| |
––––––––
“WELL, THAT WASN’T HALF as bad as it could have been,” Alannah said, closing the door to their suite after Vien shuddered and said he had to return to rescue Potierre.
Kieran huffed. It was every bit as bad as he’d imagined. He wasn’t sure how someone as wonderful as Alannah came from such a shrew of a woman.
She took off her dress and lay across the top of the bed in her thin under-thing. “Come on,” she said, patting the bed.
He froze. The sunlight shone in from the window and showed the transparency of her clothing. She undressed in front of him so often it was obvious she didn’t think of him as anything but a pet, despite knowing who he was. And as a pet, she loved him unconditionally...but he couldn’t be there for her like Vien and Potierre. He couldn’t help her up the stairs. He couldn’t change this form at will. How he’d managed to get this way was beyond him, but at least it saved her from looking at his ugly mug. But those smooth-mannered males, Vien and Potierre—jealousy continued to heat along his spine as he thought of how she appreciated their fun together. He could never be fun for her. Even if he could change from the wolf, he wouldn’t.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked softly.
You. Half-naked. And me being here with you.
“Is it wrong to think of us being alone in another way, Kieran? As a man and a woman?”
Yes. I’ll scare you.
“You won’t.”
I can’t show you what I look like. Even if I were able—
“Dammit, Kieran, look at me! Just look. My own mother calls me ugly. Did you think Lord Wilson Nolan was a gentle lover for someone’s first time? He wasn’t. My sisters are ashamed of me enough to go along with her wishes. My father died after changing my looks.”
No. How could she think she was ugly? You are from a place of light and beauty. Of rules. I am from the bowels of Earth. Your ugliness doesn’t even compare to me. Lord Wilson Nolan was her ex. He had a name. Kieran refused to think of an innocent young virgin taken by anyone but him. He would have made sure she was prepared. He would have taken her in the dark so she wouldn’t have had to see his ugly face. He would have worshipped her with his tongue, his fingers. He would have given her countless orgasms and made sure her body was stretched with his fingers so a cock would only have brought pleasure.
“I think I see.” Something had changed in her voice. “If you’re not attracted to me, just say so. If you’re in love with the idea of love, or of rescuing the poor sponsored female, just say so. Don’t pretend there’s anything else between us. I’ve been through that before.”
Been through what? He couldn’t imagine what she meant.
“Do you know what I went through to find a man who was interested in me?”
What do you mean? He asked inside her mind.
“She advertised. Put an ad out there like I was a horse. Good teeth, good breeding, good education. A strong worker. Submissive; a female who knows her place. Wilson answered the ad immediately. At first I was excited.” Her voice turned dreamy. “He was handsome. Rich. A lord. And then I met his mother. I knew I could never live up to her because I was a front. A fake. His mother assumed I was there to give them grandchildren. But Wilson didn’t want children. He just wasn’t man enough to stand up to his mother. So he answered the ad and the only one who knew the reason of why I was really there was me. But what did I have to endure? I can still feel his touch and it makes my skin crawl. The abuse of his mother, calling me hideous, even though my looks were respectably passable back then. Calling me a scarecrow because of my sickly weight, mocking my illness, even though I was strong enough to endure daily pain. In fact, the more I got to know Wilson, the more I was convinced he was excited by my pain. The first abuse from his mother made him take my virginity that very night and it was harsh.”
What?
“It was in her home. And the next morning? She knew. She told me how it was best to provide an heir and move into another bedroom once the test was positive because I’d never be good enough for her son. Then she even suggested it would be convenient if I didn’t survive the childbirth.”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“I realize now she was trying to take my strength away. My will to live. She taunted me with the fact that she would be the one to raise my child. That Wilson was her only offspring and she’d always wanted another. And of course, Wilson couldn’t resist giving her anything his dear mother wanted.”
A pup raised away from his parent? No one could love an innocent like the one who brought it into the world. He wasn’t sure if he believed her or not. But rage filled him as her words continued.
“She mocked me. Said that surely with Wilson’s better looks, the gene pool would favor him. I would be but a memory that would fade fast from everyone’s hearts, including that of my child. It made no difference what the sex of the baby would be. For a boy—he would be raised just like Wilson. To honor her. To love her. To put her on a pedestal before all others. And a girl? Well, girls had but one purpose. To create offspring. So in a decade and a half, she could try again anyway. She’d offer my daughter her freedom for producing an offspring and giving it to her.”
He saw red. His breath was coming in harsh pants and something crawled along his spine. A burn. No, more than that. Hatred. Raw, unadulterated fury. If the female was anywhere near him right now, he’d tear her flesh to shreds.
“And if my child didn’t produce a male? She’d never get her freedom. She’d be kept like a breeding mare, bred every nine months until a male was produced. If it took twenty years, so be it.”
His amber eyes blazed gold as he locked his eyes to hers and then suddenly hunched inward with a grimace. A sharp pain wracked through his body.
“Her eyes turned really crazy then, and I saw what was inside her. She giggled behind her fingers and said they could probably wipe out my genes—if that little girl was bred with their own line. I was too naïve to understand at first that she meant with her father.”
A smatter of pops like snapping bones sounded and an agonized grunt that should have been an agonized shriek except he didn’t want to call attention outside this room to his change.
His wolf was desperate and scared and clawing, fighting to remain. The beast was sure he’d never be allowed in again and he wasn’t about to leave. Hundreds of pops cracked up his spine, burning like a live wire of electricity had been laid across the bloody open wounds. His back straightened into a human line, the fur sucking inside his body and clogging him. He felt stuffed full of unbreathable cotton before it was absorbed.
For a moment, the wolf refused to allow his arms and legs to retreat. It took sheer will and another fresh wave of pain to shatter the bones so they could lengthen and reform. And then his face broke, his snout smothering him painfully as his jaw re-cracked back into his hideous original form he’d worn since being awakened on the island of the underground labs.
When it was done, he stayed in place and turned his head to each side to crack the bones in his neck.
ALANNAH’S EYES POPPED wide as she raked her gaze down the cords of thick muscle in his neck, following down over the beautiful bulk of his perfectly shaped shoulders. His abs flexed sharply with every breath and his arms were rippling with sinewy ropes of muscle.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she took a tentative step toward him. He wouldn’t hurt her. It was still Kieran—her friend. He was lowered to all fours, the side profile of his entire gorgeous naked form on display. Her eyes traced the long line of his body, the curve of his hip and bent leg that hid the front of him. The portion that she was slightly curious about and that shamelessly quickened her heartbeat.
Don’t look at me. I’m a monster.
“You’re not a monster to me,” she whispered. “Not at all.”
Then his head turned and that familiar amber gaze was back on her, but this time in the face of a man. A scarred man, his features too hard to be handsome. Too sharp. His eyes too wary. But he was hers. Man or beast, he was always hers. Familiar. Connected.
Is it okay? He used his mental link. He still didn’t want to scare her, as if his human voice might be too much, too different. But there was hope in that mental thought, hope that she wouldn’t find him too unattractive. Whatever must he think of himself?
“I’m not scared, Kieran.”
His eyes softened as he held still in front of her, close enough that she could reach out and touch his skin.
Pursing her lips, she held out her hand the way she always did. And the way he always had in wolf form, he sank his face into her open palm as he leaned into her touch as if he craved it. A long shuddering sigh escaped him, as though he’d never been touched his whole life.
Now, everything had changed between them.
She fought the urge to grab him and pull him toward her. She didn’t want to scare him with her ferociousness. But he seemed to sense her needs. She hadn’t shut down the mental link between them in time.
His mind touched hers; the same desperation and need tracing through her from him. He needed her to accept him. And she needed to soothe him, to accept him, too. She pulled his head into her chest. His skin was surprisingly warm, so heated, and the moment was surreal. Her wolf, her pet. He was a man.
He was every inch a man, unconcerned with the long, thick erection that jabbed from between his legs.
Holy cow. His huge, perfect, monstrous cock. It was enormous, darker than the rest of him, flushed red like it was angry. Shiny at the tip with moisture that seeped.
Sexy, sexy man.
He lifted his head and opened his mouth to speak. Afraid of what he might say, she crashed her mouth to his. She just wanted him to feel. Feel how perfect this moment was together. He froze for an instant before kissing her back.
His mouth took over, swerving over hers, his tongue dipping between her lips to taste her. A growl came from deep inside him as she swiped her tongue against his, tasting him as deeply as he tasted her. There was an agonized frenzy between them, a need that wouldn’t be satiated until they came together. A fury, a desperation to complete this.
His hands fisted in the thin fabric of her slip and yanked, shredding it with his claws.
Claws.
He still had claws.
She should be scared but she wasn’t. Instead, it was a weird bit of turn-on. She knew he was just as excited to find she had no bra or panties under the slip. She was as naked as he was without the thin barrier covering her.
He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, squeezing him with her thighs, rubbing her hot center against the magnificent abs she’d seen earlier. He was so very warm. His warm, wonderful skin, finally against hers.
He tore his mouth away to mutter, “If I have you, I’ll need you more than once.”
“I know.” She shivered, desperate for that, too.
He laid her on the bed, triumph shining in his brilliant gold eyes. She studied his body the same way he studied hers. Goddess, she’d left a shiny spot on his abs from rubbing herself against him like a wanton hussy.
He looked down to see what she stared at and pure male satisfaction roved across his face. His quivering hand reached for the liquid and rubbed into it.
“So slick,” he breathed. “For me.”
“I want you.”
“You are already ready for me.” A trace of wonder entered his tone.
“I’ve been ready for you a long, long time. Please, give me what I need.” Because she’d learned that was how to deal with him. Kieran would give her what she needed but he’d never take what he needed.
Kieran’s hungry mouth claimed hers with a fierce stroking of his tongue, and hot waves of pleasure rushed through her midsection. For once he didn’t think about whether or not he should, or the ramifications of if he did. He just acted on impulse. On want, and need. She had never felt this way before, not with anyone. He possessed her mouth as if it had always belonged to him and his big body loomed over her.
With a groan, he hauled her up against him, skin against hot skin. Lust tingled as hot as electricity where their skin touched. His hands cupped her ass as he lifted her. Her legs wrapped around his hips and neither of them broke the kiss. Where they connected was magical, hot and needy.
That wonderfully huge, monstrously beautiful cock slicked through the folds of her pussy, wetting them both with her arousal.
“Do you want this?” He gritted through a tense jaw, his voice guttural. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more ready.”
He caught her eye and drove his length along her folds once more, the thick, fat, perfect head of his cock rubbing her clit. The pressure was exactly what she needed.
She rocked forward a tiny bit and angled her hips upward.
The groan that shuddered out of him rolled from his chest thick and deep—more monster than man. It wasn’t a turn-off at all. If anything, it made her wetter. Then as if he couldn’t help himself, he plunged into her.
Her gasp was partly shock and partly hissed pleasure. She was so soaked it felt wonderful. Everything was tight and stuffed full—and there was a sense of righteousness. A sense of belonging, like they were meant to lock together this way.
Her body was on fire, eagerly rippling and tightening around his sudden invasion. Threatening to erupt. Goddess, she had no control whatsoever. When he flicked her nipple, she responded with a deep moan as she felt it deep inside her core. She rocked her hips against him and he pumped into her again. Not as hard, but he began to carry a rhythm of small, quick, sure pumps. Tingles begin to spiral through her belly, deep down where their bodies met.
Their breathless panting filled the room.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he snarled.
She ran her fingers up the thick bulge of muscles that rippled over his shoulders. Muscles that screamed beastly strength. He could snap her in half if he wanted. That made her shiver a little more.
She looked up at his tense face. “You can have me whenever you want.”
Her traitorous orgasm flooded through her as if just waiting for that acknowledgment, shameless with her lack of control over her own body. He arched as her pulsating muscles gripped him and then he was milking into her, jets of hot, sticky cum.
He collapsed onto her, the bulk of his weight on his forearms, his breath mingling with hers.
“Fuck, Alannah. Baby, that was so good. Did I hurt you? Are you sore?”
“Sore? No. Not even close.”
He pulled out of her before tucking them into the bed. But she couldn’t hold still and her hands explored all the fascinating, bulky muscles that ripped his body. He groaned and his monster cock began to rise again.
She grinned as she took it in her hand. He was so much bigger than Wilson had been. And that sex had been painful. She’d always kind of wondered if maybe she wasn’t quite right down there. Built small, maybe. But after Kieran’s size, she had no doubts. He was made for her and she was made for him.
He groaned when she slid her hand up his wet, turgid length, throwing his head back in ecstasy. Then he leaned forward to catch her lips. His kiss was explosive, firing from her lips down through the rest of her. She felt it in each part of her body, one limb at a time, stretching from the smallest of her fingers to her toes, making her feel like she was on fire from the inside out. He lunged forward and settled gracefully between the cradle of her thighs in a blur. So fast, so powerful. His hand felt huge as it tangled through the back of her hair to pull her closer. Desperately—but she felt the need, too. It was like they couldn’t get enough of each other nor could they move fast enough. When Kieran slid into her, she cried out against his lips. He felt so good like this, taking her without hesitation. Without asking, without thinking. The hesitant Kieran determined not to show her himself earlier was gone, and in his place was a rutting man as desperate as her to connect just in case this was their only time. If that was the case, they each wanted to make the most of it.
His harder body flexed against her softer form as he bucked into her harder and faster, setting a pace that was frantic and needy.
Kieran rolled his eyes closed like he was fighting against a looming orgasm. One clawed hand reached out and pushed her knee back toward her chest, thrusting in deeper. He felt amazing inside of her, sliding in and out of her flesh with ease, yet she felt every delectable inch with millions of new nerve endings that had fired up in places she never knew she had.
She dug her nails into his back.
“Fuck, baby. That’s so good.” Kieran’s voice was nearly inhuman as he snarled. The sexy timbre of his voice pushed her even closer to climax.
Without warning, she reached it.
Her body fragmented into a million shards of glass, each one slicing through her like mini waves. She’d never felt anything like it. Such ecstasy coming from the place someone had once paid for to be the first. What a waste of money because nothing could have felt like this between her and Kieran. Good, perfect, connecting to each other as her orgasm blasted through her, her pussy clenching his cock in rhythmic pulses. Kieran pushed into her deep and froze as if he felt her release. He groaned and warmth spilled into her.
Fuck, you’re coming so hard. All over my dick, shuddering all around him. He shut down his mind suddenly.
She was so high on her orgasm she could barely react. Kieran was in her head. It didn’t feel invasive. It felt intimate to share their thoughts, their bodies, their feelings. But he blocked her immediately after he did so, which meant he never meant to share. He’d slipped.
When their throbbing aftershocks had faded away, Kieran kissed her gently. As she nibbled on his lips back, he groaned as he pulled out of her.
And then they cuddled.
