Chapter 12
CADE
Bringing Faye to the point of ecstasy had Cade more turned on than he’d ever been, even counting those crazy years of puberty when he could get off watching nothing more titillating than an episode of Friends.
He sucked at her clit, relishing the way she wriggled, her little exclamations of surprise.
Using his index finger, he rubbed her entryway and slid in as far as his finger reached, then curled it to tickle the front of her inner wall.
“Oh Pan, oh Pan, oh Pan!” she shrieked, her hands clutching his head as her internal muscles closed around his finger.
“That’s it, little fairy,” he encouraged, lifting his head but continuing to press his finger in and out of her.
“Oh, Cade,” she whimpered as if it hurt.
He looked up and froze, seeing tears on her face. “Oh shit…”
“No!” she wept, reaching for his wrist to shove his finger deeper inside her. “No, it’s awesome. It’s the best.”
He obeyed her urging, continuing to finger fuck her until her orgasm faded and she lay back on his bed, exhausted.
“It was so good you cried?” he asked, trying to understand whether she was really okay.
“I didn’t cry!” She swiped at her face with her hands. “My eyes watered a little, that’s all.”
He thought about turning dom and spanking her for lying, but considering her apparent fragility, he opted for settling next to her and kissing her neck. His cock strained against his boxer briefs, jumping at the contact with her leg, which made her eyes widen and her body go stiff.
“Uh, I think I’ll go take a long shower, okay?” He rolled away.
“Yeah, fine.” She jumped out of bed, practically running for the door.
“I like a big breakfast in the morning, slave!” he called out to her retreating back.
“Yep. You just take a long shower, and I will whip something up!”
He grinned, wanting nothing more than to snatch her up, toss her back in his bed, and never let her leave it again.
He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a girl in his life.
But the attraction went deeper than the physical.
He liked everything about her—her feisty spirit, her ditzy intelligence, her cooking.
With Faye, he could really have something.
And as a paranormal herself, she might accept his animal side.
He yanked off his t-shirt and boxer briefs, stepping into the shower.
Wrapping his fist around his cock, he closed his eyes and let the water spray his face as he slowly stroked up and down his shaft, replaying every moment of the scene he’d just left.
He almost ejaculated at the moment in his memory when Faye came, but he backed off, wanting to enjoy the images of her a bit longer.
He leaned his back against the wet tile and revisited every spanking he’d given her since he brought her into his house as his slave.
By the time he had enjoyed them all, his legs trembled, his cock straining in his fist. He came back to the scene in his bed, this time imagining she had begged him to take her and the moment he slid his cock into her imaginary sheath, he came in an endless stream, the release so huge the beast within nearly howled in victory.
Toweling off, he whistled as he dressed, eager to see what Faye made for breakfast. But strangely, his excellent sense of smell did not detect any food cooking in the kitchen. He walked out of his room. “Faye?” he called.
She was not in the living room or kitchen. She was not in the bathroom.
Son of a bitch. Faye had run. Why? He opened the front door, and saw her tracks in the snow that had fallen during the night. They led to his motorcycle, where they stopped, turned, and headed across his property toward the woods. Double son of a bitch.
He stepped back inside, shutting the door and pulling off his clothes.
Throwing them into a satchel, he tossed the bag over his shoulder and closed his eyes, focusing on the zone of the hunt to shift.
He had learned long ago how to step outside his body during the bone-crushing moments of changing, avoiding the sensation of being torn in two.
He held his breath, waiting to see if the flippers would remain in his wolf form, but four perfect paws hit the floor, and he took off, his nails scraping the wood as he tore out the back doggie door into the snow.
Following her scent and her tracks, he ran as fast as he could, fearful the falling snow would soon erase both. He doubted Faye knew her way through the woods, even with her fairy blood to assist her.
Why had she run?
As he raced through the trees, he went over the scene in his bedroom again, this time without getting aroused. She had cried. Had he hurt her? Scared her? Had she liked it too much? He wished he knew.
She probably had a half hour’s head start, but he could well out-run her, so long as he didn’t lose her scent. He slowed when the tracks disappeared, the snow falling too fast. All he saw was a pure blanket of white. He lowered his nose, straining to catch her sweet fairy scent.
She would freeze out here if he didn’t find her soon. Her tracks had not led him in a straight path, worrying him that she was lost or disoriented. Remembering how chilled the motorcycle ride made her only increased his concern. Her petite frame had no extra body fat to keep her warm.
He stopped, losing her scent altogether. Fuck. He sat and lifted his nose in the air, sniffing the breeze, straining his sensitive ears for any sound.
Whether it was smell or instinct, he caught the impression of fear, the hunter within him crouching low before he even registered what caused the reaction.
Faye. It had to be her.
FAYE
Fate.
She had lost all sense of direction. This was bad. Really bad.
Tears smarted her eyes as she turned in a full circle, trying to get her bearings. The snowstorm made it impossible to see the sun or the mountains or anything else to tell her in which direction lay the side of the forest closest to her home. She had a feeling she had gone astray at some point.
She took off a mitten and tucked her numb fingers inside her jacket and under her armpit, cursing at the pain of the pins and needles that accompanied their wakening. Why had she thought she could walk back to her place?
Because she had been out of her mind, that’s why.
Cade awakened a lust in her so undeniable she had teetered on the brink of begging on her knees for him to take her.
And if she gave into her desire, she would lose all her powers, forever.
And Cade would never forgive her for turning his feet into flippers and ruining his life.
She leaned her forehead against a tree, taking the hand out of her armpit and changing over to the other hand. The snap of a twig alerted her a half second before she heard a horrific bark and whirled to see an enormous wolf lunging for her.
She screamed like she was in a horror movie, a high pitched, mirror-shattering screech that did not stop until her vocal cords gave out. Cowering in a huddled crouch against the tree, she opened her eyes and drew in a breath to see why she was still alive.
The huge silver wolf stood inches from her, its snout lowered to the height of her shoulders as if it were friendly.
But that couldn’t be. Wolves were not friendly.
She drew in a shaky breath, not moving a muscle, her eyes traveling warily over the animal.
It had a silver tag on one ear, as if it had been marked for study at some point.
She slowly reached her hand inside the pocket of her coat, withdrawing her wand.
The wolf snarled, its powerful jaws snatching the wand and tearing it from her hand while she emitted another ear-piercing scream.
It dropped the wand into the snow and lowered its snout again, nudging her thigh.
Was that another tag over its eye? The eyes lifted and stared straight at her. Golden eyes.
With a gasp, her feet slid out from under her, and she plopped on the snowy ground in shock.
“C-Cade?”
The wolf nudged her again, this time under her elbow, like it—he—wanted to help her stand.
“Cade?” she repeated.
Was she losing her mind? Was this the hallucination of hypothermia? Or was Cade Lupus a shifter? Duh! Of course he was. Canis lupus.
He gave a short bark, and she shrieked reflexively even though she understood he was answering her. As if to reassure her, he flopped down and laid his head in her lap. She realized he wore a satchel across one shoulder, the final confirmation that this wolf, was indeed, her landlord.
She let out a sob of relief and buried her face in his fur, stroking his beautiful coat.
He made another vocalization—just the start of a bark and leapt to his feet, looking away and looking back to her.
“Okay,” she sniffed, trying to recover. “You want me to follow?”
He made a chuffing sound and trotted forward, stopping to look back. She picked up her wand and jogged to his side, grateful she would not freeze to death in the Black Forest.
He kept a swift pace. She had to trot to keep up, but she didn’t mind as it helped her get warm. She thought he would take her back to his house or to her place if it were closer, but instead, they ended up at a giant lodge, a large sign announcing its name in bold letters.
Spa NK, Fetish Shop and Play Lodge
The wolf trotted up the steps as if he belonged there.
“Wait, I don’t know if they’ll allow dogs… er, wolves.”
The door swung open and the bellhop said, “Welcome, Mr. Lupus. Welcome, ma’am.”
She stared in surprise, following Cade as he traipsed inside like he owned the place.
“Hi, Cade!” the bubbly desk clerk greeted him. If Faye were a wolf, she would’ve growled at the insipid girl. “I’m assuming you want your usual room.” The clerk typed something into her computer.
Usual room? What the hell was this place? She glanced around, seeing the kinds of things you might find in a sex shop hanging on the walls: riding crops, wrist cuffs, blindfolds, paddles.
Her belly tightened and her mouth went dry. Where had Cade taken her?
The clerk looked at her for the first time, placing two key cards on the counter. “Room 38B, upstairs and to your left.” She didn’t give Faye the bright smile she gave Cade.
Trying to look confident, she snatched up the cards and marched ahead, accidentally passing the stairs while she held her head high. She turned around and saw Cade standing with two paws climbing the stairs, looking expectantly at her.
“Oops,” she muttered, returning and stomping up the stairs with him.
She looked down over the balcony into the great room of the lodge.
Two women and a man sat playing chess. Something about the red-haired woman made the hairs of her arms stand up.
Supernatural. Maybe fey like her? No… something different. She could not tell for sure.
Cade bumped her leg to hurry her, leading her to their room where she used the key card to get in.
The enormous room was appointed in rustic elegance. The bathroom alone was as big as her bedroom, with a huge travertine tile tub in the middle, complete with jets. The bedroom had only one king bed.
That would be a problem.
Beside her, a sickening sound of bones crunching made her jump, and when she whirled, Cade stood as a man again. She gulped. A huge, stacked man without a stitch of clothing.
He gave a dog-like shake of his head, which cracked his neck. She tried to keep her eyes from wandering below his waist. Cade’s glower snapped her focus back to his face.
He pointed to the giant bathroom. “Get in there. Warm up with a hot bath or shower. When you come out, you will be taking a very long trip over my knee.”
Her tummy flipped like a pancake and she stood rooted to the spot.
He frowned, his amber eyes moving over her face. “Talk to me, Faye—are you all right?”
She nodded, her head wobbling on her neck.
He pushed her into the enormous bathroom and turned on the water in the tub. “I know I scared you out there. That’s quite a scream you have. Have you ever auditioned for horror flicks?”
His flippancy brought her voice back. “Yeah, you might have mentioned the part about you being a werewolf.”
He unzipped her jacket and pulled it off, dropping it on the floor. Before she could protest, he whipped her shirt over her head and reached behind her to unclasp her bra, clearly an expert in removing women’s lingerie.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked, feeling as if the air had been sucked out of the room. In another moment, they would both be stark naked.
“Putting you in the bath. And you’d better get used to being nude in front of me because you officially lost your clothing privileges, little fairy.”