To Catch A Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Wolf Valley Raiders Book 2) (3 page)

“OK, I’ll let you up,” he said, loosing her a little. However, before she could get up, he grasped one of her wrists and then the other one, and pulled them behind her back. Too late to react, she felt him slip a rope around her wrists and tighten it.

She pulled against the rope, but it held fast. “What the hell are you doing?” Bliss demanded.

“I am making a citizen’s arrest. You have been raiding a lot of farms and stealing a substantial amount of property over the last few weeks. You and your friends. So I think I have every right to restrain you.” His hand sliding up her back sent delightful shivers along her spine, which she tried to ignore.

“You are not turning me over to the sheriff!” He was her mate; he wouldn’t dare!

He leaned down and his warm breath on her ear made her tremble deliciously. Why did her body have to betray her in such a way? “We’ll have to see if you behave yourself when I question you.”

She kicked her legs, trying to land a good shot on him. “Let me go. I will not answer any of your questions.”

“Oh, you might. When I’m done with you, you’ll be singing like a bird.” He pulled her up, and faced her to him.

“Is that what sort of man you are? The type that tortures a woman to get his way?” That would be just typical—after putting up with two overbearing brothers all these years, she would get a mate who was just as bad. Wait! She was not planning to stay with him anyway. The first chance she got, she would run. All she had to do was make him trust her and let his guard down.

“Oh, there is a kind of torture you might well beg me for,” he said, running his finger over the front of her wet jacket, catching her nipple, which was a hardened bud of desire.

“I can assure you, there is nothing you can do to me that I will
ever
enjoy.” She tilted her chin up to reinforce her words.

He chuckled, making her mad; he was so self-assured. “I think you have more than one lesson to learn. And although I don’t plan to hurt you, a spanking might just be what you need to teach you a lesson.”

She pulled back from him, but with her hands tied behind her back, she knew there was no point trying to run. He would easily catch her, and then administer his punishment right here where her brothers might see. The humiliation would be too much. But she doubted her brothers were even giving her a second thought right now. “If you lay one hand on me, I’ll scream.”

“No one will hear you, honey, and no one will care.”

“Then I’ll never forgive you. If you as much as touch me, I’ll never be your mate. I’ll never accept you.” Tears threatened. She hated being at his mercy; she wanted control of her life back. Wasn’t it enough to be caught up with looking after her brother and dad, then to be stuck with the blood oath? Now she had a controlling man to contend with. Life was just not fair.

“Knowing what you’ve been up to these last few weeks, and I’m guessing it was you who stole the car last week, and broke into a couple of ranches, I think the only way you are going to learn to behave is if I touch you. I think you need breaking, and I am the man to do it.”

“I do not need breaking,” she spat at him fiercely. Bliss felt her eyes misting up with tears, not of sorrow, but of rage. She would not let this man treat her cruelly.

“We’ll see about that. Now let’s get you back to my house. You need to get out of those wet clothes.” He hooked his hand under her arm and made her walk with him.

Bliss should have kicked him hard, where it would do the most damage, and run for it. Her temper was flaring, and not only because of this brute of a man who had hold of her. She was also angry at her wolf, who was wagging its tail with joy and positively panting for this man, her mate, to punish her in an exquisite way.

Did no one have any loyalty to her?

But she had to admit, it was hard to resist the feel of his hand on her arm, and the closeness of his body to hers. She longed to strip out of her wet clothes in front of him, and allow him to watch her undress and then to touch her body. Even her bottom kind of tingled in anticipation of the promised spanking, but she soon put an end to those thoughts. If this mating bond were going to survive, he would have to see her as an equal, not a woman he could boss around. And not a thief. Once more, she blamed her father for the mess she was in.

Hugo had never considered himself an alpha male. So why was he acting like one now?
Because he wanted her, and he would do anything to get her into his bed
. At least his wolf would. It strutted its stuff inside his mind, wanting to show off to their mate. Who at this moment, was threatening to gouge his eyes out, and then tear his throat out for good measure.

“Will you just walk properly,” he said as she dug her heels in, making any progress slow. He was very aware of the fact that her brothers might come back and try to rescue their sister at any point. Although it looked as if they had completely abandoned her.

“No. I will not. You let me go. You have no right to do this. Untie me now!” As she struggled, her breasts rubbed against his arm, and he could feel the tight buds of her nipples through her wet clothes. It was hard to resist simply stripping her here and making her understand who was in charge. No. That was not who he was. He wanted to tame her, capture her heart with kindness, not bend her to his will.

She was kicking and hollering like a hellion; probably half the valley was awake by now wondering who was being murdered. He could think of no way of silencing her, short of stuffing something in her mouth.
No, not your cock, idiot
. She would probably bite it off. He winced to himself.

“Damn it. Maybe you’ll get that spanking after all,” he said and lifted her up, putting her over his shoulder, despite the wet mud on her clothes. He carried her kicking and screaming to his house, all cave-man style, feeling like a prize jerk. This was not the way to conquer his mate and he wondered what irrevocable damage he was doing to their relationship.

Shouldering the door open, he made it inside and kicked it shut, before taking her to the sofa and depositing her down. She was up on her feet and charging him down in an instant. He dodged, and her forward momentum had nothing to stop it, so she careened towards the wall. Hugo grabbed hold of her hands to stop her hurting herself, pulling her back towards him.

Making her face him, trapped now in the circle of his arms, he spoke to her calmly despite his racing heart and the hardness of his cock, which wanted to be inside her nice hot sex. And she would be hot; this woman was fire. So intense it ignited the blood in his veins and invaded his senses.

“Listen. Let’s get this straight and maybe we can start over.” She still struggled against him, but not so much. He began to understand her a little then. This woman, his mate, had her pride. And he had injured that pride. Now even if she wanted to give in to him, she didn’t know how. Not without looking like a weak fool. “Are you the only girl in your family?”

His question caught her off guard, and she stopped wriggling around and looked up at him. “Why do you say that?”

“Because you have something to prove. And my guess is that you grew up with brothers that you learned to compete with or get trampled on. That’s who you run with? The other raiders?”

She looked down at his chest, staring at it hard and he wondered if she was going to cry. Wow, she fascinated him. Such a contradiction: one minute hell-bent on doing him mortal harm, the next all soft and vulnerable.

“Three brothers,” she admitted grudgingly, before adding, “Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Hey, everything about you is my business now. Whether you like it or not, we are mates.”

“I don’t like it. So the sooner you let me go so that I can get back to my life, the better.” She raised her eyes to his and the softness had gone.

“You are a fighter, aren’t you?” He lifted his hand and stroked a stray piece of auburn hair, matted with mud, from her cheek. “You don’t need breaking. You need taming.”

“Well, if you think you are man enough for the job, you are mistaken. There is no way I am going to stay here with you. Things will be a lot easier once you get that idea through your thick Neanderthal skull.”

“We’ll see.” He looked down at her and then noticed the cut on her arm. “You’re injured. Let me have look at it.”

She pulled away when he went to touch her arm. “It’s fine.”

“Listen. It’s my responsibility to look after you. I am going to look at your arm. We can do it the easy way. Or I can pin you down on the floor again. Your choice.”

She sighed, and his eyes were drawn to her wonderful breasts, hidden by her jacket. He had never wanted to strip a woman so much in his whole life. But he didn’t want to go too far too fast; he needed to catch this little wolf’s heart in a trap she would never want to get free from.

It was good that Hugo was a patient man. Because she was going to test every bit of his resolve.

“You can’t look at it properly unless you untie me,” she said as he eased her jacket down over her torn arm. The jacket was ruined, so too was her sweater underneath. Maybe he had a shirt she could borrow. One that smelled of him, one she could keep to remember him by once she ran from him. Breathing in his musky scent, she wondered if she would ever have the strength to run. Her wolf said
no
.

“I’m not some backwater hillbilly,” he said, smiling at her in such a way her heart fluttered in her chest, making her throat contract with a thirst only he could quench.

“Really,” she said sweetly. Letting her breath caress his neck as he leaned down to assess her wound. She saw him shudder with desire. Dare she play him at his own game and disarm him with her sweetness before running?

“Really. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know what’s going on it that pretty little head of yours.”

No one had ever called her pretty. And even though she knew it was just a phrase, she liked the way he spoke about her and the way his eyes consumed her body, as if he were starving and she was the only food that could satisfy his hunger.

“And if I promise not to run?” she asked softly, trying to sound seductive, but not quite sure how that worked. Bliss had never seduced a man in her life.

“I am not ready to trust you.” He stood up and studied her face, looking at her was though he could read both her thoughts and her soul. In response her breasts heaved, her body reaching out to his, begging to be touched by those firm, gentle hands. “What is your name?”

She swallowed hard, before her mouth blurted it out. Should she tell him? Would it matter if he knew who she was or not? Her eyes locked with his; he already knew exactly who she was, and would be able to tell where she was in this world from now on, whether he knew her name or not. How did she know? Because that was how she felt. Her body attuned to his, as if they danced around each other, two stars, drawn together by gravity to collide in a momentous clash of life forces.

“Bliss,” she breathed.

He leaned in to her, his lips impossibly close to hers. Her tongue snaked out to moisten her bottom lip, confident of the kiss that would seal her fate. But he pulled back, more able to fight the bond than she was.

“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Bliss. I’m Hugo.”

“Hugo,” she repeated. “Untie me, Hugo.” At this moment, running was the furthest thing from her mind. All she wanted to do was throw her arms around his neck, demand he place his hands on her body and bend her to his will.

“Damn it, Bliss, I want to. But I know you’ll be out of here the first chance you get. And I can’t let that happen. Not until you realise what we are to each other. I want to help you.” He was so sincere, and although she wanted to kick and scream at him and tell him she wouldn’t like playing these kinds of games, she didn’t.

All her life she had been powerless against what happened, no matter how she fought, she could not escape her fate. She had kicked and struggled, pushed and shoved to get her dad to stop drinking, her brother to take his meds, for Cole and Riley to stop fighting between themselves. And for other people to give them some respect or at least leave them be. Here with Hugo, she didn’t want to fight anymore. She was weak in his presence, and right now, she didn’t care.

“Then you are going to have to cut my jacket off, and my sweater.” Her eyes held his, and she watched the uncertainty cross his face. “Don’t you trust me around scissors?”

“I don’t know if I trust you at all.” But he grinned, the guy had a humorous side.
That
she could live with.

He placed his hand under her arm and guided her to the kitchen. “I’m flattered you don’t want to let me out of your sight,” she teased.

He laughed, a deep sound that resonated in his chest. “It has
nothing
to do with not trusting you. It has
everything
to do with wanting to be around you at all times. That way I can take care of you, Bliss.”

“I can look after myself,” she said, but liked the idea of this big, hard-muscled man catering for her every need. Of the physical kind, anyway.

“I am going to have to argue with you over that one. Because if you could look after yourself, you wouldn’t be outside in the dark, risking your hide to steal a man’s cattle.” He gave her a hard look, and she expected him to mention spanking again, but that notion seemed to have passed, thankfully.

“It’s complicated,” was all she could say.

He opened a drawer and took out a pair of scissors, looking at her jacket, and then pausing. Instead, he placed the scissors back in the drawer and turned her to face him. “I have another idea.”

Moving to the kitchen table, he turned her away from him, and then leant her over the table, face down. “What are you doing?” she asked.

His hand ran over the curve of her bottom, making heat pool between her thighs. Her arousal crept up several degrees, as he smoothed his hands back up over the curve of her ass, his finger pressing harder between her thighs, and she knew he would be able to feel the heat through her jeans.