Reclaiming Angelica

Chapter Six

Raul halted so abruptly it felt like he’d run into an invisible wall. Even his wolf went preternaturally still inside, analyzing this new information about the woman they both claimed as mate. He stared fixedly while she fed, eyes closed, and a rapturous expression on her face. The same look, in fact, she had when she climaxed with him deep inside her.

The male donor in her arms stilled; then his hips began to buck and shake. A ragged groan escaped his mouth as a small, liquid stain became visible on the crotch of his jeans. The bastard had climaxed.

Rage surged through Raul. His claws extended, and his eyes went wolf. At that moment, he didn’t care what Angel was. The one thing he was absolutely certain of was from now on, he’d be the only man she fed from. She wouldn’t be dishing out any more orgasms unless it was to him.

Her eyes opened, and their gazes locked. Angel’s face drained of color. She released her hold on the male, absently licking a stray drop of blood from her bottom lip. Taking a step back, she glanced around wildly, prepared to run.

Raul smiled grimly. Uh-uh, baby! You’re mine, and you have some explaining to do.

OH GOD! RAUL! He’d seen her feed. What is he doing here? How did he find me?

The only thought in Angelica’s mind was escape. She’d wanted to tell him what she was, but not like this. Dear God, never like this.

She glanced around, her gaze bouncing wildly from corner to corner, looking for an avenue of flight. Her gaze flicked past an EMERGENCY EXIT sign and ricocheted back, focusing in on it like a laser. Angelica turned to run and just that quick, Raul was in front of her.

“Going somewhere, sweetheart?”

She blinked in astonishment. She knew wolves were fast, almost as fast as vamps, but how the hell had he gotten behind her that quickly?

“Uh,” she stuttered in response, her mind blank.

“Good idea. It’s a little too crowded in here for what I have in mind,” he said smoothly. His voice was calm, but his eyes glowed an eerie gold, telling her the true state of his emotions. Not that she needed it. She could feel his rage hammering at her.

Angelica had never been afraid of Raul or his beast, confident he’d never hurt her under any circumstance. However, fear, the unpredictable bastard, had a stranglehold on her throat. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breath came in pants. This was her worst nightmare come to life.

“Raul, I—” She gasped as he bent down and tossed her over his shoulder. As Raul turned to head down the stairs, Angelica caught sight of her cousin, Sophie, who grinned at her and waggled her fingers in a good-bye wave. Obviously there’d be no help from that quarter, and none of the other vampires seemed to notice, being too intent on feeding.

Mercer—where the hell had he come from?—was by his side in an instant, clearing the way out of the club. Between the two massive bruisers, no one dared stop them. When they reached the front entrance, one of the bouncers shouted, “Hey, she ain’t no bitch,” and tried to block the path.

There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh as Mercer—she assumed it was him—moved the vamp out the way. Angelica smelled that Stephen was nearby, glanced up, and noticed him approaching from behind. Alarmed at being the possible cause of an interspecies war, she quickly called out, “It’s okay! He’s my mate! Ask Sophie. She’ll explain,” she told Stephen, not liking the look in his eye.

Stephen paused, his expression uncertain.

“Move!” Raul growled, and it sounded so vicious the hairs on Angelica’s nape came to attention.

He never paused or slowed his pace. People scrambled out of the way, including the vamps. Angelica heard murmurs and twitters of quickly muffled laughter from the crowd waiting to get inside and grasped hold of Raul’s belt, burying her flushed face in the small of his back. She would never live this down.

The local vamp community was a small one. Once Sophie explained to Stephen who Angelica was and that she really was mated to a wolf shifter, it would be all over town in a matter of hours and wouldn’t stop there. She could expect a call from her father, who sat on the vampire council, in the next few days. Angelica could hear the conversation now. By the way, Dad, did I tell you I mated a wolf? No? Well, I meant to. So…how’s Mom? Oh yeah, that would go over well.

In seconds they’d crossed the huge parking lot and were by Raul’s SUV. He flipped her down into his arms and tossed her into the truck. The door closed with a quiet, ominous snick. Before she could get her seat belt fastened, he was in the vehicle starting the engine.

“I was going to tell—” she began.

“Not one word until we get home,” he snarled.

“My house is closer.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Angelica winced. Way to go! Nice time to remind the man that you left him. “Shutting up now,” she quickly added.

She prayed as Raul zoomed through the sparse traffic on the road that some poor unsuspecting cop wouldn’t pull him over and attempt to give Raul a ticket. In less time than should have been possible, they were parking in front of the pack’s apartment complex and until two weeks ago, her home.

Mercer wasted no time exiting his vehicle. He tossed a casual, “Good night,” over his shoulder as he went inside.

Raul sat for a long, tense moment as the silence drew out between them. Finally he reached for the door handle. As Angelica made to do the same, he tersely commanded, “Don’t move.”

No fool, she sat still and waited for him.

He came around and opened her door. Before she could swing her legs out and stand, he once more had her tossed over his shoulder like a sack of grain. She grabbed for purchase as he bounded up the stairs and into the apartment, down the hall to their bedroom where he flipped her onto the bed. Angelica bounced twice before coming to a halt in a sprawl.

She rose warily to her elbows, waiting to see what he’d do next. Raul’s wolf was in his eyes, and she had a feeling if she’d made even the slightest attempt to get off the bed, he’d pounce. She didn’t mind playing tag with this wolf when she was the one in control, but not when he was being so utterly unpredictable.

Hands on his hips, his stance aggressive, he snarled, “You’re a vamp.” He emphasized the word vamp like it was a curse.

“Yeah, and you’re a wolf. You don’t see me getting all pissy about it,” she retorted. Okay, so maybe she simply wasn’t the cautious sort.

Raul went still in the way she’d seen really old vampires do. He didn’t even appear to be breathing. Then several emotions crossed his face too fast for her to read. She’d lowered her shields but couldn’t get a sense of them. They were strong but too fleeting for her to get a lock on.

He cocked his head to the side, and if he’d been in his four-legged furry form, she knew his ears would be tilted forward. “You know what I am.”

She swallowed, not sure where this was leading. “Yes.”

“For how long?”

Once again, the need to be cautious kicked her in the teeth. She cleared her throat before saying, “Since the first day we met in person?” Despite her intention to sound confident, her voice rose at the end, turning her statement into a question.

Angelica really didn’t like the way Raul was looking at her. She also didn’t like feeling like prey. The predator in him was out and in full effect.

Still watching her with those narrowed, wolfish eyes, he whipped his T-shirt over his head and dropped it onto the floor. Next he toed off his shoes, shoved down his jeans, and stepped out of them. He wasn’t wearing underwear.

“Strip!”

Angelica jerked her gaze from his fully engorged cock to his determined face, hers heating in embarrassment at being caught staring. “Um, don’t you think we need to talk?”

“After.” Raul’s hands hung loose but ready by his sides.

“After what?” she absently parroted, her gaze once more straying to his massive erection. Raul slowly stroked it from base to head. It wasn’t that she’d never seen him nude before. She had. She’d simply never noticed him being so…large. Raul wasn’t a small man, not one bit of him. But this was different, as if his cock had partially shifted and was now the size it would be in his half form.

“After I fuck you the way I’ve wanted to since the moment I first saw you.”

Her gaze snapped back to his. As far as intentions went, it didn’t get any clearer. Angelica felt her pussy cream, and she licked her lips in anticipation.

Raul was a wonderful, considerate lover. The best any woman could ask for. Any human woman, that is. But Angelica was also vampire, and there was a level of…roughness, she craved that he hadn’t provided—until now.

Angelica’s fangs dropped into position. “It’s about damn time, wolf. Do you know how long I’ve waited to get my…teeth”—she licked the tip of one point—“into you?”

Raul’s stance became rigid, like he was holding himself back with the thinnest of control. “You fed from that man tonight, and he came.”

Angelica gave a dainty little shrug. “My bite is orgasmic.”

“From now on, you feed only from me.”

She let her gaze trail slowly down his body, then lifted her knees and planted her feet on the bedspread. Arching her hips, she brought his attention to the minuscule bit of lace covering her sex by running the tip of her finger along the crotch. “Are you sure about that? You know we like to fuck while we feed,” she taunted. “I might get…carried away and”—she licked her lips—“devour you whole.”

His irises turn a brilliant gold, and his nostrils flared as his gaze narrowed on the damp lace. Angelica felt a cool breeze pebble her nipples and then glanced down in astonishment at her shredded dress. When she looked at Raul, he was idly flexing his claws.

“You’re moving too slow.”

His comment startled a laugh out of her. Angelica rose fluidly to her knees and removed the scraps of material. Then she placed her hands on her thigh and tilted her head, her gaze challenging.

“Now the panties,” he ordered.

“You want them off? Take ’em off yourself.”

He blinked, then languidly grinned. It was so wicked she felt another wave of arousal sweep through her body.

“If you insist,” he agreed amiably.

He lifted his hand, and Angelica braced for the slash of claws. Instead he sauntered forward until his knees bumped the mattress, his bobbing cock leading the way. Raul trailed the claw of his right forefinger down her sternum, between her breasts and beyond, circling her navel before dipping his finger lightly inside. “You are so sexy. I could eat you up.”

Reflexively, Angelica’s vaginal muscles clenched, and she thrust her hips forward, seeking his touch where she needed it most. “Touch me,” she half pleaded, half demanded.

“I am.”

“Lower.”

Back and forth, his finger faithfully followed the edge of her panties, never dipping lower. “Here?”

“Raul!”

There was a sharp sting as he ripped the panties right off her body.

“Ooo!” she cried out in surprise, then purred. Damn, that was hot! He’d never done anything like this before.

“I’m going to eat you alive,” he said, stroking his thumb along her slit. “But first, there’s the matter of your feeding to attend to.” Raul climbed up her body, pushing her down so he straddled her chest, knees spread wide. He stroked his erection base to head, then moved closer so that his penis was in sucking distance. “Feed.”

Angelica’s eyes bulged in shock. “From your cock?”

“Yes.” He brushed the moist tip against her slightly parted lips.

“You’re sure?” Angelica wasn’t sure why she hesitated. Her bite wasn’t painful, beyond the initial sting, but the thought of sinking her fangs into such a sensitive area gave her pause.

“Bite me!” He pressed insistently until the head butted her fangs.

Angelica flicked out her tongue and pulled in a drop of his spicy essence. He sucked in a sharp breath, and his thighs tensed beneath her hands. She smiled and did it again, lingering over the hole with tantalizing slowness.

Raul cursed and his canines lengthened.

Loving his primal response, Angelica twirled her tongue around the ridge that lined the head, paying particular attention to the sensitive underside.

He snarled. “Angelica, quit pla—Fuck!”

She sucked deeply, drawing strongly on the small pinpricks she’d made. When the coagulant in her saliva sealed the tiny holes, Angelica bit him again, repeating the process over and over until Raul positively vibrated over her.

He snarled out a litany of profanity as his clawed fingers held a vice grip in her hair, holding her head to him. Angelica could tell he was rigidly controlling himself even as his hips jerked. The strain on his face showed he was ruthlessly suppressing the need to thrust.

She bit him harder, sinking her fangs deep this time.

With a roar, Raul’s control snapped. He jerked her off him using her hair, had her up and over onto her belly in a blink. Before the world stopped spinning, he had her ass high and had mounted her. The first thrust sent her sliding forward. Raul clamped his hands on her hips and yanked her back. His second thrust made her gasp with a combination of pleasure and pain. The third one hit a spot that made her cry out and clench around him.

Raul slid one hand to her belly to hold her in position. The other landed on the mattress beside her hand as he hunched over her. “Brace yourself,” was all the warning Angelica received.

He locked his canines into the tender spot between her shoulder and neck and let loose, taking her like the animal he was. It was hard, fast, and brutal, and went on and on and on. Angelica screamed. She cried, but mostly she came, over and over again.

Raul’s cock swelled to even larger proportions, stretching her to the maximum, right before he stiffened in climax. His hips jerked with each pulse of release. He’d penetrated her to the hilt and must have hit a sweet spot because the reflexive movements of his cock against it set her off in another orgasm. This one the longest yet.

When Angelica came back to awareness, Raul had rolled them to the side. He lay curled around her, his penis still erect and deeply embedded. He stroked her breasts, hips, and thighs, petting her while he murmured, “Mine. Finally mine,” over and over like he couldn’t believe it.

Soothed and exhausted, Angelica drifted into a contented sleep.