Mate Marked: Shifters of Silver Peak (9 page)

As he spoke, he ran his fingers down between her buttocks to part her pussy lips, which were swollen and slick with desire. She shuddered and squeezed her thighs together against his fingers, wondering if she’d come before he even got inside her. Her body was thrumming with arousal and need.

Roman brought the flat of his hand down on her buttock with a sharp
crack
, making her squeal and writhe in his lap. His huge erection twitched against her belly through the denim of his jeans and he gave a satisfied grunt.

A second slap in the same spot as the first stung her sensitized skin, sending a wave of heat washing over her and making her bite her lip and squeeze her eyes shut as she fought for breath.

A third blow, swift and sweet, had her tensing and moaning, teetering on the verge of orgasm from the mixture of pleasure and pain and the unbearable anticipation.

Then Roman was discarding his jeans, positioning her on all fours and drawing her back against him, rubbing the head of his cock against her swollen slit and whispering incoherent words of encouragement and desire into her ear.

One side of her body was hot, glowing with the flickering heat of the fire, her buttock singing from the spanking Roman had given her. The other was caressed by cool breezes, a sensual contrast that made her all the more aware of the warm skin of Roman’s belly and chest against her back.

He worked the head of his cock against her, using the slickness of her arousal to lubricate himself, then pushed inside in a slow, steady motion that stretched and filled her.

Chelsea moaned and clenched around him, her orgasm building inside her in magnetic waves as she pushed back against him, desperate to have him all the way inside her.

Roman stilled for a moment, his chest heaving against her back as he fought for control. Then he began to move in smooth, confident thrusts that stoked her passion steadily higher until she shuddered and cried out, spasming around him in overwhelming muscular waves.

Roman let out a low growl and slipped his hand over her soft belly and down between her thighs, finding her clit with his fingers. As he upped the pace of his thrusts, driving into her with a series of harsh groans, he rubbed her to climax, locking his arm hard around her waist as she crested again. He thrust into her with mindless abandon, burying his face in the hair at the nape of her neck, shouting out his release as he came explosively inside her, his whole body shuddering and sheened with sweat.

“Those kids are gonna be back any minute,” Chelsea sighed, lying there in his arms.

“I know. We need a proper house; there’s no damn privacy around here,” Roman said, his fingers tangling in her hair.

“A house? Aren’t you allergic to those?” she asked.

Roman shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, they make caravan houses…” He buried his face in her hair. “You could stay with us, you know. Travel. It’s never boring. And the pack loves you, despite the fact that you keep trying to arrest me. Or maybe because of it.”

The pack loved her. Not him.

This was a man who moved on all the time.

And for that matter, he didn’t know everything about her. She’d left out one important fact, and it was the one that tended to set men running. Well, it set everyone running, really.

Chelsea swallowed hard.

“I want to settle down,” she said. “I want a home. With a regular pack, where I could hope to start a family someday.”

There was a long silence.

“I see,” he said. “I understand that. It makes perfect sense.”

But he didn’t say what she longed to hear. What she needed to hear.

He didn’t say,
me too
. He didn’t say,
I’ve changed. I want a family too. I want to settle down.

She felt a cold, dark loneliness descend on her. As if sensing it, he tightened his arms around her and pulled her close, but it wasn’t enough. She was with him now, but for how long?

They could hear the voices of the kids coming through the forest; they were headed back. With a sigh, she sat up and began pulling on her clothes.

* * * * *

Roman thrashed on his bed, then sat bolt upright, breathing hard. Chelsea was already sitting up, watching him.

“You all right?” she asked him.

He nodded abruptly, sweat beading on his forehead.

Images flashed through his mind.
His father showing up drunk to his mother’s funeral
… The day Roman’s mother had died of an undiagnosed heart defect had been the last day he’d ever seen his father sober.

Images from the wreck
… Roman’s father, drunk and driving a pickup truck, had plowed in to a van returning from a shopping trip and killed the entire family inside as well as himself.

Bodies scattered across the ground. Pack members looking at Roman, who was the spitting image of his father, with hatred in their eyes.

His mother’s pack had offered to take him in, but he’d refused. Roman hadn’t wanted to be near anyone or anything that reminded him of family.

Breathing hard, he looked at Chelsea. “I don’t know if I can do this,” he choked out. She laid her hands on his arm, and he felt the panic and pain start to subside.

“You’ll be all right.” Her voice was calm and soothing, like balm on burned flesh.

“I’m not all right, that’s the problem. I’m just… You’re good. I care about you. I don’t want to hurt you,” he groaned. “That’s why I can’t have a family. I’m not strong enough for it.”

And he didn’t want her to hurt him. What if something happened to her? Could he survive the loss of his mate? His father hadn’t.

She looked him in the eyes.

“Roman Kincaid, you are stronger than you know, and I don’t just mean physical strength. You fear nothing. You care about your pack. You may bitch about what a pain in the ass they are, but you love them like family. So you do have a family. Whether you’re with me or not, you’ll be okay, because you’re the kind of person who carries on to protect what he cares about.”

“Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely. His heartbeat was returning to normal. He’d never calmed down that quickly after a nightmare before.

He lay down and pulled her up against him, and within minutes, amazingly, he drifted off to sleep.

Chelsea sat up and yawned and stretched, working out the pleasant aches in her muscles. She could hear the happy chatter of children outside, and she scrambled to get dressed so she could go out and join them.

Roman and most of the pack had already left for work. Roman had left her a coffee can vase filled with wildflowers.

Erika was sitting outside by the campfire, with the children. Several of the children’s parents had come to join them for breakfast. Everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Roman had told her that they always left at least one pack member at the camp site to watch over their stuff during the day. They used to leave the camp empty, but odds and ends had started vanishing from their camp. They’d scented a human having gone through some of their tents after their stuff was stolen, and hadn’t wanted to deal with the human authorities about it. Instead, they just took turns guarding the site.

Today was Marcus’ turn. He was glancing around the camp site at the kids and parents with a wince of dismay on his face.

He grunted a greeting, and handed her the cup of coffee.

“Morning,” he muttered, and walked off without bothering to pour himself a cup.

“Yes, it is,” she said to his retreating back.

He grunted a greeting and handed her the cup of coffee.

“Morning,” he muttered, and walked off without bothering to pour himself a cup.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed.

“Good morning, Aunt Chelsea!” Pansy called happily.

“Oh, so it’s auntie now, is it? Yesterday I was lunch,” she said, settling down next to the little girl.

“Sorry about that—she’s still got those puppy teeth,” said the woman sitting next to Pansy. “I’m Rosie. It was lovely for my husband and me to have a night off. Did it work? Is Roman going to turn himself in?”

“Apparently not.” Chelsea sighed. “And these tiny terrors don’t scare the pack at all.”

“Hey! I am very thcary!” a little boy with a lisp said indignantly. “Benjamin thaid I thcared him when I howled!”

“You are scary,” Chelsea agreed with a somber nod.

“Roman’s a stubborn one.” The woman shook her head. “Well, I guess we’ll have to take the little monsters back, then.”

This was met with yips and groans of disappointment from the cubs, but after breakfast, the parents shepherded their reluctant children back to the schoolbus, leaving behind Chelsea’s car, which they’d driven up there for her.

Erika stayed behind to help Chelsea clean up. Marcus came to join them, but resisted all efforts at drawing him into conversation, answering only with grunts when they spoke to him.

“Do you think Leland really actually likes me?” Erika asked Chelsea. “He keeps talking to me. A lot. Like he likes me. But it’s hard to believe that a guy actually likes me. Maybe he just likes me as a friend.”

Before Chelsea could answer Erika, they heard the sound of an approaching car. The car was driving towards the campsite.

“Who is that? Is this another one of your tricks to arrest Roman?” Marcus growled at her.

“Uh, nope. I’m all out of tricks,” Chelsea said, shaking her head.

The car parked, and a woman climbed out and began heading towards them. She was voluptuous and stunning, and had long, wild dark hair. Her painted-on jeans accentuated her slim figure, and her red lycra top plunged deep, displaying her cleavage. She walked with the smug confidence of a woman who knew how beautiful she was.

When she reached the clearing, she paused for a moment, looked around, and then her gaze lighted on Chelsea. She walked straight towards her.

“So, you’re the whore who’s been sleeping with my mate,” she smirked at her.

She gestured at her neck. There was a mate mark there, clear as day.

“Mate?” Chelsea echoed faintly, as Erika let out a threatening growl.

“Yes, as in, the woman he’s committed to for the rest of his life.”

“I know what being mated means,” Chelsea snapped, scrambling to her feet. Erika joined her. “Don’t hit her,” she added to Erika.

“I wasn’t going to hit her hard,” Erika muttered, glowering at the woman. “I probably wouldn’t have broken any bones.”

“Helen,” Marcus growled, folding his arms across his broad chest. He didn’t look too pleased.

“Holly,” the woman corrected him indignantly. “I’m the Alpha’s wife. Get it right.”

“Is she really his mate?” Chelsea asked Marcus, her stomach clenching. She thought she’d be sick. She’d slept with a man who was already mated? Roman, the king of no commitment, had mated a woman—and it wasn’t her?

“He never mentioned it to me.” Marcus didn’t look entirely convinced.

“Nobody mentions anything to you, because they’re all too busy trying to avoid you,” Holly said scornfully. “Bad vibes. Please call my dear mate and ask him to come greet his wifey. I’ve missed him.”

So Holly knew Marcus. She’d been with the pack before.

“Excuse me, I need to be going,” Chelsea said tightly.

Erika followed her to her car in silence.

Chelsea blinked back hot tears of humiliation as she drove. God, how stupid could she be to have fallen for Roman’s smooth talk?

“I can’t believe Leland didn’t tell me,” Erika said, her tone wounded. “I thought he liked me.”

“He more than likes you—he’s crazy about you,” Chelsea said. “You should keep seeing him. And he may not even have known. Marcus didn’t seem to know. Roman may have mated in secret and…run out on her.”

As she said it, nausea filled her and she almost gagged. Erika made a retching sound too. Shifters took mating extremely seriously; the idea of a shifter cheating on or abandoning their mate was literally, physically sickening to them.

* * * * *

Holly sat on a folding chair by the fire, sipping a cup of coffee, looking lovely and smug. Half the pack had come rushing back when Marcus had called up and barked out that there was an emergency. Marcus probably should have been more specific, but communication wasn’t his strong suit.

“You mated her and didn’t tell us? None of us can pick a mate but you did?” Leland demanded furiously of Roman.

Since when did any of them want to mate and settle down?

Paul and Leland, especially, had been acting extremely strange lately. He knew they’d been sneaking off in the middle of the night, when they thought everybody was asleep. Where did they go? Why were was Leland talking about picking a mate?

Paul strode up, standing next to Leland protectively.

“Roman, up until now, I would have laid down my life for you. But if you truly mate-marked a woman and then abandoned her, I can not follow you any more,” he said to Roman.

The fury that swelled up in Roman threatened to choke him, and he had to fight to keep his wolf inside his skin. But it wasn’t really his pack he was mad at.

Chelsea. This woman had hurt Chelsea. The thought made him burn with rage.

“At least someone takes Mate-Marking seriously,” Holly said in wounded tones as she strode over to Roman. She flipped her hair to the side and gestured dramatically at the Mate Mark on her neck.

“See that?” she called to everyone. “He Mate-Marked me. Yes, he was drunk off his ass when he did it. Doesn’t matter. Shifter law. I am now the Alpha’s Mate. I am his woman.”

“Holly,” Roman snarled. “What the fuck? You know I never did that. How dare you come here and lie to my pack?”

“Oh, please,” she said scornfully. “Do you think I Mate-Marked myself?”

“I did not Mate Mark you. Trust me, I’d never get that drunk,” he said nastily, and was rewarded by seeing her pout, but she still stood her ground.

“I don’t even recognize her,” Petrov yelled as he came striding up, looking annoyed.

“I do,” Zeke’s voice rang out grimly. He’d been the last to return from the job site, and he walked up to them, fists balled, his expression a mixture of rage and hurt. “She’s the woman I’ve been seeing the last few weeks. The woman I was going to propose to.”

“What the hell?” Roman was so angry that his claws shot from his fingernails and his voice ended on a lupine growl.

“Colorado, ten months ago,” she called. “After the Shifter Festival. Gathering of the packs. I didn’t get a chance to meet all of you, but I sure met Roman. He came to my house and we did it all night long, and he Mate-Marked me. I woke up with a scarred neck and an empty space in the bed beside me. I came out to your campgrounds to find my new darling mate, and surprise surprise, all of you were gone. You’d packed up and fled town.”

“We didn’t flee town,” Benjamin said indignantly. “We travel. That’s what we do. We were planning to leave that day, and we did.”

“You lied to me,” Zeke said in tones of bewilderment, striding up to her. “You told me you were a widow.”

She shrugged. “I did what had to be done. I’d finally tracked you down, and I needed to do some recon. Find out what I was dealing with. Find out if he’d Mate-Marked anybody else.”

“She told me she was shy about meeting all of you,” Zeke said bitterly. “But now that I think about it, she was always asking about the pack…and about you.” He looked at Roman with deep hurt.

“What does shifter law say about cheating on your mate?” Benjamin asked, folding his arms across his broad chest and glaring at Holly.

“She is not my mate!” Roman roared, and fur shot through his skin. He felt his fangs itching, burning in his gums, desperate to descend.

She smirked. “I am an abandoned spouse. I needed to gather some intel before I rejoined him. If challenged, I will simply explain that I was willing to do anything possible to reunite with my mate.”

“Including me, obviously,” Zeke said.

Holly walked up close to Roman and began stroking his arm. He furiously batted her away and took a step back.

“Don’t touch me,” he growled.

“I will take this up with the council. You will be my mate,” she told him, and her eyes gleamed with a crazy light. “Come on,” she crooned, leaning close to him. “You and me together? We were incredible. We’ll be incredible again.”

“I’ll die first, you crazy bitch,” Roman growled, and backed away from her.

“You leave me no choice! You have until tomorrow morning to agree to honor your commitment to me, or I will report you to the Council for Shifter Affairs!” she yelled after him. “You will fulfill your duties as my mate! That means everything, lover! You will fuck me, you will satisfy me, and you will father my cubs! You will treat me with respect! And I better not catch you cheating on me with that fat bitch ever again!”

There was a chorus of furious growls from the pack, and Roman whirled on her with such an expression of rage that she whimpered and cringed. She’d gone too far.

“Don’t even mention her. She’s worth a million of you, you lying, crazy bitch.” And Roman stormed off to his tent, shaking with fury.

If she reported their pack to the Council For Shifter Affairs, God knew what would happen. The warrant for Roman’s arrest was the least of his worries. He’d been fudging paperwork for his pack members. There were a few he didn’t report on at all, at their own request. As long as they spent enough time with the pack to stay sane, he didn’t care if the Council knew about them. Some of them were there under false names. They were probably fleeing something dire. They might be facing serious charges somewhere.

And deep in his mind he was wondering – was it possible that he could have Mate-Marked her? It was hard for him to believe. He did get blackout drunk from time to time, but to the best of his knowledge, it was not physically possible for a shifter to Mate-Mark when in that state.

To Mate-Mark, the shifter had to deliberately flex a set of glands that were meant for only one purpose. The glands released a substance that flowed through the teeth and caused permanent scarring on a shifter. It might be done in battle to mark up a foe, or in the heat of passion to mark a mate. The passion, either rage or sex, had to be there, and the conscious will.

He couldn’t have. Could he? Dear God, what if he had?

Chelsea. Chelsea was what he wanted. She was all he wanted. He wanted to Mate-Mark her. If he couldn’t, life wouldn’t be worth living, he realized. He’d never be the suicidal type, but life without her would just be going through the motions. She brought everything to blazing, Technicolor life; without her, everything would be dull shades of gray and white.

And yet he didn’t dare beg her to stay with him forever and accept his Mark unless he could straighten out this horrendous mess with Holly.