A Mate's Sacrifice: (Hot Paranormal Romance) (Ozark Mountain Shifters Book 2) Page 9

  She was almost past the main part of camp when she spotted the alpha talking to a group of young boys. He squatted on the ground, holding a small animal in his hands. A bunny. He was gentle with the creature, petting it with his big hands. Looking up, he spotted Braeh and carefully passed the animal off to one of the kids.

  Braeh ignored him, walking past. She was still furious with him after the way he’d treated Vesh this morning. Oh, sure, Vesh was mouthy. But this alpha? He was violent. No matter how careful he was with the bunny.

  “Braeh,” he called.

  Maybe if she didn’t answer he’d leave her alone.

  He caught up with her in three strides. “You’re angry. I can smell it. Care to tell me why?”

  “Nope.”

  “I know you’re human, but that isn’t how it works in a wolf pack. If the alpha asks a question, you answer.”

  “I did answer. Your question was, would I care to tell you why, and my answer was no.”

  He walked beside her silent for a few steps. “Was your job assignment satisfactory?”

  “Sure.”

  “Is your mate treating you well?”

  His question gave her pause. Why would the alpha care if Vesh was nice to her.

  She shrugged. “Haven’t seen him since you almost broke his neck at breakfast.”

  The alpha was silent again. They rounded a curve in the trail, taking them into the woods. “I see,” he murmured. “You’re angry over the way I reacted.” He sighed, long and deep.

  Braeh said nothing.

  “How long have you known about us? About shifters?”

  “Not long. Three weeks, give or take.”

  “And Trager, he’s not part of a pack, so you have no point of reference.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You have no way of knowing how a pack works. I wasn’t always like this. Overbearing and hostile. And I try very hard not to ever take my authority too far. I run a tight camp, but I fully believe the only way I’ve managed to do that successfully is because people respect me.”

  “Respect? Or fear?”

  He tilted his head. “Respect, I think. But fear probably plays into it too. What you need to understand is, as alpha, I can’t show any vulnerability. If I had backed down from Vesh, my wolves would have perceived it as a weakness. I would have lost their respect and it would have caused a chink in my authority. By all rights I should have laid him out, possibly even killed him. But all I did was throw him against a wall to get him to back down.”

  They walked in silence while she let his words sink in.

  “What’s worse,” he said, “is Vesh won’t respect an alpha who would let a visiting wolf publicly speak against him. He forced my hand. Was probably even testing me. After all, his former alpha is one of the cruelest wolves I know. That’s what he’s used to. If I’d backed down, Vesh would’ve had zero faith in me.”

  “Why do you care if he has faith in you?”

  He didn’t answer.

  When Braeh’s cabin was in sight, Cael said. “Your job assignment has changed. I hear your talents could be better put to use elsewhere.”

  Braeh turned to look at him.

  “Report to the kitchen at 11:00 am. You’ll be on lunch and dinner duty.”

  A smile lit Braeh’s face before she could temper it. “Yeah, okay.”

  He turned back down the path. “’Night,” he called over his shoulder.

  ***

  Vesh scrubbed the grime from his body with a wash rag, but still didn’t feel right. They had him shoveling shit from the stalls in the barn. It was about the lowest job they could give a person. It ranked just above cleaning out the septic tanks. But that wasn’t what bothered him now.

  It was Braeh. She wasn’t back yet, and every minute she stayed gone, he became more agitated.

  He’d wondered about her all day. He knew she’d been given a job working the garden, and he’d even snuck over on break to check on her—though he stayed back so she wouldn’t see him. But it wasn’t where she belonged. She needed to be in the kitchen. He knew how much cooking meant to her. In the time they’d known each other, he’d noticed it was her crutch. She used it to relax. To communicate. To think. And now, here she was with no outlet.

  After work, he’d gone straight to Cael and asked that she be placed in the cafeteria tomorrow.

  The front door to the cabin banged and Vesh heard footsteps. Quickly, he stood under the spray of the shower to rinse the soap from his body. But he didn’t finish fast enough. The bathroom door creaked open and he heard his mate’s uncertain voice.

  “Vesh?”

  Her name on his lips reinforced the erection that had been bothering him all day. But it was more than that. It was just being in her vicinity after so many hours apart. It was pure relief. He really had to fight to remember why he shouldn’t want her, why they would never work.

  “I brought you food. How was your day?”

  God, she was so damn adorable. And she’d brought him food. She was caring for him. It was enough to make him burst at the seams.

  Hold it together. Keep your cool.

  “Er, you know what, we can talk when you’re done showering. I didn’t mean to just burst in on you. I’ll wait in the—”

  Vesh’s control snapped. He flung the shower curtain open, not caring about the spray of water that hit the floor. He had to see her. It was all that mattered in that moment.

  Braeh gasped, her face frozen in surprise. Three seconds passed while he catalogued the streak of mud on her forehead, the leaves stuck in her hair, the grime on her hands. Even still, she looked like a dream come true.

  Before he could think too much about it, he reached out and grabbed her by the hand, yanking her into the shower, fully clothed, shoes and all. The water soaked her t-shirt and he thanked everything holy that it was baby blue. That color was so very, very close to white and he could see the imprint of her dark lacy bra.

  Vesh pushed her against the tile wall, and lowered his head to her neck to imprint her scent. Damn, his woman smelled divine. He’d never get enough. And the way her breath came so fast, making her chest heave…

  “What are you doing?” she murmured.

  He lifted his eyes to her hooded ones. “I thought about you all day. Every fucking minute of every fucking hour. Every thought was of you. I wanted to taste your mouth, and I’m going to.” It was all the warning she got before his lips crashed into hers in a furious tangle of need and relief. She tasted even better than she smelled. Salty and cool. Smooth and dark.

  She kissed him back, her tongue playing with his, and dipping between his lips. His hand went to her cheek to gently tilt her head for better access. He wanted to completely and thoroughly invade her if she’d let him. If he couldn’t have her fully, he’d at least have this.

  Vesh pushed his knee between her legs and she moaned into his mouth. It was a perfect note he wanted to remember always. He broke away to pull the sopping shirt over her head.

  “Wait,” she breathed, her hands sliding up over his chest. “What are we doing?”

  “Nothing.” He kissed along her jaw before licking drops of water from her neck.

  “Nothing?”

  “Just…” His lips trailed across her shoulder as he slid the strap of her bra aside. “… need to feel you. Taste you.”

  Her fingers curled into his shoulders. “Why?” Her breathy question had him frowning against her skin. Why? He didn’t want to think about why. Or why not. Or think at all. He just wanted to act.

  Vesh reached behind her, unhooking her bra, sliding it down her arms, and tossing it on the tiled shower floor. Finally, she was bared to him. He pulled back to stare at her body. Her breasts were on the smaller side, but on her narrow frame they were perfect. Their small pink tips jutted out, begging for his mouth. His heart raced like he was twelve again and looking at something forbidden. He was going to tongue and suck each nipple until she cried from the pleasure of it. He was going to spe
nd hours with these twin curves. When they laid in bed tonight, he was going to fall asleep with them in his hands. His. They were his. She was his.

  Vesh bent to gently lick one hardened nipple but stopped before making contact. Her scent had changed, and not for the better. He looked into her eyes and saw the source of the change. Tears.

  The hell?

  He shriveled inside. Somehow, he’d done this.

  He swallowed. “What is it?”

  Braeh blinked repeatedly, and turned her gaze away.

  “Talk to me,” he demanded. Panic and frustration made his voice rough.

  She brought her hands up between them and covered her breasts. Vesh eased back, but he wasn’t ready to completely break contact. Touching her anchored him, and right now, all he wanted was to fix whatever was wrong.

  She plastered a fake smile on her face. “It’s been a long day. I need to shower. You need to eat. Your food is getting cold.”

  “I don’t care about that. What’s wrong?”

  She laughed but it was sad. Not even a drop of amusement in it. “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit. You’re crying.”

  Her face turned hard. “I don’t cry. My eyes are watering from all the… fertilizer. From the garden.”

  She was lying. The knowledge infuriated him.

  Swiftly, Vesh reached down and popped the button on her jeans. The zipper came down in the next second.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” He yanked her pants down her legs until they were piled around her feet.

  “But—“

  “You said you needed a shower. You’re going to get one.” Bending, he removed her shoes, followed by her jeans. It left her in only her black lace panties.

  “I didn’t mean with you.”

  “Why not with me? We’re here. Might as well get it over with so we can go eat our cold food.”

  Braeh’s mouth opened and closed, no words forming.

  Tucking his fingers into the waistband of her panties, he slid them over the curve of her ass and down her thighs, letting them drop around her ankles.

  There. His mate was as bare as he was. Physically, anyway. But even with all her clothes off, she hid her body from him. His wolf didn’t like that. At. All.

  “I want to see all of you,” Vesh snapped. “Move your hands.”

  She bit her lower lip, staring at the wall past Vesh’s head.

  He was baffled. What was wrong with his mate? She’d been totally into everything he was doing until he’d removed her shirt, unveiling her body. Maybe…

  He tempered his voice. Being frustrated with her wasn’t going to fix anything. “Are you… shy?” It seemed like a long shot, but he had nothing else.

  She frowned. “No. I mean, not really. I… wouldn’t say I was shy…”

  “Modest then?” That also seemed far-fetched.

  She shook her head.

  There was only one other thing it could be, and it was so horrible he didn’t even want to think about it. There were instances where a wolf’s mate simply wasn’t attracted to them. It happened more than his people ever wanted to admit. Trager had the misfortune of the Elders prophesying about his relationship. But truth was, the same thing had happened with Besh and Jax. It wasn’t a rare thing by any means.

  Vesh swallowed the knot in his throat, reminding himself he never planned on mating her anyway.

  But no, it couldn’t be that. In the truck, with the blindfold. There had been no mistake, Braeh was aroused. But maybe that was because she was blindfolded. Had she been thinking of another? It would serve him right for how he’d acted when they arrived at the Ravendale camp.

  His mind reeled with the possibilities.

  “I…” The single syllable came out strained. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m not like the women I’ve seen you look at.” She straightened her back and held her head high, jutting her chin just enough to look brave. “You don’t have to like what you see, but I have standards. And although it’s been… a while… since I’ve been with a man, I’m not desperate enough to let you do things with me when you prefer someone else. I want my next lover to desire me. Not just make do with me.”

  “That’s what you think?” His tone was disbelieving. “That I don’t want you?” He gestured to his cock which stood erect, as if it was reaching for her. “Look. Does this look like I don’t want you?”

  Her eyes drifted downward, touching on him before she squeezed them shut. “No. I mean, yes. I mean… I know you’re aroused. I can see that. And I know that you are supposed to mate me or whatever, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re settling. I saw how you were drawn to my sister. And to the redhead. You had to fight your nature to honor whatever this mate thing is.”

  “I chose you.”

  “Last night you did, yes. But… why? When I’m not what you want.”

  Vesh frowned so deep he feared his face would stay that way. “I don’t understand,” he muttered, mostly to himself. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I thought about you all day. About this. About touching you and kissing you and…”

  “Look,” she said, frustrated. “When you took my bra off, I could tell you were disappointed.” Her tone was so matter-of-fact it sent a chill down his spine.

  “You have no idea how wrong you are. Now, move your hands and let me see what’s mine.”

  Her jaw dropped at the dominance in his voice. He would see his mate’s body. Her insecurities wouldn’t stand in his way.

  Slowly, she dropped her arms and stood tall. His eyes scoured her from head to toe, his eyes touching on each feature in an attempt to memorize her. The rosy color of her nipples, the soft dip of her belly button, the strip of pale hair at the apex of her legs. His wolf growled in appreciation.

  “I’m so very far from disappointed, Braeh.”

  Vesh crowded her against the wall, his body brushing hers, skin on skin, for the first time. She was velvety and slick from the water. He hissed with pleasure.

  His wolf wanted to claim, and he couldn’t even promise himself they’d do it eventually because it wasn’t in the cards. The thought made him sad, so he pushed it aside.

  “So,” he said zeroing in on her heaving breasts. “Where were we? Oh yes. I was about to lick… right here.”

  Slowly, he circled a taught peak with his tongue, before pulling it into his mouth. Vesh moaned this time. She tasted heavenly here. It made him wonder what she tasted like down lower.

  Braeh threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling slightly. He met her eyes while he moved over to give her other breast some attention. She seemed confused. By her reaction or by his, he wasn’t sure.

  “These,” he said, palming one and nuzzling the other with his lips, “Are perfection. That was my first thought. My next thought was of how I wanted to make you come just by touching you here.” He rubbed his thumb in a circle over one pebbled tip, drawing a whimper from her.

  Even with the water bearing down around them, the sweet scent of her arousal was nearly suffocating. He took in a deep breath. Who the hell needed fresh air.

  Vesh kissed her mouth again, his tongue lapping at hers before he broke away to stare into her blue eyes. “Everything before you, before last night, it doesn’t matter.” He swallowed, trying to make room in his throat to get the words he needed to out. “My wolf craves you.”

  It wasn’t what he’d meant to say. He’d wanted to tell her she was all that mattered now. That he needed her more than he could ever imagine needing anyone else. That every other experience had been hollow and empty. That being with her had given him a purpose, if only for a while.

  But somehow, a different truth came out. His wolf did crave her. Vesh was still a man divided. Deep down he knew he couldn’t give her all, and it kept him from saying what he really wanted to say.

  But maybe he could show her.

  Threading his fingers in her hair, he tipped her head back and kissed her fully on the mouth, his
tongue plowing in to dance with hers. It wasn’t a gentle kiss; it was hard, desperate, needy. And she responded perfectly, pressing her body against him, her lips mashing and moving with his.

  Vesh trailed his hands down her neck, over her shoulders, along the length of her slender arms until he found her hands. Never breaking their kiss, he brought her arms high above her head, taking both wrists in one of his hands. He ground his hard shaft into her toned belly, loving that it didn’t give much. Again. And again, realizing he could come just from this feeling alone. The whole experience, the fact that she wasn’t soft like he once preferred… it was thrilling.

  Breaking the kiss, he husked, “Keep your hands above your head.”

  Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, but she didn’t nod.

  Vesh kissed a path down her body, stopping at her breasts to suck and tease each nipple. But that wasn’t his intended destination. Brushing his lips across her belly, sampling every inch of skin, edging closer and closer to where he wanted to be, he noticed his wolf growing stronger by the second.

  It was such a wonderful feeling. To feel well. Like his body was being rid of a nasty flu, except deeper. A sickness of the soul.

  Braeh breathed heavily, squirming as his lips teased the skin below her belly button. He looked up. She was a sight, her breasts swollen and pushed out, her eyes closed to absorb every sensation. She writhed so beautifully.

  Vesh growled in the back of his throat.

  He was going to lick her to orgasm. Make her knees so weak, she couldn’t stand.

  From his knees, he ran his hands slowly along the inside of her thighs. She opened her eyes, finding him watching her, and a pink blush flooded her cheeks. She started to cover her face.

  “Hands,” he warned. “Above your head.”

  He was filled with satisfaction when she instantly complied.

  “That’s my girl,” he murmured. “Spread your legs for me, mate.”

  She did, but not nearly enough. He wanted her completely open to him. He wanted to see every inch of her sweetest spot before he licked her like candy.

  He nudged her open farther, and then just stared. “Fuck, Braeh,” he murmured. She was drenched for him, and smelled so intoxicating, he thought he’d lose his mind. Wolf wanted a taste.