Betrayed (Wolf Gatherings Book 6) (16 page)

Carl didn’t smile, but his shoulders relaxed marginally. The important thing was for the man to buy the idea Marcus and Heather weren’t a flight risk this evening.

As Marcus led Heather onto the front porch, Lora said good-bye. A new tear formed in her eye as Heather glanced back to see her in the doorway.

The moment Heather turned toward the car again and landed on solid ground at the bottom of the steps, she exhaled slowly. She couldn’t get away from the house fast enough. And she ached for her mate, for all the years he’d endured under that roof, even if he hadn’t known what his grandfather planned for him on the side most of his childhood. It still rankled. And she wanted to go someplace where she could hold him.

He had to be reeling from the shock. Even knowing everything that occurred in the last hour had been exactly as expected, it didn’t change the fact Marcus’s parents had betrayed him. That confirmation would make anyone freak out. Heather didn’t believe Lora knew much about her father’s plans at all, and she doubted Carl knew the entire story either, but it felt as though they’d sold their only child to the devil himself.

Marcus drove. He didn’t say a word for several minutes, keeping both hands on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road. He couldn’t reach out and touch Heather yet. He felt dirty somehow, and until he purged himself of the filth that made up his entire life, he couldn’t face her.

He needed a run. He hoped she would be okay with that.

When she spoke, she startled him. Her soft voice interrupted his pity party. “How far is it to your house?”

He glanced at her, and some of the anger dissipated. No matter what a son of a bitch his father was or how browbeaten his mother, he had Heather and the rest of their lives after this was all over. Even one day with her would make up for anything in his past. It already had. He took her hand. “We aren’t going to my place.”

“Why?”

“Because I wouldn’t be able to rest one second in that place. If I never see it again, I’ll be fine with that. Few things are of any value to me there, anyway. Whatever I need, I’ll send someone from NAR in to get later.”

Heather inched closer to him and set a hand on his arm. Instantly he calmed, wondering why he’d avoided touching her in the first place. “NAR has the place surrounded, you know. It isn’t as though someone could kidnap you from your home in the night. Besides, if you moved an inch, NAR would track you and tail you to the end of the Earth.”

He knew that, intellectually, but nevertheless his stomach threatened to toss his lunch if he went home. NAR had shifters everywhere. They were undoubtedly tailing him even now in an effort to stay close. They would watch his parents’ home and his own home tonight, in case anything didn’t go exactly as planned.

Chip or no chip, Marcus didn’t relish the idea of being kidnapped and taken to Minnesota against his will.

No. What he needed was to be convincing enough he was eager and willing to take the “job” on his own without coercing. It was the only way to ensure he had control over his communication with the outside. He knew the window would be limited. If his grandfather really did intend to conduct medical experiments on him to alter his DNA, as soon as that came to light, his world would be cut off.

He looked at Heather again and swallowed. She’d be alone, perhaps never to see him again. Or at least not the same him he’d been before the alterations his own kin had planned.

He couldn’t let that happen. And he wouldn’t risk it by returning to his house.

Instead he drove around in strange patterns for a while and then left town, heading for a hotel two towns over. It wasn’t going to be far enough to allow him to let his guard down completely, but at least he might be able to stop the shaking.

After a run. And a shower. In that order.

Heather set her head on his shoulder.

He was glad she didn’t say anything placating because nothing she could say would alleviate his concerns. They were valid. He knew good and well he’d made this bed himself, but there had been no other choice. He was committed, but that didn’t make it any easier.

They drove miles past the town he wanted to stay in. He pulled off onto a side road and hid the car in a grove of trees a distance from the highway. “I need to run,” he said as he cut the engine.

Heather nodded against him. “It’s a good plan.”

He opened his door and helped her slide out on his side. He took her face in his hands. It was dark, but he could see her perfectly. “I love you. You did beautifully back there.”

She smiled. “You did too. Deserving of an Academy Award.” She kissed him and then stepped back and held his gaze as she stripped from her clothes.

He knew she was trying to distract him from himself, and it was working. She could do anything she wanted as long as she looked at him like that and never stopped.

Marcus hesitated. He considered forgoing the run and fucking his mate hard on the hood of the car instead. The pent up frustration would dissipate just as easily if not quicker. But she deserved better. She deserved his full attention directed at her because he craved her, not because he needed a fuck.

And besides, until he had a shower to wash away the stench of betrayal from his parents’ home, he couldn’t picture himself pushing his cock into his sexy mate’s body.

Firm in his decision, Marcus stripped himself of his own clothes moments behind Heather and shifted on her heels. Bless her for going along with his innate urge to take his natural form and not just pacify him but join him.

Marcus set off at a slow pace at first, fighting the need to run harder and risk losing his mate in his wake or causing her to run too hard for her size. But Heather surprised him, taking off ahead of him at a breakneck pace and glancing back with a twinkle in her eye that said, “Aren’t you coming, wolfboy?”

If he could have chuckled in wolf form, he would have. Instead he had to content himself with knowing he was the luckiest bastard alive to have found Heather.

Two hours later, they had run themselves to exhaustion, eaten at a diner near the hotel, and called NAR to fill them in on what transpired at his parents’ house. They checked into a room on the third floor. Marcus wished they could have stayed on the twenty-ninth floor, but the highest high-rise in this small town only extended to three floors. The farther he was from the filth that could be lurking on the street, the better.

As if she’d read his mind, Heather took his hand and lured him toward the room’s king-sized bed, her ass shaking seductively in front of him. “Stop worrying. We’re totally safe here. I’m sure even NAR was lost a few times on the way.”

He rolled his shoulders as his mate distracted him with a second strip tease. This time he intended to take full advantage of her nudity, and he quickly removed his own clothing to drop it on the floor. “Let’s get in the shower. I can smell my parents’ house on my clothes. I might have to burn them.”

She nodded and turned for the bathroom, dropping another garment every few feet along the way. “We
could
burn our clothes if it will make you feel better.” She knew just what to say to lighten the mood. “Or we could forget the trip down memory lane altogether, and I could take your mind off things in a more entertaining fashion.” She turned in the doorway and waggled her eyebrows. The words she uttered next were the exact one’s he’d imagined in the woods earlier. “Are you coming, wolfboy?”

Marcus lunged at her, pinning her to the vanity in the tiny bathroom when she stepped back. He took her lips in a deep kiss. She tasted of the outdoors and the sweetener she’d put in her tea at dinner. He wanted to consume her. And he would. As soon as they were clean.

Still kissing her, he reached under her ass and lifted her against his body. She wrapped her legs around him, and he carried her to the shower.

He waited until they were inside, and he plastered her against the tile with her legs still gripped around his waist to turn on the water.

She yelped at the instantly cold waterfall running over her body.

The water grew warmer quickly. Marcus was almost disappointed as he reached for the knob to turn down the temperature as it got too hot. Returning his gaze to his mate, he tucked his fingers back under her ass and reached farther until he could pull her pussy open with his middle fingers and press them toward her center.

She squirmed again, this time to dislodge him rather than avoid the water.

He set her down slowly, hating when his cock lost the intense direct contact. It bobbed in front of him, and Heather reached with one hand to stroke the tip.

He moaned and then stepped from her grasp and turned her around to face the wall.

A shiver wracked her body, one he could feel clear through his own at such close proximity. He wanted to stroke his finger through her pussy again, but he didn’t dare. She’d likely come from that simple contact, and he wanted her to wait while he pampered her body in the shower.

Marcus reached for the shampoo and poured it in his hand. When he set his palms on her red curls and massaged her scalp, she tipped her head back on a moan. “That feels so good.”

He nudged her legs apart with one of his and planted his foot between them. Massaging her head longer than necessary was easy. The longer he stayed in the shower and stared at his mate’s sexy ass, the longer he could avoid reality and concentrate on the mate he’d met only a few days ago, whom he was in no way done exploring. Especially knowing there was always the chance he would never see her again.

He hadn’t said as much out loud at any point in the planning, but inside he knew what his grandfather was capable of. He’d been the recipient of years of experimental drugs. The man no more loved him and cared about his wellbeing than a blade of grass under his shoe. Visiting his parents that evening confirmed his fears. No blood relation of his would be a champion in his court. His father was clearly in cahoots with his crazy grandfather, and his mother was spineless.

Slipping his fingers through Heather’s long hair and down her body, he rubbed the suds from the shampoo across her back. Reluctantly, he released her skin to grab the bar of soap. He lathered his hands and then reached around to cup her breasts and pinch her nipples between his slippery fingers.

Heather swayed forward. She planted her hands on the tile wall to steady herself.

Marcus wrapped one hand around a breast and smoothed the other down her body. He parted her folds and stroked her lower lips.

Heather lifted up on tiptoes.

Marcus took the opportunity to press his knee tighter between her legs. His cock landed on her back though, and he gritted his teeth to keep from reacting.

He took a deep breath, but he was too far gone to avoid taking her. Instead, he spun her around and lifted her, sliding her back against the wall. “Wrap your legs around me again.” As she did so, he settled her on his cock.

Her hands gripped his shoulders as she gasped.

“Do you know what you do to me?” he gritted out.

She nodded, her face leaning in until she kissed him.

With only his hands as leverage, he lifted her and set her back down, groaning at the feel of her pussy around his cock, all slippery and wet. He gripped her ass with both hands and inched them toward her puckered hole.

Heather squirmed, but he held her firm as he pressed a middle finger into her while she remained lodged on his cock. “You okay?”

She moaned, her eyes closing halfway. “More than.”

He held her butt cheeks, keeping his finger inside her as he increased the speed and pumped into her. His balls drew up tight as he held her gaze, noting the glazed look in her eyes. He loved the way her lips parted when they had sex.

Heather’s legs stiffened around him, letting him know she was close. To deny her would be futile.

Marcus pumped faster. “Come, baby. I want to feel your pussy gripping my cock when I come.”

Without hesitation, her orgasm swept through her.

Marcus held back for only a moment and then followed her over the edge as she set her forehead on his shoulder, gasping for air.

They stayed that way for several minutes. Marcus eased his finger out of her and massaged her ass. “You’re so amazing.”

“You aren’t too bad yourself.” She grinned as she lifted her face.

Marcus kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding in to tangle with hers. He’d do anything to put off the inevitable and avoid tomorrow.

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