by Marilynn Fae
But he wants.
He clears his throat to get her attention and she whirls around. The sight of her steals his breath for a second.
She is disarmingly beautiful and definitely older than he had originally thought. Perhaps in her early twenties. Her skin is pale and flawless, twin tints of pink on her cheeks the only sign of her embarrassment. Golden locks curl at her shoulders, framing her cheeks that have not yet lost the baby fat of youth.
"May I help you?" he asks, stepping forward and standing deliberately too close to her, making her take a step back until her back is kissing the shelf and she has nowhere else to run.
"I um- I don't-" she stutters, her voice low and breathy as she looks around, as though searching for an exit route.
It shouldn't make him more aroused, but it does. She wears her innocence so prettily, tempting him to take, to own. She would look so lovely once he ruins her, wide grey eyes even rendered wider when he fucks her.
She's a full head shorter than him and has to tilt her head up to look at him. "Which book do were you trying to reach?" he asks.
She flushes and bites her lip nervously.
He thinks of sucking her lip from between her teeth and tasting her. He doesn't do any of the things he's thinking, wary of scaring her off. Erik is a good hunter. He knows about laying traps and luring prey. It won't do him any good to have her frightened of him so early in the game.
"Is it this one?" he says, pulling out a book at random, standing close enough that the tips of her ears are brushing his chin. This close, he is able to have the full potency of her scent. He knows it was a mistake the moment the scent reaches his nose and fills his lungs. He is suddenly overcome by the desire to take her right there, tear her clothes off and rut into her, claim her as his own so that everyone would know she belongs to him and only him. He wants her to smell like him, wants her filled with his seed and have her carry his cubs. Would their children have her ears? They're lovely ears.
"That's not it," she says at length, pupils blown wide, peering up at him through long lashes.
He wants to ruin her, wants to throw her over his shoulder and carry her home. He wants to fuck into her tight pussy until she is sobbing in the pretty little voice, until her body is trembling for him and his knot is thick and hard inside of her.
"Sir?" she whispers, "What's wrong?"
It is the tremble in her voice that brings him to his senses. If he were to do any of the things he was thinking, he would terrify her. It's clear that she's innocent. "Which one is it, then?" he asks, unable to keep the rumbling growl from his own voice.
She points to the book a romance book with a dancing couple on the front page, a second of trilogy. She blushes when he hands it to her, quickly clutching it to her chest like she's afraid he would snatch it back given the opportunity. It looks like one of those raunchy books that
"Thank you, Mr..."
"Just Erik, please," he says. "Erik Hunter."
"Thank you, Mr. Hunter, Sir," she murmurs, ducking her head to slide out of his shadow.
He reacts without thinking, one arm lunging out to slam on the row of books by her head, stopping her in her tracks.
She startles, blinking up at him in confusion. "Is there anything wrong, Sir?" she asks.
He yanks his hand back instantly. "Nothing," he says, pushing his Wolf back. He doesn't know if he can handle seeing her walk away but he knows he will have to do it. He'll have other opportunities to have her.
Her smile is small and amused when she turns her back to him and hops away.
He watches her leave with a heavy heart and waits a good thirty seconds after she approaches the front desk and leaves through the door before heading towards the old man.
"Hello," he says, attempting for casual.
"Why, good morning!" the old man laughs, wrinkles appearing everywhere on his face. "You must be new here," he says in a booming voice that shouldn't be allowed in libraries.
"I must be," he says. "I would like to make an account," Erik says swiftly.
"An account? Whatever for?"
He frowns. "To borrow books?"
"Yes, of course. You just need to write your name in the binder and have the book back the next time you're here. No need for accounts. What's your name, boy?"
Erik bites the inside of his cheek and channels his inner politician as he musters a smile. "Erik Hunter. I'm here on vacation."
"You must be one of those historians, eh? We have a lovely section. Perhaps you'd like a look? I could show you," he says, already moving to stand, though it looks as though it would take him a while to pull himself up.
"There's no need," Erik says hastily. "Actually, you could help me with something."
He sinks back into his seat with a sigh of relief. "What can I help you with?"
"That girl earlier," he says. "What can you tell me about her?"
Thankfully for him, the old man is a great gossip and has no qualms telling Erik everything he knows about Ally.
She is eighteen-years-old and has been here her entire life. She lives alone in the cabin together a little distance from the city, which he disapproves of because a young girl such as herself shouldn't be staying so far away from the rest of society. He thinks that's why she's so shy with people. Lack of exposure, he says, adding that they don't really know her. Then, he quickly contradicts himself by claiming that everyone loves her.
Her father is a recent addition in her life. It's kind of an open secret that her mother had cheated on her father and that drove him away. Her parents are both big cats, the man says. Lions, he says like it's a point of pride for him personally.
He has to admit, he has never met a Cat Shifter who is also an Alpha before. Big Cats tend to be solitary creatures, shunning companionship.
"Why do people think she's not their child?" he asks the librarian.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" he says.
Erik shakes his head, understanding that the man is just dragging this out to build suspense.
"She's tiny," he says. "When her ears appeared, her father took off. Disappeared when she was six, poor thing. She's too small to be anything other than a house cat. And with him gone, her mother doesn't see the point in staying and playing house. She starts leaving her too. A few days at first, and then months at a time. People in town take turns babysitting her," he continues with a careless shrug.
That explains why the farmer that morning had seemed so protective of her. Perhaps he had been one of her caretakers.
"Her father, that's Derek Stone, returned to town a year prior and seized control from the resident Alpha, poor old Kent. He's getting too old, if you ask me. Better to have someone like Derek in charge. She's been living with him ever since. Doesn't seem right, if you ask me. She's at the age where she should be married."
Perhaps the old man is right. He should give them a visit.
Chapter Three: Exhibitionism
He meets her again for the third time in one day that night. He is jogging down a path that is barely there, exploring the undeveloped lands and abandoned cabins that could be renovated and rebuilt into something else entirely. Already his mind is filling up the empty plots of lands with new designs. He is by no means an architect, but he knows potential when he sees it. Everywhere he turns are tall trees, valleys that promises to fill with water come rain, and a promise of peace.
Summer homes here will go for insane prices for people in the city, a piece of a fantasy where they can escape their city life and play pretend for a few weeks at a time.
They'll pay for the people here to keep their houses habitable for those few weeks. Perhaps he can have a separate business where the houses can be rented instead of purchased, but he would put that in a different part of town. The insanely rich like to pretend they're the only people who matter.
He is deep in thought when he hears it, a keening sort of noise that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge. He thinks it's a trick of his mind at first. He hasn't
seen a soul for the last half hour. Surely no one would live so far on the edge of town?
He is about to turn around and head back when he hears it again, the soft sound of someone in distress. His feet begin to move unbidden. Erik has never been good at minding his own business. He smells something downwind that makes him hasten his steps. It's a delightfully sweet scent, one that is familiar and unique enough that he recognizes it instantly.
He stops before he reaches a clearing, hiding behind a tree when he sees something that gives him pause. He doesn't understand what he's seeing at first. It's so bizarre, so out of this world, that his mind can't wrap his head around the images his eyes are sending to his brain.
Ally is standing underneath a tree, hands raised above her head, tied together with a loop that is held up around the branch of the tree. It keeps her on her suspended, legs stretched out as far as they seem to be able to go. She's a flexible thing, spread to her limits with her feet tied to two chairs, binding her calves to the seats with the middle of her completely exposed, spread open for the taking. It is not the way that she is tied to the tree that causes him to be shocked. No. It is not even that she is completely naked, pale skin perfect under the shadows of the giant tree.
To think. He had thought her a virgin.
The man standing by her side exudes power and danger like no man he has encountered before, the signs of a true Alpha. He has never met one like himself before. It is lucky that the wind is blowing in his favor, keeping his scent hidden from the Cat Shifter. Lion, his Wolf supplies readily, bristling, ready to attack. His blood sings for a battle, adrenaline pumping through his veins at the thought of taking this Alpha on in order to win the favor of the pretty little mate tied to the tree. He could take him in a fight, pin him down and slit his throat so he can claim her.
It is her voice that stops him from venturing forward.
"Daddy..." her voice is small and hurt.
He freezes in his tracks, his breath stopping entirely at the way she sounds. She is frightened, yes. But that's only the surface of what she's feeling. She is aroused as well. Her cheeks are flushed, stained by the tracks of tears that continue to trickle down from her eyes, pupils blown so wide that he can see if from as far as he is. Her lips are parted, bitten red. It is perverse, what they're doing. Her own father, he thinks with a note of jealousy that he pushes down. But she's not really her daughter, is she? Now that he sees the two together, he understands why everyone had seen the truth so clearly. He is so much bigger than her, so much stronger. He does not wear his animal on his skin as obviously as her, but any Shifter worth a damn can tell that he is not someone to be trifled with. While the man is all hard edges and pure muscle, the young shifter girl is as domestic as they come. They don't even smell related.
He is wearing a black top and a pair of dark grey slacks that screams personally-tailored and expensive as fuck whereas she is naked as the day she is born. The juxtaposition is absolutely lovely.
"Daddy, please," she whimpers.
It is twisted to hear her call her that. Perhaps it is some sort of kink that they're into. He has heard of such things before and though it has never interested him, he finds himself fantasizing how good it would feel if she was to look at him with those large, tear-filled eyes and call him that. He can't deny it brings a pleasant thrill down his spine.
"Daddy, please," she whimpers, wriggling in her constraints, her dusky little nipples pebbled in the chill of the air bouncing up and down with her breasts when she moves. There is a dusting of hair at her pubic area, a nest of curls that would hide her femininity well enough if not for the fact that she has been spread open like this. As such, he has no difficulty seeing her swollen clit, pussy lips glistening with wetness.
Erik can't see the man's expression from where he's standing, but he thinks it would be like his own, cock hard and ready to just fuck into her tight hole. "Please, what, darling?"
The man's voice is deep, a low purr that makes the hair on his arms stand on edge. His wolf wants him to decide whether to fight or run away, not stand here and do nothing.
He finds that his feet are unable to move, as though rooted to the ground, and he watches with his tongue heavy in his mouth as the man touches her, fingers gripping her neck lightly, then, moving down, lower and lower until he is brushing his fingers against the curl of soft brown hair between her legs.
"Daddy," she whines again, keening high, body arching to show off that sweetly curved back, bucking against his hand there, pulling her legs up, scrambling to gain leverage.
"No moving, darling," he warns. "Or I'm going to leave you out here for another hour."
The mere thought of her being out here, so exposed and helpless, is enough to make the front of his pants wet. What would he do if someone were to come in and laid claim to her while she is left on her own? He doesn't think anyone would be foolhardy enough to even attempt it. Yet, the thought sends a potent sort of want down his spine.
"No, no, Daddy. Please. Please. I'll be good," she pleads, crying new tears. "I won't move," she promises.
"Good girl," he says, pulling his hand back and circling around to stand behind her.
Erik quickly makes sure he is hidden behind the tree, not wanting to alert the duo of his presence, not until he sees it to an end. He doesn't know where the man is touching her until she lets out a sharp cry, body tightening, muscles tensing. "No, please," she whimpers.
"You don't like this?" he asks, feigning surprise as he does something that Erik can't see due to his position. The man tugs her tail and yanks it back, causing her to cry out loudly. He dips his free hand between her legs and pushes something up.
"Ah! Ah!" she screams.
It they were close to the city, Erik would worry about someone coming to witness this, but he knows her voice, shrill as it is, will not carry beyond the thick woods, would not be able to summon help. And it is not help she is after. Not truly.
"You don't like having this inside you, darling?" he asks.
She sobs loudly. "No, Daddy. No."
"I don't like hearing 'no', darling. You know that."
Erik should probably be ashamed by how his cock thickens at the way she sobs, hands clenching and unclenching, toes curling in short little spasms. It's clear as day now that he has something up her hole and is fucking her with it. "Ah, annnhh... Plea- pleaase, Daddy," she whines, her words distorted and garbled from the moaning.
"I know, darling. I know it's a lot," he says. "But I want you to bear it for me, alright darling? Daddy will make you feel good later, I promise."
"Please," she whimpers. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm sorry," she cries.
"I know you are," he says. "You're always sorry when you misbehave, darling child. But Daddy has to punish you so you don't do it again." He takes a step back and ignores her sputters of denial.
"I won't, I won't, Daddy. Please, please."
It's impossible not to gape at the sheer willpower the man possesses, so capable of ignoring the way she is begging. If she belonged to Erik, he would have freed her the first time she begged and from the sounds and look of it, she had been left out in the open for a long time. Instead of being cold, beads of sweat trickles down her face, mixing with her tears.
"You know why you're here, don't you, Baby?"
She sniffles and bobs her head up and down. "I- I-"
"You have to say it, darling."
"I-" she sniffles. "I went outside."
"You did," he says, leaning in and wrapping and arm around her small waist. "You're mine, Ally. My men have the same instructions. None of them do anything without permission. You aren't allowed out without asking," he bites down hard enough to leave a mark.
Erik bears her sharp cry with a grimace. He can't stop himself from staring hungrily at the duo, wishing he was in the man's place instead. His hand sneaks down the hem of his pants and he cups his erection. He hisses in a breath. He's close already. Jesus. When was the last time he came without a warm body in be wi
th him?
"I'm sorry, Daddy. I won't-" she sniffs. "I won't do it again."
"I know you won't," he says. "But you have to be punished, don't you, darling?"
She nods again, though obviously reluctant.
"There's my good girl," he says, tweaking her nipple, free hand holding her through the thrashing that follows. "Shh..." he coos, doing the same with her other nipples, pinching and pulling the sensitive tip to have her cry harder from the overwhelming sensation. "This time, it's just the two of us. The next time you displease me, I'm going to have Dom join us. And then, Adam and Nigel. And then I'll have my entire pack take their turn on you."
Her breathe hitches as she cries harder. "No, no, Daddy. Don't," she pleads. "I don't- I don't want them," she whimpers, her cries growing more panicked, cat ears swiveled back and tail curled up between her legs. "Daddy, please don't do it."
Letting go of her, he steps around in front of her and tips her head up, pinching her cheeks with his thumb and forefinger.
Her eyes are wide with fear with tears still streaming down her face. "Daddy," she whimpers.
"You're mine," he says. "Just mine, Baby." He wipes her tears with the palm of his hands. "Shh... Shh... It's alright. Daddy won't have to do it if you behave. Now, open," he says.
Her lower lip trembles and she opens her mouth wide.
He loses no time kissing into her mouth, licking and tasting her, scent-marking her inside as well as out, licking the tear tracks on her cheeks and down her to her neck, kissing bruises on her pale skin. She arches into his touch, seeking his contact as desperately as an animal in heat.
She is still dazed from the consuming kiss when he pulls back so she only manages to blink at him as he steps away.
"Daddy's going into the house to get you some new toys. You're going to stay here and be good, okay?"
Erik watches as the man turns his back to her and steps away, strolling down the path towards an open gate and walking straight into the entrance of the cabin between rows of blossoming colorful flowers.
She wriggles in her restraints, as though testing the give of the ropes, and then she whimpers, tensing the muscles on her inner thighs. She pulls her legs up, tilting the chairs with her for a fraction of an inch, and then she gives up and the chair falls back down. She does this again and again, trying desperately to lift her legs up so she can ease the ache on her legs. At last, she gives up, sobbing quiet tears.