Midsummer Heat

by Mina Carter

Max swung the car off the road, down a short drive to what had once been the Ellison property. She remembered old man Ellison chasing them off his garden with a stick, yelling about ‘damn fool wolf cubs’. Even though he was human, he’d lived on the outskirts of Stratton and around the pack all his life, staying on alone after his wife died and his kids abandoned the small town for careers abroad. Max must have bought the place when the old man died.

  The truck pulled to a stop in a flurry of dirt, and Max hauled the brake up. Both hands on the wheel he took a deep breath, as though centering himself. Hand on the door handle, she looked out of the window and tried to gauge the distance to the tree line.

  “Run.” His voice was low, the words a harsh plea. “Please… Run.”

  The need to chase shone in his eyes, the dark orbs glittering with a potent combination of need, lust and anger. Anger with her for daring to leave again and a hint of what looked like self-loathing.

  She glanced toward the trees again as she cracked the door slowly. She could make it. Maybe. The cool night air filtered through the gap between the door and the truck body, bringing with it the scent of the forest after the rain, of the night and of freedom. In the space between one heartbeat and the next she made her decision, schooling herself to open the door fully and slide, lady-like, from the passenger seat.

  Behind her Max sighed, the sound full of disappointment as he opened his own door. Adrenalin raced through her, senses all on high alert as she waited, holding everything within as she listened out for the sound of his pants sliding over the leather of the seat, the dull thump of his boots as they hit the dirt on the other side of the truck.

  It was now or never. He was the furthest point away from her. In the truck he could have burst through the passenger compartment and out of the door after her, but now he’d have to come around or over the car, both of which would cost him precious seconds. Seconds she could use to slip into the forest.

  Leaving her delicate shoes in the dirt by the truck, she hauled her skirt up and launched herself into motion. Her wolf sang as she raced over the grass toward the darkness of the trees, human toes digging into the thick, rich earth. Max swore, the curse ending on a low snarl as he realized what she was doing. Within seconds he was after her, the metallic thud telling her that he’d come over the hood of the truck in pursuit.

  Unable to stop the squeal escaping from her lips she leapt onto the wide wooden decking around the cabin and raced along it. Her feet slid as she hit the corner and she almost lost her balance. Desperation and momentum took her through the corner as he hit the decking behind her, boots hitting the wood like gunshots as he ran after her.

  Then she was around the house, the expanse of the garden below her. Power hummed through her body, filling her muscles with energy as she took a running leap off the decking. She landed halfway down the gentle incline of the lawn, legs bunched under her and ready to run again.

  Power and energy crackling through the air warned her a second before Max landed beside her. Frustration threaded through the adrenalin as she shot off again. She didn’t get more than a few feet before he brought her down in a heavy tackle that had them rolling across the soft grass. She fought like a wildcat, but his hold was too strong. Within seconds he had her pinned, his expression feral and his eyes amber as he looked down at her.

  “Fight more if you want to give it up here,” he snarled, hands firm on her wrists above her head. His voice was low, rough with need and his wolf. “Fight if you want me to strip this pretty dress off you, turn you on your belly and fuck you as the moon rises…”

  Chapter Six

  She whimpered, her resistance disappearing as he bent his head to claim her lips. Hard and possessive, his touch set her on fire, sending need swirling through her body to set up home in every cell until she was a quivering mass. A groan in the back of his throat, he parted her lips and drove within, sliding his tongue along hers in a dance as old as time and as new as the moon above them.

  She didn't fight. Couldn't. It was as if his hard hands pinning her to the night dampened lawn had leeched all the fight right out of her. Wetness from the grass soaked the thin satin of her dress in seconds, chilling her skin even as the heat of his body above brought her blood to boiling point.

  A ragged murmur escaped her lips, her tenuous control stretched to the breaking point. The moon was so close that she could almost taste it, could feel the fur of her wolf brushing the inside of her skin whenever she moved. Energy rolled over her skin as she fought her dual nature, the woman desperate not to lose control and descend into animal lust and madness and the wolf within who snapped and snarled as she was denied the freedom she yearned for.

  His lips grazed her neck again, in rough, open mouthed kisses that dragged a line of fire over her skin. Heat and need arched through her, drawing a line between his hot mouth on her throat and her aching pussy. She whimpered, losing the battle as he nipped, teeth not quite breaking the skin, but enough to send tingles through her blood. Her clit throbbed as a deep shudder rolled through her.

  "Mine."

  His voice was thick, guttural…almost unrecognizable as he lifted his head. She had a spilt second glimpse of bright amber eyes and the harsh lines of his face, made harder as his wolf tried to push to the surface, before he flipped her over.

  "Max?"

  Her voice emerged as a gasp as he pressed into her from behind and above, the thick bar of his cock fitting into the groove of her ass. A low snarl was her only answer as she felt rough hands on her thighs, shoving her dress up over her hips. His warm breath, heavy with the whiskey he'd drunk earlier, washed over her neck a second before his teeth returned, harder this time.

  Fear ran down her spine in hobnail boots. This time there were no thoughts of argument, or of fighting. She recognized the signs of a wolf too far gone as a warning possessive growl escaped around his lips and teeth in the delicate flesh of her throat. He wasn't hurting her, just holding her still. But like this, with how much bigger than she he was, he could easily do some damage and she wouldn't be able to stop him.

  His powerful body bracketed hers, his hips rocking and grinding his cock against her ass. He was hot and hard, his body heat ramped up to the max as the energy of his wolf rolled over his skin and called to hers. She tensed and he snarled in warning, using the weight of his body to hold her down. A whimper of distress slipped from her throat as his fingers hooked around the edge of her delicate thong underwear and yanked.

  Satin tore, the sound loud in the darkness. Oh God, he was going to do it. He'd warned her, back in the car, but had she listened? No. She'd run anyway, treating the implicit threat as a joke. Thinking that if he caught her, she could just shrug it off as a joke, using her scathing tongue to keep him at bay as she always had. But she'd forgotten that he wasn't human, not at all, and he never had been. Like her, he was a born wolf, the animal inside part of him since before he was born. It had equal claim on his reactions, and now she was paying the price.

  She dropped her head in a submissive gesture, the soft sound emanating from her throat not human at all, hoping to placate him. Her fingers bit into the lawn, driving through the turf to the rich dirt beneath. Shivers ran through her body as she lay placidly under him. It had to work.

  Despite this new, harsher version she was seeing, she knew Max. He tried harder than anyone to keep the animal in check, lectured the pack on remembering that they were human as well as wolf. He would never forgive himself if he took her like this. Took away her chances without asking.

  Then it hit her, her body stiffening as she felt her eyes widen in surprise.

  She'd run ten years ago because she thought he'd taken away all her options. Had made decisions about her without asking, but now she realized… That wasn't the case at all. Since she'd been back he'd done nothing but give her the choice, warning her when she stepped too close to the line. Always giving her the chance to back down.

  She didn't want to back down. The woman and wolf in accord
as need rolled through her body, all she wanted to do was shove her ass back and grind against his cock, let him know in a way he'd understand in his current state that she was willing. But she couldn't. He'd never believe her, not with him in this state. It would destroy him if he thought he'd taken her without consent.

  Softly, softly. Aware that she held the capacity destroy him, she lay still.

  "Max, sweetheart. Come back to me, you don't need to do this here." She kept her voice soft, little more than a murmur but he heard her. His hips stopped moving, the pressure of the teeth on her throat eased up. She was reaching him.

  “Let’s go inside, sweetheart,” she murmured, aware he could hear every word no matter how softly she whispered. “It’s kinda cold out here. Be much warmer inside, wouldn't it?”

  She shivered to underline her words, trying to tap into the instinctive need of a wolf to protect his mate. It was a double edged sword. She just had to hope he didn't remember that he hadn't placed his mark on her neck yet. That his need to protect her would override all else.

  He shifted, easing up from her a little and she allowed herself a small smile of relief. She was getting to him, reaching the man underneath the wolf. Making her teeth chatter to underline how cold she claimed to be, she put her hand over his larger one where it was planted on the ground in front of them. A soft gesture, not sexual but a plea.

  “Let’s go inside and get comfortable, shall we?”

  He rumbled, the sound a vibration against her neck which shot bone-melting need through her veins. For a second it was hard to think why she couldn't just shove her hips back and demand he finish what he'd started. Grimly, she held onto her focus. This wasn't just about her, it was about him. She couldn't let him do something that would cause him pain.

  She held her breath as he remained motionless for long seconds, then finally he unlatched his teeth from her throat. She shivered, mourning their loss but before she could blink, his hard arm wrapped around her waist and he hauled her to her feet. Bending at the waist, he scooped her up into his arms and strode toward the house.

  Curling up in his arms, she wrapped hers around his shoulders and buried her face into the strong column of his neck. She was glad no one could see them, not because she was finally yielding to him but because her dress was still around her middle, her panties ruined and lost somewhere in the darkness, and her ass was hanging out for all to see. As if to remind her, nature took the opportunity to kick up a slight breeze. Cool air washed over her exposed pussy, tweaking at her clit as her cunt tightened.

  They reached the decking and his heavy footsteps rang against the wood. She had no idea what would happen when they got inside, whether the man or the wolf would be in control. Anticipation raced through her veins. Either way, when they got inside, he would take her.

  The ache that had been there since she'd arrived back in Stratton and he'd kissed her in the back corridor of Honey’s bar intensified. Crawled through her veins and made its home in each cell of her body until she virtually shook with it. She needed him. On the bed, on the floor, wherever, she didn't care. She just needed his cock in her, buried deep to soothe the ache within.

  Crap.

  Before she could lock down on the thought, the scent of her arousal filled the air. He paused, a stutter in his step as she held her breath, catching her lower lip between her teeth. Any second now she expected to be dropped to the rough wooden floor, his hard body over hers a second later and his cock pressing hard as he shoved inside her. Hard and fast and hot and… She whimpered, her wolf as hot as she was, desperate to get out and wrap herself around the male who smelled so good.

  He pulled his head back to look at her. Lust and longing mixed with determination in his amber eyes, just enough brown in them to clue her into the fact the man was trying to retain control.

  “Not here, inside.”

  His voice was more a snarl than anything else as he reached the slide door and yanked it open. It rattled violently in the frame but he didn’t stop, striding right through into the living room. She didn’t get time to check out what changes he’d made since he’d bought the place from Ellison. All she got was a vague impression of large furniture and expensive electronic equipment before he tumbled her to the large rug in front of the fireplace.

  He rode her down to the ground, hard body pressed against hers before her head came to rest on the soft surface below. His face was shadowed in darkness as he looked down at her, the merest hint of his tight expression and the tension running through his big body enough to clue her into the battle that raged within.

  “Kiss me, Max,” she whispered, reaching up to trail soft kisses along his jaw line. His stubble prickled against her lips, causing another wave of liquid heat to slip from her body, a hot trickle down her inner thigh as her body prepared itself for him. His soft growl, the inhuman sound from his human throat turned her on all the more. “Please?”

  Wriggling against him, she worked her lips down his neck, and nipped the soft flesh in the same spot he’d bite on her to mark his claim. It was a step too far. He stiffened, the soft growl becoming a snarl as he moved. Within a heartbeat he had her hands over her head, breasts pressing against the broadness of his chest as a hard knee parted her thighs so he could settle between them. Her hips cradled him, a wordless moan in her throat as he rocked against her. Only the thin fabric of his dress pants separated them. She’d never loathed a piece of clothing so much in her life.

  “Mine,” he snarled again but this time the sound was lighter, less inhuman. She knew without being able to see that the amber had begun to leech out of his eyes; leaving the man in control.

  “Mine. Always mine.”

  His whisper was almost reverent as he bent his head, but there was no reverence in his kiss as he claimed her lips. There was no patience, no gentle strokes to calm her. Instead he plundered, parting her lips with a hard sweep of his tongue and driving within so his tongue could mate with hers.

  She groaned, the sound signaling her surrender and opening the floodgates. He angled his head, hand hard in her hair to hold her still as he deepened the kiss. Fire shot through her veins straight down to her pussy as his tongue slid and stroked along hers. The scent of arousal filled the air, hers and the deeper, wilder note of his. Teasing…tantalizing her, he broke from her lips and worked hot, open-mouthed kisses down her throat. Feverish, as though he were riding the edge of his control.

  She drove her hands into his hair and reveled in the feeling of the heavy silken strands against her fingers. She’d always loved his hair, wanted to run her hands through it, wrap it around her fist. She did, and pulled his head back, arousal making her movements urgent as her wolf bayed for release, for a connection with the male she sensed so near.

  He reared back at the pressure, looking down at her. The standoff lasted less than two seconds before she released his hair and he took her lips again. She sighed, the sound lost in his mouth. Arousal hummed through her. Her hips rocked against his, the fine fabric of his pants became rough and coarse against her hyper-sensitive skin.

  “Can’t wait,” he gasped, sliding his hand around her neck to cup her throat. Instead of pissing her off as it normally would, the casual dominance thrilled her, made her blood sing and her body clamor for more. Her brain didn’t register what he was about as his hand moved down, hard fingers hooked into the front of her dress.

  Fabric tore in a hard swipe, his claws caressing her skin but not cutting as he sliced the dress free, making short work of the straps. Her bra followed suit, shredded as it slipped from her body to leave her lying naked beneath him.

  He growled, the rough sound wholly human as he leaned down. A gasp was torn from her lips as he swept a rough tongue over her nipple. Warm and wet, it circled the little bud until it stood proud. It didn’t take long, her body reacting with a willing eagerness that surprised her. Any other partner and it took forever, but Max seemed to know exactly what buttons to press to get her going. He played her body as thou
gh he knew her deepest, darkest secrets. With a small sound of satisfaction in his throat he closed his lips around the turgid nipple, pulled it into the warm cavern of his mouth and sucked.

  She whimpered, back arching to offer more to his attentive mouth as she shoved her hands back in his hair and held him to her. Desire shimmered through her, the ripples of pleasure extending to her needy cunt. Lifting her leg, she wrapped it around his hip and pressed closer. Her hips rocked against his as she rubbed against the thick bar of his cock, desperate to find some relief. What was the matter with her? She’d never dry-humped a guy in her life.

  He pulled away from her breast, lips slipping from her nipple with a soft ‘pop’. “Beautiful,” he murmured as he worked his way down her body with soft kisses, his ability to use words of more than one syllable further underlining that the man, not the wolf, was running the show.

  Her stomach clenched as he ran his stubble covered jaw over it lightly, the quick flick of his tongue over the sensitive crease between hip and thigh making her jump. Heat welled, the cream of her arousal sliding from her to coat the lips of her pussy. She moaned, as his hands slid over her body to cup her breast and tweak the nipples, small bites of pleasure-pain as he slid lower down.

  Big shoulders thrust her thighs impossibly wide. Her embarrassment at being spread open wide, her pussy on display for his perusal, lasted all of a second as he leaned forward and blew a cool breath over her. Anticipation pulled every nerve ending taut, her body on a knife edge as she waited for the first touch of his tongue. Needed it more than she needed to breathe, to see, to hear…

  Wet heat laved her in a long, firm stroke from slit to clit and she arched up, crying out as her hips jerked up off the rug. He didn’t give her any time to recover. Instead he feasted on her like a starving man with a banquet laid before him. Big hands latched around her hips, he held her still for the attention of his mouth, driving her wild with long licks along her soaking pussy lips and quick, hard flicks of his tongue over her tightened clit.