Chapter Ten
The blond werewolf, Yon, avoided her gaze when he walked into Anton’s home with a tray of food for lunch. “Where do you want it?”
Shannon walked closer to him. “I’ll take it.”
He nearly stumbled backward to avoid her. “No! Stay back.”
She froze and then retreated. “Are you okay?”
“I won’t be if my scent gets on you.” He glanced at her then. “Anton threatened to skin me alive if I got close to you and he meant it. I’ve never seen him so nuts about a woman but I can’t remember him ever marking one before either. Just tell me where you want this and I’m out of here.”
She pointed to the bar that divided the living room from the kitchen. He moved quickly, put it down, and fled. The door slammed behind him. Her eyebrows lifted. At least she didn’t feel afraid. That had to be an improvement since she had been a little worried about being alone with the guy.
The smell of food drew her closer. The bar downstairs had an excellent cook. She sat and started to eat the burger and fries they’d sent her. She sniffed at the dark drink, recognized raspberry-flavored iced tea, and took a sip. She’d nearly finished all of her meal when something bumped against the door. Her spine stiffened, her attention fixed on it, and her heart started to race.
It suddenly opened, flung wide, and Anton stumbled inside. Seeing his torn shirt, blood on his cheek, and more smeared on his arms alarmed her. She shot to her feet so fast the stool crashed to the floor. She noticed more blood as her stunned gaze traveled down his body.
Dark red stains smeared his jeans on the legs, thighs, and down one ankle. His hair was a mess. He met her gaze with wolf-shaped eyes. “It’s fine. Don’t be worried. I need to shower.”
“What happened?”
“I met two of the rogues who broke in to your apartment.” Broad shoulders shrugged. “They didn’t want to listen to me. They aren’t a threat anymore.”
Shannon gaped at him and the blood staining him. “You…” She couldn’t say the words.
“Fought to the death? Yes,” he answered softly. “I told you I’d kill to protect you. I’ll be back.” He limped toward the bathroom.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’ll be fine. I heal fast.”
He didn’t spare her another look but instead entered the other room, closed the door firmly behind him, and in less than a minute the shower came on. The food inside her stomach churned. Anton had killed someone for her. The fact that he’d said rogues—plural—made her feel even sicker. He might have had to kill more than one werewolf. She yearned to go after him to make sure he wasn’t really hurt but the closed bathroom door assured her she wouldn’t be welcome. Indecision left her standing there with a feeling of helplessness.
The front door suddenly flung open again but this time it was a woman who stormed inside. She drew to a jerking halt when she spotted Shannon. They stared at each other. The woman appeared to be in her late thirties, had long dark hair to her waist and brown eyes. Her lips parted, fangs flashed, and a snarl came from her mouth.
“You!”
Fear gripped Shannon. “Who are you?”
“I’m Eve.” The woman’s face started to transform enough for there to be no doubt of her werewolf heritage. “I’m going to kill you.” The woman lunged.
Instinct took over and panic struck Shannon. She bolted for safety—that being Anton. She hit the bathroom door with enough force to break the flimsy door handle securing it to the wall and she grabbed the shower door without thought, flung it open, and jumped.
Anton twisted his body her way and barely caught her, his shock apparent. The vicious growl from Eve made him spin again to trap Shannon’s body against the wall and one of his hands shot out to strike the advancing woman in the chest. He shoved her and sent her flying out the bathroom doorway.
Shannon wrapped tighter around Anton, her body soaked from the water pouring down on them as well as from his slick, wet body. She buried her nose against his throat and shook from terror. She couldn’t think beyond her need to cling to him, her instincts overriding rational thought. One of his strong arms wrapped tighter around her waist.
“What the hell is going on?” Anton yelled. “Shit! I just knocked my mother on her ass.” He awkwardly bent, turned off the water, and stepped over the rim of the shower to glare down at the woman sprawled on the floor. “Mom? What are you doing here?”
Shannon turned her face just enough to watch the tall woman ungraciously get up from the floor. She staggered when she stood and then slowly turned to glare at her son.
“I came to kill that.”
Anton reacted instantly. He snarled, his fangs growing, and sharp points slid against Shannon’s side where he gripped her. She looked down at the sharp claws on his hands. He tried to gently pry Shannon off him but she wrapped around him more securely.
“Shit. You’ve terrified her.” The anger in his tone made him growl the words. “You had no authority to come into my home after someone under my protection.” His other hand lifted and he rubbed his palm down Shannon’s back in an attempt to soothe her fear. “I don’t care if you’re my mother.”
His mother wanted her dead. Shannon digested that, her mind starting to work beyond the panic. Her heart rate slowed and she eased her hold on him but her body wasn’t willing to release him entirely yet. She began to hate the way she lost control around werewolves. It was embarrassing. She clung to a wet, naked guy in front of his mother as if she were a terrified child and Anton was a big teddy bear. A sexy, wet one. But I bet I look pathetic.
“That’s what you’ve chosen to share your heat with?” Eve curled her lip in disgust. “Look how weak she is.”
“Actually, she’s pretty strong. Her thighs aren’t clamped around your waist so take my word for it.” His anger eased. “She’s mostly human but when she’s threatened or scared, her puma instincts hit. You obviously terrified her. Not cool, Mom.”
“You humiliated me in front of our entire pack and you’re chastising me?” Eve’s eyes darkened to black. “They are all talking about my son and his cat.”
Anton turned, grabbed a towel, and then sighed. “It’s okay, kitten. Want to let me go? Stand behind me but I feel weird talking to my mom naked for this long. It’s one thing to remove my clothes to shift but we don’t just hang out talking to each other while naked.”
Shannon nodded and took a deep breath. She forced her body to listen when she demanded her hold on him ease. She slid on his slippery body to her feet but instantly took his suggestion. She moved behind him while he wrapped the towel around his waist. She pressed against his back as soon as he had it secured snug around his hips and peered around him at the tall werewolf female.
Eve growled low at her. Anton growled back louder. “Enough, Mom. I just got her down. Look at me.”
Eve jerked her glare away from Shannon to give him the full measure of her anger. “I won’t have it. You get rid of her or I will.”
“You don’t give me orders in my own home.”
“I’m the alpha bitch and your mother.”
“I respect you for both but I go with her if you want her gone from the territory.”
“Unacceptable. You’re my son. I raised you better.” Eve moved closer. “You will kill her or I will. That will end the rumors immediately. We’ll say you were just using her to get information about those nasty rodent chasers. I can still spin this nightmare to save face.”
Anton crossed his arms over his chest, watching his mother with narrowed eyes. “Not happening. No one is going to hurt Shannon and I don’t give a damn what the pack thinks. I understand you’re unhappy but that’s not my problem. You can leave now.”
Eve paled. “I’m giving you an order. Kill the cat or I’ll do it.”
“No.” His arms dropped and he reached back to nudge Shannon a little farther behind him. “Don’t make me pick you up and carry you out, Mom. How would that look to the pack? You aren’t welcome here while Shannon is with me. If you ever threaten her again you won’t enjoy the reaction you get.”
“Anton,” the woman snarled, “I won’t permit this embarrassment to continue. You will not do this to me.”
“I’m not doing anything to you.” He stepped closer, his body tense, and his voice deepened. “You’re the one who invaded my home to threaten the woman I marked.”
Dark eyes widened with horror and Eve stumbled back. “What?”
“Marked. Made mine.” He advanced another step. “As in ‘I sank my teeth into her, shared my scent, my bed, my home’. I couldn’t care less if your bitch friends snicker over it. I don’t give a f*ck if the males make jokes.” He kept advancing, forcing his mother to retreat into the living room. “Shannon means more to me than that. Now leave!” He yelled the last words.
Eve fled but not before she shot a lethal glare toward Shannon where she stood at the bathroom door, watching the scene unfold. Anton’s mother slammed his door when she stormed out. He stared at it until Shannon walked up behind him to place a trembling hand on the middle of his back.
“I’m so sorry.”
He twisted to stare down at her. “For what?”
“You just argued with your mother over me.”
He took a deep breath, his temper cooling. “She came here to start trouble. It’s what she does best. You’re not to blame. I should have locked the door.”
“I’m still sorry.”
His voice softened. “Don’t be. I’m not. It’s about time I stood up to her.”
“What can I do?”
A black eyebrow arched. “Get naked? That would improve my mood.”
“You’re hurt.” She’d seen the marks on his chest, one on his back, and on the side of his thigh when he’d stood naked in front of her. “You’re still limping. Do you have a first-aid kit?”
“Strip for me. That will make everything better.”
“Butˉ”
“It’s starting.” He growled the words, then his tone softened. “Between the stress I’ve been under, the fighting, and now my mother pissing me off, it’s sped up the process. The mating heat is affecting me. I need you.”
She noticed that his towel tented. She gazed at the rigid length of his cock pressed against the wet, thick material. “Oh.”
“It’s going to get bad.” A hand lifted to his hair, shook some of the wet strands, and he bit his lower lip. “I’m almost afraid I’m going to hurt you. I don’t want that.” Frustration crossed his handsome features.
Shannon reached for her shirt. “You won’t.”
“Do you understand how much I’m going to need you? I’ve always been with other werewolves during this time. They are affected by it too. I don’t want to frighten you but sex is all I’m going to think about and want when it’s gripping me.”
She tore the shirt over her head. “Okay.”
His gaze lowered to her bared chest and he tore at his towel. “We have to use condoms.”
“I know. You explained. Get them.” She started to remove the rest of her clothes.
He nearly lunged for the drawer of the dresser. Her breath caught when he grabbed two boxes. She didn’t say anything, instead headed for the pullout bed, which was still out, and climbed onto the middle of the mattress to stretch out on her back.
The hunger on Anton’s face turned her on while he admired every inch of her body. His cock swelled to an impressive size. She lifted her hand, crooked a finger at him and smiled while she bent her legs up. She spread them wide apart.
That was all it took. Anton threw the boxes on the bed next to where she waited and came after her. He didn’t climb over her but instead stretched out on his belly between her spread legs and just buried his face there. The shock of his mouth on her p-ssy only lasted a second. He frantically nuzzled her, his tongue seeking and finding her *, while his hands pushed her thighs wider to make room for him.
Shannon threw her head back in pleasure from the strong, quick flicks of his tongue lashing her sensitive bud. He growled. The sound made her hotter and she knew she wouldn’t last long. Her belly quivered, her nipples puckered, and Anton grew bolder by pressing his mouth firmer against her folds. His soft growls turned into snarls as if he were losing control. She understood since her own need skyrocketed. She blindly grabbed for the condoms, tore at the box, and used her teeth to rip open one of the foil packets.
He jerked his mouth away. “I need you.” He didn’t sound human anymore.
One look at his face should have terrified her. Anton’s fangs had slid out and his eyes had darkened. She shoved the condom at him. He lifted his hands, showed his fingernails had grown into sharp claws, and she sat up. She had never put a condom on a man before. How hard could it be?
She gripped him with one hand at the base of his shaft, tried to steady the center of the condom over the thick crown, and started to roll it down. Anton growled at her. She hoped that didn’t mean she had done it wrong. She released him, threw her body back, and reached for him.
“I’m ready.” She knew she was soaked with need. She could feel the dampness against her thighs. She ached to come.
Anton dropped over her, careful not to get her with his nails, and his cock bumped against her ass. She wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs, adjusted her hips, and he pressed against her p-ssy. He slid along the seam of her sex and frustration twisted his features. She reached between them when he lifted up a little, guided him to the entrance of her p-ssy, and he pushed inside her.
She cried out and grabbed his hips. She marveled at the wondrous sensation as he stretched her with his rigid length, filled her, and met her need. “Yes.”
He braced above her with his arms to keep his chest from crushing hers and then started to move in deep, strong thrusts. Shannon cried out his name over and over, her hips matching his frantic ones, and used her hold on him to meet his pace. Sweat beaded their bodies, helped them move together, their skin rubbing, sliding where it touched. The ecstasy built inside Shannon, her vaginal walls clamped around him, and she screamed his name when pure ecstasy shot through her.
Anton threw his head back and moaned loudly as he started to come. She could feel his cock throb inside her body as his hips slowed and he pressed deeply into her. He shook from the intensity of his release. When the strongest spasms started to ease, he collapsed on top of her. Both of them panted.
He was heavy but she had no urge to complain. Shannon grinned. Sex with Anton just seemed to get better and better. She didn’t protest until she needed more air. She released his hips to push on his chest. He lifted up just a little.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Shannon met his worried gaze, still smiling. “That was amazing.”
The worry faded from his eyes. “Good, because this is just the beginning.” He wiggled his hips and withdrew from her body to toss the spent condom away.
She hated when they separated. She’d felt connected to him, as if they’d been one.
“Hand me another condom and roll over.”
“Again? Now?” She didn’t hide her astonishment as she handed him the condom.
He rose to his knees between her parted thighs, tore open the condom with his now-normal hands, and looked down toward his waist. She followed where he stared. His cock hadn’t softened.
“Mating heat. Get used to this sight because this is how I’m going to be for the duration.” He met her gaze. “I have about a minute recovery time.”
“Okay. I hope I can walk when this is over.”
He chuckled. “I’m strong enough to carry you around if you can’t.”
She laughed, pushed up with her arms, and backed up on the bed as he rolled on the condom. She rolled over, going to her hands and knees, and spread her thighs. She looked over her shoulder to back up until her ass flashed in front of him and her legs brushed the outside of his.
“Is this how you want me?”
“You have no idea how much.”
She winked at him. “So what are you waiting for? Need an invitation?”
His hand curved around her hip, slid over her belly, and his fingers found her * to tease. “Are you sure you aren’t sore? I was rough.”
“No. I want you, Anton. I’ve never wanted anyone more. You don’t need to worry about me, okay? When you touch me, do that growl thing. You have no idea what it does to me.”
He gripped his cock, inched forward to nudge her p-ssy, and slowly entered her a few inches but then stopped. Shannon bit back a moan and resisted closing her eyes to just enjoy the sensation of him inside her again. She didn’t want to look away from him.
“What does it do?”
“Makes me ache. My nipples tighten so much it hurts. My stomach does funny things and I feel hot all over. It’s almost as if you set me on fire.”
His free hand caressed the curve of her ass. “Are you sure you’re not going into your own heat?”
She contemplated that. “I don’t know.”
He continued to play with her * and gently rocked his hips to enter her a little deeper and then withdrew. Shannon closed her eyes, clawed the covers, and let her head drop lower. Her elbows bent to brace against the bed and she just let the sensations overtake her. She started to make a sound that should have startled her but what Anton did to her felt too good for her to care or want to contemplate it.
He started to move faster, his hips slapping against her ass, and made his own soft, animalistic sounds that turned her on more.
Passion gripped Anton so fiercely, it hurt. His cock and balls had never been so tight or needy. Shannon was vibrating around his cock, her scent of arousal stronger than anything he’d ever experienced with any woman, and the smell drove him crazy. He wanted to f*ck her until he couldn’t move.
“You’re purring for me, kitten,” he rasped. “That’s such a turn-on. Don’t stop.”
Her p-ssy seemed to squeeze around him or maybe he’d never had that much blood rush into his dick before. Either way, her sleek heat tightened around him until he had to fight to move inside her and not come at the same time. His finger pressed tighter against her *, strummed it frantically, knowing he couldn’t last much longer.
She screamed out his name and her muscles gripped him so tightly he came. Pleasure nearly tore him apart from his balls out as he filled the condom with his release. He bent over her, his fangs tingled, and he focused on a spot on the curve of her shoulder. He salivated, his wolf howled from within, and before he knew it, her blood coated his tongue when he bit into her.
Shannon’s body jerked under his, her vaginal walls quaked, and the haze of rapture seemed to flood him strongly. He came more, his hips jerked violently, and he couldn’t stop for anything as he kept f*cking her, still coming, and his teeth sank in deeper to assure his wolf she wouldn’t leave him.
A muffled sob finally penetrated his mind and horror struck him at what he’d done. He forced his jaws apart, released her shoulder, and threw himself back to separate their bodies. He nearly fell off the end of the bed in his haste to put distance between them. The wound he’d inflicted showed his teeth marks welled with bright red blood. Shannon’s small body shook but she didn’t move otherwise.
“Shannon,” he rasped, her blood on his lips, all he could still taste as he reached out to her. The second his hand brushed her back she collapsed to her side, panting. He froze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite you.”
She didn’t respond. Her hair hid her face from him but she remained curled on her side, blood smeared on his bed from her shoulder, and he didn’t know what to do. It shocked him that sex had turned into violence. He touched her again but she didn’t react. He saw her chest rise and fall but the sounds had stopped coming from her. He crawled toward her to brush her hair back from her face to see that her eyes were closed.
“Shannon?”
She didn’t respond. Panic gripped him. Had he hurt her that bad?
“Shannon!” He yelled her name.
She jerked, her eyes opened, and she did the last thing he expected. She smiled at him. “Wow. That’s the first time someone has made me pass out.”
He gaped at her until he could form words. “You were crying.”
She stretched her legs a little and reached for him as she rolled to her back. Her fingers brushed his cheek. “No. I don’t know what sound that was but it sure wasn’t pain. Can we do that again?”
“No. I bit you.”
She used her other hand to reach up, touched the spot, and then winced. “Ouch.” She glanced at her hand, saw the blood, and paled. “I just thought you nipped me. I didn’t know you drew blood. Is it bad?”
“I don’t know. Don’t move.”
He jumped from the bed to rush inside the bathroom and grab a wet washcloth. He rushed back into the bedroom to find her seated on the middle of the bed with a curious expression. It stunned him that she wasn’t afraid of him after his attack.
“It only hurts when I touch it. And it feels warm. Don’t look so upset. I’m fine.”
She tried to comfort him and it made him feel worse as he circled the bed and sat down behind her. Her red hair had touched the blood sliding down her back from the bite. He’d really tagged her good. He gently lifted her hair out of the way to press the cloth against her delicate skin. She winced and he felt worse.
“I’m so sorry,” he rasped.
“It’s okay.”
“No. It’s not. I really got you good.”
“Why did you do it?” She peered at him with pure innocence.
Anton had to clear his throat. “I lost control.” He couldn’t meet her gaze anymore so he tended to her bite.
“Do you need a muzzle from now on when we have sex?”
He jerked his gaze up, astonished when she grinned at him, making a joke. He wasn’t in the mood to laugh. “No. I tried to mate you, kitten. My wolf tried to, anyway, and I didn’t stop him.” He looked down at his lap, examined the condom, and blew out a breath. “It didn’t break. We’re okay.”
“Oh.” Her gaze skittered away to stare at something to the left of him. She looked back. “What do you mean, your wolf wanted to mate me?”
“My wolf wanted to keep you for good. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It’s okay. I just thought you were marking me again.”
“I did.”
He tried to mask his emotions. He’d definitely made sure she’d carry his scent and he’d tied her to him even stronger. No way would his wolf settle for any other female during the mating heat. If she left him, his wolf would go insane, track her down, and could hurt her. He didn’t want to share those facts, afraid he’d scare her, and now he really needed her to want to stay. Worse, that mark would last longer than mating heat. He could feel her blood changing him already, forming a deeper bond, and he could sense his inner beast’s contentment with that.
“No harm done.” She gave him a brave smile. “I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It really doesn’t hurt,” she assured him.
He lifted the damp cloth and hid a wince. It wasn’t some love bite just to mark her. No, he’d scarred her so she’d always carry his teeth impressions on her pale skin. He may as well have just become engaged to Shannon. Bites that deep implied a pending mating. It was a sure sign of commitment to do just that when a male scarred a female with his bite.
Calm down, he ordered his wolf when it pressed against his skin, wanting Shannon again. He got the bleeding to stop and bit his tongue enough to draw blood. He hovered over her and licked her wound. She startled a little but then relaxed.
“It will help it heal faster,” he murmured between licks.
“It’s turning me on,” she whispered. “I don’t know how you do this to me but I want you again. I almost hurt from the need.”
He muffled a groan. It seemed his sexy little kitten was going into heat with him. How he’d make it through mating heat without forever binding them seemed daunting at best. He just needed to keep control. Yeah, good luck with that. His dick stiffened painfully. He removed the used condom and reached for another.