I’d never felt so vulnerable, so exposed, and so ecstatic in my life.
With every wash of joy and pleasure there was an equal wave of fear—and yet I just clung to him, pleading with my heart, and sometimes with my words, that he’d stay with me in it.
Nothing had ever felt more right than having Mack in my arms, in my body, moving with me, whispering to me, his mouth on mine, his breath hot and fluttering on my skin, his eyes blazing and his heart… his heart.
With a sob I flattened a hand against his chest as something within him blazed. The bond, twisting, unfurling, lassoing our hearts and drawing us together. I shook with the intensity of it, and th
Mack’s Song: “Never Let Her Go (Reinvented)” by Project Vela.*****~ MACK ~Laying in bed with Natalie was the most surreal feeling.Part of me was happy to the point of smug. Wallowing in her, in her scent, her warmth, her lush softness. I couldn’t stop touching her, and thankfully she didn’t seem to want to stop touching me either. She curled into my side under my arm, one arm thrown across my chest, her head on my shoulder. For a while, neither of us spoke. We just touched and breathed. And it was incredible.But I never stopped being aware of that looming danger behind us, the risks, the threats, gathering like storm clouds on the horizon.In a strange way it made l
~ RIG ~I was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, starving, and getting ready for a late dinner Cara had been cooking when I felt Mack’s claws scratching at my mind, a submissive request to link that surprised me. Usually, unless I was closed off, he just spoke into my head and expected me to shut him down if it was a problem.I looked at Cara, who caught the expression on my face and paused in rinsing the pasta she’d just taken off the stove.“What is it?” she asked.“Mack,” I said carefully.Her eyes widened a little, but she went back to the food, trusting me to fill her in. I could see the tension in her, though. We’d both been waiting, our nerves growing wit
~ RIG ~I let Cara get up to go get the door—reluctantly—but found myself glaring at the trees.I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly so tense. After all, Cara and I had had hours at times over the past few days when we weren’t having sex. But something had curled tight in my gut, and it wouldn’t release.I let her go to answer the door, but stayed there waiting, simmering, trying to figure out what was bothering me.I heard the door creak and Cara shriek and laugh with Natalie, heard the girls babble and snigger, and imagined the scene of them standing there in the door with Mack watching…I was out of my
~ NATALIE ~The guys covered ground quickly, both of them very obviously ready to get this done and get away from each other. It made me nervous how tense they were—how untrusting of each other. I knew it was just instincts, their wolves reacting to the new bonds and wanting to keep their mates to themselves.But we didn’t have time for this shit.Luckily, either Cara’s instincts didn’t lean that way, or she had more control, because she kept smiling at me, and she’d hugged me really enthusiastically when we walked in. I had glimmers of feeling uneasy when Mack got close to her, or stared at her too long. But he was so close, not letting go of my hand, still talking to me through the link, it was little more than a niggle.So, in the end, it
~ RIG ~I didn’t want to believe it, but Natalie was right.It felt like pulling teeth, but I made myself agree to let her contact the Rogues and try to arrange a meeting.“You make sure they’re going to invite me,” I said, warning her. She nodded quickly.Cara was confused, but Natalie explained to her that as an Alpha of another pack, it was tradition that I had to be invited onto their territory to speak with their leader. More importantly, if they invited me, I walked into their territory from a position of strength.I wasn’t going to get myself killed on the off chance that this circle of Rogues might b
~ CARA ~I wasn’t sure what Rig had in mind for the night, but I put all the effort in—showering and blow-drying my hair, wearing some makeup, though I couldn’t make myself look the way Natalie had. I did have a figure-hugging black dress she’d insisted on putting in my bags, though. Even though it looked a lot more like her style than mine, I decided to wear it. I was sure Rig would like it since the neckline plunged between my modest breasts, and dipped at the back all the way to the hollow of my spine.Besides, I doubted I’d have it on for long.It took me almost two hours to get ready, and I was surprised how shaky I felt at the end of it, after not seeing Rig for that long. We were supposed to be doing this to make the most of our time together, and I was suddenly a little panicked abou
~ CARA ~“Where are we going?” I asked breathlessly a few seconds later.The trees were thick on this side of the driveway, but rather than answer, Rig only turned his head to meet my eyes, smiled, and suddenly took a step off the gravel driveway and towards those looming shadows along the road.A few feet later my eyes adjusted and I could make out straight lines in the dark shadows under the tall pines, and soon a strange little building was revealed.At first it just looked like a weird out-building. An octagonal room with a low, cone-shaped roof, hidden from the view of the house by thick trees and bushes.I looked up at Rig.“You know, when I was youn
~ RIG ~I shook with need, my hands trembling worse than a middle-schooler getting his first kiss. Cara, so fucking stunning in that dress, was even more incredible to look at naked in the water, her skin glowing under lights in the blue water, her nipples high and hard, darker that the rest of her. I’d rested her neck back on the padded edge of the pool, and it arched her back, her throat bare, her lower back hollowed, knees wide because I was pressed between her thighs.We kissed. Oh, how we kissed.Had I known before her that a kiss could carry so much, be so sacred, I would never have given my lips to another soul before her.I kissed her, she kissed me. And it was as if our souls reached through the damp, breathless heat to twine again.