legs. An ache pulsed in her sex as he slid a finger into her tight channel and lazily circled her clit. The stroke of his tongue, combined with the fondling of her female flesh drew her taut as piano wire. She was panting, gripping his hair until her fingers turned bloodless. The tension gathered, the exquisite pleasure just beyond reach. Her inner flesh tightened around his thrusting finger. With one skilled flick across her tiny, swollen bud, she shattered, screaming his name.
Tears blurred her vision as Ryder raised his head. “You okay?” His deep voice was husky with masculine satisfaction. At her shaky nod, he smiled tenderly and kissed the salty tears trickling down her cheeks.
Then his nostrils flared, and she knew he tasted the scent of her arousal. A low growl arose in his throat.
With a rough sound, he mounted her. The smooth flesh of his muscled chest slid across her sensitive nipples. Her core wet and swollen, she needed him inside her. Now.
Burying his head against her throat, he drew in a deep breath.
“Kara, sweet innocent Kara. I can’t wait a minute more or I’m going to fucking die.”
Sitting back on his haunches, Ryder gripped his engorged penis and brought it to her soaked, swollen folds. The broad head slid just inside her tight core. Then he covered her, and pushed harder. Kara dug her fingers into the thick muscles of his shoulders.
His gaze glittering and fierce, he gave a single, hard thrust and penetrated.
Kara whimpered at the brief sting. Her body resisted at first and she pulled away, but then he murmured for her to relax. In total trust, she eased around him. Bracing his weight on his elbows, he kissed her, his mouth warm and soft. She softened around him, fully accepting. Pain faded, replaced by a wondering feeling of fullness.
Groaning, he closed his eyes, rocking against her, the thick hair at his groin meeting her ebony thatch. Each drag and pull of his thick penis against her swollen tissues created an exquisite friction.
Slowly, he repeated the mating dance. Sliding forward as she gripped his shoulders, clawing in her need. Kara arched her back and wrapped her legs around his lean hips to pull him closer. The move triggered his wolf, for Ryder growled in approval.
Her own wolf howled for release. Tension gripped her body. She squeezed tight around his thrusting penis with savage need, digging her nails into his thick back muscles.
Ryder opened his eyes.
Gaze glittering, he pushed harder, going deep inside, his heavy sac slapping against her. Each pounding thrust of his cock sent liquid heat burning through her veins. Climax shimmered out of reach. She needed this, needed her body claimed by the only male who’d ever seen her, past her scars and her pain and saw the shining heart of her.
Another orgasm, this one richer and sharper, shattered her. Veins and chords on his neck straining, he threw back his head and shouted her name as he ejaculated deep inside her. Then he collapsed, burying his face into her shoulder, his panting breaths hot against her skin.
Languid with sensual pleasure, she idly stroked his damp hair, loving his heavy weight pinning her down.
Making love with him had been better than all her innocent fantasies woven while hiding in her room at Aiden’s ranch. They were together now, and his mark on her skin would seal the mating bond. Ryder levered off her and slowly pulled away, leaving her cold and bereft. He rolled to one side and cupped her scarred cheek.
“Love watching you c
limax. You’re so beautiful when you come,” he said hoarsely.
A delighted smile died on her lips. Kara felt herself shrink back into her protective shell, a cold, lonely place as safe as her room back at Aiden’s ranch.
“Guess you should make me come more often then, and I’ll always be beautiful.”
The words were light and teasing, no hint of the hurt piercing her. But a fierce light dawned in Ryder’s eyes.
“Don’t do that, Kara. I meant what I said. You are beautiful when you come.” He touched his lips to her kiss-swollen mouth. “And you’re beautiful when you awaken. Beautiful when you insist on spending money on a little boy who needs a birthday party. Beautiful when you defend your brother.”
Her mouth wobbled. “But I’ll never be the same as I was. The same as I was when you first kissed me.”
“No, you won’t.” Ryder studied her right cheek. “This won’t go away, not even surgery can fully repair it. Magick maybe. But it’s got a beauty of its own as well, because it’s reminder of how damn strong you are, and brave, to have survived.”
Emotions swelled her chest as he kissed her ruined flesh. “You’re a survivor, like me, like so many in this pack. We need you to help lead us out of the darkness that’s engulfed us for so many years. I need you, Kara. I can’t do this alone. You make me complete.”
Her heart turned over at his sincere look. Ryder drew her into his arms and stroked her hair as she pillowed her head on his muscled shoulder. Maybe they could do this. For surely he loved her, and wanted her exclusively because of love, the same reason why she longed to remain at his side.
Why else would he risk everything to keep her with him?
Dawn broke with a soft wash of golden light spilling into his bedroom. Ryder awakened to find Kara nestled in his arms.
It was not a dream after all. He smiled.
Peace settled over him as he watched her sleep. Kara had given him an incredible gift. She was the light piercing through his dark past. The two years since she’d been gone were darker than any blackness in Alastair’s damned cages. If she left him, she’d take the light with her.