Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (14 page)

Unable to handle it any longer, I called the guard house to warn them that I would be shifting and roaming the grounds before I went outside and stripped down to my skin. A run would help calm the raging emotions within me. The property was two acres, so I would have to run in a loop. When I came back, Ricki and I would talk.

*     *     *

I returned from
my run an hour later but I wasn’t much calmer, so I scooped up my clothes and went into the huge room that housed Conner’s indoor Olympic-sized pool. A long swim might help me get the last of the frustration out of my system.

Dumping my clothes on one of the chairs by the pool, I executed a shallow dive and began swimming furiously. The longer I cut through the water, the louder Ricki’s words echoed in my ear. She was right when she accused me of waiting until it was too late to tell her about the pack. I had. I wanted her to be addicted to me before I dropped that bomb on her. I didn’t want her to walk away.

By the time I stopped, I’d done so many laps I lost count after a mile. Rolling over onto my back, I floated in the water, staring up at the ceiling. I had to fix this with Ricki and I had to do it tonight. Donna and Conner were coming home tomorrow and I wanted to resolve this before then. I knew that Ricki would run from me if she had a chance. Donna would do whatever it took to make her friend happy and I couldn’t risk being apart from my mate. Not again.

Breathing heavily, I hauled myself out of the pool and dried off. Once I was dressed, I headed upstairs. Ricki’s room was quiet and there was no response when I knocked on the door. Slowly, I turned the knob and opened the door, moving inside silently.

She lay curled up on the bed, her damned cat cuddled into the curve of her body. Her breathing was even and deep and I realized she was sleeping. I stood next to the bed, staring down at her for several long minutes. She looked so peaceful that I couldn’t resist touching her.

I lowered myself onto the bed, carefully sliding one arm beneath her head and then wrapping the other around her waist. For the first time in two weeks, her black furball didn’t hiss or claw at me. Instead she pressed her head beneath my hand, begging for a stroke.

“What are you doing in here?”

Ricki’s voice startled me and I stopped the slow even strokes on Pepper’s head.

“I came to talk to you,” I murmured.

She sighed heavily. “There’s not much left to say, Calder.”

I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled her precious scent. “Please, Ricki.”

“I mean it. There’s nothing else for me to say,” she insisted.

I realized that I was going to have to do all the talking. Ricki meant what she said, she was done discussing it. I’d made a fucking mess out of this
again
and I was going to have to convince her that I could clean it up.

“Then I need you to listen to me because I have some things to say to you.” Her body tightened against mine. “Will you listen to me? Please?”

Ricki pulled out of my arms, rolling over to face me and tucking both hands beneath her chin. I let her go because I needed to see her face. “Okay. I’m listening.”

Shit, what did I say now? Talking wasn’t my thing. I preferred to let my actions speak for me, but it seemed I didn’t have a choice.

Gently, I touched her cheek, staring into her eyes. “You were both right and wrong earlier.” At her sharply indrawn breath, I continued. “I honestly didn’t consider that Chloe joining the pack might upset you. If I had, I would have mentioned it. You seemed to believe me when I told you that she and I were nothing more than friendly acquaintances, so I assumed it wouldn’t bother you.”

Her muscles relaxed slightly at my words and I could tell I was getting through to her. That made what I had to say next so much more difficult. “But you were right about the pack. I didn’t tell you what to expect because I knew you wouldn’t want me once you understood.” Saying the next words would make me more vulnerable than I’d ever been in my life. “I couldn’t let you leave me again, Ricki, because I’d die without you.”

Her entire body became unnaturally still. “Is that the only reason, because you don’t want to die?” she asked softly.

I took a shaky breath. “No, I’m not scared of death. Although, I worry for you if this situation with the Faction goes tits up and I…”

Her hand gripped my shoulder, hard enough for her nails to dig through the fabric of my shirt. “Don’t say it.”

I moved my hand from her face to her hair, threading my fingers through the wavy brown strands. “When I say I need you, Ricki, I truly
need
you. Being with you keeps my heart beating. Since the moment I first touched you, there are no other females in the world. Only you. The touch or scent of any other female makes my skin crawl. I will never want anyone else as long as I’m alive. That’s the way I’m made.”

Her eyes widened with each word I spoke. “What are you saying, Calder?” she asked.

“I wanted to give you time to develop feelings for me before I told you everything. Not because I want to manipulate you, but because I want you to trust me when I say I will never let anyone hurt you. I will protect you with my very life. If my pack mates are cruel or attempt to harm you, I will put a stop to it.”

Tears filled her eyes.

I pressed my lips against her forehead before rubbing her nose with mine. It was time to take the next step and I was scared shitless. “I will do anything to protect those I love.”

I felt her body grow taut. “What?”

“I love you, Ricki. I may have put my mark on your body, but your mark is on my soul.”

Her hand clutched my shoulder even tighter than before and I knew I was getting through to her.

“Please don’t leave me. Give me a chance to show you.”

“Calder, I—”

I silenced her with a kiss. “Please don’t say anything but yes. Please.”

I’d never begged for anything before in my life, but I was damned close to getting on my knees and pleading.

“Yes,” she whispered.

I kissed her again, unable to help myself. I had the answer I wanted and I wasn’t going to give her a chance to change her mind. I tried to ignore the way my hands shook as I lifted her t-shirt. I buried my face against her breasts as I flung the t-shirt aside. Her hands tangled in my hair, holding me close as I tasted the soft skin of her breasts with my tongue.

Desperate to feel her skin against mine, I tugged my own shirt over my head. Ricki moaned into my mouth, her hands wandering from my hair down to my back, grasping me and pulling me closer. Our mouths collided, the taste of her turning me inside out.

“Calder,” she whispered, her hands unfastening my jeans, tugging the denim away from my hips. “Please don’t break my heart.”

Her request broke through the haze surrounding my mind. I lifted my head from her breasts, staring down into her bottomless brown eyes.

“I may make mistakes but I will never intentionally hurt you,” I vowed.

I lowered my head and pressed a kiss directly over her heart, removing her bra with a few quick motions of my hands. I moved to kneel over her, sliding her loose cotton pants and underwear down her legs. The sight of her naked body halted my hands. Though I’d touched her countless times over the last weeks, I realized that this was the first time Ricki’s heart was bared to me completely.

I slid my hands from her shoulders, down over her breasts and stomach, until I reached her hips, relishing in the smoothness of her skin. Without thought, I found myself touching her with gentle hands, as though she were fragile, something she had never allowed me before. Since the first time we had sex, Ricki always pushed me for more, encouraging my roughness and seeming to enjoy my loss of control.

Now, neither of us were in control. Bracing myself on my hands, I leaned down to take her nipples into my mouth, one at a time, licking and sucking until she was writhing beneath me. As I worked my way down her body with my lips and teeth, I could taste the salt of her sweat mixed with the sweetness of her skin.

My mouth trailed a path to her hip as I positioned myself between her thighs, spreading them wide. Ricki’s gasp filled the room as I traced a line from her hip bone to the crease where her leg met her body. At the first stroke of my tongue over her clit, she clamped her legs together around my head.

“Shhhh.” I nipped the inside of her thigh as I tugged them apart. “Let me taste you.”

I growled as I slid my tongue over her again, looking up her body as her back arched.

“Calder!”

Her muscles gripped my fingers tightly as I pressed them inside her pussy. She was so wet and tight that I knew she was already on the edge of orgasm. I wanted to hear and feel her as she came. I wrapped my lips around her clit and circled it mercilessly with my tongue. I growled when her hands dove into my hair, twisting and tugging restlessly.

It was enough to push her over the edge.

“Oh God, oh God!”

Her hips bucked uncontrollably beneath my mouth as I drew out her climax as long as possible.

“Stop, please stop,” she begged, trying to use her grip on my hair to pull me away.

With one last lick to wring a gasp out of her, I lifted my head and reached up to grab a pillow from the top of the bed, shoving it beneath her hips. Licking a line up the center of her torso, I crawled over her, moving my hips between her legs.

“Look at me, darlin’,” I insisted.

Her glazed eyes lifted to mine, heavy-lidded and sated. I reached down, grabbing my cock with one hand, and began the long, slow glide inside of her until I was completely sheathed. I watched as her mouth parted, her tongue sweeping across her bottom lip as she looked up at me.

“Do you feel that?” I asked, pulling out and thrusting forward in an unhurried motion of my hips.

Her legs lifted to wrap around my back, her heels digging into my ass. “Yes.”

Ricki’s back arched as I continued the leisurely pace, angling my hips to go deeper.

“That’s everything, baby.
You
are my everything. I want you to feel it, to know it without a doubt.” I reached back and untangled her hand from my hair, placing her palm flat on my chest. “Do you feel that?”

“Yes,” she whimpered, her pussy clenching my cock as I ground my hips harder into hers.

“That’s your heart now. It only beats because of you.”

“Calder, please. I’m dying. Move faster or harder, something!”

Unable to deny her anything, I withdrew from her body and slammed back into her, gripping her hips with both hands and tilting them up.

“Yes!”

Three more strokes and she began to come, her body fisting me tightly as her nails dug into my shoulders and back. I couldn’t hold back any longer, her orgasm triggering mine. The instinct to claim my mate overwhelmed me. My mouth dropped to the mark on her neck and I closed my teeth over it once again.

As the pleasure waned, I released my hold on Ricki’s neck, running my tongue over the spot to help the broken skin heal. Her shuddering body finally relaxed beneath me, her hands running along my back and hips in sweeping caresses.

Resting my lips against her ear, I whispered, “I love you, Ricki.”

Even though she didn’t speak, her arms tightened around me and I knew I’d finally broken through for good.

Ricki

T
he next day,
I was ensconced in the library, reading, when the doorbell rang. Though I knew better than to answer the summons, I did close my book and wander down the hall to the top of the stairs. When I saw who came in the door, I squealed and dashed down the steps. The vampire guard who’d let her in disappeared from the foyer, back to wherever he’d come from.

“Shannon!”

It had been two weeks since the last time I saw her. Though that was typical, I noticed her absence more due to the fact that I had nothing else to keep me busy other than worrying. I worried about the Faction, the pack, and about my financial situation now that I was unemployed. I had enough money to pay my bills for a couple more months, especially since Conner and Donna refused to let me pay anything toward food or rent, but there was no way of knowing when this situation would finally be at an end. I could lose my apartment. Since my car was paid for, I supposed I could live in it.

Then again, Calder said he loved me and seemed very intent on keeping me close. I had a feeling I would be settled in his house at the pack compound before I could blink if I brought up my financial concerns. Or even if I didn’t. He said that he was mine for as long as we lived. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of living with Calder for the rest of my life. I wasn’t sure if it was due to fear or excitement. It seemed my entire existence was changing at light speed and my head and heart were still catching up.

I couldn’t think about it now, otherwise I’d go crazy, so I focused on one of my best friends instead. I reached the bottom of the stairs and hurtled into her arms, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug.

Laughing, Shannon rocked back on her heels. “Damn girl, have you been working out or something? You’re stronger than you were before.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, tucking my head against her shoulder.