Beta’s Challenge Read online

  With a sensually devilish smile plastered on his face, a chuckle sounded from deep within Gabriel’s chest as he walked back to the couch where he left his clothes and proceeded to dress.

  Tara thought her heart would beat right out of her chest at the sight of his strong back and gorgeous ass. She wanted to jump down off the counter and take a bite out of his cheek.

  Why shouldn’t I? He broke in my house, held me captive, started telling me all these stories about Primales, Primas, and mates, and then turned into a wolf in my damn living room . Since I’m dreaming, I may as well enjoy it, Tara rationalized to herself.

  With that thought, Tara jumped down, walked straight up to Gabriel and ran her hand up the inside of his thigh.

  “Tara, you’re playing with fire,” Gabriel hissed through gritted teeth. “Unless you want me to strip you naked and fuck you right here on the living room floor, you may want to back up.”

  Tara was undeterred. “This is my dream, Gabriel, so you do what I say.”

  With that, she pushed him hard in his back causing him to fall forward and land on his hands and knees. Tara got down on the floor behind him and began to lick every piece of flesh she could reach, starting at his ankles. When she got to his ass, she gently massaged his cheeks and lowered her mouth for a bite. She bit each cheek, then laved the bite with the flat of her tongue.

  Gabriel thought he would loose his mind at the sensations her explorations were creating, but in all fairness, he felt she deserved this control. He would let her have it, even if it killed him.

  When Tara reached the crack of his ass, she contemplated her next move. She had never been one for the more kinky things about sex but she figured since it wasn’t real, she would chance it.

  She flattened her tongue on his heavily hanging ball sac and ran it all the way up to the base of his spine. The reaction she got from Gabriel was all she needed to further her actions. She focused on his asshole, swirling her tongue around and around. Slowly, she eased the very tip of her tongue past the first ring of tight muscles and pulled back. Something similar to a low growl came up from Gabriel’s throat and she reveled in the fact that she could bring that out of him. She pushed her tongue back in, further this time. He slowly rocked back, pushing her even deeper. She moaned and the vibrations caused stars behind his closed eyelids.

  “I’m going to mess up your carpet if you keep that up,” Gabriel managed to get out between clenched teeth.

  “I can have it cleaned,” was all the response Tara gave before she slid further down to take his sac in her mouth.

  The electricity that ran through Gabriel’s body at the first hint of her warm mouth engulfing his balls was too much. Before Tara knew what happened, she was flat on her back, undressed from the waist down and all ten and a half inches of Gabriel’s rock hard dick was lodged to the hilt in her sopping wet pussy.

  “This is not how I envisioned our first time, but you leave me little choice. You, my beautiful Tara, are a very dangerous woman.”

  “Just shut up and fuck me, Gabriel. We can sort this all out later.”

  At that, Gabriel set a pounding pace.

  Tara locked her ankles at the small of Gabriel’s back and reached under her legs to grab his ass.

  “You act as if I’m made of glass. All that dick you have and you won’t use it. Either give it to me like you mean it or get up,” Tara growled, looking Gabriel straight in the eye.

  Gabriel unlocked Tara’s ankles, flipped her over, and dragged her ass high in the air in less time that it took for Tara to take her next breath. When he shoved is dick back into her pussy, he tried to come out her throat.

  “Aaahhh! Gabriel!”

  “Oh no, Miss Shit-talker. You wanted it, take it. All of it. You’re going taste my dick for the next month. By the time I finish, you won’t be able to walk for at least a week. If you’re not careful, I’ll take that juicy ass of yours and claim it, too.”

  Gabriel pounded Tara so hard, she was scooted across the floor. She knew when he finished she would have carpet burn like a motherfucker. Still, she didn’t care. She pushed back as hard as she could.

  Gabriel reached under Tara and found her clit. While pinching it hard between his index finger and thumb, he slammed into her in rapid-fire succession, hard as a jackhammer.

  Tara exploded, screaming Gabriel’s name to the heavens. At that same moment, Gabriel’s roar sounded like a lion warning off an intruder. They rocked together for what seemed hours until their breathing slowed and their heartbeats returned to a normal rhythm. Lying them down on their sides, Gabriel spooned close behind Tara nuzzling her neck while rubbing circles on her hip.

  Chapter Three

  “That was amazing,” Tara said breathlessly.

  “You are amazing,” Gabriel said as he placed a soft kiss to the nape of her neck.

  Slowly, he eased out of her body and rolled to his side, taking her with him. He laid her on top of him, her back to his front.

  “Now that is what a dream is supposed to be like.”

  “My beautiful Tara, that was no dream as you will soon realize once we gather enough strength to get off the floor and into the shower.”

  “Didn’t I tell you this is my dream and you do as I say?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Gabriel said.

  “Good. Now, let’s get that shower you were talking about, dream man.”

  Slowly they pushed themselves off the floor. Tara noticed her shirt was wide open but really didn’t pay any attention to it. They ascended the stairs and headed to the bathroom. Once there, Tara adjusted the temperature of the water until it was just right and removed the rest her clothes.

  “Maybe I should take the front, Tara. I feel it will be best.”

  “Would you please stop? OH SHIT! What the hell…?” Tara screamed as a million tiny needle pricks assaulted her chest as the spray from the shower rained down on her. “What did you do to me, you prick? My chest is on fire.”

  “I tried to warn you, my love, but your hard-headed stubbornness wouldn’t allow you to listen. You have carpet burn, sweetheart.”

  “What the fuck do you mean I have carpet…? Oh shit! Look at my chest. You did this, you ass.”

  “Testing a man’s ego and sexual prowess is never a good thing to do when you’re on the floor.” Gabriel struggled to hold back the laugh that was trying its hardest to erupt from his chest.

  “Would you like for me to take the front now, Oh Mighty Queen of the Dream?”

  “I don’t like you, Gabriel,” Tara said while moving past Gabriel trying very hard to make sure their bodies didn’t touch.

  “Yeah, well, I think I love you already, Tara,” Gabriel replied, suddenly somber and serious. “Here, let me care for you as a mate should, then we can go back downstairs and finish our conversation.”

  Forgoing the couch downstairs, they stretched out on Tara’s bed. While Gabriel applied antiseptic ointment to the burns, he told Tara everything about himself.

  Tara listened intently. Her legal mind coming up with all the charges she could slap Mikal in the face with. After Gabriel got to a stopping point in his tale, Tara said, “So let me get this straight. Mikal believes females are no more than baby-making machines and holes to scratch men’s itches?”

  “That is one way to put it, yes,” Gabriel said.

  Then Tara continued, “And now he has a vigilante group on the hunt for you, and basically you’re walking around with a big-assed red bull’s eye on your back and a sign hanging over your head reading: I’M SO FUCKED?”

  “Again, that is another way of saying it but basically, yes.”

  “I see. So now I have that same target and sign on me because you have decided I am your Prima?” Tara said, ire beginning to rise the more she thought about it.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Gabriel said with a sigh of regret.

  “That’s just fucking great. Thank you so very much for that special gift, Gabriel. Just what every girl wants. A hot ass man with t
en-and-a-half inches of fabulous dick that he knows how to use, I might add, and a bounty on her head for enjoying the best sex she’s had in her entire life. How did I get to be so lucky?” Tara said, venom dripping from every word.

  “I will give my life to ensure your safety, Tara. I would never let anything happen to you,” Gabriel said as serious as death itself.

  “Thing is, Gabriel, I feel the same way you do. I can’t hold against you the decision you made because I would have done the same thing,” she said with a sigh of resignation.

  “So where do we go from here, Tara?” Gabriel asked.

  “Right now, we go eat. Afterwards, we figure out our next step.”

  After they dressed, Gabriel took Tara asked her if she would accompany him to his home to meet Tomas and Adrian. Once they arrived, Gabriel scented the area to make sure there were no threats then got out and went around to the passenger side and opened the door for Tara. Gabriel introduced Tara to Tomas and Adrian then began preparing a meal. Once the food was on the table, the four of them sat and talked through one of the most scrumptious meals Tara had ever eaten.

  “The package just keeps getting better and better, Gabriel. I am impressed. Tall, handsome to a fault, sexy as hell, big dick, can use said dick, knows first aide, has a beautiful home, and now a gourmet chef. What more can a girl ask?” Tara grinned into her wine glass as she took a sip.

  “Can we please not talk about Gabriel’s sexual aptitude? I just finished eating and I would like to keep it where I put it. Thank you very much, Tara,” Tomas almost growled through clenched teeth.

  “Here, here,” Adrian added.

  The four of them sat for hours telling their life stories, laughing, joking, and ragging each other mercilessly. Gabriel smiled at Tara, privately in wonder at how well she was taking everything and how she seemed to fit in as if she has always been there.

  It was two in the morning when Tara finally looked at the clock. Where had the time gone? Stretching, she said, “It’s been fun, guys, but I think it’s time for me to get home.”

  “Give me a minute and I’ll drive you back,” Gabriel said, getting up from the floor in front of the couch where he had been sitting massaging Tara’s legs while they talked.

  Once Gabriel was ready, he grabbed Tara’s hand and led her toward the door. Tara said her goodbyes to Tomas and Adrian.

  “I’ll see Tara safely locked in, and then be back,” Gabriel said to Tomas then closed the door.

  Once safely locked in the car and on their way, Tara turned in her seat to face Gabriel. “Listen, Gabriel, I’m not saying I believe everything you said, but I am open to further deliberation if you can give me time to digest what has already happened.”

  “I’ll wait a lifetime for you, Tara.” They finished the twenty-minute drive in companionable silence until they pulled into Tara’s driveway. Gabriel parked the car and turn off the ignition. Leaning across the seat, Gabriel kissed Tara soundly.

  “That’s not fair. Many more kisses like that and there won’t be any more deliberation,” Tara said as she reached for the door handle while unlocking her seatbelt at the same time. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”

  “Let me walk you to your door.” Gabriel didn’t give her a chance to argue. They walked to the door hand in hand and once there, Tara unlocked it. Gabriel made no move to come in. He simply stated, “Goodnight, my beautiful Tara. Lock yourself up tight and don’t forget to close and lock your bedroom window.”

  “Will do.” Tara tiptoed up and placed a slight kiss to Gabriel’s cheek.

  Gabriel stood there making sure he heard the lock on the door then the window upstairs being closed and locked before heading back to his car. He started the engine, backed out and headed home. Once he arrived back home, he walked in, locked the door, then went into the living room. He sat heavily on the couch, laying his head back and covered his face with his hands. Sensing Tomas standing in the door, Gabriel exhaled dramatically.

  “What am I going to do, Tomas? I have to protect her because you and I both know Mikal is not going to stop until he has proven his point. I cannot ask her to give up her life to become a fugitive with me. We all know it’s just a matter of time before they close in on us. We aren’t that far from the pack and depending on who he is using to track us, it won’t be long before they find us. We may have to relocate farther away to make sure Mikal doesn’t find out about Tara. I can’t ask you and Adrian to traipse across the country following me. You didn’t ask for any of this and neither did Adrian nor Tara. I have really messed up.”

  Tomas pushed away from the doorframe and walked to Gabriel. Laying his hand on Gabriel’s, he said, “Isn’t that exactly what you are doing my friend? Look, Adrian and I knew what we were getting into when we left the pack to follow you. Don’t you know we will follow you anywhere we must? Having Tara come into the picture only strengthens our resolve. We would die to protect her, as well you know.”

  Lowering his hands and raising his head, Gabriel looked Tomas straight in the eyes and said, “Yes, and I pray to Mother Earth and all of her servants that I have not doomed her nor either of you.” Gabriel said, grasping Tomas’s hand in a show of brotherhood.

  Mikal walked into his bedroom and looked at the most beautiful she-wolf he had ever laid eyes upon. Of all the women he’d fucked in his life, Sasha was the only one he’d ever loved. He undressed, climbed in the bed and mounted her prone body. In one massive push, he seated his hard dick to the hilt. He pumped in her five or six times then stopped.

  Letting out a sigh, he said, “Is the thought of my touch so bad that you would deny me the pleasure of your passion? You once freely gave your passionate fire during lovemaking. I would get rock hard just thinking about you. Now, you just lie there as if in a trance, oblivious to my presence. Nothing I do brings about that passion I seek.” Sasha was the only member of his pack whose opinion of him truly mattered. “Why must it be this way, Sasha? I would give you the world if only you would love me again like you once did,” Mikal said as he lay upon her, dick still inside her, still rock hard.

  “You took my passion when you gave the order allowing any male breathing the freedom to use me as they saw fit,” Sasha all but spat back at Mikal.

  “I could not show favoritism towards you. That would have weakened me before the pack,” Mikal said.

  “You are weak, Mikal. Only a weak man would need to rape and beat a female to have her,” Sasha ground out thru gritted teeth.

  Feeling his rage crawling near the surface, Mikal’s stare bored a hole into her. For her, he fought his true nature and barely tamped down that rage.

  “All of this would have been so much easier if the pack had just tried to understand. No one would even try. Everyone just looked at it as barbaric. No female would have had to experience mistreatment if only she gave willingly. What if I had left the old laws in place and your chosen Primale was unable to give you young?” Mikal inquired of Sasha.

  “I would have loved him the same and helped the other pack females rear their young. That is what pack does, Mikal,” Sasha said, not trying to hide the venom in her words.

  “Bullshit. You would feel less of a female and the pack would have shunned you. No one ever thinks the male is at fault in such matters. It is always the female and I would not have put you through that,” Mikal roared in response to Sasha’s words.

  “That would be my shame to bear, not yours. Your only fear is that you would not have been my chosen Primale and there would have been nothing you could have done about it,” Sasha said and turned her head, dismissing him as much as she could with him lying atop her.

  “Not true, my Sasha. I would have had your Primale killed then claimed you as my own. No pack member would have disagreed,” Mikal stated as casually as if her were talking about the weather.

  “Then you would have had to keep me shackled to the bed as you do now and my lifeless, soulless body would have been your only consort. You can use my body forever, but you will never aga
in have my heart, Mikal. And the really sad part of all this is at one time, I would have literally killed to be your Prima and stand at your side,” Sasha said with all the finality she could muster.

  “Fine, Sasha. If that’s the way it must be,” Mikal roared as he pulled out of her body, dressed, and stormed out the door slamming it behind him.

  Marcus and Vonn, two of Mikal’s officers, jumped up as Mikal stormed into the living room of the alpha house.

  “Would you like us to take her back to the pack now?” Vonn asked in a voice just above a whisper.

  “NO!” Mikal roared. “She is not to be released until her heat is over. Any young she births will be mine. No other is to touch her. IS THAT CLEAR?” Mikal said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  Vonn and Marcus looked at each other and took a step back.

  “Mikal, wouldn’t that cause unrest among the pack?” Marcus tentatively asked.

  “I am the alpha of this pack. I am the absolute law. If any wishes to challenge me, he may step forward.” Mikal paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching his hands into fists. He was pissed; more so at himself for turning Sasha against him than at anything else.

  How could he win her heart? He didn’t want a lifeless body in his bed. He wanted passionate nights and words of love and loyalty. He now knew that any hope he had of having this with Sasha was no more and that pissed him off even more.

  Both Vonn and Marcus fell to one knee, presenting their throats as a show of complete respect and loyalty.

  “Good,” Mikal barked as he walked around his desk. Just as he sat down, the phone rang. “What?”

  “Mikal? We have found them,” Valeen said into the other end of the line.

  Mikal listened to everything Valeen said, writing down the necessary information. “Well done, Val. Well done.”

  Mikal hung up. Feeling a little better with the news he’d just received, Mikal decided he didn’t need Sasha’s passion or her words of love. He just needed to get a nutt and an heir and she would provide both.