Charity Received (28 page)

When her wrist was captured in Kash’s persistent grip, a low growl emerged from her chest, and she tugged her hand free.

Chuckling, Kash leaned back and braced himself on his hands, eyeing her intently.

“It seems my little wolf wants things her way.”

“That’s right. Now be a good angel,” she murmured, rising to her knees. Grasping the edges of the shirt she’d slipped on not an hour earlier, Charity then lifted it, allowing him a view of the gentle swell of her abdomen. With a look of anticipation, he watched her unveil her skin inch by slow inch until she tossed the shirt over her head, and then his gaze locked on to her breasts. He reached out to palm one, but she batted his hand away and instead cupped the fleshy mounds herself, lifting them and feeling the nipples pebble in her palms.

“Do my boobs look bigger?” she asked huskily. “Because they feel bigger. And more sensitive.” Charity threw her head back and moaned as she gently pinched her nipples. “It feels so good.”

“Holy hell, chérie. You’re killing me.”

She lifted her head and gazed back at him, then let her hands fall to her sides. She ran her fingertips along the top of her panties, fighting a smile at the way Kash’s eyes followed the movement, before slipping them beneath the elastic. He reached a hand out again, but when she cocked a brow, he clenched it into a tight fist and returned it to his lap.

“If that hand goes between your thighs, all bets are off.”

“You’re a party pooper,” she mumbled with a pout, but she heeded his warning, not quite ready to let him take control of their lovemaking. She hooked her thumbs under the elastic and slowly rolled the panties down her thighs, then over her calves until they slipped free. Dangling them from a finger, she let them sway in front of Kash’s face, not the least bit surprised when he grabbed them in his fist and brought them to his nose. He inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering closed, and Charity knew he would smell how aroused she’d gotten from taunting him.

When those blue eyes locked on her once again, the heat in his gaze scorched her, sending more moisture flooding from her pussy. Charity had never perceived herself as the seductress, but even round with their child, she’d never felt sexier.

Completely absorbed in his stare, she crawled toward him in a move that appeared more feline than canine, and practically purred when he sucked in a sharp breath.

As she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, Charity straddled his thighs. She let her nails gently score his back, reveling in the rippling of his muscles under her hands and the way his back bowed to deepen her touch. Banding his arms about her waist, Kash dragged her close, her breasts flattening against his chest as she buried her face in his neck and lightly sucked on his skin.

He skimmed his hands down her lower back, stopping to cup her ass within his strong grip. Squeezing the taut globes, he guided her pussy closer until it cradled his denim-clad erection, the hard ridge pressing against her clit, and then he lifted her, rubbing her against his cock. A moaned escaped her, the feel of being dragged over his hardness exquisite. Charity rode him slowly as she found the mating mark with her lips and drew it into her mouth.

“Sweet damn,” Kash muttered, his hips punching upward at the same time she slid down. The hands on her ass ground her against him as, with an almost savage groan, he clamped his teeth gently on the tendons of her neck.

A whimper bubbled up from her chest, the wolf in her shivering at his display of dominance. As he held her, he glided a hand over her ass and under until one finger teased the entrance of her pussy. While he swept his other hand up her back, she attempted to impale herself on the circling digit, wanting something to fill her aching pussy, but she couldn’t seem to force a deeper penetration. With a growl of frustration, she scraped her teeth gently across the mating mark she held firmly between her lips.

Kash cried out and thrust his hand into her hair, threading his fingers through the long strands. At first he seemed unable to make up his mind, pushing her closer so she sucked harder on the tiny scab, only to pull her hair, forcing her mouth from his neck. His lips captured hers in a frantic kiss, all while that teasing finger continued to torment her.

As his lips devoured hers, his tongue slipping between to tangle with hers, he began to thrust his finger shallowly into her pussy. Charity rode the digit shamelessly while stroking her clit against the hard line of his cock, her juices wetting the material of his jeans. It didn’t take long until she was coming, his mouth consuming her wail of pleasure.

Through the haze of her orgasm, she felt her world shift and realized almost too late that Kash was pushing her toward the mattress. Charity nipped at his lips as she stiffened, unwilling to be flat on her back.

“I’m going to come in my pants if I don’t get inside you,” Kash rasped, but his actions belied his words as he sat back on the bed and framed her face with his hands.

“Soon, I promise,” she whispered against his lips as she slid her hand down his chest. She curled her fingers into the waistband of his jeans, and the tips brushed against the head of his dick as she cupped him with her palm, pressing lightly against his rock-hard length and dragging a groan from his chest.

While her fingertips danced through the wetness collecting on the head of his cock, she sucked on the tongue invading her mouth. She rimmed the spongy crown, but his jeans prevented her from stroking his cock, so she kept her touch light, teasing, until his hips propelled toward her. She slowly slid her fingers out of his pants and grasped the zipper to carefully lower it. Easing his dick out, she used its wetness to help glide her hand down the hard shaft and pumped it once…twice.

“Charity,” Kash murmured. “Stop torturing me.”

She chuckled huskily, loving the way he arched into her touch. “Is that what I’m doing, baby?”

He growled softly, his hands returning to her ass, his fingers digging into her skin.

Rising to her knees, Charity drew his dick away from his abdomen and aligned it with her pussy. Then she sank onto his hard length, letting him fill her inch by inch, until he was so deep inside her that he brushed the tip of her womb as she rocked against him.

They moaned together as he leaned his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged.

She tightened her knees around his hips as she rose up, then lowered back down, his dick rubbing the spot deep inside that had her juices rolling down his cock and her passage clenching around him. His limbs trembled beneath her as he took control and, still gripping her ass, lifted then dropped her back down on his dick in a frantic rhythm. The motion had her panting as her orgasm crept up on her sooner than she’d anticipated.

“I’m going to come, chérie,” Kash whispered, arching into her, forcing his cock deep.

Charity could only nod. She was right there, on the edge, and then she cried out as she tumbled over. Kash held her to him, his body going rigid beneath her. Then he groaned, and she felt his dick releasing inside her.

As she collapsed against his chest, her eyes drifted closed, and she smiled when she felt his lips brushing across her forehead. “I love you,” she murmured sleepily, but it wasn’t until the arms about her tightened that she realized what she’d just revealed.

“I love you too, chérie. More than I ever thought possible.”

Instead of completely freaking her out, his words just seemed right, and they settled around her heart, insulating her from all her previous worries. As long as she had Kash’s love, she didn’t need anything else.

* * *

Zeke drove south of Seattle to the spot Charity had led them the last time they’d met with O’Malley. Since he had no idea where the bastard resided or how to make contact, he could only hope their presence would trip some kind of werewolf alarm, because he had no intention of going out of his way to accomplish this task. He’d rather it waited until after Charity delivered a healthy infant, and then she could deal with the caged wolf instead of him having to interact with the O’Malley alpha again. And he was even less eager to allow the werewolf access to the abbey, because no matter the precautions taken to keep Charity safe, the brothers were not infallible. Accidents did occur, and he didn’t think the risk to Charity was an acceptable one.

Back in the small clearing, he walked the perimeter with Arak following closely, guarding his back.

“Now what?” At his shrug, Arak groaned. “Tell me we aren’t going to stumble around the woods until we run into a wolf.”

“You have a better idea, Casanova?”

The slight disturbance of swooshing air was Zeke’s only warning as a dagger embedded itself into the tree trunk inches from his face. He gripped the handle and wrenched it free, then turned to Arak.

“I let Charity get away with calling me that,” Arak began as he shuddered, “because frankly, those claws of hers freak me out. But you, jackass, do not.”

“You’re bad for my rep.”

Arak laughed. “If your rep is being the biggest asshole on the block, it will survive intact, I promise.”

“It had better,” Zeke muttered. “I worked hard for it.”

Arak rolled his eyes. “What comes naturally hardly constitutes work.”

Zeke reached behind him and slid the dagger beneath the waistband of his leather pants, ignoring Arak’s frown. If O’Malley was a no-show, as least he could take a swing at Arak. That would be fun. They hadn’t come to fists in centuries. He even considered taking a shot right then when a noise caught his attention. Zeke placed a finger over his lips and pointed toward the line of trees to the right of them. A snap of a twig and then ominous growling signaled they were not alone.

“Christ. Here we go again,” Arak mumbled as a monstrous brown wolf slowly emerged from the woods. Only this one did not immediately attack. Instead it seemed to be studying them.

Though Zeke’s first reaction was to draw the dagger, he didn’t. He held his hands up so the wolf could see he had no weapon and was therefore no threat. “I have cause to speak to your alpha.”

“Can it even understand you?” Arak whispered. He was staring at Zeke as if he’d lost his mind.

“Charity can. So unless she is vastly superior…” Zeke left the challenge hanging, and it had the desired effect. The wolf disappeared, and in his place stood a naked male.

“That hybrid? Not likely,” the shifter growled angrily. “Now, why have you come back?”

“I will only deal with the alpha.”

The shifter laughed. “You will deal with me if I say so.”

Zeke gave a slow, malicious grin. This was what he’d been waiting for. “Bring it on, fur ball.”

A low rumbling flowed from the shifter’s mouth as his body began to twitch.

Recognizing the signs of a shifter getting ready to change form, Zeke widened his stance, preparing for the wolf to attack, but before the other man had the chance to complete the shift, a voice commanded, “Enough!”

Immediately the shifter stilled, his body riddled with tension. “You should not have come, Thomas.” He never took his gaze off Zeke and Arak while angling his body toward the direction of the voice.

O’Malley materalized from the trees, surrounded by a dozen males—some wolves, some human. He came to a stop beside the one Zeke had hoped to beat the piss out of. “I am quite interested to learn why these fools are trespassing on my land before you kill them, Miles.”

Zeke was just itching for O’Malley to try. “Anytime,” he drawled.

O’Malley inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. “I can smell the Russo female on you both.

I never thought I’d see the day when a wolf conspired with vampires.”

Zeke snorted at O’Malley’s apparent disgust, not terribly surprised that the shifter thought he and Arak were vamps. Charity had once told him he and his brethren kind of smelled like the few ancient vampires that still roamed the earth, whatever that meant. “And here I thought we were all friends now.”

O’Malley grunted. “An alliance for the sake of fighting a common enemy is one thing. Fornicating is something else completely.”

“Hate to disappoint you, but the only fornicating going on is between Charity and her mate. He’s not real big on sharing.”

“Mated to a vampire. Why am I not surprised? She couldn’t even do that properly.

But she is an abomination that will be dealt with eventually.”

“Did he just threaten Kash’s mate?” Arak asked quietly, and Zeke recognized that tone. O’Malley had just made this personal for Arak too.

“Oh yeah. But that ass-sniffer is mine.”

Arak glowered at him. “Why do you get to have all the fun?”

Zeke’s smile held no humor. “Because he pissed me off first.”

Arak frowned as he seemed to consider Zeke’s words. “All right,” he finally conceded.

“But try to leave a piece for me, will you?”

“Can’t make any promises,” Zeke replied with a shrug, though he knew he couldn’t hurt O’Malley. Not really. They still needed the shifter’s help, and that seriously irked him.

“Do you really think you can take us all, vampire?” O’Malley’s tone dripped with conceit. He was certain he held the upper hand, and Zeke didn’t possess enough knowledge about either vampires or shifters to know if O’Malley’s beliefs were justified.

“No, wolfie. Just you.” Zeke took a few short steps closer to the shifter. O’Malley didn’t appear the least bit concerned, though his pack-mate Miles was getting antsy.

“And by the way,” Zeke said just before his fist cuffed the shifter’s jaw, “I am no vampire.”

The alpha’s head snapped back from the blow. With a growl, he lunged at Zeke quicker than expected for a male his size. Sharp claws aimed for Zeke’s gut, but he pivoted to the left as he drew the dagger from his waistband, then slashed it toward O’Malley. The blade sliced through the cloth and skin covering the male’s side, and a pungent metallic scent tainted the air.

Miles moved to intercept Zeke, but O’Malley placed a restraining arm in front of him. “No. He’s mine,” he rumbled, his voice more animal than human.

Zeke and O’Malley circled each other slowly, and Zeke focused all his energy on the shifter before him, tuning out the others. Though the other wolves paced nervously, he trusted Arak to watch his back, so when O’Malley faked to the left then came at him from the right, Zeke was ready. He used his foot to trip the wolf, expecting the other male to sail past him. But O’Malley caught himself quickly and turned, his claws tearing through Zeke’s leather vest.