Opposition: Montana Wolves, Book Four (Montana Wolves series 4) (7 page)

His words did dangerous things to her insides, igniting a tiny flame of hope in her heart that she dashed without prejudice.

There were no guarantees in their brutal world. He could stage his coup only to find that his entire pack had turned on him. He’d be ripped to shreds. And then she would be left with nothing but an obliterated heart and bitter regret.

Her pack was the backbone of her life. The one constant that held her together, and she couldn’t—wouldn’t—give it up.

"You already know what I have to do," she said.

He gave a curt nod. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Silence stretched between them, thick as molasses, until he finally spoke again.

"Five days.” His throat worked as he stared at a point just over her shoulder. “You have five days. My father made the announcement early this morning.”

Her stomach pitched and she swallowed hard. "How?" she asked.

"Not like the Kotke. It will be one, massive push, through the trees to the west and then a bum rush through the gate."

She nodded. She knew that would be the go-to. There were too many carriage houses to hold a unified front except from the main gate. She'd been over the plans with Liam more times than she could count. If someone were going to strike, that would be the smart way to do it, especially since they were still repairing the security equipment that had been destroyed in the Kotke attack.

“Will you be there?” She kept her eyes downcast because it was too hard to look at him.

“Yes.”

She flinched and blinked away the hot tears rushing to her eyes.

“But only because I can try to control things that way,” he continued, reaching out and lifting her chin so that she would look at him again. “Which is why I told you the plan. Because I trust that you’ll try to do the same. Let your alpha know that my pack is only doing what they’ve spent a lifetime hearing was right. Most of them aren’t evil, they’re just afraid. The best we can hope for now is that neither side sustains losses. The full moon and Amber’s turning is around the corner, and if we can all get through this, there is a good chance things will settle after. If you can, try to convince your pack to injure instead of kill and I will do the same. Can you do that for me?”

She nodded and then finally stared up at him again.

“I’ll try.”

In another life, he could have been her perfect mate. Smart, levelheaded, strong enough to go toe-to-toe with her and argue. She squared her shoulders and pulled away from him, allowing herself a moment to mourn for the life she could have had. They could have had.

"I’ll see you on the battlefield when you and your family come and try to kill me." She sounded so much tougher than she felt. “I guess this is goodbye.”

He shook his head. "It doesn't have to be."

He skewered her with his soul-searching gaze and she resisted the urge to lean into him.

God, this man.

"Let's meet back here every night before the siege. We're living on borrowed time, but..." His fingers circled her wrists and her breath caught in her throat. "If something were to happen, I want to know I got to spend every second with you that I possibly could."

Before she could process what was happening, his mouth slanted over hers, filling her to the brink with warmth and that woodsy musk that was indefinably his. She swam in the sensation, closing her eyes as she rolled her tongue over his.

It was wrong. This moment, this night. She was only sinking deeper into a pit of quicksand that would swallow her up into misery.

But what if this was it? What if something were to happen, how would she feel knowing that her own pride and sense of honor was the thing that had kept her from feeling this, one last time? That her last days could have been filled with Grey, and instead she'd opted out?

He broke away from her and stared down into her face.

"What do you say?" he asked, his voice a husky plea.

"It would also give us a chance to find a solution," she started slowly. "Maybe if we keep talking, we can find a way to stop this. Maybe."

"Maybe."

His face betrayed his skepticism, but she didn't care. She yanked her t-shirt over her head and let it drop to the floor with a soft rustle.

“I’m in.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

F 
our days had never moved so quickly.

When Grey stepped into the shack the night before the battle, it was with all the sadness of a former soldier visiting the tomb of a fallen comrade.

He knew she would already be there, waiting for him as she had been every night that week. Hoping for good news, and though she always tried to look indifferent, the lines of worry and purple smudges under her weary eyes grew more pronounced with each passing day.

The boards creaked beneath his feet and she turned her face up to stare at him. Sometimes—his favorite times—she was already naked when he arrived, still pink in the cheeks and breathless from a run. Today, she was in black leggings and a hoody, her arms curled around her knees so that her entire body fit onto the small space of a rickety chair.

“Any news?” She asked the question, though he could tell she already knew the answer. They both did.

At least he had one good bit of news. “The Kotke confirmed that they don’t have enough healthy wolves to join the fray.”

She nodded solemnly, stretching her legs out in front of her as she leaned back in the chair. “That’s a positive, at least.”

There was no need for him to add that the Big Sky attack would go on as planned. He’d tried his best to test the waters with the other high-level pack members, but with the human still unturned, they wouldn’t even contemplate calling it off.

“How is Amber? This must be tough on her.” It was the first time he’d asked about her, and Maggie blinked up at him for a long moment before answering.

“She’s as well as I could expect her to be. Scared. Unprepared, I think. The last battle did a number on her mentally, and that was nothing compared to what this will be like. She’s terrified for the pack.” Her gaze penetrated him, and finally she added, “Apparently, she and I have more in common than I’d thought.”

Grey crossed the room and took the seat opposite Maggie. “You haven’t been running today.”

She glanced down at her clothes. “No. I’m better in battle if I’ve pent up my energy. It makes me more ferocious.”

“I have trouble imagining you more ferocious.” He offered her a smile and, to his relief, she returned it.

For the past week, she had been the only bright spot in his life. Even Willa had grown tired of his constant attempts to stay the attack and was starting to get suspicious of his absences. He’d been careful, showering in a hunting cabin the pack kept on the outskirts of Big Sky territory before going back home, but if Willa was suspicious, that meant some of the others wouldn’t be too far behind. As much as he hated what tomorrow would bring, he would be glad to bring an end to the deceit.

“You’re dressed too.” She nodded toward his jeans and T-shirt.

“I didn’t want to expend any energy unnecessarily running over her. Somehow, I thought I might find better use for it elsewhere.”

“Cocky as always,” she chuckled, but like his own levity, it felt forced. Tense.

He stood from his seat and moved to drop a light kiss on her mouth. She accepted it easily, parting her lips against him so that he could once again taste the minty sweetness of her breath. Smell the lavender that filled the air around her.

“No fight in you today,” he murmured against her lips.

“I need it all to destroy you tomorrow,” she whispered, melting into him.

The bitter sweetness of the moment settled over him like a blanket, comforting and smothering all at once.

“Don’t talk to me about tomorrow.” He weaved his fingers through her hair and tugged gently, pulling her more deeply into the kiss as his tongue swept out to meet with hers. Where their kisses had once been battles, this was a dance. When he moved, she joined him, swirling around him gracefully with just enough pressure to tease him in for more.

E
VERY NIGHT
, she'd met him here and every night she'd given in to her basest instincts. Still, tonight it felt like so much more. Like every time his tongue flicked against her mouth, he was trying to bottle the memory of her taste just in case it was lost to him forever.

Or maybe she just felt that way because that’s what she was doing with every lingering kiss.

He pressed her back against the wide oak table, but she shook her head.

"No," she said, "Tonight I want to have all of you." She made short work of his clothes and kicked them aside before sinking to her knees to take him full in her mouth, licking long and hard until he growled with pleasure. He laced his fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes, losing herself in the sensation as he massaged her scalp and sent tingles skittering over her sensitized skin.

She sucked him in deeper as she swirled her tongue around his smooth, blunt head, memorizing his scent. Committing his taste to memory.

She pulled away and licked the base, working him up and down with her hand until a bead of pre-come leaked from the slit at the tip of his cock. She stared up at him, and when his heated gaze met hers, she dipped her head to catch the droplet with the tip of her tongue.

He gripped her hair harder and pulled her up, gently enough not to hurt her but just forceful enough to send a bolt of need through her. With a tug, he pulled her shirt over her head and groaned when he saw she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, bending low to capture one nipple between his teeth. She gasped as he pressed her back against the wide, wooden table, and tugged her leggings to the floor. When she was naked, he straightened to spread her knees wide, staring with longing at the juncture of her legs.

"You have the most gorgeous pussy on the planet," he ground out at last, and then reached to stroke it with one hand. With the other, he circled her waist and pulled her closer until her breasts were flush against his wide, warm chest. God, the heat of him alone was enough to drive her crazy, but the smell of him could have sent her to heaven on the spot.

His hard, long shaft was pressed against her belly. So close. If she moved just right, he would have the perfect angle to—

His hands gripped her hips firmly and she realized she'd been grinding against his cock, begging him to fill her.

"Take it slow,” he said in a gruff whisper. “If tonight is all we have, then I'm going to take my time with you."

He didn't wait for her to respond. Instead, he dropped a kiss on the hollow of her throat and licked from her collarbone to her shoulder and back again, kneading her breasts as he went.

It was so unlike all of their other hot and hard encounters and she shivered with every new touch, every extra kiss.

If he were truly mine, I would never leave his room. We'd spend every day exactly like this.

He reached her earlobe and nibbled at her gently until electricity sparked throughout her body. She closed her eyes, taking in the sensation and trying to hold herself together. Because he wasn’t hers. They were enemies. Sworn to—

His lips met her nipple and he swirled his tongue around the stiff peak until she lost the capacity for thought.

“Now, Grey, please now.”

He must have sensed her desperation, because he didn’t argue. He slid his thick cock between her folds and drove deep.

As she stretched to accommodate him, she lifted her legs, wrapping them around his lean waist, pulling him in as deep as he could possibly go. He began to move and she matched him, keeping time, arching with his hips, breathing with his breath, beating with his heart.

The smell of him, the feel of him, and the taste of him was everywhere, and she clamped her teeth around the cord in his neck to keep from saying the words that were trying to fight their way out.

I love you.

He reared back and pressed her flat against the table, his eyes glinting in the moonlight as he stared at the space where his cock drove in and out of her.

His motions grew wild and desperate, and he squeezed her hips, using his hands to work her over his cock faster and faster. She gripped the sides of the table, thinking it was the only thing that could keep her body from coming apart at the seams, but even as she edged closer to release, another part of her wanted to slow down. To stop.

That maybe, just maybe, if they didn't finish they could stay here forever and they'd never have to fight. Never have to part.

She slammed her eyes closed and pushed into him, rocking harder. She wouldn't get to keep Grey, but she got to keep this. This moment was hers, and she'd be damned if she were going to ruin it.

A second later, the world went a hazy red as the climax crashed over her, wave after wave of ecstasy dragging her down, pulling her under. She was on fire and cried out his name as her body milked his in greedy clutches. A second later, he let out a protracted growl and joined her, bucking against her, his fingertips digging into her hips.

For a long while, there was no sound but their labored breath. No feeling other than his warm, tanned skin against hers. She was wrecked, totally and completely.

When he finally slid away, it felt as though he was taking the entire world with him.

“You should go home and get some sleep,” he said softly.

She nodded but couldn’t make her mouth work.

“I don’t want you to. If you asked me to, I’d say screw it right now. We’d throw some blankets on the floor and sleep here for all I give a shit. And then we’d move to Bora Bora. What do you say?”

Tears clogged her throat and she shook her head.

“You know we can’t do that.”

He nodded slowly and picked up her discarded hoody. “Yeah, I know.” He gestured for her to lift her arms up and she did, letting him dress her like a child, the tenderness of it almost more than she could bear.

This was it. Time to say goodbye before she couldn’t do it at all.

“You should go.”

He opened his mouth, closed it again, and then finally said, "Stay alive, okay?"