Mating Rights (10 page)

“Why don’t you scamper
off and find another man to torture.”

Mali took a step
forward, standing on the threshold before he could slam the door in her face.
“Do I torture you? Am I that bad? I’ll only be a minute.”

Jaxon rolled his eyes,
muttering a prayer under his breath as she pushed her way inside. He shut the
door behind her.

“Happy now? You got
inside.”

“Very. Oh, a fire.”
Mali walked to the hearth in the center of the shack. A spit in the center held
an iron pot of tea brewing on one side of the flaming embers. “I’d love some
tea…if you have some to spare.”

“Sure,” Jaxon grumbled
as he grabbed a hook and pulled the kettle from the fireplace. It was evident
this was where he did his cooking. There was no kitchen area to be seen.

The house could use a
feminine touch. The roughhewn table and chair shared the weathered look of the
old floorboards and paneled walls. She could see herself stitching cushions for
new chairs and a creamy new quilt to replace the faded one covering his narrow
bed.
The house was sparse, with few belongings
save a bookshelf filled with journals and leather bound books. There was no
sense that he’d settled in his home. No personal touches like she was used to
at her parents’ house.
He must keep on the road
a lot, she thought, wondering why, despite the age of the house, he didn’t seem
settled in. Did he have plans of one day leaving this place?

Warmth spread through
her gown as she waited on a cup, mingling the scent of heated cotton with tea
and wood smoke.
She rubbed her hand along the
rough axe cuts on the mantel, stopping at the end where a round frame, no
bigger than her palm, lay face down on the wood. As Jaxon stooped by the fire,
she picked up the frame and saw details of an oil portrait of a woman with
bright blue eyes and braided blonde hair. A smile twitched her lips, as if she
couldn’t contain her mirth as she sat for the portrait to be painted.

As Jaxon stood, she
quickly set the frame back down before he could catch her
.
Her pulse quickened at his narrow-eyed look and
relaxed as he took a cup down from the mantel, wiped it out with his fingers,
and poured tea into the cup. He offered it to her then poured himself a cup.
“Don’t have any sugar or cream.”

“Black is fine,” she said,
taking the steaming cup and walking toward the chair and awaiting table. On the
table she spied loose sheets of parchment and worn sticks of charcoal.

“Make yourself at
home,” he said with a sarcastic edge.

She ignored him,
feeling amused at his morning grouchiness. “Thank you.” She sat in the chair,
took a sip of her tea, and pushed the papers around. He had drawings of his
friends: Adolpho with his hands on his belly, laughing; Torolf and Ranger
practicing sword play; and another of a woman with long straight hair to her
waist, looking away.

She looked up at him in
surprise. “You’re an artist?”

He set his tea down on
the mantel and stomped across the room. “Do you always rifle through other people’s
belongings?” he growled, trying to scoop up the papers before she could look
through them anymore than she already had.

Curly scribbles snared
her eye. She grabbed one from his hand, tearing the corner from his fingers.
“Is this me?” Bold black lines formed her shape in a gown billowing in the
wind. A scarf blew across her face, showing only her eyes and her thick black
curls standing up around her face. She looked wild and sexy. In particular, his
capture of her eyes sucked her in. She couldn’t stop staring at the picture.

Jaxon held out his hand
for the drawing. “Does it look like you?”

“I’ve never seen a
picture of myself. Not like this. It’s good. Is this what you think my hair
looks like?” She laughed.

He frowned. “You
weren’t supposed to see that. It’s for me. My pleasure.” He paused a long
moment. “Are you insulted?”

“No. Intrigued, more
like.” Mali held the drawing up to him. He took it and stashed it with the
others in a large leather bound book. She was curious what other treasures he
hid inside.

Jaxon walked to his bed
and stuffed the book under the mattress. Retrieving his tea, he sat on the end
of his bed and watched her.

“So looking at me gives
you pleasure?”

“What do you really
want here?

“I had a bad dream last
night.”

“Welcome to my world,
sweetheart.”

Mali chewed her lip,
wondering how much she should tell. She cleared her throat. “Sometimes my
dreams come true.”

He sighed heavily. His
forehead wrinkled. “So you’re tellin’ me I need to be worried about something
you dreamed of?”

She nodded. “I dreamed
about you for days before you showed up at my home. This time I dreamed of…a
bear. An attack.”

“You’ll forgive me my
skepticism. I’ve heard naught of this gift before.”

Mali frowned. “I’ve
never been able to share it with anyone. I only had my parents as companions
before you took me.”

He remained silent a
long moment, as if digesting her words.

“You think I’m addled,
don’t you?”

“Finish your drink.”

Mali took a sip and
stood. “Trying to run me off.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t answer my
question.” She set her cup down, pushed the chair under the table and faced
him.

“I thought I’d answered
it well enough.”

“So you’re not going to
do anything about it?”

“What would you have me
do? There’s a wall around the town. Guards posted at the corners and hundreds
of wolves trapped inside here. I doubt one bear would have any impact if they
were stupid enough to attack.”

She crossed her arms
over her chest. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

Jaxon shrugged.

“Your social skills are
lacking.

“I could say the same of
you.”

“You should go out.
Mingle with the others.”

“Now why would I want
to do that? To bring home another troublesome female that I can’t get rid of?”

“Are you afraid of me?”

“Afraid of a slip of a
gel?” He barked a laugh. The muscles of his belly rippled in a mesmerizing
pattern.

A flash of heat hit
Mali in the gut. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want her around. She felt
some kind of sick pleasure in aggravating him. The banter and chase thrilled her.
The fact that he didn’t want her around, that she made him uneasy, gave her an
odd sense of satisfaction.
Plus, she was very,
very aroused. Just thinking about him sinking into her body again made her
quiver in all the right places.

He ceased laughing and
watched her warily as she approached.

She stopped in front of
his knees. “I want you to do that to me again.”

Jaxon gave her an
incredulous look. He stood abruptly and moved away, brushing against her chest
as he stood. He escaped contact by setting his empty cup down on the mantel.
“Just what exactly is that?”

Mali followed him,
standing near the fire. Warmth radiated through her gown into her skin, but she
had an unquenchable fire roaring inside her. She knew Jaxon could snuff it out,
even if for only a little while.

She grabbed his bare
forearm, reveling in the sprinkling of hair there. The thick muscles formed
from years of training. “Take me to your bed.”

Jaxon choked on his own
saliva. He coughed, clutched his stomach, and gave her a wide eyed look. “Are
you insane? Can’t you leave me in peace?”

Mali grabbed his free
hand. “I need this.”

Jaxon looked at the
heavens. “No. Go find someone else. I’m old. Set in my ways. I don’t want or
need a woman in my life.”

“I thought I made it
clear I don’t want a mate. This is purely physical release. Nothing more.”

He clenched his jaw. A
vein pulsed on his forehead. “You keep saying that, but for a woman who doesn’t
want to give away mating rights, you sure aren’t acting like it.”

Mali grabbed the
waistband of his breeches, holding him from escape. His stomach clenched. He
grabbed her hands, trapping her in his massive grip. “That’s what makes you so
ideal. You can think rational for both of us.”

“I’m trying. You aren’t
making this easy. If I had a brain like you think I do, you wouldn’t be in
here. You’re in heat. Go to the inn and take a cold bath.”

She bit her lip. Her
belly tightened painfully. Just being this close to him made her thighs steam.
She could feel her body responding to his presence. Her pussy yearned for
surcease. He was right. Kimber was right. She’d had a taste and now she needed
more—needed much, much more. The call of the beast was something she could
resist before, but not now. The need to give in and mate was overwhelming and
unbearable.
She should have never begun this
dangerous game.
Now his age and experience were
the only things that could save her from herself.

“You know that’s not
enough,” she said, pressing herself against him until she felt the tips of her
breasts rub against his hard chest.
He groaned
at the contact. He drew her hands around her back, but that only made the
connection between them more intense.

Jaxon walked her back
until she felt the edge of the mattress hit the backs of her knees. He suddenly
released her and she collapsed backwards. Almost as one, they fell together.
The weight of his body on top of hers felt right.

“What did you want to
tell me?” he growled against her ear, shoving the neck of her gown down so he
could nibble her neck.

“I forgot.”

“Conniving woman,” he
said, then sucked a spot beneath her ear. He dragged his teeth across her
sensitive skin, scoring her jaw. She shivered. “You’ll be the death of me.”

“The little death?” she
asked, clawing at his back. He thrust a leg between her thighs, grinding the hard
muscle against her slick sex.
She moaned,
arching on the bed. Soreness from the night before had given way to an
unceasing ache. The curse of the wolf, to mate and breed, was upon her.

“Save me,” she begged.
“I’m burning alive inside.”

Jaxon snatched her
hands off him and pinned them to the bed. His weight bore them into the soft
mattress, trapping her.
Hovering above her lips,
he breathed heavily, taking pause as if a war raged inside him. His gaze bored
into hers, hungry and intense. She parted her lips, licking them.

“Lord, love a fool,” he
ground out and then kissed her.

A hard shudder raced
down her spine, pooling in her center with liquid warmth. An overwhelming taste
of spice and heat consumed her taste buds as his tongue swept inside her mouth.
She met his tongue with her own, dancing with him, reveling in his groan of
pleasure. Did anything else exist besides the feel of his body on top of hers?
Of
Jaxon’s mouth consuming her, as if he was
dying of thirst and only she could offer him succor?

Her folly was assuming
she had any control in this. The moment he touched her she lost the last shreds
of her mind. Time meant nothing. Repercussions didn’t exist. Heat and need,
longing and sensual aches were all she could grasp. She breathed in hard, her nostrils
flaring. She couldn’t get enough air, couldn’t swallow enough of his taste.
Dizziness spun through her brain, making her lightheaded.
The length of his erection pressed against her lower
stomach. She needed it lower—inside and stretching her to the limit.
He crushed his body against hers. Her legs fell open.
Her gown slipped down to her hips, leaving her sex exposed and vulnerable. He
ground his clothed erection against her clit, eliciting shivers of need through
her core.

Somewhere along the
way, he’d released her hands. Propping himself up, he tangled a hand in her
hair, tilting her head to better accept his kiss. Her scalp stung, prickling at
the pull of her curls in his hand.

She liked him hurting
her.

The animal inside liked
it too.

Mali wrapped her hands
around him and dragged her nails down his back. He groaned, shuddered.
She gasped into his mouth, sucking his tongue,
claiming him for her own.

Jaxon ripped his mouth
from hers. “I want to taste you.”

The seductive sound of
his voice rolled over her. She loved the way his deep brogue rumbled his chest.
She dragged her hands through his silky hair, tangling her fingers in the
tendrils. “Anything,” she breathed.

He looked up at her and
smiled, baring an incisor that made her heart flip flop. His heavy lidded gaze
was possessive, knowing. A powerful shudder erupted along her nerves at the
promise in his eyes.
Crawling down her body, he
grabbed her thighs firmly, pushing her legs wide to accommodate him. He skimmed
the inside crease with his thumbs, nearing her blazing hot center—the spot that
needed him so badly she wanted to die. She shivered at the unfamiliar
sensation; bit her lip in nervousness.

“Wh-what are you
doing?” she asked, propping up on her elbows to watch him. She wanted to slam
her legs shut, but the temptation to see what he was about proved too great to
deny him.