“Why?”
Hunter sighed, and an uneasy silence fell between them, only broken by the sound of a falling log. Emilia jumped.
“Is that why you didn’t just take the shares?” she asked.
“I was never going to take the damn shares. Not for me anyway. They’re yours, kitten. They should always have been yours.”
Emilia shook her head and gave a short humorless laugh, so unlike her that his gut twisted.
“You know full well that women in our family never inherit anything. Besides, I make my own money, and I have no wish to be associated with a company that was responsible for the collapse that killed so many people.” She glanced at him and smiled grimly when he just stared at her. “Mama told me about it before she died. She also told me that I should give you a chance if you were ever to approach me. Guess she knew something I didn’t. After all, your name was mud in our house, you know.”
Hunter gave silent thanks to the amazing woman that Annalisa had been and smiled at Emilia in an effort to reassure her.
“Yes, I was well aware of that. One of the many reasons why I kept my distance. Besides you were too young for me, still are, truth be told.”
Emilia rolled her eyes, and Hunter’s heart felt lighter.
“Poppycock, we’ve already discussed this.”
“When this was just us spending the weekend together, kitten, not…” He let his voice trail off and giving into the need to touch her, ran his fingers over the strands of her hair falling across her face. Lifting it off he allowed the silky feel to soothe his agitated bear.
“Not what? You’ve had plenty of occasion to bite me, yet you haven’t. So what else is there, Sir?” The intonation she put on it made the title sound like an insult, and he frowned when she yanked her head back, and he lost his grasp on her hair. His bear growled, and Emilia glared at him.
“So, tell me what exactly is your plan for us? I’m assuming you have one? If you didn’t want the shares, then why go through all this charade? You could have just brought my brother home, and that would have been the end of it.”
Hunter sighed, knowing full well that his next words would hurt Emilia, but she had a right to know the truth.
“It would have been, had your brother not put you on the table himself. And no, he wasn’t playing against me.” Shock registered in Emilia’s expression, and the tears she was trying to blink away were hard to take.
“He did what? Why would he … I mean … he said you were playing for the shares and then made him put me up as collateral.”
Hunter shook his head.
“No, I’m sorry, kitten. That’s not what happened. When I chanced upon him he’d been drinking heavily, and was high on the white stuff and God only knows what else. Jason Lavender had him right where he wanted him.”
Emilia paled at the mention of that name.
“I see you’ve heard of him.”
“Hasn’t everyone? That man is a crook, and I have no idea why he’s not behind bars yet.”
Hunter shrugged his shoulders. “Friends in high places I should think.”
“He was the one that sold Papa that inferior material to start with. What was Leo thinking?”
“Leo has an addiction, kitten. I’m sure you know that. Jason is his supplier, among other things. He is also a wolf shifter, who happens to have a thing for young, voluptuous blondes.”
Emilia bit her lip and reared back as though he’d slapped her.
“Like me, you mean? Oh my God, Leo was going to sell me to that vile man to feed his drug addiction? Is that what you’re telling me?” Emilia’s voice had risen to a shrill shriek in her agitation, and Hunter winced.
“Addicts do the strangest things, and they usually hurt their family the most. I’m not making excuses for him here, but that boy needs help.”
A tear streaked down Emilia’s face, and she swiped it away before he could reach out and do it for her.
“He needs to want it first. Mama kept him on an even keel, but since she died, he just … fuck it.”
“I know, she made me keep an eye on him, too. Not that she needed to ask me. He’s your twin and important to you, so, of course I kept an eye on him. This was a new low even for him, and there was no fucking way that damn wolf was going to get his hands on what’s mine.”
Chapter Ten
Emilia’s heart threatened to beat itself out of her chest hearing that growled mine. Hunter sounded as though he meant it, and she could once again see his bear prowl behind his eyes. It made her acutely aware of him, and she wished with all her might that things would be different between them.
That she wasn’t here under a contract, and that he would just act on his words and claim her as his.
“Say that again, please,” she said, and Hunter ran a hand through his hair. The action made his pectorals ripple under the tight tee that he wore, and Emilia suppressed a sigh. He might think he was too old for her, but he didn’t look like a guy his age, and besides, what did age matter when you loved someone? And she did love him. This wouldn’t hurt that much if she didn’t. Emilia furiously blinked away the moisture threatening to erupt from her eyes again, and Hunter frowned. He reached out to her as though to touch her, but then balled his hand into a fist and rested it on his knee instead.
“I said you’re mine, kitten,” he finally said, and Emilia’s heart leapt for joy. “You always will be, but I want to see you happy. You don’t need to be settled with a cynical, scarred bear shifter like me, especially as your father will never talk to you again, if you do.” He put his hand up when she was going to interrupt him, and continued.
“No, let me finish. He is your father, and I know you well enough to know that you love him and that good for nothing brother of yours. Despite what you said to them when you left, you could no more turn your back on them than you could stop breathing, and that’s one of the many things about you that I…”
His bear growled, and Emilia forgot to breathe at the struggle she sensed in him. She scooted closer and put her hand on his tense thigh.
“You what, Sir? Please don’t clam up on me now,” she said.
A grim smile kicked up the corner of his mouth, and she leant in closer to kiss that spot. A growl erupted from his chest, and before Emilia could blink she was on the floor with him towering above her. Right now he didn’t look very much in control of his bear, and that thought sent adrenaline coursing through her body.
Holding himself off of her with his hands placed next to her head, and his arms locked, he ground his groin against hers and the solid heat of his erect cock meant that Emilia’s hormones took over. Moisture flooded her underwear, and her nipples tried to poke through the soft fabric covering them. As comfortable as her jumper was the fabric chafed against the sensitive peaks, and Emilia bit her lip to stop from whimpering her need.
Hunter groaned and bending his head claimed her mouth in an earth shattering kiss that left her breathless and so needy she was going to scream if he didn’t do something other than kiss her.
He pulled away, and the heat in his gaze sent her arousal into fever pitch. Emilia shifted her legs wider, and they both groaned as he settled himself right between her legs.
“Fuck it, Emilia. I can’t do this anymore. I want you too damn much.”
Hunter’s voice came out distorted, and more of his bear showed as his muscles expanded and he grew bigger above her.
“Then have me, all of me, please.” Emilia gasped her reply, all too aware of the barely leashed aggression that poured out of his very pores. It should send her running, yet it had the opposite effect on her. Beads of perspiration slid into her eyes, clouding her vision. Trapped as she was under his bulk, her clothes felt heavy and restrictive, and Hunter seemed to burn hotter still, as he grew perfectly above her. His nostrils flared and he inhaled roughly, as though he, too, had trouble drawing air into his lungs. Emilia blinked to clear her vision, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sight of his fangs. His incisors grew longer, more
menacing somehow in the orange glow from the fire, and she didn’t dare breathe when he dipped his head and ran those lethal teeth along her neck.
“This is your last chance to cry red, kitten. This time when I fuck you, I will claim you, body and soul. You will be mine, to carry my mark, so that everyone will know who you belong to. I want to cover you in my cum, bite you all over, and leave my marks on you forever. Do you understand me?”
Emilia nodded, utterly unable to get her voice to work, and Hunter threw his head back and roared. The vibrations of that growl shook the very ground they lay on, and she locked her ankles behind his ass to enable her to grind her hips against the solid bulge in his jeans. So close. God, she was so close already, if only….
Hunter bucked and dislodged her, until she lay winded, face down on the rug. Hunter yanked her jumper up and her leggings down, and the first hard, stinging swat of his hand on her ass took her breath away. Several more followed in quick succession, and then he lifted her on her knees, and pushed her upper body back down into the rug. Her jumper gave way with an audible rip, as he used his claws to get if off her.
“Do. Not. Move.” Every growled word was accentuated by another swat to her ass. Heat spread across her skin, and she jumped when he replaced his hands with his teeth, while pushing several fingers into her wet pussy.
Emilia whimpered and mewled like the kitten he called her, as he fucked her with his fingers, while marking her body with his teeth just like he’d promised, until her skin was just a mass of hot sensation. Up and down her spine into the hollow of her back, over her ass and the insides of her thighs, until she didn’t know which part of her he hadn’t reached.
Pinned in place by his clawed hand on her shoulder, and his fingers buried deep inside her, keeping her teetering on the edge of her release, she had nowhere to go.
Emilia whined when he withdrew his fingers, and Hunter pushed his digits, slicked by her arousal, into her mouth, and smacked her ass again. Emilia bit down, and the taste of her arousal mixed with his blood, and Hunter grunted his approval.
“Fuck, yes. Do that again.”
His claws sliced through her shoulder, while he dug his fingers deeper into her mouth and jaw. The pain just added to her arousal until her whole body felt on fire. Teetering on the edge, she screamed, as he ran his thick cock through her wet slit and then drove in deep.
“I’m going to fuck you so hard, baby. You’re mine.”
Hunter pulled almost all the way out and then thrust in with so much force the Christmas tree wobbled precariously next to them. Emilia buried her hands in the soft rug, and screamed around the digits in her mouth, as Hunter ruthlessly fucked her across the rug, and the first of her orgasms burst from her.
It seemed to send him further into a frenzy, and then everything stopped. He grew bigger inside of her, and yanking her torso up, lodged himself deeper still until he was do deeply buried inside of her, Emilia didn’t know where she started and he ended.
He turned her head, and through the myriad of sensations assaulting her, his deep growl registered, seconds before he bit down hard on her shoulder, and Emilia screamed. Waves of heat coursed through her veins from the bite mark, and her body shook in the throes of the most intense orgasm that robbed her of her vision, as his cock pulsed inside of her, and he started to thrust again. Every move prolonged her orgasm, and when he pulled out and aligned himself with her other hole, it was Emilia who pushed back to impale herself on his length.
Hunter swore and bit her other shoulder, and Emilia collapsed on the floor, her arms and legs too weak to support her. Hunter’s claws sliced through the rug, and the last thing she became aware of where the hot splashes of his cum spurting on her sore ass cheeks when he pulled out of her.
****
Utterly spent Hunter, too, went down hard. He had the foresight to twist so that he didn’t squash his precious girl. His. He smiled and let the truth of that statement sink into his very soul, as his bear strutted. There was no other expression for his beast’s goofy somersaults inside his head. Eyes shut, breathing shallow, Emilia lay next to him, and a primitive sense of ownership grabbed hold of him. Seeing his mating bites on her, her pale skin red and marked by his bear, and sticky from his cum, made him, too, want to strut. Not that he had the energy for that. Instead he lifted the perspiration soaked hair off Emilia’s face and licked his bites clean. Emilia groaned. Such a deep throated, sexy sound that his chest expanded and he put all of his emotions into the tender kiss he gave her.
“Look at me, kitten.”
Emilia shook her head, but did prop one eye open to squint at him.
“There you are. Back with me?”
Emilia pulled a face.
“Depends how you look at that. I am, but not if you expect me to move or heaven forbid do that again. That was … wow.”
She struggled to push herself up, and then seemed to think better of it, and just put her head back down.
“No, you’ve broken me. Can’t move.”
Hunter would have been worried had it not been for the smile kicking up the corner of her kiss swollen lips and the waves of sated contentment he sensed from her. She reached out to touch him and frowned when she encountered the tattered remains of her jumper.
“I liked that jumper.”
Hunter laughed and helped her sit up. Her wince of pain tore at his guts, but she didn’t seem to mind, just leant more heavily on him, and then sighed when he picked her up.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and into bed. To sleep, I hasten to add.”
Emilia yawned and snuggled in closer.
“Don’t want to get clean. I smell like you. It’s nice.”
Hunter pulled her closer still, dropped a kiss on her hair, and smiled.
“I know, baby. You still will, don’t you worry. I told you, you’re mine.”
Hunter felt the smile in the kisses she dropped on his scarred neck, and his whole body went tight at her sleepy answer.
“Forever and ever, right?”
“Too damn fucking right, kitten.”
****
Morning came all too soon as far as Emilia was concerned. Deliciously sore in all the right places, she smiled and inhaled deeply, secure in the knowledge that she was his. His scent surrounded her, seemed to pour out of her very pores, and she wondered whether other people would be able to smell it, too. Well, she supposed humans wouldn’t.
Her eyes flew open, and she gasped at what she’d just said. Humans, as though she wasn’t one of them anymore, and strictly speaking she wasn’t. Not entirely anyway.
After their shower together last night, which had revived her enough to ask endless questions, they had sat up in bed talking for hours, until the first rays of the winter sun had bathed the cabin in an orange glow.
Hunter had wrapped her up in the quilt and carried her out on the veranda. Watching the sunrise together had been the most romantic moment of her life ever, and the symbolic nature of it hadn’t been lost on her either.
Already she felt stronger. Her senses of hearing and smell were enhanced, and Hunter had laughingly explained to her, that, yes, she would now be able to see in the dark. She also ran slightly hotter than before, all signs of her body changing, and her genetics matching to his to enable her to one day carry his babies.
A fierce sense of longing took her breath away. While she was surrounded by babies at work all day long, she had never allowed herself to think of herself as a mother. Now, however, now she could give voice to all those deeply held longings. Not that it would happen overnight. Hunter had warned her of that, too. It would take time, and every bite of his would prepare her that little bit more.
She would be immune from most diseases, just as he was, and every bite would prolong her life until it matched his life span. Sadly, however she would never shift.
Emilia had pouted, and Hunter had laughed.
“You would make a beautiful bear, kitten, but I’d be worried for my hide. You’re bratty enough in y
our human form. I dread to think what you would do as a bear.”
Emilia had stuck her tongue out at him, and her tummy tightened in fevered anticipation even now, remembering the dark look he’d thrown her.
“You’ll pay for that, as soon as that ass of yours is not too sore for a good paddling.”
Emilia scooted into a sitting position, and winced. Maybe that wouldn’t be today then. She slowly made her way to the bathroom and the demands of her body taken care of, washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth, and then admired his marks on her.
He had been careful not to mark her where other humans could see, but her neck carried his whisker burn, and the mating bites on her shoulder throbbed. Darts of arousal shot through her when she traced their outline, and she clamped her thighs together, to relieve the ache between her legs.
Where was he anyway? Not in the cabin, she would have sensed him. Lifting her nose in the air she gave an experimental sniff, and grasped the sink for support at the myriad of minute scents that hit her nostrils.
His musk overlaid all else, but she could smell the faint traces of furniture polish his cleaner used, her perfume that had left the minutest of traces in the fabric of the curtains she rested her head against. The faint breeze coming through the ventilation shaft brought with it the smell of damp earth, and petrol fumes. If Emilia cocked her head and really listened, she could hear the faint sound of traffic. They weren’t that far from civilization then. Bird song, the crunch of snow, the snap of twigs, the rustle of a small, furry creature, running away from heavy, approaching footsteps that made her heart beat faster. She knew that gait. Hunter was returning from wherever he had been.
Grinning she sprinted out of the bathroom, and spotting the tee he’d worn yesterday, threw it over her head. It hung to mid-thigh, but it covered the essentials, and besides it was his. She sniffed to let his scent drive away the other smells, as the front door opened and a cold breeze swirled around her bare feet, before the door fell shut again. His scent was stronger now, laced with traces of sweat, and sawdust. She grinned to herself as she rounded the corner. Sure enough he’d collected some more logs, and was even now stacking them next to the fire place.
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