“On the way to his ranch in his pickup. Our hotel rooms were trashed. Had to let the manager know. A complaint had to be filed—yada yada. Also had to repurchase some of Tania’s stuff. Hope I got it all right. Lycus doesn’t want her to know what happened.”
“Fuck. It wasn’t a random human trashing, was it?”
“No. Definitely Wylfen orchestrated. They scatted on everything she’d bought. Paid particular attention to her panties and bras. Set my teeth on edge. I didn’t recognize any of the odors, but Lycus said there’d been at least four hunters. He’s fucking amazing. I thought I was good. So not in his league. Are all Rogues as good as him?”
“I’ve met a few who are better, but yeah most are.”
“They’re Jäeger hunters, Axe. Only the Jäeger announce their intentions with scatting.” Jaz looked green about the mouth.
Axe understood the reason for Jaz’s nausea. The Jäeger, a Wylfen sub-set, originated in Germany. They were the descendants of the hunters who’d served the highest ranking Nazi generals in World War II. The Jäeger now lived in Uruguay, the South American country to which most of the shifter Nazis had escaped.
Craping on a female’s underwear meant she was sexually available to all and sundry and beyond contempt.
“Four Wylfen Jäegers. Who took the time to stamp their intentions. They’re coming at Tania full force.”
Axe and Lycus had expected nothing else. But, they had hoped Tania’s immediate family, who had the right to demand the punishment exacted, would settle for banishment rather than the requisite disfigurement and sterilization.
“How
is
Tania?”
“Passed out.” Axe yanked out the handle for the suitcase.
Jaz gaped at him. “You didn’t fuck her into passing out, you asshole?”
“Give it a rest. What she needed was comfort. What my mate needs she gets. Let’s set ground rules as of this moment. You need to get into training mode. We’re in full protocol from now on.” Axe grinned at Jaz’s flare of anger.
“Aye, Senior Chief.” He snapped to attention. “Permission to speak freely, Senior Chief.”
“Permission granted. At ease.”
Jax shifted to a more relaxed position. “I don’t like the idea of her being alone all day while we’re on base, Senior Chief.” Jaz grimaced.
“Neither do I. It’s why I’m assigning Jurango and The Kydd to her when I’m not here. I also ramped up the security system. What do you know about this Lionel Rath?” Axe had a whole bunch of to dos on his list, but Rath was at the top.
“He’s Finnish. His father’s rich as Croesus. He’s the oldest son. It’s rumored he never allows any slight to tradition or his family’s status to go without a severe reprisal. He’s killed in mock shifter combat. Three times. Blamed it all on his opponents. When the families of the dead Wylfen brought their complaints to The Senior Council, all were dismissed with prejudice.”
That took Axe aback. With prejudice in the Wylfen world meant the complaints had been an abuse of their legal system. “The families of the shifters Rath killed had to pay
him
penalties? Fuck.”
“If you want, Senior Chief, I’ll hack into Rath’s PC tonight and see what else I can drum up.”
“Do it,” Axe ordered. “Rath could be the one who’s demanded the Jäeger be called in.”
“He has to be. There’s no way my brothers or my father would ever do
that,
” Jaz snapped.
Axe hadn’t even considered any member of Jaz’s immediate family for the disrespectful and derisive scatting. Viktor, however, had been his number one suspect until Jaz’s summary of Lionel Rath’s character.
“Agreed. In case you notice shadows on the way to Lycus’s ranch—your back’s being watched. See you at the base in the morning.”
“Yes, Senior Chief.”
Axe left Jaz hopping into his rental SUV, glanced at the star-filled sky, and, for a second, the pull to shift and run with the wind had his claws unfurling. What he wouldn’t give to spend the whole night racing with Tania. Taking her to his favorite spots on the property. Making love under the tree grove near the hidden cave.
The secret exit to his and Lycus’s shared underground shelter.
He wanted to share everything with her. The uglies with the beauties. But, how could he compete with her Wylfen perfection? The mottled scars on his cheek itched, and he worked his jaw to battle the temptation to scratch.
Axe had been captured on his first mission. The fuckers who’d held him prisoner for three days hadn’t given a shit about the Geneva Convention. They’d set out to break him and get the details of where his SEAL team was located.
What killed him was that he had broken. The only thing that kept him sane after he’d been rescued was he hadn’t been responsible for any of his teammates dying as a result of his cowardice. SEALs deal. They don’t break under torture.
Axe scrubbed a hand over his cheek.
Fuck his scars.
He had to find some way to get her to claim him.
Axe shoved his way through the front door, stowed the carryon in the coat closet, and froze when he heard the slap of bare feet on tile. A quick sniff confirmed she had warmed something in the micro.
How long had she been awake? And why hadn’t he sensed it?
Axe found Tania wiping the granite kitchen counters. She wore his sweats and had filched one of his tank tops. An inordinate wave of pleasure swamped his veins. Axe sent a fervent prayer that she hadn’t found the panties he’d swiped and hidden in his bedside table drawer. He’d never wash the clothes she wore tonight again. And when he wore them, man it would be torture knowing her pussy’d been up and cozy with the cotton.
She glanced at him, paused in mid-swipe, spun around, and braced her elbows on the counter. “This thing between us. Is it…mate recognition?”
Her brisk, no-nonsense tone surprised him. He’d expected Tania to be on the defensive. Maybe even passive-aggressive. Yet Axe detected neither anger nor fear in the fragrance she emitted.
She rubbed her toes on her instep and studied him intently.
“For me, it is. The second I saw you I knew.” Axe returned her inspection taking in the way her mahogany waves glinted under the track lighting above the sink.
“It’s scary. My head tells me that I’m nuts to stay here with you. But all of the rest of me says I have to be with you.” She squished the sponge in her hands. “I hate how I feel. All I can think about is having you inside me.”
All the tension in his bunched back muscles dissipated. In two long strides he was at her side. Inhaled her unique fragrance tangled with the lavender oil, and the faint hint of him on her. Unable to resist, he trailed a finger along her collarbone.
“Come run with me.”
Her breathing hitched. She blinked. Dipped her head. Scuffed the tiles with one bare foot. “I haven’t shifted in years. Not sure I still know how to do it.”
“Trust me. It’s like riding a bicycle. Once you’ve done it, it all comes back to you the second you mount.”
The moment he uttered the last word, the pungent aroma of his mate’s instant arousal flooded his nostrils. He ignored his cock’s immediate reaction and held out his hand.
“It’s like I have no willpower where you’re concerned. I don’t want to become my mom. I don’t want to cater to your every whim.” She gritted out the three sentences, but set her hand in his.
“Does it help to know that I want to cater to your every whim? That I’d move not just heaven and earth, but whole galaxies to have you claim me? That the mere thought of us having a cub justifies my whole existence?” He nosed her knuckles and tongued her fingers.
She pursed her lips. “Not at all.”
For a moment he was dumbfounded, but then she shot him an uneven grin. “That was pretty good. Galaxies, huh? I kinda like that. Okay. Let’s give that run a shot.”
The ache in his chest exploded. Burst liked a popped helium balloon. The trust inherent in her agreeing to shift with him had his mating hopes jackknifing. “Thank you.”
“Thank me after. If it works.”
He pulled her down the hallway. “Why haven’t you shifted for so long?”
“I like being in control. Shifting made me feel out of control. I know it doesn’t make sense. I
am
Wylfen.”
Axe had to repress a smile at the petulance in her tone. He kissed her palm. “I love you the way you are.”
She yanked her hand out of his. “This isn’t love. This is some stupid wolf stuff. I’m not going to submit to you.”
“I’m not asking you to.” He tugged the tank out of her sweats.
She batted at him. “What’re you doing? Stop that.”
He grinned. “It really has been a while for you, hasn’t it? We’ll burst out of our clothes when we shift.”
“Oh. I kind of vaguely remember that now you mention it.” Her cheeks pinkened. “Turn around.”
“No. We’ve fucked twice, Tania. And that’s going to be multiplied by a factor of at least ten between tonight and tomorrow night.” He drew her hand down to his blatant erection.
She hissed. Licked her lips and squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s so fricking weird. All I want is you inside me. Even while Lycus and Jaz were here, all I could think about was us together.”
“It’s the mate pull, sweet girl. I’ve been hard twenty-four seven since I first saw you in the gym. I have to sniff your panties at least once every thirty minutes just to stay sane.” Though it cost him a kazillion macho points, he wrenched her soiled panties from the graduation dinner and dance from his jeans pocket.
The blush in her cheeks deepened. She nabbed the panties and tossed them onto the counter. Something about her actions intrigued him.
“What?”
She placed her hands on his chest. “You have no idea how much that turned me on. Let’s run after. After you’ve fucked me silly.”
“Totally a done deal.” He heaved her tank top over her head.
She unbuckled his belt. “I won’t cater to your every whim. I’m not going to be a typical submissive mate.”
“For the last time, I’m not asking you to. Don’t whine about it over and over.” He reached around to her back and stifled a curse when he couldn’t grasp her bra’s tiny hooks. “Going to have to help me here. Take off your bra. My claws are making this fucking impossible.”
She gasped. Stared at his hands. “How can you, half shifted, be sexier than sin?”
“Bra.” His mind had shut down.
“Oh yeah.” She unhooked the back clasp and let the lacey black bra drop to the floor.
Axe commanded. “Stand still.”
He clawed through the rope ties at the sweat pants waist. Lengthened his claws, and then had just enough control to remember his earlier notion of wearing her sweats. Often. Of her pussy spice sliding against his balls.
So, Axe sheathed his claws, but knew he couldn’t touch her right then. He ordered, “Wriggle the sweats off.”
When she complied and her naked sex came into view, he feathered his tongue on the razor sharp points of his canines and tightened every groin muscle. A move that always brought him back from the edge. It barely worked.
To him it took forever for his half-shift to subside, and his wolf spirit to take control.
“Axe?” Her husky voice spoke of impatience.
He latched onto her nipple and suckled.
She tangled her fingers in his hair and pressed him closer. “Harder. Please. Harder.”
He grazed her pebbled peak with his teeth.
When she arched and moaned, he intensified the bite.
The need to be inside her overtook him. He shed his clothes and shoes, swept her off her feet, and lurched toward the master bedroom.
They fell onto the bed.
He framed her face with clumsy hands and kissed her until his oxygen-deprived lungs burned like a flash-bang had been set off inside his chest. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Stroking her mouth, sipping her sweetness, wallowing in his mate’s essence.
She met him caress for caress. Her bold tongue tangled with his. She nipped the tip and he combusted.
Flipped her over on the mattress. “Hands and knees.”
She obeyed, but flashed him a saucy grin over her shoulder. “Do me hard, sailor-boy. I want to feel you in my throat.”
He spanked her ass cheeks and then kneaded them salivating when her pink crack came into view. Massaged her back hole and tweaked it a couple of times. She whimpered, jutted her butt higher, and sank onto her elbows.
Testing her readiness, he fingered her creamy folds, and spread the dewy moisture into the crevices.
She jerked when he tugged on her clit. Her hamstrings bunched and her buttocks clenched when he rolled the swollen nub between his thumb and forefinger.
“Ask me nicely,” he demanded.
“Fuck me hard, sailor boy.” She turned her head to one side, laid her cheek on the bed covers, and jiggled her ass.
He lost it.
Gripped her waist and drove in until he hit her womb.
Stilled to savor the way her muscles fisted him.
Focused on the twin dimples above her butt. Salivated. Bent to lick each one. Nipped the ridge of her ass while plucking at her clit. She climaxed around his aching cock, contracting and releasing with such force that he could no longer hold back his release. The orgasm spasmed up from his curled toes. Soared across his groin. Drew his nuts up hard and tight.
He jetted into her.
She milked him with long, hard pulls.
He ground his thumb over her clit prolonging their explosive coming.
When her aftershocks finally stopped, he rested his head on her back. Swept his tongue over each of her vertebrae until he reached the one at her nape. Worried his fangs around the fragile bone. Drank in the poignant fragrance of their tangled fragrances. Allowed a lazy smile to spread his lips when she arched her neck to one side.
Rolled them over so she lay on her side tucked against him spoon-siding each other. He flexed his cock.
She cried out his name.
He soothed her by cupping her breasts and nuzzling her neck. “It’s okay. Just relax into it.”
Glancing back over her shoulder, she frowned at him, her eyes both glazed and wild. “What is it?”
“Mate lock. Can’t stop it. My cock’s locking my sperm inside you.”
She shuddered through an erratic orgasm.