For Life (29 page)

146

For Life

Suddenly Maura needed to be alone. Anywhere where she could let her mind

ramble, sort through all of this, without having to worry about someone invading her thoughts before she understood them herself.

“I’m heading back to Josie’s den,” she announced, ignoring the quick looks both females gave her.

“It’s your den too,” Rosa pointed out.

“You’re right.” She shook her head. “This is still all new to me.”

“I’ve seen claims announced after a bitch and male knew each other for an hour.

We aren’t human, you know. Sometimes we know to rely on our instincts when it comes to knowing what mate is for us.”

“Yeah.” Maura found her coat and then stood in front of the fire for a moment, getting good and warm before heading outside. “And don’t either of you worry. I can sniff my way around the mountain and stay clear of any Malta werewolves between here and Josie’s…I mean,
our
den.”

Ignoring their pleas for her to stay at Rosa’s den, and even Rosa’s threats to call Josie and tell him that she’d headed out by herself, Maura reminded both of them that mated bitches had the right to run alone. And right now that was what she needed to do. She had half a mind to take advantage of the heavy falling snow and change into her fur. A good, hard run always helped her clear her mind.

Twenty minutes later, when she stood in Josie’s and her small living room staring at the embers glowing in the fireplace, she still felt the urge to leave again and run up the mountain. No matter how bad the weather turned, in her fur she would be safe. But as she debated on whether to build up the fire or head back out into the storm, a cracking sound outside grabbed her attention.

The door sprung open and Josie filled the space between her and the outside. His black hair was windblown around his intense, well-chiseled expression. And the thick smell of leather from his coat mixed with his all-male scent.

Maura’s heart skipped a beat and for a moment she forgot to breathe. She stared at him, not moving, as he entered the living room and closed the door behind him. The chill in the room disappeared instantly even though snowflakes flew around the floor at his feet. Suddenly it was incredibly warm as her heart remembered to beat and in fact, started pounding in her chest.

“Where have you been?” she asked, grateful suddenly that she hadn’t yet taken off her heavy down coat. Her nipples hardened painfully against her sweater and sparks shot like currents from her breasts straight down to her pussy. The coat hid her body physically although she was sure he smelled her sudden arousal.

“I killed a werewolf.” He was so large that the room seemed smaller all of a sudden.

“The youngest of the Wagner den no longer lives.”

“It’s a shame the act didn’t kill the demons that I still see swarming in your eyes.”

Even in his human form, with his eyes shaped differently than the night before, the same intensity glowed in them.

147

Lorie O’Clare

“The gift is so much a part of me that without it, I’m nothing.” He wasn’t making any sense. “But the gift is who I am. With it I can be everything you want.”

She credited herself for not flinching when he reached for her. His fingers snaked around the side of her neck and she swore her feet slid across the floor as she moved closer to him.

“Just like this,” he whispered, holding her neck as he slowly began stroking her hair with his other hand. “I pulled him to me as I’m doing with you now. I barely had to move my fingers to press against the bone that ended his life.”

She felt the pressure on her neck when his fingers pushed into her flesh. Holding her breath, she didn’t dare look away from his intense stare.

“You didn’t need to kill him for me. I already have what I want.”

His expression didn’t change and from the way his eyes glowed like onyx she knew he pushed around in her thoughts, working to understand her without asking what she meant by her words.

It was a damned shame she couldn’t do the same with him.
Tell me what
’
s on your
mind
,
wolf man
.

“I don’t know what’s in my mind. The gift allows me into your mind, not mine,” he growled.

“You’ll learn to share what is right there in your mind. I can see it. You just need to learn to put words to it.”

“And what if I can’t do that?”

“I think you can.” She smiled, even though her lips trembled, and dared to push closer to him.

His fingers slid off her neck and moved down her back when she ran her hands up his chest and then around his neck. Pressing her body against all that hard-packed muscle made it almost impossible to think. But she fought what he did to her physically so she could show him how to control himself emotionally.

“It’s like this,” she whispered, and then scraped his chin with her teeth. “Open your mouth and let what is in your mind spill out.”

“I needed to get back here to you as quickly as I could.”

“Very good, wolf man.” Her heart thumped so hard in her chest he had to be able to feel it even through her thick down coat. “Why did you need to see me?”

“You’re more important than clearing away a blizzard.”

God. It fucking hurt when her heart exploded in her chest. Heat swelled throughout her body as she stared up at him, her mouth so dry she couldn’t utter a word.

You
’
re making me feel different than any other male has made me feel
.

The edge of his mouth turned up. She reached for his chin and ran her fingers over his unshaven face. He moved his head slightly and sucked her finger into his mouth.

“What is that feeling?” he asked, holding her finger between his teeth.

148

For Life

“Well, if it’s love then I’ve never been in love before.” Heat attacked her cheeks when she spoke so openly. “Do you think we could love each other after one day?”

“I met you months ago. And you’ve been on my mind more than I should admit

since that first meeting.”

He hadn’t left her thoughts since that day when he threw Pete up in the air and then dropped him. That had been the day Heidi mated with Nicolo, and it had been the first time a werewolf stood up for her and defended her against the brutal treatment of a lousy mate. Of course he would have stayed on her mind. Josie was the only werewolf who would fight for her.

“When I ran into the mountains after Pete dropped me off on the highway, I hoped to find you again.”

“And I came to you as soon as I heard your thoughts.” He sucked her finger in and then out of his mouth. His hands wrapped around her neck, pushing her chin back with his thumbs and then caressing her jawbone slightly. “I believe we were meant to be mated.”

“I think so too.” She stared at him while working out in her mind what to say next, knowing that he followed the thought process carefully. His silence encouraged her to speak. Something told her that he needed her to voice what they were both feeling so he could digest and understand it as well. “Last night, you remained in your fur because you couldn’t face me with the emotions that ripped at your insides. Am I right?”

Josie studied her face and then moved his hands to her shoulder, sliding her coat off her body so that it tumbled to the floor around her feet.

“I almost died last night.” His body tightened as he spoke. “I’ve taken on more than three werewolves in the past and easily sent them flying, or killed them. But that was because I used the gift.”

“No one is stopping you from using it now.” She reached for his shoulders, then slid his coat off him like he had done to her. Strained, corded muscle twitched against her touch when she ran her palms down his arms. “The gift is part of what makes you
you
.”

“But without it, I’m barely a werewolf.” He let go of her and walked over to the fireplace. “You had a weasel for a mate before. And now you run to a male who probably couldn’t have killed that weasel without the gift.”

“I don’t know about that.” Heat swarmed to a dangerous level between her legs as she watched him bend over and dump several logs into the fireplace, then start a fire.

“You’re strong enough to seek me out. And a rogue werewolf, willing to demand a mating from three pack leaders in one day, is a pretty fucking strong werewolf, if you ask me.”

Josie chuckled, squatting before the fire and playing with it while flames danced before him. The light danced off his shiny black hair and accentuated the broadness of his shoulders and powerful outline of his torso. Any bitch would be dancing with 149

Lorie O’Clare

delight, howling proudly to all who would listen if a werewolf like him fought for her, then demanded their mating be allowed to the leaders of three different packs.

Maura had her work cut out for her. Josie didn’t have a clue how to express his emotions. The gift consumed him and allowed him to control all around him without having to share anything that was inside him. It would take time and effort on his part to open up the inside of him, the side of him that was vulnerable and unprotected by his intense and special powers.

The fire quickly warmed the small living room, but she didn’t need the flames to feel the heat. Just staring at him, realizing in her heart the kind of werewolf who she now had to call her own, got her so fucking hot inside she could have danced in her flesh in the snow and not felt the cold.

Josie stood, turning around and loosening his shirt at the same time. “You can dance in the snow in a bit,” he told her.

“Oh.” She flushed. There wasn’t any stopping the direction of her thoughts,

especially when he peeled off his shirt and so much bulging muscle filled her gaze.

His dark skin glistened with moisture, either dampness from the snow or from sweat, she couldn’t tell from his scent. All she smelled was the thick urgency of his desire. And when he moved to the couch, reaching for his boots, her legs trembled as that same lust attacked her with a vengeance.

“Don’t get accustomed to this because it’s not something that I’ll be able to do that often, but you’ve made me happier than I’ve been in my entire life.” He didn’t look at her but spoke to his boots as he pulled them from his feet. “You accept me as I am, which no other bitch has come close to doing. And you’re more beautiful and loving than I deserve.”

Maura fell to her knees, her legs simply no longer able to hold her. She wrapped her fingers around his legs, pulling herself closer to him, then reached up and cupped his face.

“Josie,” she whispered, slowly shaking her head in disbelief that he’d just opened up to her like this. “I could get real accustomed to you talking to me like that.”

“Figures.” He looked up at her with a half-smile that melted her heart. “I’ve never spent much time sharing my mind with someone else.”

“I know it’s just as perfect as the rest of you.” Muscles twitched against her fingers as she ran her hands up his thighs.

Josie sucked in a breath, his gaze hooded by long, thick black lashes as he watched her with a possessive predator’s stare. It made her heart flip-flop. The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, and her own urge to possess, to claim every inch of him again and again made the animal side of her surface.

“You may not have shared your personal feelings with another bitch before. But to be honest, that flatters me. I will be your first.” She tried to sound encouraging, but her urge to mate with him made her voice sound raspier than usual. “And I’ll be your only.”

150

For Life

“You would fight for me?” He sounded amused.

She reached for his hair and pulled hard enough that his expression sobered and he raised one eyebrow.

“To the death,” she hissed. “I feel it.” She kept her fingers twisted in his hair but moved her other hand to her chest. “In here. And the call to mate with you whenever you’re near me arouses my desire to change. No male has ever done that to me before.

We’re truly mated, for life.”

“Where do you feel it?” He ignored how she held his hair and put his hand over her hand, except he conveniently found a nipple and twisted it. “I think I feel it too.”

Silver shot through his dark eyes and his smooth hair in her fingers suddenly felt coarser than it had a moment before. “Take my jeans off me, little bitch, before I tear them from my body.”

She released his hair and reached for the top button on his jeans. Her knuckles pressed against his hard stomach as she struggled to undo the button and then pull down his zipper. His breath caught in his throat and sounded rougher as he watched her undress him, not saying a word.

When she had his jeans unzipped, Josie stood, leaving her on her knees. She tugged at his jeans, looking up at him as she did so. His black hair fell around his face. The cut on his throat and several deep scratches on his chest somehow made him look more dangerous at the moment. Yet there was no fear, no hesitation. Josie was her werewolf in spite of their different breeds, in spite of the fact that they came from different packs.

For whatever reason, it was meant for the two of them to run together, build their den together and fight by each other’s side. Maybe that was why up until this moment neither of them had truly been happy.

Maura knew it, especially from his confession that he didn’t share his emotions well. A werewolf only opened up his true inner self to his mate. Otherwise, he ran with a pack, supported and fought for that pack but stood alone and tall—being a true alpha male.

She pulled his jeans down his legs and he stepped out of them so that he stood naked in front of her. His long, thick cock stuck out, almost touching her forehead. She straightened so that she could kiss the tip of it, and a salty, wonderful taste filled her mouth.

“Little bitch,” Josie growled and then reached for her. “Get out of your clothes.”

“Sounds real good to me.” She tried laughing but her heart beat too fast and hard for her to catch her breath.

He pulled her to her feet, then reached for her clothes, pulling them off her so quickly and easy she knew the gift had to be at play. When she stood naked before him, her creamy white skin contrasting with his dark body, she tried walking into him. More than anything she wanted to feel all of that hard-packed muscle pressing against her from head to toe.