Breeding Cycle (6 page)

“Good morning,” he pulled back to say, then delved back down to nuzzle the soft skin at her neck. God, she smelled so good, he thought. When he climbed on top of her, she widened her thighs, trusting him completely at his word.

He lifted up from her and looked down to watch his hard cock lying rigid on top of her wet curls. His breathing grew labored, sweat beaded his brow, and his hips started a short rhythmic thrust. A fierce expression took over his face.

“God dammit, let me inside you woman. You’ll feel so great wrapped around me, I know it.” Her eyes shuttered with hunger, but still she said no. So he tried again, feeling edgier than before, craving, no, needing to be inside her, and fisted his cock, rubbing it in tight circles over her wet clit. Her mouth, her hands, the sleek cream of her pussy, none of it was enough. She cried out below him. He needed her. He tried a different tactic.

Caging her in his arms, his voice deep with arousal he begged, “I’ll make you come so fucking hard baby. I’ll fill that pussy up so full you’ll be feeling me for a week. Let me in. Let me fuck you until we’re both lost.” By time he finished, her orgasm was so close. With the subtle rocking of his hips and her rampant hormones, it didn’t take much. Her hands clung to his shoulders, nails biting into muscle. “I’ll take care of you,” he said, rocking his hips faster, sending both of their bodies into a frenzy. “I will protect you from him. Come live with me, stay with me,
be
with me. I...fuck,” he groaned harshly just as her moan rippled through the air.

Her body shook as her orgasm built to a crest. He leaned down, to tease her neck with soft, punishing bites as he thrust once, twice, three more times over her. She shuddered below him, coming in waves of hot pleasure. He bit down on her shoulder, locking her in place as his cock spurted streams of hot seed onto her pussy curls and belly button.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered he’s said something while climaxing. It was so hoarse she barely heard it. Now that she was lucid again, with her arms wrapped around the man who made things feel right, she realized what he said.

At that exact moment, he stiffened in her arms, raising himself to meet her eyes. His look held tenderness that she’d seen their first night together, when he’d kissed her palm. His eyes traced over her face in a tender sweep.

Mine.

“I…” she hesitated, too scared to say what she felt. How could she when she was planning to leave in two days, never to see him again. She couldn’t abandon her father. Couldn't ignore her duty to him and the Pride. No matter how much his one possessive word made her heart pound.

He stilled above her, his jaw flexing hard. Then he moved off her and left the room without a backward glance. The quiet closing of the bathroom door might as well been a slam for she jumped when it closed.

She wanted to defend her hesitation. After all, she had every right to deny him right to her. To not be his. But then why did she feel as if her heart was being wrenched out of her chest?

Chapter 11

Vane finished dressing and snatched his cell phone off the dresser. Damn if he wasn't mad. Damn if he didn't want to grab her pretty little neck and shake it. Jogging down the steps, he found her watching TV. The stiffness of her back, and the fact that she didn't meet his eyes radiated clearly the mood she was in. Well, he wasn't too happy either.

"I'm going outside to make some calls." She flinched, and the movement made him feel like an ass. Unclenching his fist, he strode to stand in front of her. Her eyes drifted downward, revealing the crescent of her black lashes. She was so beautiful it tightened something in his chest. He lifted her chin up with a finger. "Don't be sad,
lumara
. I'm not angry with you."

She snorted a very unladylike sound. The trembling, wet hope in her eyes wobbled, making his heart feel like it was in a vise.

"I'm not, Sarina. I am angry at this situation, not you. Not really. I just want you." He felt her breath tremble out on an uneven sigh. Unable to stand it anymore, he swooped down and captured her lips in a kiss that stole her breath away. By the time he lifted his head, her eyes were closed with need, her body straining towards his. Beautiful.

"I have to make some calls to the pack. But I can smell your heat rising. You'll need me again soon." The look that flashed over his face was one of both extreme pain and pleasure. He held her close with one hand at her neck. "I want inside you,
lumara
. Only my seed can ease your pain wholly. Even without your breeding cycle, can’t you see how much I need you? Just think about it." He leaned down, kissed her hard on the mouth and left.

The snapping chill in the air helped to cool him off, barely. It rained overnight and leaves weighed heavily with wet drops. Vane inhaled deeply, smelling the scent of grass mixed with rain, ozone, and mud. This was his favorite time; right after the rain had passed and the world was wiped clean again.

Moving away from the cabin, he pulled out his cell and dialed his house line.

"Kategan residence." Alfonse answered on the seventh ring.

"Don't you think you could at least make an effort to be a butler, Al?"

"But that would involve working, and I've always preferred the lazier ways myself."

Vane laughed. "How's the pack? Any word from Darien?"

Alfonse paused as if choosing his words. "There have been some complications, actually. As for Darien, he's still gone, though one of the other pack members says she saw him down at a bar about an hour away from here. She said he didn't look so good. I believe her words were, 'he looked like shit'."

Vane muttered a soft curse. His brother had suffered a serious blow when the woman he planned to mate with was killed in childbirth. The whole incident shocked everyone in the pack, especially Vane. The child wasn't his and everyone knew it. Her previous lover was willing to sleep with her, but not take responsibility for his actions. Vane grimaced remembering kicking Greg out his pack. Unworthy males would never be under his protection, but it never felt good to force pack to leave.

"You'd think he'd be over it by now. It wasn't his child, and he wasn't even with her that long. He's letting it eat at him."

"Well, Master, he probably feels responsible," Alfonse said in a duh voice.

"Perhaps. What's going on in the pack? Am I needed?" Vane cracked his knuckles, the resounding popping noise sounded harsh in the quiet forest.

"Jones and Rief have been going at it again, though that's under control, for now. Christine has been asking where you are."

Shit. That's just what he needed. He'd tried to date the flirty lykaen before and she just wasn't his type. But damn if she could take a hint. "I told her you were away on business...banging human females, of course." Vane laughed at the lie. "Nah, I just told her you were away on business. Which brings up a question. Where have you been and who are you doing?"

The older man definitely had a way with words. "I'm about five miles southeast of you. I found a cabin down here with a...female in her breeding." A heavy pause.

"Lucky bastard. Are you servicing her? Damn, I should have gone with you and called dibs. Why is she alone anyways? No woman goes unserviced during her breeding. I remember some time ago a women tried and it didn't go so well for her. Extreme pain, sleeplessness, nausea, and so on. Supposedly by the end of her cycle, she was straddling a banana because it was the closest thing she had shaped to a—

"That's enough, Al," interrupted Vane. He really didn't want the visual. He took a deep breath that did nothing to calm his raging nerves at all. "No, it's been complicated. Do you remember King Brunes? Yeah, well, it's his daughter."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? You're fucking the King's daughter. His
only
daughter! The man will have you drawn, quartered, and eaten in a delicious stew with a silver spoon. He's a member of the Pride, Vane,
the
Pride. Nobody touches that princess unless he says so."

"Relax, Alfonse. I have not taken her body. She refuses to let me inside her. I've been helping to ease her pain. That's all." And I've asked her to mate with me, but she keeps refusing.

The relieved sigh on the other end of the line irked Vane. "Thank god. That's a lot of baggage we don't need. I highly recommend you get your ass back here now. Leave while she's still intact with her precious virginity."

"No. I want her, and I'm going to have her. I have already claimed her."

"Dammit Vane, you haven't taken her body so you can still come back. How many days are left in her cycle? If she's lucky she won't still have your scent all over her by time her Daddy comes and gets her."

"No, Alfonse. She is my mate. I can feel it."

The long uttered curse would have been funny in a different situation. "Well, then do what you have to. Though Christine is surely gonna be pissed."

"She'll deal. Call me if anything else happens. Sarina's cycle will be over soon. We only have two days left. I'll be coming home then, with her."

"So I take it I'm moving out? Fine, but I'm taking the spare two bedroom down the road."

"Fine, leach." He hung up and slid the phone into his pocket.

Vane didn't like leaving Sarina in the cabin. It made his gut tighten. Too many things could happen. But still, he had to make his rounds around the forest edge. If he could find this place by her scent alone, then others could too.

Chapter 12

Vane patrolled the forest line around the cabin using his lykaen senses. He allowed the caged beast inside him to crack the door open just enough to make his sense of smell acute, his eyes sharper, and his hearing clearer.

Vane stepped swiftly and silently across fallen limps, damp grass, and mushy leaves. As he crossed around to the back of the cabin, he caught wind of something. It was distinctly feminine, and lykaen judging from the earthy, bestial smell, and definitely not Sarina. He hunkered down low to the earth in a flash. The wind was in his favor blowing north and blocking his scent from reaching the intruder. But that might not last long and he needed to act.

Keeping his beast near the surface, he charged through the forest to the scent. His steps were fast and never made a sound. He spotted her as his legs ate up the distance between them. A redhead wearing camouflage, lying with her belly to the ground.

Vane flew at her and landed astride her back. His knees pinned hers together and his hands caught her legs as she reached for something in her belt.

"Oh, no you don't." He pulled her wrists back none too gently, wrapping them in his fist like handcuffs. "Who are you and what are you doing here," he ordered.

The woman gasped and tried to pull her arms back. "I was sent here by King Brunes. He wanted me to check on Sarina to make sure she’s fine."

Vane growled and bent down low to the woman's ear. "If he wanted to make sure she was fine, then maybe he shouldn't have sent her to deal with her breeding cycle alone."

The woman nodded a little quickly. "I know, but he makes the rules not me. I just work for him."

Vane loosened his grip on her but didn't let go. "Well she's fine."

The woman laughed a deep throaty laugh. "I saw that, and heard it too as a matter of fact. However, that doesn't changes the fact that I have to report this to him. That
you
are here. Who are you?"

Vane ground his teeth together. This was not how he wanted this to go down. This damn spy just ruined everything he had planned. Fuck. He briefly considered tying her up and leaving her in a closet, but he could never pull that off with Sarina. There’s no way he could hide her scent.

"I'm Vane Kategan. Alpha of the Kategan Pack. I have claimed Sarina as mine. She is my mate."

The woman hissed in a breath and scrunched her face to the side to look at him with wide eyes. "You took her during her cycle! The King will be furious; he'll kill you
and
her. What have you done, Kategan?" The woman was so genuinely outraged that he was momentarily taken aback.

"I have not taken her virginity. She has not permitted it…yet." The female's sigh of relief made him want to punch a tree down.

"But I will, and I haven't stopped trying. She’s going to be my mate, and I'm prepared to fight for what is mine." The woman licked her lips, her eyes getting a faraway look, then she smiled sadly.

"You would be a good mate to her then. Not everyone is so lucky. If you believe she is to be your mate then I wish you the best. But I must still tell the King. Or I will be the dead one."

Vane let the woman up. She rubbed her reddened wrists. "You tell him what you need to tell him, but she will accept my claim. And as far as I'm concerned, she is mine." With that, he turned and strode back the cabin. He didn't care if she stayed and watched them or not. But one thing was for sure, he didn't have much time left with her.

She must be his tonight. He must claim her before then or else risk the chance of losing her to her father. He slammed his fist into a tree. The sharp pain in his hand did nothing to ease the red faze of anger.

Chapter 13