S. Yule - Lycan Lover

When the last shreds of her orgasm faded, soothing her tight muscles into relaxing and nearly turning them to rubber, reality snuck back in to her blissful brain. She was suddenly very aware of where she was, whom she was with, and what she had done. She opened her eyes to find Anthony’s green ones staring at her as if he already knew what she was thinking. He almost looked . . . hurt. But why would he have any feelings one way or the other over what she felt since he had gotten what he wanted? That did make her feel guilty because she had gotten what she wanted too.

He thought he’d died and gone to heaven when he’d seen those sexy little fishnet stockings topped with lacy garters. She was beautiful, and he knew she was having regrets already. The one thing he never wanted was for his mate to feel shame for making love with him. Her wide, blue eyes framed with dark lashes, red hair and beautiful, smooth, soft skin would be etched into his brain until the day he died.

He let his cock slide from her wetness and instantly longed to be back in the safe haven of her warm sheath. He pushed himself back into his jeans and smoothed her skirt down. He picked her coat up and draped it over her shoulders to cover her exposed breast spilling from the shirt he’d practically ripped from her body in his rush to get to her bare skin. He was such a bastard. She tried to pull away from him, but he grabbed her by the arm and pushed her back against the brick wall gently.

He traced the tip of his finger slowly down her cheek, and his body twitched in anticipation when she leaned into his touch. “Karen, I’m sorry this happened this way. I wanted our first time to be somewhere special, some place with silk sheets and scented candles. You deserve the very best, not a ravishing in an alley. But in all fairness, I warned you not to run from me.” He took a deep breath, remembering the hot excitement that had pumped through his veins when he’d chased her down. He’d never be able to change that part of him. The predator wanted to hunt and dominate. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“What do you mean you wanted our first time to be special? Ha-have you been stalking me, Anthony?”

Fear shadowed the clear blue pools of her eyes, dulling them to a misty gray. Shit! He was horrible at this. “Look, I’m not good at this dating type stuff.” He pushed some errant hairs off her cheek and tucked them behind her ear.

“Dating type stuff? Look, I don’t even know you, and what we just did is not even in the same ball park as dating. I have to go home. Please, let me go.” She tugged against his grip and tried to free her arms, but he refused to release her.

Frustration sparked anger deep in his gut. “You didn’t act like you didn’t know me a few minutes ago.” Her face turned bright red, betraying her instant irritation and embarrassment. Too bad, he wasn’t willing to watch her from afar any longer. She was his, and he would make her understand that one way or another.

“Yeah, well we all make mistakes. I—”

Ice snaked through his heart at her words. He had no doubt she had been as turned on and as in tune to him as he had been to her when they’d shared their bodies. This was not a mistake, and he’d be damned if he let her reduce it to such. “Mistakes? This was not a mistake, Karen. Damn it! I know I went about this whole thing wrong, but don’t push me away. We need to talk so I can explain things to you.”

“There is nothing to explain. We don’t know each other and you don’t owe me anything. Please, just let me go home.”

Her agitation was clearly winning out over the embarrassment at this point. He captured her mouth once again before she could protest further. He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips, coaxing her to open for him. She obliged a few seconds later, and he lazily caressed her tongue in a slow, possessive dance. She tasted of everything he’d longed for, of heaven. She tasted like Karen, his mate. Knowing that if he didn’t stop, he’d have her back up against the wall, buried deep inside her where he belonged once again, he pulled back from her. He cupped her face between his hands. “Will you really be able to forget me so easily?” He leaned closer to her. “Because I will never forget you. Don’t kid yourself into believing our coming together was a mistake. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

He was right, she’d never forget him, but she had too many questions. And, if she were honest with herself, she’d acknowledge that she’d never think of him as a mistake. Before she could answer, she saw him tense once again. His muscles were strained so tightly she thought they might pop from under his skin. Was he angry with her? A shred of fear crept into her bones, but before it could engulf her, she heard a sound at the opposite end of the alley and turned her head to look. The blond guy with the icy hazel eyes was back with a few friends. Anthony was panting hard, sniffing the air. As she watched him, she realized that he’d known the men were there long before she had.

Fear made a full-out appearance and caused her stomach to clench. Anthony stared into her, through her, and his eyes began to burn bright green. He turned his head toward the punks. He let out a low growl, very unlike the ones that had excited her a few minutes earlier. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end once again.

He stood straight, took in a deep, chest expanding breath, and flexed his shoulders. He carefully shoved her behind him and away from the men who were walking slowly toward them. He reminded her of the way a wild animal made itself look bigger to intimidate its foes. She thought it very strange that she had compared him to an animal at least three times already. No one she’d ever met had enticed such a comparison from her before.

“I thought I already told you once to take a hike, pup.”

Anthony’s voice was low, gravelly and laced with deadly threat and warning. What was the deal with the pup innuendo? He’d called the man that several times earlier too. Trying not to draw attention to herself, she took a few slow steps back. When she stepped in a crack and her ankle twisted, a small cry tore from her. She watched as Anthony’s back muscles tensed and knew he was aware that she had hurt herself. She was glad she didn’t have those damn stilettos on or she would have probably broken her ankle.

“Well, I don’t like being told what to do, and when I informed my friends about the little lady there”—Hazel Eyes made a point of craning his neck around to look at Karen behind Anthony—“we all decided she would be just too much fun to pass up.” He sniffed the air and grinned. “And, by the smell of things, you already had your fun with her, so why not let us have a go?”

Karen’s face burned with embarrassment. How the hell could he possibly know that she and Anthony had been intimate? The men continued to advance, and Karen continued to limp backward. Anthony was big, but the odds were stacked against him, five to one. She had to get out of there, yet she was scared for Anthony. Even though he’d probably been stalking her, she didn’t want to see him hurt or worse, especially over her. But what could she possibly do?

Suddenly, she remembered she had pepper spray in her purse. But where the hell was it? She thought for a moment. She’d dropped it when she’d made that sorry excuse for an escape from Anthony earlier. She looked around and saw it lying about two feet to her right beside one of her shoes, and she inched toward it.

As soon as her hand reached it, she heard running footsteps and knew the men were coming at Anthony. She opened the purse, dumped it on the ground, and began clawing through the scattered contents for the spray. Note to self—stop cramming so much crap into your damn purse. It’s not a freaking suitcase.