Well, work. In his younger days he’d been a wild pup, running crazy with some of his friends. Partying hard, playing harder. He finally realized finding a woman who could keep up with his sexual appetites wasn’t in the stars, which made every encounter he had even more emotionally empty than the last. He had a lot more fun going out to dinner and sitting there, talking for the whole night than he did from most of his sexual encounters lately. He was lonely.
He could not care less about sex. If he wanted to get off, he could always rub one out. What he truly wanted was a mate.
He fought the urge to drum his fingers on the table. After seven minutes and twenty-four seconds, Callie returned from the bathroom, a morose look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. He wanted to pound who or whatever had put that sour look on her face.
She shook her head as she reached for her iced tea. “Nothing.”
He smelled something odd on her. “Where did you go?”
She blushed, something he suspected wasn’t usual for her. “I had to go talk to my older sister for a moment.”
“Not in the bathroom.”
“No.” She glanced at him, then looked at her glass. “It’s…complicated.”
He laughed. “No shit. This whole thing is twenty kinds of complicated.”
The waitress returned to take their food orders. When she left them again, Callie leaned in. “You don’t want me for a mate.”
He fought the urge to laugh at her transparent attempt to talk her way out of something he could tell she wanted as much as he did. “Oh? Why is that.”
“I’m stubborn and pigheaded and have a really bad temper.”
“So?”
She stared at him. “I’m jealous and pushy and bossy. I have to be in charge.”
* * * *
His handsome smile not only crinkled his eyes, but she felt it at the very depths of her soul. “Then we’ll have an interesting night together, won’t we?” he suggested.
She tried again. “I’m a pretty kinky chick,” she said. “I don’t get off on just any old vanilla, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am missionary sex, you know.” She hoped when she picked up her glass of tea that he couldn’t see how badly her hand was shaking.
He leaned a little closer across the table and quickly flicked the tip of his tongue across his teeth in a sexy way. “Then guess what, chica, you’re about to get the fuck of your life. I have yet to find a woman who can keep up with the real me. A woman I don’t have to hold back with.”
She knew he heard the soft, plaintive mewling sound that rolled from her throat over that statement. “I don’t just mean reverse cowgirl, buster.”
He crooked a finger at her to lean in closer. He whispered in her ear, “I’m going to take you home, put cuffs and a collar on you, and tie you facedown across my spanking bench. I’m going to redden your ass with my bare hand while you’ve got a butt plug up it and a vibrating egg inside your pussy at the same time. When you’re begging me to fuck you, I’m going to take the egg out and fuck your dripping wet pussy while the butt plug is still in you. Then, as you come, I’m going to sink my fangs into your shoulder and mark you as mine. I’m going to make the top of your head explode. While you’re recovering from that, I’m going to move you to my bed, tie you on it spread eagle, and lick your clit all night long until you forget you ever had another man before me.”
She tried to find a reply and settled on, “Is that all?”
He chuckled softly, giving her earlobe a playful nip. “No. We’ll start the next morning with you giving me a nice, long blow job. On your knees with your hands cuffed behind your back and the vibrating egg up your pussy, and the butt plug up your ass. I think you’re going to need maintenance spankings every morning, too.” He gently blew into her ear. “You don’t just like kinky. Admit it. You’ve spent your entire life looking for a man who could take you on and make your dirtiest fantasies come true, haven’t you? And I’m either going to make them come true or die trying to convince you of that tonight.”
Damn him! Her clit throbbed, on fire, her asshole clenching as she imagined the pleasant feel of the burning pinch of the butt plug and spanking she hadn’t felt in way too long. Under the table, she felt him nudge her legs wide apart with one booted foot. When she tried to close them, he used both feet to push them apart.
And firmly keep them there.
She nearly melted in her seat.
“So what do you say to all of that, hmm?” he asked.
She cleared her throat. “Can we get the check now?” she whispered with a tremble in her voice.
“No.”
She did a double take. “What?”
He sat back with a devilish smile. “I’m hungry. Since this could very well be my last meal, I’m going to eat it.” His gaze narrowed, impaling her. “Then I’m going to eat you.”
* * * *
He did his best not to burst out laughing at her wide-eyed blink of surprise when he told her no. He suspected she was a woman not used to hearing the word from others when she wanted her way. Especially when she was wound up and horny the way she now was.
This is going to be fun. Although he did feel more than a little worry over the truth of the situation, that he intended to mate her…or die trying. He held no illusions that if she didn’t want to be his mate, she wouldn’t allow it.
Which was fine with him. He knew if he couldn’t have her, he’d rather die. He would never in his life meet another like her. He’d yet to meet anyone like her, ever, in his one hundred and fifty-nine years walking the earth.
If tonight was going to be the night he met his maker, he damn sure would enjoy himself.
Starting with a good dinner.
Chapter Three
After dinner, where Callie spent more time trying to figure out how to get Daniel to eat faster, Callie pulled up in the driveway next to Daniel’s truck. The garage door finished running up, exposing a workspace so neat and tidy it would make a good Dexter kill room.
She didn’t know if she should admire him or keep 911 on speed dial.
Not that I need it.
She got out and locked her car. Glancing around, she realized the area was totally dark. Other than the usual sounds of the night, it was quiet.
“Ten acres,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Not nearly big enough, but it’ll do.” He leaned against a sociopathically clean workbench. “Having second thoughts about me?”
She smirked. “You talk a big game, tough guy. I think you’re trying to back out on me.”
With speed that surprised even her, he grabbed her, spun her around with one of her arms locked behind her back and one of his pressing against her throat.
Her pussy pulsed almost painfully, sending another flood of wetness through her cunt.
“Admit it,” he growled in her ear. “You could kill me where I stand without a second thought.” She struggled to hold back her needful whimper. “But let’s set some ground rules for tonight. You don’t kill me. You want me to stop anything I’m doing, at any time, no matter what it is? You just say ‘red’.”
She tried to wrench her head back to look at him, but he had too strong a grip on her. “Red?” she asked for clarification.
She nearly fell over as he let go of her. When she regained her footing, he was lounging against the workbench again with a playful and devilishly handsome grin on his face.
“Just like that,” he said. “Deal?”
Callie instinctively knew she’d end their night begging him to mark her, or mate her, or all-of-the-above her, just to keep feeling like this.
Excitement.
Anticipation.
Good, old-fashioned, lustful need.
Yeah, she could turn him into a pile of mangy wolf hide if she wanted. But she didn’t want to.
It was the last thing she wanted.
“Deal,” she agreed.
He walked to a door she presumed led inside the house and hit the button next to it to make the g
arage door roll down. He smiled. “Welcome to my lair, Cailleach.”
“My, what big teeth you have.” She stepped past him into a well-appointed kitchen.
He laughed as he dropped his keys onto the counter. “Do you have any idea what a relief it is to be able to joke with you like that? To be able to be myself?” He snagged her arm and pulled her to him, his gaze burning into hers. “I mean in all ways. Not just the wolf ways, either.”
He reached up and grabbed a firm fistful of her hair, slowly pulling back until he had her chin tipped up. He leaned in close. His pupils appeared huge, his eyes the dark green of emeralds, and she felt an impressively hard bulge straining through his jeans.
She wanted to drop to her knees in front of him, but he wrapped his other arm firmly around her midsection, keeping her on her feet, her body pressed against his.
“Do you know what I mean?” he whispered. “Do you understand what I’m talking about?”
She couldn’t nod. She managed to squeak out an, “Uh-huh!”
His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak.
Her heart raced. He was waiting for a different answer. She wanted him to kiss her, but suspected he wasn’t going to do anything but stand there all night until he heard what he wanted.
Duh! The answer finally struggled its way through the lust-soaked portions of her brain and made it to her vocal cords. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered.
His smile nearly made her come right there. “Good girl,” he whispered, so close his breath brushed against her lips. Then he kissed her. He tasted like a sweet, dark lager, earthy and mellow. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her hands tightly around him, wanting more, wanting him to totally own her.
He’d read her mind without even trying. He knew her heart’s desire. And no, he couldn’t really beat her in an unfair fight. However, if she didn’t blast him, under normal circumstances she knew he could keep her in line and would value the opportunity to do it.
“Can I trust you?” she fearfully asked.
His expression softened. “You are my mate,” he whispered. “I would die for you. Even if I wasn’t bound by the Code of the Ancients to take care of you, I would do any- and everything in my power to keep you happy. I only need one thing from you, and you have to willingly give it. I couldn’t force you if I wanted to.” He relaxed his grip on her hair, instead stroking it. “I don’t want to force you.” His smile regained just a hint of mischievous evil. “Well, I don’t want to force you to submit to me. Maybe I will force you to do other things.”
She had a feeling she’d enjoy every second of those other things. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t answered her question. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with someone who suckered me in for one night of hot sex and can’t deliver for the rest of my life.”
He tightened his arm around her as he brushed his lips across hers. “I want a mate, a partner, a wife, a friend, a lover. But I need that woman to be all those things and be my submissive, too. Someone strong enough not to be a doormat. Someone who only gets on their knees for me. Someone who will submit to me willingly, but who also has a spine of steel.”
Her knees felt like jelly already.
He smiled. “I won’t wake up tomorrow and find you to be a puddle of goo, will I?”
“Probably, but not in the way you mean.”
He laughed. “I also need a partner in life who has a good sense of humor.”
“Did you happen to notice the purple hair earlier?”
“I did. I thought it looked beautiful on you.” He ran her red hair through his fingers. “So does this. I think I prefer this. I know what would look better, though.” He grazed his teeth across her throat, making her moan.
“What?” she gasped.
“Your clothes on the floor and my cuffs on your wrists and ankles.” He gently nipped the hollow of her throat. “And my collar locked around your neck.” He nipped her again. “And you will wear my collar.”
Oh, Goddess! She wanted it. She wanted it more than anything, wanted to believe he could and would follow through.
He suddenly released her. Callie almost lost her footing and grabbed for the counter so she didn’t hit the floor. He went to the fridge and started rummaging through it. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
“Huh?” She couldn’t think. She didn’t want to think. She wanted more of that.
More of him.
He held up a can of soda. “I have Coke, tea, milk, water. Want anything?”
She swallowed hard and shook her head.
He closed the fridge. Smiling, he popped the tab on a can of Coke and took a couple of swallows. Then he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.
On trembling legs, she followed him. He sat on the couch, picked up a remote control, and turned on the TV.
She stood there in disbelief. “What are you doing?”
He smirked. “Relaxing.” He patted the couch. “Come here.”
She did. She wanted to pounce on him, rip all his clothes off, and fuck his brains out, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t let her do that. She managed a glance at the bookshelves lining the wall holding the forty-two-inch TV. A wide variety of books, a few pictures, and quite a few carved items were neatly lined up on them.
“What are those?” she asked, pointing.
“What? The carvings?”
She nodded.
He shrugged. “I wanted a hobby. I like making stuff like that.” She loved his playful grin. “That’s not what you want to talk about though, is it?”
She shook her head.
He leaned in close. “Let’s not waste any more time. I won’t force you to submit to me, even if I could. But if you give your submission to me, I promise I’m more than man enough to keep you in line.”
She tried to kiss him, but he grabbed her by the hair with his free hand and pulled her back with a playful smile.
“If you want me,” he said in a dangerous tone that totally soaked her panties, “then you need to get on your knees and ask me.”
“What about calling red?” she gasped.
“That’s for when we’re playing. I could easily do things the old-fashioned way and chase you down, but honestly? That doesn’t appeal to me. I want to know you want me. I want your submission to be willingly given to me. I want you to beg me to do every nasty, depraved thing to you that you’ve ever wanted done. Maybe even a few things you never knew you wanted done to you. Once I know all of that, from that point on, I can do all the chasing I feel like. And I will catch you every time.”
She stared into his eyes. She’d never wanted anything more in her life.
And that was a pretty damn long time.
She nodded.
He released her hair and pointed at the floor in front of him. “On your knees, facing me,” he quietly said.
All right! One blow job, coming up!
When she tried to reach for his zipper, he laughed and gently pushed her persistent hands away. “Did I tell you to do that?”
“But—”
He grabbed her chin. “Stop. Turn your mind off. Follow orders.”
With a frustrated sigh, she sat back on her heels in front of him.
* * * *
He tried not to laugh. She looked nearly frantic with need. “Very good.” He suspected no one had ever dared tell her no before.
She’d have to get used to it. He would keep her on a short leash at first, give her a taste of the control he knew she craved.
Who was he kidding? He wanted to slake his thirst to have a total submissive all his own who wanted every bit he could give her and then some. Someone he didn’t have to hold back with, physically or mentally.
“Hands on your knees,” he quietly commanded.
She glared up at him while she complied.
“Good girl.” He reached over and stroked her hair, slowly fisting it and tipping her head back so he could look deep into her eyes. “Don’t try to lie to me and tell me you don’t w
ant this,” he softly said. “I can smell how wet you are. I can hear your heart pounding. Don’t worry, you’ll get all the orgasms you can handle and then some, but only when I’m ready to give them to you. Do you understand me?”
She licked her lips. Then, sounding less sure of herself, she whispered, “Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl,” he cooed.
He made her sit there and watch him while he took his time sipping his Coke. Her eyes never left him while he did his best to not drag her into the bedroom and make love to her immediately.
When he finished, he handed her the can. “Please take this into the kitchen for me and set it in the sink.”
Now she looked puzzled, but she took it. “Yes, Sir.”
When she returned, he stood. “Time to show you the playroom,” he said with a smile.
* * * *
He led her to the back of the house, where he’d turned a bedroom into a dungeon. When he opened the door, she thought her knees would melt right out from under her. He didn’t just have a playroom. He had a dungeon so well equipped it would make most Doms drool with envy.
She stepped past him into the room. There was a small carpeted area with a futon cushion and pillows. Aftercare, if she had to guess. A padded spanking bench. A St. Andrew’s Cross. From the ceiling, eyebolts held two lengths of chain from which a horizontal bar was securely attached. One wall rack held an assortment of riding crops, beautiful canes made out of wood and synthetic materials, whips, paddles, floggers, slappers, straps, and other implements.
The highlight was the rolling cart holding the most well-equipped violet wand setup she’d ever seen in her life. When she started to walk over to it, he grabbed her by the hair and reeled her back in.
“Nope. You don’t get to play with the toys until I say so. Got it?”
She started to nod then remembered her place. “Yes, Sir.”
He grinned. “Such a good girl you are,” he softly said.
Another flutter straight to her pussy. She didn’t need a fresh change of panties, she needed a NASA-worthy adult diaper to contain the flood of moisture this wolf had inspired in her.