Claimed (The Cull Book 1) (3 page)

Conor makes his claim

Conor burned with a fevered passion he could barely control.
He’d promised Anna he wouldn’t take more from her than she willingly gave, but
as her tongue tangled with his, her lips teasing and nipping as she moved her
hands along his chest, he worried she’d make a liar out of him. He rubbed the
surface of his palms up her sides until he cupped her covered breasts. Next, he
unsnapped the front latch on the bra and freed the soft, mounds of flesh. He
brushed his thumbs across her taut nipples. His cock responded with a hard jerk.
Tearing away from the kiss, he dipped his head, taking one rigid nub into his
mouth, sucking and teasing until Anna cried out with pleasure.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her onto his
lap—the only thing separating his cock from her hot pussy was a thin pair of
saturated panties. She ground herself against his groin, making them both moan.
He wanted nothing more than to be inside Anna—to take her hard and fast until
her climaxing screams echoed throughout the camp. But fast and hard wouldn’t
get him what he wanted long term: Anna’s permission.

He lifted her and placed her back on the pile of blankets.
Anna hissed as he trailed hot kisses down her stomach, lightly grazing her
velvet skin with his canines. He tugged her panties between his teeth and
growled as the scent of her arousal firmed his resolve.
I will make her mine.

Gently, Conor lifted her leg and placed it over his
shoulder. He pressed the back of her thigh, lifting her ass from the floor as
his mouth connected with the heat of her sex. He licked the satin fabric and
smiled when soft noises of surrender passed her lips. He hooked a finger
between the soaked panty and the swollen lips of her pussy.

“In me. Oh God, I want you in me.” Anna spread her legs for
him, inviting Conor to take more and more.

Her pleas brought his beast even closer to the surface. The
slight shift stayed below his skin except for the razor sharp claws extending
from his fingertips. He curled his fists into the crotch of her underwear, his
nails easily slicing the damp cotton, and yanked.

Anna bowed forward, crying out as the satin underwear tore
from her body. Conor looked up and met her gaze, her eyes wide with wonder, and
her full sensual lips parted in a sexy pout that made his balls draw to his
groin. “Sweet Anna,” he whispered, deliberately punctuating her name by delving
between her swollen labia and licking her pussy from her succulent opening to
the tender mound of flesh at the top. He sucked her clit into his mouth,
watching her face as he teased and tormented the sensitive bundle.

He dug his fingers into the blankets, claws slicing through
fabric until they found purchase in the earth. It took every ounce of
self-control not to bite down on her engorged clitoris and let her blood mingle
with his saliva. It would be so easy to let instinct override his morality.

“Ow, fuck,” she panted. The sound made him ease the pressure
he’d been applying.

As an apology, he licked her bruised flesh. He hadn’t broken
the skin. No harm. No foul. Her juices, fragrant and sweet, flowed into his
mouth as he drank the pulsing heat of her sex.

“Goddamn it, Conor. I’m going to come.” Her voice,
constricted with need and desire, had raised an octave. “I need you in me now.”

Hearing his name from her lips made his heart skip a beat.
He wanted nothing more than to thrust into the warm, lubricated heat of her
delicious sex, but if he did now, he knew he wouldn’t last. Not with Anna. “I
want you to come again and again,” he murmured against her skin. “I want to
feel your pussy explode while my tongue is deep inside you. Only when you’ve
been completely sated, then I will fuck you, Anna. I’ll fuck you so good.”

“Yes,” she gasped. “Yes.”

That Happened

The edges of an orgasm burned any doubt from Anna’s mind. At
least any doubt about having sex with Conor. His hands and mouth on her body
were even more erotic than she’d imagined all those years ago.
God!
Why had she denied herself this
pleasure when she’d been healthy?
You
were a fool,
her body screamed.
That’s
why!

She propped herself up on her elbows and
watched—mesmerized—as his mouth explored the wet slit of her pussy.
 
When his tongue darted inside, she moaned.
“Oh Lord,” she whispered. “So good.”

She fisted his hair with one hand, his head undulating
beneath her grip as he licked and sucked and fucked her with his mouth. Rocking
her hips forward, she urged him to go deeper, his tongue dancing over the sweet
spot just an inch or so inside her channel. “Oh God. Oh God.” The slow burn of
lust and desire raged into a

bonfire threatening to consume her with its heat.

Conor snorted, hot breath blowing out across her skin as he
wrapped his arms around the backside of her thighs, lifting her for better
access. He darted his tongue in and out. She felt him so impossibly deep. When
his teeth scraped her clitoris, the stimulation drove her over the tenuous
edge. She cried out as the flood of ecstasy tore through her, her pussy
clenching and unclenching at the relentless stabs of his tongue. She threw back
her head and arched her back as her hips bucked and legs quivered in his grasp
until she could only make desperate noises of total surrender.

When she could finally breathe again, Anna stroked her
fingers through Conor’s thick hair as he nuzzled his cheek against her thigh.
“Well,” she said, exhausted and sated. “That happened.”

Conor tilted his face toward hers. “Yes, it did. And it can
happen every day for the rest of your life if you’d only say yes, Anna.”

A tingle stirred in her groin, the beginnings of arousal, as
his words glided on her skin. With her heightened senses, she could see his
face glistening with her fluids. A more modest part of her thought she should
be embarrassed to have the evidence of her excitement plastered all over his
scruffy cheeks, but the part of her that had ridden the wave to nirvana found
the sight sexy as hell.

Anna sighed. Longing and need drew her lower parts tight
again when he licked around his mouth and smiled. To say he wore a wolfish-grin
might sound cliché, but she couldn’t think of a better way to describe how
truly pleased he seemed. “You know I can’t.”

“I know nothing of the kind. There’s no reason for you to go
back to that… Life.” He spit out the word as if it were bitter fruit. He’d
started up her body, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.
“I don’t understand, Anna. Make me understand.”

“Sam.” She blurted softly. Her son.

When Conor had offered her a new life, she’d made all kinds
of overtures about being ready to die. Getting sick hadn’t been part of her
plan, but she’d come to accept it in the end. She’d made preparations, had her
will in order, her funeral already paid for, and arrangements had been made for
her son. Anna fought the hot tears threatening to roll fat and heavy down her
cheeks. She’d just shared a beautiful, magnificent moment with the love of her
life, and all she could do was mourn a future she wouldn’t live to see.
 
“I can’t live, knowing my son won’t be there
with me at the end.”

Conor jerked away from her. His glare pierced the darkness
to the depths of her soul. “I never thought I’d say this of you, Anna. But
you’re a coward.”

His words slapped her across her face—more damaging than an
open hand. She flinched. “How can you say that to me? Without you in my life,
I’ve had to be brave every waking moment.” She’d regretted turning him down all
those years ago, and since then, she’d had to find a way
every day
to make it without Conor. Sam had been the one person
who’d kept her from losing her mind.

“No.” His anger made her recoil. “You hide when things get
tough, Anna. I don’t know why I thought now might be different. When it comes
down to it, you always make the
easy
choice. Not the choice that will make you happy, but the one that disrupts your
life the least.”

“Stop it,” she said. Her own rage simmered. “Just stop.”

“Why should I? What do I have to lose? You?” He barked a
sardonic laugh. “You’d actually have to be mine for that to happen.”

“Fuck you, Conor Evans.” Anna shoved him, but he didn’t
budge. “You don’t know anything about my life or the choices I’ve made. None of
them have been easy.” She scowled and leaned forward until her nose nearly
touched his. “Staying with a man I didn’t love. Not easy. Living a life without
you. Not easy.” Anna poked Conor’s chest. “You say I’m not yours. Well,
asshole, I’ve never been anyone’s but yours. It has been a complicated and
miserable existence without you. My son has been the only light in an otherwise
dark life. So, excuse me if I’m reluctant to watch him die.”

His eyes widened and the edges of his mouth softened. He
caressed her cheek, his fingers tracing the edge of her ear. “Then watch him
live.”

“What?” His words startled her. She’d spent four years
fighting cancer. Four years of coming to terms with death. She’d left nothing
unsaid between her and Sam. His life would go on without her.

“Watch him live.” His mouth moved over her lips, brushing
them with a light kiss. “You’re so focused on him dying. You forget he’s only
twenty-one years old, Anna. He still has years ahead of him. Years of falling
in love, getting married, having a career, buying a home, having children—all
these wonderful things will happen for Sam, and you, well, you won’t be around
because you’re too afraid it will hurt when old age finally takes him.”

Anna gasped as a sob broke from her chest. She couldn’t stop
the tears streaming down her cheeks. Was Conor right? How many times had she
wished she could be around to witness Sam become a man? Conor was offering her
exactly what she needed. Time. Could she make this choice? The choice to live?

“Yes.” The word, full of emotion, bypassed her brain as it
tumbled from her lips. “Yes, I want you to change me. Make me a part of this
cull,” she said clearly, so they would both know she meant it.

The
Challenge

Conor’s stomach flipped and his palms began to sweat. He’d
longed to hear her say “yes.” Prayed she would say “yes.” But never in his
existence had he really believed she would. Anna Davis was the most stubborn
woman he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her curvaceous figure and ample
breasts might have been what he first noticed about Anna, but her conviction to
her ideals had been the reason he’d fallen in love with her.

He’d kept his expectations low, having been resolved to the
idea he would probably have to go on without her in this world. But she’d said
“yes.”

“Are you sure?” Mentally, he kicked himself in the ass for
not just sinking his teeth into her, but he didn’t want Anna to feel coerced.
He wanted to make sure she was certain. “If you say yes again, I won’t give you
another option.”

His gut clamped into a contracted ball as he waited for her
to respond.

She leaned back far enough for him to see her large brown
eyes blink once. Her lips parted in a soft sigh. “Yes, Conor Evans. Yes.”

Conor had never been a sappy or sentimental man, but he
wanted to roar his joy loud enough to shake the trees. Instead, he pulled Anna
close again. “Oh Anna, my Anna. My love,” he murmured, his cheek pressed to
hers. “I’ve waited so long.”

“Will it hurt?” Her lips brushed his jaw. “I want this,
Conor. Mostly, I want you. But I’m scared.”

“I’ll make it as quick and painless as I can. The pain
fades.” He kissed her neck, nipping lightly as she tensed in his grasp. He
would have to partially shift in order for the bite to be effective. It was one
of the reasons they usually gave the chosen a sedative before proceeding. The
actual change took twenty-four to forty-eight hours to complete, and the
transformed human felt a burn as the lycanosapian’s bite and blood destroyed
and rebuilt their DNA structure.

“You should let me give you something to help you sleep
through the process. It will make things easier.”

Anna’s mouth quirked into a simple smile. “Aren’t you the
one who accused me of always taking the easy route? No, Conor. If I’m going to
do this, I’m doing it with my eyes wide open. No sleeping through a minute of
my life. Not anymore.”

Looking deep into her eyes, he tried to pour all the love
and pride he felt into his gaze. He gently kissed her, pulling her into an
embrace. “I’ve dreamed of this moment, Anna. I’ve dreamed of you so long. I
can’t believe you’re finally in my arms.”

She climbed his chest, taking his mouth in a fierce kiss of
possession. Where their skin touched heat blossomed. When her fingers gripped
his erection, he shuddered. He grasped her ass, lifting her slightly, and she
moaned her pleasure when his fingers found her swollen heat.

“Fuck,” he groaned, burying his face against her breasts.
“You’re so goddamn wet. Still so ready.”

She straddled him, and in a brisk downward motion seated his
cock deep inside her drenched pussy. The lubricated heat of her sex gripped him
tight, driving him to the brink of release. He dug his nails into his own
thighs—cutting into his skin—to leash his control.

When she began pistoning her hips against him, he growled,
“Anna, stop!”

She froze in place. “Am I doing something wrong?”

Her incredulous expression made him chuckle. “No, just the
opposite. You’re going to make me come before I’m ready.”

Anna pursed her lips, a devilish smile tickling the edges.
“Tough shit, Sally.” She rocked her hips forward and made a soft “ah” sound,
all the while holding his gaze.
 
“Who’s a
big, bad wolf?” Humor danced in her eyes.

A flush of heat rushed through Conor. If she kept it up he’d
come too quick. Anna might not know it, but she was challenging him. He slid
his hands up her back, tracing the curve of her spine, until his fingers laced
into her thick, honey-colored hair. Fisting a handful, he yanked her head back
with a gentle but firm tug.

Challenge accepted.

He placed his teeth against the apex of her throat and
chuffed—the measure enough to make Anna stop moving. Slowly, he scraped his
claws against her scalp. She wanted to see a big, bad wolf. He would fucking
give her a big, bad wolf. He nibbled at her throat, savoring her racing pulse
as it danced on his tongue.

“Conor?” Hesitancy had replaced her mirth.

Anna’s strength, her inner-power drew Conor, but the slight
tremor in her voice made him want to fuck her until she cried out for
mercy—until she begged him to do it again.

“You don’t know what you do to me, Anna Davis.” He yanked
her tight against his chest and felt the first shift of his muscles and bone
moving beneath his skin. He nuzzled the space between her collarbone and neck.
His tongue slipped past his growing fangs to taste the beads of sweat pooling
on her skin. “How you test my control.”

“Oh God,” she moaned. “I can feel you getting bigger inside
me. How is that possible?” She leaned back, breaking the skin to skin
connection with his chest, and stared at Conor. “You’re… You...” Her eyes
titled down his chest and back up to his face.

Conor knew what he must look like to Anna in his
anthropomorphic form. Not quite man—not quite wolf—all monster. The shift was
necessary for the change to take place. His chest rumbled at her scrutiny.
“Afraid I’m going to eat you?”

“Yes. No,” she panted. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

His forearms lengthened as he easily lifted her, moving them
both until he was on his knees. In a swift motion, he had her shoulders to the
ground, her body displayed for him--the warm grip of her pussy held him
captive. Her heaving breaths made her clamp around his length. With his cock,
painfully hard, buried so deep in her sweet, tight pussy, he knew he could
never go back to the loneliness that had consumed him before this moment.

It had been one thing to fantasize about the amazing
creature in his arms, but actually having her, tasting her, loving her… The
fantasies were a pale comparison to the reality. Conor would rather die than go
back to that existence. He leaned over, his body longer, broader with his
vertebrae stretched up and out, and scraped her breast with his teeth.

“Oh God,” she whispered—her gaze searching his face.

“I’m going to take you, Anna. I’m going to take you and
claim you and make you mine. Mine.”

She arched, her hands wrapping around his head to hold him
close to her breast, and moaned in response. “Yes.”

Conor slowly withdrew his cock until just the tip remained
seated in her. He sucked her nipple between his teeth, lathing the tender tip,
as he enjoyed her squirming against his hold. Her mewling protests inflamed his
desire. He thrust his hips, driving his length deep until his groin slammed
against her swollen clitoris, and she cried out. Her fingers clasped and clawed
to find purchase.

She had already taken more than any human could, and he knew
it had to be because of the injection he’d given her the night before. So when
Anna shouted, “More, oh God, Conor, more!” he took a generous portion of her
breast into his mouth and bit down, her blood hot in his mouth, as he thrust,
quick and hard, sucking at the wound and savoring the last of her humanity.
With sharp canines, he bit through his tongue, adding his own blood to hers to
complete the transfer of the lycan gene. It had to be a combination of blood
and bite to work, nature’s way of preventing accidental turnings.

When Anna began growling and grinding harder, rotating her
hips with enough force to take him to his knees if he hadn’t already been
there, Conor peered at her through wolf eyes.
She’s turning.
It was too quick. The actual change took up to two
days to complete, but Anna’s brown eyes had already lightened to the color of
blended whiskey and her ears had taken on points. It had to be because of his
serum.

His mate! His love! the wolf cried within him, finally
joining in with his choice. His beast rarely interfered with Conor’s decisions,
but the way his wolf embraced Anna, he knew he’d been right. He’d always been
right. “So fucking sweet. So fucking mine,” he murmured, his mouth still moving
over the bite marks. “Tell me you’re mine.”

Anna shuddered violently, her voice taking on a low,
guttural tone. “I. Am. Yours.”

Her submission drove his need. His balls tightened as he stroked
into her body, driving her shoulders into the blanketed floor. At this pace, it
wouldn’t be long before he came, but he couldn’t stop himself. The force in him
that needed Anna—that would die without her—would not relent.
 
Her expression was a mixture of pain and
rapture and savage yearning as she grunted and moaned with every plunge into
her changing body.