Awakening the Alpha (6 page)

“Doesn’t it make you angry? The fact that I am your mate, no matter what you think or want?” They reached his truck: battered, old, used. She liked that about him, it was comfortable, although he looked slightly embarrassed.

“I borrowed it from my brother.” He opened the door for her, like a true gentleman. When she had climbed in, he leaned on it, looking at her earnestly. “Natalie. Look, I’m sorry. I know I’m not exactly what you had in mind for a mate. I know I don’t have a lot to offer. At the moment. But I plan to work hard for us. Make a good life for our family and make sure you are happy.”

“No. That wasn’t what I meant at all,” she said, not wanting to hurt his feelings in such a way. “Material things don’t mean much to me. I walked away from everything once. I can do that again.” Yes, she could, she realised that now. She was scared, that was all. Scared, plain and simple, of a new future, but with Riley beside her she couldn’t fail. “I think you are a good man, Riley. It’s not that I never wanted you. I just never wanted the whole mate thing at all.”

“Like I said, we all have all the time we need to get used to the idea.” Although his eyes said she had no time at all, that he wanted to rip her clothes from her body and take her under the blue skies on top of the mountain. She swallowed down her desire. She was simply projecting her own needs on to him.

“Then let’s go. I need to run off some of this tension,” she said.
Or you could chase it away some other way
. She was hopeless.

He got in, starting the engine. Pulling the big truck out into the traffic, he drove them out of town. She wasn’t sure where they were heading and didn’t ask, her mind too preoccupied with thoughts of him. He had turned her brain to mush. But she would allow herself the luxury of this one day with him before she got back to normal tomorrow.

She still had a job to go to and bills to pay. She needed to remind herself this wasn’t a fairy tale. She needed her job—or was it her way of hanging on to the past and not moving on? If she stayed working at the bakery, she would have to stay in town, not move back to Wolf Valley, not move in with Riley.

“I thought we would stay on this side of the mountain. It’s early evening and there may be others about.” He didn’t have to say
other wolves
, she got his meaning. “I thought we might prefer to avoid anyone else.”

“That’s a good idea.” She had to admit she didn’t want to share these precious hours with anyone other than him.

“How long have you lived in Wolf Valley?” she asked.

“About six months. We kept out of the town for most of that time. Do you ever go there?”

“No. Not at all, I was only a teenager when I left.”

“But you know Kira?” he asked.

“She was my friend when we grew up.”

“You never visited her? When he father died?”

“No. I heard about it. But I couldn’t go back.”

He looked at her and she heard the next question, but he didn’t ask it out loud.
Why didn’t you go and offer your condolences to your friend?

“I felt it was all my fault. What happened in Wolf Valley. I was a mess by the time I left. I wouldn’t have been much help to her or anyone.”

“You might have been.”

“Can we drop it? For now.” She frowned. “Past is the past, right?”

“Right.” He pulled off the road, driving the truck up a dirt track leading to the lower slopes. When the track began to go faint from lack of use, he pulled over to the side and switched off the engine. “Now. I can’t wait to see my she-wolf in daylight.”

“A race?” she asked, getting out of the truck and stretching her muscles. “Although it’s been such a long time since I’ve run with another wolf.”

“You ran from me last night. I don’t think you have to worry about speed. But you might have to worry about what I’ll do to you when I catch you.” He winked, but still a shiver of desire rushed through her. Now they were here, a primal need for him overtook her. She had to fight herself not to pull him to the floor and get him to mate with her under the blue sky.

Instead, she turned from him and with a shimmer of static electricity, she turned into her wolf and ran, sensing him only two strides behind her. The chase was on, and it thrilled her.

Big strides, deep breaths, that was how she moved up the trail. Higher and higher, they climbed. Her heart racing, thundering in her chest as she tried to outrun her fate. Yet she knew he was behind her, matching her stride for stride; he would probably have passed her if he wanted to, but he seemed content to follow.

Turning, sweeping under the low branches, she switched direction only to switch back again. He snapped at her heels, urging her on until her adrenaline kicked in and she flew faster, out onto the meadow, as the sun began its decent in the sky. A breeze ruffled her fur, and she flattened, galloping along like a racehorse heading towards the finish line.

He wanted to throw his head back and laugh. But he had to keep it down, his legs aching from the strain of keeping up with her and his lungs straining for breath. Exhilaration filled him, sending his soul soaring: so this was what it felt like to be truly alive.

His past swept away as he hurtled after her across the meadow, and then he leaped into the air, diving over her. She snapped at him, and he turned to bite her legs playfully, only to have her careen straight into him, knocking him over. As he landed, his feet wrapped around hers and they rolled over and over across the ground.

Then he changed, his human form flashing back into being, and she did too. Her hair swept across the ground as she landed, and he caught her underneath his body, pressing his weight down on her.

Panting, she looked up into his face, uncertainty flickering across it. She must be able to feel his arousal pressing up against her inner thigh; did she know just how much he wanted her?

Lowering his head, he hovered above her lips, waiting for some sign as to how she felt. When he got it, it wasn’t what he had expected. Instead of shoving him off and telling him to behave, she lifted her head off the ground and pressed her lips to his, so lightly he might have imagined it.

Eyes fixed together, he smiled, moistened his lips and went back for more. Oh yes, he wanted so much more. Brushing his lips across hers, and then biting her lower lip, he teased her. Underneath him, she relaxed her body, opening her thighs a little wider so he could nestle more firmly between them. He used one elbow to leverage his weight off her, using his free hand to stroke the hair from her face. Her breast rose and fell under him; she was struggling as much as he was. They both wanted this. He was so sure, and when he kissed her properly, he no longer feared her rejection. How could she reject him? They were fated to be together, and that was proving impossible for her to fight any longer.

Her lips moved against his, parting when he swept his tongue along her lower lip, allowing him access to her mouth. In and out, he slid his tongue, his cock growing harder when she sucked on him, making him wish her lovely mouth were wrapped around him down there instead.

Pressing his body firmly forward, he eased himself up and down, brushing her clit with his hardness, making her writhe beneath him. Natalie placed her hands on his chest, stroking his muscles through his T-shirt, and he longed to pull it off so she could stroke his bare skin. But when her fingers touched his hard nipples and tweaked them the barrier might not have been there, the sensations were so incredible.

Groaning, he moved more urgently against her, his cock hard, his body tensing with a need for release. But he wanted to wait, savour his first orgasm by coming inside her. Tilting his body, he took the pressure off her clit, and he felt her sigh in regret. Threading his hand between their bodies, he found the small, sensitive bud and pressed his fingers there. Her hips lifted to meet him, moving in time with him. Sliding one finger back, he pressed it against her sex, hidden under the fabric of her pants.

She bucked her hips and he pressed deeper, firmer, his thumb brushing her clit until she whimpered her release against his neck, her arms wrapped around him as her life depended on it.

He could smell her arousal, smell her juices and licked his lips, longing to taste her, but he didn’t want to take her here. The first time had to be special and a cold mountainside was neither private enough or safe enough.

As her body relaxed under him, she slid her hand down to cover his cock. “Thank you,” she said, “But what about you?” Her hand moved up and down, gripping him and then letting him go.

“Not here.”

“Then come home with me.”

“I thought you wanted to take it slow?” he asked, kissing her neck, breathing in her scent and then nipping her flesh, leaving a mark; he wanted to brand her, make sure every man, every wolf, knew she was his.

“I think I’ve changed my mind.” She turned her head, kissing him fiercely. He pulled her close and his need was so strong he had to take firm control of himself or he would have ripped her clothes off and taken her here in the growing twilight.

Pulling back, he shifted his weight off her. In one swift movement he was on his feet, offering her his hand. She took it, and the shock of her touch hit him, there was a familiarity to it he enjoyed. Everything about her felt right; they fitted together, and he longed to explore in so many ways.

Starting with the most intimate parts of their bodies.

He turned from her, shouting over his shoulder, “Last one down is a bear.”

She giggled. “I always liked bears. Such good manners.”

He shouted something but it was lost between worlds as he turned into his wolf and ran as if his life depended on it. Although it was his sanity that depended on it. Because now he knew they were going to go back to her place and make love, the thought was almost too much for his senses to handle.

Why did her hand shake so much? She was trying to put the key in the lock of her apartment door, and she couldn’t do it. Her teeth were chattering too, but she felt warm inside, and outside, because he had his body pressed against her back, his hand under her jacket stroking her breasts. No wonder she was trembling.

“Want me to do it for you?” he asked, his mouth close to her ear, his breath warm, sending fresh shivers through her body. Then he took her earlobe between his teeth and nipped it, sucking it in until her knees went weak.

“Not fair,” she said, finally fitting the key in and triumphantly turning it.

His hand slid down between her thighs, stroking her clit. “I never said I was going to play fair.”

Falling through the doorway, she turned, dragging him to her and kissing him, her hand going over his cock and squeezing it. “You didn’t say there were no rules.”

He kicked the door shut, his T-shirt already halfway over his head as he began to strip. Her heart beat rapidly to see him for the first time, all bronzed muscles and sinewy arms. She had to admit, she had won the genetic lottery with Riley as her mate. She could imagine him out at his house chopping wood, enough to build a roaring fire, and then laying her down in front of it and making love to her all night.

Back to the reality of the moment. This was real, wasn’t it? He really was undoing his belt and dropping his pants to the floor. Taking a step towards him, she wrapped her hands around his very real naked cock. Sliding her hand along his length, she made him harden. Up and down, he allowed her to play, experiment, sharp intakes of breath telling her he liked what she was doing, and then he stopped her.

“Not yet. I want to be inside you when I come.” Taking hold of her hand, he said, “Bedroom.”

Swallowing her nerves, she took him to her small, feminine bedroom with its pink floral sheets and matching drapes, hardly the most sexy of rooms. Riley didn’t pay it any attention; his thoughts were fixed firmly on her clothes and the quickest way to remove them from her body.

His fingers didn’t tremble. He was completely focused on the buttons on her shirt, undoing them quickly, before slipping it off her shoulders. It lay where it fell, his hands already busy on their next task: massaging her breasts. One large hand covered each, his thumb brushing the hard nipples still encased in her bra. Then he released the clasp, letting them spill forward.

Sighing with contentment, he dipped his head and kissed her soft flesh, his mouth closing around her left nipple while his hand worked to brush her right breast. Both sensations vied for her attention. Closing her eyes, she absorbed the feel of his tongue as it rolled around one taut bud, while the exquisite pinch as he rolled the other between his finger and thumb was breathtaking.

An ache began deep in her core, spreading out, making her sex contract with need. No man had ever turned her on like this; no man had ever touched her so intimately. He would be her first. Why she had saved herself was simple. No man was ever worth the risk of giving her heart to until now. Natalie was not the kind of person who could go out with a man just for sex. Sex meant love and love meant a mate, she had always known that.

Now in Riley’s talented and experienced hands she was going to find out exactly what she had saved herself for.

Manoeuvring her towards the bed, he stopped her from sitting down, moving to undo her pants first. When they were sliding down her thighs, with her panties following, he slipped his hand between her legs, moving upwards to rub against her clit. Natalie parted her thighs for him, allowing him to push a finger inside her so he could feel her heated need. He would be left in no doubt exactly how much she wanted this.

“Lie down,” he instructed. She did as he asked, allowing him to help her to sit and then shuffling back across the bed to make room for him. Strong, toned, and yet with a sexy litheness, he came towards her, his body hovering over hers as he knelt on all fours, his mouth doing its best to drive her wild.

Kissing the tips of her nipples, then down over the swell of her breasts, he kissed and licked her skin. She wanted to beg him to take her, but she made herself lie still and enjoy this slow build-up. Down over her stomach, his mouth sucked on her skin, his tongue circling round and around to tease her nerve endings. She thought he was going to kiss her down there, between her thighs, and a part of her hoped he would, but the other part of her wanted to feel him inside her.