Rogue Alpha: Wolf Shifter Romance (Wild Lake Wolves Book 1) (20 page)

Chapter Seven

I reached for Tucker’s hand. Adrenalin fueled us
both, and he heaved me onto the back of his bike with one swift motion. The
wolf on the car hood reared his head back and let out an ear-splitting howl,
but he didn’t come after me.

Tucker spun the bike around. I snaked my hands
around his waist, pressed my cheek against his strong back, and held on tight
as he hit the throttle. The engine roared beneath my legs and we sped away,
leaving the four wolves behind. I couldn’t look back. They couldn’t outrun a
Harley at top speed. My logical brain knew this. Still, I shut my eyes tight
and tucked my legs against the bike. God, please let him be fast enough.

“Hold on!” Tucker shouted above the roar of the
engine. I already was. Tucker was warm, and hard as a block of granite.  My
heart thundered in my chest, and I could feel his pulse matching my own as I
gripped him tight around the waist. My hair whipped behind me like a banner.

The wolves howled at my back, and I swear I could still
smell their breath, though I wasn’t brave enough to check if they were giving
chase. Not yet. The howling faded into the distance. Then Tucker swerved the
bike where the road split, heading back for the Interstate.

I couldn’t read the gauges on the bike. Tucker’s
broad back filled my vision. But he whipped and weaved around the other cars on
the freeway. He had to be going close to ninety. He drove fast but never
recklessly. He passed other vehicles with skilled precision, putting great
distance between us and whatever the hell had happened back there. He kept on
and on, taking me back the way I had come. We passed the Woodland Motel and
three more exits, until he turned again into Hidden Forest Nature Reserve.

He went off the main road into the park, taking back
trails into the deepest part of the woods. Twice now, woods like these had
spelled danger for me. This time, though, with Tucker, something shifted.  I
had the sense that Tucker could handle any threat that came tearing through the
trees this time. It was absurd. Ludicrous. I may have just traded one danger
for another. I couldn’t assume that Tucker’s intentions were any less
threatening than the wolves. And yet I did.

Tucker finally came to a stop in front of another
cabin tucked far back into the woods. He cut the engine and slid off the bike.
On wobbly legs, I did the same.

“You all right?” he said. He put one hand on my
shoulder, and crooked his finger under my chin, tilting my face up to meet his.

His eyes darted across my face, searching. I saw
real fear behind his eyes, and knew it was for me.

I nodded. “I think so.”

“Let’s get you inside,” he said. He ran a hand
through his thick, black hair. He kept his hand on my upper arm and led me
inside the cabin, then he locked the door behind us.

“Sit down,” he said. “You’re skin’s like ice. I
think you’re in shock.”

I did what he said. I took a seat in the center of
the room on a leather couch before an unlit stone fireplace. The cabin was
large, with high peaked ceilings crisscrossed with pine beams.

Before I had a chance to say anything, Tucker put a
drink in my hand.

“Bourbon,” he said. “Take a shot for your nerves,
and then let’s talk.”

With shaking fingers, I raised the glass to my lips
and downed it. It went down smooth, leaving a trail of heat from my throat to
my belly.

“Thanks,” I said, raising the glass to him, then
setting it down hard on the low wooden table in front of me. Tucker sat down on
it and ran his hands across his knees.

I let the whiskey work its way through my blood. I
let out a sharp breath to drain the tension out of my shoulders. Then, I raised
my eyes to meet Tucker’s again.

“Were you following me?”

Tucker let out a sigh. “No.”

“Then how did you get there in time?”

He didn’t answer me at first. He kept his eyes
locked with mine. Something swirled behind his like lightning and fire. Heat
seemed to come off him in waves, warming the outside of my body as the whiskey
worked me from the inside. Then, dark knowledge settled over me and I thought I
might need another shot, and soon.

“They’re going to keep coming, aren’t they?”

It was absurd. The wolves were just wild animals.
They couldn’t think or reason. Couldn’t form rational thought like a person.
They didn’t carry grudges or vendettas. The stress of the day and the alcohol
was having too strange an effect on me. But that sobering look in Tucker’s eyes
settled over me, and in that moment I knew with absolute certainty that what
I’d said was true.

“Yes,” he said, his full mouth set into a grim line.

“Can you help get me away from them?”

Tucker scratched his eyebrow with his thumb, before
resting his hands on his knees again. He sat tall, with his back rod straight.
Before he could answer my question, someone pounded on the door with a closed
fist. I jumped in my seat. Tucker shot me a quick smile and patted my knee
before standing up to answer the door.

He opened the door just a crack, using his shoulders
to block the view of his visitor.  They spoke in hushed, clipped tones, and I
couldn’t make out a word until Tucker damn near growled. He shut the door tight
and turned back to me.

“You’re going to have to stay here for a while,” he
said. “Until I can figure out what the hell to do about this.”

The shock of the last hour finally wore off. I
wasn’t scared anymore. Or at least, fear wasn’t my prevailing emotion at the
moment. I was moving into straight up pissed off.

“You plan on telling me what the hell is going on?
Cuz all I really understand right now is that there’s a pack of killer wolves
hunting me, and every time they show up, you seem to be right behind them. Now,
I’m grateful for whatever the hell it was you did back there, but I’m getting
damn sick of smashed up cars and the entire state of Michigan right now.”

Once I started, something took hold of me. It was
part rage, part confusion, a hell of a lot of fear, mixed with just enough
alcohol, but I was on the verge of a full on rant. Whether it was fair to fire
it at Tucker didn’t seem to matter in that moment.

“What the hell do I have to do to get out of here?
I’ve seen enough woods and wolves and ... and ... park rangers to last me a lifetime.
Whatever’s happening, I want out. Is that okay with you? If you can help me get
the hell out of this county, I’ll pay you. But I’ve spent too much of the last
two years waiting for my life to start. I’m not going to let a bunch of rabid
dogs hold me up any longer. So please, call the DNR or more park rangers or
animal control...whatever. I don’t care if they have to shoot every wolf
between here and Ann Arbor. They’re a menace. I’m a human being. I want to go
home!”

I crossed the room and stood before him, craning my
neck up to keep eye contact. As I yelled, I knew what I must look like to him.
I was on the verge of hysteria. I had a right to be. I wasn’t wrong. Whatever
the hell was going on, Tucker was at the center of it, somehow.

“It’s not going to be that easy,” he said. The calm
in his voice seemed to fuel the rage in mine even more. He was handling me, and
I resented it.

“What!” I flailed my arms. “Silver bullets? Stakes
through the heart?” I meant it as a joke, but something flickered behind
Tucker’s eyes. He winced at my words, and it gutted me. I wanted to take it
back.

I wanted to storm out of here. But, I was angry and
keyed up, not stupid. Beyond Tucker’s front door was nothing but woods. I
sorely missed asphalt and skyscrapers.

“You can’t go home,” he said quietly. “Not yet. If
you try to leave the park, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“From what!” I wanted to hit something. I wanted to
punch a fist through the wall. I wanted another drink.

“What the hell do you think is going on?” Tucker
didn’t yell. He barely raised his voice. But his deep baritone held power, and it
vibrated across my skin like the first time I’d heard it. The hairs on my arms
raised and gooseflesh covered me.

“I don’t know.” I whispered it, and plopped down on
the couch again. I was done. I was defeated. I buried my face in my hands and
sighed. I wouldn’t cry. I’d shed enough tears in the last year to last me a
lifetime. But, I was hot,  tired, and the world had stopped making sense.

At least until Tucker touched me again.

“Can you trust me?” he said. His hands slid across
my shoulders, and he gripped me lightly on my upper arms. He tucked a finger
under my chin again and tilted my head to make me look at him.

I don’t even know you
, my mind said. It was true and
logical, but as Tucker fixed his eyes on mine and his fingers skittered across
my arm, something happened to me. It was as if every cell in my body became
attuned to the feel of his skin, his scent, his...being. Everything else faded
away, and Tucker filled my senses. The way he looked at me with those
penetrating, gray eyes. His sure touch on my arm as he drew me closer to him.
He smelled of pine and wood soap and his own musk. My eyes went to the corded
muscles of his neck, to the tiny flicker of his strong pulse along the column
of his throat. I felt my own pulse quicken to match it.

“Can you trust me?” he said again.

He shifted, sliding off the table he went to his
knees before me on the couch. He still had one hand on my arm and caressed my
jaw bone with the other. He titled my head to the side and bridged the distance
between us.

It was a moment. A split second before his lips
touched mine I knew I’d reached a precipice. I could pull away. I could tell
him to stop. I could run. But I did none of those things and when Tucker kissed
me for the first time, I knew my life would never be the same again.

Chapter Eight

He kissed me deep and slow, and I sank into him.
Tucker’s hand slid from my shoulder to the small of my back, drawing me ever
closer. He hovered over me, still on his knees. My body came to life. Blood
roared in my ears as my pulse quickened and heat shot through my core. I wanted
to touch him, devour him, own him. I wanted him to own me.

My hands went up. I pulled at his shirt, bringing
him down on me until we were both laying across the couch. Tucker braced
himself on one elbow to keep from crushing me. My hands were in his thick hair,
running over the curve of his muscled biceps, clutching at his back. I don’t
know what came over me, but in that moment, the world was Tucker and I, and I
couldn’t stop no matter what happened.

I found myself pulling at his t-shirt, trying to get
it up over his head. I had a desperate need to feel more of his skin on mine.
It was like my body starved for it.

“Please.” I heard myself gasp. Please what? Please
stop? Please
don’t
stop? Yes. No. All of it!

With one hand, Tucker yanked his shirt over his head
and cast it aside. Oh. He was broad, strong, and beautiful. I ran my hands down
his rippled chest. My fingers traced the lines of an intricate tattoo he had
around his right bicep, and I wanted to explore the rest of him. I fumbled with
the button on his jeans. When Tucker groaned, it nearly undid me. I writhed
beneath him, trying to get my own t-shirt up over my head.

“Neve,” he said, his voice ragged. He pulled away.
My skin felt so cold where he wasn’t touching me. He hovered above me, his eyes
searching my face. His were filled with concern, and something else. Torture,
if I had to name it. Some logical, far corner of my brain understood that
Tucker had reached his own point of no return. He would stop if I asked him,
but if he started again...he would not be denied.

It was crazy, reckless, and dangerous. I had every
reason to stop this, to come to my senses and leave this place. This wasn’t me.
I didn’t take chances like this. But when Tucker McGraw looked at me that way,
when his lips found mine, I knew my fate was sealed. I ran my fingers along his
jaw, the way he had done to mine. Then I threaded my fingers through his thick,
black hair and pulled him down to me.

A ripple went through Tucker’s body when his lips
found mine. I had a sense that until now, he’d been holding back and with that one
simple kiss, I’d given him permission to let go. Where his movements had been
strong but tentative, now everything became fluid and full of purpose.

With barely more than the flick of his wrist, he had
my t-shirt over my head and off. I fumbled with the button of his jeans and he
lifted his hips to aid me.  Tucker slid lower on the couch, leaving a heated
trail of kisses along my throat until his lips came to rest between my breasts.
My chest heaved, and my breasts bobbed under my pink, lace bra. My skin raised
in gooseflesh as his fingers found the clasp at the front. He popped it open
with just his thumb, and my breasts sprang free. It should have been cold where
the air hit my nipples, but Tucker’s breath and body heat warmed them.

A noise escaped from him. Rather than coming from
his throat, it seemed to emanate from his whole body, a low, rumbling,
predatory growl that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I gasped and
arched my back into him.

I sat up slightly so I could look at him. I hadn’t
felt him do it, but Tucker had wriggled completely out of his jeans. He rose
above me until he stood. My mouth dropped open as I took in the naked
magnificence of Tucker McGraw.

Every inch of him was hard, chiseled perfection,
from the sculpted muscles of his chest, to his solid abdomen where they tapered
to a ‘V’ at his hips. He had a dusting of black curls leading a trail to his
massive erection. I couldn’t help it. I let out a gasp as I took in the sight
of him. Tucker’s cock was huge and hard, pressing against his stomach. He was
thick and veined, and the sight of him turned some switch inside me. I felt the
first slow trickle of juices form between my legs. At the same time, I marveled
and wondered how I...how any woman...could take all of him in.

Tucker’s eyes flashed as he stroked himself. The
first fat drop of pre-cum beaded his thick head and I had the urge to lean
forward and take him in my mouth.

“I want to look at you,” he said, and his voice
seemed to have lowered an octave, making him sound even more wild and
dangerous.

I didn’t hesitate. I did exactly as I was told.
Tucker had some kind of power over me. I wanted this. I wanted him. Even though
that rational part of my brain knew everything about the last hour--the last
day--should have made me want to stay away.

I shed my shorts and panties, and threw them across
the room along with my bra. As Tucker eyed me with that predatory stare, I
found myself posing for him. I arched my back on the couch and let my legs fall
open. I wanted him to look. I wanted him to take, even though I worried he
might tear me in two.

His gray eyes glinted silver as he raked them over
me. Something was happening to me. A desire I’d never known before filled me.
I’d had only a handful of lovers, and this wasn’t my first one night stand. But
this was different. As I lay naked before Tucker, I had the urge to do things
I’d never dreamed of. I spread my legs wide and thrust my hips upward in offer
to him. God. I
wanted
him to tear me in two. I licked my lips as my
juices began to coat my thighs. The heat between my legs was almost unbearable.
I wanted him to fuck me, claim, me,
own
me. I’d do anything to get him
inside me. I wanted to touch him, taste him, rake my fingers across his perfect
back and mark him as my own.

“Please!” I heard myself beg. Yes. I’d do that too.
I trembled before him, desperate for his touch.

I groaned and writhed on the couch, my legs spread
wide like some wanton whore. Yes! I wanted that. I wanted Tucker to use me
until we were both spent.

Tucker’s eyes hooded with lust as he slowly dropped
to his knees and crawled the few feet between us. With one powerful swipe of
his hand, he shoved the table away from the couch. His strength seemed almost
inhuman, and the table flew across the room, crashing against the opposite
wall. I startled, but felt a new flash of heat between my legs, and I struggled
to open myself even wider for him. I turned to face him, putting my hands on my
knees and drawing my legs wide apart as Tucker knelt before me. My poor,
throbbing pussy was completely exposed to his inspection.

Tucker’s lips curled back in a smile, and he let out
another low, sultry growl. Then he was on me. I cried out as Tucker slid his
hands under my buttocks, angling me toward him. He held me there as he flicked
my sensitive little sex with the tip of his tongue. I cried out, almost unable
to contain the sensation. Tucker licked me again, the taste of me driving him
to some primal place as he inhaled my scent and fastened his lips over my
swollen clit. He took his time, letting his tongue feather over my delicate
flesh. I felt myself opening for him like a flower. He tilted me forward even
more as he buried himself between my legs.

It was too much. His hands on my buttocks, his kiss
on my thighs, and the trail he made with his tongue, teasing my inner folds
until he finally fastened his lips gently around my throbbing little clit and
sucked me there. I bucked and thrashed, my body an explosion of sensations. But
Tucker held me in place, making me ride it out as he delivered sweet torture. I
grabbed the fabric of the couch, holding on for dear life as Tucker coaxed even
more pleasure from me. I was shameless—writhing on the couch with my legs
splayed wide, my hips gyrating wildly.

I became what he made of me. It felt sinful, wanton,
and oh so good. I wanted this to go on forever. I ground against Tucker’s lips,
trying to control the rhythm. He had me pinned there, his grip strong on my
ass, forcing me to take the pleasure at his pace, making me beg for more with
my body. As he sucked me, his tongue darted in and out of me. It was firm and
strong but I wanted so much more of him. My body cried out for it. I wanted
Tucker to fill me.

When my orgasm hit, I felt like I might fly off the
couch if Tucker hadn’t held me in place. My body exploded in ecstasy as Tucker
used his expert tongue to drive me higher and higher. I couldn’t hold back.
Didn’t want to. I threw my head back and screamed, grunting like some wild
animal at the top of my lungs. Just a few minutes before, someone had come to
Tucker’s door and I had half a sense that they might be nearby. And they would
hear me. There could be no mistaking my groans of pleasure as Tucker drove me
to the edge and back. In that moment, I didn’t care. Let them hear. Let them
watch. As long as I could go on feeling this way.

As I crested down, my flesh became so sensitive it
almost hurt to have his mouth still on me. But Tucker knew what he was doing.
He pulled back, delivering gentle kisses to my sensitive mound, seeming to know
just how much I could take. The room spun before it came into focus again.

Tucker knelt before me, his lips slick from the
treatment he’d given me and his eyes flashed dark with lust. Heat shot straight
through me. We were far from finished. Tucker meant to take his own pleasure.
Something about the way he held his head, slightly cocked to the side, made me
realize he was asking for permission once again. He was huge and hard as he
rose to his knees before me. If it was possible, his erection seemed to have
grown even more. And oh, I wanted it, even though it scared me a little. But
Tucker had primed me well and I knew he would not be denied.

“Yes,” I gasped in answer to his unspoken question.

Tucker’s movements were quick and powerful. He had
an athleticism that seemed animalistic in that moment. He scooped me up with one
arm and carried me into the other room. He took three strong strides and
flipped me so I landed in the center of the bed, on my hands and knees.

Tucker’s breath was strong and hot at my ear. My
pulse quickened as he nipped my earlobe. He didn’t use words, but again, I
understand the implication. He wanted me to keep still. It wouldn’t be easy. He
would stretch me dangerously wide. My body thrummed with new arousal. I lowered
myself until I rested my chin on my hands, keeping my ass high in the air for
him.

I shuddered as I felt Tucker shift behind me,
getting himself into position. He placed his hands on my hips, angling me back
even farther. This way, I was completely exposed. He ran a finger down my
gaping, swollen folds as if to remind me that he could see everything I had to
offer, and knew how badly I wanted him.

And then I felt him.

Tucker pressed the head of his cock against my
delicate flesh, and again I felt myself opening for him even more. I took a
breath to brace myself, still fearful that he might be far too big for me to
accommodate. He ran one hand up the small of my back, gentling me as he slid
the first few inches in. I gasped as my pussy started to stretch wide. He went
slowly at first, letting me adjust to his size. He was huge and hard, and if it
weren’t for his hand at my back, I might have tensed up and clenched against
him. But Tucker let me take him in at my own pace and once he worked the first
two or three inches in, it felt oh so good as he filled me up.

“Yes,” I gasped, thrusting my hips backward. I
wanted it. I wanted more. My body cried out for it.

Then Tucker couldn’t go slow a second longer.

He fed the last few inches into my hungry sex, and I
took all of him in that I could. I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but as I
felt his balls against me, I knew I’d done it. He held me like that for just an
instant, letting me settle into the feeling of him. I felt my pussy clench
around him as a new, more powerful orgasm started to rise within me. Now
though, it was Tucker’s turn to take his pleasure from me, and I was only too
eager to brace myself to let him take it.

“Fuck me!” I heard myself cry out. Tucker kept one
hand on my back to steady me as he started his slow, pounding rhythm. I felt
filled to the brim as he pounded me from behind.

He was so big. Massive. I felt my walls stretch,
clench, quiver as I struggled to keep still and take him. I balled my fists
into the bed sheets as I braced myself each time he drew his hips back. Tucker
held me in a perfect balance between pleasure and pain. With each new thrust,
he forced more of me open, as if his cock somehow grew even bigger while he
fucked me. But, he didn’t tear me. Not once. Instead, I felt myself opening
even wider, angling my ass ever higher as if my body had been well-trained just
for him.

But this was just the beginning.

Tucker got me accustomed to the feel of him for a
good long while. He settled into a punishing, but steady rhythm. My breath came
in short pants. The heat between my legs grew and he had me so wet, I felt a
steady trickle of my juices sliding down my legs, coating the both of us and
easing his passage. Then something shifted. As soon as Tucker had me well
primed, his grip on my hips tightened. Up until now, he’d let me sway to my own
rhythm along with him. He let me find the perfect friction as he pressed
himself in and out. Now though, he pulled me back just a little further. My
knees trembled beneath me as I struggled to take even more of him in. He had my
ass up as high as it would go, my cheek pressed down against the bed. He paused
for a second to let me adjust, then I felt him pull back, poised to redouble
his efforts.