Mating Seduction-epub (14 page)

“Cora knows. I’m almost sure of it… She started dating Stan after and he must have told her, because she started teasing me, calling me ‘twinkle toes’ and asking if I ever thought about surgery for my ugly feet.”

Jackson’s expression darkened.

“Cora’s a bitch. As for that Skin bastard, I’m glad he turned coward and ran, so I could have the privilege of being your first. You deserve better than a whiny ass boyfriend whose dick shrivels up at the sight of lil’ ole wolf toes.”

“It was pretty small to start with, too. Shrinkage, he claimed, but it was a warm day,” she deadpanned.

Jackson laughed and rested his cheek atop her head. Cool wind brushed against her exposed skin, but all she felt was warmth in this big Lupine’s arms.

“I wish I’d had the courage to tell you sooner.”

“After the way you’d been treated, I understand. How long have you been like this?”

“Ever since I first shifted. I was a late bloomer, didn’t experience the change until I was fourteen. And then, I never fully transformed. It’s why my parents abandoned me.”

He raised a  brow. “You said your parents died.”

Lexie hesitated. He deserved the full truth. “I lied.”

Chocolate brown gaze steady, he nodded. “Go on.”

“Lies, all lies. I kept telling myself that.” Her voice broke. “I thought if I kept telling the lie, maybe eventually, it wouldn’t hurt as much. They dumped me with Nikita, my aunt, shortly after my first change into wolf.”

Jackson swore softly.

“They saw how ugly and deformed my wolf was and couldn’t handle it. Nikita’s been there for me ever since. She gave me Diamond for my birthday when the other pack females made fun of me. Encouraged me to ride, because I felt so miserable, and told me that maybe I couldn’t run fast as them in wolf form, but I could sure lick them on a horse, because I was so good.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks. “Nikita’s only a few years older than me, but she’s been more a mom to me than my real mother was.”

Jackson gently wiped away the tears with the edge of a calloused thumb. “Where did your parents go, sweetheart?”

She fisted away the tears. “Nikita hired Lupine trackers and they finally discovered my parents bolted for good, moving to a remote area in western Canada. Where they could run wild and free…” The words came out as a choking sob she could no longer hold back. “Without their deformed daughter limping behind them.”

Nikita had been good to her, but Lexie never ran with the pack. Never experienced the thrill of the chase and the wildness of being together with other Lupines. When she shifted, she ran solo. Limped, she amended.

A hollow ache settled in her chest. She always fled to the rodeo because the rodeo never failed her. The cheering crowds were her family. The thrill of competition, soft sand and sawdust kicking up beneath Diamond’s hooves, her home. Lexie finally admitted the truth to herself.

She left others before they left her, like her parents did.

“I ran away from you before you could love and leave me,” she whispered. “Before you could abandon me and leave me standing there, alone, with a suitcase in my hand, wondering where my next meal was coming from. It hurt so much. I had no warning. One night we were sitting around the dinner table, laughing, and I felt like I belonged. The next day, they dropped me off at the front of Nikita’s lodge, slammed the doors shut and sped away. I never saw them again.”

Her voice dropped to a shamed whisper. “Even with my deformity, I hoped they’d love me, not pack their bags and run off, leaving me alone. They did, because I wasn’t perfect. And never could be in their eyes.”

Jackson’s brows knitted together. He framed her face with his large, square hands, feeling wonderfully work-roughened and warm. “Lex, I won’t ever abandon you. That’s a promise. I will never leave you alone. I’m here to stay, as long as you’re by my side.”

His mouth feathered over hers, gentle, teasing and tender. “In my eyes, you’ll always be perfect. My wonderful, spunky and lovely Lexie. My perfect mate.”

A lump rose in her throat. Lexie swallowed against the tears starting to trickle down her cheeks. Jackson was so loving and supportive, and fitted right into the Lupine lifestyle.

She did not.

Nuzzling her cheek, he slid a hand up the arch of her spine. “Don’t cry, darling. It’ll be all right.”

“You have a pack who runs with the moon when your alpha orders it. I can’t. I’ll never be like them. I’ll never be normal.”

“No, you’ll never be normal. You’ll always be special, stand out from the crowd. Because you’re my Lexie. Even if you had twenty toes on one foot. Or three breasts.”

His honest, unabashed grin put her at ease. “Three breasts? You’d love that.”

“Naw. Only if I had three hands to feel you up.” He winked.

Lexie laughed.

Gently, he squeezed her waist. “You’re just the right size, too. Big and beautiful and with a heart to match.”

“You’re just the right size, too.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “You fit me perfectly.”

He looked at her foot, his hand stroking over the wolf-like toes. “I’ve never seen this, but I wonder. How much meat did you have growing up?”

Frowning, she considered. “Not much. My parents would run as wolves and catch game, but because they needed it for shifting, they only gave me a little.”

“Ever try eating more fresh meat?”

“Eating isn’t the problem.” Lexie laughed a little. “You see how big I am.”

Jackson cupped her face and looked at her intently. “I told you, you’re perfect the way you are. I was talking about game. If you’re lacking protein, you could shift partly, but not all the way. Most Lupines simply wouldn’t shift without a sufficient supply of fresh meat once a month. But maybe you’ve had just enough to transform, but not fully. If you’ve had this since you entered into your first change, and the condition wasn’t treated, your body wouldn’t know otherwise.”

“You think there’s a cure?”

A fierce scowl darkened his expression. “I could kick your parents’ asses. They should have tried everything. Parents have obligations to their young to see them through tough times and a Lupine’s first change is tough.”

“We never have that much fresh meat on the Blakemore ranch,” she murmured. “Except what you can catch yourself.”

“And all those head of beef Nikita has?”

Guilt suffused her. She shook her head.

Jackson sighed. “It’s all right, darling. She sold them.”

Lexie stared at him. “You knew? Does Aiden know?”

“You can’t face that kind of financial strain without someone finding out. He wants to help her.” Jackson squeezed her hand. “But right now, I want to focus on you.”

She stared at her feet. “I can’t chase anything large, like a rabbit. I can’t run fast enough to catch something every time I shift.”

Hunting meant lying quiet until prey wandered by, and then she could only catch field mice.

“No wonder.” Jackson nuzzled the top of her head, the gesture erotic and yet soothing. “I’ll catch a rabbit for you. And then you’ll see.”

“What about an elk? If all I need is fresh protein, can you bring down an elk?” she asked hopefully.

He laughed and kissed her. “Darling, if it makes you happy, I’ll bring down an entire herd just to see my Lexie smile again.”

The rich, masculine scent of him tangled in her senses, potent and exquisite. She breathed deeply, blood rushing to her loins. Satisfaction flickered in his gaze.

He was luring her wolf with scent, without shifting. So much power in Skin form, how much did he exert in full Lupine form?

Jackson set her on her feet. His eyes luminous in the darkness, he gestured to the nearly full moon. “We’re both going to shift and run, just us two. And I’ll show you what it’s like to shed your Skin and live as wolf.”

“I’m a little afraid.”

He stroked a thumb over her chilled cheek in a languid, tender caress. “Don’t be, sweetheart. I’m with you all the way. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Jackson the cowboy was a mighty fine specimen. Jackson naked was even finer.

But Jackson in Lupine form took her breath away.

In her own wolf form, she watched the enormous gray timber wolf standing quietly before her. Sweet mercy, he was huge. No wonder the others on the ranch worried about him taming his wolf.

This beast could take down not just a herd of elk, but a full-grown moose. Hell, a few adult moose.

Jackson trotted over to her and gently rubbed his muzzle over her back. Then he did something astonishing.

The big male rolled over onto his back, presenting his underbelly to her. In Lupine terms, he made himself vulnerable to her.

The woman inside the wolf felt her heart twist with tenderness. She limped to him and licked his nose, then pushed at his broad shoulders with her muzzle, urging him to get up.

Jackson rolled over and stood, shaking, sleek gray fur rippling with the motion. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

Suddenly he sped off into the woods behind the darkened cabin. Lexie began limping in the same direction. She’d barely gone a few yards when he trotted out from behind a clump of pine trees, a dead rabbit in his jaws.

Tail wagging, he dropped the prey at her feet.

Lupine instinct flared, the urge for fresh game overpowering all else. As she ate, he kept close watch, scanning the area as if searching for intruders.

The very action of a protective male guarding his mate.

When she finished, he buried the remains and then started off, looking over one shoulder. She started after him, the limp much less pronounced. Lexie stopped and examined her back paw again. Joy rushed through her.

The slim toes were less pronounced. Claws emerged from them.

Gingerly she tested her weight upon the bad paw. Jackson, halted a few feet away, regarded her in the moonlight, eyes gleaming in the grayish moonlight.

Then he started off again, slowly, allowing her to catch up. Wind teased her fur and her Lupine senses exploded as she breathed in the night, heavy with rich, earthy scents.

When they were surrounded by forest, they stopped at the creek and drank from it. Cold water beaded her nose. Lexie yipped happily.

For the first time in her life, she felt accepted and normal.

Then Jackson raised his head and regarded her with a different look.

Her wolf’s heart thudded heavily, the beast inside her recognizing the animal need, scenting the arousal even as her gaze caught his phallus sliding out, wet and glistening, from its protective sheath.

The big gray timber wolf’s nostrils flared. Moonlight gilded his fur into shiny silver and caused his white fangs to glisten. Sniffing the air, he loped forward and rounded her body. He sniffed her bottom and then nuzzled her pulsing sex, his warm tongue lapping across it in slow strokes. A shudder of sexual anticipation raced through her. She knew what he wanted.

The night air was cool as it ruffled her fur, a hint of frost in the air. Moist, warm breath touched her cleft as the big timber wolf stood behind her. She held her tail high and aside, her insides clenching. They could not communicate in this form. Lexie quivered, uncertain and slightly afraid of the beast’s enormous power. She had seen that thick phallus, had scented the wolf’s eagerness to mate.

Head down, she presented herself submissively for his taking, instinct prodding her to obey. But he loped toward her front, and tenderly licked her nose as if reassuring the woman inside the wolf. Astonished, she turned her head and watched him trot to her backside, bend his head and nuzzle her crippled left foot. His tongue felt hot as he tenderly licked the grotesque human-like toes covered with a faint pelt of hair. Then he loped back to her front and sat, his penis glistening in the moonlight, the shaft extended toward her.

Jackson accepted her fully as wolf and wished to mate, wished for her acknowledgement of what was to transpire. A rush of excitement filled her. The time was now. She was ready.

Lexie leaned forward, her tongue darting out to slide along Jackson’s long, reddened shaft. She continued to lick his giant erection with the same, sure and slow strokes he’d done to her. He threw his head back and howled.

Then he shook his massive head, backed away and stood, going behind her once more. She felt his tongue slide across her wet cleft and braced herself, looking over her furred shoulder. Hot, panting breath fogged the air as she waited.

The wolf continued licking her slit and she widened her legs, a shudder of excited pleasure rippling through her. Her tight channel pulsed and throbbed, eager for his male invasion. A low growl of impatience ripped from his throat. Moonlight spilled over his magnificent, furred body as he reared up and mounted her, his great claws gripping her hindquarters to hold her still for his taking. She felt the touch of his thick shaft against her slit. Then he pushed forward and with a tremendous thrust, breached her, claiming her as his mate.

Lexie shuddered with the intensity of the mating as Jackson began to thrust hard and heavy.

He began to rock his hips forward, his phallus stretching her tight channel, which slicked him in female welcome. Back and forth he sawed his hips, the friction exquisite and erotically intense. This virile, tremendous wolf wanted her exclusively, she the Lupine others scorned and mocked, the Lupine rejected by her birth parents for being different. The woman inside the wolf felt a wash of pure tender love for Jackson.

His thick muscles flexed with each movement as he claimed her as wolf, claws strong yet gentle as he gripped her thick fur. Night sounds echoed around them, the small scurry of animals, wind rustling leaves and pine needles at their paws. Her senses felt alive and electrified with animal awareness and pleasure as his shaft slid deep inside her. And then the base of his shaft thickened, swelling deep inside her as he readied to tie her body to his for the ultimate claiming. Jackson snarled, tensing, as he climaxed, his hot seed shooting inside her, over and over, creating ripples of such pleasure, like fingers slicking over her channel. Lexie threw back her head and howled as orgasm slammed into her, the cold wind blew through the pines and the moon looked down as if smiling in approval.