Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) (17 page)

Thaus didn’t pull away from her, but he certainly didn’t seem to want her touching him. He made a sound close to a whine before growling. Loudly.

“Give in to it, man,” Levi said as he got to his feet. “She’s sort of amazing. She’ll win even you over. Hell, she had Mammon saying
thanks
and
ma’am
this morning.”

Thaus turned his head to eye her. He was so much bigger than she was, so much taller. There was no way she could ever compete with him and win, so she let her tongue loll out of her mouth and gave him what could only be called a doggy grin. He could be scary and she could be silly. Let him try to be grumpy; she’d find his good mood. If he even had one.

Which she doubted.

With a huff, Thaus rose to all four feet. He wobbled on the first step, nearly fell on the second, but the rest seemed to come easy. Still, Amy stayed by his side. Levi shifted and walked slightly behind them, keeping a watchful eye on the woods. Guarding the weaker wolves. The act was something she appreciated and respected him for. Amy didn’t think she or Thaus could handle another attack.

Close to an hour later when the three finally made it back to the cabin, they found Mammon awake in the living room. He was still pale, but he wasn’t dead. Which was good news considering Amy and Thaus had been hit with the same drugged bullets.

Phego was nowhere to be found, but Amy had bigger things to worry about. Bigger as in Thaus. He’d shifted from wolf to man in the hallway and stumbled to the couch. He fell in an arc, flipping in midair to land on his back. An impressive feat, but not as impressive as his physicality. He was completely naked, as she expected him to be. That was normal. The layers of muscle covering his body weren’t, nor was the size of his…him.

“Cover yourself, for fuck’s sake.” Levi tossed a blanket over Thaus’ lap, glaring, his shoulders stiff. Amy, still in her wolf form, ducked behind him and pressed against his calves. She needed to feel him close to her. Was desperate for some time alone with him to decompress after everything. Even on four feet, she felt more wobbly than normal. Her adrenaline crash was going to be epic.

Thaus, in all his naked glory, simply raised an arm and extended a finger. A middle one.

“Another fucking mated Dire,” Thaus said with a growl. Amy glanced up at Levi, who winked at her. Yep. Mated. Which meant he probably felt how on edge she was. He knew. And she had no doubt he’d help her through it.

With a chuff to her mate, she trotted into the bedroom to shift and find some clothes. She had a feeling Levi wouldn’t like her walking around naked in front of the other men, even if that was the shifter way.

Her naked mate followed her a few minutes later, pressing himself against her back the second he walked into the room. Covering her with his body and holding her up with his strong arms.

“I’m so sorry Zeke touched you.” Levi’s voice was dark and gritty, wrought with emotions she could only guess at. Even with their connection, she knew he was only allowing her access to the shallowest of his sensations. The man was shaking against her, growling softly as his hands explored. As he checked to be sure she was okay.

He was a man coming undone, and she
knew
… She sensed it. He needed her to help hold him together.

“I’m okay.” She turned, fisting her hands in his hair and pulling him down to her. “We’re all going to be okay.”

Levi shook his head, pinching his eyes closed. “I should have—”

“Stop it.” She forced herself to glare when his eyes popped open to meet hers. “No could haves, should haves, or would haves. You did what you thought was right in the moment.”

He sighed and pulled her closer, squeezing her almost to the point of pain. “I could have lost you.”

The agony and fear in his voice nearly broke her heart. “But you didn’t. I’m right here. And this whole thing…it’s over. The bad guys are all gone.”

Levi’s shoulders stiffened. “Well, not
all
of them.”

Amy leaned back and raised her eyebrows, waiting.

Levi shrugged. “Phego’s questioning one of the humans now. We need to know what Zeke had going on and who knew about it. We have to make sure there’s no one else looking for you.”

Phego…busy. Thaus…healing on the couch. “What about Mammon?”

Levi cocked his head, looking down at her in question. “He’s passed out upstairs.”

Amy hummed and slid her hands down along his neck and over his shoulders. “So, we have some time?”

His growl deepened, his body responding to her touch. “We do. A few hours, probably. Phego likes his job.” He leaned in and nibbled up the length of her neck, his hands gripping her hips and pulling her against where he was already hard for her. “We should probably talk. Maybe make some plans for our future.”

But his hands were gripping her hips and his hard dick was nestled against her stomach. “I’d rather do something other than talk.”

Levi growled all low and sexy. Needful. “Did you have anything specific in mind?”

Amy shrugged. “Well, I am naked…”

Levi grinned, a smirky, arrogant sort of smile. And then Amy was airborne. She landed on the mattress with a jolt, laughing as her mate crawled on top of her.

“What are we doing?” She reached for him, pulling him up to her, wanting to feel his weight. He nuzzled into her neck, biting down hard on the muscles there before licking his way to her ear.

“Fucking.”

Amy shivered and moaned, spreading her legs around his hips. Ready to reconnect with her mate in the best way she could. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

L
evi followed
Amy up the steps, staying close but not too close. He loved watching that ass sway even if he could only see it because of his wolf vision. Nighttime in the mountains was no joke.

“Are you sure about this?” She looked so nervous, it was almost comical.

“I’m sure.” Levi nudged her toward the door. It’d been almost a full day since he’d had her in his arms. The drive back to Hope Ridge ended up taking longer than expected because of a snowstorm, and her constant sexiness had been ramping him up the entire way. He needed her alone, bare, and underneath him in about three-point-five seconds or he was going to explode.

And yet she still stalled. “But you’re used to being more solitary. You don’t know what life here is like. We’re talking a lot of—”

“I know. You’ve told me. I’m still in.” Another nudge and a growl to make his point. As much as he loved her voice, she needed to stop talking and move. He really didn’t want to strip her naked right there on the porch in the dark, in the middle of what was shaping up to be a goddamned blizzard.

The wind kicked up, sending snow spiraling around them, proving his silent point. Levi kept his focus on Amy’s hand, or rather, the keys she held. If she’d just grab the right one and stick it in the lock, things could get started. That’s all he needed—an unlocked door. Otherwise, he would bust the fucker down. Just like the back door he’d busted through the night he first met her. The night his life had changed for the better.

“I don’t want our relationship to be all about me.” She sighed, oblivious to how close he was to the edge.

“I do.”

That little glare was adorable. And sexy. Seriously, the girl needed to stop stalling and get them in her house. He was going to fuck her six ways from Sunday as soon as they got inside, hopefully for a couple of days. He knew she needed to get back to the diner and work, but he wanted to be selfish with her time. Of course, when she went back to work, he’d be going with her until the next mission came up. There had to be something he could do to help her in that diner. Plus, the hardware store sat right across the street. The hardware store that could duplicate the key that would get them into the house. If he’d had a key, they’d already be inside. Unclothed. He’d have her on her stomach, pinned down and writhing underneath him as he—

Amy shook her head, her scent rising above the cold smell of snow on the air. “You have no idea—”

And he was done.

“Armaita.” Levi pressed her to the door, making sure to rub his hard cock against her hip to let her know just what was waiting for her.

“Yeah.” Her eyes were wide, he voice soft. Breathy. He had her attention for sure.

The howl of a wolf in the mountains above them broke the steady buzz of the wind whipping around them. More joined the first, creating a wall of sound rarely heard outside of the wildest parts of the world. Amy pulled away, her head turning to look toward the mountains. A smile on her pretty face.

“They’re welcoming us home.”

“Good.” Levi licked up her neck, letting the song of his wolfy brethren soothe his anxious soul. “So long as they don’t come down here for a few hours.”

Amy sighed, trying so hard to sound annoyed but belying her exaggerated breathing with the way her hips rocked into his every few seconds. “They’ll interrupt us at some point.”

“Not yet.”

“Soon.”

“Amy, stop.” Levi leaned in and kissed her nose, staring into her beautiful eyes as he let his truth come out.

“I know you have twelve brothers, a pack, and a business here. I know this is your home and not something I helped you pick out, and that it implies a permanency I’ve avoided until this point in my life. I know that choosing to move here, to this little town in the mountains of North Carolina, means bringing all the drama of a big family and an existence intermingled with humans to my doorstep. Trust me,
I know
.” Levi growled and grabbed her hand. The one with the keys. The one that had an important job to do if they were going to move things along. “What I don’t know is why we’re still talking about it when we could be inside that door and naked already.”

He shook her hand, making the keys rattle. She blinked then pulled her wrist from his grasp and dropped her arm. She must have managed to get the key into the lock without looking because, with a twist of her arm, the door opened. They stumbled inside, him still trying to stay attached to her. She backed away with a look in her eyes that spoke of all sorts of delicious things to come. That was definitely a look he liked.

“Where are you going?” Levi asked, making sure his voice was deep and growly. Stalking toward her.

“Kitchen. I thought you might be hungry.” That teasing grin she wore was something he hadn’t seen before. And he liked it. So did his aching cock.

Levi unfastened his jeans and pulled himself out, stroking from base to tip as he kept his eyes on hers. “Oh, I’m hungry, all right.”

Amy’s eyes flicked down, and her tongue peeked out to wet her full bottom lip. “Do you want me…to cook?” She cocked her head, her lips turning up. She knew what she was doing to him with that pause. Knew exactly how her teasing was affecting him.

“I definitely want you,” he said, growling louder as he flicked the ridge of his cock with his thumb. “But not to cook.”

Levi lunged with a snarl and grabbed her, pulling her closer by the arm as he stroked himself. Loving the way she couldn’t stop staring at his hand. “I want to get you out of those clothes. Then I want to throw you on the bed. Then I want to have my tongue inside you for at least a week.”

“A week, huh? Without a good meal to give you sustenance that might be a problem.”

“Oh, I’ll eat.” Levi licked the length of her neck and flicked her earlobe. “I’ll eat until you can’t stop screaming.”

She giggled and gripped his shoulders, pulling him with her as she walked backward toward the bedroom. “You’re so dirty.”

“You like it.”

“Hell yeah, I do.”

H
ours later
, Levi stumbled from the bed to find her. It definitely wouldn’t be hard to do—the smell of bacon coming from the kitchen was a dead giveaway.

“I’d say I need to work harder at wearing you out, but I’m starving and that smells amazing.”

Amy turned and smiled, almost knocking him on his ass. She was so fucking beautiful standing at the stove and wearing one of his T-shirts—the cotton hugging her curves and barely covering her ass. She had a towel over one shoulder and a set of tongs in her hand. Sexy fucking chef surrounded by the smell of bacon. She looked like some sort of domestic wet dream.
His
domestic wet dream.

“I figured breakfast was in order after that performance.”

Levi couldn’t resist a second more. He crept up behind her, nuzzling into her neck and running his hand under the shirt to cup her ass as he pulled her against him. “So I get rewarded for good sex with bacon? I can live with that.”

She smacked his chest and shooed him to the table, where he spent the next ten minutes watching her in her element. A beautiful and intriguing sight, one he hoped to see on a daily basis from then on.

“Will Thaus be okay?” Amy asked as she brought the food to the table.

Levi kissed her hand in thanks before grabbing a piece of bacon. “Phego said his shoulder’s pretty messed up, but they’ve got a shifter doc making sure it heals as well as it can. I’m not overly worried—he’s tough. They’ll get him straightened out.”

Amy took a bite of her pancakes, chewing silently as she stared blankly at the table. Her mind was somewhere else, that much was obvious. That much Levi could tell. So he waited her out, giving her a chance to collect her thoughts while he devoured his bacon and pancakes.

He didn’t have to wait too long.

“I can’t believe Zeke convinced humans of our existence. Why would he do that?”

Levi set his fork down as his stomach knotted. Zeke didn’t just tell humans of shifter existence. He convinced them shifters were all demons from hell and needed to be destroyed. All to get his hands on Amy. Zeke had planned to let the humans kill off her entire pack, leaving her alone and helpless so he could swoop in and rescue her. But Abel finding that scent trail and figuring out people were in the woods had thrown a wrench in his plans. When Levi thought about all that could have gone wrong if Abel had never noticed the trail, if the pack had never called for help, if he hadn’t chosen the assignment and come north—

“What’s wrong?”

Levi glanced up, meeting Amy’s concerned eyes. He didn’t want her worrying, especially not right then. They had good food in front of them, good sex behind them, and more good sex on the horizon. It was not the time to worry but to celebrate.

He shook his head, letting go of the could have beens and focusing on the now. Because he
had
gotten the call for help,
had
come north for the mission,
had
followed that trail, and
had
found his mate. He’d killed the threat to her, and Phego had taken care of the last human who knew the secret of her pack.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Amy gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him.

He shrugged again and smiled. “Nothing’s wrong at all, doll.”

And it wasn’t. Not really. But he wouldn’t be leaving Amy’s side until he made sure she was safe. Already, his tech expert Dire brother Deus was on his way to wire her little house and business for a full security system. Levi would have to explain everything about that to her later, as well as the fact that she’d be getting a different cell phone. One with a tracker ID in it and above-standard encryption. She was an Omega and mated to a Dire Wolf, which made her part of their pack. Dire Wolves protected their own above all else.

Nope, nothing was wrong…and it would stay that way once her home and business were wired, the town was monitored, and Levi joined his little life with her big one. Because that was his plan—move to her tiny town in the mountains, set up a safe house for the Dires, and live happily ever after with his mate. Or, at least, sexily ever after. Speaking of which…

“You’ve got three minutes to finish your breakfast.”

Amy looked up, her fork hovering in midair, her brow furrowed. “What’s happening in three minutes?”

Levi grinned and said nothing, watching the clock. Amy, obviously a little peeved at his refusal to answer, went back to her breakfast with a huff. She wouldn’t be mad for long, though. At the three-minute mark, Levi set his napkin on his plate and slid beneath the table. He heard her breath catch as he spread her knees with his shoulders. Felt her pulse pick up as he yanked her ass to the edge of her seat and pushed her chair back so he could work.

“Levi.” She gasped and bucked when he slid two fingers inside of her.

But he didn’t respond. He was too busy staring, devouring her with his eyes. He craved her, needed to taste her. So he did. Diving in without preamble or preparation. Growling at the way she moaned and grabbed his hair as he sucked on her flesh.

“I said I wanted a week with my tongue inside you.” Tongue…fingers…cock. All of him. He wanted to get lost in her for days, wanted to leave her a sweaty, sated mess. He wanted a life with his mate, wherever she chose to be, so long as she dragged him along with her. He wanted that happily ever after he’d never known could really exist, and he was going to take it.

So he went to work on his first promise…and his third…and his fourth.