Chapter 8
eight
ZOE
It was getting late when we finally picked up more food and drove back toward Connor’s place. Our intertwined hands rested on my thigh, and it felt intimate in a way I really, really liked.
The comfort was honestly unreal.
“Can I show you something?” Connor asked, as we pulled onto the dirt road that led to the pack’s land.
“Sure. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”
A few minutes later, he turned down a branch on the dirt road that I had never noticed. It was barely there, but Connor followed it like he’d driven down it many times.
“If this is the part where you murder me, we can just fast forward a bit,” I said playfully.
I’d seen the nice camera tucked in a protective bag in his back seat, and we’d talked about his photography hobby the night before, so I knew he had a thing for finding beautiful scenery. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine he was taking me to one of the places he liked to shoot at.
He flashed me a grin. “If I wanted to murder you, I’ve had plenty of opportunities.”
“That’s fair.”
He squeezed my hand lightly. “Have you ever slept under the stars, Zoe?”
“I haven’t. Is that what we’re doing?”
“Only if you’re interested. I think being out here will help with the shifting situation.”
“Why?”
“If you want to learn how to give control to your wolf, it’ll help to see the world the way she does.”
I didn’t quite understand what he meant, but nodded anyway.
Why not try it?
Connor parked at the end of the barely-there dirt road, and we both got out of the truck. He pulled a stack of blankets out of his back seat while I stopped abruptly when I saw the view.
We were on the far side of the lake that the guys had built their houses on the edges of. The sun was setting over the water, and their homes were out of sight.
It was pure, undiluted nature. Greens, blues, and browns that melded together to create the most beautiful view I had ever seen.
“It’s stunning,” I admitted.
Connor opened the tailgate of his truck. There was a mattress in the back, and that made my heart warm.
He’d planned this.
He lifted me up onto the edge of the tailgate. My eyes were on the horizon as he joined me there, his legs on either side of me as he pulled me to his chest.
His body was warm, and engulfed mine in a way that made my throat swell with emotion.
Safety.
That was all I could feel, with him holding me that way.
“You forget how big the world is sometimes,” I murmured.
“How small it is, too.” Connor’s chin rested on the top of my head, his whole body cradling mine. His erection was against my ass, but he wasn’t trying to start anything.
“What would a wolf be thinking, looking at this?” I asked.
“They wouldn’t think. They would just be.”
“That sounds kind of nice,” I admitted. “I wish I knew how to do that. I’ve tried to clear my mind in so many different ways, but nothing seems to work.”
“Distraction is better than clearing your mind.”
“What kind of distraction?”
“Well, we could walk down to the water and wade in the lake for a while.”
I made a face. “It’s probably cold.”
“Probably. We could play Scrabble on our phones together, instead. You’d probably crush me. I’m terrible.”
“I’m actually awful at Scrabble too. Not enough numbers involved.”
“Hmm. Well, no point in that, then. We could just go for a walk around the lake.”
“We could,” I said, but my mind was elsewhere.
“Or I could touch you here.” Connor’s hand moved slowly over the front of my parted thighs. I was slick, though he couldn’t feel it. “Unless letting me get you off in the middle of the forest is a little too wild for you, Gorgeous.”
“Isn’t being wild the point?”
“Hell yeah.” He pressed his heel lightly to my center. I couldn’t stop myself from moving my hips a little. “Are you in?”
“Hell yeah.” I mirrored his reply, earning a gravelly chuckle.
His hand was in the waistband of my leggings a moment later, the thick muscles of his arm pinned to my abdomen with tight spandex. I nearly arched off the tailgate when his fingers found my clit, and my cry of pleasure was so loud it echoed through the trees.
I threw a hand over my mouth, my eyes wide as I looked around us.
Connor’s low chuckle eased my tension slightly. “The forest doesn’t give a damn how loud you are, Gorgeous. We’re far enough from the pack that none of them will hear a thing.”
“I don’t know if I can—fuck.” I choked out the curse as he resumed touching me.
“You can.” His lips brushed my throat, and he sucked lightly.
The moan that escaped me was pure need.
“There you go. Just like that.”
The tip of his finger found my opening while his thumb continued teasing my clit.
My hips arched more, and Connor dragged me onto his thigh. “Tell me I can take these off you.” He tugged the waistband of my leggings.
“Take them off.”
He worked them down my thighs as he continued stroking my clit, testing my entrance with his fingertip but not filling me.
My body arched.
Rocked.
Writhed.
My leggings hit the dirt, and I didn’t so much as glance at them. When I looked down, all I saw was Connor’s hand in the front of my panties, with the soft fabric straining over his fist.
I finally lost control on his fingers with a cry. The pleasure was hot, but the release didn’t fix anything.
I still needed more.
I still needed Connor.
“You come so well for me, Gorgeous. Look at that pretty blush on your cheeks.” His voice was low, and the throb of his erection against my ass told me that he was just as into this as I was. “Need me to stop?”
“No,” I breathed.
“Good. I’m nowhere near done with you.”
Connor pulled his fingers out of my panties long enough to tear the fabric away and haul me onto the mattress behind us.
Turning me so I faced him, he set me on his lap and dragged his knuckles over my clit.
“Fuck me,” I breathed.
“You want my fingers, Gorgeous?” He teased my entrance with two of his fingertips.
“Yes.”
“Then take them.”
I groaned when he didn’t slide them in any further, waiting for me to do what he said.
Slowly, I lowered my body over them inch by inch. I was insanely tight after so long without having sex, and the stretch of them felt crazy good.
I leaned heavily against his chest as I finally felt his thumb on my clit again, taking the entire length of his fingers. My chest rose and fell heavily, and I looked down.
It was the most erotic thing I’d ever seen.
Connor’s massive hand was between my thighs, streaked with the slickness of my pleasure. His thumb pressed against my clit, and two of his fingers were buried inside me to the hilt. His erection strained against his jeans so much, it looked painful.
My fingers trembled just a little from the overwhelm of the moment when I reached over and undid his button. His thumb pressed harder to my clit as I slowly dragged his zipper down, and his erection sprung upward. It strained against his boxer briefs.
Even through the fabric, he was huge.
“I want to see you touch yourself,” I whispered. “You were turned away in the shower.”
“If you want me to jerk off, you need to show me how well you ride my hand, Gorgeous.”
I wanted—and needed—him too badly not to.
He freed his erection, wrapping his fist around the length before he looked at me.
And waited.
I pressed my hands to his shoulders and lifted myself higher before lowering myself over his fingers again.
The sensations were insane.
He stroked his cock, matching my rhythm until I lost control on his hand, rocking and crying out as I climaxed.
Connor rolled me to my back and kneeled over me, stroking his cock as he came all over my stomach.
It was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
Before I had time to recover, he had my thighs parted and his mouth on my clit.
I came again dizzyingly fast.
It wasn’t enough.
I still wanted him.
My mind was hazy with need as I tangled my fingers in the bun he’d tied at the top of his head and pulled him toward me.
“You want my cock?” His low, growly voice affected me more than anyone else’s touch ever had.
“Yes,” I breathed.
He sat me up long enough to pull my shirt over my head. My bra went with it.
I tugged on his tee, and it disappeared even faster than mine. His pants and boxer briefs went the same way.
Our eyes were locked together as he lined his cock up with my opening. We looked down at the same time, and both of our chests rumbled at the sight of us.
Connor dragged the swollen head of his erection over my center, coating the tip with slickness. “You ready, Gorgeous?”
“Very.”
He thrust forward slowly, and my lips parted at the hot stretch of his cock filling me.
My head tipped back.
My fingers tangled in the blankets, holding on for dear life.
“Zoe?” His voice was strained when he finally bottomed out inside me.
“Yeah?” I was panting. Definitely panting.
“Are you okay?”
“Way better than okay.”
A savage groan escaped him. “You feel fucking incredible. I can’t believe you fit me this well.”
My toes curled, and my hips arched of their own volition. He growled, and I cried out.
When he moved his hips, I lost control.
It was too much.
It was everything.
A scream of pleasure tore through my lungs, and the most intense climax of my life had me rocking and shaking and arching.
Connor snarled and fucked me hard, dragging my pleasure out for what felt like ages as he came too.
We groaned together as he rolled us over so I was resting on top of him. His cock was still buried inside me, but neither of us was in a hurry to change that.
I pressed my forehead to his neck. He held me close, stroking the scar on my hip lightly. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so content. Or so… loved.
“Is this what it’s like to be a wolf?” I asked him lightly.
He chuckled. “I hope so.”
“I—oh, shit.” I choked on a curse as my back arched again, for an entirely different reason.
My wolf was shifting.
“Breathe, Gorgeous,” Connor commanded, his hands cupping my cheeks as he lifted my chin so our eyes could meet.
I was relaxed enough that breathing through the pain actually did manage to help a little.
“Just like that,” Connor agreed.
My body continued to shift, and despite the pain, the change was significantly easier than the last one had been. The man coaching me through it helped a little—and the way he had both worn me out and effectively killed my stress helped a ton.
Far sooner than I would’ve expected, my wolf was shaking out her fur while Connor grinned at her.
“You are absolutely beautiful,” he told her, scratching her fur and nuzzling her. She snuggled up against him, licking his face and his throat.
After he talked to her for a few minutes, telling her all sorts of sweet things, she leaned up to his arm again.
And bit him.
Connor went unnaturally still as she pulled away, her tail wagging and her tongue lolling out of her mouth.
The emotions in his eyes were fierce as his lips slowly stretched in another grin.
“You didn’t care if I was out of your sight, because you’d already made up your mind,” he said.
She licked the already-healing wound on his throat a few times.
“Thank you.” He hugged her close, still stroking her fur.
She wiggled out of his arms, then padded to the edge of the truck’s tailgate and jumped down. When she streaked into the forest, his laughter followed her.
His wolf did, too.
My friends had told me that they hadn’t been able to shift during the climax phase of their mate bond, but I guess that didn’t apply to us.
I understood pretty quickly what everyone had said about respecting their wolves. The beast I now shared my body with was just as alive as I was—maybe even more.
Our animals didn’t run for long before the climax forced them to shift in the middle of the forest. Connor had me bent over a fallen log while he fucked me almost as soon as I was done shifting.
We only managed to walk a few minutes between rounds, and had an insane amount of sex in the forest on our way back to the truck. By the time Connor had me sitting on the tailgate while we screwed, the sun was high in the sky and we were both thoroughly covered in dirt.
Somehow, I didn’t mind it.
Probably because of all the orgasms.