Rescue in the Smokies (Durham Wolves) (7 page)

What?
Is he made of steel?

“Relax. Let go. Just feel.” His fingers skipped around her sex, learning her by touch. Inside, then out, rubbing against her G-spot, a spot she’d never really believed existed, which most certainly did.

When he returned to flick her sweet spot again, she felt the spiral of need crescendo. Juliana was coming apart at the seams for the second time in as many minutes.

Now she switched abruptly from fighting against it, to wanting it with all her soul. If ever she’d desired anything in her life, the need for a second orgasm right this minute, in this cave, in the dark, with a man she barely knew, topped the list.

“Right…there,” she mumbled when he tapped her in just the right spot.

“Here?” His question was teasing. She didn’t care. The pressure increased.

Suddenly, without warning, he stopped, pinched her clit between a few fingers and jammed the others into her sopping core.

Intense pleasure spread through her body as she spasmed around him. Pulse after pulse of her orgasm shook her body, the squirt of her come pushing out around his fingers. She’d not realized women actually ejaculated like that.

When she came down—again—her limbs shook as though cold. Really, she had no blood flowing anywhere in her body except for the area between her legs. She trembled, unable to stop the chills from taking over.

Sergius removed his hand from between her legs and held her tight.

Tears formed in her eyes. She didn’t even know why. She squeezed her lids closed to stop them from trickling out, but in vain. A line of moisture escaped down her cheek from both eyes. She sniffled.

“Honey?” Sergius pressed her away from him, as if he could see her face in the darkness anyway. He brushed her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears. Okay, so maybe he could see in the dark. What was he, a ninja?

“Sorry.” She choked out the one syllable and swallowed, trying to regain her composure.

“God, did I hurt you?” His voice was filled with angst.

“No, no. Of course not.” She took a deep breath in, and then let it out. “I’m being silly. Emotional. Not enough sleep, I suppose.” She tried a giggle. It came out lame.

His shoulders relaxed and he tugged her back against his rock-hard chest. She wasn’t unaware of his cock still pressed into her stomach.

“It was just…so overwhelming is all.”

His chuckle vibrated through her. “That’s for sure. You are the sexiest creature I’ve ever met. Sexy. And vibrant. And so…alive. Your emotions spilled out all over the place, and it was beautiful.”

“Um, Serg?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you forget something?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Did you want to come a third time?” He chuckled into her hair.

“Ha ha. Not me. You. One of us came twice. The other didn’t come at all.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yeah, that. Can we please take these jeans off? I still need you inside me and you surely could use a little relief.” She shoved her groin against his to prove her point.

“Nope.”

“What?”
Did he say no?

A puff of air landed in her hair on a sharp exhale. “I’m not going to have sex with you for the first time in this cave on a stone bench. I’ll wait until we find a bed.”

“Are you kidding? That’s it? Just
no
?”

Didn’t men only care about how many times
they
came? What man on the planet ever considered going through what Sergius had just gone through without getting off?

And more importantly…could she keep him?

Chapter Seven

“I think it stopped raining.” Sergius trailed a hand through the thick curls tangled around his lovely mate’s face.

Oh, yeah. He wanted her like he’d never wanted anything in his life. But he’d known as soon as he sat down on this bench with her in his lap, there was no way in the world he was going to fuck her silly this morning.

Sure, he had every intention of binding her to him, making her come so violently she’d never even consider leaving him. But no way could he have turned what would be the most wonderful experience in their lives into a dark, damp frolic on a rock surface.

Not to mention he hadn’t even begun to explain to her what he was and how he lived. And he fully intended to do that before he took her. It wouldn’t be fair to her otherwise.

The beauty in his arms twisted toward the entrance to the cave. “Hmm, seems so.” She didn’t seem particularly interested, however, considering she laid her head back against his shoulder and let her body relax into his, molding to his every curve, her softness against his hard chest and abs.

Not that she was any less muscular and athletic than he was, a fact he adored about her, just that she could let herself go completely limp, her sated body supple to the touch.

“We should go. Your friends are worried.” His words didn’t match his actions though. He could sit here with her in his lap for hours if she’d let him. His hands trailing around her body, learning every curve, every spot that made her squirm, and some that made her giggle.

“You’re ticklish.” His fingers found a spot under her ribcage that made her flinch to one side.

“Not.”

Oh, the little nymph. Challenging him like that.

Both hands reached under her armpits and pressed into the soft bare skin beneath.

That got her moving. She practically jumped off his lap to get away. “That wasn’t fair. I was vulnerable.”

She stood before him, fingers on both his shoulders, holding him at arm’s length. As though her arms were longer than his.

And God almighty she was a sight. She had no idea he could see her so well in the darkness of the cave. That he’d seen every little nuance of her facial features as he drove her to distraction and then forced her to fall apart in his arms.

Now that she stood, he could admire her body better from the distance of a few feet. She was glorious. Petite for sure, but perfectly formed. Her pert breasts were just right for her frame, her nipples pebbled still and pointed up, begging him to take them into his mouth again. He had to swallow to keep from doing just that.

Her waist dipped into a small span he could easily reach around and then flared out at her hips.

He’d give anything to strip her down and see her entirely naked.

But not now. Later. Now he had to get her back to her friends.

“We should go.” He stood and then reached to grab their shirts off the ground.

“God, how did you do that? I can’t see a thing.” She didn’t sound overly concerned as she tugged the tight elastic material of her shirt over her head. “My jacket is around here somewhere.” She twisted and glanced around, but came up with nothing.

It always amazed him that humans could see so poorly. “It’s right here.” He grabbed the windbreaker from the bench and handed it to her.

As she tied it around her waist once again, he said a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god had aided in keeping her shoulders bare so he could admire her torso on the walk to freedom.

“Coming?” she tossed over her shoulder.

“Be right there.” Deep breaths in and out. His dick ached. He tried to get the fellow to calm down in vain. Adjusting himself with a grimace, he tugged his T-shirt as low as he could to hide the evidence of his discomfort.

As if that would work.

When he finally came up behind Juliana and put his hands on her shoulders, she was standing outside the cave, her breath held, her gaze wandering around their surroundings.

“It’s so beautiful. How often do you get to see the center of the forest right after a rainfall? The sun is even peeking out as if it never happened.” The awe in her voice made him glance around, seeing nature in a new light. How had he never noticed it before? She was right. Flecks of shimmering light glinted off the drops of water on the leaves, casting tiny, sparkly rainbows everywhere.

He’d lived and run in the forest all his life, and it took his mate to make him see the world through new eyes.

He could fall in love with this woman.

Where did that thought come from?

A sharp inhale only made things worse, her scent flooded his nostrils and seeped into his body unbidden to mingle with the fresh smell of rain and earth and the sprouting buds of spring.

“You okay?” She turned her face to glance at him over her shoulder.

“Right as rain, love. Better than ever.”

She smirked. “Are you always so poetic?” She turned to him, breaking all contact, hands on her hips. “You sure look smugly content for a man who didn’t have sex.” An eyebrow rose in mock question.

“What can I say? Making my woman scream in pleasure is more than enough to bring me peace.” Hardly fucking true, but it sure sounded good.

“
Your
woman?” She smiled, belying the intention behind the question. “I feel like a commodity. And this from a man who seems to think he owns me after a hike in the woods and the queen of all make-out sessions in a cave. Hmph.” The grin still hung in place. She knew her world had shifted. It was written in the crease on her forehead. The blush spreading across her cheeks. She just didn’t know quite what that entailed yet.

But he had her.

Wrapped around his middle finger, the one he’d used to bring her to orgasm. Twice.

With a smirk of his own, he took her hand and started trekking south, toward the road and civilization. As much as he loathed returning.

Down, boy
, he repeated to his dick.
You’ll get a turn…eventually
.

Chapter Eight

The last mile to the main road wasn’t as easy as the first, as far as the traveling was concerned. The tension had disappeared, an easy camaraderie having developed between them that lightened the load on Serg’s shoulders and made his spirits lift until they nearly floated.

But the hiking was brutal. Water streamed down the mountain, creating little rivers and pools they had to occasionally wade through when there was no other way to cross.

He worried about Juliana’s wet boots and soaked feet. She’d rub a blister if they weren’t careful. And he slowed the pace considerably with that in mind, watching her face for any signs of distress.

She showed none, of course, and insisted she was fine. She’d hiked wet before. She claimed she’d climbed several miles a day on occasion and sometimes the skies let loose.

She teased his overprotective side.

“Serg, I’m fine. Just get me out of here.”

Eyes to the ground, she kept moving, stepping over anything she could and traipsing right through the middle of whatever was unavoidable.

Sure, she hiked a lot. He got that. But this was different. Nobody gallivanted around off the beaten path like this for great lengths. It wasn’t safe. Even Sergius didn’t do it. You never knew what you might step in or on.

“Look.” He took her hand in his and pointed in front of them.

“Thank God.” Her smile stretched clear across her face. “Didn’t think we’d ever see concrete again.”

The road was ten yards away. In a moment, Serg heard the sound of a motor and dashed the last distance to stop whatever vehicle might be headed down that stretch of pavement.

His luck got even better when the sheriff’s slow-moving cruiser pulled to a stop as he burst from the trees.

Juliana bounded right into the back of him, catching her breath.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she shouted over the motor as James climbed from the cruiser. “What luck.”

“Hardly luck at all, ma’am. I’ve been driving back and forth along this stretch for the last several hours hoping you two would pop out along here somewhere.”

She stepped out onto the pavement and followed James back to the patrol car. He popped the trunk, opened a cooler and handed them both a cold water. “Thirsty?”

“Parched.” Serg took the dripping bottle, unscrewed the top and chugged three quarters of the cool liquid down before pausing.

“Serg here is the best at finding lost hikers in these woods, even when all my volunteers fail.”

The radio at the sheriff’s waist beeped. “Hardin?”

He grabbed the device and pressed a button on the side. “I have her. We’ll be on our way to town in two shakes.”

“Fantastic. Got someone here who’d like to say something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Jules?” The female voice was wracked with worry.

James held the mic up to Juliana and nodded. “I’m here, Vanessa. I’m fine. Tired and hungry.”

“Thank God. We were worried sick.”

James pulled the mic to his own mouth. “We’ll have her back to you in a few minutes.” He replaced the receiver on his belt. “Damn thing’s kinda antiquated, but it works like a charm out here where there’s no signal. Were you carrying a cell phone, ma’am?”

“Yes, but I seemed to have left the camera on and it died.”

“Is there anyone else you need to call? We can’t reach very far on this radio, but you can call your family back at the station.”

Juliana shook her head. “No. I don’t have any close living relatives.”

James opened the passenger door and motioned with a hand for Juliana to get in. Serg climbed into the back seat behind her.

On the way to the station, James asked Juliana numerous questions about what had happened to her yesterday.

Serg hadn’t said much about McKinney during the walk, not wanting to frighten her any more than necessary while they hiked. But now he sat back and listened as she recounted everything that had happened from the moment the vamp had lured her off the path until now. She even shuddered and crossed her arms as she told the saga.

She’d been shaken. Still was.

“It seems so strange,” she muttered. “I’ve never gotten lost before. I felt like I was in a trance. All night. As though I were drugged. Even the stars seemed to move around in the sky and keep me scattered.”

That was McKinney all right. The man definitely had enthralled her somehow. Controlled her thoughts. The idea made Serg cringe. He gripped the leather seat on both sides of his thighs with his fingers.

The vampire had lured her into the woods for a reason. Whatever that reason was, it still existed. He’d no doubt the bloodsucker would come after Juliana first chance he got.