Astrid Cielo Read online

  Begging for Forgiveness

  Pinewood Creek Shifters, Book 2

  Astrid Cielo

  Edited by Maddison Foster

  Begging for Forgiveness

  Astrid Cielo

  Edited by Maddison Foster

  Copyright © 2012 Astrid Cielo All rights reserved.

  ARe Edition

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to ARe and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  About Astrid

  Other Titles by Astrid

  Excerpt from State of Resistance

  Chapter 1

  August 10th

  Skylar pushed the plate away and rubbed his now full stomach. Another excellent meal and, in truth, it was what kept him coming back through this small town. That and he couldn’t go home to Xavier, not like this. Not with a fresh kill on his mind. Sometimes he thought the lines between his status as an agent with the Shifter Council blurred with those who’d broken the laws—killed or hurt humans bringing attention to shifter’s existence. Was the world a little better without the wolf shifter that hunted and murdered humans for no reason? Sure, but how did it make it right for Skylar to end his life?

  Skylar took a long drink of his water and sighed. Now all he needed was to crawl into bed beside his mate. His shaft hardened at the thought of taking Xavier's cock into his mouth until he lost control and spilled his seed down Skylar's throat. He could almost feel the hard column of Xavier's thighs tense as he came. Skylar's wolf scratched at the surface on the same page with taking his mate.

  "How was your meal, sir?"

  Skylar looked up into the grey eyes of the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that bounced with her every movement. Her eyes were tilted slightly giving her a cat-like appearance and her lips were a lovely shade of pink. Her scent wrapped around him and his cock hardened even further, his wolf clawing to be released. Skylar wanted this woman underneath him as he slid balls deep into her warm, wet pussy.

  She gasped her tongue slipping out to wet her lips, ensuring that his dick ached. He wanted her tongue on him, teasing the head of his cock before her pink mouth took him deep within its recesses.

  Skylar's wolf was no different. He clawed at his ribs wanting a taste of the delectable female that stood before him. Her grey eyes glowed momentarily before she smiled and her mouth formed a word that he knew would change his life forever.

  "Mine."

  Skylar stood and took the female he'd just met by the hand and she didn't resist when he led her from the crowded restaurant.

  "I need to tell them I'm going home," she whispered as he crowded her against the side of the building. Skylar couldn't wait for a taste of her, so he crushed his lips on hers and his wolf howled as she responded so readily.

  Her arms wound around his neck and her lithe body plastered against his. He was sure he'd found paradise. She tasted sweet, like the chocolate pie he'd just consumed moments before and Skylar decided not to fight the temptation to lick every curve this female possessed, because he was sure that she would be just as sweet everywhere else.

  She pulled back her teeth grazing his bottom lip and a seductive smile graced her lips as she whispered in his ear.

  "I'll be right back."

  She was only gone for moments, but to his lust addled brain it felt like a lifetime. Skylar captured her again, taking her lips in a bruising kiss and she responded just as sweetly, her body going lax as he explored her mouth. Something nagged the back of his mind, but he pushed it away too intent on exploring the sexy morsel clinging to him. The trip to her house was a blur and he was thankful she didn't live far from the little restaurant he'd fallen in love with over the last six months. His dick felt so hard that he was sure there was a permanent zipper print down its length.

  She walked through the door and he was on her, his foot closing the door behind him. He didn't have eyes for anything but the dark haired beauty whose grey eyes flashed with a desire that burned him with its intensity. Somehow he made it to her bedroom, or at least he assumed it was her bedroom. There was a bed and a warm willing woman in his arms. Again his wolf whined and he soothed the wolf with the promise of taking this woman over and over again.

  "What's your name?"

  Her question ended on a moan as he cupped her breast through her shirt, the nipple pebbling against his hand. He captured her chin and she smiled. So trusting. It made him want her that much more. He couldn't remember a time he'd ever been so in lust before. Memories attempted to assail him, but he kept them at bay by losing himself in her mouth. She responded so sweetly to his every touch. She was like a drug that he couldn't get enough of.

  "Skylar," he whispered in her ear before sucking the lobe into his mouth.

  "Aspen." He captured her name in his mouth and his last coherent thought was how beautiful her name was, how perfect she felt beneath him. Then it was a flurry of activity as clothing disappeared and he sampled each inch of her flesh that he revealed. He took the dusky nipples that topped the delectable mounds of her breasts into his mouth. Skylar's eyes rolled back in his head as he sampled each nipple before taking a journey down her abdomen. He took just a moment to take in the perfection of her body. All feminine curves with a hint of muscle, but what really drew his eye were her ample hips. Skylar's mouth watered as he took in her pussy and its small thatch of black curls. Her arousal coated the now puffy lips of her pussy. The smell of her arousal was intoxicating and he didn't waste time taking her in his mouth, his tongue diving right into the source of her arousal.

  "Skylar!"

  Aspen's hands curled into his hair and her hips moved as he snaked his tongue through her folds.

  "Please Skylar; I need you inside me...now!"

  Skylar didn't have to be tempted twice. He scrambled out of his pants his cock begging to tunnel deep within her core. Aspen spread her legs wider, her pussy on full display and curled her finger for him to come to her, and come he did.

  ***

  Aspen couldn't contain her moan as Skylar's hard cock tunneled through her core connecting them in a primal way. Of all the ways she imagined tonight to end, this wasn't it.

  She'd expected coming home, drinking a glass of wine and passing out to the nightly infomercials that always seemed to lull her into unconsciousness. Never in a million years would she have dreamed meeting her mate and claiming him in one night. But she couldn't help but feel elated. She'd been alone for so long that she couldn't wait to start her new life with Skylar.

  Even as his cock bottomed out within her willing channel she could imagine a life where he'd be there when she came home for the rest of her life. Aspen pushed away the doubts and lost herself in the pleasure of her mat
e's thrusts. Her climax was just in reach, but she needed a little something more. It was as though they were already in sync when he pulled her legs over his shoulders and began to thrust harder and faster. Suddenly the climax that seemed just out of reach crashed over her and Aspen smiled as his climax mixed with her own. She couldn't even bring herself to care that she'd not thought of protection. Besides, he was her mate so children would naturally come next.

  Aspen fell asleep in his arms and didn't let thoughts of her parent's mating deter dreams of her future happiness.

  She woke later still comfortably situated within Skylar's arms. He looked so peaceful in sleep, but she couldn't resist the temptation to look her fill. Although she'd seen him, every glorious inch as Skylar had exposed himself to her view, Aspen felt the need for a closer look. He’d been coming to Cinder’s occasionally for the past six months. He’d always looked so sad and Aspen had wanted nothing more than to kiss his full lips to make everything better. She never thought he’d end up being her mate.

  Wiggling carefully from his embrace, she sat on her knees and took in every beautiful inch of him. Of course, he'd probably take offence to being called beautiful, but that was exactly what he was to her. Aspen bent and sniffed, her nose taking moments to sort through all the data she received. It wasn't her best sense, but she could smell the pine and sandalwood that made up his unique scent, as well as another masculine scent that though faint made want to roll around like the cat she was. Underneath all of those scents the aroma of wolf tickled her nose. So, she'd captured a wolf. She was sure he knew exactly what she was, their sense of smell tons better than a cougars.

  Aspen sighed as she sifted her hands through his soft and messy tawny locks that barely fell past his ears. He moved in his sleep, his face nuzzling against her hand. Aspen smiled. She gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek before smoothing her hands down his firmly sculpted chest and abdomen. She would spend years memorizing every muscle with her hands and tongue, but first she wanted to taste the part of him that had taken her to heights she'd never known before.

  Aspen took him in her hands and licked her lips as his dick hardened almost instantly. She swiped her tongue over his mushroom shaped head and a purr rumbled low in her throat when his flavor burst over her taste buds. His thighs tensed beneath her as she took more of him into her mouth and sucked gently before releasing him with a pop.

  She looked up into beautiful green eyes, his surprise making her giggle as she took his dick back into her mouth desperate to make him lose control like he'd done earlier. Skylar growled and his head tilted back the chords of his neck standing out as she continued her oral assault. She loved the way his hands tangled in her hair and he took control, moving her head gently to find the rhythm he liked best. Aspen cupped his balls and yelped when he pulled her off him and pinned her to the bed.

  Skylar’s green eyes glowed as his wolf came closer to the surface, his mouth spread in a wicked grin that showed off his lengthening canines. Then he was seated deep inside her where she craved him most, his pace frantic. Aspen could feel her claws and tried to retract them, but the way he pounded into her snapped her control. She dug her nails into his shoulders as his mouth teased the place where her shoulder and neck met. Everything in her tensed waiting to feel the pain and pleasure of his bite, but it never came. Aspen cried out as her climax took her away from the moment of disappointment.

  Skylar cried his completion as his seed shot deep inside her yet again. Aspen was still reeling from her orgasm when Skylar scrambled off the bed toward a ringing cell phone. She curled against where he would lay next to her for the rest of her life. The orgasm proved too much and she let herself drift off to sleep with more dreams of Skylar and her sharing a wonderful life together.

  ***

  One moment Skylar was shouting his completion as he filled Aspen with his seed and the next a sick ball of dread replaced any of the happiness coursing through him. One glance at the caller ID and all the little reasons why his wolf was trying to remind him of something flooded back to him.

  "Hey baby," he whispered into the cell phone as he left a now sleeping Aspen in her bed.

  "Hey, Skylar, I got worried. Thought you were going to be back last night? Did the Council business run over?"

  Skylar fisted his hand to his side a deep shame overcoming him. How could he have been so blind as to forget about his mate? He loved Xavier, and he and his wolf had wanted him instantly when they'd first met him three years ago.

  Skylar had always hid his bi-sexual tendencies, preferring to stay with females because it just seemed more natural to him. But one whiff of Xavier's intoxicating scent had moved him past his reservations about being with a man and he'd not looked back. He'd never thought of a woman again. Until last night when a pair of grey eyes twinkled so seductively as Aspen's pretty pink mouth curled into the sweetest smile. He could still feel her mouth sliding over his cock and he cursed that he hardened at the thought of going back out there and feasting at her pretty pussy.

  "Sky?"

  Oh shit. "Look baby, I'm sorry I worried you, but I should be home within the next few hours. I stopped to get a bite to eat and didn't feel up to driving."

  "Well, I'll see you later then."

  "Yeah, bye Zay."

  Skylar hung his head as shame over the past twenty-four hours crowded in on him. There had to be a way to fix this. Skylar stepped from the bathroom and gathered his clothes and put them on as quietly as he could. He watched as Aspen reached in her sleep and his wolf whined for him to return to her, but he had a mate to get home to. Skylar knew he should shower Aspen's scent from his body, especially before crawling in the same bed with Xavier, but he couldn't bring himself to take away any part of her. If he weren't sure he'd already found his mate, he'd swear Aspen was that mate. Skylar left without a glance back though it killed him.

  Such a coward his wolf snarled.

  Yes, yes he was.

  ***

  Skylar climbed into bed beside his mate. His wolf calmed for the first time since leaving Aspen's side, though it sent ample reminders that he wanted her back beside him as well.

  Truth be told, Skylar felt the same way. He felt equal parts guilt and loss--Guilt for sleeping with Aspen when he had a mate he loved dearly right here beside him now and loss for leaving Aspen without any further word.

  Coward.

  Skylar's wolf never failed to remind him of that opinion. Skylar rubbed his chest where a dull ache resided. If he didn't know any better he'd say that he'd lost his mate. Taking a deep breath had Aspen’s scent teasing his nostrils and it made him realize that maybe he still stood that chance. But he couldn't bring himself to wash her from his body. He was certain his wolf wouldn't take it at all at this point.

  Skylar traced the hard line of Xavier's back and he calmed somewhat. It was hard to believe he'd just left her only twenty-four hours ago. Xavier stirred, slowly at first before turning toward him a big smile on his face.

  "I've missed you."

  Skylar nodded and bent to take Xavier's lips in a kiss. There was nothing hesitant in the man whose own kiss fought for dominance. It had always been like this, a war between the two that usually ended in one or more rounds of hot and satisfying sex. On an intellectual and emotional level, however, they were perfect for each other. Skylar relinquished his control, his guilt making him less dominant than usual. He knew the instant that Xavier knew. Xavier’s body tensed against Skylar's and Xavier's claws dug into his shoulders.

  Skylar winced at the betrayal that shined so accusingly from Xavier's dark brown eyes. Then fury as his eyes glowed in the muted light of their bedroom.

  Before Skylar could take a breath, Xavier had him pinned to the mattress, his nose exploring every inch of his body. Despite the guilt that he felt for betraying his mate in such a fashion, he couldn't stop his body from reacting to his mate's closeness. Blood rushed to his groin, engorging his cock and his wolf stirred with the need to dominate their mate. Skylar re
sisted, knowing he had to face whatever Xavier dished out. It was the least he could do for how deeply he betrayed him.

  "Why?"

  Skylar closed his eyes because he couldn't face the hurt he knew was plastered over Xavier's face. So instead of lie like he'd practiced, Skylar voiced the truth for the first time since he'd stared into her grey eyes.

  "I thought she was my mate."

  Hands pinned his arms to the bed and a sharp bite to his shoulder made him cry out.

  "You are my mate," Xavier hissed in his ear.

  "As you are mine, but I still feel her draw. My wolf still wants her."

  Xavier stilled and again Skylar lay still as Xavier ran his nose along his body sniffing the remnants of scent that Aspen left behind. Xavier's body relaxed and he released Skylar's arms to trail lower. Xavier nuzzled his erect shaft breathing in the scent that Skylar knew still clung to his dick. He'd been ball deep inside of Aspen and she'd even caressed his cock with her mouth and tongue. Her scent would be amplified there.

  Skylar groaned as Xavier's mouth took him deep, no teasing, just the pure molten heat of his mouth surrounding his cock. He fisted his hands in the sheets as Xavier continued to work his shaft.

  "Baby?" Skylar could barely speak the question as his climax neared. He could feel his balls tightening and ready to explode at any moment.

  Xavier released his cock with an audible pop before climbing back up his body and taking his mouth in a kiss. Xavier fisted his hands in Skylar's hair and Skylar allowed him the dominance he knew that Xavier needed, though his muscles ached to take charge and challenge him for the right to conquer.

  Xavier bit Skylar's lip before moving to his earlobe.

  "She's mine, too," he whispered.

  Skylar gasped and he opened his eyes to stare into Xavier's. His wolf howled in his mind and Skylar wanted to join him, but he wasn't sure he'd heard his mate right.

  "What?"

  "She's my mate, too."

  Skylar growled as he took control of the situation pinning Xavier beneath him. Xavier's fangs gleamed in the dim moonlight that shone through their bedroom window making Skylar ache for his bite.