It wasn’t a spoken like a command, to Riley’s surprise. His voice was low, calm, coaxing, but also left no room for argument. She thought about defying him for the plain hell of it, but she knew he was expecting that. She liked catching him off guard, since he did it so often to her, so that was exactly what she did.
Tao drew in a sharp breath as she sucked him deep into her hot mouth. No preamble, no teasing flicks of her tongue, no defiant looks. And fuck, it was just what he wanted. She took him deeper with each pass, moaning and dancing her tongue around him. “Fuck, that’s it.” She hummed—the sound vibrated all the way from the base of his cock to the head . . . and his control left him in a rush.
Riley held on to his thighs as he fucked her mouth. The entire time he looked at her with eyes that gleamed with hunger, possession, and . . . something else. Something softer, something that made her heart stutter. She felt him swell in her mouth, knew he was close. Riley sucked harder and—
Tao pulled out. “One day I’m going to come in your mouth, but not today. I want inside you.” Dragging her to her feet, he caged her against the wall, snapped off her panties, and sank two fingers into her pussy. “Damn, baby, you’re soaking like you’ve never had cock before.” There was no more waiting. He had to have her. He lifted her, and her legs locked around him. “How much do you want me?”
In answer, she sank her teeth into his shoulder.
“Fuck, yeah.” He slammed home, burying himself balls deep in one smooth, possessive thrust that made her head fall back. Her pussy clamped around him, tight and hot and perfect. Cupping her ass, he pounded into her hard. His pace was brutal, relentless. Her eyes were wild, hungry. “Mine. Isn’t that right? I’m the only one who can fuck this pussy. Only me.”
Riley dug her nails into the hard muscles of his back. “You really do talk too much.”
Growling, Tao took her mouth again. The raw need spilled out of him, poured down her throat. He mercilessly hammered into her, swallowing every little moan she fed him, wanting more. He felt the telling tingle at the base of his spine, knew he wouldn’t last much longer, but he wanted her to come first. Still powering into her, he slid his thumb between her folds and rubbed her clit.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to come yet.” She didn’t want it to be over, but he rubbed her clit even faster. And when his thumb pushed on her clit just right, she fragmented as white-hot pleasure surged through her. She might have screamed, but he slammed his mouth on hers with a growl as he jammed his cock deep and exploded.
Hollowed out by how hard he’d come, Tao dropped a light kiss on her mouth. Languid, sex-dazed eyes met his, and his gut clenched. He rested his forehead on hers. Several emotions fought for supremacy inside him—emotions he didn’t know how to articulate. “You wreck me.”
She blinked. “Is that good?”
He smiled. “Oh yeah, it’s good.” It also spooked the shit out of him, but he didn’t have it in him to care.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Using a wet wipe, Riley cleaned the sprinkles of detergent powder from the floor of the laundry room. She didn’t look up, though she sensed someone enter. She’d heard their footsteps shuffling down the tunnel, she’d known they were coming. And now she could see one fluffy slipper tapping impatiently. Ha.
“I’ll bet you think you’re clever, don’t you?” sniped a witchy voice.
Riley cast Greta a bright smile. “Actually, I do think I’m quite clever.”
“It won’t last.”
“I’m assuming this is about Tao.” Done cleaning the floor, Riley dumped the wipe in the garbage can and then used another wipe to clean the excess powder from her fingers.
“I heard he moved into your room last week.”
She’d said it as if she’d shrewdly gotten her hands on classified information. “Well, it wasn’t exactly a secret,” said Riley, dropping the second wipe in the trash.
Greta advanced farther into the room, arms folded. “I also heard someone in your flock says you manipulated her boy into shooting his friends. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true. Not one bit.”
“Ooh, wait a sec while I grab a pen. I just want to add that to my list of stuff I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about.”
Greta’s mouth tightened. “Has Tao asked you to imprint yet?”
Sitting on the plastic chair opposite the rows of washing machines and dryers that were lined up against the wall, Riley lifted her face to the ceiling fan. “Our relationship’s none of your business, Gretchen.”
“It’s Greta. And it is my business, I’m practically his mother!”
“Well, maybe he’d be better adjusted if you weren’t.”
“I wouldn’t be so smug that you have him if I were you.”
Oh, if only the hum and slurp of the washing machines would drown out the old witch. She briefly considered spilling the liquid softener all over the floor so she could watch Greta do an interpretation of Swan Lake. “As much as I enjoy our little chats—”
“If he has asked you to imprint, bear in mind one thing.” Greta leaned forward, smirking. “You aren’t the first he’s asked.”
An ice-cold fist seemed to punch into Riley’s chest. Her raven froze, watchful.
“It’s true. Taryn was the first,” Greta added with utter delight.
Taryn? The crone had to be kidding. Trey would have snapped Tao’s neck like a twig for making a move on his mate. The Alpha male took possessiveness to a whole new level.
“That was back when Trey didn’t know the hussy was his true mate—it would have been better for us all if he didn’t find out. You see, when she first came here, the plan was for her to leave after a few months of faking being Trey’s mate . . . and Tao was prepared to leave the pack with her.”
Speechless, Riley struggled to process what she’d heard. She wanted it to be a lie, but she could see the truth right there in Greta’s eyes . . . eyes her raven wanted to peck right out.
“So be smug all you like, but know that you’re playing second fiddle to Taryn. It’s her he wants as his mate.”
Refusing to reveal any of her pain, Riley shrugged. “Can’t say I blame him. Taryn’s awesome.” The crone jerked back with a frown. “What did you think I was going to do? Rant and rave and kick him to the curb? Oh, my dear, dear Gretchen, you’ll have to do better than that.”
Hearing a buzzer, Riley went straight to the washing machine and pulled open the door. The lavender smell of the detergent hit her face. She breathed it in, using it to calm herself and her raven. Ignoring Greta, she then hummed softly to herself as she began moving the wet laundry to the nearest dryer. Snarling at the dismissive act, the witch finally left. Only then did Riley let her shoulders slump. A wet shirt fell from her shaky fingers. It felt like the wind had been knocked right out of her.