Her Forbidden Alpha (10 page)

As Killion continued to talk about how many warriors they’d sent out and how far they were outnumbered, Darius’ mind drifted. Knowing for sure that he could keep Aislinn–that he had to keep Aislinn–he wanted nothing more than to go to her and make her his for good.

He pushed his thoughts back to the woods. “If they’ve got two hundred soldiers on us, we need to send out more. Let’s stop worrying about being stealthy. They’re in our woods. I think a show of force is in order here.”

With a slash of his finger across the map, Darius said, “Five hundred of our warriors will exit through the back gate under cover of night and infiltrate the woods, meeting up with the hundred who are already there. Surround the Humans Firsters, and do it in an obvious but not overly aggressive way.”

“Obvious but not overly aggressive?” Jennalynn said. “How do we accomplish that?”

“Surround them closely enough that they’re aware of us but not so far that we cross their perimeters. Carry our guns but don’t point or shoot unless shot upon. Make noise so it’s clear we’re there but don’t engage them directly.” Darius tapped the map. “They’ll get estimates of how many of us there are soon enough. And when they realize they’re penned in and at our mercy, they’ll be willing to negotiate again.”

“Or die,” Cael said.

“If it comes to that.” Darius hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but if the Humans Firsters didn’t back down, there’d be no other choice. If it was blood they wanted, he’d give them blood.

***

If Aislinn was going to escape, she needed to know how to get out of the castle. As Zack escorted her to the library, she kept a close eye on every hallway they passed and every room she could see into. Unfortunately, none of them looked like the entryway where she’d first come in, nor did they look like alternate exits. The place was like one huge maze.

Maybe she could get information from Zack. As they passed yet another hall, she said, “I’m still trying to get my bearings. Is that the way to the front hall?” She motioned down the side hallway.

Zack laughed. “That goes to the kitchens. The front hall is back that way.” He tipped his head back toward the way they’d come.

Damn. She waited a few minutes, trying not to be too obvious, then said, “Are there gardens here? It would be nice to get outside for a while.”

After directing her to the right down a side hallway, Zack said, “There are vegetable and herb gardens near the kitchens, and some fruit trees. But we don’t have any fancy gardens or anything. This looks like a castle but it’s purpose is more along the lines of a stronghold than a luxurious mansion.”

Which she’d known, of course. Still, if she could have gotten him to take her to some garden somewhere, she would at least know how to get out of the building. “Well, maybe we could go to the kitchen garden. I’ll bet that’s nice.”

He snorted. “Sure. You must be really desperate to get outside if you think that.”

At that, she fell silent. He was getting a little too close to the truth with that crack about being desperate.

A few minutes later, they finally reached the library. As she gazed at the high walls covered with books, she wondered if there was a map in there somewhere that would show her how to get out of the castle. And if there was, did she have any hope of finding it?

All of a sudden, she had a thought. Maybe it wasn’t a map she needed, per se. Maybe a book would do. “Zack, are there any books about the history of the castle? I’d like to read up about this place if I could.” And surely a book about the Holding’s history would have a map or two in it.

“Sure.” He led her down a long corridor made by the wall and a set of low bookshelves. About halfway down, he motioned toward the shelves to their right. “These are all history books about the wolves. And these…” he pointed out about five books, “are about the Holding. You sure you want to read about that, though? They’re all pretty dry. I had to learn about it in school.”

“School makes everything a little boring.” She pulled one of the books off the shelf. “Thank you so much.” She started to thumb through it, looking for pictures or a map.

“Sure thing. I’ll be over by the door, like last time.” He sauntered off.

Aislinn had to flip through four books before she finally found some maps. The book was at least fifty years old, but she figured the basic structure of the Holding wouldn’t have changed since then. And the maps were detailed. She could totally use this.

She picked up a couple of werewolf history books as well, then grabbed a couple of novels from the fiction section before going back to her room with Zack.

It was coming together. Now she just needed to figure out how to slip away from her guard. She was thinking if she could get her nighttime guard to go get something for her, that might work. But the guards were pretty good–they probably wouldn’t just wander off. So maybe she could get her guard to come into the room for something–to check the toilet or something–and conk him over the head. Which would be fine except how hard did you need to hit a werewolf to knock him out? And what would happen if she didn’t hit him hard enough?

And then there was the other scenario...Darius hadn’t shown up the night before, but if he did tonight she’d need a whole ‘nother plan. She didn’t want to wait another night to escape. If he arrived, she figured there was only one way to get away from him...seduction.

Just the thought made her shiver.

***

Darius couldn’t wait to get to Aislinn, but his people threw one obstacle after another into his path. He’d hoped to eat dinner with her, but now dinner was long past. That wouldn’t stop him, though. As he strode toward her room, finally done with all the distractions, he called Ivy to have champagne and strawberries delivered and to have someone come and start a fire in Aislinn’s fireplace. He wanted everything to be perfect.

He couldn’t guarantee they’d make love tonight. If she didn’t want to, then they wouldn’t. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to seduce her and at least pave the way for making her completely his in the near future. And maybe, if he played his cards right, he could make her his tonight.

His stomach flip-flopped as he nodded at Heath and knocked on Aislinn’s door. Their relationship so far had been contentious. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. And even though he’d now accepted that he would never give her up, she knew nothing of his visit to the Elders or the change of heart his people had had. She still thought she was going to leave him. So he had no idea what would happen when she let him inside.

The door opened and Aislinn’s big blue eyes peeked around the edge. A second later, she pulled the door open wide. “Why are you knocking?”

Darius stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “It’s polite to knock.”

“I suppose. People don’t normally knock for prisoners, though.”

“You’re not a prisoner.”

“Ha. You could have fooled me. I have a guard at the door and can’t go anywhere without an escort. Of course I’m a prisoner.”

This wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. Did they always have to be at each other’s throats? “Let’s forget all of that for tonight. I want to get to know you.”

“Darius…”

He growled. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving.” He took a breath. “Let’s sit.”

Before he could lead her to one of the chairs, a knock came at the door, followed quickly by one of the maids poking her head in the room. No wonder Aislinn had been surprised he’d waited for her to answer rather than just walking in.

“We’re here with the food, and to light the fire,” the maid said. She wasn’t someone Darius knew. And by her scent, she was human. Or maybe…he sniffed again. Brownie. Of course. Ivy liked to hire brownies to help out around the Holding.

“Come in,” Darius said. Then he walked toward Aislinn, placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the windows. They could enjoy the view while staying out of the way. “Your father’s down there.”

“What?” she said.

“See the tiny little lights flickering in the woods? Campfires. When the Humans Firsters got here, they kept their fires banked, trying to hide from us. Now that they know we know they’re here, they’re not hiding anymore.”

“This is why I have to leave,” Aislinn said.

“We’re not going to talk about that.” This time, he worked to keep the growl out of his voice.

She turned toward him, moving closer into the circle of his arm. “But why not? How can we not talk about the most important thing happening around us?”

“If you think that’s the most important thing, then your priorities are skewed.
We’re
the most important thing. Our mating.” He ran his hand down the length of her hair, pulling her just a smidge closer to him. “This is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.”

Aislinn dipped her head. “Darius.”

He placed his mouth near her ear. “Aislinn. You’re everything to me.”

She shivered.

He took that as a good sign. He already knew she wasn’t immune to him, but he needed more than that.

A quick glance showed that the brownie had done her work and cleared out so quietly he hadn’t even noticed. Good—they were alone. He ran his hands up her arms and over her shoulders to cup her cheeks. Before she could protest, he covered her mouth with his.

He expected her to pull away any second, so he savored each moment. Her arms slid around him, pulling their bodies against each other. He felt himself grow hard and resisted the urge to rub against her. She rubbed his back and moaned deep in her throat.

She wasn’t pulling away. Why wasn’t she pulling away? No, wait…who cared why?
She wasn’t pulling away.

Darius slid his hands from her face and down her back to hold her tight against him, moaning when her soft stomach pressed against his cock. One of his hands found her perfect ass and squeezed.

“Bed,” he whispered against her lips.

“Door,” she said.

Was that a no? He pulled back a fraction of an inch, just far enough to focus on her eyes. “Door?”

She waved toward it awkwardly. “We need to lock it or something. Or anyone could walk in here.”

She had a point. And holy Bendis, did that mean what he thought it meant?

“And the guard,” she continued. “Don’t wolves have super-hearing? I don’t want him to hear when we…you know…” Her cheeks turned pink.

Yes.
It so totally meant what he thought it meant. He was going to claim her. Tonight.

He loved that she could still blush about sex. It made him want to ravish her and protect her at the same time. But as for the guard–it wasn’t like Darius was going to let her go anywhere tonight. What did they need a guard for, when Darius was with her?

He kissed her, hard. “Stay right here. And don’t you dare change your mind.”

Pressing her lips together, she turned a darker shade of red.

As quickly as he could, Darius dismissed Heath and locked the door, throwing a bar across it so no well-meaning servants could get in. Then he hurried back to his blushing mate and swung her up in his arms. “I can’t decide if we should start in front of the fire or in the bed.” He nuzzled her neck. “What do you think?”

“Well, if we’re in the bed then we could fall asleep afterward,” she said.

“Who says we’re getting any sleep tonight?”

Her jaw loosened, her mouth opening slightly.

This was like their wedding night. To him, anyway. Not that there was any going back for him whether tonight happened or not. But he still felt like this would seal them together in an unbreakable bond. She’d be his, forever. Especially if she let him mark her.

On a night like this, who needed sleep?

“Well?” He licked her neck, tasting the essence of who she was, the sweetness with a hint of steel. His cock hardened even more.

Her breathing sounded ragged. “The fire, I guess.”

“Perfect.” He laid her down on the faux fur rug in front of the fireplace. It was designed to look like a bear skin, but if they’d used real skins their bear shifter allies would have been gravely offended. Luckily, technology gave them another option.

Darius slid down onto the rug beside Aislinn, his body half on top of hers. He wanted room to explore. At the same time, damn it, he wanted to be inside of her, his teeth sunk in her flesh. But he needed to take things slow and make sure she was with him all the way.

First he kissed her, long and deep, their tongues tangling. He slid his hand down her chest to cup her breast, his cock jerking as he touched her.

Aislinn moaned, her body moving against his.

Darius squeezed, then slid his thumb back and forth over her nipple as it tightened to a pebble. “I want to see you,” he murmured against her lips. “I want to taste you.”

“Yes.” Her hands went to the bottom of her shirt, pulling it upward to reveal a strip of soft skin.

He groaned. Beautiful. But it wasn’t all good–to get those clothes off of her, he’d have to let her go, and he didn’t think he could do that.

After another lengthy kiss, he steeled himself and rolled off of her. He pulled her to her knees and slid his hands under her shirt to touch the bare skin he’d seen. She felt so soft. Soft and feminine and his.

Aislinn tugged at his clothes, pushing his black t-shirt almost to his armpits before she had to stop. “Help me.”

He grabbed the bottom of his tee and yanked it over his head, tossing it to the side. Then he did the same with her shirt, but he forgot to breathe when he saw the sweet pink bra that held her beautiful breasts.

His. All his.

Chapter 10

Darius brushed his fingertips along the top edges of her bra. “Very pretty. Are all your bras like this?”

She paused a second, just long enough for him to remember that this was the only bra she had with her, then said, “I like pretty lingerie. It makes me feel good and no one can see it. Not too lacey, though. Lace scratches my skin.”

He’d buy her dressers full of lingerie, pretty things that only the two of them would ever see. And maybe some naughty items, too.

His fingers stroked her, moving over her bra and finding the hard nub of her nipple underneath. “It would be a sin to scratch skin as soft as yours.” He ran his fingernail over her nipple, just a light flick.