He brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “Open up and take me. You couldn’t do it wrong. I’d enjoy anything you do to me.”
Her lips parted and he leaned closer. She adjusted him until the crown of his cock hovered just over her bottom lip. Her tongue slipped out to swirl around the rim. A soft groan came from Anton. It encouraged her to grow bolder when she opened her mouth to make room for his thick size. She pressed forward, taking him inside, and sealed her lips around him.
She remembered the basics though it had been years since she’d given a guy head. She hadn’t enjoyed it the few times she’d tried. Her ex-boyfriend had always choked her by grabbing the back of her head to try to make her take more than she could handle. Anton didn’t do that. He had her hair but he just held it out of the way. His hips didn’t thrust forward. He held very still.
“Go slow,” he urged.
She started to move around him, lightly sucking and licking at him. His cock seemed to grow stiffer and his breathing increased but he held still. She took more of him, feeling more secure that she could handle his girth. A taste filled her mouth, a wonderful masculine flavor, and she moaned, moving faster, wanting more. It surprised her and her body responded. Her nipples grew taut and she started to ache for sex. Wetness began to spread down her inner thighs.
“Fuck,” Anton moaned. “Slow down, Shannon. I can’t come inside your mouth. I’m afraid I’d make you choke. We tend to ejaculate harder and longer while in heat.”
She wanted to taste him enough to take that risk and ignored his warning. She moved faster, took him deeper, and sucked with gusto. Anton suddenly gripped her jaw, his hand tightening on her hair, and jerked back. His cock pulled free from her hungry mouth and she cried out. She stared at him with confusion.
He fell to his knees in front of her, grabbed her around her waist, and lifted her easily to turn her around. “Bend and grab the edge of the sink now,” he snarled.
Her hands clutched porcelain and she cried out when he entered her fast and hard from behind. His cock stretched her, sent rapture straight to her brain from the nerve endings he pressed against as he surged into her deeply, his hands steadying her hips.
“Hang on tight,” he rasped.
He pounded against her ass, fucking her furiously, and the sounds of their panting and skin slapping skin filled the small room. Shannon hung her head, pleasure swamping her, and her vaginal muscles tightened in anticipation of the climax that built. No one had ever made her feel the way Anton could.
Anton’s hands moved. One released her hip to grip her shoulder while his other hand delved between her parted thighs. Two fingers pressed against her clit. He rubbed her while he fucked her. Shannon screamed when she started to come. The world exploded around her in ecstasy. A heavy body pressed against her back and teeth gripped her shoulder on the side he wasn’t holding. His teeth pinched her skin, sent more rapture throughout her body, and he snarled.
His teeth pulled away and then he roared loud enough in her ear to deafen her while his body jerked violently. Inside, she could feel him filling her with his release. Each jerk of his hips spilled more of his cum inside her. The warm jets of his semen spread and it made her smile at the rightfulness of the sensation.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “I nearly did it. We have to talk after we get back from my parents’.”
She turned her head to stare into his beautiful eyes. “You were going to mate me, weren’t you? We didn’t use a condom.”
He didn’t look away. Their faces nearly touched with him bent over her, their bodies still joined, and his fingers eased away from her throbbing clit. “Yes. I wanted to mate you, and I’m aware that we didn’t use one this time when we could have.”
She didn’t know what to say. Disappointment that he hadn’t bitten her wasn’t something she wanted to share. Staying with Anton, despite the fact they didn’t know each other well, wouldn’t be a bad thing. She was falling in love with him. She kept that bit of news a secret as well, sure he would do the normal guy thing when he heard a woman say the “L word”―run.
It’s just sex, she told herself. He made a commitment to me during mating heat. When it’s over, he’s going to want me gone. He’s a werewolf and I’m not. He’s the future alpha of his pack and I can’t forget that.
“We need to shower again and then go.” He hesitated and then a look of regret crossed his features. “We’ll talk when we return.” He lifted up and carefully withdrew from her body.
She hated it when their bodies were no longer connected. She loved feeling a part of Anton. She just loved him. He’d saved her from his pack, from a puma pride, and he always took care of her. In other words, he’d done more for her than any other guy ever had. He made her feel safe and protected. Special. Sexy. All the things she’d always longed to feel. He also knew she wasn’t fully human, accepted her despite it, and had given her amazing, mind-blowing sex. A lot of it too.
Anton stood and held out his hands. “Come on.”
She allowed him to pull her to her feet. He released her, turned the water back on, and stepped inside the shower. She hesitated. When we come back here, will he tell me that we could never work out, long term? Remind me that a cat and a wolf can never be anything more than temporary lovers? It hurt her to even consider those possibilities.
“Come on in. The water is warm.” He smiled at her.
Her heart melted even more. She stepped into the shower with him and allowed the water to flow over her body. In minutes they got out, dried off, and Anton lent her a pair of sweatpants and one of his oversized T-shirts.
“It’s going to be fine,” he assured her, his dark gaze holding hers. “You know you’re safe with me, and I’ll never allow anyone to hurt you. I don’t know how many of our pack may be there but my mother will be for sure. She won’t get near you.”
“Okay.” She believed him. “I know she hates me after the scene she made when she visited earlier. Is your father okay?”
“We need to go. My father wasn’t hurt. My mother lied about that to lure me away from you. She’s the reason those pride males knew where to find you.” He grimaced. “She called them to come get you. It’s fine now. My father will handle this and make certain it never happens again. She’s in deep shit right now with everyone. I need to speak to him and he’s waiting for us.”
She nodded, lifted her chin, and gave him a brave face. He led her out of the apartment, down the stairs, and they left the closed bar by the back door. They didn’t speak, though she had questions.
The white van waited outside with his brothers and cousin. She refused to meet their gazes. It made her embarrassed that these men knew she and Anton had sex in the same van she climbed into again. She also wondered how Anton had gotten her from the van up to his apartment. Okay, she really didn’t want to know, for fear the answer would make her more uncomfortable, but she hoped he’d covered up her body somehow instead of carrying her naked in front of his family. Witnessing her tied naked to that log had been bad enough.
Anton sat next to her and took her hand in his. She clung to him as the van started. Meeting his mother had been an unpleasant experience and now she would meet his father. Alphas were the most feared of all werewolves, known for their viciousness and brutality. They used fear and violence to keep their packs in line, according to what her father had told her mother.
Guilt suddenly struck her. She hadn’t called her mother in days. She’d wanted to avoid lying. Stating the truth, that she currently lived with a werewolf, under his protection, would probably send her mother into heart failure.
“What’s wrong?” Anton looked concerned. It made her smile that he seemed so attuned to her feelings that he noticed her distress.
“I was just thinking about how my mother would freak out if she knew where I am and where I’m going. She’s feared me meeting other shifters all my life.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Rave offered from the seat in front of them. He turned his head and
grinned. “No one is going to hurt you. You have five of the best pack fighters here. Think of us as your personal bodyguards.” He winked. “Of course, only Anton gets to really hover over you.”
“Rave,” Anton warned softly.
He laughed. “What? I’m just trying to let her know she’s got nothing to worry about. No way will anyone start any shit with us surrounding her.”
Annoyance made Anton scowl. He squeezed Shannon’s hand. “It’ll be fine. My father is actually a lot nicer than my mother. My older brother mated a human and he backed Grady’s decision. My mother didn’t like it one bit, but then, there’s not much she doesn’t hate.”
“You can say that again,” Rave muttered. “I was forbidden to even date human women.” He made a face at Von. “Thanks to him.”
Von’s grin faded. “Drop it.”
Shannon glanced at Anton. He hesitated. “Von fell for a human but it didn’t work out.”
“I said drop it,” Von demanded. “We don’t discuss it, ever.”
Her curiosity was piqued but obviously no one would discuss the subject. It had to be a sore topic for Von. She got the impression the human woman had hurt him.
No one spoke the rest of the drive to a secluded house surrounded by woods.
The house looked nice and very normal. Shannon wasn’t sure what she’d expected to see, but a middle-class ranch house wasn’t it. The van stopped and they all got out. Anton kept a tight hold on her hand.
“If you get scared,” he dipped his head to peer into her eyes, “don’t bolt away from me. Grab me. I’d rather hold you than have to get you down from a ceiling beam.” A grin softened his words. “There are some pack members here. Not too many but I smell at least ten. There’s nothing to fear, kitten. You’re perfectly safe with me.”
She winced. “Don’t let me go, just in case. I swear I’ll die of embarrassment if my instincts make me do something humiliating in front of your father.”
“You’re getting better at controlling it. You’ve done great in a van full of us.”
“You’re right!” That cheered her up and made her feel more confident that she wouldn’t do something she’d regret.
He chuckled. “Maybe your puma is starting to think its part werewolf from adjusting to my scent.”
“I don’t think so. When those pride guys came into your apartment after me, I was scared but my instincts didn’t respond the way they do around your kind. It really pissed me off. I wanted to flee, and tried, but I didn’t go all ninja climbing skills.”
Anger darkened his handsome features. “It had to be the heat you’re in. It recognized them as other pumas.” He snarled that last word, really getting worked up.
Shannon stared at him, unsure what had set him off, but he was getting off-the-deep-end furious.
He took a few deep breaths. “I’m jealous.” He calmed, getting control of his temper. “I feel my wolf, what it wants and how it reacts to things, even when I’m in skin. It makes him wonder if the cat inside you prefers one of those assholes who kidnapped you. You’re too human to control those puma genes of yours; you only react to whatever instincts come with them.”
Understanding dawned and she stepped into him, gazing into his eyes. “As you pointed out, I’m too human. I can’t feel a cat inside me. It’s just me in here with some crazy fears that I react to. You’re the only man I want, Anton.”
His arm slid around her waist to pull her against him and he lifted her hand to brush a kiss over her knuckles. He smiled.
“I hate to break this up,” Von interrupted softly. “We need to go inside. They’re waiting.”
“I know.” Anton lowered her hand. “Let’s go.”
He released her waist, stepped back, but gripped her hand tight enough that she knew even if she panicked, she wouldn’t be able to jerk free. She followed close behind him as they entered a nice living room and then walked to the back of the house to a doorway that had stairs leading downward. Rave and Von were in front of them, with Braden and Brand behind.
The couches and chairs were taken by a group of men who all turned their heads to watch them carefully. Fear shot through Shannon as she glanced at the werewolves in skin, sure all of them were exactly that, and her nose itched. She wanted to hide behind Anton when he stopped at the bottom of the stairs but she forced the urge back and stayed at his side instead.
She kept her chin up as a man suddenly walked in from a hallway at the back of the room. One look at his familiar features assured her this had to be Anton’s father, but he didn’t look as old as he should. He didn’t even look forty.
“Dad.” Rave spoke first. ”I’m so sorry Mom has done this.”
The man didn’t look well. The black, shaggy hair that fell to his shoulders had an unkempt appearance, and dark circles made his gaze seem haunted. He focused on Shannon, and while she didn’t sense any hostility, he sure didn’t seem happy to see her either.
“This is her?” he rasped gruffly.
Anton tensed. “Yes. This is Shannon Alvers. She’s only a quarter puma. She can’t shift, Dad. She’s no threat to anyone here.”
“I’m Elroy Harris.” He paused. “I lead the Harris Pack. First, I want to apologize for the way our pups attacked you and dragged you into our world. It shouldn’t have happened. I don’t condone attacking other shifters without reason, and certainly not female ones. I’m sure you were raised hearing terrible stories about our kind but we aren’t brutal killers.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Harris.” She spoke softly around the lump that had formed in her throat. She’d never expected him to apologize to her.
His black eyebrow lifted. “I wouldn’t call it ‘nice’. We haven’t exactly been friendly toward you…except for one of us.” He turned his dark gaze on Anton. “It seems my son has taken a great interest in you.”
“Dad…” Anton paused. “Are you okay? You look like hell.”
“My mate is currently locked inside a cell, which I’m told she trapped you in earlier, and the scent of the man she killed still lingers. She really told you she planned to kill me?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. She also wants to be rid of Grady. You were both on her list.”
Elroy’s broad shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry too. Betrayal by the one closest to you is the hardest to take. She’s put me in a hell of a situation, hasn’t she? She attacked one of our children when she pulled that stunt with you and threatened the life of my oldest son.” He glanced at Shannon and then back at Anton. “Did your mother know you’d marked her? I can smell it from here. You must have bitten deep.”
“Yes.” Anton hesitated. “She knew, and thought she’d keep me in a coma during mating heat to keep me from going feral without Shannon.”
“I heard she called those pride males to take your woman.” His voice deepened, his features revealed his anger, and his hands clenched at his sides. “She invited them into my territory to take what you’d claimed. She risked your life and those of all our sons by making you go after your woman. My mate plotted against our entire pack with her actions.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” Von cautiously approached his father. “We love her too and this hurts us all. She’s your mate, though, which makes it much worse. We’ve grown accustomed to the hurtful things she’s capable of doing, yet she’s still our mother. I wish we could take your pain.”
“You can’t but I appreciate it. I love my sons.” He met each of their gazes. “I called our enforcers here to discuss what is to be done about this. We’re too emotionally involved to make sane, logical judgments when it comes to your mother.”
“What are we going to do?” Rave shoved his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. “We usually kill anyone who betrays the pack this severely but obviously that’s out.”
Elroy blinked away tears. “I could never kill my mate, despite what she planned to do to me. I wish I could forgive it, I want to, but she endangered all of you. I can’t allow her to remain in a position t
o do it again.”
Braden sniffed, his hand rose to wipe at tears on his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. “We could banish her back to her family’s pack. Grandpa would make certain she doesn’t cause trouble. He’d also take care of her.”
Elroy glanced at the men seated around the room. One of them, a tall blond, nodded. “That’s fair. The pack wouldn’t object to that. No one could possibly expect you to kill your mate, Alpha.”
The tension on Elroy’s face lessened. “So be it then. I’ll call Douglas, inform him of what his daughter has done, and tell him we’re sending her to him. She’s officially stripped of being my mate, a member of this pack, and banished forever for her crimes.”
“Fuck,” Rave sighed. “What about you, Dad? You’re mated to her and it’s mating heat. You can’t let her go until after it passes. You’ll go insane.”
An older man rose from a chair. “We discussed this before you arrived. I’m going to put Elroy into an induced coma until mating heat passes. Because they’re mated, he’ll go through serious depression and withdrawals anyway. I’m more concerned about his grief over losing his mate. It could kill him. They’ve been together for so long, he might not survive the loss. I’ll have to monitor him and keep him drugged regardless, so we have nothing to lose.”
Anton closed his eyes, his hold on Shannon loosened, and she peered up at him. She hurt for him and the amount of pain on his features saddened her. She squeezed his hand and he opened his eyes to meet her concerned gaze. He gave her a sad smile before he broke eye contact to look at his father.
“I’ll lead the pack in your absence. I don’t want you to worry about anything but making it through this tough time. You’re better off without a mate who would harm you or us. We all love her but she doesn’t know how to love us back.”
Elroy turned away, his chin dropped to his chest, and his shoulders shook. Rave wrapped an arm around him and led him down the hallway, out of sight. The older man quickly followed behind the departing pair.
Anton turned his head to glance at his brothers. “He’s strong and he’ll survive. Doc will take excellent care of him.” His voice grew harsh. “I’m in charge for now. If anyone wants to challenge me, speak up, and we’ll take this outside.”