by Lori King
Their lips met again in a brief but intense kiss meant to convey that need, and then he moved away to shut the door. She heard the click of the lock before he turned back around to face her.
“Clothes off.”
The demand made her shiver with desire even as her inner control freak bristled a little.
“Um, there’s something I should tell you first,” she said, hesitating.
Luke frowned, and reached out his hands. “What is it?”
“I’m not, um, well see, this isn’t my natural hair color.”
Confusion filled his eyes and he shook his head. “Huh?”
“You know, the uh, carpet doesn’t match the drapes. My hair is naturally blonde.” She waited for him to turn away in disgust, or laugh or something, but he just continued to look at her like she was crazy.
“So?” he finally said.
“Well, I just didn’t want you to be surprised when you saw me naked, or you know, disappointed.”
Understanding finally dawned on his face, and he moved to her, pulling her up from the bed. “Tavi, baby. There is absolutely nothing about you that will disappoint me. I don’t care what color the hair is on your head or your pretty pussy. All I care about is getting my hands on you. Now, clothes off.”
She could argue, but what was the point? She wanted to feel his skin against hers, and the only way to do that was to get naked. She quickly pulled her skirt off, leaving it in a pile on the floor next to the hamper. She’d worry about housekeeping tomorrow. Standing in front of him in just her panties and bra, she fought the urge to cover herself from his view. When he did nothing but watch her, she shifted awkwardly.
“Your turn.” She gestured to his jeans.
Luke’s mouth curled up in a sexy smile. “If I take these off I’ll lose all control, and fuck you like a madman.” The words made her pussy drip with cream, and she sighed with pleasure. The sound made his nostrils flare, and she could have sworn he was sniffing the air. She noticed that his eyes looked brighter, but before she could ask questions, he was back to giving orders. “Get all of your clothes off, Tavi. If you want to keep them, take them off.”
Reaching back, she released the clasp on her bra. Luke stepped closer as she flicked it open. She shivered as the soft cotton scraped against her sensitive skin. Her nipples were already hard, and she pushed aside her self-doubt to drop the bra on the floor. Luke let out a low growl, and moved another step closer. Her hands instinctively came up to cup her breasts, pressing them up and together as she massaged them. The look on Luke’s face was hot enough to melt her insides, and she quickly moved her hands to her hips and pushed her panties down her thighs. When she stood back up, his eyes roved over her naked form, hot and hungry.
“Holy shit, you’re exquisite.”
She felt her cheeks heat with a blush, and she forced herself to stand there until he’d looked his fill. The longer he stared, the stronger she felt. There was so much desire in his eyes that it almost erased all of her petty self-confidence issues.
She was prepared for him to grab her, and throw her on the bed, or pull her against him. But she wasn’t prepared for him to drop to his knees in front of her, and kiss her belly just above her navel.
“I’m not sure I’m worthy of you, baby, but I’ll do my best to make tonight perfect.” His lips caressed her skin as he spoke, and she tangled her fingers in his thick hair, tipping his head back, so that he was looking up at her.
“Make love to me, Luke,” she murmured, giving in to what she needed, and wanted so much.
No better words had ever been spoken.
Luke was certain of it. Hearing Tavi ask him for the thing he desired most made his balls draw up tight, and his cock twitch painfully behind the zipper of his jeans. With a gentle push, she sat on the edge of the bed with him between her knees. It put her pert breasts at the perfect level for him to devour. Licking the tip of one while he teased the tip of the other with his fingertips, he began to seduce her body with his.
Every stroke was matched with a moan, or a pleasure-filled sigh, and his cock grew harder and hotter. She smelled of jasmine and raw woman. The sexually potent fragrance made his wolf mindlessly happy and wild with the primal desire to sink both his cock and his canine teeth into her, marking her as his own.
He set about worshiping her body with his tongue and his fingers. Falling back on the bed, she murmured words of pleasure and need, sometimes making sense, and other times incomprehensible.
With her pussy spread open to him, he slid his fingers into her pale pink opening, and had to bite his lip at the velvet heat that surrounded them. She was going to be tight. He was larger than most human men, and she was much smaller than he’d expected. Then again, he’d never been with a woman who’d had a child, so he hadn’t truly known what to expect.
What he got was a sexual goddess. She was beautiful, right down to the teeny tiny white lines that dotted her lower abdomen. She bore the scars of her pregnancy, but it wasn’t a turn-off. It actually fulfilled some primal need inside of him to find a woman that could bear his children. A strong mate.
Before he allowed himself to drift too far down that road, he focused his tongue on her sweet cunt, and began teasing her toward her first orgasm of the night. Her flavor was a deliciously salty-sweet blend and the more he got, the more he wanted. The folds of her pussy were soft against his tongue, and moisture dripped from her opening as her hips thrust up against his mouth seeking more from him. He didn’t make her wait for it, instead he focused all of his energy on bringing her to a fast, hard climax. She didn’t disappoint, jerking underneath him as her cunt spasmed around his thick fingers.
To his surprise she was almost completely silent in her orgasm. Her face twisted and her mouth dropped open with a sharp exhale, but no other noise left her throat. If it weren’t for the obvious reaction under his fingers and tongue he would have doubted how good it was for her.
After a few breaths she caught him staring up at her from between her thighs and she blushed. It stroked his ego to see her cheeks stained with pink and her body trembling underneath him.
Bending, he nipped her inner thigh, and she protested. “Ouch! Hey!”
“You taste good.”
Her cheeks grew even redder, but she returned his grin. “I’ll return the favor if you let me up.”
Luke bit back a growl of need, and shook his head. “As much as I’d love to watch you suck my cock, I’m on the edge of my control already. That will have to wait for later.”
Rising above her, he pressed forward and her thighs spread around his hips in welcome. He kissed his way back up her torso to her sweet tits, pleasuring each one with his tongue, and teeth, before continuing to her collarbone. The moment he reached that thick tendon that connected her shoulder to her neck, his teeth sharpened instinctively. His wolf wanted to mate her, and it was going to take everything he had to resist it.
Burying his face in her hair, he could hear her murmuring words of encouragement as her hands began roaming over his bare chest and shoulders. His jeans felt like they were strangling his cock, and he groaned when her fingers made their way down to his zipper.
“Take them off, Luke, please?”
Her pretty plea was music to his ears, and he rushed to release his erection from confinement. It throbbed against her thigh as he shoved his pants to his knees, and she froze.
“Holy shit.”
“What’s wrong, baby?” Luke frowned in confusion and then realized that she was staring at his cock.
“You’re massive!”
He felt ten feet tall with her staring at him in wonder and appreciation, and he let out a loud laugh. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
“Well don’t let it go to your head, big guy. You haven’t proved you can use it yet.”
Pressing the head of his cock against her labia, he rubbed it up and down her slit, coating it in her juices. “Open up for me, love.”
She pulled
her knees up and back, giving him complete access to her sweet honeypot, and he eased it home. It took several gentle thrusts, but before he knew it he was buried balls deep inside of her hot passage and instinct took over.
Together they rocked and thrust against each other, climbing closer and closer to heaven. Her nails dug into his ribs as she tried to pull him closer. He didn’t expect her to climax again so quickly, but she exploded like a stick of silent dynamite. Her head tilted back and her entire body clenched down on him, pulling him chest to breast with her small body as if she couldn’t get enough skin-to-skin contact. His teeth scraped her shoulder and blood oozed from the tiny scratch. Before he could think about what he was doing he bit down on her shoulder and shot his cum deep into her tight pussy.
Chapter 10
Tavi couldn’t think straight anymore. That second orgasm seemed to have wiped out some of her brain cells. Luke was draped over her, and his weight was making it hard to inhale the fresh air she needed to recover. Her fingers just barely scraped over his hip bone and he shot upward like he’d been electrocuted.
“What’s wrong?”
He rubbed at the spot she’d just been touching and grimaced. “Nothing.”
“Are you… Surely you’re not ticklish?” She began to giggle at the idea.
“Everyone’s ticklish somewhere,” he said gruffly, frowning at her laughter.
“Not everyone. I’m not.”
His eyes narrowed and his lips curled up in a dangerous grin. “Really? I might have to put that to the test.”
“Give it your best shot. I swear I’m not ticklish.”
Luke’s hands and fingers danced lightly over her body, sending streaks of fire through her blood instantly. Before long she was trembling again, and he smirked at her before kissing her hardened nipples. “See.”
“That’s not ticklish. That’s turned on. I like it when you touch me. You have great hands.” She moaned and turned her head hoping he would keep kissing and touching his way up her body again. Instead he tensed and growled. Not a playful growl, but a real growl.
“What’s wrong now?” she snapped.
“You’re bleeding.”
She pushed at his chest and reached between her legs thinking that perhaps his larger-than-average cock had torn her, but there was nothing. Confused, she shook her head. “No I’m not.”
“Your shoulder. I bit you.”
Her fingers reached for the wound, and she hissed when they came away bloody. “Damn. I better grab a Band-Aid. You’ll have to watch those teeth, buddy. I can’t go applying for jobs looking like I spent the night in the backseat with a teenager.”
Going into the bathroom she grabbed a cloth and mopped up the small amount of blood on her shoulder before inspecting the injury. It didn’t look like a regular bite. It had two larger points and two smaller points, almost like a dog bite. She didn’t even remember him doing it, so she figured it wasn’t anything to be concerned about now.
Reentering her bedroom with a bandage over the bite mark, she was surprised to see Luke dressed and standing next to the bed.
“What’s this?”
He flushed, and his eyes darted from the bandage on her shoulder to her breasts, to the door, and back to the bandage, never once meeting her eyes. “I need to get going.”
It felt like her heart stopped in her chest. He got what he wanted and now he was leaving. Fucking hell, she’d let him get her all twisted up until she gave in, and now he was going to cut and run, just like Jason did.
Reaching deep into her soul she put forth her most carefree smile and shrugged. “Okay.”
“Uh, I guess I’ll see you later?”
His awkwardness was the final nail in the coffin. Clearly he’d only wanted one thing from her, and she had told him that she was okay with it being just one night. She just hadn’t expected it to only be one fuck, too.
“Okay. I’ll follow you out so that I can lock the door behind you,” she said, pulling on her bathrobe to cover her nudity.
Luke led the way back through the house to the door. He paused as he stepped out into the night and turned back to her. “Tavi, I—”
“Don’t. Don’t say anything, Luke. I get it. I knew what this was going into it. Goodnight.” With that she shut the door, leaving him standing on her steps. Leaning against the cold wood, she slowly sank to the floor in shock. Hearing the sound of his truck start up and drive away release the dam holding back her tears, and she let herself cry.
Luke was furious at his own lack of control. He’d mated Tavi without her permission or her knowledge, and he didn’t even want her as his mate. She was a human, and a single mother. What the hell did he know about being a mate anyway? His parents weren’t exactly the ideal role models considering they weren’t true mates. Now he’d gone and turned a problem into a catastrophe by running out on her like a chicken shit.
The moment he’d looked down and seen the blood on her shoulder, his entire life simultaneously exploded into chaos and stopped altogether. Fear swamped him, and before he could think through what he was doing he was dressed and standing on her porch. How the hell was he going to fix this?
Once he’d gotten home and parked his truck he quickly stripped and headed into the woods. He had to let his wolf out to burn off the desire still throbbing through his veins, or he’d make his way right back to Tavi and beg her to let him back in.
His paws barely made any noise as he ran through the trees, basking in the moonlight and the dark anonymity of the night. He didn’t want to return home until he had a plan, because he was afraid Noah would smell the bonding on him the instant he drew close. When he finally started to tire, he realized that he’d gone directly to the pack shaman’s cottage, and Delaky sat on her front steps as though she’d been waiting for him.
“A new blood bond for the pack is on the wind.” Her soft voice echoed in the small clearing that held her cottage. Luke, still in wolf form, didn’t respond, he just walked up the path and lay down near her feet.
“I scent sorrow, and your soul is in turmoil, dear child. The fire of the bond should be within you, but you’ve denied it.”
Her ice-blonde hair was draped over one shoulder and pooled on the step at her side. In the moonlight she looked like an angel, but her eyes held a deep wisdom that only age and experience could bring. Luke had always thought she was beautiful in an alien sort of way.
“Seasons bring new joys, but your heart refuses to open, and even now you protect yourself with your wolf.”
Luke cocked his head in confusion trying to figure out her meaning. As intelligent as she was, he sure wished she’d quit speaking in riddles. Aggravated, he shifted back into his skin, and sat silently in front of her waiting for her reaction.
“You’ve caused your new mate pain.”
He nodded.
“Mating is vital to the wolf. He is not a solitary creature. The moon cannot exist without the sun, as you will find you cannot exist without your mate.”
“I have to, Delaky. She’s human,” he protested.
A slow shake of her head and a pointed glare were followed by the terrifying words, “No longer.”
It was at that moment that he realized the true consequences of what he’d done. His bite would begin Tavi’s transition to werewolf, and she didn’t even know it yet. She could begin feeling strange things at any moment, and she wouldn’t know what to do or what was happening to her. It would scare the hell out of her, and make it even harder to leave her behind.
“I have to stop it. Tell me what to do to break the bond.” He heard the emotion in his own voice.
“Like a diamond core, the bond is firm.”
He was trembling now as he absorbed the reality of the situation. There was nothing that could be done to stop it. Tavi was his true mate. He’d known that since the moment he caught her scent, and that’s why he’d been unable to stop himself when the moment presented. Running away from her only made the whole situation worse.
&nb
sp; “Fix what you have fractured, child. The wolf within the man can only breathe so long as his soul is whole.” Delaky’s strange riddles stabbed into his heart as he realized what he had to do.
“I have to go to her. I have to make her understand what happened. I have to stop this!” Shifting back into his animal, he ran toward the woods, but behind him he heard an eerie prophecy echo on the wind.
“What fate set into motion, only fate can slow. Guard well the words you use, as your future lies within your mate.”
Chapter 11
Este Codger loved Tavi as though she’d been born of her own body. It had been years since she’d had family living close enough to dote on when she came across Tavi and Sonny. They needed her, and it was wonderful to feel needed again. Hearing Tavi’s heartbreak as she sobbed into the sofa pillow, Este couldn’t help but wonder at the sort of man who would cause the daughter of her heart so much pain.
When she’d heard them enter the house, she’d very nearly gone out to see how their date went, but it was clear by the noises that they hadn’t yet said their goodbyes. Luke had seemed so smitten with Tavi when he picked her up, that Este was at a loss as to what happened to make him leave so suddenly.
Although she was sorely tempted to search him out and wring the man’s neck, she chose to focus on what she could do at the moment, and she sank down onto the couch wrapping her arms around Tavi.
“Shhh. It’s okay, sweet child,” she murmured into the brilliant red hair atop the quaking woman. “No man is worth your tears.”
“H–he just left. I–I don’t know w–what happened. We were—” Embarrassment stopped Tavi’s words, and Este gave her a small smile.
“I was young and full of lust once, too, Octavia. I know what you were doing behind that bedroom door. In fact, he was loud enough when he roared that I would guess our neighbors know what you were doing as well. I sure hope he was man enough to make sure you enjoyed yourself, too.”
Blushing brilliantly Tavi let out a half-sob half-laugh. “Oh yeah, that’s the problem. I enjoyed it way too much. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but then it did, and then he just…left. I don’t understand.”