Page 13 of The Alpha’s Promise (Alpha Doms #3)

Cody slept in wolf form. It seemed the safest idea—less temptation to go in the bedroom and finish what he’d started with the beautiful redhead sleeping there. He woke at dawn and nosed into the bedroom.

Melissa sat up, beautiful with her long, thick waves sleep-tousled, her cheeks flushed.

His wolf almost whined at the sight of her.

Her blue eyes widened at the sight of him, but she climbed out of bed and came toward him.

She wore one of his t-shirts, and her long, bare, shapely legs would’ve made him groan if he was in human form.

He trotted toward the bathroom intent on shifting back in there, where she wouldn’t see the gargantuan cock stand he got every time he shifted around her, but she stopped him.

“Cody?” Her voice was throaty from sleep.

He stopped and turned.

To his surprise, she buried her fingers in his fur. “May I pet you? Is this okay? I just wanted to feel…”

It took all his willpower not to shift back and tell her to touch the part of his anatomy that had been straining for her since the moment he first saw her.

She ran her hands over his body, stroking, petting.

It occurred to him that he hadn’t been petted like that in years.

Perhaps ever. No, his mom had pet his fur when he was a pup.

But she’d been dead since he was eight, and his stepmother and father had never been very affectionate.

And while he’d had sex, he hadn’t had a girlfriend.

Not someone who touched him just to feel.

Not with any intent other than to stroke.

A shiver ran over his entire body. What was it? Pleasure? Not sexual pleasure, but something else.

She stroked his ears, buried her face in the fur of his neck.

He twisted and licked her shoulder.

She giggled, clinging more tightly.

He gave a shake and trotted away toward the bathroom, shifting just before he got there.

Melissa stopped short at the sight of his naked form, her mouth dropping open. When her eyes slid down to his jutting cock, he shrugged. “Happens when I shift.”

He shut the door and turned on the water, ignoring the raging hard-on. He had to get to two worksites to check on progress, then meet with his agent. And he didn’t like to leave Melissa alone for too long.

When he emerged from the shower, he found her in the living room, doing some kind of yoga routine on his floor.

He bit back a groan, his cock instantly hard again at the sight of her panty-clad ass sticking high in the air.

“Seriously, princess—are you trying to torture me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, a little too innocently. “I’m just practicing my downward dog.”

If she was his mate, he’d hold her in that position while he fucked her into oblivion for teasing like that. The momentary fantasy of all the sexual games they’d play if they were mated glued his feet to the floor, his eyes still fixed on her oh-so-appealing ass.

And then he lost his hold on the tenuous control he had. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet crossed to her, hands peeled those panties down to her ankles.

She shrieked, laughing, and tried to twist away, but he looped a forearm under her waist to hold her in the position and smacked her ass.

She gasped. Nectar glossed her entrance, the scent of her arousal sending him into orbit.

He lifted his prisoner into the air and carried her to the sofa, where he sat down with her on his lap, her back against his front. “Put your hands on the floor.”

“What?”

He didn’t wait for her to obey, but maneuvered her himself, pushing her torso forward until her hands reached the floor and her legs straddled him, wheelbarrow style. “I’ll show you my favorite yoga pose.”

Her ass was presented to him, pussy spread and glistening.

“This isn’t yoga,” she protested, but he ignored her struggles, giving each cheek another perfunctory smack. She stilled.

He filled both hands with her ass, making small circles with his thumbs at the juncture of her inner thighs. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll get you off. Would you like that, baby?” He brushed her labia with his thumb and she made an indistinct mewl. “What’s that?”

She didn’t answer.

“Or did you need more spanking?” He slapped each cheek again smartly.

“No-o-o,” she moaned. “I’ll be good.”

He brought his thumb to her dewy entrance and slid it slowly up and down, coating her vulva with her natural lubricant. “You want me to make you feel good, baby?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Cody…”

He really loved the sound of his name on her lips. “That’s my good girl.” He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her clit quickly, then slowed down for a few firm downward strokes.

“Ahh-ah,” she cried out.

He gave her ass a light slap. “Settle down, beautiful. You don’t come until I say you come, got it?

” He had a feeling she’d go off like a firecracker with just a few strokes, and he intended to take his time.

If he wasn’t going to fuck the hot little human, he could at least savor the pleasure of bringing her to orgasm.

He tossed a pillow down to his feet. “Make yourself comfortable.”

She snatched it up and propped it on his feet, then rested her cheek on the pillow, arms wrapped around his legs.

He peppered her ass with several more spanks, loving the way her butt bobbed and arched for them, the way her inner thighs quivered and her pussy wept for his touch. “What happens to girls who tease?” He sank one thumb inside her while the rest of his hand cupped her mons and massaged her clit.

“Ahh!”

He slapped her ass with his other hand, delivering a sharp smack. “What happens?”

“This?” Her voice quavered.

He bit back a chuckle and slapped again in the same exact place, while still pumping his thumb in and out of her. “What is this?”

“Punishment,” she gasped, humping his lap.

He removed his thumb and returned to focus on her clit, which had her squeezing the legs wrapped around his waist in a pulsing excitement.

He stopped and slapped her ass again. He dragged his thumb through her juices and brought them up to her anus, circling the little pink rosebud.

She scrambled, as if she wanted to crawl right off his lap. He caught her hips and yanked her back. “Where do you think you’re going?” He pressed his thumb insistently at her rear entrance, waiting for the tight ring of muscles to relax.

His thumb breached her hole and he dropped some saliva on it to help lubricate, easing it in and out. He added his other thumb to her pussy and worked them alternately, pressing first one thumb in, then the other.

“Oh, my God,” she wailed. “Cody…”

“Do you like your punishment, baby?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Please…”

“You want to come?”

“Yes, please. I’ll be good.”

A chuckle bubbled out of him, but he increased his speed and pushed both thumbs in at the same time, while the fingers of his lower hand pressed firmly against her clit.

She shrieked. “Cody! Oh Jesus, oh my God!”

“Come for me, baby.”

Her scream echoed through his house, muscles clamped down on his thumbs. The unstrained pleasure on her face made a picture he etched forever in his mind as the most beautiful thing he’d ever witnessed.

When she collapsed over his lap and legs, fully spent, he bent to pull her back up, then swung her up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

He stood her on her feet, but kept an arm wrapped snugly around her waist in case her legs wobbled.

Passion had flushed her slack cheeks, and her glassy eyes were heavy-lidded.

He turned on the water and waited for it to warm up.

When he tugged his shirt off her body, he nearly wept with need.

Her apple-sized breasts pointed up, peach nipples forever optimistic.

With a surge of lust, he gripped both her wrists and slammed them over her head to lift the impudent nipples even more.

Her breasts lifted for his mouth, which he brought first to one, then the other.

The wolf within him surged and his vision domed. This time, he sensed the shift in his mouth, teeth lengthening, mating serum dripping.

No.

He used every bit of control he still had to pull back and yanked the shower curtain open. “Get in.” His guttural voice sounded like someone else’s.

She stepped in, but gripped his shirt, pulling him toward the shower. “Cody… I’m sorry I got scared last night. You didn’t hurt me. Let’s try again.”

The wolf raged at the surface.

Take her. Claim her. Make her yours.

His sharpened vision made her seem even closer. He stumbled back. “We can’t,” he grated harshly and he left the bathroom, and then the house, before the wolf could change his mind.

The orgasm hadn’t diminished her interest in Cody—not in the least. The way he’d taken her had been base and raw—utterly humiliating, and yet the orgasm he’d wrung had been out of this world.

Which was why she’d been devastated when, yet again, he’d left her without a word. This time, though, she understood.

Cody wanted her. He wanted to mark her, even, like Ben had marked Ashley, only he apparently thought that would be a terrible idea. Tears stung her eyes.

She spent most of the day catching up on work. She posted photos of a new listing and put together the virtual tour. She called several clients to give them updates and put together comps for a house one of her clients was considering making an offer on.

Only after she’d done everything she needed to do, did she call Ashley for a heart to heart.

“So he won’t have sex with me because he wants to mark me,” she said dully.

“What? Oh, my God! Seriously? He thinks you’re his mate?”

“No! That’s the problem. He definitely doesn’t want me as his mate. So it’s a no-go. Which is fine, really, because he’s a little too much my type, if you know what I mean.”

Ashley paused. “No, actually, I don’t. What are you trying to say?”

“Have you seen the guy? He looks like he could be a mob enforcer or a hitman or something. Covered in tattoos, works as a manual laborer.”