Three Hours (Seven Series Book 5) (25 page)

“They wanted to die,” I whispered, threading my fingers through the tufts of his brown hair.

His glassy eyes rose to mine—detached and filled with disbelief. “What?”

“No one subjected to that level of torture wants to survive. You gave up; what makes you think
they
hadn’t already given up? What those men did to you was unforgivable, cruel, and karma will come back and slap them on the ass someday. Don’t let them win, Wheeler. Your chains are gone, but now you’ve become your own tormentor.” I brushed his tangled hair back and ran my finger over his thick eyebrow. “You’re not a killer. You were their angel of mercy.”

“I was their angel of death,” he said despondently, sitting back on his legs.

“You’ve turned trust into a sinister word because someone trusting you meant their death.”

He sprang to his feet and headed toward the door. “You’re right.”

I leapt up and hurried after him. “Don’t you
dare
turn your back on me,” I hissed.

Wheeler placed both hands on the door and leaned forward, lowering his head out of sight. “The carnage I left behind, the screams in my head, the blood in my mouth, the looks on those faces—those things are etched in my mind forever.”

I touched the dragon on his back. “Your wolf’s mind, not yours. You had no control over your animal.”

Wheeler spun around and shouted, “I killed them in
human
form!” His voice tightened. “Not all, but in the end. It wasn’t fair to make my wolf do all the dirty work; I had to carry my share of the blame. I’d finally embraced the monster I’d become.”

“Please, don’t go.” I slipped my hands around his sides and kissed his chest. “I trust you, Wheeler. I
trust
you won’t hurt me. Please…”

In a swift motion, he lifted me by my waist and spun me around, placing my back to the door as he laved my breasts. His body hummed with desire, whiskers scratching my neck until his lips met with mine. A low growl settled in his chest, and I held on tightly as he pressed himself against me.

Wheeler unleashed his repressed desires, and our kiss became frenzied. My legs wrapped around his waist.

My God… this man possessed so much passion that he consumed me with it.

I’d never had a man crave me the way Wheeler did.
Every movement of his body against mine was insatiable and animalistic. I’d only been with men for superficial reasons, and sex was sex. But the emotional connection threading between us amplified everything. Wheeler confiding in me acted like an accelerant that ignited a spark into a roaring inferno. The deeper and darker his secrets, the more connected we became.

My thoughts scattered as I kissed him hurriedly, as if we only had moments to consume each other before the world ended.

A rip sounded between our kisses.

“What was that?” he asked out of breath, kissing my neck.

“April’s baggy jeans. I think I’ve outgrown them. Are you sure you can handle all this?”

To answer my question, he reached behind my jeans, found the hole, and ripped it wide. A rush of tingles surged through me and I kissed him deeply. Wheeler held my waist and walked me toward the bed where he threw me down like a sack of laundry.

I bounced and looked up at his predatory eyes. “Now I know how poor little Red Riding Hood felt when the Big Bad Wolf looked at her. Are you like this with all your prey?”

“No,” he said with a throaty growl, devouring me with his eyes.

Wheeler was probably a man who contained his passion in the bedroom, and seeing how combustible he was with me sent a shiver up my spine.

“What?” I asked, noticing his hesitation.

“Just wondering if you’re going to punish me for ripping your pants.”

I got on my knees and crawled toward him like a panther. When I reached around his jeans, I felt the butterfly knife in his back pocket. I pulled it out and stroked the cold metal down his stomach. “Show me a trick.”

He took the knife, and I lay on my back beneath him with my legs slung over the edge.

“Move out of the way,” he said. “I might drop it on you.”

I reached out and stroked the hard outline pressing against his jeans. Wheeler sucked in a sharp breath. “I trust you,” I whispered. Then I put my arms up and lay beneath him. “Show me your teeth, Mr. Wolf. I’m not afraid of you.”

We both knew that I could shift and heal, but still I saw fear glittering in his eyes. He gently swung it in a simple maneuver and then closed it.

“I’ve seen you use that thing, Wheeler. Show me what you can really do.”

When he spun it again, I arched my back. I thought his willpower might break, but it fueled him. He did tricks with that knife that were blindingly fast.

I’d never seen anything more erotic in all my life—watching his hands deftly spinning that blade around and the intense look on his face as he kept his eyes centered on mine. He suddenly locked the case with the knife out and tossed it across the room at the wall, where it stuck.

I gasped. “I didn’t know you could throw those.”

Wheeler stripped me out of my jeans and panties. “Years of practice.” He fell over me, creating a friction with the bristles on his face as he worshipped my body with his mouth.

“This is real pretty,” he said in a soft voice, brushing the back of his hand over my sex. “Tell your wax lady she’s got my approval.” His hands gently spread my thighs apart and I drew up my knees. Wheeler’s hot breath made me quiver with anticipation, and when his tongue lapped at my skin with one greedy stroke, I arched my back, moaning with need.

He gripped my round hips, and after another sensual kiss, he began to tremble. Wheeler climbed up my body, desperate to get me completely undressed.

“I need you naked,” he breathed, panting as if he’d run a mile, and the race hadn’t even begun.

I leaned up, and Wheeler fumbled with the latches of my bra beneath my shirt. I heard them pop when he pulled them apart, and then he stripped me out of my blouse.

“Mmm, I can tell I’m going to need a large wardrobe with a man like you,” I purred, slowly tossing the destroyed garment to the floor.

He hovered over me with yearning in his eyes.

“Is this what you want?” I asked, sliding my fingers into his jeans. It didn’t take long before I found the source of all his discomfort. With dexterous hands, I unfastened his pants and shoved him onto his side.

His elbow hit the wall and he hissed in pain. “Wait,” he said, gripping my wrist and scooting toward the center of the bed as if fleeing from me.

“What?”

He wouldn’t say whatever it was that had caused a flash of terror in his eyes. That’s when I knew he was hiding another secret. Without taking my eyes from his, I pulled at his jeans and shorts beneath. Wheeler had softened, losing some of his arousal as unwelcome emotions began to take hold. He swallowed hard and then clenched his jaw.

How had other women treated him?

I kissed his mouth, then his neck, and worked my way down his body until I reached his hips and thighs. In the places that his pants concealed, Wheeler had scars that he hadn’t inked up with tattoos. Places maybe he thought no one would ever look again, or maybe he turned all his women away from him so they wouldn’t notice.

I noticed. I kissed each scar from the length of his thigh all the way to the one above his groin. He buried his hands in my hair, closing his eyes and thrusting his hips with need. I wanted to weep for what I saw—how he had taken such abuse—but I refused to let him think it mattered. My hands slid up and down the smooth skin on his lower abs, across his waist, and to his thighs.

Wheeler clocked my every move, and it made me self-conscious about concealing my reaction when I saw what else he’d been hiding from me.

Wheeler wasn’t just endowed—he was
blessed
. That kind of blessing made a woman hesitate.

“Sure you’re a wolf and not a stallion?” I teased. “Because you’re hung like a—”

Wheeler snatched my wrists and pulled me on top so I was straddling him. “Are you going to show me
your
teeth?”

I flashed a smile, showing him my pearly whites.

Wheeler rubbed my thighs, and no smile touched his lips. “Not those. I want you to shift.”

“Don’t be absurd. I’ll kill you!”

He licked his bottom lip, fingers exploring my backside. “I can’t be with you unless you show me your panther.”

“Darling, this isn’t necessary. You’ve already seen my panther.”

His hands continued stroking me. “Not like this. Not when I’m vulnerable.”

“I… I can’t.”

“Naya… I thought we were going to be open with each other.”

I trembled, despite the fact he’d somehow managed to walk my panther into the Weston home. My panther might attack him if frightened, and I didn’t know how much I’d be able to control her reaction. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He swallowed thickly and put his arms beside his head. “I need to know.”

“Know what?” I asked, stroking his stomach with the tips of my fingers.

“If the reason I don’t fear you is because I want to die, or because of something else.”

There it was. Wheeler’s ability to walk my animal into the house had raised a deep-seated fear that maybe after all these years, he still didn’t feel worthy enough to live.

“Please,” he whispered.

Why did this have to be so difficult? I had to trust my panther not to hurt a man who meant something to me. I also had to trust that this man wouldn’t kill my panther if something went wrong.

I moved off him and sat down by his legs. “Okay. But don’t make any sudden movements, and don’t look her in the eyes.”

His Adam’s apple undulated as he swallowed hard and watched me.
Am I really doing this? I must be crazy
, I thought to myself.

I felt the ripple move through me, and I shuddered as my body shifted in the blink of an eye. Through my panther’s eyes, I gazed at Wheeler. His breath quickened and his eyes were wide. He stayed still as my animal moved closer. When she stretched her neck to smell his face, I watched in surprise as he suddenly clasped his hands around her jowls and rubbed hard.

“You’re beautiful,” he said with a handsome grin, looking her straight in the eye. “You hear me in there, Naya? You’re gorgeous.”

My heart soared. Wheeler rocked with laughter, holding his hand in front of her mouth as she licked his palm with her rough tongue. When my panther rubbed her face against his, I quickly took control and shifted back to human form.

His laugh filled me with such a wonderful feeling, and it slowly died down as he looked at me with amorous eyes. I straddled him—nuzzling my face against his.

“You’re a crazy old wolf. Did you get the answer you were looking for?” I asked, nibbling his earlobe.

“Yeah, kitty cat,” he said softly, running his hands over my back. “I got it.”

I kissed him and something in his expression had changed.

“What do you crave after a shift?” he asked.

“
You
.”

Wheeler shuddered when I reached down and wrapped my fingers around his shaft, stroking it across my slick cleft. His eyes closed upon contact, and the deeper I took him, the more I had to pull back in small doses to make sure I could take him completely. My heart thundered against my chest as a connection formed between us that I’d never experienced with another man—something on an emotional level that went beyond the physical. His hands had never left me, and they were exploring my thick legs, my soft stomach, my supple breasts, and every glorious inch of my body. But the most arousing part of it all was that he never stripped his gaze from mine.

“You feel too goddamn good,” he said in strained words.

“Keep touching me. I won’t break.”

His fingers squeezed my thighs tight and I moved my body faster. The ropes of muscle in his arms and neck strained, and my nails bit into his chest.

Wheeler roared, his body tense. Something primal heated in his eyes.

He reached up, twisting my nipples between his fingers until they elongated. Then he groaned, cupping his hands over my breasts and grimacing.

“You need to stop…
stop
,” he bit out. “I’m about to—”

I circled my hips. “Not yet. I didn’t give you my
permission
.”

The next thing I knew, I was sailing through the air and onto my back. My head hung off the foot of the bed and he pounded into me—his mouth on my breasts and his scent in my nose. My God, I’d never felt anything so delicious! All the blood rushing to my head intensified the orgasm that was about to crash into us.

He dragged my body back onto the bed and settled his eyes on mine. His rhythm was relentless—each stroke even harder than the last, as if he were punishing me, and he filled me so completely that I’d never felt so taken. Wheeler maintained direct eye contact, and I could tell he liked the power play between us.

“Even… better… than I imagined,” he said between heated breaths. “
Christ
, your body feels so fucking good.”

I gripped the back of his neck and cried out—a bolt of pleasure taking siege and holding me hostage. My nails bit into his skin and I held on through the most powerful climax I’d ever experienced.

Wheeler didn’t stop. He pounded into me, faster, deeper. The headboard slammed against the wall and a book tumbled off.

“Pull my hair,” he said in a rough voice.

I moaned and gripped his hair in a tight fist.

“Harder,” he growled. “Punish me.”

Wheeler didn’t really want me to give him pain; he needed someone to take control of his pleasure. So I threw him off me.

With stunned eyes, he watched me turn onto my hands and knees, peering at him over my shoulder. I shook my derriere and gave him a sultry smile. “I’d rather you punish me. Show me how the big bad wolf likes it.”

Like a predator, he rose up on his knees and gripped my hips. Wheeler drove his shaft into me so hard that I cried out.

“You like this, kitty cat?” He reached around and stroked me with his fingers. “Did I mention how I like you waxed?
Fuck
…”

Now I understood the power of a wolf in the bedroom when he was in his domain. My insides heated, and I became so wet that he moaned profanities as he slapped his hips against my behind, creating one of the most erotic sounds.

I gripped the sheets, desire coiling tight. He moved faster, and when his fingers brushed over my sex again, I gasped.

Wheeler flipped me onto my back, never losing momentum. I gripped his taut biceps as if letting go meant falling off the earth. Pleasure quickly turned to agony on his face, and I knew he needed to find his release.

“
Now
,” I said, my voice firm before it fell to a soft breath. “Come inside me.”

His body quaked and he yelled out. Wheeler fell over me, out of breath. My senses were overwhelmed with his heat, his smell, the weight of his body, and the feel of his strong heart pounding against my chest.

Wheeler lifted his head and looked at me with concern. “You okay?”

“My heart is coming out of my chest,” I said between ragged breaths.

He lowered his head and whispered something I couldn’t hear.