Fire and Ice

Chapter One

Now

“Jeez, Callie, what the frak is up with you today? You act like you’re about to bounce out of your skin.”

Callie looked across the table at her friend, Shawna. “What?”

“You drinking espresso shots before you even get to the coffee shop, or what?”

Callie realized she’d been anxiously tapping her foot and willed it to stop. “Better?”

Shawna raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at her. “Not really. Purple? Really girlfriend, you’re shitting me that’s not a wig, right?”

Callie stroked her hair. “I was in a mood.”

“A mood? Is that code for drunk?” Shawna’s mocha skin looked flawless, as always. Her shoulder-length hair had, no doubt, suffered an hour’s torture of straightening for her to achieve the casually mussed look she sported. She wore blue jeans and a gorgeous maroon blouse that set off highlights in her brown eyes. She pulled the look together with stiletto sandals that gave her five-three frame an extra four inches. If someone didn’t know she held a law degree and was the head of the Mid-Atlantic Conservancy Trust for the Performing Arts, a position she inherited when her wealthy parents died and left her the job in their will, they’d never know she was worth over forty million dollars. She still insisted on driving her fifteen-year-old VW Rabbit to work every day at the “MacTrippa” office, as she called it.

“I was not drunk.” Callie examined the result in the chromed side of the napkin holder. Her green eyes, one aspect of her appearance that never changed, stared back at her. “I was experimenting.”

“Girl, you flunked that experiment. Leave the mad scientist crap to Dr. Frankenstein, and get your ass back to the hair stylist.”

“I did it myself,” Callie mumbled. “I like it. You’re my friend. You’re supposed to support me.”

“You’re what, thirty-five? Time to leave purple hair behind.”

“Thirty and holding,” Callie mumbled. Sort of the truth, although Shawna didn’t need to know that.

Shawna snorted in derision. “Embrace your age. You’re a hot woman. You don’t need to go purple to prove it.”

“It’s not like it’s all purple. Just a few streaks for highlights.”

Shawna arched an eyebrow at her again. “More like you were lit high or something.”

Callie looked around for any sign of her intended mark. Three years of coming to this Charleston coffee shop and time was growing short. So far, all she’d picked up was Shawna as her friend, and a caffeine addiction. But her sister had insisted events were already in play, and literally any day now, she’d find him.

Why her sister couldn’t just hand over his name, address, and phone number beat the hell out of Callie. But Babs insisted it didn’t work that way, that mortals’ free will must be maintained, otherwise the prophecies wouldn’t be fulfilled, blah, blah, blah.

Always complicating shit. Just like her.

Shawna sipped her latte. “We still hitting the opera tomorrow night?” She grinned. “I saw the publicity stills of Salzari, the lead.” She let out a low whistle. “A Saturday night at the opera never looked so sweet. Two words, honey—tight leather pants.”

“That’s three words,” Callie pointed out.

“Uh-uh. These pants look like they’re painted on him, making ‘tight’ and ‘leather’ eligible for one-word status. Hyphenated, at the very least. And he’s definitely got the bod to wear them. How often do we get a hunk like that singing Puccini here in Charleston?”

“Not very.” She sipped her cappuccino.

“Uh-huh. Exactly.” Shawna started to say something else when she let out a low whistle. “I’ll take one of him to go, and hold the wrapper, puhleeze.”

Callie turned to look. The coffee shop sat on a corner, with doors opening to both streets. The man had walked in through the coffee shop’s far side door, not the main entrance in front of the counter. His jet-black hair brushed his shoulders but looked right on him, like he spent a lot of time out of doors doing hard, honest labor and didn’t have time to get it cut. His grey-green eyes bore a hint of amber in them. He carried a copy of The Post and Courier tucked under his right arm, likely just purchased from the paper box right outside. Faded, tight blue jeans over worn work boots, and a collared blue knit, short-sleeved shirt highlighted his trim, lithe body. She guessed him to be around six foot and one-eighty.

Mmm. Yummy.

Callie was vaguely aware of Shawna clearing her throat. When she turned, she spotted Shawna’s playful smile. “Girl, I’ve got guys falling out my asshole. Go get him. This one’s on me.”

She’d already jumped up from her seat and taken three strides toward where he had queued in line to order when she realized who he must be.

Fuck!

Okay, well, if she had to hook up with a fleabag, there were far worse looking ones. He was almost as hot as the Lyall triplets down in Florida who Babs had warned her to stay away from.

She stepped into line behind her mystery wolf hunk. He didn’t turn around, but she stared at the back of his neck and enjoyed his warm, earthy scent.

There won’t be anything hard about this job. Well, except hopefully Mr. Hunkalicious’ cock.

When it was his turn, he stepped up to the counter and ordered a large, black coffee, with an extra shot of espresso.

My kind of guy.

When he turned around to step to the end of the counter where the pickup area was located, their eyes locked. For the first time she could ever remember, her mouth went dry.

After what felt like forever, she managed to speak. “Um, hi.”

The hint of a smile curved his lips. She saw the wolf lurking under the surface.

So this is what it feels like to be prey.

“Hello,” he said.

“Ma’am, did you want to order?” the clerk asked.

Callie fought the urge to evaporate the multiply pierced clerk where she stood. “Um, can I get an extra napkin?” she asked without breaking eye contact with Mr. My-What-Big-Eyes-You-Have.

He smiled.

“Ma’am,” the clerk said, exasperated, “the extra napkins are on the tables.” She looked past Callie, who struggled against the desire to make the girl’s head explode. Callie finally rationalized that the girl’s piercings would cause shrapnel and possibly harm innocent bystanders. “Can I help the next person in line?”

“We’d better step out of the way,” Wolf Man suggested.

“Uh-huh.” Callie knew she shouldn’t be reacting like this. No other man had ever made her react like this.

Then again, she’d never fallen for a shape-shifter before. At least, not a wolf.

I am sooo going to kill Babs for this.

She followed him to the end of the counter, where the man stuck out his hand. “Daniel Blackestone.”

She hoped her hand didn’t feel clammy. “Callie Maher.”

Another clerk set his order on the counter. “Large black coffee. Extra shot.”

“That’s me,” he said with a smile, his gaze never leaving Callie’s.

Callie nodded.

“I need my hand back,” he said with a deliciously raised eyebrow.

Oh, you stupid fuck! she chastised herself as she let go. “Sorry.”

He pulled out his wallet, fished out a business card, and handed it to her. Blackestone Construction. “That’s my cell,” he said. “I’m on my way to a meeting, but give me a call. If you’re free later, maybe we can grab something to eat?” One dark eyebrow deliciously arched again. She wished he’d stop doing that. Every time he did, it made her panties even more squishy. “Unless you’re not available?”

“Oh, I’m available!” The words tumbled out of her mouth in a frantic rush. “Anytime!”

“How about we meet at five this afternoon at Prachett’s? My treat.”

She nodded dumbly.

“Do you know where that is?”

“Over on Highway 5.”

He smiled. “See you at five, Callie.”

“Okay.” She watched him pick up his coffee and stroll out of the shop.

It took every ounce of her strength not to follow him.

Shawna’s laugh brought Callie back to the present. She looked over at her friend, who was beckoning her back to the table with a crooked finger. In a fog, Callie returned and plopped down in her chair. Shawna plucked the card from her hand and studied it before letting out a low whistle.

“I’ve heard of him. Honey, you just hit the jackpot if you don’t let him get off the hook. Rich businessman. His company makes a generous donation to the Foundation every year.”

Callie took the card back as her pulse struggled to slow its racing pace. What have I gotten myself into?

When Callie finally made it home, she walked into the master bedroom, into the large walk-in closet. She stepped through it into her sister’s dooryard.

Babs, in her maiden form, knelt on the ground next to a small vegetable patch. A little pile of weeds lay next to her.

Callie angrily strode over to her. Babs never looked up. “Okay, sis. What. The. Fuck?”

Baba Yaga still didn’t look up. “Cailleach, you show up at my house unannounced, uninvited, and using that tone of voice with me? That’s very risky.”

“Risky my ass!” She ran a hand through her hair. “Damn it! You set me up! You didn’t say anything about me falling in love with this guy or him thinking I am his mate!”

Babs finally sat back on her heels and looked up at her sister. “I take it you met your wolf?”

“My wolf? Oh, no. Fuck, no! Wait just a freaking minute. You know damn well I’m not out to get hitched.”

“Then walk away from him.”

Baba Yaga’s calm tone infuriated Callie. She sputtered, angry and indignant, until she realized walking away from the man whom she’d just met wouldn’t be possible. Dejected, she plopped down onto the grass. “What am I going to do? This wasn’t what I signed up for,” she wailed.

Babs finally smiled. “You’re going out to dinner with him tonight.”

Daniel Blackestone sat in his pickup truck, eyes closed, and waited.

Nope, not going away.

The rock-hard erection he’d developed upon meeting Callie Maher wasn’t getting any better. In fact, as he thought about her, his member throbbed, practically trying to claw its way out of his jeans to go find and fuck her.

To claim her as his One.

Despite all the bullshit he’d been raised on, part of him never expected to meet his One. At least, not like this. Not in line in a coffee shop in Charleston. He certainly never expected this kind of reaction from his body or his soul.

She wasn’t even a wolf. He didn’t know what the hell she was, but human wasn’t among his top thousand choices. She wasn’t a shifter, either. At least, not any shifter breed he’d ever met. Definitely not wolf or canine, and not feline. The only reason he’d let her walk away was because from the way her pulse had raced, and the way her scent suddenly overwhelmed him, he knew she felt the pull, too. She wouldn’t miss their dinner.

She couldn’t any more than he could.

Her scent reminded him of cold, wet spring on a moor in Scotland. When he shook her hand, he had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her right there. No woman had ever affected him like that before.

The only thing that kept him from doing it was the fact that they were in public, and that he suspected whatever she was, she had the power to fry him where he stood.

He eventually opened his eyes, resigned to walking around in discomfort all day. Tonight. We have dinner tonight. Then she’ll either be mine, or she’ll kill me in my tracks.

He started the truck and backed out of his parking space. Either way, I will get rid of this boner tonight.

Chapter Two

Callie spent two hours trying to decide what to wear. Another hour trying different hair styles and colors until she went back to the purple streaks.

If he doesn’t like it, fuck him.

Although she strongly suspected she would be fucking him tonight. And well into tomorrow, if she was lucky.

She hoped he didn’t get some silly wolf idea about her being his mate, or whatever the heck it was those wolves did.

Although, if she was truly honest with herself, she realized she might not have a choice. She’d never reacted to any man, human or not, the way she’d reacted to Daniel Blackestone. The flaw in the slaw, so to speak, was the fact that she sensed he was a full-on Alpha wolf, not a man to be dominated. One thing Callie had learned in all her years was she belonged in the driver seat. She didn’t care what Baba Yaga said. She wasn’t looking to get hitched.

This could be interesting.

Her stomach tensed as she drove to the restaurant. A little out in the country, but a homey place with excellent food and a hangout for locals. She sat in the parking lot and tried to talk herself out of this.

I could call his cell and cancel.

Even as she tried to make herself do just that, thinking it the perfect answer to her problem, she grabbed her purse, got out of her car, and locked it before heading inside. Scanning the dining room, she spotted him in a corner booth, his back to the wall and facing the door. He raised his hand in greeting. Totally ignoring the hostess, Callie felt like her feet drifted a few inches off the floor as she coasted over to him.

He stood at her approach and offered a hand. “I’m glad you made it.” His playful smirk told her more than she needed to know. He felt something, too, and he thought he was running the show.

“Thanks.” She shook with him and it took every ounce of will she had to finally disengage her hand and sit in the other side of the booth.

He sat after she did and leaned in across the table. His scent filled her nostrils. She barely managed to choke back a hungry moan.

“Would you like to do this the easy, non-bullshit way?” he asked. “Or do you want to dance around the subject?”

She swallowed, hard. He’d made her. She nodded, not trusting her voice to not squeak.

He smiled. Damn, her panties were already soaked, and she hadn’t even kissed him yet.

I’m sooo going to kill Babs for this.

Daniel studied Callie as she walked across the dining room to join him at the booth. He just hoped she didn’t see his throbbing erection straining at the zipper of his jeans when he stood.

Fuck it. Time to cut to the chase. Whatever she was, she knew it, and he wasn’t going to waste precious time or loss of blood flow to his brain pretending they weren’t what they were just to uphold social norms.

He wanted his cock deep inside her pussy, and he wanted it now.

Fortunately, she agreed to his suggestion to quit wasting time with a tentative nod.

He smiled and prayed she didn’t think she was prey. He glanced around before lowering his voice. “What are you?”

“That’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it.”

She shook her head. “You first. You’re a wolf.”

“Give the lady a prize. Now answer my question.”

She glanced down at the table. He got the impression she was not a woman used to feeling outnumbered or overpowered. “Do you know who Baba Yaga is?”

He snorted. “Let me guess, you’re her?”

She shook her head again. “Her younger sister.”

That stopped him in his tracks. He’d always assumed Baba Yaga was a myth.

Then again, so were shape-shifters.

“Her younger sister?”

“You might know me as Cailleach.”

Now that name he knew. His Scottish grandmother had scared him by invoking her plenty of times in his youth, a good hundred and fifty or so years earlier. When he’d wish for warmer weather, she’d say, “Daniel, ye ken better than that. Don’t make the Cailleach angry by wishin’ her away too soon, now. Ye hear me, laddie?”

“But…” He looked at her, dumbfounded. “What?”

Now she smiled. “Yes, I’m Cailleach. Or the Cailleach. Callie’s fine.”

“But you’re human.”

Before his eyes, her hair changed to ginger. “So are you. Just consider me a different kind of shifter.”

He sat back, appraising her with a new eye. “I have to be honest with you—”

“Yes, you do.” She smiled.

“As I was saying, I think you’re my One.”

“You think, or you know?”

“I know.” He leaned forward and dropped his voice. He could smell how wet she was, how much she wanted him. Her cool-as-winter act wasn’t fooling his lupine nose in the least. “I’m going to take you home, fuck your brains out, and mark you.”

He watched the beautiful muscles in her neck work as she swallowed hard. Good. Her composure was on shaky ground.

He suspected that was the only advantage he had over her.

“What exactly do you think you’re going to turn me into?” she asked.

“What you know you are. What you already feel. I’m going to make you my mate.”

“I belong to no man.”

“I’m not a man. I’m a wolf.”

Unfortunately, she couldn’t argue with that logic. And she also couldn’t argue with the fact that, if it wouldn’t get them thrown in jail and irrevocably emotionally scar some of the children and adults in the dining room, she’d fuck him right there on the table without a second thought.

Wasn’t the kinkiest thing she’d ever done in her existence, but it would rank somewhere in the top fifty.

“True. But I’m not your average woman.”

“I never said anything about you was average,” he quietly shot back.

Callie suspected the verbal Ping-Pong match would have continued had the waitress not returned to take their drink orders. Alone again, Callie once more leaned in close. “If you think I’m just going to go home with you and submit to you and be a good little wifey, think again.”

He matched her tone and posture. “If you think I’m going to let you walk out of my life without a fight, you’d better think again.”

She sat back, her throat dry. She took the opportunity of the waitress returning with their drinks to slip out of the booth and practically sprint to the bathroom. Fortunately alone, she locked herself in a stall and turned, closing her eyes.

She opened them in Babs’ kitchen. Babs sat at her counter, in her maiden form, a vintage Vogue magazine from 1968 before her.

“What the fuck is going on, sis?”

Baba Yaga didn’t look up from her magazine. In fact, she flipped the page. “You’ve just gained yourself a wolf for a mate.”

“Argh! I don’t want a ‘mate.’ A fuck, a fuck buddy, hell, a friend with bennies, sure thing. A one-night stand, no problem. I don’t want, or need, a ‘mate.’”

That’s when Baba Yaga looked up, her eyes burning. “You said you’d help.”

“Yes, I did! Brighde and I both helped you with the ritual. But this—”

“This is helping. He and his kind are needed. You are an important part of the prophecies. Without you, evil will reign.”

Callie let out another scream of frustration and irritation. “What if I don’t fucking care?”

“But you do care.”

“You made me fall in love with this guy—”

“No.” Baba Yaga shook her head emphatically. “I didn’t do that. That was Fate. He is as much your mate as you are his. Your perfect match. There is one small issue, however.”

“‘One small issue’?” She looked incredulously at her older sister. “Only one? Because falling in love with this dude was not on my life plan for today!”

Babs smiled. “When you mate with him, you must submit to him. Willingly. He cannot and will not take you otherwise. It is their way. And if you don’t have him, you will spend the rest of your life miserable, as will he. Not to mention—”

“I know, I know! The whole end of the world, blah, blah, blah, problem.” She heavily sat on one of the barstools. “What is it about him?”

Baba Yaga shrugged. “It’s love. What can I say? It makes us all crazy.” Her older sister’s face clouded with deep pain. “If it’s any consolation, if you mate with him, you are fated to be with him longer than even I can see.”

Unless she slipped out through the kitchen, there wasn’t a back door to the restaurant. Daniel sat there, considering if he should follow her or not. When he glanced out the front windows, he could see her car still sat in the parking lot.

So she hadn’t run…yet.

The thought of giving chase to her set his blood boiling in a good way and made his already throbbing cock so hard it almost hurt.

Although he suspected if she truly wanted to disappear, she probably could.

He tried not to glance at his phone every thirty seconds to check the time. He could still smell her scent in the other side of the booth. He knew he wouldn’t be able to force her to become his mate—she could probably kill him where he sat if she wanted to—but he could tell from her scent she wanted him, even though he could also sense she was as shocked by that revelation as he was.

Time to burn my little black book. He’d never had a relationship last more than a few months, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to go a couple of years without a girlfriend. He had his work, pack obligations, and…

Well, work. In his younger days he’d been a wild pup, running crazy with some of his friends. Partying hard, playing harder. He finally realized finding a woman who could keep up with his sexual appetites wasn’t in the stars, which made every encounter he had even more emotionally empty than the last. He had a lot more fun going out to dinner and sitting there, talking for the whole night than he did from most of his sexual encounters lately. He was lonely.

He could not care less about sex. If he wanted to get off, he could always rub one out. What he truly wanted was a mate.

He fought the urge to drum his fingers on the table. After seven minutes and twenty-four seconds, Callie returned from the bathroom, a morose look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. He wanted to pound who or whatever had put that sour look on her face.

She shook her head as she reached for her iced tea. “Nothing.”

He smelled something odd on her. “Where did you go?”

She blushed, something he suspected wasn’t usual for her. “I had to go talk to my older sister for a moment.”

“Not in the bathroom.”

“No.” She glanced at him, then looked at her glass. “It’s…complicated.”

He laughed. “No shit. This whole thing is twenty kinds of complicated.”

The waitress returned to take their food orders. When she left them again, Callie leaned in. “You don’t want me for a mate.”

He fought the urge to laugh at her transparent attempt to talk her way out of something he could tell she wanted as much as he did. “Oh? Why is that.”

“I’m stubborn and pigheaded and have a really bad temper.”

“So?”

She stared at him. “I’m jealous and pushy and bossy. I have to be in charge.”

His handsome smile not only crinkled his eyes, but she felt it at the very depths of her soul. “Then we’ll have an interesting night together, won’t we?” he suggested.

She tried again. “I’m a pretty kinky chick,” she said. “I don’t get off on just any old vanilla, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am missionary sex, you know.” She hoped when she picked up her glass of tea that he couldn’t see how badly her hand was shaking.

He leaned a little closer across the table and quickly flicked the tip of his tongue across his teeth in a sexy way. “Then guess what, chica, you’re about to get the fuck of your life. I have yet to find a woman who can keep up with the real me. A woman I don’t have to hold back with.”

She knew he heard the soft, plaintive mewling sound that rolled from her throat over that statement. “I don’t just mean reverse cowgirl, buster.”

He crooked a finger at her to lean in closer. He whispered in her ear, “I’m going to take you home, put cuffs and a collar on you, and tie you facedown across my spanking bench. I’m going to redden your ass with my bare hand while you’ve got a butt plug up it and a vibrating egg inside your pussy at the same time. When you’re begging me to fuck you, I’m going to take the egg out and fuck your dripping wet pussy while the butt plug is still in you. Then, as you come, I’m going to sink my fangs into your shoulder and mark you as mine. I’m going to make the top of your head explode. While you’re recovering from that, I’m going to move you to my bed, tie you on it spread eagle, and lick your clit all night long until you forget you ever had another man before me.”

She tried to find a reply and settled on, “Is that all?”

He chuckled softly, giving her earlobe a playful nip. “No. We’ll start the next morning with you giving me a nice, long blow job. On your knees with your hands cuffed behind your back and the vibrating egg up your pussy, and the butt plug up your ass. I think you’re going to need maintenance spankings every morning, too.” He gently blew into her ear. “You don’t just like kinky. Admit it. You’ve spent your entire life looking for a man who could take you on and make your dirtiest fantasies come true, haven’t you? And I’m either going to make them come true or die trying to convince you of that tonight.”

Damn him! Her clit throbbed, on fire, her asshole clenching as she imagined the pleasant feel of the burning pinch of the butt plug and spanking she hadn’t felt in way too long. Under the table, she felt him nudge her legs wide apart with one booted foot. When she tried to close them, he used both feet to push them apart.

And firmly keep them there.

She nearly melted in her seat.

“So what do you say to all of that, hmm?” he asked.

She cleared her throat. “Can we get the check now?” she whispered with a tremble in her voice.

“No.”

She did a double take. “What?”

He sat back with a devilish smile. “I’m hungry. Since this could very well be my last meal, I’m going to eat it.” His gaze narrowed, impaling her. “Then I’m going to eat you.”

He did his best not to burst out laughing at her wide-eyed blink of surprise when he told her no. He suspected she was a woman not used to hearing the word from others when she wanted her way. Especially when she was wound up and horny the way she now was.

This is going to be fun. Although he did feel more than a little worry over the truth of the situation, that he intended to mate her…or die trying. He held no illusions that if she didn’t want to be his mate, she wouldn’t allow it.

Which was fine with him. He knew if he couldn’t have her, he’d rather die. He would never in his life meet another like her. He’d yet to meet anyone like her, ever, in his one hundred and fifty-nine years walking the earth.

If tonight was going to be the night he met his maker, he damn sure would enjoy himself.

Starting with a good dinner.

Chapter Three

After dinner, where Callie spent more time trying to figure out how to get Daniel to eat faster, Callie pulled up in the driveway next to Daniel’s truck. The garage door finished running up, exposing a workspace so neat and tidy it would make a good Dexter kill room.

She didn’t know if she should admire him or keep 911 on speed dial.

Not that I need it.

She got out and locked her car. Glancing around, she realized the area was totally dark. Other than the usual sounds of the night, it was quiet.

“Ten acres,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Not nearly big enough, but it’ll do.” He leaned against a sociopathically clean workbench. “Having second thoughts about me?”

She smirked. “You talk a big game, tough guy. I think you’re trying to back out on me.”

With speed that surprised even her, he grabbed her, spun her around with one of her arms locked behind her back and one of his pressing against her throat.

Her pussy pulsed almost painfully, sending another flood of wetness through her cunt.

“Admit it,” he growled in her ear. “You could kill me where I stand without a second thought.” She struggled to hold back her needful whimper. “But let’s set some ground rules for tonight. You don’t kill me. You want me to stop anything I’m doing, at any time, no matter what it is? You just say ‘red’.”

She tried to wrench her head back to look at him, but he had too strong a grip on her. “Red?” she asked for clarification.

She nearly fell over as he let go of her. When she regained her footing, he was lounging against the workbench again with a playful and devilishly handsome grin on his face.

“Just like that,” he said. “Deal?”

Callie instinctively knew she’d end their night begging him to mark her, or mate her, or all-of-the-above her, just to keep feeling like this.

Excitement.

Anticipation.

Good, old-fashioned, lustful need.

Yeah, she could turn him into a pile of mangy wolf hide if she wanted. But she didn’t want to.

It was the last thing she wanted.

“Deal,” she agreed.

He walked to a door she presumed led inside the house and hit the button next to it to make the garage door roll down. He smiled. “Welcome to my lair, Cailleach.”

“My, what big teeth you have.” She stepped past him into a well-appointed kitchen.

He laughed as he dropped his keys onto the counter. “Do you have any idea what a relief it is to be able to joke with you like that? To be able to be myself?” He snagged her arm and pulled her to him, his gaze burning into hers. “I mean in all ways. Not just the wolf ways, either.”

He reached up and grabbed a firm fistful of her hair, slowly pulling back until he had her chin tipped up. He leaned in close. His pupils appeared huge, his eyes the dark green of emeralds, and she felt an impressively hard bulge straining through his jeans.

She wanted to drop to her knees in front of him, but he wrapped his other arm firmly around her midsection, keeping her on her feet, her body pressed against his.

“Do you know what I mean?” he whispered. “Do you understand what I’m talking about?”

She couldn’t nod. She managed to squeak out an, “Uh-huh!”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak.

Her heart raced. He was waiting for a different answer. She wanted him to kiss her, but suspected he wasn’t going to do anything but stand there all night until he heard what he wanted.

Duh! The answer finally struggled its way through the lust-soaked portions of her brain and made it to her vocal cords. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered.

His smile nearly made her come right there. “Good girl,” he whispered, so close his breath brushed against her lips. Then he kissed her. He tasted like a sweet, dark lager, earthy and mellow. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her hands tightly around him, wanting more, wanting him to totally own her.

He’d read her mind without even trying. He knew her heart’s desire. And no, he couldn’t really beat her in an unfair fight. However, if she didn’t blast him, under normal circumstances she knew he could keep her in line and would value the opportunity to do it.

“Can I trust you?” she fearfully asked.

His expression softened. “You are my mate,” he whispered. “I would die for you. Even if I wasn’t bound by the Code of the Ancients to take care of you, I would do any- and everything in my power to keep you happy. I only need one thing from you, and you have to willingly give it. I couldn’t force you if I wanted to.” He relaxed his grip on her hair, instead stroking it. “I don’t want to force you.” His smile regained just a hint of mischievous evil. “Well, I don’t want to force you to submit to me. Maybe I will force you to do other things.”

She had a feeling she’d enjoy every second of those other things. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t answered her question. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with someone who suckered me in for one night of hot sex and can’t deliver for the rest of my life.”

He tightened his arm around her as he brushed his lips across hers. “I want a mate, a partner, a wife, a friend, a lover. But I need that woman to be all those things and be my submissive, too. Someone strong enough not to be a doormat. Someone who only gets on their knees for me. Someone who will submit to me willingly, but who also has a spine of steel.”

Her knees felt like jelly already.

He smiled. “I won’t wake up tomorrow and find you to be a puddle of goo, will I?”

“Probably, but not in the way you mean.”

He laughed. “I also need a partner in life who has a good sense of humor.”

“Did you happen to notice the purple hair earlier?”

“I did. I thought it looked beautiful on you.” He ran her red hair through his fingers. “So does this. I think I prefer this. I know what would look better, though.” He grazed his teeth across her throat, making her moan.

“What?” she gasped.

“Your clothes on the floor and my cuffs on your wrists and ankles.” He gently nipped the hollow of her throat. “And my collar locked around your neck.” He nipped her again. “And you will wear my collar.”

Oh, Goddess! She wanted it. She wanted it more than anything, wanted to believe he could and would follow through.

He suddenly released her. Callie almost lost her footing and grabbed for the counter so she didn’t hit the floor. He went to the fridge and started rummaging through it. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

“Huh?” She couldn’t think. She didn’t want to think. She wanted more of that.

More of him.

He held up a can of soda. “I have Coke, tea, milk, water. Want anything?”

She swallowed hard and shook her head.

He closed the fridge. Smiling, he popped the tab on a can of Coke and took a couple of swallows. Then he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

On trembling legs, she followed him. He sat on the couch, picked up a remote control, and turned on the TV.

She stood there in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

He smirked. “Relaxing.” He patted the couch. “Come here.”

She did. She wanted to pounce on him, rip all his clothes off, and fuck his brains out, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t let her do that. She managed a glance at the bookshelves lining the wall holding the forty-two-inch TV. A wide variety of books, a few pictures, and quite a few carved items were neatly lined up on them.

“What are those?” she asked, pointing.

“What? The carvings?”

She nodded.

He shrugged. “I wanted a hobby. I like making stuff like that.” She loved his playful grin. “That’s not what you want to talk about though, is it?”

She shook her head.

He leaned in close. “Let’s not waste any more time. I won’t force you to submit to me, even if I could. But if you give your submission to me, I promise I’m more than man enough to keep you in line.”

She tried to kiss him, but he grabbed her by the hair with his free hand and pulled her back with a playful smile.

“If you want me,” he said in a dangerous tone that totally soaked her panties, “then you need to get on your knees and ask me.”

“What about calling red?” she gasped.

“That’s for when we’re playing. I could easily do things the old-fashioned way and chase you down, but honestly? That doesn’t appeal to me. I want to know you want me. I want your submission to be willingly given to me. I want you to beg me to do every nasty, depraved thing to you that you’ve ever wanted done. Maybe even a few things you never knew you wanted done to you. Once I know all of that, from that point on, I can do all the chasing I feel like. And I will catch you every time.”

She stared into his eyes. She’d never wanted anything more in her life.

And that was a pretty damn long time.

She nodded.

He released her hair and pointed at the floor in front of him. “On your knees, facing me,” he quietly said.

All right! One blow job, coming up!

When she tried to reach for his zipper, he laughed and gently pushed her persistent hands away. “Did I tell you to do that?”

“But—”

He grabbed her chin. “Stop. Turn your mind off. Follow orders.”

With a frustrated sigh, she sat back on her heels in front of him.

He tried not to laugh. She looked nearly frantic with need. “Very good.” He suspected no one had ever dared tell her no before.

She’d have to get used to it. He would keep her on a short leash at first, give her a taste of the control he knew she craved.

Who was he kidding? He wanted to slake his thirst to have a total submissive all his own who wanted every bit he could give her and then some. Someone he didn’t have to hold back with, physically or mentally.

“Hands on your knees,” he quietly commanded.

She glared up at him while she complied.

“Good girl.” He reached over and stroked her hair, slowly fisting it and tipping her head back so he could look deep into her eyes. “Don’t try to lie to me and tell me you don’t want this,” he softly said. “I can smell how wet you are. I can hear your heart pounding. Don’t worry, you’ll get all the orgasms you can handle and then some, but only when I’m ready to give them to you. Do you understand me?”

She licked her lips. Then, sounding less sure of herself, she whispered, “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl,” he cooed.

He made her sit there and watch him while he took his time sipping his Coke. Her eyes never left him while he did his best to not drag her into the bedroom and make love to her immediately.

When he finished, he handed her the can. “Please take this into the kitchen for me and set it in the sink.”

Now she looked puzzled, but she took it. “Yes, Sir.”

When she returned, he stood. “Time to show you the playroom,” he said with a smile.

He led her to the back of the house, where he’d turned a bedroom into a dungeon. When he opened the door, she thought her knees would melt right out from under her. He didn’t just have a playroom. He had a dungeon so well equipped it would make most Doms drool with envy.

She stepped past him into the room. There was a small carpeted area with a futon cushion and pillows. Aftercare, if she had to guess. A padded spanking bench. A St. Andrew’s Cross. From the ceiling, eyebolts held two lengths of chain from which a horizontal bar was securely attached. One wall rack held an assortment of riding crops, beautiful canes made out of wood and synthetic materials, whips, paddles, floggers, slappers, straps, and other implements.

The highlight was the rolling cart holding the most well-equipped violet wand setup she’d ever seen in her life. When she started to walk over to it, he grabbed her by the hair and reeled her back in.

“Nope. You don’t get to play with the toys until I say so. Got it?”

She started to nod then remembered her place. “Yes, Sir.”

He grinned. “Such a good girl you are,” he softly said.

Another flutter straight to her pussy. She didn’t need a fresh change of panties, she needed a NASA-worthy adult diaper to contain the flood of moisture this wolf had inspired in her.

He snapped his fingers and pointed at the floor. Without hesitation, she dropped to her knees, hands on her knees.

“Good girl,” he cooed. He turned and opened a cabinet. She couldn’t see everything inside it, but it looked like it held vibrators, dildos, restraints, rope, and other items no well-stocked dungeon should ever be without. He returned with a set of leather cuffs for her wrists and ankles, as well as a black leather collar.

He put the collar on her first. While it had a locking buckle, she noticed he didn’t put a lock on it. “This isn’t your permanent collar, don’t worry. I’ll get you a day collar, one you’ll wear all the time. Understand?”

She shivered. She’d never worn a collar before. The feel of it around her neck reminded her of the feel of a hand, just firm enough to invoke visions of strong fingers gently curled around her flesh. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl. Wrists.”

She held up her hands and he fastened the soft, supple black leather cuffs around her wrists.

“Stand up.”

She did.

“Strip.”

Meeting his green gaze, she did, slowly unbuttoning her blouse before letting it drop to the floor. Then her bra. She kicked off her shoes and pulled down her jeans and sodden underwear, stepping out of them.

She felt the corner of her mouth curl in a smile at his sharp intake of breath as she stood before him completely naked.

“Good girl,” he said.

Goddess! He wanted to bend her over the bench and fuck her right then and there. She was breathtaking. Creamy skin, a solid body with curves in all the right places, a gorgeously spankable ass, and breasts just the right size for him to cup in his hands, and while not shaved, she kept her pussy closely trimmed.

Perfection.

A wave of her sweet, musky scent hit him when she kicked off her pants. If he wasn’t mistaken, she’d totally soaked her panties through with her juices. That was fair, because he was pretty sure when his jeans came off there’d be a matching wet spot inside them.

“Ankles,” he commanded as he bent over. She lifted first her left foot for him to fasten on the cuff, then her right. He motioned for her to follow him over to the corner where the carpet was. Then he spread his arms. “Undress me.”

Smiling, she stepped forward, looking up into his eyes with a smoldering, passionate gaze as she worked on his shirt buttons. He didn’t miss how she gently raked her fingers across the light hair on his chest before she moved to unfasten his belt. He pulled off his boots so she could get his jeans off his legs.

On her knees again, he let her rest her forehead against his hip, one hand buried in her hair and keeping her from wrapping her lips around his stiff cock. If he let her do that now, he’d never be able to stop himself from coming. Instead, he rubbed his thumb across the slit of his cock and collected a few drops of pre-cum from the head.

“Open,” he commanded.

She did, her eyes on his as he popped his thumb into her mouth.

Her tongue did delicious things to the digit that made his cock throb even harder at the anticipation of being next. She softly moaned as she sucked every bit of pre-cum and then some off his thumb. Finally, he pulled his thumb from her mouth, hooked a finger through the ring on the front of her collar, and tugged.

“Up, pet.”

He didn’t miss how her eyes flashed at that. In anticipation or irritation, he wasn’t sure, but he’d nip resistance in the bud. He pulled her close. “You are my pet, Callie. That is what I will call you. My mate, my wife, my lover, my slave. Above all that, my pet. Understand.”

Her breath quickened.

Ah, anticipation. Good.

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered.

“Good girl.” He used her collar to keep her from latching on too hard when he brushed a kiss across her lips.

Leading her to the spanking bench, he laid her facedown on it and used clips to attach the cuffs on her arms and legs to it. He knelt in front of her. “You are mine, understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Had her heart ever raced so hard and fast in her life? She didn’t think so. She was dying to suck his cock, feel him fuck her, but even more than that, she wanted to feel the bite of his cane in her flesh.

He returned to the cabinet and retrieved a few items. She couldn’t see what, but when she heard the unmistakable snap of a glove, she suspected what was coming next.

Callie felt him rub cool lube against her ass, pressing first one, then two fingers for access when he heard her moan and felt her relax for him.

“My little pet likes anal, does she?”

She felt her face burn. “Yes, Sir.”

“How long’s it been?”

“Too long, Sir.”

He fucked her ass with two fingers before adding more lube and a third. She moaned, trying to thrust her hips in time with his movement but unable to get as much traction as she’d like due to the restraints.

Then his fingers disappeared. Her pulse amped up with expectation. Sure enough, she felt the cool, firm press of a butt plug. “You shouldn’t have any problems taking this one, should you?”

She winced just a little as it reached the widest part of the plug, breathing through it, then that pleasant fullness as it seated home.

Another flood of moisture rushed to her pussy, and she moaned in pleasure.

“We’re not done yet,” he said. She felt him insert something in her pussy. Then a click, and the vibrating egg started.

“Ooohhh!”

“Don’t you dare come,” he said in a fierce Alpha tone.

She whimpered. His tone of voice had nearly made her climax right then and there.

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered as she squirmed against her restraints.

She heard him strip off the glove and throw it away. Then he returned, his warm, strong hands caressing her ass.

“Ready, pet?”

“Yes, Sir!”

He didn’t hold back. From the first stinging slap until she almost thought she couldn’t take it anymore, he spanked her harder than any human man ever had, with his bare hands, along her ass, down the backs of her thighs, and her upper arms.

When he stopped and stepped away, she didn’t know whether to cry in relief or disappointment. The pain had helped keep her mind off the pleasure in her ass and cunt. Now her orgasm was trying to work its way back without the spanking to keep it at bay.

He returned and she felt him lay something across her ass. “Next toy,” he said. “One of my favorites.”

She barely had time to process the szwipp sound of him swinging the riding crop before it struck her exactly in the crease where her ass met her upper thighs. The burning sting radiated from her flesh through her body, making her cry out and shoring up her defenses against her impending orgasm.

“Yes!” she whispered as the first tears started. No man had ever been able to make her cry.

In fact, no one had ever been able to make her cry, one of the few human experiences she’d always envied others, including her sister, Babs.

He spaced his strikes along her ass and upper thighs just far enough apart she had time to process them before landing the next one. Tears running down her face, she wanted to laugh, to cry, to scream for mercy and beg for more.

When he stopped she took a deep, gasping breath and broke out sobbing again. He knelt in front of her and cradled her face in his hands.

“Give me a color,” he said.

“Green, Sir,” she whispered.

He smiled. “Good girl.” He wiped her tears away with his thumbs and planted a kiss on her lips before stepping behind her again.

She felt him lay a cool, flat, hard implement against the burning flesh of her ass. “Paddle, pet.” The first stinging slap arched her back and drew an anguished howl from her. Instead of the expected next impact, he said, “Color, pet.”

“Green!”

“Good girl.” He spanked her several more times with it, until she was howling with pain, sobbing, and loving every second of it.

He walked over to her head and grabbed her hair, lifting her head. “Who do you belong to?”

“You, Sir!”

“Do you want to be My mate?”

“Yes, Sir!”

He smiled. “Do you want to be My slave?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Whose collar do you wear?”

“Yours, Sir!”

He knelt down in front of her. “You have to ask me. Beg me to submit to me.”

“Please, Sir! I submit to You!”

“You will submit in every way?”

“Yes, Sir!” Anything, everything, just so he wouldn’t stop, so he’d reignite the stinging in her ass.

So he’d make her cry again.

So he’d make her feel again.

“What are you asking Me, pet?”

“Please, Sir! I submit to You! I want to be your wife, your mate, your pet, your slave. Everything. Please!”

He smiled. “Good girl.” He gently released her hair and stepped around her. She felt him switch off the vibrating egg and pull it out, but he left the butt plug in.

She shivered with anticipation as she felt his thighs press against her red, welted ass and legs. The swollen head of his cock slipped between her labia. He grabbed her by the hips.

“Mine,” he growled, sounding like the wolf lurking just beneath the surface.

“Yours!” she gasped.

He slammed home, renewing her happy sobs as he fucked her, hard and fast. “Come for me, pet,” he ordered.

As her orgasm, the most powerful one she’d ever felt in her immortal life, ripped through her, he leaned forward and sank his teeth into the back of her shoulder. The pain rippled through her pleasure, intensifying it, tripling it.

“Yes!” she screamed as another orgasm flowed through her.

He let go of her shoulder and picked up the pace of his thrusts, the entire spanking bench scooting across the floor. Then he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

“Come!” he growled in an Alpha tone.

Her body immediately responded. He slammed home one last time, and she felt his cock pumping his seed deep inside her, marking her inside and out as his. As he collapsed on top of her, sweaty and winded, he kissed her shoulder where he’d bit her.

“Mine,” he whispered, his voice no longer growly.

She closed her eyes, feeling a peace the likes of which she’d never experienced before. “Yours, Sir,” she whispered back.

He unhooked her from the bench but left the cuffs and collar on her. He did let her remove the butt plug, but when he got her into his bed, he immediately replaced it with his cock, fucking her hard and fast until he emptied his balls inside her there, too.

Callie couldn’t believe his stamina, not that she was complaining. They moved to the shower, where he took his time soaping up every inch of her body. When his cock hardened, she dropped to her knees and enjoyed the feel of his fingers lightly digging into her scalp as he fucked her mouth. She dug her fingernails into his ass and silently chuckled as it made him growl and explode yet another stream of cum into her body.

She licked her lips and looked up at him. “Good, Sir?” It felt right calling him that. She never thought she’d ever enjoy submitting to someone. Bottom? Sure. She loved a good beating.

But handing herself over to someone else?

Guess I have no choice now. Not that she was complaining.

He pulled her up into his arms and kissed her, deeply exploring her mouth with his tongue. “I love you,” he whispered when he finally ended their kiss.

She smiled. “I love you, too, Sir.”

He grinned. “You are a fast learner.”

“I should hope so. I’m old enough.”

He turned her so he could see his mark on her shoulder. Brushing his thumb over it, it had already healed, just red, raised bumps where his teeth had broken her flesh.

A permanent mark.

“What do we do now, Sir?” she asked as he pulled her back into his arms.

“First, we go to bed because my cock’s already getting hard again. Then we’ll see how many times I can make your eyes roll back in your head. Then I’m going to get one of my canes and stripe your ass with it.”

“That’s all, Sir?” She grinned.

He laughed. “Then we have to take a road trip up to Maine.”

“What’s up there?”

“My Pack.”

Chapter Four

Daniel groaned as he rolled over. A sound had disturbed him. Callie still lay sound asleep next to him, facedown but one arm possessively draped over his chest, and her red hair draped in a beautiful spray across her shoulders and on the pillow. They’d arrived at his cousin’s house at the pack compound in Maine late the night before, exhausted from two days straight on the road.

How did I get so lucky?

She’d run him through the wringer, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Then that damn sound again, the one that woke him up. Fucking cell phone. He’d forgotten to turn it off.

He fumbled for it on the bedside table and was going to hit ignore when he saw who the caller was and that it was nearly noon. He answered.

“Jocko?”

“Yeah, listen. Got a question fer ye, boyo. Ye know a dragon shifter by the name of Kael Dalca?”

Daniel sat up, sleep draining from his system. “Yeah? What’s wrong?” He’d heard rumblings of something bad happening to the dragons’ Seer at the Gathering in Yellowstone, but he didn’t know the details.

He’d been too busy nailing himself a… Well, he didn’t know exactly what the hell she was. Only that she was now his mate.

“Ye really know him?” Jocko asked, his tone insistent. “Yer sure? This is important.”

“Yeah.” He scrubbed his face with his free hand, final vestiges of sleep melting from his system. “Haven’t seen him since…” He thought about it. “Since after his family was killed. I went to the funeral. Helped him try to hunt the killers down. We were drinking buddies back in Brussels in the old days.”

“Okay. I need to know where the hell ye are. I need yer carcass back at the Maine compound yesterday. Hear me?”

He suppressed a laugh. “Um, no problem. We got here yesterday.”

“Eh?”

He glanced at Callie and stroked her arm, the smile on his face almost painful. “Me and my new mate. We got in late last night. We’re at my cousin’s house. Josh Favis.”

“Oh. Oh! That’s great! Congratulations, boyo. I know where Josh’s place is. I’ll be right over.”

Before Daniel could ask him why he was coming over, Jocko hung up.

With a sad sigh and knowing he was probably saying good-bye to his morning blow job, he gently roused Callie. “Honey, we need to get up and throw some clothes on. We’re getting a visitor in about five minutes.”

“Mefurcfe?” she mumbled into the pillow.

He gently rolled her over. “Try again, pet.”

“Before coffee, Sir?”

He leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll go start the coffee. Get dressed.” He threw in some tone just to make it interesting. “Now.”

Her eyes popped open. He smelled her getting wet at the Alpha tone of his voice. He was ready for her when she threw her arms around him in an attempt to molest him. Laughing, he peeled her off him, forced her out of bed, and delivered a sweetly stinging slap with his open palm to her deliciously curved backside. “Go.”

She smiled over her shoulder at him. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl.”

Fuck, now my cock’s hard. With a disappointed sigh, he pulled on a pair of jeans and carefully tucked everything in without catching himself in the zipper. Hopefully, he could get the conversation with Jocko done and over with soon and still get his morning blow job. Josh would be at work until at least six that night.

Plenty of time for fun.

Jocko arrived six minutes after the phone call. Without formalities, he blustered through the front door. “There ye are. Listen, we’ve got a serious problem.”

Callie, still looking half asleep, emerged from the bedroom. At least she’d managed to get clothes on. “Coffee, Sir?”

He smiled. Even half asleep she still remembered protocol. “Kitchen, sweetheart. Bring me one, too, please.”

“Yes, Sir.” She disappeared into the kitchen.

Jocko watched her walk out of the room, then he turned to Daniel with a sly smile on his face. “Good fer ye! How’d ye finally manage to find someone to put up with ye?”

He arched an eyebrow at Jocko. “She’s my mate. Now what’s this all about?”

“Cockatrice. I don’t have all the details, but somehow, Brodey Lyall and his brothers are now mixed up with the dragons. Cockatrice tried to kidnap one of their mates, who’s now their Seer, too. And their old Seer was murdered at the Gathering.”

“You asked me about Kael.”

He nodded. “Aye. He’s the one who recommended we find ye and bring ye in.” Jocko glanced at the kitchen and lowered his voice. “It’s about the tablet.”

Daniel frowned. “What tablet?”

“Don’t bullshit me, boyo. Ye know damn well which tablet.”

Daniel scrubbed his face with his hands. “When can we get together?”

“We’re all meeting tonight at Patrick’s restaurant. Seven o’clock. We’ll figure it all out then.”

Callie returned with their coffee. Daniel took his from her and gave her a kiss. “Thank you, pet. Callie, this is Jocko Connelly, one of the Pack elders.”

She shook hands with him. “Pleased to meet you.”

He grinned. “Pleased to meet ye, too.” He slapped Daniel on the arm. “I’ll leave ye alone, then. Tonight at seven, though. Both of ye.” He let himself out.

“He’s…charming,” Callie snarked. “Let me guess, he’s from New York?” she joked.

Daniel laughed. “A good chunk of us came here via Scotland. He was born and raised there and even though he’s been here for over a hundred years, he’s never lost his brogue.”

“So what do we do until seven?”

Daniel grinned. “Oh, I have some ideas.” He took her coffee cup from her and looked down at his zipper before looking back up at her.

She grinned and dropped to her knees. She had his cock out and in her mouth before he could set the coffee mugs down on the nearby table. “Christ!” he hissed. “You are too good at that!” He grabbed her head and held on, letting her set the pace but reminding her who was in charge. She knew how to flick her tongue perfectly along his glans before swallowing him to the root and sucking firmly.

He didn’t bother trying to hold back. He let his orgasm roll out of him from his balls down his cock until he rewarded her with a mouthful of cum.

She gave him a happy little mumbling noise in return as she swallowed every drop, laving his cock with her tongue to retrieve every last drop until he finally had to pry her off him with a laugh. “Enough, pet. You’re done.”

She pouted. “I want seconds, Sir.”

He pulled her to her feet by the arm and slapped her on the ass. “Then go get naked and wait for me on the bed.”

Like a shot, she was gone.

He grabbed his coffee mug and followed her.

Yep, he could keep himself busy aaalll day.