Territory - Prequel (30 page)

“Chloe!”
Dell sat up and grabbed her arms.

Throwing the blankets off, she s
crambled to the edge of the bed.  She dropped her feet to the floor and made to stand but her knees buckled and she fell to the floor as tears streamed down her cheeks.  Her belly spasmed painfully and she moaned in
anguish.
  She bit
her bottom lip to suppress a scream and wasn’t surprise
d
when she tasted the coppery tang o
f
her own blood.

Dell knelt on
the floor beside her.  “It’s happening.”  He brushed the hair back from her face.  “Are you okay, can you handle it?”

Unable to speak she shook her head before sawing in a ragged breath.  “Dell…” there was a quiver in her voice.

Her plea was all he needed.  Dell lifted her body easily until she was positioned on her knees with her upper body bent over the bed.  His strong hands
ripped away the whisper of lace that was her panties and he slid a finger to her entrance. 
He was relieved to find her wet.  Her body was in fact
ready to take him.  He nudged her legs wider and rose on his own knees behind her nudging the head of his cock against her pussy.  He was startled when
she didn’t wait for him, but
thrust back and took him to the hilt on one loud moan. 

“Please Dell,” she panted, “make it stop!”

He grabbed her hips and began thrusting into her.  His hips slammed into her ass
for several moments before he
quickened his thrusts wanting to
fill her quickly to ease her pain.  She screamed his name and he felt her
tighten around him with her climax.  The fist like grip around him had his warm seed
jetting
deep inside her.

When his release shot into her, Chloe felt warmth blossom in her abdomen and lance through her limbs.
  The pain ebbed but didn’t disappear entirely.  She lay flat on the bed with Dell still buried deep inside her as her shaking muscles whined.  She turned her head and her imploring eyes met his as he rested over her back.

“Again?”
His eyes were serious.

Chloe’s eyes dipped to his bare thigh that braced her own.  “Can you?”

He smiled challengingly, “I’m only part man Chloe.”  He slowly pulled his still rigid cock nearly out of her before driving it deep. “Remember that.”

He
fucked her repeatedly until her body was finally sated and
her eyes drifted closed as
the exhaustion and relief from the pain finally overwhelmed her. 
S
leep
claimed her while
Dell
was still buried deep inside her.

Easing from her Dell lifted her from the floor and placed her under the covers before disappearing into the bathroom to return with a warm, wet, cloth.  He gently swiped her brow and her cheeks before pulling back the covers to clean the evidence of their love making from between her thighs.  Then he climbed into bed behind her and pulled her into his arms, praying that the change would finally occur and grant his mate the rest she so desperately needed.

Chapter 27

Chloe woke and tried to stretch but the soreness
that tore
through her
limbs
had her eyes snapping open.  Memory came flooding back and she lifted
her
hands to cover her face as mortification seared her.  She’d begged Dell to make love to her
and he had.  Repeatedly
!
 

God what have I done! 
If it wasn’t for the change…
  She didn’t finish the thought, knowing it wasn’t true before she’d even thought it.  She’d wanted Dell.  From the first moment she’d laid eyes on him in high school until the moment he strode back into her life at Donnie’s funeral.  She wouldn’t bother lying to herself any longer.

D
ropp
ing
her hands and slowly tilting
her head,
she was
relieved to discover
that
she was alone in the bed
.  Moving
her legs
, she
winced at the stiffness
in
her muscles
.  Her whole body felt battered.
  She lifted the blanket and saw that she was still completely naked. 

Glancing around the room she noted that the fire was out, but faint light filtered through the wood slats of the blinds.
  She shifted her eyes to the ceiling and assessed her body.  She didn’t feel any different. 
She wiggled her fingers and her toes. 
Everything seems to be working normally. 
She took a deep breath and her belly rumbled loudly at the scent of French toast, bacon, eggs, and coffee
wafting through the room.
 

Propping herself on an elbow she scanned the room searching for the tray of food, but there was none. 
Funny, I can smell…

Just then the door opened and Dell strode in.  He was dressed in his typical jeans, work boots, and form fitting undershirt.  His eyes met hers and he entered and crossed the room to her carrying a tray of food.  “Morning beautiful.”

Chloe lifted a self-conscious hand to her hair and tried to smooth it down.  “Morning,” she whispered weakly.

“You’ve gotta be starving.” He placed the tray on her lap when she reclined back against the head board.  “You need to eat it all.”

She looked down at the plate and nearly moaned
in appreciation
at the pile of
syrupy
French toast, three
steaming
eggs,
and
heap of
crisp
bacon slices
.  Her hand instantly reached for the mug of
already creamed coffee.  “I’m starving!” 

She
sipped at the coffee before
replacing
the mug
on the tray and taking
up the fork
to attack
the plate.
  She was on her fifth bite when a noise caught her attention and she stopped chewing.  She looked up at Dell quizzically as he watched her eat.

“Mama dropped something in the kit
c
hen,
”
he supplied calmly.

“Oh,” she spoke around her bite of French toast and lifted another bite to her lips before she stopped.  Her shocked eyes found Dell
’
s as she swallowed down the food in her mouth.  “How
did
I hear that?”

His lips curved in a smile, “One of the shifter perks.”  He pointed to her plate, “You’re sense of smell should be greatly improved as well.”

Chloe eyed her plate and remembered that she’d known exactly what Mama had cooked for breakfast before Dell had even brought
the plate into the room
. 

She inhaled deeply, but could only smell the food on the plate in front of her.  Her eyes lifted to focus on the wall as she strained to listen.

She heard Cindy’s voice from somewhere in the house. 
“
Do you think she’ll forgive him?”

“I’m sure her heart already has, she just needs to talk her mind into
accepting it
.” Mama’s response was crystal clear.

“I hear Mama and Cindy!” she lifted startled eyes to Dell.  “Where are they?”

“Still in the kitchen,” Dell crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled at her.  “It’ll take you a while to filter out the stuff you don’t want, but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty useful.”

A noise outside drew her attention and she tried shifting the tray of food off her lap to inspect, but Dell’s large hand on her shoulder
prevented her from getting up
.  “Eat,” he ordered.  “You can
get accustomed to your
new sense
s after you’ve finished your meal and rested.”

“Fine,” she pouted pulling the tray fully back onto her lap and reclaiming the fork. 

Dell watched her a few more moments before he disappeared into the bathroom.  She heard him turn on the bath before he came back
in
to the room.
  He didn’t approach her instead
he
crossed to stare out the window while he waited for her to finish her breakfast.

Chloe ate as much as she could and when she couldn’t take another bite she inched out of the bed, careful to pull a sheet with her to cover her bare body. 

“Ready?” Dell ripped off his shirt as he crossed to her.

Her eyes darted from his bare chest to the bathroom, “For what?”

“For our bath?”

“Uhh,
our
?”

He rolled his eyes as his fingers quickly unsnapped his jeans as he kicked out of his shoes before his thumbs shoved the denim down over his lean hips.  “You’re still weak Chloe.”

“I think I can bathe myself.”

“N
o.” He was completely naked as
he strode toward her angrily.  One hand reached up and pulled the sheet from where she had it clamped just above her chest.

“Dell!” she gasped reaching for the sheet.

He smiled and dropped it to the ground before scooping her up to cradle her in his arms as she attempted unsuccessfully to cover her intimate parts. 

“Umm, about last night,” she wanted to get
an
explanation out before anything else happened between them. 

Dell carried her to the bathroom, “Don’t
!
” he growled. 

“But you don’t even know what I was going to say,” she avoided looking at him.

He stepped into the large Jacuzzi tub and lowered himself and Chloe into the
steaming
water.  Her flesh instantly bristled in goose bumps
.  It took her a moment to get used to the water, and when she did it was bliss.

Dell kept her settled on his lap.  “You’re going to attempt to denounce what happened between us.  You’re going to say it was the change or Mama’s tea, or any other excuse you can think of to push me away.”  He cupped one large hand and lifted it to pour hot water down Chloe’s back.  “Look at me.”

She arched her back at the hot water pouring down it and followed his command in time to see his eyes dip to her breasts as they thrust forward with her body’s arch.  Instantly she hunched over trying to fold in on herself to keep him from getting the wrong idea.

Smiling Dell commanded again, “Look at me Chloe.”  When she did he continued, “What happened between us last night was meant to happen.  You belong to me.  You were destined to be mine.”

She opened her mouth to argue but Dell’s wet fing
ers on her lips silenced her.  His amber eyes found hers.  “If there had been any
thought of ever letting you go, it’s dead now.  After last night,” he drew in a deep breath and grabbed her chin to keep her from looking away.  “I’ll never let you go Chloe.  I
refuse to
live without you.”

She blinked back tears a
t
the emotion in his eyes and when she finally opened her mouth to speak, he simply covered it with his own.

After long moments he pulled back. 
“I want you to say you’ll willingly be my mate Chloe.
  I want you to accept what we are to each other.”  His hand slid up her jaw to cup the side of her face, “I want you to say that you’ll marry me.”

She
gaped at him
before
clamping her mouth shut and climbing
off his lap. 

He let her go, but when she lifted a foot to climb out of the tub his hands snaked out so quickly she nearly fell when he jerked her back down.  His hands were strong though, and he knew exactly what he was doing. 

There was a loud splash and Chloe shrieked before she swiped the water from her face and realized he’d settled her back on his lap except this time she was straddling his hips
, the hard length of his erection pressing against her bare pussy
. 

She sputtered from the water on her face and when she opened her eyes it was only long enough to see that Dell’s eyes had transitioned to all black.  She was learning quickly that the change meant he was fighting to keep his wolf leashed. 

H
is mouth crash
ed
down on hers.  All the gentleness of the first kiss was gone.  This kiss was urgent, passionate, demanding
.  The taste
was
so irresistible that Chloe coul
dn’t help but return the fervor.
 

Her arms wound around his neck even as she silently cursed her lack of will power.  When her pebbled nipples brushed against his bare chest, she pulled back to suck in a shaky breath.  Her hips rocked against the
thick length
of his shaft and her sex flared to life demanding satisfaction.