Tormenting Her Mate (My Wicked Mates Book 3) Read online

  “Yes?” He released her hair and trailed his free fingers down her spine. She shivered. “What do you want, gorgeous? Tell me.”

  Marcus turned her around to face him, her lips plump from being kissed and her hair tussled. God, but she was beautiful.

  “I want you inside of me.”

  The way she said it, like it was a revelation, broke some of the ice around his heart and it was all the invitation he needed. He reached inside his pocket, his hand shaking, and clutched the foil wrapper he’d placed there in the event today had gone in the direction he’d hoped.

  She placed her hand on the button of his trousers and freed it, her fingers quickly finding the zipper and tugging it carefully down over the straining bulge of his erection.

  His cock flew out, and he grabbed her hand.

  “Let me do this,” he whispered. “If I don’t, we’ll be undone before we even start.”

  One tear with his teeth and he had the foil open, slicking the condom along the rigid span of his shaft. He spun her around, his world reduced to the slick, pink lips of her sex.

  Chapter Nine

  He was poised against her entrance. Astrid's body wept with longing, not completely knowing what it wanted. Her nipples had hardened to two rosy peaks and when his hands cupped them from behind, she shuddered. Then they were gone and he bent her forward over the chair.

  The tip of him circled her slit and he teased the secret folds between her legs with his long, thick length. She wanted him inside of her and she didn’t care how much it would hurt.

  She had saved her virginity for him and now it was time to cash it in.

  Her animal paced beneath her skin, whining.

  “Are you ready for me? I hadn’t meant to take you so soon, but I can’t wait anymore.” His voice was strained and she could feel the warmth of him and the scratchy fabric of his pants behind her. He let his pants fall and stepped out of them and she heard something being kicked along the carpet.

  “Yes.” she said, arching her back.

  Pulse hammering, she relished every touch and held her breath.

  He moved the tip inside of her as if sensing she was more than just a little tight. Then, she wiggled and he lost his control, surging forward and filling her with one quick thrust.

  Astrid cried out, tears blurring her vision. He stilled within her, the reality of what he’d just done sinking in.

  “Astrid.” He smoothed his hand down her back. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  But she didn’t want to talk. Her body wanted to feel all of him. To understand what it meant to be taken.

  “No. Please. Just…” She wiggled against him and he groaned. He withdrew and slowly filled her once again and this time there was less pain.

  “More…” She grit her teeth, body aflame with need. Colors flashed in front of her eyes and she moaned as he pulled out and brutally thrust back inside her again.

  Yes.

  Oh God. Yes.

  “Hold on, beautiful.”

  And their dance began. He fucked her tenderly, intermittently teasing her clit and pinching her now aching nipples. She gripped the arms of the chair as he plunged in and out of her body, bringing her higher and higher toward something she’d only dreamed about.

  “Astrid,” he growled, his hands on her hips. Over and over he surged inside her, growing more and more insistent with each new thrust. His fingers found their way between her legs once again and the moment he brushed against her clit, the stars behind her eyes exploded.

  He lowered her to the carpet behind the chair, cradling her body against his as he shouted out his pleasure. His teeth sank deep into the soft flesh near her shoulder and she cried out, a primal instinct driving her to do the same.

  Her little beast relished the contact, snuggling deeper into their embrace.

  A moment later and he was gone, returning with a bottle of water, the condom gone, his cock already hard once more.

  “Drink.”

  She took a gulp from the bottle and yelped when he snatched it from her and downed the rest.

  “I’m not done with you yet.”

  “How?” Her eyebrows went up as she stared at the one-eyed-wonder in front of her.

  “You’re my mate.”

  Mate. There was that word she’d been tripping around since they were teenagers.

  She’d felt the connection when they’d first met but couldn’t put it into words.

  “Is this…the pull between us.” She fingered the bite mark on his skin and finally her own.

  This was real.

  “So all of this?” She whispered, the question humming in the air, too terrifying to bring up.

  “Your brother is a prick. It was his idea. But I knew if I didn’t take him up on it, he’d leverage you with Lopez.”

  No.

  No.

  “He really did it.” The reality of what her brother had become sickened her. But she didn’t want to think about him now. She wanted to explore her mate before any more of the world intruded.

  Marcus nodded, taking her lips in a bracing kiss. “But you had to want this.”

  She did. Point of fact, she couldn’t concentrate when he moved between her thighs and the real essence of him met the molten heat of her core.

  Her body, still sore, sought him even still. Holding her arms up, Astrid took him inside her once more, but this time there was nothing between them and when he shouted his release, she came, shattering around him like glass, her fox cheering her victory.

  Chapter Ten

  “Send her home.” Ambrose stalked toward the window and touched the earpiece in his left ear. New security. More cameras. It wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference if Lopez decided to come in Tony Montana style.

  The fucker had sent him a postcard with a single word on it. Scarface.

  It infuriated him that he’d gotten Astrid here only to be caught up in this shit to the point he couldn’t even be with her. And when he was, it was dog and pony crap to prove to everyone, Lopez included that he wasn’t fazed by his games. So little precious time to spend tracing the lines of her body when that was all he wanted to do.

  “Do you think that would actually help?”

  “If Lopez thought you didn’t care, yes.” Hector frowned, putting a hand up to his ear. His gaze shot up to Marcus'. “Got to go, Boss. Another drive by at the front gate.”

  Ambrose turned toward him and raised an eyebrow, giving him a rash of shit without even opening his mouth.

  The bastard was coming for him and that meant Astrid was in danger.

  Without a word, he left the office in search of the one person who could make him forget who and what he was. Astrid. They didn’t have that much time and to save her, he may have to do the unthinkable and return her to her life. Again.

  His wolf howled his displeasure and instead of finding his mate, he shifted, pounding out his anger in a run through the dark forests and bramble paths of the woods beyond.

  ***

  The days began to blur together. There were meetings with Rigo and Hector, and some other men Astrid didn’t recognize, and she quickly grew to understand Marcus’ comings and goings. Some days she didn’t see him until dinner and then he was gone again on business. A kiss there. Dinner out at a club, her body sheathed in nothing but a glittering gown with all eyes on the two of them. But he hadn’t touched her. Not since that first day.

  Had she done something wrong?

  She filled her days with books and wandering the grounds, bounding through the gardens in her fox form, but she never took him up on his offer to leave. Mrs. Patterson had become a motherly figure and Astrid couldn’t imagine going back to her old life. There was nothing out there for her beyond these walls.

  Her body was slowly changing. They had only had one encounter without protection, but she wondered if that could have been enough. Smells began to bother her and her breasts began to be overly sensitive. She Googled symptoms and shut the phone off after she noticed a strin
g of texts from Charlie.

  She wanted nothing to do with him. Not after what he’d done. So, she put her phone away and became absorbed in her new life.

  The only question was, how long would it last?

  One afternoon Marcus caught her in the garden, pulling her into an alcove and onto his lap. “I’ve missed you.”

  “And I’ve missed you.” She placed her arms around his neck and tried to think of something to talk about. In the weeks she’d been here, she’d learned little about the man other than when he wasn’t there, the soul of the house left with him.

  She worried about their last encounter. The doctor knew she wasn’t on birth control. Surely, he had informed Marcus of his findings. Even still, she wasn’t sorry. Feeling him inside her had been life altering. Like a missing piece had fallen into place.

  He was her mate and she belonged here with him. Nothing he could say would ever push her away.

  Their animals had found happiness where there had only ever been animosity. That in itself told her everything.

  “Come here.” He kissed her, exploring her mouth, his hands reaching inside the sundress she’d worn. “No bra.”

  He slipped the elastic top down, exposing her breasts to the open air and her nipples tightened in response. “Spread for me, love.” Moments later his fly was down and his rigid length freed to her gaze.

  “I want to taste you,” she whispered, reaching for him.

  “And you will,” he countered. “But in a few minutes, I have a man coming to talk to me about your brother and I need to be inside you before I deal with him.”

  “Charlie?”

  What had he done this time? Right that second, she decided she didn’t want to know. What she needed was Marcus. Her body was starving and she needed him to fill her empty places. His hands moved over her breasts and she groaned, her nipples tightening into rosy points.

  He nipped at them and a rush of heat spiraled through her, making her dizzy. She reached out to steady herself and he caught her, his hands leading hers down to his swollen member.

  “Marcus…” she whispered. She had to taste him. Astrid knelt in front of him and stroked along the hard ridge of his erection, her own sex growing slick with want.

  “Work has kept me from you. Time has gone by so fast.”

  She wouldn’t think about that. Not now.

  Placing a kiss on the tip of his member, she marveled at the salty taste of him. Licking along the blunt tipped head, she took him in her mouth and explored him with her tongue.

  Marcus wound his fingers in her hair and jerked forward.

  “I’m going to fuck your mouth, greedy girl.” Marcus stood, his pants falling around his ankles, rocking his hips in a slow and subtle rhythm.

  He held her by my hair, the length of him sliding in and out of her mouth but only for what seemed like a few short minutes. The musk of him rolled her in warmth and his gentle thrusting was only a hint at what lay beneath the surface. He wanted more. So did she.

  Astrid wanted to feel all of him.

  “I’m going to spill, Astrid. I have to be inside you.”

  She struggled to stand and he once again took her by the hair and forced her up against the trellis, his cock slick with her saliva trailing over her ass. A rush of anticipation sizzled through her and she had to stifle a groan.

  She wanted him to throw her down and fuck her. The waiting had been unbearable.

  “Open for me.”

  She gasped as he spread her legs and jammed his cock inside her once again.

  “I’m going to fuck you when and how I want to.”

  Marcus pistoned in and out of her, but he didn’t give her any time to think. Only to feel as he staked his claim on her body and her soul.

  His fingers found her clit and teased her until she came, screaming all over the hard length of him. The pulsing spasms of her tight channel pulled him right over the edge with her and he roared as he emptied himself inside of her, filling her with his seed.

  His fingers in her mouth, Astrid tasted her own musk and grew aroused once more, wiggling her ass into his groin.

  “So beautiful.” He placed a kiss on her shoulder, letting his hands map out the contours of her body. He hadn’t withdrawn, his heat enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth she never wanted to end. “We’ve lost so much time. If I’d been braver, I would have taken you and run. All I could think to do was stay away from you. Then he couldn’t find an excuse to go after you again.”

  So there it was. The reason he’d avoided her after the night at the boathouse and all the other times she’d seen him and thought she’d read something in his eyes.

  She had.

  “Run where? I was still a kid.” She let his warmth chase away old ghosts and reveled in him. “But I’m not anymore.”

  “Astrid…” he rasped, but she felt him grow hard within her. “Talk to me. Tell me what you want.”

  Something feral reared its head inside of her and she wanted…no, needed him to claim her as his. Something told her that if she didn’t things were going to change and not in a way she would be happy with.

  “You’re my mate.” There. She said it. “You marked me.”

  He growled, driving his now rigid cock into her, grinding deep, all the way to the root of him.

  How could she go back to her life? After this? Being away from him would be torture.

  He moved and she spun around in his arms, her hand sliding over his engorged member.

  She lifted her legs and he speared her with his cock, the force of his gaze capturing her.

  “What if I wanted more than a month?”

  Astrid heard his swift intake of breath and he stilled, deep inside of her body.

  “Do you mean it?” His eyes shimmered with emotion. “You would stay?”

  Her animal yipped with happiness. Their man. Their mate.

  “Fill me up. My world has been so empty.” She kissed him and he laid her down on the remnants of his clothes, fucking her until they both came, their bodies entwined making it difficult to determine where she ended and he began.

  Chapter Eleven

  Astrid picked up her phone. Another text from Charlie. Frowning, she swiped her finger across the screen, almost closing it out when another message came across.

  Coming for you. Today.

  What?

  Pulse hammering in her throat, she unraveled herself from the cocoon of blankets she’d been buried under. After a wonderful afternoon and evening making love to Marcus, he had been called away on more business. Half nauseous, she'd stayed in bed all morning and most of the afternoon and was in no mood to deal with more of Charlie’s epic shit.

  Fuck off.

  She typed the words and sent the text and set the phone down beside her.

  No. Have to see you. Now. Meet me at the edge of the property.

  The phone began to ring.

  “Charlie. Go away.”

  “I can’t, Astrid. It’s important.”

  “I’m not talking to you, remember. Get a life and stay out of mine.”

  “I’m coming over.” Then he hung up the phone.

  Shit.

  That was one thing she didn’t need, him being here whenever Marcus got back.

  At the same time, she didn’t trust him. Drawing her lip between her teeth, she considered her options. If Charlie was trying something, Marcus needed to know where she was. But if she left her phone, she’d be without help until he got there.

  Astrid searched for Mrs. Patterson but she’d disappeared earlier that afternoon, stating she needed a couple of things from town.

  None of Marcus’s men appeared to be close by either.

  No. She had to leave her phone so they could see what happened if things got out of hand.

  Stupid? Yes. But she had to take that chance.

  It didn’t take long for him to appear at the front gate and when she walked down the long path to meet him, the guard prevented him from coming in.

  T
he chill of the day crept through the light sweater she wore and she chastised herself for not putting on something a little warmer. The golden light of the afternoon was fast fading into evening and she wanted to get back inside before the temperature dropped any further.

  Astrid opened the gate and stepped through, signaling to the guard.

  “Mike. It’s okay,” she began, but froze when Charlie withdrew a gun from his jeans and fired.

  “Charlie! No!” She hurried toward the shack but it was too late. Mike was gone, half of his head on the ground behind him. “What did you do?”

  Her stomach lurched and she staggered, retching into the bushes.

  “Did you fuck him yet? Did you?” Charlie rounded on her, a maniacal expression on his face. “Because Lopez is coming and your wolf Marcus is going to be as dead as his Daddy.”

  “No.” She stared at him, disbelieving. “Charlie…”

  So it was true. Her brother was in league with a coyote drug dealer. It should have surprised her, but it didn’t.

  “I can't believe you let him touch you.” Charlie glowered at her with an incredulous expression, his lips drawn back in a feral snarl. His animal wild in his eyes, he was either high or out of his mind.

  His scent was off. Astrid wrinkled her nose and took a step back.

  This man. He wasn’t the Charlie she knew. Fear slid through her belly and she berated herself for not finding one of the guys to walk her down here.

  But if she had, who was to say they’d be any more alive than Mike.

  “Why did you want to meet me? What could you possibly have to tell me after the shit you pulled?”

  “The shit I pulled?” Charlie sputtered. “Are you kidding me? That guy and his father are fucking kingpin wolves. Did you forget what he tried to do to you? Are you insane?”

  Leave it to her brother to twist things how he wanted to see them. Astrid wrapped her arms around herself, the wind whipping through her sweater. But the chill she felt wasn’t the breeze, it was the cold numbing her soul. What her father had tried to do, her brother had done artfully. He’d paved the way so she didn’t have any options.