City Wolves: Paranormal Shapeshifter Werewolf Romance Bundle (Master of the City / Mistress of the City) (6 page)

V
eyr stalked
her across the clearing, his big paws silent on the moss-like grass. Heart in her throat and shivers stealing over her limbs, Cyan took a step back for each step forward he made. A little voice in the back of her mind, the human part of her, went into hysterics, yammering on about the predator stalking her.

She ignored it.

She’d been around lycans all her life, and even though she couldn’t shift herself, she felt the pull. The attraction. Veyr’s eyes, solid amber due to his change, watched her with interest and intelligence. Heat blazed in them. Not the feral heat of a wolf tracking prey for a meal, but the dark need of a man tracking a woman he wanted.

Her teeth caught her lower lip, worrying at it. Anything to quell the shivers that wracked her body. As a test, she took a step to the side. Veyr’s lips curled back from his teeth, the low growl a warning. Quickly, she stepped back into line, her hand creeping up to her throat. She knew wolves. She knew Veyr. He’d never hurt her. She wasn’t scared. Not scared at all.

Okay…maybe she was a little apprehensive. Not all lycans had perfect control when shifted. Sometimes the wolf was more in control than the man. Her mind pulled up all the old stories of ‘accidents’. Men who’d gone moon-mad and killed their wives.

Veyr’s snarl disappeared, and he surged forward. She squeaked, scrambled backward and fell on her ass on the cushioned bower. She didn’t have time to process the soft surface at her back because he was over her in a heartbeat. Paws the size of dinner plates hit the cushions by her hips and he prowled up her body.

Her breath came in hard pants, the feral smell of lycan sucking the strength out of her limbs, especially when it swelled and changed with his shift. No one smelled the same as Veyr. It was an addictive, sensual mixture of warm skin and wildness that hit her in the gut and made everything feminine within her sit up and take notice. Racked her arousal up by another couple of notches.

“Thought you could get away from me did you, little wolf?” He asked, his breath warm by her ear. She shivered again, hot and cold chills chasing over her skin as her arousal fought with her need not to give in too soon.

“Not thought. Did.” She twisted to look him straight in the eye, not flinching at the bright amber. She’d never known a lycan powerful enough to keep his wolf so close to the surface and still retain control. But then, he’d had control even fully-shifted. “If the damn maze hadn’t conspired against me, I’d have made it to the folly at the least.”

His lips quirked, the beginnings of a smile, but then it disappeared and the hard expression returned. A mask she realized. Maybe.

“Really?” Reaching out, he captured one of her hands in his, not holding the wrist as she’d expected, but twining his fingers between hers. He leaned down, brushing his lips over hers. “Not a chance, sweetheart. Do you think I don’t control the maze just as much as the rest of the city?”

A whimper broke free of her throat. She didn’t know. Didn’t care. Not when he was touching her like this. Kissing her. She lifted her head, trying to follow his lips and make the butterfly soft kiss into something deeper.

He rumbled approval in the back of his throat, the sound more wolf than man, and gave her what she wanted. His lips crashed down over hers. Hard. Feral. Demanding. He kissed like a man possessed. Like a man who only had a day left to live and planned to spend it all in carnal pursuits.

She gasped when he nipped her lower lip and used the opportunity to slide his tongue deep into her mouth. Her moan was immediate, unbidden. He stroked and teased, just their mouths and hand touching. The heat of his body caged hers, so close she could almost feel his hardness pressing against her.

Need curled through her body, invading her veins and making her limbs weak. She drove the fingers of her free hand into the short hair at the nape of his neck. Held him close as the kiss became an inferno of torrid strokes and slides interspersed with hot nips of human-blunt teeth. If a man could compress a night's worth of passion and lust into one kiss, then it was Veyr.

“They’ll be here soon.” He broke away to whisper, his hand reaching down to her skirts and slid beneath them.

Her breath caught in her throat, the same throat he kissed his way down, as he headed for the swell of her breasts, highlighted rather than concealed within the tight dress. It was a ‘fuck-me-now’ dress, designed for easy access and a man’s pleasure.

She whimpered and wriggled as his lips blazed a trail of hot kisses across the twin mounds until he reached the center. A simple ribbon held the too-tight bodice together. A ribbon he caught between his teeth.

“Veyr, no!” she exclaimed, but even as she spoke, the ribbon gave, sliced by sharp teeth. The dress parted, and her breasts spilled free, nipples beading in the cooler air. Heat hit her cheeks. She could hear voices and footsteps as the council worked their way through the maze toward them. Any minute now, they’d find the clearing, see everything…

Veyr lifted his head, his eyes glittering, and when he spoke, his voice was rough. Deeper than human. “Claiming Chases are public, little wolf. You know that. The council has to watch as I fuck you. As I claim you in front of them.”

The shiver of arousal hit her low down but spread out like a wildfire through her body. He didn’t wait for her nod. Instead, he bent his head and licked her nipple, a hot, rough brush of his tongue that made her body shiver and her pussy clench in need.

She closed her eyes, ignored the sounds and what they meant as he pulled the nipple into his mouth and sucked. A small cry left her lips, her back arching at the pleasure. His hand stroked up her leg, sliding around to her inner thigh. She opened for him without thinking, parting her legs at his unspoken command. The dress hadn’t come with panties, so she was naked beneath it.

“Good girl,” he whispered, leaving a soft nip against her tender flesh that made her jump then melt. His fingers brushed her pussy lips, already soaked with her arousal, and he chuckled. “Already hot for your Master, aren’t you? Good, because this is mine. This will
always
be mine.”

Without warning, he drove two fingers deep into her needy cunt, making her arch and moan in deep, dark need. Despite the night they’d had, she needed this. Needed him again already. Needed him driving deep inside her until she shattered apart with pleasure.

She rode it, and his fingers, keeping her eyes closed. If she did, she could pretend that this was just them. That there was no one else here. No one watching them. Veyr’s fingers stroked inside her, sliding and pumping in her slick channel.

“Concentrate on me, little wolf,” he demanded, adding his thumb to rub against her clit. Already aroused as she was, the added stimulation was almost too much. Almost. She was greedy. She wanted more. Always more. Biting her lip, she opened her eyes to meet his, and ground her hips against his hand. His cheeks were flushed; eyes narrowed to thin slits of burning amber as his fingers continued to work under her skirts. He fucked her with the two, thick digits, until she saw sparks beginning behind her eyes.

“Just me, no one else.” He pulled his fingers free of her pussy and slid his lean, muscled body down hers. Hard hands flipped her skirts up, and she sucked a breath in as the colder air invaded, licking over her skin like a lovers caress. Those same hands smoothed up her legs to push her knees further apart. Parting and exposing her to the gaze of the alpha werewolf between her legs.

He rumbled a mixture of approval and desire, but the sound of footsteps entering the clearing broke her concentration. She kept her eyes closed, knowing they could see her spread out under Veyr. Knew that they could see everything she had. Unbidden, her body reacted, trying to close her legs, but a growl stopped her. Then a hot tongue lashed her pussy lips, parting them to seek her clit, and she was lost.

A keen in her throat, she arched her back and rocked her hips. Veyr’s hard hands closed about her hips, holding her still for the attentions of his tongue. He nibbled and licked. Circled her clit until she was ready to beg, the suckled until sparks flew, and she cried out in pleasure. He wouldn’t let her come though. Each time she thought she was near enough to tumble over the edge, he changed tactics. Kept her arousal at a high simmer until she was ready to scream at him. Beg. Plead. Anything to be allowed release.

He used his hands again. One slid up her body to pinch and tease at a nipple as the fingers of the other slid deep into her wet pussy. She gasped and clenched hard around him as he rumbled a chuckle against her clit. The vibration made her toes curl. She gasped, clutching at the cushions as she opened her eyes.

They were all there. The alphas. Watching them. She stilled for a moment, but instead of the horror she thought she’d feel, the fact they were being watched sent a bolt of arousal through her. One so sharp that a liquid wave of arousal flooded her pussy, soaking Veyr’s fingers.

“That’s it, hot and wet. For me.” Veyr whispered. His hand moved, twisted and she jumped when his finger, wet with her juices, slid down to press against her ass. The dark heat sliding through her veins had nothing to do with the men watching them and everything to do with the wicked desires rolling through her mind. With his hand and mouth, Veyr pushed her to the edge.

Then pulled away.

She blinked, so close to the edge her body shook, and looked at him as he rose over her. Her words of complaint died on her lips at the hard, feral look on his face.

“Turn over,” he ordered. Before she could do his bidding though, he’d turned her onto her hands and knees in a casual display of strength that stole the rest of her will. A big hand smoothed over her ass, pushing her dress up so her ass was bare.

She bit her lip, her hands claw-like in the cushions and shoved her ass back against him in eagerness. The men around them were all but forgotten, the need for him to take her blotting out everything else. His fingers dipped into her again, testing the wetness there, testing how ready she was for him and then he moved to fit the broad head of his cock against her.

She whimpered, going still as his cock invaded. Even though he’d taken her before, she still wasn’t used to his girth. Still needed a pause as he slid within her to get used to his breath. But this time he didn’t give it to her. Didn’t give her a warning or a chance to get used to him. Instead, he gripped her hips and shoved inside her in one slick, fast, hard move.

She cried out, a sharp sound of pleasure as he filled her completely. His cock was huge, hard, stretching her cunt until she thought she’d split in two. But it felt good…so good. Pleasure washed over the slight burning and a whimper escaped her as she wriggled on his cock.

“Move,” she begged, her hand covering his where he cupped her breast.

“Your wish is my command, little wolf.” He tweaked her nipple and pulled back, slamming back into her before she could process the withdrawal. Then he did it again, his pace fast and hard. She moaned and gripped the cushions. This wasn’t lovemaking. It wasn’t even the passionate sex they’d had last night. This was hard and dirty fucking as the Master claimed his woman so that all could see.

Growls behind her accompanied the hard thrust of his cock, the slap of his balls against her as his hips slammed against hers. If their ‘bed’ weren't stone, the sheer force he took her would have broken it by now. She whimpered, arching against him. He dropped forward, his chest against her back to reach around her body. This time his fingers against her clit weren’t teasing. He stroked hard and fast, matching his movements within her and driving her upward toward the edge.

She gasped when she reached it. Time suspended for a moment as she felt the pleasure harden within her, tightening so much it would take just one more thing, one more stroke of his fingers, or thrust of his cock, to shatter her apart.

He leaned down and kissed her, right there on the side of the neck and the soft touch undid her. She cried out as pleasure exploded outward through her body with the force of a supernova. It invaded every cell of her body, washed through her and over her and under her. She half collapsed on the bed, but Veyr was there. His strong arm wrapped around her, across her breasts to cover her as he pulled her upright against him. His hips still pumped, but the movement was uncoordinated and jerky.

“I claim you, Cyan,” he rasped against her ear, his rough, stubble-covered cheek against her skin. “You’re mine and you always will be.”

And with that, he came, jerking and pulsing deep within her. Her breath came in rough pants, each jerk of his cock stretching the pleasure in her body out further. All around them, the hard gazes of the alphas, all bar her absent brother, watched them.

“Fuck, if I’d known she was such a hot piece…” Jacob took a step forward, and Cyan tensed. If the Master wished, he could share his woman with the council alphas. Would he…

Veyr lifted his head, a snarl on his lips.

“Take one more step, McCauley and I’ll fucking gut you where you stand. No one touches her but me. Ever.”

She turned her head and kissed his neck, contentment radiating through her. She was his, and he wouldn’t share her.

Being the Master’s woman wouldn’t be so bad after all.

T
rue Love could conquer all
.

Vanessa McCauley sighed as the council alphas trooped out of the court maze, a nod from the first confirming that the Master of the City had claimed his woman.

She joined the rest of the court women as they drifted back inside. The main ballroom—the largest room at court—was decorated for the occasion and a light buffet set on tables along the inner walls. She swept the room with an appreciative glance. After running the McCauley house for many years, she knew just how much work had gone into making such a large room presentable after the ball last night.

“So romantic,” one woman exclaimed as Vanessa passed. “As soon as she came out in that red dress, I knew. There’ll be a mating before summer, you mark my words.”

It was romantic. The powerful alpha claiming the woman he loved despite all odds.

“There will!” Another replied as her face softened with smiles. “My great-grandmother wore the red dress. Chased one month, mated the next.”

At that point, both women became aware of Vanessa, and despite her best efforts to turn invisible, their faces closed over. Turning away, they continued their conversation in muted tones, making her sigh. Everyone knew she’d expected to be mated to the Master. Well, not her herself, but her brother had made no secret of the fact he’d intended her to be the Master’s pick for the Midwinter offering.

But she hadn’t been. Instead, Veyr had picked Cyan Trevais instead. Curvy, non-shifting, the girl all the other lycan girls laughed at, Cyan. Vanessa sighed as she grabbed a plate. She didn’t blame him. Cyan was beautiful, she’d always thought that. Small and curvy, she had a figure to die for. One Vanessa could never hope to compete with, not in a million years.

The room around her was abuzz with chatter, but she ignored it in favor of studying the buffet. The sound of sympathetic whispers around her told her that people were talking about her. They always did. Everything she said, every move she made, were all analyzed. Pulled apart. Discussed.

Even what she picked from the buffet.
‘She shouldn’t eat that, she’ll put on weight, then the Master won’t want her.’
She’d heard that refrain so many times over the years she’d long since gone by the urge to scream when she heard it. But, guess what? It hadn’t mattered
how
slim she was, the Master hadn’t picked her anyway.

Her gaze roved the table. So many delicious treats. Her mouth watered and her stomach rumbled to remind her that all she’d had to eat this morning was an egg-white omelet and some salad. All in the never-ending battle to stay as slender as possible to attract a mate.

Her fingers itched, temptation driving them to reach out and grab a slice of chocolate cake. Salad wasn’t enough. She was a wolf, not a damn rabbit. She needed real food. Steak, cake, chocolate…

“You’d better eat up.” Her brother’s caustic tones broke through her near-erotic daydream of how the cake would taste. “It’s obvious a skinny runt like you won’t attract Veyr. He’s into fat chicks. So you need to get chubby.”

She froze, then looked over her shoulder. Jacob was her older brother, but to say there was no love lost between the siblings would be an understatement. Consumed with an overreaching sense of his own importance, she knew he saw her as a pawn to further his ambition rather than loved her as a sister.

He grabbed her arm, fingers bruising as he propelled her along the table, piling her plate high. “Eat. Get fat,” he demanded, his face tight and angry. “Then we can replace that little bitch in his bed with you.”

Her hands shaking, she glanced down at her plate. All the treats she’d salivated over were piled in an unappetizing mess. Her stomach churned and she looked up at him. Was he blind? Anyone with eyes in their head could see that Veyr was head over heels in love.

And not with Vanessa.

“Jacob. He’s chosen, it wasn’t me. It’s over.”

He whipped around, his eyes burning with fury, and grabbed her arm. She yelped in pain, the plate dropping from her fingers to splatter over the floor as he pushed her backward. Her shoulders and the back of her head hit a side door hard, sparks flying over her vision and then they were through it and into the quietness and solitude of a side-corridor.

“You
will
do as I say,” Jacob snarled, his hand closing around her throat to pin her against the opposite wall. “If you know what’s good for you.”

His face twisted with rage, half-human and half wolf. Fear lanced her heart. Jacob’s rages were legendary in the pack, most avoided angering him. However, most could get away, had places to hide.

Not her. With nowhere to run, she was always first in the firing line. She let emotion leech away from her, calmed the wolf within.

“And you know what’s good for you, don’t you, Vanessa?” He let go of her throat and stroked gentle fingers across her cheek. She turned her head away, sickened by the touch and the darkness in his eyes. There was something wrong with Jacob. Very wrong.

“The ball tonight. I’ll do my best,” she said, sickened by the fact she was prepared to do anything to avoid Jacob’s anger.

What kind of wolf was she, that she couldn’t even stand up for herself?

* * *

V
eyr was not
at the ball.

“Shit.”

Vanessa kept her panic to herself and turned in a circle, her movement slow and graceful, hoping to spot Veyr’s unmistakable figure amongst the guests. Although not the tallest wolf, he had an aura about him that was hard to miss. One that oozed power and reeked virility; he set the hearts of all red-blooded women aflutter.

Apart from hers. While she admired Veyr for dragging lycan society out of the dark ages and into the modern world, he wasn’t the one who made her heart pound and her pussy clench.

Her gaze snuck sideward to a tall figure at the edge of the room.

Jace Trenton. The Captain of the Guard, appointed by Veyr himself. The stories said they were both wolves from the pits, the barely-legal fight clubs in the lower city. That they’d fought together, and Jace had accompanied Veyr to court after the challenge-fight that had killed the previous Master of the City, allowing Veyr to take his place.

She lifted her champagne glass to her lips, using the motion to conceal her appraisal of Jace. She didn’t usually drink, but she needed some kind of prop to keep her hands busy. Tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and eyes, he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. What did it matter that the lack of amber ring around his eyes meant that somewhere in his family tree was a non-shifter? She didn’t care. He was a wolf, an alpha just like Veyr.

She emptied her glass without thinking and switched it for another from the tray of a passing waiter. Using the ever-shifting crowd for cover, she watched Jace from across the room. He leant against a wall, the dark silk shirt he wore clung to broad shoulders and a heavily muscled chest. Black dress pants completed the look, the fabric pulled taut across one massive thigh where he had his foot propped against the wall. Long, strong fingers were delicate on a glass as he lifted it to his lips and met her eyes.

Then winked.

Shit
. She choked on her drink, ducking behind the portly figure of an older wolf so Jace wouldn’t see her spitting champagne all over herself, and managed to swallow.

“That’s it gal, get it down ‘yer.” The wolf in front of her turned. Older, with graying hair and a handlebar mustache, he grinned in amusement. “You should try some brandy, puts skin on ‘yer bones that stuff does!”

Blinking, she nodded and added a little smile she hoped indicated agreement. She hoped he didn’t actually offer her any brandy. Not a big drinker at the best of times, the champagne was already making her knees feel fuzzy. Thankfully, a sharp, feminine voice some way off in the crowd brought his head up.

“Another time,” he said with regret and gave a small bow. “The ball and chain calls and it’s more than my life’s worth to disobey. Your servant, milady.”

She watched as he bustled off through the packed ballroom and raised her eyes to look at Jace again. He wasn’t there. Breath punching out of her lungs, she bit her lip at the sharp sense of disappointment then beat it back down. He was on duty, and she should look for Veyr.

“So what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” The deep voice just by her ear made her jump, squeak, and whirl around all within a second. Her foot, clad in the lightest of satin slippers, lost traction on the polished dance floor and she fell. She closed her eyes, waiting for the contact with the floor, but it didn’t come. Instead, strong arms closed around her waist and she was hauled up against a hard body.

“Oh my, you really are strong,” she managed, looking up into the darkest pair of brown eyes she’d ever seen.

He blinked, as though her words surprised him, but that could have been the fact her hands were cupped around his upper arms and had decided to take the opportunity to test his muscles. Steely strength met her testing grip and she flushed as her higher brain functions disappeared.

Why did tall, strong men do it for her? It wasn’t as if, as a lycan, she lacked in strength herself. Hell, she could bench press a car if she wanted. But there was something very attractive about being held close. Protected… cherished.

“Well,” he cleared his throat and set her on her feet. She managed not to pout as he let her go. “It’s part of the job description. V was very specific about that… ‘Must be strong, and able to leap small buildings in a single bound.'”

“Do you get to wear your underpants over your pants as well?” She lifted an eyebrow, not sure how to take him. His scent, wild and feral, the mark of an alpha wolf, washed over her, undermining her attempt at polite conversation.

His eyes widened, just a fraction, then he grinned. He was extremely handsome, she decided. Was that even fair, for one man to look so good?

“Why? Are you interested in seeing my underpants?”

She smiled, a little light-headed as the unaccustomed champagne she’d drunk all went to her head at the same time. Veyr wasn’t here, so she might as well make the most of her night without Jacob watching her like a hawk.

“Only if I get to take them off.”