Caine pressed his thumb against her lips and his eyes held a feral glint. “In the Lupreda world, biting you is how I would stake my claim and mark you as my mate, Emma.”
His comment hit her hard in the stomach. Emma’s pulse thundered in her ears. She’d never been more turned on in her life. She wanted him to bite her. Fiercely wanted it. More than anything, she wanted to be his mate. But when the hungry look in his eyes faded and his hand fell away, she knew he wouldn’t bite her. Ever. How could he resist the sexual pull? She certainly couldn’t. She knew he said he wouldn’t have sex with her because of his zerker issue, but did he hold back from biting her because she was a panther and ultimately different? Her heart sank at the thought.
Caine picked up the mug of apple cider and handed it to her with a self-deprecating smirk. “Apparently, all I’m ever going to be able to offer you for sustenance is hot liquids.”
As Emma sipped the hot cider, her gaze trailed over his beautiful body to the thick bulge pushing against the zipper in his jeans, and a sudden erotic thought shot through her mind. She took another gulp of the warm liquid and smiled behind the cup, plans forming. Being different could be very sexy.
Caine watched Emma drink the cider and his entire body pulsed to the beat of each swallow she took. To keep from reaching for her, he leaned back on his hands once more, loving this intimacy. He stored it up in his mind, inhaling deep and capturing her scent, memorizing all her sexy little movements for those long, lonely nights ahead of him once he turned zerker. It was only a matter of time. He couldn’t see himself wearing the silver necklace forever, especially now that being with Emma wasn’t an option.
She smiled at him over her cup and his heart soared. She was so damn beautiful and smart and sexy and…not his to have. The moment his mind started to wander down that unsettling path, Emma surprised him by setting her cup on the floor and shrugging the blanket off her shoulders.
Caine’s breath literally lodged in his throat as she crawled across his legs and up his body, her luscious breasts still swollen from his kisses and the fire glinting off her soft skin. He suddenly ached everywhere at once, though the true pain centered in his groin—the one place Emma was studying with intense interest.
When she reached for the button on his jeans, Caine’s movements were whip-fast. Catching her hand before she connected, he said in a strained voice, “What are you doing?”
Emma tried to pull out of his hold, then frowned when he wouldn’t release her. “I’m unbuttoning your jeans.”
“Not a good idea,” he bit out, barely keeping a rein over his lust for the woman leaning over him.
Emma laughed, her voice washing over him in seductive waves, a siren’s song. “Of course it’s a good idea. I want to kiss you like you did me.”
Caine closed his eyes briefly and ground his teeth, trying his damnedest to erase the mental picture of Emma giving him oral sex. His eyes snapped open and he growled, “As much as I would like nothing better than that, if these pants come off, I can’t guarantee that I won’t have you on your back in two seconds flat, taking you the way I really want to.”
Desire flashed through Emma’s golden eyes and they lit up with playful excitement. “Ooh, promise?” She reached for his pants button with her other hand.
“Emma,” he warned, capturing that wrist, too.
Emma stared at him for several seconds. He could see her mind working behind those beautiful eyes of hers.
Caine didn’t know how much more he could take. His inner wolf was snarling and snapping to get at Emma; her aroused scent was driving him wild with the need to join their bodies. When she sat back with a heavy sigh, parking her sweet ass on his leg, he released her wrists, heaving his own mental sigh, which sounded more like a groaning growl in his mind.
“Don’t you want to keep your promise?”
Caine’s gaze snapped to hers. “What promise haven’t I kept?”
Picking up her cup of cider, she took another long sip, then set it down on the floor again. “The one where you promised me that I’ll leave here a virgin tomorrow, but I wouldn’t feel like one.”
Caine realized she was referring to giving him oral sex as figuratively blowing away her all virginal innocence. Smart woman. Leave it to her to turn his words around on him, and it worked quite effectively as far as his inner wolf was concerned—the deviant, selfish bastard!
His gaze narrowed. “That wasn’t what I meant, Emma. I was referring to your body, not mine.”
A delicate eyebrow rose. “Are you saying that you want my first time giving oral sex to be with someone else?”
Caine fisted his hands on his thighs. “Hell, no! I don’t want you to ever give anyone else—”
“Then what are you saying?” she interrupted, her voice breathless, her eyes wide.
Before she could think to pull away from him, Caine moved quickly, sliding his hand under her hair and cupping the back of her neck. As he held her captive, he ran his thumb along her jaw, tracing the delicate bone. “I’m saying you’re dangerous and a worthy opponent in every respect.”
A brilliant smile lit up her face, stealing his ability to think. He’d already lost thousands of brain cells during their earlier explosive lovemaking. “Is that a ‘yes, you may continue, Emma’?”
Caine released his hold on her neck, his voice ragged and raw, his body raging for her to touch him. “Yes.”
When Emma moved to settle between his legs on her knees, bending to unbutton his jeans, Caine’s hand shook as he lifted it to her hair. The soft strands slid through his fingers in a sparkling flow of watery black silk, wrenching his gut even tighter. She was precious to him.
Every nerve ending in his body craved her electric touch with greedy anticipation and he found himself pushing her hair over one shoulder, exposing that sweet spot between her shoulder and her neck—exactly where he’d clamp down with his canines if he’d had the freedom to do so. His canines tingled, wanting to elongate. Caine ground his jaw and his fingers fisted in her hair as he mentally worked to keep his fangs from descending.
The sound of his zipper opening jerked his attention back to Emma. She lifted her head and laughed as she tried to tug down his jeans. “Um, a little help would be nice.”
Caine gave a strained chuckle and after Emma moved to sit beside him and took a sip of cider, he shoved his jeans and underwear off his body. She sat quietly, her watchful golden eyes above the rim of her cup following his every movement.
The moment he tossed his clothes aside, she set down her cup. Leaning close, she breathed out a warm breath over his tensed stomach, then ran her cider-spiced tongue from his abs all the way up to his chest in one long, decadent lick. Caine held back a shudder of unadulterated ecstasy when she slowed to press a tingling kiss to his hard pectoral.
“You know, there are some benefits to being different,” she murmured. Her lips barely grazed his nipple and an electrical current arced between them, shooting through his chest and straight to his rock-hard erection.
Hell, yeah, there were! Caine suppressed a groan of sexual frustration and curled his hands into fists, setting them back on the floor behind him. He wanted nothing more than to touch her, to run his hands along her soft, supple skin, to make her tremble from his sizzling touch, but the moment he connected, their humming attraction might be more than he could resist. He was an honorable man. He wouldn’t take Emma against her will.
Then she glanced up and he saw the look in her eyes.
The problem was, it wouldn’t be against her will. She wanted him sliding inside, taking her body and soul, biting her. Damn it to hell! Grinding his jaw hard, he locked his elbows to keep from moving one single inch. He refused to inhale through his nose or he’d catch the strong musky sweet notes of her arousal and his rigid control would shatter.
“Are you going to touch me?” she asked as she trailed more magnetic kisses back down his abdomen.
“Not a good idea,” he managed to grate out.
&nb
sp; A low, sexy laugh bubbled up and she continued her path downward. “You have a beautiful body, hard as a rock and sculpted in all the right places. And you taste like pure sin,” she finished, planting a kiss along his erection.
His cock flexed and Caine shut his eyes to cut off the evocative picture of Emma bent over him. He jerked when her fingers surrounded his ridged shaft and his breathing instantly turned shallow.
The moment her tongue lapped up the moisture along the tip of his erection, Caine’s head fell back and he growled toward the ceiling, tendons flexing in his neck.
But nothing prepared him for Emma’s enthusiasm. The heat from her drink made their shocking connection even more erotic, and before he realized it, his hand was sliding through her hair, cupping the back of her head. Silk and heat made a heady aphrodisiac.
Caine groaned and rocked his hips, pressing deeper into her warm mouth, whispering encouraging words. At first Emma complied, taking direction, but she quickly adapted her own method—one that included a very talented tongue and strong-as-hell suction. She blew his mind, ratcheting up his heart rate, winding his insides tighter and tighter to a painful, pulsing throb.
Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, when he was sure he was going to explode, Emma began to purr; a deep, throaty vibration that rocked his world. The fast-paced sensations surrounded him, and the physical proof that Emma found pleasure in pleasuring him sent Caine right over the edge. He shuddered as his orgasm rushed over him in an all-over-body experience, slamming in thunderous, blistering waves of hot and cold flashes. Each heart-thudding jolt through his system was accompanied by his own groans and growls until he finished with a long guttural howl.
Emma jacked him up even more as she laved and tasted his body with slow reverence once he was fully spent. When stillness descended between them, she lifted her gaze to his, a sexy smile tilting her lips. “Different definitely has its fringe benefits. Wouldn’t you say?”
Caine’s pleased laugh echoed in the room. He pulled Emma into his arms and rolled her onto her back. “You’re killing me.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gave an exaggerated sigh. “And here I thought I was entertaining you. I must work on my delivery.”
Gripping Emma close, Caine buried his nose against her neck. Inhaling her earthy scent, he brought every bit of her deep inside himself. This beautiful, intelligent, quick-witted panther challenged every part of him—from his mind to his body. A howl of possession rumbled just below the surface, demanding he unfurl it for the whole world to hear. Caine swallowed the primal sounds that rose within him and remained silent, even as he ached to be the only man in Emma’s life—now and forever.
Chapter 14
“T he street Malac designated to meet with the other Velius is a dead end, flanked on three sides by abandoned buildings. We’ll have to enter the buildings via back doors and come out through any open or broken windows,” Landon commented as he stared at the blueprints on the polished mahogany table in the Lupreda’s huge library.
“You know he’s going to have men hiding in the buildings.” Caine slid his finger down the paper. “This appears to be a narrow opening between these two buildings. It might be an option. We could slip through here unnoticed.”
“Your wolf forms will make it harder to get inside the buildings. My men will enter first and leave doors open for yours while they go off to secure any men Malac may have positioned inside the buildings,” Jachin commented from the cell phone’s speaker.
As Landon agreed with Jachin’s plan, Caine said, “I will be in human form, too, so I can help Jachin’s Sweeper unit.”
Landon jerked his attention to Caine, his brow furrowed. “You’re stronger in your wolf form.”
Caine’s hazel eyes narrowed. “Once I’m a wolf, I’ll stay one until daybreak. I want to take Emma safely to Jade myself. I won’t let her out of my sight until I have to. Only then will I join you.”
“I can take Emma,” Kaitlyn offered.
“Thank you, Kaitlyn, but I would like Caine to take me to Jade.” Emma took in all the Lupreda standing around the room. She’d watched them nod whenever Landon or Caine spoke, saw the respect in their eyes, and felt the closeness. Where had the Velius gone so wrong that they’d splintered so drastically? Did the panthers’ individualistic nature make it hard for them to work together as one? Addressing the group of Lupreda whose gazes were locked on her, Emma said, “I want to thank all of you for offering your services. Malac will try to double-cross Jade and Roland. He needs my aunt so I’ll cooperate with him. He has no reason to give her up, other than to set a trap for the other Velius. But I believe with your help, we’ll be an unstoppable force—one he isn’t anticipating.”
After the meeting was over, several of the Lupreda crowded around the table to further strategize with Landon and Caine. Kaitlyn pulled Emma to the side. “I know you two are getting ready to go back to Caine’s place. I have a request of you.”
Emma nodded. “Anything. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
Kaitlyn’s hazel-blue gaze shifted to the group at the table before she spoke in a low whisper. “I want you to talk to Caine. To convince him to come back to the pack.”
Emma’s eyes widened. “He’s not part of the pack?” She’d seen the respect in the other Lupreda’s eyes, the way they deferred to him, second only to Landon.
Kaitlyn shook her head. “He left over a fight with Landon about wearing the necklace. That part seems to have resolved itself, and I believe out of respect for what Landon has done for you, Caine will come back, but…” Kaitlyn paused then plunged on. “If today’s any indication, I don’t think he’ll resume his role of Second.”
“Why not? The other Lupreda seem to respect his opinion.”
Kaitlyn shook her head, her expression sad. “I can tell by the way he held himself away from the others today, not approaching the group until it was time to discuss strategy. He’s different. He only got involved when you were the center of the discussion, but not until then. In past Lupreda business discussions, he would have been right in there, side by side with Landon, butting heads over issues, giving his opinion. Challenging. Today, he’s not the same and I’m worried.”
Emma glanced up at Caine and Landon, their heads bent over the blueprints—two strong alpha men working together with a common goal. Peace. Her heart ached. She needed to make it right, to repay Caine for everything he’d done for her. “I’ll do my best, Kaitlyn.”
The Alpha’s mate smiled. “Caine respects Landon, but he cares deeply for you. I know he’ll listen to you.”
Later that day, Caine entered the cabin via the back entrance, carrying the food he’d caught for an early dinner. When he didn’t immediately feel Emma’s presence in the house, he tensed. “Emma!” he called in a loud voice, setting the meat on a plate on the counter.
“I’m up here,” came a muffled reply. She sounded like she was above him. The cabin didn’t have a loft or attic, so there was only one place she could be. Caine washed his hands and walked out the front door.
The snow crunched under his boots as he stepped off the porch and turned his gaze to the roof. “What are you doing up there?” he said with a frown. Emma sat next to the stone chimney in the only spot on the roof that wasn’t covered with several inches of snow. The fire from the night before had helped melt the snow near the chimney apparently.
“I found a good spot to enjoy the view before the sun sets.”
She looked so adorable bundled in her coat with her arms wrapped around her bent knees. It was a good thing the roof wasn’t a steep slope or she’d never have been able to stay perched up there comfortably. Caine started to ask how she got up there when he saw the disturbed snow along the edge of the porch roof. A single set of footsteps led diagonally up the roof toward the chimney.
“Come join me for a minute,” Emma beckoned.
Caine stepped back and then took a flying leap. When he landed on the porch roof, Emm
a clapped. “You’ll have to teach me that one! I got here the hard way.”
Emma scooted over and Caine settled between her and the chimney. Leaning back against the stone wall, he pulled Emma against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist, settling her in between his bent knees. “Just in case the pill doesn’t work, after dinner, you’ll need to take a shower to get my smell off you before we leave for the city.”
Nodding, she sighed and leaned into his chest. “Hmmm, this is cozy.”
Her soft hair, lifted by the cool mountain wind whipping around them, ruffled in his face, reminding him of the torturous night he’d spent with her sleeping in his arms. They laid on the rug by the fire all night long. He couldn’t bring himself to move her once she’d fallen asleep against him, nor did he want to. Instead, he’d pulled the afghan over them and rolled onto his back. Gathering Emma to him, he’d let her use his arm as a pillow. In turn, Emma had snuggled close and sighed contentedly in her sleep, making his chest wind tight with many regrets.
“It’s beautiful and very peaceful here,” she commented wistfully, drawing him out of his musings.
Caine took in the view from Emma’s perspective. The sun sunk low in the deep blue sky, giving off streaks of vivid orange and purple mixed with muted pink far in the mountainous horizon. Vivid green poked through the snow-covered trees, letting winter know they would survive the heavy white blanket currently covering their limbs. A mixture of pine and Emma’s earthy scent wafted around him in an alluring aroma. Kissing her temple, he stared at her profile and murmured, “Takes your breath away.”
Emma’s sigh sounded sad. She turned her head slightly and met his gaze. “I’ve been thinking about my aunt. I’m glad that doctor is sneaking her the meds she needs, but I’m still worried about her. I feel like all of this is my fault. She’s old and fragile and…” She blinked back tears and Caine’s arms tightened around her.
“She did this for you, Emma. I doubt she’d want you to feel guilty. We’ll get your aunt back safely.”
Scions: Revelation Page 20