Zena Wynn: Reclaiming Angelica

The change in angles caused Angel to cry out. “I need to… Let me…Raul!” She punched the thigh of his restraining leg. “Release me so I can…”

He was already lifting so that he no longer straddled her thigh. Angel wrapped both legs high around his waist.

“Oh baby, Angel,” he gritted out between clenched teeth as he hammered his hips into hers. A drop of sweat splashed into the valley between her breasts, and his black hair hung in a wavy curtain around his face.

Their gazes met, clung. As his orgasm approached, his nails sprouted into claws. He dug them into the plush carpet. Feeling his canines lengthen, he pressed his lips together and hung his head, breaking their gaze. Even now, he retained enough possession of his senses to hide what he was.

Angel’s nails scored his back, and the taint of iron scented the air, exciting his beast to epic proportions.

“Please, please… All of you. Give me all of you,” she begged right before her spine bowed and a scream ripped out of her mouth. Her cunt clamped down on his cock like a vise, then began to pulse.

Raul’s hair went flying as he jerked back his head to keep from marking her, an orgasm roaring through him. His muscles locked into place for one timeless moment, and then his hips began to shake as pulse after pulse of semen jetted from his cock. He poured into Angel everything he was—heart, mind, and soul.

Raul slumped on top of his mate, panting. When his breathing evened out, he nuzzled his nose in the responsive skin behind her ear and whispered, “I love you, baby. Whatever the problem is, we can work it out. Just don’t leave me again. I can’t take it.”

“This changes nothing,” Angel told him in an extremely even and controlled voice, but underneath, his wolf sensed hurt, anger, and…defeat?

Confused, he pushed to his elbows to see her face. “What…?”

She shoved at his shoulders, and when he refused to budge, said, “Please get off me.” Her voice was ultracontrolled and completely unemotional, but again Raul sensed an underlying pain.

“I think,” he answered slowly, “I’d better stay right where I am. What just happened here?”

Angel let her hands drop to the carpet and turned her face so he viewed her profile. “Sex. That’s what happened here.”

He nudged her chin so she faced him again. “Don’t, Angel. This was more than sex. I love you, and you love me. Don’t you?”

She didn’t answer. Simply stared at his nose like it had somehow become fascinating.

“Angel?” he questioned, but a hint of uncertainty crept in as his father’s warning about the consequences of loving humans rose again to torment him. Silently he cursed. If he’d marked her, she’d be bonded to him, and he’d know exactly what she was feeling. She had to love him. He refused to believe otherwise. He’d felt her love for him. That couldn’t have changed in the few short weeks he’d been gone. “Don’t you love me anymore, baby?”

Her sigh felt like it came up from her toes. Finally she met his gaze. “Yes, I love you.”

The relief he felt left him weak. “Then why did you leave me?”

Intimately connected as they were, Raul felt her stiffen. She seemed to search his eyes for something. Whatever it was she was hunting for, Angel didn’t find, because she turned away again.

“It doesn’t matter,” she stated softly. “I thought if I…” She sighed. “Never mind.”

“You thought what, baby?” he asked, determined to get to the bottom of this. He knew his woman and her varied, mercurial moods, but this was a strange one, even for her. She’d gone from passionate to despondent in a matter of minutes.

“I’d like to get up now,” she said, which wasn’t an answer, or at least, not the one he’d expected.

“And I’d like us to talk this thing through. If I move, you’ll leave, and nothing will get settled,” he countered.

Something, some unrecognizable emotion, flickered across her expression. In slow motion, Angel turned her head until her gaze once more met his. Her eyes held steely determination. “You want to talk?” she asked softly.

Raul felt a prickle of warning slither down his spine. “Yes, I do,” he answered, albeit a bit warily.

“Let’s talk about the secret you’re keeping from me,” she said, gaze drilling into him.

“Secret?” Raul managed to choke out, stiffening in horror-tinged shock. Suddenly it was imperative that he move. He went to push off her, but Angel raised her legs and caught him in a vise about the hips.

“Yes, secret,” she confirmed.

With no choice but to tough it out, he stated as calmly as he could, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, we’re talking about you. About why you left me.”

“And I want to talk about why you disappear once a month—”

“You know I travel a lot with my job. You said it didn’t bother you,” he interjected.

“And the reason you hold back when we make love…”

“I’m a big man. You’re tiny compared to me. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, happy to provide a reasonable explanation. It was the truth, but not the whole truth.

“…and why your irises glow gold, and your facial features change when you’re in the grip of strong emotions,” she demanded.

Raul felt his heart stop. “That…that’s just crazy. You’re imagining things.” She couldn’t have noticed. He’d been so careful.

“Tell me!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted, heart pounding in his chest so hard he thought he’d pass out.

His fear roused his beast, which only moments before had settled into a sated stupor. Not now. Please, God, don’t let it come out now.

“You’re lying,” she said flatly, tightening her thighs when he tried once more to get away, retreat to safety.

Panic lived inside him now. Don’t tell her! his inner child demanded. You know what happens when you tell!

Raul could see his mother’s face and his father’s despair when she’d left. Hear his father’s repeated warnings, “Never tell a human what you are.” The past superimposed over the present.

Tell her! his wolf demanded. It’s not natural to hide from a mate.

Raul agreed that having this secret between them was wrong but couldn’t unlock his throat to speak the truth.

“Raul, please. We can’t continue with this thing between us,” she pleaded, sounding almost desperate.

Her gaze locked on his. The hurt in her voice and the tinge of moisture in her eyes added unbearable pressure. Raul opened his mouth to tell her what she needed to know, but no sound emerged.

Nooooooo! his inner child screamed. You can’t tell her! She’ll leave, and then we’ll die!

Tell her , his wolf demanded. Tell mate what we are!

His breath escaped in pants. Oh God! He gasped, trying to get enough air.

“Raul?” Concern replaced the hurt in Angel’s tone. “Are you all right?”

Tell her!

No!

Tell her! his wolf roared.

NOOOOO! Mustn’t tell! the child screamed.

“Can’t…breathe!” His lips moved, but no sound emerged.

“Raul, your lips are turning blue. Breathe, baby!” Angel released her hold on him.

As the internal war continued to rage, Raul’s stomach churned and his chest hurt. His vision began to narrow, growing dark around the edges. He crawled off Angel and knelt on all fours with his head hanging down, gulping for air.

Raul couldn’t believe he was freaking out like a little kid. He was a grown man, a badass—an alpha, for crying out loud. Embarrassment collided with panic until the only thought in his mind was escape.