by Lacey Thorn
I breathed in her scent first, the mouthwatering aroma of her sex filling my senses and making me ache to taste her. I glided my tongue between her folds, zeroing in on the tight bud of her clitoris. She tremored and caught her breath, and I pressed my lips fully around the nub, sucking it then rasping my teeth over it. Her long legs wrapped around me, locking me to her, and I gave in with a chuckle, devouring her and enjoying every drop of juice I worked from her. I could have spent hours there, driving her to orgasm over and over again, but my dick was a needy bastard and demanded inside her.
I moved off her only long enough to strip then I was between her legs again, driving home. No words this time. We fucked, clawing and scratching and biting. We pulled and tugged at one another as we took and gave. She met me need for need, taking everything I offered and making demands of her own. We rolled across the bed, switching positions as the mood struck. I had her on her back, on her side, on her knees, then over me, riding me while I bucked up, burying my cock deep inside her.
We spent hours learning each other. Each orgasm acted as a catalyst for more. By the time we’d finally worked ourselves into physical exhaustion, the sun had just started to rise. I dragged myself over to the windows and dropped the blackout curtains into place over them before collapsing on the bed once more. I managed to get us both under the sheet, tugging Raina so she lay partway on me, her head nestled into my shoulder. It was the way I wanted to fall asleep every night for the rest of my life. With her. Always with her.
Chapter Six
Raina
I woke up wrapped in Bastion James. One hairy thigh was thrown over my legs, while a palm cupped my breast, his fingers occasionally rubbing over my nipple even though he was asleep. I debated whether I wanted to move or stay right where I was. I wasn’t in my own bed, which meant Bastion must have brought me to his home. I closed my eyes and held in my groan.
I’d mated with him last night. There was no going back from the path I’d started down, and I didn’t really want to. That didn’t mean I wasn’t reeling with a million questions this morning. I should probably work on answers before I lost my head again, as happened whenever my mate touched me.
I held my breath and tensed to slide off the bed. Bastion’s arm tightened around me.
“Where you going?” His voice was deep, raspy from sleep.
Before I could answer, he tugged me even closer, so close his cock pressed along my ass. Just that quickly, I pushed back against him, rubbing wantonly along his length.
Bastion grunted, and I found myself on my hands and knees with his cock powering deep with one, hard stroke. I fisted the bedding and spread my legs wider so I could rock back into every thrust. His hands were firm, rough, and I enjoyed every caress. He covered me, his chest stroking my back, as if he couldn’t bear not having me against him.
His lips were on my neck, teeth and tongue, tasting me. One hand splayed over mine, our fingers entwined atop the covers. His other hand rode low on my belly, keeping my hips arched the way he wanted them. And his voice… That raspy, sexy voice sent shivers through me as he growled dirty things in my ear.
“Your pussy is so hot, so wet. Tighter than a fucking vise. I swear my dick found heaven and doesn’t ever want to leave. I want to go to sleep buried balls-deep in your cunt and wake up just the same.”
“Bastion.”
“I love the way you moan my name. Love those little mewling sounds you make when I hit just the right spot inside you.”
His hand slid lower until his fingertips brushed my clit. Then he grasped it between his thumb and forefinger and pinched. I came with a scream, my body bucking and rolling beneath him. My legs gave out, and I dropped to the bed, trapping his hand between my thighs. Bastion kept fucking. He adjusted his body to my new position and kept powering in and out of me, drawing out my orgasm, intensifying it until every inch of me felt electrically charged.
“Come again, Raina,” Bastion urged, surrounding my clit with two of his fingers and rubbing up and down. “Drown my cock. I want everyone to smell you on me for the rest of the day. Show them who I belong to, baby. Just like I’m going to fill this tight, little pussy with my cum. Then I’m going to pull my cock out and coat your ass in me. God, you’ve got the best fucking ass. I want to spread your cheeks and work my cock in.”
I shuddered as another orgasm went through me. I’d never thought of taking a man in my ass, but his words had me eager to try. It should have terrified me, or at least made me nervous, but there wasn’t anything he could mention I wouldn’t be willing to try. It scared me and excited me at the same time. How could one person make me feel so much?
“Bastion.” I didn’t scream his name. I barely managed to moan it as I came again and again.
He grunted in response, and I felt the hot splash of his cum inside me before his cock was gone. His seed hit the small of my back then higher before the head of his cock pressed between my cheeks, the tip kissing my anus. I caught my breath, wondering if he’d push inside, but he didn’t. He rested it there, coating me in him.
I expected him to drop over me or beside me. What I didn’t expect was to feel him rubbing his cum into my skin, making sure his scent, our scents, and the sex we’d shared would linger on me for the rest of the day. No shifter would get within a mile of me without smelling Bastion all over me. He placed a kiss on my shoulder then lay on the bed beside me. I turned my head and wasn’t surprised to find his gaze centered on mine. The man seemed hell bent on owning every inch of me.
“About this mating,” I began, and his eyes narrowed.
“You’re mine, Raina. We’ve very thoroughly mated one another.”
“We haven’t had a ceremony,” I reminded him, and a growl escaped his lips.
“Which is the only reason you’ll leave my bed before the end of the week.”
“You plan to keep me in bed all week?” I teased.
“This ceremony is for you and the tradition your elders hold to. As far as I’m concerned, you became mine the moment I touched you. Maybe, I need to keep you in my bed until you feel the same way.”
I lifted a brow at his arrogance. “Down, wolf boy. I’m not denying we’re mates. Though, I think we’ll have to have a talk about what that means.”
“I know perfectly well what it means. You’re mine.”
I snorted. “I’m not a possession.”
“You’re the only possession that matters to me.”
It was hard to find fault when he said things like that, when he looked at me the way he did. And God, the way he touched me.
“Bastion, I can’t spend a week in your bed. I have a job, a life, friends, my father.”
“Your job is here with me. You’ve mated the alpha. There are many responsibilities that come with that.”
“I appreciate that you’re the head of both groups now, but I have a job I love. As a nurse, I help provide a needed service. You know how important it is to have reliable medical care for shifters. We can’t go to a human hospital or clinic.”
“I’m not just the head of both groups.” The words snapped from his lips. He was on me quickly, rolling me to my back and looming over me. “I’m the alpha, your alpha. I want to hear you say it.”
I shook my head, my heart aching. “No.”
“The moment you took my blood, my cum, you accepted me as such,” he snarled.
“I accepted you as my mate, nothing more,” I fired back.
“I know you lost your brother. I get that you’re hurt—”
“You get nothing,” I yelled, lifting my head until my face was inches from his. “Being my mate doesn’t make you my alpha. My alpha died, and no one will ever take his place. Not even you.”
“I won’t argue with you about this. You’re emotional.”
I headbutted him, slamming my forehead against his nose, not caring when the spray of his blood rained down on me.
“Son of a bitch!” he roared, lifting a hand to staunch the flow, and I used the opportuni
ty to shove him off me.
I leapt off the bed, not bothering to search for clothes since I’d strip once I hit the outdoors. Funny how I’d just thought there was nothing he’d suggest I wouldn’t be onboard with. Apparently, I’d been wrong. I slammed the door open, not stopping when I heard my name bellowed behind me. I hit the stairs at a run, taking them two at a time as I made my way to the front door.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” I snarled at the few of Bastion’s group, who seemed ready to step in and stop me.
“Raina!” Bastion thundered, but I didn’t care. I needed air. I needed…anyplace that didn’t smell of Bastion James.
One man stepped in front of me. “The alpha is calling you.”
“Not my alpha!” I screamed, and they echoed in my head on repeat, making me hot and dizzy. I channeled all of it into moving him out of my way. I hit him with all I had, heard the oomph as he lost air. Then he was flying away from me as a growl filled the air. My growl. I flung the door open and took two steps before a woman moved in front of me.
She had long dark hair, but it was her eyes that drew my gaze. So pale blue it was like peering into Caribbean waters. They seemed to hold so much knowledge. She bent at the waist, bowing to me, and when she rose, her eyes twinkled.
“I was waiting for you,” she said, and I hurriedly glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see Bastion looming behind me.
“I’m speaking to you, Raina,” she said, drawing my gaze back to her. “You’re the person I’ve been waiting for. Now, we begin to live.”
I shook my head, not understanding her. How could a stranger have been waiting for me? And what did she mean that they’d start to live now? They were already living. I turned from her and shifted mid-leap, quickly switching from human to wolf. I hit the ground running, knowing I needed to get away.
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I would easily fall in love with Bastion. We’d known each other less than a day, and I was already mated to him. When wolves mated, it was for a lifetime. I accepted that. What I couldn’t accept, what I’d never accept, was that Bastion James was my alpha. That he’d never be.
I’d already had one of those, and Rowan had been my whole world. I’d shared all my hopes and dreams with him. He’d been my confidant, my best friend, my protector. He’d been my alpha, then he’d died.
I’d talked to him the day before the accident. We’d had an argument. He’d called, demanding I come home, and I’d argued that I wanted to stay at college and take another course. Rowan had put down the law as only he could.
I’m your alpha, Raina. No matter where you go, I will always be your alpha. I expect you here within the week. Do I make myself clear?
I’d hung up, mad at the world but knowing I’d head home the next day. He’d died before I’d been able to leave. While I’d fumed over his summons, my brother had been killed in an explosion. His last words still resonated inside me. Bastion couldn’t be anything more than my mate. Rowan had been my alpha, and he always would be.
Chapter Seven
Raina
I wandered aimlessly, or at least, I thought I did. I should have trusted my animal instincts to lead me exactly where I needed to be. In another mile, I’d arrive at the place where my entire life had changed, where the charring from the burning vehicle still marked the ground. It was as if the earth itself mourned Rowan’s loss, refusing to bring forth even a blade of grass where his life had been taken.
I stopped at the edge of the trees and sat back on my haunches. Raising my nose into the air, I howled my misery to the sky. How could I feel so alive one moment and so empty the next?
At some point, I shifted, naked ass on the ground, knees hugged to my chest as I cried. Rowan had always been larger than life, and I wasn’t talking about his size. It was his personality. The way he owned a room as soon as he entered it. His big, booming laugh had been so infectious. And his heart… No one had ever loved me as deeply as my brother.
He’d been ten years older than me. My most-treasured possession was a picture of him holding me shortly after I was born. My little face looked up at him as if even then, some part of me had known he was my hero. My dad had been busy being head of our society. My mom had given birth and gone right back to work as our doctor. So Rowan had been the one to watch over me. He’d kissed my scrapes and bruises, been my parent, my confidant, and my best friend other than Ivy. Knowing our last words had ended with me hanging up on him nearly killed me.
I lifted my head, sensing an approaching wolf. A small, black wolf. She smelled of Bastion, but before I got my hackles up, she shifted. She held up her hand as if she were afraid I’d take off on her, but I wasn’t going anywhere. All the run was out of me.
“I’m Belinda, but most people call me Bee. Except Bastion. I’ve always been Belinda to him.” Her soft voice was a bit mesmerizing. “My brother went to your family, your old home. I knew you’d come here.”
I tilted my head, curious. “How did you know that?”
She sat beside me, mirroring my pose. “Because it’s where I’d go if I lost my brother. This is the last place Rowan was.” She closed her eyes. “I can feel him here.”
“Me, too.”
She gave me a funny look then shrugged. Before I could question her, she spoke again. “I told my brother you’d bring life to us, but I don’t really care about the others.”
“I… What?”
She’d been sitting beside me for only a few minutes, and my head already spun. It was hard to follow her train of thought.
She turned suddenly, dropping her knees to the side and facing me. She was unconcerned with her nudity, a trait I shared, as did most wolves. For some reason, I hadn’t expected it from her. There was just something innocent about her.
“You and I are a lot alike,” she said, her voice urgent as if she wouldn’t have time to share everything she wanted to. “Your brother raised you. Bastion raised me. He saw to my every need. When others said he should cast me out or send me to another pack where I’d be safer, my brother shed blood. He’s not leader by birth. He’s alpha by blood, blood he’s shed to hold his place in our group. He’s hard with most people. He’s had to be. Everyone respects him and fears him, but for the longest time, I’ve been the only one to love him. He’s been alone. Alive but not really living. Not for himself anyway. He lives for everyone else, and someday, he’ll die for them. Or so I feared. Now, there’s you.”
“I can’t change who Bastion is,” I warned her, but she shook her head and smiled.
“You already have. I saw it when he carried you in last night. He couldn’t look away from you. He’s yours now Raina Byrd. Don’t break him.” Her pale-blue eyes flashed with anger.
“Bastion James belongs to no one,” I told her with a laugh.
“I used to think that, too. He belongs now. With you. To you. He belongs.” She paused again, closing her eyes and tilting her head as if she heard someone whispering to her. It was eerie. Then she opened her eyes, and the pale-blue seemed to glow. “He’s coming. Talk to him. Accepting Bastion as your alpha doesn’t mean you’re betraying your brother. Ask yourself what your brother would want for you. I know what Bastion has always wanted for me.”
“What?”
“Love and happiness. I’ll have it soon. My mate is coming for me. Even now, he’s searching. Finally, I’ll have someone to accept me completely as I am.”
With those parting words, she turned, and the black wolf was there again. She lifted her nose to the air, gave a mournful wail then sprinted into the woods, disappearing as swiftly as she’d appeared.
She seemed lonely and maybe a bit sad. Her love for Bastion was fierce; something I understood. I’d been the same with Rowan. I still was.
I pushed to my feet and walked toward the spot where Rowan had died. I wondered if he’d felt pain or if it had been as quick as my father promised. I wondered what his last thoughts had been and if I’d been in them.
I squatted and touched the charred ear
th. There were days I felt just as desolate.
I sensed Bastion before the wolf appeared. Our connection was already growing. I was aware of his anger, but a resonating sense of worry overpowered it. I cast a glance toward him then turned back to the ground, palm flat as if I could reconnect with my brother, a fruitless effort.
Wolf changed to man, and I waited for the yelling. Bastion said nothing. He came over and stood behind me. Though we were both naked, there was nothing sexual about it. I held my breath, waiting to see what he’d do, what he’d say. He went to his knees behind me, wrapped his arms around me and held me. It was then I felt his fear. I’d made Bastion feel afraid.
“I’m sorry. I—”
“I’m the one who should apologize,” he interrupted. “I don’t ever want to make you feel the need to run from me.”
“I…” I paused, licked my lips and started again. “The last time I spoke with Rowan, we argued. I was mad, and I hung up on him. By the time I got here…he was gone.”
Bastion remained silent. His hand stroked softly along my belly. Maybe, it was his touch or the fact that I couldn’t see his face. Maybe, it was the silent way he listened. My mouth opened, and everything poured out of me.
“He wanted me to come home. He said I was needed here.” I shook my head. “I didn’t want to. He told me he was my alpha, and that no matter where I was, he’d always be my alpha. Then he commanded me to come home. I hung up on him. He called me back, and I ignored it. I went to bed mad, but I knew I’d head home the next day. Rowan must have needed something. He called me again the following morning. I didn’t answer.”
“Shh,” Bastion crooned, and it was then I realized I was crying.
I turned to him and let him wrap me against him while I sobbed. I’d never told anyone about the phone calls. Ivy knew about my final conversation with Rowan, but I’d kept the unanswered calls to myself. The guilt had been eating away at me.
“I knew your brother,” Bastion said, and I laid my head on his shoulder, staring up at him. “We met a few times. He was a good guy, a strong leader. I respected him. The last time we spoke was a few weeks before the accident.”