Why would Tilly suddenly give this information up? It made no sense, especially after she just fought to keep it to herself as leverage so they would help her find a cure. A sense of dread consumed Valor as it hit him. She’s given up.
The twins weren’t the only ones in serious jeopardy right now. Tilly was, too. Valor couldn’t begrudge her self-preservation, nor her desire to hold her cards close to her chest with them. And now… she had folded.
Valor hung his head and sighed. He was torn between duty and desire and didn’t know which to pounce on first. As alpha, he owed his pack the best possible chance of survival. As a man of honor, he desired to keep his promise to help her find a cure for her curse. It felt like there wasn’t enough time to do both, so he needed to make a choice.
“Jack,” Valor growled dangerously as he tried to keep his cool, “help that lass as best ye can. If ye need more supplies, I’ll pay for it.”
“I might not be able to do much for her, Valor. What I’ve got to offer her isn’t going to be pretty either.”
“So be it.” Snatching the papers from the table, Valor stormed out of the room. The thought of Matilda Jane hurting in any way didn’t sit well with him. In the end, however, the choice was hers to make. Just as this was his choice to make…
And Valor would choose his pack. Always.
Chapter 22
Tilly sat on the edge of her bed and cried. God, to hear how callous Valor was downstairs. He said she was nothing more than a means to an end. Part of her broke inside hearing him say that, but hey, he was right. Valor was using her to get something he wanted, and she was the pot to his kettle.
Tilly came here because she was using them too. Soooo, she really shouldn’t be too upset about what Valor said. It was the truth and sometimes the truth hurt – even when said with a brogue accent.
Just before she headed upstairs, she’d seen that blond guy, Tanner, watch her from the hallway and figured she might as well give up. She told him Marco’s full name and address because she didn’t have the nerve to tell Valor directly. She was too angry. Too hurt. Too tired of trying.
After generations of searching, no one had found a way to break the curse. Tilly wasn’t the first female in her bloodline to try and find a cure, but she would damned sure be the last.
Vivian. Tilly’s heart clenched thinking of her sister. What if she died before Vivian did? She’ll be fine without you.
Viv lived every day like if she had forever to live. That woman did whatever she wanted and never looked at the finish line or wonder how close she might be to it. Viv had gone to college, had a busy life, made friends, got married, bought a lovely home, and recently started talking about having babies. Vivian called it acceptance while Tilly called it denial.
Tilly’s approach to the cursed life was the exact opposite. Tilly had no friends and kept her relationships to rare one-night stands. After high school, Tilly didn’t seek higher education, but instead travelled the world learning how to spin spells and weave magic. While Vivian invested most of her portion of their family inheritance into her future, Tilly invested some of her money and used the rest to finance her obsession with magical artifacts that might help her find a cure.
Vivian was a glass half-full girl. Tilly was a drink straight from the bottle woman.
Crumpled in her hand was the Bucket List Valor snatched from her apartment. She hated that he saw it. Despised that he took it. Yet she was also a little relieved. Tilly didn’t have sentimental value on anything. You couldn’t take it with you when you go, right? So why keep it? This Bucket List was the only exception to her rule. This tattered piece of paper had seen Tilly through her best days and her worst.
Staring at the list, Tilly felt like a fool. She’d wasted her life, not lived it. So what if she followed her favorite bands around, walked the beaches in Fiji, scurried through the catacombs in Paris, and sky dived in Hawaii? Those experiences had been brief. They came and went in a blink of an eye. Held zero meaning. Had no real purpose.
Perhaps her sister had been right all along. Maybe Tilly should have at least tried to make a connection with someone. Attempt to build some sort of relationship, even if it was just a basic friendship and nothing more. God, what she wouldn’t give to have someone to talk to once in a while. Not that Vivian wasn’t there for her, but things were different now that Viv was married. Things had been different between Vivian and Tilly for most of their lives. Ever since their mother died.
Gutted and lonely, Tilly stifled a sob. She wanted to call Vivian because it was the only thing she could think of. She needed comfort and an escape from reality. Her sister was excellent at providing Tilly both of those things.
She looked around and didn’t see her phone anywhere. “Shit,” she whispered. She’d left her cell charging in Bishop’s room. Walking over to the door, she quietly opened it and peered out into the hall. People were talking quietly downstairs so she figured the coast was clear. Beating feet across the hallway, she slipped into Bishop’s room and flicked on the light.
There he was, laying on his bed. No shirt. No shoes.
Bishop didn’t move. He just stared at her. One of his windows was cracked open and a breeze sent a chill over her.
“I… I just came to grab my phone.”
His gaze sailed over to where her cell was charging on his nightstand. He licked his lips and stared at her again, silently daring her to come and get it.
Bishop continued to lay flat on his back with his hands behind his head and it made the muscles in his arms looks seriously yummy. His tattoos were sinful art on his body with how the moonlight shined down on him through his open window. Another breeze blew and goosebumps rippled down Tilly’s arms and her nipples grew hard. Silently, she walked over to retrieve her cell, all the while feeling Bishop’s gaze searing her.
“I’d have given you the address. Eventually.”
Bishop’s deep laugh was half-hearted. “We’d have helped you with or without the address. Eventually.”
Her cheeks grew hot. As she turned to storm out of his room, she stopped and spun back around to face him. “What are you?”
“What do you want me to be?”
“Stop that,” she hissed. “Stop acting all hard and callous. Just tell me what you are, Bishop. And what are those people downstairs?”
Surprisingly, Bishop sat up and gracefully prowled closer to her. “What are we?” he repeated pensively. “We, Tilly, are stuck,” he stopped right in front of her, “hurt,” he reached up and traced a line down her collarbone with his finger, “trying to find our salvation,” he leaned in and whispered into her ear, his hot breath sending chills down her body. “We are the broken ones.” He paused and stared at her, “And just like you, we’re trying to live, one day at a fucking time.”
Bishop ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “I’m sorry things got so fucked up. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”
She knocked his hand away and took a step back.
He closed the gap between them again. “My pack is the most important thing to me, Tilly. And it’s the same for Valor too.”
“Your… pack?” Just say it. Say what you are. She didn’t want to say she knew about Hell Hounds. He would start asking questions. Besides, what she read in books wasn’t always true. And if they were actual Hell Hounds, then what she read was definitely not true.
Bishop tilted his head to the side and smiled. “Why did you come here?” His hand sailed down her ribs and he grabbed her hip, “Keep it honest between us, Sweetness.”
“I came here because you said you’d help me. I came here because I need protection.”
“From this Marco,” he reconfirmed.
She nodded.
“I have a feeling you’re not nearly as helpless as you pretend to be.” Bishop tucked a tendril of Tilly’s hair behind her ear. “As a matter of fact, I think Valor’s right about you. You know a lot, done a lot, and aren’t afraid of death at all. So why not just embrace your destiny,
Tilly?”
“Dying young shouldn’t be my fucking destiny.”
He shrugged, “It is for some people. What makes you think you deserve a longer life than someone else?”
He might as well have slapped her across the face with a cold wet fish. “How dare you,” she hissed. With that, Tilly raised her hand to slug him and he caught her fist, mid-swing.
Annnd just like he had downstairs, Bishop gripped her wrist and swiftly snatched her other and pinned them down at her side. Next, he pressed against her, forcing Tilly to back the fuck up until she hit his dresser hard enough for the thing to rock back.
Tilly glared at him like she wanted to flay the skin from his bones. Bishop, however, acted like he wanted to eat her alive – starting with the juicy pieces first – and it wouldn’t hurt in the slightest. In fact, she suspected she’d like it a lot.
It pissed her off.
Tilly tried to fight out of his hold and failed with flying colors. The air grew hot and sultry in the room. His dark grey curtains billowed as a breeze shot through the window and Tilly was thankful for the cool air on her face.
“What do you want?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“I want to kiss you.”
Her breath hitched. Her heart hammered in her chest. Jesus fuck she felt so dizzy. “And if I say no?”
“Then I’ll let you go.”
She swallowed through the tightness in her throat. Just thinking about their last kiss was enough to make Tilly tell him to go for it. But that would be dangerous, right? Now wasn’t the time for this shit. She thought of what her next course of action should be, but her mind just couldn’t focus on anything but Bishop’s mouth.
Actually, ever since she left the hospital, her lust had taken control of her every chance it got and Bishop did nothing but pour gasoline onto her fire with each look and touch he gave her.
Valor had the same impact on her too, which was downright awful. Damnit.
Tilly squeezed her eyes shut and tried a second attempt to regain her wits. No good. All she saw when she closed her eyes was that motherfucking Bucket List and a boldness took hold of her soul. Those things on her list were meaningless at the end of the day. Tilly wanted more for herself. She wanted to feel. She wanted to experience life on a new level.
The attraction she felt for Bishop was animalistic. Tremendous. Unassailable.
Maybe this was a turning point for Tilly. Or maybe this was what denial looked like – a man with steel blue eyes, a killer jaw line and a sinful mouth. Bishop rubbed her wrists with his thumbs, waiting for her to say something. Blame it on the magic they pushed into her at the hospital, or maybe this was the effect Bishop had on women and Tilly was just one more of his victims, but Tilly felt like she was floating.
“Don’t,” she cleared her throat, “don’t let me go.” If he let her go right now, Tilly was pretty sure she’d float away and never be seen again. She’d lost everything… everything. The world was against her in every way. Eventually she was going to have to pay for her sins. Couldn’t she have a little bit of something good before she had to bite the bullet and pay up? “Please…”
“Is that a yes, Matilda Jane?” Bishop dipped his head down and nipped under her earlobe, sending shivers down her body. “Are you going to give me what I want? Are you going to let me kiss you?”
There was a dangerous tone in his voice – a promise of a thrill, of an unforgettable experience. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.
“Say yes, Tilly. Moan it if you have to, but I want to hear your consent.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Bishop released her wrists and cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. “Say it again. Louder.”
“Yes.”
His smile was incredible. It was a wolfish smile. One that made Tilly weak and hot. “What are your hard lines?”
Wait, what? “Huh?”
Bishop continued to hold her face, “What are your hard lines, Sweetness? I need to know them up front because once I start, I’m not stopping until you tell me to, which I hope you never do.”
“I…” Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell was going on here? “I’m not sure I have any.”
“You’ll find them.” Tilly tensed when Bishop ran his hand up the back of her head, grabbed a handful of her hair and gave it a tug. “What’s the matter? Having second thoughts?”
Nope, she was having incredibly dirty ones. “You said you wanted to kiss me,” she moaned as he licked the column of her neck.
“And you said yes,” he whispered when his lips reached her ear.
“To you kissing me,” Right? Fuck, she couldn’t think straight with him touching her like this.
Bishop pulled away and grinned. “You didn’t ask where I wanted to kiss you, Sweetness. And you said yes anyway.”
The man dropped to his knees and lifted her dress, revealing that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. With a deep chuckle, he looked up at her once, seeking reconfirmation. Tilly bit her lip and gave him a curt nod.
Then she braced herself.
Chapter 23
Every man should go down on his knees, at least once in his life, to worship a Goddess properly. As Bishop lifted Tilly’s dress and grabbed her bare ass, he tried to not pounce on her too fast.
No, no, no, this was going to take finessing. Right now, with his Hound abilities going haywire, he didn’t want to freak her out by getting too rough and rowdy without having warmed her body up first.
He meant what he’d said. Bishop would need to know her hard lines because once his train left the station, nothing fucking stopped him. He would need to understand her limitations so he kept within them. However, that conversation could be revisited after he kissed her. This would likely be the only time he would toe the line.
Her thighs were soft under his fingertips. Bishop’s body heat soared. He became the fire to her ice. Another glorious cool breeze gusted through his open window and he felt her skin quiver from the chill. No problem, he could totally heat her up with a few masterful strokes.
Keeping his eyes locked on hers, Bishop ran his hand up and down her thighs. Mother of God, she wasn’t wearing any underwear and the fresh scent of her pussy made his head buzz and dick hard. Bishop groaned and bit his bottom lip, forcing himself to remain calm. Running his hand across her bare ass, he gave it a squeeze, then trailed his palm down her leg to lift her right foot up to rest on his shoulder. He inhaled, deeply. “I fucking love the smell of you, woman.”
Bishop ran his nose up her slit and all of him went wild on the inside. Instead of wasting time with more compliments, he parted her folds with a long drag of his tongue. She tasted like tangy fruit.
Fuck! He was going to lose his mind trying to behave himself here. He wanted to do this right since they had started out on the wrong foot so many times already. Fucking her into oblivion and making her unable to stand, much less walk, wouldn’t leave him in a good light with her. Or would it?
Tilly moaned and shoved her hand in his hair. Bishop sucked her clit harder. Next, he dipped a finger inside her. She clenched around him as another moan escaped her mouth.
Goddamn, her pussy was so hot. Her thigh quivered against his face and he wrapped his arm around it to hold her steady. She was so damned perfect. So fucking delicious. Bishop’s control slipped and he began to fuck her harder with his tongue. Both her hands held his head in place and she started to gyrate against his mouth and fuck his face. He growled and dipped a second finger into her wet heat while he continued to tantalize her precious clit with his tongue. There was nothing sweet about eating a pussy like this. It was messy and wild. Naughty as fuck.
Fuck, she was sensational.
He felt her body tighten so he sped things up, pounding his fingers into her while his tongue flick-flick-flicked. Her sex swelled tighter, tighter, tighter and then wham! Tilly’s body convulsed and she let out a scream that would make a righteous man believe there was an exorcism going on in Bishop�
��s room. Her orgasm didn’t last nearly as long as Bishop wanted, so when she tried to pry him off of her, he was reluctant to let her go so easily.
“I’m not finished.” He allowed her leg to fall off his shoulder so she could keep her balance, and he dropped back on his heels and licked his mouth and sucked his fingers clean. “I could eat your pussy all fucking night.”
Tilly’s eyes flared and her chest rose up and down from her heavy breathing. “What the fuck was that?”
Bishop ran his hand down his beard knowing the scent of her cum would linger there for a good long while, “By the taste on my tongue, I’d call that an orgasm.”
She stumbled forward and her dress fell, covering up the very thing he still wanted more of. “Holy fucking shit,” she gasped. “A kiss, you said.” She panted some more, “You… you’re a really good kisser, Hound Dog.”
Yes, one kiss was all he’d asked for, so it was all he took. This time.
Slowly, Bishop rose to his full height. His heart was pounding. His insides felt like he was plugged into a goddamn electric socket. His dick was rock hard, his balls heavy and aching. Never mind the fact that her one little orgasm he swallowed had just put a stop to his tremors.
“Glad you approve.” He stepped away, fearful that if she touched him right now he would lose what little control he still possessed.
“Bishop!” someone hollered from down below. “Get your ass down here, Hound, and bring Tilly with you.”
Oh, yeah… there was another pack in the house right now. For a moment, Bishop felt like the entire world had dropped away and there was just him and a beautiful woman named Matilda Jane holding things together.
Bishop calmly walked over and hollered, “We’ll be right there, Jack. Quit your barking.”
He didn’t bother putting on his shirt. With how hot he felt, Bishop doubted he’d be able to stand another layer on his skin right now. It was bad enough he was in pants. Tilly cleared her throat from over by his dresser and he watched her attempt to adjust her dress.
Hard to Find (Hell Hounds Harem Book 4) Page 16