Predator's Serenade (16 page)

He smiled, his heart pounding out of his chest. “There’s more. Come.” He led her to the edge of the boardwalk. Affixed to the planks was a large floating dock, one Ryland used from time to time for fishing when he wanted to escape the many guests at the lodge. Soren had borrowed it for the evening and had laid out several soft blankets and pillows. He’d surrounded the makeshift floating bed with tea lights. The tiny candles flickered in a lovely counterpoint to the glimmering boats on the lake. The area was sheltered by tall willows, and the graceful branches offered a sort of camouflage to the dock so it wasn’t visible from the lodge. A perfect hideaway.

Gioia stared at the softly glowing refuge and then turned her enamored gaze upon him. She opened her mouth but no words came. She shook her head, clearly at a loss.

“That’s okay, little owl,” he said, drawing her in for the first of many kisses that night. “I wasn’t planning on talking from here on in.”

He smashed his lips against hers, desperate for her taste. Gioia took a breath and whipped off her glasses, setting them on the edge of the dock. Soren picked her up and carried her to the bed of blankets. Setting her on her feet, he immediately set to work on removing her clothing, while she frantically scrambled with the snap and fly on his jeans. He couldn’t get her naked quickly enough. He could swear an evil fisherman had devised the tie on her blouse, it was knotted so intricately. Cursing, Soren almost ripped it from her.

“Here,” she said, smiling. “Let me do it. Just make yourself naked in the meantime.”

He did, in about three seconds flat.

Gioia somehow untied her blouse with her delicate lady fingers and slid it over her head. Soren went to work on her shorts, feeling like a clod as he tried to work the buttons. After what seemed like ages, he slid them over her hips and gaped. She wore the sexiest bra and thong set he’d ever laid eyes on. The cups of the bra were so skimpy and sheer he could see the top curve of her nipple over the edge of satin. And the thong, well, she might as well have left it off because there wasn’t much to it, either.

“Fuck, oh, fuck,” he uttered. Licking his lips, he peeled the bra straps off her shoulders and freed her from the sinful contraption. He eased her to the blankets below and knelt in front of her. Hooking his fingers in the thong elastic, he started to pull it down but was then inspired. Leaving the thong half on and half off, he ordered her, “Turn over.”

Gioia rolled onto her stomach and threw a sly smile over her shoulder. He pulled her onto her knees and dragged her ass closer to his face. Leaning over her, he grabbed at the thong with his teeth, nipping her right in the crack of her sweet bottom. Slowly, he inched the thong over her voluptuous cheeks, letting his nose dip into her divide to tease her. She moaned beneath him, wriggling, but he held her fast. Once the thong was sitting at the seam between her ass and her thighs, Soren flipped her onto her back.

The scrap of satin still covered some of her pussy. Her lips played peek-a-boo with him over the top of the elastic. Dazed and needy, Soren took the dainty fabric in his fingers and stretched it thin, easing it between her wet ruffles. Gioia wailed in ecstasy as he slowly slid the thong along her pussy. He watched, thirsty as all hell, as her juices drenched the fabric.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, Soren peeled the thong from her body and replaced it with his mouth. He groaned as he drank her delicious essence for the first time that evening, sure in the knowledge that was exactly where he belonged the rest of their lives: between her legs, making her scream. He plunged his tongue into her seam, sucking her lips into his mouth. Her back arched and her hands flailed at her sides, burrowing between the blankets so she could grip the slats of the wooden dock below. When it looked as if she was about to come, when her throat produced those glorious shattered cries, Soren latched onto her clit and inserted three fingers into her core. Curling them inside her, he drank her orgasm, eager not to waste one precious drop of her moisture.

And when her body fell back onto the dock, spent and limp, he caressed her frame and tickled his way up to her breasts. Delirious, he gazed at the offbeat beauty of her irregular nipples and thanked God for sending him such an incredible playground of a woman.

Gioia lay under him, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling. He circled her nipples with his fingers, knowing he’d give her little rest tonight, and watched as she cracked her eyes open.

“What are you doing to me?” she moaned. “It’s too much.”

“It’s not enough,” he answered with a wicked grin. While he twisted the peak of one lovely breast, he sucked on her inverted nipple and absorbed the shock as her body jolted.

That was one powerful nipple.

She clutched at him, burying her fingers in his hair, and he held on for dear life. Milking her, wringing those noises out of her, made him more satisfied than he’d ever been before. He didn’t ever need to come again himself; it was so enjoyable watching Gioia come.

Of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t come too. And hard.

“Soren,” she begged, and the fervent timbre of her voice indicated just how close she was to the edge again.

It was time.

Releasing her breast, Soren adjusted his body between her legs, letting his cock explore her tight entrance. He’d fantasized about how she would feel, had dreamed of how his mate would suck him dry, yet the import of the moment made him pause.

He wanted this to be so incredible for her.

She cupped his cheek, already so in tune with him. “It is.” She smiled. “Mark me, Soren. Fuck me, my bear man.”

“Oh, I will fuck you, baby.” He penetrated her with his cock, grunting at her glove-like grip. “I hope you can swim, because I may fuck you right through the dock.”

Their mouths met in a hurricane of passion, welded together. He pumped her with an aching slowness at first, so deliberate and luxurious, he felt his balls tighten at once and worried they’d fall off. She clutched at his ass, prodding him, silently asking him to pound her. He would not disappoint her.

But first, there was something else he needed to do.

Soren gazed at her face, the face which had become so precious to him, and decided on her left cheek. The side of her heart. Calling on his bear to witness the act he never thought he’d perform, Soren opened his mouth on Gioia’s cheek and bit gently down. She stopped moving under him, also taken by the moment, if not understanding it. Her hands slid up from his ass to hold the back of his head.

This time, he would not leave an actual scar. It would happen during the marking process. Right now, he just wanted to lay claim to her, as bears did in the wild. His teeth on her cheek was about surrender and commitment, just as it was between full bears. Male bears chomped down on their female’s cheek during the mating process as a sign of dominance. Soren, too, was making a pledge. In biting her, he promised to take care of Gioia, to use his strength to keep her safe always. And in turn, she surrendered to him.

The most astounding moment of his life.

He squeezed a tear from between his eyelids and removed his teeth from her cheek. He then laved the area with his tongue, sealing in his scent on her body.

He laid his arms on either side of her head and gazed at her. “You will never be with anyone other than me.”

“Never,” she murmured, her eyes wide and black. And then she smiled and smacked his ass hard. As he recovered from the sting, she bit his cheek in a playful recreation of the marking. “And you’re mine. Don’t you forget it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, you scary woman.”

As she burst into giggles under him, he began pumping. He was still inside her, and his dick throbbed in annoyance at not being given free reign. Soren gave into temptation and moved his hips against her, feeling himself grow in her slick cavity. Gioia held on tight and he thrust, meeting her movements measure for measure. She gasped and wrapped her legs around his back. His balls pulled up, and he relished the sweet burn as it streaked through his body. He was close, so close. It would only take…

“I know what you need, baby
,” her voice rang out in his head.

Gioia reached around his ass and tickled his perineum. Somewhere over the lake, someone shot off fireworks. And then Soren realized it was him. There was no light display over Lake Gemini. His body had exploded, or so it seemed. As he poured himself into his mate, while she tightened in her own orgasm, extreme pleasure hurtled through all his limbs and muscles. Each sinew vibrated and stilled, like a violin string being plucked. And somewhere deep inside him, his bear was pounding on a big bass drum with gusto.

He collapsed against her in awe. When he could finally lift his head much later, Soren grazed his lips against hers in a gentle, life-defining kiss. Her skin glowed, and he could see every mahogany highlight in her hair, lit as she was by the lights around them and his love.

He really loved her. His first and only love.

Gathering her to him, he bundled them in the blankets, and they leaned against the dock. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he ran his fingers over her marked cheek.

In silence, they watched the luminous boats on the lake until one by one, as the dawn kissed the sky, the last dancing flame extinguished.

As they walked back toward the lodge together around eight the next morning, Gioia’s heart did a dance in her chest. It had been twirling and boogying under her breast since Soren claimed her the previous evening. As they held hands, she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

Her bear man looked different today.

Yes, his eyes bore the slightest of dark circles underneath. Of course, he had been a busy boy. As soon as all the lights on the lake had dimmed, Soren had turned to her and taken her in his arms. He’d made love to her again and again. Her head was still spinning at the ferocity and the volume they’d experienced. God only knew her energy level needed a boost too.

No, it wasn’t fatigue that made Soren appear like a different man. It was something else.

A new strength radiated from him. Sure, he’d always been a massive, muscled being, but today he wore a new determination. His head was held high, and he surveyed the area ahead of them through keen eyes, as if always assessing any possible danger to her. He gripped her hand, his clench tight and secure on her, but his thumb stroked her with gentleness. His body was relaxed, the posture of a man who knew what he wanted and who wasn’t afraid to fight for it.

A man in love?

Gioia frowned, feeling like a silly school girl. Yes, she understood mating implied a certain depth of feeling, but Soren hadn’t actually said the three words. She didn’t expect him to at this juncture. Of course, neither had she. Did she love him? She must if she was willing to give herself to him like that. Yet adding the label “love” seemed a little scary. It was so soon. Mating was one thing. It smacked of primal urges and fate, but love told of undying devotion and an element of choice.

She wasn’t naïve enough to think Soren had chosen her. She was likely the last person he would have chosen.

Surely this wasn’t love. She wasn’t sure she could love again. She’d thought she had unending love with Paul, but life had thrown a heavy encyclopedia at her head, rendering her incapable of ever feeling the same way again.

Or was she?

A teensy part of her still felt guilt. Poor Paul hadn’t understood his own illness, hadn’t been able to help the changes. In his own way, he had loved her to his dying day. Didn’t she owe that to him? Was she supposed to live in mourning all her life, or was she supposed to move on?

Suddenly, she wasn’t sure. Soren seemed sure of himself as he strode toward the lodge. And for some reason, a pinprick of ominous doubt poked at Gioia’s insides.

Something felt off.

Maybe it was Gunnar and wanting him to accept Soren. It must be nerves. After the care and consideration Soren showed her last night, she had no reason to doubt his intentions. He cared deeply for her, even if love wasn’t involved.

The kernel of unease began to jump around in her belly. She clenched her stomach muscles, willing it to shrivel into nothingness. What was wrong with her all of a sudden?
Why are you thinking like a basket case?

Something was wrong.

She stopped moving. She didn’t want to go to the lodge. Gioia yanked on Soren’s arm and tried to turn back in the direction of the woods and their floating dock, where they’d been happy.

“Gioia?” he inquired, his face pale at her expression. “What’s wrong?”

She couldn’t make her mouth work, couldn’t catch a breath. Paralyzed by something she didn’t understand, Gioia stared at him, willing him to understand her irrational, out-of-nowhere fear. “
I don’t want to go back, Soren.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. There’s something bad here.”
She shook her head back and forth.
“Please take me back
.
”

He put a hand on her cheek and looked her in the eye, his blond brows knit with concern. “I won’t let anything hurt you. You’re safe with me. And now that we’ve begun the marking process, the men will leave you alone.”

“I can’t explain it.” She swallowed the prickly lump in her throat. “I have the worst feeling…”

He pulled her close, and she buried herself in his broad chest and arms. She wrapped her arms around Soren’s body, clawing at him, holding him close.

A faraway voice in her head told her it might be the last time.

She heard shouts and the sound of strong feet pounding the pavement ahead of them. “Soren!”

They both looked up to see Ryland running toward them, his face pinched and red. He stopped short in front of them, his dark eyes shooting confusion toward Gioia, and then he turned to his brother. “Uh, we have a situation.”

Her heart sank. She felt it plummet past each of her ribs and hit the floor.

“Is Gunnar okay?” Soren demanded, as if he were the boy’s father.

“Yeah,” Ryland answered, unsure. “But for how long, I don’t know. Bro, I don’t know how to tell you this.”