Claiming Her Heart Read online

  Diving in, I kissed her roughly, all teeth and smashed lips as I dug my fingers into her thighs to hold her to me. I walked backward until my legs hit the mattress again, then dropped down, pulling Angelita into my lap. Letting her wrap herself around me and straddle my hips. Fuck, I’d never been so hard. Never been so needy for her. We’d gotten good at kissing over the years—once she’d been able to shift human again, we’d done everything we could to catch up on the time we’d lost. We’d taken advantage of every second together because we knew Bez could tear us apart again if he wanted to. We’d spent hours on each visit kissing, hugging, rubbing…exploring. But we’d never gone too far. Never crossed the line into anything more than hands on one another. She’d been underage, and I’d been threatened too many times to slip.

  But she was eighteen now, and somehow, my body knew it.

  The kiss grew hotter, deeper. Her body pressed into mine as I dragged my hands over her back and cupped her ass. My fingers sank into her flesh, rocking her against me. Letting her feel how hard I was for her, how much I wanted her. How she drove me insane with desire. I thrust upward, letting my length drag against where she was so hot and warm for me. Teasing her in a way I knew she liked until she was a gasping, whimpering pile of need.

  Our kiss—our movements—were far more passionate and bold than they’d ever been before. I felt it—she had to as well. Four months apart had left us both too close to the edge, but this was it. Our last reunion after such a separation. We’d never be apart again as long as I had a say in it. I just had to convince her of one last thing. Just had to get her to accept the future we’d been hurtling toward since the day we met.

  But first, I needed to make her come. It’d been way too long for both of us.

  Angelita pushed me back, leaning down to nuzzle my neck. To place small bites along the length of it as I moaned beneath her. She laid her scent down on me, claiming me as hers to the rest of the animals. Such a wolf thing to do, but I loved it. Craved it, really.

  Her animal side probably shouldn’t have turned me on as much as it did, but I couldn’t help it. She drove me wild all the time. Her human, her wolf, every part of her called to parts of me. Enticed me closer. She sang a siren song only for me, and I was more than willing to plunge to my death on her rocky shore.

  Once done with my neck, Angelita backed up so she could place a hard bite right over my heart. Even through my shirt, I felt the sting of her teeth. Felt the way she held back. She wanted to bite harder, deeper—to break the skin and make our claiming permanent. I sensed it, right along with her fear of such a thing. Her hesitation.

  Not mine—never mine. Only hers. I was ready to join her in every way, but she wasn’t. A sticking point for us.

  When she finished with her love bites, Angelita straddled my hips again, lining up her soft and wet with my hard and straining. Another kiss, softer, a lick of my lips, and then she rocked, dragging her flesh against the fabric of my shorts. If we were naked, I’d be inside her already. I’d be…

  “Fuck, Leelee.” I gripped her thighs and threw my head back, lost to the sensations. I wanted her, wanted to push inside her body, wanted to discover what that felt like, how tight and wet and hot she’d be. How soft. I’d experienced her with my fingers and lips, but not my dick. Not yet. But I wanted her, had since the first time she’d shifted human and went from being my wolf-pal Angelita to my mate Leelee. Had for way longer than was probably acceptable, but I didn’t care. She’d always been mine.

  As the scent of her arousal made me groan louder and longer with every push, Angelita rocked harder, a growl rumbling through her chest as her fingers dug into my shoulders. That growl meant she was close to coming. Meant her body was taking over her thoughts. I loved that sound. Loved feeling her come on some part of my body, knowing I did that. That I’d always be the one to give that pleasure to her.

  “Jul,” she hissed, her thighs tightening around my hips, her hands pushing against my chest as she writhed over me. I thrust up harder, craving her so much, desperate to be inside her. Desperate to join us forever in every way. To claim her as mine and let her claim me right back. To come inside her so every other wolf knew she belonged to a male already.

  I wasn’t stupid—I knew there were shifters after her. Wanting to fuck her. I didn’t have to see her body to feel the litheness of it, the gentle curves. I knew she was beautiful too. But I also knew how she sounded when she came, how much she liked her nipples bitten instead of sucked, how sweet she tasted when I crawled between her thighs. I knew…and I wasn’t fucking sharing.

  “Julian, missed you so much. Missed…this. I’m…I’m…” Angelita clenched down hard, her hands gripping my shoulders as her entire body went stiff over me. Fuck, so hot. So amazing. So…

  “Mine.” Yanking her down so I could swallow her cries, I came with a groan, my come wet and warm on my stomach. My hands like steel on her hips as I pulled her tighter and licked into her mouth. As we calmed down enough to slow our movements until we were practically still once more.

  When I had caught my breath, I kissed her little nose. “Missed you too, Leelee.”

  My angel giggled as she rolled off me to snuggle into my side. Still so warm and naked. I loved the feel of her skin under my hands, loved the way she reacted to my touch. I kissed the top of her head, holding her close, tingles still shooting up my spine. This sort of cuddling was our thing, our favorite way to pass the time. Snuggled together as we’d been doing since before she’d found her human side, though never before with her naked. That fact added a hotness to the act I’d once thought of as innocent. How could I not when I’d started it with an animal instead of a human?

  That first year—the one between when we’d met and when she’d finally shifted human—had been one of the strangest of my life. Not only had I learned there were such things as witches and shapeshifters in the world, but I’d also met Angelita and been told the fates had brought us together to be mated. I hadn’t thought it possible—what was I going to do with a wolf? But the connection to her, the need to be around her, the deep understanding that she was mine and I was hers—it was all too strong to ignore. So I’d fallen in love with a wolf. And that day when she’d finally found her human side—after so long of having her in my life as practically a pet—I’d understood what lust was.

  “I don’t like flying. I don’t want to do it again without you.” Head on my shoulder, she sucked on my neck. Nipping, licking, teasing me again. This girl would be my heaven and my hell, my impossible lust and my satiation. Forever.

  I groaned, grabbing her hip and pulling her closer. Already hard for her again. Needing so much more but knowing she’d throw up walls if I brought it up. If I even mentioned completing the mating claim. Not just exchanging bites to link our souls, but letting her share her wolf with me. Giving myself over to her world and leaving my human one behind. She’d refused to even talk about it as an option since the moment we’d met without getting upset. I wasn’t ready for that just yet.

  So instead, I pulled her closer and took advantage of our alone time with my wandering hands. “Never without me. Got it.”

  If I had my way, she’d never go anywhere without me again.

  The rest of the shifters had always said they’d known their mates the second they saw them. Hell, even my human sister had felt a pull to her mate immediately—one she’d tried hard to deny. Tried and failed, thank God, because otherwise, I never would have met Angelita.

  But still, every story had been “at first sight.” Being blind, I’d thought Angelita and I would never get that full connection. I’d been wrong. The second my hands had touched her human skin, I’d known she was mine. I’d grown hard in an instant, had wanted to sink my teeth and my dick inside her right that second. Not that I’d acted on it. I’d restrained myself, even when she’d whimpered as if feeling the same drive to bond that I had.

  That need had become brighter, hotter as the months passed. We’d gone from stolen moment
s over the phone simply chatting or sitting in silence to whispered late-night admissions of what we wanted to do to one another and texts I had to use my headphones to listen to because of what they said. Leelee also liked to video chat with me, which we did quite often. Her voice would brighten when she could see me, a fact I loved. That was my doing. Making my mate, my woman, happy with a simple video call.

  But we relegated calls and texts to the back burner whenever we ended up together. Every visit, we became more daring. More connected. More…lustful. We wouldn’t be virgins for much longer. She was pushing me more and more, and I wanted to take our relationship to that point. I wanted her. Fuck, did I want her. I wanted her forever, and that meant she needed to give me something more than her body. We needed to complete our mating, and she needed to give me a piece of her inner animal. Something the two of us couldn’t compromise on.

  “Want you,” she mumbled, her lips tickling my skin. Her hips rolling against mine in a seductive dance that almost broke me.

  Almost, but not quite. Still, I gripped her hips hard and let out a groan. “We can’t yet.”

  “Why not?” Her voice had gone whiny, her need taking over. Pushing me. But I was ready for that. I needed to hold back, no matter how difficult she made it.

  So I took a deep breath and held her still. “You know why.”

  Angelita stopped, pulling away as I knew she would. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. The one where I asked her to bite me, to mark me, to complete our mating claim so later she could turn me into a shifter like her. She always shut me down quickly, but I would initiate the conversation again once I felt enough time had passed. I’d hoped this time would be the last—that she’d finally accept the need for this to have the future we deserved—but the tension in her body made me doubt my chances of success. Angelita stood totally against turning me. I knew that, and I had yet to figure out a way to change her mind.

  Fear made her skin go cold, made her voice too shaky. “I won’t.”

  I sighed, rubbing my hands up and down her arms. “Lee—”

  “No,” she snapped. “I won’t. We can exchange mating bites, but I won’t turn you into a shapeshifter, Julian.”

  “Why not? You know changing me would give us even more time together. Completing the mating bite will slow my aging, but I’ll still surpass you every year. We won’t have forever mated, but we might if I’m like you. Why would you deny us that?”

  She paused, and when she finally spoke, it wasn’t my Angelita anymore. Gone was the brave, wild girl who demanded my attention. In her place was someone quiet, meek…terrified. Someone who pulled away and left me alone in the bed.

  “What if I do it wrong? I’ve never been a wolf giver. What if I make a mistake, and you don’t come through it? What if your mind can’t handle the turning? I don’t want to lose any part of you.”

  “You won’t.” I reached for her, but she walked away. The alternating volume of her footsteps indicated she was pacing the length of the room. Back and forth, back and forth. Stressed.

  “How do you know?” she whispered. “How can you be so sure your turning won’t end in disaster?”

  “Because I have faith in you. In us and our future.” I stood, reaching for her again, finally circling her wrist with my fingers. I tugged her closer, wrapped my arms around her hips. Kissed the center of her chest before pulling her against me. “I trust you and our families to make sure we do this right.”

  She ran her fingers through my hair and sighed.

  “I trust no one, especially not myself.”

  THREE

  Angelita

  I clung to Julian’s hand as we walked toward the cottage where Rebel and Charlotte lived, the clothes I’d borrowed from him hanging loosely on my body. But it wasn’t the baggy shorts or too-big tee that made my skin feel too tight. For as many years as I’d been able to shift human again, being in this form still made me uncomfortable. I always felt weaker, more exposed. I’d been ambushed once while human and lost…well, everything. I’d been stuck human while trapped on a houseboat in a swamp with men who made my skin crawl, who my wolf would have gladly fought against if she’d been able to take over. Instead, I’d been forced to wait for someone to rescue me, and thank the fates someone had. Two someones. If it hadn’t been for Bez and Sariel, my saviors and guardians, I’d probably be dead.

  Gripping Julian’s hand tighter, I took a deep breath to calm myself. Not again. I wouldn’t lose my mate. He was human, blind, and at a total disadvantage from an attack. I had to take care of him.

  My wolf growled inside my head, watchful and wary. She hated when I wouldn’t let her out. It was so hard to find the balance between her and my human side at times. She’d hurt and lost just as much as I had when those bastards had come to steal me away. She didn’t like being forced to sit back and watch as I traversed the world on two legs. If it were up to her, my human side would never come out again. She’d tuck that weaker self into her den and protect it with teeth and claws for as long as we lived, letting out the Omega power she bore when needed. But then we’d lose Julian, and that wasn’t an option. So I pushed her back, caging her inside my human mind as much as I could.

  My wolf huffed, an angry sort of snort only I could hear. I knew what she wanted, but it wasn’t her time. It was human Angelita time…no matter how anxious that made us both.

  Sariel opened the door as we reached the back porch. Her smile was bright and wide as she looked us over, making sure we were whole and healthy. She always did that to me—looked me up and down, sniffing, checking. I knew it was because she’d been in the same nightmare boat as I had. Literally. Though her family and former pack lived, she was still taken from them. Stolen away like a piece of property and threatened with horrors too great to think about. Sariel’s mate had saved me, saved her as well, and I’d been with them ever since. Bez kept us safe, tucked away in what was essentially a fortress in Texas. But even a fortress could be breached with the right motivation and information. I knew because I’d broken in and out of it numerous times. Which was how I knew my plan would work. If I could only find the right opportunity. The right time to try. To show all of them I could handle myself without constant protection.

  “Rebel is just finishing up with some company,” Sariel said as she leaned against the doorframe. “Are you two hungry?”

  I loved both of my adopted parents, but especially Sariel. There was a sweet sort of strength to her. While Bez was tactical and brutal, Sariel was nurturing and kind. A second mother for sure. Not that I’d ever told her that. I’d loved my family as well, had told them nearly every day, and they’d been ripped away from me. I couldn’t risk it again.

  I shook my head, giving Julian’s hand a squeeze. “I’m not. Are you?”

  “I can always eat.” He’d never said such truer words. I had no idea how many times he’d had to pause one of our conversations over the years so he could grab a snack.

  We followed Sariel into the house, walking into the bright kitchen from the back mudroom. My wolf growled low in my mind, alerting me to the presence of others. Of people we didn’t know. Rebel had never handled business at his home before, a fact that snagged my curiosity.

  “Why don’t you grab a snack?” I said, focusing on Julian so I didn’t alert Sariel to my plan. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”

  He froze, facing me, seeming to watch me even though I knew he couldn’t see. I may have been able to pull the wool over Sariel’s eyes, but Julian was too aware of me and his other senses to trick.

  I rose up as if to kiss his cheek and whispered, “I just want to see who else is here.”

  He squeezed my hand, accepting, warning.

  “I know,” I said, then backed away. “I’ll be right back.”

  Sariel began chatting with Julian, unknowingly making my efforts to sneak into the living room—or close enough to see and hear what was going on—that much easier. I slipped around the corner and down the
hall, heading for the guest room at the back of the house. Most people would have tried to sneak into the hallway, maybe hide around the corner there to eavesdrop. I wasn’t most people. See, the little house on the island had forced air heat, meaning there were vents in every room. There happened to be one that was used to return cold air to the furnace at the far side of the living room. It connected to the air return in the guest room. If I lay on the floor, it would be as if I were in the same room as Rebel and whoever had come to talk to him.

  So I lay on the floor, and I inched close enough to press my ear to the metal grate.

  “I told you, it’s just not what we do.” Rebel—his distinct voice and slight accent gave him away.

  “I’ll pay well. This artifact is important to my clan. We’re desperate to get it back.”

  Recovery of an item? That piqued my interest for sure, made me want to know more. Want to jump through the wall and volunteer to handle the mission, but I couldn’t. Not with Rebel and Bez involved. They’d never let me do what I wanted to. Never understand or accept my skills, the ones I just knew would lead to independence if given the shot. A lost artifact sure seemed like a shot to me.

  I peeked through the grate, squinting as I tried to get a visual on the other speaker for future reference. He stood close to the door, his back to me. Shoot. All I could tell was he was huge—tall and broad in a way most humans were not. Neither were wolves, usually.

  “As I said,” Rebel started, his voice dropping and his growl evident. “The Feral Breed Motorcycle Club doesn’t deal in recovering stolen items. There’s nothing we can do for you, and I’d appreciate it if you got the fuck out of my house.”

  The man sighed. “I apologize for disturbing you. Thank you for your time.”

  He turned, his gray overcoat lifting slightly as he did. That move gave me just enough of an angle to get a good look—tall, with dark red hair, and a thick, full beard. The man stood at least a full head taller than Rebel and was nearly twice as wide. More muscular than the wolf shifter. He’d said clan, so he had to be a bear shifter. I’d met a few in Texas once during an investigation Bez headed up. They’d always seemed nice enough—wary of wolves and a little on the quiet side, but nothing overtly aggressive or dangerous. Except for their size. Those shifters were mammoth even in human form.