Ellora's Cavemen: Tales from the Temple II (4 page)

19

Tielle St. Clare

The tap on the door pulled Caitlin from the dazed stupor she was living in. On legs barely strong enough to carry her to the door, she staggered out of bed and across the room. Her entire body ached but she had the satisfaction of knowing they’d succeeded.

The moonrise had begun and with it the wolf would begin his slow retreat. Caitlin had few clear memories of the past twenty hours—her mind, body and spirit had been consumed by Luc and his need to drive the wolf back.

As the moonrise had grown nearer, his lovemaking had become more ferocious—

demanding more, giving more. Pale marks from his hands, his lips—his teeth—

decorated her skin. She shivered as she remembered a nip on her shoulder as he’d ridden her from behind, driving hard into her pussy.

She heard Luc shift in the bed and knew he was watching her. She made no move to put on a robe—not after the last time she’d tried that.

The soft tap on the door repeated and had to be answered. Every four hours they checked on the hotel’s guests to see how everyone was feeling. So far, no one in the hotel was showing signs of the virus. She hid herself behind the door and opened it a crack.

“Good evening Ms. Bennett. How are you tonight?” The attendant in the white plastic suit and mask greeted her with cheerful eyes. “I’m making my rounds and delivering dinner.” He winked. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“It’s fine.” Exhaustion claimed her and she leaned against the door. She offered a weak smile and brushed her matted hair away from her face.

“Are either of you exhibiting any of the symptoms listed? Any rash?” Caitlin shook her head. “Coughs? Numb extremities?” Again she replied negatively. “And I need to see your husband, just to confirm that he is also in good health.”

Caitlin glanced back at the bed. Nothing obvious revealed that Luc was a werewolf, but she wasn’t sure he looked completely human either. He looked wild—his beard darker, his eyes the mysterious gold of the wolf’s. She raised her eyebrows in silent question. With a sigh, Luc reached over and dragged a sheet across his waist. When he was minimally covered, she opened the door, keeping herself hidden behind it. The attendant stepped just inside the room and saw Luc. What a picture he made—long black hair loose around his shoulders, his bare chest gleaming with the sweat of their recent lovemaking, and the slash of white covering his hips barely masking his erection.

“Uh, yes, sir, it’s good to see you’re in good health.”

“We’re both in
excellent
health. And we’re busy.”

20

By Moon Rise

The man glanced down to the sheet that was doing less and less to cover Luc’s growing cock. “Yes, I can see that. I’ll just leave your meal outside.” He backed away.

“I’ll let you get back to your…your…well, to whatever.”

He practically leapt out the door and slammed it shut.

Caitlin spun around and glared at Luc.

“Did you have to do that?”

“What? Let him know that he was interrupting me while I was fucking my woman?

Yes.”

The openly possessive statement knocked the air out of her chest. She stared at the frustrating, sexy man for a long time while she tried to figure out how to escape from the hotel without running into that attendant. How mortifying.

Getting out of this room with her heart intact was impossible. She could have at least hoped for keeping her dignity.

Luc raised his eyebrows and watched her, the heat from his gaze reaching across the room and sinking into her chest. He still wanted her. The sun was set; the moon had risen—but the wolf must still be in control. Caitlin let her head tip back against the door and closed her eyes. He was so beautiful. The power of his spirit infused the physical perfection to make him irresistible. Damn, she couldn’t look at him. It was too painful.

She could never have him—and his image was burned into her memory.

A strange ache sparked inside Luc as Caitlin closed her eyes and leaned against the door. It wasn’t jealousy. Caitlin belonged to him. He knew it and soon she would accept it. But something about the way she closed her eyes—when he entered her, when he made love to her—ripped at his heart. As if she was trying to avoid looking at him.

Or was imagining another filling her body.

The animal’s basic level of logic assured him she was his—he’d marked her with his teeth, his scent, and his seed—but the human recognized the signals. Through all the fucking—every touch and caress—there had been something missing. She’d let him have her in any way he’d desired—but still he felt like she was holding back.

She was his. She belonged to him.

As the words entered his head, he realized they were true. She was his mate. Every strange emotion that had assailed him because clear. That was why she seemed familiar when he’d first licked her delicious cunt. She was the one destined to belong to him. His True Mate.

She didn’t understand that yet, but she would soon. Luc threw back the sheet he’d reluctantly used as a cover and stepped off the bed. She was doing it again. Hiding her eyes. Hiding from him. She was running. If not physically, then emotionally.

A growl welled up in the back of his throat. And it didn’t come from the wolf.

He tracked her scent across the room, stopping inches in front of her. Her eyes popped open when he placed his hands on her hips. In one quick move, he flipped her around and slipped his cock between her barely spread thighs. Hot liquid trickled from 21

Tielle St. Clare

her cunt and coated his shaft. All her heat, her fire, belonged to him. And she would acknowledge that.

She gasped as he skated his fingers across her pussy, dipping lightly into her open flesh. He pumped his shaft between her thighs, loving the feel of her flesh around him.

“Who do you think about when I fuck you?” he growled in her ear. She shook her head, as if to brush him away, but he wouldn’t be denied. Someone was in her head—in her heart—and he would find out who. “Who do you think about when I drive my cock into your body?” he asked.

She groaned as he thrust against her, not entering her—just moving between her thighs, brushing lightly against her clit.

It wasn’t enough. He needed to be joined with her—some instinct beyond his control, even beyond the wolf, commanded that he enter her. Luc spread her legs and pushed his cock into her pussy. The slick walls of her passage told him she wanted him.

He reached around her waist and collected her hands in his. With a slow, deliberate movement, he placed her palms against the door, then pulled her hips back.

She belonged to him—he’d claimed her, she’d accepted his cock and his seed. Now, he would push any other lover from her mind.

“You like it when I fuck you from behind, don’t you?” he asked, beginning a slow, forceful thrust into her cunt. “Don’t you, baby?”

“Yes,” she groaned.

She would scream it before he was done. He continued to slide into her, listening to Caitlin’s shallow breath as she accepted him. She held him so perfectly. But he didn’t stop to linger. He pushed hard, letting the wet grip of her pussy lure him deeper and harder inside.

Still it wasn’t enough. He needed her to scream his name—he needed to hear the truth from her lips.

“Who do you want? Whose cock do you want in your tight little cunt?” Her fingernails clawed at the door as she pushed back against his solid thrusts. “Tell me, my pretty Caitlin, who do you want fucking you?” he asked, the answer suddenly vital to his existence.

“You,” she groaned, pumping her ass against his stomach. “Only you.”

“Tell me,” he commanded. He peeled his lips back and contained the howl that threatened. She belonged to him and damn it, she would say it .

“Only you. I want only you.”

“More, baby. Give it to me.
Tell me
.”

He didn’t understand it but her desire, her need, wasn’t enough. He couldn’t back down. He drove into her sex over and over again, needing to release his seed inside her but needing her words even more. He continued to demand her answer.

“Tell me, Caitlin. Come on, baby. You know what I need to hear.”

22

By Moon Rise

“I love you,” she sobbed, leaning against the door. “I love you. Please, Luc.”

Her admission loosened the fear inside him—an emotion he hadn’t recognized until it faded. The wolf growled its satisfaction.

“Again.”

“I love you.”

He reached around and placed his fingers on her mound—sliding them down to tease her hard clit. Light, gentle touches and he felt her tremble in his arms.

She sagged against the door. He picked her up before she fell and carried her to the bed. She clung to him, easing the tension inside him a little more. As he placed her on the mattress, he drove his cock back into her. She took him. As she had all weekend.

Her legs curled around his hips, squeezing him and pulling him deeper.

“Tell me,” he whispered. He bit down on her throat, leaving a mark for the world to see. “Tell me,” he repeated.

“I love you. Luc, I love you.”

The words soothed the animal within him. And gave the human peace.

He rode her deep, sinking into the body made to hold his until he heard her shattered cry. It wasn’t an incoherent moan. It was his name that left her lips as she climaxed. Throwing his head back, he howled as his seed flooded his mate’s womb.

23

Tielle St. Clare

Caitlin woke again as the sun brushed across her pillow. She shifted in the bed and groaned as her muscles rebelled—screaming at her for their overuse. While her body whimpered, her mind raced. Nothing made sense. The wolf had retreated shortly after moonrise, but Luc had become no less intense—fucking her through the night.

Until they’d finally fallen asleep as dawn arrived.

She turned her head and looked up. Luc lay next to her—awake and watching her.

The golden wolf eyes had disappeared and the familiar vibrant blue had returned. She felt a blush move across her cheeks. All the things they’d done together came back to her in a flash. Though some of the memories were passion-fogged, others were crystal clear—the explosive orgasms, her cries for more, and Luc’s voice, whispering softly his pleasure at being inside her. Unbelievably her pussy fluttered in anticipation of more.

Her blush deepened.

“Good morning,” she said, her scratchy early morning voice reminding her that reality was just minutes away. Holding herself as still as possible, she took a shallow breath, hoping to calm the rabid butterflies that had invaded her stomach.

“Good morning.” The deep rumble of his greeting sent a new tingle into her sex.

“How do you feel?” He smoothed his hand over her cheek, an unusually gentle action considering the hard fucking they’d indulged in throughout the night.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. And she was. Physically, she was sore and tired, but she would recover. Her heart—she didn’t know.

As she’d feared, having sex with Luc had bound her heart even more tightly to his.

He combed his fingers through her hair, staring at her face as if he’d never seen her before. The intense scrutiny made her uncomfortable. And the emotion in his eyes was too tempting. It was too easy to imagine it to be something more than it was. She couldn’t let herself believe that.

She knew Luc. His loyalty was to the Pack. He would never allow anything to interfere with the Mate Bonding.

She couldn’t stay here any longer—she had to get away, save what was left of her heart.

“I’d better get cleaned up, ” she announced briskly, reverting to her efficient assistant’s voice. “They’ll be calling shortly with the test results and we should be free to go.” She threw back the sheets and climbed out of bed.

“Caitlin, wait.”

She stopped a few steps away. It took more courage than she thought she possessed to turn around. Luc sat in the bed, looking gorgeous and confused. And a little hurt.

24

By Moon Rise

“We have to be ready when they end the quarantine.” She swallowed deeply.

“Your mate is waiting for you in the north.”

“But about last night—”

She had to stop him from saying anything sweet. The memories were going to be hard enough to deal with. She didn’t need platitudes. Not from him. She straightened her spine and offered him a strained smile.

“I’m glad I was able to assist the Pack in this manner.”

Luc stared as she all but ran into the bedroom.

Assist the Pack? Pain stabbed him square in the chest. Her groans of pleasure hadn’t been to assist the Pack. Her orgasms hadn’t been to assist the Pack. And her vows of love had nothing to do with assisting the Pack.

He glared at the closed door.

Caitlin was trying to run. She obviously didn’t understand that when one ran from a predator, the predator gave chase.

* * * * *

Caitlin tapped her fingers impatiently on her folded arms as she paced the hallway outside the Alpha’s Chambers. Though a modern man, Fallon maintained the trappings of the past. Pack headquarters was a labyrinth of halls and corridors, rituals and elaborate ceremonies.

A door opened at the end of the hall and Luc entered. A dainty beta female followed behind him. She smiled flirtatiously as she turned and walked the other direction. Caitlin watched the blatant flip of her hips as she strolled away.

“Has he called for us yet?” Luc asked as he approached. He flipped his damp hair out from beneath his collar. He’d just climbed out of the shower—Caitlin could smell the soap on him—and perhaps some sexy female werewolf’s bed?

Luc had contained the wolf’s primary rise, but Caitlin knew that things got wild and sexual around the Pack during the days surrounding a full moon. There was more bed hopping amongst unmated werewolves than a group of bunny rabbits. And the thought that Luc might have driven ten hours with her, and then crawled into another woman’s bed, made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

A possessiveness she’d never experienced before flooded her chest. Caitlin felt her lips pull back in a growl. She stopped herself before she released any sound. It was a reaction she’d seen many times between Pack Members. But she wasn’t a member of the Pack. She was human. She had to remind herself that being human meant she couldn’t have the one thing she craved—Luc.