He dropped to his knees before her and trailed kisses between her breasts, sucking and biting at her nipples before nuzzling his way down her stomach making her tremble with need. He kissed and nipped at her tender flesh while he tugged her narrow skirt upward, his fingernails abrading her thighs as the fabric climbed higher.
Part of her couldn’t believe this was happening, couldn’t believe that she was in the middle of the woods letting Caleb tie her to a damn tree and strip her. The other part couldn’t believe he wasn’t fucking her already. She was desperate to be filled. By him.
With every inch of skin he bared, he pressed a kiss to the insides of her thighs. By the time he made it to her core, she’d be nothing more than a pile of unfulfilled need, and her underwear would be embarrassingly wet. She held her breath as he hooked his fingers onto the elastic and dragged the silky fabric down her legs, sliding it off her ankles and letting it drop to the ground. He shouldered her thighs apart, and the cool night air bathed her overheated flesh.
Pushing her skirt all the way up, he trailed his fingers over her damp curls, before spreading her lips and exposing her fully to his gaze. Even in the growing darkness, he seemed to have no trouble seeing her. Her entire body shook with the anticipation of his mouth on her cunt. He hesitated for the longest time, but finally, finally, he touched her, dragging the tip of his tongue through her molten folds. Her head fell back, thudding against the tree. Even the sharp smack of wood didn’t lessen the pleasure of his mouth on her. His fingers stroked and teased her needy pussy, carefully avoiding her swollen clit. He moaned against her sodden flesh, and the vibrations of his voice shuttered through her.
She lifted her hips, trying to get his mouth where she wanted it, but he was apparently determined to take his damn time. He just pushed her back more firmly against the tree and continued exploring her at his leisurely pace. The bark biting into her ass seemed to heighten all of the other sensations racing through her body. She knew it wouldn’t be long before she came.
She bit her lower lip as she strained against him. Without warning, he drew her clit between his lips, his teeth scraping across it. He’d broken a dam within her and sensation flooded through. Waves of bliss washed over her, enveloping her body. Unable to keep silent, she cried out, splitting the night air. The sound had barely left her mouth before she heard the howling of wolves, their voices burying her own.
A flush heated her face. She couldn’t help but wonder if that had been Ethan and Jake saving her from any potential embarrassment or if it had just been a welcome coincidence by their wild counterparts. And if it had been Ethan and Jake, had they been watching? Had they been watching their brother strip her? Would they watch him fuck her? And
why
did that thought send a fresh rush of moisture flooding through her?
Caleb stood and moved toward her, his lips shiny with her release. Her cunt clenched, still wanting more. Wanting his cock. Inside her. Now. She reached for him only to realize that she was still secured to the tree.
A lazy smile quirked the corner of his lips as he unfastened his waistband the zipper loud in the night air. As he pushed aside his pants and underwear, Brenna got her first look at his cock. He was huge—thick and long and wet with pre-cum. Her mouth dried, and she tried to swallow.
Holding her gaze, he watched her as he stroked his shaft from root to tip. “Do you have any idea how fucking hot you are? Tied up like some sort of virgin sacrifice waiting for the dragon?”
A breathless laugh escaped her. “The dragon…the big bad wolf…”
His lazy smile turned into a feral grin and his teeth glinted in the low light. Her stomach trembled with nervous excitement as he drew closer.
Chapter Three
Caleb released his cock and drove his hands through her hair, angling her head to take his kiss. Her mouth opened beneath his, warm and sweet as he delved inside. He still couldn’t quite believe he had this woman where he’d wanted her for so long. Of course, his fantasies never involved tying her to a tree and making her come. His cock jerked at the memory of her sharp, needy cries and her addictive taste. Reality was so much better than what he’d imagined while frantically jerking off in the shower as a teenager. Reality was warm and soft and more responsive than he’d ever dared dream. Reality made his entire body shake with need.
He pushed against her, his shaft dragging wetly across her stomach. He swallowed her little gasp of pleasure as he continued to kiss her. It was all he could do not to bury himself inside her immediately. Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers and tried to catch his breath—to slow down. He needed to tell her she was his mate before this went any further. She pushed her hips against his, tightening his balls.
“I need you. Inside me,” she whispered, her breath a caress against his lips. “Please tell me you have protection.”
Blindly, he reached for his wallet and pulled out a condom, letting his billfold and pants fall to the ground. Tearing open the foil packet, he quickly sheathed himself and released one of her wrists from its binding.
He slipped his arm beneath her ass and lifted her up until the head of his cock was aligned with her heated folds. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pushed the air from her lungs as he shoved inside her with a quick, harsh thrust. He groaned as her fiery channel surrounded him, engulfing him. He’d wanted to take it slower, ease into her, but the sensation of finally having his mate in his arms aroused him more intensely than anything he’d ever experienced.
God, he should have told her already—he shouldn’t have let it get this far. Brenna locked her trembling legs around his waist, and the last bit of rational thought flew from his head. Her nails scored his shoulders as she clutched at him. The sting of pain urged him forward as he slowly pulled back, sliding through her snug passage. Her eyes closed, and her head lolled on her neck against the tree trunk. Slipping his hand up her back, he cupped the base of her skull, cradling her head and protecting it from the rough bark. Her taut nipples rubbed against his chest as he slid in and out of her grasping body.
In the back of his mind, he knew there was something he should be doing. Something he should be saying. But the taut clasp of her sweet cunt and the breathless whimpers that caressed his neck chased whatever it was from his head. Her intoxicating scent surrounded him. The only thing he could focus on was the welcoming heat of her body and her needy demands for more. His arms tightened around her as he surged forward, pounding into her—filling her completely.
Her nails scratched at his shoulders through his cotton shirt as she pulled him closer. His lips found the gentle curve of her neck, and his teeth closed over the tender skin before he stopped himself. He couldn’t mark her—not without her consent. But Christ, he wanted to. He wanted to sink his teeth into her flesh. Make her his—permission or no—and damn the consequences.
He forced himself to look into her eyes. The expression in her gaze was more open, more trusting than anything he ever remembered seeing from her. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take the choice from her.
Instead, he reached between them and brushed his thumb across her clit, pushing her closer to completion. Her pussy began to ripple around him, contracting around his shaft as he continued to power in and out of her. Sensation streaked down his spine to pool at the small of his back. Brenna’s keening cry spilled from her lips, immediately followed by Jake and Ethan’s howls, closer this time. The sound of her release and the feel of her body milking him shoved him over the edge, and he came, groaning her name and empting into the condom that separated them.
Twining her arms around his neck, she slumped against him, breathing heavily. “Wow. I…wow.”
“Come home with me.”
“I should probably—”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You should probably come home with me.”
They needed to talk.
* * * *
Brenna squinted in the too-bright light hanging in the kitchen of Caleb’s house. What was she thinking? She shouldn’t be here. Somehow, she’d let him talk her into taking her rental car and coming home with him. He’d left his at the reception for one of his brothers to drive back later.
Her teeth sinking into her lower lip, she glanced across the room to where he stood staring at her, his features thrown into sharp relief by the overhead light. Her tummy fluttered at the intensity in his gaze and desire bubbled back to life. She wanted him again? What the hell was the matter with her?
It wasn’t that the sex hadn’t been fantastic—it had been better than that. Hands down, the best experience she’d ever had, but it wasn’t an experience she intended to repeat. No matter how much she might want to.
If she wasn’t careful, her long-time crush could easily become something else entirely. And wasn’t
that
just the last thing she needed? After all this time, she wasn’t about to cave and fall in line with her father’s twisted little hopes and plans. He would have to find some other way to live out his shifter dreams. He wouldn’t do it by living vicariously through her. If he couldn’t love her for who she was, she refused to be loved for who she was with.
Caleb took a step toward her. “You’re regretting this already?” His tone was neutral, but she didn’t miss the disappointment in his eyes.
Several deep breaths later, she met his gaze. “Not regretting it, exactly.”
“But?” he prodded her when she’d paused too long.
“But,” she continued. “I really think I should be going.” When he opened his mouth to speak, she rushed to say, “It was great. Really, really great, but I should go. Back to my hotel.”
“We need to talk, Bren.”
“Nah, we’re good. Really.” She moved toward the door, but he blocked her way glowering at her. The fluttering in her belly increased, and if she knew where her underwear were, she’d bet they’d be damp. She’d probably laugh at any other guy who thought broody and scowly would work on her, but with Caleb, it actually did.
“
Not
really,” he countered.
“We both had fun, right?” she said brightly. Probably too brightly. “No harm, no foul. So how about we make plans to see each other later tomorrow or maybe Monday? Before I fly out Tuesday morning?”
He shook his head, moving closer. “We really do need to talk.”
“About what?” she finally asked as she took another step back, crossing her arms over her chest.
A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. He reached out and cupped her face, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone. “I realized something at the wedding, today.”
“What?” she asked, wariness replacing her earlier desire.
“You’re my mate.”
The words sank like three separate boulders into the pit of her stomach, each landing with a resounding thud until she thought she might be sick. “No.” She crossed the room in a pathetic attempt to both move away from him as well as away from the memories of everything her father wanted from her. “No way. Not a chance.”
He frowned. “You know how this works, Brenna. You’re the one.” He moved closer to her. Close enough to lean forward and brush his lips along her neck. “It’s in your scent. The way my body responds to yours.”
She snorted. “I have a feeling you’d respond the same way to any woman stupid enough to let you tie her to a tree.”
And the glower was back. “Despite what you’re clearly thinking, I’ve always been attracted to you. I’ve always cared about you.”
“Really. If that was true, why didn’t you know I was your mate before I left?”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “I’d only just started coming into my change when you took off. I could barely figure out the difference between the scent of prey and the scent of the neighbor’s dog. There was no way I could have recognized it for what it was. And by the time I might have been able to sort it out, you were long gone.”
The accusation sat heavy in the air. For the briefest of moments, she couldn’t help but imagine what it would have been like if she’d stayed. Would they have fallen in love? Could shifters even fall in love, or was mating just a biological imperative? And why did that thought make her feel like crying?
She blinked, clearing her burning eyes. “I have to go. Now.”
“Why?”
She opened her mouth and closed it again. It was such a simple question, but the answer was more complicated than she wanted to admit—even to herself. She mentally shook off her confusion. Did it really matter if she stayed the night? She was leaving soon. There was no way she could fall in love with Caleb—not that fast. Sooner or later, he’d figure out he was wrong about the whole mate thing. She was silly to have worried about it in the first place. And as long as her father didn’t find out that she was sleeping with Caleb or about his ridiculous claims, everything would be fine. Well, it would be fine as long as those claims were revoked.
“Look, I’m staying until Tuesday morning, and I’m more than happy to hang out with you, but you’ve gotta drop this mate talk.”
“You
are
my mate, Brenna.”
Ice sluiced through her veins at the conviction in his voice, but the chill was quickly washed away by a hot rush of anger. “No. No way. You know what I am? I’m the chick you hooked up with after a wedding because we both know there’s no such thing as a happily ever after, but we’re both lonely enough not to care. That’s who I am. That girl. Not your mate.”