Chapter Five
Astrid tried to go to sleep.
It was the full moon.
She hadn’t seen Lord in two days. Blake had already told her Lord wouldn’t be back until the full moon was over. He didn’t return for more food, even though the burritos and cookies he took were not going to be substantial.
She didn’t like this sudden overwhelming feeling that swept right over her. It was a need she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It consumed.
Before she had a chance to second-guess what she was doing, she threw the blankets off her body and swung her legs out of bed.
The moment they hit the cold wooden floor, she had a brief hit of sanity.
Then, she felt that pull that had her moving off the bed and taking the steps toward the window.
Glancing out the window, she looked out over Lord’s land, expecting to see something, anything. There was nothing.
What did she feel? Why was it making her feel this way? Nothing made any sense.
She made her way to the door, and then downstairs. She didn’t go to the kitchen, but opened the front door, and that was when she came face to face with Lord.
This had to be a dream.
Astrid didn’t make a sound. Their gazes met and neither of them turned away. There was nowhere for her to turn, no other place for her to look. She was completely trapped and under his gaze.
And then, before she knew what was happening, he’d shoved his shoulders into her stomach and lifted her right onto them, carrying her out of the house. As if by magic, the door seemed to close, but she imagined Lord merely pulled it closed.
There was no fear as he took off. She expected to feel pain from being splayed over his shoulder, but there was none as he carried her away from the house.
Astrid didn’t know where they were, however, it was as he carried her and she was face to face with his ass that she realized Lord was completely naked.
Had he been naked when he faced her at the house?
There was no way someone’s clothes simply melted away.
He had to have been naked when she saw him at the house, and she hadn’t noticed.
She found that so hard to believe, and then just as suddenly, she was on her feet.
Astrid wanted to look down, but instead, his blue eyes held her in their grip. She couldn’t look away. He pressed her up against a tree, and she put her hands on his chest, and then slowly began to slide them up, wrapping around the back of his neck.
It seemed to last a lifetime where he just stared at her, and his gaze kept falling to her lips, but he never kissed her. She wanted his mouth on hers, to taste him.
And then, as if by another form of magic, it finally happened, and he took possession of her lips. This kiss was everything she hoped for. The feel of his lips on hers set her world aflame. It was magic and poignant, and she didn’t want it to end.
Lord traced her lips with his tongue, and she opened up to him. He plunged inside, and she tasted him on her tongue. It made her moan and melt at the same time.
At first, his hands were pressed either side of her head, and all of sudden, he grabbed her hips, pulling her in close, and she cried out his name, not wanting him to stop as they were flush together.
Astrid didn’t know if she should warn him that she was a virgin. The thought entered and exited her mind so quickly, she didn’t have the chance to second-guess it.
Lord tugged at her pajama top, and she tried to wriggle out of the damn thing, but he was much stronger, tearing the top to shreds with a simple slash of his arm.
Next, her pajama bottoms. The clothes lay at her feet, then Lord ran his hands all over her body, making her moan.
He seemed to touch her everywhere and anywhere.
She felt his touch deep in her core, and she didn’t want it to stop.
When he cupped her between her thighs and stroked her pussy, she cried out at the instant hit of heat. She didn’t want him to stop and yet at the same time, it was almost too much. She just couldn’t get enough of him, of this, of everything.
He broke the kiss, trailing his lips to her neck, nipping down on her flesh. Each touch went straight to her clit, so her orgasm took her completely by surprise in the sheer force of it.
Astrid knew what was coming next. She wanted to warn him, but she didn’t want this to stop. What if he didn’t want a virgin?
There was no way she wanted this to end. This was all of her fantasies wrapped into one exquisite package.
Lord lifted her up, and she had no choice but to wrap her legs around him.
He was so strong, it took her breath away.
And then, he pulled her down onto his length, and she had hoped the slight pain would come and go.
However, the sheer force of his penetration took her breath away, and she let out a scream.
She felt him tense, and it was the strangest sensation.
One moment she felt the pain, and it was like something helped her.
The pain left her as if it was nothing more than a memory.
Lord gripped her hips and pulled her down onto his length, and she felt nothing but pleasure. He was long and thick, and he felt so good. Everywhere was consumed with him. She didn’t want to let him go.
She kissed his shoulder and as she pulled back, Lord was already there to kiss her. She felt his cock pulse between her thighs.
There was no pain, and none of the books talked about how good it felt. Staring into Lord’s eyes, she felt this flood of warmth envelop her. She couldn’t look away, even as he kissed her.
He began to rock inside her, slowly at first, and she felt every inch of him as he sank deep within her. She didn’t want him to stop, and he didn’t disappoint. The pleasure was intense and it flooded her with every passing second.
He gripped her ass tightly, and she knew she was going to have bruises tomorrow. He leaned her back against the tree, then reached down between them and began to stroke her clit.
Astrid knew she had felt pleasure before this, but now as he built her need up again, this time it felt different. With his large cock inside her, she had something to squeeze onto, and Lord grunted as well. The sounds he made seemed to arouse her even more.
She didn’t want him to stop. It was like fire. Even more than that. Wildfire?
She felt consumed, and as Lord threw her over the edge, Astrid knew she would never be the same again.
This was more than she could have imagined.
****
Lord stared down at the ground.
Astrid lay on the ground at the base of his favorite tree with the evidence on her thighs of what they had done last night. The sun was due to rise within the hour, and he had to get her home. Last night was a big fucking mistake.
He had never ventured to the house on a full moon. After a run, he always stayed at this fucking tree, because he liked it.
The house had called to him. Even as he tried to ignore it, he found himself fighting, but the front door was there, and he hoped Astrid would open it.
No, he had hoped she would be sane enough to stay indoors or at least go to sleep.
He would have stayed at that door all night long.
Of course, Astrid hadn’t been fucking sane.
She opened the door, and then it was like he lost all sense of control.
Where he’d been completely naked, as he’d stripped out of his clothes to go for his run, Astrid had been in full pajamas.
He hadn’t been happy about those clothes, and the moment he got her out to his favorite spot, those clothes had gone.
He wanted her completely naked and at his mercy. He’d gotten her, and she was a virgin. The evidence was still on her thighs, along with the evidence of his spilled seed. Last night had been a total fucking disaster.
He paced the spot on the ground. What had he done?
There was no way he could tell anyone about this.
He had never been with a human woman. He’d never .
.. what the fuck had happened last night?
He recalled the pain Astrid had been in, and he felt his dick respond and knew he had somehow taken the pain completely away from her.
There was no way he was going to leave her here.
Part of him was tempted to be the asshole and push her away.
Instead, he reached down, picked her up in his arms, and Astrid didn’t wake.
She settled right against him, and she should know not to trust him.
He wasn’t a good man. She should get as far away from him as possible.
Lord carried her back to their home, and during the journey, he tried to come up with the best way of dealing with this. He could see where this went, and he entered a new chapter with his relationship with Astrid.
They could ignore what happened tonight.
Or, he could be a dick and push her away.
He didn’t like any of the options. At the same time, he couldn’t help but see Astrid, swollen and pregnant with his child.
He couldn’t seem to get that out of his mind.
Lord didn’t want to have kids, yet she was all he could think about.
They had sex. Sex came with the risk of pregnancy. And his mind flashed with images of Astrid, laughing and smiling, and their little child soon turned into two, then three, and then four.
What the fuck was going on? Why was he suddenly filled with images of a future he had never wanted?
None of this made sense to him. He was not a mated male.
He was not part of any pack. And he was pretty sure his wolf was fucking with his head, trying to fill it with ideas he didn’t want. He was not going to be mated. Not ever.
He arrived back at his home and carried Astrid up to her bedroom. She was still fast asleep. He put her on the bed and checked the time, knowing she had already missed her alarm.
Last night would have been hard for her.
Knowing Astrid, she already had plans for breakfast, and he would deal with that.
Even as every fiber of his being was screaming at him not to leave her, to climb into that bed and to make love to her, he left the bedroom.
He took a quick shower, which he hated because it wiped the scent of her off his body.
All he wanted was to be immersed in her.
To bathe in her vanilla scent until he was completely full, and he had a feeling when it came to Astrid, he was never going to be full of her.
Mate.
My mate.
Mine.
He didn’t like those words. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore them. He was not a mated wolf. There was never going to be anything between him and Astrid.
He went downstairs and looked in the kitchen. The guys would be arriving to work soon. After a full moon, he always gave them a little extra time so they never saw him wandering home naked.
He was hungry, there were leftover burritos in the fridge, and he took one. There was no menu, no sign, no nothing about what she was going to cook for breakfast.
He needed to get out of there to clear his head before he did something he would regret.
Finishing the burrito, he left the house and made his way into the barn.
He had already checked over everything, and there was no work to be done.
It was a place where few people disturbed him, and he needed to get his head on straight.
He should have known Blake would come looking for him.
“I thought I would find you here,” Blake said, arriving an hour later.
“And you found me, and you can leave.”
Blake paused, and Lord had a feeling he was staring at him. He looked up and sure enough, Blake was staring right at him.
“What? I’m fine. You can go,” Lord said.
“Okay, there’s something weird about you, and there’s something weird about Astrid. When I left you two yesterday, everything was fine, but something’s up. What is it?”
“Nothing, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I know, but something is going on and I think you need to talk about it,” Blake said.
“I’ve got nothing to talk about.”
“You came to the house last night, didn’t you?” Blake asked.
Why had he decided to make friends with a human? Blake was a good guy, but he was a gossip and liked to talk, while Lord liked none of those things.
“Leave, Blake.”
“You and Astrid finally had sex.” Blake clapped his hands together, and Lord couldn’t help but let out a growl. He was a master at controlling his wolf, but in that moment, he was having a great deal of difficulty.
Blake looked shocked.
“Astrid asked after you,” Blake said, clearly ignoring the warning.
“She needs to learn to leave me alone,” Lord said.
“Oh, shit, are you going to do that? Seriously, you and her have been dancing around each other ever since she came to work for you, and don’t even get me started on all your sudden trips to the library.
I’m not a wolf, but I know there is something at play here, and it’s more than just attraction. She’s your mate, isn’t she?”
“Blake, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve been living in No Wolves Road for quite some time, and I know the difference between basic attraction and the need to fuck, and the fact your claws came out the moment I mentioned her name.
I know it’s not happened often, but there are a couple of wolves who are mated to humans. It can happen.”
“Astrid and I will never happen. She shouldn’t have come out last night. All she was, was a convenience. Any woman would have done.”
He heard the whimper.
He’d been so consumed with putting Blake straight that he’d not heard Astrid approach, or even sensed her.
But he heard that whimper, and it was like a kick in the gut.