He snorted. “How does a full-ride scholarship and successful artist translate into a disappointment?”
“When the child in question isn’t a shifter and that’s all her daddy has ever wanted.”
He could almost taste the bitterness in her voice. The horrible truth of Joe’s interest in the three Mahingan boys became suddenly and painfully clear. Caleb’s heart ached for her.
And he’d never figured it out. His mother had been so grateful that Joe had provided a father-figure in their lives that Caleb had viewed it through that same lens, never understanding that they’d been hurting a little girl who’d just wanted her father’s love. Rage filled him. Rage at Joe and rage at himself for being too stupid to figure it out. He’d deal with Joe later. Right now, his biggest concern was his mate.
“I’m so sorry, Bren.”
She shifted in his arms again and urged him to look down at her. Lifting her lips to his, she kissed him. Her mouth was soft and sweet against his. “Don’t be sorry. Just make me forget.”
Chapter Six
Caleb slid his fingers through her hair, angling her head to kiss her more deeply. If Brenna wanted to forget, he’d help her forget. At the moment, he was more than happy to do the same. He hated the revelation that Joe had treated her like that, but her story rang true, and it explained so damn much. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before.
He pulled her onto his lap, and she straddled him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. The slide of her pussy along the already hardening ridge of his cock stiffened him further. Slipping his hands beneath her borrowed sweatshirt, he stroked her skin, urging her closer.
The wind grew stronger, and cold rain spattered them. Laughing, she glanced at the roiling black clouds overhead. Lightning split the sky, and the following crack of thunder was so loud, the ground vibrated beneath them. She climbed off him and pulled him up from the sand. Still holding hands, they ran to the house as the sky opened up, dumping a deluge of rain and hailstones on them, soaking them almost instantly. As soon as they were inside, she tugged on his shirt, dragging it over his head and baring his chest.
Stepping closer, she pressed her lips to nearly every inch of skin she could reach, the warmth of her mouth contrasting sharply with his cold, rain-wet flesh. He pulled off the damp shirt she wore and let it drop, before yanking at the drawstring that held up the too-big pants. They slipped down her legs leaving her naked and shivering in the middle of the kitchen.
Dropping to her knees, she opened the fly of his jeans and quickly freed his cock. She wrapped her chilly fingers around it and guided the hard length to her lips. The combination of her cold hands and the heat of her mouth as she teased the swollen head sent streaks of pleasure that shot down his spine and tightened his balls.
She looked up at him through her lashes as she took him deeper. He watched the way her lips stretched around him. She was so damn beautiful. And she was his. It had been agonizing last night to see her go down on his brothers. It had also excited him more than he’d imagined possible. Watching as they’d taken turns fucking her mouth, sucking her nipples and making her come. Watching as she’d milked them dry, swallowing everything they had to offer. It had been amazing. It had also just about killed him. He and his brothers had shared plenty of women in the past, but he’d never experienced that kind of gut twisting jealousy. Obviously, the difference was knowing that Brenna was his mate.
But it was bigger than that, he admitted. Most of the gut twisting jealousy was simply because she was Brenna, and he’d been more than half in love with her for years. He doubted that it would take much to push him across the border into fully in love. If he wasn’t there already.
Brenna circled the head of his cock with the tip of her tongue, bringing him back to the present. As he stared at her, she completely engulfed him, taking him all the way down her throat, sucking so hard he thought he’d lose it right there. He was too damn close, but as much as he wanted to come now, he wouldn’t. He tangled his hands in her hair and gently pulled her off.
She looked up at him, her eyes bright with amusement and desire. “Yes?”
He tugged her to her feet and, scooping her into his arms, carried her down the hall and tossed her in the middle of his bed. She landed with a laugh and pushed up on her elbows, watching him and waiting.
Her nipples were taut little buds that begged for his touch, and he was only too eager to comply. Dark pink tips crowned pale breasts that trembled with each ragged breath. His gaze greedily followed the lines of her body, committing the sight of her in his bed to memory.
It was almost impossible to believe that Brenna was here with him—even though he’d had her last night in the woods and again in his living room. Those seemed more like dreams than reality. But seeing her naked in his bed was reality at its finest.
Pushing his pants the rest of the way off, he followed her down, pinning her to the mattress and taking her mouth again. Nothing was better than this. The taste of his mate on his tongue. The feel of her in his arms. The only thing he really needed was to claim her. He could, of course, do it without her permission, but he refused to do that to her. She had to want him. Forever. If she didn’t, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. But for now, he pushed that worry out of his head and focused on her.
He dragged kisses along her jaw and neck and over her collarbone. His teeth ached to sink into the gentle curve between her neck and shoulder and mark her as his, but he held himself back. Barely.
Instead, he pressed kisses to her sternum, nuzzling the inner curves of her breasts before finally making his way to a tight nipple. Taking one into his mouth, he drew on it, loving the way it hardened further against his tongue. He sucked and bit at the sensitive bundle of nerves until she was writhing beneath him, lifting her hips and demanding that he fill her.
“Not yet, brat.”
Instead, he switched his attention to her other nipple, making her cry out with what seemed to be equal parts frustration and pleasure. She tangled her fingers in his hair, trying to hold his head where she wanted it. But she wasn’t calling the shots today. Ignoring her overt hints, he continued his downward path, loving the way she trembled beneath him.
With a hand on each silky, soft thigh, he spread her legs and leaned forward, nuzzling her sensitive skin as he inched closer to her pussy. He wanted to take his time—to make it last for her. Spreading her lips, he drew his tongue along her cleft, her flavor filling his mouth. Her scent and taste were addictive. He needed more.
“Oh, God,” she groaned. Her fingernails scraped against his scalp. She held him steady as she lifted her hips rhythmically against his mouth.
He suckled at her while she squirmed beneath him. Her hands left his head to trail upward, over her stomach to cup her breasts and pinch her nipples. His cock throbbed at the sight of it. She was stunning—her skin flushed, her breathing shallow.
He traced the length of her slit with his tongue, dipping into the opening of her pussy and stroking through her folds again, careful to avoid her clit. She struggled, trying to get him to touch her where she wanted it, but he wouldn’t be hurried. Instead, he threw an arm across her waist and held her to the mattress. As he’d expected, the move made her wetter. At some point, he’d have to make good on his promise to tie her to his bed. He knew she’d love it.
Circling her swollen clit with the tip of his tongue, he slid a finger into her slick channel. “God, you’re gorgeous,” he murmured against her damp flesh.
She trembled as he continued to stroke into her. “Quit teasing, and fuck me,” she whispered.
“Not yet.” But he took pity on her and slid another finger inside her. She gripped him as he pulled his hand back. Flicking his tongue across her clit, he did it again, watching her strain to lift her hips from the bed. Panting, little whimpers filled the air while she met his thrusting fingers, stroke for stroke, as he moved in and out of her willing body. He pumped a little harder. Her hands gripped the bedding.
“Please Caleb,” she whispered. “Please make me come.”
He couldn’t deny her, but he wasn’t anywhere near finished licking her sweet pussy. He added a third finger anyway and scraped his teeth across her clit as he sucked it between his lips. She bucked against him, repeating his name on a broken cry, as her pussy contracted, rippling around his fingers.
All of his well-intentioned plans to take things slow vanished. He reached into his nightstand drawer and fumbled around until he came up with a condom. Quickly sheathing himself, he was poised over her in seconds, the head of his cock kissing the entrance of her cunt. Holding himself above her, he slowly pushed inside her snug passage. Caleb’s breath caught at the welcoming clasp of her body. He pulled back, reveling in her tight grip. Her pussy clenched him as if she couldn’t bear to release him.
Slipping a hand beneath her ass, he fitted her more tightly to him and thrust forward. The motion pushed a cry from her lips as he lodged as deeply as possible. She clung to him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, holding him as fiercely as he held her. He wanted this. With her. For the rest of their lives.
He shafted her harder, and she whimpered every time his sac slapped wetly against her. His balls began to tighten. Every rhythmic pulse of her cunt pushed him closer to the edge. He was close—way too close. He rolled to his back, bringing her with him.
Using his chest to push herself to a sitting position, she slowly lifted herself up the length of his cock before sliding back down. Her hair swung around her shoulders in a tangled halo, illuminated by the lightning flashing through the window. The sporadic bursts of brightness accentuated her, making her skin seem to glow as she rode him. Her teeth sank into her lower lip as her speed increased. He was sure he’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
He slid his hands over the smooth muscles of her thighs, trailing closer to her pussy with every move she made. Foolishly, he’d thought he’d last longer in this position, but he’d seriously underestimated the effect of having Brenna undulating over him, taking him deeper than he’d thought possible.
Reaching out, he traced the opening of her pussy with his fingertip. He circled the spot where they were joined—caressed the delicate flesh that stretched to take him. Her whimpers turned to guttural cries as he trailed upward to circle the swollen nub of her clit. He teased it with the tip of his finger until her internal muscles began to clench around him.
He held her thighs and pushed into her, lifting his hips off the bed as he plowed through her tender tissues. Her head dropped back, and her cry turned into a scream. She gripped him so tightly, he could barely move.
He managed a few more thrusts, driving hard through her release until tingles of sensation shot along his spine, gathering at the small of his back. The feeling spread through his balls and cock until he couldn’t hold back any longer and emptied inside her.
Boneless, she slumped against his chest, her inhalations just as ragged as his. Lifting his hand, he smoothed her hair from her face as their breathing gradually returned to normal.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling this…vulnerable before. And he didn’t like it. Knowing that she was his mate but not claiming her fully ate at him. The more time he spent with her, the more his wolf struggled to rise to the surface, societal niceties be damned. Using strength of will he hadn’t known he possessed, he buried his animal nature for a while longer, knowing the closer they got to the full moon, the harder it would be to control. Pushing those thoughts away, he tugged the blankets over them, cradling Brenna in his arms. Everything else could wait a while longer.
Chapter Seven
Brenna walked with Roxy along the shoreline that meandered in front of Caleb’s house. Her cousin was back from the bed and breakfast where she’d spent the weekend with her new husband. She’d gone looking for Brenna at the motel but quickly learned Brenna was staying with Caleb. News still traveled at light speed in this sleepy little town.
“So…are you going to spill or what?” Roxy asked as they skirted a particularly large piece of driftwood.
“Spill what?”
Her cousin rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You’ve had a crush on Caleb since we were in the ninth grade, and I come home from my honeymoon and you’ve practically moved in with him. I think there’s plenty to tell, so get dishing!”
Brenna couldn’t help but laugh at Roxy’s indignation, but she had no idea where to begin. She’d been here since the night of the wedding. The following day, he’d talked her into ditching the motel room and staying with him. And she couldn’t say she regretted that decision. He’d taken her to visit all of her favorite spots along the coast. They’d hiked the dunes outside of Eagle Harbor, hunted for agates on the beach and he’d even taken her out on the lake until the waves got too rough. She assumed he was working every angle he could in an attempt to get her to stay. But since that couldn’t happen, she was looking at it as accumulating more memories to take home with her. Of course, her favorite recollections wouldn’t be the rocks or the leisurely walks through the brilliant autumn colored leaves. It would be the fervent kisses when she least expected them and the way he worked her body, making her come until she was weak, bringing her to heights she hadn’t known existed.