Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
S era
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Paul,” I greet the pleasant looking security guard as he hands me the temporary name tag and badge that all guests must wear.
Smiling, Paul leans over the security counter. “The pleasure is all mine, Miss …” He pauses, looking at the badge once again. “Nightwolf? That’s an interesting name.”
“Blackclaw,” Ronan’s deep voice suddenly breaks through the conversation between Paul and me.
My eyes widen from the way Ronan unabashedly wraps an arm around my hip, pulling me into his body.
“Oh, I, uh,” Paul stutters.
“Her last name hasn’t been changed yet,” Ronan says, almost glaring at poor Paul.
I clear my throat.
“We’re done here, correct?”
“Ronan,” I admonish.
He flicks his gaze down at me and then back to Paul, nodding.
A beat later, I swipe my visitor badge to pass through the security door, to enter into the Colorado State Transportation Department’s main building.
“This way.” Ronan uses his hand on my hip again to steer me toward the elevators. A wiser part of me tells me that I should pull away from his hold, but a much more na?ve, and dare I say stupid part of me, wants to stay in his hold.
And it has nothing to do with me pretending to play nice.
With his free hand, Ronan presses the button to the building’s top floor.
I whistle, sounding impressed. He looks down at me and those haunting green eyes pierce through a little part of my invisible armor.
I attempt to pull away from him to put space between our bodies, but he tightens his hold around my waist.
Instead of responding, I flip my hair over my shoulder and tell him, “You must be the top dog here.” I flinch. “That was a compliment.
“You know, because top dog means the highest position. But, well, you’re a wolf so the dog thing can be an insult …” I trail off, not knowing why I’m suddenly so damn nervous.
His lips, surprisingly, kick up into a half smile. “Thank you for the clarification.”
I turn away because a sudden heat spreads through me. This damn elevator is too cramped.
“To be on the top floor you must do impressive work, huh?” I ask at the same time the elevator doors open.
He pauses, holding the elevator door open with one long arm, waiting for me to pass through.
“I am excellent at what I do,” he finally replies.
“And humble, too.”
Another smirk as he adjusts his suit jacket. “What is the purpose of humility?”
He has a point.
“This way,” he says, holding out a hand to the left.
“Wait, who are these pictures of?” I point toward the numerous portraits and images that line the hallway’s walls.
“Serafina—”
“He looks important. What’s his name?” I point at one of the portraits.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ronan take a look at his watch.
“Ronald Bloomfield, the first governor of the state. His work with land rights laid the foundation for what later would become the department of transportation. He was also one of us.”
Ronan stares at the portrait.
“You’re related to him.”
His eyes collide with mine and he nods.
I make myself breakaway from the stare because I don’t like the way my body temperature starts to rise underneath the weight of his attention.
I’ve been unusually hot lately.
“That’s impressive. You must be very proud.” I start off in the opposite direction he’s turned toward, asking for an explanation of every person on the wall and the awards that sit in glass cases on display.
“I have a call in five minutes.” Ronan grabs my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine, then pauses.
We both end up staring at our interlocked hands and then at one another. I assume that means he felt the rush of energy that pushed through me at the contact. Was it as intense for him as well?
If the way he squeezes my hand is any indication, I would say yes.
“Didn’t mean to derail your work schedule,” I mumble, trailing behind him toward his office.
“Wow! Your name’s even on the door.” I run a finger along the white lettering on the black placard mounted on the door.
Ronan pushes the door open before stepping aside to allow me inside first. Regretfully, he releases my hand, but he doesn’t take his eyes off of me. Even as I fully enter the office, looking around and admiring the immaculate order of the corner office, I feel his eyes on me.
I briefly notice the huge map of the state of Colorado on the far wall, directly across from his massive, wooden desk.
“As suspected,” I pivot to face him, “there isn’t an item out of place in your office.”
I have to keep myself from jumping when he pointedly shuts the door, keeping his eyes trained on me. He strides over to me, one hand in his pocket, and stops within a few inches of me, his other hand moving to my hip.
Air rushes out of my lungs when he roughly pulls me into his hard body.
“I have a call in two minutes. Behave like the good girl I know you can be, and do not make too much noise while I am on the phone.”
Leaning up, I get close to his lips before telling him, “Fuck. You. Very. Much.” With a roll of my eyes.
I pull out of his hold. “When have you ever known me to be a good girl?”
I give him my back at the same time he chuckles. But when he sniffs the air, I turn back to face him. I hate the gleam in his eyes.
“Did you forget I can scent you?”
I don’t have time to reply before the phone rings. He and I both know he is referring to his ability to smell my arousal. Because, yes, I’m aroused, even though I hate to admit it.
“Whatever,” I mumble when he goes to answer the phone.
I turn away to face out of the window. The view is beautiful from the tenth-floor window. You can easily spot the snowcapped mountains in the distance. I look over my shoulder at Ronan, who’s back is to me while he’s on his phone meeting.
He speaks with authority, asking questions here and there.
I bet he doesn’t even take breaks, I think to myself, sighing as I look out of the window again.
The bookshelf across the office beckons me. There are a number of awards with his name as the recipient, along the shelf’s desk portion.
And just as I suspected, there’s not even a pen out of place in Ronan’s office. If I had to bet, I know he’s placed each award, book, and glass for guests precisely where he wants them.
Intentionally, I pick up an award and read it over. This one lists him as a recipient for most detailed employee. The date is from two years ago.
I place the award down, in the wrong spot, and face in the opposite direction as it was before I picked it up. I pluck the next award, reading it and nodding before again placing it down the wrong way.
“That is not— Yes, I am still here.”
I look back at Ronan who’s now glaring at me. He points to the award I’ve just placed back on the shelf.
“This?” I whisper, picking it up and pointing at it. “Congratulations.” I give him a thumbs-up before placing it down the wrong way again.
He starts to say something, but then he must be asked a question during his phone meeting because he soon resorts back to his business tone. Yet, he continues to watch me.
And the dark glare in his eyes is anything but business-like.
Having his attention on me is more exhilarating than it should be.
Which is likely why I decide to pluck up another award at the far end of the desk, reading it over before taking it to the glass coffee table and putting it at the corner of the table.
I run my hand over the neatly fanned out business and transportation magazines, pretending to search for the perfect one to read.
Naturally, I choose one from the center of the pile, and ‘accidentally’ spill a few magazines onto the floor.
“Oops,” I say, but leave the magazines there.
Though the magazine in my hands obscures my view of Ronan, I have a feeling he’s watching me even as he talks about roadway traffic and obstructions.
I wiggle in my seat before reaching down and lifting the floral dress that touches my ankles, to scratch my legs. Intentionally, I raise the dress to over my knees, displaying my crossed legs.
“Mmm,” I moan as if the scratching of my knee is just the relief I’ve been seeking.
A throat clearing from across the room makes me lower the magazine in my hand a few inches.
Just as I suspected, Ronan’s eyes are zoomed in on me. His face has taken on a slightly reddish hue and the glint in his eyes borders on a glow.
“Sorry,” I whisper loudly enough for him to hear me. “Am I too loud? I’ll be quiet.” I smile and then make the fake zip the lips signal again.
A few seconds later, I toss the magazine aside, and make my way back to the bookshelf.
“Oh, those look interesting,” I say as I reach for one of the encyclopedia-looking books.
However, as I grab one, two others on either side slide out as well, and begin tumbling to the floor.
“Serafina …” a deep voice calls behind me in warning, but I don’t pay attention since I’m busy dodging the falling books.
But neither one of the books gets a chance to touch me as Ronan somehow makes it across the room in a blink of an eye, wrapping me up and pulling me into his body with one arm, while using his free arm to catch one of the books and using it to block the other one from hitting me.
“Mother Moon!” he growls. “You could’ve been hurt.”
He doesn’t give me a chance to respond before I somehow end up halfway dragged back to his desk, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me into his lap as he sits down in his chair.
“Don’t make a sound,” he says firmly. “I mean it, Serafina.”
I try to squirm out of his hold, but his hold tightens. “Don’t move either.”
He punches a button on his desk phone. “I’m back.” He keeps one arm firmly wrapped around me, while the other holds the phone to his ear.
I wiggle my hips, which makes him tighten his hold again. He presses against my back.
“Stop it,” he says through gritted teeth.
A shiver runs down my spine, and beneath my butt there’s an unmistakable bulge. No wonder he wants me to stop.
It’s his fault. He shouldn’t have ? —
I cut off my train of thought when I look around his desk and notice the only framed photo Ronan has on his desk. It’s of three little boys.
It may have been from years ago, but I know immediately who they are.
Ronan, Noah, and Montgomery. The three of them before they were separated. Before they lost Montgomery.
I peer up, again taking in the huge map on Ronan’s far wall. After a few seconds of studying it, I realize it’s a map of Colorado’s entire roadway system.
“I’m going to find him.”
Ronan’s words come rushing back. Words he spoke to me when it was just he and I. Before I even understood what a mate bond was. When I just knew I was drawn to him and Noah in a way I couldn’t explain.
One of the nights he stayed back from running with his pack to talk with me under the full moon.
“It’s my fault he’s gone. I should’ve paid more attention. But I’m going to find my brother and bring him home.”
My fingers trace their three faces, arms wrapped around one another’s shoulders.
“You were so young,” I say to no one in particular.
“I wasn’t that young.” Ronan’s voice startles me to turn to face him. I hadn’t even realized he’d hung up the phone.
He plucks the picture out of my hand. I half expect him to tuck it away in his desk drawer and pretend it doesn’t mean anything, but he stares down at the photo instead.
“Do you still blame yourself?” The question comes out without me thinking about it.
His gaze meets mine. Ronan doesn’t need to answer. I can see it in his eyes. Yes, he still blames himself for losing Montgomery.
“But you found him,” I remind him.
“ You found him,” he corrects me. “It was you who brought him back home.”
I shake my head. “He was just there,” I tell him. “I had no idea that doctor would kidnap me and have him …”
He places the photo back on his desk. “You found him because you are our destiny, Serafina. Believe it or not. Like it or not, you are ours and we are yours. That is how it always should have been.”
“Then why?—”
He cuts me off by pulling my lips to his.
With this kiss, he’s clearly claiming me. It’s way more aggressive and conquering than the kiss from the night of the pack meeting.
“Hungry!” a voice rings out in my head.
A moan bursts from my throat when Ronan breaks the connection of our kiss. It only lasts a couple of seconds, but I mourn the feel of his lips against mine. Soon enough, however, his hands are everywhere.
He’s not gentle or patient as he lifts us to stand, and begins untying the waist of my dress, loosening it and then unwrapping me like a present.
“Fuck!” he curses, his eyes going wide as they roam over my body. “Serafina.”
I gasp and call out his name in surprise when he rips my lace panties away from my body.
“I just bough—” My protest fades into oblivion underneath the weight of another one of his all-consuming kisses.
He presses my back against the desk and hooks an arm under one of my legs, forcing me to wrap it around his waist. He pushes against my other knee, completely opening me up to him.
It’s my turn to break away from the kiss as I toss my head back and squeeze my eyes shut the moment his fingers make contact with my clit.
“Shit! You are so wet.”
My brain has to be playing tricks on me because I could’ve sworn I just heard Ronan curse for the second time.
“Look at me, Serafina.”
He doesn’t even give me time before he grabs the back of my neck, holding my head in place with his large hand.
“Keep your focus on me.” He squeezes my neck as if daring me to disobey.
“Screw you,” I tell him, but it comes out on a pant. Even I can’t ignore or deny the lust that fills my voice.
Ronan’s top lips quirks upwards into a half-smile, half-deviant look.
“First with my finger,” he says. While his tone is even and controlled, the glow in his eyes is anything but.
He makes good on his words as he none-too-gently slides a long finger inside of me. It feels good, but it’s far from enough, which I let him know.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
He grunts and then pushes another finger inside of me.
I whimper at the increased feeling, but again it’s still not enough.
“More,” I say, looking at him in his glowing eyes.
“Of what? What do you want more of?”
You.
His hand tightens around my neck.
I refuse to tell him the truth. I can’t want him. Not after he forsook me the first time around.
“More,” I say again, because I can’t think clearly when he’s now inserted a third finger inside of me. Ronan finger-fucks me hard.
“Look how wet you are,” he says before pulling all of the way out and showing me his glistening fingers.
“I still haven’t come yet,” I tell him.
A noticeable vein in his forehead pulses.
“I’m preparing you for me. I’m not a small man.”
My eyes fall to the extremely large bulge in his pants.
“That looks uncomfortable.” I meet his eyes again at the same time I slide my hand to his crotch, squeezing it.
Ronan grunts.
“I don’t need you to prepare me. It’s not like I’m a virgin.”
The moment the words leave my mouth, the air in the room stops flowing. Birds stop chirping, the wind stops blowing, and the Earth may have ceased spinning.
“What. Did. You. Just. Say?”
Everything inside of me quivers.
Ronan just used his alpha voice on me and my nipples stiffen so hard they ache.
His hand moves from the back of my neck to the front. His hand tightens around my throat and not in the cute, sexy way.
I can’t think straight or form words to answer his question before he undoes his pants and pushes inside of me in one forceful thrust so deep, it steals every ounce of air inside my lungs out.
Ronan doesn’t let up though. He tightens his hand around my neck and pulls out of me only to push back in so deeply, I swear I can feel him in my throat.
He wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t little.
“Who the fuck was it?” he asks through gritted teeth, while still rutting into me.
I blink to try to clear the vision of the water in my eyes. It’s useless. My gaze remains blurry with no hopes of returning to normal while Ronan continues to punish my pussy.
“What. Is. His. Name?” he seethes.
I can barely understand the question as my mind goes fuzzy and my thoughts scatter.
All I can think about is how damn good it feels to have Ronan’s hand wrapped around my throat with his cock destroying me from the inside out.
I let out a pant, which must have an impact on Ronan because he bends down and bites my lower lip.
I whimper at the bite of pain. He runs his tongue along my lip before sucking it into his mouth, making the hurt better.
“This is what you wanted, right, Serafina?” he says against my mouth. “Answer me!”
I nod.
“No. Speak, Serafina. Is this what you wanted? To see me lose control over you?”
Is this what I wanted?
Yes, I did want to know what it was like to get under Ronan’s skin, but is this what I truly wanted?
I can’t answer the question.
So, I don’t.
Instead, I rip open his shirt, sending buttons scattering everywhere, and wrap my arms around him, pulling him into me. I dig my nails into the skin of his back.
Ronan moves his hand from my throat and hooks both arms under my knees, holding me just how he wants me, while never ceasing his unrelentless plunder of my body.
The sounds of his grunts, my moans, and our skin slapping against one another are the only noises in the room.
My pussy spasms, causing a ripple down my spine.
“You are about to come,” he says as if he can read my body already. “Fuck, you smell good. You smell like …” He trails off before he buries his face into the crook of my neck.
I cry out in pain when he bites my neck.
Tingling warmth courses through me, so profound that it curls my toes. Within seconds, I’m coming so hard that my entire body jumps and then tightens up. Ronan continues pumping in and out of me, wringing out every last bit of my orgasm that he can.
I scream so loud that my throat becomes dry.
“Aw, fuck,” Ronan says, the only verbal signal he gives before he comes as well.
My breath hitches as he comes inside of me. That uncanny heat I’ve been feeling starts to boil inside of my veins. It’s not painful, but all-consuming.
I want more, I realize as I dig my fingernails into Ronan’s back muscles. He grunts and then groans with his face buried in the crook of my neck, as if he feels it, too.
“So fucking hot,” he mumbles before lifting his head to kiss me so deep that it triggers another orgasm.
This time I squeeze my eyes shut while coming, as I continue to dig my nails into his skin. I want him to hurt for making me feel all of these emotions once again.
I don’t know if he senses my desire for him to hurt or if it’s just ’cause, but Ronan pulls back and stares deeply into my eyes.
He searches for something.
“You are done running, Serafina. Do not try it again,” he warns, his glowing gaze holding mine hostage. “I will find you. We will find you and you will never see the light of day again.”
At that, he pulls out of me, leaving me empty once again.
It’s at this moment, I wonder if I’m the one who’ll destroy the Blackclaw brothers or if they’ll destroy me.