Ultimatum: Graham Pack Mates, Book 3 Read online

He scoffed, “And yet you assumed the worst of me.”

  “I hardly ever think of myself as half anything. I’m a shifter. Anyway, my mom, I don’t think, could handle being part of a pack, so to speak. Not even with her sister around. My dad, her mate, couldn’t stand to see her be sad. He moved to make her happy, even though it took a toll on him not to have family around. You know, someone to run with. At least until I was able to.”

  “That had to be rough.”

  “He made the most of it. It wasn’t like he could willingly leave his mate. He wouldn’t have even if he could. He loved her and she loved him.”

  Derek turned in to his subdivision. “And now you’re a transplant. Thrust into a pack you’d never met. Had to be hard on you with everything else that had happened.” He wondered why they hadn’t crossed paths already. Why fate had allowed them to be separated when she needed her mate the most and he was literally right around the corner.

  “Oh, I’d met them. We weren’t completely isolated. We did visit occasionally, just never stayed too long. Besides, Caelan and Eli made sure the pack accepted me when I got here. It’s not like I’m a threat to anyone’s rank. I’m just a lowly female.”

  “My female.” Hello, return of hard-on. Her scent filled his car, making him squirm.

  “Yes, yours.”

  The seductive timbre of her voice set him off. Two streets left. He would make it. He would, damn it.

  “Please tell me we can eat later.”

  “I’m thinking yes.” All evidence of her depression dispersed. When he glanced at her. there was a familiar glow in her eyes.

  One block. “Are you, um…you know, in your heat?” Why the hell beat around the bush?

  “Near it.”

  He turned the last corner practically on two wheels. They squealed as he sped around it. One last turn shot them into his driveway, where he cut the engine and yanked the key out. Buckles were undone, doors opened and slammed shut, and they met in front of the hood in a melding of lips and bodies.

  Her tongue pressed against his, warm and sweet. He could taste her all day and never get tired of her. She shifted her hips, lifting them toward his cock. Her feet grappled for purchase and he lifted her with his hands around her buttocks. Nice, firm, smooth, creamy buttocks, he remembered. Her legs surrounded him as he strode to the porch and the heaven awaiting them inside.

  “Damn.” He panted with their fury and lowered her to the sidewalk at the base of the steps. “One of these days we’ll make it into the house first. I swear.”

  “Who cares? There’s lots of open space here. The swing looks nice.” There went the gleam in her eyes again.

  “And lots of nosy rubberneckers. No, what I want from you is best done in the privacy of a bedroom. Or shower. Or…”

  “I get the picture.” She tugged his hand and pulled him to his own house, in as much of a hurry as he.

  Lord, the man talked too much. If they didn’t hurry, he was going to get a show before she was ready to provide one. Her wolf tried to claw its way to the surface, wanting to pounce on its mate and take his seed.

  Derek’s fingers fumbled at the lock and Paige took over, extracting the keys from his hand and calmly unlocking the door. Her clit tingled in anticipation, her heart thumped wildly, and suddenly she wanted to do something crazy.

  “Thanks,” he said when the door swung open. “Good thing this isn’t our first time. You might start thinking I’m nervous or something.”

  “Uh-huh.” She stayed him with a hand on his arm. “No.”

  “No?”

  She shook her head and nodded to the swing. “Here.”

  “But—”

  “Derek Taylor. I do not take you as a shy man. Are you telling me you’ve never gotten adventurous with a woman before?” She smiled coyly at him and batted her eyelashes.

  “Honey, I’ve done things you can’t even imagine.”

  “So it’s just me?”

  “Hell no.” He hugged her close. “I don’t want anyone else seeing this perfect little body.” There was an odd tone in his voice. “It’s mine.”

  She lifted her gaze to his. “So make it yours on this porch,” she challenged. “On that swing. Right now. Come on,” she purred. “It’s dark. Who’s gonna see us?”

  The world spun when he swung her around. In less than two breaths he had her on his lap, straddling his thighs while he sat and pushed off with his feet.

  Paige chuckled. “Less clothes might help.”

  “In a minute.” He devoured her mouth. Exquisite. She fought to get closer and ground her pussy on his erection.

  “Fuck.” He lifted his hips. Paige pulled back. “Where you goin’?”

  She stood, kicked off her shoes and stripped off her jeans and panties. Derek’s gaze never left hers. His hands bracketed her hips and moved up, lifting her shirt as he went, and his mouth landed on her belly button. He used his forehead to burrow under the edge of her shirt, and his hands slipped lower, smoothing over her butt. A shiver ran through her. His fingers met in the cleft of her ass, spreading her. He squeezed.

  Paige dropped her head back and threaded her fingers in his hair, loving the way his tongue swept across her abdomen and lower. Lower. Lower.

  “Unh.” She grunted when the pointed tip of his tongue found the tight ball of nerves and had her shooting up on her tiptoes. “Enough.” She extracted herself from his hands. The look on his face was classic, like a baby who’d just had his bottle yanked away when he wasn’t full. “I want fast. I want now.”

  He casually stretched out, threading his fingers behind his head.

  “I’m all yours.”

  “Yes, you are,” she rasped.

  Once again she straddled his legs and took no time attacking the buttons on his fly. Less to release his straining erection. The tip glistened with precome. No sense wasting it, she thought, and smeared the drops until his breath hissed from his lips, then lifted her thumb to her mouth to taste his essence.

  “I thought you wanted fast.”

  “I do.”

  “You keep that up, sweetheart, and you’ll have fast, but the party’ll be over before you’ve had your fun.”

  She pouted. Enough time later, she supposed. Her knees went to his sides again, but this time, her slick pussy met his hardness with no barriers between them.

  Lifting his cock, she held it steady at her entrance, then lowered herself onto the smooth, hard length. She stretched around his girth, taking all of him in a slow up-and-down dance until her buttocks came to rest on his thighs.

  “I wish I could stay like this.”

  “Who’s stopping you?” Derek’s still-panting breath superseded his gritted response. He gave the swing a push. The action had them slipping together with delicious friction. She laid her head on his.

  “Fast and furious, right?” she whispered.

  “Yep.” He nuzzled her cheek and traced the line of her jaw with his tongue. His fingers separated her bottom again and sought the hole not filled with his cock.

  She’d never been touched there. It seemed as forbidden as fucking on a porch swing. The crickets chirped; a bird sang; in the distance, a horn blew twice. And the back and forth motion wasn’t enough.

  Paige lifted herself until only the head of his cock remained inside her. The swing creaked on its hinges, making her cringe. She glanced at Derek.

  “Think it’ll hold us?” She snickered.

  “Yes.”

  She dropped.

  “Yes.”

  She rose.

  “Yes.”

  “I love when my men are reduced to one-word phrases.”

  “What men?” he growled. “There are no more men.”

  “Right.” Up, down. She grasped his shoulders. The tension spiraled to her clit, making it throb.

  “Thumb. I
need…yours…on…” He pressed on the button. “Yesss.”

  “I love when my women are reduced to one-word phrases.”

  “What women? Oh shit.”

  “Faster, Paige, you’re killing me here.”

  He stabbed his hips upward. She met him on a downward thrust. Her juices made the pad of his thumb slide on her clit with each pass. Sweat trickled off her forehead in the sultry heat of the night. A dog barked.

  Derek brought his free hand to his mouth and sucked his long forefinger. His gaze never left hers.

  The next time she rose, that wet finger pressed on her anus. Paige drew in a breath as the tip penetrated the tight passage.

  “Yes.”

  The triple sensation of his thumb on her clit, his cock filling her, and now his finger working her back hole almost toppled Paige off his lap. She hoped to God the swing withstood their weight, because there was no holding back anymore.

  Again and again, she worked herself on his erection. The zipper dug into delicate skin, but the building sensations overrode the small pain.

  So close. So close to…

  His thumb circled her clit. He grunted and shoved his heels into the wooden porch floor, embedding his cock in her. “Come with me, baby.”

  She needed a few more…

  Paige groaned.

  Withdrawing his hands from their respective, highly stimulating spots, he gripped her hips and held her down. His cock jerked inside her, spurting warm come against her womb once, twice, three times. With her clit tight against his pelvis, she came. Long and hard. She didn’t want it to end.

  The tingling throbbed through her sweet spot with every heartbeat. She held herself rigid until it started to fade, then squirmed on him to prolong the orgasm.

  A porch light came on next door.

  Breathing hard, Paige slumped in Derek’s lap, his cock still nestled deep in her core. His fingers caressed the small of her back. Deep in the shadows, she wasn’t worried anyone would see her, and if they did, she couldn’t summon the wherewithal to care.

  “You think they’ll call the police?” Derek asked, his lips cool against her heated throat.

  “I don’t care.” She snuggled into his embrace and wiggled her butt against him.

  “Oh, holy hell,” he muttered. “Stop moving.”

  “What? Like this.” She rotated her hips.

  He smacked her butt. “Shh. Be quiet, woman. I won’t do you much good from jail.”

  Paige clasped his face. “I won’t let them take you. I promise.”

  “You will pay for this, you know that, right?”

  “I can’t wait.”

  It had taken him most of the night to calm down enough to make this call. She would have to learn. No man was allowed to touch her but him.

  He would teach her. She would bow to him soon. Lick the ground he walked on and thank him profusely for allowing her to suck his dick.

  He got hard just thinking about it. His cock tented his boxers to the point where the head slipped free of the open fly. He palmed it, rubbing the drop of come around the broad head, and imagined it was her mouth on him, drawing him into her heat until her cheeks hollowed out and he hit the back of her throat.

  Working the shaft with his fist, he used his free hand to punch in her phone number on his cell. He hoped to fuck he interrupted her in bed and that her boy toy lost his erection with the distraction. The phone rang and rang, pissing him off. As did the vision of her screwing that fuckhead on his porch for all and sundry to see.

  If she wanted to fuck in public, he’d be very accommodating with her.

  Her voicemail picked up. “This is Paige. I can’t answer the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I’ll get back to you.”

  He stared at the phone. “That bitch.”

  He’d have to punish her for ignoring his call. She had a lot of punishments headed her way.

  Instead of throwing the vile gadget like he wanted to, he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. Counting helped. Not enough, but it helped. He wanted to take her by throat, squeeze until her eyes bugged, until she begged him to forgive her for allowing another man to touch her pussy. On a deep breath, he opened his eyes and dialed her number a second time.

  He’d call until she fucking answered. His cock, still rock hard in his fist, implored him to continue stroking. He did, sliding from root to tip, milking himself. She’d take every inch of his cock and scream for more. And after he poured his come into her pussy several times a day, she’d give him a son worthy of being a shifter prime.

  She had the stock for it and he had the cock for it.

  “Hello?” Damn her for sounding husky with sleep. Meant she’d done more sexual aerobics inside after the pathetic way she’d shown off her exquisite body to the whole neighborhood.

  “You allowed him to touch what is mine, Paige.” He had to work to keep his voice nasal so she wouldn’t recognize it. “I am disappointed in you.”

  He heard her swallow across the phone line and smiled. She needed to be off balance.

  “Who is this?”

  “You’ll know soon enough.” First he had to finish preparing the room for her.

  “What do you want?”

  There was an audible smack and a male grunt. No doubt she was trying to wake her lover. He only had to imagine cutting the man’s balls off to…

  “You know I’ll have to cleanse you now, don’t you?”

  “What?” Her breath gasped from her lungs so softly and he swore he could feel it waft across the head of his cock.

  “Soon, love. Soon.”

  “What do you want?” she screamed.

  “I think that should be obvious. And you will not raise your voice to me, Paige.”

  “Who are you?”

  He laughed softly. “Your mate, little wolf. The man who’s going to plant a cub in your belly and watch it grow to become the next prime of the Graham pack.”

  Her swift intake of breath followed his announcement.

  He disconnected with the knowledge he had gotten her attention. She wouldn’t cross him again.

  Chapter Six

  “Get anything from Matthews?” Derek asked Caelan as he drove behind Paige, close enough no one might squeeze between them. They’d gone to her house this morning for her to change clothes and pick up whatever she’d need for the day. He’d hoped to convince her to take the rest of the week off, but her stubbornness had prevailed despite the nasty phone call she’d gotten in the dead of night.

  One thing was for certain, it had pissed her off to no end. It had also scared the shit out of her. And still she’d dug in and stuck to her guns. From the second she’d woken in his arms, all naked and warm and smelling of sex, she’d done nothing but give him reasons she couldn’t take off.

  There wasn’t a man alive who’d balk at being a shifter’s mate if he got a taste of what it meant to wake up next to a wolf in heat. Even an angry wolf in heat was nice to come alive to. It was a wonder his cock hadn’t fallen off with the amount of work it had had to live up to. But who was he to complain?

  Well, he could, but not about her. About the asshole making Paige’s life a living hell and scaring the shit out of her. He wished he’d had a way to trace the call, but by the time Derek had gotten on the phone, the bastard had already hung up. Most likely he’d called from a cheap, untraceable, pay-as-you-go phone anyway.

  “Not much,” Caelan said, reining in Derek’s thoughts. “He was ambushed. Bumped from behind and knocked on the head as he was getting out of his car. He got a blur of dark hair and dark eyes. Tall, wearing dark clothes. Oh, and he drove a dark car. That’s about it. Next thing he knew, he woke up in his trunk. Never got a look at the guy. And he doesn’t remember anything remarkable about his scent either.

  “I know he’s pissed that the fucker got the jump on him . A
nd I think whoever did it, didn’t expect Matthews to be found so soon. The lab guys at the department are going over fibers. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll get something. I’m hoping he wasn’t prepared to have to wrestle a two hundred fifty pound man into the trunk of his car.”

  “Well, great. So we know nothing more than the guy was ‘dark’, doesn’t smell, and he likes to torment women. Sounds to me like Matthews is still pretty much out of it.”

  “Yep. And we also know someone doesn’t like Paige being watched.”

  “He’s in for a surprise then, isn’t he?” Derek’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.

  “I just hope it’s a surprise for him, and not one for you. If you end up the same as Matthews, we’re up shit creek.”

  Not an option. If he had to sit next to Paige at work until they found this guy, he would. He’d give new meaning to the old jingle, “Get a little closer”.

  “Whoever he is, he isn’t scrawny. It would have taken a lot of strength to lift him into the trunk.”

  “I won’t be discounting anyone.”

  “Good. I’m sending someone over to talk to Katie again, see if she remembers anything else. If she saw this guy turn into a wolf, then maybe she saw his face at some point. Then again, it was dark, so she probably didn’t see him any better than Matthews. Hell, any fur coloring she can give me would at least help me start eliminating people.”

  “Who knows, maybe things are clearer for her now.”

  “Maybe. If she talks at all. Check in with me later.”

  “I will.” He disconnected their call and watched Paige lift a hand to comb her fingers through her hair. Her head moved sharply to one side, then the other. He sympathized with her. If she felt anything like he did, she was worn out. Something he didn’t need. He needed to be alert to everything around him.

  Which meant he needed to stop watching the woman who’d claimed him as her mate and start keeping a more astute eye on the surroundings.

  Damned if that wasn’t the hardest thing to do.

  Paige sucked in a deep breath and stretched the kinks from her neck. Her hormones were into overtime right now, craving more of what she and Derek had partaken of for what seemed like the entire night.