Though she refused to sacrifice her heart for the love of the Carpathian wolves, she'd at least merge with Conner in order to help her pack. "If we do this, it has to be united."
He nodded. "I agree."
"And that means more than just you living here."
He frowned. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"It means that our bonding has to become...official."
"Official."
"What I mean is we need to marry."
The look on his face was priceless. Wide-eyed shock. She hadn't expected to surprise him, but was pleased that she'd managed to.
"You want to marry me?"
"As quickly as possible. We must merge to protect the Carpathian wolves from hunters and a government who chooses indifference in place of action."
His shock turned to a frown. "So you want to hurry this marriage along because of the wolves."
"Of course. Why else?" She'd never give him another reason than that. She'd already given too much of herself.
"Okay. How fast do your laws allow it?"
"We can have it done within a few days."
"Can you see to it?"
"I'll get Elena on it in the morning."
"Okay. Good."
Now that it had been settled, she couldn't take it back. She and Conner would marry. She fought back the panic, the fear of losing control, knowing that what she did was for her people.
She'd give Conner her cooperation and her body, but not her heart.
"We'll make beautiful babies, Katya," he whispered, picking up the end of a strand of hair and pulling it to his nose. He inhaled and closed his eyes, murmuring something about wildflowers.
Her heart sped up, her blood racing through her veins as need began to build within her. The need to be close to Conner.
But with her body, not her heart. It was important to keep that in mind. Besides, mating with Conner would, hopefully, produce babies. She'd wanted children for as long as she could remember. Lots and lots of children.
And Conner was right. They'd make beautiful children together. She could be pregnant already and not know it. Her hand instinctively strayed to her stomach, a surge of protectiveness coursing through her.
Why not take charge of the situation? She could manipulate him as easily as he had manipulated her. "Fuck me, Conner. Now."
She stood and held out her hand, intending to take him upstairs to the bedroom. But he rose and pulled her against him, covering her mouth with his in a kiss that spoke of demand and desire.
Meeting his kiss with equal fervor, the pent-up emotions of the day spilled together in a maelstrom of frenzied passion. She craved release, and only Conner could give it to her.
His hands were everywhere at once. On her arms, her shoulders, then over her back, skimming her vertebrae, reaching for the straps of her chemise and drawing it down.
Her pants went next as he yanked the zipper down and shoved them over her hips. She stepped out of them and reached for his tie, loosening it and drawing it through his shirt, slowly pulling each inch of silk away from his neck and winding it around her hand.
His eyes shadowed, the blue-green mixing like fierce storm clouds. She reached for the buttons of his shirt, slipping each one carefully out of its hole, enjoying the quickening of his breath as she undressed him. She spread the shirt apart, splaying her hands on his chest and tangling her fingertips in the crisp hairs there. He groaned when she found his nipples and scraped them with her nails, then wound her hands down his belly, stopping at the waistband of his pants.
The hairs were soft there.
"Hurry, Katya. I'm about to lose control."
The harsh tones of his voice didn't compel her into stepping up her movements. Instead, she took her time undoing his belt and the clasp at his pants, deliberately letting her knuckles brush his erection as she painstakingly lowered the zipper.
She looked up at him, met his fiery gaze, and grinned, feeling seductive, empowered, in control of their passion. Tension coiled within Conner like a snake ready to strike, evident by the taut muscles of his abdomen as she rested her palm there.
She dropped to her knees and reached for the waistband of his pants, tugging them down until they puddled at his feet. He kicked off his shoes and stepped out of the pants, quickly shrugging out of his shirt to stand gloriously naked before her.
Her pussy quivered with the need to feel his heavy, thick cock inside her once again. But not yet. Not when his shaft was so close to her mouth and she was dying for a taste of him. She reached for it, stroking it from base to tip, then drawing the head to her mouth.
"Ah, Christ, baby," he moaned, tangling his fingers in her hair as she took him deep. "Suck me."
For once, a command she didn't mind following. She moved forward and back, taking her time in licking his essence from the tip before engulfing him once again. He jerked and tensed when she cupped his balls, squeezing the twin sacs gently as she loved him with her mouth.
"Enough!" he growled, pulling his cock away and yanking her to her feet. "I can't wait."
He drew her against him, her aching nipples scraping the hairs on his chest. She waited in breathless anticipation as he leaned slowly toward her, then took her mouth in a ravaging kiss, thrusting his tongue inside, demanding her response.
A response she was all too eager to give. She met his fervor with equal need, lifting her leg over his hip to rock her tortured sex against his shaft.
"I want you. Here, like this. Hard."
She blew out a quick breath as her heart pummeled against her ribs. He broke the kiss and turned her around, pushing her over the back of the sofa and using his knee to spread her legs apart. With relentless accuracy, his fingers roamed between her thighs, petting her moistened sex until she was on fire and whimpering.
"Fuck me Conner," she begged. "Hurry."
His breath rasped against her neck. "Oh, I'm gonna fuck you, baby. Hard and deep. You ready for this?"
"Yes!" she cried, eager to feel him buried inside her.
His cock nestled between her legs, the tip teasing her clit. She reached for his shaft, but he moved away, pressing his lips against her back, sliding his tongue along her backbone until she shivered.
Why wasn't he fucking her? What kind of game was he playing now?
"Conner."
"Mmm-hmm."
"What are you doing?" She pushed her buttocks against him, but he laughed, the deep rumble reverberating against her back.
He moved lower, his tongue trailing down the small of her back.
"Conner, what are you...oh my God!"
He'd parted her buttocks and slid his tongue along her anus.
Pleasure burst along her nerve endings, the puckered hole so sensitive she hadn't realized she could feel pleasure there. But Conner's hot, wet tongue probing the entrance was the most erotic experience she'd ever had.
"Ever put anything in your ass when you pleasure yourself, Katya?" he asked.
"N-No," she whispered.
"Do you like it when I touch you there?
"God, yes."
"Good. I'm going to fuck you in the ass tonight."
Her belly warmed and quivered, heat settling between her legs and making her cunt spasm. The proof of her arousal seeped down her thighs, readying her pussy for his invasion. As he laved his tongue once again across her anus, she massaged her aching clit.
But then he stopped and reached for her hand, moving it away. "That's my job," he said.
"Then do it!" she commanded, surprised at the harsh tone of her own voice.
"Yes, ma'am." Conner's voice was relaxed, teasing her as if he wasn't affected at all.
But when she half turned to see his cock raging hard, the head an angry purple, she knew he wasn't oblivious to the agonizing pleasure.
"Oh I'm not taking your ass just yet. First, I want your pussy. I want to feel it squeeze my dick. Bend over, Katya."
This time he didn't take long to probe between her legs and plunge his hot
cock inside her.
Wet and ready for him, she cried out when he embedded his shaft to the hilt. Her cunt squeezed him as he raked along the sensitized nerve endings in her vagina, dragging a whimpered response from her.
"So tight. So fucking perfectly made for me." He leaned over and licked her neck, sweeping her hair to the other side of her shoulder.
When he sank his teeth into the tender flesh between her neck and shoulder, his growl of possession was very clear. She climaxed, screaming as the painful pleasure of his bite mingled with the rush of sensation her orgasm had brought about.
As she rode the waves of orgasm she felt his change, her body responding in kind. Her blood boiled and she matched his howl of pleasure with one of her own.
"Stay human," he said, his voice tight, straining as he continued to pump his cock with hard thrusts.
She fought the change along with the overwhelming climax. Her knees nearly buckled as she sailed through the tumultuous waves of pleasure. Digging her fingers into the sofa cushion, she was determined to stay upright and experience more of these earth-shattering sensations.
When the tremors subsided, Conner began to move inside her, stroking her inflamed sex slowly, deliberately, until passion rose within her again.
Conner had pushed the change aside, his claws disappearing as he reached around to cup her breasts with human hands. He plucked her nipples, rocking his cock so hard against her that his balls slapped her clit, sending sparks shooting to her core.
When he removed his shaft from her cunt, she nearly cried out at the loss of fullness. But then his fingers replaced his cock, entering her, swiping at her cream and using her fluids to coat her anus.
"You're so wet when you come," he said. "So slick, a perfect lubricant."
Her cum ran from her ass down her legs as he positioned the head of his cock at the entrance to her back entrance.
"When I push in, you push back. It'll make it easier."
Emotion squeezed her chest, tightening it and making her soar with the need to please him.
"Push out, Katya. Now."
She did, and he slid past the tight muscle. She winced at the stinging pain and he stilled.
"Relax, let your body adjust."
He cupped her breasts again, lightly petting the nipples and kissing her neck and shoulders until the pain subsided. She shuddered at the incredible pleasure that replaced it.
She pushed back and more of his shaft slid inside.
"Fuck!" he cried, shoving in deeper until he was fully sheathed inside her anus.
The pain had gone, replaced by intense waves unlike anything she'd ever known. Each time with Conner was a new experience in arousal. He filled her, this thick cock stroking the sensitive nerve endings of her anus while her pussy spasmed in response to the pleasure.
She'd waited her entire life for someone like him. She'd waited to give her virginity for a reason.
She'd been waiting for him.
"Touch yourself for me, Katya. Make yourself come."
She reached for her clit, sliding her fingers between the folds of her sex and caressing the erect bud. Conner continued to stroke slowly while she built her arousal to near bursting with her own hand.
"Harder," she moaned, sliding two fingers inside her wet cunt. She felt him there, the thin membrane separating her pussy from her ass allowing her to feel his thrusts within her. Her thumb found her clit and she fucked her own pussy, timing her strokes to coincide with his.
"I feel your fingers inside your cunt, baby. God, that's hot. Come for me, Katya. I want you to squeeze the juice right out of me."
She could tell he was close, and then she was lost in the feelings he evoked. Her strumming thumb drew the first sparks of orgasm, her driving fingers adding to the building tension. When Conner reared back and tunneled deeper and faster, she toppled over the edge, screaming his name as her pussy contracted and flooded her fingers with creamy cum. Spasms quaked in her ass, tightening around Conner's shaft, squeezing him.
Conner growled and came hard, shuddering against her as he filled her with hot spurts of fluid.
She collapsed over the top of the sofa, desperately trying to breathe, her legs no longer able to hold her up.
Conner withdrew slowly, swooped her into his arms and carried her upstairs, depositing her in the shower with him.
He soaped her all over, carefully washing between her legs.
Now that it was over the silence returned. Awkwardness settled between them. It was almost as if she balanced on a precipice, torn between craving him and hating him. Which way would she topple?
"Sore?" he asked, soaping her buttocks and thighs.
"A little." But she didn't care. It had been glorious, a little bit naughty and more sensual than any act she'd ever dreamed of. The intimacies she'd shared with Conner amazed her, and yet seemed as natural as breathing. She was going to have a difficult time keeping her heart out of this relationship.
Despite the way they'd come together and how he treated her outside the bedroom, there was a loneliness, a vulnerability in him that called to her heart.
As they lay in bed and he kissed her deeply before pulling her against him, she feared it was already too late.
She was in love with Conner.
Chapter Ten
Conner stared down at a sleeping Katya, his heart clenching with a need to protect her.
She lay on her stomach, the blanket covering her legs and buttocks but baring her perfectly shaped back to the early morning sun.
Just past dawn, the pale light cast a golden glow directly onto his woman.
His woman. His mate. The woman he--
The woman he what? Loved?
A cold dread replaced the warmth that had settled over him.
Here he was, mooning over a woman like she was the beginning and end of his existence.
What a crock.
Just because he'd mated with her didn't mean he had to love her. Mates were chosen based on urges, a primal recognition of best match.
It didn't mean love.
Hell, what would he do with a woman he loved? He already acted like half an idiot around her anyway. He'd allowed himself to get too close too fast, and let others tell him how he should treat her. She probably thought all she had to do was bitch about something he'd said or done and he'd lie down and beg forgiveness.
Weakness wasn't in his biological makeup. He'd never surrendered to a living soul before Katya.
She'd have him eating out of her hand before long. And that he couldn't allow. The alpha of the pack apologized to no one, accepted nothing less than blind loyalty.
What would her people think if they saw the way he behaved yesterday?
He'd waffled. Goddamit, he'd bent backward to let her have her way.
That wasn't going to happen again. He had things to do, and with or without her he'd see them done. If she didn't like the way he went about it, then tough shit.
She'd just have to learn to accept the fact that he made all the decisions now.
Today's agenda was a big one. He planned to march into the land and game ministry's office and demand better protection for the Carpathian wolves.
To think he'd actually thought about discussing the situation with Katya.
He was pussy-whipped, all right.
But not for long. He stepped into the bathroom and dressed quickly, then tiptoed out of the room so he wouldn't wake her.
With a new determination in mind, he went in search of Noah, finding him and Elena sharing coffee in the kitchen.
He turned and grinned. "Have a good evening?"
That question didn't deserve an answer. "We're going to the ministry this morning."
Noah looked to Elena, then back at Conner. "Taking Katya with you?"
"Nope." He downed the hot brew in two gulps, then poured himself another. Christ they made strong coffee here. "I'm taking you with me."
When Noah didn't answer, Conner asked, "You got a problem with that?"
>
Noah shrugged and set down his cup. "I don't have a problem with anything. I'll go get ready."
But as he walked past, Noah shook his head and clapped him on the shoulder. "You're the one who's going to have a problem, bro. From the frying pan into the fire, as Mom always says."
Just once, Conner would love to knock that smirk right off Noah's face.
*
"Gone? What do you mean he's gone?"
Elena winced at the rising tone of Katya's voice. "He left with Noah. Something about going to the ministry this morning."
He'd done it to her again. Unbelievable. Had she dreamed last night? His apology, the way he'd said he would involve her in everything from now on?
She must have, because this morning he was back to the way he'd been yesterday. Doing things on his own, without once seeking her counsel.
"Fucking asshole dog. I hope he slips in shit and has to eat it. I hope his dick rots and falls off from disease."
Elena winced. "I'm sorry, cousin. I thought things would improve."
"Yes, well, we were both wrong, then." Unable to face the people milling about the castle, she headed up to her room, content to pace in front of the window by herself, plotting ways to do away with Conner.
No that she could, or even would, but visualizing his gruesome demise made her feel somewhat better. And she did need an outlet for her profound anger.
Better mental than physical. She might not be his match, strength-wise, but she could do some serious damage to his nearly perfect body before he could take her down.
She'd just about mentally bled him to death when she saw him and Noah approach through the gates. Determined not to seek him out, she waited, fuming and pacing. It didn't take him long to open the bedroom door, slamming it hard behind him.
She refused to turn around and look at him, instead focusing on the mocking bright sunlight of the beautiful day.
But as soon as he started spouting off his pompous, arrogant statements about how he was in charge of things, she was going to kick his ass.
"Your government is run by the most provincial, backward, unyielding sons of bitches I've ever had the displeasure to meet."
Tell her something she didn't know. Oh, wait, if he'd bothered to consult her, she would have told him that. So he wasted his time this morning.
Good. She didn't even try to hide her smirk, but she refused to speak to him.
"I went to talk to them about the laws, about beefing up protection for the wolves in the Carpathians. I quoted statistics, realties versus fallacies, every bit of logical, documented information I had. You know what they said?"