Embracing the Wolf - Book #2 (Anna Avery) (16 page)

Elle released my hand and shook her head. I knew I was being bitchy but the fate of your mate can do that to a woman.

“Being negative about it isn’t going to help is all I was saying.”

Elle and I had hit it off from the start. We never fought, and she’d always been there for me, but in that moment I was beyond frustrated with her. I admit, I was a little crazed and not thinking clearly. After being haunted by the vision all day, I figured I was entitled to freak out. Silver linings are great, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to look for one.

“And telling me not to worry about it isn’t going to help either.”

Elle snorted. “Whatever. Deal with it however you want, my alpha. I just came out here to tell you Adam asked to see you. He’s waiting in the house.” She turned and walked away. I stared at her back, the anger dissipating and leaving me feeling like shit.

The house was completely dark and empty when I entered it. Candles on tall pedestals made a path toward the kitchen. Confused, I followed it, only to find it led down the hallway and to my bedroom. My frustrations slipped away, and a smile slipped onto my face. I never pegged Adam as the type for big romantic gestures, and it had me curious. 

I hesitated outside my room for a moment before I opened the door. Adam stood just inside, wearing dark jeans and a button down white shirt that he’d tucked in. The first couple buttons were undone, and I could see the hint of muscles peeking out. My reaction to him never seemed to shock me. He was beautiful, and he was mine.

“What’s going on?”

“Remember that thing I said we’d do tonight?”

I smiled. “Vaguely.”

Adam smiled in return, coming toward me. He brushed a finger against my cheek, his eyes penetrating. The glow of candlelight cast shadows against his face.

“You’ve been stressed.” When I began to say something, Adam continued, “I thought you deserved a night where you wouldn’t have to worry about wandering eyes, conversation, or threats. I planned to do this at the ceremony the other night, but this is more fitting. I don’t need an audience to pledge myself to you, Chante. The only person I need to know how devoted I am to you is you.”

Realization set in. Adam was recreating his own ceremony, and it was far better than the original. He stood in front of me and began to work the buttons of his shirt, his eyes still on my face. Mine were watching the reveal of taut skin over hard muscle. Adam could make me forget an apocalypse, so long as he was undressing in front of me and looking at me with that glint in his eyes.

“I’m not going to lie and say that you questioning our union hasn’t bothered me, Anna.”

“I’m not questioning it,” I lied. “I’m … it’s just complex. I’m not use to being in a relationship, much less one with a royal werewolf. And now we’re bonded … it just makes it more complicated.”

“Hmm,” Adam said, un-tucking his shirt and sliding it off his body. He slipped off his shoes and began working the button on his jeans. My eyes tracked each movement as anticipation rushed through my body. My wolf was alive and ready for a night with her mate.

“I know you have a bit of a commitment phobia—”

“That’s not it,” I told him. “I am one hundred percent committed to you, Adam. It’s the link we share that worries me.”

He slipped out of his jeans and rested his hands on his hips. A tingle skipped up my thighs as I stared at the “V” of his hipbones. I wanted to kiss that spot.

“I don’t know what I can say to change your mind, Anna, but I do know this: you are mine. Not just for the moment. You will be mine until there is no me, because death is the only thing that I’ll allow to tear us apart. This thing between us isn’t just a bond or another relationship. It runs deeper than any of that.” He stepped toward me and cupped my face. “I don’t know how I lived before you, but I damn sure won’t live without you.”

I was beginning to get nervous. “Why would you think you’d have to live without me?”

His lips straightened into a hard line. “I got curious about what my mother said to you, so I asked her. She didn’t come right out and say it, but from what she told me, I know she’s trying to convince you to leave. And by the way you’ve been acting about our bond and your vision, I know you’re entertaining the idea.”

I couldn’t miss the anger in his voice or the hurt clouding his eyes. He made it seem like it was a done deal and it’d been an easy decision to make. The fact that he thought I could make a decision like that so easily hurt.

“I love you enough that if you really
wanted
to leave, I’d let you go, but if you’re considering leaving simply because you
think
I’m in danger, you wouldn’t get off this mountain before I dragged your ass back here, Anna. I will fight for you—for us—until you realize the only place you belong is by my side.”

Tears splashed against my cheeks. Adam swept a thumb across my face to brush them away.

“Are you planning on leaving?”

I met his eyes, my hands shaking from the mixture of my own emotions combined with Adam’s. We stared in silence for a long time before I answered. While I hadn’t planned to leave, I did have to consider it, especially after the vision of Adam dying.

“You would be safe, and I care more about that than myself. If I walked away, it wouldn’t be because I wanted to.”

Adam gave me a small smile. “It still bothers me that you even considered it, but I’m happy that it’s because you were thinking of my safety and not because you don’t want to be with me. That being said, if you ever even think about leaving again, I
will
lock your ass in your room until you come to your senses. Have a little more faith in us, Anna.”

I looked away, guilty and a little angry. Adam didn’t understand where I was coming from, and if I were in his shoes, I might not have either. Adam didn’t look at the scars on our palms as anything other than what they were—a sign we were meant to be together. I, however, could see the curse through the love-induced fog. Being tied to anyone was dangerous. If that tether were cut, the other would suffer. How could he not see the weight of that resting on my shoulders? I knew the answer; it was his pride. It made him believe that he was strong enough to take care of both of us.

“Have you had anyone check out the forest where I spotted the attacker?” In the chaos of our guests and events, no one seemed to bat an eyelash at the attack from the ceremony. “Wade thinks it was a vampire.”

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” Adam said. “Tonight, I have plans. I don’t want to talk about anything other than the present.”

He walked over to my dresser and lifted a small clay bowl I hadn’t noticed before. Handing it to me, he said, “Let me pledge my wolf to you, Chante.”

I gave him a tightlipped smile and nodded. Being a young werewolf, I hadn’t come to respect the rituals the way Adam did. I could tell this meant a lot to him, so I wouldn’t press the issues that were heavy in my mind. Tonight, I would give him what he wanted and try to pretend there wasn’t a possible vampire trying to kill either Adam or me—that the scars marring our palms weren’t an invisible tether linking our souls together, and that whenever I looked into Adam’s eyes, I didn’t see the Adam from my visions dying. Sometimes, when you love someone, pretending is the only thing you can do for him or her.

Adam transformed into his wolf. I envied the graceful transition. He did it with such ease. A large black wolf stood in front of me, its shoulders coming to my waist. Reaching a hand out, I ran my fingers through Adam’s inky fur and bent down to kiss the top of his head. My wolf turned to goo, warming me from the inside out.

Setting the clay bowl down, I tugged my tank top over my head to expose my stomach. Standing, I picked up the bowl and held it out to Adam. We watched each other in silence. I couldn’t help myself—a smile bent my lips. I loved Adam; I loved everything about him. When I first arrived at the compound, I’d thought I was crazy when I watched a man transform into a beast. Now, when I saw Adam standing on all fours, my heart swelled with an unfathomable amount of all the great emotions: love, pride, lust, and happiness. Knowing you’re where you’re supposed to be is a profound feeling. I knew whenever I looked at Adam he was my home. All the times I felt lost in my life, felt like I was stumbling through life only to find another dead end, it all led me to this moment. It led me to his arms.

Adam dipped the pad of his paw into the mixture and reached out to me. I expected him to place his mark on my stomach like the others had. He didn’t. He reached up and placed his paw on my chest. I looked down at the mark of his paw print over my heart and closed my eyes. A livewire of energy filled me, rushing through my veins and filling me with power. I took a shuddered breath, opening my eyes to find Adam in human form again. I panted as though I’d just run ten miles and was coming down from the exertion.

“This is …”

“A pretty amazing high, right?”

I nodded, looking up at Adam. I thought the energy of having my pack pledge themselves to me was powerful. It was weak compared to the power consuming me now. I looked down again and watched as Adam’s paw print dissolved into my skin. Throwing my head back, I closed my eyes and panted. I was alive and on fire, an alpha in a sea of betas. It was exhilarating and amplified every emotion filling me. I locked eyes with Adam and charged him.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I dragged my mouth across his and slipped my tongue inside. I moaned as his tongue tangled with mine. His hands were everywhere, roaming my back, my behind, and in my hair, stoking the fire already filling me. My mind was on one track, and the destination was Adam. I worked the button on my shorts and let them fall to my feet. Next were my panties. I couldn’t get naked fast enough, and when my underwear tangled around my ankles, a growl slipped up my throat. Adam laughed, helping me out of my lingerie debacle.

When I was free, he hoisted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and together we slammed against the wall. Adam fisted my hair and tugged my head to the side, his mouth searing a path along my neck. Thrusting upward, he buried himself in me. I dug my fingernails into his shoulders as he pounded into me relentlessly. One of his hands came up to palm my breast. He worried my nipple between his fingers, pinching slightly. A deep guttural moan fell from my lips as I worked my hips against his thrusts. I was lost in a lust-induced fog, needing more of Adam. My number one priority was finding that sweet release only he could provide.

Adam leaned in for a kiss, this time slower. He trailed the tip of his tongue along my bottom lip before delving into my mouth. He kissed me with precision, turning my legs to jelly and causing my toes to curl. He slowed his rapid pumps to meet the rhythm of his kiss. Gripping my hips, he thrust into me hard, only to withdraw slowly and repeat the process.

“God, that’s so fucking good,” I said.

Adam growled, his fingers digging into my hips. Our eyes connected, and then the floodgates of ecstasy burst open, and I was riding another delicious high. My legs trembled around his hard waist as he continued to move inside of me. When he was happy that I was done, Adam walked over to the bed and lay me down so that I was on my stomach. Reaching an arm under me, he lifted my behind into the air and then he was filling me again.

He leaned over my back, his hair tickling my shoulders. With one hand on my hip, he used the other to turn my face toward him and claimed my mouth. I fisted my hands in the sheet, quivering as he enticed my sensitive folds for another orgasm. That exciting tingle built back up with each pump of his hips.

Adam stopped, withdrawing himself from me. “Turn over.”

I did as he said and flipped onto my back, my behind at the edge of the mattress. Adam knelt down in from of me, his hands sliding up my thighs to spread me open before him.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Chante. So fucking eager for me all the time.” He lowered his mouth to me, his tongue replacing the disappearance of his dick. I wanted to wrap my legs around his head but he held them open, spread eagle on my bed, as his tongue licked, prodded, and penetrated my swollen folds. I whimpered, moaned, and was panting by the time he lifted his head. With one last soft kiss, Adam gripped my hips and buried himself in me again. I was on the edge, tiptoeing, and on the verge of falling off. I closed my eyes as I waited for yet another Earth shattering release.

“Open your eyes,” Adam said, pumping into me hard. “I want to see that look when you come for me, Anna.”

I opened my eyes and met his. Locked in each other’s gazes, Adam increased his thrusts, pumping into me harder and harder.

“Whose are you, Chante?”

“Yours,” I breathed, yearning for the pressure to break free.

“That’s right, baby. You’re mine. You will
always
be mine.”

I nodded, words failing my foggy brain. Then that sweet release was mine—washing through me and giving my body what it desired. I stared up at Adam and bit my bottom lip.

“Fuck, I can feel you twitching around me.” With one last thrust, Adam too found his release. He rested his sweaty forehead against my chest, placing a kiss at my cleavage. We took a couple minutes to catch our breath. I ran my fingers through Adam’s hair and along his shoulders. My body was still amped up from his pledge, but sated enough that I didn’t feel like I was going to jump out of my skin.