Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Caleb’s back. At least, I hope that’s him slipping into bed behind me.
I huff. His chuckle confirms his identity.
“Sorry, mate.” He kisses my cheek. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He smells clean. I roll over, eyeing his wet hair and bare torso. I’m surprised I didn’t hear him come in. I’ve never been a heavy sleeper, and I assumed the shower turning on would wake me. I guess not.
I blame the thick, terribly warm bedsheets. They’re unbearably comfortable, and they almost always put me to sleep within minutes. I’ll miss these when I’m gone.
“What time is it?” I ask. I sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “How did the meeting go?”
Caleb groans, flopping onto his back. “It was long, but Everett has agreed to back off while King deals with HPAW. It’s a tentative truce. The two don’t agree on much, except for the fact that they hate HPAW more than one another.”
I hope that isn’t true. If HPAW can convince them to break their truce, doors will be opened for us. We’ll have hope.
“Did you have a fun day with Sash?” Caleb asks. “Sorry I didn’t warn you about her stopping by. She caught me as I was on my way out of the pack.”
“I had a good time,” I admit. A better time than I wanted to have, if I’m honest with myself. “She gave me a tour.”
Caleb grunts. “That’s my job.”
“One you failed to do.” I trail a finger down the center of Caleb’s chest, unable to help myself. He’s painfully distracting, and I’m all too aware that we haven’t had sex. I’m feeling better. There’s no reason to continue postponing.
“I missed you…” I whisper. It’s not entirely a lie.
Caleb raises a brow, his eyes growing heavy. I know he wants me.
“Did you miss me?” I ask.
Caleb nods. “More than you know. Today was torturous.”
I don’t allow myself to overthink as I swing a leg over his hips. Caleb’s hands fly to my hips, holding them tight as I straddle him. I’m wearing only his T-shirt, which I’m certain turns him on.
He licks his lips, peering between my thighs. “Are you already wet for me, baby?”
Yes.
“You’re going to have to work harder than that,” I say instead. “I’m not a faucet, Caleb.”
Caleb shoots me a look, then slides the hem of his shirt up my thighs.
His fingers tickle my sensitive skin, and I have to swallow down a moan.
I want him so badly, especially after spending the day apart from him.
I wasn’t lying when I said I missed him.
I’ve grown familiar with the damned man, and I didn’t enjoy being away from him.
“Are you sure about that?” Caleb challenges. “Are you sure your cunt isn’t soaking for me right now?”
I’m not wearing underwear, and I see the moment Caleb realizes. His eyes widen just slightly before he levels his expression, trying to hide the flash of excitement I already saw.
He drags his thumb over my clit. “This feels wet to me, Ev.”
“Do you think it’s wet enough for a cock to slip in?”
Caleb releases a shaky breath. “It’s wet enough for my cock to slip in.”
He shoves two fingers into me to prove his point, curling them upward. I shut my eyes, struggling to collect myself. I’m supposed to be torturing him, not the other way around.
“I’m not going to fuck you tonight,” he says.
My eyes spring open, and I shoot Caleb the dirtiest glare I can muster while he’s fucking me with his fingers. “And why the hell not?”
He eases his fingers in and out, the drag and thickness of them making my thighs shake. I whimper when he pulls them out. Why does he insist on doing this to me? He wants to fuck me. I can feel the proof of that beneath me. He’s hard, straining against the thin material of his underwear.
“What kind of mate would I be if I fucked my mate before tasting her?” Caleb asks. “I’m going to make you cum every way possible before letting myself have you.”
His hands return to my hips, and I scramble to grab the bed’s headboard as he yanks me forward. My sex drags against his chest before landing on his tongue. I’m sitting on his face.
Caleb wastes no time.
The first exploratory swipe of his tongue has me shivering, my hands flying to his head. What Caleb lacks in experience, he makes up for in pure excitement. It doesn’t take long for him to have me rocking against his tongue, desperately chasing my own high.
I try my best not to hear the sounds he’s making. Caleb is noisy, slurping and sucking and moaning with abandon. My orgasm is so fucking close, and I throw my head back as I grind against his mouth.
When he eases two fingers inside me, I shatter. Caleb licks me through it, and only once I drop my forehead onto the headboard does he release me. I scoot back, sitting on his chest.
“Did you like that?” he asks.
I groan. “Shut up.”
He’s making fun of me. He knows I liked it. The way he’s purring beneath me only proves it.
Caleb rolls to the side. I fall onto the bed, facing him. He looks calm as he pulls the blankets above us and tangles our legs together, but he’s still hard.
“Are you going to fuck me now?” I ask.
I know the answer even before he shakes his head. “Not yet.”
“What’re you waiting for?” I pry, growing genuinely exasperated.
Caleb ignores me, choosing instead to pull my thigh over his hips. He continues adjusting, pulling down his underwear and easing his thick cock between my thighs. I sigh, clenching as he drags the head of his cock through my folds.
Should I offer to put my mouth on him? I’ve never given a man oral. I might enjoy it with Caleb.
“I want to be inside you so badly,” Caleb admits. “My wolf is practically screaming at me to push inside.” He notches himself against my entrance but doesn’t go any farther. I could cry, I’m so desperate for it. “I bet I’d slip right in. Your cunt is practically begging for me.”
That’s not much of a secret.
Caleb strokes himself, his fist flying over his length. His hips are twitching, and I know he’s fighting every instinct to push forward. I arch my back, angling my hips so it would be easy for him, but he doesn’t take the bait.
“Are you going to wear my cum tomorrow?” he asks. “I want every shifter you come across to know you’re mine.”
Caleb grunts, his jaw clenching as he spills between my thighs. He coats me, covering every inch of my slit with his release.
He jumps out of bed the second he’s finished.
“Don’t move!” he orders.
I frown. “I’d be more inclined to listen to you if you fucked me.”
Despite my snarky remark, I don’t move. Caleb steps into our closet, returning a minute later with a pair of my underwear. He pulls back the covers and slips them up my legs, a lethal smirk covering his face as he secures them around my hips.
“Perfect,” he says, pressing the flat of his palm against my sex. His release smears against me and soaks the fabric. “I like knowing my mate is covered in my cum.”
I lick my lips, fighting back a smile.
“You’re quite a filthy virgin,” I tease.
Caleb shrugs, not the least bit offended, and flops onto the bed beside me. “There are worse things to be.”
That there are.
I wake alone in bed. The sheets beside me are cold, and I can’t help but feel disappointed as I head into the bathroom. Where did Caleb venture off to?
I spend several minutes in the bathroom, using the toilet and brushing my teeth, before heading downstairs. I find my shifter in the kitchen, leaning over the counter and sipping his morning coffee.
He’s looking out the back window. I follow his gaze. It finally snowed last night. Several inches cover the ground, which isn’t ideal. The roads in the shifter lands aren’t cared for, nor are they salted. I need to get out of here before they become undrivable.
“What does your wolf look like?” I ask. I caught a glimpse of it that first day, but I hardly remember. I was in so much pain, and he transformed into his skin form almost immediately.
“You want to see my wolf?” Caleb asks. Why does he sound so surprised?
“Of course.” I shrug. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Caleb straightens up. “I thought you’d be scared. My wolf is large.”
“I trust you.”
The look Caleb gives me is so fucking soft, I have to turn away. I push open the back door, distracting myself with anything that isn’t Caleb’s heart eyes. We haven’t discussed his confession of love the other day, but it’s heavy on my mind.
Does he really love me? How does he know? I want to know everything about his feelings toward me, but I don’t want to encourage him by showing too much interest. I can’t tell him I love him, not when I’m planning to murder him. It’s too cruel.
“Well?” I gesture to the back door. “I want to see.”
HPAW will want to know. They’ve captured several shifters in the years I was under their care, but the shifters they managed to get into their possession are almost always women or weak, older men. The strong, virile men are never captured alive.
They fight until death.
Caleb saunters around the kitchen island and out the back door, his arm brushing against mine. I resist the urge to physically react. My skin is still so sensitive to his touch. It’s not nearly as all-consuming as it once was, but it’s still intense.
I watch through the window as Caleb strips off his clothing.
The transformation is gruesome. His body twists and contorts in ways that would kill a human, and his mass grows until the man is replaced with a giant wolf.
His fur is the same dark brown as his hair, and even on all fours, he’s almost as tall as me.
My heart races as he enters the house, my adrenaline spiking. I wasn’t lying when I told Caleb I trust him, but being around such a large, deadly animal is still terrifying. There’s no way around that.
His watchful brown eyes track my every movement, the intense expression odd to see on an animal. This isn’t just an animal, though. This is a shifter.
“You’re large,” I say.
The wolf’s head bobs.
The fur on the back of his right paw is discolored. It’s white, just like the mark on his skin form. I instinctively glance at my own dark mark before returning my attention to the wolf.