Destined For The Alpha: Six Heart-Racing Shifter Romances (Werewolf's Harem Book 7) (27 page)

Her breasts were perfect, more than filling his hands as he shaped them, testing their weight. His thumbs brushed the rosy velvet tips, his mouth watering when her nipples pebbled under his touch.

He tried to bend down to capture one soft peak in his mouth, but found the object of his desire out of his reach. Ivy gave a soft chuckle at his frustrated huff of breath. Her mirth was cut short when Elijah hauled her up onto his body, forcing her to wrap her arms around his neck, kissing her hard as he moved them toward the master bedroom.

W
hen Elijah swept
her off her feet and barreled toward her bedroom, Ivy thought her heart might actually stop. She slid her arms around his tautly muscled shoulders, sighing at the sensation of being carried. Carried away, even.

One of his big hands against her lower back held her tight against his erection, his size and obvious need for her making Ivy feel sexier than she’d ever imagined.

Elijah kissed her, stealing the breath from her lungs as she clung to him, feeling every bit as desperate to reach the bedroom as he seemed. He carried her through the doorway, tumbling her onto the white-clad bed. Elijah’s body came down onto hers, his cock pressing thickly against her sex, his lips working against her own, and she groaned with the rightness of it all.

The feel of his five o’clock shadow against the sensitive skin at her neck, the nip of his teeth on her too-sensitive breast, the way he ground his erection against her damp core in slow thrusts, the feel of his work-roughened palms on her shoulders, her breasts, her hips…

Ivy writhed, working her hips against his body in an insistent rhythm, the flames of need burning high inside her, threatening to consume her if she didn’t have more of Elijah.

Her lips found the tender skin of his earlobe, and he paused for a moment to groan with pleasure. She scrabbled with the hem of his white t-shirt, carelessly ripping it as she pulled it up over his head. Her tongue traced the fine arc of his ear, dipped inside briefly before she moved to his neck, the salty musk of his skin making her moan.

She kissed his lips again, pulling back for a moment and admiring the rippling muscle of his torso. His shoulders, arms, and chest were sculpted from gloriously tanned stone, hard and hot under her hands.

Her fingers sought his waistband, unbuckling his belt and popping a button from his jeans in her greedy haste to touch him. She paused for the barest second when she realized that he wore nothing under his pants, an unexpected pleasure. He chuckled against her lips at her reaction, but the sound was cut short when she reached down and curled her fingers around the thick heat of his erection.

He groaned and thrust into her hand, the broad crown of his cock hitting her belly. She released him to push at his jeans, heedless of her nails catching the bared skin at his hips as she undressed him. Elijah helped her, rising for a moment to strip away his pants.

When he returned she reached for him again, but he gave her a knowing smirk and dropped lower, resting his chest on her stomach. He brushed his stubbled chin against the curve of her breast, teasing. When she arched her back in demand he kissed and nipped the flesh around her nipple, drawing out the anticipation.

Wet heat pooled between her thighs as he teased her. When he scraped his teeth over her aching nipple at last, Ivy cried out as a lash of electric current shot from her breast straight down to her clit.

“Elijah, please,” she gasped, her fingers plucking at the tie that held his wavy hair in place. It sprang free, a dark reddish-brown, surprisingly silky as she plunged her fingers into it to hold him in place. As he kissed her breast, his hands stripped her panties from her hips.

The damp warmth of his lips was killing her, each swipe of his tongue a torment. She ached for him, burned for him. When his fingers found the lips of her sex she thought she might cum right then and there.

“Yer so wet for me,” Elijah marveled. His kisses trailed down her ribs as two fingers dipped into her cleft, stroking from her throbbing clit to her tight entrance.

Ivy grew desperate. If she let him, he’d tease her for hours, but she needed more than that. She’d waited so long to be touched, and now she needed every bit of Elijah. She pushed at his shoulders, not satisfied with half-measures, ready for everything he had to give.

“I want to taste you,” he rumbled, a single fingertip sliding into the her slick channel, testing.

“Next time. I can’t wait anymore,” she pleaded, tightening her fingers in his hair and pulling him up to her mouth for another kiss.

He came willingly, laying the muscular length of his body over hers. Ivy cradled him with her body, wrapping her legs around his hips, feeling the steel heat of his cock against her wet, achy lips.

“Ach, Ivy,” Elijah said, looking down at her. He slid a calloused palm from her knee to her hip, making her groan with want. Pulling back a few inches, he grasped his cock and guided the broad tip up and down her slit, gathering her wetness.

“Yes, Elijah, yes,” she insisted, bracing her hands on his shoulders, her fingertips digging into his skin.

Elijah rested one hand on her knee, spreading her wide before him, watching intently as he pushed the thick length of his cock into her body in one slow thrust.

Ivy cried out and arched her hips into his, feeling her tight channel stretching to take him. She felt him shudder, the muscles in his back rippling as he withdrew and gave another slow, measured thrust. His control was impressive, but Ivy didn’t want that from him.

“Fuck me, Elijah,” she demanded. “Fuck me hard. I want to feel you cum in me.”

Elijah’s gaze snapped up at hers, a wicked glint telling her she’d said just the right words. His lips lifted in a brief smile as he changed his position, wrapping his hands around her hips and angling her body to his liking.

He withdrew and filled her with a single thrust, hard and deep, so perfect that it made her gasp.

“Like this, darlin’?” Elijah asked, watching her with an almost predatory gaze.

“Yes,” she said. “More, Elijah.”

He grinned and thrust again, and then again. He filled her completely, as deep as she’d ever been filled, and Ivy could feel her body tensing, her hips flooding with the warmth that preceded an orgasm.

Elijah angled her hips just a bit higher as he began to fuck her in earnest, biting his lip as he filled her with deep, hard, fast thrusts.

“God, ye feel so good. So fucking tight. So wet for me, Ivy,” Elijah said. “I’m going to wait as long as I can, but you feel too good. All I can think about is cumming in your tight little pussy.”

Ivy gasped, loving his dirty talk, rocking her hips hard against his. She was getting so hot, coming so close to the edge now. She watched Elijah move, in awe of his presence and his incredible body, loving the way he angled her hips to hit every sensitive spot inside her body.

“Touch your tits for me, Ivy,” Elijah told her, his eyes fastened on the bounce of her breasts as he pounded into her body.

When she cupped and squeezed her breasts, rubbing her thumbs over her nipples, Elijah surprised her by pressing a hand over her mound. His thick thumb found her clit and swirled around it. Ivy cried out at his touch, balancing on the knife’s edge of pleasure.

“I’m going to cum,” she gasped. Elijah kept up his relentless thrusts, his thumb making waves of pleasure burst from her clit, the teasing pinch of her own fingers on her nipples pushing her over the edge.

She shattered with a shout, her channel clenching and pulsing as she writhed against Elijah’s cock and thumb. He didn’t slow for a moment.

His hands came up to her knees, pressing them up and closed, tightening her pussy around his cock. He released a deep breath, groaning and closing his eyes as he fucked her harder and harder.

Ivy met his every thrust, eager to feel his climax deep inside her body.

“God, yes,” he said. “You feel so fucking good, darlin’. God, I can’t last.”

“Yes, Elijah,” she panted. “Cum in me, cum in me hard!”

Ivy felt his cock twitch deep inside her body. He pumped into her as the first spasm took him, a growl ripping from his chest as he came. She felt the first spurt of his hot release as he plunged deep, growling as he pulsed his seed into her body.

“Yes!” she cried, raking her nails over his back, pulling at his hips as he thrust into her over and over, groaning as he emptied every last drop of cum into her tight pussy.

Elijah finally slowed and stopped, panting for breath. He collapsed onto his side, sparing her his weight but pulling her into his arms. Ivy struggled to catch her breath, savoring the blissful aftershocks of her orgasm and the comfort of Elijah’s hard body next to hers.

For a long time they lay like that, drifting back to Earth, enjoying the simple pleasure of being together in silence. After what felt like ages, Elijah finally spoke.

“I suppose I was right,” he said.

Ivy peered up at him, confused.

“About what?” she asked.

“Our chemistry. I said we’d suit. I think we had a successful first test of chemistry.”

His cocky grin was too much, and Ivy laughed.

“You’re satisfied, then? You’ve had enough?” she asked.

“Oh, I don’t know if there’s any such thing as having enough of you. We’ll have to keep testing our chemistry. For science, you know.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, and Ivy couldn’t help but grin. Elijah was such a big, serious man, and it was a nice surprise to find that he had a decent sense of humor.

“Oh, is that right?” she giggled. “I figure you’re out of commission for a bit, here.”

That cocky grin returned, his eyes glinting with mischief.

“Maybe about ten minutes, darlin’.”

Ivy’s jaw dropped.

“Ten… ten minutes?” she squeaked.

“Aye,” he said. Grabbing her hand, he guided her fingers to his cock. Ivy was shocked to find that he was already growing hard again, his considerable length and girth swelling under her touch.

“How…” Ivy flushed, unsure how to even finish her sentence.

“Don’t look so surprised, darlin’. You’ll hurt me feelings. Besides, I heard that you wanted a baby, and I intend to give it to ye. Tonight, if I can.”

Elijah kissed her then, and Ivy sighed with wonder. Not only was Elijah going to give her the family she so desperately wanted, but it seemed that she was going to be pleasured for every minute of the experience as well.

For once, Ivy forgot about her diagnosis, forgot about her worry and stress. She melted into Elijah’s arms, realizing that she had found one very bright spot in her otherwise murky future.

It seemed that, for now at least, she could have her cake and eat it, too.

N
ovember

E
lijah stepped
out onto the wide tarmac, rolling his neck to release a little tension as he eyed the sky. He pulled on the jacket he’d carried off the plane, thinking of the temperature difference between the location of their mission and Montana. Half a world and probably seventy degrees in difference, if Elijah had to guess.

“Damn if I’m not glad to be back in this place,” Elijah said, speaking over his shoulder to Garrett as his friend clambered down the steps of their company’s private plane.

“Really?” Garrett asked, chuckling. “I seem to remember your first reaction upon arrival here being a little less positive.”

“The airport here has got one room, and yet the security guards still managed to pull me aside for a detailed search,” Elijah groused. “Last time I’ll ever fly commercial into a regional airport, if I can help it.”

“Still looks a sight better than what we flew into in Libya,” Garrett said, keeping his voice low. The mission they’d just run had been quick, brutally violent, and done with the topmost level of secrecy.

“Shit, what doesn’t? I’m just glad to be back on American soil,” Elijah said.

“Just ready for a bed, I’m sure. Nothing to do with a certain blonde who’s pining away for you out at her ranch?” Garrett teased, arching a brow. He headed to his SUV, parked beside Elijah’s identical vehicle. They both opened the trunks, tossing their gear inside and leaning on their cars. A few more moments of camaraderie before they split up, heading to separate ranches.

“Right, like Kiley doesn’t have you wrapped up with a bow. Remind me… Which one of us had to deplane in Atlanta, just to get his woman some kind of special lotion?”

Garrett gave a good-natured laugh, shrugging his massive shoulders.

“Kiley gets what Kiley wants,” he admitted. “I feel guilty leaving her for missions, so I always bring something home for her.”

Elijah paused for a moment, knowing a moment of uncertainty.

“I brought Ivy some chocolate from duty-free. Should I have done more?” he wondered aloud.

When he looked at Garrett, his friend burst into a howl of laughter, shaking his head and clapping Elijah on the shoulder.

“Now who’s wrapped with a bow?” Garrett wheezed, his amusement only exasperating Elijah further.

“Ah, yeah. We’re both properly fucked,” Elijah sighed.

“You’re damned right,” Garrett said, straightening and moving toward his driver’s side door. “Oh, I almost forgot. Kiley wants you two over for dinner this week. If you’re not too busy celebrating your return.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Elijah flapped a dismissive hand at Garrett, rolling his eyes. “I’ll text you in a few days.”

Sliding into the driver’s seat, Elijah cranked the car and pulled out ahead of Garrett, eager to get back to the house. Eager to see Ivy, if he were honest. Maybe there’d been some news in his absence. Although… he’d only been gone two weeks for this mission, so it was unlikely that things had changed just yet.

Part of him was so damned excited to get home and see Ivy, touch her, take her right there on the living room floor. But part of him was worried, too. They’d coupled for months now, probably consummating a hundred times or more, and still no pregnancy news.

For the first time in his life, Elijah wondered if he should make an appointment to get his sperm count checked. With every monthly blood flow, he could see Ivy’s strained sadness more and more. She really wanted children, and Elijah wanted to give them to her. Badly, so badly.

He pushed away the ideas of inadequacy. Werewolves were, with the exception of a few rare genetic conditions, much healthier than humans. They were almost never sick or diseased, and he’d never heard of a wolf being unable to produce offspring. It was only a matter of time; it took time for a female wolf to conceive, just as it might with a human woman.

Elijah took a deep breath to strengthen his resolve as he turned onto Ivy’s long driveway, and by the time he stopped the car he was in much better spirits. He left his bag in the car, unable to restrain himself from breaking into a run when he hit the porch steps.

He stopped at the front door, giving a warning knock as he swung it open. There was a faint trace of roasted chicken in the air, as if Ivy had cooked hours earlier. There were unlit candles on the table, laid for two. Elijah cocked his head, trying to piece together the puzzle. Had something happened to Ivy?

No wine decanting, which made his heart skip a beat. No wine could mean…

He shook his head to stop the wild conclusions filling his head. It was probably nothing, just that Ivy had forgotten to open a bottle. Elijah looked around for the woman in question, but she wasn’t in the main room. He needed to lay eyes on her, to know that she was alright.

He headed down the hallway, noting the soft light pouring from her open bedroom door. The second before he stepped into the room, he heard a tiny, miserable sound, and his heart lurched.

Ivy sat on the edge of her white four-poster bed, head bowed as she cried. She was in a set of pink flannel pajamas, hair thrown up in a ponytail. It was a far cry from her usual look; even when she was relaxing, she always looked very put-together.

“Ivy,” Elijah said, keeping his voice soft so he wouldn’t startle her.

She still jumped a little, her blonde head snapping up to reveal her tearstained face. Those big grey eyes, so expressive, caught him fast. Rather than the pleasure that he expected to see there, though, she gave him a bleak and uncertain look.

“I’m not pregnant,” she said, her voice roughened from crying.

“Oh, darlin’,” Elijah sighed, coming to stand before her. He noticed that there were several empty pregnancy test kit boxes on the bed, along with a thick sheaf of papers sticking out of a white file folder.

Ivy sniffed and pulled her hands from his, surprising him. Ivy was a touchy person, affectionate in every waking moment. She’d never once withdrawn from him, physically or emotionally, choosing instead to give herself wholeheartedly.

“Ivy, it’s fine. It might take some time, that’s all,” he said, trying to console her. When she didn’t respond, he tried another approach. “Look, it might be my fault. I’ve been injured a lot at work, you know. I’ll make an appointment this week to get myself checked out, make sure everything’s working…”

Ivy let out a sour bark of laughter.

“You’d better hope it’s not you,” she said, pinning him once more with her stormy gaze. “Otherwise you stand to lose… what, thirty million?”

Elijah’s mouth opened and then closed, opened and then snapped shut again. What the hell was she talking about? He’d never mentioned his family’s money, preferring to see his choice to start a family as wanting to retain his legacy. He wasn’t chasing the money, that was certain.

“Ivy, I don’t know what you’ve heard—” he started, but Ivy scowled and shot to her feet, cutting him off.

“It’s all been spelled out perfectly for me, in very small words so that I can understand it all,” she said, crossing her arms.

“By whom?” Elijah asked, confused.

“Not by the one person who should have told me,” she snapped. “No. Instead I get a call from some asshole lawyer with an accent even thicker than yours, threatening me with all kinds of things. We’re not mated, Elijah. We don’t have a child, not yet. And you’re already hiding things from me, and your family…”

She threw her hands up in the air, grabbing the file folder from the bed and shoving it at him.

“Ivy—” he tried again, but she wasn’t hearing it.

“No. I’ve worn myself out, now. I ruined the dinner I was cooking, and I drank all the wine hours ago. I’m going to bed.
Alone
.”

She gave him a meaningful look, and Elijah backed up, giving her space.

“We can talk about this in the morning,” Elijah agreed.

Apparently that wasn’t the right thing to say either, because she growled and practically pushed him out of the room.

“Goodnight, Elijah,” she snipped, shutting the door in his face with a neat click.

Elijah stared at her door for several long seconds before he gave himself a good shake, snapping out of his momentary shutdown. He went back to the living room, clutching the folder in his hand, and headed straight for the small bar. Ivy had set it up for him after she’d found out that he loved a nightcap of fine whisky or Scotch, though she didn’t drink either herself.

Skipping over the bottle of Hakushu Japanese whisky and the smoky Laphroaig Scotch, he went straight for the Pappy van Winkle 12 year and poured himself a healthy dram.

“Shite,” he said, taking a long sip. The bourbon burned a silky trail of fire into his stomach, calming him a hair.

Ivy’s desk chair was pulled out, the wooden secretary rolled up to reveal her desk, the only untidy spot in the entire house. Elijah sat down at her desk, dropping the file folder there like a burning brand. He wasn’t ready to look at it just yet.

He sipped his whisky and thought about Ivy’s discussion with the family lawyer, Craig Donnal. The man was in his seventies, still sharp as a dagger, and mean as a wounded bear. Hell, Elijah avoided Donnal if at all possible, and he had a much thicker skin that sweet, trusting Ivy did.

Elijah stood and poured himself some more bourbon, thinking that a little pacing might help him work out the problem.

And what was the problem, exactly?

Well, he’d hurt Ivy. He hadn’t lied to her about anything, of course. But when she asked about his family or his history, he’d simply let it be known that he and his father didn’t walk the same path, and that he’d rather not talk about it. He’d left the money out altogether. After all, he was only receiving a small cut of the family’s money. He owned his own house and his own company, and he was well off enough not to need a handout from his family, however fat the check might be.

He was getting off track. Taking another sip of his drink, Elijah thought about Ivy again. It killed him to see her so hurt, though he hadn’t meant it. Would never hurt her, would never let anyone else do it, either. Hell, he was half in l—

Elijah stopped dead.

That was the real problem. He’d never formalized anything with Ivy, but in just a few short months he’d grown more than infatuated with her. She was so sensible, and well-dressed, and elegant. But she was also very sweet, and spontaneous, and so damned sexy. She balanced Elijah’s brashness and temper with a perpetual smile, and she’d won him over without even trying. Perhaps without wanting to, even.

The fact was, Ivy had never mentioned taking him as a mate. She’d rejected his attempts to “woo” her, saying that she preferred to just spend time together. How could any man resist a woman so perfect with no pressure, no underhanded secrets, no heavy expectations?

Except, of course, the one thing he still hadn’t done: give her a child. It really did kill him that he hadn’t at least done that for her, the one thing she seemed to want so desperately, asking nothing in return…

Elijah eyed his whisky glass. If he was starting the self-loathing already, he’d better slow down his drinking now. Otherwise he risked doing something truly stupid, some ridiculous emotional display on his knees in Ivy’s bedroom in the middle of the night, managing nothing but to anger her further.

He returned the glass to the bar, resolving to clean it up before he headed to bed. Turning to Ivy’s desk, he sat again and turned his attention to the papers in the folder.

A prenuptial document, outlining dozens of scenarios, most of which began with Elijah’s death or permanent vegetative state. It went far beyond the scope of the family’s estate, even so far as to outline the godparents of any of Elijah’s children, what might happen to Elijah’s personal monies and assets, and of course that should anything happen to him, the children would immediately be brought to the Buchanan fold for rearing.

The documents made clear that Ivy was to receive nothing, would keep nothing of his, including gifts he’d made to her. Including
his
children; the papers made certain to state that the parental rights were his alone.

Though red hazed his vision, Elijah read through the document twice to make sure he’d absorbed every bit of it. Though he was certain that some of the egregious overstepping of boundaries was probably the fault of that damned lawyer, his father’s fingerprints were all over it. Most of it was likely dictated straight from Adam Buchanan’s spiteful lips straight to paper, signed and sealed with a satisfied smirk.

For all his father’s threats that he wanted grandchildren and he wanted them now, Adam Buchanan might just have ended Elijah’s best chance at fulfilling that wish, the desire that had now become Elijah’s own.

Desire for children, yes. But also desire for Ivy. Desire for… a mate.

Elijah pushed the papers aside, rubbing the bridge of his nose to ward off a burgeoning headache. No wonder Ivy was disgusted by the sight of him. If he’d been in her place, he might have locked the front door and never spoken to him again. Though he didn’t deserve it, exactly, he didn’t understand why she wouldn’t just run screaming like any other woman.

He stared idly at Ivy’s desk for a long time before he noticed that one shelf was crammed full of strange items. A couple of medical journals, a book on genetic diseases, pages marked with brightly colored paper strips. Legal file folders, just like the ones laid before him.

Elijah knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself. He pulled out the book first, letting it flop open to the most-used page. Huntington’s disease. Diagnosis, prognosis. Frowning, he pulled out the medical journals. They were both marked with articles about the same disease, one referencing a drug trial and the other one about palliative care for Huntington’s patients.

Elijah was puzzled, and now he couldn’t stop himself from searching the rest of the documents.

He found Ivy’s will, written out with neat instructions for the care of her assets and children. A handwritten sheet on the front read: