The Alpha's Hunger (11 page)

Chapter Seven

He dreamed Ashley was leaning over him, murmuring something seductive in his ear. She unbuttoned his jeans, her hand sliding into the opening and gripping his shaft.

He groaned out loud and the sound of his voice jerked him awake. He blinked, still in a haze from the dream. Light filtered through the motel room curtains.

His cock was hard and… oh, God.

Ashley had it in her grip, stroking his length.

He lay on his side and she pressed against his back, her soft form molded against his hard one. He groaned again. “What are you doing?” he croaked.

“We humans call it a hand job,” she teased, the lilt of her voice like an intoxicating spell whispered in his ear. “But I’m willing to up the ante.” She crawled over him, pulling off his jeans.

He found himself powerless to shake her off, or even to ask her to stop. It was so wrong, but he wanted it, wanted anything she was willing to give to him.

She returned to his cock, gripping it in one hand as she lowered her lips. He shuddered before she even met his flesh, his skin anticipating her wet heat. He reached up and held the headboard to keep from touching her, closed his eyes to keep from seeing her. His hips jolted off the bed the moment she made contact with her mouth.

“Oh, fuuu—” He cut off the curse, not wanting to be crude. She deserved better than that. She deserved a much better male than he.

Her lips closed around the head of his cock, tongue swirling around the rim.

His toes flexed involuntarily, legs stretched, buttocks clenched as his manhood stood even taller, growing for her.

She gripped him with two hands, sliding them up and down as she brought the head of his cock in and out of her mouth, making it feel like she’d taken his entire length into her mouth.

Her teeth grazed him more than once, her jaw too small for his width, but he didn’t care. He wanted it to go on forever. He wanted it to stop immediately. He needed to claim her.
No.
He shook his head, shoving back the beast.

Ashley continued her meticulous torture, humming against his skin, licking, sucking. His knuckles turned white on the headboard, muscles straining.

Cum surged down his shaft. “Oh, God,” he choked. “I’m coming.”

Ashley didn’t take her mouth off his cock, accepting his offering with feminine grace, swallowing with a satisfied smile.

He flipped her to her back and pounced, covering her body with his. His cock, still hard despite the release, found her slick entryway and was already prodding for entrance before his brain kicked back into gear.

Get off her.

He blinked, rocking his hips so the tip of his cock actually breached her hole. Oh, hallelujah. Nothing felt sweeter than the first parting of her inner lips.

No.

He mustered all his willpower and yanked himself off her.
Get a grip, Stone.
Crawling down, he yanked her panties to the side and licked into her. She parted her thighs, drawing her knees up to make room for him. Her hips arched, her flat belly quivering at the flick of his tongue. She had a neatly trimmed pussy: petite and beautiful.

He stopped, his thoughts suddenly running in a direction that turned him cold.

“Who do you keep this pussy trimmed for?” he demanded, not managing to sound casual.

“You,” she said thickly, wiggling her hips for more.

He frowned. “No, really. Who?”

She leaned up on her forearms, her brow furrowed at the interruption, or maybe because he had no right to ask. “For myself. I like it that way, okay?”

He relaxed and touched the pad of his thumb to her clit, gently vibrating.

She bucked, moaning something incomprehensible.

He pinned her hips down, parted her inner lips, and traced her dewy opening. She gave a closed-mouthed scream when he slid inside her—a needy cry that made his cock furious to be so far from her.

Using the palm of his hand to rub her sensitive nub, he slid in and out with his thumb, still holding her down as she thrashed beneath his ministrations. He changed fingers, sliding two inside and flicking his tongue over her clit.

She tugged on his hair, clamped her knees around his ears, and made a throaty cry.

Her responsiveness nearly sent him over the edge—she looked so beautiful with her hair fanned out on the pillow, her lithe body undulating and arching into his hands. He swirled a slow circle around her clit with his tongue, then sucked it. He fit three fingers inside her soaking pussy, then made a cone of his fingers and thumb and pumped it in and out, stretching her wide to accept him. She went wild, her eyes rolling back, fingernails sinking into his shoulders as she came, rubbing her clit over his face. He continued penetrating her tight cunt until the fluttering of her muscles around his fingers had stopped and she collapsed back on the bed.

He must have already been partially shifting, ready to mark her, because he realized his vision had changed. He scrambled backward off the bed, back to the shower where he blasted the cold water. Shucking his clothes, he climbed in and put his face and cock in the freezing stream.

Damn. The blowjob hadn’t lessened his blue balls even by a measure. Water streamed over his heated body, cooling his skin but not the inner burn. His cock barely deflated. He jerked the shower curtain open when he finished and stalked past Ashley, who was coming into the bathroom, blushing.

He was an asshole. He didn’t even know how to be nice to a woman, especially not one he wanted to fuck six ways to Friday or Sunday, or whatever the saying was. He heard the shower start up and ignored his cock’s eager idea to rush back and join her.

The sound of her phone ringing jerked him out of his lustful haze. He dived for her purse and pulled it out, then jogged to the bathroom. Turning off the water in the shower, he thrust the phone at her.

She grabbed it, her eyes wide and frightened. “H-hello?”

He heard the electronic voice clearly, his hearing far more sensitive than a human’s. “Midnight, downtown Greyhound bus terminal parking lot.”

“Oka—”

The line went dead before she’d spoken. He didn’t know how it worked for Zolla, but if he needed a certain length of time for the call to go on, they’d failed.

Ashley’s dripping hand shook as she handed him the phone back, her face pale.

He wanted to tell her everything would be all right, but he wasn’t sure he believed it, and he’d never been one to lie. He just gave her a curt nod and closed the shower curtain.

* * *

Ashley picked at her food. Even the toast seemed too heavy for her nervous belly. Ben’s friend Zolla hadn’t been able to pinpoint the location of the call, so they were no closer to getting Melissa than the night before. Ben sat in silence, his plate already clean, watching her with his brooding gaze. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was angry with her, but by now, she was used to his scowls and dark looks. Whatever it was that went on in that brain of his, whatever his mysterious thoughts, she was fairly certain he liked her. Which didn’t mean she felt any safer or more confident with him.

She didn’t know why he hadn’t had sex with her, or why he seemed almost disgruntled about the blowjob she’d given him, but she had noticed that despite his orgasm, his flag had still been flying at full mast. Maybe sex was different for shifters.

“Do you think she’s okay?” she asked.

He pursed his lips. “I don’t know what to think. I know it’s a good thing they still seem to want my laptop. I guess we’d better figure out why.”

He lifted his palm in greeting and she twisted to see his friend Zolla walking through the diner toward them. She slid over to make room for him in their booth and Ben immediately shook his head.

Zolla seemed to understand. He held out his palm in a gentlemanly gesture. “I’m sure you prefer to sit with Ben,” he said.

Her gaze flicked from one wolf to the other, and then she shrugged and scooted out of her side, sliding in next to Ben.

“So you were saying we need to figure out why they want your laptop,” Zolla said.

“How could you possibly have heard that from way across the diner?” she asked, thinking he must read lips or something.

Zolla smirked. “Wolf ears. All the better to hear you with.”

She laughed and Ben looked at her askance, as if she shouldn’t be laughing at another man’s jokes.

A waitress came by and Zolla ordered a coffee.

“So what’s on the laptop?”

Ben shrugged. “It’s my access point to everything, but I don’t store anything of importance on it. I’m thinking they could be after all my passwords? Could a hacker get that info from my computer?”

Zolla nodded. “Yes. I set up the initial security for your brother’s system. I made it so it was un-hackable from the outside. If things are still the same, then yes, your laptop and only your laptop would provide them what they need to get in.” He looked grim. “Not even Jack had universal access, although he asked me for it more than once.”

“He asked me for it, too,” Ben muttered.

Zolla gave him a sharp look and Ben cocked his head by a fraction of an inch. “It’s possible,” Ben said.

“That Jack is behind this?” she asked, trying to understand the unspoken conversation.

Ben gave a single nod.

“What did you find out from the license plate?”

“Registered to a Dan Walker. Typical thug—several misdemeanors, one felony for car theft. Probably not the mastermind behind this, but a hired goon.” Zolla slid a piece of paper across the table. “Here’s his address, although I doubt you’ll find him there.”

“And no info on this morning’s call?” Ashley asked, although she already knew the answer.

He shook his head. “Location information has been removed from your sister’s phone and the call was too short to do a traditional trace,” he said, looking sympathetic. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate your help.”

Ben seemed to bristle next to her, as if he didn’t like her talking to him.

Zolla looked away from her and asked, “Have you talked to Stanley?”

Ben’s jaw clenched. “Yeah. He was pretty butt-hurt about me calling in a favor when I wasn’t technically a member of their pack. I don’t think I can count on their help for the meetup.”

Zolla said nothing for a long moment, just tapped the fork against the spoon. Then he blew out his breath. “You know he wants you to lead the pack, right?”

A muscle jumped in Ben’s face. “Not going to happen.”

Zolla shrugged. “Well, Stanley’s losing wolves right and left. He lost me. He’s not strong enough to lead. No one wants to follow a beta. I know that must sound ripe coming from me.”

Ben didn’t answer.

“Well, I have a contract job in Edgewater, so I’ll be out all day, unless you want me to stick around.”

Ben shook his head.

“Do you two want to hang at my place today?”

“Maybe,” Ben said. “It would be about an unlikely a place to stay, one where no one would think to look.”

“Well, if you decide you want to, here’s the address and the code to get in.”

“Thanks. I think we will go there.”

“Okay, then I’ll meet you there an hour before the meeting.”

“Good. I’ll see if Mark Ruhl will come as well. Thank you.”

* * *

Ben opened the car door for her, but instead of stepping in, she turned to face him. “What’s with the weird vibe if I even look at Zolla?” she demanded.

He avoided her eyes, looking over the top of the car toward the Flatiron Mountains, which jutted majestically in the background. His body itched to shift and run for that wilderness, to get rid of all this pent-up tension winding his crank.

“You’re acting crazy,” she said.

He knew she was right. His behavior was over the top, even by wolf standards. He dragged his eyes to meet her. “I know,” he admitted. “I’m sorry. I just can’t seem to help myself around you.”

“Well, you can relax, because I’m only interested in you,” she said, laying a palm on his chest.

Her touch burned him like a branding iron, causing him to jerk at the jolt of electricity that passed between them. But as much as he adored her, as much as he wanted her, he couldn’t have her. And pretending otherwise, when she was making her feelings plain, would be cruel.

“Ashley… I can’t.” He looked around as if the right words would be posted on a sign nearby. “I can’t do this with you.”

She stiffened. “Why not?” she asked, her voice sounding tight.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “I just can’t. I’m sorry. It’s not possible. I shouldn’t have,” he swallowed, “done what I did last night—or this morning. I know I’m an asshole. You don’t deserve this.”

Her face turned to stone and she shrugged like it didn’t matter, climbing in the car. He hesitated, his hand on the door handle. But what else was there to say? Explaining the marking thing would only terrify her. Besides, even if marking wasn’t an issue, he couldn’t get involved with her. He couldn’t let another person he cared about die on his watch. He shut her door and walked around to the driver’s side.

They rode in silence for twenty minutes before she said, “Is there another woman?”

“No,” he snapped, not meaning to sound so harsh.

She flinched and turned to look out her window.

He waited for the next question, but it never came. They made it all the way to Zolla’s without speaking another word. He pulled into the driveway and used the code he’d given him to open the garage door. When he returned to the car to pull it in, Ashley had climbed over to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll see you later,” she muttered, trying to shut the door he’d left agape.

He shoved his hand in between, and managed to slow it a bit before it slammed on him.

Ashley’s face registered horror and she shoved the door back open to free him. He used the opportunity to put his entire body between the door and the car, reaching in to haul her out.

“Stop it,” she cried, struggling.

Afraid of leaving finger bruises on her arms, he spun her around and wrapped one arm around her waist to pick her up. “Where did you think you were going?”