Hunter's Mate (Canyon Springs Book 2) Read online

  If wolves could smile, she thought he did.

  Hunter the wolf rose back onto his paws and jumped down from the bed. The shimmering began, and a few seconds later, he was once again standing before her in his human skin. Naked and breathtaking.

  He stalked toward her, planted his hands on either side of her on the mattress, and met her gaze. “You won’t pet me?”

  She giggled. “Not a chance. It’s…weird.” She took the opportunity to reach out and wrap her fingers around his cock, gliding them up and down the shaft. “Now…if you want me to pet you in human form, that I might be on board with. I prefer that you be in a man’s body so that I can reap the rewards of my efforts.”

  He groaned as she stroked him, leaning forward into her grip. “Layla…”

  “I’m kinda done waiting for some magical moment to have sex with you, Hunter. Seriously. My stomach flips over every time you touch me. My brain is mush seeing you naked. Stroking your cock. I need more. Please don’t deny me.”

  He suddenly grabbed her waist and hauled her farther across the mattress. His hands were on her shorts two seconds later, frantically undoing the button and the zipper. He tugged both them and her panties down her legs with the same urgency she felt.

  After climbing onto the bed on his knees, he yanked her shirt over her head and somehow managed to effortlessly lift her torso off the bed, pop the clasp of her bra, and make it disappear.

  She dropped back down onto the mattress, naked and panting. Her nipples were stiff from the air in the room. They grew stiffer when his gaze landed on them.

  He was still on his knees, one leg between hers. He cupped her swollen globes and massaged them, flicking his thumbs over the tips until she whimpered.

  She reached for his hips and smoothed her fingers toward his cock.

  Hunter swatted her hands away and rose up onto his knees to grab the pile of scarves they’d brought with them.

  Her breath caught as she remembered him telling her what he’d like to do with these scarves. Wetness leaked from her pussy. Her nipples felt like tight pebbles.

  Hunter lifted a black, silk strand of material and wrapped it around one of her wrists while he watched her face. “I would ask if you mind me restraining you, but I can smell your consent, and your sweet body is squirming.”

  She swallowed. For whatever crazy reason, she trusted him. Deep in her soul she knew he would never do anything to harm her. Not emotionally nor physically.

  No one had ever tied her up before. Hell, she’d never met a man she would have trusted well enough to restrain her. And that was saying something, considering how long she’d known Hunter.

  It was impossible to recognize that he was right about a lot of things, but the most important item on that list was the fact that she felt invincible in his arms. And hornier than she’d dreamed possible.

  Hunter pulled her arm above her head and grabbed her other wrist, bringing it high to join the first. Moments later, both arms were secured. Not attached to anything but cuffed to each other.

  Sensation washed through Layla’s entire body, assaulting her. She arched her chest upward when Hunter lowered his gaze to her breasts. He sat back on his heels and reverently stroked the soft skin of her globes, circling her nipples.

  “You’re so gorgeous, babe. I’ve been dying to see all of you from the moment you jogged past me.”

  “Why does that seem like a year ago?” she asked in a gravelly voice she didn’t recognize.

  He smiled, giving her that lopsided grin she loved. “Time flies when you meet your mate. The world stands still. Nothing else matters.”

  She couldn’t disagree with him. “Did you tie my hands so that I couldn’t touch your erection?”

  “Yep.”

  She groaned. “Because you’re not going to have sex with me, are you?” she realized with dismay.

  “Well, technically, I’m going to ravage you so thoroughly that it would be a bit remiss to then pretend we hadn’t had sex, but no, I’m not going to slide into your sweet pussy tonight. You’re not ready for that.”

  “How do you know what I’m ready for?” she asked, squirming under his gaze.

  “Okay, never mind. Scratch that. I’m not ready to have sex with you. I may be crazy thinking I can make you come screaming my name with my mouth on your pussy and not be affected in life-altering ways, but nevertheless, I feel inclined to hold that one last element back.”

  She wouldn’t argue with him. Even though she couldn’t imagine how it would make a bit of difference whether or not they sealed the deal, it seemed important to him, so she would respect his wishes. “Okay, but if you intend to put your mouth on me, at least allow me the pleasure of returning the favor.”

  His eyes slowly closed as he took a deep breath and nodded. “We’ll see if you have the energy after I eat your pussy so thoroughly you can’t make a complete sentence.”

  She shuddered, arousal leaking out of her. “Challenge accepted.”

  He groaned as he crawled down her body, situating himself between her knees. When he wrapped his hands around her thighs and pushed them up and wide, she gasped. The exposure was intense. His gaze on her pussy was reverent and serious.

  The way he inhaled deeply, several times, rocked her foundation. He was drawing in her scent, and she couldn’t ignore the fact that she could also smell his arousal. It was as if she already knew how he would taste even though she hadn’t had a single lick yet.

  Scooting back farther, he finally flattened himself on the bed between her legs and lowered his lips to her pussy.

  Layla’s eyes rolled back in her head at the initial contact, all of her blood rushing to her clit as he flicked his tongue over the distended tip and then sucked it into his mouth with the perfect amount of pressure. Just enough to make her lift her hips off the bed at the slight sting combined with the intense pleasure.

  It was difficult to leave her hands where he’d put them, but she didn’t want to risk him stopping what he was doing with his mouth by lowering her arms.

  Hunter kept tormenting her, alternating between sucking and licking until she was almost at the edge of sanity. Just before she would have exploded, he released her clit and thrust his tongue inside her.

  She lifted her hips upward, digging her heels into the mattress.

  He flattened a hand over her belly and pressed her back down.

  Holy shit. No man had ever affected her like this. It usually took a lot of effort and a good chunk of time for her to reach orgasm. She often had trouble letting her mind focus on something that would help her come.

  Hunter, however, sucked the brain cells right out of her. She’d been focused entirely on him and what he was doing from the moment he took his clothes off. She wasn’t going to need to picture some deep dark fantasy in her mind in order to tip over the edge.

  He knew exactly what he was doing when he switched back and forth between her clit and her channel, each time driving her higher without letting her reach the peak.

  She groaned, rolling her head back and forth, her fingers fisted around the ends of the scarf. “Hunter. Please.”

  Suddenly, he released her thigh with one hand and teased the sensitive skin between her legs as he dragged his fingers toward her sex. The next thing she knew, he was thrusting two fingers into her while sucking her clit into his mouth.

  That was the last straw. Layla shattered, her orgasm hitting her so hard that her entire body trembled with the force. Her channel gripped at his fingers, milking them, while her clit throbbed a steady rhythm against his lips.

  If he thought this orgasm wasn’t enough to convince her not to leave, he was wrong. At the moment, she couldn’t imagine anything in life could ever compare to how she felt right now.

  Peace. Heaven. Total bliss.

  And that was without him entering her with his cock.

  Would she even live through that experience? Her heart might not survive.

  Chapter 14

  April 15, 19
96

  Dear Mabel,

  My heart is so heavy. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through. To lose your only child. I’m just heartbroken. I feel so blessed that I got to meet her last summer, but so very sad that she had to die so tragically.

  There are no words. I’ve been crying for the entire day. Mom says she gave birth to two perfect baby girls, but she lost too much blood. There was nothing the doctors could do.

  I can’t imagine what you’re going through. And those sweet babies. I know how much you must love them. They are a precious gift, but they don’t make up for the loss of a child.

  Heartbroken in Canyon Springs.

  Love, Marge

  The sun was streaming through the curtains when Hunter jerked awake. His sudden awakening had nothing to do with the daylight though. It had everything to do with the mouth around his cock.

  He flattened his palm on Layla’s back and smoothed it up to her neck as she licked a line from the base to the tip of his erection. The covers were pushed out of the way. How the hell had he slept until she got to this part?

  “Babe…” His voice was gravelly from sleep and the word came out on a moan.

  “Mmm.” That was the only response he got as she wrapped her hand around the base of his cock and continued to suck him.

  He tipped his head back and stared unseeing at the ceiling. Emotional overload. This was Layla. His mate. Not some random woman. His life partner. And she gave a fucking amazing blow job.

  He threaded his fingers in her curls, trying not to pressure her, but praying she didn’t stop anytime soon. No lips had ever felt so damn good on him in his life. And her soft body was rubbing against him. Her amazing tits were dragging over his thigh. Her messy morning hair was dancing along his skin too.

  Everything about this woman was perfection, and she was upping that ante to a level he couldn’t put a number on.

  When she increased the pressure, humming against his cock, he drew up his free leg and planted his foot on the bed. His brain cells had all gone to his dick, and he was hanging on by a thread. How embarrassing would it be to come thirty seconds after she took him into her mouth?

  He grabbed the headboard with his free hand, wrapping his fingers around one of the wrought iron spindles. He needed purchase of some sort. There was no other option. If he didn’t get a grip and let her continue, he would end up flipping her onto her back and sliding into her in a heartbeat.

  She increased the speed next, bobbing on and off him, her hand and her mouth in tandem. His balls drew up prematurely. He wasn’t going to be able to stop the orgasm from slamming into him.

  When her tongue flicked over the slit in the head followed by hollowing her cheeks, he lost the battle. He didn’t even have a chance to warn her, but apparently she didn’t care. She slid him into her throat as far as she could and swallowed the spurts of his orgasm as fast as they hit her throat.

  Hunter was still trying to catch his breath when she eased off him, kissing a line up and down his shaft and then up his belly as she climbed up to land on top of him.

  When he was finally able to blink at her, his vision clearing, he found her smiling at him. Satisfied with her accomplishment. “Morning,” she murmured.

  He released the headboard and hauled her farther up his body, taking her lips in a kiss. Nothing could stop him from claiming her mouth first thing this morning, not even the salty lingering taste of his semen. He needed her so badly. God, how he needed her.

  But there were still things to be said. They needed to discuss their future too. And he would insist on a commitment from her before he took a risk and entered her tight warmth. To do otherwise would kill him.

  She might kill him herself when she found out what he was hiding from her. Until he revealed everything, it would be unconscionable to claim her. After he revealed everything, would she forgive him?

  The problem was that after what happened yesterday morning and how angry she had been when she found out he hadn’t told her he was her aunt’s lawyer, he’d grown more worried than ever about the far larger, far more important, far more life-altering secret he held.

  It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t known. He had no control over the actions of her own flesh and blood. But the repercussions would be felt by him.

  Hunter took a deep breath as he held his mate’s gorgeous brown gaze. “Morning,” he responded. “You provide quite the wakeup call.”

  She grinned. “After the way you put me to sleep, it seemed only fair.” She lifted her body off him, hovering over his for several seconds. Her breasts swayed over his chest. Tangles of her hair fell against his shoulders. He’d never seen anything so beautiful.

  Please, God. Don’t let this end badly.

  “I’m gonna shower,” she told him.

  He grabbed her hips. “Can I come?”

  “You just did.” She grinned.

  He groaned at her joke. “Ha ha. May I please join you in the shower?”

  She rose off him and stood next to the bed. “Nope. I need space. When you touch me, I can’t concentrate, which means I won’t remember to use soap or shampoo or something.”

  He chuckled. “It’s all part of my evil plot.” He rolled onto his side, propped his chin on his palm, and watched her fucking hot body as she moved around the room.

  She grabbed several things from an open suitcase at the foot of the bed and gave him a glare that had no oomph behind it. She pointed at him. “Stay. I mean it.”

  He laughed again. “Babe, wolves don’t train well. No promises.”

  She groaned at his joke this time, and then she padded from the room, her fantastic ass swaying as she went. This room she was staying in was a guest room. It didn’t have an attached bath.

  Hunter took several moments to simply bask in the knowledge that he’d just spent the night with his mate, the woman he intended to wake up to for the rest of his life, if she’d have him.

  Finally, he forced himself to climb out of bed. He quickly found his jeans and pulled them over his hips. He needed coffee, and he wasn’t about to wander downstairs naked and risk her sister finding him that way if she returned to the house.

  For a moment, he considered calling Caleb and checking in with him. He’d known from the moment he became conscious that Caleb and Elena had not returned to the house last night. Which meant they were undoubtedly at Caleb’s. Lucky bastard.

  Hunter needed to get Layla to go to his house this morning. It felt important. He wanted her in his space. Hell, who was he kidding? He wanted her scent to permeate his home. That was all that mattered. At least for this morning.

  It only took a few minutes to find the coffee and brew a cup. He had no idea if Layla drank coffee or how she might take it, but a quick glance in the refrigerator suggested at least one of them was a fan of the elixir because there was a bottle of flavored liquid creamer.

  Taking a chance, he brewed a second cup, added the creamer, and headed back upstairs. The bathroom door was closed, and the water was still running, but he didn’t care to be separated from her any longer, so he set one mug down on the hall table and knocked with the other hand. “Can I come in, babe?”

  “Depends,” she shouted back.

  He grinned. Their banter amused him. “On what?”

  “On if the coffee in your hand is for me.”

  He flinched. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she could smell the coffee from the shower, but how was it possible that she herself didn’t find that odd? He opened the door and grabbed the other cup from the small table.

  This house was over fifty years old. The bathroom was large. He could easily fit inside and keep his hands to himself if she preferred. Although now that he was staring at his lovely mate, whose sexy body was right in front of him with nothing separating them but the glass door…

  He tamped down the urge to join her and held out both mugs. He would gladly give her the black and make another cup if she preferred it plain. “I wasn’t positive if the
creamer in the fridge was yours or Elena’s, so I made one with and one without.”

  She turned toward him, water running down her cheeks. Her nipples were hard, and dammit but her fucking body was so perfect. It was impossible not to stare. “I do need coffee in order to fully join the world in the mornings, but I do not drink it black.”

  He nodded and set hers on the counter before taking a sip of his. “I personally thought you were pretty wakeful a few minutes ago before you got out of bed,” he pointed out.

  She shot him a smile, her arms lifted in the air as she massaged her scalp. “Yeah, well, you have a tendency to make me feel alert. You’re like my own personal caffeine.” She dipped her head under the water and rinsed her hair.

  Hunter leaned a hip against the counter and watched her while sipping his coffee. Every move she made was mesmerizing. His cock was fully hard, even though she’d just sucked him off. The connection he had with her was beyond his expectations. And this was before they’d had sex.

  When Layla turned off the water and opened the sliding shower door to grab a towel, she met his gaze. “I don’t think anyone has ever watched me shower before. I feel like I’m giving a performance. An audition. I’ve tried out for a lot of roles in a lot of television shows and movies, but I’ve never done so naked. How’d I do?”

  He let his gaze wander up and down her body while she dried off and stepped out of the bathtub. “You got the part.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, just like in LA. They offer you a small role but never quite tell you what it is. Could be a speaking part. Could be an extra. Might even get cut in the end.”

  He set his coffee on the counter and sauntered toward her. As soon as he was in her space, he grabbed the towel and yanked it out of her hand.

  She giggled.

  “The role is as my mate and life partner, and you didn’t have to audition at all. The part was yours the moment I set eyes on you. Before that actually.” He set his hands on her waist and slid them up her sides until his thumbs could stroke over her nipples.