Vulfen Enforcer's Mate [Vulfen Cadre 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Laina Kenney

  When she was beside him, she didn’t feel like she needed to be on guard. He could more than take care of any trouble that came along.

  And that knowledge made her muscles relax and her stomach jitter with nerves. If he could handle trouble, then he could handle it if she let go of her iron control and just jumped him. The image of it kept popping to the top of her mind, teasing her with the possibility.

  She was overflowing with such strange new feelings that she didn’t have a name for what was happening to her.

  “Have dinner with me,” Ives said.

  “Yes,” her voice said before her mind had fully grasped the question. Her body jerked but she didn’t take back her answer.

  One corner of his mouth turned up in that slow smile and her stomach did a leisurely rollercoaster roll. Excitement or extreme nerves, she wasn’t sure, but it felt good.

  Then reality hit.

  “I can’t go out dressed like this,” she said. “I’m dressed for work.” Their usual uniform, if one could call it that, of black dress pants and shirt, didn’t look bad on her. Black was good for her pale skin, but it wasn’t what she would choose to wear to have dinner with a gorgeous man.

  “I see no problem with your clothes.”

  Maressa looked down then back up. “As an outfit, it’s just not very appealing.”

  His eyes travelled over her body with a smoldering heat that made her thighs tighten. His nostrils flared wide and for a moment she imagined that he could smell her excitement. Ridiculous.

  “If you were any more appealing, my heart could not take it. Did you not feel how it beats for you?”

  She had felt it, could still feel it. The rhythm was strong, mesmerizing.

  “But perhaps that is a polite excuse,” he said. “If you do not want to have dinner with me, you may say it freely. I am not a spoiled boy who throws a tantrum when I do not get my way.”

  “Of course it’s not an excuse. I want to have dinner with you.”

  Maressa was obliged to make the admission in spite of herself. She didn’t want him to think that she put him in the same category as Biff and his stupid friend. He was so different, so far above them, he might as well have been from another species.

  “Then it is settled.”

  The deep satisfaction in Ives’s voice gave her a moment’s pause. Why was it so important to him?

  But when he drew her close to his powerful chest and the heat and clean scent of his skin rose in a teasing wave, the thought was gone.

  His scent wasn’t overpowering like some cologne could be, but he smelled so damned good. She wanted to lean in to the strong column of his throat and find where that wonderful scent originated so she could bite him right there, just a little.

  A big part of her was shocked by her ungovernable response. Every move the man made, every word he spoke in that pussy-clenching accent, went straight to her feminine core and she had no defense. He was more compelling to her than any man she had ever met, more tempting than her favorite caramel mocha swirl cheesecake but without the guilt of extra calories. The man was lethal.

  He brushed one finger over her lips and a quick panting breath escaped her. She was ready to spontaneously combust and he was still smiling. If they weren’t in a public place, a place where she worked, she would climb right into his lap and nibble and stroke and give him a little taste of the torture he was inflicting on her.

  She wanted him to stop teasing. She wanted another deep slow kiss like the one that had burned through her the night before. She wanted him to press her back on the little table and drive into her throbbing pussy until the whole world exploded.

  She wanted him until she ached inside with it.

  “What would you do if I said no?” she asked, trying to make her brain start up again. It was a ridiculous question. She had already said yes.

  His smile lit his eyes.

  “I would start all over. Perhaps the manner of our meeting did not show you fully who I am. I would serenade you with the words of the poets, men like Byron and Keats, who had a true understanding of the beauty of a woman.”

  His breath feathered over her skin and goose bumps rose.

  “I would seduce you with my voice and my touch, until you were able to say yes to me over and over and mean it every time, until you wanted to say yes to me and only to me.”

  “If a woman says no, a man gets discouraged. Doesn’t he?” She couldn’t imagine the kind of control it would take to say no to him once, never mind to keep it up, but the question itself might distract her from begging him for another kiss.

  Ives laughed and the low sound travelled up her spine like tickling fingers.

  “I am a warrior. I do not get discouraged and stop. I simply try again in a different way. I would show you everything I am, every thought in my head and every wish in my heart. For you, I would take my time and think of a thousand ways to seduce you.”

  He would take his time? Her mind shuddered to a halt.

  Oh, Lord.

  “Okay,” she said, and the breathless tone of her voice startled her. “Let’s go to dinner.”

  Chapter 3

  Ives pulled into his driveway after the longest ten minutes of his life. He was sweating and desperate and his blood was running hot.

  He had left the bar on top of the world with his gorgeous mate holding his hand. That was followed by the exquisite torture of dinner and then leaving the restaurant, trying to drive and keep his car on the road while smelling her sweet compelling scent in the close confines of his car.

  He had offered her dessert and wine at his home, but in the state he was in, she would be lucky to make it inside the door before he made a meal of her. He wanted to start at her pretty feet and lick his way up.

  He blew out a breath of pure frustration.

  It wouldn’t be so damn bad, but he could scent her delicate arousal and it was driving him mad. His vulfen instinct, so silent in his life thus far, was clamoring at him, insisting that his first duty was to claim his mate and soothe her frantic excitement. He was more than ready. The hint of spice in the air made him hard as a rock.

  He exited the car and was opening her door far too quickly for a regular human. If she noticed, so be it. He was planning to tell her, of course, just not tonight. He needed time to find the right words, to judge what her reaction might be. He needed time to show her how they could be together without any distractions.

  He didn’t want to see fear in her beautiful eyes when she looked at him, so it was imperative that he find the right delivery.

  When he had expressed the same concern to Matsij earlier, his friend had advised practicing in front of the mirror. A sneer crossed his face at the memory. He might be feeling desperate, but he wouldn’t be doing that.

  He took Maressa’s hand and led her to the door. She hung back a little and he turned, but she wasn’t protesting. She was staring at his home. He tried to see it through her eyes, but his field stone cottage in the woods was the same as ever.

  “It’s such a pretty house, like something out of a fairy tale,” she said, and her voice held a note of approval that warmed his heart.

  “It is a small family home, not a mansion,” he said, and pulled back from the sexual brink with an effort. “The old woman who lived here before I bought it raised three strong sons in this house. I refinished the floors and gave it a fresh coat of paint, but it is much the same as it ever was. It does the job without being pretentious, but it has a charm all its own.”

  Maressa nodded. “Yes, it’s very welcoming, not intimidating at all.”

  He squeezed her hand in his. He was glad she felt welcome. He wanted her to be happy here, as he fully intended it to be their mated home. He was already familiar with the grounds and had found the perfect tree for a tire swing in case they had a pup one day.

  His hungry cock throbbed with the need to be inside her. One step at a time, he cautioned.

  His sense of humor kicked in and he smiled.

&nbs
p; “What?” Maressa asked.

  He shook his head with a low laugh. “I am getting far ahead of myself. And you.”

  She cocked her head to one side and studied him. “How is it that you live in the city but you have no neighbors?”

  “I do have neighbors, but only on one side and their houses are behind the tall cedar hedge there. The large house on the other side of this had been condemned, so I bought the property for back taxes and had the house torn down to plant evergreens and fruit trees. There is a small meadow behind the house and a creek also where the lot backs onto a shallow ravine.”

  He was trying to keep his voice steady and answer her questions while the emotional storm of having his mate next to him was driving his thoughts in a very different direction.

  The breeze blew her hair back from her face and she lifted her head as if to catch the elusive salt-heavy scent of the ocean.

  She was glorious and wild in that moment and his heart thumped hard.

  Ives cursed under his breath. She got him so hot so fast that his brain was barely functioning, but one thought was still front and center. No matter how sharp his fangs or how his instinct was driving him, as a point of pride, he would not claim his mate until she understood fully who and what he was. She was on her way there and had acknowledged his need to protect, to make the world safer, but she didn’t realize yet that it was all for her.

  He reached out slowly and pulled her close to his body so that her full breasts came to rest against his chest. Her eyes widened when they locked on his and her mouth opened as if she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

  Her full lips made a soft cushion for the kiss he couldn’t resist stealing. Her eyes fluttered shut and she sighed into his mouth. Had she been waiting as he had for this moment?

  Her tongue twined with his and the taste of her pricked him like spurs. Suddenly they were dragging at each other’s clothes. He pulled her inside the front door then turned and lifted her so that her back touched the door and her lush bottom rested on his forearm. Her thighs parted for him so naturally it was all he could do to tear his mouth away.

  She laughed in her throat and slid her hands into his hair to pull him back to her mouth. His blood heated and burned in his veins like liquid fire and there was a roaring in his ears that drowned out all thought.

  * * * *

  Maressa writhed into a better position and moaned. His hard body pinned her to the cool wood of the door and the hot ridge of his penis rubbed right where she needed it. He thrust forward once and ground in a circular motion that blasted her nerves into a swift shattering climax.

  Ives lowered her to the floor and stripped her pants down her legs while she was still shaking from the bright orgasm. She took a deep breath and wiggled out of her shirt and bra. She was trying to help him, help them, but it took twice as long as it should because her system was already fried.

  He pulled his shirt over his head and it went flying.

  When he lowered his zipper and shucked his jeans all in one motion, she stopped and stared. Her mouth watered at the sight of his powerful arousal rising toward her. A trickle of heated moisture rolled down her thigh and she shivered. Every part of him was gorgeous.

  He pulled her further into the great room, urged her on with hot little kisses. They knelt on a soft white rug, rolled together until he was above her.

  His glorious face lowered to hers. She could be happy just looking at him and feeling that tingle in her belly whenever his eyes met hers.

  His mouth was hot and so gentle the sweet rise of pleasure took her by surprise. His taste popped and fizzed through her blood like the finest champagne. The nervous tension that had kept her spine straight all day let go and her muscles relaxed.

  The kiss deepened, his arms tightened around her, and she was crushed close in his embrace while clever fingers plucked and played with her nipples. She sighed, accepting the flow of bright sensation, sliding her hands up into his hair.

  His hand on her breast shook, but he was slow and thorough. His tender approach made her sigh. It made her want to surrender.

  He sucked on her tongue and they rocked together. Lights flashed behind her eyes while he pushed inside slow and deep.

  She couldn’t stifle a moan. She could feel her body stretching around his cock, her moisture easing his way, but it was a tight fit for them. He was a big man and she wasn’t used to sex any more. The sensation hovered on the fine edge of pain, but lord, it was good.

  He thrust again, seeking a deeper connection, and nudged a spot that made her eyes roll back and shot her system into overdrive. She gripped his hair and pulled him even closer.

  “Please,” she said. She hooked one leg around his strong back and his thick cock edged a little deeper. “I could almost—”

  “Count to twenty,” he said through his teeth. “Don’t come again until we hit twenty.”

  Twenty? He might as well ask for a hundred. She writhed around him and his hands clamped down to hold her hips still. She’d never make it to twenty.

  “I can’t!” It came out as a wail. She wriggled and bucked, on the ragged edge of an amazing orgasm, but he held steady.

  “Count.”

  “One, two,” she began desperately.

  With each successive number, he slid into her slow and hard and to the hilt. She was very wet now, her body inviting him, begging him, to come inside.

  “Three, four, five.”

  She tried to speed up her counting, but he slapped her bottom.

  “Start over,” he said, and she could have cried. “Keep your rhythm slow. Twenty.”

  Her body was overheating and her voice was hoarse from the cries she was holding back, but she wanted him.

  “One,” she gasped out. “Two.”

  He surged in and out like a powerful ocean wave, pleasure building moment by moment until she was swamped with it, floating in a sea of bliss and still he rocked into her over and over, led by the rhythm her voice created.

  “Three. Four.”

  Her body flowed up to meet his, rippling and grasping around him at every entry and exit. At this rate, she would never make it to ten.

  “Five.”

  The muscles in his back tightened and released. She swept her hands down to try to pull him deeper inside.

  “Six. Seven.”

  He slowed his movements, but never stopped for a moment. She couldn’t catch her breath. There was never a hitch, never a respite from the beautiful torture.

  “Eight. Nine.”

  Her thighs, spread wide around his working hips, were burning, every muscle screaming with tension that was begging for release.

  “Ten,” she whispered over the frantic thunder of her pulse.

  His motion was steady, measured, and every deep glide inside her squeezed her exposed clit between their bodies and sent glittering waves of heat up through her body. One sensation built on the next until he threatened to steal her sanity with every controlled thrust.

  “Twelve. Thirteen,” she mumbled into his devouring mouth. “Fourteen. Fifteen.”

  He was drawing it out, making each withdrawal last as long as the inner push, sending the brutal pleasure higher until her senses narrowed to a pinpoint where their bodies were joined.

  “Sixteen.”

  The word was meaningless, steeped in an agony of pleasure.

  “Seventeen.”

  The constant fiery friction on her swollen flesh made her gasp for breath. She tried to remember what number came next.

  “Eighteen.” She struggled to speak the word.

  “Nineteen.”

  He paused almost all the way out then shoved hard. The punch of sensation was almost more than she could take and she shrieked into his mouth as her body rocketed into a stunning climax. She shook uncontrollably. His muscles were rock hard above her and his muffled shout sent her higher.

  He rocked into her a little to draw out the sensations. Her whole body clenched while the orgasm roared through her. When the
wave passed, it left her breathless and unable to form a coherent thought.

  “Twenty,” he whispered into her damp hair. They lay twined together on the soft rug, limp.

  She wasn’t sure if it was the most comfortable she had ever been, or if her senses had been so dazzled by Ives that she couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

  After a time, their breathing calmed so they didn’t sound like winded distance runners.

  Maressa ran her foot up and down the back of Ives’s leg in a lazy caress. The hair on his legs tickled her sensitive arch. His body was lying half under hers, warm and comforting, and their breathing was beautifully in sync.

  Eyes half-open, she was drifting pleasantly in the aftermath. Her limbs were heavy with satisfaction and her blood hummed in her veins. She wanted to stay exactly where she was for the next year or so. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so good, and it was all due to the man whose warm breath teased the side of her neck.

  “I think we missed number eleven,” she said and he groaned.

  “You can think? Perhaps I should have demanded you count to twenty-five.”

  Maressa smiled and nuzzled her face against his pulse. It was still a little fast. Twenty had seemed like an eternity. No way would they have made it to twenty-five.

  “I know we missed eleven.” Her voice was a little softer as she explored and nibbled. His hand slipped up to cup the back of her head.

  “You mean you left out eleven deliberately.” His words were slow, lazy. It didn’t sound as if he minded.

  She considered. “Maybe I would have at that point if I thought I could get away with it,” she said complacently. “But you’re giving me too much credit. I didn’t have the brainpower to do anything deliberately right then. I was just trying to breathe while you were torturing me. I think I screamed.”