by Jaci Burton
What a picture this must make. She couldn't believe she acted so wanton, so out of control. Was this really her, or did Conner draw this wild response from her?
As she drew closer and closer to completion, her primal urges took over. She shuddered, the changes coming upon her without warning. Shocked, she looked down at Conner. His eyes were closed but he growled against her sex as if he knew exactly what she felt.
Her blood burned, her skin on fire with the need to shift. She fought it back. Now was not the time to run wild.
But it was so damn hard, especially when his fingers dug into her buttocks and he quickened his pace, sliding her back and forth over his mouth, capturing her clit and sucking it between his lips.
She cried out when her orgasm washed over her, digging her nails into the headboard, the lupine part of her drawing her claws to rake against the wooden bed frame. Conner held tight to her hips and slid his tongue inside her cunt, lapping up the cream that spilled from her.
Exhausted, she crawled off him and collapsed onto the bed, letting him draw her against his chest.
She settled in, looked down and noticed his cock was rock-hard again. When she looked at him, he smiled, his face wet with her juices.
"You turn me on, Katya. I can't help that I want you."
She moved to touch him but he gently pushed her arm away, grabbing her hand and tucking it inside his.
"Sleep," he said, kissing the top of her head. "We have forever to get to know each other."
Forever. Both a comforting and frightening word. She lay there silently, listening to the night sounds outside the castle and focusing on the rhythmic rise and fall of Conner's chest.
He was right. It had already been an eventful day and night. Yet there was so much she wanted to experience and a part of her wondered if she and Conner were, in fact, bound for "forever".
Stop thinking, Katya. Stop worrying about the future. Things will unfold as they should.
She knew her inner voice was right and she should stop worrying about it.
Change wasn't always a bad thing. Maybe she and Conner could work things out after all. They'd certainly made a good start. They were compatible sexually, that much was certain. Whether they could come to terms in other areas remained to be seen.
She closed her eyes and let the sound of his heartbeat against her ear lull her to sleep.
*
Katya woke to sunlight streaming in the windows.
She sat up and looked around. Okay, she was alone in the bed. Where was Conner?
The clock on the wall stated it was ten in the morning. She'd slept way too long.
Tossing off the covers, she took a shower and dressed in jeans and a sweater, feeling more relaxed than she had in a very long time.
Last night she'd slept the entire night instead of waking several times to stare out the window and wonder what crises would arrive on her doorstep by morning.
Conner had exhausted her completely and she'd slept soundly, without the nightmares that typically disturbed her.
Perhaps having sex was going to be therapeutic as well as enjoyable.
She entered the kitchen but he wasn't there. Coffee was, though, and she poured herself a cup, taking it with her as she wandered the rooms in search of her mate.
Voices came from her office down the hall, and she followed the sounds, opening the door to a full room.
No one ever entered her private office without her being there. Until now. Conner was seated at her desk, Noah standing next to him on one side, Elena on the other.
Elena leaned toward Conner as he whispered in her ear. When he finished speaking, Elena stood and began giving orders to the men assembled in the room, who nodded and left.
Conner looked up as one of the men said her name as he passed by.
"Morning," he said, seemingly right at home with her papers on her desk, giving orders to her people. "Elena is translating for me. We've gotten a good start."
Her mellow mood vanished in an instant. Anger filled her to the point of threatening to topple the cup of coffee in her trembling hand. She forced herself to maintain control. "What exactly do you think you're doing in here?"
"I'm working."
She didn't like the smug look he gave her. Was this the same man who'd bathed her and pleasured her last night? Placing her cup on a nearby table, she entered the room and stopped in front of her desk. "Working on what?"
"I've made arrangements for a crew to bring supplies and manpower to start erecting sturdier fencing around the castle property." He grinned and laced his fingers behind his head, leaning back in her chair. "Trust me, it'll be wolf-proof."
She had no idea what he was talking about. "We haven't discussed that."
"No, we haven't. We have to protect the population here from both the inside and the outside. Keep the wolves contained and keep the hunters out."
"I see." So nice of him to completely take over. She should have thought of mating sooner. It could have done wonders for her beauty sleep.
"He has some very good ideas, Katya," Elena said. "I am very impressed with how quickly he has made arrangements for our protection. You should see all that he's accomplished this morning."
She glared her cousin into silence. Yes, she could well imagine what he'd done. The evidence of it sat at her desk, in her chair, in her office. Conner had already taken over the pack, the castle, the land...everything that she claimed as hers.
"Leave," she commanded Elena. "And take everyone with you."
Elena had the gall to look down at Conner, who nodded.
She turned to Noah and said, "You can get out, too. I need to speak to Conner alone."
Noah smirked and crossed his arms, clearly not about to go anywhere on her orders. Elena shuffled the rest of them out of the room quickly, her eyes downcast as she hurried past Katya.
Conner looked up at Noah. "Go ahead and get started on the things we talked about. We'll meet in about an hour and go over the details."
Noah nodded and left the room, inclining his head in a bow as he walked past her and closed the door behind him.
The latch had no sooner clicked in place than she turned to Conner and said, "Get out of my chair."
Conner smiled. "Why?"
"Get out of my chair," she said again, barely able to contain the fury rolling through her blood. Her claws shot from her nails, her vision clouded by the change coming over her. She fought it back, but not before a low growl poured from her chest.
He stood and grasped her arms. "This is what you wanted, wasn't it? When you allowed me to fuck a virgin princess and be forced to become your mate, this was what you had in mind, right?"
She jerked away from his hold and stepped to her desk, sitting down and looking at him. "This," she said, sweeping her hand over her desk, "is mine."
"Not anymore. I'm the alpha male. I'm also the one with all the money. You wanted the Devlins, baby, you got 'em. The whole package. Including one very in charge alpha here."
"It's symbolic, you moron," she retorted. "Are you so dense that you can't pick up on that? I'm Braslieu royalty. You have no say here."
"Tell that to your people. They take orders from me just fine. I think they've been craving a man in charge around here since your father died. They seemed...how should I say it? Relieved."
She longed to scratch that smirk right off his face. "You may have fucked me last night and claimed alpha status, but that doesn't mean you take over my duties."
"Actually, that's exactly what I'll be doing. I'll make all the decisions now."
"No, you will not. We will discuss things together and make joint decisions based on my input. I know this area, this government and my people, better than you. You will defer to me in all decisions."
Conner laughed and crossed his arms. "It's not going to work that way. You can tell me everything I need to know, but I'll take it from there."
How could she have been so blind? He'd played her last night. Now that he was stuck h
ere, he was playing prime alpha to the hilt. Whatever happened between them last night wasn't emotional, wasn't bonding. She'd been nothing more than a fuck. She meant nothing more than a means to an end, the result being power over the wolves of Braslieu.
He'd done a fine job of lulling her into thinking they'd work together as a team. How stupid was she? One good fuck and she'd given everything to him. No, she hadn't given. He'd taken.
"Get up from the desk, Katya. You've had your tantrum, now let me get some work done."
"Don't you dare patronize me!" She slammed her hands on the desk and stood, leaning over to make sure he understood exactly who was in charge. She bared her teeth, allowing the wolf within her to surface. "I rule Braslieu, not you. I will make the decisions, not you. And I will tell my people what to do. Not you!"
She'd shouted the last sentence to get her point across, her voice low and husky with the change.
But Conner didn't flinch. Instead, he placed his palms on his end of the desk and leaned over so their noses nearly touched.
His eyes darkened with lupine change, teeth elongating, his jaw jutting out. Claws dug into the end of the desk as he growled a warning. "Don't undermine what I do, Katya. It's for the protection of all the wolves here. I am alpha now, make no mistake. I do not need, nor will I ever ask your permission to do what I think is necessary."
"We'll see about that." She turned her head to the door and shouted for her personal guards. In a matter of moments, they came through the door.
"I want you to remove Conner from the room," she said, turning to Conner and offering a smug smile. Soon enough, he'd see who was in charge here.
But they stood there, confused frowns on their faces.
"Did you hear me? Remove him, now!"
"Princess, he is the alpha. We cannot," Nicolai said, an apologetic look on his face.
"I am alpha here and I command you to remove him."
Jens shook his head, not making eye contact with her. "We cannot. The lupine laws are clear. You have mated with Conner Devlin. He is alpha male and we take our orders from him now."
This was unbelievable. They looked to Conner, who nodded his head and inclined it toward the doorway. The guards made a quick exit.
Seething fury kept the wolf present. She didn't even bother to try and hide the ferocity of her anger. She had half a mind to pounce on him and really let him see how angry she was.
She'd lose the battle, of course. No way could she match his physical strength. But she'd get a few bites and scratches in first.
"I don't know what you said to them, but I assume you were asking them to move me out of here. That won't do you any good, Katya. They know who the alpha is now."
This wasn't happening. Yesterday she was in charge. Today she was...nothing. And why? Because she'd fucked an alpha wolf?
"I'm not here to harm anyone, baby."
"Don't call me baby. In fact, don't even speak to me."
He skirted the desk and came around to her side. She moved away.
"Katya," he said, his voice soft as if he was speaking to a child. "We may be adversarial in the way I got here, but now that I'm in place I want to help. We don't have to do battle."
"I'm not doing battle with you, Conner. I'm not doing anything with you. You've come in here and taken away everything that is mine. That's unacceptable."
"I've taken nothing away. Believe me, joining with the Devlins was the wisest decision you could make for your people. They understand that now."
"I didn't join with you! It was a mistake!"
He stared at her with a blank expression of innocence that infuriated her. She was getting nowhere with this hardheaded American. "Just stay the hell out of my way, Conner. And don't touch or change a goddamned thing around here! This is my castle, my people, and you do not have my permission to do anything!"
Before she did something incredibly weak, like burst into tears, she stormed from the room, flinging the door open to find Noah, Elena and a dozen of her people waiting outside. No doubt, they'd heard everything.
Elena looked at her with sympathy, as did the rest of them.
They pitied her! She must look like a fool. Half-human, half-lupine, and wrestling with female emotions that threatened to send her into a curled up ball of misery.
This was all too much.
"You follow him?" she asked, inclining her head to the closed door.
No one looked her in the eye.
"Cousin, you know the lupine laws," Elena said, her voice quiet.
"You are all fools," she spat, not even trying to hide the disgust in her voice.
She turned and walked down the hall with her head held high, refusing to swipe at the tears that pooled in her eyes and slid slowly down her cheeks.
The wolf within her retreated as melancholy replaced anger.
In the blink of an eye, she'd lost it all.
God help her people now, because the Devlins didn't have a clue.
Chapter Nine
Conner stood at the window of the office, looking out over the thick green and gold forests below and wondering what the fuck had just happened between him and Katya.
Last night it seemed as if they might have struck a tenuous peace, both in bed and out. They'd shared a night of great sex, followed by an easy conversation that led him to believe things might work out for them.
He'd pleasured her that much he knew for certain. She'd come several times, each time more intense than the last. Then she'd slept soundly in his arms last night, tucked against his side as if she'd spent her entire life there.
He'd assumed everything had been settled between them, but then she exploded because he sat at her desk? He just didn't get it.
The door opened and Noah slipped in, closing it behind him and crossing his arms.
"Well, you handled that well, brother. Anything else you care to fuck up or was that your big one of the day?"
"What the hell are you talking about? You know I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to. Setting things in motion to protect the wolves here. I'm doing my job, Noah."
"I know what your job is. I'm talking about Katya."
"What about her?"
"You screwed up."
Conner leaned his hip against the window ledge. "How?"
"She was in charge here. You took over without even consulting or warning her what would happen. Then you made decisions and didn't ask for her advice."
"I don't need her advice. I also didn't ask to end up here, but it looks like that's what's going to happen, so I might as well take charge and get things rolling. I know what needs to be done."
Noah shook his head and approached, sitting next to him on the ledge. "You don't know shit about women, Conner. You never have. All you do is fuck them. You never consider their feelings."
Conner's jaw dropped. Who was this stranger across from him? Noah waxing philosophical about women's feelings? "And where did you amass this great knowledge about women?"
Noah smirked. "I pay attention to details. It's my job to read people so that I can manipulate a situation. One of the things I've learned along the way is how to use a woman's emotions to my advantage. And you learn that by observing, by knowing what makes them happy and what pisses them off."
"Uh-huh. Well, Katya knew what she was doing when she set out to play her little game. She gambled and long term, I win. I'm the alpha here now, and the sooner she gets used to it the better."
"This is all because you feel trapped into something you didn't get to decide for yourself. This is your revenge, right?
"No, this is business."
"Bullshit. It's payback. So you'd rather have the princess at odds with you instead of on your side."
"There are no sides. We're all the same pack now. She's my mate. It's her duty to follow my rules."
"That's all well and good for lupine laws, Con, but we're also partially human. And that means emotion comes into play. Women's emotions. You don't want to fuck with those, trust me."
"You don't have a goddamned idea what you're doing. This venture will be a helluva lot more successful with Katya's cooperation. Without it, you've got one major battle on your hands."
Heaving an exasperated sigh, Conner looked up at Noah. "So what do you suggest I do?"
Noah's lips curled in a smirk. "First thing you've got to do is pull your foot out of your mouth. You're going to have to learn that being alpha doesn't necessarily mean that you bully everyone into doing it your way. Besides, Katya knows this area. She can help you."
"I can figure it out on my own. Plus, her people will help me."
"They will, but only because they're honor bound to do so. If they see you mistreating their princess, you could end up with a mutiny someday. Hell, Con, you had her right where you wanted her. Then you had to go act like an ass. You think they didn't notice how you treated her like she was nothing? Don't you think they're going to wonder if you're really here for their best interests, or your own?"
Noah had a point. Maybe he'd been a little bit too domineering with her. But dammit, it galled him that he'd been so easily manipulated. Maybe he had been lashing out at her instead of acting logically. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to enlist her aid."
"Yeah, if she ever speaks to you again. Hope you got a good fuck last night, bro. It'll probably be the last one you get for a while."
Noah turned and left the room, his snicker echoing down the hall.
Shit. He didn't need this. Why couldn't things run more smoothly?
And how the hell was he supposed to figure out how to deal with a woman and her emotions? He'd never been able to fathom that mystery before.
He knew how to treat them in the bedroom. Never had any complaints there.
But business was different, and this was business. Didn't Katya see that?
He glared at the phone, not wanting to make the call but knowing he had no choice. Before he chickened out he lifted the receiver and dialed the international codes to the U.S., hoping she'd actually answer her cell phone for once.
"This had better be good. It's the goddamned middle of the night."
"Hello, Chantal." He ignored her surly attitude. His sister was always grouchy when she woke up.
"Conner, somebody had better be dead for you to be making this call."
Yeah. Him, if he didn't get Katya figured out. "No one's dead. Sorry to disappoint you."