Untamed: An Alpha's Kiss (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) (8 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY
ONE

Parker could barely understand her when he picked up the phone. She was crying and babbling so fast he could only make out every other word or so. But she'd said "Scottie" and "proposed" and "angry" and it didn't take a genius to piece that together into a pretty ugly scene.

Fuck.

First, he needed to get Charmaine somewhere safe. He already knew Scottie was a loose cannon, and a loose cannon with a broken heart and a stash of painkillers was a bad combination. He had to get to her quickly and take her to his place at the edge of the desert. Assuming that was still a place they wouldn't come looking for her.

Second, he needed to have a serious and speedy heart-to-heart with his father.

And third, he needed to alert the pack that they might be gearing up for battle.

"Pack an overnight bag and meet me at the Food Mart in thirty minutes," he directed her. "I'll pick you up. You're going to have to leave the car there for a couple of days. Do you think Scottie will get to your parents before you leave your house?"

Further hysterical wailing told him that half an hour might be too much time. "Pack quick," he said grimly. "I'm heading there now. I'm in the hills, so it'll take me about ten-fifteen minutes. But be careful. Don't speed."

He did not, however, take his own advice. He roared his car down the winding roads that he knew like the back of his hand, thankful for the way his car took hairpin turns. His foot stomped on the accelerator as he thought about Charmaine alone and terrified in the parking lot, vulnerable to Scottie and God knew who else. As it was, her tears made him fiercely protective. He wanted to hold her and love her and make it all go away.

He pressed the power button on his phone. "Call Dad." His father picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hey son."

"Dad, do you think you could do me a big favor?"

"Sure."

"I need you to meet me at the desert house tomorrow morning, alone, at eight. Don't say anything to anyone else. I'll explain everything. Oh, and we've got to put everyone on alert tonight. Code Charlie. Can you make the calls or should I?"

"I can do it." His father's voice came through clear and strong. "I've got your back, son."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll explain everything in the morning."

"Okay." If his father was worried, he wasn't letting on. But he was brilliant that way. Always in control. Parker envied him. His heart was racing a million miles a minute and he felt slightly nauseous.

If anything happens to her...

But he turned the corner, and there was her Jeep, sitting in the parking lot. He saw her huddled in the driver's seat, looking so tiny and vulnerable inside that big, tough vehicle, and his heart ached for her.

She slipped into his car clutching her duffel bag like a runaway and collapsed into his embrace. "It was awful," she wept. He held her and kissed her forehead and wet eyelids as she shuddered against him.

"I've got you now. We're going to go to my place and get some sleep, and tomorrow we can figure out what we're going to do."

She nodded wearily and he put the car in drive, maneuvering it back out onto the road and toward the desert.

Later they enjoyed a luxuriously long and steamy shower together. He lathered her hair and soaped every inch of her, loving the feel of her slippery skin under the foam, her hard little nipples and furry cunt and squeezable buttocks. He felt slightly ashamed for trying to have sex with her when she was in an emotional state, but then her hand wrapped around his cock and he wound up fucking her hard against the shower wall. She cried out his name and it echoed against the tile as he drove into her again and again. Both of them forgot about the condom, although he knew he was clean and she was on the pill. When he spilled inside of her, filling her and marking her in same the primal way he'd always dreamed about, it was such a rush for him. He loved her urging him on, begging for what she wanted.

Harder. Harder, Parker!

Oh, God, Parker, right there!

Come inside me. I want to feel what it's like to take all of you.

And the last thing he remembered before he nodded off to sleep with her tucked in his arms was her exhausted voice murmuring sweetly, "I love you, Parker."

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

They woke at dawn, the entire world peaceful as they turned to each other eagerly. Parker looked deep in Charmaine's eyes.

"I love you," he vowed. "I should've said it first. I was thinking it, but I didn't want to scare you."

"I know you do," she replied, her fingers lazily stroking him. "That's why I could say it."

He groaned and thrust into her busy hands, catching his breath as she took him firmly in her grasp and
tugged him slowly, smearing the pre-come across the head of his cock with her thumb.

"I want to wake up with you every morning," he groaned. "And not just because you're so damned good at that."

Charmaine giggled and set a quicker pace, moving to cover his mouth with hers. She climbed over him, straddling him, and his eyes darkened with lust as she fit him inside herself and eased herself down his engorged length. He gripped her hips and she rocked tentatively on him.

"I've never done this," she confessed. "Is this okay?"

"It's more than okay," Parker promised. "It's amazing. I love seeing you like this."

She rolled her hips and they lost themselves in the easy motion of their fucking. He filled her exquisitely, making every effort to last as long as he could, because in this position her pleasure was amplified. She tossed her head and ran her hands over her creamy skin and a thin sheen of sweat made her face glisten in the dappled sunlight that streamed through Parker's bedroom window.

"You're so beautiful," Parker murmured. "God, you're gorgeous like this." His fingers dug into the plump swell of her buttocks and he watched her taut torso rippling as she worked herself on him. He almost came when he saw her seize her own nipples and pinch the rosy tips, hard, causing her to hitch her breath and buck on him even harder. Little cries of delight burst from her as she rode him faster, her hips rolling in tight rhythm, her thighs trembling. Her eyes fluttered shut and he urged, "Look at me!" as he tipped up her knees and drove himself into her, thrusting in quick strokes, until she shook all over from her impending orgasm.

She cried his name over and over, a fevered jumble, looking right in his eyes as she did, before giving a strangled little shriek and collapsing on him, heart pounding as her inner muscles clenched and spasmed around his shaft. And he followed, gripping her so hard he feared he might leave marks on her tender flesh, blasting inside her so violently he nearly lost consciousness.

He stroked her damp skin, his fingertips tracing little swirls over her back as he held her on top of him. She made a motion to shift but he held her fast, loving her weight on him, her silky thighs on either side of his body. She sighed contentedly and burrowed her face into his neck, pressing her lips to the throbbing artery.

"This is worth fighting for," she whispered. "I want you to know that I get that."

"I know you do," he murmured. "We're going to be okay, Char."

"Promise?" she propped her face up to his and rubbed noses with him.

"I promise, baby. It's going to be good." And then, checking the clock. "Shit. My dad will be here in ten. Let's get dressed."

CHAPTER TWENTY
THREE

Charmaine watched Parker's father as he slowly limped inside. His eyes were as bright as Parker's own, brown instead of the beautiful sea glass green, but his body was clearly breaking down.
It pained Parker to watch him like that, she could tell.

Everything she'd ever heard about the monstrous Kreuger Pack fell away as father and son embraced in the front hallway. The humanity of their bond and the old man's frailty made her wonder how there could ever be war between their packs. They weren't nameless, faceless people... they were her family, and Parker's family. Her dad. Her brothers. His dad. Him.

Dominic Kreuger listened to Parker's story, every so often his eyes sliding over to Charmaine's face, appraising her as she chimed in here or there. His lined face was heavy with sympathy as he watched Parker gaze at his Mate, saw the way they pulled to one another and seemed to accept that this was their destiny, to be together across enemy lines.

"Help us, Dad," Parker pleaded finally, his voice thick with emotion. "I can't lose her."

His father nodded. "Won't be easy," he warned. "There's a lot of history there, a lot more bitter than you two know. A lot of people will be angry, and hurt, about what you two have done."

"We didn't have any choice!" Parker flared, and Dominic held up and answering hand.

"Son, I know. Every several hundred years this happens. The lines get crossed, the sides have to be redrawn. My grandfather used to say it was the universe making sure all the best bloodlines ran together as one." He shook his head. "I can handle the pack. I have a strategy, and I've been thinking a lot about what you said the other day, about us leading together for a bit. I'd like that and this would be a good time to mix things up, maybe. A cause distracts the people from unhappy news." He saw their crestfallen faces. "Hey, you two better toughen up. Not everyone is going to want to hop on your love cloud and float around the sky with you. You'd better be prepared for that. But this is entirely possible."

The relief was palpable, and they squeezed each other tightly. "Dad, this means so much to me," Parker choked. "Having you on my side. On
our
side."

He looked at Charmaine reassuringly. "It's going to be okay. See? We'll figure it all out. One thing at a time."

They had a quick breakfast together before Dominic said his goodbyes and shuffled back out the front door, climbing carefully into the cab of his truck and disappearing out of sight.

Parker buried his face in Charmaine's soft curls, crushing her to him in relief. "That went better than I ever could have expected. Now we just have to talk to your parents."

She looked at him doubtfully. "You don't know my father."

"You'll be fine," he promised. "I'm right here. Make the call."

With trembling hands, she fetched her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and powered it on.

Thirty-seven missed calls.

She didn't even bother to listen to them. It looked like Scottie had waited maybe an hour to go to her parents, because their calls started about 8:30 and continued into the night. There were two missed calls from Christopher, her older brother.

But the one that frightened her the most was the lone missed call from Scottie at 5:30 that morning. One call. The only message he left was the sound of the receiver clicking shut.

Charmaine's stomach felt like it had plummeted to the floor, and she pulled from Parker's embrace. "Oh God, I feel sick," she murmured, bracing against the door frame.

CHAPTER TWENTY
FOUR

Parker's heart ached when Charmaine dialed her mother's cell phone with shaking hands. Her entire face was clouded in pain, and he couldn't help but feel guilty
--even though he technically didn't have anything to feel guilty about. It had all happened so fast--meeting each other, realizing they were meant to be together. It would have been a lot for five months, let alone five days.

Five days.
He looked at her sweet, sad face, the fierce determination in her eyes that cut through the pain. She was tough. They'd sold her short, not letting her have a position in the pack. He couldn't wait to spend his life with this woman, to watch her grow and develop her talents. He had no doubts she'd be amazing.

She wept as she argued with her mother on the phone, but she held her ground. She said she wouldn't come home until they could talk, not at home but at a neutral place. She told her mother she would not, under any circumstances, be marrying Scottie. She had found her Mate, and that was that. They were going to start a life together, and Crystal and César could either be a part of it or not. She hoped they would, but she understood it might take some time.

Several times she got up and paced the room, gesturing wildly as she and her mother argued, but they were still talking. He smiled at her reassuringly and never took his eyes from her as he watched her dig in her heels and stand her ground.

Finally she told her mother she loved her and promised to call later. She told her she wouldn't call her brother Christopher back, not until she had a chance to speak to her father. "I love you, Mom," was the last thing she said before she ended the conversation.

And then she took a deep breath and made another call.

He knew she was calling Scottie, because her eyes welled with tears and she bit her lip as she listened to the phone ring and ring. She left a quavering message for him that said she hoped he could understand and that she wasn't angry with him. She said they should take some space to think but that she would call again after she sorted things out with her parents.

When she hung up the phone she sobbed and he just held her close, cradling her to him so that she was soothed by his steady heartbeat. He felt the most powerful tenderness toward her as he cuddled her and kissed her and murmured what he hoped were comforting words. Eventually she turned her tear-stained face to his and thanked him for being there for her, for taking care of her.

"I never thought I'd want this," she said softly. "I didn't even really believe it could happen. This, what you and I have. It's like you're right here with me, living the same life. You're in me, and I'm in you. I thought it was all some made-up thing."

"A conspiracy theory," he joked, smoothing back her hair and kissing her forehead.

"Kind of. I was convinced they all made it up to keep us breeding." Her eyes were rimmed with pink, but she smiled a genuine smile through her drying tears.

He laughed. "My dad would love that. He's all about tradition, the old order, keeping the lineage going."

"He seemed pretty cool this morning. He didn't beat the tradition drum too hard. My dad, on the other hand..." her voice trailed off. "I don't know how my father is ever going to forgive me." She sighed and nestled into him, slipping her fingers inside his shirt. She ran her fingertips absently through the thin trail of hair that ran between his abs.

He stirred at her touch but forced himself under control. She wanted comfort, not sex. They'd had enough sex. Well, maybe not
enough
sex, but she wanted comfort right now, not him pawing all over her. Though her fingertips on his stomach made him think about her fingertips on his cock...
Fuck
. He had to keep it together. He shifted to keep his bulge away from her.

But she clearly didn't just want comfort. To his surprise she trailed her fingers down his stomach, looking right into his eyes as she teased them just inside the waistband of his jeans and danced them over the prominent bulge in his lap. His mouth went dry as she reached for his zipper. He was so hard he didn't think she could unzip him over the pressure of his cock straining against the front of his jeans.

Charmaine had the zipper down and his jeans and boxers around his ankles before he knew it. She grew impatient when he tried to help her, pushing his hands away and settling on her knees between his thighs as he gripped the couch cushions and watched her, speechless and hopelessly aroused.

It was a mind-fuck to see her between his knees, fixed entirely on his hard length as it jutted proudly toward her. She traced her fingertips lightly around the bulbous head, down the shaft, rubbing the veined, textured skin. He oozed pre-come and she cooed in delight, smearing her fingers in the tiny clear puddle and spreading it over the crown of his cock.
Dear God.

She brought her fingers to her mouth and sucked them clean, looking him dead in the eyes as she savored his salty fluids. He nearly swooned with lust.

And then she lowered her lips to his lap and he felt her tongue swirl around the tip of his prick, her delicious sensual lips sucking him in, the incredible heat of her mouth. Her head bobbed as she worked him, suckling him like she couldn't get enough. She took him deep, deeper, deeper still and he watched, fascinated, pulling her hair back so he could see the pleasure in her face as she swallowed him. She flashed her eyes at him when he was all the way in her throat and he groaned her name and clenched her hair tightly in an effort not to spill in her mouth like an overeager teenager. And then her eyelashes fluttered shut and she set to work in earnest, her tongue pressing delightfully against his shaft as she picked up a steady rhythm, sucking him in and out, in and out, her mouth stretching to accommodate his girth.

He fought the urge not to grasp the sides of her head and fuck her face, the animal in him barely suppressed as he watched her bob up and down. And just when he thought he could die just like this, with her mouth wrapped around him and her hands on his thighs, fingernails biting his flesh just enough to add a nice edge to the pleasure, she slid one hand down to cup his balls and he barely had time to choke a warning before tensing and gripping her shoulders and shooting his sweet release into her eager mouth without restraint.

She took every drop, lovingly cleaning him with her tongue after he'd spent what felt like his entire life force into her. He couldn't even speak as he looked at her, blue eyes sparkling now like some mischievous, sensual nymph. Where had that come from? A few short days ago she'd been a sheltered, relatively innocent girl who'd balked at the size of his cock. Now she was on her knees licking his come from her lips.

And he got to spend the rest of his life with her?
Jesus.