Steven Hoode was going to be the death of her. “No, silly. Even if Ben changed you, he can’t mate you. The enzyme for mating only releases with the person who is our mate. No one else. You can’t force someone to mate.”
“So if I said no?”
She winced. Ouch. The last thing she wanted to hear was that he was thinking of denying her. “I would walk away, and Rick or Ben would bite you.” She’d die inside a little every day until she went feral, but she would give him what he needed.
His eyes narrowed. “So you’re saying that either way I’m going to wind up wolfing out.”
She nodded. She didn’t want to lie to him, not about something as important as this. “Rick accepted you. It’s inevitable. The only thing that isn’t is our mating.”
He contemplated her for a moment, and she just knew he was turning everything over in his head. “Will it hurt?”
“The bite, you mean?”
“No. Wolfing out.”
She smiled. That was an easy question to answer. “It’s more like flowing into something new. It’s…indescribable. There’s no screaming agony, no crunching of bones. Just a pleasant tingle.”
That seemed to ease Steve. “Anything else I should know?”
“You’d be under Rick, subject to his commands, like every other Wolf in the Pack.”
“I figured. Anything else?”
“Ah.” She tugged on the end of her ponytail. “There’s a mild side effect of the mating bite.”
He sagged. “I knew it.”
“You’ll get so horny you’ll be blind with it.”
He cleared his throat and sat up straight again. “So…I’ll jump anything that moves and hump it like a dog.”
Chela growled. “No. You’ll only hump me.”
“If Ben bites me?”
“That bite would be different. It’s only a changing bite, not a mating bite.” She shrugged. “It will hurt, but you won’t wind up chock-full of lust either.” And if that was the route he wanted to go, she’d allow it. He’d feel the pull once his wolf woke up, and they’d be mated later rather than sooner.
Now that the mate dreams had started, she didn’t think she’d be able to keep away from him. She just prayed he didn’t want Ben to change him, that he accepted she was the one who was going to give him the bite. So she played her last card and hoped it worked. “Do you want Ben kissing your neck?”
The way his eyes went wide would have made her laugh again if this weren’t the moment she’d been waiting for. She held her breath, praying with everything in her that Steve chose her.
He stared down at his half-eaten steak, his expression grim. His emotions were all over the place, making her dizzy. But when they finally settled down, when his blue eyes finally met hers again, she nearly sagged in relief. He’d made his decision.
Steven nodded once. “If you’re telling me the truth, then I’d rather you bite me.”
Chela stood. She could barely keep the smile off her face. “You won’t regret this.”
He grimaced. “There’s a lot of questions I still have, but…” He sighed. “Ben has never once hurt me. I have to trust in that, if nothing else.”
That wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped to hear, but she’d take it. She’d work on winning his heart after he’d accepted the bite.
She was patient.
She opened her mouth so he could watch her fangs grow in. She wanted him a part of this, to see everything that was about to happen. Her eyes changed, going over to her wolf’s. Her vision changed as she lost the red-green spectrum. His red shirt now appeared to be deep mustard yellow, but his blue eyes darkened, sharpened. His blond hair appeared lighter, almost white.
He looked ethereal yet strong, a fairy warrior come to life just for her.
“Holy shit. What big teeth you have, Grandma.”
She wasn’t fooled. The sight of her fangs had made him fearful again. “This won’t hurt, I swear.”
“You can say that, but you aren’t the one facing the fangs.”
She tried for humor once more. She shook her head and tsked. “Just because you’re a virgin…”
He glared at her. “I am not.”
She put her hand on her chest and fluttered her lashes. “Oh, it’s so big. I… I don’t think it will fit.”
“I hate you right now.”
Except she knew he didn’t. She could feel it, the uneasiness, but there was no hatred. Hatred burned, was acrid against her senses. Even when his fear had been at its highest point she hadn’t felt that. “At worst, it might sting a little, like getting a shot.”
“Have I mentioned I hate needles?” He stood, towering over her. “Just…” He sighed, his emotions all over the place again, a jumble of nerves and fear and desire making her head spin. “Let’s get this over with, okay?”
“You’re so romantic.” She tugged on his shirt, pulling him down so she could reach his neck. “I promise I’ll be gentle, you virgin, you.”
His laugh had a bite of hysteria to it, but she didn’t give him time to think. She brushed her lips against his skin, the scent of him overwhelming. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her teeth scraping against his skin. Before he could protest, she sank her fangs into him, her joy nearly overwhelming as she released the mating enzyme.
He was hers, and soon, she would be his.
Whatever the fuck she’d just done to him, she needed to bottle it, because she’d make a fortune. Heat raced through him, his cock turning so hard he was afraid if he moved it might simply snap off from being confined by his jeans.
And not even that image did anything to dampen the desire to rip Graciela’s clothes off and fuck her until she walked funny.
He needed. He’d never needed anything the way he did Graciela. He had to make her squirm, make her want as much as he did. If he didn’t get her out of her clothes and on his cock in the next two seconds, he might just explode in a shower of lust-filled goo.
He was tugging at her shirt before her teeth left his skin, desperate to feel her golden skin against his, test the weight of her breasts against his palms.
She licked his neck, right where she’d bitten him, and he nearly dropped to his knees. He shuddered, the feel of her tongue on that mark making him crazy with want.
This was the result of the mating bite? This unwavering need to sink inside her, make her scream his name? The urge to come and come and come inside her until they didn’t know where she ended and he began?
Hell. He should have said yes immediately.
He couldn’t wait any longer. He tugged her head back by her ponytail, devouring her mouth with all the savagery of a starving man. Clothes flew off as he pushed and pulled, hauled and yanked until she was naked, barely breaking the hungry kisses long enough to remove her shirt.
She whimpered as he picked her up and carted her off to the bedroom, his hands tight on her firm, naked ass. And it was a fine ass too. Nicely rounded in all the right places. It fit his hands perfectly.
She fit his hands perfectly. Part of him was terrified by that. A small, miniscule part that he promptly stomped on with all his might.
The larger part of him wanted to know if she was a moaner or a screamer. He intended to find out.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. She was driving him crazy, her mouth busy on that fucking bite she’d given him, making him nearly drop her as pleasure raced through him.
In record time he had her flat on her back on the bed, her legs over his forearms, her body spread for his viewing pleasure. The only problem was he couldn’t get enough of her mouth, of the way she tasted on his tongue. Pulling away to stare at his prize was just too much. He greedily sipped at her lips, drugging himself on her flavor, embedding it into his very soul.