The Mating Rite (Big, Beautiful Werewolf) (Werewolves of Montana) (10 page)

He looked startled for a moment and then smiled. “You had faith in me when everyone else called me stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” she reminded him, and the words were an echo from the past, when he’d slunk through the forest, feeling defeated after his father had berated him.

“How did you survive after Maxim…” She caught herself, not wishing to remind him of how his father had viciously thrown him out. “After you left?”

He shrugged again, those broad shoulders rising in sleek silk. “I managed. Enough about me. Tell me about your life. How did you find a job at Comairise Energy and end up out here in Oregon?”

“I like the west coast and after Mom died, I had no reason to remain in Idaho. Working for an environmentally conscious firm had been a dream of mine, and Oregon is a green state. But the best jobs are always in the city, so I came to Portland.”

And cities offered more cover and protection from Maxim’s fury. Darius’ father would never suspect she’d moved here.

“I’m surprised my father let you go so easily. He was possessive of all the Lupines in his pack.”

Samantha toyed with her wine glass. “We didn’t exactly part on good terms.”

Good terms? I left in the middle of the night before he could find out my plans. Before he found out what I had done…

“I didn’t either.” Darius looked bitter.

“What he did to you was unpardonable.” Fresh anger surged through her. “His own son. How could he do it? Your father, pardon me for saying this, is a complete and total asshole.”

“More than his youngest son? Or do you put us both in the same category?”

A flush heated her face. “I’m sorry for calling you that.”

“I’ve been called much worse, and by him.” Darius sipped his wine. “Did he mistreat you or your family after I left?”

The question held a note of contained fury. Instinctively she knew if she said yes, he’d return to his father’s pack and beat the alpha to a pulp. She hastened to assure him. “He was nothing but polite and respectful. He continued to make sure Mom and Marcia received excellent medical attention. We really never wanted for anything.”

Except a gravestone for my poor sister…

Darius’ expression turned cold. “In return, you worked very hard for him. My father never gave free rides.”

Tension knotted her stomach as she remembered those days when she’d been so exhausted she’d collapsed in the nearest chair to sleep. “I worked hard for him, at the lodge, doing chores and cooking. Marcia was too frail to do much so I did her share as well. And I got a job in town waitressing at night to contribute money to the pack.”

“You always were a hard worker, Sam.” Darius leaned forward, his gaze intent. “I wished I could have done more for you.”

A memory clicked. “You did. The dishes you washed, the housekeeping you did because you always said “Let’s race!” and ended up losing on purpose. You did that to help me out. I knew, Darius. You always were one of the fastest in the pack. I never could have beaten you.”

A rueful smile touched his mouth. “I should have tried harder.”

Emotion clogged her throat. “It was so sweet and thoughtful.”

They fell silent a moment as the waiter brought an appetizer. She picked up a rye cracker and spread fruit compote on it. “What did you do after you left, Darius? How did you end up in Montana?”

He tossed back more wine. “Long, boring story. I wandered, worked at a Skin restaurant for a while as a bus boy, did odd jobs here and there. Eventually met Aiden, my alpha. He’d started a new pack and needed help with the ranch. We have a successful business now and about 100 pack members. You know the rest—we sell quality beef to restaurants around the country.”

Suddenly she wanted to know how he’d managed on his own. Darius was clever and resourceful, but being thrown out of the pack, ejected from the family who’d raised you…

“You were on your own for a while,” she guessed.

Another shrug. “Tell me about the man who hurt you. What happened?”

Two could play the evasive game. “We had a date. Todd saw me and changed his mind. End of story.”

“He hurt you. I can see it in your eyes. I’d like to smash his nose for insulting my woman,” Darius muttered.

“I don’t need a knight in shining armor. And I’m not your woman.”

“How about a wolf in shining armor?”

“I can take care of myself.”

“You’ve taken care of yourself for years. Now I want to take care of you for a change.”

“Darius, the time for taking care of me is long gone.”

His mouth tightened. “Then tell me what I must do to go back and change everything.”

Change yourself. Change how you act, who you are, assure me I’m the only one for you and you’ll never set eyes on another woman again.
The words lingered on her tongue. Then she remembered the women in the hot tub photos and her heart sank to her stomach.

“It’s too late. There’s too much of a lifestyle difference between us, Darius. You have your preferences and I have mine. But we could be friends.”

“Friends,” he repeated, looking dismayed. “I have friends. I want my mate.”

“I’m not your mate.”

With the tip of a forefinger, he stroked his neck, the exact spot where he’d placed the mating mark on her. Sam shivered as if he’d touched her.

“You were marked to be mine, and I never forgot that,” he said softly.

“Listen to me, Darius. I have a new life among the Skins. I don’t do wolves…”

“Good, because the only one you will be doing is me, darling.”

Samantha ignored that comment. “I’m in Skin now for good. I don’t hold to Lupine traditions and they don’t hold me. I’m here on business with you, and we will behave professionally for the next few days, just as you’d deal with any other Skin.”

“Those Skins usually get drunk and then they sign the contract. I don’t want you drunk, Sam.” He leaned forward and encased her palm with his large, warm one. Callouses rubbed against her skin. Despite the silk suit, he was a working man, and it was proven by these marks of labor. For a moment she relished the feel of his hand protectively covering hers. Darius was real, someone not afraid of hard work, a man who would keep his woman safe and protected and…

Stop. It.
He was Lupine. Not a man, and a Lupine who only thought of taking her back to a life she no longer wanted.

“I want you alert and aware. I want you fully knowing what’s going to happen to you.” His smile, oh, so sexy and slow, made all her female parts sit up and pay attention.

“Happen?”

“When I undress you, very slowly, and then take you to my bed. I want you awake and aware, feeling every inch of my naked body against yours, my hands stroking you, down your hips, between your legs…but no, I can’t wait for the hotel. I’d tear off your clothing and bend you over this table right now…”

Yes, yes, yes
, her wolf whined.
Now!

“Stop it. We’re in public,” she whispered.

So? This booth has curtains.

He withdrew his hand. “Sorry, darling. Around you, I forget to be a gentleman. You drive me wild, make me think about only one thing.”

She gave a nervous laugh. “I gather it’s not water pumps.”

“No, but a cold shower might help.”

All these years, she’d tried to get Skins interested in her, saying the words Darius had just uttered so softly, seductively. And the one male she needed interested only in business?

He wanted to remove all her clothing and take her on the table, here and now. Heat flared between her legs. She squirmed in her seat at the image of Darius bending her over the table, spreading her thighs wide, his big, muscled body standing between them, his hard cock touching her wet center…

She picked up her water glass and drank deeply. Funny how she tried to sell him a water project and all he did was make her hot and thirsty.

He watched her. “But a cold shower wouldn’t help. Not with you. Unless you joined me.”

The graphic promise in his smoky voice evoked an image of them tangling together, water cascading down his chest as he soaped her body, so vivid it felt like he’d slid a hand between her legs. Samantha clenched her thighs and watched him smile, as if he knew.

Of course he did. He was a wolf, and could smell her arousal.

But sex wasn’t enough. Having spent ten lonely years pining for his touch, wishing he were there to hold the coldness at bay, she needed more. Maybe other Lupine females would be satisfied with orgasms. She wanted a shining vision of her reflected in his eyes when he looked down at her as they made love.

Remembering the grunts and moans of pleasure on the tapes the detective had made for her, Samantha stifled a regretful sigh. How could he be exclusive? Not with that earthy, driving sensuality that sent women into ecstasy in his bed.

She fiddled with her napkin. “You were going to tell me what a mating rite is.”

Darius drew in a deep breath. “I know I’ve asked you this before, but didn’t you learn anything about Lupine rituals when you were growing up?”

“My mother…” She felt a familiar pain knot her stomach. “She was overprotective. She said there were aspects of Lupine pack life I didn’t need to know.”

For a long moment he said nothing. Then he drained his wineglass and filled it again from the bottle on the table.

“A mating rite is final. There is no going back. Lupines who engage in one can’t live in the Skin world. They have to live in a pack or they wither and die.”

Dismay filled her. Live among wolves for good? “They can’t live among humans?”

“No.”

“I don’t understand. You said it was sexual?”

She felt stupid, like a child asking a parent about the mechanics of sex. But deep inside, instinct urged her to explore this idea. Because once they had shared a deep connection and she’d broken it for good. And deep inside, her dormant Lupine self was curious about such a secretive and ancient ritual.

Darius rubbed his lower lip with a thumb and she suddenly wanted to trace his mouth with her tongue…trace his whole body with her tongue.

Samantha locked her legs together.

“Ah, with a mating rite, after the couple exchanges vows, they have sex. In front of at least one witness to prove the female is willing to undertake this very extreme vow. The specifics are usually dictated by the male’s preferences. That way the female fully knows what the male enjoys during sex and there are no surprises after the rite. After the male Lupine demonstrates his preferences, the female dictates what sexual acts will take place. Most times, the sex turns slightly kinky. Or very kinky.”

He took a deep breath and locked his darkening gaze to hers. “Such as blindfolds, velvet ropes and other restraints.”

“That’s what’s expected?”

“That’s what I enjoy.”

Heat suffused her face. Certain her face was bright red, she sipped her wine. But she did not look away.

“Kinky. What else? A threesome? Or more?”

Darius’ mouth quirked in apparent amusement. “No, darling, a mating rite is exclusively between the couple, because the couple must bond.”

“Two Lupines proving their love through sex. It doesn’t sound too weird. Except for the witness.”

“The witness is usually the pack alpha, and the alpha is very discreet. It can be as open or as private as the couple wishes. The sex can be rough. That’s why a mating rite carries a distinct risk if the female isn’t strong enough. Many times the male will turn feral when the couple shifts into wolves and have sex in wolf form…”

Samantha’s heart nearly stopped. “Bestiality?!”

Darius winced as a few other diners glanced their way. “Lower your voice.”

“Sorry.”

“Sex in wolf form. Not the same.”

Dear gods. Fear slid down her spine as she recalled seeing Maxim shifting into a wolf while he had sex. She thought of the amber flashing in Darius’ eyes as he went to mark her as his mate.

Lupine sex seemed ferocious and savage enough. Maybe she could handle it in Skin form, but shifting into a wolf to have sex?

He saw her expression and sighed. “Sam, it’s our Lupine nature. Your nature. You’ll find out. Don’t be scared of what you truly are,” he said quietly. “It’s perfectly normal and natural for our kind.”

“Normal? Natural? Not for the life I’ve chosen.” She took a huge gulp of wine. “Darius, I accidentally saw it when I was fourteen. Your father and a female were having sex in the woods. Not a nice sight. It was pretty rough. But then they shifted into wolves and it was…brutal.”

Sympathy filled his gaze. “Seeing my father have sex in any form would traumatize a young female. You were young, Sam. Not old enough to comprehend our lifestyle. Sex in wolf form bonds together the couple and is the most erotic pleasure you can imagine. Or so I’ve been told, as I’ve reserved that experience for my mate.”

For you
, his gaze hinted.

Suddenly she felt lost and more alone than when she’d first arrived in Portland, not knowing a single person.

“I can’t do this. I’m not a good wolf. I want to live as a Skin. Not a Lupine. I’ve never truly fit into the Lupine world.” Her voice dropped, and her stomach knotted with tension. “Sometimes I don’t know where I fit in. I like living as a human, and I don’t know if I can ever go back to being wolf.”