Wolf Line

Chapter Five

Her tongue wasn’t where it was supposed to be.

In the five seconds since the door had begun to open—heart-attack type symptoms electrifying her body as she sprang up to face whoever was about to discover her doing unexplainable things to a crew member’s bed—she had opened her mouth to scream then stopped when her mate’s now-familiar face came into view.

Something still felt odd. Her brain seemed to bubble and froth until comprehension finally sank in. Her tongue? She must have swallowed it. There certainly was something stuck in her throat as he stood with one arm holding the door open, his naked body framed in the opening like an erotic work of art.

Naked. Oh my.

She started at his toes and worked her way up. While he’d been impressive in his jeans, he did naked even better. There was an incredible look to a naked wolf—the cut of their muscles slightly sharper than cat or bear shifters. And my, oh my, she was appreciative of all his muscles. Fixated on them, in fact. Engrossed in the way his thigh muscles flexed as he stepped into the room. Her gaze trickled upward, and that damn tongue stuck in her throat got in the way again as she attempted to swallow. He was…more than sufficient above the thighs as well.

A sharp cough sounded at the same moment the door clicked shut.

She was mesmerized, staring at his groin.

Oh my, oh my, oh my.

Muscles flexed again as he knelt, his head replacing the level her eyes were stuck at. When his smile flashed into view, the constriction around her throat eased slightly.

“Hi.” The word squeaked out. One word seemed to be her maximum output right now.

His grin widened. “This is the kind of room service I’ve been longing for. But if you don’t mind…I have one thing I need to double-check.”

She watched in confusion as he placed a tool belt—why is he naked, but carrying a tool belt?—on the side table beside the bed. Then he shifted into his wolf and leapt up next to her.

He was dark grey, lean in his body with beautiful markings on his chest. He brushed his soft fur against her arm, and she moved to give him more room. When he stuck his muzzle next to her ear and took a deep breath, her own wolf shivered mightily.

At this point she didn’t care what he was double-checking as long as it involved him shifting back soon and doing her hard and fast. All thoughts of holding out any longer were tossed out the small porthole window. He was her mate, she was in his bed, and damn the consequences. Thievery, cruises, best friends. All of the details of her human concerns evaporated, replaced with a hunger that was mostly animalistic.

She grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt and stripped it off. By the time she’d wiggled out of her jeans, he’d shifted back, his sexy grin settling into something between astonishment and violent hunger.

“You’re my mate.” The wonder in his voice made her smile.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.

Keri paused. “You didn’t know?”

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I know now.”

He leaned closer, just a tiny bit, and Keri’s heart flipped. The brush of air from his lips caressed past like a butterfly wing a split second before they made contact.

Sticking a finger into an electric socket would be boring from now on. Not that she often played with electricity, but those old cartoons flashing every bone highlighted when… She lost her train of thought as his tongue slicked over her bottom lip.

She melted into a happy puddle of puddleness, catching hold of his shoulders and pulling him over her, mouths staying in contact. She shook with need, but he pinned her with his weight and held her in place, one hand still cupping her face and restraining her as he kissed her senseless.

Tongue. Teeth. Lips. Air. It was all a tangle of sensation and yearning, and there was nothing she wanted more at this moment than to kiss him forever. Between her legs a heavy ache pulsed, but even that could be ignored for a minute because kissing her mate was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.

Climaxes? Wild sexual romps? She was a wolf and had had her fair share over the years, but those experiences blurred into some half-forgotten story—like the assigned reading she had of Moby Dick during school. It was about someone chasing something and there was a harpoon involved, but the rest of the details were fuzzy.

He rolled onto his back and dragged her over him. Suddenly she was reading the freaking Coles Notes and it all made sense, especially the harpoon bit. Another slide of his tongue followed. His fingers braided through her hair as he tugged and arranged her to his liking.

Her thighs straddled his waist, his erection solid against her belly, and the tingles shot harder. Keri planted one hand on either side of his head and forced her lips away from his. The light in his eyes was to die for.

“Hi.” His gaze dropped to her lips and he outlined them again. “You taste good.”

A growl broke loose unintentionally and his grin widened.

Yeah, the slow was nice, but she wanted more than nice. She wanted some screaming and stomping and…

She leaned down and kissed his neck, and this time he was the one who rumbled. She nipped lightly, and he snapped upright a foot, strong abdominal muscles under her shooting them both vertical. “Oh God, woman. You ready for this?”

“For my mate?” Keri’s brain wasn’t attached to anything but the sensual points of her body. “Is anyone? You worried?”

“No. I’m yours, you’re mine. I’m free and clear, and well over twenty-one and if I’m not inside you in about thirty seconds I’m going to die.” He followed up by digging his teeth into her neck and pinning her in place while he stripped off her bra.

Thirty seconds were going to be far too long,

“I’m yours. I know you thought—” Oh hell, he ripped her panties apart at the hip, and suddenly explaining that Chad wasn’t really a boyfriend slipped off the agenda and flashed to ashes faster than taking a blow torch to a scrap of floss.

Keri lifted her hips, and her mate brushed his fingers along her sex and dipped in. When he circled her clit, as if he was going to get her off first, she took matters into her own hands, grasped his erect cock and pressed the wide head between her folds.

“Argggh” or something close to it escaped his lips.

Keri planted her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes as she sank and joined them together.

Full, stretched, expanding to fill not only her body but to wrap around her soul and fill her there as well. It was a rush and a thrill and just the way it could be with wolves, and heck if she was going to complain things were happening too fast. She lifted and lowered once before he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her madly again.

If he didn’t slow them down he was going to spill right then and there. It was bad enough she’d hogtied him, and they were already having sex. He’d never taken a woman without making sure she’d experienced pleasure, and this was his mate.

Mate, oh freaky day, he was having sex with his mate.

Going slow—nice idea, but the reality of their wolves and the lingering scent of her in his brain crumpled that note and tossed it to the side. Slow would happen later. Maybe tomorrow. Or next week. Next week might be possible.

Still, he had to deal with the building pressure because flipping her over and pounding her through the mattress wouldn’t be the romantic first time he figured most women wanted. He twisted them until his feet hit the floor, kissing her cheek, licking her neck before taking possession of her mouth and soaking in her taste the best he could.

His lack of smell had always been a pain, but this? Better than he’d expected. She snuck into his system as he kissed her. Slow, but insistent—overwhelming his physical lack with sheer potency.

He slipped his hands between their bodies to cup her breasts, thumbs taking her nipples captive. Commanding them to attention before he pushed her back. Keri arched, and he covered one firm peak with his mouth, then the other. Sucking hard, licking lightly. She wiggled and ground over his cock, her sex coating him with heat and moisture.

Maybe the whole do it now thing was going to be okay.

Then she caught his ear in her teeth and bit, and his mind fled.

He rose to his feet, her ass cradled in his hands. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him, but it only took two steps for him to find the door and press her against it. She clung to his shoulders as he lifted her then plunged in deep.

The door creaked and groaned nearly as loud as they did.

“Oh, Mark, that feels good.” Keri caught the back of his neck and yanked his mouth back to hers, and he forgot everything except fucking them both into oblivion. One thrust after another followed, their teeth knocking, noses bumping. A mad dash of sex and loud noises and all he could feel was her around him. Capturing and claiming him. He adjusted his angle slightly and she squeaked as he hit her clit, and he smiled.

And did it again.

Three more thrusts and she sang out in delight before planting her teeth against his shoulder and biting down.

“Keri…oh, hell yeah.” Jared shook off the weakness that threatened to buckle his knees and fought for one last plunge before he gave in to his climax and emptied.

In his mind, words sounded. A feminine tone. A very satisfied feminine tone. “Oh my goodness.”

Jared leaned heavily against her and smiled. Incredible. “Keri?”

She tightened under him, pinned to the wall like a butterfly. “Is…is that you?”

The mate connection swirled around them. Something more than physical, something beyond his wildest dreams. Jared focused as hard as possible but there were too many things happening at once to do anything but struggle to remain vertical. “It’s me. Give me a minute.”

Keri’s face was buried against his neck, their hearts still pounding. She hadn’t loosened the death grip of her legs, thank goodness, or he might have dropped her.

One more minute brought him to the point he could move. He stood, his cock slipping from her body. He carried her carefully back to the bed and lowered her to the messy sheets. Crawled beside her, staring into her eyes, seeing the flush on her cheeks—he focused on her lips, and she moistened them and gazed back with a happy expression.

He tried it again, the speaking-into-her-mind thing that only mates could do. “Hi, love.”

Her face lit up like a moonrise over the mountain. “Hi. Are you…happy?”

Jared laughed. “I’m ecstatic. I’m sorry I didn’t know sooner. You must have thought I was being an ass.”

Her fingers tangled in his hair. She shook her head. “I didn’t understand why you weren’t following me around. I figured maybe it had something to do with Chad.”

Ick. “You’re not…you weren’t…”

Her answer rushed out. “No. He’s just a friend of the family. I’m yours.”

Damn right. “And I’m yours.”

Keri lowered her lashes for a moment. “Typical wolf situation though—we have tons of stuff to share, like family backgrounds and everything. Not that I’m worried, because, I mean, we are wolves. I assume we can make things work since that side seems pretty pleased right now.”

“More than pleased.” Jared lay beside her, his body touching hers at as many points as possible. His wolf was gloating, bloody beast, but he couldn’t muster the energy to be offended. “And we’ll have a nice long talk. About everything.”

Including the bits about him not being Mark but someone else. Only he didn’t think, mates or not, that conversation should happen when he was naked. Female wolves had too good a sense of justice, and he kinda liked the idea of getting to use his balls for a bit longer, now that he’d found her and all.

“How about after a shower? Then I’ll buy you lunch and we can talk about anything you like.” Jared traced a finger down her body. He adjusted position and bumped the side table hard enough his tool belt fell to the floor. He cursed and went to roll over, but she beat him to it, crawling over top of him and reaching toward the floor. Hmm, nice. Maybe they shouldn’t leave quite yet…

“Sounds marvelous. We can go to the—oh, hell.” Kari jerked to a stop in mid-sentence.

He curled up beside her to see what was wrong. “What’s the matter?”

She had his tool belt in one hand, suspended just off the floor, her eyes wide in near panic.

“You okay? What happened?” He pulled the belt from her fingers and dropped it to the side, up against the mattress. He quickly turned her hands over. “Did you cut yourself or something?”

She swallowed hard before a smile spread over her face. A sickly smile, forced and unnatural. “I’m fine. Just fine. Everything is fine.”

“Keri?” In the last thirty seconds, something had gone terribly wrong.

“Shower. Shower is fine.” She scrambled off the bed and toward the teeny enclosure.

The disappointment he felt as she walked away didn’t stop him from noticing the incredible tattoo on her lower back. He’d love to check it out more thoroughly—heck, he’d planned on doing a little more playing before actually taking her to the shower, but with her sudden change of mood, he wasn’t sure what to do.

He followed her to the doorway of the tiny room. She’d turned on the water and already stood under the spray. There was barely space in the doorless enclosure for her, let alone him beside her, so he leaned on the doorframe and stared to his heart’s content, even as he puzzled over her rapid mood change.

She turned her face fully under the water, and he watched the rivulets stream over her skin, down the curve of her neck and over the spot where he’d bit her. He couldn’t resist touching the place, his fingers lightly tracing the mark. Keri turned to him and his heart swelled with…love?

This mate thing was a built-in part of them as shifters. She was a piece of him now, and having her tense and upset over some unvoiced matter hurt. He wanted, no, needed to have her happy.

And while this probably wasn’t the best time to share that his presence on the ship was unauthorized—there was another issue he could clear up rather quickly. “Keri? I’m glad I found you. And I’m sorry about not knowing. I have a bit of a secret you need to hear—”

Her eyes widened, shining with hope and a bit of sadness.

Sadness?

“You can tell me anything, Mark. I’m your mate, and I promise to support you through anything.”

The sheer determination in her voice was curious, but he was distracted by the Mark/Jared thing. “You can’t tell anyone, please?”

She squared her shoulders. “I will do what is best for us, for you, even if it’s difficult.”

“It’s not really my fault, you see.” Jared dragged a hand through his hair and wanted to slap himself for starting this now. He was still naked and she was right freaking there and naked, and he was rambling about what wasn’t the most important issue they had? “Never mind.”

Keri caught her hands in hers. She stared him directly in the eye and squeezed his fingers, water rebounding off her shoulders and covering his with a fine mist. “I am your mate. And whatever it is that troubles you, I’m there to help you get out of it. No matter what the reason, I won’t abandon you.”

Okaaaay…

After her little support-you-through-anything spiel, he was a trifle discombobulated. What did she think he was going to share? That he liked to bathe in moose blood under a full moon?

“I can’t smell.” The words shot out.

Her jaw dropped.

He hurried on. “In my human form. I smell fine in my wolf, which is why I finally figured out that we were mates. But all those times earlier? I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose.” He thought back through all their encounters and felt like kicking his own ass. “Man, you must have thought I was a total jerk. I’m so sorry.”

Her changing expressions were nearly comical. Shock, bewilderment, a glimmer of understanding and then a smile, although one that barely reached her eyes. “That makes a lot more sense now. I didn’t think you were a jerk, although I was confused.” She glanced at the walls nearly bumping her on either side. “You know what? Let’s go to my suite. The shower is bigger and we can talk for as long as we need.”

Jared grabbed his towel and held it up as she stepped out, all wet and slick, and holy moly he wanted to jump her again this second. He wrapped the fabric around her, his knuckles skimming the tops of her breasts as he tucked the ends of the towel in.

She laughed. “What was that sigh for?”

“Did I sigh? God, woman, what you’re doing to me.”

Keri stepped back and pointed. “You rinse off then come find me. I need to make a few arrangements so we can spend the rest of the day together.”

The involuntary drop of her gaze over his body didn’t do anything to slow the blood flow to his cock. He caught her fingers in his hand and kissed her knuckles briefly, somehow managing to not drag her back into his arms. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. And together sounds wonderful.”

Keri winked before she turned away, and he stared at her ass and tatt in happy shock as she returned to the bedside and dressed.

His mate. He’d really and truly found his mate.

He reluctantly stepped into the shower, his wolf sniggering in delight. “Yeah, yeah, you know everything, don’t you? Then tell me how I’m going to explain why I’m on this ship in the first place?” he muttered to the beast.

The fiend settled, still smug, as if to say that was a human concern and not his. The wolf had found its mate, and all was right in the world.