Jace: The Pride of the Double Deuce (6 page)

Jace closed his eyes to think how the other properties, thousands and thousands of acres, were laying. He looked at Darin when he figured it out. No wonder Rogers was so pissed that Holly had paid off the loan for them.

“We’re smack dab in the middle of it all.” Darin nodded and stood up, and put his hand out for him. When Jace was standing, he went to the front of the barn where Darin was leaning against the doors. “He’ll hurt her, won’t he? Go after her to put a stop to what she’s doing.”

“More than likely. I’d say that’s about what I’d do if she was fucking in my business. Her dad too. They’re both gonna get hurt before this is done.” Jace felt his fear for Holly double when he thought of her stalker. “You have to bring her here. Or to the Carter farm if you’re really going to run it.”

“I have to finish talking to Palmer. He might not be so happy with me when Holly tells him what I did to her.” Darin didn’t ask, but Jace felt compelled to tell him. “I was nasty to her after we had sex. A real bastard. I wanted to get back at her because…well, I needed someone to blame for being a fool and taking her.”

“Fix it.” Jace nodded. “Someone is coming. I called the little woman an hour ago to have her come here and look this over. It could be her. Might be them both. I’ve talked to Mason. He’s thinking they’d be safer here too.”

“She doesn’t know what we are.” Darin stood up and turned to look at him. “I have to tell her—first thing—and what she is to me. She has a stalker, too, her dad told me.”

“Fix this, Jace. Before one or both of them are hurt.” He nodded. “I don’t mean when you get around to it, but now. Even if that’s not her, you need to find her and explain what you are and what she is to you. Before it’s too late.”

The car that pulled into the drive was her, but she wasn’t alone. Mr. Clarke and her father were with her. She wouldn’t even look at Jace, which he really didn’t blame her for, but he moved to intercept her before she went into the house.

“I have nothing to say to you.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, only wanting to pull her aside, but the moment her body was close to his, he wanted her. “Please, don’t do this. I don’t have the energy to fight with you any more today.”

“I wanted to tell you how sorry I am.” She paused and looked at him. “I was a bastard. More than that, I was nasty to you, when making love to you was the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“You said you didn’t want to fuck me.” Jace pulled her to the side of the wrap-around porch and pressed her against the wall. He rocked his cock into her soft folds and watched her face. She wanted him as much as he did her. “Don’t do this to hurt me again, Jace. I didn’t even want to come out here but for your brother saying that he needed my help.”

He looked into the window just in front of him, then out at the woods behind their home. He had to tell her, and what better way than to show her? Taking her hand, he told Darin not to come looking for them, that he was going to tell her. The laughter in his head made him think that Darin knew just what he was going to do when he got her out there.

“I’m not sure what you know about shifters.” Jace was pulling her along pretty fast and stopped when she jerked her hand from his. “I have to talk to you, and this will be the only place where we won’t get interrupted.”

“You mean have sex again.” He didn’t answer her because as much as he wanted her again, the wrong answer could get him castrated. “I don’t want to have sex with you again either. So there.”

“You want me as much as I do you, admit it. Or I can show you.” He started to unbutton his shirt, figuring they were as deep in the woods as she was going to go for now. She watched him as he pulled his shirt off his body, leaving his sleeveless tee-shirt on under it. “When I was seventeen, I went into town with a hundred bucks in my pocket. It was burning me up to have a tat on my chest.”

Pulling the tee off, he dropped it to the ground and showed her the lettering over his heart. Touching his fingers to it, he told her what it was supposed to say.

“Who is Zelma, and why do I care that you have her over your heart?” He told her it was his mom’s name. “Oh. I’m sorry. I never knew them. I remembered your aunt, but not your parents.”

“That’s okay. They would have been pissed at me and the way I treated you. Mom would have…she was little, but she was handy with a switch when she thought we needed it.” He pointed to the tat on his left arm. “This one I had done later. I wasn’t sure that it would stick after…when a man like me reaches a certain age, tats and other things like body art and scars don’t usually work.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.” He nodded. “What does it say? ‘Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.’ I’m guessing this was done after your parents were killed.”

He told her it was. Fingering the lettering that was poorly done but spelled right, he decided that the best way to tell her was straight out. Like a Band-Aid coming off a wound. Jace looked up at her and smiled gently.

“I’m not human, Holly. None of my family is.” She stopped moving toward him, and he felt badly for that. “I’m a cougar. So is Mason and the rest of us. Your friend Mr. Clarke, he’s a wolf, as are a few other people who work for you.”

“What are you saying? That they howl at the moon once a month and that you…you what, chase down prey and eat it?” She backed away from him when he started for her. “Don’t touch me. I don’t…I thought you were being cruel before, but this is just horrible of you.”

“Holly, don’t run.” He let his cat take him and as soon as he did, Jace watched her carefully. Holly didn’t run, but she was going to; he could see it in her eyes. And when she took off, running deeper into the woods, his cat leapt at the chance to catch her.

Jace knew where she was at all times. He let her run for a little while, even let her think that she’d eluded him once or twice, but he watched over her carefully. And he didn’t speak to her either…not yet at any rate, but he could have. When she was pressed against a large dead tree, he moved up near her and sat on his ass to watch her.

“Go away.” Jace lay down, his cat stretching out his claws. Jace tried to reason with the big cat, but he wanted his mate too. “I suppose this is some sort of joke. Scare the shit out of the poor little girl so that she’ll stay away from you. Well, I got news for you. I don’t want a thing to do with you.”

You’re wet. We can both smell your arousal.
She stared at him for several seconds and looked around like she was going to bolt again.
You take off this time and he’s going to run you down and bite you to mark you. This is a game for him, but he wants to mark you.

“Why are you doing this? I don’t want to be…how did you bring out the cat and you disappear?”
Jace told her not to be dense.
“I’m dealing right now, so fuck off.”

Jace laughed. That was the Holly he wanted to see.
My cat wants to bite you. Like I did. He wants to mark you so that no other paranormal male will come near you.

“Why? It’s not like you want me either. And maybe I want someone else to fuck me. It was good with you, but I should—” His cat stood up and moved to her, putting his nose between her thighs and sniffing deeply. Jace could smell what that did to her and he wanted more. Her fingers curling into his fur made him purr. “You have to stop that. You have to move back.”

Jace’s cat put his paws on either side of her hips and stood on his hind legs. Jace told him to be careful of her and he snarled back at him. The cat moved her away from the tree and then pushed her to the ground.

“What’s he doing to me?” When Holly started to stand, he pushed her back. “Jace, make him stop it. He’s going to hurt me.”

The cat buried his nose between her thighs again and then pulled at her pants with his paw. They tore, of course, but he was very careful not to cut into her skin. When she lay there, panting and getting more aroused by the minute, Jace told her what they wanted.

He wants to drink from your pussy. I do as well. The thought of taking you here, in the woods, has my cock hard as a stone.
Holly shook her head, but she didn’t move to get away when the big cat moved back to the apex of her thighs.
Please, Holly, let us drink from you.

She pulled her pants off but left her panties on. Then after a couple of seconds, she pulled them off as well. His cat sat down on his haunches and watched her, waiting for her to give him what he wanted. Jace was worried she was going to hate him after this, but when she opened her legs, his cat moved to lie between them.

“If he tries to have sex with me, I’m going to get a gun and shoot you both.” His cat laid his head on her belly and looked up at her. When Holly leaned up on her elbows, his cat moved back and licked her from gate to clit, then back again. Her scream of release was music to his ears.

He ate at her gently, used his tongue to gather more of her cream to his mouth as he held her down. Even when Holly came a third and then a fourth time, begging for him to let her breathe, his cat took her to another climax before licking her thigh. Jace knew what he was going to do and before he could warn her, he sank his canines into her creamy flesh. And he marked her.

Chapter 6

Holly screamed over and over as the pain took her breath away. When strong arms wrapped her into his body, she sobbed and let Jace hold her. The pain was lessening, yes, but it had been horrible when he’d done it. Then she realized that Jace was naked.

He lifted his head from hers, looking down at her from what seemed like a great height when it was only a few inches. As he lowered his head, his mouth coming closer and closer to hers, she licked her own, wanting to taste him more than she wanted to breathe. His moan made her shift her hips, and she felt his cock on her thigh.

“I want to eat you too.” Nodding, she closed her eyes when he worked his way down her body. “Holly, watch me. I want to see your face when I eat you this time. Because I’m going to take my time with this. I want to make sure that you’re enjoying it.”

“When you touch me with your tongue, I’m going to come apart.” Jace nodded and sat back on his heels as he fisted his cock. “Can I taste you too? When you eat me, can I suck your cock too?”

“I’d like that, but I have something more in mind.” She nodded. “Do you remember me telling you that I like it rough? That I want to tie you up?”

“Yes. You’re into bondage.” Jace nodded as his cock began to leak more. “You really want to spank me? Beat me with a whip?”

“Yes. And more.” Her body responded to his words like he’d done just that. “I don’t have any equipment of my own, but I go to a few clubs in another city. I have been with other women to get my rocks off, but I have a feeling with you it’s going to be different.”

“Have you…has your cat ever ate one of the women you’ve fucked?” He told her no, she was the first that his cat had wanted that way. “I don’t…I’m still not sure that was all right. I mean, I really enjoyed it, but…. You’re really a cougar, aren’t you?”

“Yes, love, I am. Would you like for me to shift again?” She told him no. “I want you, Holly. I want to fuck you like I think you want.”

“How is that?” He stood up and helped her to stand. Her knees were a little wobbly, but she was fine. When his cock, hard and straining from his groin, brushed against her ass, she leaned back into him as he moved her to a tree. “Fuck me, Jace, please?”

“I’m going to.” He took her deeper into the woods and stopped by a tall tree. Putting her hands above her head, he tied first one, then the other, to the branch that hung just out of her reach. She knew that ranchers always had a rope with them, but she was excited to see that there were other uses for it than she’d seen on the ranch. “I’m going to tie you here, and then I’m going to look for something to use on you. Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” He looked into her face when she answered him. “I don’t know why I know this, but you would never hurt me. Not really.”

“I can’t hurt you. And I never want to. That’s why you need a safe word.” Jace rubbed his cock against her ass as he took her throat from behind. “Christ, I want to fuck you like this, unable to touch me while I have my way.”

She begged him to take her, but he stepped back. She was told to think of a safe word while he was gone, and to think about how much pain she could stand. Christ, right now she thought she was in enough pain. While she hung there, her blouse still on but nude from the waist down, all she could think about was the cat licking her to climax. And how Jace was going to make her come harder than she knew she’d ever come. When a twig broke behind her, she realized that he had her tied in a way that meant she couldn’t turn.

“Jace?” When no one answered, she tried again, louder this time. That’s when the switch came down over her bare ass. Fury like she’d never felt before came over her, and her arousal spiked up.

“First rule is that you don’t speak unless I let you.” The switch hit her again. “You’re not to call me anything but Master, and I will call you Slave. Understand?”

She said yes and he slapped her with his hand this time. “You asked me a question. How do I answer you if you’re going to slap me?”

The switch hit her again and she had to close her legs to the sudden gush of cream that ran down her legs. His hand was over her pussy, touching her nowhere else but there, as he slid his fingers into her.

“Don’t come, Slave. Not unless I say so.” She nodded. “Good girl. You don’t answer me unless I say speak, Slave.” He touched her clit and she nearly cried out with it. He played with her, bringing her so close that she wanted to beg him to let her come, but she held onto her release like it was all she had.

The switch ran over her ass this time, softly like a feather. When he stood in front of her, his body covered in sweat, she knew how much his play was costing him, too. As he dropped before her she knew that he was going to eat her, and when he touched her with his mouth, she wasn’t going to be able to hold back.

“You want to come, don’t you, Slave?” Nodding, Holly rubbed her cheek over her outstretched arm and bit her lip to keep from begging him. “I will allow you to come when I have had my fill of your pussy. But if you come before then, I’m going to punish you. Understand me?”

Nodding, she watched him as he fisted his cock and moved closer to her pussy. She should have known he was going to try his damnedest to make her come, but she was determined to win this one.

He started out slowly, tasting her gently, lapping at her clit over and over until she wanted to beg. Then he began to feast on her, taking her clit into his mouth and suckling it hard, then softly until she was hurting with the need to come.

When he lifted her leg up and put it on his shoulder, she knew a new kind of torture. He fucked her with his tongue and even his fingers, bringing her so close to the edge that she wanted to take her punishment in order to come.

Then his finger slid into her ass, the pleasure of it making her cry out but not come. When he lifted his head, his fingers working both her pussy and ass, she was panting so hard that she was dizzy from it.

“I’m going to fuck your ass with my fingers, stretching you while I fuck your pussy.” Anything, her mind screamed at him. Anything to come. “When I do, I want you to scream out your release. Come hard so that you tighten around me hard enough to bring me. Then I’m going to mark you again, bite you hard enough to drink your blood. And then I want you to bite me.”

When he slid his fingers from her, she whimpered. Her arms were hurting, but she held them tightly against the rope. As soon as Jace was behind her, she held her breath and waited for him to take her. But he only slid his cock over her.

“Your ass is marked by my beating. It makes me harder to think how well you took it.” His cock moved between her legs, and she could feel him at her entrance. “I want to do this a lot, bring you out here and take you like this. Would you like that, Slave? To have me bind you up and fuck you this way? You may speak.”

“Please, Master, just fuck me.” He laughed near her ear, and she nearly told him to fuck off. But he slid into her and she came, screaming his name.

His command to come again had her breath stick in her throat. Her entire body seemed to come, coming apart and slamming back together even as he fucked her harder, his hands at his hips as he held her. When he punched his finger past her tight ring, she knew that this time it wasn’t just his finger but two of them. And when he came with her, howling against her throat, Holly leaned over and let him have her neck.

“Bite me, Holly.” His wrist was there and she bit him. His blood filled her mouth even as she came again. Jace cried out his own release this time, pounding her hard enough to make her ache more. As soon as she came the next time, she let her body go. It was just too much to hang on any longer.

~~~

Jace held her up as best he could. Christ, he was weak with his release, and all he wanted to do was join her in her nap. He let her go long enough to reach up and cut her loose, and then he held her in his arms while he found them a place to rest. As far as he was concerned, they could stay out here forever. But that was neither feasible nor very smart.

Holding her to his body, he sat down on the earth and looked around at where they were. It was their property, but it was pretty close to the Carter farm too. He wished he could take her there now, tell her all his plans, but they had to settle this thing between them first. He smiled when he thought of how hard she’d worked not to come when all he wanted to do was beg her to release for him. She was going to be a good sub. When she stirred a few minutes later, he held her tighter to him until she realized where she was.

“Your wrists are bruised.” Taking one then the other to his mouth, he licked the red, raw wounds until he was sure they’d heal soon. She only stared at him while he did it. “You can talk to me when we’re not having fun. I just…did you enjoy that?”

“I did.” He nodded, not sure what to say to her when she was so quiet. As she laid her head on his chest again, he felt her yawn and had to smile. “I’ve never thought…will we have that sort of sex all the time?”

“No. I enjoy regular sex too. But that’s more of a release for me. You too, I think.” Her nod gave him encouragement. “Holly, we have to talk about what we are to each other. I’m your mate and you’re mine. Do you have any idea what that means?”

“I’m assuming it had something to do with you being a…what are you called anyway?” He told her a shifter. “A shifter. A man that turns into a cougar, right?”

“Yes. But it’s more than just me changing into a cat. You’re my other half. My wife, if you need a title for it.” She looked up at him. “You’re not going to be pissed at me, are you?”

“You didn’t want anything to do with me before. Is that why you didn’t want me as your mate?” He nodded, then shook his head. “I don’t understand. Explain it to me.”

“I don’t mind having a mate. Really, I was looking forward to having one. A love that knows no bounds, that lasts forever. But not you.” When she sat up and stood, he did as well. “I’m not doing this very well.”

“Oh, you’re doing a great job. I’m not good enough for the perfect Jace Douglas.” She bent at the waist to get her pants and he got caught staring at her ass. “Look, but you’re never touching me again.”

Jace moved quickly and had her pinned to a tree before she could move again. “I’m going to make love to you, fuck you, eat you every chance I can make for us. You’re my mate. The reason I didn’t want you as my mate is not that I’m too good for you, but I can’t live…don’t know how to live in your world.”

“What the hell does that mean? We live in the same world, last I looked.” Then she seemed to get it. “You mean because I have a lot of money and you don’t. You thought that I was…what? Too snobby for you? Too rich for you to bring home to the family? You fucking bastard.”

“I don’t know how to support you like you live now. I can’t support you like you live. I can barely pay my bills every month. I can’t afford a new car, nor can I buy you a diamond to propose to you with.” He rubbed his hand over his face and realized that he had no idea where his hat was. “Christ, Holly, look at us. We’re…what is it?”

He didn’t move when she nodded to something behind him. But he did reach into her mind and told her to tell him. They were both naked, or she was nearly so, and whoever was behind him was going to get torn apart.

“It’s a giant assed bear. And I mean a fucking huge one.” Jace started to turn, and he was ready to shift to save her when she spoke again. “Jace, I think it’s hurt.”

The bear was indeed hurt. Jace could smell the blood even from where he was. Turning slowly, letting his cat know that he was in control, he looked at the big black bear and backed up, pushing Holly behind him. He reached for his brothers.

Come to me now. I’m in serious trouble and I have Holly with me.
She moved around him and he had to jerk her back. But when she smacked him on the shoulder, he missed grabbing her again.
Fuck, she’s going to get us killed.

The bear sat on his hind legs and growled at her, his huge paws swiping at her like he was going to tear her apart. But Holly only spoke to him in low tones, telling him that she was going to help him.

The big bear trap was tight on his other arm. He was bleeding profusely, and was more than likely in a great deal of pain. While he was completely focused on Holly, Jace moved to his right, thinking that if the bear touched her, he was going to tear his throat out. But before he could tell Holly what he was doing, she touched the bear’s injured arm.

“Don’t do that. You’ll scare me.” The bear looked at him, then at her again, as if he couldn’t believe she was doing this either. “I can’t take this off by myself, but Jace can help. He’s a lot stronger than I am.”

Mason burst through the woods first, followed by two of his other brothers. When they saw Holly with the bear, neither of them moved. She was still talking to the bear and telling him to stay still while they helped him.

“Come here, Jace, and open this thing.” He wanted to tell her fuck no, but she waved him over and, like a fool, he went. “See how it works? Can you open it up so he can get his hand out?”

“Holly, I don’t think you want to do that. An injured bear this size will kill us both.” She told him to hush and help her.

It took him ten minutes to get the trap open. He was covered in sweat, his heart was pounding a mile a second, and he was naked as the day he’d been born. At least he’d gotten her to pull on her pants.

When the bear was free, he lay down. Jace knew he was just resting before he got up and tore their bodies apart. When he stood up, his brothers moved closer and Jace pushed Holly behind him again.