Wolf Rising (Beta Wolf Academy Book 4), page 3
“Slow down,” he said, running his fingertips over the curve of my ear, making me melt. “There’s a good girl.”
A shiver of excitement raced down my spine and shot straight to my core.
“You like that, don’t you?” he whispered, trailing a finger over my throat.
I didn’t respond, couldn’t when his mouth dipped lazily to my neck and skimmed up to my ear, with teeth and lips, to tease my earlobe.
My eyelids fluttered shut and beautiful colors played behind them like an aurora borealis in the night sky.
He moved down, pulling my panties off as he went, and my bones turned to liquid.
His hands danced across my skin, exciting then soothing, drawing small gasps and moans from me as he played me like a violin. My mind went soft and languid, blurry and full, like floating in a dream.
He dipped the tip of his tongue into my belly button, drawing me back to reality enough to smile and laugh quietly, then raised his head to meet my gaze before descending on me with his mouth.
The lights that had danced for me before exploded behind my eyelids as his tongue circled my clit, edging around the most sensitive part of my body, lighting little fires that burst to life and flared hot.
The dreaminess evaporated, replaced by wild need and flashing sensations as he licked and sucked me to the edge of orgasm. Then, he pulled back.
I dragged my eyelids open and expelled a ragged gasp when he reached for the toy I’d placed on top of the box.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said, before dipping a finger into my heat then slowly licking it clean.
I watched as he made short work of the packaging, then carefully washed the toy at the sink of the adjacent bathroom before strolling back to me, eyes dark with lust and excitement.
“Turn over.” His voice rasped over me, not an order, but forceful enough to delight me. I eased over onto my stomach.
His hand came beneath my pelvis and lifted, then moved between my thighs and spread my knees wide apart, presenting my unobstructed sex to his eyes, for his pleasure.
“Beautiful,” he murmured on a shaky breath that nearly undid me.
He spread his hands over my ass, tracing my curves, then lightly smacked one cheek, just enough to make me squirm.
“Hmmm.” He made the sound low in his throat, then delivered another smack, slightly harder, to my other cheek.
I moaned, shifting my hips back further. I’d never been spanked before, but damn if it didn’t feel fucking good!
“Sweet Old Ones,” he muttered. “You’ll be the death of me.”
I felt the exact same way about him.
The snap of a cap opening made me tense.
“Relax,” he said, running his fingers over my ass. They dipped between the curves, moving over sensitive flesh that brought back memories of pleasure and daring.
He moved slowly, rubbing his fingertip over my opening, dripping cold slippery lubricant onto me. I relaxed into the sensations, moaning, rocking my hips back as he pushed inside.
“That’s right,” he coaxed, pulsing in and out of me. His breathing picked up as I squirmed and made mewling sounds of pleasure.
When he pulled out, I sobbed.
“Shh.” He leaned over my back, licking his tongue down my spine, and pressed something new, something foreign with a glittery gemstone against my opening. “Do you trust me?”
I nodded, unable to form words through the excitement and fear coursing through me.
He pushed the lubricated toy against me, gently rotating it, until the tip, no bigger than his finger, spread me open enough to draw a sigh of pleasure from deep inside me.
I pushed back against him, then gasped as the toy slipped forward and filled me.
Chase groaned and ran his fingers around the base. “You are so fucking gorgeous. Do you want to see how beautiful you look with this inside you?”
“Yes,” I breathed, not sure why I wanted to see it.
He disappeared, then returned with two hand mirrors.
“Here,” he said, offering me one. “Look at how perfect you are.”
I angled the mirror, holding it steady as he lined the other up to give me a view of my own ass.
It was weird, seeing myself like this, spread wide open, knees apart, cheeks shining a soft pink after the small smacks I’d received.
My gaze shifted to the jewel, sparkling pink at the center of my ass. It was so girly and cute, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“It’s pretty,” I murmured, shifting my hips slightly to feel its slight bulk inside of me. “What does it do?”
Chase’s gorgeous lips turned up on one end and he chuckled. “So many things, Lexi. Let me show you.”
He took the mirror from my hand, brushed a kiss to my shoulder, then palmed my ass cheeks and shifted them from side to side.
“Oh, that feels good,” I said with a sigh.
Chase chuckled, smoothed his palm over me again, then delivered another smack, this one a bit harder than the others.
Sharp pleasure coursed through my core and spread, like wildfire through the rest of my body. A guttural moan exploded from my chest.
Chase growled then paid the same attention to the other side.
The stinging sensation on my skin ebbed as he rubbed his hand soothingly over the spot he’d smacked. I breathed through the pain and pleasure, utterly confused over which was which, loving every bit of it.
“More,” I begged, pushing my hips back into his hands.
The next slap was harder than the others and made brilliant white lights explode behind my eyelids. I sagged onto the bed and panted until I could catch my breath, then lifted my ass up again, ready for more.
“Eager little wolf, aren’t you?” Chase growled.
I wiggled my ass in the air.
His hand cracked against my skin, flashing pain, then moved to the other cheek to do the same. Then his mouth was on my flesh, licking and kissing, soothing away the pain just enough to make me want all over again.
Pleasure and pain swirled in my head, confusing my body, driving me higher and higher, close to the edge of insanity or release. I sobbed and begged for more. And when I thought I couldn’t survive any longer, he grabbed my hips, tossed me onto my back, lifted my legs onto his shoulders, and slipped just inside me, never breaking our line of sight. Then he thrust deep.
I arched back, eyes rolling as the world shifted around me, inside me. My mouth parted to suck in oxygen that hissed out of me before it could make it to my spinning mind. My body reeled, lost in pleasure so consuming, I couldn’t think or breathe or exist without him.
My hips rose to meet his thrusts, bucking with need, but he was having none of it. He pushed me into the bed, holding me still as he took the lead, as promised.
“Easy,” he murmured, slowing the frantic rhythm I wanted to set. “Look at me, Lexi.”
I obeyed without hesitation.
His smile was slow and sensual, like warm honey on a summer day. I sank into the promise in his eyes, in the curve of his lips, and let myself melt. I lifted my arms over my head and stretched in pleasure as he moved, tilting his hips at the last moment to brush against the bundle of nerves deep inside me. Exquisite pressure built, layer by beautiful layer, eradicating everything bad that had ever happened in my life.
“I’ve got you. Let go,” Chase said, bringing his clever fingers down to encircle my throbbing clit as he stared into my eyes.
Outside, his fingers caressed and coaxed, but inside… I didn’t know how to express it, didn’t know what it was, only that there was more between us than there had been. Even with our bond, with the connection we’d had for months, this was something—more.
My body and mind met for a brief instant in perfect harmony, in soft light on the edge of a beautiful precipice, then, together, they leaped.
I cried out as the orgasm rolled through me, emptying me out, so there was only lightness and joy left inside me.
He leaned down to kiss me softly, then pulled out and shifted onto his side behind me. Slowly, carefully, he rimmed his fingers around the base of the toy, pulled it out of me as I moaned, and put it on a tissue next to the bed. He tucked me neatly into the curve of his body then slid his arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my damp shoulder.
“You know,” he said, breathily, “they have butt plugs with faux wolf tails attached. That might be fun to play with.”
I pictured it. Me, walking around the house, with a wolf tail sticking out of my naked ass. A smile lifted my lips. I think we’d all enjoy that.
“Order one,” I said, looking over my shoulder at him with a grin. “Maybe two.”
We fell silent and burrowed into one another, just enjoying the ebbing warmth of our extracurricular activity. My sated thoughts turned introspective, mulling over the depth of connection I’d felt with Chase while he’d made love to me.
It was naive of me to have thought kink play wasn’t the same as making love. If anything, I’d felt closer to Chase this time than ever before.
I traced my fingers over his forearm.
“So, what other stuff are you into?” I asked, wondering what kind of kink this man was going to introduce me to. Curiosity and nerves warred for dominance.
He shifted onto his side to look at me, and said, “I don’t want to give you the wrong impression or lie to you, Lexi. I’ve been sexually active for a while now.”
I snorted at his term, “sexually active.”
He chuckled. “I know my reputation precedes me, but that was just playing around, you know?”
“You don’t have to defend your past, Chase,” I said, cupping his cheek. “We’re wolves. I’m not puritanical. I know you’ve had sex before.”
He pushed up onto his forearm and raked a hand through his mussed hair. “I know, but you were a virgin and I don’t want to freak you out or make you uncomfortable. You’d tell me, right? If any of this didn’t sit right with you?”
I sat up and faced him. Old Ones, he was so beautiful. I traced the shape of his face with my gaze.
“Look at me,” I said, reaching for his hand. “Do I look uncomfortable?”
He drew his gaze from my face down to my crossed legs and exposed sex. “Not from where I’m sitting.”
I smacked his shoulder lightly and laughed.
“I might not be as experienced as you are,” I said, nodding towards the box of toys on the floor, “but I trust you completely and I’m really excited to explore my sexuality with you. I promise, if I ever have misgivings, I’ll tell you, okay?”
He smiled. “Okay, because I have a lot of ideas—”
I smacked him again, this time harder, then rolled off the bed away from him when he lunged for me.
A knock at the closed door nearly had my heart jumping straight out of my chest.
Laughing, Chase grabbed a pair of shorts, pulled them on in record time, and pulled open his door while I held the crumpled sheet in front of my naked body in case it were someone other than my remaining two mates.
It wasn’t.
Dimitri tilted his chin and studied the bed, Chase’s grin, and my blush, and shook his head in amusement.
“Clean up. There’s someone here to see Lexi.” He chewed his lip, then added, “She said Sylvie LaFlamme sent her.”
CHAPTER 4
My sense of decency demanded that Chase and I both shower before greeting our guest, especially if she'd been sent by Sylvie. The time it took for me to wash the scent of sex from my body was worth the time she would wait in our spacious living area, hopefully sipping from the coffee I'd asked Dimitri to make her.
The woman stood before the long line of windows, looking out at the campus below, and drinking from a large cup that said, Ew, David, in bold letters.
She was tall for a woman, with beautiful golden skin and long, thick, straight black hair that she wore loose around her face. I'd never seen her before, but I'd seen pictures. Pictures of Rose's friends, Daphne, and Keme Little Foot, and their extended family.
She turned as I entered the room, setting down the cup on the coffee table nearest her and extending her hand. "Lexi, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Dalia Little foot."
I slipped my hand into hers, palm to palm, surprised not to feel any difference in the skin of a natural born Alpha.
"Welcome. I see you’ve already got a cup of coffee,” I said, stiffly, then gestured towards the chairs. “Would you like to take a seat?" Ugh, I hated how formal I always sounded when I was nervous or uncomfortable.
"Thank you," Dalia said, picking up her coffee and walking to one of the two chairs that sat on either side of the fireplace.
I took the other, then glanced over and blushed so intensely my face must have burst with color. I shot up out of my seat and waved my hands towards my mates, who were lingering near the kitchen island.
"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce you. Dalia, this is Dimitri Baskins, Chase Parker, and Lucian Durand. If you're here on behalf of Sylvie, then I have to assume she's filled you in on our unique mating bond." My cheeks practically burst into flames.
Dalia nodded. "That's why I'm here, actually," she said, smiling at my mates. "I'm somewhat of a ‘uniqueness expert,’ you could say." She gestured towards the couch nearby. "I'd like to speak with all of you, if that's alright?"
My mates strode over, eyeing Dalia warily, and sat, side-by-side, taking up the full length of the couch.
"Knowing Rose as I do," Dalia began, with a soft smile, "I'd say, you're more than a little aware of my uniqueness."
She touched her chest and let the briefest flare of power danced through her eyes.
My breath caught at the beauty of her natural born Alpha powers, and by the way my soul seemed to leap in my chest towards her. The air thickened and the pressure built, not painful, but uncomfortably. Then she cut it off, somehow, shutting it down so completely that the air buzzed from the absence of her power.
I laughed, overwhelmed with emotion and sensation.
"Wow," I said, rubbing a hand over my forehead. "Rose said you were powerful, but that was… amazing."
Dalia smiled, with a ghost of dark memories replacing the power in her eyes. "It hasn't always been quite as awesome," she said. "There was a time when I didn't understand what was happening to me, when I couldn't control my natural born Alpha powers, and I ended up hurting people around me."
She swallowed and looked down at the coffee cup in her hands. “I lost myself and my family for a long time, but I met others out there who knew more than I did and I studied at their feet, learning everything there was to know about, where my power comes from and how to control it, so it couldn't control me and put those I love in danger.”
She looked from me to my mates. "Does that sound like something you'd want?"
I thought of my nightmares, of the darkness that had sucked me under, of the blood that had stained my skin… of the quiet in my mind as I’d slaughtered all those men—
“I suppose,” I said, with a shrug.
Dalia eyed me contemplatively. “Do you remember much of what happened during the rescue?”
I blinked, surprised at the blunt question. People had been tiptoeing around me, acting like I’d break if they mentioned the time I lost my mind and slaughtered a bunch of men.
“My mates were in danger,” I said, flatly. “I did what needed to be done.”
My mom, eyes wild, arms spread out to block Faolin and Aiden from getting to me. Cruel smiles, then blood—so much blood.
I swallowed and breathed through my mouth, as I’d done while my mother had died in front of me, shredded by merciless claws and teeth.
“I don’t see the point of dwelling on the past,” I said, rushing the words out as if they could stop the nausea that kept rising. “No one got on Dimitri’s case when he ripped Randall’s throat out,” I added, looking at my Russian mate who stared back without expression. “You did what was necessary, in the moment. I don’t blame you. I never did. So, why is what I did any different?”
“Lexi,” Lucian murmured, eyes imploring me to understand.
I knew what they were thinking. I wasn’t an idiot. Dimitri had killed Randall, yes, but I’d bathed in the blood of our enemies. I’d gone further than any wolf should ever go… and I’d had no control over it.
“Does it bother you?” Dalia poked further.
I opened my mouth to deny any lingering psychological issues.
"She has nightmares," Dimitri interrupted, shifting to face me. "You haven't slept well since we returned."
His lips tightened, not with anger, but with concern
I loved that I could tell the difference now but hated that I made him feel that way.
Chase shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “I think we’d all be interested in learning a bit more about whatever this is.” He gestured to me and then his friends. “Obviously we didn’t experience what Lexi did…”
He trailed off and stared down at his hands.
“But,” Dimitri said, taking up the discussion, “things have felt different between us ever since. Right?”
He looked over at Lucian.
Lucian nodded slowly.
“I’ve felt it.” He glanced sideways at me, noted my discomfort, and shrugged. “Sorry, Lexi, but if Sylvie sent her, maybe we should go with it. We’re already different—”
“There’s nothing wrong with us,” I said, feeling defensive. My hands curled into fists on my lap. “If anything, we’re special. What if this is a gift from the Old Ones?”
Images of blood, puddled on the floor flashed behind my eyes, driving my emotions higher. Panic began to spread like wildfire.
“Lexi.” Chase jumped up, crossed the small living space, and fell to his knees before me. He closed his hands over mine and pulled them away from my thighs. “Stop, you’re hurting yourself.”
I frowned and looked down at my legs. Without realizing, I’d gouged deep furrows in my flesh. I turned my hands over, stared at the blood beneath my fingernails, and shuddered.
“Okay,” I whispered, sagging in defeat. “Maybe we need help.”
