Roan's Fall

Chapter Four

After a fitful sleep with his dreams filled with erotic images of Ansley in his bed, of her moaning his name as he took her over and over again, Roan headed over to Roxie and Beowulf’s house. It was his turn, along with his two brothers-in-arms Dirk and Kye, to watch over Roxie. Not that she allowed them to do much more than sit around using up space. Even though Roxie didn’t think she needed their protection, Roan knew Beowulf was more than grateful. Roxie might think they were overdoing it, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone made a move on her. The person who worried them most was Miles—Saskia’s brother by blood. At one time, he had been chosen to be the foretold one’s protectors, but that soon changed when Miles decided he wanted to have control over the foretold one rather than be a protector. Roan found his brothers with Roxie inside her second floor office. Even though Roxie didn’t need to work, since Beowulf had more than enough money and then some, she still continued to work at her web design business that she had started before she had met her mate. As a self-proclaimed internet junkie, Roxie had told him she loved her job too much to give it up.

Kye sat in one of the chairs near Roxie’s desk looking bored out of his mind. Dirk, on the other hand, stood behind Roxie’s chair completely absorbed in what Roxie worked on as she pointed to something on the monitor of her desktop computer. Roan shook his head. Dirk and Roxie would be up here for hours. Dirk, the only one of them that had completely embraced the technological age, now did all his investments through the internet. Once Roxie had found out he was computer savvy like she was, she had taken it upon herself to teach Dirk everything she knew about web design. Something Dirk had been interested in learning.

Knowing the other two were too absorbed in what they were doing to have heard him come into the room, Roan caught Kye’s eye. “If you need me, I’ll be outside in the back. I have to make a phone call.”

Kye covered a large yawn with his hand. “Sure, go ahead. Not as if much is happening here. I don’t know how those two can stare at that computer monitor for hours on end and not get a headache. My eyes would be crossing by now, especially if I had to look at that gibberish Roxie calls HTML code.”

Roan chuckled. “I guess it helps if you can understand what you’re looking at.”

“I guess.” Kye settled down lower in his chair. “I think I’ll catch some Zs until they have decided they’ve had enough.”

Having been in Kye’s place more than once, Roan couldn’t blame him. He slipped out of the room and headed to the kitchen. He stepped through the sliding glass door and pulled his cell phone out of his jean’s front pocket. He closed the door behind him. He searched through his contact list until he found Ansley’s work number, which he had programmed into his phone earlier.

Once someone picked up on the other end, Roan asked to speak to Ansley. Put on hold, he patiently waited for Ansley to pick up the phone. When she did, he said, “Hey, Ansley. It’s Roan.”

“Oh. What do you want?” Ansley asked in a clipped tone.

She was definitely not happy to hear from him. “I thought we could get together again tonight.”

Ansley didn’t reply right away. “Why? So you can run out on me again?”

“Ah, look, that had nothing to do with you. Okay?”

“Sure it didn’t. You couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

“I had my reasons for doing what I did. Let me see you tonight and I’ll explain everything.”

“I don’t think so. Being humiliated by you once was more than enough. I have to go. I’m in the middle of cutting a client’s hair. Bye, Roan.” Ansley hung up before Roan could say anything else.

Knowing he couldn’t leave things the way they now stood, Roan hit redial and once again asked to speak to Ansley when the other end picked up. This time the girl who answered told him Ansley wouldn’t take any phone calls right now. After he hit the end button to hang up, Roan let out a low frustrated growl.

“Your soon-to-be-mate giving you a hard time?”

Roan looked up and realized he hadn’t been alone out here. Beowulf sat at the patio table with a newspaper in his hand. Roan went over to Beowulf and sat down in the chair next to his. “You could say that. I have no one to blame but myself, though.”

Beowulf folded the newspaper he had been reading in half and placed it on the patio table. “Having a mortal mate who knows nothing of our kind tends to make things a little more stressful.”

“You’re not kidding. By taking it slow, I now have Ansley not wanting to talk or see me. I know Roxie told me to explain everything to Ansley before I claimed her, but I don’t know if I can keep this up.”

Beowulf chuckled. “I know Roxie means well, but sometimes it’s best to go with instinct. I may not have told Roxie I was a werewolf, and what it meant to be mated to one, but in the end it all worked out.”

“But what about giving Ansley a choice?”

Beowulf gave him a hard stare. “If you explain everything to Ansley and she refuses you, will you just walk away?”

Roan ran a hand through his hair. The very idea that Ansley would refuse him made him want to throw back his head and howl. “No, I wouldn’t walk away. She’s mine.”

“Then don’t give her a chance to refuse you. I know Roxie would call me a Neanderthal if she heard me tell you this, but I’m going to say it anyway. Go to Ansley, throw her over your shoulder and take her some place where you two can be alone. Then show her exactly how good it can be being mated to one of our kind.”

Beowulf got up and walked back into the house. Roan stayed outside as he thought over what Beowulf had said. He felt torn between doing what every fiber in his body demanded he do, and what he thought would be fair to Ansley. When he had finally reached a decision, Roan stood up and went back inside.

On his way to the front door he walked by Beowulf, who wished him good luck. Confident Beowulf would tell his brothers where he went, Roan walked out the door and headed for his car. Ansley was about to find out he wouldn’t be so easily put off.

Arriving at the hair salon, Roan parked his Lexus in the parking lot at the back of the building and headed around to the front. More prepared this time for the harsh chemical smells that seemed to permeate the whole salon, he tried not to take too deep of breaths as he yanked open the glass door and stepped inside. Ignoring the stares of the staff and clients, Roan kept his eyes glued on Ansley as he walked over to her chair. Now so in tuned to her scent, he easily picked it out from the harsher smells around him. Her scent caused the wolf inside him to come to life.

Ansley had her back toward him. She was putting the final touches on the hair of the client she had in her chair. Using the element of surprise, he grabbed her shoulder, spun her around and brought his lips down onto hers. At first she didn’t respond to his kiss, but when he threaded his fingers through her hair and hungrily slanted his lips across hers, she melted against him with a sigh. Ansley may be angry with him, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him. More than satisfied with her response, Roan ended their kiss. Then doing what Beowulf had suggested, he bent down and picked her up over his shoulder. As soon as he stood to his full height, Ansley started to struggle. Roan slapped her shapely ass. “Stop that or I’ll do more than tap you on the butt.” To show her he was serious, he turned his head and nipped her bottom with his teeth. With a shriek of outrage, Ansley reached down and slapped him on the ass. “Roan, put me down this second. You can’t just barge in here and haul me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes.”

He snorted. “I just did, babe. Now I’m taking you out of here.”

“Like hell you are. I have other clients waiting.”

Roan turned and met the eye of one of the other girls, a pretty brunette that worked in the salon. “Can you tell your boss that Ansley has to take the rest of the day off? For personal reasons.” When the girl gave him a small smile and nodded, he said, “There, Ansley, you don’t have any more clients to worry about today. Where is your purse?”

Ansley slapped him on the butt again, hard. “I’m not telling you.”

The girl, who Roan had spoken to, came around him and pulled open the bottom drawer on the counter in front of Ansley’s chair. She reached inside and pulled out what Roan presumed had to be Ansley’s purse. “Here it is.”

Roan smiled and he took it from her. “Thanks.”

“Sherry, how could you?” Ansley wailed at his back.

Sherry gave Roan a wink. “Ansley, if a guy this good looking came into the shop, kissed me the way he did you and threw me over his shoulder, honey, I wouldn’t fight him.”

Spinning around, Roan headed out of the salon. He heard whispered comments as he walked by the other people in the shop. More than one woman whispered that she wished a man would come and sweep her off her feet as he had done to Ansley. Outside, he kept Ansley held over his shoulder and made his way to the parking lot.

“Put me down, Roan.”

“I don’t think so.”

“All the blood is rushing to my head. It isn’t exactly comfortable.”

“We’re almost at my car. I’ll put you down then.”

Obviously not satisfied with his answer, Ansley pinched his butt. “Put. Me. Down. Now.”

Roan grunted, the only outward sign that showed he had felt her pinch. “No. You only brought this on to yourself when you hung up on me and then refused to talk to me. You left me no other choice.”

At his car, he opened the passenger door and put Ansley inside. He buckled the seatbelt around her before he shut the door and hurried over to the driver’s side. She turned to glare at him as he settled in the seat and started the car. “What about my car?”

“We’ll come back for it later.” He pulled out onto the street and headed in the direction of Ansley’s apartment.

Ansley crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the windshield. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’m not letting you go that easily.”

“So says the man who said last night was a mistake? How else would you expect me to react? I let you do things to me and then you left me naked on my couch wondering what the hell I did wrong.”

Roan cringed. “I know it looked bad from your perspective, but I really did have a very good reason for doing what I did. Once I explain everything you’ll understand.” He shot a quick glance in Ansley’s direction to see she stared daggers at him.

“I’m sure that bullshit line works on some women, but it won’t work on me. I have no intention of listening to a word you have to say and you can’t make me.”

That was like waving a red flag in front of the wolf’s face. “We’ll see about that.”

They drove the rest of the way to Ansley’s apartment in silence. After Roan parked the car, she got out before he had even shut off the engine. He caught up to her just before she reached the front entrance. He smiled to himself as Ansley stomped up the stairs to her apartment. His mate may be on the shy side, but once riled, she had no qualms about standing up for herself. A trait that would hold her in good stead being a mate to a werewolf.

Ansley unlocked the door and walked inside. Roan closed it behind them. She then went and threw her purse on the kitchen table. “How about we sit down on the couch and I’ll say what I came here to say.”

She made no move to go into the small living room. Ansley leaned back against the kitchen table and glared at him. “I don’t think so. I’m not going anywhere near that couch while you’re here.”

He crossed the distance between them until he stood close, but not too close to make her uncomfortable. “Fine. We’ll talk here. About last night—”

She quickly cut him off. “I told you I don’t want to hear it. Just leave, Roan.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“This is my place, not yours. I decide who I invite over, and I didn’t invite you.”

“I can understand that you’re a little pissed off with me right now.”

“You think?” Ansley asked sarcastically. “Let me make this clearer for you. Get. Out.”

Ansley had no idea that the harder she pushed him away the more the wolf inside tried to take him over. With the mating urge still riding him, Roan had a harder time holding back the wilder side of his nature. “No.”

“Fine. You can stand there all day for all I care. It doesn’t mean I have to be in the same room with you.” Ansley walked by him and headed for her bedroom. When she turned her back on him, what little control he still had over the wolf snapped. The wolf no longer could wait to claim Ansley as his mate, to mark her with his scent and make her his. Roan caught the bedroom door before she slammed it in his face. He crowded her, forcing her to back farther into her bedroom. With a low growl of need, Roan cupped Ansley’s face in his hands and brought his lips down to hers. He pushed his tongue inside her mouth. The taste of her caused his erect cock to harden even more. Just like in the hair salon, Ansley didn’t fight him. The heady scent of her arousal wafted around them as she moaned into his mouth and pressed her body to his.

Roan angled his mouth over hers. He dropped his hands to cup her bottom and haul her up against his erection. It was his turn to moan when Ansley shoved her hands up his t-shirt and dragged her nails down his back. He picked her up off her feet and crossed the room to the bed in two long strides.

Placing Ansley on the center of the bed, he followed her down to lie on his side next to her. Their tongues twined while he shoved his hand up her top and cupped her breast. He tugged at her already taut nipple. With his lips and tongue, he left a wet trail on her skin and he made his way along her jaw to the side of her neck. He lifted his head only long enough to pull Ansley’s top over her head. Reaching under her, he undid the clasp of her bra and pulled it off.

Ansley arched her back as he swept his tongue along her collarbones and down to the tops of her breasts. Roan shifted lower on her body, then circled her tight nipple with his tongue. As Ansley threaded her fingers through his hair to hold him to her, he opened his mouth and sucked her nipple deep inside. His cock jerked inside his jeans as Ansley gasped and dug her fingernails into his scalp.

As he sucked on her nipple, Roan trailed his fingers down across her stomach to the top of her jeans. He made short work of undoing them. Hooking the waistband with his fingers, he pushed them down past her hips. Ansley kicked off her shoes. He yanked her jeans the rest of the way off.

Roan shifted lower on the bed. He released her nipple, then kissed his way down to the top of her panties. He settled his upper body between her spread thighs and kissed his way even lower. The smell of Ansley’s arousal filled his head. A growl pushed past his lips as he dragged his tongue along her pussy through her panties. Ansley bucked beneath him.

Roan swirled his tongue inside her bellybutton as he tugged her panties down and off. Once again settling between her legs, he pushed on the inside of her thighs to spread her legs even farther apart and licked her from bottom to top. He moaned/growled at his first real taste of her sex. “You taste even better than you smell.”

Dipping his head once again, Roan laved her pussy with the flat of his tongue. He lapped at her until Ansley’s hips rose off the bed. He circled her clit with his tongue once before he sucked it into his mouth. Ansley moaned and gripped the sheets beneath her. As Roan licked and sucked on her clit, he pushed first one and then another finger inside her wet core. He pumped them in and out of her pussy as her inner walls clamped down around his fingers.

He continued to pleasure her with his fingers and tongue, taking her to the brink of her orgasm before he pulled back. Slipping off the bed he kicked off his shoes and pulled off his t-shirt. Ansley’s hot gaze watched while he undid his jeans and pushed them down past his hips. Her eyes locked onto his cock, which stood erect from his body. Now naked, Roan got back on the bed and settled his hips between Ansley’s legs. Taking her hand, he led it down to his erection. He closed his eyes and moaned at the feel of her fingers wrapped around his shaft. He allowed her to pump her hand up and down his thick length a few times before he pulled her hand away. Roan opened his eyes to find Ansley staring up at him. He knew what she saw—his eyes would be glowing mutedly. It wasn’t something he could control when aroused. Roan rested his weight on his bent arms and pressed the tip of his cock against her slick opening. Ansley gripped the top of his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist. With one thrust Roan sheathed his cock to the hilt inside her pussy. The feel of her wet heat wrapped around his shaft made him growl deep inside his chest. They were a perfect fit.

With their gazes locked, Roan pulled back then surged inside her body once again. He kept the pace slow and steady until Ansley lifted her head and dragged her tongue across his skin where his neck and shoulder met. He rode her harder. He cupped the back of her head to hold her in place. “Use your teeth instead of your tongue,” he groaned. Ansley did as he asked. He stiffened in anticipation. She dragged her teeth over the spot once before she latched onto him with her teeth. No longer able to hold himself back, Roan pounded into her. Ansley lifted her hips to match his strokes as he sank his cock inside her body over and over again.

As his release edged nearer, Roan felt a part of his soul reach out to Ansley. When he felt a part of her soul reach out for his and wrap around it, making them one, he lifted his upper body up onto his hands. His shaft rubbed her clit with each stroke. Ansley gripped his biceps as her release overtook her. Her strong inner walls clutched at his cock while she came. It was enough to send him over the edge into his own release. Roan moaned/growled. His cock pulsed, empting itself deep inside her, filling her with his cum.

Still hard, Roan rolled them both to their sides with Ansley’s leg over his hip. He tucked her head under his chin as he fought to catch his breath. She was now his. He held her close. Ansley relaxed against him. He had taken her choice away. Hopefully she understood why he had done it, because there would be no going back. For better or worse they were now mated.