Loner (Norseton Wolves #2) Read online

  She gave her head a hard shake.

  “No? Damn. I guess my wolf instincts are off.”

  “They seem to be working fine from where I’m lying. How about one more try?”

  “I’ll try to get it right.” He considered her body from head to toes, and snapped his fingers in a revelatory fashion. “Aha!” Bending, he pressed his lips to hers, and with a moan, she opened her mouth.

  He’d never been much for kissing. No one had ever demanded it of him, and it seemed like such a personal thing. But this was his mate. His wife. He could probably figure out how to manage a decent kiss, and he wanted to if it made her smile at him the way she did.

  He dipped his tongue into her mouth and explored all the soft parts—her tongue, lips, and the insides of her cheeks—and toyed at the edges of her teeth, savoring the sharp sting when she bit down a bit. And she kissed back, sliding her fingers into his hair and pulling him down even more. She nibbled at his lips, bit along his scruffy jaw, and tugged at his earlobes. She lashed her tongue into his ear, and he was surprised when he realized the moan he heard was his own.

  “Do you want to look?” she asked breathily.

  “Yes.”

  “Then go ahead. It’s ready for you.”

  She spread her legs, and he moved in between them, reaching inside her dress to snatch her panties off, but there were none there.

  “Oh, gods.” He pushed up her hem and got on his belly to see, finally, what he had gotten and what he would be getting. “So sexy,” he murmured, sliding his index finger down her wet slit. She’d waxed or shaved, or something—there was just one small patch of dusky red hair right over her clit, and it seemed to be saying, touch here—lick here. So, he did. He pulled the little nub into his mouth and rolled it on his tongue.

  “Yes. Like that. More of that.”

  “I’m doing okay?”

  She pushed his face back against her sex. “Lick. Suck.”

  “Right.” He wasn’t done looking, though. He had to see more. He parted her and took in her slick folds and the inviting wetness between her puffy lips. He put his tongue right there for a taste and wiggled the tip inside her for some manna straight from the source. It was the best dessert he’d ever had, and a feast for the eyes unlike any he’d ever seen. “You make me so fucking hard,” he said before diving back in. He loved the way she clenched at his touch, how her pussy clamped around his fingers and tried to draw him in.

  “Show me,” she said. “Show me how hard you are.”

  “But—”

  She hooked her toes into his waistband and pushed his pants down a couple of inches. Not enough, but he got the idea of what she wanted to see.

  “I wasn’t done looking.”

  “Look more later. I want to see you now.”

  “Me?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised, baby. That’s how relationships go, usually. People in them take turns.”

  “Having never been in one before now, I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  She sat up and performed some unbelievable contortion of her left arm to tug the zipper at her spine down. She undid her bra’s clasp while she was back there, and freed her heavy breasts from their unfortunate bindings.

  Wolf or not, he wanted to pounce on her like a fucking cat and lick her hard nipples and the scar from his bite. He wanted to suck purple marks onto her skin there. Like leaving a graffiti tag, he wanted to show where he’d been, but also enjoy himself to the fullest while he was still there.

  “Show me!” she said forcefully, verbally nudging him from his semi-paralyzed state. “Let me see how hard I make you, Darius.”

  Gods. He yanked off his shirt and shoved his pants down to his knees. His aching cock jutted straight as an arrow in front of him, and seemed to bob from her intense inspection.

  “Put that in me, and kiss me while you fuck me, if you can manage it.”

  “That’s easy.” He kicked the pants to the floor, and yanked her dress the rest of the way off. Kneeling between her legs, he palmed her breasts and groaned. “Fuck, woman.”

  “Tell me what you’re thinking when you look at me like that.”

  “That—that you look like something out of a pin-up girl book.”

  “You think I look like a pin-up girl?” That flirty grin of hers made his heart thrash. It hinted that perhaps he’d said something right. “That’s a huge compliment.”

  “You deserve it.” He reluctantly unhanded her and hitched her legs up to his hips. He lie atop her, his cock positioned at her entrance, and licked the seam of her lips so she’d open for him. “I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

  “At first, I thought I repulsed you. I thought—”

  “No, no, no. Gods, no.” He plunged into her and roared at the intense pleasure. He was ready to come just from the triumph of being inside her. No one was as lucky as him.

  “Kiss me, baby.”

  “Show me how. Like you did before.”

  “Gladly.” She set the pace, and he matched it down below. He thrust slowly at first, to let her channel adjust to his shaft, and then picked up speed.

  He ate every one of her little moans and did everything he could to help her make more of them. She seemed to like when he rocked his hips, so he did more of that. She growled when he ground deep inside her, so he repeated that, too. And when she repeated “Darius! Darius! Darius!” he thrust faster and faster to push her to that ledge he so desperately needed her to fall over soon.

  “Come on.” She clamped her thighs harder against him and tipped back her head. Through clenched teeth, she growled, “Give it to me. Every drop. Make me scream when you come. I want to feel your cock jerking inside me.”

  He’d give her anything, and that was certainly easy enough.

  “Fuck. Fuck.” His claws extended, and he punctured the mattress as his cock expended his load. She shuddered beneath him. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she panted wordlessly, seeming unable to catch her breath. Her pussy clamped around his cock repeatedly as she found her orgasm, squeezing every bit of ejaculate from him and practically holding him captive—not that he minded. He’d stay inside her forever if he could. He liked her saying his name—liked the attention she paid him. It made the lone wolf want to heel for her and do her bidding.

  He wanted her in his space—his inner sanctum. Just her, and no one else.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  After a couple of weeks of learning the nuances of Darius’s silence and his energy, Stephanie worried that she was letting her wolf fall into a pattern of complacency. When they were at home together, learning each other’s bodies and her being warmed by the sound of his voice, she didn’t think about the outside. She didn’t care about how he functioned in the greater world, because when they were in bed or on the sofa with the television on, nothing out there mattered. They lived two separate lives, though. Joined at the hip when they were together, but when Stephanie was out without him, she craved interaction and socialization. She worried she should have been trying harder to fold him into that part of her world.

  She needed a reality check, and so she’d appealed to fellow mate Christina to get one.

  Christina worked at the executive mansion, and probably saw more of the pack as they worked than even Mrs. Carbone, who also worked in there, in the kitchen.

  They sat on the window seat of the library Christina worked out of and looked out onto the grounds. The wolves had hired some contract security guards for Norseton, and were training them out in the courtyard. Alpha was always around for that, but the other wolves rotated in and out, depending on what the day’s lesson was. Darius was an expert marksman, which was why he was on hand at the moment. He didn’t seem to be enjoying his teacher role much, though, judging by the tight set of his lips and the persistent grinding of his teeth.

  “He’s like Anton in a lot of ways,” Christina said, referring to her husband.

  “But Anton is reclusive because of his scars, not because he’s trying
to avoid people. He’ll put on his patch and go out with the others if he’s asked to.”

  Christina made a waffling gesture. “He’d rather stay home. He’s always got so much to do, and I think the perception that he’s falling behind on anything makes him anxious. But, you’re right, he doesn’t have a problem interacting with people. He just hates most of them.”

  Stephanie stifled her laugh. “I don’t think Darius hates people. I think…I think he’s afraid of them.” It pained her to admit it. He was her man, and she adored him, but the way social interactions crippled him broke her heart. She couldn’t even pretend to understand what he felt. She’d always been outgoing.

  “That’s the wolf in him,” Christina said. “Probably has a lot to do with how he was brought up. I bet he spent more time in his animal form than his boy form.”

  “He did.” Another thing that had broken her heart. When he was expelled from his birthpack, he’d had no choice but to take the shape he was stronger in as he traveled. “Damn, I just wish I could go back and undo some things.”

  “Why?” Christina furrowed her forehead. “To make him normal? Or what you think is normal?”

  “To make it easier for him. When he’s afraid, my wolf gets afraid, too. She doesn’t understand what’s wrong, and I don’t know how to fix that. There weren’t any wolves like him in my father’s pack. I don’t understand the personality type.”

  “I can’t say I know what that means, either. Anton won’t bite me, so my inner wolf’s not fully awake. But I do know that Anton isn’t the kind of man who’d want pity for the things that he considers to be flaws. He thinks they’re his lot in life, and he compensates accordingly. I do the same thing when it comes to him. I treat him the way he needs to be treated, and that may change from one day to the next. Our mates will keep us on our toes, for sure.”

  Stephanie grunted in agreement.

  “What is it you think Darius needs?”

  “I don’t know, really. I guess my instinct is to force him to be more social, but not only does he not have the training for it, I wonder if he’s just not equipped for it. His first pack kicked him out because he had the makings of an alpha, but what if he was designed to be a lone wolf all along?”

  “I think he was,” Christina said softly.

  “But what does that mean for a pack structure? What would newcomers think?”

  “There are few rules in this pack, so why does it have to mean anything at all?”

  “Huh.” Stephanie leaned back against the window and stared unseeing at a bookcase across the room. “Why does it? He just needs to pull his weight, right?”

  “Yes. And there are a lot of ways he can do that. The greater concern is what kind of father he’d make.”

  “I don’t have worries about that.” A man who cuddled the way Christina’s wolf did probably wouldn’t have any problems holding a baby. In fact, she looked forward to seeing him with one of theirs. Just by being present, he would already be a far better father than hers was. But, if their children wanted to have friends over, then what? Would he get stressed and flee? Would people talk?

  She didn’t care if they talked. She was used to people talking about her, but she did worry about him.

  “I’m afraid of what’ll happen as the pack gets larger,” Stephanie said softly. “He’s familiar with it, the way it is, and has worked with the guys for a long time.”

  “I worry about that, too. None of our men are especially adept at being in a general population. When there are more personalities in the mix, will the dynamics change, or will the men simply adjust?”

  “We’re good at adjusting. We came here and…” Stephanie let the words trail off as she realized the gravity of them. The mates had all gone to Norseton to try to find suitable wolves. They were suitable for a reason—matches made by their alpha and their goddess. Stephanie’s ability to read Darius’s energy was a mystery Alpha couldn’t explain, beyond saying that an alpha wolf’s mate gave him what he needed. The “vice versa” didn’t need to be said. It was obvious. Even a woman like Stephanie wanted to feel like she fit with someone, and she did.

  “They have us to help them adjust. And if they don’t, then we’ll buffer them from the world. We’ll become their emissaries.”

  Christina’s smile was dreamy. “I think that would make Anton happy.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’ll make my wolf happy, too.”

  ___

  Alpha was at the Norseton gate screening vehicles, and Stephanie let herself into the security shack, bearing one of his wife’s special submarine sandwiches. A shameless ploy, but she didn’t care. When her mother had put her in that car her father had sent to deliver Stephanie to him and his pack, one of the last things her mother had said was, “Don’t be ashamed to appeal to people’s basest natures if it means doing so will get what you need. That’s the only reason I was able to keep you with me this long. Remember that.”

  Stephanie had forgotten it, along with so many other important lessons, but she was going to put that wisdom to use now.

  Alpha pushed up one bushy eyebrow then lifted the gate for a delivery truck. “Long walk all the way up here.”

  “I took one of the golf carts.”

  “Ah. Smart. Just to bring me a sandwich? Let me guess.” He lowered the gate and leaned in the open doorway. “Someone in the pack needs maiming, and you want me to do it. Is it Colt?”

  She sighed, and then laughed. “No. I do need a favor, but nothing like that. Lisa can deal with Colt.”

  “That’s what my gut says, anyway. What kind of favor? The last time someone asked me for a favor, I wasn’t so inclined to grant it. Some wolves don’t know what the best thing for them is.”

  She furrowed her brow.

  He waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t mind me. What do you need? Before you tell me, give me the sandwich. I could eat a brick, I’m so hungry.”

  Laughing, she handed it over. “I don’t know much about what you and the pack did before you settled here at Norseton, and I’m not really sure I want to know. Darius doesn’t discuss it at all, but I know your team works well together, and that’s something that shouldn’t be discounted.”

  Adam took a big bite of sandwich and nodded.

  “I’m not suggesting he stop doing what he does, but…I wonder if…”

  “You’ve got the worst hearing of any wolf I’ve ever known,” Darius said softly behind her.

  She cringed. Turning, she found his expression to be a contrived blank, and he pulled his energy in close to his body the same way he always did when he was angry.

  Shit. Is he angry? Her wolf was never really angry for long—at least not with her—but she didn’t want to think she’d hurt his feelings. She was in a unique position to do so, and knew it.

  “You’re the quietest wolf in the pack,” Alpha said to him. “You can’t really fault her for not hearing you.”

  Darius flitted his gaze to Alpha, but said nothing. He didn’t need to. He might have tried to tamp it down, but his discomfort radiated off him like heat off a radiator.

  “Now she isn’t going to ask for whatever she came here for. You couldn’t have waited five minutes? You’re early for your shift.” Alpha took another large bite and stepped out to hail an oncoming vehicle.

  Darius crossed his arms over his chest and ground his teeth.

  “I’m not trying to get you in trouble. I just want to help,” she said.

  “Help what?”

  “Help get you what you need, since you won’t ask for it.”

  “What is it that you think I need?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you going to act like I haven’t spent the past couple of weeks learning your ins and outs? I may not know everything that has made you the way you are, but I know who you are. By now, you should damn well know who I am, and what I’m capable of.”

  Alpha stepped back in and carefully wrapped his sandwich. “Catch me on the walkie-talkie if you need anything. I’
m gonna go see if I can take my lady for a stroll.”

  Darius said nothing. He just watched Alpha leave, and then sat on the low black stool in front of the security video monitors. He adjusted the view on one for a wider image of the westbound road.

  She drummed her fingers on the sides of her arms. “I can tell the difference between good silence and bad silence. This is bad silence. You need to talk to me.”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “Anything at all is better than nothing. I know I’m enabling you. I think you’re less social now than you were before you took me as a mate.”

  He straightened his spine, and the electric tension in the room raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She needed to calm her wolf. It was a job only she was equipped to do, and that was why she was his mate—why the goddess had chosen her for him. The goddess had equipped Stephanie with the tools to help him. Stephanie couldn’t read any other wolf the way she did her mate, and she knew that wasn’t coincidence.

  “And don’t you think I’ve figured out that’s what you need?” She moved slowly across the small room and set her hands gently on his shoulders. She brushed her thumbs along the sides of his neck and hooked her chin over his shoulder. “I know in packs that perception is just as important as reality. I would never do anything to compromise your standing with your peers. I would never shame you.”

  Her father had always said she’d end up being some wolf’s shame, and for a while, she’d believed it. In fact, she’d arrived in Norseton believing it. Her baggage had made her forget all the important lessons that art had taught her about layers and expression. About holding her judgment until she’d had time to think.

  She skimmed her lips across his stubbled cheek and kissed his jaw.

  That alpha energy flared around him, snapping and coiling, but it was less hot now. Less stifling. But he wasn’t the kind of alpha wolf who’d pick a fight. He was the kind who would walk away if he got angry. She didn’t want him to walk away from her in either of his forms.