Keeping his teeth planted on her smooth shoulder, he started rocking gently into her. He wanted to draw this out, take her to the edge again and again, and drive her into begging for release. One of her hands came up and sharp fingernails dug into his ass. He growled and stopped moving, telling her without words to remove her claws.
At first she sank them deeper and he envisioned them making small crescent shapes on his butt. “Don’t stop. Jesus, God, go faster, something,” she screamed. He bit down on the flesh in his mouth, warning her to be still, that he was in control of this session, not her. After several seconds she relented with a whimper.
His lips curved as he resumed his slow torture.
Sweat beaded his forehead. Her torture was his too. His balls contracted, drawing energy to force an explosion of seed. Caelan released his bite and licked along the wound he’d inflicted.
“You are mine,” he growled and slammed into her, driving his cock against her womb. Tieran grunted with the force.
“Whose are you?”
When she didn’t answer he placed a hand on the small of her back and reached with the other one to her clit. The bud was tight as a pebble. With one touch she jerked and tried to rub against his finger. He wouldn’t let her and held her in place. There was no space for her to move between the pillow underneath her and his hand on her back.
“Whose are you?” he demanded, sweat dripping on her cheek as he leaned over her.
“Yours,” she cried. “Yours.”
His cock jolted at her acceptance. He pulled his hand off her clit and released her back to hold both her hips. The slaps of their bodies echoed in the small bedroom, mirroring the sucking sounds coming from her pussy as he drove himself in and out of her body.
“Make it stop,” she shouted and fisted a hand in the comforter.
“Never, Tieran. This is…too good…never want…to…stop.” He thrust into her one last time, her tight pussy wringing every last drop of come and milking him with her own convulsions.
Caelan collapsed on top of her and buried his nose in the silkiness of her hair.
“Oh, God. Oh. God.” She twitched every few seconds around his length sending tiny lightning bolts of sensations through his cock.
He never wanted to leave this spot.
“Get off me, I can’t breathe.”
Caelan laughed and relaxed with a whoosh. He was thinking about how he didn’t ever want to move and she blurted out something as mundane as not being able to breathe. Damn. He rolled to one side, disengaging from her as he went and gritting his teeth as her vaginal walls tried to suck him back in. See, her pussy didn’t care that her lungs couldn’t get air.
He pulled her to his chest, spooning her and wiping the hair off her face. If what she’d said earlier about having another vision came true, she was probably in for a long night. He sighed and closed his eyes on the memory of her subtle accusation.
Caelan caressed the new mark he’d given her with his thumb and placed a gentle kiss on the red welts forming there. Her breathing slowed and her body melted into his as she drifted off into a sated sleep.
She had submitted to his dominance. His heart swelled with fierce pride for his mate even as his brain warned him that their relationship would never be stable until she accepted that Eli wasn’t the one responsible for the deaths of those women.
On top of all this, he still had to worry about her becoming a victim herself. Somehow he had to keep a lock on her ability. If word got out, it would draw attention to her like a moth to a flame. Any shifter would be able to smell that she’d conceived as well. If the killer was after alpha mates, then Tieran already had a target painted on her back. With her gift, she didn’t need any help attracting attention, which is exactly what their baby would do.
With both arms he gathered her closer, cradling her tightly to him, their bodies sticky in the aftermath.
No one would ever get to his mate.
Not without going through his dead body first.
Chapter Six
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He slapped the steering wheel with his open palm and guided the coasting vehicle to the side of the road. The dash was as dark as the rest of the interior of the small car. A strong whiff of leather assaulted his nose when he shifted in the driver’s seat. He was going to be fucking late for his meeting with this Christian guy. Gravel crunched under the wheels on the shoulder of the two-lane desolate highway.
Night had completely set in around him, adding to the already dark shadows of the woods bordering both sides of the road. They called to him, whispering in the wind to shift and go for a run. He stared into their inviting depths and wished he could.
An image formed in his head of a lithe, nubile body. He pictured her wearing a T-shirt and panties, and stretched out under a sheet on her bed. Blood flooded his groin. His cock jumped against the button-fly of his jeans.
Goddamn, what he would give to sink into her pussy. To feel her tight heat grasp his cock and hear her cries as she came long and hard around him. Someday soon, she would. Lately, whenever he was near her, her scent drove him crazy. It teased him, making his dick twitch.
As it stood now, he could hardly sleep for wanting her and his cock sported a perpetual hard-on. He’d tried to ease it with other women to no avail. His body only wanted its mate. His heart did too.
He pressed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets. Up until now he’d never had one problem with his Mustang GT. His baby had run perfectly, was fine-tuned whenever he had a spare moment, buffed to a sparkling black shine every weekend. The damn thing was only a year old, anyway. He cursed his luck and unclipped the cell phone from his waistband. With his thumb, he flipped it open and glared at the screen.
No fucking service. “Son of a bitch,” he bit out, throwing the offending phone into the seat next to him.
In the middle of nowhere, no phone service, with a car that chose tonight to dick around. His plans were royally screwed over. He grabbed his mini-flashlight from the glove box, flicked it on and glanced at the TAG Heuer watch circling his wrist. Ten-fifteen. They were supposed to have met at ten. The scar on his shoulder suddenly blazed with pain. He gritted his teeth against the searing sensation ripping through his upper arm and covered the six-inch puckered line with his empty hand. He’d received the injury one night when another shifter who thought he was better than everybody else had challenged him. He still hadn’t forgiven the wolf who’d given it to him. With a sly smile, he remembered giving as good as he’d gotten. Little fucker still pissed people off, despite his rank in the community.
“Christ.” The pain wrenched through the years-old wound again. The flesh had been flayed open by the teeth of the wolf and hadn’t healed the way wolves typically heal. It had taken longer and been more painful than any other injury inflicted upon him. Why in the hell was it acting up now, when it hadn’t bothered him for ages?
He turned the key and hoped his car’s electrical short circuit, and his phone’s, was due to some anomaly in the area.
The only sound that greeted him was a soft whir, whir, of the engine failing, not the usual mind-blowing, deep-throated roar that accompanied his specialized exhaust system. His championship thoroughbred had been turned into a whinnying, wobbly-legged foal. A fact that was completely incongruent with an electrical malfunction.
“Damn it.” He pushed open the door and slammed his hand down on the roof of his prized possession. No cars had passed him in the few minutes he’d sat on the side of the road, no sign of life.
This wasn’t the way tonight was supposed to go. Instead of finishing his job, it looked like he was going to get his run in after all. He toed off his shoes and yanked his pants off, pissed at the turn of events.
Again, a beautiful face swam into focus, making his cock thicken. Fuck soon enough, he needed her now.
He fisted his hands at his sides and screamed his frustration into the dead night.
Why was he putting himself through this hell? W
hy not just come right out and take her, make her understand how much he needed her, wanted her, craved her, body and soul? Fuck.
She’d hate him, that’s why. Be scared to death of what he was.
“Son of a bitch. Be the alpha that you are and make her see.” He resisted the urge to howl.
He still had time. She wasn’t going anywhere. When all this was over, she’d still be here and then he’d be all over her.
Stripping off the rest of his clothes, he dumped them in the backseat along with his keys and slammed the door shut. He’d bring his spare set from home when he came back to get it later. Hopefully the car would still be here. It burned a hole in his gut to leave his baby vulnerable in the middle of nowhere. An owl hooted in the distance, reminding him that the only things in these woods were himself and the wild animals. One of which, he was about to become.
He tugged on the door handle one last time and then initiated his change. The woods called to him again. His nude body transformed, popping and stretching to accommodate his wolf’s shape, fur taking over his skin. When it was over, he lifted his head and howled. A plethora of other animals responded by scurrying into hiding.
He loped off into the trees, thankful his wolf’s senses would pick up a trail for home far better than his human self.
Tieran woke up gasping. Her visions were getting stronger. Always before she saw the event as an outsider. An observer looking in. That’s how she’d been able to tell the Florida police what the rapist had looked like. His features, not his thoughts. Lately, she’d been morphing into the person she was “seeing”. She knew everything the person was thinking and feeling, but had no clue what they looked like.
She shivered beneath the covers. It was a truly eerie feeling to know what someone else was thinking. At least nothing had happened this time, other than a man turning into a wolf. Right, because that was a normal, everyday occurrence.
Tieran settled into her pillow and listened to the thumping of her heart. The steady cadence of Caelan’s breathing next to her said he was still sleeping. A dull throb ticked away at her temples, but strangely, her usual nausea was absent.
No way could she go back to sleep now. Reading was an option, but she might wake Caelan with the light. The soreness between her thighs announced she was not ready for another round with the insatiable, gorgeous man lying in the bed next to her. Sleeping with her, for God’s sake! One day and the man had practically moved in with her. If the world would stop spinning for even one minute, she might be able to make heads or tails out of what was happening in her life.
She sighed and her tummy grumbled its presence. A snack would be nice. Fortification for all the calories she’d burned today. His stamina at lovemaking could run circles around any aerobic workout those Hollywood types could dish out. She’d taken more naps today than she had since she was four. Her stomach rumbled again and she rubbed a hand over her face.
In order to have a snack, one must have food on hand. She could go to the store. It wasn’t that late and the trip might help make her sleepy. Yep, a midnight raid of the grocery store it was.
Thirty minutes later, Tieran flinched when the apples she’d just bagged bounced off the wire basket of her shopping cart. She hated bruised apples. For a second she thought about dumping them back into the bin, but nixed the idea. With her luck, someone would see her. Her ears heated with the embarrassing image of getting caught putting her fruit back.
“Coward.” She sighed and glanced around to make sure no was looking and guessing what she was contemplating. The produce area was empty.
Not surprising, considering it was the middle of the night. “Normal people don’t grocery shop at this time of day—night,” she muttered. Oh, goody. Now she was talking to herself.
Perhaps she was here at exactly the right time then, because she was nowhere near normal on the weirdness scale.
Sticking her tongue out on a gag, she passed the heaping pile of disgusting smelling oranges. The cart made a repetitive, very annoying squeak and thump with every revolution of its flat-on-one-side wheel. She never even glanced at the other good-for-you stuff. Bananas and apples were about all she could handle. All the rest might look good in her fridge, but it would go uneaten and rot there.
“Maybe Caelan would like some, Tulla.”
“Maybe Caelan doesn’t live in my house,” she responded defiantly.
“Tsk, tsk, Tullabelle. The man had clothes sent over. I don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Dead people are not allowed to tsk, Gramama. And I didn’t give the ‘man’ permission to move in with me. For God’s sake, I don’t know anything about him. Besides, he seems like a meat kind of guy, I don’t see him going for the roughage either.”
“How could you not know anything after all he’s told you? He is only trying to protect you.”
From what? she wanted to scream. She caught herself just in time.
“Can I help you find something?”
Oh, good Lord. A stock boy was staring at her, hefting a crate of mini-carrots. She shook her head and practically sprinted from the produce section. Or would have if the cart had been capable of rolling in a straight line. Instead she veered to the left and had to muscle the thing back on course before it took out the potatoes.
Her body ached in places it hadn’t for a long time. The memories of all the times Caelan had fucked her left her panties damp. He certainly had stamina. What a waste of time she’d spent with Peter. Obviously he didn’t have a clue when it came to sex. Good thing Tieran hadn’t known then what she was missing. Or maybe it was a bad thing.
Had she known how good sex could be, she would have dropped Peter on his ass before he ever got the chance to hurt her like he had.
“Peter’s a weasel.”
Tieran choked back a grunt of laughter. “I believe you’ve said that before. On more than one occasion.”
“Well, it’s the truth.”
She stared at the meat. Her mouth pooled with saliva. That was weird. She wasn’t usually turned-on by meat. Okay, so Caelan had a piece of meat that made her whole body spasm. She smiled. Ooh boy, the things he could do with his meat. A giggle escaped her lips at the same time her stomach growled again.
“Man, I must really be hungry.”
What kind of meat did wolves eat, precisely? Steak, hamburger, roast? A roast sounded good. She could make one of those. But then she’d have to go back and face the produce boy to get some carrots and whatever else goes with a roast. She opted for the ready-made hamburgers. If Caelan was still around tomorrow night, they could have them for dinner.
Awkwardly pushing the reluctant cart up and down the aisles, she added several other items. Doritos, a case of Mountain Dew, hamburger buns, pickles, pre-packaged potato salad, which she had to go get from the deli section, and a six-pack of Bud Light.
“Nope, better get the twelve-pack.” She shoved it under the cart. No reason for the beer to touch her soda and contaminate it.
Turning the corner at the frozen foods aisle, her skin prickled. Tieran whipped around at the sudden sensation of being watched. She half-expected Caelan to be standing there glowering at her for having left him in bed without asking permission.
A flash of movement caught her eye and then was gone, beyond the corner of another aisle. Uneasy, she shivered. Had someone followed her then jumped down the aisle? Or was she imagining things, spooking at nothing? With her last vision prominent in her mind, who could blame her?
“Don’t go look.” She forced herself to continue her shopping if for nothing else than to get the hell out of there. Her belly grew queasy.
She grabbed a box of fettuccine Alfredo out of the freezer and threw it into the cart. The box tilted to one side and slid to the bottom of the stack. She had to laugh at the innocuous box that had been the start of her crazy-ass day. Maybe this time she’d get to eat the damn thing, she thought, still smiling.
Done. She’d pay for her groceries and leave. If she as
ked they would probably lend her the produce boy to walk her to her car.
Tieran couldn’t help but look down the aisle where she’d seen the momentary glimpse of movement. Whoever it was, was gone now. She blew out a breath, angry with herself for jumping at shadows.
At least her trip had helped with her temporary insomnia. She was more than ready to go home and slip into bed against Caelan’s naked body.
* * *
He dragged in a long breath. The grocery store had been too close a call. After missing his meeting, he’d come back here just in time to catch Caelan’s new mate leaving. He’d thought about taking care of her right then, but didn’t. He would save her for last and savor the look on Caelan’s face when he did so.
She’d already conceived. Caelan must be beside himself thinking about his mate carrying the next little Primelet in her belly.
It would be his pleasure to rip the whelp from her womb before it had a chance to live. No one would stop him from becoming Prime. Not even a single-celled embryo.
It should have been his position all along. He was the stronger shifter.
The house was dark. Enough time had passed for the cunt to be back asleep. Dumb motherfucker. Didn’t Caelan give a shit about his mate? So many things could have befallen her. Especially now with a killer on the loose. Reminded of the pack’s feeble attempts at finding him, he laughed. No one would ever suspect him. Ever.
Tomorrow he’d call and reschedule the meeting. Same time, same place. The trap was set and things would have gotten taken care of tonight if he hadn’t had to bow out. It was the perfect plan to pin everything on a red herring. While everyone was sitting around scratching their asses, he would have plenty of time to move in for the ultimate kill.
Right now he was going to have a little fun with the Prime’s mate.
He’d sensed her in Elizabeth’s mind as he’d torn her apart. No fucking psychic cunt would take away what was rightfully his. Not when he was this close.
Seeing Eye Mate Page 10