Page 24 of Heartless Wolf (Wolf Moon Rejected #1)

CHAPTER 24 - LIV

Trigger warning: female main character scuffles with male main chacracter to escape.

I had Dash right where I wanted him, admiring me with fevered eyes glimmering silver. Guard down. Control breaking, his wolf about to slide into the driver’s seat. I dragged out my shower, giving him a real show, my strength returning to me in small bursts. Sway hip lift. Cup my breast. Moan a little. Stupid male. So easy to manipulate.

Breaking free was my only motivation when he made it clear he wasn’t a good man or one to be trusted. Kidnapped and held his lunar mate captive. Deceptive to his father. Laced my food with spells to protect me from mysterious foes. What fucking enemies? Now watching me in my most vulnerable moments. His list of wrongs expanded exponentially.

Last night, I thought we turned a corner, that he gave me answers only to be fed lies this morning. I was a fool, desperate for my Lunar mate’s touch and heart. Blinded by the belief he wanted me safe. Protection, my ass. Stuck in the cell while he conducted his motorcycle club business and furthered his schemes. Why did he want to hide me so urgently? To party the night away with his brothers and whores?

Loving him was the ultimate defeat. I was done with being a pawn in his plots and the patriarchal wolf world.

Dash’s fingers and knuckles were white from gripping the door’s handle so hard. He waited for me to come to him. A power play. The look in his eyes said I was just a possession. A plaything to discard when he got bored.

Tricked by rose-colored glasses, my shewolf whined, seeing what my heart wanted her to see. Constant prodding to take what he offered wore down my opposition. Ease the growing heat in my belly. Quench the need of my scaling Lunar heat. Restore the damage to our Lunar bond. Seal our souls together in a union incapable of breaking again.

Hell, the show for him—touching myself, sliding a finger between my legs, the way his eyes exploded, the stormy grey darkening to almost midnight, the huge bump in his pants, the criminal lick of his lips—had me hotter than the sun. No one looked at me like that, like I was his damnation and redemption. I’d never felt so heady with power before.

I stamped the heat down to dry up the desire pooling in my belly. My duty to my pack outweighed my pleasure, and I refused to be used for his means to an end. Refused to let him possess the power to crush my heart a third time.

Fingers imprinted on my hips, Dash dragged me from the shower into his arms. His chest flush with mine, he cradled my lower back and ran his palms along my arms without concern for getting his clothes wet. Water trickled down my shoulders, back, and between my breasts.

Steam clouded the room, the mist making my skin stickier and hotter... or maybe that was his effect on me. Tattoos on his neck begged me to trace them with my fingers. Dark hair mussed from sleep, a sexy curl over one eye, enticing me to brush away and admire his stormy beauty. The sharp set of his jaw like a knife slicing through my wariness to stay away. A proud, stubborn nose that matched mine. The potent scent of burnt amber toying with me. A thin layer of cotton was the last barrier between us.

He dropped his lips to my ear. “I’ve waited for this for so long.” Shifting position to my front, he crouched and caught the dribbles with his tongue, lapping at them like a wolf that hadn’t drank in days.

Don’t believe his lies, I cautioned, my grip slipping on my heart, the sucker clenching in denial of my objections.

“Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed of this?” he murmured, his eyes broadcasting the lonely yearning of a man that couldn’t have what he wanted. A look that was hard to fake and battered down a wall between us. “How many times I’ve thought of you?”

His palm found my ass, squeezing to the point of hurting, lifting my leg, and pressing my pussy into his hard length.

Okay. That was a question a girl didn’t ignore.

“How many times?” I breathed, the princess in me aching to know what my prince would do to win back my heart. My body betrayed me, pushing my breasts harder into him.

One palm covered my heart and the other spanned my belly. “With every heartbeat.” He dotted my flesh with scorching kisses to reinforce his words. “Every day without you has been hell.”

Breath punched out of me, knocking the hesitation and doubt down one hundred degrees. If I was his side girl, he would have fucked me up against the shower wall already and hauled me back to the cell. He made up for lost time, exploring everywhere, stroking, kissing, kneading me with a reverence belonging only to his mate.

Resistance loosened like a nut clinging to the edge of a screw. Spinning in a haze of confusion, I questioned if I was the liar. Consumed by the fear of getting hurt that I imagined monsters where there weren’t any. I was so lost I didn’t know what to think, and him kissing me like that didn’t help.

Sinful lips made sweet work of my earlobe, my cheek, jaw and neck, melting my inner conflict. The bond burned up for me, taut with so much need, it was ready to snap. Heat from every kiss seared holes in my skin.

I resented the power he had over me. One look, one touch, one sweet word, all it took to breach another wall. The doubt scratching at the back of my mind reminded me how this shifter had the power to ruin me, yet instead of running, the masochistic part of me wanted pure devastation, and I hated myself even more.

The cold, damaged hole in my heart filled with warmth. Desire beat a lush rhythm beneath my skin. My hand came up to clasp his shoulder as he leaned down, taking my mouth, kissing me with an angry passion that imprinted me forever. I met him with equal fervor, pressing into him, my tongue stroking his lips open.

Flames trailed up my throat as he suckled it. “Yes, my little Alpha. Every beautiful inch of you is mine.” Possessiveness scalded our link, setting me on fire, and I was helpless to put it out.

The doubtful part of me prompted me to let him prove it. Forget Whitney. Mark me. Claim me. Soothe the dark, hungry ache of my Lunar heat. Live up to the conviction in his voice.

I framed his face and kissed him harder and deeper, getting reacquainted with his mouth. The confident twirl of his tongue. Two Alphas battling for dominance of who directed the proceedings. Damn… I’d never been kissed like that—like he’d die if I stopped and he lost me again. It turned my stony heart to liquid.

Cracks ripped along our bond, his willpower failing. Barriers he erected to shield his secrets splintering. Knowing I did this to him, that I affected him the way he did me, sent thrills chasing through my ribcage.

“I’m not letting you go this time. You belong to me. Always have. I’ll kill every last wolf if I have to.” Something protective and hellbent on vengeance reared along our bond, confirming his dark promise, and threatening to crumble another wall.

Fear nudged at the back of my mind at what he meant to my heart and body. If every word dripping from his devilish lips were truth. That he wouldn’t leave me again. No matter how betrayed I felt, I still wanted him. That didn’t mean I’d let him off the hook so easily. Hell, no. But if he hurt me again, it really would be the end. The final hole in my heart.

“Liv, I can’t wait another second. I have to taste you.” Strong hands lifted me from the floor, folding my legs around his hips. He carried my dripping body to the basin, setting my ass on it, parting my legs, nestling between them, his erection nudging my leg, seeking entry to my heat.

Emotions caught up with me and snapped me from my daze. His Jackal friends arrived soon for their big ride. The men he hid me from. Like a dirty secret. Webs of lies so sticky they entrapped me.

Betrayal crowded my chest, reminding me of my purpose. Love was never part of this bargain, it was only an alliance for the survival of our race. Guilt for my pack’s safety and my freedom squeezed my chest to a bloody pulp. To protect my heart from being crushed a third time, I had to pretend I went along with his plans and get out of here.

He dragged his nails along my thighs, his tender touch twisting into hunger. Fuck. My body wasn’t listening, giddy, floaty and drugged from his touch. I croaked at my bond to settle the hell down and not get sidetracked. The moment he dropped to his knees, eyeing me like I was every bit the queen worthy of him, I let my palms hit the cold ceramic and my knees fall wider. One taste. That was all. Then knock him out cold and run.

He hooked my legs over his shoulders and kissed from my knees all the way to the crease in my hip. “Fuck, Liv. I want to take you back to my bedroom and never leave.”

Playing along, I dragged my nails along his scalp. “Don’t you have an important ride?”

He growled and nipped at the hollow between my thigh and hip. “Tonight, you’re all fucking mine.”

Correction: tonight, I’d be gone. “Locking me up all day isn’t very loving.”

He bit my pussy lip, and I arched my back from the sweet sting. “I don’t have a spare man to guard you. It’s the only way to protect you.”

Protect me, my ass.

He hid me from his Jackal buddies for a reason. Was Whitney one of them? A negotiation to join their club? Nausea teased the back of my throat, and I held down the bile lurching up it.

Dash growled like a wolf about to go feral. His hands hooked over my mid thighs and dragged me closer to his mouth. I nearly screamed when his burning mouth collided with my flesh. Heat flashed and lightning exploded.

“Fuck, Liv, you are perfection,” he breathed on my pussy, dialing up the heat another hundred degrees.

Goddess, he licked and suckled my clit the way he fucked me. Hard, fast, and without mercy. He had my mind in a spiral, my body sagging and defenseless against his touch, and my heart pounding to keep up with him. All I could do was hold onto his shoulder and the back of his neck, locking him to me, riding the surging wave pulsing between my legs.

Need to have his cock inside me swelled. My shewolf begged for his knot. I hated myself for inviting and enjoying his touch. Hated how good he made me feel. Hated that my Lunar heat rendered me susceptible to my need.

“Come on my face, baby.” He nipped my burning folds, his dirty words undoing me. “I want to taste you all day and look forward to what I’m coming back to tonight.”

Soon, I was seeing stars from the waves crashing over me. My body quaked from the intensity, my heat unsatisfied and demanding more.

Dash didn’t let up his feast on me, his bond fevered for my taste and unable to get enough. Greedy fingers dimpled in my skin, grasping me as if he didn’t trust I wouldn’t run from him.

Trying not to tip over again, I leaned back, my spine inches from the mirror. I reached back with one arm, prying open the cabinet door behind me, wild fingers groped for anything to use. Spare toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash. Fuck.

“What are you doing?” he growled.

“Condoms,” I gasped.

That answer satisfied him and he went back to work on me.

Arm aching, I reached back as far as I could, tapping a glass bottle. I let out a long moan to disguise the scrape of me drawing it out. Hydrogen Peroxide. Fuck, if the glass broke, the contents would burn him, and he might not be able to complete his ride. I pushed past the guilt, letting anger for being held in the cell fuel me.

Twitching from the approaching second wave, I shoved aside my compunction and lifted the bottle by the neck. I held it over his head for a few seconds, gathering the fortitude to crash it down on his skull. Slamming my eyes shut, I did the deed, the thump on his crown hurting me just as much.

“Fuck, Liv.” He pressed a hand to his head, drawing back from my pussy. “What did you do that for?”

Crunch. Another blow on top of his head. He sagged and went limp, slumping against the vanity. The bottle was thick enough to remain intact and I dropped it on the counter. I checked his pulse, relieved he was still breathing.

Making a break for it, I pushed off the counter, snatching up my clothes, and shrugging on my t-shirt. Next, I shoved my legs into my sweatpants. Dammit. My shoes were still in the cell, and I wasn’t risking hunting for them and being sprung by Steele or someone else and getting caged up.

I made it down the hall and out into the kitchen, bouncing off a strong chest, stumbling backward. The iron stripped me of my full capacity, and I squirmed against strong arms wresting me by the waist. This was a terrible plan and not thought through well. The cell and Dash licking my pussy fogged my mind.

“Liv, stop,” Steele grunted at me. “If you hurt yourself, Dash will kick my ass.”

Not after what I did to him.

“Let me go, asshole!” I kept going, uselessly fighting his grip because an Alpha never surrendered. My wolf surged to the surface and his rose to meet mine, and we snarled at each other. Eventually, Steele caught both my wrists in one massive palm, confining them, and I knew my struggle was over. I kept bucking for release.

Footsteps staggered behind us. Someone groaned.

“Beaten so easily.” The smile in Steele’s voice brought a smug one to my lips. “Slog him good, huh?”

I spluttered a triumphant laugh, because what else was there to do when I was destined for the cell.

“You good to ride?” Steele grunted.

“I will be in an hour,” Dash growled, glaring at me, rubbing his undoubtedly aching head.

A sense of satisfaction trickled down my spine. Now he knew not to play with me. Learned his lesson for locking me up. When he let me out for good—if he let me out after that stunt—he was going to face a hurricane.

“Fuck. We can’t postpone the ride for that long.” Steele’s gaze dropped to mine as if he said too much. “We’ve got precautions in place.”

“I’ll deal with it.” Dash stood straighter, closing his eyes as if his vision winked in and out. “Put her back in the cell.”

“Hope you remember me on your ride.” I flicked my tongue at him as Steele carried me down to the basement, shrieking and kicking the clubhouse down, Dash hot on his heels.

“Her scent is all over the clubhouse,” Steele cautioned. Fear. Fretting. Frustration. Lots of other F adjectives. “We don’t need questions raised about why we’re storing a female from a rival pack in our basement.”

“Bring the ginger beer out to the kitchen,” Dash ordered.

I detected the ginger beer upon entry to the clubhouse. Those bastards intended to use it to conceal all trace of me from the Jackals.

“You rotten villains.” I kicked at the air in front of me.

The brute tossed me in the cell, both of them restraining me and tying my arms to the bars, my skin absorbing more iron radiation, instantly tiring me out.

“You heartless bastard.” I kicked at Dash as he stripped off his t-shirt and gagged me with it. His scent hit my nostrils, tormenting me, and I bit into it, summoning my teeth that wouldn’t come because of the metal.

Tears streamed down my face and the Alpha in me was ashamed to let them lose and hand him victory.

Dash bent down beside me and stroked my face. “We’re gonna have a serious talk tonight, Liv. No more fighting me.”

I called him a hundred curse words in my head as he and Steele climbed the stairs, wrapping me in darkness and pain.