She frowned. “When will I ever be someone who hides out in a basement?”
“Harley—”
“You’re welcome.”
He blinked. “I’m welcome?”
“For capturing the bird and stopping Hector from learning anything we don’t want him to know.” She patted his cheek. “All is good.”
“Let it go, Jesse,” advised Eli. “We wouldn’t have had a chance of catching the bird without her cat’s help. Ally’s vision proved that.”
With an annoyed grunt, Jesse focused on his meal. He knew his mate wasn’t someone who would hide from trouble, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.
A short while later, the Alphas and Betas returned. Roni looked up at Nick and prodded, “Well?”
Nick sighed. “Ally was right; she’s just a scared kid who’s trying to survive. Her name is Ellie, and she’s agreed to only feed Hector the info we want him to know. She doesn’t like him or what he’s doing, so she didn’t need any convincing. We’ve let her go.”
“I gave her Makenna’s contact details,” said Shaya. “Ellie’s agreed to go to the shelter. She probably would have gone sooner if she’d known it existed.”
Harley leaned into her mate. “Done brooding now?”
He grunted again.
“I’ll take that as a no.” She tried to stand, but he held her in place. Harley wagged her finger. “Nu-uh, you don’t get to sulk and pout and keep me here with you.”
“I don’t pout.”
“You so pout.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You hear that? That’s the sound of someone pouting.” Harley blinked as he shot to his feet and flung her over his shoulder. “Hey! This is just rude. Plain rude.” She tried to pull his jeans up to give him a wedgie. The bastard spanked her ass! So she pounded her fists on his lower back. Finally, he plonked her back on her seat.
“Happy now?”
She stiffened at his curt tone. “As a matter of fact—”
“Good.”
Asshole.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Okay, baby, break.”
Harley lined up the cue stick to the white ball, aimed, and took her shot. The cue ball hit the triangle of fifteen balls hard. One of the striped ones rolled into a pocket, and she smiled. “The solids are yours.”
Striped, solids—Jesse didn’t care which balls he’d be hitting. Not when his mate was wearing only a white thong and a matching lacy babydoll that hid absolutely nothing. He’d wanted them to play pool naked, but she’d insisted on half naked, which was why Jesse was still in his jeans. He’d expected Harley to simply yank off her top; he definitely hadn’t expected her to stroll down the stairs wearing a scrap of lace that was as hot as it was torture.
He inwardly groaned as she bent over the table to take another shot, making her breasts almost spill out of the cups. His cock was hard and heavy, needing release. Uncomfortable, he tore open the buttons of his fly. Her eyes snapped to him and roamed down to his cock. She swallowed and went right back to the game. And missed her shot. He smiled. “My turn.”
Harley backed away from the table, taking a good look at his ass as he moved around. When she’d come downstairs and watched his eyes flare with need, she’d expected to have the upper hand. As she’d walked around the pool table, his heated gaze had been locked on her with the same focus that a predator watched its prey. Yeah, she’d had the upper hand. That had lasted right up until he’d unbuttoned his fly. His long, thick cock had brought her off more times than she could count. She couldn’t look at it without wanting it inside her.
Watching as he pocketed two balls, she silently swore. Both Harley and her cat hated to lose. Clearly she’d have to up her game a little. As he lined up his next shot, she flicked one of the straps off her shoulder and danced her fingers along the edge of the table as she slowly rounded it. Opposite him, she stopped. He stilled as he noticed the fallen strap, which flashed him a little more of her breast.
“You trying to distract me, sweetheart?” he asked, voice husky.
She faked offense. “Would I do that?”
“Oh yeah.”
Leaning over the table, she used her arms to squash her breasts together. “You know me so well. Are you going to take your shot or not?” Harley smiled at his narrow-eyed look. He lined up the cue, aimed, hit . . . and the ball rolled right into the pocket. Bastard.
Smug, Jesse said, “No need to hiss, baby.” She’d been distracting him since he was a juvenile; he was used to it at this point. Eyes holding his, she propped her cue on the floor. Her hand curled around the top of the stick, and then she was stroking that hand up and down; making him remember how soft it felt as it skillfully pumped his cock. “Tricky little cat, aren’t you?”
Harley flashed him a smile full of feminine challenge. She knew how determined he was to win. They’d made up their own set of rules for the game, and they had agreed that the winner would have control during the fucking session that would immediately follow. He had a big thing for control, and she had never once given him full control in bed.
“Admit it; you wish it was your cock in my hand, don’t you? If I’m all yours, this is your hand. There’s only one thing it should be pumping like this.”
Jesse had to smile. “Oh, you’re good.” She was not only putting visuals in his head, she was playing on his extreme possessiveness. “But it’s not going to work.” That proved to be wishful thinking on his part, because he missed his next shot. Looking very pleased with herself, his mate then stepped forward. She sank one ball. And another. And looked ready to pocket yet another. He couldn’t have that. “When this is over, I’m going to fuck you so hard it’ll hurt.” And the white ball missed the striped one and went rolling into the pocket.
Harley swore. “You’re a total asshole.”
He prowled toward her. “You sank the white ball, baby. You know what that means.” They’d agreed beforehand that if either of them did that or pocketed each other’s ball, a little sexual punishment would follow. Crowding her against the table, he put both their cue sticks aside and then sat her on the edge of the table. Standing between her thighs, he said, “Remember: you can’t come . . . unless you want to lose the entire game.”
Harley gasped as he bit her nipple right through the lace. “Remember: you only have two minutes.”
“Don’t worry; I’ll make them count.” He tugged down the babydoll, propping up her breasts, and latched on tight to a nipple. Knowing what she liked, he sucked and licked and grazed the hard bud with his teeth. The scent of her need rose and flooded his lungs, making his cock jerk. Her hands sifted in his hair, claws scraping his scalp—he fucking loved that.
As a hand delved under her babydoll and cupped her, Harley bit her lip. Her thong went with a snap, and then his finger skimmed through her slick folds. Feeling his hot mouth on her nipple, his finger teasing her folds, and the heel of his hand brushing over her clit . . . It was too much. Her pussy quivered, but she fought the orgasm that began to build.
“Come, baby,” he rumbled. “You know you want to.”
“Not gonna happen,” she rasped. Glancing at the wall clock, she smiled. “Two minutes are up.”
“You’re right,” he said, biting her nipple one last time before stepping back. Jesse sucked his finger clean, groaning. He wanted more of that taste on his tongue. Not yet.
Thighs trembling, Harley slid off the table. Her pussy throbbed and burned. Why the hell had she agreed to this? Because he’d wanted to play, which was a super rare thing for her mate. Jesse was a very serious wolf. Not in the sense that he didn’t smile or find amusement in things. It was that he had such a serious approach to life that, unlike other wolves, he didn’t play or joke much. Still . . . “Your rules are cruel.”
Jesse chuckled. “My wolf’s pissed at me too. He wants to watch you come and hear you scream. That’ll come later.”
“Cocky motherfucker.”
“Always so cranky when you??
?re horny.” He grabbed his cue stick. “My turn again.”
Harley knew exactly how to wipe that smug look off his face. As he sent another ball rolling into a pocket, she grabbed one of the dining chairs and turned it to face him. “My legs are a little shaky.” Sinking into the chair, she kept her legs open, giving him a very nice view of what she knew he wanted.
Jesse swallowed. “You truly are a little bitch.” He prepared to take his next shot, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from her swollen, glistening pussy. His mouth watered. Fisting his painfully hard cock, he gave himself a quick stroke.
“I’m sorry, am I distracting you again?” she asked sweetly. Then she closed her legs.
Jesse growled. “Open them.” That pussy was his. His to look at and taste and sink into whenever he wanted. “Do it, Harley. Show me what’s mine.”
“If you insist.” She very slowly spread her legs, leaning her head back slightly to expose her throat. He persistently asked her to give him her throat; sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t. She sensed that—in some weird way—he got off a little on not knowing whether or not she’d refuse him. “Time is ticking, Jesse. Of course, you can just end the game now . . . but that would make me the winner.”
Rolling back his shoulders, Jesse said, “I won’t lose this, Harley, no matter what you do.” And then he missed his damn shot. Smiling like . . . well, a cat who got the cream, his mate rose from the chair and sort of slinked her way to the table. Maybe it was because she was so utterly confident she had the upper hand, but she proceeded to effortlessly pocket three more balls.
“Just one ball left,” she taunted Jesse. “Then all I have to do is sink the black . . . and I win.”
As she lined up to take the next shot, he asked, “You ever been fucked in the ass, Harley?” And her ball almost sailed off the table.
She whirled on him. “Oh my God, I will kill you!”
He chuckled. “So close to winning . . . and yet you won’t.” He proved that by pocketing three balls in quick succession. All he had to do now was pocket the black. And he might have done just that if she hadn’t chosen that moment to once more sit on the chair, legs spread, and begin to play with her clit. “Harley, we agreed—”
“That we wouldn’t touch each other. We didn’t say we wouldn’t touch ourselves. You fisted your cock earlier and I never said anything.”
“I’ll bet money that you didn’t say anything about it because you planned to do this.”
She grinned, rubbing her clit. “You’d win that bet. But you won’t win this game. Nu-uh.”
“A demon. You’re a fucking demon.”
Harley laughed. “Take your shot so you can miss and I can end this game.” She slipped a finger inside her. “We both know that’s what will happen.”
He’d be damned if he let her win this. He bent over, aimed, and stupidly sank her freaking ball. That not only helped her, it earned him a punishment. Shit. Jesse cracked one side of his neck. “Well?”
“Come here.”
Fuck, just hearing her say the word “come” made his cock twitch. He was still so damn hard that it hurt to walk, but he stalked to where she sat on the dining chair. “Two minutes,” he reminded her, knowing it would be two minutes of utter torture. But he would not come.
She crooked her finger. “Bend over a little. I want a kiss.” His mouth paused mere inches from hers, and she licked at the seam until he opened. Then she thrust her wet finger into his mouth.
As her taste burst on his tongue, Jesse growled. He should have remembered how cunning and devious his mate could be. He wanted to ring her pretty little neck, but then she fisted the base of his cock and pumped once, twice.
“Make sure you remember not to come.” Harley lapped at the head of his cock, tasting the little pearl of pre-come. Then she swallowed him down, liking the growl that rumbled in his chest. Keeping her lips wrapped tight around him, she sucked on his cock like it was her job, taking more of him with each pass.
Hands clenched in her hair, Jesse watched as his mate drove him insane with her mouth. It was like having his cock buried in a fire of silk. Her tongue touched every sensitive spot he had, giving him absolutely no mercy. “Sweetheart, you have the best fucking mouth,” he growled. “I swear, if I could sleep with my cock in your mouth, I would. But no matter how perfect it is, I’m not going to come.”
Accepting that challenge, Harley sucked harder and faster, smiling inwardly as he bit out a harsh expletive. She dragged her claws down his thighs and purred around his cock. His hands tightened in her hair and his thighs started to shake—
“Time’s up.” He pulled out with total freaking relief.
She jumped to her feet. “Goddammit!”
“I never thought I’d ever be glad to get my cock out of your talented little mouth.”
Snatching up her cue stick, she snapped, “My turn.” She practically stomped over to the table, out of patience. The black ball was at an awkward angle. No matter what side she approached it, there was no way to take a decent shot. “Oh, come on!”
Shoulders shaking, Jesse said, “Something wrong?” The way she glared at him . . . he honestly thought she was going to hit him with the cue. Especially when her eyes flashed cat. Instead, she prepared to take her shot. Predictably, she missed. Even better, the white ball rolled to a stop at a position that gave him a perfect angle to pocket the black. “Ready to watch me win?”
Tapping her claws on the pool table, she hissed. “You’re such a dick.”
“Why? Because I’m going to win?”
“Yes.”
“Such a sore loser.” Bending to take his shot, he met her eyes. “Get ready to be ruthlessly fucked.” Then he smoothly sank the black. Swearing, she slung the cue on the table, glaring at him with eyes that dared him to act. Oh, he would. He had plans for his little cat. Anticipation and satisfaction coursed through him, making the excitement almost painful.
He growled when she went to move. “Stay where you were, hands on the table.”
Eyes narrowing, she followed his order. “You sure you want to risk coming close? My cat wants to rip your face off.”
Rounding the table, Jesse pressed himself up against her back. “I’ll take my chances.” Wanting total access to her skin, he peeled off the babydoll, careful not to tear it. Then he gripped her breasts and licked over her claiming mark. “Hold on.” Without any preamble, he slammed home.
Harley’s mouth opened in a silent scream as his long, thick cock forced its way past her swollen muscles and bumped her cervix. Biting her lip, she moaned. He filled and stretched her just right—enough to burn but not enough to truly hurt.
Knotting his hand in her hair, Jesse snatched her head back. “I win, so I have the control. That means you follow my rules. One, if I tell you to do something, you don’t question me. Two, you can’t come unless I give you permission. Three, if you want something you can have it . . . just as long as you ask nicely. And four, you have to answer my questions honestly.”
Questions? What questions?
“None of this means burying your dominance or being someone else, Harley. It means trusting me enough not to fight me. Trusting me to give you what you need. Trusting me not to do anything you won’t like. It means letting all the other shit go and giving yourself to me all the way. I know you’re strong enough to do that. And you will do it.”
Gripping her hips, Jesse backed them both up a little. “Now fuck yourself on me, Harley.”
The sheer power and dominance in that order pushed every defiant button she had. Bristling, her cat whipped her tail. Harley’s instinct was to fight him, but she had made him a deal. She might hate losing, but she never backed out on a promise. So she tightened her grip on the table and slammed her hips back into his, impaling herself on his cock over and over. She gasped as a wet finger began to push inside her ass. He often added a finger there when he fucked her, and she didn’t mind admitting that she liked it.
“Fuck me harder,
sweetheart,” he rumbled. She powered her hips back to meet his. He groaned as her hot, slick pussy squeezed him tight. “You never answered me before. Has anyone ever had your ass, Harley?”
“No.”
He’d thought not. “Did anyone want it?”
“Can’t we talk later?” She was kind of busy here.
Curling an arm around her waist to still her movements, he growled into her ear, “Answer the fucking question.”
Never again would she agree to give the bossy bastard full control. “Yes,” she bit out. “The answer is yes.”
“Why didn’t you give it to them?” He pulled his finger almost all the way out of her ass and then roughly thrust it back in. “Don’t say you were saving it for your true mate.” It was something that most shifters did, but . . . “You had no intention of seeking him out and returning to the shifter world. So why didn’t you let anyone have your ass? Remember you have to answer me honestly.”
“It would have felt like I was letting them claim me.”
“That night at the hotel . . . would you have given me your ass if I’d asked for it?”
No. Maybe. Probably. “Yes.”
Satisfied, Jesse said into her ear, “Because you knew even then that this ass was only ever going to be mine.” He rotated his hips, hitting a spot deep inside her pussy that made her gasp. “I’m not going to fuck your ass now.” He needed to come too badly to patiently prepare her ass and fuck it nice and easy. “But I’ll have it soon.” His free hand slid up to close possessively around her breast. “Very soon.” And then he was ruthlessly pounding into her pussy, taking what was his.
Fuck, she was gonna come. How could she hold out when his teeth were raking over her claiming mark, his hand was clutching her breast, his finger was fucking her ass, and his cock was driving so deep inside her it actually hurt? It was a good hurt, a pain that amplified the pleasure. “Jesse . . .”
“I know. You need to come.” He bit her earlobe. “You know the rules, Harley.”
He wanted her to “ask nicely,” she realized. Harley hissed, which earned her a slap on the ass. “I. Don’t. Be—” Her breath caught in her throat as an orgasm threatened to tear through her.