Hunter, Hunted: Claimed by the Enemy (Werewolf Erotic Romance) (3 page)

Her eyes had widened and her mouth dropped more and more open as he spoke. "Was... was that other wolf going to... to eat me, or..."

He shrugged. "I don't know. Wasn't about to find out. You are mine."

A shiver ran through her and she hugged herself, trying to rub warmth into her upper arms. His? He thought she was
his
? She didn't want to think about what that meant. A hundred questions fought for space in her mind. She didn't even know where to start.

The creature looked up at the sky. "We need to move."

She wanted to protest, to curse him, to say she wouldn't go anywhere with him. But what choice did she have? She didn't even know where she was. Still, when he started toward her, she stepped backwards.

"Come," he said, holding out a hand. It looked almost as though he was inviting her for a dance. Except for the claws. "I will carry you." He said, when she didn't move.

"I'll walk."

He shook his head, long hair swaying. "No. We need to run. You're fast, for a human -" the corner of his mouth tilted up as though this was amusing - "but not fast enough."

Still she refused to take his hand. So after a moment he stepped forward to grab her.

Addy gasped as he swept her up, lifting her in his arms. He held her easily, cradled against his chest. She didn't know what was worse - the indignity of hanging over his shoulders, or being held in this strangely intimate position.

Still, it was warm, and as he took off running she found the rhythm strangely soothing.

On occasion a branch or leaves whipped at her feet, but her captor was careful to shield her from the worst of the passing foliage. He jumped over obstacles and bent under branches, heading unerringly toward whatever destination he had in mind.

Adrianna reluctantly put her arms around his neck, unable to keep her eyes open. How strange, that she could even think of sleeping in this situation. But the adrenaline that had fueled her was gone, leaving her exhausted.

She felt the warmth of his skin under her cheek, heard the rush of his blood and the beating of his heart. She slept.

.

It seemed like only an instant later she awoke. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, vision blurry in the moonlight. She had been set down on the ground, her cloak wrapped around her.

As her sight cleared she saw him. The werewolf was crouched a few feet away, watching her.

Adrianna sat up, pulling the cloak more tightly around her. She felt her face grow hot. Something about the way he stared at her made her feel somehow... naked.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“We are safe.” He answered. His golden eyes gleamed in the dark. “We have crossed into my pack’s territory.”

“What a relief.” She said sarcastically. She drew her legs up under the cloak for warmth. When he said nothing, she blinked at him. “Well... what now? Are you taking me to your pack?”

“Soon.” He said. “Not yet.”

Despite herself, Addy was genuinely curious. She knew wolves – the natural kind – ran in packs. But she hadn’t realized werewolves had any kind of similar society. Maybe the hunters didn’t even know.

How many years had they been fighting this enemy, and how much did they really
know
about them?
Even when a werewolf is a man, it is not a man. They are beasts that sometimes wear the appearance of a human. Feral, uncontrollable and incapable of reason.
It was one of the first lessons taught to children.

Do not show mercy or even attempt to communicate, for the wolf in man’s clothing is only an animal to be put down before it devours you.

“Why not?” She asked.

“We must be properly bonded first.”

The words sent a shiver of fear through her. Did he really intend to take her as his mate? What did that mean, to a werewolf?

She looked away from him as she asked her next question. “Do - do your... people... usually take human mates?”

“It is not unheard of.” She heard a quiet snapping of twigs, and scuffling around as he answered. “We must travel to other pack territories to select our mates, to keep our blood diverse. We must stalk and snatch a female, as the other pack will fight us off if they can. It is our way.”

“And sometimes you take human women instead.” Addy surmised.

He didn’t say anything, and she looked back at him in time to see him nod. He was laying twigs down, setting a fire. As she watched, he produced a flint and steel and quickly made a flame.

What good was a human woman to a werewolf? Surely the two couldn’t breed? Her stomach gave a strange flutter at the thought and she shivered again. She didn’t ask the question. Didn’t want to know.

She watched him as he worked on the fire. He had a straight back, broad shoulders and strong arms knotted with muscle. He looked almost like one of the loggers’ boys – the ones the village girls sometimes gathered to watch. They would swing their axes and easily heft huge piles of wood, shirtless and sweating in the sun, while the girls leaned on fences and giggled amongst themselves. There was no denying he was handsome. Or would be if he was human, she corrected herself.

Her mind ran away with her. She imagined those arms wrapped around her, his hands stroking her naked flesh. Touching her in places no one else had ever touched – places she had saved for the husband her family would chose for her. What would it be like, to be caressed like that?

He looked up at her and for a moment she wondered absurdly if he’d read her mind. She felt herself blush again and was glad he probably couldn’t see.

“What is your name?” He asked.

She was grateful for the diversion from her thoughts. “Adrianna.”

“I am Lucas.”

Adrianna snorted. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle the absurd laughter that came up from nowhere. She looked at him, saw his head cocked to the side, and laughed again. “That... that’s such a normal name.” She said, wiping a tear from her eye.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just so...“ She paused to catch her breath. “Well – so human.” She explained. She knew she was being unreasonable, perhaps on the edge of hysteria. She wasn’t even sure it was all that funny. But all the same she couldn’t stop giggling.

He shrugged, and poked at the fire, and Adrianna felt her laughter die away. She wondered if she had offended him. Then she frowned, furrowing her brow. Why should she care?

When the fire was going they sat for a while in silence. She was tense, every part of her wanting to run. But he didn’t try to get close or touch her.

Twice she heard the howling of far off wolves, and Lucas would sit up, angling his head toward the sound, nostrils flaring. She wondered if they were
his
wolves. His pack.

She kept trying to formulate escape plans. But she had no idea how far from home they had gotten while she’d slept. Still, she was half tempted to take her chances with the forest. Lucas had to rest sometime. Maybe she should try to sneak away then.

The werewolf had obviously never been told staring was impolite. He watched Adrianna, crouched over there on the other side of the small fire. He looked at her as though he were starving, and she was a nice juicy rabbit.

“I’m thirsty.” She said. Anything to break the silence, and stop him from staring at her like that.

He sat up, and looked away. His flat nose twitched. “There is a stream,” he said. “Close.”

“You can... smell water?” Adrianna asked, sceptical.

“You can’t?” He answered, looking just as surprised.

T
hey left the little fire and he led her to the stream. As they made their way, she lagged behind. She had lost one shoe during their run, and wearing a lone slipper felt useless so she kicked it off too, cursing her captor for the loss of it.

The water was cool and clear. Addy cupped her hands and drank. Lucas dunked his whole face under and came up with his hair wet and dripping. He ran his hands through it and shook droplets everywhere.

She watched him carefully for any chance of escape, but of course there was none. He was watchful, his head tilting toward every sound and body poised for action at any moment.

Having drank her fill and now that she was walking, Addy started to feel the pressure on her bladder and slowed even more. Lucas stopped and took her arm, herding her along protectively – or possessively. She shook him off irritably.

“I need to relieve myself,” she said sourly. “Are you going to watch me?”

“Would you prefer I didn’t?”

She scowled at him. “We
humans
consider it a private activity.”

He shrugged, and she thought his eyes gleamed with amusement. “Very well, I will not watch.”

Addy pulled her arm free and broke away from him, pushing her way through the brush in an effort to get out of his line of sight. Looking back over her shoulder she saw him disappear from view.

She kept moving, her heart starting to pound in her chest. A little further, and she squatted down and lifted her skirts.

She took her time, and when she was done she stood and carefully kept walking, parting leaves and thin branches with her hands and trying to tread quietly.

She had little hope of being able to outrun Lucas. But maybe if she got enough of a start she could quietly circle back to the stream and backtrack, confusing her scent and making it harder to track her. That was how foxes fooled the hunter, after all.

Her hands shook and her breath shivered as time passed. He must have missed her by now. She clutched her cloak tightly around herself and quickened her steps.

She could hear the splashing of the water in the creek bed. She didn’t even hear
him
though, until he was right behind her. He burst from the trees. Addy yelped in fright and tried to run, but he grabbed her around the waist.

The breath was knocked out of her as he pushed her up against a tree, its rough bark prickling her cheek.

“Why do you run?” Lucas growled.

“I wasn’t running.” Technically, she had been walking quickly. But her protest died on her lips. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, near her ear. Her skin prickled.

“If I had known you would be so difficult, I would have bound your hands and feet.” He said. He pinned both her hands to the tree with a single huge paw.

“You know nothing of humans.” Adrianna breathed. His free hand was roaming, running down her side. She squirmed in an effort to get loose, away from his caress. “Did you expect me to just follow you, swooning?”

“Well... yes.” The trace of amusement back in his voice, making it all the more annoying. His hand moved over her hip, down her thigh and back up. She felt his claws snag briefly on her dress, and trembled.

She frowned, confused by his simple statement and distracted by his touch. “Why?” Was all she managed.

“Because we were meant to be together.” He said simply.

He trailed his fingers over the swell of her ass, moving between their two bodies.

Adrianna gasped as he squeezed her flesh in his hand. His touch sent a jolt of sensation down her spine, causing her nipples to harden, straining with her breath against her bodice. She squirmed again, but it only made him press tighter up against her, holding her fast. She was finally lost for words.

“Can’t you feel it?” He murmured, more a purr than a growl now.

She made a quiet whimper of protest, as his hardening manhood pressed against her. Frozen in fear and betrayed by her own body’s reaction, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

He moved the dark curtain of her hair aside, and bent to her neck. She flinched, expecting him to bite, but his mouth closed softly on her skin, and he sucked and kissed her there.

Unexpected fire bloomed, heat radiating over her skin. Her skin trembled where he touched. She felt the heat of his breath and the wetness of his tongue, and she moaned. Her fingers stretched out and scratched at the bark of the tree.

She barely registered when he reached up and untied the lace of her cloak and pulled it off her shoulders to fall on the ground at her feet.

The more he kissed and caressed her, the more she felt her body melt. He held her up with no effort, one hand entwined with hers against the trunk of the tree, his body supporting hers.

Her quiet moans seemed to inflame him. He pushed his hand up under her breast and cupped it, squeezing hard.

“No...” Adrianna whispered as his thumb grazed her nipple, teased it through the layers of her dress. Lucas didn’t answer, just hooked his fingers in the neckline and pulled, tearing the cloth. It made a harsh ripping sound and her bodice hung open, the thin chemise her only covering.

That brought her to her senses momentarily, and she started to struggle again, fruitlessly writhing and bucking. But it seemed to only add to his urgency. When he pulled at her chemise, the tie at the back of her neck snapped and it came easily open. He pushed up under the cloth and his hand found her breast again, skin on skin. His hand was soft and warm.

This time as he caressed her breasts Lucas was the one who softly moaned. He pushed against her, grinding his erect member against her ass.

“Why do you fight me?” He purred. “I offer only pleasure.”

A warring mixture of anger, arousal and shame reddened Adrianna’s face. She was suddenly hot and wet between the legs. No one had ever touched her like this, of course, and it was as if she was only now waking up. Her senses felt heightened, her nerves on fire. Her body didn’t care that he was the enemy.

When she didn’t answer, he grabbed her and turned her around. He leaned her against the tree again and pressed his mouth to hers.

Adrianna had once kissed Jeremiah. When they were childhood friends – before his drinking and the hunting had changed him. It had been a sweet, innocent meeting of lips, a pleasant daytime dalliance.

This was nothing like that. Lucas kissed her hungrily, as though he wanted to devour her. When she opened her lips in a gasp he pushed his tongue into her mouth.

Adrianna found herself responding despite her resolve to resist. Her own tongue pushed back at his, as though fighting him. He grabbed her by the back of her neck and held her still, his fingers tangling in her long hair.