A Wolf’s Deception (Novella) (9 page)

He collapsed down beside her, cupped the smooth skin of her cheek and kissed her soft lips.

‘You’re amazing, Tress.’

‘You’re not so bad yourself.’ Her colour was high. ‘I’ve never…no one’s ever…’ she looked down at her stomach. ‘…I like it, like watching you touch yourself.’

He nuzzled her throat, nipped the tender skin there.

‘Hmm, will you do that for me? When we’re home, and I have all the time in the world to play with you. Will you touch yourself, show me how you like it?’

She swallowed audibly. ‘Yes.’

Jesus, he had to pull his shit together. Sawyer was in the next room. He didn’t have the luxury of playing out every one of his dirty fantasies with his woman, not yet, not until she and Sawyer were safe.

He pulled her under him, already hard again. ‘A lot has happened, things neither of us had any control over. But I want this, I want you…and Sawyer. I want us to be a family. As soon as my son learns to trust me, realises that I’m not going anywhere, I want us to mate. I want you to be mine.’

Tears pooled in her eyes at his words and she cupped his face.

‘Yes, God, yes. I didn’t dare hope that you…that you would want me again after everything I put you through. Jesus, I can’t believe this is happening, that you’re here. That you’re real.’

‘I’m here, baby. No matter what happens, you need to know, I’ll never let you go. Do you understand?’

She pulled him down, kissed him with a fierceness that twisted something deep inside, melted the last of the ice around his heart.

‘I don’t want to lose you again, Gabe.’

‘You won’t. I promise you that.’ Then he slid back inside her and took his time, making love to his female.

Chapter 8

Tressa woke to Gabe’s soft snores. When she opened her eyes, she had to slap a hand over her mouth so she didn’t giggle and wake them up. Sawyer, still in his shifted form, lay across Gabe’s chest and neck, his long tail wrapped around his head.

Running her fingers down her cub’s front leg and over his soft paw, she allowed her joy at seeing the two males she loved most snuggled together. When she’d checked on her son in the night, she’d been worried he hadn’t changed back. But Gabe had explained, after their first shift, hybrid cubs stayed in their animal form for several days, sometimes up to a week. The blending of two different breeds took a toll on their little bodies and he wouldn’t have the energy to shift back for some time.

She’d wondered, all these years, what her son would look like, and as she’d imagined, he was just like Gabe. In his shifted form, Gabe was a subtle blend of both cat and wolf. He was beautiful to her, always had been. For a long time, Gabe had only shifted in front of people he trusted. But now as a guardian, he had the respect of the packs he policed. Begrudgingly as it may be it was there nonetheless. It was messed up. Shifters treated mixed breeds with disdain, cast them aside, didn’t want them polluting their blood lines. In the end, hybrids were the only ones that didn’t have close ties or loyalties with any one species, pride or pack, and as such, were impartial enough to enforce their laws.

Idiots. The lot of them.

Sawyer made a sound that could only be purring. The soft vibrations letting her know how content he was in that moment. Her heart swelled until she wasn’t sure how she could contain her happiness.

She looked up from his tiny paw, and her grin got a whole lot wider. Gabe was awake, staring at her, the look on his face a mix between stunned and shit-eatingly happy. She had to bury her head in the pillow to smother her giggles. When she got herself back under control she lifted up on her elbow and looked over at them. Gabe was smiling wide, showing off his straight white teeth. She remembered the way he’d nipped her sensitive flesh and shivered.

She smoothed a hand over his shoulder and down his heavy bicep, loving the way the muscle beneath shifted under her touch.

‘Comfortable?’

‘I think he likes me,’ he whispered.

‘I think you’re right.’ Leaning in, she brushed her lips across his.

He reached out, careful not to jostle Sawyer and took her hand in his, nipping the tips of her fingers.

‘Do you want to help me move the kiddo? I’m in desperate need of some alone time with his mother.’

She gently scooped up their sleeping cub, and tucked him down beside her. ‘What did you have in mind?’

He leaned in, whispered in her ear. ‘I want you in the shower. Cool tiles against your back, hot skin pressed against your front, my cock buried deep inside you.’ He winked. ‘I can be quick.’

How could she say no when she wanted him just as bad? He’d taken her repeatedly through the night, but she hadn’t had enough of him, never would. Her answer was to climb out of bed, tuck Sawyer deep in the covers, and walk to the bathroom.

Gabe was right behind her. He shut the door quietly behind him and turned on the shower then pulled off the jeans he’d put on after Sawyer had woken. His cock was hard, achingly so, jutting from his cut, perfect body.

So beautiful and all mine.

She licked her lips, wanted to taste him, to get down on her knees and pleasure him with her mouth.

‘I can read your mind, you know,’ he whispered, rough and low.

‘Hmm, and what was I thinking?’

‘I want you on your knees, your pretty mouth stretched around my cock. You have no idea how much.’ He grinned. ‘But this morning is all about efficiency, and getting off at the same time will help speed things up.’

Need pulsed deep inside and she had to squeeze her thighs together to ease the ache. ‘That’s…that’s an excellent plan.’

‘I thought you’d like it. Now get in the shower.’

She yanked her shirt over her head and climbed in. She’d barely hit the spray, when she felt Gabe behind her. He reached around and cupped both breasts, kneading her aching flesh, almost roughly, his movements full of desperate urgency. His hand trailed down her stomach, lingered there and she knew what he was thinking, knew it would take time for him to fully forgive her for what she’d taken from him.

He kissed her shoulder and she dropped her head back to his, lost to the feel of his hands on her. He pushed her hair away to expose her throat and his hissed breath echoed in the small space.

Shit, she’d been so caught up, so damn happy, she hadn’t thought about his reaction when he saw her like this. Last night, the room had been dim enough to conceal the mess of her shoulder, the scars marring her body.

‘What the fuck?’ He turned her around, his gaze moving over her body, taking in every mark, every scar under the harsh bathroom light. His hand went to the ragged scar between her neck and shoulder. ‘Why the fuck would he do this?’

‘So when I looked in the mirror, I knew who I belonged to. I was carrying another male’s cub, a male I was still in love with. He knew it too, I couldn’t hide it. He apologised every time it happened, but the mating just made him more possessive. He wanted something from me I could never give, so he punished me for it.’

‘So he beat you, abused you?’ He shoved his hands though his wet hair, a flood of emotions transforming his handsome face.

She moved in close, wrapped her arms around his waist.

‘It’s over now. Please, you can’t let this fester inside you. I survived, I’m free.’ She lifted up on her toes and kissed the underside of his jaw. ‘I have you back. Please…just. I need to feel you inside me.’

He growled low and lifted her off the ground, pinning her to the shower tiles at her back. His body shook as his mouth came down on hers. Lips, soft and gentle, he kissed her like the most precious thing in his world, like she would break beneath him if he let go. She didn’t want him to think of her as damaged, that he had to take care because of what had happened to her.

She could take the full power of his need, wanted to. Gripping his ass, she ground against him, until the tip of his cock slipped inside her.

He groaned, sliding in deeper. ‘Fuck, Tress. Give me a minute.’

She cupped his jaw, forced him to look at her.

‘I need you to hear what I’m saying and never doubt it. Nothing, nothing you could do to me when we’re together like this could hurt me. Do you understand? You are not him. I trust you. Please…don’t hold back from me.’

His hips jerked forward and he hissed. ‘Tressa…’

‘Promise me. Promise me you won’t ever hold back. You’ll take what you need.’ She nipped his jaw. ‘And I promise I’ll do the same.’ She tightened her thighs around his hips. ‘Come on, Gabe. Don’t make me beg. Fuck me.’

A deep purring, rumble vibrated through his chest and his big hands flexed on her ass.

‘Shit.’ Then he slammed forward. So deep, she cried out, almost coming from the intense feeling of him filling her so thoroughly.

He didn’t let up, took her the way she wanted him to, the way he wanted to, letting her feel how much he needed her, how much being inside her caused him to lose the control he tried to hang on to. He nipped at her throat and groaned against her wet skin, pounding into her until she couldn’t hold off her orgasm any longer.

Sinking her teeth into his shoulder to stop from crying out, she groaned as wave after wave of intense pleasure moved through her trembling body.

Her inner walls clamped tight around Gabe’s cock and she felt him shudder. He lifted his head, held her stare, trapping her with eyes that were pure animal and thrust into her one final time, grinding in deep as he shot, hot and hard inside her. She dropped her head back against the wall, letting sensation take over.

The next thing she became aware of was his gentle hands lowering her to her feet. He turned her around so her back was to him and pulled her close, taking her weight. He washed her down, rinsed her hair, cleaned between her thighs with a gentleness that made her heart hurt.

‘Are you alright, baby?’ he said against the shell of her ear.

‘Yes. Absolutely.’

‘Good.’

He shut off the shower and helped her out, dried her off and led her back to the bedroom. Sawyer was still fast asleep, like she knew he would be and she bent down to brush a light kiss against his fuzzy little head before getting dressed.

Gabe watched her the whole time, never taking his eyes off her.

‘I understand, you know,’ he said suddenly. ‘I get why you did what you did.’

He glanced down at their sleeping cub.

‘I hate that you had to do it. You have no idea how much. The beast in me is struggling with everything, probably always will. But if you hadn’t done what your father told you, Sawyer might not be here.’

He walked to her, pulled her into his arms. ‘And that would have broken you.’ He rested his forehead against hers. ‘You’re unbelievably strong, Tressa. You survived your asshole father, and you survived Dan. But if you’d lost our cub…I would have lost you forever. You wouldn’t be the same female you are today. So, yeah, I understand why.’

He wrapped his fingers around the side of her throat, held her immobile with his intense stare. ‘Thank you.’

Did he have any idea how much she’d needed to hear him say that? How much guilt she had carried around, afraid he would never understand, could never forgive her if he ever found out.

Of course he did. He knew her better than she knew herself. She wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘Are you trying to make me cry?’

Sliding a hand under her jaw, he tilted her head back. ‘I just needed you to know.’ He slid the pad of his thumb across her cheek. ‘The last thing I’d ever want to do is make you cry.’

‘You don’t know how much that means to me.’ She bit her lip to stop her mouth from quivering.

‘It’s the truth.’ His thump moved down, across her bottom lip and pulled it free of her teeth. ‘Stop doing that, it makes me want to kiss you and kissing you makes me want to strip you down and fuck you.’

‘Right. I’ll try to remember that. We wouldn’t want that to happen now would we?’ She gave his ass a squeeze and laughed when he growled at her.

He grabbed her hand and led her out of the bedroom. ‘Come on, we’ll have some breakfast. The kiddo will be starving when he wakes up. He’ll be burning up a lot of calories right now and we need to keep him fed and rested.’

‘What would I have done without you? I’d be going through this whole thing blind. I wouldn’t have known what to do with him, would have been worried sick with the amount of sleep he seems to need. Terrified that he hadn’t shifted back.’

Thank God she wasn’t back in Harlow. They would have killed her, maybe both of them, or torn him away from her and sent her son to one of the hybrid camps. Dan had never told any of his pack that Sawyer wasn’t his, and no one but her and her father knew of her son’s mixed blood. They would have assumed she’d cheated on him. God, Dan was an abusive asshole, but he had nothing on his sadistic younger brother, Lance.

She shuddered and forced it from her mind, turning to look at the beautiful male now standing at the kitchenette of their small motel unit, making coffee. Just the sight of him chased the demons away, put her fears to rest. They weren’t home yet, but Gabe would make sure they got there.

Back with her pack, and finally back with the male she loved.

‘Where’d you just go?’ he asked, handing her a mug.

‘Home,’ she said, unable to stop the smile tugging at her lips.

Chapter 9

Gabe watched Tressa through the open doors of the balcony. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Sawyer pacing around her, demanding pats and hugs in between bouts of play fighting. So beautiful. The way she loved their son just increased that beauty.

He turned away so he could concentrate on his phone conversation with Fletch. ‘Your sentries spotted Lance just beyond Black Hills territory?’

‘Not Lance, I haven’t seen that bastard, but he has at least a dozen of his high ranking males parked on our borders,’ Fletch said, sounding as pissed as Gabe felt. ‘I’ve tried to organise a meeting, to try to make him see reason, but far as I can see, he’s not here with his men.’

‘He’s still trying to track Tressa,’ Gabe growled.

‘That would be my guess.’

Fuck.
Gabe didn’t like sharing, never had. Everything he’d ever owned had ended up fair game in the camps. You couldn’t take a shit without everyone knowing. So when he’d turned eighteen and left, he left with pretty much just the clothes on his back, he hadn’t needed anything else. He’d lived in a tiny cabin with a mattress on the floor and a crate for his food. He’d stuck to himself, his business was his.