Wolf’s Glory (17 page)

She screamed, her voice so thick with lust the words weren"t quite comprehensible,

“Come on, fuck me like an animal!”

She arched her back to help, and he found what he was looking for. With one powerful thrust he seated himself deep inside her. His invasion stretched her wide, creating a burning pleasure that bordered on pain inside her. She shrieked. He pulled out and slammed back in.

The only thing keeping her from being pushed away was the strength of the arm he had wrapped around her. He pulled out and hammered back in, growling, “Mine.” He said it again with every thrust, until it was a steady chant in her ear. She was vaguely aware of his free hand groping over the neck of her T-shirt, looking for a way under so he could touch her bare skin, but what had most of her interest was the feel of him pounding inside her, driving her to new heights of pleasure. The beat and lyrics of “Closer” swam through her mind.
I
wanna fuck you like an animal
. And he was doing exactly that, holding her in a vulnerable position and driving into her so hard that the slap of their flesh coming together was loud enough to be heard over her panting groans. Who would have thought that his he-man tactics would get her so hot so fast? She had been expecting a rousing argument and then some hot makeup sex. But apparently Shadow wanted to have the sex first. She approved. Oh, yeah, she was on board with this. She was totally under his control. Why did that turn her on? She wanted to examine that foreign idea, but she exploded into orgasm, and she lost interest in everything else for a while. His continued thrusts kept the shimmering aftermath of her orgasm going until she was shaking from it, making small panting noises almost like sobs and hanging limp from his arm.

That arm, holding her in position for his wild thrusts, was the anchor that kept her from going face-first into the grass. A savage howl drowned out her moans, and her anchor loosened. Her arms and legs gave way, and she flopped down to the ground like an overused dishrag. Her mouth was planted in the trampled grass, desperately trying to drag air into her lungs. She barely had strength enough to turn her head to get her mouth clear of the suffocating grass. Damn. Her throat was a little sore. Had she been screaming? If she had, who could blame her? She thought last night"s orgasm had been mind-blowing. But

compared to this? Not so much. This savage lovemaking was fantastic. But once in a while was enough. Her knees felt bruised, and her palms were sore from friction with the dried grass. But it was so worth it. Damn, he was good!

Strong arms picked her up and carried her to the bed. She realized that during their festivities the sun must have set completely. It was totally dark in the tent. Shadow put her on the new feather mattress carefully and pulled the blankets up over her. Her jeans were still half on, twisted around her ankles. He touched her hair briefly.

“I"m sorry.” His voice sounded tired and thin. “I"ll bring the Grandmother to you.”

Without the lamp it was pitch-black in the tent until he lifted the door flap. His head was turned away from her as he dipped through the door. Then he was gone, the flap closing off the thin glow of the cloud-shielded moon. She wanted her aftersex cuddle. What the hell did he think he was doing, rushing off after giving her the best sex she"d ever had?

“Hey!” she yelled, struggling with her jeans and the blankets to get out of the bed. She flopped awkwardly off the mattress without meaning to. Instead of catching herself with her hands or even her knees, the first part of her body to find the ground was her face. In the dark she hit her nose and mouth on the ground. “Ow! Shit, that hurts! Shadow, you asshole! Shit, shit, shit!”

Dammit, her lip stung. Her nose throbbed. Tears rose to her eyes as something wet and warm ran over her lips. Her nose was bleeding! What else could go wrong? Why didn"t Shadow come back and help her? Glory hunched over, dragging her T-shirt free of her half unfastened bustier and holding it to her nose with one hand while trying to pull up her jeans with the other. Her panties were somewhere here, but she couldn"t find them in the dark.

Where the hell was a flashlight?

The flap opened, and she let the T-shirt drop long enough to look over her shoulder.

“Shadow, you asshole, why did you…”

Muddy Wolf stood there with a face like an avenging angel, staring at her bare white ass before wheeling around and leaving. With a humiliated squawk, Glory fumbled for her jeans.

Jill came in, carrying a lantern. She looked horrified when she set the lantern down without ever looking away from Glory"s face.

“I didn"t believe Shadow when he said he raped you,” she said sadly. “I"ve brought bandages. Tara"s heating the water, and Sandra"s bringing some rags. They"ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Rape?” Glory gave up trying to pull her jeans up. “He didn"t rape me.”

Jill handed her a rag. “He said he did. He surrendered himself to the Council and told us he had forced himself on you.”

“What a moron. Do I look like I"ve been raped?”

Jill made a face. “You look like the poster child for the Society For the Prevention of Battered Woman Syndrome. Tilt your head back. Is your nose broken?”

“No!” At least she hoped not. She wasn"t pretty, but she liked her nose just the way it was. “And Shadow didn"t rape me. We just got a little … enthusiastic.”

“So enthusiastic that he broke your nose?” Jill asked sarcastically.

“What? No! That happened after he left. I fell out of bed.” Jill didn"t seem to believe her.

It did sound lame, like a victim of domestic abuse claiming she ran into a door, but it was the truth. “Honest. Jill, do you think I"d cover for him if he hurt me? Me?”

Jill relaxed slightly. “That"s true. You"d be more likely to hunt him down and shoot him.

Or at least punch him.”

“Right. I don"t want to punch him. Well, only for leaving me. Not for the doggie sex. He went out there and told you he raped me?”

Jill"s lips quivered into a reluctant smile. “Doggie sex, huh? He was probably feeling like he had to dominate you, and we both know how well you take to being dominated.”

Actually, it was great. It had led to fantastic sex and an orgasm that went on forever. She would have to tick Shadow off again sometime. Maybe not for a while though. She was a little sore.

There was a polite cough outside the tent and then the flap opened and Emma and Tara came in, each carrying a pail, followed by Sandra carrying a stack of cloth. Emma"s face hardened when she saw Glory, and Sandra was clearly shocked, but mild little Tara surprised Glory. She set her pail down and put a gentle hand on Glory"s head.

“My son will pay for this,” she said fiercely.

Glory waved a hand. “No, it"s okay.” Her voice was thick and nasal from the swelling in her nose. “He didn"t do anything wrong. I fell and hit my nose.”

“Don"t you worry about it, Glory.” Sandra dunked some cloth into one of the pails.

“We"ll take care of you. Let"s get you cleaned up.”

Glory let Tara and Emma put cool wet rags on her nose and gently wipe her bloody lips.

They tried to wash her chest and private parts too. She snatched the rag away with a glare. Or her best, painful attempt at a glare. Dammit, her face hurt. Her knees were bloody and her palms were scraped. Tara and Emma washed those, faces tight. Glory cautiously removed her blood-encrusted fake diamond stud from her nose and put it on the ground next to the leg of the bed.

Sandra"s usually sour face was weepy. “I … I"m sorry, Glory. All this time I"ve been jealous of you. Jimmy White Elk courted me, and I married him, but the brother I really wanted was Shadow. I never knew he could treat a woman this way. I"m glad his wolf didn"t pick me!”

Glory felt a flicker of possessiveness, but beat it down. Shadow didn"t want Sandra. His wolf hadn"t chosen Sandra. “Shadow didn"t rape me,” she told all the women earnestly, pulling her jeans up sans panties and snapping them closed. Those panties were toast after Shadow had ripped them off her. “He didn"t. I liked it. And I kinda goaded him into it. I thought he was going along with me. You know, just blowing off steam and having a little fun.”

Sandra shuddered and Emma shook her head. Tara was serious. “Glory, whether you

liked it or not, what Shadow did to you is wrong. He didn"t care whether you liked it or not.

Your pleasure was not his goal. He has to be punished.”

Well, Tara had a point. Shadow had been savage. If she hadn"t been so turned on by his stupid but sexy dominating thing it could have been a horrible, painful rape. She had told him to fuck her like an animal and he had. Holy crow, he had! But what she had seen as playtime he had intended for punishment. Outrage swelled in her. That jerk! If he ever laid a hand on her against her will she"d kill him.

“Shadow wanted to force me to stay here with him,” she said slowly.

Jill nodded. “That"s right. There are not many things that a Beta can be punished for, but hurting a mate, or trying to force her to accept him are the two that are punishable by death or banishment.”

Glory"s eyes snapped so wide it hurt. “But he didn"t do anything to deserve
that
.”

“He doesn"t know that. Glory, for this relationship to work, you have to take a stand. He has his tail between his legs now, so this is the perfect time for you to establish yourself with him. Show him you"re an Alpha.”

Glory made the football time-out sign. “Whoa. What exactly is an Alpha?”

“Really?” Jill shrugged. “Basically, a control freak. And Shadow, bless his bossy heart, is the most Alpha son of a bitch I know. An Alpha has a need to always be in charge. As long as everybody else does what he says, he"s okay. If someone bucks his system he has to either make them toe the line or he has to admit that they"re dominant to him.”

Tara continued. “The only person Shadow is submissive to is his father. Muddy Wolf submits to no one. If I ask him for something he"ll try to get it for me, but not because he submits to me. He loves me and wants to make me happy. I"m not Alpha. But you are.”

“Me?” Glory put a hand on her chest. “I"m not a control freak.”

“Ha-ha,” said Jill politely.

“I don"t expect people to do what I say.”

“Until it"s something you think is important,” Jill corrected. “What did you do to make Shadow try to prove his dominance?”

“Nothing!”

Emma chuckled. “The question should be „What didn"t you do?"”

Glory remembered Shadow"s gravelly voice demanding that she admit that she belonged to him. “Nothing,” she mumbled.

“Well.” Jill got up from the bed. “Nice bed. He and some of the other young men made it in a hurry, but it is sturdy enough for the two of you. He"s trying, Glory. If you want to stay with him over the winter, I"ll understand.”

“No…” Glory broke off. She was confused. The thought of having access to a hot

shower in a real bathroom would be like going to heaven. But months without Shadow?

Jill seemed to read her mind. “If you can dominate him he"ll do what you say.”

“I don"t want to dominate him!” Glory recoiled from the idea. “I just want us to be a regular couple. You know, friends.”

Emma shook her head. “It doesn"t work like that with wolves. There"s always a

hierarchy in a pack, even between mates. But you can use this opportunity to make him acknowledge you as an Alpha. Shadow gives way to his father out of love and respect. He needs to respect you as an equal.”

“We"re going to take you out there, Glory, so he can see how badly you"re hurt.” Jill walked over to the door. “He"s drowning in guilt. Once he gets a look at your black eyes and your poor swollen mouth he"ll give you anything you want.”

Glory didn"t want a henpecked husband.

Whoa, where had that thought come from? She didn"t want a husband at all.

Did she?

This was no time to be thinking of that. Poor Shadow was out there convinced he had hurt her. She had to let him know that she had enjoyed their rough sex. Next time a softer surface for her hands and knees would be good. But she wasn"t complaining. She had gone off like a rocket. Her other orgasms had been sparklers compared to the pyrotechnics of tonight. But she also had to let him know sex should be joyous and fun, not a punishment, and if he ever tried to use sex to force her to agree with him she would cut off his balls. She flipped up the door flap and walked out. As always, she stumbled over the door opening, and Emma caught her elbow. She let Emma support her for a second until she found her bearings.

She looked around for Shadow. There. He stood with his father and some other older men in the area in front of the Council tent. Instead of his usual arrogant stance of shoulders back and chin lifted, his head drooped between slumped shoulders. He lifted his head and something flared in his eyes when he saw her standing there. She shook Emma"s support off and walked toward him.

How could he have done it? How could he have raped his mate? Shadow had never

regretted being an Alpha with an Alpha"s need to dominate until now. His father"s condemnation couldn"t match the condemnation coming from his own heart. Glory would leave him now and he couldn"t blame her. He could still hear her sobs, the small helpless sounds she had made while he used his body to punish her for thinking she could leave him.

She had shown him last night what he should do to prepare her body to accept him, but tonight he hadn"t cared for her comfort. He had been too intent on forcing her to submit. And the worst thing of all was that he had liked it. He could never forgive himself.

His father grunted. “There she is.”

Shadow looked up and the sight of Glory"s blood-stained T-shirt and blackening eyes made his heart shrivel like a piece of paper in the fire. She was moving carefully, too. What had he done to her? Shadow wanted to drop to his knees and beg her to forgive him. He wanted to run his hands over her to see how badly she was hurt. But he couldn"t do that; she wouldn"t want him touching her ever again.

Glory was flanked by his mother on one side and the Grandmother on the other. Aunt Emma and his brother"s wife were behind them. His mother had always been the Clan"s comforter, the one who could always make things better with her gentle compassion. Now her face was as grim as the Grandmother"s. Aunt Emma radiated disapproval and accusation.