He was strong and fast. It wasn’t the most comfortable spot in the world, but when he shoved her nightgown to her waist and lowered his head, she no longer cared. His breath was warm on her inner thigh. She moaned and lifted her hips off the wooden deck to meet his mouth as he touched her sensitive flesh.
His hands held her thighs apart as he licked up one side of her pussy and down the other. Sue almost came right then and there but managed to hold back, not wanting it to end so soon.
She reached down, tangled her fingers in his hair and held him to her. He laughed and then probed the opening to her channel with one thick finger. She held her breath as he pushed past the natural resistance of her body and sank deep.
Oh God, that felt amazing. She arched upward, needing him deeper. Her inner muscles clamped down hard on his finger. As incredible as the sensation was, it wasn’t enough.
“Elias.” His name was little more than a breathy sigh, a sensual demand. He pulled his finger back to the edge of her channel. She panicked and desperately tried to keep him inside her.
“I’ve got you,” he promised. Then he added a second finger and forged back inward. It stretched her in the most delicious way. It felt amazingly good.
“Yes,” she gasped, loving the way he filled her. She wondered what it would be like to have his thick cock buried deep. “More.”
A low rumbling sound came from within him, and then his mouth was on her again. He flicked his clever tongue at her clit. Like a bolt of lightning, the sensation shot through her entire body. He pumped his fingers in and out, advancing and retreating at a rapid pace.
Every muscle tensed in anticipation. He didn’t disappoint. His lips closed around the sensitive nub of nerves and sucked just as he drove his fingers deep.
Sue planted her feet on the deck and pushed upward, her entire body bowing off the wooden platform. She cried out as her pussy spasmed around his fingers. Explosions went off in her brain as every cell in her body burst with pleasure.
When she finally came back to herself, she was aware of the hard surface beneath her. She was also aware of the light sheen of sweat covering her entire body and the sticky wetness between her thighs. She was sprawled, mostly naked, on her back deck with Elias still between her spread thighs.
He was using one of her thighs as a pillow and gently caressing her slick folds. The moment she truly became aware of his actions, they went from soothing to arousing.
Sensing the difference in her, he raised his head and smiled at her.
Her heart skipped a beat before it sank like a stone. What had she done? She was no good at one-night stands. She had feelings for Elias. It didn’t seem to matter that they’d just met.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, once again proving how perceptive and in-tune with her that he truly was.
“Nothing.” She tugged the straps of her nightgown back up her arms and then shoved the hem down until she was covered. It was one thing to be naked in the throes of passion, quite another to be unclothed when he was simply watching her.
She licked her lips and thought his eyes narrowed. “That was amazing. Thank you.” God, how inane could she get. And selfish. She’d had the most explosive orgasm of her life and he was still completely aroused.
She scrambled up onto her knees and reached for him. He caught her hand before she could touch him. “Don’t you want me to?”
Elias figured he must have done something incredibly bad or incredibly good in a past life if this was his payback. He couldn’t quite decide if it was heaven or hell. Sue wanted to touch him. If he let her have her way, he had no doubt she’d either jerk or suck him off in a heartbeat. But it wouldn’t be for the right reason.
He wanted her to touch him because she wanted him, not because she felt like she owed him. “This isn’t about payback,” he told her.
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm before gently nipping the fleshy part at the base of her thumb. She shuddered and the scent of her arousal hit him anew.
He could still hear her mewling cries of pleasure, taste her sweet essence on his lips and feel the wetness on his fingers. His wolf was going crazy inside him. He wanted to claim her. So did Elias.
It didn’t matter to either of them that she was human. She belonged to them.
But he didn’t dare claim her.
“That’s not fair.” She moved closer and put her free hand on his jaw.
“Life isn’t fair,” he reminded her. She of all people knew that. “What you gave me was a gift. I don’t expect anything in return.”
She swallowed and nibbled on her bottom lip before answering. “What if I want to?”
She was killing him. All his noble intentions fled with her words. He tried to speak but couldn’t get past the lump in his throat.
“Let me.” She stood and pulled him to his feet. At this point, he’d do anything she wanted, go wherever she directed.
This small human female had tamed the wolf and the man.
She led him over to one of the sturdy deck chairs. “Sit here.” She gave him a small push and he topped back into the chair, mildly surprised when the thing didn’t collapse under his weight.
Sue knelt between his spread thighs and rested her hands on his legs. It was like something out of his deepest fantasies. He’d imagined her on her knees in front of him, but never had he believed it would actually become reality.
She was watching him intently. He realized she was waiting for him to give her the go-ahead. “Whatever you want,” he told her. His voice was rough with emotion and need. There was no way he could deny her anything.
The smile she gave him was small, but it lit her entire face from within. She reached for his shorts and tugged. Elias lifted his butt long enough for her to pull them away and down his legs to his ankles.
He wasn’t wearing any underwear. The slight breeze on his bare flesh was almost more than he could handle. Then Sue touched him.
Elias wrapped his hands around the arms of the chair to keep from yanking her into his arms and impaling her on his shaft. Her hand was small, but her grip was strong and firm. She stroked him from base to tip. He bit his bottom lip to keep from howling.
He wanted to take her from behind, to mark her with his fangs so everyone would know she belonged to him. He wanted to keep her forever.
She shifted her body closer and lowered her head. Elias prayed he wouldn’t disgrace himself by coming within the first five seconds.
She blew on the head of his cock. His balls threatened to climb into his body they pulled up so hard and fast. Then she swirled her tongue around the tip like he was her favorite ice cream cone.
“Fuck.” There was so much he wanted to say. Some of it he couldn’t tell her because she was human and he wasn’t. The rest he simply couldn’t find the words for.
“Hmm.” She made the sweet humming sound as she closed her lips around him.
His entire body jerked. She made another sound of pleasure and sucked him deeper.
“I’m going to come,” he told her. He couldn’t hold out much longer. The telltale swelling at the base of his cock warned him of the impending orgasm.
She hollowed her cheeks and sucked. Elias roared as his orgasm shot all the way from his balls and out the tip of his cock. He expected Sue to pull away, but she kept sucking on his dick.
A crack split the night and the arms of the chair came away in his hands. He dropped them onto the deck and reached for Sue. He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in the curve of her neck. His fangs dropped and the warm scent of her skin taunted him, almost daring him to bite her.
It was so close. The tip of his fangs scraped over her soft skin. Sue moaned and tilted her head to the side.
Elias took a deep breath and forced his wolf away. He brushed his lips over her neck and shifted her so she wasn’t such a temptation.
> He had no idea how much time passed before Sue finally stirred. She brushed a kiss over his chest. His cock was still full and aroused. He wasn’t human and could go again but that wasn’t happening.
It was time for him to go before he made a monumental mistake he could never take back. He lifted her off his lap, stood and yanked up his shorts.
Sue was watching him and the uncertainty in her gaze just about killed him. “Thank you.” He brushed his lips over hers, keeping the kiss light when what he wanted to do was drag her close and devour her.
“You’re welcome.” She petted his chest with one hand and he wondered how he’d live without her touch now that he’d known it.
Still, he couldn’t regret tonight. It was a gift. He’d found the perfect woman for him. His mate. But the joke was on him. She was human, had no idea what he was and couldn’t be a part of his world.
After everything he’d gone through in his life, this was as hard a blow as the death of his brother and sister-in-law.
“I have to get back,” he murmured. “Sage and Reece are on their own.”
She nodded and he felt her mentally pulling back as she physically stepped away. He wanted to howl at the unfairness of it all. But life was unfair. At least he’d had one moment of paradise. It was more than many ever received.
“Will I see you again?” she asked. He knew how difficult it had to be for her to ask him that. She was a proud, independent woman.
“I don’t know.” He could have lied and given her false promises, but he refused to do that. “Maybe.”
She nodded, and he hated the shadows that were now in her eyes when only a moment before there’d been nothing but sated happiness.
“I better go in.” She walked to the door and opened it. “Goodbye, Elias Gallagher.” Then she was gone, slipping inside and closing the door behind her.
Chapter Nine
Sue leaned against the door and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. She stood there a long time, waiting to hear Elias leave. There was no sound from the deck.
She pushed away from the door, went to the window and peered out. He was gone.
The ache in her chest grew and she wrapped her arms around herself. God, she could still taste him, still feel the heat from his hands where he’d touched her. She shuddered and hurried to the bathroom. Not wanting to see herself in the glare of the lights, she brushed her teeth in the dark and cleaned herself up.
Her breasts ached and her inner thighs were tender. She knew her skin was probably marked in several places from the slight stubble on his jaw. She might even have a bruise or two. The back deck had been rough against her back, not to mention her knees.
Bed beckoned even though she knew she wouldn’t sleep. But Billy would be waking up in a matter of hours, which meant she had to be up too. She missed her parents all the time, but even more so in moments like this. How many mornings had her mother or father gotten up with Billy, allowing her to sleep after she’d put in a long shift at the diner? They’d never complained, never made her feel like a failure.
They’d loved and supported her. Now they were gone.
The first tear fell as soon as her head hit the pillow. “What have I done?” she whispered to the darkness.
She’d been bold. More daring that she could have ever imagined. Letting him touch her out there in the open, touching him in return. She’d surprised herself when she’d taken charge, pushed him into the chair and gone down on him. She’d enjoyed having such a powerful man at her mercy, reveled in the way he’d groaned and urged her on.
It had made her feel like she was more than just a mother, a worker or a daughter. For the first time in years, she’d felt like a woman.
It wasn’t the end of the world. Yes, she’d had sex with a man she barely knew. And not really sex. They’d given one another mutual pleasure. They were both unattached adults. There wasn’t anything wrong with what they’d done.
Another tear clung to her cheek as it rolled downward, eventually plopping onto her pillow. She sniffed and swiped at her face.
Stupidly, she’d opened her heart to Elias. She wasn’t the type of woman who could be with a man without there being an emotional attachment.
She rolled onto her back and shifted restlessly. Her body felt unnaturally alive, every cell still humming from her orgasm.
She’d been better off when she hadn’t realized what she’d been missing. Now that she knew, she’d never be able to settle for anything less.
“It doesn’t matter,” she consoled herself. Billy was her priority, not getting a boyfriend or a husband. No, all her energy had to go to providing a good life for her son.
Elias wouldn’t be back. Their goodbye tonight had felt final. Sage was his priority. She got that, she really did, but it still hurt.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and slowly released it. It didn’t help. Sue knew she’d remember tonight for as long as she lived. Elias would always be the perfect man who’d stepped into her life for such a brief moment but who’d made such a huge impact.
For better or worse, he’d opened her eyes to the possibilities of life again. She didn’t know whether to curse him or thank him. Either way, there was no going back. Only forward.
She just wished it didn’t have to hurt so much.
Elias ran hard and fast, but there was no outrunning his feelings. He’d wanted to rip the door to her home open and go after her. He’d known she was only on the other side of the door. He’d put his hand on the thick panel and listened to her ragged breath.
He’d hated himself and the world at that moment.
He’d found the strength to leave, knowing that staying was only hurting them both. He hated the idea of hurting Sue.
Elias came to a halt and walked in a circle. He dragged his fingers through his hair, yanking hard on the strands. He wanted to howl. He wanted to fight.
Instead, he dragged in one deep breath and then another. Bad idea. He could still smell Sue on his skin. He raised his hands to his face and inhaled.
Shit, he had it bad.
He dropped his hands back down by his sides and sniffed the air until he found what he was searching for. He stalked through the trees, more cautious now. Honestly, he was acting more like a teenager than Reece was. Running around in the woods with no sense of caution was stupid. Anyone could be out here. There wasn’t just a wolf pack living nearby, but humans as well. There was always someone camping or hunting out of season.
He heard the light trickle of the stream and headed toward it. The moon shone down on the water and made it glisten like tiny jewels scattered across a dark expanse. Elias wished Sue were here to see it.
“Idiot,” he muttered. He toed off his sneakers and shucked his shorts. Naked, he strode to the center of the stream. It wasn’t deep, not more than three feet, but it was enough.
He lay down in the running water and let it cool his hot skin. Not that it helped. Nothing short of standing naked in an Alaskan winter would cool him down. He growled and ducked his head under the water. When he raised it, he slicked his hair out of his eyes and began to methodically rub his hands over his body, ridding himself of Sue’s scent.
He hated having to do it, but he had no choice. If he walked back to camp smelling like Sue, both boys would know what had happened. They’d probably speculate anyway, but that was different from knowing for sure.
He wasn’t ashamed of what he and Sue had shared. He did hate that he’d had to walk away from her. He didn’t want Sage or Reece blaming themselves for that.
Elias stood and slicked the water off his body. His damn cock was still aroused. He waded to the shore, picked up his stuff and began to walk back to the camp. The night air helped dry his body. By the time he arrived, only the ends of his hair were still damp.
Reece was awake and watching as Elias stepped from between two trees.
“You okay?” he asked.
Elias nodded. “Fine. Everything okay here?”
“It was quiet.” Reece closed his eyes again. “’Night.”
“Goodnight, Reece.”
Elias tossed his shorts and sneakers down by his sleeping bag. He was restless and still wanted to run. Not just run. He wanted to shift and let his wolf run wild and free. The enforced confinement of the past few months was really starting to get to him. If things didn’t work out with the Salvation Pack, he was going to take the boys somewhere isolated where both he and Reece could run in relative safety.
He threw himself down on top of his sleeping bag. There was no way he could bear having the thin material covering him. Not tonight.
“Is Sue okay?” Sage asked.
Elias closed his eyes and prayed for patience. He wasn’t surprised it was Sage who asked. He knew the boy felt protective over Sue. “Yes, she’s fine.” He hoped he wasn’t lying. As much as Sue had enjoyed herself tonight, he knew she was probably having second thoughts right about now.
That made him feel slightly savage.
His curt reply must have satisfied his nephew. Either that or Sage thought better about prying any deeper. Now Elias felt even crappier. Before he could decide what to say to smooth things over with his nephew, Sage spoke again.
“Are you okay?”
He started to say fine but stopped. He owed the boy the truth. “I will be.” That was the truth. Whatever he had to get through, he would. The boys were his priority. As much as he wanted Sue, there was no place for her in their world.
He’d gotten through leaving his family behind, the death of his brother and sister-in-law and becoming sole guardian of two teenage werewolves. He’d get through this too. Eventually.
But right now, it hurt like bloody hell.
Elias closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. He had to rest. Tomorrow was a big day for all of them.
Wolf on a Mission: Salvation Pack, Book 6 Page 9