When Phelan didn’t respond, Marena turned around to face him. She knew he was there, not only because she wasn’t feeling sick but also because she was feeling something else. Something she only felt when he was near. She’d wanted to simply call it attraction, but she was smart enough to know that there was more to it than that. It was more because she’d never felt this way before for any other guy and no other man had ever elicited the quick and intense feelings Phelan did from her.
Right now her heart was thumping quickly as she’d wanted to run out of that room with all those eyes staring at her. Marena had never been the shy or introverted type. She came from a big family of boisterous and opinionated people. If she hadn’t been able to speak up for herself, she would have been eaten alive. So being in front of others and saying whatever she had to say was not a problem, hence her success in the courtroom.
Standing in front of five lycans who were all looking to her for some specific answer or response had been a bit more than she’d ever imagined she would have to endure. Just the thought that in the blink of an eye each of them could look like Phelan had last night in the hotel room, and could be vicious killers, was enough for her to swallow. The thought that she would soon be one of them was by far the worst. She was determined not to think about that bite on her shoulder and to focus on what she knew she could control, but she’d been losing her grip in there. And so, for the first time in her life, she’d run. Well, she’d walked, really fast. Phelan had followed, but he wasn’t speaking; she wanted to know why.
“Are you all right?” she asked when he was still standing a distance away from her looking around as if he thought maybe someone else was out here with them.
Considering she was standing on the porch of a log cabin in who-knew-where Montana, after a conversation about a pissed-off Greek god and the inevitability of him coming to earth to seek his revenge, Marena found herself looking around, too, because hell, there could be someone or something else out here.
“Why did you come out here?” he asked, ignoring her question completely.
Marena wasn’t bothered by that because she was used to dealing with men who didn’t think she was smart enough or a good-enough lawyer to challenge them in any way. She never let that stop her from moving forward with her cases zealously and she wasn’t about to let it cause her pause now.
“Look, I don’t know what you and your friends expect from me. But like I said, I don’t belong here. I need to get back to San Francisco to clear my name and save my legal reputation. I have to find Davis,” she said adamantly.
“He’s the one that put you in this predicament,” Phelan added, taking a step closer to her.
It was a measured step. Not the self-assured movements she had become accustomed to seeing from him.
“He’s a partner at my firm, and if the police continue to suspect me of doing something to Davis I’ll never achieve my career goals because those chauvinistic older partners are going to crucify me.”
Phelan arched a brow. “And because you’ll likely be put in jail.”
Marena huffed because, unfortunately, she wasn’t as concerned about that part of the situation as she suspected she should be.
“You don’t understand,” she told him. “I’ve come too far and worked too damned hard for this stupid incident to stop me.”
“You mean the stupid incident where a man attacked you and you shot him in self-defense?” he asked when he was standing directly in front of her.
The day had passed without her even knowing, so that now it looked as if the sun were just settling in the sky, waiting for its descent into evening. The golden glow framed Phelan and his well-sculpted body in a romantic haze that for a moment or two had her wishing their circumstances were different.
What if he’d been a businessman living in San Francisco? Maybe he’d just moved there and she’d met him at a meeting. Would she have been so intrigued by his intense green eyes to ask if he’d like her to show him around? Or would she have immediately recognized the way her body warmed when he was close?
“It was stupid; I admit that. And it was self-defense. But now, finding him is about self-preservation. I have to make partner. It’s what I’ve always worked for. What will my family think if I don’t?” she asked, catching the admission and turning away to keep from saying more.
Her personal life was her own. Her goals and ambitions and the reasons, therefore, belonged to her. She’d never felt the need to explain them to anyone. Yet all she’d ever wanted was for her parents and her siblings to be proud of her. To say they always believed in her. It was probably a long shot, Marena admitted to herself, because the Panos family were not good with expressing their emotions. Unless it was to complain or to disperse some great conspiracy theory as her father and her brothers were known to do. But they were her family and they were all that had ever mattered to her.
“What will they think when you tell them you’re a lycan?” he asked.
His question was stated so simply, so basic and yet producing more anxiety and hesitation than she’d ever experienced before.
“If you find Davis and he’s completely healed, which I have no doubt he is because we can heal from most wounds, what will you do? Drag him in front of the partners and insist he tell them what he tried to do to you? He’s never going to do that, Marena. You need to accept that now. He’s a Hunter lycan; the only person he’s going to look out for is himself and members of the pack he belongs to, because he’s certainly not an alpha. Whether you like it or not, your life has been irrevocably changed.”
Marena shivered at his words, even though it was warm outside. She did not like what he’d said or the fact that it was true. And she didn’t like that he’d said them in the same tone Davis spoke whenever he decided to appear in her mind. She could hear him laughing now, telling her the same thing he’d been saying for hours on end: I’m coming for you. I’m coming for you. I’m coming for you.
“Stop it!” she yelled, slapping her hands to her ears and shaking her head. “Just stop it, both of you. Please.” The last word was a whimper and so foreign to her ears she barely registered it.
“Stop what?” Phelan asked her, his hands tightening on her shoulders. “Tell me what’s happening?”
“He’s talking to me,” she said without thinking. “He’s been talking to me, like he’s standing right beside me. How can he do that? If you can take away the pain why can’t you tell him to stop?”
Her heart was pounding, her hands shaking as they stayed clapped over her ears. She’d closed her eyes believing that maybe, just maybe, she could shut all of this out of her mind. The voice. The bite. The gun. Everything.
Phelan’s hands on her didn’t stop any of that, only added to it a powerful pull that Marena hated she couldn’t resist. He was turning her to him then, his face drawing closer to hers as he pulled her hands away from her ears and asked her calmly, “What is he saying?”
He believed her was the first thing Marena thought. He believed that she was hearing Davis’s voice even though they both knew full well that he wasn’t there with them.
“‘I’m coming for you,’” she said. “Over and over again he tells me that and then he laughs. What does that mean? What does he want with me now?”
Phelan frowned. His eyes growing darker and his jaw tightening.
“He wants you for himself, to claim you and make you his,” he said disgustedly.
Marena pulled away from him then, his words circling in her mind. “What? I’ll never be with him. I told him that and that’s when he— I don’t want him,” she said. “All I want is for him to clear my name.”
“Are you certain about that?” Phelan asked, looking at her with what Marena thought might actually be contempt.
His look, coupled with his question and this whole damned situation, pissed her off royally.
“What the hell does that mean?” she asked, then shook her head quickly, holding up a hand. “No. You listen to me. I don’t know who or what you think I am, or was, before all this happened. But I can assure you that I’ve never been interested in Davis and that was before I knew he was a dirty, disgusting wolf! And as for you, I don’t know you, either. I don’t know why you have to remain close to me for me to even breathe normally and I don’t care. All I want is my life back. That’s all I need.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, closing the space between them quickly and grabbing her by the neck.
His fingers were tight as they slipped through her hair to cup the nape of her neck. He applied pressure, only a little more gently than his first contact, until she tilted her face up to his. And then he kissed her.
His lips were like molten lava as they touched hers, beckoning her to open and let all that fiery heat inside whether she wanted to or not. When his tongue touched hers that heat traveled quickly throughout every inch of her body, until Marena felt like she needed to strip away every piece of clothing simply to find any solace. With bold and intoxicating strokes his tongue dueled with hers, his one hand at her neck, the other planted firmly at the base of her back, just before the curve of her ass.
He held her firmly as he deepened the kiss, forcing her to open her mouth wider and to tilt her head back farther. He hadn’t asked nicely and there was nothing pleasant about this kiss. Only its urgency, its heat, its undeniable existence that kept her standing still, accepting, needing.
* * *
Cheater! You dare to betray me with her!
Eureka’s voice sounded loudly in Phelan’s head, just as it had when Marena had first come out here. She was in his head the way she’d been since that fateful night when she’d put that gruesome mark upon his face. Just as Davis was in Marena’s head.
It was the blood curse.
The mixing of two otherworldly beings’ blood could sometimes prove fatal, but in most cases it simply created a link between the two beings that was only breakable when one of the beings was claimed. The bond of a true mate would cancel any other bonds the beings had previously formed.
Eureka’s nails had gone deep into Phelan’s skin, scarring him on a deeper than physical level and cursing him with her presence in his life forevermore. In addition, Eureka had cast her own brand of sorcery on him, by declaring he would never find a mate, would never be content with anyone but her. It was both childish and foolhardy and he’d discarded it the moment the words were spoken from her lips, and then his own stubborn pride had ultimately proved her right. He had not sought out a mate or anyone he planned to be serious about. Instead, he’d retreated even further into himself than he had when he’d lived at the orphanage. He was meant to be alone. That thought had been drilled into him from the very beginning of his life; there was no use in thinking differently now.
Considering all that, Phelan still hated hearing her voice. He despised the intrusion and wanted her gone once and for all. Knowing there was really no way he could do that only speared the kick of desire for Marena on further.
His dick was already hard, seconds before he’d even thought to take her into his arms for that kiss. The one that was still scorching his lips and tongue as he delved deeper, attempted to let the taste of her drown out the voice and the anger.
Marena had grabbed his biceps, holding on to him as she tilted her head and kept the kiss going with her own eager tongue thrusts and small glorious moans. Phelan tugged on her hair and heard her gasp. He sucked her tongue deep into his mouth, keeping his eyes and his mind closed to anything but Marena. She was sexy and delectable and he’d been attracted to her from the moment he rode up beside her SUV. Sure, the new blood Hunter scent he’d picked up had been a draw, but if he had to be totally honest with himself, he’d admit that the aroma that had really pulled him toward her was of her arousal.
Heady and thick, it had called to him like a siren’s song, and he’d come running. He hadn’t been able to ignore it. The first time he’d touched her, initially to still the pain racking through her body, had sent spikes of desire shooting straight to the tip of his cock. And when he’d thrown caution out the damned window and put his mouth on her hardened clit last night in the shower, he’d sworn he’d died and gone to whichever heaven was made for lycans.
Now they were outside, a warm breeze blowing around them, and Phelan still couldn’t take his hands off her. When he let his hands cup her face, then move down to the soft skin of her neck, to the bare softness of her chest, and finally to push down the elastic band of the jumpsuit that held it up over her breasts, all he could do was sigh. He looked down to see the heavy globes in all their fantastic glory.
The color of heavily creamed coffee until the areola formed a perfectly dark circle, her puckered nipple at its center. Phelan growled as he bent down, taking one into his mouth, gorging greedily, trying to suck as hard and as much of her breast as possible, while palming the other simultaneously. She grabbed the back of his head, similar to the way she had done when they were in the shower, rubbing her blunt nails along his scalp, feeding him her breast as if he were her child. He buried his face between the soft flesh, loving the feel of them along his cheeks and as his tongue stretched out to lick small paths over the mounds.
He wanted his dick right here, cupped between her breasts as he fucked her until he came, his essence shooting in thick rivulets over her silky smooth skin. That thought had him pushing the jumpsuit down even farther, until his hand cupped the pouting mound of her pussy. She bucked beneath him, trying to keep her balance and give him all the access he wanted. With a growl of frustration, Phelan stood, taking her by the shoulders and plunging his tongue deep into her mouth again as he backed her up until she was flush against the log siding of the house.
He cupped her breasts again, licking all around her taut nipples, and was just about to pull that jumpsuit down farther so that he could lick the sweet honey between her legs one more time, when she shocked him.
With a quick motion Marena’s hands were on the zipper of his pants, pulling it down and reaching inside to wrap her fingers around his thick cock. Phelan gasped at the quick capture, his length resting in her palm as she completely freed him. He was just catching his breath when she slid down, her tongue licking the drop of pre-cum from his slit as he watched her through half-closed eyes.
Before he could stop himself, Phelan ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face so he had a clear view of her mouth on his thick length. She licked around the tip until it was glossy with her ministrations. He throbbed in her hand as she closed her mouth over him and slid down slowly. Phelan groaned while watching his dick disappear in her mouth. His fingers twisted in her hair as he began to guide her head to match the slow and measured thrusts of his hips. He wanted to go faster, deeper, to pound into the warm recess of her mouth until his cum came spurting out hot and long. But he resisted, enjoying the moment when she cupped her hands on his ass and moved him just a bit faster, her mouth taking him easily.
Closing his eyes, Phelan let his head fall back, swearing he’d never felt this damned good before. Her mouth was hot and wet and he wanted to stay right there forever, until she slipped a hand around to reach farther into his pants, tickling his scrotum as she continued to suck him.
“Dammit!” he moaned and yelled and then moaned again, about two seconds before he came in thick jets that she swallowed without hesitation.
All thoughts of Eureka, the threat against Blaez’s life, hell, the air around him, vanished from Phelan’s mind as he held her head tightly, watching as her throat constricted with each swallow, her lips still wet and swollen.
It was when she looked up at him, when their gazes locked, that Phelan knew without a doubt that he was in trouble. Big fucking trouble.