Protecting Their Mate: Part Three (The Last Pack) Read online

  "Yes." She sounded absolutely certain. "He's afraid of it."

  "Because he doesn't see, darling."

  "Maybe." She wiped her eyes and tried for a smile. "You've told me about Mac's pain. What about yours?"

  He hesitated. Remembered another pair of big brown eyes, another shaky smile. "I didn't see, either."

  It was her turn to touch his face. Her smile vanished as she stroked his cheek, his jaw, and slipped her fingers through his beard. "Who was she?"

  Someone who had come into his life at the wrong time. Ellie was too smart, too sweet—and too young. He'd promised himself he would go back for her when she was old enough to be sure, to choose him out of something other than infatuation and desperation.

  He'd gone back. Too late. "It doesn't matter," he said, closing his eyes again. "For all I know, she's happily mated."

  Ashley let him have the lie. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his temple with a soft noise of comfort. Bit by bit, the worst of his pain slowly leached away, and he could breathe again.

  He could even smile. "Whether I want you or not doesn't mean much," he whispered. "You like me, but you don't need me."

  It took her a long time to speak. "I thought I knew what I needed. I know what I want. But something's in the way, and I have to find out what that is. However I can."

  Something jagged clicked into place. No, she didn't need him as a mate, but she needed him now. Once. To prove to herself and her wolf that lust could burn bright and hot, but it couldn't provide the steady foundation you needed to build a forever.

  He gripped her chin and held her still for a gentle kiss. "I'm going to finish my workout and hit the shower. If you start feeling antsy, come to me. I won't hold back. One way or another, you'll be sure it's not me in the way."

  "You promise?"

  "I promise." And it was easy. Honest. Wanting Ashley would never be the hard part. The hard part came if he forgot that she could never want him back the same way she wanted Blake.

  Chapter Seven

  I won't hold back.

  The words rang in Ashley's head as she paced her room, the floor cool beneath her bare feet. A warning and a vow, and part of her wanted to push it away, lock it down, never find out. But the rest of her...

  The rest of her burned with feral curiosity, strong enough for her to finally understand that Blake was right. Her wolf knew what she wanted, but knowing didn't have the same visceral impact as feeling.

  One way or another, you'll be sure it's not me in the way.

  She had to feel it, the way she had with Blake, and with Connor. The way she would need to with Lucas.

  The fever surged. It had built slowly today, a gradual, mounting pressure that had grown fierce enough to make her bite her lip against a whimper. Her control was slipping, dragging her over the swells from casual, carnal interest into desperate need. Her hands shook, her skin burned, and she almost pitched against the door as she closed her fingers around the knob.

  She made her way down the hall, her attention focused on one door, and nothing else. One door, and behind it lay relief.

  She didn't even get a chance to knock. She lifted her hand, and the door swung open. Jud stood there as if he'd been waiting for her, but he didn't step aside. He blocked the door with his body until she met his eyes. "Be sure, Ashley."

  He was still shirtless, and she couldn't stop herself from reaching out. His skin felt even hotter than hers, and she moaned as she slid her hand down the center of his chest.

  He caught her wrist, pinning her hand in place. "I need you to say it, darling. I need you to say yes."

  His eyes were mesmerizing, dark with lust and something else. Something even more dangerous. "Yes."

  With one tug, he dragged her into the room. His arm locked around her waist, lifting her effortlessly, and he spun and kicked the door shut in one smooth movement.

  The air rushed out of her lungs, and she clung to him as he stalked across the room. Then he dropped her on the wide expanse of his bed. "Take off your clothes."

  She wasn't wearing much to begin with, just pajama shorts and a tank top. She reached for the hem of the shirt and slowly tugged it up.

  Jud watched her silently, with a smile that held none of Blake's usual impatience. His fingertips brushed her collarbone, too soft and fleeting to do more than rouse her hunger, and then he was gone, walking toward the end of the bed. "All of it, Ashley."

  She rocked up on her knees and eased her shorts and panties off her hips. "What are you doing?"

  He crouched and opened the heavy chest at the foot of his bed. "What I promised. Not holding back."

  She watched as he pulled out two leather cuffs and a blindfold. "This is what you like?" The moment the words left her mouth, she felt like an idiot, because Blake had told her as much that very first day.

  He likes ropes. He'll tie you up, tie you open. Your legs spread wide, that beautiful pussy exposed.

  "This is what I am." Leaving the chest open, he rose and crooked his finger in silent command.

  Sliding off the bed was easy. So was crossing the space between them. The hard part was what came next—submission.

  Jud slipped his hand into her hair, smoothing the strands back off her shoulders and away from her face before reaching for the blindfold. "Still yes?"

  Ashley nodded, then licked her lips. "Still yes."

  The soft, dark fabric settled across her eyes, blocking out the room. He tied it at the back of her head, careful not to catch her hair in the knot, and the buckles on the cuffs jangled as he slowly wrapped the first one around her wrist.

  "How does it feel?" he murmured, stroking his fingertips up the inside of her forearm before switching to her opposite wrist. "The mating fever."

  "Like—" She had to lick her lips again. "Like being hungry all the time, only you're never full or satisfied, no matter what you eat."

  He fastened the second cuff into place, binding her hands in front of her. "When are you closest to satisfied?"

  She bit her tongue.

  Jud tugged on the chain between the cuffs. "Truth, darling. If I ask a question, you answer honestly, or this is over."

  Ashley tried not to whimper in protest, but the sound escaped her anyway. "When Blake fucks me."

  He rewarded the words by rubbing his hands up her arms, strong and soothing as he coaxed her close to his body. When he took a step backwards, he took her with him, guiding her step by uncertain step into the emptiness in the middle of his room.

  Then he let her go.

  She wobbled before catching her balance, and his next words came from behind her. "How does he fuck you?"

  He knew, of course. He'd been there—more than once—but she answered anyway. "Like he has to," she whispered. "Like he'll never get enough."

  "Fast. Impatient." Chain clinked above her, and she shivered as Jud's breath skated over her shoulder. "Lift your hands."

  She raised them in front of her.

  Jud grasped her wrists and hauled them higher, all the way up until her arms were stretched above her head. The only sound was the chain, rattling again as he fixed it to the cuffs.

  She was trapped, her arms raised high, her naked body exposed. Anticipating contact that didn't come.

  "Still yes?" His voice came from her right.

  Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to huff. "Will you stop asking me that?"

  "No." He touched her again, just the brush of his knuckles between her breasts. "Because I'm going to make you do something Blake never has. Something he can't make you do."

  It was difficult to imagine anything she hadn't done, either with Blake or at his urging. "What?"

  His touch vanished, leaving her floating in darkness. "Wait."

  Her breath was a traitorous thing, coming far too fast now. "For how long?" And for what?

  "That depends on you." She could hear his steps, the whisper of his bare feet on the hardwood floor as he circled her. "On what you ne
ed, and how much you can take."

  Her skin prickled with expectation, tingling from the absence of contact. "How will you know?"

  "You'll tell me." His touch returned, this time as a fingertip circling her nipple. "One way or another."

  It sounded so ominous, completely at odds with his silky tone, and she opened her mouth to question him further—

  His thumb and finger closed tight around her nipple. It wasn't a gentle tease, but a hard pinch that sparked as much pain as pleasure. They swirled together, gliding up her spine. Heating her skin.

  The pinch intensified, only now it wasn't just his fingers. Something cool and smooth and hard pressed in on her nipple from either direction, keeping her balanced on the sharp edge between pain and pleasure even after his hands fell away.

  She swayed. "What is that?"

  "Does it matter?" His lips brushed her ear, then his tongue. One big hand cupped her other breast, his fingers teasing light and soft until she shuddered at the contrast. "I think you like it."

  It felt like metal, quickly warming against her skin as the unrelenting pressure drove her fever higher. "Yes."

  "Good." The second bit of metal was already warmed from his fingers. He slid it into place around her nipple and tightened it until she hissed in a breath and tried to arch away.

  He didn't let her. He held her in place, and his soft growl of warning set her to shivering. "Steady, darling. Trust me."

  "Trust you?" The low buzz of pain left her tongue thick and clumsy. "I don't even know what you're doing."

  She barely heard the whisper of his footsteps behind her before his naked chest pressed tight against her back. He curled both arms around her, one low across her belly and one crossing between her breasts so that his fingertips rested lightly on her neck. "Do you need to know in order to trust?"

  It was so new, she didn't even know the answer. She understood a wolf's instinctive dance of dominance and submission, but that was simple. Physical. If Blake wanted her on her knees and she didn't move fast enough, he would put her there. If Lucas wanted her to bare her throat to him, he could force it.

  Something about Jud's quiet, calm voice, so unlike his usual ease and charm, told her this was different. That his satisfaction came not from having her on her knees, but from her willingness, her eagerness, to be there. And if she didn't move fast, he would wait.

  He was waiting now. Ashley cleared her throat and shook her head. "No, I trust you."

  He wound his hand around her throat. The other drifted lower, dipping between her thighs to cup her pussy. "You're aching, aren't you? You need to come."

  He hadn't touched her nearly enough for that, but she writhed in his arms anyway. "This is what you are," she whispered, echoing his words from earlier. "Why?"

  His thumb traced soft, absent circles over her racing pulse. "There's more than one way to embrace what we are. Some hunts are about strength and power and speed. And some are about cunning and patience."

  "Making your prey come to you."

  "Mmm." Just as she was sinking into the warmth of his embrace, he stepped away, leaving her swaying in the empty darkness again. "Some prey is timid," he whispered, dragging his fingertips across her hip. It was their only point of contact, and more intense because of it.

  "I'm not," she insisted.

  "Oh, I know." He retreated, leaving her bereft again until warm lips traced the line of her spine. "You're fearless. And so, so strong."

  "Then I don't understand—" He bit the curve of her ass, and she forgot what she was going to say. Forgot to breathe.

  The floorboards creaked softly behind her, and he tapped the outside of her thigh. "Open."

  Her head was spinning, but she obeyed. "You don't want weakness. You want strength, but not to claim it. To have it offered to you."

  "Smart girl." She didn't have a chance to respond before his hands were on her inner thighs, stroking up, up, so close to where she was wet and empty—

  He stopped, and Ashley froze—waiting, aching—then groaned. "Oh my God, you're killing me."

  "Already?" The back of his hand grazed her pussy, light and maddening. "If this is all you can handle, I'll give you want you want. But I think you can take more."

  More was exactly what she wanted—faster, now. She bit her lip to hold back the plea.

  His fingers brushed her inner thigh this time, slow and soothing and gone far too soon. She sensed movement in the transient prickle of heat, the shift of air over her bare skin. The vague, indefinable energy that signaled the presence of another.

  Then it all stopped, vanished, and the next thing she felt was his mouth on her pussy.

  She jerked, unable to stop herself from arching toward him. He was already deepening the caress, and that single, rough rock of her hips rubbed her clit over his tongue.

  Ashley cried out, turning her head to muffle the noise against her arm.

  "Shh." Even the sound was obscene, soothing but tormenting as his lips pressed against her. Just his lips, until she felt his arm against her inner thigh, forcing it wider still.

  The chain rattled as she strained to keep her balance, but there wasn't enough give in it to allow her much movement. "Jud—"

  "I've got you, darling." He gripped her hip, dragging her back against his mouth. His other hand wandered up her thigh, and she shuddered as he finally, finally pushed one broad finger into her.

  Light exploded behind her closed lids, behind the darkness of the blindfold. She rocked again, harder, and whimpered when he moved with her, denying her the rough thrust she craved.

  Jud was slow. Methodical. No matter how much she moaned and squirmed, he remained merciless, pushing her closer and closer to the edge without letting her fall over it.

  Her skin grew damp, and the leather she wore bit into her wrists. Each stroke melted into the next, over and over and over, until she'd lost track of everything but her heartbeat, pulsing in time with the pleasure that mounted inside her.

  Over and over and over.

  The world blurred, narrowed into exactly two things—need and denial. Ashley thrashed, vaguely aware of her own voice, wreathed in desperation, babbling nonsense.

  But Jud seemed to understand.

  His touch vanished, but he didn't leave her floating in nothingness this time. He touched her everywhere as he rose, dragging his hands up her legs, her hips, her sides, all the way to her hair. He dislodged the blindfold, leaving her squinting into sudden brightness, but his hands were already lifting her, dragging her up his body, off the ground.

  Her head was still spinning when he thrust into her.

  "Oh!" His chest brushed hers, pinching her nipples even tighter between the metal clamps, but even that couldn't distract her from the raw satisfaction blazing through her. The pain only twisted it higher, as if every nerve was so primed for ecstasy that her body translated everything into searing pleasure.

  "Wrap your legs around me," he growled. "Tight."

  She barely had time to do as he commanded before he gripped her ass, bracing her weight with one hand. He deftly unhooked her cuffs from the chain, and she wrapped her bound arms around his neck as he turned.

  But not far. He balanced her on the edge of his dresser, and the breath ripped out of her lungs as he slammed into her. Thrust after thrust, fast and merciless, thumping the dresser against the wall. Her mind scrambled to keep up with her body's reactions, struggled to process the instantaneous, unrelenting passion.

  It shot up her spine, the need and denial replaced by need and hunger. It arched her back, her hips, and his next brutal drive splintered the pleasure, turned it into a shower of sparks that only made her want more.

  He didn't hold back this time. He gave her everything, deep and fast, fucking her through the first easy shudders of release into something powerful and raw. His thumb found her nipple, the barest brush adding bright pain to the mix, and Ashley squeezed her eyes shut. Her lungs burned, and she had to fight for every breath as her body tensed, focu
sed on only one thing.

  Then he slid his hand between them and pinched her clit. Ashley shrieked, but what sizzled over her nerve endings wasn't agony. It was bliss, so intense it became its own sort of stinging ache, inescapable and devastating.

  She shook, helpless in the face of such wild, persistent pleasure. Jud groaned, his head falling back, and gave her the only thing she still needed—his release, pumping into her as he growled her name.

  Relief and affection suffused her, each bolstered by the other, soothing the last of her feverish need. In that moment, it was beautiful, perfect—but it wasn't the sort of magic she'd glimpsed with Blake.

  And Jud knew it.

  She could feel it as he cupped her face and kissed her through her lingering shivers. Warmth, pleasure, satisfaction...and no frustration. No regret.

  He lifted her from the dresser and carried her to the bed. As he lowered her to the soft surface, Ashley spoke, because she had to fill the silence. "You already knew, didn't you?"

  "That I wasn't your one?" He stretched out next to her and took too much time stroking her hair back from her forehead. "I was pretty sure, darling."

  And telling her would have accomplished nothing, because she had to find out for herself. "Did you want to be?"

  He didn't answer at first, just reached for her wrists, stripped away the cuffs one at a time, and gently rubbed at the marks left behind. "Yes. And no."

  The look on his face was unmistakable. "Because of Blake."

  "He's one of the strongest wolves I've ever met. Almost as strong as Lucas." He pressed her arms to the bed above her head and met her eyes. "But he's loyal. Too loyal for his own good, maybe. You're not the only one he'd cut out his heart for."

  "I know." Otherwise, he never would have urged her into Jud's arms.

  "Good." He brushed his knuckles over the side of her breast. "I've got to take these off now, and it may be sensitive. Not too bad, though. Wolves aren't as delicate as humans, but I didn't tighten them much. I don't think that's what you need."

  But it was what he needed. Not just the bondage and submission, but the pain merging with pleasure. Ashley watched, hissing in a soft breath as he pulled the first clamp free, then the second.