Her Wanted Wolf (12 page)

Without breaking eye contact with her, he issued an order. “Ishbel, head
back to the den, and tell the women to get ready to move one hour after
nightfall.”

“But—” Ishbel protested.

“Now!” His voice dropped into a low authoritative rumble, tight and
unrecognizable. Sabine sensed Ishbel’s hesitation, but Drew jerked his head in
command and her sister took off as ordered. A were’s obedience to the dominant
wolf was ingrained. Still, Sabine felt abandoned by her sister.

“The choice is yours, Sabine. I can take you this very minute with no
consideration for your innocence and be the kind of man you accused me of
being, or…”

“You wouldn’t.” She knew he wouldn’t. Sabine had to believe he was not
that type of were. The tenderness when he mentioned his sister wasn’t feigned.

“I will if you leave me no choice.” The lack of inflection in his gave
her no idea whether he would carry out his threat.

Sabine jerked when he lowered the entire length of his body fully on top
of hers. He lay on her, unmoving, perfectly at ease, while every nerve in her
body was doing jumping jacks.

She squirmed under him, conscious of the jut of his hipbones pressed into
her pelvis. Tiny pimples of arousal sprang up over her entire body. Sabine
stifled a moan; she didn’t want him to get a glimpse of the restless need he
stirred up inside her.

The length of his cock lay heavy on the soft pillow of her belly. He
eased down to slide his erect penis over her plump mons. Sabine gulped. The
weight and bulk of him shocked her anew.

Drew made no move to spread her folds and thrust into her. His reticence
took her off guard. God, he was driving her crazy, making her wonder what he
was going to do next.

Her harsh, angry pants changed into breathy hitches of arousal.

His breath on her ear was a hot moist caress. “Or we can wait until I
have you in my bed. I’ll show you what it’s
like
to be made love to, as you deserve. I’ll kiss every inch of your skin and
suckle on those pale pink nipples to bring you to the edge of orgasm.”

Each word evoked a shiver from her. She should be immune to the
seductiveness, yet she lay there in yearning anticipation of his next word.

“I’ll peel back your nether lips to feast on the sweet flesh within the
cleft hidden between your thighs. Then I’ll sink my tongue deep inside you. To
taste and savor. Prepare you. Then when you’re wet and ready for me, I’ll
thrust my shaft into you. And you’ll welcome me and beg for more.” He dropped a
kiss on her lips, so quick she didn’t get a taste of him.

“Never.” She spat the lie for pride’s sake.

“Yes, you will. By the time I put my stamp on you, you’ll be pleading for
me to take you.” A teasing smile bloomed over his face, breaking through the
grimness. His grin was an unspoken taunt and his eyes gleamed as if he knew a
delicious secret she wasn’t privy to yet. It irritated her to no end.

“No she-wolf has ever voluntarily left my pack. We take good care of our
women.” He breathed in. “You’re ready for me. I can smell it.”

“We’ll see who begs first. I won’t let a were who pines for another woman
put his mark on me. I’ll say the words to secure safe passage for my family. In
return, I’ll help you find your sister.” The weight of the promise she made
hardened her resolve. “After that, we’re quits. I have to find a worthy wolf to
rebuild my clan.”

“Already our scents are mingling, and your body is preparing for me. What
makes you so sure you’ll just be able to walk away?” He lifted a dark brow
expectantly, waiting for her answer.

Much as she wanted to reply with some witty, ego-crushing insult, the
words stuck in her throat. It took everything in her not to relax under him,
lift her hips to encourage him to take her. It’d be so easy to give in, and
take the first bite of the proverbial forbidden apple. However, her pride kept
her clinging to the last thread of reason. Each moment she stalled, the danger
to her family grew.

“Promise you won’t put your mate’s mark on me. Give me that at least.” It
would make it easier to leave him when the time came, when she took his cub
from him.

“Fine, but you’re short-changing yourself by rejecting the benefits my
mark will give you. I won’t sink my fangs in your neck until you ask me.” His
eyes narrowed speculatively. “Once you say the words, your loyalty will
transfer to my pack. You’ll obey me as your mate and alpha.”

Sabine clamped her lips together before she told him exactly what he
could do with that bit of thinking. She was a Silverwolf, and her allegiance
was to her family.

Sabine swallowed hard. Her body reacted to the imperceptible slide of his
body every time he took a breath.

“Are you afraid to be my mate?” Drew nipped her bottom lip. “Or do you
want to be Balthazar’s little girl all your life? I can promise you being mine
will be much more fulfilling.”

“You arrogant—” Sabine spat.

His mouth claimed hers. The pressure of his insistent tongue separated
her lips.

Startled by the intimate invasion, her jaw slackened. He deepened the
kiss, slanting his head at an angle to tease a response from her.

She’d never been kissed before. The rapacious hunger in this initial act
of intimacy woke a new need in her. She wanted more. With a tentativeness born
of inexperience, she took a taste of him, touched her tongue to his. When he
suckled on it, she pulled back.

Drew laughed, and raked his teeth over her lower lip. In another moment,
she’d wrap her legs around him and beg him to take her. The bastard dragged his
tongue down the length of neck, and she arched her body up into his, but at
least he didn’t mark her.

Drew’s hips jerked between her splayed thighs, and the sensitive tissues
there reacted to the hard shaft pressed against her and grew damp.

“Let me up.”

He didn’t budge an inch. “Say the words, Sabine.”

“I need to think this through.” She fought hard not to plead.

“How very un-wolf like of you. Careful, your human side is showing. We
don’t have the luxury of time. I know Bardo. You have no idea what he will do
to acquire you. They have very few women in their pack. If he’s picked up the
scent of your lure on the boy, he won’t rest until he gets his hands on you.”
He rolled off her.

She shivered at the sudden loss of heat from his body, and an odd sense
of rejection burned inside her.

“They’re without a territory because they’ve been sent into exile. Bardo’s
father set up an unsanctioned den to breed cubs to build up his numbers. They
fed their cubs steroids to make them stronger, faster, and more brutal fighting
machines. That’s the pack hunting you.”

“We can protect ourselves.” Even as she said the words, she knew they
were a lie.

Annoyance flitted across his face. “No, what you can do is conceal
yourselves, but once you’re found, it will be all over. He won’t ever give up.
The faster we act, the better it will be. It’s now or never.”

She hated to have the decision taken out of her hands in such a
precipitous manner, even now, after discovering her responsiveness to Drew. It
should have made her decision easier, but for some reason it didn’t. He’d be
aware of her reaction to him. Damn.

She didn’t want to tie herself to this man, not under these conditions.
Her reaction to him confused and overwhelmed her.

“Don’t think I’m being altruistic. I want your ability to cover my
tracks. Your fighting skills make you a viable partner during my continued
hunt.”

“I’m
so
glad you’ll get some benefit from this union.”

His firm lips kicked up at one end. “Oh, I can think of a few other
advantages that will fall my way.” The sensual warmth in his expression left no
doubt in what he meant.

Sabine dropped her eyes to avoid eye contact. A blush spread in a hot
wave over her entire body. Oh, to be in fur. Her pelt would’ve at least
concealed her reaction to him. Sabine looked up at Drew. He knew. She saw it in
his eyes.

The scent of her arousal enveloped them in a cloud of pheromones. Heck,
how was she going to pretend indifference?

She glanced down, and then smirked into his taut face. It was a small
consolation that his erection looked more painful than the needy throbs she
felt between her thighs.

She’d say the words to save her family. “I claim you as my mate.” But she
used a much-abbreviated version of the vows.

During the short time they were tied together, she’d do everything in her
power to make him suffer the same pangs of dissatisfaction he’d awakened in
her.

Chapter Ten

“You omitted the words one and true.” What a contradictory little snip.
Sabine might not be getting what she wanted, but she certainly was getting what
she needed. If she wasn’t so busy being angry with him she’d realize it.

“Say the vows properly.” Drew watched her closely. “I’m not leaving you a
loophole to wiggle through, especially if you fall pregnant with a cub of
mine.”

Sabine seared him with a narrow-eyed glare. He almost grinned, but
thought better of it. She might take a chunk out of his hide.

Shit, her pissiness only added to her appeal. The spoor emanating from
her filled the air with her succulent scent. Her emerging needs, fueled by her
anger, washed over him and hammered at his senses, causing him to ache.

“Saying
one and true
would be a lie, wouldn’t it? In your mind,
you’re still mated to a woman who is no longer with us.” She dared him to deny
it, but he couldn’t. Not yet.

“Say your vows, Sabine, and bare your neck to me, to show your total
acceptance of our union. We have a lot to accomplish before nightfall.” He
wasn’t going to argue with her. His cool demand belied the inexplicable anxiety
he felt. She had to agree. The seconds ticked by in his head, and that damned
tick-tocking got louder by the minute.

Sabine mumbled the pledge through gritted teeth, but at least she said
it. She tilted her head to the side, exposing her pulsing jugular. There was
nothing submissive in the gesture. If the stubborn angle of her chin was
anything to go by, it was a definite
fuck you.

Drew leaned in and trailed his tongue over the faint blue line pulsing in
the side of her neck. God, she was delicious. The blood raced hot and strong
through her vein under his tongue in a vibrant rush, calling to the base animal
in him.

His clamped his mouth around her soft flesh and suckled possessively.

Just a little more pressure and he could mark her as his, but he
wouldn’t. He increased the suction until Sabine shuddered against him. Taking
advantage of her softening stance, Drew pulled her closer.

Drew knew he’d been cruel earlier. He’d deliberately aroused her and left
her hanging to prove she wasn’t indifferent to him. It shouldn’t matter if she
responded or not, but the man as much as the were in him wanted her to
acknowledge the attraction between them.

As the spark between them lit like gunpowder, Sabine burrowed into him.
His head still reeled from the intensity of the kiss they’d shared. The scent
of her pheromones almost sent him over the edge.

Crap
. She had his brains, balls, and gut all twisted up. His teeth
pricked her skin.

Sabine recoiled as if he’d seared her with a brand, and he released her,
reluctantly.

“What’s wrong now?” Drew clamped his lips shut as the lustful confusion
in her eyes shifted to hot irritation.

“What more do you want? I made my vows, didn’t I?” She gave him a pissy
little shrug, turning her body away in rejection. “Let’s have yours, and finish
this.”

Sabine folded her arms under her breasts. Her unconscious gesture brought
the pretty, pink-tipped mounds into prominence. Drew groaned inaudibly. His
already-hard cock hardened even more.

“I claim you as my one true mate, Sabine—” The vow slipped easily from
his lips, contrary to what he’d anticipated. “—Lunedare.” He drew out her new
surname and watched her lips curl into a sneer. Her bottom lip was a pouty
invitation.

Time to switch gears, or he’d have her flat on her back, legs splayed,
and up over his hips in another second.

Turning aside to break his fixation on her, Drew shook his head to clear
it. He looked down into the valley. “I need to get a look inside that den.”

“Why would you? I told you, your sister isn’t there anymore.” Sabine cast
a puzzled glance at him.

“You said they had other women down there. If they’ve been taken forcibly
from their packs, we have to restore them to their families if that’s what they
want.” Drew fixed his eyes on the narrow ravine leading up to the Redmaven
hideout.

Sabine looked at him like he had a screw loose. “I thought the idea was
to lay low. Any female they’ve captured might not have survived this long. A
Redmaven she-wolf would give away our presence. Are you willing to chance it?”
She tilted her head to the side, a frown furrowing her brow.

“It’s a risk, but I know what we’ve gone through not knowing what
happened to Aimee. If I can spare their families that pain, I will.” How the
heck he was going to get in and out with his hide intact, he hadn’t a clue.

Sabine stared down at the mouth of the canyon with a gleam of speculation
in her eyes. “We could get caught and we’ll be in the same position as your
sister —prisoners. You know that?”

“Yes.” Drew nodded and watched Sabine look over the valley.

Her lips curled with the beginnings of a smile. “If we’re going to do
this, we have to do it now. They might have posted guards.” Sabine’s cheeky
grin washed away all signs of temper from her face and was replaced by an
eagerness he recognized.

She welcomed the challenge of something dangerous. The risk set her
adrenaline pumping, all her senses keenly alert to catch any hint of danger,
sensations weres relished.