Chapter Eight
Olivia
The night air, though drizzly and chilly, felt good in her lungs. Almost immediately she felt like her old self, which was both good and bad, but comforting all the same. She was an adventurer, always had been and always would be. Living under someone’s rules or watchful eye had never sat well with her. Running through the woods, even if she was alone, had always felt like freedom.
There’d been a small sense of freedom while living in the dorm, though her dorm monitor had often times gotten on her nerves with her rules. There was no feeling like that of running free in the woods; it was her home, as confining as it felt sometimes.
Maybe, she thought, she was more like her pack than she thought. Maybe there was some animal instinct inside of her that made her crave the feel of the earth underneath her and the soft scrape of branches against her skin.
Behind her something rustled and Olivia turned quickly. There was a prickle on her neck, the feel of eyes on her. Something was near and a knot twisted in her stomach. For as many times as she’d been out in these woods, she’d never had the sense of being watched, that something was lurking in the shadows.
Her heart began to pound and her breath came in short gasps. Something was there, she was sure of it. She made a mistake, she never should have left the safety of Dominic’s cabin. What had she been thinking? It was dangerous, attacks were happening on packs all around the country, and she had thought it a good idea to wander out into the dark, alone?
Foolish. Simply foolish.
She needed to get back to the safety of the cabin— and fast, before anything bad happened to her. Turning, she didn’t even take one step back to the cabin before she was knocked on her back and landed flat on the ground. The breath from her lungs slammed out of her and a heavy body sat tense on her own. Unable to catch her breath, she couldn’t force the scream to push out of her body. She lay on the ground, dizzy and disoriented, unable to see her attacker.
“Olivia?” a voice growled.
Even in her terrified state of mind, she recognized the deep rumble of that voce instantly.
“Dominic,” she whispered.
Quickly he jumped off of her and she could feel him pacing.
Just to be sure it was him, her hand scrambled on the ground until her fingers clutched around her phone which still shone its light. Shakily she brought up the light and saw the golden streaks of his fur.
“What were you doing out here?” His growl was deep and Olivia could see how agitated he was. “I could have killed you!” he shouted.
“I…I…I just needed some air,” she stammered back. Her senses were still coming back to her as air filled her lungs again and her heart slowed its pace.
“You were told to stay with me! Not go running around in the dark!”
He was still shouting at her, his anger filling the night air. For a moment she felt shaken by what had just happened and almost a little guilty at causing his shift and the rage that she could hear in his voice. But then, she thought again. With strength returning in her body and a clear head, she finally stood from the wet ground.
“And you were supposed to protect me—not almost kill me! Do you always go around trying to kill things before you even know what it is?” she snapped at him.
“You have no idea how dangerous it is out here,” he said through clenched teeth. She watched him look around the woods, still on edge, that something might be out there.
Dominic stopped pacing and the two stared hard at each other. Olivia’s eyes narrowed in challenge and they held each other’s gaze for a moment before the animal finally grunted and turned back to the cabin. It was clear he was still angry but he wasn’t going to fight with her any more sitting there in those woods. She followed behind him, ready to continue their battle inside the cabin if he was going to continue to yell at her.
Once inside, the wolf wandered back to the bedroom, where he could shift back in privacy. He emerged in the doorway, sweat still dotting his body, in just a set of boxers. The site made the anger in Olivia dissolve as her eyes roamed over his body, her feet betraying her as she walked toward him. The hard planes of his chest, the deep lines of his hips that lead teasingly under his boxers. His arms were tight with veins that bulged with his muscles. With a body like that, so strong and manly, she couldn’t stop herself from staring.
Dominic watched her taking him in, and a cocky smile appeared on his face.
“Like what you see?”
“What’s it like?” she asked, her voice quiet with awe.
“What is what like?”
“To….to…shift. To be human one minute and animal the next.”
Dominic held her stare, a burning gaze. “One minute you feel completely normal, then the next there is something stirring inside of you, a storm brewing. With every heartbeat it gets stronger, makes your body hot and restless. The pressure builds and builds until finally your body comes undone from its own skin. Only when that pressure releases can you breathe again, though you’re no longer human.”
Olivia felt herself blush and she wanted to look away, but it was as if she was drawn into him like a magnet. Something had come over her and she suddenly felt like she had no control over herself, as if something else was leading her. Tentatively she stepped toward him and reached a hand out to his almost naked body where her fingertips brushed those stomach muscles that only a second ago she’d been admiring.
The heat of him scorched at her fingertips, but she didn’t pull away. Looking up into his eyes, she lay her palm flat against his body and she could hear the animal rumble within him. He looked down at her, his amber eyes glowing brightly in the firelight. She didn’t need him to tell her what he was thinking, she could read it all over his face, the primal desire for her.
She felt it too. An instinct, as clear as any thought she ever had, told her that this was completely right.
Intensely, she stared up at him, her eyes searching his to see what he was going to do next but it didn’t take long for his lips to burn hers in a kiss. The breath was nearly knocked out of her as he gripped her arms tightly and kept his body as close as she could considering she was still clothed. For a moment she feared that it would just be one kiss, one perfect, hot, passionate kiss but then his mouth began to open, his tongue twining with hers.
His hands moved from her arms to her hair, tangling her strands into knots and yanking lightly to pull her head back. She yelped a little in a mix of pleasure and pain and his lips made a hot trail down the soft spot on her neck, down to her collar bone, while his hand grasped at her breast under her shirt. The way he touched her made her dizzy with pleasure. Ripping at her shirt, he tossed it aside and her nipples were already peaked with desire. His mouth moved suckled and nipped at her breasts and left her gasping in pleasure.
Hooking up with Dominic was probably not the best idea but she’d never felt so turned on in her life. She wasn’t sure how far he was going to go with her, how far she should let him go, but she didn’t have time to think about it as he worked at her pants and yanked them down to the floor. The anticipation of what was about to happen was causing her to tremble and Dominic, sensing her nerves, lightly pushed her back onto the bed, his eyes burning into hers.
That was the last she saw of him before he disappeared between her legs, his tongue running in hot swipes at the inside of her thighs. She could feel herself pulsing in need, and by the time she finally felt him touch her she was already wet and needy. The way he licked at her, moving his tongue along her most tender spot, she wouldn’t have been able to look up at him if she wanted to. Too delirious from the pleasure he was giving her, all she could do was say his name over and over begging for more, begging him to make her come undone.
She was sure she could picture his face, gleaming the way that it did when he was having far too much fun at her expense and the picture in her mind made her wild. Just at that moment, as if sensing how close she was to unraveling, he moved his finger inside of her and started to move in and out while his tongue kept up its pattern.
The screams that escaped her could have woken up any of the neighboring pack members as she came into his hand and his mouth, her body being broken apart in pleasure. She should have known that Dominic would have been good in bed but she never would have expected that he would have been that good. When she came down from her high she couldn’t help but think that if he was that good with just his mouth and hand, she couldn’t imagine how good he would be at the rest of it.