Chapter Eight
Rocco was more than happy to make out on Rose’s front porch, but with the guys constantly doing perimeter checks and the beta team also out in force, he didn’t want to share his woman’s moans with anyone else.
Lifting her up in his arms, he carried her through to her small cabin. He kicked the door closed and leaned back, allowing her to lock it.
His senses were so acute, he didn’t even need to stop kissing her to get what he wanted. He also didn’t need to break away from her lips to work his way through her cabin. The scent of her was everywhere, and seeing as she wasn’t fighting his need for her anymore, he was more than happy to admit this was Heaven to him.
Basking in her scent, being surrounded by Rose, he now understood Wolfe and Boyan a lot more. They were quite dominating about their females, and they didn’t like it when any of the club brothers touched their belongings. He also knew they were a little jealous of Enzo knitting them sweaters.
Enzo’s scent tended to be all over it, and the guys had a problem with that. The truth was, he didn’t like smelling Graham near Rose, and yet, he did.
He knew she’d been helping with guard duty, which he didn’t like. Rocco had gone to the Alpha in the hope of getting it stopped, as his wolf could only take so much, but Alpha wasn’t hearing any of it.
The extra eyes and hands were more than welcome, seeing as the beta team could only help so much. Rose was held in slightly higher regard than the beta team. This had been unheard of before, and he figured it was down to Rose’s ability to clean up messes without causing trouble. In most situations, when it came to the beta team, they had no choice but to clean up their messes. Rose made life easier.
He pushed that out of his mind as he entered her bedroom, and the smells were intoxicating. Rocco placed her on her feet and then pulled her in close, cupping her face and kissing her. At the same time, he felt this overwhelming need to touch her, to make up for lost time, and get used to every inch of her. He wanted to commit what she looked like to memory, so he would never forget.
There was so much for him to make up for.
Taking hold of her shirt, he tried to do it nicel y— to remove it from her body without tearing i t— but he wasn’t a patient guy, and within seconds, he had torn her shirt in two.
“I liked that shirt,” she said.
“I’ll get you a new one.” He winked at her. What he would do was get her a shirt that was owned by him for her to wear. He’d love to see her in his clothes.
Boyan and Wolfe’s mates were always wearing their clothes, and he knew the brothers loved it.
Next, he helped with the skirt, and this time it fell to the floor without any trouble. Rose stepped out of it and he captured her hips, pulling her against him.
She still wore a bra, and he tore it from her body, knowing he should take a little extra care, but also not caring at the same time. Running his hands over her body, he loved her curves, and it was like she was designed to fit him, exactly as he hoped.
She moaned his name, and he was never going to forget that precious sound. He was going to treasure it always.
It was in that moment, when he held Rose in his arms and heard the noises she made, that he knew she was everything to him. It was a miracle he was even getting to hold her now. He had no doubt that if it weren’t for their wolves Rose wouldn’t let him anywhere near her.
He would have to work to make it up to her.
Rocco pulled her against his chest, which broke the kiss, but he started at her neck and slowly trailed his lips down, stopping at that zone on her pulse, and nibbling down toward the curve of her shoulder.
She let out a little moan, and again those sounds were awesome. He knew he was never going to get tired of hearing her.
Putting his hands on her waist, he took his time, sliding them down toward her hips, and then slowly drawing them up, going toward her nice, full tits. He cupped them in his hands, and they were more than a generous handful.
Touching the nipples, he teased the full peaks, as he kissed along her neck, and then going to the opposite side, trying to learn what made her tick. He wanted to learn every inch of her body so he knew what to do to drive her wild.
The scent of her arousal filled the air, and although he wanted to spend every waking second on those gorgeous tits, he knew he wanted to feel her sweet pussy. He kept one hand at her tits, and the other began to trail down, going between her thighs.
Cupping between her legs, he groaned her name and then slid a single finger between her slit. He traced across her tiny nub, and then stroked back and forth, hearing her moan. She shook within his arms, and Rocco had a feeling Rose had never been touched before.
“Rose?” he asked.
He knew he was running the risk of ruining this by just speaking, but he needed to know the truth.
“Yes.” It was so breathy and sexy.
“Are you a virgin?” he asked.
“Yes.”
It was an answer he wanted, and he knew he’d been given a gift he didn’t deserve.
Rose was his. All his. And she was the true gift, which he was only just seeing.
Stroking between the lips of her sex, he focused on her clit, wanting to bring her as much pleasure as possible.
Each time she filled the air with his name, it was like a gift he had been given. He didn’t want to ever hear her stop.
Rocco didn’t know if it was because they were mates, or that by some magical touch he knew her body, but he stroked her in such a way that she melted against him, and with a few strokes of his fingers, she came apart, screaming his name.
****
“I don’t like this,” Alpha said.
“You know the first snow is going to come. Those cages are not the place for a human,” Rose said.
“He’s not entirely human anymore. Are people forgetting that?” Alpha asked.
“No, I’m not forgetting that, but you cannot leave him in those cages.”
“Okay, look, Rose, I know you want to help, but you’ve only cleaned up the mess. You’ve not seen the full extent of what these … things do,” Enzo said, putting his knitting on his lap.
Rose sighed. They were at the Poison Wolves MC main clubhouse. Agatha and Amelia had thought she came to see them, but she hadn’t. She’d never been close to girls, no, that wasn’t accurate, she’d never been good at making friends, period. She’d come to approach Alpha in the hope of taking Graham back to her place, hoping to acclimate him a little better.
There was no way they were going to be able to let him go back and live as a human.
They may not know what he was, but he certainly wasn’t human. All the time she was making her case, she felt very much aware of Rocco. Last night had been … very intense. There hadn’t been any sex, but Rocco had touched her everywhere, all over her body, and she had loved every second of it.
He’d brought her to multiple orgasms, and then, when she couldn’t stand it any longer, he’d stopped, and they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms. It was like a dream come true.
This is what she’d always wanted with her mate, as well as sex, but she figured they might get to that. Soon. She didn’t know.
There were still times she was mad at him and hated his guts, and other times, all she wanted to do was get naked and make babies. Yep, her mind was confused when it came to Rocco. Graham, on the other hand, felt like an easy, safe topic.
“I get that you guys have seen everything that’s happened, and I’m not going to take that away from you, but Graham has not reacted the same way others have. He’s still going strong.”
“This is not unusual,” Draco said. “We’ve had some that have lasted a few months.”
“And then…” Enzo did an explosion noise. “It is not easy, and you’re going to become attached to it.”
“His name is Graham,” she said, glaring at Enzo.
“It’s easier to not think of them with names.”
Rose put her hands on her hips, and then Rocco did surprise her.
“I think it is a good idea,” Rocco said, coming to stand beside her.
Alpha’s eyes rose. “This, coming from the same guy who said we had to put them all out of their misery?”
“Yeah, and guess what, I was wrong.” He shrugged. “We all can’t deny that Graham is not like the others, and we can’t let him rot in the cages.”
“He’s barely been in our care,” Boyan said.
“But he’s already different. None of you guys can deny it. Normally, they’re screaming and begging. The pain is unbearable for them. They cannot even stand cooked food. Everything must be raw, and we see them dying right before our eyes. Graham is stronger than even his human side looked. We’ve all seen the picture. He is different. He has reacted differently. Now, I don’t know what makes him different, but while we’re trying to keep him alive, we’ve got to get him used to being near the pack.”
“We cannot have him near the pack,” Alpha said.
“And that is why my place is perfect,” Rose said. “I’m pack, but I’m a recluse.” She shrugged. “It’s perfect, you guys know it. It’s a good starting point, and let’s face it, if the ”— she gave the explosion nois e— “is to happen, I’ll be the one you call to clean it up.”
She hadn’t been the one they called in the beginning. Rose figured they thought they could handle it, and then more kept coming, before they realized they were in over their heads.
“I don’t like this,” Alpha said.
“I think it is a good idea,” Draco said.
Rose had come to see that whenever he spoke up, everyone always seemed surprised. She knew his story, and the truth was, he probably should have been long dead by now, but the club and the pack kept him as sane as possible. They were his rocks.
Alpha looked toward Draco, as did everyone else.
“Come on, guys, you know if Draco is speaking up, that has to account for something,” Rocco said, with a slight giggle to his voice. It made him sound a little crazy.
“I don’t like it. You may be a recluse, Rose, but you’re pack, and I cannot allow anything to happen to you.”
“Perfect, you know, I was thinking the same thing, which is why I should go and stay with her.”
And now, Rose knew why Rocco was so onboard with this. She should have known her mate would have an ulterior motive. Rose looked at him and he merely smiled at her. No one knew they were mates, at least not as far as she was aware.
“I can take care of myself,” she said.
“But, you don’t have to. I’ll be there to keep an eye on everything.” He even gave her a wink, to which she looked toward the Alpha.
She didn’t mind Rocco being with her. There would be jobs he needed to do.
Alpha sighed. He wasn’t happy.
“You’re right, but I’m not happy.” He reached into his jacket pocket and handed out the keys. “I suggest you take multiple tranquilizer darts with you, just in case, and make sure you call us if there is a single difference in his personality.”
Rose nodded, taking the keys from him. She spun on her heel and made her way out of the clubhouse. Agatha and Amelia were there, and she gave them a wave. Both women looked mighty disappointed, but she offered them a smile.
“You know, they’re trying to be friendly,” Boyan said, hot on her tail.
She’d walked all the way to the clubhouse and had no choice but to walk all the way through the forest, heading toward the cages.
“You don’t have to follow me,” she said.
Rocco surprised her even more by reaching out and taking hold of her hand, locking their fingers in place. He totally surprised her, and at first she didn’t know what to do. She was a little taken aback.
“What?” Rocco said. “You don’t mind me holding your hand, do you?”
“No, no, I don’t mind.” It had just shocked her that he would do that.
They walked, hand in hand, for several feet. It was cold, and the air was getting ever colder.
“You know, I like him,” Rocco said.
“Graham?”
“Yeah, he’s a good guy. Seems to know his stuff, you know.”
Rose nodded. “I hope we’re all wrong about this, and that Milton purposefully tried to kill others that might have been getting too strong or something. I don’t know. I don’t know what was going through a madman’s mind when he decided to start experimenting.”
“You know, I have wondered if he’d mixed some of our genetics with that of a bear.”
This made Rose stop. “A bear bite kills us.”
“That I know, but it doesn’t mean Milton was aware of it. Think about it, it might be why some of them don’t make it. A bear bite isn’t exactly a nice ending, is it.”
She couldn’t deny that. A bear bite was exceedingly painful, and a quick death was much nicer.
“None of this makes any sense,” she said. She rubbed at her temple.
“It’s hard to get your head around, and trust me, I’ve had a little more time than you to try and understand it.”
Rose sighed. It felt good, holding his hand, which was strange.
“Why did you offer to come and stay with me?” she asked.
“Alpha wasn’t going to allow you to take Graham without a guarantee that you had one of the guys with you. Seeing as you’re my mate, I don’t want to think of any other guy getting close to my woman, and besides, it means we’ve got a reason to hang out as well.”
Rose laughed. “You know, telling people we’re mates would be reason enough for most people.”
Rocco nodded. “Yeah, but that is going to come with a whole heap of questions, isn’t it, and it’s not going to put me in a good light.”
“So, all of this is to make sure you cover your ass?”
“Nope, but I know I’ve got a lot to make up for, and if we do that without prying eyes, I think that will help us.” He stopped and pulled her in close. “Don’t you want that?”
“I don’t know what I want, Rocco.”
She pulled out of his arms and kept walking.
“You don’t know what you want?” he asked, and followed her, once again taking hold of her hand.
Rose was tempted to shrug him off, but then she stopped herself. There was no problem with holding hands. It was nice, she liked it.
She stopped and turned toward him. “I thought I did know what I wanted. To find my mate, settle down, maybe have a few kids.”
“And you don’t want that now?”
Staring at him now, she saw his frown and sighed. “I think I do, bu t— and this is not me being difficul t— but your reaction to me has changed things a little.”
“I fucked up. I know this.”
“Yeah, you did, and in that fucking up, it has made me question everything I want. I’m sorry.”
They got to the entrance of the cages.
“We better go and tell him the good news.”
Arriving at the cages, Rose made her way down the small steps. Graham was sitting, reading a book, the small book light she’d given him glowing in the darkness.
“Hey,” she said.
He dropped the book.
“Hey, yourself.”
“So, I’ve got some good news.” She held up the keys. “You’re getting to come and live with me for awhile.”
“You’re springing me out of here?”
She chuckled.
“Not quite,” Rocco said, coming up behind her. “We’re getting you out of here. It’s going to be a day-by-day thing. You and me will be living with Rose, and we’re going to see how you get on, how you handle things. You can’t be with the pack yet. You pose too much of a risk.”
“Will it help if I tell you I’m feeling fine?” Graham asked.
“No,” Rose and Rocco said in unison.
“Look at the two of you, finishing each other’s sentences. That is so cute. Does anyone else know you’re mates yet?”
“No,” Rose said.
“They will soon,” Rocco said.
She wanted to dispute him, but instead slid the key into the lock. “Why don’t you gather everything up, and then we’ll head to my place?”