Cloaked Ties, page 8
And he was in front of the hotel door. Unlocking it, he walked in and stopped as it swung closed behind him. Lust locked his limbs as a low moan slid from Shira’s throat straight to his ears.
She was in the bathroom, the door cracked open and he could see her moving in there, wearing—he assumed—nothing more than a towel for what he could see was bare. But when the moan came again, he realized what the motion was she was doing. And just what that scent was. Her arousal.
Shira was in there, getting herself off.
Fuck, he was firmer than marble. Food slid to the floor in the bag he’d been carrying it in and he didn’t give a fuck. The shower was running but her skin wasn’t wet from it, so she was about to go in, after she got off. Through the crack in the door, he watched her face.
How she closed her eyes, tipped her head back, how the moans came from her throat that he wanted to be the cause of. She had perched herself on the edge of the sink and had one leg up, giving herself better access to her pussy.
A pussy he longed to drop to his knees before and worship.
With stealth he moved closer, needing to see her, see more. Her short, panting breaths were talons of need, raking into him with unforgiving relentlessness. Steam filled up the room, but it was her scent that latched onto him, drawing him in. Bringing him closer to ecstasy.
He swung the door open and swallowed. Hard. Beads of moisture clung to her skin, sweat perhaps. Or from the steam. Her full lashes were settled upon her sharp cheekbones, but it was her lips that mesmerized him. At first.
She panted, “Yes.” And “More.” Over and over again as her fingers worked tirelessly between her legs, pushing her closer to her release.
Moving his gaze down her body, he took in the full, high breasts jiggling with her strokes between her legs. Scars, there were many scars but he didn’t give a damn, he moved over them and settled on her thighs and the hand between them.
Thumb on her clit, she pumped two fingers deep inside her pussy, they were shiny with her cream each time she withdrew them.
“Kraven,” she moaned.
And it was his undoing.
* * *
She’d just needed to get the edge off. A slight bit of relief that being around that man all day was creating inside her. Her normally razor sharp reflexes were anything but when the scent of Kraven—wildness, man, and a primal smell no other had smelled to her before—wove around her like a velour blanket, teasing her already pebbled nipples along with her hypersensitive skin, she didn’t move.
Not even when a large hand gripped her wrist from where it plunged between her legs. It was difficult enough to open her eyes, but she managed that. And there he was.
Mattais Kraven.
The man the world was cruel enough to make her mate. He stood there, his longer hair falling forward down to his eyes, but not enough to hide the stark hunger in them. It burned through her, setting fire to places she didn’t believe possible.
“You need relief, mate, you come to me.”
There was a harsh command in that phrase. One that would have weakened her knees if she weren’t already seated. She tried to pump her fingers in once more, she’d been so close. So fucking close.
His grip was ironclad and she wasn’t able to move. Kraven withdrew her hand from her legs and brought it closer to his face. She could see her slickness on her fingers and her heart skipped a few beats when he closed his eyes, nostrils flaring while he took in the scent. Her scent.
His dark gaze had found her again when he brought her fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. One at a time, twining his tongue around each digit, like he had to make sure nothing was left behind. Each lick, each draw on her held a direct line to her clit.
She moaned and his fingers flexed around her wrist. Kraven skimmed his hand along her arm, not slowing at her elbow but moving with a smooth transition to her knee and down her leg. On the outside.
Bastard.
Her skin hurt for his touch. She closed her eyes and he stopped.
“Look at me.”
Another command.
Again, one she followed.
Down the outside of her thigh, over her calf and to her ankle. When he came back up, he was on the inside.
Thank the fucking god.
The rough pads of his fingers were torture and she wanted them on her clit. Wanted his thick fingers pushing into her, making her numb to anything other than the pleasure she didn’t doubt he would provide.
He moved around her pussy, not touching her.
Had she thanked a god? Perhaps she should curse a demon.
She shifted her hips, trying to direct his fingers where to go. Kraven didn’t release her gaze.
“Mine.”
Such a simple word with such a complex meaning. And for the moment, she didn’t want to think about anything other than the pleasure she hunted.
“Either touch me or leave.”
His grip on her inner thigh tightened and a low moan slid free. His gaze darkened.
“I’m touching you. But you’re my mate, Shira. Your orgasms are mine to give. You want one, you ask me for it. I’ll give it to you. All of them. As many as you want.” He leaned closer. “Ask me.”
This was a battle for a different day. Right now, she needed it. Needed to be pushed over that edge. Have the endless biting hunger soothed, at least for now.
She opened her mouth and the word wouldn’t slide free. It stuck in her throat like a lump of food, not going anywhere. Kraven’s gaze remained locked on her, amber flecks announcing the slim hold he had on his control. Yet for once, her bird wasn’t fighting to get away, wasn’t screeching with warning about needing to flee. It wanted him. This wolf. Wanted him closer. More touches. Kisses.
Fucking.
She didn’t want to be made love to. Shira didn’t believe in the fairy tale her friend lived, not for herself. She didn’t want to be treated like she may break. She wanted rough. Sweaty. Back bending, toes scrunching, voice rasping. The kind of sex that wrung you out after and there wasn’t a need to move, mostly, because you couldn’t.
She craved his thickness spearing into her, lifting her up on her toes as he slammed her into a wall because he wasn’t patient enough for a bed. She wanted what she heard about from couples who—
“Don’t you fucking think about anyone else, Shira. Not while my fucking hands are on you.” Kraven’s voice, pure wolf.
It dragged through her, rough and dangerous. Spiking her arousal more.
She licked her lips and bucked her hips again. Or tried to, his hold on her, absolute.
He leaned closer, breaking the eye contact which may very well become her undoing and sniffed her neck. Inhaled as he ran his nose up her throat and along her chin. Then back down. when he reached her carotid, he covered it with his mouth, a low warning rumble rolling from him.
Again, straight to her clit.
She whimpered, to far gone to be anything but shameless. She couldn’t fight her beast and her own ravenous need anymore. And she didn’t want to.
“Ask me.”
Two commanded words, pressed to her tender skin that he continued to hold onto. His fingers danced closer to her pussy, brushing up along the outer lips and again, circling her clit but never, never touching.
“Please.”
She dug her fingers into his upper arms, the power there, undeniable.
“Ask me.” He bit down harder.
Shira licked her lips. “Kraven.”
That was as far as she got. The single word wobbled as it found it’s way free but damn it, it was enough. He plunged his fingers, thick and long, deep inside her needy slit.
“Mine,” he growled against her flesh.
She didn’t care. She’d found her precipice and had been tossed over. Her body tensed as she bucked, euphoria, the one she’d been chasing before he’d found her frigging herself, located and embraced.
Letting go of him with one hand, she grasped the hand he had between her legs, closing around his wrist, as much as she could and held on. She couldn’t hold still and this time, he allowed her movement.
“Take what you want. Ride my fingers, sky goddess, like you do the wind. Like it’s yours to do with as you will.”
And she did.
Undulating, floating, soaring, she took all of it and more. Over and over, he gave her more pleasure than she deserved, letting her use his body for the tool she needed. Fingers, legs, cock. He never undressed but he also never stopped her. No. Kraven encouraged her to take.
All the while, he murmured to her in words she didn’t understand, but her soul did. And it soothed the hurt and anger that burned there. He moved them to the bed and continued touching and pleasing her.
Shira screamed into the mattress as she came once more, Kraven’s hard body covering her from behind, grinding her into the mattress and his hand that was still between her legs, giving her such pleasure. His teeth had a grip on her shoulder but again, more pleasure for her.
He pumped his hand until she stopped coming, the hard length of his cock along the crack of her ass. She couldn’t move. Retracting her talons from the mattress, she closed her eyes and sighed.
That, was what she’d needed. She shut her eyes and allowed the mattress to support them both. She actually quite enjoyed feeling his larger body on hers and took advantage before he moved away. Kraven stayed like that for a while.
She whimpered in protest when he withdrew his fingers from her pussy. Against her shoulder, she felt him smile. He sprawled that same hand against her womb and turned them onto their sides, keeping her tucked against his chest. Inside, her bird finally slept.
The shower had been shut off when she woke and for a moment, she just lay there, getting her bearings. The air still held the faint scent of her sex. She closed her eyes, wondering how he would smell.
A thought she pushed away. Not as quickly as she would have liked. Dawn was coming. They’d slept through the entire night. No food. At least not for her.
She still lay plastered against the hard bodied wolf in her bed and found, she didn’t mind so much. He’d lost his shirt at some point, so she was naked against his warm skin. Like she did the sunlight, she closed her eyes again and burrowed closer.
He grunted in his sleep and tightened his grip around her. Just a bit longer to enjoy being like this before she had to move. Just a few more seconds to allow herself to feel safe and protected, to not being the one who had to do all that. Beneath her ear, his heart beat steady and strong.
Chapter Eight
Kraven woke alone. That fact glaringly obvious to him the moment he came to full awareness. How the fuck had this woman slipped away without him waking? A second time.
His wolf still remained curled in a small ball, not content in the full sense of the word, but definitely more so than he had been for a while. Last night, he’d been able to touch his mate. Taste her. Hear her moans of pleasure while she brought him some.
Cock stirring, he opened his eyes and thought about how Shira had fallen apart by his touch. Her she’d breathed his name on a longing sigh as she rode his fingers. The blood she’d drawn, digging her nails into his skin. And lest he forget, how her eyes had shifted to eagle and back when she’d come undone.
Beauty. Far to tame of a word for what that woman epitomized.
Yet, now, he lay here alone, surrounded by the scent of her but no heat. He rubbed the heel of his hand over his growing erection, a low moan sliding from this throat with the touch. All afternoon and evening he’d wanted nothing more than to lose his jeans and fuck her. Drive his cock into her and make her scream his name. Given the grip her slit had on his fingers, it was going to fucking choke his dick.
But she wasn’t here. Kraven released his cock and pushed up on his elbows, scanning the room. Her scent everywhere. He listened and didn’t hear her so he rose and padded to the window, moving aside the curtain enough to see outside.
Morning sun had only just begun to bathe the land in its golden glow. He skimmed the parking lot he could see but didn’t locate her. Truck yes. Woman no.
Then he heard her. A light laugh that was Shira and yet not. This was the human Shira, the one who had fooled him of her true being. Shoving into his boots, he realized she’d picked up the food he’d dropped yesterday and put it all on the small table in the room. That wasn’t important right now. He walked outside, tugging on his shirt, heading into the direction of her voice all without looking.
He moved around the corner of the building and drew up short. Shira was at the small playground area the hotel had and she was with a small girl. They both had dolls and were playing with them.
His heart wrenched and in that second. He wanted a child, or five, with this woman. She already took care of those who needed it. She was going to be a great mother.
Shira sat on a swing, head bent, as she focused on the girl with her. She had her hair, all those incredible braids, piled up on top of her head in a bun. He itched to release it and grasp the braids once more, this time as he powered his cock into her, not just his fingers.
His mate lifted her head and glanced at him. Not to long but he felt the resulting punch to his gut just the same.
Scanning the area, he saw who he presumed to be the mother, not far off watching the interaction. He continued with his own perusal and ensured that his woman was safe. That was his foremost item of importance.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he put in his earbud and touched it to answer the call. “Yes Alpha?”
“You knew it was me?”
“I always know when you call. You’re concerned and doing your best not to show it to your mate, so you call me.”
His Alpha’s wolf rumbled over the line and Kraven allowed his lips to curl up. The mother across the way looked at him, moved on, then returned to him for a few moments. He could smell her arousal and from the way his mate’s eyes cut to him, he knew she could as well.
Not that Shira had anything to worry about at all for he was hers. Wholly and completely.
“How is she?”
Delicious. Fantastic.
Kraven pushed his hands into his jean pockets and began moving closer to Shira. “She’s okay, we finally crashed at a hotel last night to get some hard sleep.”
“You know Tora won’t be alone, Keane will not let her do this without him.”
Jealously rose switch and deadly. “He doesn’t need to be around my mate.”
“As I was so properly reminded, he has been her friend longer than we have been in her life.” There was more than a mere thread of amusement in Casimir’s tone.
Kraven snapped his jaw, teeth clicking hard. He didn’t want Keane there. Fuck. The things he would do for his mate.
The creak of a swing had him looking back over to where she’d been sitting. Shira and the child had parted was and she walked toward him. Hips swaying slightly as she approached, his wolf rose and stretched within him, anxious to be close to his mate once more.
She looked up at him as she slowed, the smile on her face, not the one he liked there. Again, this was the pretending Shira, the one who could snow the world into thinking she was just an ordinary human.
Without hesitation, he drew her against him, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her neck. Her scent filled his nostrils and his wolf howled in pure pleasure. It rubbed against his insides, wanting desperately to be seen, to be petted by this woman who was their mate.
The moment she sank into him, he mentally fist pumped the sky. Progress, this was progress. Even though his cells protested him moving away from her, he did allowing her the space he knew she craved.
“Ready to leave?”
“Truck is already packed.”
Unable to resist the draw, he dragged one finger down her cheek. “How did you sneak out this morning?”
“Secret.”
Together they retreated into the hotel room but Kraven backed her against the door the moment it had closed behind them. Hands braced on either side of her head, he bent at the elbows and inched closer.
“I enjoyed last night mate.” He nuzzled her behind the ear before pulling back and locking with her stare once more.
“We should get moving.”
He backed off immediately and stood at her shoulder as they did another visual perusal of the room, making sure nothing had been missed. He made sure to place a hand at the small of her back when they exited and helped her up into the truck, even though she was driving.
When she opened her mouth, he stole a kiss. “Get used to it, mate. I plan on touching you every chance I get.”
He stepped away before she could formulate a response.
After returning the key, they drove on. She didn’t stop until he asked her to pause so they could eat. He still had the sandwiches from yesterday and so when she pulled off the road at a nice open spot, he was ready to indulge.
She didn’t offer up conversation while they ate and he took the time to observe her. How she downplayed her looks to try and get people to overlook her. How the hell they did, he wouldn’t ever understand. Everything she did, to him, was incredible.
When she wiped the corners of her mouth, he unfolded his body and walked to where she sat on a large log. Shira tipped her head back to hold his gaze.
“My wolf wants you to see him.”
The silence that stretched before them worried him, still, nothing reflected in her gaze. If you didn’t know what to look for.
“Fine.”
One word. Almost no inflection. It was the almost that got him. There had been a small spike of fear before she tamed it. And again, like with most things, this woman didn’t show it on her face.
Kraven stepped back from her far enough that he wouldn’t be right in her lap when he shifted. His beast paced within him, ready to be touched by his mate.
Gentle, he told him. She fears us.
The wolf didn’t necessarily understand. He knew Shira was his mate and wanted to be petted, caressed by her. He wanted to have the pleasure of her fingers running through his pelt as he rested his head in her lap.
“Ready?”
