Defying Destiny (18 page)

turned her over and positioned her on her

knees beneath him. He leaned on her until

his weight caused her arms to give way

and her face pressed against the floor.

“Don’t move,” he warned her. He had

a strong need to dominate her and was not

certain he would be able to stop if she

protested. He had never felt so out of

control in his life.

He moved backwards a bit, resting the

side of his face on her back while his

trembling fingers worked at the laces at

the fly of her pants. He could already

smell her, couldn’t wait to taste her. Once

he’d loosened the laces, he pushed her

pants down her thighs and moved to

sample the beckoning moisture between

her thighs at last.

Maralee gasped the instant his tongue

touched her swollen flesh. He had never

tasted anything so wonderful. And her

scent? He wanted it all over him. He

licked at her as if he were a dying man

who had just discovered the elixir of life.

When she whimpered and tried to move

forward out of his reach, he growled a

warning. She froze.

“Nash?” Her voice sounded small and

afraid. Why had she teased him into such a

state if she didn’t want to see this to

completion? She couldn’t deny him now.

He was lost in the taste of her; the smell of

her. The very essence of her existence

was drowning him and he did not want to

be saved.

She inched forward and he followed

her, finding a little nub of flesh that made

her thighs quiver when he licked it.

“Oh,” she gasped.

He grinned, licking the same spot

again.

“Nash, I can’t do this here,” she said,

and he recognized how tense she was. She

inched forward towards his bedroom and

it occurred to him that she wasn’t fleeing

him, but rather the total exposure their

location presented to his front door.

“Go,” he managed.

She went, slowly enough for him to

keep up. She didn’t want him to stop any

more than he wanted to. When they

reached the sanctuary of his room at last

she maintained her submissive stance and

allowed herself to relax and enjoy his

frenzied exploration of her flesh.

She sighed, fingers clinging to the fur

of the pallet beneath her face as he

suckled the pleasure spot he’d found.

He was glad she was enjoying his

exploration, but he’d have to mount her

soon or he would explode. He released

the fly of his pants and his engorged

human member sprang forth, ready to

plunge into her. He clasped it with his

hand, wondering why it had to be so large.

In his Wolf form, his organ wasn’t half

this size. Maybe human females were built

differently than Wolf females. The babies

humans birthed were certainly larger.

Perhaps

Maralee’s

body

could

accommodate his huge organ without a

problem. He wanted to be inside of her,

buried deep within her silken warmth. He

was aching with need, but didn’t want to

hurt her. He could never let himself hurt

her.

I’ll just check
, he thought.
Maybe, I’m

worried about nothing
. He continued to

lick the bit of flesh that seemed to give her

the most pleasure. She was gasping by this

point, straining against him, begging to be

mounted. He lifted his hand and very

slowly slid a finger inside of her. She

cried out as an intense orgasm claimed

her. Her sheath tightened around his

exploratory finger as spasms wracked

through her body. He found she was even

smaller inside than he imagined. His

stomach clenched with dread and his groin

tensed with protest. He would never be

able to claim her body.

Impossible.

“Damn it,” he growled. He moved

away from her and collapsed on the pallet

against the wall.

When the shuddering aftershocks of

her sexual release calmed, she noticed

him and crawled closer. She wrapped an

arm around his waist and kissed his neck.

“I don’t know what you just did to

me,” she said, “but it was unbelievably

delightful. I feel so…
relieved
? But more

than that.”

“Don’t touch me right now,” he said

testily and tried to push her away.

“What’s wrong?”

She lifted her head to peer down at

him in the dim light admitted by the

partially opened door.

“It’s nothing,” he lied.

She caught sight of his predicament out

of the corner of her eye. Her attention was

riveted to his groin and the engorged

evidence of her effect on him.

“It’s much larger than I remember,”

she commented, fascinated. “And hard.”

“Tell me about it,” he groaned,

grasping the offensive thing with his hand

to find some much needed relief. He

rubbed its length cautiously like the last

time Maralee had gotten him to this state

of excitement. He’d eventually urged it

back to its soft, unexcited state, but wasn’t

sure that was possible with her so close.

Her scent filling her nostrils. Her taste on

his lips. Her heat burning his skin with

awareness.

She glanced at him briefly before

smiling with a wickedness he had not

known she possessed. “Should I do to you

what you did to me?”

She repositioned herself, and he

watched her, unable to believe what she

was doing until her tentative tongue

stroked the sensitive tip of him. He tensed

and his eyes opened wide.
Wow!
His

blissful sigh encouraged her to become

bolder in her actions. She kissed, suckled,

and licked the exceptionally sensitive

head while he rapidly stroked the shaft

with one hand. Ragged breaths burst from

his chest. His muscles tensed. Heart

pounded out of control. The pleasure

intensified. Need built in his groin,

pushing him closer and closer to… What?

He wasn’t sure, but it was close.

Close.

Ah God, so close.

When the pleasure burst, deep spasms

of release pulsed through the base of his

cock and he gasped in surprise. Maralee

watched his frenzied release of fluids with

wide eyes.

Once he’d completely spent himself,

he grabbed her and pulled her up to face

him, kissing her with grateful reverence.

“Did you like it?” she asked.

He smiled and hugged her. “You have

no idea,” he breathed. It had been his first

ever orgasm while in his human form. Its

wondrous pleasure still caused tremors to

race through his body. Blissful tingling

sensations raced along every nerve

ending.

“Next time, we should do it together.”

There were two very encouraging

things about her statement. Next time, and

together. A drowsy, satisfied feeling

overcame him. He found his eyelids

drooping as her warm, still mostly-clothed

body relaxed against his side.

“Next time,” he agreed and drifted to

sleep.

Time was running out for Nash. Why

had he made that agreement with his

mother and the other members of his pack?

He wouldn’t be able to change Maralee’s

opinions in time to save her. He was no

closer to figuring out how to break the

curse, and she’d been staying with him for

a week now. Maralee was still leery of

Wolves. She continued to ask for the

return of her sword. “It needs polishing

and sharpening,” she told him when he

asked her why she needed it. She still

wanted

all

Wolves

dead,

himself

included. His duty was to save his pack,

but now, he wanted to save Maralee, too.

She would be killed if things didn’t

change within the next three weeks. The

answer was in the books he attempted to

decipher; it had to be.

He rested his forehead on the heel of

his hand and turned the page, his

concentration intense. He tried to see

between the words, and recognize the

secrets that must be written in code

somewhere within the text.

“Several

changes

came

about

following the inception of the curse,”

Maralee’s voice startled him as she read

the text aloud from behind him. She was

peering over his shoulder. He had thought

she would sleep for a while longer. He’d

attempted to exhaust her by causing those

fascinating pleasure tremors to course

through her body multiple times, but

apparently, his plot to satisfy her to a state

of unconsciousness had been ineffectual.

Damn it all! She’d slept less than an hour

this time.

Nash slammed the book closed and

shoved it across the desk. It hit several

unlit candles and scattered them in various

directions. He couldn’t concentrate with

her near. She purposely distracted him

with her wide, innocent eyes and

intoxicating scent—a smell he now

associated with sexual gratification. Her

scent clung to his skin, his furniture, the

very air he breathed. She engulfed him. He

was drowning in her. Even now, when he

was so frustrated with his lack of progress

he could scream, he wanted to lose

himself in her eyes, her scent, her body.

Maralee’s eyes moved from the

roughly handled book to Nash’s face.

“Damn it, Maralee. I told you to stay

out of my business!”

“I was just trying to determine what is

so interesting about those books. Surely,

you have them all memorized by now. I

don’t understand why you continue to read

them over and over again.”

“It doesn’t concern you.”

“It does concern me. If it’s part of your

life, then it’s important to me.”

He knew she didn’t really know

anything about his life. She couldn’t know

what she was saying. “Why?”

She

hesitated,

considering

his

question, but did not voice an answer.

“Do you think I owe you something?”

he pressed. “I have a responsibility to my

people. You are interfering.”

“Maybe

I

should

go

back

to

Sarbough.”

“That might be for the best.”

Maralee diverted her eyes, but not

before Nash saw the wetness on her

lashes. Damn it, now he’d hurt her. Tears

did not come easily to her. Besides, he

didn’t really want her to go. He just

wanted the solution to their problems to

magically appear.

“I’ll just get my things.” She turned,

dabbing at her eyes.

“Wait,” he said. He rose from his

chair, took her arm, and then turned her to

face him. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“You just said it would be for the

best,” she reminded him, eyes narrowing.

Anger rapidly replaced her hurt. He could

deal with her anger far easier than her

pain. Her anger didn’t make his heart

ache.

“It would be for the best.”

She scowled and her nostrils flared.

He had no idea what inspired him to

continue. “If you left I wouldn’t find

myself so distracted. I could do my work.

I might actually succeed after failing for

so long.”

“I get it!” she shouted. “Let go of my

arm and I’ll be on my way.”

“No.”

She lifted her free hand to slap him.

He could have stopped her. His speed and

grace surpassed her physical capabilities,

but he didn’t move. When her open palm

connected with his cheek, he didn’t even

flinch. He needed her spite. He wanted to

strike himself. It was better she gave him

what he deserved. She covered her mouth

with her retaliating palm, and stared up at

him in disbelief.

“Feel better?” he asked her.

“As a matter of fact, no, I do not!”

“I’m not letting you leave.”

“You’re the one who said it would be

for the best.”

“It would. My sensibility tells me to

throw you out in the cold. Every other

thing inside of me tells me to never let you