Wolf Fever (Alpha Project - Book 1) (6 page)

“Give it up.” Raine’s voice was low, but hard. “You need to understand that you won’t always get what you want.”

Instead of calming Marlena, Raine’s words seemed to have the opposite effect. The white wolf stood, blood oozing from several cuts, and charged.

Raine shook her head. Glanced at him. He saw her animal in her eyes. Aggressive and dominant, the female was not willing to tolerate defiance.

When the white wolf neared, Raine allowed her closer than he would have wanted. Too close. His animal urged him forward, to grab her and shove her behind him. To protect his mate.

Marlena opened her jaw wide, ready to bite. Raine dug her fingers into the thick white coat, lifted the wolf, and once again flung her across the room. This time Marlena hit the entrance and lay there, her furry body twitching and whimpering in pain.

He turned to two of his enforcers. “Get her out of here. Now. Take her to her family. We can’t have her working here anymore.”

Raine stared at the men removing a naked Marlena from the bar. She groaned in pain and whimpered her hate for Raine.

“She’s going to be a problem,” Raine said when he neared her.

He urged her back to his office intent on discussing her mistake in rushing in front of him and putting herself in danger. It would not do. No sooner had he shut the door when someone banged on it. “What is it?”

“News on Quinn.”

He sighed. Hell, he wanted to say fuck it, but he was starting to worry about Quinn.

Raine’s heart pounded hard.

Breathe.

Again.

Each breath helped calm the beast a small degree. She had lost all control when the woman he’d referred to as Marlena had made her way to him. To hurt him. Not in this lifetime. Ryder was now hers. And not only didn’t she share, but she would never allow anyone to hurt him.

His lips quirked in a slow seductive smile that brought her mind right back to the gutter where it had taken up residence since the moment she stepped foot in this bar. He held out a hand. “Let’s go find out about my wayward cousin. Then we can discuss our plan of action for tomorrow.”

She placed her hand over his. The feel of his enfolding hers was…nice. Almost like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s day, comforting. It made no sense because she was a rational woman. She didn’t know him. Okay, she knew he had a great mouth and an amazing tongue, but knew nothing of him as a person. And yet, her instinct told her to accept his help. To accept the man.

From the moment he’d covered her hand with his own, a strange sense of belonging had surrounded her. It wasn’t even a feeling that made her uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, it made her feel calm and reassured that she was doing the right thing. That being there was exactly where she should be.

When they returned to the main section of the bar, a lot of the patrons had left. Only handfuls were still sitting around talking. She could swear they were all waiting to see what was going on with her. Take a number.
She
didn’t know what the hell was going on with her.

Theo sat by the bar with a man and a woman. As they neared, she noticed the woman smelled different than everyone else there.

“Jessa? What are you doing here?” Ryder’s shock made Raine jerk her face toward him. He was scowling at the woman. He ran a hand through his dark hair, leaving the glossy strands messy.

Raine’s gaze returned to the woman. She looked to be around her own age, but had an air of command that made Raine’s skin prickle. Her animal didn’t like it.

The woman shifted in their direction, turning deep emerald eyes to stare at them. She lifted a brow at their linked hands and met Raine’s gaze before glancing back at Ryder. “I heard Quinn is missing.” She flicked a lock of short, burgundy hair behind her ear, showing off perfectly manicured, long nails in the process.

Ryder tensed beside Raine. The wolf inside her didn’t appreciate this woman and her effect on him. “We think he went down to one of the southern packs to visit some friends.” He stepped forward, closing the distance between them and the woman. “Why? What do you know?”

He sounded worried. Raine frowned, hoping to keep a lid on her urge to snarl at the other female. This was so not the time for her wolf to get all pissy.

The woman’s gaze connected with Raine’s. “He called me.”

“
He
called
you
?” Theo choked the words out and slapped the wood surface of the bar, catching a few of the others patrons’ attention.

“Why would he call you? You broke his heart!” Ryder’s snarl was more than Raine’s wolf could handle. She took a step forward, but he tugged her to him and hugged her into his side. She glanced up, but he was busy glaring at the redhead.

The other woman flinched, as if his words bothered her. “Look—” She jammed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “—I didn’t come here to discuss why Quinn and I broke up. I only came because I heard he was missing, and when we last spoke, he’d been in the Tenam Forest. He said he needed to run to—” Her voice hitched, and Raine felt bad for the distress she could smell and see the other woman was trying so hard to hide. “—he said he needed to run to forget me.”

“Tenam Forest?” Incredulity laced Theo’s words. He motioned two guys forward. “That’s not near any of the packs he’d frequent.”

“I heard he was missing, and I came to offer what I knew.” The woman’s voice was an angry hiss. She fisted her hands at her sides and glared back and forth between Theo and Ryder.

“When was this?” Ryder’s tension increased. The muscles under Raine’s arm bunched when she had wrapped them around his waist.

“A week ago.”

Raine wanted to argue for them to go look for the missing man. For all any of them knew, he could be in serious trouble.

“If you hear anything else we should know, contact me or my second.” Ryder’s words were a soft growl.

Raine frowned. His second?

Jessa pursed her lips. “I know to contact Theo. You don’t need to tell me. He
is
the sheriff.”

Raine took another peek at Theo. Though she was only five-three, she knew both men were much taller than any of the guys she’d ever met. Theo was tall, almost as big as Ryder, who she’d swear had to be over six feet. But he wasn’t as bulky. Ryder’s body appeared to have come out of
Badass Biker Magazine
, with enough tattoos all over to make any artist smile in glee. Theo didn’t have half his tattoos, and the ones she could see were only in the usual tribal ink. His demeanor was that of a man who dictated. Unlike Ryder’s clear dominance, Theo was more authority.

Theo nodded at the two guys he’d motioned, and they headed out the door in a rush, hopefully to look for Quinn.

“We’ll take care of finding him.” His voice was less hostile when he glanced at the redhead.

The woman nodded. “Could you-could you call me and let me know he’s okay when you find him?” She gulped “Please?”

Ryder nodded.

Raine watched Jessa and a man who’d been hanging by the door walk out of the bar together.

Ryder waited. Tried calming the animal inside. But for the entire time Jessa had been there, all he’d visualized was Raine putting her sexy, curvy body on the line for him. The alpha. It would not do.

Her jumping in front of him when she thought him in danger filled him both with pride and anger. He grabbed her by her arm.

She lifted a perfectly arched dark brow and glanced down at his hand holding her.

“I think we need to talk.” His wolf wanted him to teach her who was in charge.

She calmly strode with him back to his office. When he shut the door, he turned on her, gripping her arms, and thrust her against the door. Bodies flushed. Scents co-mingling.

“You never, ever put yourself in front of me when there’s any sort of danger, do you understand?”

Fire lit the gold depths of her eyes. He felt her animal’s anger.

“I think you’re mistaken. You don’t tell me what to do,” she snarled.

Oh but the sight of her so flushed was a delight. It added to the arousal stroking his cock.

“I am the alpha here, and I protect what’s mine.”

Sparks of lust and something else filled her gaze. Pure defiance. “And who said I was yours?”

The beast took control then. He swooped down and kissed her. Kissed her hard, so hard, he was afraid he’d bruised her lips. Fear and rage over how brave and stupid she’d been all pushed him into a state of desperation.

She shook out his hold, raked her hand up to his chest, and traced his abdominal muscles. Oxygen punched at his lungs, struggling its way in. He gripped her face in his hands, pushing her back between the wall and his own body. She whimpered. The sound of her body’s fevered craving added to his thirst, until all he wanted was to feel the silken hold of her pussy over his cock.

“Don’t deny what we can both feel is happening here. What I see in your eyes.” Ryder’s voice was rough, deep.

What he felt and what he saw was clear in her eyes. Frantic yearning. It was beautiful to see. Better to feel it in her body. The shudders. The nails biting into his shoulders. The tight nipples poking at his chest. Ah, yes. It was so much better to feel it. And soon he’d taste it, taste the sweet nectar of her arousal.

“I belong to no one. I depend on nobody. Besides, this is chemistry. Lust.” She scraped her nails down his chest in another long stinging caress.

“Sweetheart, the way your heart is beating right now coupled with that delicious scent drifting from you, lets me know you’re ready, willing, and able. For anything I want. Anything.”

He swiped his tongue over her neck in one long, slow lick. Her breath hitched. The scent of her desire thickened in the room.

“Sex.” She panted and gripped his shirt. “Only sex. And sex doesn’t control me.”

A second later, the sound of material tearing filled the room. He glanced down to see his T-shirt in pieces. Her gaze locked with his, and fire bounced between them. She licked her lips. Lust turned her eyes the color of dark smoky amber.

He grinned. “You were saying?”

“Fuck. Me. Now.”

“Raine...”

She undid his jeans and shoved her hand in. “Less talking, more fucking.”

She grasped his cock in her fist and drew it out of the constricting denim. He groaned. She pumped him from root to tip in her hold. He gripped the door frame behind her.

“You’re so hot. So hard.” She nuzzled her face into his chest, still squeezing his cock. His pants dropped to the floor, and she licked his nipple. Around one of the colorful lines inked to his chest and sucked the tiny bud into her hot mouth. He had to brace himself so he wouldn’t fall to his knees. He watched her lower until her face was mere inches from his throbbing cock.

Lust pounded in his ears. Along with his ragged breaths and uncontrolled heartbeats. She gripped his cock in a perfect hold and rubbed her face over his shaft. A shudder racked his spine at the intimacy of her move. He jerked when he felt her soft tongue lavish him with one long lick. She moaned the entire time she licked her way up from his balls to the crown of his cock.

She glanced up and licked her lips. “You taste so good. Like the wild. Untamed.”

His shaft jerked in her hold. “Raine—”

“I want some more.”

His mind went blank to everything but the feel of her lips encasing his dick. Her mouth was pure sin.

Moist.

Slick.

Tight.

Hell, he had to clench his teeth to keep from coming like a fucking pup. She sucked his full length into her pink lips and slowly pulled him out. It was the ultimate erotic visual. She jerked and sucked at the same time, in a perfect gripping combination of lips and fist. His body tightened. Electric tingles started to sizzle up and down his spine.

He roped her long hair around his fist. Then yanked and winced at the aggressive move. Careful now. This was new to her. The last thing he wanted was to turn her off with his wild side. She glanced at him with passion-clouded eyes and swollen lips.

Fuck, he wanted inside her right now. “Come here.”

She stood. He wretched the T-shirt off her body with even more force than before, ripping off a piece of the neckline in the process. He watched her tits bounce as she shrugged out of her jeans and toed off her boots. Naked. Exactly how he wanted her. The second she stood before him without any constricting material, he hauled her into his arms. Her legs curled around his waist. She clung to his neck, raking her nails on his back and shoulders. Her pussy dripped liquid heat over his dick.

Their gazes met, held, and he slid into her in one desperate plunge. Her pussy rippled around his cock. Oh yes, this was a million times better than her mouth had been.

Her gasp and wide eyed stare broke his control. He meshed their lips together, propelled back, and drove in hard. Deep. So deep his balls slapped her ass. His wolf enjoyed the rough mating. The wild side rode him now. There was no turning back or slowing down. Each rapid drive pushed him deep into her rippling sex. Her back slapped against the door, turning each of his thrusts into a flurry of thumps. Those thumps let everyone outside know exactly where they were having sex.

She moaned, whimpered, and mewled. His cock jerked with each soft sound. It turned him on to no end to know she was enjoying it this way. Because he couldn’t contain the animal’s needs. The beast had tasted her, rubbed his face in her folds. She was his.

“You feel fucking amazing.” The words were torn from his throat.

“You feel a hell of a lot better than that.” She whimpered softly. “I love the feel of your cock sliding in and out of me.”

For fuck’s sake, he was going to come before she did if she continued talking that way.

He licked her shoulder bend up to her jaw. She shuddered in his arms. He grinned, knowing how sensitive shifters were to that particular spot. He grazed his teeth on the same spot he’d just licked. Her pussy fluttered.

“Mmm. You know what feels even better than me fucking you?”

“God, no. There can’t be anything better.” She moaned. Her eyes had that dazed look he was starting to love seeing on her.

“But there is.” He nibbled her jaw. “You coming around my cock, gripping me tight and sucking me in.”