“Don’t scream and don’t fight me.” His tone was commanding.
“Shit,” she breathed out. There was no way that statement, coming from that big
guy, was good news.
His hands rose slowly as he gripped her arms over her elbows. His touch was
gentle as his fingers curled around her and he backed her off the sidewalk. He used his
hold on her to maneuver them between two houses. A wood fence stopped her when
her back brushed it. The streetlights didn’t reach between the houses so she stood there
with him in the dim light.
“Don’t talk. I’m not going to hurt you.” He had a husky, deep voice.
“I—”
“Shush,” he whispered.
Her heart hammered as her lips sealed together. She had a pretty good idea why a
man would back her into a dark area between two houses and tell her to be quiet. Her
gaze raked up and down his body, verifying again that he was a big bastard, and it sent
fear inching up her spine. She tried to think of something that would keep her calm
since fear wasn’t her friend when she was being touched by a werewolf. She didn’t
want him to scent anything that would turn him on.
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Mate Set
One of his hands released her arm so he could reach between them. Mika could
hardly make out anything in the shadows but nothing was wrong with her hearing. She
heard a zipper—his, not hers, since he hadn’t touched her pants.
“No,” she said softly. “Please.”
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered. “I helped you and now you’re going to
help me. Hold very still. I promise you’re safe with me.”
She wanted to run.
A scream would be great too
, she thought. She held still though
and kept her lips locked together while her heart thundered in her chest. The man
leaned down to nuzzle the side of her face by brushing his scratchy, short whiskers
lightly against her skin. His touch was too gentle to be painful, though he needed a
shave. He lowered his face more and then his mouth brushed her throat.
Mika tensed hard, stunned. The man wasn’t attacking her but he was touching her
with his face and mouth. He inhaled deeply as a soft growl came from his lips against
her skin. She was grateful for the fence behind her that held her up when her knees
started to shake. She took a deep breath, inhaling a soft, masculine scent that reminded
her of the woodsy outdoors.
“Easy,” he rasped against her neck. “Quiet.”
Her vision adjusted to the darkness. The big, warm hand on her arm tightened as
he lifted his head, tilting it all the way back. She looked down his body and shock tore
through her at seeing Grady’s open jeans, hard flesh protruding from the hand he had
wrapped around a major hard-on.
His hand released her arm so he could grip the bottom of her shirt and his head
lowered again. Mika tore her focus from his hand on his cock and up to his face. His
dark gaze locked with hers as he softly growled at her.
“Turn and lower your pants now.”
She was frozen.
“Now,” he rasped. “I won’t enter you. I saved your life, I’m highly aroused, and
this isn’t going to hurt you at all. Do it.”
“No.” She got that word out.
Another soft growl came from him. “I’m really turned on. I just want to touch you
while I calm down.”
Her gaze dropped to his hand wrapped around the distinctive shape of his cock.
“That’s not going to calm you down. That’s going to make this situation worse.”
“You know what I am and you know about our kind. Didn’t your boyfriend ever
tell you that the only way to calm him in a highly agitated state is to get him off?” His
voice was a soft rumble. “I just want to touch you and I need to smell you.”
“So inhale.” She realized he thought she knew about them by dating one. She didn’t
correct him, doubting that he’d care since the others hadn’t.
“Not the kind of scent I need to get me off. I said I’m not going to hurt you or enter
you. I saved your life. Can’t you do this for me?”
13
Laurann Dohner
Shit!
He had saved her, she reasoned, and he didn’t have to get her permission. He
was big enough to make her do whatever he wanted but he was asking instead.
Damn!
She turned and her hands shook as she unfastened her jeans to slide them down her
thighs. He wasn’t hurting her and she knew that she couldn’t get away from him. At
least there weren’t four of him. She hesitated and then lowered her panties until they
bunched around her knees.
“You better not be lying to me. If you hurt me―”
“I won’t.” His voice was even deeper than it had been.
He moved restlessly against her. She tensed, waiting for his next move. She hoped
he was telling her the truth but half expected him to have lied—that he would force his
way into her body. He was breathing heavier now, faster, but so was she as adrenaline
zipped through her body.
“Spread your thighs more.”
She shifted her legs apart as far as her jeans would allow. One of his hands gripped
her hip and then slid over her stomach. She tensed and then gasped as his hand dove
lower and cupped her mound. His body moved in closer until his chest was against her
back as he leaned into her but kept his hips back. He had really warm skin since her
shirt was torn open there, leaving her bare, to feel him. The man had a lot of body heat
to put off that kind of warmth. His hand shifted and then she gasped as his fingers
explored her sex.
“Easy. You’ll enjoy this,” he softly growled at her.
He lowered his face and inhaled deeply against her neck. She jumped a little when
he licked her under her ear and that lick turned into an open-mouthed kiss. Sharp teeth
raked her sensitive skin but it didn’t hurt and he wasn’t biting. All she could smell was
wood from the fence and the masculine scent of the man behind her, surrounding her
with his larger body. His fingers ran along her slit and she squeezed her eyes closed.
She was embarrassed by the fact that she knew she was wet. His fingers rubbed in that
proof between her legs. Proof that he was affecting her. He growled a little deeper.
Shock assailed her as his fingertip drew circles around her clit. Worse, the pleasure
was intense, raw, and he didn’t let up. She opened her hands on the wall and pressed
her forehead against the cool wood. Grady’s finger rubbed her clit back and forth,
changing the motion while he applied a little more pressure. A moan tore from Mika.
Ecstasy was in the man’s fingertip.
“You smell so good I want to fuck you with my tongue and have you ride my face. I
bet you taste better than you smell,” he rasped against her throat.
Mika hated how his words made her body respond. She was turned on and if he
kept rubbing her clit, she knew she was going to come. She bit her lip and fought the
next moan. She couldn’t stop her hips from moving though. She tried to resist the urge
but her body wasn’t listening. She bucked her hips against that thick digit that was
tormenting her.
“That’s it, babe,” he breathed against her skin. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
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Mate Set
He moved his hand a little and one of his thick fingers pushed into her pussy. She
moaned. There was no stopping the sound that pushed past her lips. He didn’t enter
her far, probably couldn’t because he was still rubbing her clit with that hand, but he
was knuckle-deep, sliding in and out of her. She knew she was really creaming with
need now, soaked.
“Come for me,” he growled.
Mika threw her head back into his chest, turned her face against his neck, the scent
of him with her nose against his skin was all she could focus on. That and what his
hand was doing to her. He was damn good with his hand—too damn good—and was
playing with her perfectly. Her hips bucked, straining against his hand and fingers. She
tensed and then cried out softly as she did exactly what the man demanded of her. The
climax hit her hard and fast as pleasure tore through her.
His breathing increased and then he stiffened behind her, his chest against her back
going taut. His body was rock solid and then wetness spread across the inside of her
thighs. She realized then that he’d been masturbating while touching her. He groaned
as that warm wetness splashed repeatedly on her skin as he kept coming on her thighs.
His finger eased out of her pussy and he jerked his hand from between her thighs.
She turned her head away from his neck as he straightened and she opened her eyes.
She had to tilt her head to look up at him. His eyes were closed and his lips were
parted. She watched in shock as he lifted his hand that had just given her the best
climax of her life and licked his finger that had been inside her. His mouth closed over
his third finger and he sucked on it as a low growl tore from his throat.
He yanked his finger from between his lips the second his eyes snapped open. Mika
stared into black eyes when he looked down at her, their gazes locking for a long
moment. He moved back, not touching her anymore, and reached for the front of his
jeans. She was too stunned to move even as she felt the wetness on her thighs cooling
on her skin from the night air.
“You do taste better. Get dressed,” he ordered softly.
She didn’t need to be told twice, his words knocking her out of her stunned stupor.
She reached down and just yanked up her panties and pants. She felt his release smear
on her thighs as she got her pants up. The man zipped his jeans while he watched her
with that intensely dark stare.
“Get your ass home and don’t come out after dark for the next few weeks. You
don’t know what kind of danger lurks out here. Whoever you used to date didn’t give
you enough information. You’re not safe right now out on your own.”
She slowly turned to face him after she’d closed her pants. She just stared up at him,
speechless. He sighed. One hand lifted as though he was going to caress her cheek but
he let it drop back to his side.
“I marked you with my scent so you’ll get home safely now. It will protect you
from all the males out lurking tonight, waiting for a female to grab. Once you’re home,
shower and wash your clothes to remove my scent. Do not take any more night walks,
15
Laurann Dohner
little one. Got it? It’s mating season for my kind and all the single males are roaming,
looking for a piece of ass. They just want to get laid and won’t care if you’re human or
not. My scent will keep them away from you.”
His words astonished her. “You did that to mark me?”
She saw his lips twitch into a semi smile and then the emotion was gone in a blink
of his eyes. “Would you have preferred I pissed on you?”
Her mouth opened and then slammed closed. “Maybe.”
He did smile then. “It wouldn’t have made you come. Now go home. I have shit to
do and I don’t have time to get you there safely myself. I also don’t think it’s a good
idea if I know where you live. You’re too damn tempting. I might not be around to save
you next time so be good and stay inside at night from now on.”
He spun and walked away. Mika watched the tall man walk back to the sidewalk,
turn left, and move quickly back toward the way he’d come. She leaned against the
fence for long moments, trying to let her body calm after what he’d done to her. She
took a few deep breaths.
“Son of a bitch,” she breathed. She didn’t even know what to think.
Mika forced herself to move as she stomped away from the wall and headed
toward her house. With every step she got a little more pissed off. The man had marked
her, touched her, terrified her, and worse, made her come. She stopped. She shook her
head.
Great
, she thought. That was the first time she’d gotten off without batteries in six
months.
She suddenly smiled. It had been pretty great. The man had talented fingers and he
had been very sexy. She started walking again, shaking her head. Her night had gone
from nightmare into naughty, mild sex with a hot stranger. It could have been a worse
night.
She was almost home when she saw two men walk out from between some bushes.
She froze and fear was instant as she stared. They were in their early twenties. One of
them, dressed in sweats and a tank top, walked toward her. Neither of them wore
shoes, which alerted her that something was off about them. She met the man’s gaze as
he approached her and saw a hungry, wild look. He inhaled, obviously sniffing her,
and she saw shock cross his features. He frowned, shot her glare, and spun around to
sulk away.
“She’s taken,” he growled to his friend.
She stood there watching both men disappear back into the bushes. She jogged all
the way to her front door. She locked the door behind her and leaned against it.
“Why do I even come here?” The house didn’t answer her.
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Mate Set
Chapter Two
Minnie had worked and lived with Uncle Omar for twenty years and was a keg of
high energy. Her six-foot-two frame was rail thin and it had never ceased to amaze
Mika that the woman was involved with her uncle. Uncle Omar was shorter, rounder,
and so mellow he rarely got excited. Currently, Minnie was in a highly agitated state.
“That poor woman,” Minnie raged. “Can you imagine? She’s mated to that asshole