Abandoned (10 page)

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” He stroked her back with his full open palm, loving the feel of her body beneath his hand. “You don’t have to now, if you aren’t ready, but I’d like to be someone you can come to whenever you need. I know you have your groups here and your own counselor, but I just want you to know I can listen too, if it ever helps.”

Her eyes watered and she blinked, but one tear sprung from each eye to trail down her face.

He reached with his thumb to brush them away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make things worse.” He felt like a heel, his chest tightening.

She smiled through the watery gaze she held on him. “I’m just emotional these days. Don’t misread my tears. They aren’t the product of some mislaid sorrow about the last year. Not that I’m not angry as hell and mourning my previous life, but the way you look at me and touch me and listen to me makes my emotions even stronger. How did I get so lucky?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I’m a bucket of roses all right,” he teased. “I’m lucky I haven’t stuck my foot all the way down my throat yet. I’m not known for being glamorous with words.”

“Well, today you’re doing great.”

He stared at her, memorizing every line of her face, every freckle sprinkled across her nose, every crease in her forehead. “Run with me.”

“What? Now? Here?”

He chuckled. “There’s no better place in the world to shift than right here in these woods on my parents’ property. We’re safe here and secure from human eyes.”

She glanced around
,
and he watched her chew on the inside of her cheek as she pondered his suggestion. Finally she returned her gaze to his with a coy grin and narrowed her eyes. “Is this just some ploy of yours to get me naked?”

He laughed, his entire body shaking and making Allie wiggle on his lap. “I wish I had thought of that. It’s a good idea. Now I really want to run with you.” He held her tighter and took her face in both hands. “May I kiss you first?”

She nodded, her face transforming from jovial to serious in an instant. Her gaze landed on his lips. She licked hers.

It undid him watching her tongue jut out to moisten her mouth. His cock swelled further
,
and he hoped it wasn’t pressing embarrassingly into her thigh. It was all he could do to keep from ripping her clothes off and taking her right there. But he wasn’t an asshole. What he needed right now was a small taste from her lips.

He leaned in slowly and let his mouth settle over hers, trying not to grip her face too hard with his hands.

He groaned into her the moment their lips met. She tasted like heaven. On the surface were hints of her morning coffee and the minty toothpaste she’d used, but underneath was all Allie. His mate. His heart. His soul.

He deepened the kiss when she didn’t protest, tracing the edge of her lips with his tongue and then dipping inside to duel with her tongue. She met him with every stroke, her hands coming up to grasp his forearms and hold him tight.

She didn’t pull away. In fact she put all her effort into getting closer to him. Daniel had to be the one to release her lips. He was growing closer and closer to the edge of sanity, his cock straining in his jeans and his heart beating out of his chest.

Daniel tipped his head back and took a deep breath, as though the air from the sky above him would be less tainted by her scent. It wasn’t.

She let go of his arms and stood abruptly, wiping her hands on her shorts and stepping back. “That was…”

“Intense.” He lowered his gaze to hers. “Let’s go for that run before I can’t keep myself from mauling you.” He tried to grin to soften his words, but Allison was smiling at him anyway.

“Promises
,
promises.”

Before he could respond, she stepped behind Sadie, stripped off her clothes, and shifted. And before he could even gather his wits, she sauntered over to him in wolf form. She was breathtaking. Her fur was golden blonde and so soft to the touch when he reached out to stroke her head.

He held his breath, trying to pull together his thoughts. It all happened so fast, he hadn’t gotten the chance to see her naked. She’d stood sideways behind the horse, giving him no more than a glimpse of the pale skin of her hip. Her top half had been concealed by the horse’s belly.

Daniel finally managed to pull himself to standing, keeping his hand buried in his mate’s fur. She even trotted along beside him as he stepped over to Sadie. He had to let go of Allison to tie Sadie to the lone tree she stood under for shade. “There, girl,” he said as he secured her, patted her neck, and then turned back to Allison.

He pulled his T-shirt over his head and then hopped on one foot to remove each boot. He kept his gaze on Allison, watching as she sat on her rear haunches and tipped her head to one side. No way was he going to hide behind the horse, and apparently Allison had no intention of turning away. Good. He liked that she was bold enough to watch.

When he popped the button on his jeans, his cock pushed itself free, peaking out of his underwear. Still gazing at his mate, he lowered both his pants and his underwear and shimmied out of them. Lastly, he tugged off his socks and dropped them on the pile.

He gave Allison a moment to stare at his body before he shifted, and then he let nature take over, lowering himself to the ground and quickly transitioning to his wolf form.

He blinked several times and pawed at his mate when she approached. He was almost twice her size, his fur a shade darker. He thought they looked picturesque together.

The shift didn’t lower his libido, but he shook thoughts of sex out of his head and tried to concentrate on the allure of running full speed through the trees. Both activities were on the short list of things he wanted to do with his mate today. One at a time. Starting with the run.

He nudged her with his muzzle and nodded behind him. And then he took off toward the trees. Allison followed on his heels. He could sense her behind him even though she barely made a sound. She was light on her paws. But her scent in wolf form was even stronger than in human form.

Daniel dashed through the trees as fast as he dared, knowing she was undernourished and wouldn’t be able to endure as much as normal. He wished he could run with her for hours. And he could. Later. But now he used the exercise to burn off energy, hoping his need to claim her would tamp down enough to make it back to his house and perhaps wine and dine her a bit before sex became a forgone conclusion.

Who are you kidding?

•●•

“Jackpot,” Tarson mumbled to himself as he watched Allison Watkins run past him through his binoculars. At first he’d panicked and nearly fallen on his ass when she’d shifted and taken off into the woods with some man he didn’t know.

He’d been watching them from a perfect distance until the moment they’d headed in his direction unexpectedly. But then a smile had spread across his face as he realized they were mates. They were oblivious to his existence, probably due in no small part to their raging need to mate. At least that’s how Tarson had always heard it went when a shifter met his mate. He wouldn’t know
,
and he didn’t give a fuck since claiming a goddamn female was the last thing he intended to do in this lifetime.

So this bitch had left her mate with a dozen other women and traipsed halfway across the country to meet up with another shifter at this ranch? She sure didn’t waste any time.

If he’d had a gun on him, he might have shot her on sight just for being a whore. He suspected that wouldn’t please his superior
,
however. The man had asked for a visual and intended to kidnap her back ASAP. Tarson doubted the Romulus wanted her dead. They had some use for her apparently. Fucking female.

As soon as his target was out of earshot, Tarson pulled his cellphone from his pocket and pressed speed dial.

“Tarson. Give me good news.”

“She’s here. And she’s about to fuck some guy.”

“Great. I don’t care who the hell she fucks as long as you know where she is.”

“Yep. I’m following them now.” He stepped forward, his cell in one hand his binoculars in the other. “They’re heading to his place
,
it looks like.” He’d seen the man come and go several times from a cabin on the property. He had to be a permanent resident.

“Great. Get back to me on that exact location when you can
,
and then you can get out of there for now. I’ll send someone else in to retrieve her.”

Thank God. Tarson had no great desire to kidnap some bitch today.

Allison chewed on her lower lip as she followed Daniel up the front steps of his home. She loved the log cabin look of the outside, modern and well-built, but right now all she wanted to do was let him claim her. Any other concerns could wait. They had to. She could think of nothing else. It consumed her. Her blood was pumping fast through her body
,
and she felt as though she had a fever.

The run in wolf form had been glorious, but it had only fueled her need. Seeing Daniel naked as he shifted whetted her appetite for more. When they’d returned to Sadie’s side, they shifted and dressed quickly and silently, seemingly in agreement it was time to end the mating dance.

At least Allison was ready. And from the scent of her mate, she would guess he needed her just as bad. And his cock… Jesus he was built. Her pussy hadn’t stopped pining for him since he’d lowered his pants and released his impressive length to her gaze.

Daniel turned around at the door. He took her hand and brought it to his cheek as he leaned against the wood. “I’ll be honest with you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. I didn’t bring you here for a tour.”

“Good. Can we go inside now?” She leaned into him, took his shirt in her fists, and lifted on tiptoes to kiss his lips.

Daniel grinned into the kiss. She could feel his mouth curving upward. He twisted the knob of the front door behind him
,
and they both almost fell into the house. As they righted themselves, Daniel kicked the door closed and pressed Allison into the solid wood.

Like a randy teenager, she grappled with his T-shirt, tugging on it until she had it over his head. He only released her to lift his arms
,
and then his hands were all over her, molding her shoulders and neck and then her breasts.

Allison moaned and bucked her chest toward him. The light was dim inside the house, but she didn’t care. As shifters they could see fine in the dark. And she wanted to see more of him again right now.

Her nipples tightened as Daniel squeezed her breasts. When his warm hands worked under her tank top and lifted it above her chest, her fingers started to shake. She gripped his biceps and leaned into his chest. She needed to taste his skin. Before he could protest, she closed her lips over one of his nipples and flicked her tongue over the tip.

“Oh, baby.” He let his hands wander to her back and flicked open her bra. In a flash, he yanked her shirt and bra over her head together and dropped the items on the floor. Her nibbling on his chest was only disrupted for a moment.

She drew her hands toward his chest and ran them over his pecs and down to his abs. He was rock solid. And she continued to lick his chest, unable to get enough of his taste, a mixture of his soap and the salty residue of his sweat from the heat.

Daniel lifted her face away from his chest and took her mouth in a kiss that demanded surrender. He inched even closer, pinning her to the door and holding her head, his fingers threaded in her hair. When he released her lips, he was breathing heavily. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Please…” An ache that had built for the last several hours in her belly threatened to explode out of her. She craved more of him. She couldn’t control the drive.

“I’m going to claim you. If you aren’t ready for that, you need to tell me.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and ducked enough to meet her gaze, his brows lifted in question.

“God, Daniel. Like now already. You’re taking too long.”

He smiled.

She couldn’t believe how brazen she was being, but nothing about her life had been ordinary since Daniel had first approached her. It seemed she was ruled by a new power. No matter what her rational mind might argue was reasonable, all she knew was the overwhelming desire to become one with her mate.