Mandy's Story (6 page)

Her voice was raspy from sleep. “And I
care, why?”

He sat down next to her hip, and
couldn’t help but smooth strands of hair from her face. “How do you
feel?”

Her body moved slightly as she took
inventory of her injuries and found none. Her eyes snapped open.
“Who helped me?”

“
Dmitri.”

Panic flared in her eyes. “Is he
here?”

“
No.” He placed his hand
on her shoulder.

She flinched. “Please don’t touch
me.”

He was finished taking orders from her
and tightened his hold. “Why the contradiction? For several days
that’s all you’ve wanted.”

She trembled beneath him. “No, I wanted
much more than that.”

He ran his other hand through his hair,
giving himself time to think. “Maybe you won’t be so moody if you
take a shower. You’re covered in dried blood and dirt and the
smell’s starting to sour.”

He loosened his hold and allowed her to
roll off the bed. She wouldn’t look at him and walked straight to
the bathroom with her shoulders down, appearing completely
dejected. He gave a long sigh after she closed the door, and then
went into the kitchen to prepare them both sandwiches.

She stayed in the bathroom for an hour.
At one point, he knocked on the door to make sure she hadn’t
crawled out the window, because he wouldn’t put anything past
her.

“
Go away.”

He waited at the table. Finally, she
came out with a towel around her body and another turbaned on her
head. She gathered her clothes from a drawer and carried them back
into the bathroom. He grinned when she slammed the door behind
her.

Obviously, the shower hadn’t improved
her mood.

Eventually, she came out and surprised
him by sitting at the table. She ate her food without saying a
word. When she finished, she carried her plate to the sink and then
walked over and opened a cupboard, removing the partially filled
bottle of wine from the evening before.

“
You’re not drinking
that,” he said when she reached for a wine glass.

She lowered her arm, turned his way,
very deliberately removed the cork, and took a huge swallow
straight from the bottle. The sound of his chair slamming against
the cabin wall was her only warning. She turned her shoulder to
block him from grabbing the wine and tried to take another swig. He
hoisted her over his shoulder and completely ignored her shriek of
outrage. The bottle fell to the floor, but didn’t shatter, though
red wine splattered and the smell of alcohol permeated the
room.

“
You bastard. Put me
down.” Her legs kicked out.

“
Oh my bratty she-wolf.
You are quite finished giving orders. I’ve promised you a spanking
and you’re twenty seconds from getting one.”

“
You wouldn’t.” Through
the muffled sound of her voice, her anger came through loud and
clear.

“
Wrong reply.” His
not-so-gentle palm landed on her bottom and then the little
hellion’s wicked teeth bit his ass. Hard!

He up-ended her onto the bed, and then
landed on her wiggling body.

“
Stop, you big oaf. Get
off of me so I can breathe,” she yelled between frantic gasps for
air.

Damn his ass hurt. “Calm down and then
I’ll consider it,” he grumbled close to her ear.

She froze.

He slowly removed the majority of his
weight, but kept her pinned.

Her eyes closed and after a deep breath
her voice trembled. “Why didn’t you just leave?” she said, through
sniffles; obviously fighting back tears.

“
We have unfinished
business.” He removed a section of hair from her face and rubbed
the silky strands between his fingers.

“
There’s nothing you can
do that would make me feel any worse than I already do. It would
have been better if I’d died this morning.”

His hand grasped her jaw and gave a
slight squeeze, causing her to open her eyes. “No… that most
certainly wouldn’t be better.”

“
I’ll die slowly anyway,
so what does it matter?”

His mouth crushed hers.

Chapter Ten

Somewhere between fury and
heart-wrenching sorrow, her wolf took over. Her mate’s taste
traveled through her body, making her blood boil. Every nerve
ending tingled with the feel of his warm lips against hers. She
wanted to draw blood, taste his essence, and mingle it with hers.
The kiss continued and she thrilled over his tongue, lips, and
teeth devouring her mouth—taking what she freely gave.

He pulled away and gazed meltingly at
her.

She had trouble controlling her
breathing. “Why did you do that?”

His gasps for air were as ragged as
hers. “We need to talk.” His eyes surprisingly shifted
away.

“
You kissed me so we could
talk?” She felt the heat in her blood changing from desire to
irritation, and she studies him as her breathing slowed. His back
was ramrod straight, muscles flexed and ready for battle. Reaching
up, she ran her fingers gently over the hot, bare skin on his arm.
Looking down the lines of his body, she noticed his arousal.
Closing her eyes, she silently said a short prayer then asked, “Are
you my mate?” Her eyelids opened with hope in every bone of her
body.

His gaze snapped back to hers, but he
didn’t immediately answer. After several slow steadying breaths, he
growled out, almost against his will, “Yes.”

The sound of his voice sent rippling
waves of soft energy along her skin. She sucked in air. Her
thoughts tumbled through everything that happened—every feeling of
panic, desperation, and her overwhelming sorrow. Relief soon gave
way to red-hot anger and without warning she burst. Every ounce of
strength she possessed went into the punch that landed on his arm
when he moved his face out of the way at the last
second.

“
You stupid buffoon. Why
the hell did you lie to me? I almost died. Those filthy cats
planned to rape me.” She swung her legs up for a solid kick, but he
put pressure on her knees, pinning them to the mattress.

“
You’re too young and it
wasn’t the right time,” he ground out.

“
You idiot. We’re going
into a major war. You could die. We could both die. I’ll be twenty
next month. I. Am. Not. Waiting!”

“
Good.” He released her
knees and lifted her upper body from the bed. He tugged up the hem
of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Before she could protest,
not that she planned to, he let her fall back so he could make
short work of her pants. In mere seconds, she was naked and his
mouth took one of her breasts between his lips, licking the nipple
and then sucking. His roughened tongue caused exquisite sensations
when he lathed her areola. His other hand feathered across her
skin, causing sizzling heat where he touched.

This feeling, this deep searing ache
his touch kindled, was everything she desired—what she’d dreamed of
for almost a year. Instead of moaning and giving into the amazing
sensation, crushing relief brought tears. Huge torrent sobs came up
from her chest and seconds later, he pulled her into his rock-hard
embrace.

“
Shh. Don’t cry, sweet
Mandy. I’m sorry. I should have waited. We will wait.” His breath
came in unsteady gasps.

Her back stiffened. “That’s not what I
want, you dolt.” She gave a long sniffle. “I thought you didn’t
want me.” She grabbed his nipple through his t-shirt and
twisted.

“
Oww.” His hand covered
hers and gave a light squeeze so she’d release him.

“
You deserved that. You
made me kidnap you and give you baby wipes. Do you know what that
did to me?”

Deep-chested laughter, loud enough to
shake the walls of the small cabin, came up from his chest. She
started twisting, attempting to get away, but he easily pushed her
back on the bed. Looking up, she saw his amazing smile—not a grin
or a tilting of his lips, but a huge smile with lines at the
corners of his eyes and flashing teeth. “I love you,
Mandy.”

She looked deep into his half-closed
eyes and felt heat flood throughout her body, traveling clear to
her toes. Her gaze went to his lips. “Then kiss me,
please.”

He rolled, taking her with him until
she was looking down into his midnight eyes. “I want you… to kiss
me.”

Of all the… she lowered her head,
putting her lips to his. He didn’t respond, just waited. She
deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue further into his mouth and
using the same technique he’d used on her. She nibbled on his
bottom lip, and then ran her tongue across his teeth. His sudden
indrawn breath let her know she was doing it right. He tasted so
good—musky with forest spice rolled into the perfect mate scent.
His arms came up to try to wrap around her, but she growled. She
wanted the power to drive him crazy like he’d done to her for
months. He let his arms fall back to the bed, giving her
control.

Slowly, she pulled away then lifted his
shirt over his chest. She was glad when he pulled it up and off so
she could reach the elastic waistband of his sweats. She pulled the
material down his legs and then admired his body, her eyes zeroing
in on his huge erection.

He seemed to read her thoughts. “If you
call it my member, I’ll tickle you until you beg me to stop.” The
hoarse words rumbled from deep in his chest.

“
I don’t like the word
cock.” Her gaze traveled upward, past his amazingly muscled stomach
to his massive shoulders. She noticed a thick pulsing vein in his
neck, and then she looked higher. She’d thought his smiling face
made him the sexiest man alive, but it didn’t. Pure, delicious,
carnal need blazed in his eyes.

“
Just call it yours,” he
whispered.

Her eyes traveled back to the “yours”
in question and her fingers slowly wrapped around the girth; she
wondered how it could possibly fit where she wanted it most. “The
skin is so soft.”

His body shook for a moment and she
knew he was laughing, but then his unyielding fingers closed around
hers. “That’s probably not the best idea.”

“
What isn’t?”

“
Are you ready for me to
show you?”

She met his eyes again. “I’ve been
ready forever.”

Chapter Eleven

So had he. Honey moved with blinding
speed and once more Mandy was beneath him. The liquid blue of her
eyes sparkled with desire. He took her breasts in his palms and
passed his thumbs over her nipples. He smiled at the small gasp
that escaped her lips.

He’d known since first meeting her in
the hotel room that she was his mate. Korep had noticed it, too,
and teased Honey non-stop after they left. The only chance he had
for sanity was to stay away from her until she came of age. He’d
known the next two years, while waiting for her to mature, would be
nearly impossible. He’d never known a bear to mate-claim a wolf; it
would need to be done with finesse and diplomacy. If that didn’t
work, he would steal her away when she was old enough.

Although his resolve was barely kept in
check—he somehow managed to hold himself together. At least until
Korep died. Through his grief, he focused on Mandy and his
overwhelming urge to have her near. He traveled to the Northwest
pack’s land and hung around for two weeks just so her smell could
calm his raging anger. When his bear settled enough, he left, but
he discovered he couldn’t stay away. Ignoring her and remaining out
of her reach was harder than he thought it would be.

He tried to tell Brandt what was
happening, but the words wouldn’t come and he was afraid both
Brandt and Emily would make him leave. He couldn’t. Then he woke up
in the truck, trapped in a cage, and desperately wanted nothing
more than to give into his feisty she-wolf. Her audacity amazed
him, but her disregard of her age and the repercussions of her
actions angered him, too. He refused to give into her, but she
stubbornly kept playing with fire and he… was finished simmering.
The rest of beastkind be damned, it was time to claim his
mate.

His gaze traveled down her body; soft
brown curls showed from between her thighs and he smelled her
sweet, tangy arousal. He placed his hand on the curls. Her slight
jump made him smile. “This is mine.” He pressed just hard enough to
pull a small groan from her throat. He lowered his face between her
legs, his mouth was so close, to her waiting flesh. He knew what
she ultimately wanted, but her being in control was at an end. He
blew warm breath across her curls. Then, using one finger, he
delved through her folds and found the small nub that needed
attention the most. Inhaling deeply, her scent absorbed into his
bloodstream. He lathed his tongue where his finger had traveled and
absorbed her taste.

“
Honey,
god…ahhh.”

He laughed huskily then growled against
her quivering flesh. “I am the honey god, and you, my sweet
goddess, taste like ambrosia.” He didn’t care that the words
sounded corny and with another flick of his tongue, neither did
she.

With fingers, lips, and tongue, he
brought her to a screaming climax, but didn’t stop there. Quickly
moving up her body, he rose above her and positioned himself at the
quivering entrance of her core. With a slow, steady push, he
entered while her virginal walls continued to pulse with her
orgasm.