Surrounded by Pleasure (12 page)

“No, I haven’t,” she panted. She squeezed his shoulders,
but he wasn’t sure if she was trying to push him away or pull him closer.

He jumped back, putting some much needed distance between
them, and pointed angrily at her. “Then don’t fucking bring up that man again!”

He watched her swallow convulsively, and she finally
nodded.

“You should leave,” he gritted. He needed space before he
did something he’d regret, like mate with her regardless of her boyfriend.

She shook her head. “I-I think we still have a lot to
talk about.”

He shut his eyes, running his hands through his hair. Adrenaline
was still rushing through his veins at the thought of another man touching her,
possessing her, and he felt as if no relief was coming. He was falling deeper
into the abyss.

“If you stay, we won’t be talking.”

He pinned her with a stare, clenched his jaw, and fisted
his hands at his sides, all in an attempt to find some shred of control to
cling to.

He watched her grasp the hem of her shirt, working it up,
solidifying her decision, and reality seemed to have suddenly slowed.

“Krista,” he said when he finally managed to find his
voice. “I’m serious. You’d better be sure because I can’t be gentle. Not now.
Not when I have to think about you being with—” He cut off with a roar of
frustration.

“Come here, Toby.”

How she found the strength and conviction to order him
like that he didn’t know, but he wasn’t in the right mind to figure it out
either.

He started toward her and she backed away slowly, heading
toward the alcove with the bed. He stalked her, enjoying the slow striptease
she was giving him with each removal of her clothing. He followed her example
and hastily removed his clothes. By the time they reached the bed they were
both naked.

“You’re fucking mine, Krista. You got that?”

She nodded as her legs finally hit the side of the bed,
but he didn’t let her lie down. He grabbed her, spun her around, and pushed her
front up against the wall, his chest melding with her back.

“Last warning,” he purred into her ear. She rubbed her
ass against his thick erection in response, and he groaned. “You little tease.
I’m going to remind you just who you belong to.”

He shoved his leg between hers and reached around the
front of her. He slid his finger into her folds, finding her drenched in her
honey. “You’re wet for me.
Me
,
Krista,” he said into her ear as he grabbed his cock and entered her in one
quick thrust. She gasped at the sudden intrusion, and he slid his other hand
around to pinch and pluck at her nipples while he fingered her clit and pounded
into her without pausing.

He fucked her hard, harder than he’d ever taken her, but he
couldn’t seem to ease up. He had to mark her, brand her. As he plowed into her,
her hands scrabbled for purchase on the wooden walls, and her whimpering sounds
forced him to take her even harder. Still fingering her relentlessly, he stopped
torturing her nipples with his other hand and shoved it into her hair, grabbing
it and forcing her to expose her neck. His fangs slid out, and he wanted to
fucking take her, make her his for all eternity.

“Mine! You’re fucking mine, Krista,” he growled into her
ear, shafting into her so hard and fast his balls were drawing up, a burning
sensation igniting in his lower back, his stomach, his whole damn lower body.

She whimpered as her pussy started fisting around his
cock.

“Say it! I wanna hear you say it.”

“Yours,” she cried out. “I’m yours, Toby.”

He licked her neck, and she screamed as an orgasm claimed
her. Feeling her sweet little pussy grip his cock so painfully hard was his
breaking point. He roared a totally animalistic feline sound as his balls drew
up and he came in her, pumping until he was spent.

He slumped against her, exhausted, and tried to catch his
breath, his muscles trembling from the adrenaline rush and the energy he’d just
expended. Upon realizing he was probably crushing her, he eased back, and his
cock slipped out.

“Shit,” he breathed, seeing his seed trickle down her
thigh. He’d taken her bare. He’d never done that before. Marking a woman on the
inside like that was one way to make his mountain lion damn-near impossible to
suppress. But that wasn’t what caused the crushing mortification he suddenly
felt as he watched the evidence of his taking.

Blood.

It was mixed with his semen. He’d taken her so hard he’d
hurt her. All his musing about never wanting to cause her any harm didn’t
matter. He was a fraud. A dangerous, evil fraud.

“Jesus, I’m sorry.” He wanted to rub her arms, comfort
her, but he wasn’t worthy of touching her.

She turned around and stared at him, dumbfounded. He took
several more steps back and tripped over his feet to get away from her. He saw
his robe out of the corner of his eye and grabbed it as he ran from the cabin.

He frantically thought back to their conversation. He’d
given her an opportunity to leave. She’d said she wanted it. But was he too
demanding? Too forceful? Oh God, what was the difference between that and rape?

He was going to be sick.

* * * *

Krista had cried herself to sleep. Her conversation with
Toby hadn’t gone as planned. Nope, not at all. She’d decided to keep up with
the boyfriend ruse, but when she’d reminded him of that, the look in his eyes
almost made her come clean. He’d looked so devastated, so crushed. Then she’d
seen the possessive need in his eyes. The need to assert himself as the alpha
male in her life. She knew in that moment he always would be, and all the
indecision regarding his little family secret suddenly seemed less important. She’d
had a decision to make then and there. Either walk away or let him prove his
dominance. She knew she had to walk away eventually, but she wasn’t ready to
live without him now, knowing when she did have to leave, he’d always have her
heart. She loved him, and if she could’ve done anything to help him understand
he was her only alpha, then she would’ve done it. She’d taken the first step by
undressing and teasing him, lulling him, all the while easing herself into
submission.

And he’d given her a mind-blowing orgasm with
unbelievable sex. God, she’d never get used to the fireworks she felt when he touched
her. And immediately afterward, she felt as if it’d worked, but then something
changed. He’d panicked for some reason and left her alone.

She was left confused and upset that she’d made the wrong
decision yet again. Nothing seemed to be going right, and to top it all off,
she’d started her period.

After tossing and turning into the night while she’d
cried—sheepishly putting some of the blame of her emotional state on it being
that time of the month—she’d finally fallen into a restless sleep.

She wasn’t sure how much later it was when she felt soft
lips kissing her tear-streaked cheek.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” she heard over and over as
trembling hands circled her body. She tried to turn over and look at Toby, but
his grip tightened. She felt his shoulders shake and his breath hitch as he
kissed her hair. After several minutes he loosened his grip and started to ease
away. “Oh, God, you probably don’t want me touching you. I-I just wanted to
make sure you were okay. I mean, I know you’re not,” he sniffled, “but I needed
to man up and face what—”

She turned then, looking at his red eyes. What the hell
was he talking about? “Toby, I’m fine, sweetheart.”

“I had no right—”

She chuckled, and he looked at her incredulously. “I told
you I wanted it.”

“But I, er, hurt you.” He looked down, not meeting her
eyes.

“I am a little sore. I mean you’re huge and all, but I’ll
live.” She shrugged, not understanding where this was going.

“But you were bleeding.”

Realization dawned on her. Had he thought he’d forced
himself on her? She reached over and gently tugged his chin up, making him look
at her. “I started my period, Toby.”

His eyes got fractionally bigger for only a second or
two, but then he gave her a sad smile and shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t
matter. I was way out of line. I’ll leave you alone now. I-I just wanted to
check on you.”

She grabbed his arm as he started to get out of their bed—she’d
thought of it as their bed for a while now. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t deserve to be near you right now. I don’t deserve
to be near you at all.”

“Don’t you think that should be left up to me to decide?”
When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “Please don’t make me beg.”

He shut his eyes, and the pained expression that crossed
his face made her heart ache. “I’ll do whatever you want,” he whispered.

She pulled the covers to the side. “Take your clothes off
and get in.”

He stared at her for several seconds and then finally
started to remove his clothing. In all the time they’d spent together, this was
the first she’d ever seen his penis completely flaccid. She’d have her work cut
out for her if she wanted to turn his mood around and reclaim the spark between
them that had existed before today—or yesterday as it was now the early hours
of a new day.

He climbed in beside her, not touching her. She rolled
over and tucked herself against him, but he didn’t wrap his arms around her.

Oh, yeah, she’d definitely have her work cut out for her.

Chapter Nine

Toby still wasn’t himself. Krista hadn’t tried making
love to him while she was on her period because even though she was new to the
whole sex thing, the idea of that just grossed her out.

So, while she’d been on her period, she eased Toby back
into some of their comfortable routine. He’d started holding her while they
slept. He’d hugged her good-bye in the mornings before she set off to work in
the office and he on the land. A few times she’d initiated a kiss, and he
returned it because he knew it was what she wanted, but he’d immediately look
away from her, too ashamed to maintain eye contact. No matter how many times
she’d tried reassuring him that he’d only done what she wanted him to do, it
never seemed to work.

A little voice in the back of her mind told her that
maybe he was having such a hard time because he wanted to mate with her and
knew he couldn’t, that maybe he was fighting his animal side for control. She’d
like to believe that because that’d mean he wanted her on an emotional level.

And yet he was barely touching her. She’d been off her
period for days now with no sign of Toby moving their relationship back to the
physical level it once was. She’d talked to Mikaela about this, and she’d first
told Krista to be patient. But as the days passed, Mikaela was getting antsy on
Krista’s behalf and told her she should initiate sex with him.

Because he’d been treating her with kid gloves, she felt
that uncertainty she’d felt in the beginning with him. Only this time, she
didn’t feel out of her element turning up the heat. With only two days left
before her flight back to
St. Louis
,
Krista had to tamp down her nerves and take back what she wanted.

After dinner at the main house, she and Toby returned to
the cabin. They showered. Separately, with Krista showering first. When she got
out and Toby got in, she made sure she put lotion all over her skin and sprayed
on some light perfume. She slipped into bed naked, but that wasn’t a big deal
because they’d been sleeping in the buff. Not that Toby hadn’t tried a few
times coming to bed with pajama pants on, which she’d quickly grumbled about
until he removed them.

When Toby came out of the bathroom, he had his wet hair
combed and a towel wrapped firmly about his hips, gripping it in a death grip.
Once he got to his side of the bed, he tossed it to the side chair and quickly
got in, scooting close to her and casually resting his arm over her waist.

It was time to make her move.

She licked her lips, turning around to face him.
“G’night,” she murmured, pressing her lips gently to his. He stiffened—and not
in the right place. But he tilted his head and returned the closed-mouth kiss.
When he started to pull away, she leaned closer and nudged her parted lips
against his mouth. He opened slightly, barely taking her top lip between his
lips as she did the same with his bottom lip. When he tried breaking the kiss
after the little smooch, she slid her tongue between his slightly parted lips
and glided it over his tongue. He moaned softly as his hand rested on her hip.

But he barely kissed her back and didn’t so much as move
his hands from where they touched her.

Okay, so drastic times called for drastic measures. She ended
the kiss and snuggled against him as if she were going to sleep, and he sighed
contently as he did the same.

Then she kissed his chest, and the soft breathing that’d
been coming from him stopped. She licked his nipple, then nipped the flat
copper disk. He gasped, but stayed still. He had one arm under her head and the
other wrapped around her back. When she started kissing a path down his
abdomen, his arms locked around her, stilling her journey.