She wanted things to be different. He asked her, well, told her, that she would be his Queen after he claimed her. After she accepted him. She would rule his pack alongside him. To be honored with such a gift made her heart tremble with something she’d never felt before, but which grew each minute she was with him.

She was falling in love. Just saying the words in her head sent spirals of giddy joy and fear through her. Like the time she jumped off the rocky cliff into the water below. Her friends all jumped before her, goaded her into jumping too. She'd been so terrified, but as she ran and jumped her body falling in empty air, her heart had pounded, and then the water sloshed over her and she was safe.

She knew it with the same certainty she knew her father would kill him if he took her during her cycle or maybe at all. He would know. He would smell Vane’s essence inside her for days after the cycle stopped.

She couldn’t stand it if anything happened to him. Not when she lit up just at the sight of him, when his hold calmed her, and his hands and mouth brought pleasures to her she’d never felt. Not even in her dreams.

Vane stirred and threw his arm around her, his cock ended up pressing hard into her ass cheek. Mmm, she moaned, unable to stop the small sound. Even though he had been sleeping, in the next second she was flipped on her back with a hot tongue sliding in her mouth.

“Good morning,” he pulled back to say, then delved back down to nuzzle the soft skin at her neck. God, she smelled so good, he thought. When he climbed on top of her, she widened her thighs, trusting him completely at his word.

He lifted up from her and looked down to watch his hard cock lying rigid on top of her wet curls. His breathing grew labored, sweat beaded his brow, and his hips started a short rhythmic thrust. A fierce expression took over his face.

“God dammit, let me inside you woman. You’ll feel so great wrapped around me, I know it.” Her eyes shuttered with hunger, but still she said no. So he tried again, feeling edgier than before, craving, no, needing to be inside her, and fisted his cock, rubbing it in tight circles over her wet clit. Her mouth, her hands, the sleek cream of her pussy, none of it was enough. She cried out below him. He needed her. He tried a different tactic.

Caging her in his arms, his voice deep with arousal he begged, “I’ll make you come so fucking hard baby. I’ll fill that pussy up so full you’ll be feeling me for a week. Let me in. Let me fuck you until we’re both lost.” By time he finished, her orgasm was so close. With the subtle rocking of his hips and her rampant hormones, it didn’t take much. Her hands clung to his shoulders, nails biting into muscle. “I’ll take care of you,” he said, rocking his hips faster, sending both of their bodies into a frenzy. “I will protect you from him. Come live with me, stay with me, be with me. I...fuck,” he groaned harshly just as her moan rippled through the air.

Her body shook as her orgasm built to a crest. He leaned down, to tease her neck with soft, punishing bites as he thrust once, twice, three more times over her. She shuddered below him, coming in waves of hot pleasure. He bit down on her shoulder, locking her in place as his cock spurted streams of hot seed onto her pussy curls and belly button.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered he’s said something while climaxing. It was so hoarse she barely heard it. Now that she was lucid again, with her arms wrapped around the man who made things feel right, she realized what he said.

At that exact moment, he stiffened in her arms, raising himself to meet her eyes. His look held tenderness that she’d seen their first night together, when he’d kissed her palm. His eyes traced over her face in a tender sweep.

Mine.

“I…” she hesitated, too scared to say what she felt. How could she when she was planning to leave in two days, never to see him again. She couldn’t abandon her father. Couldn't ignore her duty to him and the Pride. No matter how much his one possessive word made her heart pound.

He stilled above her, his jaw flexing hard. Then he moved off her and left the room without a backward glance. The quiet closing of the bathroom door might as well been a slam for she jumped when it closed.

She wanted to defend her hesitation. After all, she had every right to deny him right to her. To not be his. But then why did she feel as if her heart was being wrenched out of her chest?

Vane finished dressing and snatched his cell phone off the dresser. Damn if he wasn't mad. Damn if he didn't want to grab her pretty little neck and shake it. Jogging down the steps, he found her watching TV. The stiffness of her back, and the fact that she didn't meet his eyes radiated clearly the mood she was in. Well, he wasn't too happy either.

"I'm going outside to make some calls." She flinched, and the movement made him feel like an ass. Unclenching his fist, he strode to stand in front of her. Her eyes drifted downward, revealing the crescent of her black lashes. She was so beautiful it tightened something in his chest. He lifted her chin up with a finger. "Don't be sad, lumara. I'm not angry with you."

She snorted a very unladylike sound. The trembling, wet hope in her eyes wobbled, making his heart feel like it was in a vise.

"I'm not, Sarina. I am angry at this situation, not you. Not really. I just want you." He felt her breath tremble out on an uneven sigh. Unable to stand it anymore, he swooped down and captured her lips in a kiss that stole her breath away. By the time he lifted his head, her eyes were closed with need, her body straining towards his. Beautiful.

"I have to make some calls to the pack. But I can smell your heat rising. You'll need me again soon." The look that flashed over his face was one of both extreme pain and pleasure. He held her close with one hand at her neck. "I want inside you, lumara. Only my seed can ease your pain wholly. Even without your breeding cycle, can’t you see how much I need you? Just think about it." He leaned down, kissed her hard on the mouth and left.

The snapping chill in the air helped to cool him off, barely. It rained overnight and leaves weighed heavily with wet drops. Vane inhaled deeply, smelling the scent of grass mixed with rain, ozone, and mud. This was his favorite time; right after the rain had passed and the world was wiped clean again.

Moving away from the cabin, he pulled out his cell and dialed his house line.

"Kategan residence." Alfonse answered on the seventh ring.

"Don't you think you could at least make an effort to be a butler, Al?"

"But that would involve working, and I've always preferred the lazier ways myself."

Vane laughed. "How's the pack? Any word from Darien?"

Alfonse paused as if choosing his words. "There have been some complications, actually. As for Darien, he's still gone, though one of the other pack members says she saw him down at a bar about an hour away from here. She said he didn't look so good. I believe her words were, 'he looked like shit'."

Vane muttered a soft curse. His brother had suffered a serious blow when the woman he planned to mate with was killed in childbirth. The whole incident shocked everyone in the pack, especially Vane. The child wasn't his and everyone knew it. Her previous lover was willing to sleep with her, but not take responsibility for his actions. Vane grimaced remembering kicking Greg out his pack. Unworthy males would never be under his protection, but it never felt good to force pack to leave.

"You'd think he'd be over it by now. It wasn't his child, and he wasn't even with her that long. He's letting it eat at him."