Page 17 of The Wolf

She glanced off into the room. Her mind was spinning, but she didn't say a word.

I waited patiently for her to say something.

I wasn't going to let her get out of answering that question.

It was vital for her to realize the difference between costume jewelry and a real gem.

Just because those people wore smiles and fancy suits didn't mean they would do what I was willing to do to protect her.

Poppy finally broke the silence and said, “It's still cold in here.”

“Come here,” I said as I held out my arm. She gave me a funny look and leaned away. “Just come here. I'm not going to hurt you.”

“I think I'll stay right where I am.”

“You said you're cold. I can help you warm up.” I smiled.

Poppy glared at me. “Did you already forget how hot I can make you?” I asked.

Her eyes opened wide as she held her breath.

“I didn't think so. What happened at the event wasn't part of my plan, even if you think it was. That was real. You wanted it, and so did I.”

“That was before I knew who you really were,” she said sternly. “Things have changed since then.”

“You still don't know who I am. All you know is what I do for a living, but that's not who I am.” I slipped my arm around her shoulders. She was stiff but didn't resist. I pulled her against me and started to rub the outside of her arm. “Tell me honestly, do I really scare you?”

“No,” she answered.

“And why not? Why are you not scared?”

“I don't know. I should be afraid of you, but I'm not. I shouldn't want you to touch me, but I do. I shouldn't want you to hold me, but I do. I don't understand it. I think I'm losing my mind. I have to be.”

“You're not losing your mind. You just know I'm not here to hurt you, even if my actions are telling you something different. Listen to yourself. It's telling you the truth.”

She leaned her head on my shoulder and ran a finger around the edge of her glass. “I want to believe it. I want to believe you when you say it, but what proof do I have? How can I trust you?”

“I've already killed for you.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, looking up at me with big doe eyes. Her pupils were like giant pools, innocent and naive yet lucid and clear.

“Dylan Graves.”

“Dylan? What about Dylan?” Her voice was shaky, and her body stiffened. “What did you do?”

“It's not what I did that's the issue. It's what he did.

What did he try to do to you? What has he done to others?

You asked me how many men I killed, but how many women had he objectified or raped?

I can tell you I've never raped a woman.

I've never hurt a woman. And I've never killed someone who didn't deserve it. That I can give you my word on.”

“Who decides who deserves what? You?” she asked. “Are you God?”

“I'm no god, Poppy. It's actions. People's actions decide what they deserve. Dylan tried to rape you. He's raped other women. We both know that for a fact. He got what he had coming.”

“And what about his family? His wife? His kids?” She sat up straight, her tone firm. “What about them? How is his death fair for them? Did you even stop to think about how that would affect them?”

“You mean the wife that was never home because her husband beat her? And the kids that barely knew their father? What little they did know of him was colored black and blue. They vividly saw that on their mother's face.”

Poppy glared at me. She was thinking. She thought about the reality of what Dylan had done.

He was evil. He didn't deserve to live. Dylan was the worst kind of predator.

Worse than a lion, or a bear, or a shark.

At least you knew what they were going to do to you.

People like Dylan Graves were far more dangerous.

“What you did,” she started to say.

“What I did just saved, God knows, how many women. I couldn't let that happen anymore. He had done enough damage already. No one is going to miss him. And after what he tried to do to you, that was all I needed.”

“You killed him because of me?”

“I killed him because the sight of seeing you hurt killed me. I won't let anyone lay a finger on you.”

Poppy licked her lips. She softly bit her bottom lip and tugged it into her mouth. I felt her snuggle up closer, closing any gaps between us. I tightened my arm around her. She untucked the blanket and covered my lap with it.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don't thank me yet. It's not over.”

She set her glass on the floor and slid her hand around my stomach. I held her like that, close and firm. Poppy's gaze never left mine. She stared at me with gentle eyes. No fear. No hate. No questions. It was as if she absorbed my words and let them swim around her body.

I touched her cheek, tickling the tips of my fingers up and down her face. Her lips were soft and delicate. I wasn't going to let Poppy's own worry, fear, or uncertainty about the future blacken the calm in the storm.

I was going to take her and make her mine. I was going to show her that not all beasts were monsters. Not all evil was wrong. Not all of me was rotten. Deep within this body made of flesh and bone was a man. A man who knew what it was like to end a life and a man who knew what it meant to save one.

Poppy didn't do anything to deserve the fate cast down on her like rain on a road. The sheer weight of her death on my shoulders was enough to drop me to my knees. I wouldn't do it. I refused to.

I was going to give her pleasure where she could see none. I was going to give her every reason to want revenge of her own. And I was going to start with the open flesh of her lips. They were screaming at me again, just like at the gala. Screaming to be kissed and licked and tasted.

The pads of my fingers traced her jaw. I pinched her chin to lift her face higher. Poppy licked her lips as she began to exhale a slow breath. I captured her breath with a kiss. She cooed gently, partially surprised and partially surrendering willfully.

Her chest rose, bringing her tits closer to my hand. She moaned into our kiss as our tongues rolled, twisting like two snakes in a dance. Poppy's eyes closed as her body began to arch and bend.

She was losing herself. Allowing me to erase her thoughts like a layer of white paint over a colored canvas. I ran my hand down the center of her chest, over her naval, and cupped her mound.

Poppy groaned, her lips feverishly suckling mine. Her nipples beaded under her shirt, enticing me to touch them. Goosebumps broke over her skin like mountain peaks as she pushed her pussy against my palm.

I enjoyed how her skin had flushed. I could feel the heat of her body radiating beneath her clothes. She was hot as freshly fallen embers. Every inch of her body sizzled with desire. Desire only I could give her.

With no resistance, I pulled her shirt over her head.

Poppy didn't want to break our kiss; she kissed me until the shirt was at her jaw and came back full force before it was over her eyes.

She grabbed my face, kissing me even deeper.

Her movements were frantic, ravaging, devouring, like she was hungry and hadn't eaten for days.

I grabbed her tit with my hand and squeezed. Poppy groaned against my lips with a sultry smile. I pinched one nipple, then moved to the next. More goosebumps emerged, turning her skin to braille.

My cock was hard as steel, pressing so angrily against my jeans it hurt. I wanted to be inside her. I wanted to feel her warmth from within. I wanted her hot cunt to sheath my length and never let it go.

A darkness brewed inside me. A darkness that was all animal, resembling no man on earth. I slid my arm out from around her and dropped to my knees in front of her. Poppy's hands slipped through my hair and tugged.

I yanked her pants down her legs, exposing her wet heat. She was breathing heavily. Her back arched hard as I brought my face to her glistening pussy. I licked lightly around the edge, causing her thighs to clamp shut. I pushed them back open and held them in place.

I licked her again, all around her lips and up the creases of her thighs, but I stayed away from her clit. I wanted to make her beg for me. I wanted to see her quiver and wiggle for more until she was about to go insane.

My tongue glided all around her needy button, moving close and then pulling away. She was soaked. Her pussy was seeping with sweet juice. Poppy tasted like new beginnings. She tasted like honey and bourbon. She tasted like a meadow after a fresh rain. She tasted like new life.

The tip of my tongue hit her clit, and it sent her body into a frenzy. Her hands clutched the blanket. Her legs trembled. Her back bowed. Poppy stopped moving, letting out a moan as beautiful as an angel singing.

“That's all it took to make you cum. One flick of the tongue.”

“I couldn't stop it,” she said between labored breaths. “It surprised me, too.”

“I wouldn't want you to stop it. I wanted to make you cum now so fucking you would last longer.” I yanked off my shirt and tossed it blindly.

I unbuttoned my pants and pulled them off.

My cock was hard and ready. The tip glistened with pre-cum.

I smeared it around as I held my shaft. “You're mine, Poppy Aneska. I'm going to prove it to you.”

I started to position myself against her entrance, but she sat up quick and put her hand on my chest. “Wait,” she said. “I. . . I've—”

“What? Never had a cock this big before?” I asked with a smirk.

“No,” she said bashfully. “I've never done this at all before.”

“You're a virgin?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said with a hint of embarrassment.

“You're serious?”

“Yes. I wouldn't lie about that.” She started to close her legs and cover herself up as if she was ashamed.

“Don't,” I said, stopping her. “You don't need to be embarrassed.”

“I just. . . This feels—”