Book 1 - Page 52 (1/2)

“However, Bella sweet, I’ll have to teach you a thing or two about wolf law. Seems you’ve forgotten some of them while living among the humans.” Volan touched his chest lightly; then she noticed his skin still seemed paler than usual.

Had she injured him after all? Why hadn’t the silver killed him?

Drops of blood trickled down his sneakers onto the wood floor. She looked up at him.

Volan turned his attention to Devlyn. “Lover boy’s too spent to fight me. Wouldn’t be a fair battle. Besides, we fight in front of the pack, end this once and for all. I challenge you to bring her home and battle me for her, Devlyn.”

“I’ll be there,” Devlyn growled.

Volan turned and stalked out of the cabin, a slight limp to his gait.

Releasing her, Devlyn stormed to the door and watched Volan disappear into the woods. Bella joined him and bent over to inspect the blood.

“He’s been wounded,” Devlyn said. “That’s why he wouldn’t fight me yet.”

“In the leg?” she guessed, wondering how her bullets managed to hit him in the leg when she was d.a.m.n sure both bullets had hit his chest.

“Yeah, probably when he was in wolf form someone got a shot off.”

“It’s not hunting season.”

“Right, but some wouldn’t care if he was wearing his wolf pelt and got near their livestock.”

For now, all Bella could think of was getting Devlyn back to her home in Portland and then slipping away again so he wouldn’t ever have to fight the devil wolf.

Before long, warm water filled the tub, and Devlyn reclined on his back as she climbed on top of him.

He kissed her lips and ran his hands over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, heating her deep inside. “I have to say, Bella, you made me proud.”

“I was afraid you’d be angry with me because I tried to help you.”

He leisurely licked the bathwater off her cheek. “You love me and wanted to protect me. You didn’t do it because you felt I couldn’t handle him. It was just instinctive. An alpha female quality.”

She washed his bloodied neck with care. Referring to her as having alpha qualities was the greatest compliment he could ever give. “I was so proud of you to submit to another red, to allow him to fight Simon for the right to be the leader of the pack.” Knowing how difficult it was not only to pretend to cower before a red, but in front of his mate — it had to have been the hardest thing he’d ever done. Her chest swelled with pride to think such a great gray wanted her for his very own.

“I only did what my great-grandfather had done before me.”

“Don’t be so modest. I doubt he had to fight four reds, one after another. You created a new legend for this clan in your own right.”

“And you, Bella. The red wolf that the gray fought for.”

She leaned over and kissed his bristly cheek.

His fingers touched her nipples, making her whole body tingle. He sighed deeply. “with only one to battle instead of four, I hoped one of the older wolves would have the courage to tackle him.”

“My clever wolf.” She ran her hand over his length in loving strokes. Finally, he’d allowed her to touch him, without stopping her. She would have rested with him instead, anything, to feel his heart beating against her breast, to have his skin touching hers, warm and alive, to feel his breath against her cheek, to taste his salty skin, and to smell him, feral and all male. Her gray, for the most part uninjured and safe with her again.

His eyes clouded with pa.s.sion as he studied her with admiration, his hands ma.s.saging the small of her back. when it appeared he couldn’t handle another of her strokes, he slipped his hands down to her thighs, his fingertips drawing closer to her folds.

“You’re still awfully tense,” she said, her gaze taking in every inch of his glistening body, hard, muscled, and every bit hers.

He chuckled, the throaty sound triggering an ache between her legs. He lifted her and worked his way inside her folds. “This will definitely help.”

Her nipples brushed against the hair on his chest, sending delicious chills of desire coursing through every nerve. He cupped her face and lifted it, claiming her mouth with a deep, sizzling kiss. Their bodies slid against each other while his erection penetrated her deeply. Up and down she rose on top of him, creating tidal waves in the bathtub. water splashed over the edge of the tub and spilled onto the tile floor. They kissed and touched each other’s skin with greed, giving not a care to anything else in the world.

Just as she envisioned climbing to the top of the snow-covered Wolf Rock, she rose higher with every plunge he made deep inside her. When she felt she couldn’t take any more, he groaned out her name, filling her with his warm seed, and as she reached the peak of pleasure, her insides pulsated with o.r.g.a.s.mic delight.

“You’re too right for me,” he whispered against her mouth, tenderly, lovingly, the sound of a l.u.s.ty, satiated mate.

Their tongues tangled, and she combed her fingers through his damp hair. “For each other,” she said, still seated on top of him, never wanting to let go.

But something in his eyes told her he was concerned about some matter. It didn’t take her long to learn what still troubled him.

He cleared his throat. “I always wondered, Bella, in the old days when your friend drowned — “

“Elizabeth?”