The Tiger's Mate: (Book 12, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (4 page)

Chapter Six

Acksel watched as Simone ate a sandwich and fries.  Or not so much ate as ‘went Godzilla on it’.  His wolf barked in approval, and he felt an odd sensation of arousal.  He wasn’t sure he’d ever met a female who enjoyed food so much.  She might eat even more food than he did.  He wasn’t sure where she was putting it - she as slim as anything - but it sure was hot.

He tapped his chin when a dollop of mayonnaise fell onto hers.

Her lips curled in amusement as she wiped her chin.  “Sorry, I really like food.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, eagerly remembering that he had some chocolate cake waiting in the refrigerator.  “I hate women who are demure about eating.”  She licked her fingers, and Acksel withheld a groan.  Perhaps he should forgo the pleasure of feeding her chocolate cake.  He was already struggling to control his desire.  Seeing her drop chocolate down her chin would really turn him into a lecherous wolf shifter.

Simone smacked her lips with satisfaction.  “Not a problem I’ve ever had,” she told him with no shame.  “Tigers tend to eat a lot.”  Mayonnaise dribbled down the front of her shirt.  “Damn, sorry.”

He averted his eyes as she started dabbing at her breasts.  His wolf howled.  Maybe she was doing this on purpose.  He’d never known mayonnaise to be so damn sexy.  “Ah, that’s Britt’s shirt, I think she’d give you her entire wardrobe if you wanted it.”

“Poor little pup.”

Britt had given Simone a long and teary apology earlier, and Simone gave her a hug and soothed her.  To say Acksel was pleased was an understatement.  Britt had been irresponsible - that was for damn sure.  She knew the pack rules about staying away from the road, and she could have been hurt.  The idea of losing his baby sister was horrifying, which was probably why Hans was so angry – even if he wouldn’t admit it.  But, Simone had been forgiving and patient about the whole situation and had even made Britt feel better.  She was amazing. 

Of course, Acksel was getting a perverse pleasure out of having Simone there.  He wouldn’t admit it, but a dark part of him was glad the accident happened – otherwise they may never have met.  He suspected she was important to him, and his wolf was circling the ‘m word’, but Acksel was trying to hold him back for the time being.  Although, he wondered if part of the reason Simone was so forgiving of the situation was because she felt the same feelings for him.  She didn’t even seem to be concerned that she was in the house alone with a strange wolf.  After the apology to end all apologies from Britt, Melanie had whisked her and Gwen away, saying that she would look after them that night.  She did it with so much authority that Hans didn’t even argue.

“Britt will be fine,” he said.  “She’ll feel better when the Beta metes out her punishment.”

Simone stopped mid-chew and gave him an odd look.  She swallowed her huge mouthful, almost choking in the process.  “Punishment?” she spluttered.  “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“My Alpha wouldn’t agree.  Pups need to be put in their place.”

She clasped his arm, but his pleasure at her touch was marred by the pleading look in her face.  “Please, Acksel, don’t let her get hurt because of me.  It was an accident, and I’m fine.”

His wolf grumbled in worry.  She was really concerned about Britt.  Did she think they were going flog her or something?  “Simone, it’s fine, she’ll be grounded for a while, and the Beta will think of a few creative punishments, but probably just running errands for elderly pack members and cleaning houses.  He won’t hurt her if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Simone visibly relaxed.  “Oh, good.” 

It was what she was thinking.  His beast growled, unhappily.  He wondered what her situation must be like if she would immediately jump to the conclusion that punishment meant violence.  He had made a few comments about her home life, but she hadn’t exactly given him any information.  In fact, she had been a little evasive about telling him anything.

“I wouldn’t hand her over if I thought he would actually hurt her.  The pack is important, but she’s my sister and she’s only a pup.  I wouldn’t put her in any danger.”

“No, you wouldn’t would you?” she said, softly.  Her voice wobbled a little and Acksel could hear the emotion in it.

“Besides,” he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, “Alec - our Beta - seems to be having a bit of trouble handing out punishments to females ever since his pup was born.  Can’t look at them without thinking about baby Daisy.  The Alpha ribs him about it, mercilessly.”

Simone’s eyes widened.  “He teases him about it?  Isn’t he angry at your Beta?”

Acksel shrugged.  “Adam’s a fair Alpha.  He trusts Alec to do what is right by the pack.  If Alec really couldn’t perform his duties as a Beta, he’d step down.”  Yeah, they were just a bigger, hairier version of The Waltons.  His wolf snorted at that.  With a lot more swearing and hunting, he added.

Simone munched in silence for a few moments, seemingly mulling over his words.

“I take it things are different where you live,” he tried, hoping to coax a little information from her.

She focussed on her meal and only relented when Acksel wouldn’t stop staring at her.  She sighed.  “It’s just, when you’re taught a lesson, you remember it.”  She nodded at a couple of vanilla cupcakes Carly the pack Omega had sent over.  “May I?”

“Sure,” he said, trying not to let his frustration show.  His wolf was annoyed, but Acksel told him to be patient.  He’d only known Simone for a matter of hours, and she was probably still addled from the car crash.  He was trying to stop himself from being too pushy.

“Mmmm,” she groaned in near orgasmic pleasure.  Acksel closed his eyes.  This was verging on torture.  “All your food is so good!  This cupcake, that stew earlier – ugh, how are you not all fat?”

“Good metabolism.  Carly our pack Omega made the cupcake; she has a bakery in town, and Esther made the stew.”

“The she-bear?  She seems nice.  Is she part of your pack?” she asked with undisguised curiosity.

“She is.  She’s mated to my second, Felicity.  I’m the chief enforcer of the pack.”

Simone’s brow creased.  “Felicity, but that’s a female name.”

Acksel leaned back in his seat and regarded her cautiously.  There were a lot of shifters even now who couldn’t accept same-sex matings.  Thankfully, his Alpha wasn’t one of them.  “She’s a female.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have a problem with that?”

“Of course not!” she said, quickly and with a little embarrassment.

“But I take it that it’s not really accepted where you’re from.”

He could almost feel the heat from her cheeks. In fact, he could probably warm his hands over them.  “It’s just where I’m from, there are so few female tigers that it wouldn’t be allowed.”

Acksel grunted.  He didn’t agree with that, but he wasn’t going to argue, and she didn’t exactly say it with a lot of conviction.  Plus, she hadn’t said it, but he was now certain that she lived in a tiger pride.  Which was interesting.  There weren’t that many tiger prides around.  In nature, tigers tended to be solitary creatures.  But tiger shifters over the years have banded together more because their human sides crave companionship, and also for safety.  However, due to their animal natures, tiger prides could be quite unstable without good alphas, and were just powder kegs waiting to blow.

Simone smiled at him.  “Tell me about you, I want to hear all about your pack,” she said, shyly.

His wolf softened.  Talking about her pride would have to wait.

*

They talked for hours.  Acksel told her about his pack, the good, the bad, and the downright hilarious.  He spoke with such pride about his family and pack mates that Simone felt ashamed for the dark feelings she felt about her own pride mates.  Of course, it wasn’t true of all of them.  She had her mother, and she cared about Parker – although not in the way she was supposed to, and there were some nice females in the pride like Lauren, who weren’t cheap carbon copies of Nita.  It’s just she wasn’t proud to be part of her pride.  Which was why she was making plans to get away from there.

Her tiger chuffed and told her that Rose seemed to be like a nice place to live.  She ignored her and instead focussed on telling Acksel about happier times with her pride.  Such as learning to hunt with Parker, Parker sitting on an anthill in his tiger form, Parker sitting on a cactus in his tiger form and Parker accidentally batting a bees’ nest in his tiger form - none of the incidents ended well.  Yes, she did have a lot of good memories growing up, particularly with Parker, even after she realized that things weren’t quite fair in her pride.  It's just that the good couldn't outweigh the bad.

Acksel, on the other hand, was devoted to his pack and his family, even to his older brother who sounded like a nightmare.

“You’re lucky to have such an Alpha,” she commented before she could stop herself.  Thinking such things was bad but saying them out loud was disloyal, not to mention dangerous.

“Yeah, we weren’t so lucky with our old Alpha, he tried to kick my mom out of the pack after my dad died.”

“Why?”

He smiled, but it was forced.  “My mom’s human.  The old Alpha never wanted her in the pack in the first place, but she mated my dad, and my dad was the chief enforcer, and he wouldn’t back down.  The Alpha didn’t want to lose my dad, so he had to put up with my mom.”

“But she stayed even after he… uh…” 

“Yeah, my mom is pretty determined.  She managed to get Hans all the way through high school even though he came close to expulsion about eight times.  The last time was because he shifted into his wolf and… well, he left some steaming presents on the principal’s car.”

Simone slapped her hand over her mouth, and even her tiger found that distasteful.  “Eeuw! How did she manage to persuade the principal not to expel him for that?”

He chuckled.  “She threatened to home school him.  Hans bucked up and acted like he was sorry, and the principal was actually more scared of my mom than Hans.  My brother figured that at least in School he could get away with more, and not attend classes.  His teachers actually preferred it if he skipped classes.”

“She sounds like quite a woman,” she marveled.  The females in her pride didn’t even stand up to their mates never mind anyone else.  “So, humans and a bear in your pack?”

“Yeah, we’ve got bears, pumas, witches and even a leopard who’s also a witch, although, don’t ask her to show you her powers, she’s still learning and keeps changing wine into water.”

“More than one bear?”  If bear shifters even came into their town, the pride forced them to move on.  The Alpha didn't like having other predators anywhere near him.

“Yeah, you should see the bear that’s mated to our Omega.  Seven feet tall and too broad for a lot of doorways.  Carly reckons he’s a cutie on the inside.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Maybe I could introduce you…”

“Right, but I really need to get home as soon as possible.”  Her beast snarled in objection, but what could she do?  Simone knew she couldn’t hide there forever.  The longer she was away, the worse it was going to be when she went home.  And it was already pretty bad.

His lips twitched, and she liked to think it was down to disappointment.  “Of course, how are you feeling?”

“Much better.”  So good that she couldn’t really justify staying there, although her cat urged her to try.

He opened his mouth and then shut it again.  “It’s getting late; perhaps you should get some rest.  I don’t think you should try to leave tonight.”

“Oh no, I wasn’t!  I don’t want to rush things.”

Acksel nodded and gave her a half-smile.  She was going home, she was, just not tonight.

Chapter Seven

The flames licked at the door.  The room was hot, too hot.  She clutched at her stuffed tiger and cried for her mommy.  Her skin was starting to burn.  She tried to cry out, but she choked as the smoke poured into her room…

Simone panted, and her tiger whined as she awoke from the nightmare.  She looked around the room, wildly, disorientated.  She remembered she wasn’t home.  She was somewhere else, but the same nightmare followed her.

“Simone!”  Acksel gave a cursory bang on the door before barrelling into the room.  He didn’t hesitate as he pulled her into his arms, holding her trembling body.

“It’s okay,” he soothed her as he stroked her back.  She wrapped her arms around him.  She wasn’t a natural hugger, but it did feel natural to be in his arms.  “Was it about the accident?” he asked, softly.

“No… just… no.”  She felt her heartbeat slowing, returning to normal.  Her tiger began to calm, and she rubbed her cheek against the bare skin of his shoulder.  “There was a fire when I was a kid; sometimes I dream about it.”

“It’s okay; it’s fine.  I won’t let anything happen to you.”  The last part was said with such feeling that Simone couldn’t help the shiver that trickled down her spine.

The steady, rhythmic thump of his heartbeat eased her.  The feel of his soft skin under her fingers and the press of his hard body against hers made her heart speed up for an entirely different reason.  She could feel her arousal stirring.

Acksel inhaled and groaned.  “Simone,” he breathed, a touch of anguish in his voice.

She shouldn’t be doing this.  She didn’t know this wolf.  She’d only met him a few hours ago.  She was technically mated to another male for heaven’s sake!  But she couldn’t stop herself.  Her tiger yowled, urging her on.  She’d only ever desired one man before this, and it had been a disaster.  After that, she’d told herself she didn’t need a male.  That she was happy to be on her own.   Love, sex, arousal – they were just things that happened to other people.  But, Acksel… she could feel herself yearning for him.  Every part of her - her heart, her body, her tiger - wanted him, and needed him.

Simone kissed his neck, moaning at the taste of his skin.

“Simone, don’t,” he groaned, but without much conviction.

She kissed and licked his neck while rubbing her hands over his chest.  She wasn’t experienced, but her body seemed to know what to do.  She’d had sex, but it was a long time ago, and it had been a case of over and done with in a matter of minutes.  She’d fallen hard and fast for a human in town and had believed him when he said he loved her.  He’d changed his mind after he deflowered her.  But Acksel didn’t seem to have any complaints about what she was doing, not if the bulge pressing against her stomach was anything to go by.

“You don’t want me?”  She sniffed and mewled at the strength of his arousal.  “You smell like you do.”

He growled.  “I want you more than you know.”

“Then, why?”

“Simone, I don’t want to take advantage.”

She pulled back panting slightly, her tiger prowling impatiently.  The objections raised their ugly heads again, but she tamped them down.  Life in her pride was hard.  Didn’t she deserve something more?  Didn’t she deserve this wonderful, sexy wolf shifter – if only for a night?

She closed her eyes for a second, praying her enthusiasm could overcome her lack of experience, and pulled the t-shirt over her head.  Acksel groaned, throatily.

“Don’t,” she murmured with hitherto unknown confidence.  “I’ll take advantage of you.”

Her lips found his and any resistance he had ebbed away.  He returned the kiss with gusto, taking over and taking charge, parting her lips and delving inside.  His hands caressed the smooth skin of her back as he plundered her mouth. 

Her tiger snarled in gentle satisfaction as the kiss deepened.  He pulled her closer to him, molding her body against his.  An arm slid around her waist while his other hand found her breasts.  He gently squeezed one and then the other.  She whimpered with excitement; his kiss, his touch, everything about him was turning her on.  She could feel herself becoming wet between her thighs; she was aroused in a way she’d never felt before.

As she pressed herself against him with more urgency, he circled the hard nub of her nipple, before lightly pinching it.  She gasped at the thrill of pleasure.  He pulled away from her mouth and his lips curled with delicious promise.  His eyes shone with the amber of his wolf and Simone could feel her own eyes shimmer to the yellow of her beast.

Acksel pressed her back against the mattress, and slowly ran a hand up her thigh.  “You’re beautiful, Simone,” he crooned.

“So are you,” she murmured.

He smiled and kissed his way over her neck and shoulders, moving to her breasts.  She arched against him, begging for more as he took her flesh into his mouth.  She ran her hands over his back as he sucked her nipples.  As his teeth grazed her skin, she could feel her need growing and coiling within her.  She rubbed her thighs together, trying to get some relief.

He must have sensed her need.  He traveled down her body, bestowing feathery kisses over her stomach and navel before gently prying her legs apart.  Lowering his mouth, he licked her sex.  Simone quivered at the incredible sensation; it was unlike anything she’d ever known.  And she needed more.  She pushed her hips against his questing mouth, whimpering as he suckled at her clit and pushed a finger inside her slick channel.

She could feel her core clenching, nearing completion.  She was almost there; it would only take a little more and… he pulled away.  Her tiger snarled in disappointment.  She gave him a feverish look, and was only mollified when she saw him slipping out of his boxers.  She marveled at him.  He was truly beautiful.  There wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t perfect, but it was probably the hunger on his face that she enjoyed the most.  To have a man like this look at her like
that
was intoxicating. 

Acksel moved between her legs and aligned their sexes.  Trepidation at his size was quickly replaced by lust as the blunt tip pushed against her entrance.  Thankfully, he moved slowly.  Her body was opening to him, but she was tight and unused to being so stretched, so full.  She wanted this; she wanted him, more than anything, but she couldn’t deny the twinge of pain.  He must have seen her grimace.  He crawled over her, nestling into her body and kissing her lips.  His mouth on hers distracted her from the slight discomfort, and as the kiss deepened, she forgot it entirely and he thrust inside her to the hilt.

He released her lips and leaned his forehead against hers.  “Okay, baby?”

“Yes,” she breathed as her tiger let out a rawr.

Slowly, he started rocking inside her.  Simone wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down for another kiss.  As he moved inside her, the almost uncomfortable fullness changed into a delicious friction.  His thick length rubbed against every sensitive nerve ending, every tender spot.  He felt so big and so good inside her.  She started meeting his thrusts, pushing back against him.  He began speeding up, plunging inside her over and over.  Her body started shaking as she felt something wonderful coming, something incredible.  She hitched her legs over his hips, trying to pull him even closer to her.  Wanting them to be together, needing him to be with her.  She wanted this moment to last forever; she wanted to be with Acksel forever.  To be endlessly excited, to feel this connection with him.  But she couldn’t stop herself.  As he bent down and kissed her neck, nipping the skin, it was too much.  She let go and tingling pleasure coursed through her body like a tidal wave.  She and her tiger roared at the intense ecstasy.  Seconds later, Acksel held himself deep inside her and roared as he reached his own completion.

They lay like that for a few minutes, locked together.  Her body was still trembling slightly, and his softening member pulsed inside her.

Acksel started to move away from her, and she tightened her arms and legs.  “Just a little while longer,” she whispered.

He smiled and kissed her again.  The languid caresses soon turned lusty, and she was delighted to feel him hardening inside her again.

She had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow.  But no matter what did, she decided she wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life.  So she was determined to make it last as long as possible.