Wild Instinct (35 page)

Heather rubbed her foot. “You’re werewolf, so you probably understand a lot better than I do how deeply tradition is embedded in your culture. What Wyatt’s trying to do here is good, but it flies in the face of how all of you were raised, so occasionally, he or one of the other Alphas screws up. It doesn’t mean their intentions aren’t good, or they truly don’t want to integrate all of the pack. It just means, they’re . . .” She shrugged.

“Human?” Rachel inserted.

Heather grinned. “Exactly.”

“Does Wyatt really intend to welcome all of the lost that want to join, regardless of their differences?”

“He truly does.”

“That’s going to be a mess.”

“At first, absolutely.” Heather spread her hands, indicating Rachel’s position. “Consider yourself Exhibit A.”

“Touché.”

“Thank you. The situation is further complicated by the fact the Carmichaels have declared a blood feud against Haven and we just discovered an unknown wolf has infiltrated the human gang in town and was spying.”

“For what?”

“We don’t know. He got away, but you can see how your arrival and your dream caused a bit of an uproar.”

Yes, she could. “Maybe I should take that training.”

Heather nodded and fished in her pocket. “Maybe you should but in the meantime, take these.”

The keys jangled as Heather passed them over.

“What do they go to?”

“The guesthouse behind the main house. It has a big soaker tub, which Sarah Anne is filling up right now. You’re welcome to stay there as long as you want.”

Rachel closed her fingers around the keys. She guessed she had a place to go after all.

Fifteen

THE house was empty when she got there. The tub was full and big enough for two sporting an infinity edge that let her slide all the way down in the water right up to her chin. She closed her eyes, breathing the rosemary scent of the bath salts Sarah Anne had put in. Listening to the fire crackle in the small wood stove, letting the moment of peace flow over her. For the first time in weeks, she could relax.

“If I climb in there with you, are you going to drown me?”

Curran. She sighed as her mark warmed that first tiny bit. “I haven’t decided.”

“Open your eyes and tell me that.”

The minute she opened them she knew it was a mistake. Curran stood beside the tub, hands on hips, legs slightly apart, naked and aroused. Above the sharp jut of his cock she could see the laddered layers of muscle over his abdomen. Above that there was the clear delineation of his pecs. Her pussy clenched. And above that, her heart twisted. The apology she hadn’t accepted was in his eyes.

“You don’t play fair.”

He shrugged. “Did you really expect me to?”

Had she? She tilted her head to the side, studying him, studying herself. Whereas she’d grown up loved, she knew from Sarah Anne that Cur hadn’t. He and Garrett had had to fight for everything they had. And once they’d obtained it, they’d had to fight again to hold on to it. Cur had grown up packless, truly one of the lost. But he was still a good man. Misguided sometimes, but still good. “No.”

She moved to the side. “And if you come in, I won’t drown you.”

He didn’t move.

“I thought you wanted to come in.”

“I do.”

“Well, it won’t happen if you don’t take that first step.”

“If I come in, I’ll make love to you.”

“I understand.”

“I need to know something first.”

“No, I’m not a virgin.”

Living among humans, she’d tried to adapt their ways. After a couple of brief, unsatisfying affairs, she’d decided some things weren’t for her. Curran waved her statement aside without a smile or a growl. “Neither am I.”

She blinked. Whatever was on his mind was serious. “What is it?”

“Are you going to leave me?”

The question lodged between them, brutal in its honesty, stark in what it represented. Curran’s pain.

She slid forward in the tub and wrapped her hands around his ankle. His expression was shuttered. His posture braced. Did he really think so little of her that he thought she’d leave him over what happened in the main house?

The answer when it came was humbling. He didn’t think so little of her. It was himself he didn’t see as a prize. And now that she had a flimsy excuse, he expected her to take it and bolt for greener pastures. She shook her head.

“We’re mated, Curran. There’s no do-overs.”

“I don’t want you just because I put a mark on you.”

“Then you should have thought about that before you marked me.”

“I wasn’t thinking of anything then.”

She tugged on his ankle. He teetered, but quickly regained his balance. “I think you were thinking a heck of a lot more then than you are now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Then, you thought I was a person you could admire. That you wanted. Now you think I’m some petty individual incapable of making a commitment.”

He slid down into the pool, his gaze guarded as it met hers. “You didn’t mark me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember at all the time you marked me?”

His lips took on a sensual fullness and red tinged his gaze. “Yes.”

She closed the distance between them, sliding her bare thighs over his, shivering as the hairs on his thighs tickled hers. “Then you’ll remember you had me a bit distracted.”

One of his hands cupped her hip. The other cupped her skull, tilting her head the way he liked. “I did, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

She couldn’t remember what the question was, with his cock snuggled against her pussy and his mouth a hairbreadth from hers.

Looping her arms around his neck, she brought his mouth to hers. “Ask me again.”

“Are you going to leave me?”

“No.” She had questions of her own. “Are you going to give someone permission to play in my mind again?”

“Never.”

“Good.”

His cock caught under the hood of her clit, stretching the delicate flesh exquisitely. She shuddered and moaned. He bucked and groaned. His mouth bit at hers in hard, demanding kisses as he rocked her on his cock.

“I want you, seelie.”

“Yes.” She wanted him, too. His tongue slid into her mouth, gliding against hers, coaxing forward the response that was only his. He kissed her until she was breathless, until she was so hot, she was rocking on his cock like a wild thing. Wanting him in her, wanting him.

Water sloshed as he turned her around. “Brace your hands on the side.”

A shudder took her from head to toe. He was going to take her the traditional way, the position symbolic of her submission, his dominance. Her womb clenched.

His chuckle vibrated against her spine as he kissed his way up to her nape. “I’m glad you approve.”

There was the hot, moist touch of his tongue and then the graze of his teeth. Her pussy burned. Her mark burned. Her heart yearned.

“Curran.”

“Yes, seelie.”

His cock settled between her legs, centering on her pussy before pushing in—a slow, steady possession that left her gasping in shock, pleasure.

“I love you!”

His hips bucked against her, driving him deeper, faster. His fingers found her clit, rubbing gently before pinching lightly in rhythm with the pulse of his hips.

“I love you, too.”

She took him to the hilt. Her claws scraped against the pool’s edge. Her clit pulsed and ached. Her pussy rippled and begged. He pulled out, leaving her empty, wanting, needing.

Never.
The thought whispered into her mind.
I’ll always be here for you.

And he was. In her mind, in her body. Filling both beyond capacity, giving her what she wanted. Need spiraled high, tighter. She could feel his pleasure echoing hers. His fingers left her clit. Something warm drizzled between her buttocks. His fingers found her anus. Pressed.

Tradition.

Her muscles parted. Pleasure, dark, forbidden but oh, so glorious, rippled over her skin.

His free hand slapped her ass. Ripples of delight spread deep. “Push back.”

The guttural order just fueled the fire within. She was close, so close. His fingers worked in and out, stretching her, preparing her while she pressed back and squirmed, needing just that little bit more to come.

“Curran!”

“What?”

“I need to come.”

His fingers left her ass, only to return to her clit. This time as if sensing her need, they weren’t so gentle, pinching and tugging in time with the violence of her desire. His cock pressed against her anus as he gave one last slow twist to her clit. Her world shattered. His cock eased in, parting her for another, darker invasion. She bucked away from his fingers, driving back on his cock. The pleasure and pain blended with her orgasm, driving it higher, driving her mindless. She needed more. He gave it to her in steady thrusts until she had him all. He parted her buttocks, grinding in that last inch, imprisoning her hips between the edge of the tub and his cock.

“Again.” He muttered in her ear. She shook her head. Though her clit throbbed and begged, her ass burned and pleaded, her womb wept and cajoled, she shook her head. It was too much. Holding her hips, he drew her away from the edge. His feet spread her legs. His hand left her hip.

“Yes.”

The first slap on her clit was a tease. The next a command. The third an order that ripped her orgasm from her. Screaming his name, she came, bucking on his hand, riding his cock as he shouted his own release, sobbing as the hot jets of his seed coated her passage. She collapsed against the side of the tub, her muscles Jell-O. His still-hard cock slipped from her ass, leaving her hungry.

He turned her over and sat on the tub. She straddled his lap. Holding his gaze, she aligned his cock back with her ass and slowly lowered herself. It burned. She didn’t care. Fires leapt in his eyes. When she had him as deep as she could take him, she moved the hair away from his shoulder. Leaning in, watching him watch her, she whispered, “Mine.”

He howled as he took her mark. Made love to her as she licked it and when the storm passed, he was still there, holding her close, soothing her body with his hands and her thoughts with his mind.

“I love you.” She breathed the words against his skin, feeling his hands tighten on her back.

“I love you, too.”

There was a sadness in the declaration that she didn’t like. “What’s wrong?”

His right hand cupped her cheek. “I wanted to offer you a future, but I don’t know what tomorrow will hold. Haven’s future is uncertain.”

She cupped her hand over his, pressing his fingers to her. “But we’re not.”

“No. “

“I bet you’ve made more with less.” Throwing one of his favorite phrases back at him, she smiled into his eyes.

Curran smiled back in that way that tugged her heartstrings. Half grin, half endearment. “You’d win that bet.” His expression sobered. “You’re all I need, Rachel. If you want to leave, we will.”

She turned her head and kissed his palm. “Thank you, but it’s not necessary.”

“I mean it.”

She had no doubt he did. It would kill him, but he would do it. For her. There was no greater proof he could have given her of his love.

“This is our home, Curran. It’s worth fighting for.”

His smile grew at the word “home.” Against her stomach his cock hardened, but what she couldn’t look away from was the love in his eyes. Pure, unconditional love. For her. Forever. No matter what.

He held up his palm. There was the slightest hesitation, before he drew his claw across it. “Then we’d better make it official.”

How could he doubt she would want this? He was hers. She was his. No matter what happened at Haven in the future, this was as it should be. She ran her nail across her palm, slicing it open, placing it over his mark. He did the same to hers. He leaned in. She stretched up. Their lips met. Parted. She took his breath as hers as their hearts blended in a whispered promise that would last forever.

“My soul to yours. In this life and the next, we are bound.”