“I-I just want to get through this, alright? Don’t look at me like that. I’m doing the right thing for our client, and I just need to get through it. I’m still coming over on Tuesday, though?”
He’d turned away from her and took his time answering.
“I can’t, I’m sorry. The smell of that garbage you took is making me sick. You should probably go.”
She’d felt his words like a slap, stinging against her skin, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. He grimaced, pulling a face as if he’d swallowed something rotten, and she’d felt a tidal wave of rage surging through her, wanting to do nothing more than pick up one of the heavy office chairs and bash him upside his perfect, stupid jaw.
“It tastes like a dirty penny.”
“Grayson,” she gritted out, furious with herself for being so close to tears, “I hate you sometimes. I hate youso fuckingmuch.”
Shewas the one who had to do this; she was the one who would be putting her body through something unnatural. He didn’t have to like it, but a smidgen of kindness would be nice from someone who allegedly loved her.Why would you think that? He’s never said it. He’s never shown you that he might. You’re a monthly diversion, something to stick his dick in. That’s it.
“We have that in common, at least. I hate that you’re doing this. So, I suppose we’re even, rabbit.”
She’d shaken with barely suppressed rage the rest of the week. It was somewhat gratifying when opposing counsel was chastised by the judge for the fact that any of them were there, but she’d not forgotten the source of her anger, returning to her apartment for less than an hour before filling her gas tank and following the GPS directions to the lake. She would be there waiting for him in the morning, would be there waiting to tell him what a fucking asshole he really was, and that she was done. He could find someone new to chase because she was done being his prey, done being his verbal sparring partner, done with him.
Her anger had lent itself to a heavy foot, and she’d arrived at the cabin far earlier than she’d thought the trip would take. Everyone experienced the change differently, and she never remembered what it was like to be an apex predator for a short while every month, but she knew the moment she stopped, walking between her car and the cabin doors, what it was like to be prey.
She could feel the weight of heavy eyes on her, could sense his heat, could hear the heavy panting breaths. It might not even be him, she realized. There were other wolves out that night, other wolves prowling beneath the full moon. Her heart was beating so loud and fast that she was surprised it wasn’t causing a shift in the air, palpable friction around her.Just move slowly.Move slowly to the door, and you’ll be fine.She had barely taken another step when she heard the growl.
She’d always been extremely fast, was light and quick on her feet, and she sprung towards the cabin, clattering up the steps and throwing herself at the locked door.Locked. She couldn’t remember if he locked the door the previous month, only that they had arrived early enough to put the bed to use, knotting her in his man skin one final time before he had her as a wolf that night, and that she had woken the previous morning in the crook of his arm, her nose against his sternum and his hands in her hair. The keys lived in the same key ring he used for his truck, the sleek luxury sportscar remaining in Bridgeton each month. The keys might well still be in the truck, for she had watched him toss them back in through the open window on more than one occasion; convenient for a fast getaway, he had laughed. The truck was parked away from the cabin, in a cleared-out, paved-over space near the road, and she would need to get there.
It was a straight line from where she currently cowered on the cabin’s front porch, and she’d already run from whoever was there in the trees once. They would overtake her quickly, now that she was coming from the staircase, without the cover of her car. Vanessa gathered herself, steeling her nerves. It might be Grayson, but it could be anyone. She took a running leap off the porch, over the steps, sliding in the gravel for the space of a heartbeat before she was off, around the other side of the cabin, moving toward the lake.
In a matter of seconds, the beast was in pursuit. Her heart climbed into her lungs, making it even more difficult to suck in a breath as she raced forward. The wet smell of the lake rose around her, muddy and green, and she careened around the back of the house, nearly losing her footing in the damp grass. She could smell him behind her, could hear him in pursuit, gnashing teeth and hot breath, and she wondered if he could smell her fear. All around her, the sounds of the forest at night had gone silent — the crickets were holding their breath, tree frogs gone mute, the belching bullfrogs in the water vanished. Nothing existed except for the gathering growl behind her and the sound of his loping pace, not even needing to run in his pursuit.
She had just crossed the small mound leading to the dock when she made her fatal mistake. Meaning to zig when she ought to have zagged, she was tackled in the grass. Her body rolled, feeling the squish of mud between her fingers, a rock beneath her lower back, and then the press of a massive body over hers, hooked claws grazing her skin as her wrists were forced above her head.
The smell hit her nose, and she whimpered, arousal flooding her core, for, of course, it was him. She would know his scent anywhere and would never be able to smell anyone else ever again, but she didn’t know if he would be able to smellherthrough the wolfsbane. He was huge and hulking, pitch black with shining eyes that reflected the moonlight and teeth she could have seen ten paces away, teeth that were currently snapping at her neck.
“Grayson . . .”
The first bump of his cold, wet nose against her skin made her gasp, teeth glancing off her skin as he nipped at her arm, at her shoulder, at her hair. She hadn’t realized she was crying until a rough tongue swiped over her cheeks. Inside, her wolf was screaming.It wasn’t right!It was unnatural to be bound in her bones this way, and her wolf writhed, wanting to run with him, where she belonged. Her thin T-shirt dress was shredded from her body, and he snapped at her throat, hot tongue trailing down her bare, white skin.
When his muzzle pushed between her legs, she gasped, gripping the thick, black fur at his shoulders. A growl gathered in his throat, concealed behind the supple black fur, sleek to her touch.Even his wolf is like a perfectly groomed show dog.He inhaled against her stomach, against her inner thighs, pushing his nose against the lips of her sex and breathing her in, snarling in rage when the smell of her ended, and the suppressant began.
She arched beneath him, her wolf howling in agony and frustration, and for a moment, Vanessa thought her spine might pop. It desperately wanted to lengthen and curve, to transform into something primal and powerful, wanted to be with him in the way they were meant to be together and not trapped this way. He’s hooked, silver-tipped claws dug into the dirt on either side of her head, raking and slicing at the earth instead of her flesh, because he knew her. Knew her scent, knew her wolf, and if he had dug his claws into her flesh, ripping her open, searching for her wolf, she wouldn’t have blamed him. They were scent mates, and she couldn’t deny it any longer — puzzle pieces that were only whole when they were fitted together, and it didn’t matter if he didn’t love her or if there were other women; didn’t matter what she did with other men. They were only whole together, and she would do whatever she needed to keep him chasing her forever.
The first pass of his rough tongue made her suck in a shuddering breath, while the third made her cry out. Her voice echoed through the black woods, a moan that was nearly a sob as his rough tongue licked over her clit, again and again, pressing into her opening and growling against her heat. There was nothing unnatural about the situation, she decided, for she belonged there with him. The only unnatural thing was her, the drugs in her system and the agony beneath her skin. She knew he would be able to taste them on her, but perhaps his wolf knew he had pushed her a touch too far. After all, what would he have to chase if she stopped leading him?
She still felt the burn beneath her skin and the pressure on her spine where her wolf wanted to burst free, but he still knew exactly how to lick her clit, even in this form. She gripped the black fur at his neck, thrusting upwards against the wolfish snout, riding his face as she had countless times before, not stopping until she gushed on his tongue.
His cock in this form looked nothing like his own. Thick and red, rising from a short, black-skinned sheath, he was already dripping. He had pushed up on his knees after coating his mouth in her release, muzzle shining in the moonlight, and his cock loomed over her. She needed to turn over, needed to get on her knees for him, but she wanted to touch him first. Her nail traced a snaking vein from base to tip, her thumb rolling over the slightly pointed tip, gripping his shaft as best she could as his dark red knot swelled at the bottom of his shaft.
When he mounted her, she did nothing to stop him. Held her ass up high, as she would have done in her other skin. The air left her body when the tip of his head caught at her lips, breaching her for the first time. He already had the biggest cock she’d ever ridden in his everyday form; his wolf’s was bigger. His wolf’s was bigger, but she was not, her pathetic human body struggling to accommodate his stretch. Vanessa’s eyes rolled back when he began to thrust, every drag of him within her seeming to displace one of her vertebrae. She laced her small, white fingers with his, huge and black and claw-tipped, moaning again when she felt the press of his knot at her entrance. Her anger, at least for the moment, was forgotten, and she hoped this meant his was as well.
“Knot me, baby,” she whined, gasping as he snarled against her. His pace was relentless and driving, and she pushed back against him. “I want to take your knot, Gray. It belongs to me.Youbelong tome.”
She felt she was being cleaved in two, each rock of his hips making her jolt, her head lolling. His teeth snapped at her neck, and his hips surged, and the world went white in an explosion of pain and bliss, his knot sealing them together. She shook beneath him, her climax tinged with pain, pleasure and pain, and she felt his teeth at her shoulder again within her continued to increase, and she realized he was filling her womb, her a flood of molten heat that made her belly bulge, a growl ripping from his throat as he emptied within her.
She had leaked the evidence of their coupling for several days, necessitating the use of a panty liner for the first time in ages. Since then, the dream of being taken by his wolf in her human form had been a regular fantasy. Shehatedthat it got her so wet, hated that it made her so needy, for it was mortifying to contemplate, positively embarrassing to admit, and worst of all — he had been a smug shit about it, even more puffed up than he usually was, in danger of floating away.
“Are you dreaming of my wolf again?” he asked with a sly smile, crowding her against his desk.
“No,” she insisted indignantly, knowing he could tell she was lying. He backed her up until her ass hit the edge of the desk, not stopping until he’d lifted her onto it with a squeak.
“I think we both know that’s not true, rabbit. Why don’t you let me give you what you need.”
