Lonely Alpha (7 page)

He said nothing, just continued to watch her
with half-hooded eyes.

She sat frozen, enduring the silence until
she couldn’t take it any longer. She had to explain. “I had a
dream.” Her feeble excuse came out half-whisper.

A sound that could only be described as a
growl rose from deep within his chest. “So did I.”

Mandy glanced toward his groin again and a
wave of longing swept over her. His erection hadn’t subsided. If
anything, it appeared larger than it had when he’d been asleep. Not
that it had been inconsiderable then.

“Tell me about your dream.”

“It was…”

His gaze never left her. “It was what?”

She couldn’t help but respond. She’d been
caught red-handed, and he surely knew what kind of dreams she’d
been having. The hardness between his hips and his own words made
her hope that he’d been having the same sort. She wanted to hear
him confess, too. “It was about you.” Her words tumbled out. “You
and me. Together. In the woods. We were…”

“Making love?” he finished for her.

She nodded weakly. “Exactly.”

“We musta had the same dream.”

“Oh.” What else was there to say? The skin
between her legs was still tingling, tempting her to let her
fingers glide over her aching flesh, seeking relief. Only now that
he was awake and looking at her, that no longer seemed like enough.
Even if she brought herself to climax – that would only take a
moment, surely – she’d still want more.

Jack reached out with surprising speed and
grabbed her wrist, pulling her unhurt hand out of her blanket.

Mandy gasped as he lifted it to his mouth,
touching her fingertips to his lips. Slowly, he swept his tongue
over them. They were already damp with her arousal. He drew them
past his teeth, tasting. Her heart sped as a golden gleam flashed
in his half-hooded eyes and the ghost of a growl rose from his
chest. “You taste just like you did in my dream.”

A fresh wave of heat warmed her cheeks, along
with the rest of her body. His manly, woodsy scent was making her
head spin, and that combined with the rough timbre of his voice
threatened to send her over the edge.

He pulled her fingertips from his lips and
reached for her.

Chapter 5

“Jack, I don’t think this is such a good
idea. If things go the way they did in my dream, you’ll reopen your
wound in a heartbeat.”

She didn’t even notice that he’d seized one
corner of her blanket until he gave it a quick tug, unraveling it
from her body. She sucked in a breath as he let his gaze travel
over her slowly, causing her to burn with shock and desire. Yes,
she’d dreamed of him staring at her with that look in his eyes, but
this was dangerously real. The tension was quickly mounting between
them as they faced one other, their gazes locked on each other’s
naked bodies, but if he made love to her like he had in her dreams,
it might kill him. There was no way she could let him try, no
matter how fiercely her body ached for him.

“Don’t worry about me,” he growled, dropping
her hand and pressing his own between her thighs.

She yielded to him as he massaged her slick
skin, finding her clit. A shiver raced down her spine as he stroked
it, causing her core to tighten. “I’m not going to let you do
anything that might hurt you.” He ran the pad of his thumb over her
clit again, causing her to gasp. It was ridiculous how good his
touch felt. Nobody had ever made her body respond so strongly with
such a light touch before.

“It hurts not to be inside you,” he said,
dipping his fingers lower and running them along the seam of her
sex. With his other hand, he grasped his cock, wrapping his fingers
around the shaft. “Hurts worse than the gunshot wound.” He teased
her, slipping just the tip of one finger inside her. “You know what
I mean, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she moaned begrudgingly. Those dreams…
They’d affected her in ways she hadn’t even known a real man could,
let alone a simple fantasy. She was burning for Jack in a way that
she could only describe as unnatural, though the idea of making
love to him seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
Nothing like this had ever happened to her in Nashville. Could it
be the mountain air affecting her, or was it something to do with
the strange new nature she had yet to grow accustomed to? Perhaps
her latent lupine qualities weren’t the only things being around
Jack had awakened.

He nodded, his cheek brushing the blankets as
he kept his gaze locked with hers. “You’re hot for me.” He pushed
his finger a little deeper inside her, as if testing her heat. “Let
me make love to you, Mandy.”

She moaned, resisting the nearly overwhelming
urge to widen her thighs and sink down onto his hand. “You’re in no
condition for that. I want you, but not so badly that I’ll let you
kill yourself.”

“I’m not as bad off as you think. You shoulda
seen the holes when I was first shot – they were even bigger than
they are now. There was just enough moonlight left for them to heal
a little.” His eyes were locked with hers. “Enough for this.”

She eyed his side dubiously. The entry wound
was clearly visible, the exit wound pressed against the mattress.
He wasn’t bleeding from either, but… “It’s still pretty bad,
Jack.”

He moaned too, penetrating her deeper with
his finger and dragging it down her inner wall, making her squirm.
“Ride me, then. I won’t move – I promise.” He pulled his hand from
between her thighs, letting it rest on the blankets.

The absence of him – any part of him – inside
her left her feeling so empty that she wanted to jump on top of
him. He still had his fist wrapped around his cock. If she
straddled his hips, he could guide it inside her. She was hot and
slick, more than ready for him – it would be easy. And then – oh,
God – she could ride him until she came and her body wrung his
pleasure out of him too. It would be heaven. “You sure it won’t
hurt you?” she asked tentatively, desperately wanting to believe
that it wouldn’t.

“I don’t give a damn if it does. The day’s
halfway over, and I’m not gonna die before sunset. If I have to
suffer a little more ‘till then, it’ll be worth it.” His voice
softened a little. “Now let me feel you on top of me, or I’m comin’
over there.”

She finally moved, swinging a leg carefully
over both of his and gingerly straddling is hips, careful not to
let her knee jostle his injured side. This had to be safer than the
alternative, which apparently meant letting him be on top. She held
her injured hand carefully, not letting it touch anything, though
her desire for Jack was so strong that it all but drowned out her
pain.

He let out a deep sigh as he angled his cock
so the thick head brushed her damp folds. “Come down here.” He
rested a hand on her ass and squeezed, his fingertips pleasantly
rough against her soft skin.

She gave in to his urging, slowly lowering
herself onto his cock. Inch by delightfully slow inch, she let him
fill her. Her core stretched to accommodate him, and the feeling of
her wet flesh yielding to his hardness was ecstasy. “Jack…” she
breathed, seizing a fistful of nearby blanket with her good hand
and digging her nails into the material because she was afraid
she’d hurt him if she laid hands on his body.

He rocked his hips, sheathing himself to the
root inside her.

“Don’t do that!” she gasped. “You’ll reopen
your wound. Let me…” She moved slowly up and down, relishing the
way her core clenched and tightened around his hard cock.

He tossed his head back and moaned
appreciatively. “All right. If it’s going to feel this good, I’ll
let you do it.” He pressed a hand between her thighs, finding her
clit again.

She shuddered as he began to massage it, his
fingertips gliding easily over the slick nub. A telltale tightening
began in her womb and worked its way down, causing her channel to
clamp down on his cock. “Jack.” His name came naturally to her lips
as he deepened his massage, making it so that all she could think
about was the rough rub of his calloused fingertips against her
clit and the tight fit of his cock inside her.

Her orgasm rolled through her in waves,
making her gasp and shudder on top of Jack. It was hard not to
fall, sprawling, on top of his chest. Instead she rode him harder,
getting the most out of her climax. By the time she stopped, she
could feel the beat of his pulse inside her.

“Don’t stop, sweetheart.” He placed both his
hands on her hips and gripped them tight, putting his muscles to
good use as he helped her fuck him.

She was aided by a second wind when he began
to moan, his shoulders becoming rigid against the mattress as he
tipped his head back. She moved more quickly, rising halfway and
then burying his cock deep inside her again. Each time she lowered
her hips, he groaned louder. That, she discovered, was another
thing she liked about the mountains: there was no one to hear. She
reveled in the sound, knowing it was only for her.

“Mandy…” he surprised her by pulling her down
onto his chest, burying his hand in her hair as he kissed her. She
yielded to him when he ran his tongue roughly over the seam of her
lips, thrusting it inside. He ravaged her mouth, and before she
knew it, his hips were flexing beneath hers. Her fingertips brushed
his hair as she rested her injured hand on the mattress, careful
not to jostle it, lest the pain pull her out of the haze of
pleasure he’d put her in. He penetrated her deeply with each
stroke, holding her tight against his chest and moaning into her
mouth as he came.

Several breathless moments later, their kiss
ended. His arms were still wrapped around her, and she feared what
she might see when he finally released her. “Jack…” Her voice came
out as breathy and shaky as she felt.

“Yeah?” His answer was half-groan.

“Are you all right?”

“I swear, I’ve never been better.”

But it wasn’t true. Something warm and damp
met her knee. She escaped his embrace and straightened. “You’re
bleeding again.” She climbed off of him carefully. “You shouldn’t
have done that, at the end.” Her body heated at just the thought of
the way he’d fucked her; so hard, and with so much passion. “You
broke your promise.” The blood was just a trickle, but she hated
the sight of it. She pressed a balled-up blanket to his side,
stanching the modest flow.

He at least had the grace to look mildly
ashamed. “I didn’t mean to.” One corner of his mouth quirked in a
near-smile. “You make me a little crazy, Mandy. You make me do
things I normally wouldn’t.”

“Oh, so you don’t usually do this with every
confused tourist-woman who comes to your door?” She smiled back
teasingly.

“No,” he said, his expression sheer
seriousness now. “I reckon I’ve managed to scare off all of ‘em but
you, and pretty women like yourself never come up here alone
anyway.” He grinned. “You’re a bit of an oddball.”

“Ha ha,” she said austerely, thinking of the
way she’d sprouted fur, a tail and fangs. “That assertion would
make a good candidate for understatement of the year.”

He seemed to understand. “Well, at least
you’re not alone.” He raised one hand in a sweeping gesture,
indicating his grinning face and naked body.

She frowned. No, she wasn’t alone, but up
until today, he had been. “How come you’re living up here all by
yourself, Jack? Aren’t there others like us?”

His playful smile disappeared. “There are
shifters all over the world, but no others in these mountains. Not
wolves, anyway.”

“Did there used to be?”

Jack nodded slowly. “My family has lived in
these mountains for generations. In fact, my grandfather built this
cabin. At one time, we were a pretty large pack. There used to be a
lot of wolves in these mountains – four separate packs in the
Tennessee Smokies. Ours was known as the Half Moon Pack.”

“What happened?”

“Tourists happened.” His mouth twisted in a
wry grimace. “Did you know that the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park is the most visited national park in the country?”

“Is it really?” She hadn’t known that, but it
wasn’t very difficult to believe. Nearby tourist towns like Pigeon
Forge were full of attractions and constantly packed with visitors.
She’d purposely selected a secluded vacation cabin, but once one
got off the mountain, all the hustle and bustle wasn’t far
away.

Jack nodded. “Yep. And that’s what started
the trouble for us here. The only wild canines in this region are
coyotes and foxes – or at least, that’s the official statement.
There are no wolves in this part of the country anymore, aside from
shifters, so you can imagine the potential ruckus that could occur
if tourists started catchin’ sight of huge wolves roamin’ around
the Smokies.”

“Or naked men,” Mandy added, using the
mention as an excuse to check out Jack’s own very bare body.

He nodded. “Or that. And so, the range
started to seem pretty crowded for four decent-sized packs. The
smallest was the first to go. They flat out left, knowing they
couldn’t contend with the three larger packs. Went out west
somewhere to find a new place to settle.”

“What about the others?”

Jack grimaced. “There was a lot of fighting,
a lot of territorial disputes. Things got pretty ugly, and one pack
was hunted to near extinction. Only women and children were left,
and most of them went away, though some did choose to join one of
the remaining packs.”

“And the last two?”

“My pack was one of the last two. Of course,
this all happened long before I was born, but long story short,
there were years of ugly fights, and the other pack dwindled. There
were deaths, though some members got out while they could, and a
few even gave up and joined the Half Moon Pack. Then just the Half
Moons were left, kings and queens of the mountains.”