Broken Communication (7 page)

“Well, it’s true. Plus, I just spent a week in a cell. The hotel looks like it’s five stars in comparison.”
 

He cupped her hand, strain evident on his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. I promise you I was searching for you.”
 

Hearing he’d cared, that he’d tried, meant the world to her. She stared at their joined hands and found the courage to ask what she’d wanted to since he’d arrived at the factory. “Why didn’t you correct Weston when he said I was your mate?”
 

“I was sort of hoping you missed that part,” he said.

“I didn’t.”
 

“Come on.” He touched the door handle with his free hand. “I’ll draw a hot bath for you and then see what I can whip up in the kitchen. I’ll warn you, I only use this place every once in a while, so it’s not fully stocked.”
 

She squeezed his hand, desperation clinging to her. “Please don’t shut me out. I
need
you to answer my question.”
 

“I will,” he said, meeting her gaze head on. “But not until you’ve gotten cleaned up and have had something to eat. I know you, Princess. You don’t like having anything close to dirt on you. And you’re hungry. I can hear your stomach growling. First do those things, and then we can talk.”

He was a stubborn man. She’d known that much about him for years. She wanted answers, and he wanted to see her cared for first. He’d win. No doubt about it. “Fine. But you’re talking to me, and if you try to shut down on me, I’ll knock you out with my magik and shave a picture of a kitten into your chest hair.”

“Deal,” he said, partially laughing under his breath. He exited the vehicle, which she was fast suspecting was really his and not a boosted one as she’d first thought. He came around to her side and opened the door for her, offering his hand to her. “Princess.”
 

Placing her hand in his, Harmony tried but failed to keep her feelings for him in check. She’d done so well hiding behind sarcasm in regards to Casey. That wouldn’t work anymore. She wanted the man in ways she did not want others. Not that she’d been altogether that interested in other men since meeting him. She’d spent more time with her sex toys than men since walking in and first meeting Casey.
 

He drew her close to him, and there was simply no denying the sheer amount of alpha male Casey exuded. She wondered briefly if it was from the experiments, or if he’d always naturally been alpha. Her guess, the latter.

“A hot bath, huh?” she asked as he led her to the front door of the mansion.

True to his word, he produced a key and let them in. Once inside, he keyed in the security code into the alarm pad. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Dusty, unused, and furniture covered with sheets. That wasn’t the case. The place looked pristine and well-cared for, as if someone spent a great deal of time seeing to each detail.

“You’re sure you didn’t eat the owners?” she asked, only half-kidding.
 

He turned to her and bent, sweeping her up and off her feet, making her gasp. He held her and then walked in the direction of a giant, grand staircase that was made to be a focal point of the massive entryway.

“Casey?”

“We’re going to clean up,” he said, his gaze hungry.

“
We
are?”
 

The muscles in his neck strained. “Yes. But I will behave. You have my word.”

She’d see about that. If she had her way, he’d misbehave in the best possible ways. The mere thought of it had moisture pooling at the apex of her thighs. She knew enough about shifters to know Casey could smell her arousal. She didn’t care. She wasn’t embarrassed by sex or her desire to have it.

He inhaled deeply and almost missed a step. He righted himself and glanced down at her, reflecting desire back at her. She nearly smiled. She’d have her man tonight if she had to pin him down and take what she needed from him.

With the way he carried her with ease and the fact she was pressed against his frame to know just how sinewy it was, she was sure he would be fantastic in bed. And she was determined to find out. She’d let him stop things at the factory because he’d been right, she did want their time together to be better than that. But she wouldn’t let him stop things again.
 

No.

The man was going to fuck her.

Period.

He carried her into an enormous master bedroom that shamed the ones in her parents’ homes. He didn’t set her down until they were in the master bathroom. Only then did he set her down on a plush chair in the corner. Within seconds, he had water filling the oversized garden tub.

Harmony said nothing, allowing him to do this for her. As she glanced to the side, she caught sight of her reflection. She looked as haggard as she felt. She almost broke, nearly giving in to tears she wasn’t sure would ever stop if they were completely set free. Her bottom lip trembled and she clenched her fists.
 

Casey materialized before her, missing his shirt. That did the trick. Every inch of him appeared to be sculpted perfection. For as hairy as he was with the long hair and the beard, she had assumed he’d have much more than a dusting of hair he had that made a line to his groin. She wet her lips and swallowed hard at the sight of the trail of hair disappearing below the waistband of his jeans.

“Whoa,” she whispered. “You’ve been hiding that body under ratty old band T-shirts all these years?”

He chuckled. “Come on, Princess. Right now, we’re going to focus on what you need.”
 

She met his gaze. “I need you.”
 

“Harmony, please. I’m trying hard to contain my wolf. If you keep telling me you want me while I can smell your cream, I don’t know that I’ll be able to stop him from surfacing. He doesn’t just want sex from you. He wants to own you—possess you in every way possible. You don’t want that. Not yet.”

She tipped her head, eyeing him. “Who says? You? How do you know what I want?”
 

His jaw tightened. “I know you date other men. I follow you around town when you’re out with them. I know that, unlike me, you’ve been with others since we’ve met.”
 

He’d not had sex in four years?

“Casey,” she said, her hand moving to his scruffy neck. “I wanted it to be you with me each and every time. And I’m sorry I was with other men, but let’s be honest here. I think you’re avoiding telling me why you didn’t correct Weston when he said I was your mate, because you’ve known all along. In the end, that puts you in the wrong here, not me. You’re a smart man. You seem familiar with magiks. You must know that most require sexual energy.”
 

He exhaled slowly. “You’re going to force this talk now, aren’t you?”
 

“Right after you shut off the water to the tub so it doesn’t overflow,” she said, pointing to the nearly full tub.
 

He did and then stepped back in her direction as she stood. “Fuck.”
 

“Okay.”
 

He groaned. “That wasn’t a proposition.”
 

She glanced at the bulge in his pants. “I think it might have been.”
 

“Harmony, you’re killing me here.”
 

“Fuck me and then we can talk,” she offered, walking toward the bath. She began undoing her clothing, happy to be rid of it. Ignoring Casey’s gasps from behind her, she kept going until she was naked. She stepped into the tub, and the hot water felt perfect. She glanced over her shoulder to find Casey there, his mouth agape. “You coming?”
 

He adjusted his cock through the front of his jeans. “Probably.”
 

She nearly laughed, but instead, put her hand out to him. “Join me.”
 

“No.” He shook his head. “I won’t be able to stop the wolf. I can barely stop myself. Telling him no if I’m naked and wet with you will not work.”
 

“Casey Black,” she snapped. “You will get your sexy ass in this tub now.”
 

“Oh, I will?” he asked.
 

“You will.” She bent and realized the tub was even bigger than she first thought. She sank beneath the hot water, letting it rush over her. When she surfaced, Casey was there, minus clothing. Seeing his long, thick cock jutting out from a thatch of black hair made her rethink her ability to tame the man after all. She’d seen more dicks than she should admit to in her relatively short life and there was no denying that the man before her was a cut above.

 
She bit her lip as he stepped into the tub. She expected more protests, more attempts at him being a gentleman. When he yanked her to him, his mouth crashing onto hers, she smiled against his lips a half-second before returning the kiss tenfold.

Growling, he twisted their bodies, putting his above hers. She noticed his eyes and the tiny flecks of color pushing through. He’d been honest about struggling with his wolf side, and it broke her heart that he even had to. She ran her hands over his chest and upper body, knowing she’d never touch her fill of him.

She broke their kiss. “Don’t fight against it. Just do what feels natural. Please.”

He slammed a hand against the tiled wall, and she noticed then his fingernails had lengthened. She wasn’t afraid of him or what was happening. Deep down, she trusted him with all her being.

“P-Princess,” he pushed out between clenched teeth. “You’re going to end up claimed.”

“That would be a yes to me being your mate then I take it,” she said with a grin, her hand moving down his torso to his hard cock. She couldn’t get her fingers all the way around the girth, but she stroked him all the same.

Casey growled and then descended on her, making her squeal with delight as he shoved her legs open, sending water sloshing over the side of the tub. She opened even wider for him, putting her arms out to her man—her wolf.

***

Casey struggled against the beast beating at him from the inside out. It was no use. He finally had Harmony under him, naked, welcoming him. He lined up with her core and did as the wolf had wanted to do—he rammed deep into her. Her tight pussy gripped him as he went nearly balls-deep before running out of room.

She cried out, her nails digging at his torso before raking around his side. The pain was welcome. It helped Casey get something that resembled control over the wolf to keep from shifting anything more than his hand for now. He pumped into her hard and accidentally pushed her under the water line. With a growl he grabbed her and lifted her partially out of the water, holding her there as he began to drill in and out of her. He wanted to explode. It had been too long since he’d known the pleasure of a woman and to finally have his mate was too much.

She bucked against him, and he smiled inwardly. She would be a tough one to get to ever surrender fully to him, and he liked that. Liked knowing his mate presented a challenge.

“Oh, Casey, there,” she said between moans. “Harder.”
 

He let go, pounding into her the way he needed to. She didn’t break, but rather, she seemed to come alive in his arms. Hot energy buzzed around him, and he knew it was from her. As Casey thrust into his woman, he noticed a healthy glow starting to radiate from her as if her magik was working to heal her from her weeklong ordeal.

Sexual energy.

She’d needed this from him. And he needed her. He kissed her and pumped hard and fast. The need to mark her was too great to resist. He tore his mouth from hers right before he felt his teeth lengthen. Casey considered withdrawing and rushing from the bathroom to keep from forcing a claim on her.

Harmony slapped his ass cheeks and then dug her fingers into the backs of his thighs, yanking on him, arching her back and exposing her neck to him. “Yes, Casey. Yes! Do it.”
 

“Mine!” he shouted with something close to a roar.
 

“Yes. Yours, and you’re mine.”

Her pussy clenched down on his cock and he knew she was coming. Unable to hold off any longer, he rammed deep, his mouth going to the flesh just above her breast. He bit down at the same moment seed erupted from his cock. Harmony seemed to shatter in his arms, crying out, pushing against him, her pussy continuing to clamp his cock as she peaked.

Casey’s cock twitched as he swallowed her blood. He licked the wound, watching it heal over instantly. Harmony’s magik seized hold of him, pulsing through him, drawing more pleasure from him as tiny strings seemed to form between them. She was doing it—she was returning his claim on her.

Casey lifted her and switched positions, putting her on top as he sat in the tub. She wasted no time and began to ride him, pulling from the pleasure built between them. Her lips found his, and she moved up and down on him—his cock still rock hard and ready for more. Her magik rejuvenated him as well.

Harmony paused and stared down at him. “Is it done?”
 

He nodded.
 

She grinned. “Good.”
 

He caught her by the waist and held her there, keeping her from being able to move on him. “I’m sorry it took me a week to get to you. And, Harmony, I am so fucking sorry it took me all these years to admit who you are to me.”
 

She touched his lower lip. “You’re just lucky I love you, or I’d get my pumps and go for your eyes too.” She smiled and then kissed him tenderly.

He was about to release her hips so she could move on him more, when he realized what she’d said. She loved him? He’d been nothing but an asshole to her for years. He stared up at her, confusion coating his face.

“Silly Captain Black,” she said softly. “They trained you so well—except for seeing huge clues. Of course I’ve had feelings for you for years. Why do you think I gave you such a hard way to go? Now that I’m technically your wife, you’ll have plenty of time to really be annoyed by me.”
 

“Princess, you can annoy me anytime you want,” he said, letting her sink down onto his cock more. His hands went to her large breasts. He cupped them and stared up at her, feeling less like a broken operative and more like a man than he had in nearly a century. He’d wanted to give her romance and make their claiming special. More than what he had.