Autumn Sacrifice (8 page)

Glancing at the moon hanging heavy over the water, she noticed the two gray and black timber wolves that waited silently a few feet from the stairs. Ethan and Jake, she assumed. Looking back at Caleb, she touched his face. “I know you need to go,” she murmured.

“We’re not done discussing this.”

She absently watched the progress of a red and gold maple leaf as it fluttered to the ground between them.

He dragged her against his chest and thrust his hand in her hair, pulling her head back and took her mouth with an almost brutal kiss. Liquid heat spread through her as she melted against him. Opening her mouth beneath his, she returned his kiss.

He rested his forehead against hers, pain flaring across his features. “Will you still be here when I get back?”

“Caleb…”

“Will you?” he demanded when she didn’t answer.

She didn’t want to hurt him, but she wasn’t sure she could give him what he wanted. “I need to think.”

He backed away, pain shadowing his eyes. He toed off his shoes and pulled his T-shirt over his head, baring his tightly muscled chest. Tossing the shirt on the swing, he quickly added the rest of his clothes.

“I know you don’t believe me. I know you don’t think what I feel could possibly be more than pheromones, but I do love you.”

Before she could respond, he dropped to his hands and knees, letting the change take him. She’d seen it before, but only from a distance. As she watched, his body contracted and contorted. Muscles shifted, and bones cracked and popped with sickening, wet sounds as his body transformed. Coarse, black hair sprouted where smooth, golden brown skin had been. Fingers and toes shortened while thick, curved nails sprouted from what were now wide paws. The face that was so dear to her had elongated to a snout. Deadly looking canines replaced his mischievous smile, and fur tufted ears cocked to the side as his tail swished back and forth. The only sign of the man she loved was his eyes. Though they were gold instead of brown, they still held his intensity and warmth.

She squatted down and put out her hand. He padded across the wood-planked floor to stand in front of her and nudged her palm with the top of his head. She petted him, burying her fingers in his thick fur until the other wolves howled. With a lick to the inside of her wrist, he bounded under her outstretched arm and joined his brothers. Caleb stopped halfway to the woods and looked back at her for a moment before disappearing into the shadow-cloaked trees.

Brenna watched until the darkness swallowed everything but the moon, Caleb’s words still echoing in her head and her heart aching. Finally, she picked up his discarded clothing and went into the house. Sitting down at the table, she doodled absently on a notepad. What was she going to do? She was supposed to drive to Marquette tomorrow to catch a flight to Detroit and from there another flight to California. A week ago, she’d been desperate to return to her tiny, hideously over-priced apartment. Now, the thought of leaving the place she’d grown up—leaving Caleb—made her want to curl up into a ball and sob.

Glancing down at the paper, the pen fell from her fingers. Caleb’s eyes stared back at her from a wolfen face. The expression in the eyes of the drawing was as pain-filled as his had been before he’d shifted. Suddenly, she knew. Biology caused discomfort—not anguish. Anguish was something else entirely.

* * * *

Caleb didn’t know how far he ran. He just ran until the wolf loosened its grip long enough to let him shift back. Leaving Ethan and Jake in the forest, he raced back to his house, shifting as soon as he reached the steps.

A wave of relief hit him as soon as he saw Brenna’s car sitting in the driveway where she’d left it, but the respite was short lived when he couldn’t find her anywhere in the house or outside in the yard.

Shifting back to his wolf form, he searched for her, finally picking up her scent heading into the woods. What the hell was she thinking? Not only were the woods nearly pitch black, there were all kinds of animals in there—not all of them friendly.

Her trail was easy enough to pick up; it meandered through the forest then along the shoreline close to where she’d been walking with her cousin earlier. He could tell she’d been out on the rock formations again.

His heart jumped into his throat as the thought occurred to him that maybe she’d been swept into the water by one of the dangerously high waves that washed over the tops of the rocks, but the wind shifted, carrying her scent to him. She was on shore. Turning around, he noticed movement near the house. Bounding away from the water, he headed up the beach toward where she paced in front of the steps. She whirled to face him, squinting into the darkness.

“Caleb?” she called, her voice a little shaky. “Is that you? I sure hope it’s you.”

Turning his focus inward, he willed himself to shift forms again. He ignored the pain that ripped through him as his bones and muscles stretched and reformed. Hair and claws receded leaving behind naked skin that quickly grew chilled in the windy, autumn night. Forcing himself to his feet, he stood.

Without warning, Brenna launched herself into his arms, wrapping herself around his body. He released the breath he’d been holding as he pulled her close. When he’d left her on the porch, he’d been half convinced that she’d be long gone when he got back. He would have chased her down, of course. But he was thrilled that he didn’t have to. He just hoped that her being here meant that she was staying. Or at least considering it.

“I realized I made a mistake,” she admitted. “So I tried to find you.”

“In the forest? At night?”

She sighed. “I know. I know. Beyond stupid.” She shyly met his gaze. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I was scared to believe that you might actually love me…for me.”

After seeing her father in action, he could definitely understand her mistrust.

“I love you, too. You know that, right?” she asked.

He nodded, his heart swelling. But there was still more that needed to be discussed. More she needed to know. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you. There’s a biological component to this. It makes your scent irresistible. It makes me crazy for the taste of you. It makes me hard for you the minute I’m near you.” He chuckled. “But to be fair, that last bit’s been going on since you were in high school.”

With a smile, she pushed her hips against his already stiff cock.

“But,” he continued. “That doesn’t affect my love for you. I need to know that you understand that.”

She nodded. “I do. I might have been a little slow on the uptake, but I do get it.”

“Good.”

He lowered himself to his knees, drawing her down on the cold sand with him and took her mouth, thrusting his tongue inside and tasting her thoroughly. Her admission of love combined with the full moon drew his beast forward again. The need to mark her and make her his was growing uncontrollable.

Her passion rising, she skimmed her hands over the planes of his body, pulling him closer, stroking his skin and pressing kisses to his chest. His cock jerked against her, trapped between their bodies.

Cradling the base of her skull, he secured his fingers in her hair and tugged her head back, exposing her neck. “It’s time.”

Chapter Nine

Caleb’s teeth scraped across her exposed neck, sending shivers of need racing through Brenna’s body. She swallowed hard, her heart in her throat. She wasn’t sure what the mating ritual would involve. She’d heard whispers of blood and sex, but not much more than that.

A hot rush of moisture flooded her pussy as he pressed his hard cock against her pelvis. A lifetime of passion at Caleb’s hands…she’d never tire of it. Briefly breaking their kiss, she stripped off her top, exposing the dark blue, lace bra she wore. Her nipples tightened almost painfully in the chilly air, but he quickly warmed them, drawing them one after the other into the scalding heat of his mouth. Arching her back, she begged him to take more, suck harder.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jake and Ethan, still in their wolf forms, watching them. Her breath caught as she realized that as unmated wolves they’d likely be taking part in whatever the ritual involved.

Caleb followed her line of sight. “The alpha’s mate is pleasured by the entire pack, but you still belong to me.” It wasn’t a question.

And she thought she’d been wet before.

Both wolves shifted forms. Bones snapped. Fur vanished. And she was surrounded by three very naked, very aroused men. Jake leaned forward and kissed her, greedily claiming her mouth then rose and entered the house.

Before she had time to wonder what he was doing, Ethan moved behind her. Pressing his erection against her ass, he reached around and unfastened her jeans, peeling them down her hips and helping her take them off.

As Jake returned with a blanket, Caleb sat on the step and pulled her onto his lap. He draped her legs over his thighs, spreading her wide. Though she still had on her bra and panties, she felt utterly exposed.

The hard ridge of Caleb’s cock pressed firmly into her ass as she squirmed against it.

“Careful, brat,” he whispered, his breath brushing the shell of her ear.

Her pussy clenched, aching to be filled, and her breasts begged for someone’s touch—anyone’s touch. She stifled a moan of frustration as all three men gazed at her. Finally, Caleb reached around and cupped her breasts. Already tight little peaks, her nipples hardened further into the palms of his hands.

He pinched and twisted the sensitive tips, hardening them further. The lace cups chafed deliciously against her overly sensitized skin, and all she could do was moan and squirm against him. While Caleb continued to torment her, Ethan settled between her spread legs and leaned forward, nuzzling her thighs.

“You smell so good.” Inching closer to her center, he pressed kisses along the crease of her legs, nipping at the edge of her underwear as he went.

She canted her hips upward, hoping he’d take the hint and stop teasing her.

“Uh-uh, brat,” Caleb murmured. “You’re not calling the shots here.”

Groaning, she thumped her head against his shoulder. “So this mating thing is all about killing me with denial?”

Ethan sealed his mouth over her silk-covered cunt, and she just about shot straight up off Caleb’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her still for his brother’s exquisite torture. The other man pressed the flat of his tongue against her cleft, teasing her through the fabric. Her panties had already been wet. Now, they were soaked. There was no way she could stifle the moan that built in her throat as he tongued her unrelentingly through the fabric.

Caleb continued toying with a nipple while Jake sucked on the other one, pressing it hard against the roof of his mouth. She grabbed his head and hung on, afraid he’d pull back and leave her even more miserable and wanting than before.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” Caleb asked. “So open and willing—your juices running down my thighs.” He ground his cock against her ass and groaned. “I need to be inside you. I need to feel you squeezing me.”

It took a couple seconds to catch her breath, but she was finally able to mutter, “I don’t see anyone stopping you.”

Sliding his hand from her breast down her stomach to her pussy, he pulled aside the crotch of her underwear. The cool air bathed her heated flesh, until Ethan dragged the tip of his tongue through her folds, briefly flicking it across her clit making her cry out.

Caleb shifted her until she was hovering above his erection and slowly eased it inside her, filling her completely before pulling her back on his lap. The position was intense, she’d never felt so stretched—so full. Settling his hands on her hips, he helped slide her up and down the length of his cock as he plowed through her tender passage.