by Неизвестный
A shadow fell over her, and she looked up into dark eyes devilish with amusement.
“Looks like you’re in deep shit.”
Oh no! Why did he have to show up when she looked her worst? And he promised to stay out of the enclosure. But she couldn’t stay mad, not when she was so glad to see him. Even the wolves welcomed him. They lay down submissively, accepting him like their alpha.
“I’m just one of the pack.” She tried to wipe the dirt from her clothes, but it was a losing battle. “Looks like you are too. You seem to have charmed them. I’ve never seen them act like this before.”
“Just my animal magnetism.” His smile set her pulse racing.
“Well, you certainly have a way with my wolves.”
“What about their mistress? Can I have my way with her?”
“You can have pretty much anything you want if you get me out of here.” Dear God, it couldn’t be her talking. Even the old Karin had never been so forward. He had her drooling like a lovesick puppy.
She tried to get up, but the pressure on her foot made her wince, and she sat down hard.
“Let’s have a look.” He lowered himself to one knee and hesitated until she nodded assent.
It hurt like hell when he pulled off the boot and then her sock, but all thoughts of pain fled at the first touch of his hands on her bare foot. The feel of his calloused fingers sent little tingles of excitement up and down her leg. What would he do if she pulled him down on the ground with her? Would he kiss her or turn his nose up? Probably the latter, unless he liked his women muddy and covered in wolf shit.
“It’s swollen, might be broken.” He rose abruptly. “Don’t move.”
Before she could reply, he walked off. Stopping at one of the splash tubs, he took off his shirt and tossed it in the water. She watched, open-mouthed, while he wrung it out, then started back.
He sat on his heels, wiped her sweat-streaked face with the cool cloth, and then tucked it in her hands.
Eyeing his broad chest from beneath lowered lids, she scrubbed her hands furiously to keep from touching him. She looked up and his mouth twitched with amusement. For a few heartbeats, words failed her. “I’ll buy you another shirt.”
He laughed and scooped her up. Instinctively she threw her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent, woodsy and addictive. Her white knight back again. She wouldn’t mind getting into more trouble if it meant he would always come to her rescue.
“We have to stop meeting like this.” His crooked smile delighted her, but she saw worry in his eyes “I get to play doctor today.” He tightened his hold, crushing her breasts against his muscular chest and sending her into cardiac arrhythmia. Her nipples hardened, and her heart rate skyrocketed as if she’d run a marathon. Surely, he could feel the wild thumping where her chest pressed against his.
In-love sparkles exploded around her like fireworks, and the truth hit her like Cupid’s arrow. Her feelings were about more than physical attraction. She’d had relationships in the city. Maybe even thought she was in love a few times, but she’d never fallen so hard, so fast. He made her feel special, protected, and cared for. She felt safe for the first time in a long time. He touched her in ways no one else ever had. The men she dated before were boys compared to Malcolm. Fate kept throwing them together under the worst possible circumstances, and he always came out smelling like a rose, unlike her of course. Their relationship was becoming way too complicated, starting with the fact she wasn’t sure they even had a relationship.
“Put me down. You’ll have wolf droppings all over you.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.” His wolfish grin made her mouth go dry.
“I’m serious, Malcolm. I think I can walk.”
“But you don’t have to.”
She met his gaze, and red-hot energy ignited between them, immobilizing her in a smoldering stare she couldn’t end if her life depended on it. Nature’s chorus receded, and her world shrunk until it included only the two of them. Every detail of his face fascinated her, his strong jaw, his long dark lashes, his full lips closing in on hers. Warm breath tickled her face, her lips parted and—
He pulled back. Disappointed, she stared at him open-mouthed.
“Let’s get you out of here.” He shifted her in his arms while he secured the horseshoe latch.
“Are you going to carry me all the way back to the refuge? It’s a half mile.”
“I know how far it is. My Jeep is parked there.”
“My hero,” she teased, playing with the wiry dark hair on his chest. She inhaled him and detected an animal scent, musky and wild. It must be her. How could he stand being close to her the way she smelled? The wolves might like it, but he was no wolf. She wrinkled her nose. “Sorry. You smell a lot better than I do.”
“Doc, I’ve lived around animals all my life. It would take more than a little wolf scat to scare me off.”
Could he be any more perfect? Not many men felt the same way about animals as she did. “You owe me a kiss.” She cupped his jaw and ran her thumb over his lips.
He stopped in his tracks, nostrils flaring. He pulled her finger into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it and sucking on it like a candy cane.
“Oh,” she cried softly, wondering how such a little thing could be so arousing.
He released her finger and leaned in, brushing his lips against hers with exquisite tenderness. She wanted more, more, more. She grasped the back of his head and licked his lips. Groaning, he opened his mouth over hers and granted her access. She twirled her tongue around his and then wrapped her lips around the tip, sucking on it gently, then harder. The kiss became more passionate and demanding. His excitement sparked hers, and desire flared between them. She moaned against his mouth, and he pulled back, leaning his forehead against hers.
“What are you doing to me?”
“The same thing you’re doing to me.” She might be making the biggest mistake of her life, but, God help her, she didn’t give a damn. Somewhere along the way, she’d fallen in love with him and nothing else mattered besides being together. “I know how you can thank me for last night.” Her fingers tightened in his hair. “I need you inside me.”
He groaned. “Jesus, doc, here?”
“It’s good enough for the wolves.”
“I want you, doc.” His eyes never wavered from hers. “But you’re starting something I won’t be able to stop.”
“Just start. Please.” She hated the needy tone in her voice, but the desire to be with him overrode good sense and inhibitions.
“Wrap your legs around me.”
He maneuvered her body against a tree, and she wrapped herself around him like an octopus in heat. His kisses were white hot. His erection pressed hard against her belly. She couldn’t pull him close enough. Moisture soaked her panties, and lust slammed into her.
His hands cupped her ass, and he rocked his hips against hers. “Lift your arms,” he urged, tugging at her T-shirt and fumbling with the front hook on her bra. His hips kept her pinned to the tree while she eagerly helped him. The warm sun felt good on her exposed breasts. With one swipe of his tongue, he captured the beads of sweat in the valley between them, and her nipples tightened, anticipating his attention. When he took one sensitive bud in his mouth, a wild surge of pleasure seared a path to her core, and she arched her back against the tree, wanting more.
“Like that, do you?” He regarded her with a self-satisfied grin.
“Don’t be so smug. Just remember I have a pack of wolves at my beck and call,” she said breathlessly.
He raised an eyebrow and one corner of his mouth quirked up. “You can’t threaten me.” He fondled her breasts and squeezed until her breath hitched. “They like me way too much. Besides you’d miss me.”
“You talk way too much.” She squirmed, wanting his mouth on her again.
He laughed and lowered his head to lick one taut nipple, then sucked it and rolled the tip between his teeth. He lifted his head to attend t
o her other breast.
Desire surged through her veins and she mewled with pleasure. He gathered her breasts in his hands and buried his face between them, licking and kissing his way up, along her collarbone, the base of her neck, and ending at her mouth.
She needed to touch him, to know what his skin felt like under her hands. Exploring his chest, she ran her thumbs over his flat nipples, pinched each in turn, then soothed them with her tongue. His salty taste and his musky, animal-like aroma excited her. The ache between her thighs intensified.
A low growl rumbled up from his chest. She felt it to her toes.
“Did you just growl at me?”
“You drive me wild.” His voice was rough. “You are so damn beautiful.”
His words drove her to the edge. She pulled him closer, loving the abrasive feel of his hair-roughened chest on her nipples and the rough bark at her back.
I love you.
She bit her tongue to stop the words. Even in her heightened state of arousal, she knew it would be a mistake.
“I need you.”
“Oh, baby, I need you too,” he groaned and fumbled with the zipper of her jeans.
“Put me down.” She pushed at him, desperate to get rid of the material preventing him from burying himself inside her. Leaning against the tree, she let him remove her other shoe and yank her jeans and panties down her legs. His warm hand slid between her thighs. A scream bubbled up in her throat when his finger probed her slick folds, and she nearly came right then.
He licked his finger. “You taste so damn good.”
“Please,” she whimpered, her whole body on fire for him. “Hurry.”
“Not yet.” A hiss escaped his lips as she went for his zipper, but he pushed her hands aside and went to his knees in front of her. He spread her thighs wide and lifted her injured leg over his shoulder. His stubble scratched her tender flesh as he kissed his way up her inner thigh to the damp curls covering her pussy.
At the first stroke of his tongue, her legs went weak, and she arched her back. Her whole body hummed with excitement and moisture seeped from her core.
“I love the way you taste.” His growl vibrated against her mound, and she went ballistic, moving her hips against his face and grabbing his hair with savage intensity.
His rough tongue lapped at her hungrily until her body perched at the very edge of orgasmic ecstasy.
“Please, baby,” she said to urge him on. Instead of settling his mouth where she wanted him most, he pulled back and stood.
“Damn you,” she whimpered.
“I want to be inside you when you come,” he muttered thickly. A pulse beat in his throat.
He shoved his jeans over his lean hips, grabbed her naked bottom, and lifted her off her feet. Her legs wrapped around his waist.
“No fair,” she murmured. “I took my pants off.”
“I can’t wait,” he uttered harshly.
“Oh, baby, I don’t want to wait either.” She ground her wet pussy against his stomach, then reached between them to curl her fingers around his cock. Long and thick, it felt every bit as good as it did in her dream—better. It pulsed in her hand, growing harder and more swollen each time she slid her fingers down his length. She felt his excitement increase with each stroke, but he let her set the pace. Knowing how she excited him made her feel in control and incredibly hot. She rubbed her thumb over the head of his cock, smearing the pre-cum leaking from the tip and wishing she could lick it off.
“Mmm, I want to taste this—”
“Enough!” He lifted her hips, and she guided him to her entrance.
“Can’t take the heat, baby?” she whispered in his ear. For a second she stayed motionless, teasing them both, then she slid down until she sheathed his entire length. His cry of pleasure was music to her ears, and she answered with one of her own.
“Please,” she ground her hips against him, “fuck me.”
“My pleasure,” he grunted. He gripped her hips and lifted until only the head of his cock remained inside her. She pushed down, engulfing him again.
Desire clouded his eyes. “Good. So good.”
She gripped his shoulders, loving the play of muscles bunching under her fingers. Her sweat-slick body moved against his in a rhythm that made her moan each time he filled her. A familiar flutter started in her stomach.
“Fuck, Karin. You feel so damn good.”
Anticipation twisted her insides. “Don’t stop, please. Harder.”
He panted against her cheek. Her own breath came in grunts and gasps until she sobbed with the need for release. Her walls gripped him and tightened around his thrusting shaft. He slipped a hand between them, and his thumb circled her sensitive nub. Exquisite, exhilarating tension filled her.
The world spun as if she rode a Tilt-a-Whirl. She tried to hold on and make the ride last. A great shuddering spasm caught fire, and she thought she might spontaneously combust. He pinched her clit, and the flames exploded in a dazzling kaleidoscope of color. She screamed, and he echoed her uninhibited cry with a harsh groan of satisfaction as he thrust into her one last time. Collapsing against his chest, she tightened her arms around him, wanting some elusive thing he hadn’t given her. He held a part of himself back, or maybe she imagined it because she held back her own true feelings.
Deep howls intruded on her blissful afterglow.
“Is that you?” she murmured against his chest.
He answered with a great rumbling laugh, and she lifted her head.
“Oh my God,” she panted and buried her face again. “Do we have an audience?”
“Turnabout is fair play.”
She giggled into his neck. “You’ve been doing a fair amount of growling yourself. No wonder they’re stirred up.”
“Serves them right. I had to watch them mate.”
Mate! It hit her like a bullet between the eyes. She drew in a deep breath and blinked.
“What’s wrong?”
“We, uh, we didn’t use anything.” She’d never done anything like this before. She stopped taking the pill when she moved here, thinking she wouldn’t let a man get that close, and now she’d just had unprotected sex. “I’m not on the pill.”
“It’s okay. I’m clean and I can’t get you pregnant.” He kissed her nose, then set her down, zipped his jeans, and reached for her clothes. “Sorry, I should have told you.”
Her face fell, and she drew in a long surprised breath. “You can’t have kids?” Loss seared her soul.
“No, so you have nothing to worry about,” he said flatly. He looked like she sucker-punched him.
“I didn’t mean—” Her heart twisted.
“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters.”
He didn’t answer, just helped her with her clothes.
“Talk to me.”
He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s nothing to talk about. I wasn’t thinking. I came here to thank you and tell you how great Ralf is doing. Instead, I got carried away and took advantage of you again. It was a stupid move. What if somebody showed up?”
“It would have been embarrassing,” she conceded.
“It would be more than embarrassing, especially if Frank caught us. He watches you like a man stand hunting for deer.”
“I’m nobody’s trophy,” she replied indignantly. “I can see who I want.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He lifted her chin and looked down at her. “But he can make things very unpleasant for both of us.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well, I care enough for both of us. I’ve gotten you in too deep already, and I’m not worth it.”
“I think you are.”
“Karin, you don’t know anything about me. I’m not relationship material.”
“So you’ve said.” She tried to swallow past the lump lodged in her throat.
“You deserve better.”
“Let me decide what I deserve. I’m not looking for happily eve
r after, Malcolm. I’m not even sure it exists. I didn’t come here looking for a man, but we have a connection. You can’t deny it.” Her voice trembled.
“We had sex, Karin. End of story. We both wanted it, and now we got it out of the way. Plain and simple,” he added gruffly.
“It’s never that simple.” His harsh words pierced like a knife in her heart. Maybe it was just sex to him, but it meant much more to her. Had she misread him? A man could fake caring if he wanted sex. This was exactly what she feared. She threw caution to the winds and trusted a complete stranger and look where it got her. She gave him her heart, and he stepped on it.
“Karin, I’m no good for you. You deserve a man who can take care of you, give you a baby.”
“Don’t.” She did not want to hear this now. Not after she just let him inside her body and her heart. “I don’t want to talk about this now.”
“You’re right. We’ll talk later. Now I need to get you inside.” Without another word, he lifted her and started for the building.
* * * *
Frank hadn’t heard from Karin since the fight at the refuge. She was mad at him and rightly so. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about Malcolm Connor, but he never meant to disrespect Karin. The way Connor looked at her, and the way she looked back, like he was some kind of hero or something, made him see red, or maybe green.
He tried to make amends by getting the ATV back in shape, even getting Glenn involved. Now he had to listen to the kid’s crude taunts. He didn’t want anyone knowing about him and Karin until they were a real couple, but he would suffer Glenn’s baiting if it meant getting back in Karin’s good graces again. He couldn’t believe she hadn’t even called to thank him. He gave her some space but figured he’d waited long enough.
When he saw Malcolm’s Jeep parked in front of the refuge, the green monster raised its head again. No wonder she didn’t have time to call. Determined not to upset Karin, he calmed himself down before going inside. The empty building made him angry all over again. Doing a little first aid on the bastard’s nose was one thing. Spending time with him was a whole other ball game.
He took the trail to the enclosure. Where else would they be? Nearing the habitat, he heard them laughing. He moved off the path and approached stealthily. When he came within sight, he hid behind a hemlock. What he saw made him shake with rage. The two of them screwed like a pair of wild animals, not caring who saw them. Something snapped inside him, and he turned cold like sculpted ice. Dead certainty filled him—the little bitch used him. It made him sick to his stomach. She’d rather have that mongrel rutting inside her than him. He wanted to marry her, not take her in the woods like some beast. Maybe she liked it wild and savage. One thing was for sure, he would not wait for the wedding now. His turn would come and soon. He would have the little slut begging him to fuck her.