Gathering Their Mates Page 4

  “My wolf seems to think otherwise.” He growled, feeling her tense body press back against his, drawn to him even through her fear of what she had done.

  “Tell him sorry.” She spat out and heard the gentle chuckle of her mate’s laughter in her ear, as his free hand ran down over the damp skin of her arm. Her lashes fluttered and her muscles eased as she felt the stirring of arousal within her.

  “He won’t hurt you, Ashley, just like I won’t hurt you.” When he nuzzled against her shoulder to take in her scent, her inner muscles almost convulsed with the need for him. Damn, and she though Silver was the one who had it bad. When her eyes closed and her head tipped back into his shoulder. She felt his lips trail across the soft skin of her neck, and the bones in her body turned to liquid. The steel band of Vaughn’s arm around her waist was the only thing keeping her from becoming a puddle on the floor at his feet.

  “Too soon, I don’t know you.” She gasped against the overwhelming feeling that flooded through her.

  “You know that I am your mate, and that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together. That can’t start soon enough.” His words made perfect sense and yet she held back. Maybe that was the problem, this was the beginning of the rest of her life, and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to start that right this minute.

  “I like shoes…” She wasn’t sure what the hell made her say that, it just came to her, and when she felt the hot breath of another chuckle skim over her skin she tried to focus on what the hell made that little nugget pop out. “You don’t have shoe shops here.” That was it. That was what was playing on her mind, leaving the city for a muddy field.

  “We have cars, Ashley. And the internet…” Hell if his mate wanted him to drive her to the other side of the country to pick flowers he’d do it.

  “And coffee…” The way his lips felt against her skin had to be illegal it was so damn good. The feeling travelled along every nerve within her body until it balled like a fist of promise inside her very womb. She’d never felt anything like it before, just his damn lips and the touch of his fingers that were now travelling up her outer thigh, had her closer to an orgasm than a few of her past lovers had ever managed to take her.

  “We have a very expensive coffee making machine at the main cabin, and I can learn to make you anything you want. I’ll give you anything you want, whenever you want it. That’s what mates are for.”

  Right now, with his fingers trailing up over her naked hip, swirling over her too sensitive skin, and back down towards her inner thigh, she knew exactly what she wanted, exactly what she needed. It was insane and yet it felt so natural. How had she succumbed to his touch so easily? She had flirted with one night stands in the past. Once, but that was the raging hormones of her younger years and too much alcohol. She wasn’t drunk now, just drunk on him, dizzy with desire for him.

  “I need…” Ashley felt his fingers trail a path up towards her sex and reached for the arm around her waist for something to hold onto. Her mind and body were centred on his touch, on him, and she couldn’t fight it, didn’t want to.

  “Me.” He growled beside her ear, the rumble sent a shockwave through her body.

  “Yes.” She was done trying to explain it to herself. She was done with thoughts of anything but him and how damn good he was going to feel inside her.

  His hand cupped her mound and his fingers slipped over the moist heat of her folds and she moaned against the feel of him there. His lips were pressed against her neck, and when he ran his tongue up towards her ear and nipped her lobe, she lost any hope of returning to reason. This was fate, this was right, this was her mate.

  Vaughn wasn’t sure if he was going to damn well explode before he even pushed inside her, she had driven him insane from the moment he laid eyes on her, and now that she was soft and compliant in his arms, he wanted to take her right there and then. Thrust inside her and mark her as his. But that wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t just some female, she was his mate.

  He kicked the bedroom door open with his boot and lifted her against him. She weighed nothing in his arms, as he turned her body against his and placed her down on the floor in front of him. His hand reached for the towel and he yanked it away from her body and threw it on the floor, as she stood there naked and unashamed in front of him.

  He took a long moment to take her in, the round curves of her breasts, the dark nipples that pointed their need for his mouth, the slight swell of her stomach, and the fullness of her hips, and those legs he wanted to feel wrapped around him. But it was the strip of curls that caught his attention the most, and he swallowed hard at the thought of nuzzling there and tasting her.

  “Like what you see?” Ashley managed, even if it did sound breathless too her ears, and she heard his low growl of desire as his black eyes came back to hers and held her pinned to the spot.

  “You’re beautiful.” He growled out, and then started to strip off his clothes. Discarding them on the floor beside her towel as her eyes feasted on her man.

  The broad shoulders that announced to the world his Lycan power, the hard muscles of his chest and abdomen, with the covering of dark hair that pointed the way down towards his arousal, thick and hard, and glistening with the juices that had already beaded there and were smeared by his clothes.

  He kicked off his boots and stepped out of his jeans, but before he could make a move towards her, she had already stepped closer to him. Her hand reached for his shaft and she closed her fingers around him as best she could. The action caused him to become a statue of pure willpower, forcing himself not to move, as he found his breath caught in his chest and his fists clenched at his sides.

  One stroke down his shaft and he was on fire with the desire to reach for her and yank her towards him. But he held in place as he saw her tongue peek out between her lips and moisten them.

  “Ashley…” He growled, quickly losing the will to live, she was killing him with kindness.

  “Me first.” She whispered, as she dropped to her knees and swirled her tongue over the tip of him, stroking down with her fist. And it took everything he had not to drop to his knees in front of her. The first lick of her tongue down his shaft made him groan, the second, back up, made him growl, and when she took the tip inside the wet heat of her mouth, he could had roared his pleasure.

  “I’m not going to be able to control…” He growled down at her. And her dark eyes travelled up his body and met his, as she took as much of him inside her mouth as she could get. Pleasure, desire and permission stared back at him in her eyes, and he forced himself to relax against the building ache within his sack to release. “Oh Christ woman.” He growled out as he fisted her hair and allowed his hips to sway towards her, taking her mouth in a gentle slide that felt so damn good.

  He ached with a need to taste her on his tongue, ached with the need to be inside her, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from wanting this brain numbing pleasure that his mate was giving him. She’d gone from submission, to the calling of her body to his, to wild against him in a matter of minutes, and now she was doing things to him with her tongue that he’d only imagined a woman could.

  He felt the pressure in his lower back building, and when her fingers stroked the skin behind his sack he couldn’t hold on any longer. Taking her mouth faster, as his hands in her hair kept her mouth in place. His eyes locked with hers in the most erotic way, as he pushed into her. He thought he’d gone too far when he nudged the back of her throat, but the feel of her throat closing around him as she swallowed him down made him lose his mind. His seed gushed down her throat, and he threw his head back and growled his pleasure, only instinct telling him to pull back, before he thrust again until he was done.

  It took him a long moment to gather himself. His muscles quivered as they somehow managed to hold him up, and he reached down for her, dragging her up the length of his body and claiming her mouth with a reverence, as she practically climbed up his body and wrapped her legs around his hips.

  “My turn.” He growled against her lips, as he walked her to the bed and eased her down on the mattress beneath him.

  Silver thanked the Lycan woman for the plate of barbecued ribs, and eyed them with intent to devour, as she turned on her heels and found the solid chest of her mate in front of her. With a resigned sigh she followed his chest upwards until she met the chocolate brown of his eyes.

  “I know you’re smitten with me puppy, but I don’t think I can stomach my food with you staring at me…” She heard his gentle growl and fought the urge to smile. “But if you ask the lady nicely, she might throw you a bone to gnaw on while I have my dinner.” She heard the snigger of the woman who had just served her, and saw his jaw clench with annoyance. He reached for her plate and snatched it away, thrusting it back at the woman, as grabbed her arm and started to march her away from the crowd.

  “What the hell?” Silver bit down on the anger that rolled through her, but she had two options. Walk with him, or get dragged along.

  “We need to talk.” He growled out. Her eyes flicked to his face as she tried to release her arm from his grip, but he held her with a power that only using her magic would be able to break, and she knew she couldn’t do that. She also knew by the way his jaw was grinding that he wasn’t in any mood to put up with even the slightest hint of her magic right now. So she clamped her mouth shut and tried to keep up with his long strides across the uneven ground.

  It felt like forever in her mind as the tension built within her over what would happen when they got to where they were going. When he walked down the dark, shaded side of a cabin and spun her back against the hard wall of wood, she gasped in a breath, as his hips pinned her in place, and he leaned down in over her. One hand palming the wood either side of her shoulder
s. Trapped was an understatement.

  “I won’t have you disrespecting me in front of the other packs.” He growled down at her, and she felt the anger mixed with anxiety run through her body like a firestorm.

  “Ego took a dent did it?” She snapped back at him, having no other choice but to tip her head back against the wall so she could see his eyes. And she regretted it instantly. Black with the anger that soared through him, he looked more menacing and more powerful than she had seen him before. Even when she had thrown him across the field in anger he hadn’t looked this damn mad.

  “You are my mate…” He growled and she snorted her contempt.

  “That’s not my fault. I didn’t choose you…” There was a slight sneer of disgust in her voice, as she fought the need to be free of his proximity. It was having the desired effect on her body, and she couldn’t afford to feel that desire right now, when all she wanted to do was zap him good and hard, and make him sorry he dragged her across the field like that.

  “And I didn’t choose a pig headed mule for a mate either. But you are mine nether the less…”

  “And what about you showing me up? Dragging me away from the barbecue like an ogre.” She snapped back at him. Her green eyes flashing with fire as he stared down at her. Slowly placating his wolf within him, as the anger he felt turned to desire in mere moments. He took a long calming breath and leaned his forehead against hers.

  “It was necessary.” He offered, calmer and more in control of himself now.

  Silver went from anxious and angry to unsure in the matter of a few heartbeats. This big hulk of a man seemed to lose his will to throttle her as quickly as she lost the will to cause him pain.

  “No it wasn’t.” She whispered, as she closed her eyes and felt the hard ridge of his need for her against her stomach, as his breath caressed her face. Her heart was kicking and punching within her chest, as he moved his lips to hers and brushed them in the most tender of touches.

  It wasn’t something she had expected to feel from him. She had thought he would be a demanding lover right from the very first touch. But his lips barely touched hers and he placed slow, tender kisses against her mouth. Her pulse raced, and her hands climbed up the hard ridges of pure muscle of his chest to rest against his shoulders, but still he didn’t deepen the kiss.

  When his hand cupped her cheek she gasped with the intensity of the jolt that surged through her, and his tongue traced the opening of her parted lips, exciting her to the point where she wanted nothing more than for him to push inside, run his tongue over hers, and when he did, it was so gentle that she wanted to curl herself around his body and purr with satisfaction.

  From the moment he laid eyes on her he had seen the fire of passion that burned brightly within her. His mate was like him, when her back was too the wall she would come out fighting, her claws out and ready at the slightest whiff of trouble, and knew that if he wanted to get beneath the tough exterior to her heart, he would need to be less alpha.

  There would be time to explore the fire of passion that ragged within her when she was his mate. Right now, he needed to ignite the need for him that she had locked up behind the wall of anger.

  He could have thrown her back against the wall and dominated her into submission. Been demanding and domineering in his efforts to claim her, and he knew she would have responded in kind, meeting his need with the same fury. But like this, appealing to her gentler side, pushing his wolf to the furthest reaches of his mind, she was off guard and open to him in a way she didn’t understand. She was more like him than she knew, but he was willing to explore her softer side if it helped her to come to terms with their bond.

  Slowly, deliberately he teased her senses with gentle kisses that held the promise of so much more. He felt her shields drop around her and the waves of passion floated towards him, meeting his own, as he finally took the kiss deeper, gently coaxing her need for him within her, as her fingers curled into his shoulders and she pressed her hips back against his.

  “Who knew you were really a pussy cat.” She breathed out, as he released her mouth and worked his way down her neck to nuzzle into the curve of her shoulder, taking in her scent, before running his tongue up and over the vein in her neck until he reached her ear, gently tugging against her lobe before he whispered against her ear.

  “I can be.” He felt the long shiver run through her body and circled his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. The hard buds of her nipples ached to awareness at the touch of his body, and she moaned gently in her throat. “I can make love to you slowly, gently, until you come with my name just a breath on your lips. Or I can take you with long, hard, deep thrusts until you come apart crying out for me, Silver. As long as I’m bringing you pleasure, I have no preference as to how it’s achieved.” And then his lips were back on hers again, before she had time to answer him. If she could have answered him at all. Her mind was reeling with the barrage of imagery his words had instilled within her mind.

  He pulled back away from her and gave her a long moment to come to her senses. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, a smile on his lips. “And when you’re ready I’ll show you.” He promised, and watched a flicker of a frown on her face.

  “What if I’m ready now?” She was challenging him again, and he stroked his thumbs down over her skin and placed a gentle kiss against her lips, before drawing back again.

  “You’re not ready. You still want to test your claws in my flesh.” He released her and stepped back, and she felt oddly bereft, as if she were adrift at sea without even a lifebelt to cling on to.

  He held out his hand for her and she slipped her palm over his, the hum to her body that his touch brought seemed somehow comforting.

  “I thought alpha’s liked to fight.” She teased, as he lead her away from the cabin and back into the open field.

  “We do. But mates have a protective instinct to provide everything their females need, and right now, your stomach is growling for food.” He let go of her hand, but his fingers climbed up her arm and around her shoulder, and he felt her move into his embrace, nestled against him, as he walked her back towards the barbecue. The eyes of his pack following them as he showed them his mate.

  “Well I know you are supposed to be the Lycan ambassador, but this is a far more important job.” Iris informed Emily, as she tried to get a grip on what the woman was telling her. All she knew right now was that Iris had released her from what she was supposed to be doing and was moving onto something else.

  “Important how?” Emily asked, feeling the excitement grow within her. Important a position or important the end of the world?

  “We have been trying to get one of the most stubborn, pig headed…” Iris caught herself and tapped into her calming aura, the one that filled her with bliss, and after dealing with him she needed all the bliss she could get. He’d been a thorn in her side for as long as she could remember. “So finally he has come to his senses, and has decided that he will discuss relinquishing some of the Fae artefacts he holds in his possession back to us.”

  “Who?” Emily asked seeing the older woman’s face sour, as she lifted her index finger and pointed over Emily’s shoulder.

  Emily turned her head and almost folded in on herself, as Kirk beamed a smirk at her and waved in a teasing display of victory. The small whine that left Emily’s lips didn’t go unnoticed, as she turned back to Iris.

  “You two have met?” Iris raised her brows expectantly and Emily sighed.

  “In a way.”

  “Good, well he’s asked for you to negotiate…” Iris informed her, cocking a brow as if to say, she didn’t understand it, but would go along with it for the sake of getting the artefacts back.

  “Did he now?” Emily breathed out her lack of enthusiasm.

  “We’re counting on you to get them.” Iris pressed her point home, and Emily chewed her inner lip and mentally rolled her eyes.

  “Oh you’ll get them.” Emily informed the woman, and Iris looked somewhat taken back by Emily’s surety. Her gaze flicking back to the annoyingly smug vampire that was walking towards them.