Prymal Lust (19 page)

“I do.”

“Wrong. I’m on the pill. As in birth control. No pups.” Her gynecologist had put her on the pill to regulate her period when she was fifteen. She probably had years of immunity to sperm built into her hormonal system. And she was secretly glad. No way was she ready to have a kid. First, she had to get comfortable with all the mate crap.

For long seconds they looked at each other.

Tania wished she could read his mind. Something was bothering him.

“You want kids?”

“I’m an alpha who’s never had a pack.” He fingered a lock of her hair and absently sniffed it. “Yes. I want children. You?”

“Eventually. I’m just not ready right now. It’s been a wild ride, you know? The exile. This news about Uncle Viktor…”

“Claiming me. Me claiming you. I know, sweet girl. But, time is a luxury we’re not liable to have. You and I have to get ourselves aligned. We have to have each other’s backs. Be on the same page.” He framed her face.

Instinctively, she nosed his palm, and kissed the center. She met his gaze and crossed the fingers on one hand behind her back. “I won’t let you down.”

“Never. You could never disappoint me, or let me down, Tania.”

She knew better. There wasn’t a single person Tania cared about that she hadn’t disappointed.

He edged them to one side, lifted her leg, and hooked her foot behind his. “Okay?”

She checked him over her shoulder. Strangely enough, the position proved vulnerable but comforting. “Kind of.”

His cock swelled within her and stretched her walls to a crest of pleasure so exquisite it hovered on the brink of pain.

“One more time, mate. For me. Look at us. My cock, your pussy.” He rolled her clit between his thumb and forefinger.

The carnality of the vision of his tanned fingers against her red and swollen folds sent Tania over the edge. A series of sharp, delicious spasms hurtled through her. She grabbed his waist. Shouted his name.

The climax left her woozy and trembling all over.

Axe cuddled her closer and nuzzled his way up her spine to nibble on her nape. He petted her, cupping her breasts and massaging the mounds gently. “Love you, sweet girl mine. Want to move galaxies for you. Need to have you with me.”

Tania moaned when his penis went flaccid and popped right out of her leaving her pussy muscles quivering in protest.

He feathered hot, moist kisses along her neck. “Be back. Don’t move.”

As if she could. Sated and limper than a wet noodle, unable to command a pinkie far less organize the wild bits and phrases bouncing around her brain, Tania drifted in a mindless state of sexual contentment.

When Axe returned with a warm washcloth and pressed the soothing wetness to her throbbing pussy, she couldn’t muster an ounce of energy to object, to tell him she should be taking care of him.

He eased Tania onto her back, spread her legs, and cleansed his sticky sperm from every fold. Brought the washcloth to his nose, closed his eyes, and inhaled. Smushed the rag all over his face.

Grinned at her when she crinkled her nose. “Essence of mate pussy. Next best-selling perfume to hit the market.”

She rose on her elbows, both surprised and thrilled to discover he had a boyish, mischievous sense of humor. Eyeing his cock, she licked her lips. “Wrong. Next best-selling fragrance is mate cum.”

Her brows jerked upward when he went instantly erect. She reached for him, but he contracted his groin away, and pressed a warm palm to her belly. “Tomorrow. You’re too swollen for another round tonight.”

Pouting, she retorted, “I’m not sore. We could have a quickie.”

Axe tossed the cloth through the open bathroom door. “Not possible. Not until we’ve fucked maybe a couple hundred times. This big fella ain’t trigger happy.”

Mesmerized by the way he toyed with his foreskin; Tania had to work to collect her thoughts. “You’re just going to stay aroused like that for the rest of the night?”

Chuckling, he kneed his way over to her, and stretched out. Curled an arm around her waist and snuggled her into his side. “Yep. Been that way since I first saw you in the gym. Not likely to go away anytime soon.”

“Isn’t it, ah, uncomfortable?” She craned back to see his face.

He hooked an elbow under his head. “It fucking hurts. But that’s my problem, not yours. I’ll deal.”

She sniffed. “I dunno. Seems to me that as your mate, it’s my problem too. There’s always a BJ.”

Her mouth watered. Gawd, she wanted to taste him. To nuzzle his balls, suck on them.

He sucked in a deep breath and gave her ass a little squeeze. “Minx. It’s not enough that the sight of you is temptation personified. But, now you decide on verbal pornography.”

Tania giggled. “Verbal pornography? Is that like phone sex, but in person?”

“You bet. Now simmer down, mate.” He pressed her cheek to his chest.

Content to listen to the hypnotic beating of his heart, she toyed with a cluster of reddish hair between his flat male breasts. But though she tried not to think about the situation, Tania couldn’t let it rest. “Axe?”

“Hmmm?” He worked on a knot in a lock of her hair.

“What happens next?” She licked his pebbled nipple. Did male nipples ever go soft?

“Next we nullify the threat to you.” Axe stroked Tania’s hair to one side and feasted on the tiny half-moon mark left from his claim bite. In time it would develop into a unique shape.

His newly claimed mate huffed and crossed her eyes. “The threat to
us
. I know what the penalties are for
you
, too. It’s so stupid, this whole situation. I mean, it’s like a surreal, modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet, only with murder and slaughter instead of suicide. I’ve been racking my brain, but I can’t see any ending that isn’t tragic.”

Axe noted the bitterness lacing her voice. He cuddled her closer and massaged the muscles coiled into knots along the bridge of her shoulder. “You’re looking at it from a tunnel viewpoint. Let’s take a scatter approach instead. What would be your ideal resolution for your family and us?”

She shifted, leaned on her elbow, and peered up at him. “That the Prakov pack leave us alone? That they allow you to live? Considering they’re tradition bound to kill you and exile me, that’s the best I can come up with.”

Axe had to stifle a snort.
Allow
him to live? As if. But, he’d straighten her out on
that
matter later. He fitted his thumb into the cleft in her chin, brushed his lips to hers, and caressed her cheek. “Wouldn’t you like to be able to see your family regularly?”

“Of course. But that’s not possible. If they so much as even acknowledge me, they’ll be exiled as well. Dad’s too traditional to handle that, and he’s not the alpha of the pack. He’ll do what Uncle Viktor commands, which means he’ll never speak to either me or Jaz again.”

Her eyes brimmed with moisture and the difference between their hues deepened, a certain sign of her acute anguish.

Axe hated that he had caused her pain. But, the alternative, being without Tania for all eternity, was impossible to contemplate. A fate worse than death.

Trying to dispel the inherent doubt from his voice, he said, “You can’t be totally certain of that. You are his
only
daughter. As for your mother, I’ve never met a Feral female who wouldn’t kill to protect her cubs, and our females are only half-breeds. Your mom’s a full blooded Wylfen female, her maternal instincts will kick in.”

“You don’t know my parents. I do.” She shook her head and sent him the worst stray-dog-lost glance on the planet. “It’s not as if Dad and I are close, but Mom…”

“Give it some time, Tania. Right now your family’s in shock and they’re gut reacting.”

“I don’t think time’s going to change anything. The fact is that Breede’s the inheriting alpha. He can’t risk being disowned and exiled. Mishe’ll be managing partner of Wasserman and Litchfield any day now. He’s in the same boat as Breede.”

“I don’t want to get your hopes up, sweet girl. But your father spoke with Jaz yesterday, and both Breede and Mishe emailed you.” Axe stifled a wince when Tania’s face lit up.

“They emailed me? But, no I checked my email. There was nothing from either of them. And Mom’s email bounced back.” She scrambled into a cross-legged sitting position and clamped a pillow to her chest. “What’s going on, Axe? How would you know if my brothers emailed me?”

Axe knew opening this can of snakes would spark Tania’s anger. She had a rebellious, independent streak that meant their first quarrel would be precipitated by his explanation.

“I wasn’t certain how any of the Prakov pack would react, and I didn’t want anyone threatening you. So, I ordered Jaz to monitor your online activities and block any communications unless I approved them.”

Twin splotches of fiery pink stained her cheeks. She punched the pillow. At any moment he expected smoke to flare from her ears. “You what?”

Axe held up both hands in the age-old surrender gesture. “You were in shock. I wasn’t sure how you’d react, and I wanted to protect you if they got nasty.”

“I can’t believe it. Of all the frigging, macho, domineering, stupid-ass, things to do.” She pelted the pillow at him.

Miniscule white feathers puffed from the stitched seams. Axe blew away the few attempting to crawl up his nose.

Tania hopped off the bed. She grabbed the other bed cushions and pitched them at him one at a time.

He caught each one easily. Though she threw with considerable force, the soft down more tickled than impacted. When his mate’s glance swept the room, and she settled on the wooden-based lamp on the bedside table, he warned. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” she shouted. “Don’t have a brain? Don’t frigging resist your tyranny? Don’t dare talk back to you? Don’t dare question your incredibly stupid, asshat decisions?”

Axe bounded off the mattress, but didn’t approach her, certain she’d combust if he got within two feet. Keeping his voice low and calm, he said, “I erred on the side of caution. And I
always
will where your safety and happiness are concerned. I didn’t
have
to tell you about your brothers’ emails, but I did even though I knew you’d be furious.”

Glorious. His mate was glorious in a fine temper. Hands fisted, breasts heaving, she distracted him to no end. His half-flaccid cock got interested in less than a heartbeat.

Tania firmed her lips into a thin line. She crossed her arms plumping her twin mounds. One pink nipple grazed her forearm.

Axe dragged his focus from her tasty bud.

“I don’t frigging believe it. We’re having a fight and you get aroused?” She pointed at his erection.

He met her glowering stare.

“Don’t even think about it.
You
sleep on the couch tonight.” She pointed at the door.

He bit back the tempting
it’s my house
retort. Remembered Dax saying that he and Eva had one rule; never go to bed angry at each other.

“No. Let’s work this out.”

“You are
not
going to use sex to wipe this under the carpet. Don’t you come any nearer and confuse me with the mate-lust crap.” She crossed two fingers of each hand in a stay-away-evil-spirit symbol.

“Had no intention of doing that. Get dressed. I’ll put on a pot of coffee and we can discuss this in the kitchen.” Axe snatched his jeans from the floor and tugged them on. He pulled open a dresser drawer and blinked. “Where’re my T-shirts?”

“I hung them up in the closet.
After
I donated all of your hoodies to the Salvation Army.” She narrowed her eyes, and shot him a don’t-dare-argue-with-me glower. “Anyone who objects to your scars is not worth your or my time.”

“Message received. Loud and clear.” He suppressed a grin. As he closed the drawer Axe glimpsed a familiar brass button. “Feel free to throw out all my clothes, if you don’t like them.”

Her mouth went slack. She blinked and gaped at him when he stalked out of the room.

Halfway to the kitchen, he broke into a smirk. She’d kept the brass button from his dress jacket. The one that had whirled into the greenery the night of the dinner-dance. That meant she’d had to hunt for it. He did a huge yes yank. She was as smitten as him. Now, he didn’t feel like such a wimpy idiot for secreting her panties.

Axe brewed the java and listened, not at all certain Tania would cooperate. He heard the tap in the bathroom and the soft slapping of bare feet on wood heading his way. Only then did some of the tension in his neck and shoulder abate.

After pouring two cups of coffee and doctoring hers with cream and honey, he placed the mugs on opposite sides of the table.

She eyed him warily, but walked briskly to the table, and sat.

He sank into the chair across from hers, and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls of the strong brew. Axe looked directly at Tania, relieved to see that the green in her one eye has softened to a hazel color. He had to set the stage for the coming days without ruining their chances of working issues out together in the future. And there was only one way to make his mate understand the grave danger she faced.

“Four Jäeger hunters thrashed your hotel room while you and Jaz were here that first day.” Axe hesitated for a mere fraction of a second. “They scatted all over your clothes but paid particular attention to your panties.”

Any remaining temper-color drained from her face. She gripped the stoneware mug so tightly her knuckles went almost colorless.

“I know you probably don’t realize the significance of Jäeger hunters scatting on your panties.” He didn’t want Tania misunderstanding the magnitude of the threat the Jäegerposed, but the alpha in him yearned to protect her from the sordid truth.

She shoved her chair away from the table, bounded to her feet, raced to the sink, and puked.

“Fuck,” Axe muttered under his breath.

He was at her side in less than three seconds. Supported her waist and held her while she convulsed. Covered her back and sides with his arms and body to share his heat. Her skin had gone icy and clammy. He had been too harsh with her.