Shoot for the Moon (Black River Pack Book 2) (4 page)

“Just a little bit longer,” he rasped. “It’ll be worth the wait.”

“Now, now, now,” I chanted as I lifted my hips to meet each of this thrusts.

His cock nudged my cervix on each downward stroke as his balls slapped against my ass. I trembled underneath him and tensed my muscles, trying desperately not to come. But when he swiveled his hips on the next thrust, I couldn’t stop it any longer. My orgasm crashed over me like a tidal wave, consuming me with pleasure like I’d never felt before.

I shuddered beneath him as I gasped for breath, my eyes clenched shut. My head was spinning, and I could swear I was seeing stars. When I gave a final shudder, Spencer cried out my name and his cock pulsed inside me. We both panted heavily, our chests heaving as silence surrounded us. The sex had always been good between us, but what had just happened had surpassed even our best night together.

“Eliza,” he murmured, wrapping his body around mine. "
Ich beanspruche dich als meine Gefährtin, von jetzt an bis in alle Ewigkeit.
"

It was as though the entire world stood still for a moment as my brain registered the words he’d just said—something I’d never expected to hear him speak to me. It was done in a language different from the phrase my dad had shared with my mom because his lineage was British, while the Black River Pack’s was German, but it held the same meaning. It was a promise to be mine now and forever.

“You mated me?” I gasped, stunned by what he’d just done.

When Spencer’s eyes met mine, he looked as surprised as I felt. And then a certainty passed over him and he nodded.

“Yeah. Looks like I did.”

“Why now? Before we’ve had a chance to talk?” I demanded.

He rolled to the side, his cock slipping out of me. Then I received a second shock when I realized he’d taken me without protection. In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t noticed, and it was something I never forgot. I had no desire to bring a baby into this world knowing it wouldn’t have the benefit of two loving parents. So before he could say anything else, I punched him hard in the stomach. His breath whooshed out, and he looked at me with accusing eyes.

“What the hell was that for?”

“Mating me and fucking me without a condom when you didn’t have my permission to do either,” I hissed, trying to pull away from him while his arms banded around me.

Spencer held me tight against him. He was stronger than I was in both wolf and human forms, so he had little trouble squelching my efforts to get away. After a few moments, I stopped struggling because I knew he wouldn’t let me go until he was ready to do so.

“You know as well as I do that the decision to mate is mine—not yours. It was my choice as the male, and it will be your choice to accept my mark. Maybe I should apologize for springing it on you like that, but it was something I should have done a fucking long time ago and I wasn’t going to wait one more damn day to do it,” he growled.

“But—” I began to protest before he clamped his hand over my mouth.

“No,” he hissed. “Not until I’ve had my say and you listen to what I’m telling you. Understood?”

Spencer had always been dominant with me. It was his nature as the beta of our pack. But he’d never ordered me around like this before. I could practically feel his frustration pouring off him, and my wolf was pushing me to submit to his. Even with as pissed off as I was, I jerked my head up and down in the tiniest bit of acknowledgment.

“I am sorry for taking you without a condom,” he rasped. “Not because I didn’t enjoy the fuck out of it. The feel of you wrapped around me with nothing separating us was fucking incredible.”

“But the risks—” I argued.

“Are minimal,” he finished. “You don’t smell fertile, but even if you were—even if I knocked you up—I’d be fucking fine with it. I’m in this for the long haul, my dream girl. If I have my way, then you’ll be the mother of my children someday anyway.”

If Spencer had told me the same thing when we’d first met—or even when we’d started our affair—then I would have been over the moon with joy. I still would have worried about what my dreams meant, but the reassurance would have eased those concerns. But that’s not what happened. Instead, his actions towards me reinforced the belief that he would renounce me as his mate. I couldn’t just change my way of thinking overnight even though so much had changed so quickly.

“Your mating me—it’s already more than I ever expected,” I tried to explain. “But I need a little more time before the marking. Time to accept this change in our relationship and to adjust to people knowing my secret. The only other person I’ve ever told about my gift was my alpha, and he threw me out of my pack because of it. I’m scared of how everyone will react.”

Spencer’s arms tightened around me as though he were afraid I would try to get away. “Your old alpha was an ass who didn’t deserve to have you in his pack. Your gift is a blessing to us all—just as my grandmother’s was back in her day.”

“Did she dream too?”

Settling deeper into the pillows, Spencer pulled the blankets over both of us, making us more comfortable as we talked. “No, her visions came to her during the day. One minute, she’d be talking to us, and the next, she’d have a faraway look in her eyes. As a kid, it was pretty damn spooky to watch.”

“Spooky,” I repeated quietly, disturbed by his word choice.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that,” he assured me. “It was just weird watching her eyes cloud over in a strange way when she had a vision. But my father always listened to her predictions, and they usually saved the pack a lot of trouble. They didn’t come often, but all of our pack members accepted them for what they were—something to be treasured. It won’t be any different with your dreams.”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we,” I whispered, worry coloring my tone.

Spencer trailed his fingers through my hair, letting the strands fall before scooping them up again in a comforting gesture. “Yes, you will. And then maybe you’ll be ready to admit that we are meant to be mates—just like my grandmother predicted all those years ago.”

“Mmmm-hmmmm,” I sighed.

“And then you’ll be ready to accept my mark?”

“I think so,” I murmured.

“I’ll make sure you are,” he swore.

As I fell asleep snuggled in Spencer’s arms, I felt an unaccustomed peace settle into my heart. He hadn’t rejected me after he’d learned my darkest secret. It was difficult to believe that my dream could become my reality anymore. Not after what we’d shared with each other tonight. Spencer had made love to me as he’d mated me. The fears I’d lived with for so long seemed ridiculous. Now that he knew about my gift and had still chosen to mate me, I was certain the dream wouldn’t come back again.

Four short hours later, I was visited by another dream of us. It started off incredibly sweet, with the love Spencer felt for me shining from his eyes as he looked at me. My heart melted at the warmth that filled my soul as I dreamed of the life we could have together. Then the happiness faded as the scene changed to one I was extremely familiar with—the one I’d seen so many times before.

The Spencer of my dreams changed into the one of my nightmares as his expression morphed into a look of utter disgust and anger. I knew what was coming next and struggled to wake up. I didn’t want to see it again, not so soon on the heels of his mating me. It was too much to bear.

I woke up gasping, tears streaking my cheeks and my heart pounding in my chest. As I gazed down at Spencer while he slept so peacefully next to me, I couldn’t believe the highs and lows I’d gone through in the last twenty-four hours. Sorrow filled me as I realized my certainty that Spencer and I could have a beautiful future together hadn’t even lasted one night. My dream tonight could have only meant one thing: there was still a chance Spencer would denounce me as his mate.

How could I possibly accept his mark with these doubts in my head?

Chapter 3

Spencer

When I’d whispered the mating words to Eliza, my instincts had been ruling me. It hadn’t been until days later that I’d realized the risk I was taking. I’d tied myself to a woman who didn’t trust me. She was willing to give me her body, but I was starting to wonder if she would ever give me her heart. For the first time in my life, sex wasn’t enough for me. Several months had passed since that night, and I still wasn’t any closer to getting her to allow me to mark her than I had been then.

My own damn stupidity had gotten me into this mess, and now, I needed to find a way out of it. I needed to make her open up to me and share whatever it was that was causing her to hold herself back from me. I knew she had concerns about how the pack would react to her gift, but everyone was accepting of it—especially since her dream had started the series of events leading to Grace’s safety and Hunter’s claim on her.

The moment I’d laid eyes on Eliza, I had known she was different from any other woman I’d ever met. I’d been immediately drawn to her and my wolf had pushed against his bonds, wanting to get closer to her. I’d chalked it up to an insane amount of lust though. I hadn’t let my mind wander into mate territory because I’d been too stubborn to think she could be my one—the dream-walker my grandmother had spoken of so many years ago. I’d turned a blind eye to the feelings she sparked deep inside and focused on the one thing I’d thought she could give me—amazing sex. I’d paid no attention to my wolf as he’d howled inside, knowing that his mate was close but still out of reach.

People had called me a stubborn asshole many times in the past. They were right, too. Once I made my mind up, there was no changing it for me. When I’d placed Eliza firmly in the “not my mate” category, I’d ignored the hope shining from her eyes every time we were together. If I’d been paying closer attention, maybe I would have noticed that the spark had slowly been dimming as the months had gone by. Maybe I would have realized what my wolf had been trying to tell me every time she was near. Maybe I would have fucking thought to ask her about her fucking dreams the first time she’d woken up in the middle of the night and pulled away from me.

Instead, I had done nothing, and now, I was stuck with a long list of “maybes” and a mate who thought I didn’t want her as mine. Eliza had every reason in the world to be hesitant about my love for her. I’d spent an entire year lying to myself about my feelings for her. Giving her a few months to realize I wasn’t going anywhere had seemed like the least I could have done to make up for my mistake, but I needed to make better progress with her than I had so far.

Once I reached the end of my patience, I did the only thing a desperate man in my position could do. I went to my sister-in-law for advice. She was a woman. Plus, she and Eliza had become friends. Sometimes I wondered if my mate had let Grace into her heart more than she’d let me.

“I’m not sure how much help I can be without giving away Eliza’s secrets,” she was saying.

“Mates shouldn’t have secrets from each other,” I growled just as Hunter walked into the room.

“Don’t talk to my mate that way,” he snapped at me. “And you’d better not be talking about something you’re keeping from me, Gracie-mine.”

Grace stepped into his waiting arms and snuggled up against him. Watching them together reminded me of what I was fighting to have with Eliza.

“Of course not, silly wolf,” Grace chided Hunter. “If I wanted something to stay a secret from you, I certainly wouldn’t tell your brother. He’d go tattling to you right away.”

“You have a plan in place for how to keep something from me?” Hunter complained.

“Never,” she whispered to him. “You’re my whole world, so you know everything about me already.”

“Then what’s with all this talk about secrets?” he asked.

Grace’s eyes flew to mine. “Spencer wanted some advice for how to deal with Eliza, but I feel like my hands are tied because she’s my friend.”

“You’re more than just her friend. You’re the alpha’s mate,” I reminded both of them.

“My Grace knows her responsibilities,” Hunter told me. “And I trust she will make the right decision for both of you.”

“Then she’ll tell me what I need to know to fix things with my mate,” I grumbled.

“Oh, Spencer,” she sighed. “Don’t you think I want you two to be just as happy as I am with Hunter?” She didn’t give me a chance to respond before continuing. “Of course I do. But there have been things Eliza has said in passing that make me think she’s holding something back from you. A reason why she’s scared to let you mark her.”

“And I need to know what that reason is!” I barked out.

“Then you need to ask Eliza,” she replied softly. “But you need to make her feel as safe as possible first.”

“And how do I do that?” I protested. “What more can I do? I mated her months ago and have given her as much space as I could stand so she could get used to the idea of being mine. I’m getting fucking desperate here, Grace.”

“Maybe that’s it,” Hunter piped in.

We both turned to him, trying to figure out what he meant.

“Space isn’t working, so take it away. Stop being a pussy and man the fuck up and make her tell you.”

“Hunter!” Grace gasped. “Don’t be a jackass.”

He might have said it crudely, but the idea had merit. Maybe I
had
given Eliza too much space.

“It’s not a horrible idea,” I admitted. “Maybe she needs to see that I’m willing to fight for her, too.”

“Hey, don’t sound so shocked. There’s a reason I’m the alpha,” Hunter complained.

“And giving relationship advice clearly isn’t one of them,” Grace said sarcastically. “Make her tell you? Ha! Like you can make a woman tell you anything if she isn’t ready.”

“Oh, I have my ways,” Hunter murmured before kissing her neck.

“And so do I,” I mumbled, giving serious consideration to Hunter’s suggestion.

I truly was nearing the end of my rope. When I’d mated Eliza, I hadn’t expected it to take this long before she would accept my mark. Holding back wasn’t working, so I decided that pushing a little was worth a shot. And I wasn’t going to wait to give it a try, either. There was no time like the present.