When the Alpha left with the information Cassie had given him, the heaviest brunt of the burden rose from her shoulders. She no longer had to live with the fact that the truth wasn't getting into the hands of those who really wanted to make a difference. She had faith in her small town, but now she was seeing things from a different angle. It was disheartening. She had never gotten involved in politics for this very reason. And if she had gone to college and pursued a career in criminal justice, her world would've been exposed to cases like this on a daily basis. This case had taught her that she was content with furthering her career as a journalist, instead of hunting down criminals and bringing down corrupted corporations.

"What are you thinking about?"

Luke came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as she looked out into his backyard. They had been resting outside on the patio around the grill waiting for the steak and potatoes to finish. He had just returned from taking the food inside, but she had remained behind.

She turned around and pressed her body to his, embracing his warmth.

"About how glad I am that I decided to come here," she replied. "I met you again, I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder, and I can finally say that the key to capturing these killers is within reach."

"I'm glad you're here too. I want to say I wish we had met sooner, but I think we discovered our mate bond at just the right time."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and a streak of light flashed across the skyline.

"The storm is getting closer. Doesn't look good either. I say we have another hour or so before it hits. Luckily I got all the backup generators working last week so I shouldn't get too many calls about power outages,” he said.

"I keep forgetting that you have a business to run. Here I was thinking that I could have all your attention." She slid her palm against the back of his neck and slipped her fingers up through his hair.

"You have more than my attention. You do understand that I'm not letting you leave now that I have you, right?"

She smiled. "I was hoping you felt that way.”

Their lips met and they shared a lengthy kiss under the stormy skies.

Luke's cell phone buzzed at his hips demonstrating just how busy he was. He groaned and pulled her against him securely, pressing his lips to her temple.

His phone buzzed again.

"You should get that," she told him. "We've got all night. We've got all the time in the world, remember?“

He smiled, fished his phone out of his pocket, but didn't let go of her waist.

"This is Luke….yeah. That was fast…he was just here. I already know. Tomorrow, it is. I'll keep my phone on me, but with this thunderstorm rolling in tonight, I'll likely be making rounds first thing in the morning. Yeah…good…got it."

After disconnecting the call, he powered down the phone and then kissed her again. "That was our scout lead letting me know that Dane has reached out to the Mayor about the case. According to the outcome of that meeting, we won't know what our next steps are until tomorrow. No more calls tonight, though. Just you, me, and this thunderstorm."

"I like the sound of that."

He swooped her up off her feet with minimal effort and took her inside the cozy cabin where it was warmer. A cold front had drifted ahead of the storm causing the temperature to drop. As he walked her over to the kitchen, she traced along the hard ridges of his arm and chest muscles.

"If you keep teasing me like that, I don't think I'll make it through dinner," he commented.

"Who says we have to eat dinner first?"

Luke sat her on the table top and planted a deep kiss on her mouth. She gasped, which caused her lips to part. His tongue pushed her lips open further and he began to explore her mouth, licking softly and meeting her tongue with every caress. Her breathing came hard and fast. She was hungry for him and she felt no shame at all. They'd teased each other long enough.

He sucked on her lips and flames of desire shot through her core. His hand was clamped gently at the back of her head, positioning her and letting his lips mesh with hers at just the right angle over and over again.

Cassie wrapped her legs around his waist and drove him closer. He responded by grabbing her ass cheeks and fitting her heated pussy against his cock. They moaned on contact. His touch felt like heaven, but she wanted nothing between them. To prove this point, she reached down and loosened his belt and then unzipped his pants. She shoved the pants downward. While she worked to completely disrobe him, his mouth left heated wet trails along her throat and shoulders.

He stood back for a second and then helped her lift her dress up over her head. Except for her barely-there red lace bra and matching panties, she sat on his table, on display, and ready to be taken.

"Beautiful," he said, licking his lips.

He closed the distance between them again, slipped a hand behind her, and undid her bra. He shoved the garment aside and took her heavy, plump breasts into his palms. Not wasting any time at all, he bent his head low to suck an already sensitive nipple into his mouth. His tongue licked quickly across the bud, flicking around each areola until they were hardened to perfection. He held her at the small of her back, taking her nipples into his mouth again and again as if he were enjoying ripe berries. He sucked greedily and she cradled his head in her hands, unable to contain the noises slipping past her lips.

"Luke," she moaned.

He growled into her skin. "Say my name again."

"Luke."

She was already soaking wet between the legs. If he continued in this manner, she'd probably reach orgasm before he ever entered her. She reached for his cock and felt her pussy clench at the feel of how incredibly big he was. She wrapped her fingers around the erect base of him and slid her hands upward until they reached his moist tip. He was long and thick and the way he hardened even more against her palm had her clit pulsing in anticipation.

"I'm ready to do really bad things to you, Cassie. Good things. Bad things. I want to fuck you so badly it hurts. I'm trying to be gentle," he whispered in her ear.

"I don't want you to be anything but yourself. Give me all of you tonight. I don't want gentle. I want you to take what you need," she told him.

Luke took her mouth again at the same time his fingers found their way across one of her thighs, tracing the edge of her panties. He gripped the flimsy fabric and pushed it aside until her pussy was exposed. One finger slipped upward through her slit until it reached her clit. She leaned back on the table, resting on her forearms, giving him ample access to her throbbing pussy.

"You're so fucking wet for me. Is your honey as sweet as I imagined? I wonder…" He brought his finger up to his lips and tasted the juices coating them.

The sight of him enjoying the taste of her and licking his lips in the process aroused her. He pushed two fingers back inside of her, stroking gently and meticulously stroked her clit with the pad of his thumb.

Cassie trembled on the dining room table. "Now Luke…you're driving me crazy. Please fuck me now."

He grinned and then drew her panties down her legs. "I'd like to drive my cock in your pussy, but after getting a taste of your sweet honey, I want more.”

Before she could protest, he was on his knees, pushing the back of her thighs so that she was fully exposed to him. His beard rubbed soothingly against her legs as he kissed the insides of her thighs.

"You're so fucking juicy for me, Cassie." He started licking her slowly and softly, brushing his tongue against her sensitive sex like he was enjoying the cream filling from his favorite cookie. He flicked his tongue against her clit until it became erect and then he licked some more, only stopping to dip his tongue deep into her center to collect the spilled juices. He pleased and licked and ate, not allowing one drop of honey to go to waste.

Containing her outbursts was no use. She screamed and squealed and moaned, calling out his name each time his devilish tongue tapped her clit at just the right angle.

"Oh my God…I'm gonna come," she screamed, knotting her fingers through his hair. "Luke. Oh God."

His face was buried in her sex. He used his mouth expertly on her, tongue-fucking her and licking her clit until her orgasm pushed through her.

She was literally purring on the table in the aftermath of her climax.

"That was good," he panted. "Turn around."

"Huh?" Her breathing was out of control.

"Turn around. Bend over with your knees on the table," he instructed.

Her entire body grew hot when she realized how he wanted her positioned. She obliged his request, kneeling on the table on all fours with her ass in the air.

"Goddammit, you're so fucking gorgeous." He coaxed her legs further apart on the table. "Look at this nice plump ass of yours. My damn nuts are getting tight as fuck just looking at the sight of you. I'm ready to fuck you so hard.” He slipped two fingers into her pussy, pumped a few times, and then removed them.

Cassie looked around to protest but then saw that he had his fingers in his mouth again. He had removed his boxers. When she saw the size of him, she felt her eyes widened. Her sex even clenched and creamed for him to the point where her honey spilled down her thighs.

"That's right. Get that pussy juicy and dripping wet for me again."

Taking her by surprise, he brought his hand down across her ass. She cried out as a series of mini orgasms took her.

He kneaded her where he'd punished her. She whimpered and shuddered, trying to hold herself up on the table as he requested. She was ready for him to fuck her, so she arched her back downward to give him free access to her needy pussy.

"Do you give yourself to me?" he asked.

"Yes, take me…please."

Instead of putting his cock in her, she felt his lips on her ass. He peppered kisses on her skin, kneading her like he was preparing her for something bigger. He took her pussy with his mouth again, this time focusing on the lips of her pussy and her labia. He must have known that her clit was already sensitive as hell. He seemed to intentionally avoid that area, driving her insane once again. He licked upward until he reached her anal, dipping his tongue inside her tender opening.

"Oh!" she cried.

He licked and sucking, paying attention to her ass in the same manner that he did her pussy.

"Even your ass tastes like honeysuckles,” he moaned, licking up and down her slit.

She couldn't believe that she was nearing yet another climax again. So surreal. It felt so fucking good. With his tongue still licking slowly and deliberately at her tight forbidden hole, he pushed two fingers into her wet pussy and worked his fingers in and out, around…up and down. Her sex clenched tightly around his fingers. Her clit cried for attention, yet he was working her over so good that she felt something building deep inside her. He probed her ass, tunneling deep. His fingers struck her G-spot over and over.

"Oh shit," she yelled out. "Luke." She bit down on her own tongue, trying not to draw blood. It was useless. He knew what he was doing, and he pulled the climax right out of her.

The way he prolonged her orgasm beyond its peak made her scream.

"Ohhhh, God," she wailed.

Luke Lombardi was a ruthless lover and she loved it.

"Was this what you wanted?" he teased.

"Yes. I wanted that. I want some more," she replied, turning over on the table. At this point, the mating imprint on her neck blazed hotly. She took one look at his lower abdomen to confirm that his birthmark was also darker than she'd ever seen. True to his word, the imprint matched hers to the "T". It was a distinct pineapple shape, just like he'd described.

Luke led her out of the kitchen and into the living room. They didn't make it to the big couch, but instead, she fell back against the arm of a side chair. He bent low to kiss her, allowing her to taste her own juices—their essence together.

He didn't move her into the missionary sex positions that she was used to. Instead, he lifted one of her thighs while she was still seated on the chair arm, pulled her forward and slowly pushed his thick cock into her opening. She hadn't had sex in a long time and it took her pussy a while to adjust to the size of him. He felt like heaven inside of her. No part of her felt unattended to.

Once he was deep-seated within her, he began stroking, forcing the walls of her pussy to accommodate him. His strokes were calculating and meticulous at first and then he started building up until the tempo and rhythm agreed with her. She lifted her hips upward to meet him thrust for thrust. The pleasure was so exquisite that Cassie cried out each time he drove his cock past her G-spot and every time he made contact with her clit.

"God, you sound so sweet." He kissed her throat as he pummeled her. "I'll give you something else to scream about."

As he promised, he grabbed her other thigh, hoisted it over her shoulders and then fucked her hard and vigorously. Her throat became so dry she was hoarse from crying in pleasure. He pressed the side of his face against her legs. He kissed her there, licked her there…his moans vibrated against her skin. She even felt the delicate scrape of his canines against her.

"Ohhh! Fuck." Luke held his face up to the ceiling and groaned out in pleasure. He slowed his pace as if to delay his climax. In and out. Deep, long, slow, calculated thrusts…in and out. His breathing slowed. He pulled all the way out to the tip and then plunged back in, burying himself balls deep within her.

The surface of Cassie's skin was peppered in sweat. He was drenched in sweat. His sweat and hers mixed together, literally creating the imbalance he talked about. She could almost feel it as his essence worked it's way through her bloodstream, controlling every sense, making her crave every last thrust in her pussy, every last lick against her skin.

She was coming again. Her body pulsated with carnal rapture. She cried his name as she came. Her sex clenched and creamed, coating his rod and his balls with her slick juices.

He came undone too. His manly groans and growls were the sexiest thing she'd ever heard during sex. When his semen coated her canal she felt a hot surge of energy spiraling through her giving her one last jolt of sexual pleasure.

When he removed his cock, she was still high from their session of blazing hot sex. He lifted her up with her legs still wrapped around him and took her to the biggest couch where he laid out beside her.

"That was out of this world," she breathed.

Luke grinned. "Ditto. It was actually the best sex I've ever had."

"It was the best for me too. Compared to what you just did to me, I can't even say that I've done anything like this before." Cassie smiled. "Man, if I knew you were going to fuck me like that I would have jumped you on day one."

He laughed. "I like to keep a few secrets up my sleeve."

"Oh, don't I know it…wolf."

"Now that we understand each other…human, I'm just about ready for another round."

Sure enough, his cock was becoming rock hard against her belly.

"You're beginning to spoil me rotten," she said before lifting herself up over him. She straddled him and positioned her pussy on his cock.

"That's why I'm here for you, mate. To give you everything you need and desire," he replied.

He gripped her hips and assisted her with taking every last inch of him.

Once she was seated on him to the hilt, she knew she was in for another wild ride with her mountain wolf.