Sebastian left her sitting there wide-eyed. He figured she'd call him to help her up, but she didn't say a word for endless minutes. She was either confused as hell or hoppin’ mad. He wasn't sure which. As he lowered the storm shutters, he figured he'd find out soon.
Finally, she called his name followed by “untie me you brute. I have to wipe.” He could see her grinding her jaws together and her eyes glistening. For a brief second, he feared he'd pushed her too far. He conceded and untied her wrists then stepped from the room and crossed his arms over his chest. Patience wasn’t his strong suit.
“What did you mean by 'a husband always takes care of his wife?'” she called a minute later as the toilet flushed.
“Just what I said.”
“We aren't married.”
At her heated retort, he opened the door and pulled her against him. “But we will be.”
“Says who?”
“Says me. Judge Rothburn will be here in a few minutes.”
“A few minutes!” She sounded panicked. “He can't see me like this. Sebastian, untie me this minute!” Her old accent was starting to come out.
A knock on the front door drew their attention.
“Too late,” he murmured and untied her feet. He hauled her against his side and opened the door. The graying judge stood on the porch, an umbrella at his side. Sebastian’s cousins, Burke and Laurent, stood behind.
“Judge Rothburn, thanks for coming so quick. Please come in.” Sebastian stepped aside to let them inside. “Burke, Laurent.” He nodded in greeting as they stepped past him.
He felt Manda's gaze on him, but she said nothing. Did nothing more than take slow, deep breaths. Then he felt her muscles tense as she leaned ever so slightly for the door. He closed it none too gently, flipping the locks. He buried his face against her neck and whispered against her skin, “Don't even think about it, chérie.”
“Too late,” she whispered back, mocking him.
“Don't forget, petite, that I have excellent night vision. If you run, I will hunt you down.”
“You didn't before,” Amanda tossed back, but inside she was on fire. The image of herself fleeing into the darkness with him hot on her heels was a dream she'd had hundreds of times.
It always ended the same way...
Eventually he would catch her, his hands biting into her flesh as he hauled her against him. She was too tired to put up a fight. In fact, she almost sagged with relief. His body was big and strong and warm. The warmth she craved.
He turned her toward him roughly, tearing off her clothes with desperate hands. His eyes glowed a beautiful silver. He made no effort to hide his erection, made no move to release it.
Instead, he reached for her, running his hands over every inch that he could reach. Her skin was taunt with goose bumps and his touch slowly warmed her, made her wet with desire.
Without a word, he stepped back and his clothes disappeared like magic. In the darkness, she had a hard time taking in the view but knew he was solid and strong. His cock was long and thick, jutting out towards her.
Momentarily panicked, she backed away but he was on her in an instant. They fell through the air, rolling on the damp ground. She found herself on her stomach, her breasts pressed painfully into the earth with Sebastian's hot breath on the back of her neck.
“Tell me you want me,” he whispered into the darkness.
A gargled sound escaped her lips.
He pushed his weight off her and she instantly missed the warm shield his body had provided.
“Tell me you want me,” he said again.
Oh, God help her. She'd always wanted him. For years, she'd wanted him to claim her, to take her body. To bring her pleasure.
“Say it,” he ordered, pulling her up on her hands and knees. She wobbled unsteadily, feeling completely exposed. His hands smoothed over her backside, his palms caressing every curve. “I know you want me, petite. You're on fire for me. I bet you're dripping for me.”
His thumbs skimmed her pussy lips. She could feel the wetness, knew that he could feel it too, and that she couldn't deny it. Her nipples hardened in the cool air and she shivered again.
“You can't deny it, little one. Your body gives you away. You want me just as badly as I want you.”
He probed her pussy with a single thick finger. It wasn't nearly enough. She craved more.
She pushed back against his hand shamelessly, moaning low in her throat. He laughed then showered kisses along her spine. A warm hand closed over her left breast, cupping its weight. Slowly, he massaged the pointed peak and began driving his finger into her. Then two fingers. Then three. He stretched her, but it still wasn't enough. Her skin was on fire, and she wanted to come more than she wanted her next breath.
His hand left her breast and flicked over her clit. The tiny bolt of electricity shot through her body caused her to squeak, but she spread her legs wider, trying to rub against his fingers. She didn't care if anyone came upon them. If anyone saw how exposed she was. It didn't matter that she was naked in the middle of the forest, or that there were probably bugs and animals lurking all around her. She could only think of his strong hands and that thick cock.
“Say it, petite.” His voice was harsh and filled with frustration. She wanted to tease him. To make him admit his feelings for her. To make him pleasure her until he came. But when he pulled his fingers from her wetness she forgot all about her plans. She could only cry out at the emptiness.
“I won't touch you again until you--”
“Fuck me, Sebastian!”
He immediately slid the broad tip of his cock slid inside her, answering her desperate cry. He worked himself inside inch by slow inch. He was so thick. So long. Would her body take all of him?
A few seconds later, he pulled out and thrust all the way in, delighting every nerve along the way. His hands clasped her hips tightly, holding her steady as he increased the tempo.
“You're so wet. So tight.” Above her, he grunted and groaned as he pumped in and out. His balls slapped against her clit in a rhythm that tortured and teased her. He pushed her closer and closer to the brink. She tightened her muscles around him, reveling in the deep groan that erupted from his lips.
He wrapped himself around her, and even as his cock filled her and her pleasure teased her with its nearness, she marveled in how big he was. How strong. And how feminine she felt next to him, under him.
He pulled all the way out and she felt emptier than ever before. A searching finger teased her clit and drew lazy circles keeping her at her peak.
“Please,” she moaned and leaned down slightly hoping he would let her come.
He drove into her with a force that startled a cry from her lips and almost toppled her. Furiously he pounded her pussy and rubbed her clit.
Her orgasm was explosive. Not the usual wave that washed over her. But a bomb of pleasure exploding inside her and radiating outward. His cries joined hers and she felt him swell inside her tender sheath. His movements halted but she could feel him coming, could feel every muscle tightening like a violin string.
She was always amazed at his stamina. At least his stamina in her dreams. He would fuck her until she couldn't stand up. So they'd simply lay down. She'd curl around him and he would stroke her skin with gentle hands, telling her that it was only the beginning. Murmuring words of love...
The power picked that moment to go out, startling Amanda from her daydream. With the storm shutters down the room was pitch black. She squeaked with alarm.
“One second. I already had the candles out,” Sebastian said and left her temporarily. One by one little flames lit the darkness. Soon, fire light was flickering over the polished wood walls and shadows danced about the room.
“Come on, petite, the Judge needs to get home soon.” Sebastian's eyes glittered in the candlelight and once again, Amanda was reminded of just how dangerous he looked. And how crazy he was.
This wasn't a dream. Or some fantasy she could control.
She couldn't marry him. She'd dreamed of it a thousand times, but never like this. Never with so much unsaid between them. Never without uttering a thing about love.
Did werewolves feel love?
“Come on, petite.” He held out his hand.
She had to make him see...
Sebastian let his hand drop to his side.
“Maybe I should tie you back up, chérie.”
Her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms across her chest. Burke and Laurent chuckled softly, but she didn’t spare them a glance. It was Sebastian she scowled up at.
“You wouldn't dare. You have no right to keep me here, Sebastian.”
“I have every right, chérie. You've been begging me with your eyes to take you for over a decade now.”
She sucked in a breath and marched over to him. “Not in front of everyone, you big brute.”
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the kitchen.
“Why did you send me flowers? Why did you write that note?” she asked through gritted teeth.
Swiftly, he pulled her to him and stared down into her upturned face. “I never sent you flowers.”
“Yes, you did. You signed them ‘love, Sebastian’. But you obviously didn’t mean it. You just want to get your way, like always. You want me so your brothers can't have me.”
“I always get my way, Manda. That's why I'm Alpha. And I do love you, I think I always have. But I didn't send you flowers. And I don't want you just so my brothers can't have you.”
Her jaw dropped and tears dripped down her cheeks. Outside, a clap of thunder sounded. It shook the walls and hurt his ears.
She laughed and pulled away from him, but he couldn't fathom why. She reached out for the counter to steady herself.
“Why now? Why do you tell me this now?” She broke off in string of crazy, jumbled French. “And who sent the flowers?” She dropped her face into her hands.
Sebastian didn’t know who sent the flowers; he figured perhaps one of his brothers or his secretary. But he wasn’t concerned with that right now; right now, he was concerned with her tears.
“What's wrong, chérie? Why are you crying?”
He wondered if he’d ever understand women. Tell them what they want to hear and they cry. Don't tell them and they cry anyway. All he knew was that his cock was hard as a damn rock, his heart was pounding like the rain, and there was a hurricane coming ashore.
“I'm crying for all the years we wasted.”
“That's it?” He mourned that too, but nine years out of his lifetime was worth the wait if she'd be in his arms every day for the rest of it.
The thought of waking up next to her each day made his heart ache with happiness. He could almost see the days laid out like photographs in front of him. There didn’t seem to be enough. But he’d always known that if he chose a human for a mate his life would be tied to hers. When she died, he would as well.
The happiness in his heart turned to anguish. A brutal, scalding ache. He studied her, remembering the first time she’d looked at him like he was her hero. He’d known right then that he’d fight to the death for her. And if finally having her meant shortening his life… he took a deep steadying breath, hardly able to believe that the day was here and he was making this decision. It was a decision all alphas had to make sometime; a sacrifice his brothers and the pack understood.
“That's it? That's it!” she demanded, her voice hoarse from crying. “Tell me right now, Sebastian or I'm running out of here and you'll never see me again. Why do you want to marry me? Why so suddenly?
“All the time I was growing up you had mood swings that could rival any woman with PMS. You'd look at me like I was your entire world. And the next minute you'd treat me like a kid sister. Or worse. You wouldn't say anything at all. You'd fight with your brothers—
She took a quick breath and continued her tirade. “I heard what you said to Jules that day. About how you could ‘never marry me.’ That was the last straw for me. I was so damn confused all the time that I had to leave. I had to get away. I never knew where you stood. All I knew was that I was crazy in love with you, and for some reason or other, you didn't feel the same way. Or maybe you had demons to exorcise. I don't know.
“So I repeat. Why now? Why in the middle of a hurricane? After all these years... Why didn't you come after me? Why didn't you call? Track me down? Hunt me down if you're so darn good at it? And just what would give you the idea that I'd marry you?”
When she paused to take a breath, he held up his hand. Stunned only began to define what he was feeling. It was like when he'd become Alpha of the pack. All the love and responsibility stared him straight in the face.
He'd never know lil' Amanda St. James had such a set of lungs.
“Are you gonna answer the girl or not?” Burke asked.
“Cause if you don', I'm gonna come in there and steal her away, cousin,” Laurent added.
Sebastian snarled, low and long. Amanda backed away from the menacing sound. “You're not going to touch her,” Sebastian told the men in the other room.
He got down on his knees and reached for her, his decision made. “Chalk it up to foolish pride, chérie. We wolves aren't the smartest in the food chain when it comes to things like this.
“But I've always wanted you. You always make me laugh. You keep me grounded. You make me want to do better at everything. When you smile, I feel like I can do anything in the world. You make me more human.”
Her eyes seemed to glow. Not with anger or confusion, or even lust. But something else. Something that took his breath away.
“Where should we stand?” she asked quietly.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he took her hand and led her to stand in front of the coffee table that was aglow with candlelight.
“How about here?”
* * * * *
After the Judge and his cousins had left, he pulled his wife toward him. The somewhat chaste kiss he'd given her moments ago when Rothburn had uttered those sweet words ordering him to kiss his bride...well, that wasn't nearly enough to satisfy him. He'd been waiting over two hundred years for this.
“I want you,” he murmured. He gently clasped her face between his hands and gazed into her eyes. “I've wanted you so long, chérie. So long. And you ran from me. Never again.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. The first touch was gentle, sweet. The slightest of caresses. Having tested the waters, he caressed her cheeks with his thumbs and deepened the kiss. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, begging entrance. She took little convincing and soon he was inside, plunging into her. Taking her.
She whimpered when he pulled back. He tipped his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes again.
“You know I'll never let you go now.”
“Where would I go?”
“I don't know. Where did you go before?”
“It doesn't matter,” she whispered and kissed his lips. His hands tightened around her waist and she pressed closer, tangling her fingers in his hair.
Dear God, he was her husband now. It was amazing. Was it three days ago, she'd been in New York? It felt like a lifetime. She took a moment to take it all in. He’d said the words she’d always longed to hear. And she knew he spoke the truth.
Sebastian wasn’t one to spout his feelings. Perhaps that had been their problem all along. Hormones. Lack of communication. And a possessive streak as wide as the Mississippi.
“Am I dreaming?” she asked, lazily trailing her fingernails along his scalp.
“If you are, I hope you never wake up.”
His hand traced the length of her spine leaving a delicious chill in its wake. His eyes burned bright in the soft glow. Outside the storm raged, the wind howled. Amanda had never been this far south during a hurricane. Would this place withstand the wind? The water?
“It's sturdy, mon amour.”
Sometimes, she really did wonder if he could read her mind. He gave her a reassuring smile that had her stomach doing cartwheels.
It seemed surreal—the candles, the storm, their shotgun wedding—she could barely believe she was standing in the same room with Sebastian. But she wasn't dreaming. His kiss had been far too good to be a dream. She smiled at him as she pressed her hips against his erection.
He groaned and scooped her up into his arms.