Wicked Cravings (16 page)

Ordinarily she truly disliked being told what to do, but the voice had a valid point. So she stopped thinking about
him
and continued to dance with the gorgeous falcon shifter in front of her. His mouth was just coming down to hers when she heard a rumble behind her that made both her and the falcon freeze. A low, lengthy, pissed-fucking-off rumble. At the same time, a familiar delicious scent washed over her, exciting her wolf. What in God’s name was
he
doing here?

Slowly she pivoted, only to find herself face-to-face with a homicidal-looking Dante: his eyes flashing wolf, his muscles bunched up, his mouth set into a hard line. The falcon—maybe he was dumb or perhaps it was a suicidal urge he was having—placed his hands on her hips in a “she’s taken” gesture. Dante reached out, snatched her wrist, and tugged so hard that her body slammed into his. She thought about struggling but was more worried about the falcon’s fate. He made a move toward Dante.

“I really wouldn’t,” warned Dante, though it wouldn’t be a hardship to punch the prick.

Jaime watched as the falcon halted. As usual, that low tone of Dante’s had the effect of a yell.

Her wolf approved and was instantly aroused by it, just like Jaime’s traitorous body.

Dante held the falcon’s gaze, refusing to let him look away. “Let me tell you what you’re going to do now. You’re going to turn around and walk away. Simple. If you don’t, I
will
gut you open right here, right now,” he said very matter-of-factly. “And then I’ll feed your intestines to you. From what I hear, they don’t taste great. Want to find out if that’s true?” The falcon glanced at her, and she gave him a “just go” look. A mixture of indignant and agitated, he spun on his heel and walked away. Smart. Jaime tensed as Dante’s eyes suddenly locked on her like a predator watching skittish prey. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came for you.”

“How did you even know where I was?”

“It was easy enough to guess. You’ve gone here lots of times with your coworkers on Saturday nights. Now let’s go.”

She pulled her arm free. “I am not some teenager who sneaked out, and I don’t have to ask for your permission to leave pack territory.”

“Your wolf could have got freaked out over something and—”

“My wolf is what you might call fried. It’ll be a day or two before she even has half the strength to overpower me.”

“I don’t care. We’re going.” He reached out to grab her, but she dodged him. “Don’t pull away from me, Jaime. You can’t imagine how much it irritates my wolf when you do that.”

“Haven’t you figured out yet that you can’t control me?”

Yes, he’d figured it out a long time ago. Strangely, he liked it just as much as he hated it. Right this second, though, he wasn’t in the mood to be challenged by her. “You’re pushing me, Jaime, and you’re pushing me hard. Don’t do it, don’t make me more pissed than I already am.” She laughed a humorless laugh. “You’re pissed? Good, because I’m really, really pissed right now. You came after me when you have no need or right to, you chased away that guy as if he’d assaulted me or something, and now you’re trying to drag me back to pack territory like I’m some petulant kid. What is your problem?”

His problem was that he wanted her so damn bad he ached with it, so damn bad that he couldn’t ignore that ache anymore. If his attraction to her had been purely physical—hell,
attraction
was a mild word—maybe it would have been easy enough to ignore. But there was much more to it than that. He admired and respected her for everything she had gotten through, for how much fight she had inside that amazing body. He enjoyed her company, he enjoyed her smart-ass comments, and he valued that she didn’t fear him. No matter how thunderous his temper was or how firm his orders were, she never bowed down to him, never tried to placate him, never cowered.

Each time females shrank away from him in the past, it greatly offended both him and his wolf.

Dante would never harm a female, no matter the situation, and had those females looked past his build, had they looked deep enough, they would have known that about him. So far, Jaime was the only one who had looked deep enough. And that touched him in a way that he hadn’t expected.

Maybe he should have been distrustful of her, knowing that she’d lied to him, but he wasn’t at all. She’d held her secret to protect herself, and he could never judge her for that. Although she’d kept that secret, she wasn’t a fake. She didn’t hide her nature or personality—what you saw was what you got. Yet she was as complicated as she was straightforward. That amused, entertained, and drew him.

In short, she had somehow made herself important to him without even trying. She was like a fucking magnet to him. It was like Rhett had said, like called to like. And this person who knew just what it was like to
need
control called to him.

It could be said that they were bad for each other. The problem with them was that they mirrored each other’s hunger and fed on each other’s lust, making self-control incredibly difficult for both of them. While on an intellectual level he acknowledged that the best thing he could do was leave alone this female who ate at both his control and his wolf’s, it wasn’t going to stop him from having her. He wasn’t sure if anything could. Not just because he ached for her so badly, but because he had come to view her as his.

Maybe he should feel like an ass, considering that there was a female out there who was his true mate, waiting for him to claim her. But the truth was that he didn’t want to find her. He’d been kidding himself in thinking that he could ever give up his position as Beta; it would have made him feel as though he was abandoning his pack, selfishly letting them down by choosing his own happiness over their safety and well-being. He wasn’t the first person to forsake his true mate—a person he might never even find—and he wouldn’t be the last. There was no longer anything holding him back from taking Jaime. Even if there had been, he wasn’t sure he could have fought it any longer.

His wolf very much approved of his decision to finally act on his hunger for her. “Get out of the club, and get in the SUV.”

“You can go if you want, but I’m staying.” Then came the change in the emotional temperature around her—evidently, he was now more than pissed.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” His expression and tone dared her to repeat herself, but at the same time warned her not to.

“I’m. Staying. I came here to dance and have fun. You, being the workaholic that you are, wouldn’t know anything about that.” She thought he was going to have an aneurysm, she really did.

But then a crooked smile surfaced on his face—one that made her nervous.

“Fine. You want to dance, we’ll dance.” Once again he pulled her to him, ensuring that her body was meshed to his; one of his hands clasped her nape and the other clutched her ass in a very possessive grip. Rebelliously, she stiffened and glowered at him, but Dante simply held her tighter and bit her lower lip.

“Keep your teeth to yourself!”

“You’d better get used to me biting you, baby, because it’s going to happen a lot.”

“Oh I don’t think so, Popeye. I have more pride than to jump into the bed of some guy who spent the past few months dismissing me. It’s a little too late to come knocking on my door.” Dante fisted a hand in her hair—a shifter gesture of ownership that he saw infuriated her as much as it aroused her. He pinned her with a look. “You won’t be jumping into
some guy’s bed
, Jaime. You’ll be in mine. Oh yeah, deny it if you want, but we both know it’s going to happen. I’m getting inside that pussy. You’re going to take every inch of me, and you’re going to love it.” She should
not
have liked the dominance in his tone or the determination in his gaze, yet, perversely, she did. She really shouldn’t have liked that there wasn’t a hint of compromise in his tone either, yet, odd as it was, she did like it. That didn’t mean she was going to give him what he wanted, though. Oh no. If he thought he could ignore her and that she’d jump when he finally decided to call, he was so wrong. “Not a chance, big guy. Besides, I’m not your type,
remember
? You don’t think of me that way. You like your females to be nice and slim.”

Stunned, Dante froze. Either Trick had told her what he’d said, which was unlikely, or she’d overheard their conversation. Suddenly, he felt like shit.

“There’s no need to feel bad. This might come as a surprise to your overinflated ego, but I no longer want you.”

“Yeah? Well, the scent of your arousal tells me different. You’re already wet—you can’t help it. Just like I can’t help that I’m hard as a fucking rock whenever you’re near.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t get a response from my body. It doesn’t mean I have to act on it.”

“But you will, baby. You will because you know how good it will be. Now dance with me.” It was both a demand and a dare.

He wanted to play, did he? Well, Jaime would see how he liked a reversal of roles. She would see how he liked it when someone else took the lead. Jaime relished the surprise in his eyes when she twined her arms around his neck and ground against him. Allowing the pounding, throbbing beat of the music to invade her body, she swayed and writhed and swiveled her pelvis. Dante moved in sync with her movements, and their dark, sensual dance had her getting wetter by the minute.

As they swayed and grinded, he skated his hands over her back and roughly cupped her ass, building a need inside her that soon had her liquid and pliant against him so that it was he who was leading the dance—sneaky fucker. Jaime soon regretted beginning the dance. She’d just wanted to tease him for being a jerk, but she’d ended up teasing herself. The way her hardened nipples rubbed against his chest was sending teasing bolts of pleasure down to her clit. She was wet and aching and had never felt so empty. Honestly, she didn’t think she had ever needed relief so badly in her life.

This was sexual torment as its worst. She gasped as he bit her earlobe and sucked it briefly into his mouth before speaking into her ear.

“Turn around.” Again his words were a demand and a dare. Slowly she turned in his arms, though Dante was pretty sure she only did it because she wasn’t prepared to back down. “Arms around my neck.” Very slowly she raised her arms and hooked them around his neck, making her arch slightly against his chest. “Very good. Now keep them there.” Jaime involuntarily shivered as, breathing hotly on her nape, he very, very slowly slid one of his hands up over her dress until it was resting just below her breasts. His other hand slid seductively down her flat abdomen and inched closer and closer to the juncture of her thighs, but he stopped just as the tips of his fingers reached just above her clit. The contact was already too much, but no way would she struggle free and let him see that. No, she’d withstand the pleasure and show him just how little she wanted him. Of course it would be a total lie, but he didn’t have to know that.

Dante kissed his way from her nape to her ear. “You’re mine now, Jaime.” He let his hand creep up and knead her breast. “Not just for one night. When I say you’re mine, I mean you’re mine.

But see, here’s the thing. Now you have to deal with me, and I’m not easy to deal with.” He thumbed her nipple, enjoying the way she jerked and moaned.

Jaime was about to contradict his claim to want more than one night, but then his fingers dipped down and brushed once over her clit. Officially distracted, she arched against his hand, but he didn’t repeat the action. Instead, his hand ever so slowly glided down her inner thigh while the other moved on to her other breast, squeezing hard. Hearing a moan slip from her, she gave herself a mental wallop. She was supposed to be withstanding the pleasure, wasn’t she! Yeah, okay, she could do that.

Really.

As his hand reached the edge of her dress, he snaked it underneath and abruptly cupped her possessively. “Mine, Jaime.” Offended by the thong that acted as a barrier between him and what was his, Dante effortlessly snapped it off and stuffed it in his back pocket. Then his hand was delving underneath her dress again and his fingers were skimming through her folds. “So wet.” His finger circled her opening, and instinctively her hips shifted toward his hand. “That’s it, baby.” He harshly plunged his finger inside her, startling a loud moan from her, and swirled it once, twice.

Jaime’s eyes drifted shut as bliss and heat rushed through her body like wildfire. Damn it, hadn’t she only moments ago told herself that she’d withstand the pleasure? Snort. Some resolve she had. One orgasm wouldn’t be so bad though, would it? Deciding that it certainly wouldn’t be, she clung to his neck, moaning, as he began to slowly thrust his finger in and out of her. Every thrust was masterful, just like him.

“Hot. Tight. Wet. I can’t wait to feel you around my cock.” He drove another finger inside her, wrenching a groan from her. “Do you like the falcon, Jaime?” She opened her eyes and twisted her neck to find Dante watching her intently. Right then, he looked dangerous. His lips were fixed into a hard line, his nostrils were flaring, and his eyes had gone wolf.

“Is he what’s got you this wet?

The sensible answer was no. It was also the truthful answer. She shook her head.

“So this is for me?” He wiggled his fingers inside her before thrusting again. Not satisfied with her nod, he said, “Answer me, Jaime.”

“Yes.”

He rotated his fingers. “Do you want to know what’s going to happen when we get back? I’m going to fuck you. Really, really fuck you. Fuck you like no one ever has. You want that, don’t you?” The way her inner muscles contracted around his fingers told him the answer to that. “Good, because it
is
going to happen. And you’re going to scream for me. Not for Pretty Boy, not for the falcon, not for anyone else. Me. Only me.” He thrust his fingers hard and deep as he took her mouth. Like last time, the kiss became pure animal lust and he was growling into her mouth as she was groaning into his. “That’s it. Fucking come.”

As if that was what her body had been waiting for, Jaime’s climax washed over her and he caught her as she sagged against him. Hell, her legs were freaking shaking. The guy was lethal. When Jaime opened her eyes, it was to see his lips twitch into a smile of victory. It should have pissed her off, but as that had been one hell of an orgasm, she’d overlook the cockiness.