Loribelle Hunt - Once Bitten

He focused on her, saw her intense stare at Zach, and knew she had to feel at a distinct disadvantage, but her expression was almost serene. The scent of fear was already dissipating.

Her voice was light when she addressed him, and he doubted even Zach heard the tremor under it. “Turning me over?”

She moved to put her hands in her back pockets, and he knew instinctively he'd misjudged her. She wasn't the same girl he remembered, and that tremor in her voice wasn't from fear.

“I'll turn you over my knee if you draw that knife,” he drawled.

She turned her focused glare from Zach to him. “Is that right? I would suggest you keep dreaming.”

But she did lift and spread her hands so he could see she was unarmed. “I just want to go home. You stay here. We'll both die happy.”

Her words were conciliatory but her stance…that stance was a loose fighter's stance.

Ready to move. Ready to react. He had to smile. Where had she found this backbone?

“I don't think so, baby. You and I have a few past issues to work through.” She stepped farther into the room. “No, Caleb, we don't. Let me go before someone gets hurt.”

If any other woman had said that to him, he would have laughed. But he'd seen this one fight full-grown werewolves and come out on top. Zach, however, wasn't as smart. His chuckles broke the silence. Without completely turning her focus from him, she speared Zach with a look that would have made most men cry. Caleb shook his head as Zach realized his mistake. He held his hands out again and shook his head.

“Yeah. Not me. You want to mess his face up a little bit, he's all yours. I like mine fine the way it is.” Caleb watched in amazement as Zach gave a courtly bow. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“My reputation for pissing him off?” she asked with a jerk of her chin in Caleb's direction.

“That's the one,” Zach responded with a grin.

It wasn't until he saw her lips twitch in a repressed smile that he realized Zach had done just the thing to defuse the situation. His amusement mixed with respect put her at ease in a way Caleb hadn't. Caleb watched as her gaze swept over Zach's body, not bothering to hide her appreciation. She shook her head. “You're dangerous, aren't you?” she murmured.

“Never to you,” Zach responded almost as softly.

Her body language completely changed, going from alert soldier to soft woman in a second. Sighing, she turned her back on both of them and went to take a seat on the couch. Then she looked up and met Caleb's gaze with a look so full of longing all the air rushed from his lungs and his cock throbbed in insistent demand. He wanted inside her again. Now.

If they were already mated, if she'd already accepted him, he might have expected to make the demand and get it. But at this juncture, the situation definitely required more finesse. Each step he made toward the couch was painful. She was frowning by the time he sat down next to her.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing you can't fix,” he said as he took her hand and placed it on his cock. Her fingers convulsed around him a moment before she jerked her hand away. Even through his clothing, her touch had been hot and arousing. He gritted his teeth against the need threatening to spill in his jeans.

“Just—” She halted midthought, and he hoped her next words would be let me get my clothes off . He wasn't that lucky. “Let me leave. I need to leave, Caleb. I promise you will never see me again.”

He growled and pinned her to the back of the couch when she tried to run. “No.” He almost reconsidered when he looked into her eyes. Pools of emotion. Fear and disquiet and sorrow. But he knew he was responsible for that and suddenly his stubborn need for her to just come to him on her own didn't seem so damned important. Did it matter so much how he got her as long as he had her?

Fuck. Yes. Yes, it was that damned important, and he'd screwed it up before. He'd lashed out instead of explaining. But the past couldn't be changed. The only thing he could do now was make the future better.

“I'm not letting you go,” he whispered, lips just inches from hers, dying for a taste. He didn't wait for her to answer before doing just that.

She didn't respond when his lips pressed against hers. Didn't respond when he used his tongue to trace their outline. But when he used his teeth, when he closed them around her bottom lip, she shuddered and gasped, allowing him to thrust his tongue into her mouth. She tasted just as sweet as he remembered, felt just as hot. But her response was not the same untried timidity he remembered, and he repressed a savage surge of jealousy. Who the hell had taught her this woman's response? Who had taught her about lust and demand?

And then it didn't matter. Her tongue was in his mouth, her fingers in his hair and digging against his scalp as she moaned her pleasure.

Chapter Four

Prudence and self-preservation demanded she stop, but it felt so good she couldn't help herself. Caleb kissing her. Caleb pressed against her. Caleb's throbbing erection leaving no doubt that, whether he liked it or not, he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Letting the kiss, the contact, continue was probably a mistake she'd regret later, but for now, who cared? She hadn't felt so alive in ages. Hadn't felt this fire, this wanton desire in five long, cold years. Throwing caution out the window, she kissed him harder. She didn't even worry that she might cause problems between Caleb and Zach. Zach was in the room. He hadn't uttered one word of protest. She knew it would come, but she'd worry about remorse later. Much later.

She got so lost in the heat between them she barely registered the couch dipping as Zach sat next to her, until Caleb moved just enough that Zach could slip his hand between them and cup her breast. The shock of another man touching her so intimately while the only one she'd ever really wanted was right there kissing her was enough to partially break the spell.

She jerked her mouth from Caleb's, opening her eyes to meet his gaze, but held immobile as Zach's lips moved to suck the skin on her neck. She couldn't contain a moan of pleasure, but not just at the other werewolf's touches. She'd been ready to get up and run like hell when Zach joined in, but the look on Caleb's face stopped her. He wasn't hiding any of his desire now, and not even trying to tame his wolf. His eyes glowed with the eerie gold of half change.

He rolled off her to her side, no longer caging her to the sofa with his body. Zach also moved. His hand and lips gone. She was surprised by the sense of loss. He wasn't the one she wanted after all. Right? Caleb stretched a hand out to stroke her cheek, a caress she couldn't help turning and rubbing her face against. Then he stood and held his hand out.

“Last chance to say no, baby.” He made the offer but she got the feeling if she did say no, he'd spend the rest of the night trying to change her mind. He stopped her as she lifted her hand to place it in his. “Be sure you know what you're getting into, Liza.”

His gaze went to Zach's and she turned her head to look at him. There was no denying the desire in his eyes, though he seemed in much better control of it than Caleb. That should have reassured her. She couldn't handle two intense werewolves on the edge of control.

At any other time, she'd have laughed at the situation. It was surreal. She knew plenty of werewolves who engaged in threesomes. Hell, there were several females in Redhawke who had two mates. It wasn't uncommon at all. But she'd never expected to be in the middle of a ménage.

She was just a little too inhibited for that. And damn, this was Caleb. He was more than enough for her.