Chocolate Temptation (5 page)

She reached for his thick, dark locks and twisted her fingers within the strands.

The tips of his digits slipped to her opening, he pressed in. Her walls stretched to accommodate his intrusion. As his tongue and lips worked the pulsating nub, he massaged the inner folds.

“Like that.” Her thighs quivered. “
Make the ache stop
...”

His own body mirrored the plea in her voice. He too longed to know the end of the ravenous desire twisting inside him, rattling the beast.

Alexia’s inner muscles squeezed tighter around his fingers with every thrust.

Flicking back and forth with his tongue, he lashed her swollen nub. Surrounded by the scent of her arousal, he rubbed the length of his shaft into the blankets beneath him, drawing more fluid.

Her juices ran down between the seam of her plump bottom. Following the trail with his tongue, he licked the dark opening. In slow, lazy circles, he lapped around the tight entrance.

She squirmed beneath his adoration.

He pressed his thumb in, careful not to tear her, driven by the beast’s demand for more.

Her back arched, jolting her breasts forward.

His tongue reconnected with her clitoris, and he suckled, then grazed it with the edges of his teeth. He pumped his fingers in and out of her tight openings. The beast’s instinct gripped his body. With every fiber of his being he wanted to thrust inside her. Claim her body. Yet he knew it was too soon. He clutched the covers, holding still. His muscles twitched in protest.
Possess her body, mind and soul. Rid her of the scent of this other male
. How could he put her through
a bestito quintito van treiama–beast’s claiming of his beloved
. As she bucked and thrashed, a wave of bliss burst through him.

“VanWolf,” slipped from her lips.

Each syllable hung in the air, suffocating him. How dare any other man’s name come from her lips! Cathen retreated from her. An erratic thumping plagued his heartbeat. The name seemed like a curse, a cross, a knife aimed into his heart. What could he say to her?

She panted, huddled into a ball. A little whimper rumbled from her chest. She was his mate. Time would be needed if there were any hope she would accept her fate with him. Her sharp gasps lingered in the small space. His mouth tingled with longing.

Her small limbs trembled. She didn’t need his judgment.

He pulled her close. “Don’t hold it in, cry,
coquette
.” He stroked her curls. “I know how much you loved him.”

Against his body, she sobbed. Only time could heal her, and it was the one thing they didn’t have.

This night the pack mourned. Even over the distance, he sensed their pain.

He whispered to her in the old tongue that this pain too would come to pass.

Fatigue claimed him.

* * * *

Movement next to Cathen pulled him from his sleep. Alexia’s breathing remained slow and steady in the small space. The air around him was warm. Light shone from beneath the crack of the closet door, streaking her bare bronze skin.

“We mustn’t linger here long. The werewolves will be out hunting for us now that the storm has passed.” He sat up, searched for a shirt on a hanger above them.

“How are you feeling?” she uttered. “You lost a lot of blood.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for...saving me.” The one person he loved most in the world was hurting because her mate died. “Alexia, I’m truly sorry for your loss.” Nothing he could say would lesson her pain. Nor could he calm the growing need consuming him to claim her as his mate. In a matter of days, the beast inside him would become dangerous–wild with insatiable hunger. Guilt gnawed at him for his actions last night. If she did not want to discuss the matter, he would not be the one to bring up the topic.

Alexia sat, bringing her knees to her chest. “It’s my fault that you nearly died too. I was supposed to be getting water to heal you, but when VanWolf reached to me in his last moments, I fell to pieces.” Her tone was raw, and her voice trembled.

The animal inside him peeked at her exposed flesh. The sweet taste of her lingered on his lips as his tongue passed over them. He couldn’t allow himself to get worked up in a frenzy again, he should calm her fears and doubts. “This is not your fault. VanWolf and I knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into. I won’t entertain the notion that you are responsible for any of this, am I clear?” The last thing he needed at the moment was the job of trying to convince her otherwise. “Now dress.”

He closed his eyes, absorbing his surroundings. Wind blew between the branches of the crackling trees outside the cabin. Snow packed the ground, providing a dampener to sound. A bird squawked in the distance, unafraid of any approaching danger. For now they had lost their stalkers.

Cathen opened the closet door and crawled out into the open space to find frost-coated windowpanes. “We need to check each of the rooms to find any items that may be of use to us on our journey.”

Alexia emerged covered in his dress shirt, trousers, boots and coat. A wool hat flopped on her head, cocooning her face. Her pretty emerald green eyes were swollen, red from tears and lack of sleep as she shuffled by. One by one, she opened drawers and cabinets, tossing things onto the floor.

His heart ached for her. He would trade places with VanWolf to spare her this pain, but that wasn’t his fate. Cold air misted around him. He placed the leather bag on the table, then joined in her efforts. Silence came easy.

Chapter 7

Alexia lay on Cathen’s back, gripping his fur. His warmth seeped into her body, keeping out the cold that surrounded her. The motion of his smooth strides rocked her to sleep. Her eyelids lowered as she grew more dull and sluggish. She slipped to one side. A sense of falling startled her, and she yanked his fur.

“
Stay awake
,” Cathen snapped at her for the third time in less than an hour.

Tears welled in her eyes, clouding her vision. She struggled to swallow. Her hunger had grown more intense in the past two hours, air pained the pit of her tummy. She couldn’t help that every part of her ached and all she wanted to do was sleep.

“
We are nearly in Tirano. There, I’ll find us a place to spend the night.
” His pace remained brisk but even.

Not another night away from the pack. With his sharp edge and need, she didn’t think she could bear much more from him. It was one thing for his behavior to change toward her when she had paired with VanWolf, but to so coldly claim her to his bed was incomprehensible to her. Her tears burned the corners of her heart. She wanted far away from him as fast and soon as possible. But she didn’t know how to get her freedom. There had to be a way.

“
Your thoughts wound me
.” He fixed his gaze on the path before him. “
I did what I had to ensure I didn’t claim you.
”

His every need scared her. Even worse, thrilled her too. She’d let him touch her, betraying her love for VanWolf. What kind of woman did that make her?

He growled, reminding her once more he was in her mind. The darkness grew inside him. She sensed the black force like a weed, working its way out destructively from inside him. Why did she want to help him contain it? Maybe she couldn’t help it, but she wouldn’t give in to it, either.

Up ahead, the roof of a barn peaked over the steep hill he climbed.

A familiar scent tickled her nose. Shunus were nearby. A female and a male. But not of the VanWolf Pack.

“
VanLoup Pack,
” he corrected.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Of course the pack was his and carried his family’s name once again. She knew the history. Cathen had sided with the rest of the pack against his older brother, Reeme, when they sought vengeance for the murdered members. The elders of the pack and the young had been slaughtered, the others left to wish for death. VanWolf had requested the right to
sharuwatee–
death to those who murdered. The then pack Alpha, Reeme, denied his request. Cathen had needed to pick a side when VanWolf challenged his brother. The pack had been thirsty for blood.

“
The pack isn’t all that is my responsibility
.” The delivery of his words was flat.

VanWolf’s corpse was barely cold and Cathen’s hunger to complete the bonding only grew. She didn’t see the point in responding to him, since he seemed to have lost his ability to listen when he became Alpha.

“
I have not,
” he barked at her. “
I’m hearing your thoughts clearly. I’m just making sure the information you have is correct
.
I haven’t the luxuries betas are afforded.
”

How kind of him. All she wanted right now was food and sleep. She didn’t understand why this all had to happen so fast. Would they really expect her to live by their outdated beliefs? No way, no how, would she do that.

He sped up his pace into the barn. “
And to tend to your mate’s needs
.”

Pointless to remind him that man was dead. Cathen insisted on informing her sooner rather than later that she was his. She’d just see what the pack had to say about that.

“
Why put them in a situation where you will be hurt by their inaction? Are you so bound and determined to make this difficult for everyone that you don’t care about the pain they are in?
”

The man she’d once believed Cathen to be was gone, one who worried for her wellbeing.

“
I do care for you, and this is my reason for asking why you want the others to act in a way you’ll only feel betrayed by. Did anyone interfere regarding you and VanWolf? Why do you think they would listen to me, their Alpha, any less
?”

“Leave me alone. I don’t want you responding to my thoughts anymore
,
” she mumbled, hiding her face in his fur, holding in her tears.

“
Never.
” He slid into the barn. “
I must, if only to help you transition
.” He lowered to the ground.

Alexia dismounted, looped the bag off her shoulder and set it on a stack of hay, sure any moment she’d burst into tears. The scent of hay invoked the image of Jericho, her brother, in the barn playing hide and seek with her, laughter. Tears burned. She forced her eyes shut, unable to bear the pain of the loss.

Light cast in flashes against the wall in front of her. Cathen transformed into human form.

He swooped in behind her and tucked his lips to her ear. “I’m sorry.” His large hand rested on her shoulder.

Warmth rushed through her. “Please. I don’t want your touch.” She jerked away.

He stepped back. “But your body does.”

No, it didn’t. It just wanted to feel anything but the pain of losing VanWolf. If she didn’t get away from him, she’d scream. Yell. Fall to pieces and never pick herself up again. “I saw some horse blankets at the back we can use.” She took heavy steps away from him to a back stall.

A chestnut horse stepped closer to the gate end of the enclosure. The animal’s beautiful dark eyes stared at her as it breathed her in.

Alexia held her hand out. The soft tip of its muzzle made contact with her palm. She rubbed up the horse’s long nose. It leaned into her touch. Friendly.

“Ugo senses your sorrow.” Cathen wrapped a hand around her waist and pressed his body against her back. “Animals don’t take kindly to predators like us–they grow unsettled. It’s amazing he allowed you so close.”

She needed to escape–for him to relinquish her. “As the male, wouldn’t he have more to worry about from you?”

“My gift is to communicate with animals. I’ve told him as long as he doesn’t put the moves on my mate he has nothing to worry about.”

Every time he said that, he pushed her away. She couldn’t just turn off how she felt for VanWolf and transfer those emotions to Cathen.

“
Stay behind me.
” Cathen turned, using his body to shield her.

“Hand her over and we will stop hunting you and your pack,” a male with a thick German accent said. The white trim on his dark uniform told her he was Gestapo. Where there was one maggot more would appear.

She put the pack in danger because of what she was. To end this madness, she would have given herself over to them, but there was more than just her to consider now. She could only imagine what they would do to…

“
I won’t let them harm you
,” Cathen said. “
You mustn’t worry about me.
”

Right, him… “
I know you’ll protect us.
” He too would be in great danger as long as he was with her. They would kill Cathen. A second Alpha would die because of her.

“
It wasn’t your fault,
” Cathen scolded.

“Stay out of my head.” She backed away from him and opened the gate to Ugo’s stall.

“What do you think you are doing?” the Gestapo asked.

As she retreated, Cathen grabbed her arm. The tall soldier behind Cathen followed, pointing a pistol at them.

“
Grab the gun and direct it away from the horse,
” Alexia ordered him.

Cathen spun, took hold of the man’s wrist and twisted the weapon away. Ugo lifted his front legs and came down on their attacker. A shot went off with a flash and a bang that made her jump. She closed her eyes. For a moment, she was afraid something might have happened to Cathen. It was only because she needed him to keep her safe to get back to the pack, definitely not because she cared about him.