“No.”
He’d been fully expecting that response. Females usually saved anal sex for their mates. He understood and respected that, and so did his wolf. Still . . . “I want it.”
“Well, thanks for sharing that. Now if you could get to work, that would be great.” She gasped as his tongue teasingly fluttered around the entrance of her pussy. She bucked her hips, needing more. His tongue sank inside her just as he pushed his finger into her ass. “Now wait a minute—”
“I’m not going to fuck your ass, baby. I won’t take what you’re not prepared to give, no matter how much I want it.” He flicked her clit with his tongue. “But I want to feel how tight and hot this ass is. Will you let me have that?”
She hissed as he worked his finger deeper; the burn felt surprisingly good. “Only if you make me come fast.”
“If that’s what you want . . .”
A moan slipped out of her as his mouth clamped around her. He ate at her pussy like his life depended on it; all the while his finger thrust in and out of her ass. The dual assault on her senses drove her insane, making the friction build and build inside her. Then his mouth suckled her clit and, yeah, she was gone. She fisted his hair as bolt after bolt of pleasure racked her body, leaving her a shivering mess.
Tao rose above her, licking his lips. “Nothing should taste that good.”
She stared into gold eyes that were hooded and gleaming with a need that called to hers. His face was stamped with possessiveness and a predatory hunger that made her pussy clench. “Fuck me.”
“I want your mouth first.” Grabbing a chunk of her hair, Tao kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue inside. She gave as good as she got, digging her nails into the skin of his back and arching up to grind against his cock. He groaned, so full and aching to be in her. Surely it wasn’t a good thing to need anything this much, but he needed her. There was no changing it. “Tell me what you want, Riley.”
“You talk too much. Get moving.”
“I’d love to, baby, I really would. But you didn’t do what I asked.” He shook his head in reprimand. “Now tell me what you want.”
She rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake, Fenris, do you have to be so damn chatty in bed?” He stilled, eyes glittering with menace, and she realized she’d made a mistake. “Um . . .”
“Did you just call me Fenris? Because you know I don’t like that.”
She twisted her mouth. “Well—”
He flipped her over, pulled her to her knees, and slapped her ass.
“Hey!”
He grabbed a fistful of her hair and snatched her head back. “What’s my name?”
“I can’t believe you just spanked me!” The bastard did it again. She reached back and slashed his upper chest—it was instinctive, a primal reaction. Her stomach dropped as his blood pooled to the surface. She realized she hadn’t scratched him with her nails; she’d used the tips of her talons . . . and she’d clawed him deep enough to permanently mark him. The same realization was in his eyes—eyes that flashed wolf for a second. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “I am so sorry.”
Tao slammed his cock into her pussy. She was swollen from her orgasm, but he forced himself deep. Her pussy, so hot and slick, clenched and rippled around him. Too fucking good. He should have been angry about the mark. Instead he was at risk of exploding right then. Curling over her, he pressed her into the mattress. “Want more?”
“But I just—”
He rammed into her again. “Do you want more?”
Thrown that he didn’t seem to care about the mark—or at least was too damn turned on to care about it at that moment—she said simply, “Yes.”
“Then what’s my fucking name?”
His teeth scraped over her shoulder in warning. She bit out, “Tao.”
“That’s my girl.” He fucked her hard. Maybe too hard, but she was pushing back to meet every brutal thrust and moaning for more. Those husky little moans were chiseling away at his control—like he’d had much of that to begin with.
He pushed her deeper into the mattress so she couldn’t move, not at all surprised by the low guttural sound that rattled out of her throat. He hammered into her even harder, faster, letting her know she wasn’t getting the upper hand. Her pussy tightened around him, showing him that a part of her liked the dominant move.
He bit her earlobe. “I’m going to come inside you, Riley. Come until you’re dripping with me. But first I want to hear you scream and feel you come around me. Make that happen for me.” Pounding into her, he slipped his hand around her and plucked at her clit. “Come.”
The growled word vibrated with a pure male power that sent Riley tumbling hard into a vicious orgasm—it wrenched a scream from her throat and threw Tao over the edge. An agonizing pleasure flooded every part of her and stole every bit of her strength, leaving her body weak and quaking. She would have sunk into the mattress like a limp ragdoll if she could have moved, but Tao’s body still held hers in place.
After a few moments, he pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades and pulled out of her. “Don’t move.”
She would have—okay, she might have—obeyed that order if she’d had the strength to control her body. Instead she slumped onto her stomach, breathing hard. She sensed him leaving the room, but she couldn’t open her eyes to see what he was doing. Moments later he reappeared, and then a wet cloth was dabbing her back. She frowned. Why the hell would he be cleaning her—?
Oh yeah. Clearly some of his blood had seeped from his chest onto her back. She still could not believe she’d branded him. Flushing red, she said, “I really am sorry about that.”
“Don’t be.”
Her eyes flipped open at his nonchalant response. “Don’t be? Those marks are deep, Tao. They won’t fade.”
“I know that.” Lying on his side, he dragged her to him so her back was against his front.
“You should be pissed.”
“Well, I’m not.” He kissed her shoulder. “Now sleep.”
“Sleep?” Was he for real?
“You’re tired, so sleep.”
She would have argued with him further, but she was tired. More importantly, she was sleepy. So she let the subject go and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, they could deal with it tomorrow.
CHAPTER NINE
Before Tao even opened his eyes, he knew he was alone. He reached out with his enhanced hearing, listening for any movements in the bathroom. There were none, but Riley’s scent was strong enough in the air to suggest that she hadn’t been gone long.
He inhaled deeply, taking that scent inside him. It shot right to his cock, and he almost groaned. It was a sincere shame she wasn’t right there beside him—he could have rolled her onto her back and driven himself deep inside her.
After edging out of bed, he washed and dressed in a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans before heading downstairs. There were no sounds coming from inside the cabin, so he guessed she was either out on the porch or lying on the sun lounger. But when he slipped out the patio door a few minutes later with a cup of coffee in hand, it was to find no sign of her.
Hearing a distinct prruk-prruk call, he looked up to see a very familiar raven soaring above the trees. The metallic glint of her feathers shone in the sunlight, making them seem alternately blue and purple.
His wolf pushed against his skin, wanting out, wanting to play with the pretty raven. Instead Tao leaned against the porch post and watched as she performed a series of carefree, acrobatic flying maneuvers. As she flew, her wings made a sound that was much like silk rustling. She was so incredibly agile and beautiful, much like Riley herself. It was surprisingly relaxing to just watch her flutter around.
After a minute or so, she swept down and perched on the wooden porch rail. Head cocked, she blinked at him. Those dark-brown eyes held a surprising amount of intelligence and curiosity. The raven had come close to him before, but never this close—she seemed to prefer dropping worms on his head.
“Don’t bite me
with that big beak.” Slowly he reached out and lightly skimmed a finger over her long wings. The feathers were softer than he’d expected.
Her body dipped low, making her large, slightly curved bill lift. It made him think of a wolf getting ready to pounce. She let out a toc-toc-toc sound.
“I don’t know what that means.”
She edged along the rail, moving closer to him. Swift as lightning, she snapped her beak around the cell phone sticking out of his pocket and was gone in a rustle of wings.
“Hey, give it back!”
She didn’t. Instead she circled him low enough that he could almost touch her. Again and again she did it—taunting him. He jumped up to grab her tail and almost had her. She settled on a tree branch, dangling the phone toward the ground . . . and that was when he realized there was a huge rock at the base of the tree.
“Don’t you dare!” But she would dare. The raven could be a little devil at times. He balanced his cup on the wooden rail and stalked over to the tree. “Give it back.” He held out his hand, repeating, “Give it back.” But of course she didn’t. “Riley, tell your damn raven to hand it over.”
The raven soared out of the tree and landed on the porch swing, where she dumped his phone. Her throat feathers puffed up and a deep croak seemed to rattle out of her. It sounded like a complaint—possibly that he was no fun—but Tao couldn’t be sure.
“Whatever,” he grumbled, snatching his phone just as she flew off. Instead of heading back to the trees, she retreated into the house. A few moments later, Riley came out in one of his flannel shirts. “I don’t think your raven likes me much,” he said.
“Actually, she thinks you’re freaking hilarious.”
Leaning his back against the porch post, he curled an arm around her and drew her against him. “Hilarious?”
“She likes to play, and she thinks it’s funny when you moan and whine.”
Affronted, he frowned. “Dominant male wolves do not whine.”
“You do.”
“Whatever.”
“If you want the truth, she’s becoming worryingly attached to you. You should probably run while you still can.” Her raven didn’t get attached to people easily. When she did, she held on tight. It took a lot to make her let go.
He snorted, sliding his hand under her shirt to cup her delightfully bare ass. “You think my wolf’s any less attached to you? He hasn’t given me a minute’s peace since he caught your scent. Even at the beginning, before you managed to charm him, he wanted you.” Tao licked at the mark on her neck. “All he’s done is hound me to take you. It’s not easy to not be at peace with your inner animal. This is the most relaxed he’s been in a while, even though you’re in danger and he hates it.”
Taking all that into consideration, Riley said, “Our animals are weird.”
“I can’t argue with that.” He combed his fingers through her hair, letting his gaze drift a little too possessively over her face. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and yet she looked too beautiful for words. “I have no idea why you wear makeup. You don’t need it.”
Riley’s mouth twitched. From anyone else that might have been a compliment. But this was just Tao being his direct, outspoken self, complaining about her use of cosmetics. “I’ll take that on board.”
“You should.” Cupping her pussy, he slid a finger between her folds, humming as he found her wet. “I didn’t like waking up alone. I like finding you next to me.”
“You like morning sex,” she corrected. She slid her hands up his chest and he winced ever so slightly, but she caught it. Her smile faded. “I really am sorry about the marks.”
He rubbed his nose against hers. “I told you: don’t be.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I pushed you too hard; you reacted.”
“Clawing you is one thing; scarring you is another.” His mate would hate her for it. Yeah, well, Riley would hate her right back just for having him. God, she despised jealousy.
“What are you thinking that has you scowling?”
“That your mate will hate me for leaving a permanent brand on you.” It wasn’t so much that that bothered her, it was that . . . “And then you’ll hate me for upsetting her.”
Snapping open his fly, he said, “I could never hate you.” Tao lifted her and settled her over his cock, groaning as she took him deep. “Not ever.” He turned them so she was up against the post as he took her with short, feral digs until he came so hard it almost blew the head off his cock. And he knew it wasn’t just his wolf who was becoming attached to Riley; it was him.
Later, after breakfast, Tao called Sage for an update. They hadn’t yet found the gunman, which pissed Tao off and had Riley pacing up and down the den like a caged tiger. The Alpha assured them that the Beta and his enforcers would continue their search until the human was found.
A whole day passed without success. And another. And another. The shooter seemed to have literally disappeared. That didn’t go down well with Riley at all. She’d gotten more and more restless as the days went by. Tao had kept a close watch on her, worried she’d get tired of waiting and go hunting for the human herself. So when they were invited to share a meal with the entire flock, Tao accepted the invitation, hoping it would cheer her up a little.
Unlike his pack, the flock didn’t share daily meals, but it did eat together once every two weeks. Of course, his nature balked at the idea of spending time with a bunch of people who were, for the most part, strangers. But if it would distract Riley from her worries, it was worth it.
So, he and Riley made their way to the main cabin for the evening meal. It quickly became clear that the event wasn’t being held inside the building, but in the pretty garden outside. The style in which the long wooden tables were set up, forming a U shape, made Tao think of a medieval banquet. Circular stands of food stood within the U shape.
Spotting Cynthia at the head table with Lucy and the Alphas, Tao was sure to send the bitch a narrow-eyed look, communicating that he knew exactly who’d shredded his clothes. Her brow furrowed in confusion, but he wasn’t buying it. He didn’t miss that Riley tossed her a hostile look, and he wasn’t at all surprised.
While they ate, Tao scanned the tables. Although the ravens were smiling and laughing, there was a tension that hadn’t been present at the anniversary party. One of their own had been injured and there had been no justice, so they were naturally a little on edge. But soon after the last plates were cleared, bottles of tequila were brought out and the whole atmosphere changed.
“Ravens love tequila,” Riley told him. Of course, she tended to despise it when she was hungover.
Lucy, who’d joined them after finishing her dessert, said, “Riley usually drinks us under the table. Not tonight, though. No. Tonight, I will be the last one standing.”
Riley smiled sweetly. “You always say that. And you always fall flat on your face at least an hour before Max does.”
“I do not fall on my face,” insisted Max, flushing, but Ethan snorted.
“There will be no falling on my face this time.” Lucy shook her finger at Riley. “Tonight, your wolf here will need to carry you to your cabin and I will be perfectly alert and coherent.”
Tao wasn’t surprised that things didn’t quite work out like that. The tequila kept flowing and, though it seemed that ravens had a high tolerance for it, most of the flock retired to their cabins after a couple of hours.
By midnight the only people still around were he, Riley, her uncles, Lucy, the Alphas, and Hugh. Everyone was smashed, except Tao, who hadn’t touched a drop of tequila.
Lucy slammed down her glass and lifted her hands. “I’m done,” she slurred. “You win, Ri.”
“Doesn’t she always?” grumbled Max, resting his chin in his hand.
“Lucy, come dance with me, sweetheart,” urged Ruby, who’d been swaying in the center of the tables for a while now.
Lucy’s brows drew together. “But there’s no music.”
“We can’t let a little thing like that stop us.” Ruby dragged her daughter out of her chair. “I’ll sing.”
“Oh God, no, don’t sing,” Sage begged his mate.
Ruby planted her hands on her hips. “Are you saying I don’t have a good singing voice?”
Sage lifted his glass. “Woman, you’re tone-deaf and you know it.”
Hugh laughed, which earned him a scowl from Ruby.
“That was mean, Dad,” Lucy told him. “I’m not saying it isn’t true, but it was totally and utterly—” Her body jerked just as a thunderous sound cracked through the air.
Tao knocked Riley onto the ground and covered her body with his, shouting, “Everybody down!” The ravens dove to the floor, knocking glasses everywhere. Sage and Max army-crawled their way to Lucy. Ruby was already there, putting pressure on Lucy’s chest, her hands red with blood. Shit. Feeling Riley wriggle under him, he hissed, “No, stay still.”
“But Lucy—”
“Will be all right,” Ethan assured her. “Max is with her now; he’ll help.”
If he’d been on his own territory, Tao might have risked trying to get to Lucy, knowing Taryn could heal him if need be. He’d never realized just how much he truly relied on Taryn’s healing skills until then. “Be still for me, Riley,” he growled.
She punched the ground. “I need to check Lucy!”
“What we need is to get her inside.” Luckily, the ravens were already well ahead of Tao on that one. Sage, Ruby, and Hugh did their best to shield Max as he carried Lucy into the main cabin. Tao nodded at Ethan, who then helped him provide cover for Riley as they followed the others inside.
In the den Ethan went straight to Max, who was leaning over the sofa and using his limited healing skills on a half-aware Lucy. Ruby paced at her side, frantic, while Sage yelled orders into his cell phone to “find that bastard.” Just moments before, they’d all been swaying and slurring. Nothing like a shooting to sober everyone up.
Finally Max straightened, sweat beading his forehead. “The bleeding’s stopped. The bullet missed her heart and doesn’t seem to have done any internal damage. She’ll probably be asleep for a while.”