Authors: Olivia Arran
The prickling was getting worse
and
Ted hadn’t answered me. And he
always
answered me, with sick whispers of what he’d like to do, given the chance. It appeared to be his favorite pastime, reminding me that I wouldn’t always be one of Bert’s favorites, and that I’d end up like the others did. Like we always did.
Not that I ever really forgot. I didn’t dare.
My hand froze, the rag I clutched growing cold.
I glanced over my shoulder and sucked in a breath, nearly choking in the process.
A man stood there, his arms wide, a confused expression on his face.
That
might
have been fine, but I didn’t know him. Had never seen him before. And he was huge, like nearly seven feet tall kind of huge. Okay, maybe not that tall, but being a short-ass, everyone was tall to me. I had a second to take in that he was dressed all in black, that his blond hair shone like a beacon in the dim light, and then he was lunging toward me.
I scooted back, crashing into the bucket of water and sending it sloshing over the floor, desperately trying to drag a scream from my frozen lungs. But they were paralyzed. Useless.
I couldn’t even do that right.
A big hand closed around me, trapping me between the soaking wet floor and a rock-hard body, the other clamping down over my open mouth.
I tasted the salt of sweat and the tang of man in my mouth. Without thinking I bit down. Hard.
“You fucking did, didn’t you?” he cursed, pulling his hand away in automatic reaction.
Now!
I took a deep breath.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he muttered, then his lips sealed onto mine, stealing my breath in a kiss that would have left me staggering had we been still standing.
Fight!
My mind screamed, but my body wasn’t listening, just tasting and feeling. His tongue licked out, spearing into my mouth. It was as if he was trying to consume me, his groan of need vibrating through me and spiking something deep inside of me. Something I had never felt before.
What was I doing?
The thought screamed through my head, my mind fighting my body’s response.
Abruptly, he pulled away, his face screwed up, mirroring what I knew my own must show. Utter confusion. Piercing blue eyes stared at me, the color of a summer sky, cloudless and vast.
A strand of dirty-blond hair fell into his eyes and he blinked, the moment broken.
“Don’t scream. Please,” he whispered in a low voice, his breath hot against my lips.
Awareness filtered back. I was lying flat on a cold, wet floor, with a huge man pinning me down. A huge man who seemed to be completely made up of rippling, hard muscles from what I could feel pressing against me.
And that’s not the only part of him that’s huge!
Somehow, in the scramble, my legs had spread and were cradling him against my core.
I knew what it was that I could feel digging into me. I wasn’t a virgin. Definitely not with Bert around, but my only prior experience with a man’s cock had been distinctly
un
pleasurable. And this was—
He shifted slightly, sending a thrill rippling through me, heat pooling in my stomach. I gasped, the sound involuntary, dragged from deep inside.
Who is he?
“Oliver. And you—?”
He must have read the silent question in my eyes, or at least felt the need to introduce himself given our close proximity. Good manners and upbringing spurred me to answer. “Ana,” I whispered, watching his eyes carefully. Had he heard about me? All the men knew to stay away.
“Nice to meet you, Ana. Unfortunate circumstances, but still…”
“Why are you here? Does Bert know?”
His face hardened, his jaw clenching in anger. Instinctively, I shrank back, then kicked myself for showing fear.
Never show fear, remember?
It was what had kept me alive for so long. Bert liked to try and break his women, and when they broke? Well, then he had no use for them.
I swallowed back the fear that threatened to choke me. “Has Bert sent you?” Had he finally tired of me?
He swallowed hard, his lips thinning at my words. “Why would he send me?” The words were almost a growl, reminding me that this man was most likely an animal. Like all the others.
I don’t know what possessed me to reply; it was always better to remain silent. I knew that. But maybe I wanted to prolong the moment? Maybe I wanted a glimpse of the man before the animal took over? Because I knew by now the animal
always
took over.
“You know why.” I bit my lip, looking away. I already wanted to take the words back, to beg for his forgiveness. Bert hated it when I didn’t give him a straight answer, always gave me an extra slap for my sass. But try as I might, I didn’t do docile very well.
“No. I
really
don’t. Please enlighten me.” This time the words were definitely a growl, his eyes flashing liquid silver. “And what the fuck is that on your neck?”
I should have been scared. I
should
have been terrified.
I certainly shouldn’t have felt safe. But I did.
What is happening to me?
***
Oliver
When she bit me all reasonable thought flew from my mind, the decision to kiss her not really a decision, more of a reaction. A fucking
insane
reaction.
But when I tasted her, drunk on her sweet scent of liquorice and roses, I was lost. All I could think was:
her
. How to get closer, how to taste more, feel more.
I needed more.
And now she was staring at me, her brown eyes shining with an emotion I couldn’t name. I mentally kicked myself—maybe if I wasn’t such an emotional caveman I could have guessed, could have read the signs, but I was at a loss.
And then she had turned her head away, revealing deep scars along her collarbone. Right where the mating bite would be, and sanity fled. My wolf thrust forward, snarling and gnashing his teeth.
Who has done this to our mate?
he growled.
Mate? But...she’s human! She can’t be!
But even as I thought the words, I knew them to be lies. Her scent, her taste, the feel of her pressed against me—it was like coming home. At least, what I would imagine a home to be like, if I’d ever had one.
“Answer me. What is that on your neck?” I repeated, hating the way her eyes widened at the growl in my voice, the tremor that I felt run down her spine.
Her lips parted and suddenly I didn’t want an answer. Didn’t want to hear from her lips what I already knew.
“Bert—” she whispered, her voice hitching before carrying on, “I’m
his
.”
“No.” She wasn’t his. She was
my
mate.
But she nodded, then her brow wrinkled up in confusion. “If Bert didn’t send you, then why are you here?”
I bit back my anger, using my years of training to control the urge to storm out of there and rip Bert’s throat out. “I’ve come to rescue you.”
What the hell did I just—?
I cringed, hardly able to believe that had actually left my mouth.
“Rescue me? But how did you know? Wait! You can’t!” She started to struggle, which only resulted in her rubbing up against me in a most distracting manner.
Did she not want rescuing? Did she actually want to stay here?
“He’ll hurt him! You can’t! Please! ”She was thrashing beneath me, her hands beating at my chest, her eyes suspiciously bright.
I grabbed her hands, cradling them gently. “Stop! Hurt who?”
“My son. Josh.”
“Is Bert the father?”
Please no…
“Yes.”
My heart sank. Not only was she mated, she had a child with the man. “How old?”
“Six. He’s still only little. I have to protect him!”
My mate had a child. I was still struggling to wrap my head around it, but protecting? Yeah, that I could do. “We will, I promise. But first, we need to get you and the other women out of here.”
“We?”
“Yeah, you didn’t think I came alone, did you? Another team is rescuing the children.” I stood up, pulling her up with me. I tried not to focus on the fact that I didn’t want to let go of her hands. Or that her T-shirt was wet from the soapy water, sticking to her skin and revealing way more than it covered. Nope, not focusing. Was that the outline of a—
“Oliver?”
I dragged my eyes back to her face.
She was staring at me, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement, but her eyes were serious.
“Yeah?” Now I couldn’t drag my eyes from her lips, the full Cupid’s bow begging to be nibbled, teased, and tasted.
Damn it! She’s mated!
It wasn’t working, I still craved her.
“Can I trust you?”
Her simple question hit me square in the chest. Could she trust me? She could trust me with her safety, and the safety of her son. With her heart? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know if I could let her go, but to take a human as a mate? I didn’t know if I could do that either. I let go of her hands, immediately hating the loss of contact and the distance that seemed to open up between us.
“Of course,” I replied, forcing my lips to curve into a smile.
“Is it okay for me to come in now?” Luis called from the doorway, then without waiting for an answer, sauntered into the room. “You made enough noise, so I peeked through the window. Then left you to it, since you looked to be having…quite the time.” He winked, crouching down and picking up the now-empty bucket. Tutting under his breath, he set it on the table. “I’m Luis, your other knight in shining armor.”
Ana stared at him, and I wasn’t surprised. Luis was an attractive guy, or so the women at the packhouse always said, something quickly followed up by good-natured complaints about him liking guys. Sleekly muscled with the same exotic eyes as his twin, people always looked twice.
What
did
surprise me was the growl that welled up inside my throat, forcing its way out of my mouth. And I nearly keeled over in shock when Ana inched even closer to me, rather than run screaming out of the door.
Smirking, Luis arched his brows, eying us both. “It’s like that, is it? Good for you.” He slapped me on the shoulder, obviously enjoying my look of wide-eyed bemusement. “Let’s go get the others and get out of here. I don’t know about you, but this place gives me the heebie-jeebies.” Sweeping an arm toward the rest of the house, he motioned for Ana to lead the way. “It’s best that they see you first. We don’t want everyone screaming at once.”
A small hand slipped into mine, startling me. She was trembling a fraction, but her spine was straight as she started toward the door.
I had no choice but to follow, and watching the sway of her hips and the soft swish of her hair down her back, I couldn’t manage to convince myself that I wouldn’t follow her anywhere.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ana
This was my chance!
All I had to do was keep it together until we were clear of the camp, then I could grab Josh and run!
I crept up the stairs, leading the men quietly into the corridor. All the women were in bed. Whether they were asleep or not, I didn’t know. We were a family through necessity. It didn’t mean that there wasn’t rivalries. We were all scared to death of being cast out of the main house and given to the guards, and that kind of fear brought distrust with it. Only Gina was a true friend, having been here a little longer than me, and we had both come to the conclusion that living in fear of each other was draining. But when we had first become friends, there had only been us. Many had come and gone since, too many faces to grieve and remember. So we had closed our hearts. It hurt less that way. At least, I told myself it did.
Warm fingers squeezed around mine, and I realized with a start that I was still clinging to Oliver’s hand. What had made me reach out for him? What was it about this man that made me want to trust him, when I trusted no one?
His large presence at my back should have felt intimidating, overwhelming, but instead I felt safe. Sheltered. I has so far managed to put my physical reaction to him at the back of my mind, but with him so close, it was getting harder to ignore.
When he had risen from the floor earlier, I’d gotten my first chance to
really
look at him. I already knew he was tall and muscular, but what I hadn’t registered earlier was the definition of those ropes of muscle that wrapped around him, widening his shoulders and thickening his chest. I might have
felt
the ridges of his chest pressed against my breasts, the ripple of his abs against my soft stomach, but seeing it with my own eyes? It made everything I had felt deliciously real
.
His body was honed to perfection, his skin tanned and smooth, his forearms corded from obvious work. Men just didn’t look like him—ever. He had a quiet strength and confidence I found calming, as though he knew exactly what he was capable of and wasn’t afraid to do it. I was afraid if I blinked he would vanish, conjured from my own desperate imagination.