The Alpha's Choice

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  Kat was glad he walked behind her to retrieve something from the wall so she could close her eyes and sigh. She wasn't sure what this was, but she knew she liked it and would do whatever he required. No one had ever made her feel this way. She was his to command and yet she felt the power was all hers. She excited him. The waves of his magic crashed soundlessly against her and like an addictive drug, she wanted more.

  She felt the heat of his chest at her back and then his hands were caressing her shoulders and following her arms up to her wrists where he wrapped them with something firm yet supple.

  "Up on your toes, Katarina mine." Her body stretched until her toes barely touched the ground as he forced her hands upward where he hooked what she now realized was a leather thong about her wrists to a hook drilled into the support beam above them. Once her wrists were in place, she could put her heels back on firm ground, her body stretched, but not uncomfortable.

  "Open," he said and she obeyed, but it wasn't enough and he tapped the inside of her ankles with his bare foot and she complied. With each tap of his foot, she spread herself further until she was spread so wide her weight hung from her wrists and her feet could only provide balance. Charles tied her ankles in place with the soft rope that dangled from opposite walls. He wrapped a silky cloth around her head, covering her eyes and blocking out what little light there was and then left her there, hanging in this vulnerable and precarious pose.

  She didn't move. He didn't speak. The long silence gave her time to think about the position she'd allowed herself to be placed in and her mind wandered to places where she didn't want to go. In the position she was held in, she could only imagine one thing happening.

  A little spanking she could handle. The sharp slaps to her ass stung, but they also excited her and caused her juices to flow. But this? Kat's mind shouted "No, no, no!" and yet she remained silent, her body tense and waiting and Charles let her wait.

  He was watching her. She could feel his eyes wandering over her as his power sent those sensual flames of arousal pirouetting over her body. She thought, no, she knew she could feel the beating of his heart matching the beat of her own.

  She'd trusted Charles from the beginning of this 'punishment' and he hadn't hurt her. He had, in fact, thrilled her with the adventure of it. She would trust him now. She forced her body to relax against the restraint at her wrists and settled more firmly on her feet.

  "Ah, my Katarina, you are a treasure."

  She sighed with bliss when his hands stroked lightly down her back, sending those electric tendrils of desire coursing through her. In such a short time, she'd come to crave them. Those wondrous hands stroked and caressed and tickled as they play along her arms and legs and danced over her stomach and back, never touching the places that craved their touch the most.

  Finally, when she thought she could stand no more, those warm hands covered her breasts and continued to stroke and knead and heighten her tactile arousal. Her nipples were hard and tight, pebbled almost to pain and when he rolled them between his fingers and thumbs, she gasped with pleasure.

  "Do you like this, kitten?" He asked as he gently rubbed the slight pain away.

  Now that he'd given her permission to speak, she could only nod and gasp as he rolled her nipples again. She felt him nuzzle her hair and breathe deep of her scent and heard him whisper next to her ear.

  "I want to hear my kitten purr."

  His hands cupped the bottom of her breasts and he pulled her tightly against him. He kissed her neck and the sensitive place behind her ear. He caressed her shoulders with his lips and tongue, tiny darts of moist heat that made her quiver with need. He kissed his way down her spine to the base, all the while caressing and kneading the cheeks of her ass. He ran his finger along the crack that separated those cheeks, paused for a moment at the rosebud opening and she tightened against the possible invasion. His laugh was a deep rumble before he continued on.

  She felt him sink to his knees in front of her where his tongue found a new playground and frolicked happily around her clit. She was so aroused from his previous attentions that it didn't take much to make her body dance to the tune his eager mouth played.

  "Purr for me kitten," Charles ordered and Kat, the kitten, purred.

  His mouth and tongue took her higher and higher until she felt ready to explode with the sensation and then he stopped and withdrew, stroking her thighs and buttocks until she calmed before turning his attentions once more to her cleft. He brought her to the edge, over and over, until she moaned with her need for release. She could feel the moisture dripping from her and each time he returned to her burning clit, she tried to angle her body and increase the pressure to give her the release she sought.

  And every time she moved, she earned a smack on her ass from the hand that wasn't busy tormenting her along with an admonishment to stay still, an admonishment that was barely heard beneath the sound of her whimpers and moans.

  "Tell me what you want, kitten. Tell me what you need from me."

  Kat had trouble finding her voice, but she knew he wouldn't release her from this agony of need unless she told him what she wanted, needed.

  "You," she breathed, "You. Oh god, please let me come, please."

  "Did you just call me a god?" he chuckled.

  He was asking this now? "I'll call you anything you want, you furry bastard, just let me come."

  He let her come. He took her over the edge in a flash of light and sound that left her quivering with exhaustion. He wrapped his arms around her and held her through it and murmured of his pleasure in her ear.

  His words were largely wasted. Kat was so caught up in the sensations coursing through her body that she couldn't hear or speak or see. She felt him unhook her wrists, felt him gently lowered her to the ground, felt him take her into his lap and felt his warm and comforting arms surround her. She whimpered and snuggled more tightly into his chest each time a tiny orgasmic aftershock exploded in her core.

  Charles held her until sight and sound returned and as she dozed in his arms, she heard him murmuring above her.

  "You are so beautiful, Katarina. You are all I ever wanted, a precious gift meant only for me."

  Kat felt as if she could spend eternity right where she was, in Charles Goodman's arms. It didn't matter who he was or what he was. She knew this was where she belonged. With him.

  Kat might have stayed there forever, but Charles had one more thing on his agenda. When she had recovered enough to smile at him and draw circles in the hair of his chest with her fingers, he rolled her from his lap and into the straw.

  "I want you all fours, Katarina. I need you on all fours. This isn't punishment and I promise you'll enjoy it. Please, do this for me."

  It was the please that did it. She heard it in his voice and when she looked up at him, she saw it in his eyes. He needed this and what he needed she would give. She rolled to her hands and knees. Charles wasted no time in stripping off his jeans and entering her from behind. He groaned with pleasure as he seated himself firmly inside her and covered her body with his.

  "One night when the moon is full, I'll chase you again, my Katarina. I'll chase you through the woods and fields and when I catch you, this is how I'll take you."

  He began to move inside her, slowly at first, and Kat knew he was trying to be gentle with her after what he put her through, but she didn't want gentle. She wanted Charles. She wanted to fulfill his wants and secret needs as he had filled hers. Braced on her elbows and using her arms for leverage, she drove herself onto him, increasing her backward thrusts until he met her pace and pressure.

  Once Charles understood that she wanted this as much as he did, he increased the force of his thrusts until he was pounding into her. The slap, slap of their bodies meeting in sensual pleasure echoed in the confines of the stall.

  After what he'd put her through, she didn't think she could rise to the height of orgasm again, but she was wrong. He was pounding into her now as if he had a need to join the
two of them into one. The magic surrounded them and she could feel the pressure building in him as it built in her. His body tensed in readiness for release and the hands that had been gripping her hips, curled around her body, one to her breast and one to her clit. One touch and she exploded and he followed on the wave of her orgasm into his own. She heard him shout her name, before she collapsed down into the straw.

  Charles didn't withdraw from her, but again covered her body with his. He pressed his lips against the tender place where her neck joined her shoulder and kissed her there.

  "Someday soon, Katarina Bennett, under the light of the full moon, I'll mark you here where my lips are now. I'll mark you here and you'll no longer be an Alpha's Mate, but the Alpha's Mate, my mate, Charles Goodman's Mate and being your Alpha, I promise to make you proud."

  "You already do that, Charles Goodman," she mumbled drowsily through the blissful exhaustion that followed her orgasm. "You'll always make me proud. But Charles?"

  "What is it, kitten?"

  "Can you come down here beside me? I can't kiss you from this position and the straw is poking holes in my belly."

  "You stay right there. I'll be right back."

  "Bossy, bossy, always giving orders to the ones who will obey," Kat giggled sleepily, "You should start bossing the ones who don't."

  "What did you say?" Charles asked quietly.

  Kat was so tired she couldn't remember. "Whatever was in my head," she mumbled. "Are you coming to bed Charles? I'm cold without you."

  "I'll be right there, kitten. I'll keep you warm."

  "Charles?"

  "Hmmm?"

  "What's a…?" but she forgot what she was going to ask because Charles was back with a blanket to cover them and curling his body around hers, he was kissing her again.

  Chapter 17

  Kat awoke with a smile on her face, a solid chest under her head, a strong arm around her and itching almost everywhere on her body. The coarse straw beneath her scratched her hip and legs. The coarse blanket Charles pulled from the work truck to cover them scratched her other hip and shoulders. Her butt didn't itch or maybe it did, but in its frozen state, she couldn't feel it.

  She'd learned a lot about her lover during the night, including the fact that the man lying flat on his back beside her was a blanket hog and there was only one cure for that. She pulled the blanket from him and straddled his knees, throwing the blanket over her back like a cape and laying herself down along his body. Now her back half might itch, but her front had a warm, firm mattress. She snuggled her head back into his shoulder and closed her eyes.

  Until thirty seconds later when her mattress flipped her onto her back and covered her body with his. He left just enough space for his hand slid between them and work its way downward over her belly.

  "Good morning, my beautiful kitten," Charles murmured in her ear.

  "No." Kat followed the hand working its way down her body and stopped it in its tracks.

  "Now, kitten, is that any way to greet your Alpha in the morning?"

  "You're not my Alpha, Wolfman. You're my lover and the answer is still no." Kat stretched up to kiss him on the chin and soften her refusal. "Good morning."

  "Your greeting is supposed to be…" Charles raised his voice to a falsetto. "Good morning my lord and master. Let me spread my legs for you so you can start your day with a smile."

  Kat started to laugh. "You've been dreaming again or you're thinking of your other lover."

  Charles looked offended. "I don't have another lover."

  "Good answer! You get to keep your balls for another day."

  "Geesh! You weren't this mean last night." He slid down her body until his mouth reached her breasts where he suckled first one and then the other. After several minutes of this he looked up at her and smiled. "You're purring."

  The man just didn't give up. He'd let her sleep for a little while after she collapsed in the straw and then he'd taken her again, that time so sweetly, his gentleness made her cry. She'd pleasured him with her mouth the time after that and he'd returned the favor the time after that. The man had the stamina of a horse… or maybe a wolf?

  She relented and stroked the hair from his forehead. "Of course I'm purring. The spirit is more than willing, but the flesh is beyond weak. It's plum wore out. I'll be walking funny for the rest of the day."

  Charles rolled off of her onto his back. "Tell me about it," he muttered, staring down at his bobbing erection.

  "I can fix that for you," Kat offered.

  "You would too, wouldn't you?" He turned on his side to face her.

  Kat closed her eyes and nodded her head, refusing to say aloud what she already knew. She loved him and she would be willing to help him in any way she could. It couldn't be possible in so short a time, but there it was. She loved him.

  What she didn't understand and tried not to think too deeply about was why the whole wolver business didn't send her running for a point a thousand miles away. The whole idea of it should worry her a great deal more than love at first sight, but it didn't. Any normal person would have run screaming to the nearest psychiatrist, but then again, she wasn't normal. She'd never belonged to that world out there. Maybe, just maybe, she was where she was meant to be.

  "Talk to me, kitten. I can see the thoughts swirling in your head. Tell me what you're thinking."

  "I was thinking that I must be stark, raving mad, but I'm happy. I'm also thinking that you're not. Happy I mean." She, too, turned on her side to face him.

  "I'm happy with you."

  "I kind of got that," she laughed and then she sobered. "It's the rest of your life that worries me. You are not as at ease with them as you are with me. Why? You're their Alpha."

  Charles closed his eyes and waited a full minute before he spoke. "I'm a fake. I'm not the Alpha it all."

  He was waiting for her to say something, but Kat only smoothed his sleep tousled hair and smiled her encouragement.

  "Do you want to know why I started this pack?" he asked and when she nodded, he continued. "It was revenge. Revenge, because my father gave my brother what should've been mine. I was the oldest. I was the one who was raised to be the Alpha. I was the one he lectured. I was the one he pushed and punished to make me into what he wanted me to be. But he failed and so did I. When he was sick and knew he was dying, he turned to Marshall, my youngest brother.

  "I started this pack to show the two of them how wrong they were about me. I rejected everything my father stood for. My goal was to make enough money to finance my vengeance. I recruited other wolvers and convinced them to follow me. I didn't give a damn about them. The only damn I gave was the one I thought would show my father's pack how wrong he was in his choice of a successor."

  Charles closed his eyes and steadied his breathing and Kat could see how hard this was for him. She continued to stroke his hair to comfort him and let him know she was listening.

  "Don't get me wrong. Marshall fought for his place as the Alpha of the Rabbit Creek Pack and now that I'm older and wiser, I know he earned the right to serve. For a long time though, I hated him for it and if it wasn't for the lovely lady who became his mate, I might have destroyed him for it. That's the kind of man I became. Don't get mad, get even."

  Charles leaned forward and kissed her. Soft and sweet, it was almost like saying goodbye. Kat could feel his sadness as if it was her own and her heart broke for him.

  "And now?" she whispered against his lips, "What now?"

  "Now I've met you and it may be too late. Now, when I see before me what it really means to be the Alpha, I also see it slipping from my grasp. The mantle hasn't fallen on my shoulders, Katarina, and without the mantle, I'm still a fraud."

  "You are not a fake or a fraud, Charles Goodman. You're only a man or a wolver," Kat smileded and shrugged, "Who lost his way for a while. Where is this mantle? How can we find one? We can make this right."

  "I have no money you know," he confessed. "That old truck out there is the only thing
I own, that and the land. I owe more money on the cars than they're worth and the house is mortgaged to…"

  "The hilt," Kat finished for him. "I know. I know. Why does everyone keep bringing up the money? I don't give a damn about the money. I never had any money. I don't know what it's like to have money. I do know what it's like to work hard to earn it and that's all I know about it, so can we drop the money business and talk about what's important? I want to know about this mantle."

  "Who told you about the money?" he demanded. The hesitant, remorseful Charles was gone. The Alpha was back and he was pissed off.

  "Jo did. She's worried about you, too, so get off your high horse and tell me about the damn mantle." Kat punched his chest to show him she meant business. The punch had no effect except to make him smile.

  "You're cute when you're mad." He caught her small fist in his big hand when she tried to punch him again. "Okay, okay. The mantle isn't a piece of clothing that's kept hanging in your closet. It's a symbol, an expression used to describe the weight of the responsibility to the pack." Charles tapped his forehead with two fingers. "You can feel them and hear them. Literally. Their worries become your worries, their joys, your joys. You have to learn to control it or it will overwhelm you. Knowing each member of the pack so intimately is what gives the Alpha his real power to control his pack. It's a heavy burden to carry the mantle and in the wrong hands, it can be used to manipulate the pack into doing what's best for the Alpha instead of what's best for the pack."

  "You can hear what people are thinking? Can they hear and feel you?"

  Kat was thinking of the things they'd done during the night. She could feel the blush rising and was pretty sure it was turning her purple with embarrassment.

  "Don't be ashamed of what we did last night," Charles said as if he could, in fact, read her mind. "We had fun. We gave each other pleasure. We made love. That's never something to be ashamed of." He tapped Kat's nose affectionately. "But no, if it will put your mind at rest, the mantle isn't like some kind of all-seeing eye. It's an emotional thing and I guess you'd call it a telepathic thing, though the speaking isn't done with words, although Marshall claims he can hear Elizabeth called his name."