Cullen’s consciousnesses returned and it felt like he’d been hit by a Mack-truck going sixty miles an hour. He blinked twice and tried to figure out what was different this time about how he’d woken up. He rubbed his eyes a few times before it occurred to him that he was completely warm and there was a waterfall of blonde hair covering his chest.
Summer.
She was what was different. A major change to his wake-up routine. Her soul embraced with his own, just as her body pressed up against his. Her features looked soft, untroubled. He knew that would change as soon as she woke up and reality returned. He wished he could let her sleep until she woke naturally, but there wasn’t time. They needed to collect Gabriel from where he bunked at the hotel and start their trek down to Mexico.
He smiled at the memory of Summer cracking up at his announcement of the missing princess. She’d laughed so hard and carried on until Tristan ended the meeting in disgust. At least Cullen had gotten what he’d wanted. Tristan would be focused on other things now and he would able to run his operation without Tristan micromanaging him. Eventually, he’d have to explain to Tristan about the sister and why he’d kept her existence a secret even after Ashlee’s return. But, in his opinion, there were more pressing matters at the moment that needed to be handled.
Her plan to take down Kendrick and Claudius might work, with a little tweaking. Kendrick would have known Tristan and the others would demand answers about the flying demons. That’s why he’d sent them. If Tristan behaved like a different kind of Alpha, the kind of Alpha his father had been, Cullen would be dead right now. Banishment was a second option for betrayal. If he could pull it off, if he could make Kendrick think Tristan had banished him from the island, they could all be rid of Kendrick once and for all.
It would be some kind of poetic justice that Kendrick be killed by the man he’d trained to be an assassin.
Summer’s foot connected with his shin, hard. “You’re thinking so hard, I can feel it in my bones.” Cullen pulled Summer tighter and smiled into her shoulder. He had to find a way to keep her from trying to go to the Institute and after Claudius. If he’d been certain she needed to be kept safe before the mating ritual, he was even more convinced of it now.
“What am I thinking about?” He bit her lightly on her shoulder and she yelped. She rolled over in his arms until she faced him. Their noses were inches apart. He could feel her warm breath on his mouth. He bridged the small gap of space between them and gave her a gentle kiss.
Something between a moan and a sigh sounded in her throat and sent waves of pleasure down his spine. She pulled her mouth from his.
“You weren’t thinking about that. If you’d been thinking about pleasurable things, it wouldn’t have hurt my head to have channeled into your thoughts.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You say that like it’s not a new gift and it doesn’t freak you out that you can do it.”
She shook her head. “It’s not a new gift. The telepathy might be new. The weird psychic dreams, they’re brand new. My ability to know what people are thinking, that I’ve always been able to do.”
Our mate is a very talented wolf. Cullen’s wolf wagged his tail in happiness and Cullen snorted. Summer made his wolf act like a puppy dog. His four-legged companion wanted to give her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Cullen did too but not when it came to compromising her safety.
Maybe he could just keep her nude and in bed permanently. The thought of the perfection of Summer’s naked form made his groin get hard. He recalled the way her nipples stiffened when she was excited and the little noises she made when she particularly liked something he had done to her body.
“I don’t have to be a mind reader to know what you’re thinking right now.” She reached down to stroke her hand up his rigid shaft and he sucked in his breath.
“Truth is I have no idea if we’ve time for this. It’s possible he could show up any minute.”
Her lips pressed firm against his neck. “Gabriel can wait. He’s a wolf. He’ll know what we’re doing if he gets close to the house and if he doesn’t have the good sense to wait outside quietly, I’ll kill him.”
She stroked him one more time and Cullen felt twelve years old. He wondered if he would be able to control himself from coming under her touch. “Summer, you’re going to destroy me.”
“I think you’ll survive.” Her eyes twinkled as she pulled back to look at him. “Tell me something, my Cullen, do you always wake up hard?”
He shook his head. “Today would be the first time in a very long time. I think it’s because I’m pressed up against your hot little body and surrounded by your addictive scent.”
Summer pulled the nightshirt she wore from her body exposing her breasts and the perfection of her nipples that had so enticed his memory earlier. Cullen needed no further invitation. He grabbed her left areola and gently pinched it with his fingers. When she gasped, he took the right one in his mouth and suckled it. He could taste the essence that was Summer alone and he wanted to lap it up like a puppy that finally found water after a dry spell.
Summer clawed at his scalp with her fingernails as she arched her head deep into the pillow behind her. He knew she liked what he did to her.
With her head flung backwards, she gave Cullen ample view of her neck. He wanted to mark her. It was a primitive urge and he knew it. He already owned her soul. Hell, he got to carry it around with him. He should feel satisfied with that. But it wasn’t enough. Unable to resist the urge he lifted his head from her breasts and bit down on her neck before he started sucking on it.
She squealed and pulled back from his mouth. “Did you just give me a hickey?”
He nodded as he stared into her blue eyes.
“Are you serious? You gave me a hickey?”
He nodded again. Was she going to get mad?
Might have been a dumb move. His wolf paced restlessly not liking the possible end to their lovemaking anymore that he did.
Thank you, like I needed you to tell me that right now.
Summer busted out laughing. For a second, Cullen felt stunned and then he too started to hoot. It was kind of ridiculous. What had possessed him to mark her? He had no idea but as he looked down at the red spot forming over the two small teeth marks where he had bitten her, he had to smile. He would like seeing the scar on her for a few days. He would love knowing he had put it there in a moment of pleasure.
Maybe it was some kind of primal instinct he hadn’t yet conquered. Perhaps all mates did this to one another. Although, he doubted it because he’d not seen any of the other women who had lived on the island scarred up by their mates. He guessed it was just something weird related to him.
“You know I’m going to have to repay in kind?”
“I know this about you. Yes.” He raised an eyebrow. Where was she going to do it? On his neck? He’d proudly wear her marking for everyone to see.
“But what you don’t realize is that I’m going to make you wait. You won’t know when I’m going to get you. It could be anytime or anywhere. I’m just going to bite down.”
Cullen propped himself on his elbows. “Are you threatening me?”
Summer nodded and he grinned. “That’s what I thought. You’re a gutsy little thing. First you take on Tristan in the pack meeting and now you threaten the boogeyman?”
She reached up to stroke his chest, which sent shivers down his spine. “You are no more the boogeyman than I am the tooth-fairy.”
Summer shifted her hips and, even though he wouldn’t have believed it possible, his erection got even harder. He could feel it straining against her stomach.