Undertow: Building Sanctuary, Book Two (8 page)

Fucking or fighting.

Victor hefted the rock he’d been using as a makeshift hammer and held out a hand. “Nail?”

She passed him one of the nails he’d pried from a chair. “Do you need another strip of wool?”

He stretched the fabric they’d salvaged from the wreck tight against the wall and nodded. “This is the least sheltered window.”

And they couldn’t spend all their time as wolves, especially her. When there was no moon, she could barely shift even if she
had
to. “How well-built is the other cabin?”

“It looked less sturdy than this one, but it did have a lean-to with firewood. Some of it might be drier than what we have here.”

Worth checking, though maybe not tonight. It wasn’t yet five, but the moon had already risen in the sky. If the gentle magic pulsing through her body felt like a flame, then Victor’s must have been like a wildfire. “We’ll have to stop soon.”

“I know.” He drove the nail through fabric, wood and wall with three swift blows, the hard muscles of his arm and shoulder straining against his shirt. “I can’t hold on much longer.”

Her first thought was to soothe him with her touch, but then she remembered that such a thing would only rile him further. “Do you mind if I get a head start?”

He shook his head, then thrust out a hand without looking at her. “Let me have the last few nails. I’ll finish this up.”

His control was clearly tenuous, and it made her feel better about running out on him. “I’ll stay close,” she promised, backing toward the door.

“No—” The rock hit the floor with a thump, his shoulders going tight. “Change in here. Please.”

A growl escaped before she could stop it. “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“You’re vulnerable while you’re trying to change. If you’re not staying in here, I’m going out there.”

She was more vulnerable near him, and if he hadn’t figured that out… “Fine.” Two buttons popped off her shirt as she tore it open, and she balled up the fabric and threw it at his head. “I’ll do it right here.”

The metallic sharpness of fresh blood filled the air. Victor opened his fist and the bent nails clattered to the floor. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath and let it out on a growl.

Then he moved.

His bleeding hand slapped against the door beside her head. Wild, heady power filled the cabin, more and more, until the walls seemed too flimsy to contain it. He lowered his mouth to hover over hers, stealing her breath and giving her his own. “You’ll do it right here.” A quiet whisper.

Another command.

This close, this
intense
, and still he held his body carefully away from hers.
Make me.
When she tried to say it, her tongue refused to move.

He smiled and licked the corner of her mouth, and she gasped as pleasure tingled through her. “So much fire in you, Simone. Even when you hold your tongue it burns in your eyes.”

Sheer frustration drove her answer. “You don’t know
how
hot I burn.”

“Not nearly as hot as I could make you.” The hand not against the door landed on her side, fingers warm against her skin. “Would you like that? If I slipped my fingers between your legs and showed you how to melt?”

Simone choked on a moan and scrambled to open her pants. “Touch me, Victor. Feel me.”

He snarled and caught both of her hands, jerking them away from her body. For a moment she thought he intended to pull away, to leave her, but instead he guided her arms up, pressing her wrists against the door on either side of her head. “No going back,” he whispered hoarsely. “Still want me to touch you?”

“Silly man.” The truth was terrifying, and she gave it to him anyway. “Whether you take me or not, I’m yours. I belong to you.”

All of the tension drained out of him in the space of a heartbeat. Victor pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. “We’ll change. Run. I don’t want to be distracted trying to ignore the moon’s call, because what I plan to do to you will take hours.”

This close, she was loath to release him. “Kiss me, just once.”

“Not just once.” His lips curled into a smile before he pressed them to hers. Warm. Gentle, but unyielding.

Heaven.

Simone opened her mouth, straining toward him in absolute, utter need. Different this time, because she felt something new, something she’d only glimpsed in him before.

Possession.

He took his time kissing her, as if every moment before had been stolen and now he knew he could explore her at his leisure. His tongue swept along her lips, teasing one moment and strong the next, learning every inch of her.

She didn’t realize she’d tried to move her hands until his fingers closed tight around her wrists. She bit his lower lip, a giddy sort of joy bubbling up inside her.

His chest vibrated against hers, a low growl she felt more than heard. He tugged away only to close his teeth on the edge of her jaw. “Accept me, sweetheart. Let me in, and I can help the change go easier. I have power to spare.”

It burned inside him, a warm glow that drew other wolves like moths to a flame. “That isn’t why. You know that, right?”

“Why what, honey? Why you want me?”

“Yes.” She felt suddenly shy.

He smiled slowly, and it lit up his usually severe face. “I’m starting to believe that.”

Her chest ached, this time with the words and promises she had to hold back. “Run with me. And tonight…”

“And tonight.” He kissed her once more, then stepped back and closed his eyes. “Tell me when you’re ready. I’ll help you change.”

Her pants hung open around her hips, and she pushed them to the floor with shaking hands. “I’m ready.”

Soft power curled around her like a comforting blanket. It whispered to her wolf, coaxing her to life, and the readiness with which she responded surprised Simone. She barely had time to kneel before the spark of magic in her flamed and grew, bringing the change in a rush of heat and power.

In what seemed like moments, she stood on four legs, pawing impatiently at the floor. When he joined her, they could run, hunt.

Strong fingers stroked her head and the fur at the back of her neck, and Victor chuckled as he reached for the door. “Run. I’ll catch you.”

He didn’t have to tell her again. Wherever she ran, he’d find her, sniff out her scent and chase her down. She almost lost her footing at the thought, then launched herself past the tree line and into the woods beyond the small clearing.

Almost immediately, gentle rustling and the scent of rabbit perked up her ears. She could stage a chase of her own, procure a gift for her future mate.

And then they’d hunt together, make this tiny island their own as the full moon strengthened in the darkening sky.

Victor ran them both hard.

Part of it was the need to explore the boundaries of their new home. The island was large enough to support animals and a dense forest—good news for them in case they ended up having to stay until spring. The thick layer of snow on the ground made running a challenge, but it also made tracking fresh game laughably easy.

They hunted under the full moon until Simone’s energy began to flag. She was a beautiful wolf, small and graceful and full of boundless enthusiasm. Satisfaction flooded him every time he looked at her, every time she came close and licked his chin or butted her nose against his jaw.

She was his, and she knew it.

Shifting back to his human form too soon would leave him feral and edgy, but staying a wolf too long would exhaust her. After a few hours, Victor began to herd her back in the direction of the cabin, willing to deal with his own discomfort to spare hers.

She caught on, but stopped short with a yip, and he had to nudge her on before she moved again. She paused again as soon as they cleared the trees by the cabin, watching him carefully.

He huffed and nipped at her flank, and she danced away and bounded to the door. He’d propped it open before shifting, so she had only to push it wide and run inside.

Magic rippled through the air as he ran in, and he found her already kneeling by the banked fire, her pale skin glinting in the dim light. “We’ll have to stir this up.”

Victor nudged the door shut and let her see to the fire. She had the advantage now. Freed from the call of the moon, she wouldn’t fall victim to it again unless fear or pain brought the wolf to the surface.

He had a harder battle to fight. The moon hung heavy overhead and dug claws deep into his soul. The wolf struggled, demanding another chance to run and revel, to be free and wild.

Long minutes passed before he knelt trembling on the floor, sides heaving with rough pants.

“You didn’t have to come back in,” she murmured. “You could stay out. I’ll be fine.”

“So will I.”
Eventually.
“I wanted to come with you.”

The flames jumped and crackled as the fresh logs caught, and Simone stood slowly. “Can I help?”

She was naked. Beautiful. His to take. Even with pain lingering in his body, his cock stiffened. “That depends. Do you still want me?”

She tilted her head, and a coppery curl fell over her cheek. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want you.”

The answer was everything he needed. He rocked to his feet and crossed the space between them, stopping a foot away to admire the wicked curves of her body. Full breasts, flared hips, soft, pale skin… “You’re so beautiful.”

She closed some of the distance, her fingertips skimming his arms as her gaze drifted down his body. “So are you.”

He had to make it worth the wait. He had to make up for every moment of pain he’d caused her, erase it all and leave pleasure in its place. The bed was close enough to the fire to benefit from its warmth, so he swept her up into his arms and carried her to the rumpled blankets.

When he laid her on the bed, Simone bit her lip and held out her arms. “Seems silly to be nervous, but I am.”

Victor had no idea if Simone had taken a lover after Edwin, and had no intention of bringing the bastard up now. Instead he slid onto the bed, into her arms, and kissed her softly. “Nothing to be nervous about, darling.”

“It’s easy for you.” She wrapped her hands around him and pulled him closer. “Every time you kiss me, I turn to mush.”

“Just because I’m getting harder instead of softer doesn’t mean you’re not turning me to mush.”

Some of the nervousness faded from her smile, and she teased one hand down his side. “An interesting point. One I’ll have to bear in mind.”

He would kiss her first, he decided. Kiss her until she’d forgotten what nerves were, then trace every inch of her with his tongue. She deserved a slow seduction. Worship. He’d claim her by pleasing her.

Her mouth opened under his, soft and needy, and she made quiet noises of pleasure. Before long, her body arched to his, hot and seeking.

The feel of her soft skin under his fingers drove him half-mad. He spread his fingers wide on her abdomen, sweeping his thumb up and down until she nipped at his chin, then gave in and swept his hand up to cup her breast.

Her gasp echoed in the quiet of the room as her nipple hardened under his palm. “Yes.”

“You like this?” He teased his thumb over her nipple and delighted in the play of pleasure across her face. “Would you like my tongue? My teeth?”

Her breath caught, and she slipped her own hand to her other breast and echoed his movements. “Both.”

So he gave her both, teasing licks giving way to soft nips as his fingers traced her hip and her waist and the soft curve of her belly—anywhere but the beckoning heat between her thighs.

As Simone’s pleasure grew, so did her confidence. She smiled wickedly and rubbed her thigh against his erection. “Can I touch you?”

He couldn’t deny her anything with that light filling her eyes. “Any damn place you want.”

Her hand skimmed his stomach and his hip. “Here?”

If she wrapped her fingers around his dick, he’d explode. It might be worth it. “
Anywhere
.”

“Anywhere,” she echoed softly, the back of her hand grazing his hard flesh. “It’s been a long time, Victor.”

An answer to the question he hadn’t asked, and all the more reason to take things slowly. She’d tamed the feral edge of the wolf with her first hesitant smile, and it made it easy to roll onto his back. He tugged at her hand, pulling it up against his chest. “All the time in the world to get it right.”

She sat up, kneeling over his thigh. “You won’t hurt me.”

The fact that it was almost a question made him want to hurt
someone
, but he refused to bring anger to bed with them, no matter its object. “Not in a thousand years.”

Simone released a soft breath, one he doubted she knew she’d been holding, and bent over him until her lips met his bare shoulder.

It felt good—it felt fucking
fantastic
, but lying passively was its own sort of torture. He let himself thread his fingers loosely through her hair but didn’t try to guide her. Instead he channeled the need trembling inside him into words. “I’m going to spend hours touching you. So many places I want to kiss.”

“Here?” She kissed the center of his chest, then lower. “Or here?”

He tightened his fingers in her hair and lifted her head, giving her a deadly serious look. “I’ll let you lick my cock like an ice cream cone if that’s what you want, but you look me in the eye first and tell me
you
want to.”

Again, that gentle smile. “I wouldn’t if I didn’t want to, but I do. I want to taste you.”

Christ, he really
was
going to come like an overeager boy. And he didn’t care, as long as she let him keep touching her. “Do I get to return the favor?”

She laughed and nibbled at his stomach. “Absolutely.”

He was tempted—more than tempted—to drag her hips around and show her just what he could do with his tongue. Let her ride his mouth while she went down on him, see who lost it first. Tempting—but he didn’t want any distractions when he made her come the first time. Not for him, and not for her.

Simone stroked his cock, lightly at first and then harder, her eyes locked with his. “I like the way you look at me.”

“How am I looking at you?” It came out as a growl, but she didn’t seem to mind.