Instead, Kate, who never cried, burst into tears.
Logan looked panicked.
Jesse felt the same.Oh shit.“Kate, honey, I’m so sorry—”
“What took you so long?”
Chapter Five
Will Lawless stared at the lifeless curs before him with bitter frustration. Mike and Toby lay broken and bloodied after confessing just what they’d done to earn a night in jail. Ravagers at the mercy of the fucking Salinas. How could any Ravager hold his head high when he let human enforcement lock him up like a dog?
Will scoffed and turned away, preening in the mirror. His room sat two floors below Kate’s. He’d booked it for the next few days, content to wait her out while he formulated his best plan of attack. None of the Savages had detected his presence, he was sure, or he’d now be dead.
He credited his new appearance as the reason for his success in staying hidden. Will had cut and cleaned his hair, now no longer encrusted with dirt. No more remaining in hisguerfor hours on end. He bathed daily, despite his distaste for human cleanliness. And he applied several layers of deodorant and cologne, masking his natural scent with some citrus-like smell the humans preferred. He couldn’t do much about his claws that refused to retract. Since his battle with the Savages a few weeks prior, the one in which they’d lost the Lawless Prime, Will had been battling his natural aggression and losing.
So he accepted what he couldn’t change, working on plans for his new future. One that included Kate.
Under Nev Lawless’s reign, he’d been forced to wait until his prime took a mate before finding one of his own. Nev had been a leader without equal, or so Will had thought. Strong inguer, aggressive, dominant, and true to his roots. Yet he’d been bested by Eric Savage, and now the Lawless clan, as a whole, had been ordered disbanded, the name dead.
Fuck that. Will hadn’t spent the past three decades kissing Nev’s ass just so he could bow to the asshole who’d mated a human, polluting their bloodlines. No, Will intended to make his race proud again. With Kate by his side, he’d sire strong young. He’d thought for a time that her older sister might suit him better, but the bitch had claimed a human. Soft, unworthy, and not too intelligent if she’d chosen a male withoutguerinstead of her own kind.
Kate had fire. The female had bested two of his men. He had a feeling she’d taken Savage’s castoffs as mates only to please her prime, because he heard she’d discarded them both at the first opportunity. He remembered how fierce she’d been a few weeks ago when he’d nearly had the prime’s new queen under his thumb. The taste of Vicki Fox’s blood had been sweet, but Kate’s would be sweeter.
According to Mike and Toby, Kate was in heat, and so enticing they’d lost their minds and confronted her in a public coffee house, of all places. For their stupidity, they’d earned just punishment. But for their loyalty, he’d given them quick deaths.
Will shifted on the balls of his feet, uncomfortable with his raging hungers in his humanoid form. His cock was too smooth and too small. He much preferred rubbing his furry, slick shaft into tight places. A male’s tight anus, a female’s soft, unforgiving pussy. Nothing beat conquering a smaller, softer lover. Reaming a virgin hole, smelling a mixture of blood and his semen, never failed to arouse him. Even now he grew hard just thinking about it.
Taming Kate’s aggression would be fun, arousing, and rewarding. She’d make a fine breedmate, and an even finer queen. Once he had her by his side, he planned on taking Eric Savage out of the clan for good. Ravagers bowed to the strongest, the best. And Will wouldn’t back down until all the prime’s pack met their unfortunate ends.
He ran a hand over his short hair, not pleased at its softness. Between the shampoo and his fresh cut, he’d lost the coarseness of his once untamable pelt. A knock at the door interrupted him, and he glanced away from his hard abs and erect shaft aching for release.
Will moved to the door and peered out at a slight female wheeling a tray laden with something that smelled delicious. The rare steak he’d ordered. She smiled at the door, and he grinned.
He hadn’t expected he’d get his dessert included.
Will stepped back behind the door as he opened it. “Come on in.” After she entered, he quickly closed the door, grabbed the waitress and slammed her head against the wall, knocking her dizzy. He tossed her on the bed and threw the locks, then grabbed a cloth napkin and stuffed it in her mouth. With one hand he held her immobile, his prisoner.
The blood on her temple beckoned, and he licked it, quivering with excitement to taste her fear, the smell of it like a ripe perfume in the air. “Your timing is impeccable.” Will cherished her whimpers. “But you’re going to have to work to earn your tip.”
* * *
Kate blinked away stupid tears,embarrassed and aggravated by her weakness when it came to Jesse and Logan. She felt so grateful that they’d come after her, so damn joyful at the pleasure they’d given her that her body still sang with undisguised satisfaction. How could she have, even for a minute, forgotten why she’d been miserable in the first place?
“I’m not okay. I’m in heat, assholes. What do you think I’ve been doing with myself while you two idiots have been fucking each other senseless?” Like hell they’d been celibate. One of the best things in her life, until today, had been watching them love each other. Seeing strong Ravagers take one another with affection and care was so sexy, even more so when they turned savage, lost in animalistic desire.
Jesse and Logan exchanged a glance, then turned as one, entered the bathroom together and shut the door.
What the hell?
She heard a toilet flush, water running and lowered voices, but she couldn’t make out what they said.
They returned smelling of soap and earthy male. God, she wanted to eat them up. Both a head taller than her with broad shoulders, trim hips, and the lean, corded muscle of true predators, her mates looked enough alike to be siblings. Like most Ravager males, they possessed brown hair and brown eyes. But there their similarities ended. As she’d already seen, Jesse had a darker side to him, one she couldn’t wait to experience again. From the look on his face, she didn’t figure she had much time to wait.
Logan and he stood next to the bed as they studied her. Jesse’s furrowed brow was so dear and familiar she wanted to smooth it out and kiss him.No, not kiss him there, kick him,she reminded herself.He’d rather kiss Vicki than you, don’t forget.
“It’s okay, honey. I know it hurts.” Jesse tugged the chain between her breasts, and she gasped in pleasured pain. “You still need it. Some hot cock in that pussy.”
“And that mouth, apparently,” Logan added with a leer. But on Logan, the look just made him sexier. “Really, Kate. Aren’t Ravager females supposed to settle down once they take their mates? Why don’t you finish claiming us so we can take care of you?”
