Ruthless Read online

  From where I was crouched beside Rand, I couldn’t see too much. The only light was from the fire and everyone was in harsh shadows. There were angry shouts, and the group bunched up. When they parted again, the old shifter was face down on the ground, Levi putting a pair of handcuffs on him.

  I couldn’t hear what had been said, but had he admitted it? Levi wouldn’t have restrained him otherwise. Right?

  Oh God. This was bad. Had that guy been trying to kill me? I felt Rand’s muscles tense and I held him tight although he was much too strong for me to hold back if he really wanted to get up. He saw what I did, probably came to the same conclusions.

  Rand was possessive and protective in normal times, but when his mate was intentionally put in danger?

  Rob turned immediately, like he was afraid Rand would do something rash. “Let’s go. Back to my house where you can get cleaned up, and Audrey can look at your wounds.”

  Rand’s fangs were still barred.

  “Nathan Brown is being dealt with. Come on. Your mate needs to know you’re okay. Let’s get you cleaned up. Levi will take care of Nathan for now. I’m sorry, Natalie, but there’s nothing to be done for the house. The fire department will make sure it’s put out. There’s nothing for you to do here, and Rand needs to heal.”

  There wasn’t anything to say because he was correct, about all of it.

  “As for Nathan as a pack matter, I will deal with him and his shit once and for all tomorrow. Move.”

  I doubted drill sergeants could do it any better. Rob had a way of issuing commands that made someone want to get up and move even before deciding to obey.

  At least that was how it felt to me. I scrambled up from the ground, and so did Rand. Rob led us to the horse trail that went between our properties.

  All the women—Willow, Marina, Audrey, and Charlie—came along. When we were far enough away, Rand shifted from his wolf and wrapped the sheet around his waist then picked me up in a honeymoon carry.

  “What are you doing?” I yelped. I set my hands on his shoulders, but I was afraid to touch a burn. “You’re the one who’s hurt. I’m fine.”

  His eyes met mine, and he wasn’t watching where he was going. Even so, he didn’t trip, didn’t falter at all. “I don’t fucking care. I thought you were in that house. I thought you were dead, Red, and it nearly killed me.”

  Tears filled my eyes again. I leaned my forehead down against his. “Same,” I whispered. “How did you get out?”

  “I was searching for you, and it was too hot. I couldn’t get out and found the stairwell to the basement, but knew it would all collapse on me. Then I remembered the coal chute from when I fixed the fuse box.”

  What he’d gone through. God, it had been close. Too close. “I love you, Rand Tucker.”

  I felt the rumble of a growl from his chest.

  “I love you, Natalie Shefield. Now and forever. Human love. Wolf love. Every fucking kind of love there is, I’m in it with you. You’re mine, and nothing’s going to change that.”

  I let out a happy sob. “No, nothing will change it for me, either. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”

  “Darlin’, I know these ladies are going to want to do their doctor-veterinarian shit to me when we get back, but can we please just sneak away to my place and skip all that?”

  I groaned with a smile. I wanted that so much, for us to be together. Alone. But… “No. You’ve got burns all over. I would really feel better if they looked at you.”

  He grumbled. “I’m fine. But whatever you want, Red. You’re the boss of me.”

  I cleared my throat. “Except when I’m not,” I murmured, remembering how much I liked when he took charge.

  Rand stopped walking for a moment. “Aw, darlin’. Now is not the time for me to get a hard on for you. I’m wearing a fucking sheet around my waist.”

  I giggled. He was all right. Injured, but he’d heal. “Right. Later.”

  “Later, yes. Later I am going to boss the hell out of you, and you are going to scream my name until you’re hoarse.”

  “I already did that tonight,” I reminded him, sobering.

  His eager expression slipped. “Scream in the good way,” he amended. “Don’t think about that again tonight. We can’t. Nathan Brown is lucky he’s spending the night in a jail cell, or I would rip him to shreds.”

  “I don’t want to think about it, either,” I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

  The warmth in my chest, having his arms around me, savoring the words of love we finally shared… the sense of rightness that flowed through me was undeniable. How could I have ever doubted that what we had was real?

  27

  RAND

  * * *

  I let Audrey look me over, flushing out some of the worst burns with water, but there wasn’t more she could do. I was fucking lucky my lungs were clear, and my skin was healing quickly. It still hurt. Fuck, did it sting, but I knew it was temporary. But Natalie was with me.

  She loved me.

  She was mine.

  That would last forever.

  Even though Audrey was a doctor who treated humans, she agreed the best thing for me was to shift to my wolf and stay that way until the worst of the damage had been repaired.

  “I agree with the doc. Based on the way those blisters are healing—” Rob said, leaning against the kitchen island. “—a few hours in wolf form, and they’ll be mostly gone.”

  I didn’t want to wait a few hours to make Natalie mine, but I wasn’t going to be able to claim her like this. The burns were all over my body, and there was no way I could fuck her now. I wanted to focus on her. Her silky soft skin. Her cries of pleasure. I still hurt, and she’d worry.

  That was not the way to claim a woman.

  I looked to Natalie, who nodded.

  “Fine, but I want to heal at home.”

  No one argued, probably knowing that once I was better, nothing was going to keep me from my mate.

  Rob nodded. “I’ll drive you to your cabin.” He said nothing more, just narrowed his eyes. Waited.

  I met Red’s green gaze, leaned in and kissed her, then whispered in her ear. “I’ll heal in my bed, then I’m claiming you. Yes?”

  She pulled back, studied my face. “Yes.”

  My wolf soothed. I exhaled. Fuck, I did hurt. I nodded, then shifted back to my wolf. Let shifter biology work as Rob drove me and Natalie back to my cabin. I hopped onto the bed, circled, then settled, but didn’t close my eyes until she climbed beneath the covers. Her scent surrounded me, in a way healing me as much as time, and I slept.

  I had no idea what time it was, but just after dawn. The sky was soft, the sun not having risen over the mountain. The air was cool coming through the open windows, the scent of smoke was redolent. I shifted back to human form and carefully sat up, not wanting to wake Natalie. She was asleep on her side, her hand tucked beneath her cheek.

  Fuck, just seeing her here made me smile. I shrugged my shoulders, looked myself over. Besides being filthy, I was mostly healed. The minor burns were completely gone, no sign of them on my skin. The spots where there had been blisters had hints of pinkness, but I didn’t hurt anywhere.

  I ran my hand over my head, felt a spot where my hair had singed. On my chest, there were some bare spots, but that would all grow back.

  I crawled toward Natalie, loomed over her and nuzzled her neck. She stirred, a smile on her face. Her eyes popped open, and she sat up so abruptly, she almost popped me in the nose with her shoulder.

  “Easy, Red.”

  Her gaze roamed over me, eyes widening in obvious shock. “You’re healed.”

  She reached out to touch me but pulled her fingers back. I grabbed her hand, set it on my chest.

  “You’ve known about shifters but didn’t know how we heal?”

  “No.” Her hand began to slide over my skin, gently. Almost reverently. “Well, no one told me specifically, but the tipped tractor. You… healed as I watched you run
off in your wolf form.”

  I closed my eyes to the feel of her fingers. Fuck, just that little brush of her skin on mine lit me up. My wolf practically rolled over and offered her his belly. “I remember that happening. Scared the shit out of myself because I was stuck, but I shifted and scrambled out. I had no idea you’d seen any of it.”

  “Scared the shit out of me, too. Then surprised me. I mean, you turned into a wolf. It was a lot for a little girl.”

  I slowly shook my head and opened my eyes. “No, Red. You were brave even then. Braver now.”

  We looked at each other, just stared as her fingers traced over my torso. “Red,” I whispered. I was hard for her. My wolf was eager. Ready.

  This was the moment. Our entire lives brought us here. Me working on the Sheffield land. Natalie being there with her uncle. The secret she’d carried. Her scent that made her mine. The fire.

  Everything.

  Fate had put us together, and it was time to make it official. Before, I’d wanted it so everyone else knew who she belonged to, that she was mine. Now, I didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought. I wanted to claim Natalie because she was mine.

  No, I wanted to claim her because I was hers.

  “Rand,” she whispered right back.

  “If you’re better, then—”

  “—then I want to be yours. Forever. Will you let me claim you because you’ve already claimed my heart. My soul. My wolf.”

  Tears filled her eyes and slipped over. Her chin wobbled, and she threw her arms around me, kissed my face. “Yes. Yes!”

  I climbed from the bed with her still wrapped around me, carried her to the bathroom and set her on the vanity. Going to the shower, I turned the water on to warm, then helped her from her clothes. I dropped the sooty items onto the floor, then picked her up once more and climbed beneath the hot spray.

  “I’m not claiming you covered in dirt and soot.”

  “We smell like the biggest campfire in the world.”

  She wasn’t wrong.

  I grabbed the bar of soap. “The only scent I want on you is mine.”

  My attention was on cleaning her. I didn’t miss a spot, taking my time to lather and wash every inch of her. I paid special attention to her hair, washing it with my shampoo and rinsing it free of soap and fire.

  When I was done, she took the soap from me and did the same. By the time she was done, I was sensitive from her touch, needy for more. My dick was so hard it ached. My balls were full, so full for her. To fill her, to make her mine in the most binding of ways. I wanted to see her pregnant with my pup, to know our love overflowed and made new life.

  We hadn’t talked about that. I wasn’t ready for a child. Hell, I was too selfish to share Natalie with anyone else, even a baby. Soon though. When she was ready.

  I took the soap from her, set it back on the shelf built into the tiled wall. Cupping her face, I kissed her. Finally. I didn’t linger but kissed down her neck, along her collarbone, over one breast to the other, before dropping to my knees. Her pussy was right there, bare and pink and when I took a deep breath, I knew she was wet.

  I glanced up at her, and she was watching me. Her fingers tangled in my wet hair. I didn’t say anything, just lifted her leg over my shoulder to open her up for me.

  Then found my home. Put my mouth on it. Got her sweet flavor on my tongue. My mouth. My chin.

  “Rand,” she cried.

  The prettiest sound in the entire world.

  I wasn’t going to torture her. No. She was a good girl, my girl, and I needed to please her. Needed to give her an orgasm with my mouth and fingers to take away last night as much as the soap and hot water.

  She’d never lose me again.

  I worked her pussy with my fingers and my mouth to show her this devotion. This need I had. It would never stop.

  28

  NATALIE

  * * *

  I was so done in by the orgasm that Rand had to steer me out of the shower. Dry me off. Lead me to bed. All the while, he told me what he was going to do to me.

  I’m going to see if you can come from sucking and licking those gorgeous nipples. You’re going to take my dick for a ride… as I play with them. Then I’ll take you from behind, you holding on tight to the headboard. Want me to claim you that way? Maybe I’ll surprise you.

  My pussy was swollen and achy, eager for his dick. My nipples were hard and tight, ready for all that he’d promised. I was in a haze of desire that he’d built. One orgasm wasn’t enough.

  I needed him in me. Filling me. Making me his.

  He stood at the foot of the bed, grabbed the sheets and blankets and yanked them off and onto the floor. I could smell the smoke that clung to them. I had to imagine how strong it was for Rand.

  He jumped onto the bed, rolling onto his back, head on the pillow. His body was perfect. Tanned. Muscled. It was his dick I watched. It bobbed as he moved, thick and a dark plum color. The crown curved toward his navel. He was virile, potent. All mine.

  He crooked a finger, and I crawled up toward him. When I got close enough, he hoisted me up and over him, his hands on my hips. “Rand!”

  Hooking the back of my neck, he pulled me down for a kiss. I sank into it, into him, our bodies pressed together. The heat from him would have kept me warm if I had been cold. I was far from it. I was burning up.

  Just for Rand.

  I began to squirm when the kiss wasn’t enough and worked my way down his body, kissing the bare spots on his chest then lower, feeling the tight quiver of his abs as I licked the head of his dick.

  “Mmm,” I said, tasting the salty burst of pre-cum on my tongue.

  His hand settled on the back of my head, held me gently. “Fuck, Red.”

  I liked hearing him coming undone because of me. I took him into my mouth, but he was too big, and I wasn’t a porn star. There was no way I could take all of him down, so I gripped the base in a tight fist and began to work him.

  With a growl, he grabbed me and flipped us, so he was looming over me. His spit-slick dick brushed my thigh. “I was having fun,” I said with a pout. “You got me off in the shower, I wanted to repay you.”

  He pushed my damp hair back from my face. “Red, there is no repaying me. You come and you come often with me. I’m not keeping count as long as your tally’s always higher than mine.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  He laughed, and that made me laugh with him. “You’re going to argue with me about too many orgasms?”

  I could feel myself blush.

  “I don’t want to come in your mouth… this time because I need to be in your pussy to claim you. My dick buried nice and deep, my bite here.”

  He tapped the spot where my neck met my shoulder.

  “Or here.”

  He dropped his head and licked the side of my breast.

  “Or here.”

  He did the same on the other side.

  I shivered as he watched me and waited. “Here,” I replied, tapping the spot at my neck.

  He began to climb off me, but I tugged him back. “Where are you going?”

  He grinned. “Not far. Just have to get a condom.”

  I tightened my hold. “No. Nothing between us.”

  He moved back, looked at my lips. “We never really talked about birth control. I’m fine with condoms until you’re ready for more.”

  “I’m on the pill.”

  His gaze lifted to mine. “You’re okay if I go bare?”

  I licked my lips, and he groaned, then shifted my hips, so his dick brushed over my folds.

  I moved again, even reached between us and held him tight as I positioned myself, so he was right there. All he had to do was sink deep.

  “I love you, Rand,” I said.

  He didn’t look away. Didn’t blink. Didn’t even breathe as he slid into me.

  It wasn’t the first time, but it felt like it. So tight. So full. So right.

  I bent my knees, squeezed his hips to pull him
even deeper.

  “Fuck, Red. You feel so good.”

  He pulled back, thrust deep. My back arched, head going back. “Rand! Harder.”

  That was all it took. He lost control then, taking me hard. He was ruthless. I was so wet the sound of it filled the room as our skin slapped together. So hard. So deep.

  I loved that he could lose control for me. That he held nothing back from me. So I gave him everything in return. I met him with my hips, clawed his back with my nails, cried out his name when he reached between us and played with my clit. Pinched it, and I came.

  My inner walls clenched and squeezed, tried to pull him deeper. Tried to get him to come and feel as I did. Lost. Wild. Desperate.

  He dropped onto his forearms, kissed me through my orgasm, then my neck as he continued to take me.

  “I love you, Natalie Sheffield,” he said as I rode out my pleasure. “You’re mine. I claim you.” With the deepest growl I’d ever heard from him, he thrust deep and came, his body tensing, his mouth claiming. He bit my neck, his teeth sinking into my skin.

  I cried out again, at first from the sharp hit of pain but then from another orgasm, this one even more intense than the last. Than any I’d ever had before. I felt him swell and spurt inside me, his cum marking me as much as his teeth.

  He pulled back, then licked my neck as he panted above me. I could feel his dick continuing to pulse. The hot slide of his cum seeped out and down between us. I’d never had sex without a condom before.

  Never wanted it. Now, even though we hadn’t made a child, I knew this was a bond that was forever. I’d almost lost him the night before, but this soothed something in me—that he was alive. Whole. Mine.

  Just as I was his.

  He pulled out and tucked me into his arms where I was lulled toward sleep. Safe. Happy.

  Mated.

  My last thought before I slept was if Uncle Adam would have been pleased I’d found a mate. If he’d put us together somehow. That he’d wanted me to be the human who’d protect the shifters, just as he had for all those years. He hadn’t found love, but he’d obviously wanted it for me.