Kate Allenton (15 page)

Jonah cleared his throat once more. “Well, we’ll just be inside.” He gestured with his thumb
over his shoulder before turning around and walking back in the house with Tessa.

                                                 
Chapter 9

    
Ethan stood quietly by and listened while Jonah told Cathy everything. It was true. He’d done
this for her, and he was willing to take on his own adoptive father, so that she was safe. He’d go to
the ends of the earth and back if that was what she wanted or needed. When Jonah walked away and
left them alone again, Ethan didn’t know what to
say.
Would she believe him?

    
He stood perfectly still. He didn’t fidget as
he held
her gaze. This was a defining moment. He
knew it deep down in his gut. She had him by the
balls,
and all she had to do was squeeze.

“I believe him.” She closed the distance between them. “No more secrets.” She cupped his
cheeks with her hands. “No more lies.” She pressed
a soft
kiss to his bottom lip.

    
His hands came around her waist, and he pulled
her
closer to him.

    
“Ever.”

    
Ethan lifted her into the air. Cathy locked her legs around his waist.

His gaze held steady, unmoving like if he were to breath wrong she might change her mind.
“Do you want me, baby? Tell me that you want me.”

    
Cathy linked her fingers behind his head. “Yes, Ethan.”

    
He crushed his lips to hers in a sensual kiss that was long overdue. He’d wanted her from the
moment he’d found her. Months of not being able to tell her how important she was to him,

months of worrying that she’d never accept him, they were together now. Their lips touched, his
tongue delved, and he held her tighter. There was no way in hell he was letting her go. Not

now…not ever.

    
Breathing heavily, he broke the kiss and carried her into the cabin and up the stairs.

    
Cathy’s breath caught as he pushed the door shut with his foot. “Wait.”

    
Ethan laid her down and followed, lying next to her. “What, baby?”

    
“We can’t do this.”

Ethan propped his head in his palm and started making slow circles on her stomach. “Why
can’t we?”

    
She turned toward him. “We barely know each other. This is insane. We’re insane. Who does
this?”

He snuggled closer and pulled her into his arms, resting her head on his chest. He stroked a
slow line up and down her spine. “We’re perfectly
sane.
Who does what, baby?”

    
He turned his face into her hair and kissed
the top of her
head.

    
“Gets together on a whim while being chased
by a
maniac? We should be planning and
strategizing.” She stiffened under his hold. “This
can’t be
real. I shouldn’t have the type of intense
feelings I have for you so soon. This just can’t be
real.”

    
It dawned on him right then what was going
on. He
rolled her to her back and held her gaze. A
small tear slipped over her cheek.

    
“Why are you crying?” Ethan asked as he brushed away her tear.

    
“I want the feelings to be real. I’d give anything
if
they were...”

    
He shook his head, leaned down, and pressed
a
tender kiss to her lips. “These feeling are real,
baby, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it
to you.”

    
He moved on top of her and kissed a path
down her
throat. “You are the most important
person in my life. You’re my mate. You’re the woman
I
fell in love with the first moment I saw you.
You’re the woman I’d do
anything in my power to protect.” He kissed a path
up the other side of
her neck and paused to stare into her eyes. “I love you, Cathy, and there is nothing and no one that
will change that.”

His eyes searched hers. Did she understand the depth of what she meant to him? Could she
understand? His wolf mentally howled his impatience. The wolf wanted her as much as the man, but
he wouldn’t rush her. Not now. He held her gaze, unable to move as he held his breath. He watched
as the play of emotions crossed her face.

    
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she rolled him onto his back and straddled his waist. She
grabbed the hem of her shirt and slid it over her head, exposing a black lacy bra. His jeans tightened.
His cock ached. He gently lifted his hips so she could feel exactly what she was doing to him.

    
She reached behind her and unhooked the bra and let it slide down her arms and off her
fingertips, exposing her creamy-white globes. Unable to stand it any longer, he sat up and kissed her
with an intensity he knew would scare her. All of the want and need of the last few months broke
free. His passion skyrocketed out of control. He broke the kiss and kissed down her neck as he
simultaneously took one of her breasts into his mouth. He ran his tongue around the dusty-pink
nipple and scraped his teeth around the sensitive flesh.

She moaned deep in her chest. Her hands flew up into his hair, and she held him tighter. He
was ready to burst. Unable to contain his desires any longer, he rolled so that he was on top of her.
He needed to see her naked. He needed to lick and taste every inch of her flesh. He needed her so
overcome with desire that her fire matched his.

    
Their clothes came off in a frenzy. He
settled between
her thighs and slid his cock through her
wet juices. Cathy groaned and arched her hips to
meet
him. Her eyes were glazed over. The sweet
smell of her nectar filled the room along with every
pore
in his body. Her scent would stay forever
embedded into his memory.

    
He stilled. “Open your eyes, baby.”

    
She moaned and continued moving her hips.
He slid
out, not giving her what she craved.
“Open your eyes, baby.”

    
Her heavy lids slid open.

    
He repositioned himself at her entrance and
pressed
her into the mattress. “I love you.”

    
He slid between her wet folds, sheathing himself
to
the hilt with one thrust. She gasped.

    
“You’re mine.”

    
Her eyes slid closed again, and when he pulled
out
and stilled, she opened her eyes again.
“Don’t tease me, Ethan.”

    
“I want you to watch me, baby. I want to see the ecstasy on your face as you scream my name.”
He slid back in and out again, but this time, she didn’t close her eyes. She held his gaze, almost
daring him to send her to the places he promised.

    
He grinned as the storm inside him brewed. His wolf demanded more. His wolf demanded the
claiming, the bite that would mark her. His wolf was only momentarily satisfied. Ethan settled on
top of her and moved in and out, never breaking their gaze. Her channel clenched around him,
holding him, not wanting to give him up. He felt the tremors in her channel signaling she was close.
He repositioned her legs over his shoulders, lifted her up off the bed and rammed home. Over and
over again, he slid into her sheath while rubbing small circles with his thumb over her clit.

    
“Oh god.” She moaned, and her eyes slid closed. “Ethan.”

    
“Yes, baby. You like that, don’t you?”

    
He pushed down on her clit and moved faster.

    
“Oh god, yes.”

    
He released her legs and leaned back over her.

    
“Come for me, baby,” he whispered against her lips before he ravished her mouth.

     
Her channel tightened as she dug her fingers into his shoulders. Her whole body tightened
around him. The tremors intensified, calling to him, needing him.

     
She arched her back and screamed his name as she came. Two more slides in and out and he
pushed back tight against her and spilled his seed
deep
into her womb. He exhaled, both him and his
wolf momentarily content before he collapsed
beside her and
pulled her onto his chest.

     
Sweat slid down his face. Her creamy, naked
body
snuggled into his. Her heartbeat slowed to
match his. She was his as much as he was hers. He
gently
stroked her back and momentarily closed
his eyes.

     
“Ethan?”

     
“Hmm?”

     
“Did you mean what you said earlier?”

     
“Which part, baby?” His voice came out scratchy, and he didn’t open his eyes.

     
“That you want me to stay here when you attack Black.”

     
He rolled with her and laid his arm over her
belly.
He leaned up and pressed a kiss to her lips
before he settled back down next to her. “I don’t
want
you hurt. Please, just stay out of it.”

     
He closed his eyes again, and for the first time
in
months, he fell asleep with a smile on his face,
relaxed in knowing that they
wouldn’t be attacked, not right now, not today,
and he had his mate in
his arms.

                                                     
****

Cathy lay next to Ethan, unable to sleep. What should have been the best day of her life had
turned into her worst. Ethan’s words continued to ring in her ear as he quietly snored next to her.
He was going to take on Black by himself. He was going to get hurt. She couldn’t let him do that.
She wouldn’t. Cathy slid from beneath his arm, grabbed her clothes, and moved on silent feet into
the bathroom. She gently closed the door so as not to wake Ethan. She got dressed, felt for the vials
in her pocket, and grinned. Yeah, she knew what she had to do.

     
Cathy slipped the phone out of her pocket and dialed the only people she knew would never
leave her hanging in her crisis. She needed to know if Gracie and Tara were safe and if they’d

managed to slip away. In order for her plan to work, she was going to need their help.

     
Gracie answered on the first ring. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”

     
“Sorry, the phone’s been off. Are you guys okay?”

     
“Yeah, we’re fine, and we’re on our way to your location.”

     
She glanced down at the GPS tracking watch. “What’s your ETA?”

     
“Twenty minutes.”

     
Cathy grinned. “Perfect. I’m going to need your help to get close to Black.” Cathy’s grin
slipped. “Where are the babies?”

     
“Auntie Tara is watching them. She needs
the
practice.”

     
Cathy chuckled lightly and thanked the
stars that she
wasn’t the one being left with two twins
with special gifts.

     
“I’ll see you in twenty. Come in quiet. I’m staging
an
escape plan, and I don’t want the others
involved.”

     
“Cathy…”

Cathy shook her head as if Gracie could see
her.
“No, I’ll fill you in after we’re out of here.”

     
Cathy disconnected the call and tiptoed out
of the
room on her way to the only other person
who could help her. She found Tessa in the kitchen, making sandwiches for her and Jonah.

     
“You want one?”

     
Even though her stomach growled, Cathy was feeling pretty nauseous. What she had in mind
had the potential to kill her. Not just the potential.
It most
likely would.

     
“No thanks, but I do need your help.”

     
“What do you need?”

     
Cathy wasn’t sure what she needed, and she didn’t know if Tessa would help. All she could do
was ask.