Pursuing Paige (5 page)

He worked his mouth over hers, tasting,
dominating, and tongue deeply possessing. Her breasts pressed up
against his chest and her hips brushed against him. She wanted him
to slowly slip her clothes off right now and lay her down on the
floor,
right
here, right now
.

But, like Kaiden, Jarek seemed determined not
to be that aggressive. He broke the kiss and backed away, fists
clenched as though fighting with himself. “My meeting.”

She nodded, swaying unsteadily on her feet,
the taste of him still on her mouth. “Okay.”

“See you later.”

She nodded
again, unable to form a sentence. He closed the door, leaving her
alone in the immense space. She dragged a few agonized breaths into
her lungs. It went against everything she’d been taught, ran
contrary to the woman she’d thought she’d been her entire adult
life—but she wanted him. Wanted them
both
. At the same time.
Any way she could get them.

Was that what people meant when they talked
about chemistry? It was powerful, powerful enough to override her
good sense. If Jarek had pressed the issue just then, she would
have gladly allowed him just about anything.

Or was it the bond?

She thought about that for a moment, and
then shook her head.
Silly.
She wasn’t going to buy into
that
the way her sister had. It was more like she hadn’t sex in
a very long time and Jarek and Kaiden were both
sex-on-legs.

Once her body had cooled off a bit, she
adjusted the illumination in the room to light the stage and
nothing else. The view of seats, even completely empty ones, always
made her nervous and right now she just wanted to dance. She
needed
to dance.

There was nothing on the stage, no bars,
mirrors, or even a chair. It was all open space, full of
possibility. She pulled on her tights and leotard, and then added a
loose gray boatneck T-shirt. Finally, she laced up her ballet
shoes. As she warmed up, she readied music tracks in her mind.

Finally, she rose, and with a sweep of her
arm, she began to dance. Her body swayed, lifted, twirled, made use
of the space. Her muscles stretched, contracted, invigorating every
pore of her body with euphoria. Perspiration sheened her skin as
she went through the motions of the pieces she’d been working on.
For the time being, she could forget her situation, forget she’d
been pulled into an alternate reality, forget the strangeness of it
all. Change wasn’t something that had ever come easily to her.

But she couldn’t forget Jarek and Kaiden.

She tried. As she leapt and swooped across
the stage, pushing her body to the limits of its capacity for
exertion, she did her best to wipe the men from her mind, but they
just wouldn’t go. They were unforgettable, lodged in her psyche so
securely not even her favorite thing in the world could force her
thoughts from them.

Was she destined to always carry them with
her? Even after she returned to the other side? How could two men
she barely knew have that kind of power over her?

Deep in thought, she danced so hard and so
long she lost track of time. She heard footsteps behind her and
Jarek was there. She turned and ended up in his arms.

He wore a hungry expression on his face. He
was dressed in a loose fitting shirt and a pair of pants. “We
watched you dance so often through the veil. To see you in person
is indescribable.”

She straightened, her heart beating and her
breath coming fast and hard from the exercise. “I feel better now.
My head is clear.” Almost.

They stood looking at each other for a long
moment. Finally, as though of one mind, they each took a step
toward other. Jarek dragged her up against his chest, his mouth
coming down hungrily on hers. “I want you more than anything,” he
whispered against her lips between kisses.

“I’m yours,” she answered. At least for right
now.

He lifted her around the waist like she
weighed nothing and stepped off the stage to the first row of seats
that were swathed in near darkness. Sitting her down on the edge of
one, he dragged his fingers down one of her legs and slowly lifted
her ankle. She sat back in the seat and bit her lower lip. The
sight of her battered ballet shoe in his huge hand, his dark eyes
looking at her with such hunger, it made her stomach warm with
need.

Slowly, he untied the ribbons of her shoe and
slid it off, letting her foot fall gently down. He did the same
with the other. Her feet were not beautiful, a result of the
pummeling she constantly gave them. That lack of beauty was
apparent even though the tights that covered them, yet he looked
each of them as though they were the prettiest things he’d ever
seen.

Taking her hand, he helped her stand, then
cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Her fingers stroked
over the muscles of his back and arms through the material of his
shirt. Skating her hand beneath the hem, she found warm skin and
practically purred. “Off,” she murmured, nipping at his lower
lip.

He dragged his shirt over his head and flung
it away. Then he drew the leotard down past her shoulders and
pushed it to her waist, freeing her breasts. They were small, but
Jarek seemed to love them. He dipped his head and sucked a nipple
into his mouth, tonguing it until it went hard. She moaned and
arched her back, the sensation warming her all over. It had been so
long since a man had touched her.

Jarek gave the other breast the same
treatment, flicking his tongue over her sensitive nipple over and
over until her knees went weak. Then, making a low sound in the
back of his throat, he pushed her leotard, tights and underwear
over her hips, down her legs and off.

“Sit down and spread those gorgeous, long
legs for me.”

She sank into the seat and he hooked her legs
over the armrests of the seat, making her hips tilt up and
displaying her cunt completely to him. He looked down at her as
though he didn’t know where to start, then he knelt and lowered his
mouth to her.

Her hips bucked at the first lash of his
tongue. “Jarek,” she moaned a moment before she was lost in
sensation.

He found her entrance and circled it
teasingly with his finger, then pushed in slowly to his first
knuckle. She whimpered as it stretched her. She was tight, a
testament to her lack of a sex life.

Jarek gave a
tormented groan and pulled at her clit with his lips, making
pleasure radiate through her body.
She arched her back, pushing her sex against his mouth,
wanting more. He gave it to her, adding another finger to the first
and stretching her even wider. His thick digits tunneled in and out
of her, making her squirm and moan. The edge of a climax flirted
hard with her body.

He leaned back and used the thumb of his
other hand in place of his tongue on her clit, which was slick with
his saliva. His eyes dark and hooded, he thrust his fingers in and
out of her cunt as he rubbed her clit. He knew she was close to
coming and he wanted to watch, that much was clear.

The lust in his eyes added to her excitement.
She watched his hands work over her, fingers gliding in and out.
Pleasure burst over her body, sweet as a berry. She cried out as
she came. He rode her through her climax, petting her clit and
drawing out, making her orgasm stronger.

Only when she lay panting in the seat, did he
withdraw. His eyes on hers, he undid the drawstring on his pants
and let them drop. Then he stood there, gloriously naked, stroking
his huge cock from base to tip. Her breath came faster and her body
blossomed into need again. All she wanted was his cock inside her
right now, but…

“Condom,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “That’s not how it works
for the Lycaon. We only impregnate when we choose and disease is
not an issue.” He knelt before her, yanked her hips to the edge of
the seat and fit his hard cock against her.

She squirmed at the sensation of it and
moaned as he pushed inside. He took it slowly, inch-by-slow-inch,
until he was seated deep within. Then he began to stroke. Every
thrust made pleasure spread through her body. She hung on as he
gripped her hips and angled her upward, sliding deep inside over
and over.

Electric shocks of the purest pleasure
radiated through her with every move he made. It had been years
since she’d had a man inside her and this was no ordinary man. The
sight of his body over hers, the slide of his cock in and out of
her, combined into the most erotic experience she’d had to
date.

“Jarek, you’re killing me,” she whispered
right before his mouth came down on hers. His tongue flirted with
hers for a moment before he retreated. “This is almost too much to
bear,” she murmured against his lips.

“In a good way or a bad way?”

She smiled. “Oh,
good
, I assure you.”

He made a hungry growling sound in the back
of his throat and stood, dragging her up to stand. Gripping her
hair gently at the back of her neck, he angled her face toward his.
“You make me crazy with need, Paige.” He slanted his hot mouth over
hers and took her in a deep kiss that left her breathless.

Only a moment before she lost all feeling in
her knees, he turned her back to him, then pushed her down and
placed her hands on the arms of the seat. Grabbing her hips, he
yanked her up forcefully, making her yelp with surprise, then set
the head of his cock to her entrance. She moaned as he pushed
inside her, long and slow, stretching her most intimate muscles
with his wide girth until he was seated deep inside.

He let out a groan of pleasure. “I love the
way your back arches. Your body is so beautiful. I love the way you
feel, too.”

“
Jarek,” she breathed, gripping the back of
the seat so hard her fingers hurt. The sensation of him completely
filling her, yet not thrusting was making her insane.
“
Fuck
me.
”

He pulled out and pushed back in so slowly
she saw stars. She gripped the armrests against the movement as he
picked up the pace, his cock sliding in and out of her faster and
faster until their bodies bumped together in a hard and fast
rhythm.

Bending her over a little more, he slid his
hand between her thighs from the front and found her clit. She’d
come already, and she doubted she could do it again, but the slide
of his finger against her sensitive nub immediately made her second
guess herself. He touched her just right, putting the perfect
amount of pressure on her clit. Pleasure tickled and teased, making
her moan.

“Come on, baby,” he whispered behind her.
“Come for me.”

The sound of his voice was the trigger.
Ecstasy poured through her, making her tremble and cry out. The
pleasure forced all thought from her mind as waves of it pummeled
her.

Jarek let out a low groan and his cock jumped
inside her as his control finally snapped. They slumped together
into the chair, but when it proved too small, he lifted her onto
the carpeted floor and curled up around her.

She let out a slow breath. “Wow. I wasn’t
expecting that.”

He laid a kiss to the back of her head. “I’m
glad it happened, but I’m sorry I took you so rough. My control
nearly snapped.”

She laughed. “Please, don’t be sorry. That
was amazing. I’m glad it happened.

“Me too.”

She smiled and snuggled against him. She
should felt guilty for giving in so quickly to him, for being so
incredibly intimate with someone she barely knew…but all she felt
was satisfaction and contentment. All she wanted was to go home
with this man and sleep in his bed all night long.

The only thing that niggled at her conscience
was Kaiden’s absence. She had no reason to feel guilty for sleeping
with Jarek and yet, inexplicably, she did. She didn’t owe Kaiden
anything, she reminded herself.

And, yet, it saddened her that she had shared
this connection with Jarek while he was away.

* * * * *

Kaiden, in dire wolf form, curled into a
ball at the base of a tree deep in the Northern Woods. It was
better to sleep in wolf form, warmer and more comfortable. During
the course of his life, living so much of it in the forests
of
Selaryica, he’d spent more time as a wolf than a
human.

A cool wind
ruffled his fur. The night was chillier than normal for this time
of year. Closing his eyes, he thought of Paige and felt warmer.
Likely she was now in Jarek’s bed. Jarek wasn’t a man who females
resisted and he knew that Jarek was doing everything he could to
seduce her.

Jealousy
flashed through him at the thought, but it was inevitable. No
matter how much Paige might wish to resist their bond, she would
succumb and succumb quickly. All human women who’d been pulled over
fell under the power of the mate bond. None had returned to Earth
after the two weeks were up. The power of the connection was too
intense.

Of course, he
worried that Paige might be the first to resist its influence.
That’s why even though he was jealous that Jarek would likely have
her first, he accepted it. Jarek was more civilized than he was,
had far more social grace. If any man could hook Paige’s attention
and keep it, it was Jarek. And the more intrigued she was with one
half of her mate bond, the more open she would be to the other
half—him.

For the first
time in his life, Kaiden wished he wasn’t in the woods. He imagined
a fire in the hearth at home, Paige sitting in front of it, the
light flickering over her satiny skin. He wished he was there with
her.

In the
distance, a dire wolf howled, a long, lonely sound cutting through
the cold air. Kaiden raised his head and answered. The distant dire
wolf howled again and gave two sharp barks, the warning cry. Kaiden
bounded to his feet and took off in the direction of the sound. His
paws thudded the earth, over branches and dead leaves, pushing him
quickly to a flat-out run.