Bloodright (11 page)

Lucien’s golden eyes blazed. “Pack first, Falon. A strong pack led by a strong alpha is life. A weak alpha is a pack’s death warrant. There is no in between.”

Falon nodded, trying to understand more of what survival for the Lycan nation entailed. It wasn’t as easy as just staying alive, it was about dominance. And to dominate, one had to be strong, cunning, focused, and when the situation warranted: ruthless.

A naked body slid across the tabletop in front of Falon and Lucien. Perky pink nipples glistened from a suitor’s kiss. Joachim claimed the owner of those breasts. Right beneath Falon’s and Lucien’s noses, Joachim’s big tan hands grasped the woman’s thighs and pulled her onto his glistening erection.

Falon’s cheeks flamed with heat. She stood so fast she knocked the wooden chair she was sitting in over, afraid if she stayed another minute, she would turn to Lucien for succor.

She was beyond hot and bothered. She needed air. Abruptly she hurried to the front of the building. Yanking the heavy metal door open, Falon stepped out into the cool night air.

She knew Lucien followed. His warmth wrapped protectively around her. She shivered because it was him, the big bad wolf she needed protection from.

“Afraid I’m going to skulk out while you’re not looking?” she asked him.

She felt him raise his hand to touch her, but he lowered it. She wished he hadn’t.

“The door remains open, Falon.”

His words stung. Was it that cut and dry for him? She wanted to hurt him back. She turned around to do just that, but he was so close to her, her breasts scraped across his chest, radically changing the trajectory of her intentions. She swallowed back a moan. The thin leather of her vest not only offered her heavy breasts in a most seductive pose, but the satin lining rubbing against her nipples did not help her cause.

Lucien’s nostrils flared as he moved into her. “Did I tell you how fuckable you look in that leather?”

Heat speared straight to her womb. “No,” she breathed, backing up.

Lucien lowered his head to hers. “Did I tell you it took every goddamn shred of willpower I had not to touch you in the shower?”

“No,” she squeaked.

“Did I tell you I love your tits?”

She swallowed. “Don’t be crude.”

He lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, “Or how sweet your pussy is?”

Her pussy clenched as if his words had caressed it. Maybe they had. Lucien’s voice on a normal day was deep and rough, as if he had spent the night before drinking and smoking, but the primal tenor of it now stirred her up in ways she did not know she could be stirred up.

Falon licked her dry lips. “How s-sweet?” She squeezed her eyes shut. She did not just say that!

His warm breath caressed her neck. “It’s so sweet that if I only had one meal to eat before I met my maker, it would be eating that sweet pussy of yours.”

“Shut up,” she hissed, as tiny prickles of heat spread across her chest.

He trailed his nose along the length of her neck to where it met her shoulder. “Falon, you are so fucking hot, I melt every time I think about fucking you.” He withdrew just enough so that she knew if she opened her eyes she would be staring straight into his soul.

“Lucien,” she breathed, forcing herself to open her eyes and confront this crazy attraction between them. She caught her breath. His eyes burned with the brightness of a dozen torches. In their fiery depths his desire raged so hot, she felt the warmth of it against her own eyes. She blinked, sure it was just an illusion, but when she looked at him again the fire still raged.

He backed her up against the warehouse wall. And just as he did in the shower, he braced his hands on either side of her head. Her breasts heaved against his chest as she sucked in giant gulps of air. “Unbutton the vest,” he quietly commanded.

“No—”

“I just want to see, Falon. I promise I won’t touch you.”

“Lucien…” She unbuttoned the top three buttons just before her nipples were exposed.

“That’s it.” His warm breath caressed her skin.

Falon caught another moan before it escaped. Her body was on fire and he had not touched her.

“One more button, Falon.”

“No,” she said, closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall.

“Please,” he begged.

She sucked in a breath and unbuttoned the rest of the vest. His long fingers pulled it away from her sultry skin. Air swept across her turgid nipples. Oh, God, a flood of warm moisture soaked her thighs. Her sex scent was so strong it left no doubt about what her body wanted.

“Beautiful,” he whispered, blowing his hot breath against her nipples.

Falon made a funny noise arching against him.

Lucien laughed and traced a finger along the buttons. The pressure against her skin was excruciatingly delicious. “You are so tempting right now. If I were less of a gentleman, I would have my way with you right here, Falon.”

“You are no gentleman.”

He moved into her and against her ear, he asked, “Are you giving me permission not to be?”

She closed her eyes and let her imagination run wild with the wicked things he could do to her—if she let him. “I’m just saying…”

He growled low, his beast surfacing. It thrilled her. “Falon,” he breathed along her nipples. “I want you like I have never wanted another woman.” He nipped at her chin, just barely missing. “Don’t make me beg.”

“Lucien…” she breathed. “Sex will complicate things between us.”

“We are already beyond complicated.”

She opened her eyes and smiled and felt no guilt about it. His eyes sparked brightly under the floodlights. “Complicated is an understatement.”

He returned her smile and she nearly swooned. His smile widened. The gesture changed everything about him. It was like a beautiful solar eclipse, the sun lighting up the night.

She reached up and traced her fingertip along the curve of his lips. “You should smile more often.”

He nipped at her finger, then sucked it into his mouth. Heat shot straight to her womb. He sucked her finger deeper into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it. Falon squeezed her eyes shut and fought the intense sensations crashing through her body. Every cell in her had lit up like a freakin’ Roman candle.

With her free hand she dug her fingers into his thick hair, amazed how soft it was. Lucien pulled her finger from his mouth and placed her hand on the other side of his head. She dug her fingers in. He pressed his forehead to hers and looked down at her swollen breasts. His fingers tightened around her arms.

What he did next stunned her. Carefully, he buttoned up her vest and then stood back from her. He held out his hand to her. Dumbfounded, she took it. He led her through the heaving, gasping, humping pack up the metal stairway to his room.

Quietly, he shut the door behind them. “Get some sleep, Falon. Your body isn’t as strong as you think it is.”

He walked past her into the bathroom.

Speechless, she stood there in the middle of the bedroom, her body on fire while he—he did what? Brushed his teeth?

Five

AFTER WHAT SEEMED an eternity, Lucien exited the bathroom. The low glow of the candlelight flickered across the smooth skin of his broad chest and defined belly. Falon’s eyes dipped lower to the thick ridge tenting his black boxer briefs. Swallowing hard she looked up into two blazing eyes above his set jaw. “Do what you need to do, Falon. I have an early day tomorrow.”

She moved past him into the bathroom and closed the door softly behind her. For a long minute, Falon stood flat against the door, slowly inhaled, then more slowly exhaled as she tried to calm the electrical storm in her body and the turbulence in her heart.

She missed Rafa. At one time, she had thought she would give anything to be with him, but yet here she was. Yes, mostly she was here for the benefit of Rafa and the Lycan she’d come to love. But part of her knew she was also here because of Lucien. He had a crazy chemical combustive hold on her. Was it simply a Lycan thing? Lord knew it was as basic as basic could be. She wanted to mate. With Lucien. Like down and dirty, crazy animal mating. She felt like a damn bitch in heat around him. And if he wasn’t snubbing her, he was telling her how much he wanted to fuck her. Not make love. Fuck. Fuck, she strongly suspected like she wanted to be fucked. Gloves off, no holds barred. And what made it all worse was that the embarrassment that usually followed such lurid Lucien thoughts were barely a blimp on her propriety radar. Not that she was a prude. But what Lucien promised was miles outside of her comfort zone. What next? She’d beg him for it?

He drove her crazy! He pushed and pulled her into his seductive web, only to let her free-fall to the ground.

Rafa would never treat her so… haphazardly. Rafael was direct. He treated her as the equal she was. Lucien was a puppeteer. One minute yanking one string, the next minute pulling another string until she was all twisted and caught up in them. Was this his way of teasing and tempting her to the point of capitulation? Did he think if he could work her up into a sexual frenzy, she would throw herself at him for succor?

Falon bit her bottom lip. He had come perilously close to doing just that tonight. She should be thanking him for saving her from herself instead of damning him for it. Falon took another deep breath and slowly exhaled. She could do this. She could resist Lucien Mondragon’s sensual sway. Her beast did not rule her; she ruled her beast. She stripped down to her panties and blushed. She could not wear them now, they were so damp. She tossed them into the large laundry hamper. What did he think of her? Because she knew what she thought of herself. And she didn’t like how it made her feel as if she were being unfaithful to Rafa.

She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and grabbed a big fluffy bath towel. Wrapping it around her naked body, Falon inhaled deeply then slowly exhaled. Back straight, chin up, she strode confidently into the bedroom. Expecting to go a few verbal rounds with Lucien, she was disappointed to find him lying in bed with his back to her. Falon dropped the towel and grabbed a pair of panties from the stack on the table along with a skimpy camisole, quickly dressed, and then slid into the big bed beside Lucien.

On her back, she stared at the ceiling. Her mind ran rampant with wild thoughts and roller-coaster emotions. All of them centered around one complex man she could not quite get out of her thoughts. She rolled over, back to back with Lucien.

“Good night,” she said softly.

Good night.

“LUCIEN!” TALIA SHOUTED, bursting into the bedroom. “Hurry before they kill each other!”

Lucien shot out of bed and went flying down to the common room. He felt more than saw Falon behind him.

The sight that greeted him sent every hair on his body straight up. Joachim, his second in command, and Darius, his third in command and captain of his night guard, had shifted and were literally tearing each other apart. He looked past their snarling to Lisette, a pretty, young thing wringing her hands with worry, and understood immediately what the cause of the friction was.

Darius was challenging Joachim for second seat. If he prevailed, he would have first pick. If Joachim set the youngster on his ass, Joachim would walk away not only with the continued respect of the pack but the girl, too.

“Make them stop!” Falon screamed, grabbing his arm.

Lucien whistled sharply and strode toward their heaving bodies. “Shift!” he commanded.

Both men shifted to human form but remained on all fours. “Fight as you are now or end it,” Lucien said.

Joachim swept his leg around, dumping Darius on his back and dove onto him. The pack widened around the two warriors, giving them room. Brutally they punched and kicked each other. Just as one got the advantage, the other took control.

After what seemed a brutally long time but was less than ten minutes, Joachim finally got the edge over Darius. The younger man stumbled backward as Joachim drilled him with one vicious punch to the face after another. He landed on his back, and Joachim went for the knockout punch. As his brawny arm flew into Darius’s face, the younger man shifted and bit Joachim’s arm at the elbow, crushing his bones, snapping it in half. The pack growled at the cowardly act.

Lucien did not hesitate to stop the mauling and mete out the stiff punishment for Darius’s blatant disobedience. He jumped in and grabbed the snarling Darius by the scruff of his neck. “Release him!” Lucien roared.

Darius’s eyes blazed defiantly; he growled viciously at Lucien and savagely sunk his fangs deeper into Joachim’s arm. Shaking his head, Darius severed the arm at the elbow.

“You will not defy me again,” Lucien thundered.

The pack snarled, closing in. Lucien threw his head back and roared his rage. Violently, he shook Darius, and then shifted himself. In less than a minute, it was over. Darius lay dead on the floor, his tattered human body replacing that of his dead wolf.

Lucien shifted, pulling his shorts on. “Talia!” he shouted. “See to Joachim!”

But she was already applying pressure to the bloody wound. The big sergeant at arms listed on his feet as he stared at his bloody stump as if it did not belong to him.

As second, this was a devastating blow to the proud warrior. Lucien was sick to his stomach, not by the sight, but because his friend’s life would never be the same. The damage to Joachim’s arm was extensive. He doubted even the most skilled surgeon could save it.

“The damage is too severe to your severed arm for any hope of reattaching it, Joachim,” Talia said softly, visually inspecting the limb. She looked up at the big Lycan. “I can triage you here to get you to the hospital where they will sew you up, or I can do what needs to be done. It’s your call.”

“I don’t trust those quacks,” Joachim muttered, the color leeching from his face. “Do what you need to do here.”

Talia ripped off the sleeve of her shirt, hastily making a tourniquet above Joachim’s elbow. She guided the giant of a man to an overturned chair. Falon hurried to turn it upright. Then, gently, she helped Talia seat him. Lise pushed her way through the crowd to his side.