Loribelle Hunt - Twice Shy

“There is no way I'd bring your father here or hand you over to him,” he said coldly.

She shrugged and started walking again. “I really want to believe that, Jonas.

But you aren't exactly forthcoming, you know.” They continued in silence. She seemed calm, but he stewed. It was an odd reversal. He wasn't used to feeling off balance, and he didn't like it one bit. He reclaimed her hand, which calmed his wolf, so he refused to let her go when she tugged.

“You mean everything to me. You and Mick. The three of us—we're meant to be together. You know it.”

There was a break in the trees, and he saw his backyard. She pulled him to a stop at the tree line.

“Maybe we are. I won't pretend that I can handle this. But I'll try. I want to try, Jonas, if you don't cut me out. I can't take that. Don't treat me like I'm a kid who can't handle reality.”

“And if I think you've dealt with enough evil in your life?” She smiled. “I came through it, didn't I? There isn't any avoiding it.”

“Don't ask me to pretend your life has been normal, Harper. I can't do it.” She sighed. “It's not like I'm bitching and moaning and whining about it, you know? If I can move on from it, why are you dwelling on it?” He pulled her to a stop at the picnic table, set her on the edge, and moved between her legs. She spread them to make a space for him, sliding her hands up his chest, and he felt his heart crack open a bit.

“Why?” he ruminated about it while he traced the freckles across her nose.

“You're mine. It pisses me off to know I couldn't keep you safe.”

“You didn't even know me,” she said softly, her voice soothing.

He shrugged. “Doesn't really matter, darlin'. It's how I feel.” He couldn't resist touching her anymore, and his hands slid up under that stupid turtleneck. Palms flat, fingers splayed as his hands slowly crept up. With each inch her eyes changed, growing hazy with lust. Her breath hitched when he finally reached her breasts and firmly palmed their weight.

“My brother…” she let the thought trail off.

“Sent him off with a pack member. He's getting the grand tour.” He nibbled her neck while pushing the top of her bra down to stroke her nipples. “Then dinner.

We won't see him for a while.”

He lifted her shirt and stared at the tantalizing flesh he'd left bared. Her skin pimpled in the cool air, her nipples growing into hard points that begged to be sucked. He leaned over and pulled one into his mouth, supporting her with one hand on her back.

He heard Mick approach, his scent heavy and aroused, his cock bulging in his jeans when Jonas looked down the length of the table to meet his gaze.

“We should take this inside,” Mick said.

“Mmmm.” He moaned before releasing her nipple with a pop. “Yes.” He swung her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, smiling at her startled giggle. And then she grabbed his ass. The little minx.

“I can walk.”

Her voice was husky, teasing, and very satisfied. He didn't let her down until he'd run up the stairs in the house and walked down the long hall to the bedroom.

There he dropped her on the bed. Laughing, she crawled to the edge and hopped down, giving him the sultriest look he'd ever seen. Oh shit, I’m in trouble.

He stood stock-still, afraid to move as she circled him, trailing one hand on his chest as she walked around his body. When she stopped in front of him, she tugged the hem of his shirt and glared until he cooperated, pulled it off, and tossed it aside.

Then she slid forward, her hands flat on his belly, and licked his nipple. Scraped her teeth over it. He lifted his hands to grab her, and she jumped back.

“No,” she said firmly. “It's my turn.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she pulled off her boots and socks, followed by the shirt. Her jeans. Until she was left only in bra and underwear. He remained rooted in place, gaze clashing with Mick's where he leaned lazily against the back wall. Mick, who didn't look at all surprised by the new brazenness of their mate.

Had they planned this? The demand for that answer was on the tip of his tongue, but suddenly she was in front of him again. Touching him. Exploring. The look on her face was so rapt he was afraid to breathe.

“I've always wondered,” she said in a breathy wisp of air, kissing her way down his body, “what a man's cock tastes like.”

She dropped to her knees. Then she unsnapped the button on his jeans and rested her fingers on his zipper. She looked up at him through thick eyelashes, gaze a little uncertain, but a lot turned on. Asking for permission. It was damned hard not to order her to unzip him, not to insist she take him in her mouth. It was the heat between them bringing her to this point. He couldn't believe she was really ready for it. His claws pierced his palms, and he forced them to retract.

“You don't have to, Harper,” he managed to croak out.

“But if I want to?” Her fingers gave a little tug. The zipper gave half an inch.

“If I belong to you, then don't you belong to me?” She tugged the zipper a bit, exposing the swollen head of his cock. She leaned forward and gave it a long lick.

“Yes,” he hissed.

Instead of taking him in her mouth, she looked up again. “Yes, you want in my mouth? Or yes, you belong to me too?”

She was killing him. She wanted to talk about the nature of mating now?

“Both,” he ground out between clenched teeth. And if it wasn't soon, he'd throttle her for teasing him later.

But she gave him that sultry smile again, carefully unzipped him the rest of the way, and with her hands starting on his hip bones, slowly pushed his jeans down. They caught at his knees, and as much as he wanted to kick them free, there was no fucking way he was moving.

Okay, Harper. Now what?

She had no idea what had come over her, but she liked it. She liked it a lot.

She especially liked looking up and seeing that bewildered, wild, and barely controlled look on Jonas's face. Everything going according to plan.

She'd realized on the walk to his house that the problem with Jonas was control. He had too much of it, and he used it to hide his emotions. Control saved him from having to tell Mick how much he loved him. Saved him from telling her…

She wasn't sure what yet. The only way to really get through to Jonas was to make him lose control. She just hoped she could handle what she unleashed if she succeeded.

One thing she was certain of, though. She wasn't going back to her old life.

Sterile and cold and full of people who silently hated each other. No way. And she wasn't going to let Jonas create some little microcosm of it to house her in here either.

Decision made, she gripped his hips, then leaned forward to place her tongue at the bottom of his erection and licked up. He tasted masculine and salty. He tasted of the wildness of the forest. She licked again, slower this time, exploring the ridges of hard flesh, searching out and tasting bulging veins. His hands tightened on her nape, urging her up, toward the head.

She followed his lead, and he moved his hands to grip her shoulders. Her tongue followed. First licking around the head, then dragging over the slit, taking in a tiny drop of precum as she did. He jerked when she took the head of his cock into her mouth and sucked.

“Gods, Harper. Like that.”

She let her lips slide lower, taking his shaft into her mouth before slowly withdrawing, sucking as she moved, rolling her tongue under the skin just below the head of his cock. He groaned when she took him back in, this time about half his length.

Her hands rested on his thighs, and she repeated the action, again and again.

His muscles trembled, but he didn't move. Didn't thrust into her mouth. Didn't fist her hair. He was still too much in control.