by M. A. Church
“Not until I say.”
My eyes snapped open at his weirdly hissed words. That sent another jolt of desire through me, and I totally forgot I was usually the one in charge. It didn’t matter as he nuzzled my dick, then sucked me down again. I closed my eyes, and lights flashed behind my lids. Damn, he was good.
He did something strange with his tongue and… oh. I liked that. Aidric bobbed up and down. He pulled off long enough to growl at me to come, then swallowed me again. My cock touched the back of his throat, and I lost control and came.
Aidric drank every drop.
Chapter Seven
Aidric
ONCE I finished cleaning his cock, I tucked it in and buttoned him up as he pulled his wrists apart and the scarf came undone. Slowly I rose, uncertain how he was going to respond now that desire wasn’t ruling his head. I might’ve been the one on my knees, but I controlled the action. On top of that, I’d restrained him, even if the restraint was laughably simple to get out of.
Carter leaned against the boulder and took a deep breath. “Well, that was… unexpected.”
Shit. That didn’t sound good. I didn’t know what to say, so I stood there. Carter rubbed his head, knocking the watch cap he wore off to the side. He didn’t seem mad. In fact, he didn’t seem to know what he was, which made me dreadfully uncomfortable.
“I, um… let’s head back to the pack house.” Carter held the scarf out.
My shoulders slumped. Well, guess that answered that. I took it and wrapped it around my throat. Not another word was spoken as I climbed on the four-wheeler. By the time we returned, my jaw ached from how hard I clenched it.
“Supper will be served later. Listen for the bell.” Carter took his watch cap off, then his jacket. I stripped out of mine too and handed it to him. “I… need to do some work. I can get Shea or Temple to—”
“I’m going to my room to read.” I didn’t want to hang out after getting so thoroughly shut down.
I left him standing there as I climbed the stairs to the top level. Once I got to my room, I shut the door and dug through my suitcase until I found what I wanted. I flopped down on the bed and fired up my e-reader.
My mind was blank, but I knew that blessed numbness wasn’t going to last. I started the last book I bought, but nothing made sense. All I did was stare at the screen. Hell, I didn’t have a clue what story I was reading. I tossed the reader on the bed beside me and leaned my head back. Shit. I’d taken a chance and it backfired spectacularly, but I needed to know. Had to know.
Everybody kept saying this pairing had to have happened for a reason, but I didn’t see it. If Carter couldn’t accept me and my needs, then how the hell was this ever going to work? I gently tapped my head against the wall. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. But, but… was I supposed to deny that part of myself?
What was I going to do? Or did I even have to worry about doing something? He certainly couldn’t wait to get away from me. I’d only been here a couple hours, and I had already screwed this up. Maybe I should just grab my suitcase and get the hell out of here instead of waiting for him to toss me out on my ass. Goddess, how embarrassing would that be?
Running sounded like a grand idea, but that wasn’t me. If he was going to toss me out, then by the goddess, he was going to look me in the eye when he did it. Wouldn’t that be fun? This was getting me nowhere. I picked up my e-reader and tried to focus on the story.
Nope. Reading was out of the question, so I scooted off the bed and wandered over to the window. Since this was the pack house, I figured I’d see a bunch of people coming and going, but I didn’t see anybody.
Odd. The house was so quiet too. The longer I stared out the window, the more aggravated I became. Why should I hide in my room? I hadn’t done anything wrong. I wasn’t the one who ran like a whipped dog.
Armed with that decision, I left the room and went back downstairs. Ignoring what happened was the worst thing we could do, so if I had to brave the bear in his cave, then so be it. As soon as I set foot on the middle level, a thick layer of tension swamped me. What the hell was going on?
I froze by the stairwell as a beautiful woman stormed out of Carter’s office. Even I could see the sexuality she exuded, although I wasn’t remotely attracted to her. The pain on her face quickly disappeared when she caught sight of me, leaving only anger.
Eyes narrowed, she stalked toward me. Her prowling grace might’ve impressed other males, but it put my back up. Quite literally, in fact. In my mind my cat arched, then hissed in warning. Who the fuck was this?
“So you’re Aidric?” she demanded as she stopped next to me.
I crossed my arms over my chest and hiked an eyebrow even as I struggled not to choke on the pheromones pumping off her. “I am. And you are?”
“Sabrina Womack.”
Her eyes lightened as streaks of yellow overtook their naturally dark color. The hair stood up on the back of my neck, and my cat growled in response to the intimidation tactic. Then she smirked as she slowly looked me up and down.
She shook her head. “Not much to you, is there?”
Really? Instead of angering me, I wanted to laugh. Suddenly I had an idea why she was all but spitting at me. “There’s enough, and I have the right kind of ‘much’ too.”
She stiffened but didn’t say anything. I calmly waited for the next volley of shots. No doubt my smartass comment caught her off guard. From the hellacious frown on her face, she wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. I almost told her to quit frowning, that it caused wrinkles, just to see what she’d do.
“You’re a werecat?” She curled her lip as if saying “werecat” left a nasty taste in her mouth. She also didn’t look like she believed me, not that I cared.
“Yup. I hold the position of beta.”
“We’re supposed to believe you’re Carter’s mate?”
“Doesn’t really matter what you believe, now does it?” Did she really want to get catty with me? Me? A werecat? Nobody could do catty like a cat. “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. I’m his mate.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s very much my business.”
She really was a piece of work, wasn’t she? “Why is that?”
She leaned closer to me and growled softly. “Because I have what he needs, and you don’t. I can give him pups, and you can’t. You really don’t think I’m going to let someone like you stand in my way, do you?”
“I think you don’t have a choice.”
“We’ll just see, won’t we?”
“Good goddess, are you really that stupid? No, we won’t ‘just see.’ I can’t give him pups, that’s true, but there are ways around that. You’re not the only female werewolf in creation, so no, you’re really not what he needs. As far as his other needs go, I haven’t heard any complaints from him about that so far either. I’m his mate.”
“He planned to mate me before he met you.”
“Uh-huh. That must be a really great alternative reality you’ve been living in. No, no, don’t bother with a snappy comeback because, if you haven’t yet noticed, honey, that ship sailed.”
“Not yet, it hasn’t.” Sabrina stormed off.
I seriously thought about applauding. Oh, what the hell. I applauded and saw her stiffen before she continued on her way out of the pack house. Score for me.
A few seconds later, Temple came hurrying down the hallway, dread covering his face as he skidded to a stop. “Shit. I thought I heard you and smelled that…. I’m sorry. Did she say anything to you? Please tell me she didn’t. Carter’s going to skin me if she did. She did, didn’t she? Fuck. I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you’d come down from your room and—”
“Damn, man. Breathe already.” I could practically taste his anxiety.
Temple waved his hands in the direction Sabrina had stormed off. “I will, just as soon as I find out if she said or did anything to upset you.”
“I’m fine. I figured out pretty quickly what was m
otivating her before she claimed to be Carter’s mate.”
“Oh gods. Oh gods. Tell me she didn’t…. Look, Aidric. She’s not Carter’s mate.”
“I know, considering I am.”
“Exactly.” Temple nodded frantically. “They were sleeping together, yes. But this was before he met you, and as soon as he did, that relationship ended.”
“Okay—”
“Even though they were not destined mates, she decided she’d be the perfect Alpha-mate. He told her, and the elders, he wasn’t going to mate her, though. He didn’t lead her on.”
“I see.”
“No.” Temple wrung his hands. “I really don’t think you do.”
“Oh? Because I’m pretty sure that I do.”
“Shit, please, man.” Temple paled. “Just listen to me for just a minute—”
“What the hell is going on around here?” Carter bellowed as he came stomping down the hallway toward his office. “Aidric?”
This was going downhill fast, if Temple’s nerves and Carter’s appearance were any indication. Temple was jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, and Carter’s frown had enough heat in it to melt an iceberg. Temple shivered, and so did I, although it was for a different reason. Carter looked fucking intimidating.
It was hot as hell.
Temple jerked around to face Carter. “W-what do you mean?”
Carter was by my side. He reached for me, then froze. “Are you okay?”
“I’m perfectly fine.” I was certainly the only one calm in the bunch. “Why?”
“I was in my office when suddenly I… I can’t explain it. I had this feeling something was wrong with you.”
“Well, something was irritating me, but that’s over now.”
Carter scowled. “What do you mean?”
We were not getting into this out here in the hallway. Besides, there was something else we needed to talk about, along with his ex-girlfriend. “I was coming down here to speak to you. Can we go in your office?”
Carter nodded. “Yeah, we do need to talk. Temple? Make sure I’m not disturbed.”
“Sure, no problem.”
I almost laughed at the relief I heard in his voice, not to mention his fast getaway.
Carter held the office door open for me, and once we were inside, he shut the door. Since the only chairs in the office were across from his desk, I moved toward them.
“No, no, let’s sit on the couch.”
There was a couch against the far wall, but I hadn’t known if it would be appropriate to sit there, considering how we left things. That he wanted to be close to me was encouraging.
Carter ran his hand over his bald head, something I noticed he did when he was nervous. I wondered if he was aware of it.
“Look, I reacted badly earlier, and for that, I apologize.” Carter sat next to me on the couch. “I was somewhat in shock, to be honest.”
He was close enough to touch me, but he hadn’t yet. I didn’t know what to make of that. “Shocked? Or disgusted?”
“What? No! Not disgusted.” Carter grabbed my hand. “Never. Fuck, I really messed this up. I’ve just never had anything like that happen before and… and it surprised me how much I liked it.”
I glanced down at our joined hands. “You sure could’ve fooled me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Hey. Look at me, please?”
Since he asked so nicely, I did.
“I handled the whole damn thing wrong and probably hurt you in the process, but I swear to you, it wasn’t intentional. You… you’ve turned my world upside down, and I didn’t know how to react. Was that what you were referring to earlier? When you asked me to trust you and just let go.”
“Yes.”
“So what got you going? Restraining me? Or bossing me around?”
He didn’t sound mad, but I couldn’t tell. He was infuriatingly blank, and I didn’t know what he was feeling. I looked back down at our joined hands. It was better than looking in his eyes.
“It wasn’t…. Using the scarf was a last-minute thing I thought might be kind of hot. I like being in control, but I don’t mean by restraining my partner.”
Carter jiggled our clasped hands to get me to look at him. “Why won’t you look at me?”
Giving up, I met his eyes. “Because I can’t tell if you’re mad or not.”
“You made me come quicker than I have in my entire life, and you’re worried about me being mad?” Carter snorted. “I’m not mad, trust me. Might feel a bit like an untried pup, but I’m not mad. Come here.”
The tension in my body left as he pulled me into his arms. I rested my head on his chest.
“Okay, now that you know I’m not mad, would you like me to help you out with… anything?”
I shook my head. My erection had faded a long time ago.
“I want to know what you taste like, but for now, we’ll put that on hold.” Carter ran his hand through my hair. “I’ve only ever topped. What about you?”
I mumbled into his shirt. “Never topped. I preferred to bottom.”
“So you’ve never topped. I’ve never bottomed.” Carter ran his hand up and down my back. “If I understood correctly, you’re not really into tying your partners up.”
I shook my head.
“Do you like being tied up?”
Frantically I shook my head. That defeated the purpose.
“You’re not interested in the props—you’re interested in the control. Is that right?”
I glanced back up at him. “Look, I love being fucked, but I want to be in control when it happens.”
Carter nodded. “Bossy, huh?”
I blushed.
“Yeah, I think what we got here is a bossy bottom.”
The need to have control during sex was just part of me, and not something I was sure I could change. Or wanted to. Carter would have to accept me the way I was, or this thing between us couldn’t go anywhere.
I untangled myself and jumped up. My cat’s sudden need to pace left me unable to sit still. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”
Carter stood. “Not sure, but I’ll tell you this. What just happened out there? Against that boulder? That was the hottest damn thing I’ve experienced in a long time.”
I stopped pacing in front of him and blinked in surprise. “So…? What?”
Carter pulled me flush against him and nuzzled my throat. His hot breath against my skin sent shivers down my spine.
“I came so hard I saw stars.” Carter clutched my hips, holding me still as I tried to squirm against him for friction. “I’m not going to lie—I have no experience with something like this, but my wolf wasn’t threatened by what happened. I think we need to test the situation out some more.”
I chuckled. “Of course you do.”
“Seriously.” Carter kissed up my neck and blew in my ear.
What had we been talking about? “Uh-huh.”
I gave up trying to follow the conversation when he tilted my head back and kissed me. Just a simple kiss was enough to get me hard. It was amazing, terrifying, and something no one else had ever been able to do. We separated when it became difficult to breathe.
Carter tugged me back to the couch, and we sat. His arm rested on the back of the couch, which was a subtle way of putting it around me. I almost snickered. That he didn’t seem to have a problem with my need not only surprised me, but also was a relief.
“Now that we got that settled, you want to tell me what happened a few moments ago?”
I curled my feet underneath me. “Actually, yes, I think we do need to talk about that situation too.”
“What situation? We have a situation?”
“The situation between you and your ex-girlfriend.”
Chapter Eight
Carter
“SHIT. YOU met Sabrina.” That certainly explained the tension radiating from Aidric earlier.
“I had the pleasure, yes.”
I winced. “Let me expla
in, okay. She and I were sleeping together, but the moment I saw you, that ended.”
“I’m guessing you’re bi?”
“Not just me. All werewolves are.” I hadn’t expected that question. Was that going to be another bone of contention? Could we please run out of bones already? “Is it not the same thing with werecats?”
“No. I can safely say I’ve never been attracted to a woman.”
“Huh. I assumed all shifters were like us.” I massaged the back of my neck. “I don’t know what to say. Werewolves have relations with both males and females. No one thinks anything about it, but then, we’re pretty open when it comes to sex. Humans have all these hang-ups wolves don’t have.”
“We don’t have hang-ups regarding sex either. My Alpha has two mates, and no one thought anything of it. Well, they didn’t think anything about him having two mates. The problem arose from one of the mates being human, but that’s another subject altogether.”
“Is the fact I had sex with females going to be a problem?”
“No, as long as you understand that if we mate, I’m not sharing you with males or females.”
“Even if I wanted to continue sleeping with her—which, mind you, I didn’t—I couldn’t anyway. My wolf simply isn’t going to allow it. Like I told you, you’re it for me.”
Aidric straightened up. “I wanted to ask you something about that. You said you’re unable to get hard around anybody but me because your wolf considers me your mate. If we didn’t mate, what would happen to you? Would you ever be able to…?”
“Wolves mate for life. There is no divorce. But if our destined mate dies, there are some wolves who do survive. Some have even gone on to establish other relationships. If we mate, your question is moot, but if you walk away now, eventually I’d be able to have other relationships. I could have sex again, but it’d be nothing like it is with you. We only get one destined mate.”
“I see.”
“Apparently the two species are not as similar as I thought. Is there anything about your mating rituals I need to know?”