Predator's Claim (11 page)

“I know my way around the resort. I live here.”
Asswipe
.

“Oh, right,” he said, frowning at his own stupidity. “So, dinner’s out?”

“Dinner’s so out.” She hobbled away from the table, unsteady on her feet.

Of course, Bart followed her. “Don’t mind my cousin. Fletcher’s design firm is successful for a reason. He sleeps with all his female clients. He doesn’t know how to relate to a woman without putting the moves on her.”

As she exited the restaurant, she whipped around to face him, her emotions riding high. “And what about you?” she demanded. “Mr. You-will-be-at-my-disposal. What makes you any better, other than your new penchant for reading about long-dead mystics?”

“That’s different,” he muttered, scowling.

“Oh, please. Save your breath.” She turned and began to flounce away.

Bart chased after her and grabbed her elbow, pulling her into a quiet hallway. Once there, with no one looking, he pinned her to the nearest wall and flattened his body against hers. As much as she hated herself for being so weak, her body responded, and her hips curled upward against his erection. Damn! Why did he keep doing this to her? And why did she keep reacting the same way?

“You wanna know how it’s different between you and me?” His warm breath fanned over her face, and she fantasized about feeling it caress her whole body. “I’ll show you.”

Without any warning, he slid his hand under the waistband of her pants and into her panties. As she gasped in simultaneous horror and sweet lust, he reached his fingers toward her pussy. His middle finger eased between her lips, so wet with longing, and penetrated her. While there, he took the opportunity to curl his digit inside her, and found her G-spot with no trouble at all. A few expert caresses and she almost unraveled on his finger. However, he pulled out and displayed his finger to her, all wet with her moisture. “This is what makes it different.”

Right in front of her gaping face, he inserted his finger into his mouth and sucked off her juices. The sexual detonation sparked in her core shot through her in so volatile a fashion, Charlotte almost fell to her knees. If she had, she would have gladly taken his cock in her mouth until she got to taste him in return. However, with obvious effort, her knees knocking, she remained standing.

“Next time I taste you,” he whispered, swallowing with apparent difficulty, “it’ll be with my face between your thighs. Your pussy in my mouth. I won’t let you go until I eat my fill, and I’m a hungry bastard.”

She grappled for a pert response. Hell, she struggled for air. She offered him a sour grin. “And you accused me of being a tease. You don’t even finish what you start, big man. Very bad form.”

“You are a tease and a flirt, and I’ll tell you something. It ends now. The next time I see you even considering flirting with any man other than me, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and then over my knee.” His voice made him seem so angry with its ragged reverberations, but he reached out a gentle hand to brush a hair off her forehead. “Don’t think for one minute I don’t see through you, Charlotte.”

Her heart stopped. “What the…?”

“I know you avoid relationships because you’re scared of exposing your heart, in case it gets broken.”

She turned her face, mortified.

He touched her chin and made her look at him. “Don’t even try to hide from me, sweetheart. I had you pegged ages ago. Why do you think I’ve been so patient? What I haven’t figured out yet, though, is what led you to put your heart in a vault. But I will get to the bottom of it.” He turned his head to the side and regarded her with a clarity that stunned and terrified her. “I’m going to tear all your defenses away, Charlotte.”

As her breaths grew more ragged with each sharp intake, she scrambled for a response. “I have no defenses. I’m fine. I’m perfectly happy with my life and there’s nothing more I want.”

Even as she gave voice to the thought, a nervous burn made her heart throb, as if all her words were lies. Were they? Yeah, pretty much, but she wouldn’t admit to it. She’d always been so sure what to do in order to shield herself from pain, never questioning her path, and yet with a few words and touches, Bart had exposed her. She felt raw and scored, as if he’d torn open old scabs, making them bleed again.

“Oh, yes, you do.” He leaned in, his nose almost touching hers. “And I’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure you get exactly what you need. I will always be in your corner, Charlotte, rooting for you and fighting for you. And if anyone ever lays a malicious hand upon you, I’ll be there to tear him apart.”

She returned his steady gaze. As much as her eyes itched, she allowed no tears to fall. He’d offered to fight on her behalf. She couldn’t remember anyone ever doing so, and was startled at the level of emotion his threat incited.

Not that it mattered. So help her, she’d never give him satisfaction. Maybe if he’d approached her in a different way at first, maybe if he hadn’t been so cocky, but as it stood, she wouldn’t let him glimpse the truth inside her. It would break them both.

Perhaps it was the one reason she hadn’t already slept with him. A small part of her acknowledged if they went the distance, their hearts would become involved, and she couldn’t ever permit it. Whatever friendship they had meant too much to her to destroy it. They’d lose contact once she went to Toronto, and she wanted to be able to remember their friendship in a good light.

Unfortunately, her wolf just wanted one thing: satiation in Bart’s arms.

She couldn’t deny it anymore. She thought she’d returned to the Ursa Lodge to take advantage of a quiet spot for research and study, but she could have easily studied in Toronto. The truth of the matter was she just wanted to see Bart again before she cut him out of her life for good.

Only she hadn’t anticipated this…mess of passionate feeling. This overload of sensation. He affected her on a level no one ever had. He ripped all the bandages off her cuts and exposed her to the cruel wind.

And she needed to stop it. His challenge had to be stopped before it started.

“Your deranged challenge is off, Bart. I’m calling it off,” she murmured. Unable to meet his gaze, knowing she’d shatter under it, she pulled away when he tipped up her chin. “Leave me alone. Don’t talk to me. Don’t look at me. Just stay away.”

She allowed herself one glance back as she fled, but quickly turned away before the heat in his eyes destroyed her.

* * * *

It was long past the dinner service when Charlotte heard her stomach growling. She stared at the clock inside her cabin, amazed she’d somehow managed to while away the hours without eating. Normally, her appetite operated like clockwork, thanks to her wolf. The animal usually craved food, craved lots of meat. Normally, the very thought of succulent ribs and rare steaks on a grill was enough to cause her to run, not walk, to the nearest eatery.

However, she didn’t think she’d had much more today than a few, unsatisfying nibbles of dry cereal in her cabin. She just couldn’t bring herself to seek out anything more appetizing.

Besides, her wolf craved something else, something she wasn’t prepared to deliver. And as a result, the vexing beast just grumbled in a quiet corner of her being. Once her gut started grumbling, she found she could no longer ignore it.

Throwing on her coat and boots, she ventured outside, hoping upon hope she wouldn’t run into Bart. Hopefully his family was keeping him plenty busy. She sniffed at the thought. She’d tried to keep herself occupied today, formulating discussion questions on how studying religion can also help one understand the political and economic institutions in a society. Her work had amused her for about half an hour. After that, she’d found herself doodling in her notebook. Strange, curled doodles that resembled the exact curve of Bart’s scar. She’d pretty much given up after that and stared out the window at the falling snow.

Hoping to avoid him, she took a different path to the lodge, one that didn’t pass by the security office. Already imagining what goodies she might pilfer from the employee buffet, she allowed herself to grow distracted. Her hands shoved deep in her coat pockets, looking down at the patterns her boots left in the snow, she piled right into someone.

With dread, she took in the sight of worn Kodiak boots, and got angry. Was this man everywhere? She whipped up her head. “Get the fuck out of my way, wolf man!”

Bart stood still, blocking her path, grinning. “No can do. We didn’t finish our conversation.”

She tore around him. “Not only did we finish our conversation, I’m beginning to think we finished everything. Our friendship, you name it. I’m done.”

“Charles, you’re being very stubborn.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I need a big, bad Alpha to discipline me. Change the record.” She trudged down the path.

He followed. “You accepted my challenge and then went back on your word. I thought you were more honorable.”

She permitted herself a quick glance back at him, turning because his masculine appeal made her feel as if she were drowning in quicksand. “Do you use this challenge tactic with every woman, or just me? Because I gotta tell you, it smacks of desperation.”

He hauled her back and into his arms. She gaped at him and saw they were both panting. His dark eyes flashed in warning. His lips parted and he wet them. She waited for another kiss and realized with horror she would giddily accept it.

He brought her over to a tree stump, one that was conveniently hidden behind a cluster of thick shrubs. Even though the leaves had fallen off the bushes, they were planted closely enough to provide perfect cover. He deposited her on the stump. “Sit.”

She didn’t say a word as he crouched before her. “Keep your coat on but roll down your leggings and panties.”

“I will not!”

His nostrils flared in true rage. “Would you like me to do it for you?”

As she flirted with the idea of refusing him and unleashing his anger, her wolf lay down before him, completely prostrate. The stupid animal had already accepted him as its natural leader. And as much as she wanted to slap his face for his insolence, she couldn’t. Not with the danger she saw in his eyes.

As disbelief made her body flush, she lifted her bum off the stump and pushed her leggings and thong down over her hips toward her knees. As much as she could, she made sure her shirt covered her belly, but couldn’t hide her pussy.

“That’s fine. Sit still,” he commanded. His gaze locked on her mound, he brought his hand to her sex and she opened to accommodate his large fingers. Dammit, she should be clamping her legs together, but it only seemed right to spread them for him.

Circling his middle finger over her sex, he easily located and began to torment her clit. “You have a beautiful pussy. So soft and wet. It feels good.”

The rush of feeling that assaulted her seemed blasphemous. One touch, and she was already ready to fly through the air and explode like a grenade. She finally summoned the strength to close her thighs over his prodding hand, unable to accept his power. She didn’t like that he could affect her so quickly.

“I don’t think so,” he murmured as he pulled her legs a few inches apart. “You keep them spread for me.” As if to demonstrate his ridiculous abilities to tease her, he slipped his middle finger into her pussy.

She gobbled it up, amazed and crazed over the sensations caused by a mere finger. What would his cock do? The very thought set her on edge.

As her nerve endings fought for dominance, losing out to him further with each slow swipe of his hand, she felt the rest of her body capitulate. Her shoulders tensed and her knees fell open. Her hips shifted and her throat formed strange noises. A great sigh built inside her, culminating in a violent scream of pleasure in her head.

But she wouldn’t let him have her heart.

As if understanding her fear, Bart increased pressure and fucked her hard with his finger. Just like that, she came all over his hand, shocked and horrified by the amount of moisture trickling from her. But instead of an orgasmic shout, she cried, “You bastard!”

He did not remove his hand until she’d finished, his face serious and determined. Even then, he kept his hand locked on her mound, a possessive clamp.

How she despised herself for being weak. Even as her orgasm died away, she couldn’t stop grinding against his hand.

You stupid weakling!

She had no time to indulge in self-hatred. As Bart removed his hand from her sex, he scrunched up his face. He helped her to fix her clothes and then looked away, raised his nose in the air, and sniffed. “Do you smell that?”

“What?” Smell what? She could barely think.

He stood and his nose lifted to the west, making him resemble a pointer dog. “Can’t you smell him?”

She turned in the same direction and breathed in. Flynn. Was he for real? Did he have no clue how he angered the new Alpha? Oh well, she didn’t care. After the way Bart had tramped on her sanity, making her come with barely a touch, she was too infuriated to give a shit about his cousin. “What do you want me to do? Buy him a plane ticket out of here?”

She watched as Bart gritted his teeth. “You will stay with me until I tell you it’s safe to leave.”

“Safe?”

“I’ll explain later.” He began to run down the path toward the lake’s edge, pulling her with him. “I swear to God, I will throw him in the lake.”

“Bart, don’t. Wait!” Okay, maybe she was a bit worried about him confronting Flynn.

They reached the lakefront, kicking up snow around them, just in time to see Lena in the distance, talking to Flynn. The banished cousin took one look at Bart’s face and sprinted into the woods. By the time they reached Lena, Flynn had disappeared.

Bart stopped running as he approached his sister. “I will track his hairy ass and beat him to a pulp.” He turned to Lena, gripping her arms, looking her up and down. “Are you okay, Nunchuk? Did he hurt you?”

Charlotte suppressed a smile, despite her wanting to slap Bart a few moments earlier. He called his sister “Nunchuk”? This man sure had a thing for pet names. For some reason, it made her like him a teensy bit more, even though he still bugged the hell out of her.