Wolfsgate (34 page)

“What the hell are you doing to me, Justine?”

A heavy, deep voice uncoiled over her. Her body flinched, the veil of sleep tearing away from her. The warm covers were ripped away from her body, and she winced at the cold air sweeping over her. The harsh angles of Brandon’s face loomed over hers in the half dark, the jagged grooves of his scars clearly visible. His one hand plunged into the mattress at her side, the other pinned her hip down to the bed. The heat of his anger filled the room prickling her skin.

“What is it?” Justine took in a shallow breath. “What’s wrong?”

“Did you enjoy your little tea party this afternoon?”

She blinked up at him. “Didn’t you? I thought it was a success, especially as it hadn’t been planned ahead of time. Forgive me, I was unable to ask you before I invited everyone, but I did not know where you were.”

“Justine—”

“I thought it went very well. Except for William glaring at you, and you glaring at Charles the entire afternoon, of course.”

“You don’t need my permission,” Brandon muttered. “It’s just that—”

“I happened upon everyone in the meadow just down from the hill. Just as you seemed to have chanced upon Amanda.” Her eyes flashed up at him. “I could not be rude and turn guests from our door. What would Amanda think? We were just invited to hers for dinner. If we were to turn her and my stepbrother away for mere tea and cakes what kind of impression would that make? She is my sister-in-law after all. One does not turn away family, especially as Amanda has been making such an effort as of late. Shouldn’t I play my part and make an effort as well?”

He exhaled. “Yes, but—”

“Thank goodness Taggart baked lots of plum cakes early this morning. What luck, eh?”

Brandon’s fingers dug into her flesh. “What’s come over you?”

She disengaged her arm from his. “Must be domestic bliss.”

His jaw hardened. “What the hell is going on with you and Montclare?”

“What do you mean?”

“Always laughing together, chatting. You seem to go to him all the time.”

Her hand clutched the sheet at her chest. “I don’t go to him.”

“He goes to you then,” Brandon said, his hand fisting in the bedlinen. “He’s always at your side, and you don’t seem to object. In fact, you seem to welcome his attentions as you did all afternoon.”

“He’s friendly.” Justine rubbed the sleep from her eyes in a swift movement of her hand.

“Friendly?”

“What I mean is he is a friend. A very attentive one, perhaps.”

“Are you being naive on purpose now? Because I know you aren’t this foolish.”

“Now there’s a fine compliment!” Justine shot up against the pillow as far as his grip would allow. “That was a compliment, wasn’t it?”

“The two of you keep company in my presence over and over again!”

“Would it be preferable if I snuck out of the house and met him in secret?”

“Don’t toy with me, woman.”

“I am toying with you?” Justine’s eyes bulged. “How dare you!”

His face was inches from hers now. “Was he your lover? Was it a big act all this time that he hadn’t seen you in years? An act just for me?”

“Are you mad?”

“I’m trying to understand what is going on around me in my own house with my own wife no less!” The bitter tone of his voice stung.

Her hands let go of the covers, and she pulled herself up. “I could say the same!”

Brandon exhaled, grimacing. “Oh, Justine.” His eyes shimmered over her in the soft flickering light from the candle he must have placed on her night table.

She hated arguing with him, hated this gulf between them. His handsomeness was twisted into a fierce scowl now, but she saw past the shadows across his face, past the menace in the harsh line of his jaw, and the glare of his scars. What she saw only caused an eruption in her chest. Justine dug her fingers into his hair pulling his face close to hers. “You are the wolf hiding in the woods howling, Brandon. You are—”

He crushed his mouth to hers. Justine surged forward embracing him, her tongue joining his, invading, devouring. His hand wrapped around her throat over her pounding pulse then tilted her head to keep her mouth open to his. A groan escaped him.

This was the kiss she had longed for from him. A kiss that was reclamation and retribution all in one. Justine squeezed the firm muscles of his lower back and pressed her body into his. He shoved her down onto the bed with a grunt and ground into her. Her entire body contracted with need. She was starved for him, and she couldn’t conceal it or suppress it any longer.

Brandon sat up on his knees throwing his robe to the floor. His eyes seared hers as he tugged up her nightdress, gripped her hips and raising them, pushed his cock inside her in one long thrust. A raw moan escaped her lips as he stretched her, filled her. She spasmed around him, taking him in.

“Brandon—” Justine was engulfed in a rushing tide that wrenched any logic from her and unleashed that torrent of feeling that she had spent so much energy squashing for so long. She had missed this potent intoxication they shared. She had missed him.

He gripped her hips tighter and ground himself deeper inside her, filling her with his hardness. He dug into her flesh as he thrust inside her over and over again, his pelvis rolling into hers, quicker, more desperate each time. The breath squeezed from her lungs. His raven hair hung loose about his shoulders, his eyes glittering over her. Her husband, the wolf lord, the slayer and devourer, threatened over her like a harbinger of her doom…and her rebirth.

She wanted to free him and free herself. Her body was showing him, but she needed to tell him with her words as well. He needed to hear it.

“I want you, only you.”

The words rushed from her lips in the silence of the room cutting through his ragged breaths and her little gasps, and she bid them wrap around Brandon. His eyes burned over her. She relaxed her body in the grip of his hands and took all of him. She took everything he gave her, every insistent stroke demanding from her the inevitable end. He remained above her, though, detached, like a cruel stranger watching her.

“You make me feel alive,” Justine whispered, her throat stinging. He groaned and his movements became sharper, his hips circling and rolling into her. He knew she liked that, and he wanted her to have it. That tight knot of pleasure twisted through her. “Only you, Bran,” Justine panted, her eyes stayed locked on his. He lowered himself onto his forearms. His chest rubbed over her sensitive breasts.

“Fill me,” Justine rasped. Her hands clung to the rippling muscles of his back as she raised her knees higher at his sides. This was what she wanted most in the world; their bodies fused together, his cock driving inside her, taking from her, giving to her. Nothing else mattered now but this.

Nothing.

A low moan escaped her chest. The intense wave of sensation rushed and receded through her body all at once as if she were at the whim of a harsh current in a churning sea.

“Don’t let me go, Bran.”

“Never,” he breathed. All his muscles tightened as he thrust inside her. “Never.” Her hand slid up the side of his damp face, her fingertips brushing over his soft lips. He bit down on her index finger sucking on the tip, and her breath caught as her body gave way, jolting under him. Fierce pleasure shot through her like a flaming arrow torching everything in its path. Justine’s head twisted back on the pillow as she cried out.

“Jus.” His rough voice catapulted her deeper into that abyss they had created. She clung to him as his body became rigid, his movements quicker, sharper. In the glare of his eyes she saw no compromise, no delicacy, no tact, only demand, only harsh precision determined to have its way.

Justine squeezed him tightly inside her, both her heels digging into his rear. “Let go, Brandon,” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear. “Let go for me.”

His eyes slid closed, and his body convulsed inside her as he grunted loudly. He buried his head in her neck and lay on top of her, spent, immobile, one hand at her throat, the other pressing in at her side. Their heavy breaths filled the room and the aroma of their desire laced the air.

“You belong to me, Justine,” he said against her delicate skin, his fingers brushing the side of her breast, kneading it.

Her heart plunged and thudded to a standstill as if under a lead weight. The hot, shimmering waves of pleasure skittered off her and were instantly replaced with cold shards of ice scraping at her skin. Justine’s hands fisted in his hair, and she pulled his face up over hers with all the strength left in her spent body. His glassy eyes strained over her, his lips parted.

“But you don’t belong to me,” she rasped. “You don’t.”

Brandon’s body stilled. “Jus—”

“You’re hers,” Justine’s voice broke, and her fingers slid down the sides of his face settling on his shoulders. “You’ll always be hers.”

“You saw us today?”

“Yes. And at her house.”

His eyes squeezed shut for a moment. “Justine, before you say or even think anything more, you must listen to me.” She held his somber gaze, her lower lip trembling as cold shivers raced through her insides.

“I know how it looks,” Brandon said. “But that’s what I want.”

ACID STUNG THE BACK OF HER THROAT
. She spun her head away and arched her chest, pushing off from him. Her legs struggled to disentangle from his.

“Justine, stop!” Brandon pushed his hips deeper into hers to still her desperate movements. “I meant that’s what I want it to
look
like.”

Her movements stilled, but her hands remained pressed against his damp chest, her breathing labored. She studied his face. “What are you saying?”

“I am not pursuing Amanda like some lovesick puppy. I’m playing a game with her and William. I have no interest in her other than claiming my revenge on her husband. It’s the most effective route with the most torment for my cousin.”

The breath returned to her lungs. “You’re trying to make William jealous?”

“Yes, and it’s working.”

“It certainly is. You’ve convinced us all. Your great plan is a screaming success. Congratulations.”

His hand cradled her face. “Frankly, I didn’t really consider…forgive me. The last thing I wanted to do was upset you.” His lips pressed together. “That’s what I did, isn’t it?”

“Today William took it quite seriously. He came today to catch you out.”

“Yes, he did.”

“And that accomplishes what exactly?”

“Mess. A lasting stain between them. William detests mess. And now he feels the humiliation and the joy of deceit. He was behaving like a hungry dog with the scent of meat in the air this afternoon.”

“And Amanda?”

“She is well and truly hooked.” He raised himself on his elbows over her, his eyes searching hers.

“Brandon, she’s enamored with you all over again. Maybe she’s still in love with you. But if this is only a game to you—”

“She’s not in love with me. She only wants a new conquest, a new toy. Maybe that is her form of love, God knows.”

“You’re sure of that? She used to have real feelings for you, didn’t she? Don’t you think it’s dangerous and cruel to encourage them after all this time?”

“Don’t you think what they’ve done to us over the years is dangerous and cruel?” Brandon raised his voice.

“I don’t want William to retaliate. And Amanda is tenacious. How far do you intend to go in the name of your revenge? How far have you gone?” She couldn’t resist asking in order to torture herself.

His jaw tightened. “Nothing. Simple kisses, a few embraces.”

Despite her efforts to remain controlled and composed, her chest tightened and her eyes stung. She twisted her hips away from his body to release herself from his cock still pinning her to the bed, but he only buried himself deeper. She let out a slow whimper as he pressed against her center.

“Touching her was surprisingly difficult. Her feminine charms hold no allure for me the way they once did.”

“Oh? Now you know better?”

“I do.” His fingers seared into her hip. “I know that you are something
other
, something so essential to me. I cannot explain it better, but I know I cannot do without you. I like what you and I have. Very much.” His lips pressed into her skin. “Please don’t turn away from me. I missed you, Jus, truly missed you.”

She returned her gaze to his, her chin raised. “It’s obvious she harbors expectations for you and her.”

He scowled. “I don’t give a toss what she expects. She’ll never have me.”

“Then leave it. Leave them alone.”

“I’m not afraid of William.”

“Maybe you should be.”

His brow snapped together. “What does that mean?”

“Only that you should be more careful how you tread with him.”

“What more can he do to us?” His thumb stroked her cheek.

“If you truly mean it, if you don’t want her, let all of this go.”

“I don’t want her, and let me say, I do not think I am Mrs. Treharne’s first attempt at an affair. She has impressive skills.”

Justine’s stomach tightened. “I do not want to know.”

“It is simply a game to her, a game she plays well.”

“But it’s not a game to William. I don’t care about getting revenge. I don’t want to live under this cloud any longer. They have a child, Brandon. Don’t set about destroying their family for a game. That boy is blameless. He needs his parents and a home. Do not be the one to tear it down.”