Page 23 of In the Mouth of the Wolf (Of Wolves and Kings #1)

23

MARLOWE

N olan and Elias stayed behind to clean up the mess. The three alphas who had held me were dead, but we were on a farm full of animals and I didn’t feel comfortable abandoning them all.

Since they had all traveled there on foot, Camden took Paul’s truck to drive me and Archer back to his place.

We squeezed into the cab of the old Ford F150, with me sandwiched between them. “Adding grand theft auto to the list of charges now, are we?” I joked, as I took sight of the blood on my cheeks in the rearview mirror. Perhaps I should have been more traumatized, but humor was my go-to coping mechanism and it was doing a bang-up job so far.

Camden placed his arm behind me as he turned his head and backed up out of the driveway. I bit my lip as I watched his hand effortlessly turn the wheel, heat blossoming in my core.

His eyes flickered to me for a second before they went back to the road, a grin slowly growing on his face. “Well, Archer was going to take this back after we got you safely tucked away at home, but I kinda like it now. Do you think the cops will notice?”

Archer snorted but didn’t reply, instead addressing me. “I want to let you know, Marlowe, that the only thing we want from you right now is for you to recover and heal. There are no expectations, we just want to take care of you. You still haven’t dealt with your father’s estate, and I’m sure untangling your life from your ex will be a difficult process as well.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “So, Mike’s a vampire?” I asked. “But he never, you know, drank my blood.”

Camden grumbled under his breath, and Archer took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “ Vampyr , yes. And I don’t know why he never drank from you. They do need blood to survive, he must have been getting it from other sources. Maybe he was afraid that shifter blood wouldn’t be sufficient.”

Was that why he was cheating on me so much, because he needed to feed from humans? Not that it was an excuse.

“Tell me more about vampyrs. I need to understand exactly what Mike is.”

Archer gave me a small smile, and began a short lecture on vampyr biology and culture, what Lunessas and servaglios were, and the truce that had followed an old war between our two kinds.

Shifters, vampyrs… this world was stranger than I had thought, and I still had so many questions. “Are there any other mythical creatures I should be on the lookout for? Centaurs, leprechauns, mermaids perhaps?”

Archer laughed. “No, just us, as far as I know.”

“Mermaids would be hot, though,” Camden added.

A growl erupted from my chest before I could stop myself and Camden shivered in delight. “Aw, are you jealous?”

Oh god, was I? I had to admit that I had been feeling a bit more feral in the past few days, but I definitely didn’t like the idea of being so insecure.

Maybe that was because things weren’t official yet.

“What about the bonding?” I asked.

Archer and Camden looked at each other, and then Archer cleared his throat. “There’s no rush on that either.”

I shrank into my seat. “Because you guys want time to figure out if you really want me?”

Camden clicked his tongue in frustration. “Babe, now that is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. I’ll pull over right now and bite you if you want.”

“I – wait, bite?” I asked.

Camden nipped at me playfully and I yelped.

“Thank you, Camden, for that wonderful demonstration,” Archer said, rolling his eyes. He returned his focus towards me, brushing a piece of my hair from my forehead. “There’s still a lot for you to learn about shifters, and I want to make sure you understand everything before going forward. Bonding is done through bite. For regular pack mates, it’s a meaningful, soul-changing experience. For alphas and omegas, though? It’s more…”

His hand gestured in the air as he tried to find the word.

“Erotic,” Camden chimed in.

I drew a sharp breath and Archer sighed. “Yes, thank you. So you see, while we’re all very, um, willing , to bond with you, we want you to focus on recovering.”

Camden chuckled. “Oh, I am more than willing. I am literally aching to sink my...”

“Camden!” Archer snapped.

I placed a hand on my throat, my chest tightening. Arousal pulsed through my veins, but my mind still defaulted to its factory setting – engaged to Mike – dampening my desire with shame and guilt. I needed to start learning how to submit to my attraction, and not let it feel like a betrayal.

Camden cleared his throat and placed a hand on my knee, squeezing it gently. “But yeah, I can wait until you’re ready.”

We pulled up to his house, and after he and I exited, Archer slid over into the driver’s seat. “I’ll see you in a bit. Try to prioritize your healing, okay?”

He headed back to Paul’s house, and Camden whistled as the vehicle disappeared back up the road. “That really is a cool truck. Anyway…” He turned toward me and scooped me up into a bridal carry.

I laughed, my legs kicking in the air. “I can walk, you know!”

“I don’t care, I just want to hold you.”

He brought me inside and up the stairs, finally placing me down inside a spacious bathroom, the heated tile floors feeling heavenly on my filthy, bare feet.

“I’ll be right back with a towel and some clothes.”

I avoided my reflection in the mirror, not wanting confirmation on what a hot mess I must have looked like.

As soon as Camden left, I peeled off the dress and jumped into the shower, sliding the frosted glass door closed. The hot water seeped straight to my bones, my worries circling down the drain with the dirt and dried blood that sluiced off my skin.

I raised my hands in front of my face, turning them over and remembering what they looked like as paws, while flashes of my trek through the forest ran through my mind.

Holy shit… I can turn into a wolf.

I closed my eyes and tried to feel her out where she rested inside of me. It was like I could see her – curled up and passed out, still exhausted from our first shift.

Camden knocked, and my wolf’s tail began to wag slightly, one eye opening in curious interest, before falling back asleep. I came back into myself when he entered. “Your stuff’s on the counter.”

I opened the shower door a crack and peeked my head out. His knuckles were cut and bruised from the attack, and my eyes wandered up his toned arms to his handsome face. His blue eyes were tired, but warm and inviting. A wave of his cardamom and cedar scent hit me like a freight train, and suddenly it wasn’t just water running down my legs.

“Do you want to join me?” I asked, slightly impressed by my own boldness.

Camden’s mouth opened in surprise, but it quickly closed and turned into a huge grin. “Fuck yeah, I do.”

He tugged his henley off, and I bit my lip at the sight of his sculpted chest, my fingers dying to run through the light dusting of hair that covered his pecs and then trailed down towards…

Oh my god, his huge cock. I hadn’t properly gotten a chance to look at it in all its glory yet, but my mouth salivated at the sight of it – long, thick, with a bulbous knot at the base. That was supposed to fit inside me?

Camden stepped straight into me, backing me into the wall as his eyes met mine. “Do you want some help washing your hair?”

I nodded mutely, and he grabbed a nearby bottle, squirting a generous amount into his large, calloused palms. He motioned for me to turn around and I obeyed, moaning in pleasure at the feeling of his strong fingers digging into my scalp.

“Watch out with those noises, babe,” he chuckled, his erection jutting against the small of my back. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, here.”

I looked over my shoulder, glancing down briefly at the offending member and then back to his face. “You have my permission to stop trying.”

He visibly shivered, one arm wrapping around my waist while the other worked all the suds from my hair. His lips lowered to my ear, teeth nipping along the outer shell.

“Are you sure?”

I turned and curled my arms around his neck, pulling him flush against me; my wet, naked breasts sliding against his skin. His mouth found mine, capturing it in a kiss, while his hands ran down my sides until they curved around my ass, squeezing gently.

His cock throbbed against my stomach, and he ground it into me as his kiss traveled along my jaw and down my throat. “You’re perfect, Marlowe,” he whispered, his voice low and husky. “A fucking dream come true.”

Slick trickled down my thigh again and I whimpered. “Camden, I want to feel your knot. Please…”

I knew he was trying to be gentle and respectful, but I didn’t want a slow, meticulous session of love making. I needed a hard, fast fuck. I needed to see what that knot could do. I’d needed to know ever since I’d touched him in the hotel elevator.

All doubts about my non-human biology had disappeared, and I released my pent-up desire for the crass and very hot alpha now naked and rubbing his hard body against me.

A growl of want and desire rumbled through him, and I whined in response, desperate for friction to relieve the building ache between my thighs.

Camden bit his lips, pushing me against the wall. “I want to lick your sweet pussy, feel you come on my tongue…”

“No!” I said firmly. I grabbed his cock, lowering towards my entrance. His hand gripped one of my thighs, holding it in place while I wrapped my leg around his waist. “Right now, I just need you inside me.”

He smiled on a sharp intake of breath. “Can’t argue with my omega, now can I?”

He took my other leg and held me up, his cock nudging its way inside, but stopped before he thrust more deeply. “You tell me if it’s too much, okay?”

I whined again, trying to push myself onto him. “Just fuck me, Camden.”

His tongue invaded my mouth at the same moment his cock pierced me, and I gasped around him in delirious pleasure. His thickness filled me completely, his knot like a fleshy cock ring that hit deliciously against my clit. Each thrust was a tsunami of euphoria, and I lost myself in his hooded eyes, watching his expression as every push brought us closer to mutual release.

“Yes,” I cried. “Just like that, don’t stop!”

I felt the muscles in his glutes clench beneath my calves, his hands tightening around my thighs as he kept up his punishing pace. “You feel so good, baby, like you were made for me.”

The sound of our wet skin slapping against each other and our panting breaths elicited a wanton moan, his knot stimulating my clit while his dick hit my G-spot from the inside. My orgasm hurtled towards me, and I pulled him in closer with my legs as my walls clenched around him.

He felt so good, so right. Like all the sex I’d ever had before was just practice for this, the main event.

I screamed my release, not caring if anyone could even hear me, and then gasped as Camden’s knot pushed fully inside me, locking into place as he came. The pain from the stretch subsided and my orgasm extended further, as my body convulsed around him. I’d never experienced such sexual bliss in my life. Stars framed my vision as pure pleasure like I’ve never known consumed me.

“Camden,” I sighed. I pulled myself in tighter to his embrace, digging my face into the crook of his neck, inhaling the scent even the shower couldn’t wash away. “Oh, Cam.”

He grunted, still coming inside me, the excess now escaping and leaking out of my entrance.

Words finally returned to him. “Babe,” he said, his voice raspy. “Marlowe. My Marlowe, my omega. I’m yours.”

We stood under the heat of the running water, shaking and panting heavily. I’d never felt so sated in my whole life. With his knot still firmly stuck inside me, he carefully stepped out onto the bathmat, and took me to his bedroom, water dripping on the floor the whole way.

He gingerly sat down on the edge of the mattress, laying down on his back and pulling me down on his chest while we caught our breaths.

“So… this is knotting,” I chuckled. “Are we just stuck like this forever now? Not that I’m complaining.”

He purred, his hands running down my back. “I don’t know, I’ve never knotted before. I think it’s supposed to deflate after ten or fifteen minutes.”

“Mmm,” I replied, nestling into his chest. “Mandatory post-coital cuddles. I like it.”

His hands ran up and down my back, sending shivers across my body. “Well, it’s supposed to help make sure you get pregnant.”

Pregnant? Oh my god, I wasn’t on birth control. And Mike had come in me, too. That’s right, I had been searching for pharmacies when…

Just as I started freaking out, he began purring, holding me down tightly. “Shhh, you can only get pregnant when you’re in heat. You’re fine.”

The confirmation I wasn’t currently ovulating and the vibration from his purr calmed me. “How often does that happen? My heat, I mean.”

I rested my cheek against his chest, reaching up to gently scratch his beard. He pushed into my touch and sighed contentedly. “I’ll double check with Archer. But it’s only a couple of times a year, I think.”

Thank goodness for that. My eyelids became droopy, sleep calling to me until I snapped back fully to consciousness at the sound of the front door opening.

“Hey, we’re back!” yelled Nolan. “You guys upstairs?”

My face flushed and my heart raced again. I pushed myself off him onto my arms. “Shit…”

“Shit?” he repeated questioningly. “What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed they’ll know we fucked?”

“Yes? No? I don’t know. This whole dynamic is really new to me.” I closed my eyes as the sound of their footsteps and voices came closer.

Cam pulled me back down in a big hug. “They’re not going to be anything other than happy that you’re happy, and maybe a little jealous. But that doesn’t mean you gotta nurse their feelings and knot them all tonight to make things even, got it? We’re taking this at your pace.”

My pussy clenched around him again and he bit back a moan. “Babe, we’re going to be locked a lot longer if you keep doing that.”

Elias pushed the door open. “Hey, you left the shower…” His sharp intake of breath and the scent of bergamot and pepper that practically exploded off him informed me of his reaction to the sight of Cam and me on the bed.

I turned my head towards him and watched as he stared in fascination. “Damn, California. Do you have any idea how hot you look taking in his knot like that?”

Archer and Nolan entered behind him, both releasing their own waves of scented arousal.

“Oh god,” I muttered, burying my face into Cam’s chest. This group relationship was going to take some getting used to.

Cam’s hands ran over my back and down the curves of my ass possessively. “You guys are making her nervous. Wanna give us some privacy?”

Archer got out of his daze first, grabbing a blanket from the foot of the bed and placing it on top of me. “I’ll, um, get cleaned up and order some pizzas.”

“Can you get one Hawaiian, please?” I asked, my voice muffled.

Nolan snorted. “Hawaiian? Shit, we may have to rethink this. I don’t know if I can be bonded to someone who likes pineapple on pizza.”

Cam growled viciously when I flinched and Nolan took a step back. “I’m kidding! Calm down, alpha. Hawaiian it is.”

Archer grabbed the other two and pulled them out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“I. Am. Mortified.” I whined once I’d heard them retreat back downstairs. I felt like we were teenagers who just got caught with their braces stuck together.

Cam sighed. “You should be. Pineapple on pizza? That’s practically a hate crime.”

“Hey!” I cried. I reached over and bit his nipple. His body tensed, and I felt his cock harden inside me. His knot expanded, brushing up against my G-spot and I came again.

My orgasm triggered another one in him, and he roared as he released inside me, thrusting up from below. He collapsed into the bed, twitching as his cock pulsed inside me.

“Well,” he said breathily. “I think we might need to restart the clock.” I loosed a deep, contented sigh and settled into his chest. He kissed me softly on the top of my head. “Not that I’m complaining.”