Mandy's Story (10 page)

Honey didn’t give her a chance to say
more. She was upended over his shoulder and screaming her outrage
as he carried her away. Tyboll’s treatment of Patreous was a
problem for Honey, too, but no one had the right to interfere
unless the boy was in serious danger. Honey’s relationship with
Tyboll was tentative because neither liked the other. If he didn’t
get Mandy away, Dmitri would return and that wouldn’t be
good.

She continued to kick and scream every
imaginable cussword she could come up with. He was thinking about
washing her mouth out with soap when she managed to somehow reach
up and grab his hair. A fistful came out at the roots, but he
thought twice about slapping her ass in this position because he
had no doubt she’d take another bite out of him. He managed not to
grunt with the pain to his scalp and keep his strides fast and
steady until he reached the cabin. He walked into the bathroom,
turned on the shower’s cold water, and then forced her under the
spray.

“
You son of a bitch. You
better plan on sleeping with one eye open tonight. I’ll nail your
balls to a two-by-four,” she screamed.

He let her continue, but held her under
the spray until her teeth chattered so hard she couldn’t speak.
Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t crying. “Have you had enough?” he
asked sharply.

Her glare was his only answer, so he
turned off the water and pulled her out of the shower. He threw a
towel in her direction and grabbed one for himself. The water was
damn cold and he was no dryer than she was.

He watched her dry off from the corner
of his eye. There was no way he was taking his eyes completely away
from her, because he knew she’d take off out the door. The heat
from her gaze should have warned him along with the fact she wasn’t
speaking, but it didn’t.

He backed out of the bathroom and let
her pass, watching her delectable backside as she stormed into
their bedroom. He walked in and grabbed some sweats from his
drawer, barely catching a flash of skin as she entered the closet.
He looked up after sliding the soft cotton over his
head.

Mandy walked out of the closet with her
tranquilizer gun pointed in his direction. “You have a lot to learn
about having a wolf for mate.” She fired.

His last hazy thought was wondering how
the stupid gun got past him in the first place. His world went
black.

Chapter Seventeen

Mandy paced across the confines of the
bedroom and then stopped beside her mate and gave him a solid kick
in the thigh for good measure. She had never realized training a
bear could be so difficult, but he was stubborn and a complete
idiot for thinking he could manhandle her. She left the room and
searched the cabin until she found what she needed.

Dragging, pulling, and sliding, she
eventually got him onto the bed. Using all the rope she found, she
tied him to the four posters, spread eagle. She then made herself
some food. After cleaning the kitchen and then the water from the
bathroom floor, she filled a large bucket with ice and water,
giving it a few minutes to become as cold as possible, and then,
without a care for the mattress, she upended the bucket over his
head. He shook his huge body and roared louder than she’d ever
heard. With all four limbs tied to the bed he couldn’t shift
without dislocating his joints. She’d noticed his swollen pinky,
but decided it could wait until they had a few things worked
out.

He struggled against his bindings, but
they held. Mandy had another dart loaded if they didn’t. When they
arrived at his home, she’d smuggled the gun in her bag of personal
items having no idea she’d be using it on her mate
again.

“
I shouldn’t ask.” Dmitri
appeared in the bedroom looking stunned.

“
Did he call you?” Mandy
looked back and forth between Honey and the vampire with an
exasperated sigh.

The “you” in question finally spoke in
something besides bear grumble. “Yes, I called him. Dmitri, get me
out of this so I can take care of my mate.” The words practically
spit from his mouth.

She turned her full attention to the
vampire. “This is a discussion between me and Honey. I don’t think
it wise for you to interfere.”

Dmitri’s eyebrows arched and a small
grin played around the corners of his mouth. “The two of you seem
to have these types of… discussions quite often.”

“
We do, but they’re
private. He’s not in his right mind right now. I think returning
home and facing his father has addled his brain.”

The vampire’s chest started
shaking.

Honey’s voice lowered to a strained
whisper. “My liege, she is crazy, but she is my mate and I need to
discipline her for her actions.”

Mandy took her eyes from the vampire
and turned to Honey. “That is exactly what I’m doing. You, my great
hairy beast, need to improve your manners. I… will not be treated
like a second-class citizen or punished like a child. On the other
hand, if you insist on brutality, chastisement, or water torture,
you are in for a very rude awakening.”

She gave Dmitri her attention. “You are
more powerful than I, but I don’t believe you’ll hurt me. I ask to
settle this matter alone with my mate.”

“
So be it.” Dmitri
vanished and Honey’s roar again filled the cabin.

Mandy walked into the other room and
grabbed a chair, which she sat down by the bed. “Your finger is
swollen and needs to be put back in place. If you think you can
stop yelling for a few minutes, I’ll assist you.”

Furious obsidian eyes glared at
her.

“
I’ll take that as a yes.”
She stood and looked at his misshapen little finger. It was swollen
and looked quite painful. Working quickly, she grabbed it and
pulled away from his body, letting the joint slide back into place.
He made a small grunt. Her eyes traveled over him, watching his
chest rise and fall rapidly. He really was glorious. She sat on the
side of the bed and clasped her hands together so she didn’t run
her fingers over his naked flesh. He watched every move with livid
intensity. “I think we’re having a problem with communication.” She
was proud of herself for keeping her voice calm and
even.

It only took a split second for him to
respond, “And I think you are certifiably insane.”

She softened her tone, hoping to get
through to him. “If I am, it’s because you drive me to do these
things.”

His eyelids closed and, without opening
them, he whispered, “Release me, Mandy.”

She stared for a moment. “Or what?
We’ve been here before. You are by far the most pig-headed person
I’ve ever met. Our union should be a partnership where we help each
other and care for each other.”

That snapped his eyes open and a deep
grumble escaped his chest. “You call shooting your mate with a dart
gun care?” He said incredulously.

She crossed her arms. “You keep forcing
these consequences upon yourself.”

He sneered with derision. “Do female
wolves all wear the pants in your former clan?”

“
When necessary,” she
huffed. He just didn’t understand, so she tried again. “I do not
agree with the ways of the bear clan. Some of it I can learn, but
some of it won’t fit with how I was raised. Those things are called
compromise.” She emphasized each syllable, “COMP-RO-MISE. I know
it’s a long word, but I think it would behoove you to learn it.
Truthfully, I’m running out of darts.”

She saw his muscles clench and the tick
in his left eye was back. “Thank the goddess,” he
harrumphed.

She turned more toward him and
tentatively put her hand on his chest. The water she’d poured had
dried on his skin, although the mattress beneath was soaked. “How
can this part of our life,” Her fingers skimmed across his chest
and feathered through the light tuft of hair surrounding his
nipples. “be so wonderful… but… when we aren’t in bed… it’s just
one fight after another?” She leaned over and kissed the ripples of
stomach muscles beneath her fingers, gave him a small nip then
licked the small imprint of her teeth.

He sucked in a ragged breath, but
didn’t say anything to stop her.

She continued up his abs, flicked her
tongue across his nipple, and then moved to the other one. When
they became hard, she traveled upward and slowly made her way to
his mouth. She hesitated one moment with her lips a hair’s breadth
from his before kissing him with lips, tongue, and teeth. One hand
trailed lower until she held his erection and felt it jump beneath
her fingers. Moving away from his mouth, she rose up on the bed and
straddled his hips. His eyes filled with lust, following her every
move. She positioned herself and then watched his eyelids lower as
she sank inch by inch onto his thick, hard erection. She set a slow
pace that fit her mood. He eventually bucked his hips, but she
grabbed his pectoral muscles and continued the slow torture no
matter how hard and fast he wanted to penetrate her. Sweat dripped
from her body and rolled off to combine with the salty moisture
coming off his. His groans of desire escaped and soon her screams
of release followed.

Her entire body quivered with the
aftermath of their pleasure as she rested against his chest. “I
love you,” she whispered.

“
Then untie me, mate.” He
actually purred the request in her ear.

Against her better judgment, she did
exactly what he asked. Her trepidation increased when the last
strands of rope fell from his wrist to the floor.

Chapter Eighteen

Honey grabbed her hair, but didn’t
pull. He wanted to be sure she couldn’t run. Ever so slowly, he
brought her face closer to his. When their lips almost touched, he
whispered, “Kiss me again.”

She sighed into his mouth and indulged
the request. He pulled her close, fingers of one hand around the
side of her neck, then rolled so she lay beneath him, and let the
kiss continue. When he finally lifted his head, her hooded gaze
enchanted him and arousal pulsed between them again. “Wrap your
legs around my waist.” He breathed across her skin then waited
until she complied. “Hold on,” he managed to say before the force
of their combined lust made speaking impossible.

He wasn’t slow or gentle. His hips
surged forward as he repeatedly buried himself in his mate—quick,
hard, and all consuming. She matched him thrust for thrust until
she let go and exploded with a powerful orgasm that also took him
over the edge.

He moved away from her hot skin, but
placed his hand on her stomach. The bed, wet beneath them, was
uncomfortable, but it was impossible to think about how it
happened. Somehow, someway he had to tame his she-wolf and find a
way to make her understand her place within his life. The bear
dynamic was centuries old and would never change. Many
possibilities ran through his mind before he settled on his course
of action. Without a word, he lifted himself from the bed and went
into the other room. He took out his laptop, placed it on the
table, and began sorting through emails he’d missed while held
captive.

Ten minutes went by before Mandy walked
out carrying the wet sheets. He barely looked up. “Place them in
the dryer. We can pick up an extra set from my mother tomorrow, but
that’s all I have here at the moment.”

She walked through the doorway behind
the kitchen, which held a large and almost-empty pantry along with
a washer and dryer. He heard her start the dryer while he continued
to look through email. When caught up with the communications, he
ordered a door from the hardware store. Mandy sat down at the table
and watched him work. He turned the computer toward her. “Go ahead
and order what you think we need.” He stood up, made his way
outside, and sat in one of the chairs on the porch. Mandy
eventually walked out and sat in the other.

“
You’re not talking to me
on purpose. Is this supposed to be my new punishment?”

He didn’t look at her. “A punishment…
no... I don’t have anything to say that won’t cause you anger, and
I’d rather have some peace for a change.”

“
So you won’t talk to
me?”

He sighed and then looked over. “If you
have questions, ask. If you have something you want to talk about
then talk. I will answer and I will listen.”

They both went back to sitting in
silence.

“
I’m sorry for shooting
you with another dart.” She sounded sincere.

“
Apology accepted. How
many more of those things do you have?”

“
One. I’ll go get it.” She
stood up, but his voice stopped her.

“
Don’t worry about it. I’m
sure you’ll need it again.”

“
Don’t temp me, please.”
Slight laughter sounded in her voice.

“
Believe me, I’ll try my
best not to.” He looked off into the trees of his home.

“
Do you love me, Honey?”
She asked quietly.

He felt her eyes on him. “Yes. More
than you could ever know.”

They sat in silence for a long
time.

“
What would you like for
dinner?” she finally asked.

“
I don’t think there are
too many options, but I’ll take whatever you can find.”