WithHerCraving (23 page)

“Actually, both of us would like it if you came inside and
shared our kill,” David said, surprising them. “You see, my mate also has a
special gift.”

“She does?” Katrin smelled surprised and looked at Molly.
“You do?”

“Yes, she does. When I don’t show my manners and properly
honor our litter, she has a very special way of telling me so without anyone
else hearing.” David took his mate’s hand, which had been on David’s back. “She
pinches me until I come to my senses.”

His light joke broke the tension that Jarvis saw now had
hung heavily in the air between the four of them. He laughed along with David.
Jarvis wasn’t sure how it would all play out, but with his old friend and his
litter on their side, he prayed there might be more on his mountain who also
were open-minded. It would be a fool’s game though to believe there wouldn’t be
just as many ready to see Katrin dead.

“Please come inside,” Molly offered.

“I really am a mess,” Katrin complained, not able to hide
her fear.

“You have my word as a Cariboo that in my den, not one male
or female will lay a claw on you. Do you understand?” David asked, his voice
lowering to a very serious growl.

“Do I know everyone in your den?” Jarvis asked, deciding he
wanted to know who they were up against.

“All we have to do is convince Stefen Runner that Katrin is
a female worth having on our mountain, and the rest will howl their support,”
David said.

Jarvis remembered the older Cariboo. He glanced down at
Katrin, who once again looked too pale for his liking.

“Stefen Runner is from a very old den of Cariboo,” he
explained, hoping if he got her thoughts on something other than her fate, it
would put color back in her cheeks. Jarvis knew the Cariboo on this mountain
had a lot of respect for David’s den. When the male howled that Katrin would be
safe inside, Jarvis knew it to be true. “The Runner litters have been on this
mountain for at least a hundred years.”

“If not longer,” David added. “They used to be the Running
Paw litter but changed their last name.”

“I think it was Stefen’s sire who changed the name,” Jarvis
continued. “They run by an old and honorable code. No male or female on this
mountain would ever snap at a Runner. They have that much respect. But because
of their old ways and beliefs, their litter knows discrimination. It will be in
our favor.”

David and Molly turned and led the way into their den.
Katrin paused and Jarvis thought she would balk. When he looked down, she was
looking up at him and smiling.

“What?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “It’s just that I love you so very much.
Maybe you didn’t notice, but for the first time, you just defended me being
half Malta werewolf.”

She was right. “And I hope you forgive me for not having
done it a lot sooner.”

Katrin walked around the den after a nice hot bath, feeling
like a new female. Jarvis had promised he would put in a bathroom door that
would lead into the den. But until they mastered plumbing, the lean-to next to
their brand-new den suited her just fine. She would allow him a few days before
she started playing the dutiful role of a loving mate and howling that they
start figuring it out.

They had just nailed the last nail into their den. In spite
of the cold weather and her wet hair, she paused a moment to stare at the cabin
that they had finished together. Jarvis had agreed using her gift would make
their den more uniquely theirs. Katrin’s heart had soared the entire time she
had helped knock down trees then create perfectly sanded boards. She’d grown
used to how drained it made her after using her mind to knock the trees over
that Jarvis selected for their den. After explaining what the process did to
her mentally, he became incredibly attentive.

Once she’d knocked a tree down, he was by her side insisting
she rest. As much as she hated feeling so worn out when pushing her gift to its
extreme, it was equally as nice having her male holding her and growling how
incredible she was.

Jarvis came strutting around the opposite side of their den.
She smelled his pride, his love, which was the same as her scent, and happiness
that filled the air around them with a stronger aroma than the perfumed soap
she’d just used in her bath.

“What?” she demanded when she also sniffed out amusement.

His blond hair was windblown and soft curls wrapped around
each other and fell past his ears. It had grown since they’d first met and she
rather liked the wild look in his human form. Piercing blue eyes captured hers
the minute he rounded their den. She had only a moment to take in his muscular
legs and how sexy they were in his faded denim jeans. He wore a t-shirt in
spite of the hard chill in the air, with his sleeveless jacket unzipped and
hanging over his broad, muscular chest.

In that moment, while he approached her, Katrin took in the
full package. There wasn’t a better-looking Cariboo
lunewulf
on the
entire mountain. Probably not even the entire Canadian Rockies.

Katrin accepted that she hadn’t sniffed out as many males as
some, but she knew in her heart and her soul that no other male would have
accepted her as she was. Cariboo males were a stubborn lot, set in their ways,
and seldom bent to the will of others. Jarvis hadn’t submitted to her. That
wasn’t in his nature. But after that horrible night a week before, something
had changed in his scent. He’d become more protective, his growl a bit fiercer,
his entire stance a bit more powerful. The love she smelled on him matched her
own. It was a raw, energizing scent that didn’t smell like anything else
describable. And she’d never breathed in anything more alluring.

Jarvis reached her with a few long strides and scooped her
into his arms.

“What are you doing?” she yelped and slapped wet strands
from her face as she laughed.

“Waiting for you to finish your bath.” Jarvis adjusted her
in his arms.

“You could have joined me.” Since almost losing each other
because she was half Malta werewolf, they’d done everything together. “I bet
there’s room in that tub for two.”

“I’d rather join you doing this.” Jarvis leaped up the steps
to their front porch and pushed the door to the den open with his foot. “I need
to carry my mate over the threshold.”

“How very human of you,” she teased and giggled when he dug
his claws into her rear.

“Let me show you how human I’m not,” he growled into her
ear, then extended his teeth and nipped her earlobe.

Katrin squirmed in his arms until she fought him to let her
down. Her feet reached the ground while she laughed hard enough to fill their
small den with the clean smell of happiness. She breathed in his lust and need
swelled to life inside her.

“I know there’s nothing human about you,” she growled as her
heart thumped against her ribs. Already her pussy was soaked, but she wouldn’t
simply roll over and belly-up for him. She slid one of two kitchen chairs in
his way to block his path.

Jarvis tossed the chair to the side. It hit the wall and
clattered to the floor, landing on its side. “I’m going to fuck you.”

“I haven’t brushed out my hair.” Not that she cared. But she
wasn’t ready for him to know that.

“I like the wild look on you,” he grumbled, his teeth still
extended and the silver streaking over his irises adding to how damn sexy he
looked. “Now come here.”

Katrin squealed and leaped over the table. She landed on her
feet and gripped the edge of the table. Leaning forward, she eyed him through
wet strands of hair.

“I need to train you to say please,” she purred, as
adrenaline brought her natural predator to life.

“Playing hard to get means nothing when I can smell the lust
on you,” he growled, his smile fading as he pulled his jacket off and threw it
to the ground. Muscles bulged against his t-shirt. He stalked toward her and
grabbed the other side of the table.

“Destroy my brand-new table and I won’t be playing,” she
challenged.

Her heart raced too hard in her chest. Katrin stared into
Jarvis’ eyes, anticipating his next move. Her breathing came as hard as his and
she fought not to start panting. She wanted him. They would fuck soon. The
excitement of making him hunt her, even if it were in the small space of their
den, caused heat to explode into fire and burn through her veins.

There wasn’t enough time to calm her heart before Jarvis
roared. “Come here, my little bitch.”

She’d give him credit. He didn’t throw the table he’d made
for her to the side. Instead he used it to hold his weight as he held on to the
side and leaped around it. Jarvis was one hell of a good carpenter. The table
held his weight. The change was strong in him, though, and muscles hardened and
bulged as he damn near flew at her. She heard the tearing in his t-shirt when
his body moved closer to the change.

Katrin squealed, darting to the other side and racing around
their small living area. There wasn’t really anywhere for her to go. Not that
she planned on escaping.

Jarvis scraped the table to the side and let out a
dangerous-sounding growl when he pounced at Katrin. The sound of it sent
shivers rushing over her flesh. Sparks ignited up her spine. A fever fed the
fire in her blood, causing her insides to explode into pools of lust.

Suddenly it sounded better to be the aggressor instead of
the hunted. She didn’t pounce on Jarvis. Instead, Katrin leapt into the air.
Jarvis rushed into her and she landed in his arms, her breasts pressing into
his face.

“Now you’ll do as I say,” she howled, wrapping her legs
around his chest and her arms around his head. “I’ve got you right where I want
you.”

“Do you now?” Instead of trying to climb the ladder to their
loft, Jarvis went to his knees. He leaned forward, his grip around Katrin so
tight she didn’t even slip down his body, and laid her on her back before the
fireplace. Eventually she planned on having a throw rug before their mantel.
But for now, one of the extra sleeping bags Jarvis had brought up the mountain
when he had initially followed her from Toubec’s ranch sufficed. It was rather
comfortable when Jarvis pressed her down onto it, with his powerful, muscular
body stretching over her.

“Our first time was to be in our loft, but the fireplace
will do nicely as well.”

Katrin didn’t care where they made love. Her back was on
their smooth wooden floor, made from boards she’d sanded using her gift.
Jarvis’ strong, capable arms were still wrapped around her. She wasn’t sure
which words it was that she had howled, but something had finally sunk in and
enabled Jarvis to believe her gift wouldn’t make him less of a male.

They had built their den together, neither of them able to
have completed it with the speed and quality of craftsmanship they put into it
without the other.

“I might allow you to carry me upstairs,” she murmured and
arched her back so she was better able to rub against all of his hard muscle.

“I might decide to pick you back up.” He chuckled then
nipped at her neck.

“Jarvis,” she gasped, every inch of her going rigid from the
abrasion of his teeth against the sensitive flesh above her nape.

He raised himself off her then slid his hand under her
sweatshirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra after her bath, and the oversized
sweatshirt and sweatpants had already twisted on her body. Jarvis used his arm
to raise the cloth over her breasts while his fingers tweaked her already hard
nipple.

Katrin grabbed his shoulders and fisted his t-shirt in her
hands. There wasn’t any way to pull it over his head with him positioned over
her. Katrin fueled the fire inside her, feeling sparks ignite just underneath
her flesh. When her incisors grew and pressed against her lips she grinned up
at him, all the warning she cared to give. One of the many blessings of being
werewolf was allowing her nails to grow at a moment’s notice. As a cub she had
watched the adults and envied how they controlled the change. Now she mastered
the energy sizzling under her skin. She let go of his shirt long enough to
puncture the material with her nails.

“Sweet little bitch,” Jarvis rumbled at the sound of tearing
material.

His growl consumed her, feeding her desire and making her
crave even more.

“I want to feel flesh,” she informed him, and the rough purr
in her voice only added to the excitement building between them.

“My mate shall always have her heart’s desire.” Jarvis
offered no other warning.

Katrin experienced the sensation of being tossed up and down
as her sweatshirt ripped up the middle. Jarvis didn’t let her head hit the floor,
or her body slap back down. He moved with the speed their species was known for
and cradled her in one arm as his eyes glowed with pure male satisfaction.

“My sweatshirt,” she complained, although she didn’t care at
all that he’d just torn it straight down the middle.

“Is now a sweater,” he finished for her.

Jarvis shoved the material away and lowered his head to her
breast. He growled again, this time as he suckled her nipple deep into his hot
mouth.

“Oh yes,” she moaned, and relaxed her head against his arm.

She closed her eyes as her damp hair pressed against the
back of her neck. It barely offered relief from the heat pumping to dangerous
levels inside her. Jarvis scraped her puckered nipple with his teeth and it was
as if lightning shot straight to her pussy.

Jarvis chuckled when she jerked at the abrasion and
tightened his grip on her, holding her back inches off the floor. He sucked her
deep into his mouth and Katrin’s world toppled to the side. It had taken so
much for them to get here. They were making love, both feisty and full of
energy and the love they felt for each other. Katrin wasn’t sure they would
have arrived at this spot any other way, although she never wanted to look
back.

Instead, she wanted to move forward, and the sooner the better.

“My turn,” she whispered, then applied a fair amount of
strength to push him to the side.

When Jarvis rolled to his back she knew he had relented. It
didn’t bother her that he possessed more physical strength. That didn’t mean he
would ever dominate her. She didn’t take time to move her hair, other than to
shove damp strands away from her face. Katrin wanted to see. She wanted to
feel. She very much wanted to know that what she did affected him as much as
what he did to her.

“I said flesh,” she warned him and grabbed his shirt.

Jarvis moved so fast she didn’t see his arm move.

“And I’ll give it to you,” he whispered, his deep baritone
raw and aroused.

His hand clamped around her wrist. Katrin’s fingers were
extended and her nails long. She barely touched his t-shirt. Even as she used
all her strength, with the change bordering dangerously close to consuming her,
she wasn’t able to tear his shirt the way he had hers.

“I don’t want you to give it to me,” she said, her teeth
clenched with determination. “I want to take it.”

Fighting him had her insides swollen with lust so raw, so
thick and overpowering, she wasn’t able to control it and remain in her human
form. She hadn’t changed without willing it, let alone inside a den, since she
was a cub. And she wasn’t about to do so now. In flesh or in fur he was
stronger than she was. Katrin was equally as cunning though. And there was
nothing more satisfying, more exhilarating, than taking on her mate in all
aspects of sex.

“What do you want to take, female?” he asked, his face lit
with amusement and flushed with carnal desire.

His arm muscles bulged as he prevented her from tearing his
shirt. There was a trace of a grin, of that age-old annoying male superiority
that he believed he held over her. Katrin continued struggling, forcing him to
hold her in place. Then, as he had, she showed how speed ran as thick in her
blood.

Katrin pounced, taking him off guard when she quit
struggling to grab the shirt. She relaxed her arm but used the muscles in the
rest of her body to shove him to the floor. Then straddling him, she grabbed
the bottom of his shirt and shoved it up his muscular chest.

Taut, rippled muscles appeared. Katrin loved the spread of
tight blond curls that stretched over his chest and narrowed to a thin line and
disappeared under his jeans. She spread her fingers and pressed her hand
against his warm, smooth flesh.

“Don’t move,” she instructed. “Don’t try to get up. Don’t do
a thing I don’t say to do.”

The hint of a grin turned into a dangerous smile. His heart
was a solid thump against her palm. Her heart raced when he met her gaze and
stared into her eyes.