by Kresley Cole
She muttered, “Such a dick,” then began investigating the garments.
Had his brother picked out the lingerie she was now rummaging through? The red silks that would quicken any wolf’s blood?
There was a piece of paper taped to the closet door. She handed it to him. “I can’t read this. It’s in either Gaelic or Wolf.”
A printed out e-mail from Munro: Calm down, you sodding jackass. Cassandra picked out all the clothes. Consider them gifts from you—for the new mistress of the keep.
Mistress? Then that would make Will the master. This confused him mightily. Conall belonged to both brothers. Yet Munro kept giving hints that Will would live here with Chloe.
Probably to protect the clan. Will had already been shuffled to the fringe.
Chloe turned back to her new wardrobe, murmuring, “Not for the first time I’m wondering why I couldn’t be Munro’s mate. You both look the same—”
Will lunged forward, snatching her upper arm to yank her from the closet. “You push too far, woman!” Never had he been jealous of Munro. Now Will felt enough to stretch over nine centuries. He growled, “Is it him that you want?”
“Why wouldn’t I? At least he’s been decent to me.”
As Will’s grip tightened, he wondered why he was so surprised by this. It was only a matter of time before Chloe strayed. Munro would never touch her, but any other red-blooded male . . .
“Let go, MacRieve.” When she couldn’t budge his hand, she punted his leg. “Don’t touch me!”
“Best get used to me touching you. Soon I will no’ be able to help myself. You’ve started strewing. You’re spicing the air right now.”
“What?” Her face paled even more, highlighting her bruise. “No. No way.”
“Oh, aye. I could barely concentrate on the road, coming in. My mind was in a fog.”
“But you said it would madden you.”
“It’s getting stronger,” he said, the truth—yet it was not so simple as that. Her strew was affecting him differently than Ruelle’s had. Perhaps because Chloe was his mate.
Ruelle’s had controlled him physically; Chloe’s was taking him over both physically and mentally, an even more shuddersome proposition. He was compelled not only to mate her, but to clasp her to his chest, to make her smile, anything to chase away the despairing look that was on her face right now.
He resisted it with everything in him. My will is my own.
“I wish I could stop,” she said. “It’s not consciously done.”
“That’s all you have to say? Do you have any idea what it’s like to have no control of your mind? Your body?”
A flash of irritation crossed her face. “You’re kidnapping and terrorizing me. I’ve got a clue.”
“Kidnapping? Try saving your arse. I’ve brought you to an isolated location for your own safety.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You don’t seem surprised that I’ve started this.”
“I knew it was only a matter of time.”
“If that’s true, and you believed I couldn’t escape, then you fully intended to be with me . . . sexually?”
“There were two scenarios for me to choose from: let another male have my mate, or take you myself. My Lykae Instinct and my beast would never allow another to fuck you, which meant there really was no choice. I’m compelled to claim you.”
She sank down on the window seat, as if the mere idea exhausted her. “Compelled? You are the most hateful man I’ve ever met. I ask you again, what the hell did I ever do to you?”
He didn’t have a ready answer. Yes, she’d pulled him back from the brink, then pushed him back to the edge. But that wasn’t her fault.
She’d been his dream female until she’d become one among his nightmares. Again, not her fault.
“You canna have it both ways, canna fill the air with your chemicals, then cry when the result is what you need. You’ve got my hands tied.”
“You’re cool with this? To have sex with someone who doesn’t truly desire you as a person? Who only wants not to feel pain anymore?”
“My predicament exactly,” he lied. He’d never desired another so fiercely. “It will happen tonight, Chloe. Prepare yourself. And gods help us both.”
THIRTY-TWO
Blech, blech.
Chloe drew the wastebasket toward her, then spat out a mouthful of saltines as if they were radioactive.
Surrounding her on the floor was a moat of cracker wrappers and crumbs.
She remembered when one of her middle-school friends had fed her beagle some cheese-covered broccoli. The dog had been happily smacking away—until it got to the harsh broccoli center.
I feel you, dog. Blech.
Was food truly no longer an option? With shaking hands, she unwrapped another package, biting through two crackers. Anything not to strew. Chewing, chewing . . . was this mouthful going to do down? Please go down—
Wastebasket! She emptied her mouth, hooking a finger around her gums to get out all the offending particles. Then she tested the rest of her drink. Natch, the whiskey went down like silk. But she knew it wouldn’t be nearly enough to sustain her.
Field position? Her body was failing her. She’d done everything she could to stay the course, but maybe it was time to admit defeat.
With each minute she suffered an empty stomach, her desire blossomed. Awakening? Oh, yeah. Like her libido had mainlined crank.
And it remained fixated on MacRieve.
Did that mean all his predictions were about to come true? Would she go crawling to him? Or plead as he denied her again and again?
She’d always heard that you remembered your first time forever. She didn’t want to remember groveling for his dick—especially since forever, in her case, could be literal.
The idea of that made her more ill than the crackers.
Was she one of those women who got off on cruelty? Some spring-loaded dojo dummy, perpetually bouncing up for another strike?
No, she refused to believe that. He was simply the target of sheer desperation. When she was young, she’d gotten lost in the woods without water; she remembered being so thirsty that she’d eyed a stagnant puddle with serious consideration.
MacRieve was simply a big Lykae-shaped puddle.
Maybe she should just do it. He’d given her bliss once before, and if sex was supposed to be the most pleasurable act of all . . . Once she was stronger, she could escape him. Would it be so bad to feed and heal?
Her succubus half avidly recalled the energy she’d received from that blow job. If she felt like that again, she could jog straight out of this place, this country, away from him forever.
This would be the last night she’d ever have to see his hateful smirk.
Still, as desperate as she was, she balked at the “crawling to him” portion of tonight’s program. She could handle anything but the begging.
Or his beast.
So much confusion. And trying to ignore her escalating desire wasn’t working. Her panties were wet, her sex achy.
Could she release some pressure? Or even delay more strewing?
She rose, heading for the shower. As she undressed, she gazed into the mirror. She was slimmer from hunger, but her bruise didn’t look too bad.
Her hair had almost grown out. Earlier, she’d thought about finding scissors, but was too tired to be bothered. Pulling it up in a ponytail would be quicker and easier than shearing off that thick mane each day.
Would MacRieve find the length more attractive? Did she care?
She turned on the shower, impressed with the array of toiletries. She stepped under the steaming water, then soaped up a cloth, starting with her breasts then letting her hands linger over her every curve. Her hips, her backside.
As she touched herself, she imagined MacRieve downstairs in front of the fire, his golden eyes lit by flames. She fantasized that his hands roamed her body. She cupped her sex as he had on the plane, massaging herself like that.
She was on the verge of coming, whispering his name, when a spike of worry that he’d scent her shattered her concentration. Visualizing his head between her legs, his strong tongue working her flesh, brought her back into striking range—but then she jumped at a noise, which turned out not to be him at all.
In the end, she was just too weak. All she’d done was leave herself even hornier.
She dropped her hand, leaning her forehead against the wall. With a groan of frustration, she slapped the tile with her flat palm—and it didn’t even crack.
MacRieve had been right. If he came upstairs, ready to have sex with her, it would happen. Gods help them both?
And if he didn’t come for her soon, would she go limping through the keep, chasing after him?
With a curse, she dried off, wincing when the terry cloth rubbed her swollen nipples.
Perusing her new clothes, she saw there was really only one choice for a night like this. . . .
Though the weather was mild by Highland standards, Will had stoked the fire in the keep’s great hearth, forcing himself to sit before it, drinking for fortitude.
This was going to happen. He was about to bed a succubus. Which meant he needed to get as numb as possible before he relived his nightmares.
No. He was a grown man. If he was to mate a succubus again, it didn’t have to be anything like last time. He didn’t even have to fuck Chloe—a tidy blow job would nourish her. He didn’t have to claim her, didn’t have to mark her as his mate.
With a perfect mix of misery and eagerness, he knew he’d be inside her tonight. He’d fall on that sword, letting her use his body.
Because that was what succubae did.
He’d heard water running in the master bathroom, unable to resist picturing her in the shower, streams cascading over her naked body. He’d imagined her soaping those glorious breasts of hers, gliding her fingers over sensitive nipples.
He swallowed, gazing down at his stiffening cock. Oh, aye, she was strewing more potently. He decided he would hold out as long as he could, testing his will against the force of her need.
Shaking as badly as he had the night his family had been ripped apart, he stared into the flames. Not ten feet from him was the spot where his mother had stood the last time Will had seen her alive. Never one like her, my Uilleam.
His father had sat before this very fireplace, telling his sons about how he’d met their mother, adoration in his tone.
When Will had predicted that his father wouldn’t last the week, he’d been wrong. Da hadn’t lived past the next sunset. No one in the clan had been surprised when he’d entreated a trusted comrade to deal his deathblow.
Nothing Will or Munro could say would change Da’s mind. He’d been out of his head with grief, unmoved by their pleas, half taken over by his beast already. Will and Munro had just lost their mother and sister, and then their father as well.
All of that because of a succubus. And there’s one in our home.
The shame of it! And in the midst of his turmoil, he needed Chloe. He needed her hand on his brow, a loving stroke against his face.
He needed to be inside her—because that was the only place in the world he hadn’t yet tried to find peace.
He finished the bottle, setting it down too close to the edge of the whiskey service; it fell to the floor. Nothing left to spill. He collected another fifth, then proceeded to top off his highball glass repeatedly, chasing that numbness.
By the end of the second bottle, all he’d achieved was drunkenness.
When he’d heard her turn off the water, his pulse had quickened. Now he could detect the faintest scent of her arousal, making him quake, like a dog maddened by the scent of heat.
—Claim!— There was nothing preventing him from being inside his mate—nothing but his stubbornness. His battered pride.
He needed to accept that it was his fate to surrender and cede. He told himself that for the nine hundred years between succubae, his life and his will had been his own.
He should be grateful for those centuries at least.
Grateful? With a yell, he shot to his feet, throwing his glass into the fire. Before it shattered, he’d already sped halfway up the stairs, having no idea whether he’d throttle her, rut her, or just clasp her tight against him.
He’d made it all of two hours here before succumbing to her call.
Why did he always lose, when he so badly needed to win . . . ?
THIRTY-THREE
Chloe whirled around when MacRieve entered the room, then raised her brows in surprise. He looked wasted.
He had to get drunk before he could sleep with her? And the dojo dummy takes a hit!
“You look surprised to see me.” He scratched his head, ruffling his thick hair. “Why’s that? You know I’m in your thrall. You know nothing could stop my feet from taking me here.”
Aside from being trashed, he seemed filled with rage. She felt like she was in the room with a bomb about to detonate.
His eyes flickered ominously as he raked his gaze over her. “A red robe,” he grated with a bitter laugh. “Keen on seducing me? No need! I am thoroughly be-strewed—could never escape your clutches.”
“It was the only one in the closet,” she said defensively, but he wasn’t listening.
“Come then, succubus.” He spread his arms wide, his expression inscrutable. “Your dinner has arrived, awaiting naught but your consumption.”
How was she supposed to reply to that? She guessed she should just be happy that he wasn’t making her beg.
When she didn’t answer, he shrugged, then started to undress. Unsteadily, he toed off his boots, dragging his shirt over his head.
Though she was wary of his current state, the sight of his muscle-packed chest elicited an immediate physical reaction in her. Her breasts grew even heavier, her heartbeats accelerating.
“Tell me how you’re preferrin’ your repast,” he said, his accent so strong she barely recognized his voice. And his fury-tinged words sounded . . . old-fashioned.
He paused with his fingers on the button of his jeans, inhaling deeply. “Ah, I think Chloe craves what’s in here verra badly.”
God help her, she did. Her succubus half was clamoring to feed. Don’t reach for him—
When he unfastened his jeans and his erection bobbed free, her gaze locked on its movements. A feeling like delight filled her when the head grew moist, as if begging for her tongue.
Once MacRieve stood before her naked, magnificent in the firelight, he spread his arms wide again, as if he expected her to fall upon him.
Part of her seriously wanted to fall upon him.
His broad chest heaved with breaths. Between those narrow hips, his shaft jutted proudly. His testicles hung heavy beneath it. “Is this no’ what you want?” When he gripped himself with one big hand and began stroking, every fiber in her body tightened with lust.
She should be doing the stroking. That’s mine. She clenched her fists, shaking with the effort not to rush him.
Watching this was at once erotic and wrong, like . . . punishment.
“How does my succubus mate wish to be deflowered? I could lie back on the bed, for you to straddle my cock. Least amount of contact that way. And you would no’ muss your hair.”
Huh? As if she’d ever cared about that.
“No kissing, naturally,” he continued. “Would no’ want to smear your lip rouge.”
Lip rouge? “For real, MacRieve? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” She simply didn’t know enough about sex to determine what his game was. Did he truly intend some kind of punishment? Was this domination? Some sort of role-playing?
In the past, she’d let him lead, guiding her, but now she didn’t understand where he wanted to take them.
At her blank gaze, he stopped stroking.
“I’m here by your command.” His gaze narrowed into a malevolent glare. “You tell me how you prefer this,” he hissed between gritted teeth, “or I promise you, succubu
s, you will no’ like what you get. I’m a heartbeat away from freeing my beast.”
She pulled her robe tighter, protectively. “But you said it’d take me on my hands and knees. That it’d take me hard.”
“Oh, it would.”
She shuddered. “Have you forgotten that I’m a virgin? I don’t want to see that thing again!”
“Doona want?” He crossed to her with a black look. “I gave you a chance to tell me what you want! You declined.”
She quickly said, “Then I’d prefer not to have sex at all. We can be as we were before.”
“No’ an option.” When he stood before her, he said, “I’ve sacrificed myself on this altar. I stand ready to be harvested thoroughly—and one fuck closer to being envenomed. You’re going to feed, succubus, and feed well.”
She bit her lip, wondering if there was any play at all for her to make. “Then tell me what you want.”
Control.
Will needed for this to be different from the sex he’d known with Ruelle, and craved for it to be different from the sex he’d had as a beast.
“The succubus would like to know how I’d have this?” he sneered, still surprised she hadn’t sunk her claws into him yet. “Why? So you can deny me what I truly crave?”
He was close enough to spy the swells of her breasts beneath that damnable red robe. Close enough that her breaths ghosted over his chest.
—Claim her. Provide.—
He was bloody about to!
She gazed up at him with those big hazel eyes. “Just tell me.”
Why no’? He was just drunk enough to be honest. “I want to kiss you till your lips bruise beneath mine. I want to swat your plump arse, simply because you belong to me and I can.”
She swallowed and her nipples stiffened even more against her robe.
He peered hard at them, giving a harsh laugh. “And because I know you’ll get off on it. I want you to come a dozen times, but only when I allow it.” He reached forward to clamp her nape. “When I look down on you as I mount your little body, I want to know that you’re as desperate to receive my cock as I am to give it to you.”