Dante continued to go slow and hard, his heated breath tickling her flesh as he tormented her. He held on to her hips as her body arched, and when she shuddered, he worked her faster.
“Dante,” she cried as she shook. Then a flash of warmth flared inside her and seared its way up over her body, causing an uncontrollable wave of incredible pleasure to rock her body. She’d never wanted anyone more, never dreamed of how good it would feel to be in her lover’s arms again. Never had she imagined how delicious it was to feel the void of everything other than the ecstasy of the orgasm Dante gave her.
When she finished trembling, Dante slid up over her until he found her lips again. As he kissed her, she ran her hand along his body, giving him goose bumps. The largeness of his erection against her inner thigh scared her a bit, and her heart raced. That first night with him had hurt so badly, but then he’d made it feel so good.
He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes as he tried to push into her wetness. It hurt a little. Anya winced, and he stopped.
“Anya?” he asked as her hands trembled.
Anya swallowed hard. She was so embarrassed, her voice sounded shy, and she felt silly. “I’m still a bit nervous,” she told him.
Dante looked at her and smiled with bemusement in his eyes as his fingers ran along her heated cheek. “It’s okay. I’ll be gentle.” He kissed her ever so softly.
The kiss was so very passionate as he held her face in one hand and his other entwined with her fingers as he tried to gently push himself into her. Anya let out a small gasp as he worked himself slowly back and forth, trying to penetrate her a little more with each movement. It was a tiny bit uncomfortable, and it stung a little again. Not like their first time. This was much more tolerable, and because he moved ever so gently into her it quickly faded.
*
He’d never ached so badly for anyone before. His whole body shivered at the touch, taste and smell of Anya’s body. Dante kept his movements slow and careful, kissing her soft full lips tenderly as he tried to push into her. She was such a tiny little thing that if he wasn’t careful he could hurt her as he had the first time. The heady smell of her musk caused him to tremble a bit, and the more he struggled to not just plunge into her the harder it got.
Dante’s breathing became faster. His back was getting slick with a fine sheen of sweat. He’d tried so hard to be very gentle, but it was now more than he could bear. He kissed her harder as he thrust his hips forward, plunging himself completely into her, and he gasped as the heat of her body covered him. The feeling of finally being joined with her again was incredible, and he shuddered.
*
His lips crushed hers, and Anya let out a muffled sob. It was a little more painful than she thought it should be. But he was a large man and so was his erection.
“Anya, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Dante told her after he pulled his lips from hers.
“It’s okay,” Anya said as she looked at him, her tears filling her eyes.
“No, I hurt you.” He began to pull out of her.
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
She moved her hips up, making him fill her again, and she held her breath. The first night had hurt too, and now she wondered if every time they would mate it would be like that. Anya pulled his head down to hers and pressed her lips hard against his again, not wanting the feeling of them joined like this to ever end. The tight overfilled feeling was soon replaced with one of intense stirrings of pleasure, and she grabbed a hold of his hips, pulling him closer.
They clasped desperately to one another, a hum of warmth spread up from Anya’s womb and filled her entire body. As if he’d sensed her increased excitement, Dante pinned her hands down beside her and intertwined his fingers with her own. Their bodies moved together, and his breathing grew very heavy. His grip on her hands tightened as he thrust harder and faster into her.
“Oh, god,” he cried as he twitched deep inside her.
Anya’s body reacted to his, and she trembled again. Her breathing quickened and she curved her back as she shuddered more with every movement of Dante.
“Oh, Anya.” He moaned deeply just before his lips crushed against her own. Her eyes slid closed as her orgasm swept over her, and she became lost in the feeling of her lover joining her with his own climax.
Dante collapsed on her, panting deeply for a moment before rolling off her and pulling her close to his chest. They snuggled in each other’s arms. He gently kissed her neck and whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She panted. She was still out of breath. She was so peaceful and weary in such a good way she didn’t want to move. Yet as much as she hated to she had to leave, return to the house she hated and the man she didn’t want to be forced to mate.
* * * *
The entire way home Dante’s mind was on Anya. If she couldn’t convince her brother to let them be together he would have to do something, something that might start another feud. Now as he sat in his brother’s home, he and the rest of his family tried to come up with a plan, a way to ensure he and Anya would be able to be together.
She’d told him she would tell her brother. Let him know she’d already been claimed, and that she was in love with him. As he sat with Chris and Beth, he saw the doubt in their eyes.
“I can’t see it happening,” Chris said with a scowl.
“Me neither, but what else can I do?”
“Go take her, bring her back here where she belongs.” His brother growled.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not? Look what they did to our mother,” Chris said, his eyes glowing amber in the light of the lanterns on the table.
Beth cleared her throat and both of them looked at her. She had that look on her face that meant she was a little more than irate. “I agree with Chris,” she said. It left both Dante and Chris staring at her in disbelief. Beth was not one to stir up that kind of trouble.
“Anya belongs here. I really don’t think she wanted to leave in the first place,” Beth explained.
“But a war,” Dante said.
“Yes, I know. But we out number them. We live on an island that is easily defended by the rocky outcropping in the surrounding waters, and they would be stupid to attack.”
He looked at Alex and Cora and waited to see what the young man would say. When he didn’t offer up anything, Dante asked him straight out. “What do you think?”
“Well, I don’t want to see a war, and I know Anya doesn’t either. But I know my brother. He’ll never agree to this,” Alex said. “You’ll have to go get her and bring her back.”
“Do you think he’ll retaliate?” Chris asked.
“Ah, hell yeah. He still holds a grudge just as badly as you do.” Alex huffed.
“That needs to stay in the past,” Beth interjected before Chris could say anything. “This is about Anya and Dante and no one else.”
“I agree. But Anya won’t leave without Mitch’s permission,” Dante told them.
“Then steal her,” Alex said. Dante stared at him, a smile slipping over his little sister’s mate’s face. “I’ll even help you do it if you want.”
“Really now.” Dante chuckled. He liked Alex and was so very happy Cora had picked him for a mate.
“All right, it’s settled then. We go and kidnap her,” Chris said with a near roar as he stood abruptly.
“Easy, big guy,” Beth said, pulling him back down to his chair. “This needs a carefully thought out plan.”
“Yes, I agree, but first I want to find out if Mitch will allow it. If not, we’ll need to have things set to bring her back,” Dante said.
For the following several hours, they talked about how best to go about their mission to recapture his mate. The next time Anya was supposed to meet him was at three in the morning, and he wanted everyone ready if it didn’t turn out the way he hoped. By the time they’d all agreed to have a hunting party ready and set to head out if he returned without
her, it was nearly time for them to be getting up.
Beth had to get to bed and so did everyone else. They agreed to meet again for lunch and finish cementing the plan. As Dante returned to his home loneliness seeped in again. This was her home, and she should be there with him. Not in one of a virtual stranger whom she didn’t want to be made to marry. If he had to, Dante would storm even Craig’s den to bring her back.
Chapter Fourteen
As she passed the living room to go up stairs, the light came on. Anya wheeled around and saw Craig sitting in the armchair.
“Where the hell did you go?”He snarled as he stood.
“I went for a drive. You said I could use the car when you weren’t.” She stepped back more. If he got closer, he’d smell Dante all over her.
“At three in the morning?” he asked as he advanced more. “Where could you possibly need to go at that hour for so damn long?”
She moved again and backed into the wall. The need to run grew as she saw his dark eyes nearly glow, and panic filled her as she knew he’d gotten Dante’s scent. His nostrils flared, and his eyes went wide. With a fast grab, he gripped her by the arm and yanked her closer. Craig pinned her up against him and sniffed her face and hair.
A deep, throaty growl rumbled from his chest, and Anya knew she was in trouble. He tried to be aggressive, tried to dominate her into backing down. “Let go of me,” she snapped.
“You were with someone.” He snarled. “You mated someone else.”
“Yes, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” she snapped recklessly.
“Really,” he said in such a deadpan tone she felt fear.
Anya jerked free from him and turned and raced for the door. The air was sent out of her lungs as he toppled her to the floor with a hard crash. With a twist, he pinned her, and she shifted. Her clothes tore away as her body morphed into her wolf form. Craig had turned as well. They snarled at one another, circling, and Anya held her tail tight under her body.
He lunged at her, his teeth biting into her neck as he toppled her over onto her back. With desperate struggles, she pawed at him, snapping her teeth, trying to get free. For a brief moment, his let go, and she squirmed to get out from under him. Then his fangs gripped her throat, holding her in a dominate grip. He was going to force her submission.
She yelped loudly as she tried in vain to get away, his teeth digging a little deeper until she wore herself out in her struggles. When she stopped moving all together, he released her. The wolf in her had yielded, but the woman had not. She twisted back up onto her paws and lunged for the stairs. She looked for a place to escape to as she made the landing. His body slammed into her, knocking her down. She rolled to get back up, but this time he pinned her with his full weight.
Her inner wolf would do nothing to protect her from him now. He’d laid claim to it when she’d lain still downstairs under him. Her tail went lax, and she if she didn’t morph the wolf would let him mate her. Anya shifted again, hoping Craig would leave her alone in this form. He shifted too, but didn’t leave her be.
It was the way of their kind. Humans would never understand it. Hell, she thought, she didn’t understand it herself. When their wolf side submitted, the human was forced to follow. It was a primal instinct, purely animal, and there was nothing their kind could do to change their base natures. No matter how much the human side of her didn’t want to be mated to him, her inner wolf overruled her. Craig took full advantage of that fact.
* * * *
She woke up in the morning and noticed Craig was still asleep beside her. The man snored loudly, and the human in her wanted to suffocate him with a pillow. But her wolf would not allow it, would never willingly let her do anything to harm him. Such was the way of their beasts, and Anya hated it.
Soon they were to join as husband and wife, but last night he’d coerced her inner wolf into being submissive, the wolf in her allowing him to mate with her. Now she was his, and that thought left her chest sore with grief. Pain and sorrow filled her. He would never let her go, never allow Dante within a foot of her to be able to reclaim her. Even though her heart only belonged to Dante, he would never be hers again.
Anya stood in the kitchen as she prepared breakfast. It was as if a robot had taken her over. Everything was done without emotion or desire. As she fried some eggs, an arm wrap around her waist from behind. Craig nuzzled her ear and then kissed her cheek. Her human side wanted to slap him. The urge welled up inside, but it was quelled as her wolf side took over. It forced her not to react negatively to him and to be complacent with her unwanted mate.
Anya was thankful when he left to tend to the farm chores, leaving her alone to dwell on her despair. She sat at the table and simply stared off into space, not knowing what to do. A horrible void sat within her, and it was cold and dark. The feeling spread, and in her heart, she truly would rather be dead than live the rest of her life without Dante.
When Kari called just before suppertime, Anya broke down in tears. She told her what had happened, told her what Craig had done. Kari, although sympathetic, also knew how it worked. If not last night then it would have happened on their wedding night or later on. Either way Anya was lost to the man she loved. Tomorrow night she was supposed to meet Dante, but there was no way she would be allowed to leave. No way her wolf would ever let her willingly go to him now.
* * * *
Dante waited by the fountain. She should have made it there first. He was becoming anxious. For the last twenty minutes, there had been no sign of her. Now as he paced back and forth, he had a sinking feeling she wouldn’t show. She was supposed to tell Mitch they’d mated, tell him she would not be with Craig. Something had to have gone wrong.
By the time the sun started to rise, she still had not shown up. He knew Mitch had refused her. Now he would have to go to him, demand his mate. But he would not go alone. Alex would be with him. After all, the young man had given his blessing. It meant something to their kind, even the alpha would have to take that into consideration. If not, Cora and Memphis would ensure Anya got out of the house one way or another.
While they would be bickering over it, Cora and Memphis would be in place. Cora had snuck in and out of Alex’s home for over a year without being caught. It was something he wasn’t sure if he should be proud of or shocked by. How the two had done so without leaving her scent behind wasn’t explained to him, but it was how they were going to get Anya.
As he stepped into Mitch’s home behind Alex, Dante heard a commotion from within. Many voices were all talking at once, and he could easily hear a woman’s worried voice mingled in them. They walked into the kitchen and he saw it was packed with Silverback males. Everyone in the room stopped talking and stared at them. It was easy to see they were a hunting party, and that had Dante suddenly feeling a little trapped. But as soon as he saw the near enraged state of Mitch, he knew something else was wrong.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Mitch snarled and stepped forward along with his beta.
“Easy. We’re here to talk. That’s all,” Alex said. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Anya’s gone, she ran away from Craig’s and no one can find her,” a very pregnant woman sobbed out.
“Kari, what happened?” Alex asked.
“This is not for his ears,” Mitch snapped as he stood in a defensive pose.
“Mitch, he might be able to help. After all, she’s in love with him,” Kari said.
That earned Dante an even harder glare, but he stood his ground. His Anya was in some sort of trouble, and like hell would he step aside without finding out what was going on.
“Why did she run away?” Dante asked. He was in a near state of rage himself.
The look on Mitch’s face hardened. His jaw muscles bulged, and he saw the man was near ready to kill someone. “Craig…she ran away because of Craig.” He growled.
“Why? What happened?” Dante asked, his own jaw clenching tightly as he had a sense it was Craig who Mitch was f
urious with.
“He forced a claim on her,” Kari said, looking very distraught.
Dante’s mind snapped. Images of what those words meant filled his brain. It was more than either the wolf or man could take. His body trembled in anger. The need to defend his mate and to avenge her honor filled him. “Where is he? I’m going to kill him.” He growled.
“We need to find Anya first. She was so upset. Now we can’t find her anywhere,” Kari told him, the worry in her words seeped into him. “No one has seen or talked to her since suppertime.”
That was over two hours ago, and she could be just about anywhere given that amount of time. “Was she on foot?” he asked.
“No, she took Craig’s car, but now no one can find it or Craig either,” Mitch said. “We were already at the farmhouse and searched all over it for her.”
“Would she go to friends, another relative, maybe somebody from another pack?” he asked.
“No, we checked with everyone she knows. We thought she may have gone to Temple Island,” Mitch said, his voice faltering a little.
“She didn’t. I swear to god she didn’t,” Alex put in.
“Where have you looked?” Dante asked.
If she wasn’t with any of her friends and not on the island, he had a hunch as to where to find her. She’d told him her favorite place to go, and that she’d never revealed it to anyone else. It was the spot she liked to go and think, to get away from everyone, and it would make sense that she would go there now.
As the rest of the Silverbacks explained where they had searched, he learned the one place they hadn’t was Maiden’s Bluff. “I think I know where she went,” he told them. Though, he had a bad feeling as they headed out of the house. Dante stepped outside and whistled a high-pitch call to Cora and Memphis. The two came slinking from around the back of the house, smelling to the high heaven of pine trees.
An Undying Love Page 11