Leader of the Pack (3 page)

“
What’s wrong?” At the sound of her voice, he looked up from preparing their food –

eggs, biscuits, hash brown potatoes and a pound each of sausage and bacon. After all, a wolf could not live on love alone.

He watched her walk toward him, his blue eyes flashing gold as he followed her progress across the hardwood floor. His cabin had a very simple layout. A large great room on one side, a gourmet kitchen on the other. The entire top floor of the house consisted of a bedroom loft and spa bath. Jared didn’t like closed-in spaces.

“
You bit me,” Emily said again, her voice at just a slightly lower decibel than before. The large robe swallowed her and his cock swelled just thinking about the generous curves hidden beneath.

“
Of course I did.” He grinned at the outraged expression his admission provoked. “You are my mate.”

“
What! What kind of man are you?” she sputtered.

Jared smiled his wicked smile. He wasn’t a man. At least not always. But, he didn’t think she wanted to hear that right now. First he had to soothe some ruffled feminine, human, feathers. He strode across the room and lifted her into his arms, placing her on the kitchen counter. He easily subdued her efforts to get away.

“
Let me see, baby,” he cajoled as he pushed the weight of her hair aside. On the back of Emily’s neck, a bright red circle, the modern equivalent of a hickey, marred her perfect skin. Jared was glad to see the wound had healed so quickly. If she had seen it right after he had first bitten her, there would have been hell to pay.

He’d marked her as his, penetrating her flesh with his teeth the same as he’d penetrated her body with his cock. Both acts had been a brand of possession. Fortunately, the healing properties in his salvia had already worked their magic on her neck. Thank God.

“
Does it hurt?” he crooned. His lips caressed the soft flesh. “Let me kiss it and make it better.” He licked the tender spot, tracing the circular outline with his tongue. At his touch, her head fell forward granting him access and signaling her surrender. He couldn’t resist sucking the bite mark at her acquisition but instantly regretted his action when she wrenched her neck away.

“
You jerk.” She pushed at his chest. “How would you like it if I bit you?”

“
Oh, I’m counting on that, Emily,” he growled. Her eyes widened at his words. “In fact, I’ll let you decide where you want to mark me. Some females mark their mates on the neck. Others prefer the chest. A few choose more intimate spots.”

“
Jared,” she whispered, her body trembling at his words.

He took both of her hands in one his and held them behind her back. The motion thrust her breasts forward. With a flick of his wrist her robe popped open and revealed the full, ripe roundness of each lovely orb to his hungry gaze. Her skin was warm and rosy from her shower and a soft, powdery scent flooded his senses. His body responded to her familiar smell. His cock grew long and thick. She smelled as fresh and clean as the air after a mid-day storm. But he missed the scent of their loving. The smell of their essences mingling together, earthy and fragrant. Male and female. More importantly, his male pride wanted others to know she belonged to him.

As he continued to stare, she squirmed on the hard surface and another scent joined the others. One of arousal. His eyes focused on the springy auburn curls barely peeking through the juncture of her thighs. He needed to taste her. “Don’t you have other places that need a little tender, loving care?”

He grinned as she read the intent in his eyes and reflexively clamped her knees tighter together. “No, Jared, you can’t.”

“
And why not?” He lowered his head and kissed the now puckered tips of her breasts and dipped his tongue into the crevice of her bellybutton. He licked the rounded softness of her belly. He couldn’t wait to plant his seed inside her and watch her grow big with his child. Just the thought turned his cock into a rigid stake of need.

“
Don’t,” she said, trying to move away from his mouth.

“
Don’t what?” he asked, still laving the alabaster skin. He smoothed his free hand from her breast to thigh, caressing her waist, her stomach, anywhere, everywhere.

“
Look, I know I’m not the svelte blondes you usually have. You don’t have to touch me like that. I’m all for another round of raunchy sex. Don’t embarrass us both by pretending you like what you see.” She sat rigid on the counter, her face stiff and her eyes dull.

“
What the hell are you talking about?” Jared’s eyes narrowed and he felt the power inside him shift. No one insulted his mate, not even his mate.

“
Let’s just skip the preliminaries. If you want to fuck me again, fine, I’m not complaining. In fact if you let me down, I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”

He released her hands and grasped the back of her head, his hold hard and deliberately hurting. “You are perfect.” His other hand squeezed her breast. “This is perfect.”

Emily pushed against his chest, her eyes glimmering with defiance. “Yeah, every man loves big boobs. So what?”

Jared immediately understood what she was trying to do. Push him away, literally and figuratively. He had yet to make her realize that she was the other half of his soul. His to love and cherish for as long as the powers that be allowed him the privilege. He had yet to make her understand just what a wolf found attractive. He had made her submit to him physically in the forest, now he needed her to submit to him emotionally. To depend on him for her very happiness. As he would depend on her.

He tightened his hand on her breast until she gasped but he was not concerned. He knew he was giving her more pleasure than pain. “You will never speak of yourself in that way again.” He continued to tighten his hand until she looked him in the eye. “Do you understand?”

At her nod, he gave her breast a gentle squeeze before moving to cup the curve of her stomach. “You are mine, Emily. All of this is mine.” He caressed the generous swell of her hip and the soft flesh of her waist. “Mine,” he growled. “All mine.”

He forced her head up, slanting his mouth across hers. A possessive sweep of his tongue across hers had her moaning and clutching his shoulders for support. He fucked his tongue in and out, possessing her as he would soon possess her body. After several minutes, his aggression eased enough for him to release her mouth. He stepped back to admire his handy work – her mouth was a burnt red, bruised and swollen from his kisses, her breast showed the imprint of his fingers.

And she was aroused.

“
Open for me Emily,” he commanded, his hands on her thighs. When she hesitated he pulled them slowly apart, growling as she resisted. He slapped her lightly on the buttocks. “You do as I say. I want to taste you.”

“
No,” she said stubbornly, still trying to free herself. He ended the struggle by yanking her legs apart and keeping them apart with the width of his shoulders as he bent at the waist. His breath stirred the tops of the reddish curls protecting her femininity. He lapped at the tops of her thighs like a hungry pup. The rough and wet texture of his tongue and mouth elicited her involuntary moan and he grinned. Just after the first stroke of tongue across her slit, a knock sounded at the door. The wolf in him whimpered at the interruption. He had known they were coming but had hoped to have at least a taste of her first.

Sighing, he stepped back and belted the robe securely around her waist before lifting her from the counter. “This is not over,” he stated as he placed a rough kiss on the center of her mouth. “I will taste you.”

He projected the image of him fucking her with his tongue and smiled in satisfaction as a small ripple of release shuddered through her body.

“
Hi, bro-o, glad to see you made it back in one piece. Did you vaporize the vamp?” A large blonde-headed giant strolled through the doorway before Jared could stop him. A beautiful dark haired woman followed him. He clapped Jared on the back and laughed heartily. “You’ve only got a couple more days before the full-”

Jared jabbed his elbow into the man’s stomach before he could complete his sentence. It was one thing for him to hint at what he was another to have it blurted out with no warning. But he knew what Shawn had wanted to say. Once the moon was upon him, he would not be able to control the beast as he hunted and that could mean dire consequences for everyone involved.

“
What’d you do that for man?” The blonde rubbed the tender spot. Before Jared could speak, the woman gasped as she caught sight of Emily by the kitchen counter.

Emily didn’t know what to do. Here she stood in a strange man’s living room – granted he wasn’t a complete stranger if you counted the fact that they had just had the wildest romp on a forest floor than she’d ever had in her entire life and almost had another round on the kitchen counter – wearing nothing but a borrowed robe and nervous smile.

She opted for the simplest solution and said hello.

“
Hi, yourself, sweet thing.”

The man and woman moved across the room faster than Emily could comprehend. One minute they were by the door and the next thing she knew they had surrounded her like a pack of rapid dogs.

“
I’m Shawn.” The man reached out his hand as if to touch her when a low growl stopped him. Emily blinked. Jared stood between her and the other man and she hadn’t seen him move either. Shawn put up his hands as if in surrender. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to invade anybody’s territory. No sweat, Jared. First come, first serve. You know how I like the plump ones. Just let me know when you get done with this luscious piece of tai-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Jared had thrust him against the wall. A large tanned arm crushed his windpipe. “Mine.” The words were low and filled with menace.

“
My goodness.” The black haired woman moved in a slow circle around Emily. “He bit her.”

Emily clapped a hand to the back of her neck to cover the love bite. Heat flooded her face as she realized the two strangers would guess exactly how she’d received that rather primitive token of affection. She could still feel the imprint of Jared’s body as he pinned her to the ground and held her still as he penetrated her from behind. The rough, hard thrusts of his cock as it filled her. The walls of her pussy clenched just thinking about it.

“
Are you sure, Maria?” the man asked as Jared released him. He sniffed the air. “She doesn’t smell like a satisfied woman. But then maybe old Jared here is losing his touch.” His laughter was cut short as Jared tossed him across the room. He dented the wooden wall when he landed. Emily gawked in amazement as he picked himself up and shook the splinters from his coat. He reminded her of a puppy shaking after an unwanted bath. His bones cracked as he twisted his neck from side to side. “Damn it, Jared, I think you broke something.”

Jared snarled in response. His teeth were bared and his back hunched like a wild animal, ready for retaliation. Emily shivered at the sight.

“
That’s enough boys.” The woman sent a stinging stare at both men. “Shawn you know better than to tease about a mate. And Jared, you should know your own strength by now.” She took Emily by the hand and led her to the couch.

“
I hope we haven’t scared you. The men can be a little rough around the edges at times. Jared has failed to introduce us. My name is Maria Hamilton. And that is Shawn Thompson. What’s yours?”

“
Uh, Emily Smith.” Emily stole a glace at Jared, who stood in the middle of the room, his body stiff and on guard. The man named Shawn grinned foolishly. For some reason, jealousy ate at her over the woman named Maria.

As if sensing her discomfort, Jared joined them. He placed an arm around her and hugged her to his side. “That’s enough. Why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll finish breakfast. You need to eat.”

“
Alright,” she smiled shyly at the man who held her close. This had to have been the weirdest night and morning of her life. She’d looked for a vampire in an old, abandoned house. Then had sex in the woods. The start of probably her second hottest sexual encounter on a kitchen island. And she had just been introduced to two werewolves who were apparently part of her dark-haired lover’s pack. And they had said something about a mate. Her mind seemed to disconnect from her body at the very absurdity of her thoughts.

She shook her head and moved from Jared’s embrace.

Before she could take a step, he tilted her chin up and asked, “Are you alright?”

Seeing his anxious and concerned expression made her smile. Yes, it had been a bizarre twenty-four hours, but she wouldn’t have traded one hour of it. Because she had met this man. She placed a hand on his bare chest loving the coarse texture of the dark hair that covered him. “I’m fine. But I really need to be going. It seems you have a lot to talk about.”

His fingers tightened on her chin. “I don’t think so, baby. You need to eat. These two can stay for breakfast and we’ll all talk then.” He bent to give her another hard kiss then pushed her gently toward the stairs with a firm tap to her buttocks. “Go.”