Kelly Meade - Black Rook

Except she had nowhere to go. Not fully loup and not fully Magi, she no longer belonged in either world. And she would never betray the McQueen’s by joining Fiona. She truly was alone.

She didn’t even have her rental car anymore. It was still parked on the street a block from her father’s house. The absurdity of it made her laugh, then laugh some more. Soon she couldn’t seem to stop laughing as a tsunami of emotions swirled up and out through tears and guffaws. She fell onto her back, clutching her aching stomach, until the laughter turned into soft choking sounds.

“Keep it together, Brynn,” she said to the ceiling. “Just for a few more hours.”

Brynn was protecting her family , Knight had said. Intellectually, Brynn understood what he meant. The knowledge had floated in the back of her mind for hours, an amorphous shape she hadn’t yet acknowledged for what it was. Shay Butler was her sister; they shared a biological mother. They both also shared a biological mother with the vampire hybrids who’d caused so much damage and heartache, and who’d nearly killed Shay.

I should go visit her.

But to say what? They had nothing in common beyond genetics. Brynn’s father was responsible for the death of Shay’s father, as well as the slaughter of her hometown. Those were not exactly sisterly bonding topics. No, Shay did not need her, and Brynn would not heap her own guilt upon the poor, broken woman.

The stairs creaked. She strained to listen, but couldn’t identify the footsteps shuffling across the wood floor toward her door.

The knock made her sit up. She brushed sweaty strands of hair off her forehead. “Come in.”

The door swung open and Rook stepped inside. He shut it, then leaned heavily against the door, the very picture of physical and emotional exhaustion. His hands dangled loosely by his sides. Only his eyes remained sharp and clear and fixed on her. She didn’t move, positive that any action would provoke him into whatever he’d come to her room to do—such as kick her out of his father’s house.

“How are you?” he asked.

Rook might as well have asked her a question in Chinese. The words made no sense to her terrified, stressed-out mind, and she just stared at him a moment before proving her idiocy by saying, “What?”

“How are you, Brynn?”

The question made sense this time, only it should be her asking him—not the other way around. “I’m frightened.” She had no reason to lie or hide her feelings. She would be gone soon, anyway.

“Of meeting with Fiona tonight?”

“That, and of what happens after. I hate what you must think of me right now.”

His face remained unreadable. “Do you think I hate you?”

“Don’t you?”

He pushed away from the door, and it took all of her strength to remain still and not shrink back from his approach. He loomed over her. “I don’t hate you. I’m falling in love with you, Brynn Atwood.”

Something squeezed her throat, even as a strange sense of peace settled over her. Warmth coiled in her belly. She smiled. “As I am you, Rook McQueen.”

“I want you. No one else.”

“Are you certain? What about being Alpha?”

He shook his head and traced the tip of a finger down her cheek. “Today showed me that Alpha is not my future. I can’t be that man. You helped me see that.”

“Me?”

“You stood up to Fiona and to my father, and you did so to save our people more suffering. Knight stood up and sacrificed himself for hundreds of others, and my father allowed it. Our Alpha chose the needs of the run over the needs of his own child, and I could not have made that call. I know it in my heart, Brynn. I’d rather fight a thousand loup if it meant my brother staying here, safe from those lunatics, because that’s who I am.”

“It was one decision.”

“One decision can change everything, and this is the best decision I have ever made for my people. Bishop will make an excellent Alpha one day, and I’ll be here to support him. To fight for him when he needs me.”

“You’re certain?”

“More than I’ve ever been in my life.”

“Swear to me this isn’t about us, because I’d hate myself if you resented me—”

“I swear this isn’t about us. Not wanting to be Alpha is about me and about what’s best for this town.”

Determination burned in his eyes, and it released a bit of the apprehension gripping Brynn’s heart. “I’m glad you know what you want.”

“I do. I can live without the responsibility of Alpha, but I can’t live without you. And I believe you feel the same.”

“I do.”

“You’re the song of my heart, Brynn.”

Joy filled her to bursting. Brynn stood and he reached for her, and then they were kissing. Nothing existed except for that kiss—the heat of his mouth, the taste of him, the strong thrust of his tongue. She opened for him, taking everything he gave her, letting him fill her senses completely. His hands closed around her waist and hauled her forward, crushing her breasts to his chest. Even through the thick denim of his jeans, the heat of his growing erection pressed into her belly.

She slid her fingers beneath his t-shirt and around to his back, touching bare skin and shifting muscles. Bare skin she wanted to see and explore. She wanted him, wanted to make love with him, wanted to be claimed by this Black Wolf who’d stolen her heart. Without meaning to, Brynn growled low in her throat.

Rook matched the sound. He lifted her and they went tumbling onto the single-size bed. He rolled her beneath him, then lifted up on his elbows to gaze down at her. His lips were wet, his eyes shone with delight and passion, and he breathed hard through his mouth. Brynn bent her knees until he settled between her legs, his erection cradled in the juncture of her thighs. He moved his hips ever so slightly, and despite two layers of denim, the pressure sent a jolt of arousal straight through her. Her scalp prickled and her pulse raced with anticipation.

“I’m going to make love to you, Brynn,” he whispered, his breath hot and moist on her cheeks. “Tell me now if you want me to stop.”

“Don’t you dare.”

He stole her breath with a hard kiss that promised he wouldn’t, then he sat back on his heels. Brynn watched him over the length of her body as he took off first her shoes, then her socks. He massaged each foot with gentle fingers, smoothing the red marks and making her laugh from the accidental tickles to her soles. She enjoyed the soft touches and tender care he was taking, but a deep, primal part just wanted him to take her. Make her his. Being a half-breed likely negated the Black Wolf’s instinct to claim her as his mate for life, but this wasn’t about the beast inside of Rook. This was a promise made between a man and woman for the future they both wanted together. She gave him an unsubtle hint by wriggling out of her t-shirt and bra and dropping both to the floor. Rook’s nostrils flared and his eyes widened. Her breasts weren’t large, but he looked at her as though she’d uncovered precious jewels. He bent down. The heat of his mouth closed over her right nipple, and she gasped. Her previous two lovers had never done such a thing, never cared so much for her pleasure.

Rook explored her breasts with care and intent, with kisses and bites that sent bursts of heat straight to her core. She gripped the bedspread with trembling fingers, unsure what to do with her own hands. She wanted to hold him down and push him away, to touch him and to touch herself. So badly she wanted to relieve the building ache between her thighs, to put pressure where she needed it most.

When he released her breasts and sat back, she whined. It was a horrible, unbecoming sound, and yet she didn’t care. He’d stopped. He reached back and pulled his own t-shirt off, revealing a tanned and chiseled chest, and beautiful abs that disappeared into the low waist of his jeans. The black lines of his tattoos crept down from his neck, across his right shoulder and curled around the bicep. She couldn’t read the Sanskrit design, but the marks were gorgeous and part of him.