Reluctantly His

Chapter Seven

Garrick watched Nika's brow furrow. He didn't think she'd let him get away with that statement without some kind of explanation. Not that he was ready to give her one. Yeah, they'd made love, but from his past dealings with her, he wasn't going to delude himself into thinking she had fully accepted him. He had to get her to accept them as being in a relationship before he told her what he truly was.

And she was definitely his mate. When he'd come, not only had his eyes gone wolf and his claws come out, his cock had swelled to lock them together. His cum had continued to shoot out of him in half-minute intervals. With his other sexual partners, nothing like that had ever happened. Only with his mate had that other wolfish part of him kicked in.

"If that has never happened to you before, aren't you a little bit concerned?" Nika asked.

He shook his head. "Not really."

Her violet eyes gave him a look that said she thought he was too nonchalant about the situation. She then ran her gaze down his body, pausing when she reached his cock. He didn't bother to look in the same direction to see what she saw. His shaft had started to harden once again.

Nika jerked her gaze back up to his face and pushed some of her light blonde hair over her shoulder. "Already? How can you be when just a minute ago you were coming like there was no tomorrow?"

Garrick avoided her question with one of his own. "And what made you think I was done with you yet?" He sat up, wound an arm around her waist, and hauled her to him. "We have most of the day left, and I intend to use it."

He put his hand on her nape and kissed her until she relaxed against him. The feel of her warm, pliant body pressed against his made his cock even harder. The combined scents of their releases had his libido kicking into high gear. And the knowledge that she was indeed his made him want to possess her once again.

Gaining his feet with her held in his arms, he said against her mouth, "Your bed?

I want you on the bed."

Nika put her legs around his waist, wrapping her arms around his neck. His cock ended up nestled against her shapely bottom. She only pulled away from his mouth long enough to say, "Down the hall to the left. Second door on the right."

Garrick wasted no time getting them into her bedroom. He paid no attention to the furnishings except for the queen-sized bed in the middle of the room. Taking her down to the mattress, he stretched out on top of her. She swiveled her hips, grinding her bottom against his shaft.

The need to mate with her as a wolf—to mount her like a male claiming his female—had Garrick pulling out of Nika's embrace. He urged her onto her stomach and up on her hands and knees. Kneeling between her spread legs, he bent to nip the rounded globe of her ass. He shifted closer as he kissed a trail up to the small of her back. He made no move to enter her. Instead, he rubbed his cock against her pussy until he was coated with her juices. Holding her hips, he stroked the very tip of it against her swollen clit.

Nika moaned as she tried to rock back against him. Garrick stilled her movements. He wasn't ready to take her yet. He wanted her to be so aroused she begged him to enter her. Over and over, he stroked her clit with the head of his cock.

She soon gave him what he wanted.

"Garrick, please. I want you inside me. Now."

Hearing her plea, he positioned his shaft at the slick opening of her body and surged forward, seating himself to the hilt. A half moan, half growl rumbled out of his chest. He pulled back, then slid back deep inside her.

"So tight this way," he panted as he moved in and out with long, steady strokes.

His eyesight sharpened, and his claws pushed through the tips of his fingers. He balled his hands into fists so as not to scratch Nika with them. Her inner walls clamped down around his cock, forcing another loud moan out of him. Faster, harder, he took her. Her small whimpers of need told him she was close, as was he.

Nika rocked back, meeting each of his strokes. She angled her hips, taking him deeper than he had been. Almost at the point of no return, his cock started to swell. She cried out. Her pussy rhythmically clutched at his shaft, and she started to come, holding him in a tight fist.

Garrick threw back his head, fighting the howl of satisfaction threatening to break free. His orgasm tore through him, on and on. Still locked deep inside Nika, he put an arm around her waist and rolled them onto their sides. Another jet of cum shot out of his swelled cock. Garrick sighed his pleasure.

Keeping his claws and eyes hidden from Nika, he held her close, her head tucked under his chin. This time, she didn't say anything when he continued to come. He kissed the top of her head.

Garrick wanted to look at her back on her right shoulder to see if there was any sign of Tiw's mark starting to show. Now that they had made love, it should have begun to form beneath her skin, to mark Nika as his mate. Her mark would be identical to the one he carried on the cap of his left shoulder. But he knew he wouldn't see anything yet. It would be too soon.

When Nika relaxed against him, he let his eyes drift shut. He'd give her a chance to rest, then he would take her again.

Nika sat on her bed wearing her bathrobe while she watched Garrick get dressed. He'd collected his clothes from the living room. It was now evening, and they had spent the day in bed making love. Her body ached in the most intimate of places, but she wasn't regretting those aches. Garrick was an insatiable lover and made sure she found her pleasure before he found his. Compared to Garrick, David's lovemaking seemed amateurish, at best.

His amazing body now clothed, Garrick took hold of her hands and pulled her to her feet. He held her close and kissed her thoroughly. Lifting his mouth, he sighed. "I wish I didn't have to go, but I have to."

Nika smiled. "You really are insatiable. I've lost count how many times we made love, and you still want more."

"And I always will." He flashed her a sexy grin.

She pushed at his chest. "Go do your job. Life hasn't ceased to exist outside this pub." He'd told her that he worked most nights.

Garrick let her go. "I know, but I'll be back later tonight."

As they walked out of her bedroom, she said, "I wish you wouldn't."

He took hold of her arm and pulled her to stop, maneuvering her so she stood facing him. "Why don't you want me to come back tonight?"

"Remember what I said about me not liking to be pushed? We spent almost the entire day together. I need a bit of breathing space. If you want this to have half a chance of working, you're going to have to let me ease into it. If you get all possessive and clingy with me, I'll feel suffocated. I recently came out of a relationship that ended badly. You know that."

"Then what happens come tomorrow? Will you use the night to convince yourself you want nothing more to do with me again?"

"That won't happen." When he looked at her with doubt showing in his brown eyes, she said, "I promise, Garrick. I just want to take things slow. And I'm not the type of woman who can take a man into her bed and turn her back on him once the sex is over."

Garrick crowded her against the wall and put his hands on either side of her head, caging her in. He looked at her hungrily and pressed his hips into hers. Nika sucked in a breath. He was hard again.

"Good," he said. "Because you're mine. We'll take it slow for now, but I can't promise I won't stop being possessive of you. You mean a lot more to me than you think."

"I do?" she asked softly as her body reacted to his closeness.

"Yes. Soon, you'll understand why."

How mysterious. She opened her mouth to question him, but he leaned in and kissed her passionately until all coherent thought fled. She leaned into him and moaned. He pulled away, taking his warmth with him, and she moaned again at the loss.

"C'mon." He grabbed her hand and walked them to the top of the stairs that led down to the flat's entranceway.

After one last kiss, he said, "I'll be here tomorrow around noon again."

She nodded. "I'll be here."

Nika followed Garrick down the stairs and locked the door behind him after he left. She went back up to the flat, then went to the second set of stairs near the kitchen that led to the pub below. Only using the light from the stairs to find her way through the darkened taproom, she went behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of white wine from the cooler. She snagged one of the wineglasses as well and returned to the flat.

After opening the wine bottle with the corkscrew in her kitchen, Nika poured herself a glass and sat down on the couch. To fill the silence, she turned on the television. As she sipped her wine, she thought about the hours she'd spent in bed with Garrick. He was everything she could ask for in a lover. Only one thing left her unsettled—what was that thing he did when he came? Each time he'd climaxed, his cock had swelled to the point it became locked deep inside her pussy. Then there was his ability to keep ejaculating long afterward. It wasn't normal. Garrick may not have been too upset by it, but she couldn't help feeling there was something seriously strange there.

Then there was his cryptic remark about her meaning more to him than she thought. She couldn't shake the feeling he wasn't telling her something, something she may have a hard time accepting. If that wasn't the case, why hadn't he just spoken his mind? Even that first night when Garrick had returned to the pub just before closing time, he'd said something about her not being ready to hear something he had to tell her.

She had no clue as to what that something could be. Short of his being married and lying to her about it, Nika figured she could handle whatever he had to say. She wanted things to work out between her and Garrick. Now that she'd caved and slept with him, she had to admit he was getting to her in a good way. In his arms, she felt cherished and taken care of.

Nika snorted aloud. Just listen to yourself. Now she sounded like one of those romance novels she'd taken up reading shortly after David had dumped her. But it was true. Around Garrick, she felt more of a woman, and a sexy one at that. A man with his good looks who wanted to spend hours making love to her until she couldn't move . . .

she'd be crazy to give that up. A few more bouts of sex like that and Nika would become addicted to him.

While she'd been lost in thought, she'd finished her glass of wine. She traipsed back into the kitchen and poured herself another. She'd give this thing between her and Garrick a chance. As long as he didn't get too pushy with her and allowed her to trust him, they'd be all right. And that was the main thing she had to overcome—being able to trust a man to not lie to her and walk out when the going got tough.

Nathan had been getting ready to leave the pack's den when one of the werewolves he'd sent to follow the warriors arrived. Not wanting the other pack members to hear what they discussed, he motioned for the werewolf to follow him to his chamber. He ran his gaze across the other werewolves who were either in their wolf or human forms. They were all male. When he'd become pack leader, Nathan had made sure no females would be brought into their ranks. He wanted his pack strong, not fighting amongst themselves over who had the right to mate. After last night, their numbers needed to be brought back up. That was why he'd decided to go out this night to do a little hunting of his own.

Once they were alone in his chamber, Nathan turned to the werewolf. "What do you have to report?"

The werewolf—Stephen—was a brute of a man. He stood eye to eye with Nathan, at over six feet, but was more muscular. As a mortal, he'd been a drug dealer and a rapist. He wore the evidence of his former shady life in the form of a large scar that ran from his left temple down across his cheek.

"I think I found what you wanted. I followed one of the Anglo-Saxon god's warriors."

"Which one?"

"The one that drives an Audi Spyder."

"That would be Garrick. Go on."

"He went to The Old Sow pub. Even though it was closed, he made quite a scene by yelling up at a woman in the flat above it to let him in. He was rather insistent. She eventually did, and that's where he stayed until a half hour ago. The woman didn't leave with him. I think she's the owner of the pub."

In all likelihood, the woman could be what he'd been looking for. Another warrior could have found his mate, but he had to make sure before he made a move.

There was a chance she could have just been a one-day fling for Garrick. If that was the case, she would be no good to Nathan.

"You've done well," he told the werewolf. "I want you to keep watching the pub during the day to see if Garrick comes back. If he shows up there tomorrow, I'll have to pay the place a little visit."