Untamed: An Alpha's Promise (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) (9 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

When he picked her up from her mother’s house the Thursday after the funeral, Parker was just as tender with her as ever, but Charmaine sensed that he was preoccupied. He drove in silence, listening to her talk about the funeral, being his normal supportive self. It wasn’t until he mentioned that he’d stayed overnight at his parents’ house, his eyes stormy, that she knew why he was so distracted.

“How is he?” she ventured softly, closing her hand over his.

“Same.” A lump formed in her throat as she watched a series of emotions cross his face. Anger, sorrow, fear. Her own heart ached with the loss of César and she wanted more than anything to shield Parker from that pain.

Before she could ask more questions, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I’m going to say something that sounds completely crazy, but I want you to say yes. Do you love me?”

“What? Of course I love you, but I’m not saying yes when I have no idea what it is! Are you insane?”

“Maybe. Yes. Let’s get married this weekend.”

This weekend?
“I’m not… we can’t…” She studied his face. “Are you okay?”

“Of course. Why?”

“Because you don’t do impulsive things. Ever.”

He grinned. “I don’t. But this isn’t impulsive, technically. I proposed, you said yes, and we talked about doing it soon.”

“But not this weekend! We’re not ready!”

He pulled the car to the side of the road, parked, and turned the flashers on before turning to her, his face tortured.

“Please don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

“I didn’t mean it that way!” She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him gently. “I meant logistically. I’d marry you now, tonight, if I could.”

A sudden gleam appeared in his eye. “Tonight?”

“Of course,” Charmaine vowed, drawing him in for a second, more sensual kiss.

“So let’s drive to Vegas and get married tonight. Then we can have our Mating Ceremony next week. In the eyes of the law and of nature, just as we said.” He was grinning like a kid. “The whole world is falling to shit around us, Baby. We deserve some happiness. And both of us know that life is short. Let’s do this, right now.”

“We don’t have anything packed…” she began. “What about clothes and toothpaste and—”

He silenced her with a kiss. His mouth convinced her where his words had not. Hot, insistent lips that wouldn’t take no for an answer broke down her reserve, starting a song in her body that hummed through her veins. She shivered breathlessly in his arms. She’d missed his touch more than she could have imagined possible. He could have convinced her of anything in that moment.

“Fuck the toothpaste, Charmaine,” he breathed against her open mouth.

“Okay,” she sighed as he trailed hot kisses down her throat. As if by its own accord, her hand strayed to his lap and he covered it with his own, pressing it over his erection, rocking against her palm with a strangled groan. He nuzzled into her cleavage, inhaling her, before the droning honk of a four-wheeler cut through their lusty haze and brought them back to reality.

They both took deep breaths and Charmaine giggled nervously as Parker rubbed the back of his neck. “Right. So Vegas. We’ll get that stuff when we get there. The marriage license office is open until midnight, and we can be there in about two hours.”

“This isn’t spontaneous at all. You’ve researched this!”

“I have.” He grinned and pulled her against him a final time, brushing his lips over hers. “I love you,” he vowed, his sea-glass eyes shining. “Just say yes.”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

“And me,” she replied honestly. “You’re right. Things are shit. The only time I feel good is when I’m with you. And I want to be your wife more than I want anything else in the world right now except our baby to be healthy.” She took a deep breath and squeezed his arm. “Take me to Vegas.”

***

Parker sped the whole way, pushing the Audi to its limits, and they tumbled into the office to claim their marriage license long before his predicted two hours. On Charmaine’s insistence, they had stopped at a superstore outside of town for toiletries and other necessities before they got to the city. She bought a floppy straw hat and a cheap sundress, and Parker bought a tacky Hawaiian shirt and straw fedora and kept watch so she could change in the car. They stopped at the first chapel that didn’t have a full parking lot, and the whole thing was over and done with before it was even time for dinner.

“I can’t believe we did it,” Charmaine marveled afterward in the parking lot of the chapel. She had joyful tears in her eyes as she wrapped herself around him. “I’m your wife!”

“Yes, you are,” he grinned, swiping the straw hat from her head and dipping her backwards for a deep kiss.

Her dress fluttered in the breeze, and she giggled while returning the kiss. “This is not the way I envisioned my wedding when I was a little girl, but I’m so happy right now, Parker.”

“Me, too,” he murmured, pinning her against the side of his car and nuzzling her neck.

“Nothing could make me happier,” she sighed, enjoying the feeling of his lean length pressing her to the car, the scent of his hair, the softness of his lips on her skin.

“I think maybe I know what could make us just a little bit happier.” He rocked against her, and she shuddered to feel him through the flimsy fabric of her sundress, thick and ready between her thighs. His eyes sea-glass green eyes searched her face for cues of pleasure and mirrored back his own lust. She stifled a moan as he whispered in her ear, “We need to hurry up and check into a hotel room and make this marriage official.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY THREE

Finally
. Parker stroked her face as if touching her for the first time.
My wife
. His fingertips trailed delicately along her jaw line.
My Mate
. For a moment he just drank her in, and then his lips brushed over hers, reveling in the way they melded to his, the way she breathed a little faster just from one simple kiss. It was strange how quickly things had changed, he thought, as his heart galloped in his chest and his own breathing hitched. It was Charmaine, and it wasn’t. This was no longer Charmaine, his beautiful girlfriend, it was Charmaine, his loving wife. He nuzzled against her and lost his breath from the powerful thrill of knowing she belonged to him at last. No more waiting. And soon, no more hiding.

He could feel her skin burning just mere inches away, right through the thin dress, but he didn’t dare press his whole body against hers. There was no way he was going to take it slow if he did. His pent-up lust from their few days of forced celibacy combined with the additional primal thrill of claiming her officially as his wife for the first time had him ready to explode. He fought the urge to tear the dress from her body, thrust into her, and rut like a feral beast, but it was difficult when she looked at him that way. Her eyes were dark pools of need, her lips wet and trembling and kissable, her entire body lush and open for his.

She moaned as he sucked her lip between his teeth, flicking his tongue against it. As if drawn there of their own accord, his fingers dipped straight between her thighs and shoved aside her panties. Beneath the satin she was molten, spilling over with need, as swollen as an overripe fruit. His fingers slipped through her hot, engorged flesh and his cock strained against his zipper, eager to be nestled there. A powerful cramp seized his stomach when his nostrils caught the unmistakable scent of her arousal, and his mouth was metallic with the urge to taste her. He forced himself to pull his fingers away, even as she clamped her legs around his hand to try to keep them there and made a little cry of frustration when he finally pulled them from between her shaking thighs.

“Not yet,” he whispered, kissing her again. She was ravenous, her mouth seeking his almost frantically, her tongue thrusting into his mouth, capturing his own. He could feel her entire body thrumming, and he knew she was just as excited as he was. But he was determined to make it last. It was their wedding night, and he wanted it to be the most memorable lovemaking of their lives, not just a quick, needy romp, no matter how hasty the wedding itself had been.

He trailed his fingers over her neck, grazing her collarbone with his thumb, before he rested his hand on her chest, just over her heart.

“Finally,” he murmured. “Mine forever.”

Her eyelashes were damp and her blue eyes suspiciously shiny as she gazed back at him. “Parker…” she whispered, and it was more like a breath that escaped her than a word. He couldn’t resist cradling her close to him then, rolling her to her side so they faced each other. She twined around him and he slowly unzipped the dress, letting it fall open before tracing his fingers up and down her spine. He ran his palms over the flare of her hips, the soft curves of her ass, tucking her closer. Between them his swollen cock twitched of its own volition and Charmaine wriggled tighter against him, creating exquisite pressure on his erection.

He watched her eyes while he rocked against her, loving the way they half-closed as his fingers peeled the dress from her shoulders, drawing it down over her ample breasts. His fingers found the clasp of her bra, and with a little more maneuvering only his own clothes remained between them. With a groan he sat up and shed them while he watched her shimmy out of the open dress and peel off her panties. He lay on his back and she crawled beside him, slinging one leg across his body, pinning his cock to his stomach. Her pelvis rocked against his hip, her damp nest of hair tickling him. He couldn’t resist running his fingers up the length of her creamy thigh, then underneath to seek her heat. When he dipped into her sodden warmth his cock ached with anticipation, and he steadied himself with all he had, focused on her pleasure.

She sighed as his fingers grew more insistent with their touch, no longer teasing her but penetrating her, seeking out her most sensitive spots. He gripped her hips tightly to keep her from writhing against him, but his resolve was breaking down. He just wanted to be inside her, clutched in her hot furnace, looking into her eyes as he made her come and come again. A growl rumbled in his chest before he even realized he had made the sound and he slipped his fingers out of her, rolling her onto her back and pinning her to the mattress.

She choked out a half-whispered, “
Parker!
” in frustration as his fingers left her. But just as quickly his fingertips found her nipple, tugging it with the barest pressure, causing an answering throb between his own thighs as he moved against her. She spread her legs wide, willing him to climb between them and fill her, but instead he bent his dark head over her body, nuzzling between her ivory breasts, rasping his stubble on her feverish skin. He swirled the rosy peak in his mouth, laving it with his tongue. Her chest heaved as he licked and sucked and nuzzled, and her head thrashed on the pillow. She was making the kind of noises she made when she was ready to come and he wasn’t even inside her yet.
Jesus
.

She sought him with her eager hands, but he grasped her wrists and held them still. “Not yet,” he growled. “I need to taste my bride.” Back and forth he rubbed his face across her body, slow and soft, scratching her with his stubble before smoothing over her skin with the tender ministrations of his lips. Breathless gasps of pleasure escaped her and she twined her fingers through his hair, tugging and clutching as he kissed his way down her creamy flesh.

When he reached the fragrant little patch of curls he buried his face in it, inhaling deeply, purely animal in the way he sought out her heady scent, rubbing his cheeks and forehead and nose in her wetness, growing more aroused by the second. This is where he always lost control, in the beckoning flower of her sweet cunt. He fought to retain it as his tongue explored her intimate folds, savoring the delicate briny taste and gorgeous silken texture of her.

Charmaine gripped his hair and arched against his mouth, cooing with pleasure as he flattened his rough tongue over her slick bud. She cried out when he nipped the little pearl between his teeth, teasing it with exquisite roughness as she writhed against him. As much as he wanted her to come with him inside her, he also wanted her to come for him now, like this, while he worshiped her delicious cunt. His tongue explored her, savored her, seeking out every drop of her nectar, greedy for more. Beneath him she was lost in pleasure, eyes closed and mouth open as she shuddered in tandem with his touch.

Parker slid his finger in against her G-spot, and she arched all the way off the bed, clutching at her breasts and moaning in ecstasy. When he looked up at her from between her thighs, the woman gazing feverishly back at him was in full bloom, her cheeks brightly flushed, little dark tendrils curling around her face, wet lips parted in need. He never took his eyes away, not when his finger took up a steady rhythm inside her, not when he suckled her clit into his mouth and worked it until her thighs shook violently and she cried out.

She looked right at him when she came, and he had never seen anything more beautiful. He watched the flush spread across her chest, her breasts and neck flaming, her nipples tightening to bursting buds. Her breath was ragged and the flame burned brighter behind her eyes right before they widened in her climax. And then she was swept into the current of it and tossed out at the other side, panting and trembling and crying his name.

He gave her no time to recover, just moved right up her body and slid in easily, almost weeping with the relief of being inside her, finally easing the ache in his balls. Her inner muscles still contracted from her climax and every squeeze brought him closer to spilling inside her. He couldn’t move, not yet. He lay buried inside her and kept his eyes closed, wanting nothing more than to feast his eyes on her in this moment as she took every inch of him, her husband, her Mate. But he was afraid he wouldn’t hold out. He was as frustrated as a boy, afraid to come without warning. He didn’t trust his body, not after what he’d just witnessed.

Then she whispered his name and cupped his face between her soft hands. He watched her mouth as she pressed her lips to his and he couldn’t help moving in her. Her eyes fluttered shut, her dark lashes resting on her cheeks as he stroked into her, her mouth soft and pouting and beautiful.
I could do this forever
, he thought as she moved with him, her thighs clutching him, pulling him deeper. He was content to rock her like this for hours.

But she let out a little cry and he forgot all about that plan. She was close again. He thrust harder and saw the flush rise again in her cheeks. She grew pinker and her breath caught in her throat and her nails dug into his skin and her thighs shook. She was coming again, oh, fuck, she was coming again, but he still didn’t want to finish. She shuddered beneath him and her cunt grasped his cock - hot, unbearable, rhythmic clutching, and his orgasm was ripped from him, shooting down his spine and bubbling up from his balls before spurting into her hot, welcoming depths. He clenched his teeth and buried his face in her neck, choking incoherently as he surrendered everything to her.

She whimpered his name hoarsely, over and over again, but he never stopped thrusting, not when he felt her go limp beneath his weight, not when every drop had trickled from him. Not until she was silent and sweaty and sobbing in his arms did he finally still himself and whisper against her damp face that he would love her forever.