Read Amber's Ace Online

Authors: Taryn Kincaid

Tags: #shape shifter, #werewolf, #full moon, #Black Hills, #paranormal

Amber's Ace (9 page)

BOOK: Amber's Ace
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“One dollar?” Betty frowned. “We’re not doing a reverse auction, Riley. It doesn’t work that way.”

Miss Claire and Miss Fern walked over and flanked her on each side. “It does today, Elizabeth.”

“But that doesn’t make sense.”

“Sure it does.” Miss Claire took the auction gavel from the hand of the alpha’s perplexed mate. “We’ll get this one.”

With all his considerable athletic grace, Riley sidled closer to the auctioneer’s table before Amber realized what he was about. “Seventy-five cents!” he shouted.

Miss Fern frowned at him. “We can go in reverse, if
someone else
wants to bid.” She paused to shoot a dramatic wink at him. “But we can’t throw all the rules out the window, Riley. I hereby proclaim you can’t bid on your own item.”

His own item?
Riley had found the gorgeous glass globe and painstakingly filled it with all those superb gems? Had he made it for her? Of course, he had. She could come to no other conclusion. And they’d changed the auction rules so she could bid on it!

All eyes turned in her direction once more. Her first gut instinct was to shift and flee into the forest to hide. But pride and gratitude filled her, renewing her inner strength, her sense of self-worth. A male as magnificent as Riley wanted her that much?

Mate. Mate. Mate!

Her wolf danced around, basking like a rock diva in reflected esteem.

Amber rose from the fuzzy blanket and stood on shaky feet. She rarely called attention to herself, but she could not let Riley down, and she could not let the moment pass. Pretty as the gorgeous glob was, she only had eyes for the man.

Riley stared at her, willing her to take another step forward, but reluctant to let her venture where she hesitated to go. He turned back to the elder ladies. “Can I buy it back, then?” he demanded. “If you won’t let
me
bid?”

“Nope,” said Miss Fern.

“Not for seventy-five cents, anyway, young man,” Miss Claire interjected. “Nice try, though.” She gazed pointedly at Amber.

Riley made a big show of patting his pockets. “Amber, can you help me out here, please?”

Her face flamed. “You know I don’t have nearly what that’s worth.”

“You have enough,” he assured her.

“More than enough,” Miss Fern said.

“Everything I’ll ever want or need,” Riley added.

Miss Claire winked. “Bid’s seventy-five cents, Amber. Do I hear fifty?”

“Fifty
cents
?”

“Fifty cents from Amber Northridge. Going once, going twice, going three times. Sold! Sold to Amber for fifty cents. Congratulations, lovey. Come up and claim your prize.”

On shaky feet, Amber approached the auction table. Miss Claire passed the globe to Miss Fern who held it out to her. Suddenly, Amber knew what she had to do. She took the glittering, gem-filled orb from Miss Fern and set it back on the table, staring at Riley.


This
is my prize,” she murmured. She reached for his shirt sleeve and yanked him toward her. Wrapping her arms around him, she drew him closer, until she could feel the pounding of his steady heart against her own. His summertime scent bathed her, swaddled her in a cozy blanket of comfort and warmth.

He gazed into her eyes then beamed at her with his patented slow grin, more radiant than the sun. Her smile broadened as he lowered his head again, coming in for the kiss. His lips met hers, spectacular and electric, as everything between them was and would be, soft but possessive. Their breath mingled. Her knees wobbled, but he held her up, held her steady, as he always would. She could always rely on him to have her back. She gasped for air when he ended the kiss reluctantly at last. The pack broke into wolf whistles and applause, stamping their collective feet and calling for another kiss.

Amber stared out at the assembled pack. Her turn.

“I claim this male for my own,” she announced. “There is no better man. No more beautiful wolf. I claim Riley Morgan. I claim my mate.”

 

 

Riley’s ecstatic whoop of joy and the pleased howl of his wolf could have been heard all the way to New York City, above the roar of a stadium filled with fifty thousand fans, and clear to Miami Beach, where a lone wolf scampering through the surf perked up her ears and smiled.

He snatched Amber by the hand, scooping up the globe and grabbing their picnic basket as he ran. “Let’s get the hell out of here, angel face. Before your brothers decide to make an issue of things.”

 

Chapter Eight

 

 

“That was so brave.” Riley dumped the basket and the blanket on the banks of Hidden Maiden Creek and then, with a touch more care, set down the gem-filled globe before turning back to her. “I’m popping with pride and awe. In front of the whole pack, too.”

Her face heated. Goddess, the male was one gorgeous hunk of masculinity. She could gaze on him forever. But what she’d done, in front of the whole pack…. “I shocked myself.”

“You shocked everyone. I’m bursting with wonder at how amazing you are.”

“I hope you don’t think…. You don’t regret….” He made her so inarticulate sometimes. Yet, he always seemed to know, or understand, her thoughts and emotions. Perhaps that was what having a mate meant. Sometimes he perplexed her. But, deep down, she understood him, too.

“Ssh.” He shook his head, and she ceased her stammering. “I’m incredibly honored. Best moment of my life. And just so you know…I hereby claim you, too, Amber. In case there was any doubt.”

She sighed. “No doubt. No
real
doubt.” Her hand fisted over her heart. “I may act uncertain, but I feel you here.”

“I’ll shout it to the stratosphere if you need me to,” he assured her. “I may, anyway.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and howled to the treetops. “I claim this brave and gorgeous woman. I claim Amber Northridge. My angel. My life. My mate.”

Dear Goddess
. Would she ever stop being completely dazzled by his wonderful, sweet-as-molasses smile? What great teeth he had.

“The better to eat you up, angel face.”

She clamped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my gosh. Did I say that out loud?”

“Not sure. But I’m always attuned to my magnificent mate.”

Ah. The smile again. Broader, sweeter, slower. Such beautiful, sensual lips. He could put them anywhere on her he wanted. Suddenly, she wanted them every place, his lovely mouth gliding all over her waiting, willing flesh. Making her shiver. Warming her. Heating her blood. Pleasuring her. Satisfying her hungry wolf. A wolf who had never before accepted sustenance from the hands—or mouth or cock for that matter—of a male.

“Uh-huh.” Riley made a show of spreading out the blanket and taking care to smooth all the wrinkles, including invisible imaginary ones, from it. So, so slow. Giving her all the time she needed and more. “First…tell me you really want this. Our mating.”

“Yes.”

“And that you won’t be afraid of me. Ever.”

Amber stiffened. He’d reassured her so many times. But how could she promise him such a thing? His touch didn’t fill her with revulsion like the others’ had, and no longer made her want to run and hide, to stiffen in panic, to whimper in terror. In fact, just the opposite. Whenever he drew near, she wanted, needed, to drag him closer still. She
wanted
his touch. Pined for it, like her wolf whined for it. But she had no track record for comparison of how things should be between males and females. Other than the evil visited upon her, she had no experience at all. And when the evil happened, some horrible male grunting, sweating, and rutting above her, the activity sent her to a secret, closed-off place inside herself, where all was icy, all was numb. Where she couldn’t think, couldn’t feel, couldn’t experience what was happening to her on a conscious level.

But she wanted to feel again. With Riley. She wanted to feel everything.

“I won’t ever hurt you, Amber. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.”

She nodded. She realized he believed that. On some level, she believed him, too. But…all she’d ever known at a male’s hands was humiliation and pain. She understood males craved sex, needed it so badly it made them crazed sometimes…so they had no compunctions about taking what they wanted, with or without consent, no matter if they were destroying the woman they rutted on in the process.

But what about females and sex? Until Riley had arrived in Los Lobos, looking so good and smelling so divine, with his wintry eyes and boyish smile, she’d had no interest in males at all. But Riley…. Just thinking about him touching her, fantasizing about him as she lay in bed at night, had her hot with need, aching between her legs, wet and hungry for release.

Julie and Summer described intimacy with their mates as sheer bliss. Other females must think so, too. Miss Kathy, Miss Lonnie, Miss Claire, and Miss Fern sure did. The elder ladies were unabashedly vocal about it. And, between them, they had centuries of experience.

“You will have to teach me, Riley,” she murmured at last. “I’m so hot when I’m with you. So hungry. I want you so badly. My wolf is practically crying. But you have to teach me sex is okay. That it’s a good thing. Not an instrument of horror.”

He bit his lip. She couldn’t tell if he was about to weep. Or if he was trying to tamp down his butter-melting smile. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been with a female, angel face,” he said at last. “Not since my injury. So…I may not remember everything clearly.”

“Isn’t it like riding a bicycle? You always know what to do?”

“Not exactly. Natural instincts should kick in. But….” He shrugged. “You may have to help me. Can you do that?” He winked at her.

“Yes, I think so.” She glanced away from him, and her gaze lit on the globe. “Did you make that for me?”

“Of course, I did. Who else?”

“Show me what you did.”

“To pick the stones, you mean?” His iced-granite eyes glittered. “Okay, so I have to get in the creek.”

She nodded.

“And take my clothes off.”

She nodded again. “I enjoy looking at you naked.”

He winked at her again and loped closer to the water. On the edge of the bank, he began a slow, sensual striptease. She couldn’t tear her gaze from him. This was her fated mate? Holy smokes! How’d she ever get so lucky? She studied him from head to toe, her breasts swelling against her shirt as she watched him. First, he nimbly attacked the buttons of his shirt, flicking each open to reveal another small wedge of tanned torso. The tease became excruciating. She wanted to see more. To feel more. The ache between her legs grew.

He never made it into the stream. Approaching him as he waited on the bank, she steeled herself and then brushed his hands away to drag his shirt open, exposing more of his broad chest. Carefully, she stroked a finger from his collarbone to his navel. Beneath her flattened palm, his muscles leaped in response.

She withdrew her fingers as if she’d been burned. He reached out and took her hand, entwining it with his.

“Was that okay?” she asked. “I didn’t hurt you?”

“No. You got me all quivery. Overheated.” He fanned himself with his right hand. “That’s good. But my knees are a little wobbly. I have to lie down a moment.”

He returned to the picnic blanket and flopped onto it, yanking her with him before releasing her hand. With a contented sigh, he sprawled flat on his back.

“You’re teasing me, Riley.”

He grinned up at her. “Yeah, I may be, angel face. But I’m not kidding when I say your touch makes me light-headed. I’m too buzzed to stand up straight.”

“Liar.” Amber laughed. “You’re a dominant wolf. And you’re offering me your throat and your belly.”

“Offering you more than that, angel face. My trust. My heart and my soul. Let’s see if you can keep my incredible, intoxicated buzz going.”

Lying on her side, she stretched out next to him. His scent enveloped her. Her head spun. In another second, she’d be crawling on top of him, straddling him, grinding her sex against his to relieve the tension.

“Go on,” he urged. “I won’t break. Touch what you like. Explore where you will.”

She ran a tentative finger up and down his flank, pushing the shirt away and edging closer. His gorgeous scent whirled up her nose, making her even more light-headed and dizzy. She wanted to be nearer to him, closer. Lowering her head, she let her tongue dart out to sample the salty male flesh of his broad, muscled chest. She swirled her tongue around his flat, masculine nipple until he groaned.

She drew back. “Did that hurt?”

“No! Sweet goddess, just the opposite. It’s what I want to do to you. Give you the same pleasure. When you say. When you want me to.” He sat up and removed his shirt to give her greater access.

Amber hesitated then dragged her shirt over her head, baring herself to him.

“So beautiful. My angel mate.”

“I’m not, though.”

“My mate?”

“An angel. I…. You make me…want things.”

“They’re not bad things, sweetheart. It’s as it’s supposed to be.”

He pulled her to him and kissed her naked breast. The sensation was sweet and wondrous, not demanding enough to frighten her, just to leave her wanting more. Lying back down on the picnic blanket, Riley took her hand and placed it flat over his heart. Beneath her palm, his heart thundered.

“See what you do to me?” An erection strained against the fly of his jeans.

“I see,” she agreed, focusing on the large bulge. “What does that feel like?”

“Touch it and find out.”

She froze. “No, I meant…what does it feel like to you?”

“It’s great. It’s what makes me male. When I get hard, it’s kind of a throbbing pressure. But when I’m close to you like this, it hurts, too. There’s a needy kind of ache. It craves release.
I
hunger for release.”

“It’s the same for me. With you.”

Cautiously, she slid his zipper down. She gasped when his cock sprang free but she did not draw away. At Magnum’s secret compound, where she’d been imprisoned, she’d been sodomized. Against her will, the evil bastard had shoved his dick down her throat, causing her to gag and retch. But this was different. She
wanted
to taste Riley. To taste him all over.

She leaned down and stroked his hard length with her tongue, closing her eyes to savor the tangy male goodness of him. He moaned his delight. She took the head of his cock into her mouth, swirling her tongue over him, swallowing the pearly salt bead that appeared at the slit. Another grunt of satisfaction issued from him. But, with gentle hands, he pushed her away.

BOOK: Amber's Ace
3.59Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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