Wild Card (4 page)

Strong hands curled around her thighs and coaxed them apart before he settled his broad shoulders between her legs. His smile grew almost dangerous as he teased at her clit with the tip of one finger. “Put your fingers here. Let me see how you touch yourself.”

“Like this.” Her hand bumped his, and the dual touch of their fingers on her clit made her hiss in a breath. “Slow and easy.” She showed him the rhythm she preferred and choked back a moan when fire streaked through her.

He groaned and thrust two fingers into her. “Change of plans, sweetheart. That’s pretty much the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, so you keep it up.”

“Whatever you say.” Ginny slid her free hand down to her breast and watched Jack while she pinched and tugged her nipple. The combination of sensations almost drove her off the bed, and she bucked against his hand with a harsh curse.

Jack growled this time, and he turned his head to bite the inside of her thigh. “Tell me you’re close,” he whispered as his fingers twisted inside her. “I’m not feeling as reasonable as I was a few minutes ago…”

The promise inherent in the words sent her spiraling. “I am, I’m close --” The words melted into a sharp cry as the pleasure wound up tight. She tensed and panted his name, over and over, and then everything exploded in a hot rush that forced a frantic scream from her throat.

“That’s it…” He coaxed her through release with clever fingers and hoarse murmurs of encouragement. She’d barely settled when he lunged onto the bed and over her, strong hands urging her onto her stomach. “Tell me, Ginny.”

“I need you.” She braced her elbows on the bed and clenched her fingers around the quilt. Her body moved without thought, arching into the solid wall of his chest, seeking the heat of his body. “I need you so much, Jack.”

He responded by biting her shoulder and thrusting into her in one long, powerful stroke. Another orgasm took her, and she tossed her head back against his shoulder with a whimpering cry.

Perfect.
Everything she thought was wrong seemed so
right
with Jack inside her, with his mark on her shoulder. He braced his arms on either side of her body, leaving her surrounded by lean muscle and hot skin. There was nothing slow or tentative about the pace he set, just hard, powerful advances that filled her again and again.

Ginny pushed into each thrust with a moan, yearning for something beyond her reach. Beyond pleasure. She echoed his words with a tight, breathless plea. “Tell me.”

The word rolled out of him on a dizzying burst of power, the power that made him the strongest werewolf in the town, maybe even in the territory. “
Mine
.”

Yes.
As much as Ginny wanted to remain free, the wolf inside her had grown tired of being alone. Jack’s claim touched a part of her unconcerned with independence and tumbled her past the boundaries of sanity.

Mine.

When she screamed this time he echoed her, his growling moan tearing through the room as he thrust into her one last time. His hips drove hers into the bed, and she writhed under him, lost. Her hands found his curled into the quilt, and she slid her fingers over his. She’d give him anything -- her body, her soul,
anything
.

He moved to one side and collapsed, dragging her back until she was tucked tight against his chest. His panting breaths blew against her neck as he rubbed his hand over her hip. “You’re beautiful.”

“So are you.” Ginny twined her fingers with his and laughed. “I never answered your question.”

“I asked a question?” He nudged her hair away from the back of her neck and she felt the teasing brush of his lips. “I don’t recall.”

“About Hazel.” She shivered and turned her face toward Jack. “She’s in love with Ollie Russell. Has been forever. That’s why she’s waiting.”

Jack lifted his head and gave her a look of utter disbelief. “Hazel is in love with Oliver?
Hazel
?”

Ginny smiled. “Which part do you find unbelievable -- the Hazel part or the Ollie part?”

He snorted and dropped his head back to her shoulder. “Hazel is the most shameless flirt this town is ever likely to see. Sort of hard to believe she’s in love.”

“Misdirection, Jack,” she reminded him. “Besides, everyone knows Ollie’s a loner. She can’t just ask him.”

“Well, that does complicate the situation a little. He hasn’t been interested in a new mate since his wife died, so I don’t see as waiting will do her any good.”

For someone so smart, he didn’t seem to be all that well-acquainted with the inner workings of women’s minds. “Jack, honey, that doesn’t matter. She isn’t waiting for him to come around. She’s waiting because she wants him to be her first. It’s not quite the same thing.”

“Mmm, but that’s not the part that worries me.” His thumb swept along her hip in an absentminded caress. “It’s going to happen, whether she wants it to or not. The young pups in town will tear each other up over a female in heat, and whoever wins won’t be in any state to go gentle.”

Ginny growled and sat up. “Then whoever ‘wins’ won’t be around long to enjoy his victory.”

“Hey.” Jack’s hand caught her and coaxed her back down. “It’s not going to come to that. I’m not going to let it. I can forbid them all to lay a hand on her, and they’ll obey, but someone still has to do it.”

She had to choke back another growl. “Someone like… the alpha.”

His fingers tightened on her hip. “No. Not unless her life is in danger. And we’re nowhere near that point.”

It wasn’t right to punish him for the responsibilities of his position. “You have to do what you have to do. Though I’m fairly certain Hazel would die of embarrassment every time she had to see you afterwards.”

“She wouldn’t be the only one,” he muttered. Then he sighed. “Help me find a way, Ginny. Please.”

“I’ll talk to her, don’t worry.” Ginny rolled over and propped her chin on Jack’s chest. “When faced with the possibility of mating with you, she might just go ahead and pick one of those nice, safe boys you mentioned.” She didn’t bother to hide her amusement.

The corner of his mouth ticked up. “If I weren’t so relieved, I’d be a tad bit offended by that.”

“Would you, now?” She dropped her head and scraped her teeth over his chest. “That doesn’t seem right.”

Jack lifted his hand and caught a lock of her hair around his finger. “You’re probably going to have to soothe my ego now, sweetheart. You just beat on it pretty hard.”

Her eyes met his, and she flashed him a wicked grin. “And soothing your bruised ego would involve what, precisely?”

He gave her hair a teasing tug. “Come on, cowgirl. I want to see how well you ride.”

“You’re a demanding cuss, you know that?” But Ginny moved over him anyway, pressing her knees into the bed on either side of his body. She sat up, stretched her arms over her head and teased him with a slow roll of her hips.

Jack made a low, rumbling sound of approval and slid his hands to her thighs. “You like me like this. And in case you haven’t noticed, I like
you
like this.”

His stiffening cock left no doubt about that. “Slow and easy?”

“For now…” His thumb swept out to tease gently at her clit. “If you can take it.”

Her laugh cut off with a hiss, and a quick flex of her thighs brought him inside her. “You wanted me, Jack Owens,” she murmured, fascinated. “But can you handle me?”

The hot, dangerous look in his eyes answered her question far more honestly than his murmured, “We’ll see.”

He counted on it, arrogantly expecting that Ginny would be putty in his hands. Admittedly, at the moment, she couldn’t fault him for the assumption. “You’re cocky.”

“You noticed.” He tightened his grip on her thighs and pushed his hips up. “Is it a shock?”

Thought fled, and she let her head fall back as she dug her nails into his stomach. “Again.”

She felt the hard muscles tense under her hands, and he thrust up into her hard enough to bring her knees off the bed. “You like it?”

“Y-Yes.” Then Ginny moved, rocking her hips over his in a gentle rhythm. “Or this...” It was like nothing she’d imagined with Jack, this easy pleasure that built slowly and made her shake. She’d expected the frantic, explosive need… but not this.

His hands were warm as they slid higher, one curling possessively around the flare of her hip. He slid his fingers between her legs and brushed her clit lightly before rocking up again. “Ride me,” he commanded in a hoarse whisper. “Until you can’t come any more.”

Another sharp thrust forced a choked cry from her, and she leaned down until her mouth met his. She moaned with every undulating movement, the sounds lost to his mouth. Her hands traveled over his body, everywhere she could reach, until she had to clench her fists around the covers and dig her teeth into his neck.

Jack groaned loudly, and the hand trapped between them shifted until his fingers found her clit again. He proved he’d been paying attention earlier as he found the perfect rhythm, rubbing in maddening counterpoint to the movement of her hips.

The tense spiral of pleasure twisted unbearably. Ginny’s mouth hovered over his ear, and she breathed, “Please, Jack.” But before he could do or say anything, the spiral shattered, catapulting her into ecstasy.

He rolled them over, and she ended up on her back with Jack propped above her on one hand, the other continuing its wicked little caress as he plunged into her again. The sharp blue of his eyes bled to amber as a growl worked its way out of his chest. “Again.”

She wrapped a hand around his arm and arched off the bed with a helpless cry. “Jack,
fuck
--”

“
Again
,” he repeated, voice hoarse. He angled his hips and plunged into her again, harder and a little out of control. “Come.
Now
.”

The harsh command unraveled her last thread of control. An orgasm ripped through her, intense and maddening and followed immediately by another. Ginny heard her own voice, babbling,
begging
, and Jack dropped his lips to her neck and marked her again as her body clenched around his cock.

And
still
he was hard inside her, though the growl that tore free of him this time sounded more like a shout. His lips found her ear, and he panted dirty words in between hard thrusts. “You feel so fucking good… so fucking tight… so hot when you come…”

She shrieked, and her pleas melted into sobs as she dug her heels and her nails into his back. It didn’t stop, the rise and fall of tension and release, and every sharp stroke of his cock set her off again, until there was nothing left but searing, unending pleasure.

He roared when he came, his hips snapping forward in one final thrust. When he collapsed it was half on top of her. “Jesus Christ.”

The world spun, and Ginny squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to center herself. Tears streamed down her temples and dampened her hair, and she relaxed, letting go of Jack. She tried to speak, but no words would come, so she took a deep, shaky breath instead.

She felt his nose against her cheek, nuzzling gently as he shifted to the side. “Are you all right?”

She must have been scaring the shit out of him. Ginny forced her eyes open and laughed quietly. “I’m fine. Something… better than fine.”

“You’re hot is what you are.” He smiled against her cheek, and his hand skated up to rest on her belly. “Unbelievably fucking hot.”

Hot.
“Shit.” Ginny sprang up and grabbed her robe. “The coffee.”

Jack rose easily from the bed and strode past her. “Sit down. I’ll take care of it.”

It was just as well, because her legs wouldn’t hold her. She sank back to the edge of the bed and snorted. “Terrific. How am I supposed to ride all over creation tomorrow, fetching my lost stock?”