Chapter 9 Scenting #2
“He needs to know your background. It explains a few things.” His hand settled on my thigh, his thumb rubbing back and forth absently.
“Please,” I whispered.
“Okay, for now.”
“Thank you.” Our eyes met and the magnetic pull dragged me toward him. I could kiss him.
What was wrong with me? I was planning to leave and find my vampire patron. Or at least figure out the truth and if I could trust Evrin or not… and now I was about to kiss this werewolf who kidnapped me.
He had planted such doubt in my mind and lulled me into a haze of lust. Even when he didn’t have his hands on me, I wanted him.
If I was honest, I wanted Cade too. Maybe it was a werewolf thing. Maybe they were particularly irresistible to each other.
Swallowing, I shifted away from Luca, trying to gain some distance and common sense.
“So what do I do now? Wait for the full moon?”
“I hope you choose to join our pack. But after your first shift, you’ll be stronger with better senses. You can leave if you want to. We can contact nearby territories and get you safe passage. I’m sure some of them would be open to a new pack member.”
“I have to join a pack?” It felt like a dumb question, but it hadn’t occurred to me that it was a requirement. Couldn’t I pretend to be human?
“You’ll want to. It’s in our nature.” That hand on my thigh slid higher, and I wasn’t sure it was intentional. Luca seemed to touch me without thinking, but I was finding it hard to think of anything else. His palm was so hot.
“We draw some power from our pack. And the pack bond is really comforting. I think you’ll like it.
” He continued to explain, and I clenched my fingers in the blankets, trying to force myself to focus when all I wanted to do was jump his bones.
I swear these werewolves coated themselves in sex pollen.
“So what about the next week? I can’t sit in this room for a week waiting on the moon. It’s been really nice, but I think it’ll get boring.”
Luca tilted his head, his eyes narrowing and mouth curving wickedly. “I’m not enough entertainment for you?”
Scrunching my nose, I scowled at him. His exhale came out in an amused chuff.
“You should get to know the rest of the pack.” That sounds like a bad idea after my experience with Cade and Luca. “You can enjoy the pack house and spend some time relaxing. Maybe read in a hammock. Swim in the lake if you want to. Can you swim?”
I shook my head.
“Okay, maybe not that. But you can sit on the dock with your toes in the water. I’ll sit with you.”
“Don’t you have other things to do other than babysit me?” I said, a tinge of bitterness to my tone.
His hand tightened, fingers pressing into the soft flesh at the top of my thigh. “No. They can plan the next mission. My focus is you.”
My swallow was thick. His blistering, icy stare sent a shiver down my spine. He was so beautiful, it made my chest ache and my skin prickle.
“Okay, I do have to help some. But I promise, I won’t abandon you. And I’m sure you’ll make friends in the pack.”
“I don’t think the rest of them liked me. You heard what that woman said,” I muttered, trying to escape the intensity of his attention.
His lips flattened and his eyes flashed. I fought the urge to flinch at his anger. “I’ve made it clear that you are under my protection. But, I think we should really drive the point home.”
“What?”
He pressed forward, and I leaned back, my brows pinching.
“Remember how you scent-marked me without meaning to? That is a sign to other wolves. You wear my scent, you belong to me. It’ll deter them on an instinctual level.”
With each word, he moved, fluid like the predator he was. My gaze caught on his canines, and I imagined them on my skin, biting in a very different way than the vampires did.
“Oh,” I said, breathless. He was on his hands and knees, his face inches from mine.
“May I?” he asked, hesitating.
Blinking, I nodded, struggling to form a sentence. His hand pressed on my shoulder, lowering me back to sprawl on the bed. His hand moved to my neck, and his fingers threaded into the hair at my nape, his wrist rubbing along the sensitive skin below my ear.
His chest pressed into mine, his arm supporting most of his weight. The pressure of him was comforting, and I had to bite back a moan.
I kept as still as I could, letting Luca nuzzle into my neck, like I had done to him before. His lips pressed into the crook of my neck, and I stopped breathing altogether.
His fingers in my hair tightened, the pull making my eyes roll back in my head.
He was just scent-marking me. I shouldn’t be imagining our clothing coming off.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I forced myself to breathe, trying to control the quick, shaky inhales.
He dragged his tongue over the same spot, and my vision went white.
“Luca,” I whined his name.
The werewolf froze. Every muscle went taut under my hands. “Are you begging me, wildcat?”
“No.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to get myself under control. “Yes. Maybe.”
I could feel his smirk as he dragged his tongue across my collarbone. His lips lingered at the hollow of my throat. He could move lower, tug my shirt off, devour me.
My hands went to his waist, toying with the hem of his shirt. I wanted to strip it off him and run my tongue over each of those tattoos.
“I think that should do it,” Luca said, but made no move to get off of me. I shifted my hips, trying to gain some semblance of sanity, but instead, I brushed against his ready cock.
Last night, his voice in my ear, his hips pushing into my ass, his piercing, it all rushed over me. I shuddered, swept up in the memory as Luca’s weight pressed me into the mattress.
Hesitantly, he pulled back and sat up. I propped myself on my elbows and dazedly stared at him, knowing my skin was deeply flushed. My lips parted, wanting to ask, to beg, but I swallowed it down.
His dimples pressed into his cheeks as he stared back, lost in his thoughts. With a slight shake of his head, he climbed off the bed, gathered our breakfast plates, and headed for the door.
“Do you want to see the rest of the house?”
Disoriented, I scrambled up and straightened my clothes, trying to make it look like I wasn’t just five seconds away from dry humping Luca. My hair stuck up in the back, and it took a moment to untangle it.
“You look beautiful,” he said softly as I passed him, heading into the hallway.
My feet stumbled. I’d never been told I was beautiful before. Evrin called me delicious, exquisite, heavenly. But not beautiful.
Luca’s hand went to my lower back as the other held our stacked plates. “Come on, wildcat.”