Marked (BDSM bondage, Howl)
Read Marked (BDSM bondage, Howl) Online
Authors: Jennifer James
Marked
By
Jennifer James
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Published By: Unbuttoned Press
http://www.authorjenniferjames.com
Marked
© 2013 by Jennifer James
Cover by Mina Carter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Unbuttoned Press publication May 2013
Dedication
For
Arianna K. Gray
Unbuttoned Babe, gorgeous Irish girl without a Dublin accent,
and the person I will always think of as my first fan. I can’t express how much
I love chatting with you and enjoy your enthusiasm.
I think you need to let Tom out of the cupboard. I hear
Abby is looking for him.
Of
Contents
One
Kayla thrummed with tension as she crouched in the underbrush
ringing the man’s property. Her hind legs trembled under the pressure of
remaining still for three hours. A young buck grazed in the woods, his scent an
enticement to leave her hiding place and feast on warm, sweet flesh. A family
of rabbits scrabbled underground, the noise of their movements loud to her
sensitive ears. Her wolf wanted to feed and approach the man and his wolf with
a fresh kill digested and absorbed into provocative assets to help her snare
her mate.
She sucked in a breath.
Her mate.
If he’d have her.
If he still wanted her.
If he’d forgive her for bolting without explanation.
Pain and loneliness coalesced into a tight ball in her
throat. A low whine escaped and she tucked her tail in tighter. Each and every
night of the last five years she’d fought her fears and lost to them, her
desire to be with her mate never strong enough to overcome them.
Agony stabbed her chest. She scented the air and parceled
the smells. The musk of a wolf rode the air here in a heavy blanket.
He
used an opening in the tree line to her left often.
Her mate exited his back door for the second time that
morning, barefoot and shirtless. She forced herself to relax and stayed low
beneath an overhanging bush. Blue highlights glinted in his black hair. A
heavy, defined chest and shoulders tapered into a rippling abdomen bisected by
a thin line of hair that disappeared in his low-slung jeans. He retrieved an
armful of firewood and strode back into the house. The door gaped open and her
wolf overrode her desire for caution.
Sticks and twigs popped and cracked below her paws as she
nearly flew across the ground toward the small one story cabin. The closer she
drew, the stronger his scent grew until it flooded every sense.
Jack.
Her wolf rejoiced, yipped and barked as she barreled into
the kitchen and skidded across the worn linoleum.
He waited for her at the end of the narrow galley-style
kitchen, his eyes the same piercing blue she remembered. Fear of rejection
swamped her and overcame her wolf’s enthusiasm. She regained control, scrabbled
on the slick floor, and spun to leave the house.
Pain prickled in the back of her neck and she registered the
pressure of strong fingers around the ruff of her neck. He hauled her off the
ground and against his torso.
“I don’t think so. You took the bait. Now you’re mine.”
She struggled and squirmed, her legs pedaled the air. A low
growl emanated from his diaphragm, deepened in his lungs, and gained life in
his vocal cords.
The warning vibrated her spine, and she tucked her tail up tight
and collapsed her ears. Jack loosed her to the floor and she crouched with her
tummy flattened on the cool flooring.
While he stalked to the door and closed it, she drank in the
sight of the flexing muscles in his back and the way his faded jeans molded to
his ass. He turned, and she knew his wolf regarded her; his blue irises glowed
from within. Although an alpha female, she cringed from the censure in his
expression. Disgrace bubbled up. He’d never looked at her that way before.
She rolled over, let her skull rest on the ground, and
exposed her throat in a display of total submission.
The soft padding of his steps reached her until he stood
near her ear, his bare feet tantalizingly close. “Change, please.”
Despite her shame and fear, she called to the magic within
her. Warm tingles spread from her nose to her tail tip and the she-wolf bounded
to a corner of her mind. Limbs changed shape and fur disappeared to leave her
naked before him. No pain accompanied her shift, as a born werewolf she slipped
forms with ease.
Their gazes locked and she resisted the urge to cover her
breasts. The pulse of his magic pinned her down. A tremble started in his
fingertips and he clenched his fists. He took a deep breath, the air chased out
forcefully. Tears pricked her eyes.
“Jack—”
“No.” He stooped, gathered her to his chest, and stood in
one swift movement. The rigid hold crushed her to him and all the air whooshed
out of her lungs. She wriggled and he uncurled his biceps to let her breathe.
Hot air fanned her neck when he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder
and smelled her. “You left me. No warning.
Left nothing
behind but a toothbrush.
I thought you’d been taken. I damn near killed
. . . it doesn’t matter.”
Five years without physical contact with her mate left a
craving for all the skin on skin contact possible. She snaked her arms around
his neck and clamped her eyes shut. So many things to say to him, apologies and
love words, and how good he smelled . . . .
“I’m sorry Jack. I . . . I don’t know what to say. I got
scared.”
“You got scared.” He snorted and swore under his breath;
ground his molars until she heard the clack of enamel. The familiar pressure of
his hand stroking over her bicep helped calm them both. “Why were you scared?”
“I panicked. I had to get away. I just had to go.
Right then.
I thought I’d die if I didn’t.” They’d never
spoken of her past in the nine months she’d stayed with him. He didn’t question
her about the nightmares, and she didn’t offer to tell him. Each terrible
moment of her past lay locked behind closed doors in her mind.
“Die? I would never harm you.
Never.”
She heard his heartbeat speed up, and then
slow
down
once more. “I never believed I’d have someone. I was alone for so long, so many
years.”
Grief and shame swamped her. “Jack, I’m so sorry. Please. I
don’t know how to explain— you’ll never know how much I regret what I did. It’s
the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.”
He rocked his weight back and forth and remained silent
until she craned her neck to see his face.
“We’ll talk more about it later.” His magic beat at her and
tried to erode her will, but he tamped down the compulsion so the command
became a statement instead. The control he exhibited over his magic, to be able
to turn an Alpha’s natural drive to order the weaker wolves around themselves,
helped soothe her anxieties. The act indicated a respect and care for her
feelings her father had never exhibited.
But how could she explain it to him? Make him understand? It
wasn’t him. It was her.
If she told him everything, he might not want her anymore.
She shook and damn near choked him.
“Shh . . . you’re safe. I will always want you, understand?
No matter what happened to you.”
Old memories and pain tried to surface, but her wolf half
clamped them down. The wolf could read the emotions in the air and knew Jack
told the truth.
He stood in the kitchen for minutes or hours, she didn’t
know. The passage of time blended into one long moment. Fireplace smoke, sap
from the evergreen trees in the woods, the musk of his wolf, and soap clung to
him in layers of scent. She inhaled and kept the fragrances on her tongue, in
her lungs, until they were a part of her. Finally, she quieted and leaned her
head back. Their gazes met, and he brushed his lips across hers. She smiled and
cradled his cheek with one palm. This time she pressed her mouth to his.
He skimmed her neck,
then
nibbled
on her lower lip. A possessive sweep of his tongue parted her lips.
Electricity swept across her, danced on every nerve ending,
her nipples hardened, and her clit pulsed. His grip tightened on her leg and
rib cage. Measured steps transported them to the bedroom and he climbed onto
the bed one knee at a time.
Nothing quenched her thirst for him after the five year
drought. Rough stubble scraped her lips as she brushed his cheek and captured
his earlobe. His abdomen bunched below her fingertips, steel encased in silk.
She tried to devour him, laved his throat and collar bones. He canted toward
her pelvis and brought their groins tight together. The fly of his jeans rubbed
her swollen folds and she squirmed against his trapped erection. God, he still
knew how to tease her.
He buried his fingers in the curls above her ear and stared
in to her eyes as though studying her.
“Kayla.” Her name sounded like a whispered prayer. “Are you
sure?”
“I’m okay.” She twisted her head and bit down on the meaty
part of his hand at the base of his thumb.
“That’s not what I asked you.” He crawled backward so his
weight no longer rested against her.
Rejection tried to surface and douse
the moment, but the love in his expression and the warm cocoon of his magic
banished it. This, him, her mate, these were the things she’d returned for. To
let go of old hurts and embrace a new future.
“Yes, I’m sure.” The worn denim of his jeans shredded from the
force of her grip on his hips. The thin fabric gave way with pops, snaps, and
satisfying rips. She sighed in delight when the heat of his bare skin collided
with her questing digits. “Come back. I need you.”
He acquiesced by degrees in a creeping collision of limbs
and torsos. He tickled the nape of her neck and circled one nipple, then the
other. The warmth of his tongue delved into the shell of her earlobe. He licked
his way across her tummy, to her inner thigh, and even the back of her knee.
She dug her heels into the mattress in frustration and slapped his ass.
“Hey now.”
One lightning fast move
and he trapped her wrist. “If anyone is doing any spanking around here, it’s
going to be me.” He grinned and released her.
The promise brought a shiver of arousal over her. The sharp
sting of his palm on the side of her hip surprised her, the warmth sliding
across the area even more. She moaned and he kissed the red skin.
“I’ll keep that in mind for later.” The desire in his
expression drove her higher and she lifted her hips from the bed. In a few
quick movements, he popped the button of his jeans and eased his zipper over
his swollen cock. After kicking free of the restrictive material, he slipped
the engorged head through her slick flesh, and over her hood.
“No more teasing,” she gasped. “Please.”
With a single swift thrust he entered her, the thick length
too much, too tight inside her. The sudden fullness burned.
Before she adjusted, he retreated and rammed home again.
God, it was so good. The heavy slap of his pelvis ground her into the sheet.
She clasped her legs around his hips, met and accepted his fierce and
uncontrolled tempo. He kissed her, his tongue as ruthless as his hips.
Tears brimmed in his eyelids, and he blinked them away. She
wove her fingers into his hair and tugged. Anger, love, and fear all warred in
his expression. An apology lurked in her throat, but she couldn’t catch her
breath to give it life. He licked his thumb and stroked it over her clit, once,
twice . . . orgasm coiled and unfurled in a shower of sparks.
A few more thrusts and he tensed and jerked once or twice
with his own release.
He let his weight rest on his forearms and buried his face
in her shoulder before he withdrew. Emptiness clawed at her heart, and she
rolled over to face him. He gathered her up and kissed her forehead, nose, and
mouth. With his free hand he palmed her ass and tucked her pelvis tight to his,
his muscled pecs rose and fell under her palms. He slid the soft cotton
comforter up and enveloped them both. Sleep reached up and sucked her under.
Here, with Jack, she could rest.
