“Uh huh.” Her knees drop open, and her eyelids droop in anticipation. She may be sweet, but she’s not prude. She’s adorable.
I roll the condom on and rise up on my knees, lining the head of my cock up with her entrance. “Making you come is a fucking priviledge, Sadie Diaz.”
Shit, I have zero filters tonight. The relief of having my darkness exposed to her and her acceptance of it utterly changed me.
A shiver ripples through her, and her kiss-swollen lips part. She reaches for my cock and fists it firmly, guiding me in. “I need you,” she repeats.
Fuck. I need her, too.
So badly.
One stroke inside her, and I’m lost. The moon already has my blood hot. My canines lengthen, but I close my mouth firmly around them. I’m going to keep control. For Sadie, I can do it.
I slam into her with more force than I intend, but she arches and moans with satisfaction, as if it was exactly the thing she needed. “I’m gonna fuck you until you can’t walk straight tomorrow.”
I ease back and slam home again, firm and sure. Her head slides up the bed, and I have to catch her shoulder to keep it from hitting the headboard.
“F-fuck me, Deke.”
I don’t know why hearing her say the word fuck undoes me. Because it’s so unlike her. Because it means she really wants this.
I snap my hips faster, plunging in and out, watching her face for signs I’m being too rough.
I don’t see any, though. She seems to want every bit I want to give. She’s gorgeous—her thick, dark hair spread out on the pillow in a halo around her head. Her beautiful breasts pointing toward the ceiling, nipples tight and eager for my mouth. I bend and take one between my lips, sucking it.
She moans her pleasure.
The sound makes me snap my hips hard again, the pressure building at the base of my spine.
“Yes,” she encourages.
I suck the other nipple, so it doesn’t feel left out.
She pinches one of mine, which makes me smile.
“You want it hard?” I ask, belatedly, because I’m already fucking her hard. Maybe I just need to be sure.
“Yes!” she agrees. “I want it so hard.”
“Oh fuck.” I brace my hand against the headboard and work my cock between her legs—fast, with short thrusts—in, in, in, in. Each time I do, she lets out a high-pitched “uhn, uhn, uhn, uhn” that drives me fucking wild.
I’m sure the entire resort floor can hear us going at it, and that makes my wolf proud as hell.
I brace with both hands and arc into her, even faster. Even harder.
Her wild gaze is on my face. Her lips stay open for her cries of pleasure. The bed rocks against the wall, slamming into it again and again.
My wolf snarls, wanting me to set him free, dying to mark her. But I resist.
For Sadie, I resist.
“Oh Deke. Please… please!” she’s begging me. To stop? To come?
Just the thought of coming makes it happen. I wanted to fuck her all night, but the pleasure was too intense. Cum shoots down my staff. Sadie wraps her legs around me and pulls me deeper, holding me in as we both reach orgasm in perfect concert.
I let out a strangled shout. My wolf hurtles my head down into the crook of her neck, teeth ready to sink into her flesh, but at the last moment, I throw it back, like a man howling at the moon. A man-wolf, telling the whole fucking world he’s found his female.
His mate.
Mark her, my wolf whimpers.
Not yet.
He seems to sense the promise in my warning. That I do plan to mark her, just not tonight. My canines retract again.
Sadie’s safe.
Sadie’s mine.
As for telling her I’m a wolf, as for marking her—we’ll get there. When I’m certain I can always keep her safe.
Safe from my wolf and my darkness.
Chapter 13
Sadie
I wake in a warm bed. Alone, but there’s a note on the pillow from Deke.
Gone for a run.
I smile and stretch, feeling good from my hair-sprayed head to my pointed toes. Mission Seduce Deke went well.
We’re leaving today. Our fake boyfriend operation will be over. No promises on how our relationship will continue, but after the talk we had last night, I have so much optimism that we can work things out.
I pull on my hiking boots and head outside. The resort is quiet this morning, with barely anyone about. The rest of the wedding party will be sleeping late.
Outside the air is fresh and clean. It’s the perfect morning for a hike. Hopefully, I’ll run into Deke, and we can pick up where we left off.
I bounce down the hiking trail, quickly leaving the green resort grounds for a worn, rocky path. A twig snaps behind me.
“Deke?” I call, turning and heading back the way I came.
“Sadie.” Scott steps out from behind a bushy bristlecone pine tree.
Ew! Total creeper! I skid to a halt. “Scott.”
“We need to talk.” His voice is hoarse. He’s still in his tux from last night. His eyes are red and his breath stinks like vodka.
Yuck.
“Did you even sleep last night?”
“Can’t sleep.” He seizes my arms, and I get a whiff of his foul breath mixed with stale cologne up close. I gag, trying to push him off.
“Go away.” I manage to get free. He trips on a rock, trying to follow.
“Sadie, I want to be with you.”
“No. You just think someone’s playing with your toy. I never meant anything to you. It was about my dad’s contacts. You can’t get development projects through the town council without his support.”
“Fuck, Sadie, no.” He staggers forward and falls on me, his heavy weight dragging me down. I scream and try to wrench my jacket out of his grip.
“Scott, you’re hurting me—”
A savage growl sounds from the slope above us. Every hair on my body bristles in warning.
Predator!
My muscles turn to stone, and I stop fighting Scott, who fumbles, pawing at me, before standing straight, belatedly turning towards the threat. There’s another growl, and a huge black shape bounds down the slope toward us.
“Wha—?” Scott’s question is cut off by the giant shadow slamming into him. He goes down flailing, and I scream.
Scott lands on the ground, and over him stands the biggest, baddest black wolf I’ve ever seen.
I stumble backward. My boot hits a rock, and I fall, catching myself at the last moment. The wolf’s head turns toward me, and I flinch.
Then it swivels back to Scott, opens its giant jaws and lets out a growl that’s more like a roar.
Run! Adrenaline screams in my veins.
Scott lets out a high-pitched squeal. Fudge, he’s about to get eaten. I have to do something! My legs wobble.
“No!” I snap in my sternest teacher voice. Without thinking, I grab a branch to beat the wolf off of him.
Before I can swing, the wolf backs off. Somehow Scott scrambles upwards.
“Hey!” I try to distract the wolf, so Scott can get away—and he does, hightailing it up to the resort, his shredded tux tails flapping in his wake. Leaving me with the wolf.
Alone.
What a prick.
I take a backward step and adjust my grip on the branch. Fudge.
“This is not how I thought I’d go,” I tell the wolf.