Night Critters (Collection) (7 page)

Roni opened the shower curtain, stepped out, and wrapped a big pink towel around her body. “You can explain yourself."

Corbin stepped out, accepted another pink towel, and wrapped it around his own waist. He followed Roni into the bedroom and sat down next to her on the bed.

Roni was stone-faced with her arms crossed over her chest. The light dusting of fur remained on her body, giving him a small measure of hope. Still, the regal look on her face warned him she'd kick his ass to the curb without mercy if she felt it necessary. The ring carefully hidden in his jeans pocket might never make an appearance.

He sighed heavily. “I lied in the profile because I was tired of all types of women wanting me for my money and my title.” He looked down at his hands. “I wanted to find a woman who wanted me for me and only me. Then I thought I would find the right moment to tell her—you—the truth.” He stared at his jeans piled on the floor, the lump in one pocket a recrimination. He had fucked up and knew it.

Roni's silence continued, but her eyes held wary confusion. “I'm sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?” Roni's eyes flickered. Sorrow, fear, and lack of understanding battled for supremacy.

Corbin braced himself. “Are you familiar with the Thornburn pack?"

Roni looked to the ceiling in thought. “Yes, I am.” Her wary, light brown gaze returned to study Corbin's face.

"I am the heir to the Thornburn pack. My father insisted most of my life that I needed to marry a bitch from the pack. They were pure and would make the perfect litter.” He looked back down at his hands and picked at a recently acquired scar. “I dated a few bitches and even slept with them. Then I realized that all they were after was my money and the title of Alpha Bitch. They never wanted me for me."

Roni's face held complete understanding and acceptance. She even had a wry smile on her face. “Are you familiar with the Englemann pack?"

Corbin looked up. His own words had been thrown back at him in a new light. “Somewhat. My father is always fighting with the pack leader Eduardo over territory.” He grinned and shrugged. “As you can imagine, we don't socialize with the canine packs much."

Roni cocked an eyebrow, her eyes alight with regal amusement. She bit her upper lip for a moment. “I'm the heir to the Englemann pack."

Corbin blinked. Then he leaned back on the pillows and chuckled. The irony was too much. “Talk about your Romeo and Juliet."

Her snigger reassured him she'd understood the nature of the cruel joke fate had played on them. “I certainly do not wish to commit suicide for you despite the similarity to the present situation."

A thought struck him. Corbin sat back up and stared at Roni. “Why did you lie on your profile?"

Roni smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Ana set it up. She also comes from money and has been a friend of the Englemann pack for as long as I can remember."

Corbin leaned closer and caressed her cheek, noting for the first time the similarities between the female he loved and the scrappy Eduardo Engelmann. “So what do we do now?"

She slid closer to him. The friction between the towel and the sheets pulled the tucking loose and the towel fell around her hips. “I have a few ideas.” She pushed him down on the pillows, disarranging a few.

The pink satin pillow beneath his head started to vibrate. Corbin shot back up to a sitting position. “What the...” He grabbed the pillow, unzipped it, and removed a ten-inch long vibrator. He held it up with an evil sparkle in his eye.

Roni shrugged and blushed simultaneously. The morning sun mercilessly highlighted the red flush beneath her fur. “I've been a lonely girl."

Corbin got up on his knees and loomed over her. His wolf side wanted to take dominance, but his human side wanted it to be equal. He pushed her back onto the bed and leaned over her. The dildo still vibrated on one side of her head. His hand held her hair on the other side. “As long as I am alive you will never be lonely again. You'll only be naughty.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

Their tongues warred for dominance. Two Alphas would battle in bed because he had to prove he was worthy of an Alpha Bitch. Similarly, she had to eventually submit to her chosen Alpha Male if he'd won her well enough. Fortunately he had assistance and—temporarily, at least—the upper hand.

Lust surged through his body. His cock twitched in response. He sat back up on his knees and caressed her rosy clit with the dildo.

Roni sucked in a breath and moaned. Her nipples hardened and her skin flushed beneath the light dusting of fur. “I'm so glad you like your sex on the furry side of life."

Corbin smiled. The lust in her honey eyes gave her away even if his nose hadn't sniffed out her arousal. He'd won, at least for now. “Got any lube?"

Roni's eyes shifted to the nightstand. She blushed, but stuck out her chin defiantly. “I have my own natural lube, you know."

He leaned over her and opened the drawer. The red, helmet-shaped lid of the bottle lay right on top of a pile of romance novels and assorted feminine junk. He dug it out and brandished the red and white bottle at Roni. Deliberately he made his cock brush her pussy.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and tried to pull him into her wet slickness.

Corbin avoided entering Roni with a twist of his hips and mischievously read the bottle's label as if he had all day. Well, as far as he was concerned, he did. “Cherry flavored? My, my.” He squeezed a glob into his hand and rubbed it over the dildo.

Roni shivered in clear anticipation. She ran her hands up and down his chiseled chest. “I want to feel every part of you in me and on my body."

He chuckled and moved the dildo's vibrating head to caress her clit once more. Then, with an evil smile, he moved it lower to play with her wet opening.

She moaned and lifted her hips, begging for more.

Corbin gave more to her. He dove down to lick and suck on her clit while he worked the dildo inch by inch into her pussy.

Roni yelped and arched her back. Her fingernails became claws, dug into her comforter and shredded it. The silky fabric snarled like a beast as it tore. Her pussy flooded his chin in hot moisture.

The temporary victory over Roni sped up his heart and his arousal. He ground his erection into the edge of the bed to give him some relief from the ever-increasing need to plunge in and claim his Alpha Bitch as his own.

Roni stiffened and her back bowed. She shrieked loud enough to wake the dead and came like a fountain.

Corbin prayed her shriek wouldn't cause Ana to rise and burst in on them. Dead girls joining the party could ruin the mood. He kept his tongue busy and begged whatever gods were listening that Ana stayed asleep, curled up with the pastry box.

His bitch—he knew that now—came until she jerked like a marionette in an earthquake. Her hand reached down, clawed his hair into a fist and pulled him away. She was halfway to all fur, strong, and half-growling. “Come up here and fuck me, damn you!"

He gritted his teeth and wondered if she'd pull out his hair before they were done. “One moment, my love."

Roni panted but released his hair. “Hurry! Please hurry!"

Despite her pleas he refused to rush. He fumbled until he found the dildo still vibrating beneath her thigh. Carefully, he fed the dildo to her puckering pink ass.

Roni's breath hitched, and the sheets joined the comforter as future recyclables. Still she lifted her butt off the bed to give him easier access. “That's usually exit only."

Corbin chuckled softly to himself. This would be a total surprise to her. “Then prepare for a new sensation, baby.” The dildo slid in a few more inches. He didn't want to go too far. Good enough. He positioned himself between her knees.

"I'm more than ready! Gimme or I'll kill you!"

The strains of an old opera filtered through the wall speakers. Ana had apparently been wise enough to recognize no one was in any danger and had turned on the house stereo system.
Carmina Burana
had enough beat to help them along and still mask the sounds of their play.

He didn't waste any more time. Corbin plunged in before Roni turned into full lup—er, canine—and went for his throat. Were-bitches weren't known for patience during mating. He'd better deliver the goods.

She was more than ready for him. Hot, slick, and wet didn't begin to describe her pussy. The vibrator hummed and doubled both her pleasure and his. The thin membrane separating them was no barrier at all.

His heart and cock were hers until they both came. She'd submitted to him, and now he was at her mercy and a slave to his own body's need for release. He couldn't stop thrusting if he wanted to, and he would have rather died than try.

Roni reached up and clasped him to her. “Fill me! Please! Now!"

Corbin helplessly obliged. The axiom “The claiming of a mate means more than mere jewels” now became clear to him. The ring in his jeans pocket was nothing more than a symbol. Enclosed in his heart was a hot fire only Roni could ignite, just as the diamond held within it fiery lights.

Locked together, they lay panting until Corbin's cock relaxed and softened. He pulled the vibrator from her ass, rolled away to place it on the nightstand. Then he cuddled her next to him, unable to bear one moment without her. His guilt for disobeying his father gave one last dying gasp.

He didn't care. He loved lying there next to her. Gloriously naked, hot, sweaty. He plunged in heart first. “Roni, will you marry me?” He'd just asked a mutt to marry him and there was no turning back now. The words were out. He should have thought about this a little bit more. Corbin had thought about it, though. He loved her. She loved him. Didn't she?

Roni sat up and stared at him intensely with those deep brown eyes. She looked conflicted, like she wanted to answer but didn't know if she should. “Before I answer you I have to know one thing."

The smell of lavender overwhelmed his senses. Roni's soft naked body called to him once more, and he was instantly hard for her again.

"Did you propose because you love me or to defy your father?"

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Roni curled up on the sofa, admiring the bright pink toenail polish she'd just applied. “... After I asked him whether or not he wanted to marry me for love or rebellion, he hesitated so long I told him to think about it while we shopped at the grocery store. Ana, he rarely spoke after that and seemed lost in thought all afternoon. I was ready to scream to break the silence when you finally woke up."

Ana listened intently and nodded occasionally while she painted her nails a soft peach.

What was it with folks taking three years to respond to her today? Roni squirmed and drummed her unpainted fingernails on the end table. “He never answered the question. What does that mean? Did I force him to have second thoughts?"

The aroma of steak seeped in from the back deck. She ignored the urge to walk outside and supervise. From her position on the sofa, she could crane her neck and look through the kitchen sliding glass doors to the deck. Corbin and Jon looked deep in their own serious conversation.

"I don't know what to think, honey. I'm in the same boat with Jon.” Ana studied her newly painted nails. “I don't know Corbin very well. I didn't hear the conversation between him and his father.” Ana turned her blue eyes to Roni. “What do your instincts tell you?” Ana looked pale and wan.

Roni stood up and walked to the kitchen, reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of blood. She poured her best friend a glass and handed it to her.

Ana mouthed the words “Thank you.” Then she drank deeply and winced. “It's disgusting cold, but better than wasting blood by letting it get warm and rancid. Blech."

Roni poured a glass of wine for herself. She closed her eyes and drowned in the aroma of the potatoes baking in the oven. “My instincts are telling me to run far and fast. He only wants to marry me because his father is so against it. My brain is telling me that his hesitation to answer the question is not a good sign.” Roni looked down at her wineglass, put her nose to the rim, and inhaled the scent of the Merlot. “My heart tells me to go out there, throw my arms around his neck, and tell him I'll marry him."

Ana pressed her lips together and clearly struggled with whether or not to speak. She mimicked Roni's action and inhaled the scent of the blood. “What about the fact that he lied to you about being human?"

Roni sighed heavily. “I could get past that. I completely understand why he lied. With a father like his I would have done the same thing.” Tears burned her eyes. “I just can't get myself past the possibility that he asked me to marry him just to piss his father off. Is this some repressed leftover teenage rebellion?"

Ana pushed herself from the counter and headed out of the kitchen. She turned at the door, love in her eyes. “Talk to him, honey. He may have hesitated because he didn't want to say the wrong thing."

Roni knew Ana was right, but she didn't have to like it. The doorbell rang and she walked out of the kitchen to the front door. She opened the door and her arms dropped heavily to her sides. “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” The hesitant smile on Katriena's face rubbed her already raw nerves.

Katriena held up a tin of cookies. “Your father and I came over to have dinner with you and apologize.” Katriena looked to her husband and growled softly at the angry look on his face.

Eduardo looked over Roni's shoulder, and his lip curled.

Roni looked behind her. Corbin stood there with a plate full of steaks. Jon and Ana stood next to him. Roni turned back to her mother.

Katriena looked down at the cookie tin in her hands. “I see we're interrupting. We'll go.” Her parents turned and started down the porch steps.

Roni wanted to stop her but she didn't want to deal with guilt. Ana's elbow connected with her ribs. She looked up at Ana and pleaded silently for her just to let them go.

Ana looked from Roni to her parents and back again. She nudged Roni again, who planted her feet. “Katriena! Eduardo! Please, won't you join us for dinner?” Ana stepped forward toward the door. Roni grabbed her elbow and pulled Ana back toward her.