Mate for a King

Chapter Three

Raed drove in the direction the werewolf's howl had come from. He parked on a quiet street, alighted and went into hunting mode as he tried to pick up the werewolf's scent. Using powers granted him by Tiw, he willed a black t-shirt to replace his button down shirt. A broadsword and scabbard appeared on his back, strapped in place across his chest. It didn't take him long to pick up the fresh scent as he took off at a run, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.

The trail led him to a small park. Raed grabbed the hilt of his broadsword and slowly pulled the weapon free of the scabbard as he cautiously walked through the iron gates. Even though the night was practically pitch dark, he had no problem seeing, thanks to his acute werewolf sight. Looking left and right, Raed stalked his prey.

Raed froze at the sound of a loud growl coming from behind him. He brought his broadsword up as he swung around. Standing at almost seven feet tall in its half-human, half-wolf form, the werewolf lunged for his throat. Raed jumped back, bringing his broadsword down to slice across the beast's brown-furred chest. The werewolf howled in pain and staggered back as the gash Raed made sizzled.

The blade of his broadsword had silver mixed in with the hard steel, making it deadly to werewolves. A strike to the heart with a silvered blade ended the beast's existence, as did the loss of its head. Only Raed and his men had no need to fear that particular metal. Tiw made sure his warriors couldn’t be destroyed by the weapon they used to take out their prey.

As the werewolf recovered and lunged for a second time, Raed hit the beast again, and this time he didn't wait for a counterattack. Forcing the werewolf farther into the park so they were no longer close to the entrance, Raed hacked and slashed, easily blocking its sharp claws with his sword as the beast tried to tear at his face and neck.

Judging by his opponent's lack of skill, Raed figured it had to be one of the newly turned, which meant there had to be a second werewolf lurking somewhere nearby.

Just as Raed came to that conclusion, a heavy weight slammed into his back, pushing him into the range of the claws of the werewolf in front of him. Damn, he was off his game tonight. Grunting with pain as sharp nails raked down his back, he quickly dodged under the claws of the first and sank his sword through the beast's heart. The newly turned werewolf fell dead to the ground as Raed spun around to face its pack mate.

Older and more experienced, this werewolf knew to keep out of reach of Raed's broadsword. The beast snapped its teeth and snarled as it circled him, striking out with sharp claws when it saw an opening only to jump back when Raed's blade came too close. Raed knew this one would be no easy kill.

Determined to finish the fight as quickly as possible before the werewolf's howls and snarls drew some unsuspecting mortals, Raed willed his broadsword and clothes away and prepared to shift. A moment later, he stood in his half-wolf, half-human form. Now just as big and strong as the werewolf that launched itself at him, Raed let loose a growl and leaped forward.

They met mid-air. Raed grappled with the beast, sinking his sharp teeth into the werewolf's shoulder as he sank his claws into its side. He used his weight to drag his opponent to the ground. Moving out of reach of its hind legs, which had come up to claw at his soft belly, Raed held on tenaciously until he had the werewolf pinned beneath him. Still in his half-wolf, half-human form, he willed his broadsword into his hand. He sank the blade through the beast's chest, straight through to the heart.

Panting, Raed stood as he wiped the werewolf's blood from his muzzle. "Two down," he said in a deep, gravelly voice. He pulled his broadsword free.

The ability to speak in his half-shifted form and to retain higher mental capacity while shifting completely also set Raed and his men apart from the werewolves descended from Fenris. After he cleaned the blade of his broadsword on the dead werewolf's fur, Raed shifted back to full human form and sheathed the weapon in the scabbard. He pulled his cell phone out of his jeans' pocket and hit one of his speed dials.

When Algar picked up on the other end, Raed said, "Is everyone out on the hunt?"

"Yes. I had a feeling you wouldn't make it back in time, so as soon as darkness fell, I sent them out. I'm just about ready to head off myself."

"Good. There's plenty of prey out tonight. I just took two down in a park not far from Lexi's flat."

"Lexi, huh?"

Raed purposely chose to ignore Algar's question. "Tell the others I'm out on the hunt now as well. If they need me, they can get me on my cell."

"Will do. And hint taken about Lexi, by the way. Happy hunting."

Snapping his cell phone closed, Raed looked down at the bodies of the two dead werewolves. They had yet to shift back to human form. He sighed. Such a waste of life, but there was no cure to give them back the human lives that had been taken from them by a werewolf's bite.

Raed looked up at the night sky. The bodies couldn't be left for mortals to find.

"Tiw, I call upon you. I have need of your fire."

Blue god-fire engulfed the corpses; Raed stepped back as the flames burned hotter. In a matter of seconds, the bodies were no more. An unnatural wind blew the ashes away, leaving behind not even a scorched patch to mar the green grass and mark their passing.

Instinct told him this would not be the only time he would have to call down Tiw's god-fire; the night promised to be long and exhausting. He rolled his shoulders.

He felt no stiffness; shifting had healed the claw marks down his back.

Once inside his car, Raed drove by Lexi's flat. The lights were still on above the bookstore. Remembering the kiss they had shared, he longed to be with her, but his duty had to come first. If he was smart he would let Lexi go. He had no room for a woman in his life, but the mere thought of how she had come alive in his arms made his cock stiffen. No, he couldn't give her up yet. He had four weeks then she would leave and go back to the States. He just hoped a month would be long enough to get her out of his system.

At ten, the sound of her alarm dragged Lexi out of a deep sleep. She shut off the annoying sound then groaned when she saw the time. Since she hadn't fallen asleep until four in the morning thanks to having slept most of the previous afternoon away, the six hours of sleep she had gotten felt like nothing. More than anything, she wanted to roll over and catch up on the rest of the hours she had missed, but determined to get herself on UK time, she forced herself to get up instead.

Once she showered and dressed in the first pair of jeans and shirt she could find in her suitcase, Lexi went to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. She needed lots and lots of coffee. As she stood at the counter waiting for the pot to brew, she made a mental list of all the groceries she still needed to buy—the first outing on her agenda. She had planned to do a bit of sightseeing as well, but with Raed expected to call at some point today, Lexi had second thoughts. There was no answering machine at the flat and she didn't want him to think she was rude by not being around to take his call.

She shook her head. Who was she kidding? She just didn't want to be gone when he called. If he called. What little sleep she had gotten had been filled with dreams of Raed. Hot, sex-filled dreams with him doing wicked things to her body that left her whimpering for more. The kiss they had shared in the hallway had awakened her passion. She now wanted Raed buried deep inside her. Her pussy hungered for the big cock she'd felt through his jeans. Pushing thoughts of a naked and aroused Raed away, Lexi decided she had tortured herself enough for one day.

After downing two cups of coffee, she headed out. This time her trip to the grocery store turned out to be uneventful. She even managed to stay on the left hand side of the road too. After she brought the groceries up to the flat and put them away, she decided to go down to the bookstore and introduce herself to her landlady, who had simply left the key under the mat in front of the door the previous day.

A bell chimed over the bookstore's entrance when she opened the door and stepped inside. Though the store wasn't very large, rows and rows of packed bookshelves lined the walls and stacks of books piled high on tables. Behind a counter at the back of the store sat a woman who appeared to be in her late fifties, presumably her landlady.

Lexi made her way toward her and smiled. "Are you Charlotte?" At the woman's nod, Lexi held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Lexi. I rented the flat upstairs."

Charlotte shook her hand. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Lexi; I hope you found the flat acceptable."

"It's perfect."

"I'm glad. If you have any problems, you can find me here in the bookstore during the day, except for Sundays. But you can always call me at home. You still have my number?"

She nodded. "Yes, I do. I'll be sure to get in contact with you if anything comes up." Lexi looked around the store. "At least I know where to come if I need to buy a book to read."

Charlotte smiled. "I'm sure you would be able to find something of interest. I try to stock a little bit of everything."

An oversized hardcover book sitting on a nearby table caught Lexi's eye.She picked it up and read the title that had been printed across the cover in bold letters.

"The History of East Anglia and the Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial." Lexi looked over at Charlotte. "Norwich is part of East Anglia, correct?"

"Yes. The counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, along with Cambridgeshire, are considered East Anglia."

Lexi nodded. "And the Sutton Hoo burial was found in Suffolk?"

"Correct again. Do you know much about the burial?"

"No, not really," Lexi said with a chuckle. "My dad is a bit of a history buff, especially when the subject is this area of England. I think this would be the perfect gift to take home for him."

Charlotte rang up Lexi's purchase. "I'm sure he'll enjoy the book. It has a lot of pictures of the burial goods found at Sutton Hoo. There's even some history about King Raedwald of the East Angles. They suspect he was buried inside the ship."

Lexi had to wonder if Raed's parents had named him after the king. Raedwald wasn't exactly a common name. After she paid for her purchase, she headed back up to the flat. She sat on the couch in the living room and carefully flipped through the pages.

As Charlotte had promised, there were quite a few pictures of the ship-burial artifacts.

The gift would keep her dad occupied for hours.

Putting the book down on the coffee table, Lexi found her thoughts drifting back to Raed. He seemed to be in them more often than not. For some reason she couldn't stop thinking about him. She actually missed him. Strange, considering she barely knew the man. And yet, the thought of not seeing him again . . . well, Lexi just didn't want to go there. Raed would really think her a nutcase if he knew how close to an obsession he had become.

Lexi caught herself as she stared at the phone. She gave herself a shake. Staring at the phone is not going to make Raed call any sooner, idiot. Just like a watched pot never boils, a watched phone never rings.

To distract herself, Lexi picked up the book again and started to read from the beginning. The genre wasn't exactly her favorite, but she soon found herself drawn into the history of East Anglia.

When the phone rang, Lexi just about jumped out of her skin. She quickly put the book down and reached for the handset sitting on an end table next to the couch. She suddenly felt nervous as she picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Hello, Lexi. It's Raed."

She bit her lip and shivered deliciously at the sound of his deep voice. "Hi. I guess you were able to find my phone number all right."

Raed chuckled. "Not exactly. I ended up ringing the bookstore below the flat to see if they had the number. I figured whoever owned the place must also own the flat above it. Your landlady was nice enough to give it to me after I concocted a little white lie and explained we're related."

Lexi owed Charlotte big time for that. "Very resourceful of you."

"When I want something, I tend to do whatever it takes to get it," he said huskily.

She took her bottom lip between her teeth. No mistaking the sexual innuendo in those words. "Lucky me."

"Are you going to be home this afternoon? I know I left rather abruptly last night. I would like to make it up to you."

"I'm free. I don't have any plans. You're welcome to come over any time you want." All the ways Raed could make it up to her flashed through Lexi's head. Most of them required them both naked and preferably in her bed.

"Good. Then I'll see you in a few hours."

"I'll be here waiting." With bated breath, she added to herself.

Lexi hung up the phone and resisted the urge to jump up and down and yell,

'yes, yes, yes'. Obviously she hadn't scared Raed off last night; he seemed genuinely interested in seeing her again. Knowing she had a long wait ahead of her, she picked up the book and forced herself to read.

Raed tried not to bound up the stairs to Lexi's flat; he needed to get a hold of himself. It didn't matter that she had haunted his dreams when he had finally fallen asleep after a full night of hunting werewolves. It didn't matter that he could still taste her on his tongue, or that the memory of her scent left him hard and aching. If he didn't watch himself, he would be on Lexi as soon as she opened the door. The need to have her under him, to sink his cock between her legs as she moaned his name, rode him hard as he knocked on the flat's door. He took a deep breath when he heard Lexi moving around on the other side.

Lexi opened the door and stood back to allow him to step inside. He let his gaze run over her snug-fitting jeans and grey t-shirt, which barely covered her midriff. That tantalizing bit of skin made him want to reach out to see if it felt as silky soft as it looked. Instead, he walked past her and waited for her to close the door.

She turned and smiled. "Can I get you something to drink? I have a pot of coffee on. Sorry, I don't have any beer to offer you."

Raed had to swallow as Lexi shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.

The motion pulled her shoulders back, lifting her full breasts slightly. He had to force his eyes back up to her face. He smiled. "I'm fine. I don't need anything to drink."

"Are you sure? I don't mind getting you something."

"No. I'm okay."

"All right. Well, we don't need to stand at the door. Let's go sit down."

He was far from okay. Not only had he become painfully aroused, his wolf had started clawing at his insides for him to take Lexi. As he followed her to the living room, his gaze lowered to her butt. Her jeans hugged her to perfection. Raed had to fist his hands at his sides to stop himself from grabbing her around the waist and pulling her shapely ass against his erection. His cock jerked in his pants with the thought of how good she would feel. A low growl of need slipped past his lips as Lexi bent over to pick up a book from the couch and place it on the coffee table.

She turned and gave him a questioning look. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" He stepped closer as he drew in a deep breath and filled his lungs with her scent. His gaze locked on her lips.

"I . . . I thought I heard you make a funny sound," Lexi stammered.

He had to kiss her or lose his mind. He didn't understand this overwhelming need to claim Lexi as his own, but he found himself unable to ignore the impulse. Raed lifted his eyes until their gazes collided. Lexi sucked in a sharp breath as he moved even closer, until their bodies touched. Her chest rapidly rose and fell while the scent of her arousal filled his head.

Another low growl rose out of his chest. He threaded his fingers through Lexi's hair at the back of her head and slowly lowered his mouth to hers. She sighed softly as he claimed her lips fully. He wrapped his other arm around her waist to hold her to him and shoved his tongue inside her mouth. He pressed his engorged cock against Lexi as he tasted her. The feel of her helped ease some of the raging need inside him, but it was far from enough.

Raed released his hold on her hair and cupped one of her breasts through her t-shirt. He stroked his thumb across the taut peak. Lexi moaned into his mouth when he plucked her nipple between his thumb and index finger. She rubbed herself against him and brought her arms up and around the back of his neck.

He increased the pressure of his lips, slid his hand under Lexi's shirt and pushed her bra aside. He cupped her bare breast with his hand, and releasing her lips, he kissed his way across her jaw and down the side of her neck. Lexi bent her head to the side to give him better access as he dragged his tongue along the column of her throat.

Needing the feel of her skin next to his, Raed grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and yanked it over her head. He reached behind her and undid her bra. As she slid the straps down her arms and let that article of clothing fall to the floor, Raed roughly yanked off his shirt. He then pulled her back into his arms, groaning as her hard nipples pressed against his chest.

He pulled back slightly and dragged his tongue along her collarbone and down, then he shifted her, putting his thigh against her pussy. He pressed his leg upward as he bent his head and circled her nipple with his tongue. Lexi moaned as she ground her pussy against him. She gripped his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin, as he opened his mouth and sucked her nipple deep.

Raed skimmed a hand down Lexi's side to the waistband of her jeans. He ran the tips of his fingers across her stomach until he reached the button. Quickly, he undid the button and pulled down the zipper. He shoved his hand down inside her panties and cupped her pussy. Pushing a finger between her folds, Raed found Lexi already wet.

He shifted his attention to her other breast and sucked her nipple deep. He pushed a second finger in her pussy and pumped them in and out. Lexi gasped as her hips jerked. Releasing her nipple, Rae straightened and met her heated gaze. As she watched him, he pulled his hand out of her panties and sucked the two fingers he'd buried inside her into his mouth. He held her gaze as he licked her juices.

Lexi shivered and started to pant. Raed kept his gaze riveted to hers as he took hold of her jeans and panties and pulled them down. She kicked them the rest of the way off. He pressed on her shoulders until she sat on the couch, then he knelt on the floor in front of her. "That's just the appetizer. Now I get the feast."

Running his hands up the inside of her thighs, he spread them apart. He looked down at her open pussy. Her sex glistened with her juices. He bent and ran the flat of his tongue along her slit, lifting her legs and put them over his shoulders. His cock hardened even more as he got his first full taste of her pussy. She tasted better than the most expensive wine. Raed swirled his tongue around her clit before he licked her from bottom to top.

Lexi's moans filled the room. Her hands came up and buried themselves in his hair. Holding him to her, she rocked her hips against his mouth. Her smell and taste, along with the moans she made, heightened his arousal. He resisted the need to bury his aching cock inside her. He wanted her to come against his mouth first. He wanted to taste her desire as she cried out in pleasure.

Raed inserted two fingers inside her slick opening, moving them in and out as he sucked on her clit. Her hands tightened in his hair and her movements became jerky.

She whimpered with need as he pushed her closer to climax. He pumped his fingers faster while he sucked harder. He could tell she was almost there.

"Come for me, Lexi," he panted. "Let yourself go."

With a keening moan, Lexi fell over the edge. When her pussy started to rhythmically clamped around his fingers, Raed replaced them with his tongue. He licked and sucked, wringing every last shudder of pleasure out of Lexi.

Raed laid his head on Lexi's belly and tried to pull himself back under control.

When her climax had overtaken her, his wolf had risen up inside him. He closed his eyes so Lexi wouldn't see them. Given how his vision had grown much sharper, he knew his eyes had turned, and his blue irises would have taken over the white. The tips of his fingers itched as his claws threatened to break through his skin. He had slept with more than a few mortals over the years, but not once had they had this kind of effect over him. The wolf inside him had never come to the surface during sex. Only with Lexi.

As he forced his body to cool, he knew he had to figure out what the hell was going on before they made love. He needed answers and he needed them quickly. The more time he spent with Lexi, the greater the need to have her grew.

Feeling his eyes shift back to normal and his claws recede, Raed stood. The sight of Lexi sprawled naked on her couch, her face flushed with arousal, almost had him back on his knees again. Determined to get some answers, he said, "Let's go to my place for a while."