Mating Hunt (14 page)

Ever since Ari turned 18, old enough to mate, Kyle hadn’t permitted himself to dream of a family, children who’d flourish under his care and feel cherished and loved. He looked at his ward, cheeks flushed from the biting wind, her generous curves hidden beneath the thick fleece shirt and pants. Staring at Ari’s voluptuous body, he felt another pull of the powerful, ancient urge to mate and breed.

Maybe the dream was possible, after all.

Kyle turned back to the family. “Jessie, if I ever had a son...” He struggled to form the words. “I’d hope he’d turn out to be as fine and strong a male as you are.”

The boy nodded, his expression serious. Kyle ruffled his hair. “Go have some fun, be young while you can.”

Digging his hands into his jeans pockets, he watched them walk away until they disappeared into the woods, then he joined Arianna on the porch. Birdsong filled the air, and the trees branches rustled in the wind.

Watching her lower lip tremble, he knew her thoughts. Her parents hadn’t protected her.

Weeks after he’d rescued her, he’d raced into her room every night to wake her from the nightmares. Then he’d carry her into the kitchen for warm milk and small talk while she remained mute and stared at the wall with her wide, empty gaze.

It got better. He’d worked at it, determined to turn a terrified 12-year-old mute into a girl who felt secure and content with her new pack.

No longer a girl, but now a desirable female ripe for breeding.

They went into the cabin and Arianna sat before the fire with a dreamy expression. Maybe she was thinking about having a family, too. Desire thickened his blood as he imagined long, sweaty sessions in his bed, planting his seed deep inside her, then watching her belly grow big with his child.

Kyle rubbed his palms against his jeans, barely suppressing the lusty growl rising from his throat. The beast was knocking at the door now. By the full moon, it would be slamming against it, demanding freedom.

And nothing would stop the beast from claiming what was his...

Covered with warm blankets, Arianna awoke, stomach grumbling a loud protest.

Sunlight streamed onto the carpet. She’d gone back to bed after the parents left. Must be late morning; hell, no wonder she was starved. Blinking, she stared at the ceiling. Like the wall behind and in front of the bed, it was mirrored. The cabin looked like a normal cabin, except for this bit of interior decorating.

Throwing back the covers, she jumped out of bed and raced downstairs.

No Kyle, but he was near. His strong scent licked her body with sensual awareness. Arianna squeezed her legs together. Oh crap, this was going to get worse. Much worse. By tomorrow, she’d be in full mating heat.

Sounds of the shower came from the bathroom next to the kitchen. The intoxicating scent of cold snow and crisp pine grew stronger, tendrils of scent winding around her body and teasing. Her nipples tightened to hard buds.

Finally Kyle emerged, buttoning his shirt. His thick brown hair was damp, curling against the collar of the navy blue shirt. Jeans rode low on his lean hips, molded to his long, muscled legs. The Z on his handsome face flared white as he studied her. Her guardian looked strong and sexy, and slightly dangerous.

Incandescent heat flared in his green eyes. Another lick of warmth stroked between her legs. His nostrils flared, and he fisted his hands, tension coiling in his powerful body. But when he spoke, his voice was calm. “When did you last eat fresh meat?”

Puzzled, she thought hard. “Almost four weeks ago, when I went hunting with the pack. I scored a small squirrel.”

Kyle crossed the room in a graceful stride, his smile wolfish. “Your energy reserves are low because you haven’t eaten fresh meat. I taught you many things, little pint, but never to control your wolf when men threaten to hurt you. You’ll know when to stay in Skin form to fight, and when you need to shift.”

Maybe if he taught her, she could lose the fear always ghosting her mind. “Sounds good.”

“You’ll be edgy, almost feral, and I’ll push you until you beg me to stop, and then I’ll push it some more until you surrender to the beast, but at the right time.”

He made the experience sound sexual. She licked her lips, watching his gaze darken as he tracked the move.

“When do we start? Can I shower first, grab a bite to eat? Flirt a little with civilization before going native?”

Walking to the front door, Kyle shook his head. A cold, crisp wind flowed inside as he opened the door, but it wasn’t the wind causing gooseflesh to rise on her arms. It was the haunted look crossing his handsome face. “There is no civilization when you’re a target, and some will do anything to make you bleed. We start now.”

Kyle had pushed her until hunger screamed through her mind. He’d not let her shift back and grab food from the cabin. In wolf form, she’d hunted until she managed to catch prey and eaten her fill.

Then he’d taken her inside and taught her to fight without using weapons like her switchblade, breaking a man’s neck with a rabbit punch, escaping a chokehold and bringing a man down with a single powerful kick.

Most of all, he taught her to use her scent ability to detect danger.

“This is what you need, little pint,” Kyle told her, tapping her nose. “Just as males can scent your approaching heat, you can scent them when they’re filled with testosterone. Like I told Jessie, it’s best to avoid trouble instead of having to scramble out of it.”

By late afternoon when she finally stepped into the shower, she was tired, but exhilarated. For the first time in her life, she felt confident enough to defend herself without shape shifting.

When Arianna emerged from the bathroom wearing a soft terrycloth robe, her long hair damp, she wanted a nap. Just one problem. Kyle already occupied the bed.

Barefoot, wearing jeans and a checked flannel shirt, he looked intent and hungry.

Arianna jammed her hands into the robe’s pockets. “Why are you here?”

“Our bargain.” His voice went husky. “We find the children and return them to their parents. And then I can do whatever I wish to you.”

Uh-oh. She’d forgotten.

Kyle crooked a finger at her. She approached, feeling like a rabbit caught in a snare. And this wolf was very, very hungry.

Standing before him, she tried to tamp down her nervousness. Kyle clasped her hand and gazed into her eyes.

“You’re strong, Ari. And today you became stronger. You know how to defend yourself in Skin form, and I taught you how to control your wolf when you feel threatened. Now I’m going to teach you all about being female.”

Arianna tried for humor to ease her tension. “You mean we’re going to paint our toenails sparkly pink and gossip about how bad the dating scene is?”

But he did not smile, only studied her with a solemn intensity. “No more fear, Ari. I want you surrendering to your sensual nature. You’re Lupine, and our Lupine nature craves sex, needs it, hungers for it as much as we hunger for food.”

A tingle shot from her hairline to her own, unpainted toenails.

He leaned closer, the sharp scent of cold snow and spices wrapping around her like restraints. She could no more flee than she could stop the pounding of her heart, the gush of arousal seeping from her clenched vagina. Clasping her chin, he stroked a thumb over her cheek, the touch soothing and yet threaded with erotic promise.

“I want you hungry, primitive, wild. The need so great, so burning, it consumes every thought until you want to scream. Only then will I give you release. And then I’m going to push you hard once more, until you’re sweating and begging me to stop and let you come.”

Arianna went still, her breathing sharp and ragged. “Then what?”

Kyle gave a slow smile, his eyes so very green, like lasers. “Then I’m going to start all over again.”

T
HE TIME HAD
come. She knew she couldn’t hold him off forever. She’d made a promise and now he demanded payment. But although he had a hot, hungry look about him, Arianna suspected the payment would be doubled in pleasure.

She only hoped she could hold off the damnable fear long enough to finally lose her virginity.

Kyle went to the rocking chair by the window and patted the back. “Sit, Ari. Leave the robe on.”

A shiver slid down her spine as she sat. He knelt before her, his touch gentle as he took her hand.

“I won’t do anything to shame or hurt you. I only want you to feel pleasure. I need to make you mine. But more than that, I need you to feel safe with me. Okay?”

He slid a thumb along her wrist, feeling her pounding pulse. She managed to nod.

A brief smile touched his mouth. “Unfasten your robe and open it.”

She did as he requested. Feeling shy, she clamped her legs shut, wishing for the cover of darkness.

“Spread your legs, Ari,” he said in a husky voice.

This was much more intimate then doing this on a sofa in the relative dark. Arianna felt a dull flush coat her body as she opened her thighs. She was spread wide before him, her genitals glistening and exposed to his hot gaze.

Kyle gently touched her outer folds, then parted them with his fingers. She felt him probe her vagina with one finger, then two, stretching her painfully as she squirmed.

“You’re very tight. I’ll have to be extra careful with my sweet Ari.”

Withdrawing his fingers, he brought the glistening digits to his mouth and sucked on them, his gaze holding hers hostage. It was intensely erotic as she watched him lick the evidence of her arousal.

“So sweet,” he murmured. “I have so many plans for you, Ari. But first...”

He stood, and she saw the prominent bulge in his jeans. Arianna gripped the rocker’s hand rests. Soon he’d put that big bulge inside her. Anticipation mingled with slight fear as he left the bedroom. She wanted him, wanted his hot hardness thrusting deep into her body.

She wanted to run into the bathroom, lock the door and curl up in a ball.

Kyle returned holding a beer bottle, the same one he’d taken a swig from back in the woods. He shook it. “The peppermint. It helps me maintain control, but when I place it on your skin...”

A knowing smile touched his mouth as he opened the bottle. Kyle knelt before her, placed a dark droplet on his finger and placed the bottle on the nightstand. Very gently, he touched her clit with his oiled finger.

The ensuing electric sensation felt like a dozen bolts of pleasure. Arianna shrieked and pressed back against the rocker. Her nipples instantly hardened and moisture gushed from her vagina.

“Oh gods, it’s too much,” she gasped.

“You can take it,” he soothed. “Let me take care of you. I’m going to take very good care of my Ari. I can’t wait to have the taste of you beneath my tongue.”

Gradually the intense, pleasant burn settled down into throbbing need. When he touched her clit again, she did not recoil, but pushed her hips upward. Kyle braced his hands on her spread thighs and lowered his head. The delicious scrape of his tongue flicked along her feminine flesh, stroked through her soaked cleft.

Arianna melted beneath his gentle assaults. She began to rock with the motions, bringing his mouth into contact with her wet, quivering flesh. Kyle’s hands dug into her buttocks to pull her forward as he savored her like a rare meal.

Every flick of his skilled tongue against her clit was a stroke of erotic flame. She whimpered, climax shimmering just out of reach. It was going to be intense, eye popping, star bursting...

Then he encased the little bud with his mouth and suckled.

And very gently, closed his teeth.

Orgasm burst in her loins like white light. Screaming, she gripped the armrests, her hips surging wildly. Kyle stayed with her through it, his tongue gently lapping until she slumped bonelessly in the chair.

“Wow,” she whispered.

Kyle sat back, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Masculine satisfaction filled his gaze.

Slowly, he ran his tongue over his lips. “You taste just as I’d imagined. Sweet peaches and honey with a bite of peppermint sliding slowly down my throat. Delicious.”

Sudden, sharp sensual awareness tightened her body. Still gulping down breaths, she sat up, staring at his hard male body. “And what about you? How do you taste?”

Amber flashed in his eyes. “Try me.”

Still too shy, she hesitated. “Do I really turn you on? Even though I’m not one of your thin Skin girls?”

Kyle shook his head. “They’re nothing to me, Ari. Nothing like you, with your womanly curves and your sharp, tangy personality. They’re water when a male needs anything to quench his thirst. You’re the burn of whiskey sliding down your throat. They’re bread to ease hunger. You’re the bite of pleasure from sucking on sweet oranges.”

He reached for the hem of his shirt. Muscles flexed beneath smooth, tanned skin as he tugged it over his head. With one hand, he chucked it to the floor. Her fascinated gaze shot to the rippling muscles on his flat abdomen, the dusky triangle of hair stretching from one small brown nipple to another. Kyle unbuckled his jeans and slid them down his lean hips and stepped out of them.

From a thatch of dark hair, his penis stood erect and ready. It was as thick around as her wrist and jutted upward. She felt awkward and inexperienced, but eager.

Letting her Lupine nature guide her, she slid to her knees and stroked a forefinger along the ridges of veins lining his shaft. Velvet over steel.

Groaning, he threw his head back. She stared in awed shock as his penis suddenly thickened and lengthened. The head was wider than a Lupine penis. Along the ridge, near the base, was a small knobby protrusion.

Arianna felt bashful, but curious. “What’s that?”

He glanced down to where she pointed. “Something special, courtesy of my hybrid blood. It stimulates the G-Spot inside a female’s vagina, intensifying her pleasure so she will climax. Orgasm can cause a female to both ovulate and to conceive. Everything the male does to a female is to ensure pleasure, leading to conception.”

His mouth twisted. “It’s in our nature to become sexually aggressive during the full moon, when traditionally females have come into heat. The urge to breed can be overwhelming and overtake everything else. Even logic.”