Chapter Nine
Micah paced outside his window. Everyone had reported that Stacey seemed to be in good health. That was good news. But he’d kept his distance from her. He was sure that there was no way that she would want to see him.
Jackson had reported back his findings. There was a faint trace of magic that Micah hadn’t detected earlier. That didn’t bode well. Vampires weren’t known to mix with magic, but Jackson had also said that he felt the vampiric energy. None of it made sense, but one thing was certain. Humans didn’t attack Stacey.
Still, he didn’t know why someone would attack her. It’s not like anyone knew about his feelings for her. Hell, he was still sorting out his feelings for her. They’d known each other all of a week before she was attacked. So why would they zero in on her?
He opened his file on the desk. All of his findings were the same. Stacey was as human and normal as they came. She’d grown up toeing the line of poverty, and her parents had died when she was only eighteen. She’d graduated high school and used that money to fund a portion of her nursing school. But she was still tens of thousands of dollars in debt. She had no other family. She had no boyfriend, and she had no connections to his world.
The attack had to be about him. But none of it made any sense.
Suddenly, he stared at the door. He felt her even before she knocked. He could smell her through the wood. She was stressed. Anxious. Angry.
“I know you’re in there,” she called out after he’d ignored her knock. “Open the door, Micah.”
With a half smile, he opened the door. “You should be sleeping,” he said softly.
“Really? You thought I was going to sleep after being attacked, nearly dying, being bitten by a bear shifter, being moved into a luxury condo, having dinner with your mother, and nearly attacked by your girlfriend?”
“Bridgette attacked you?” he growled.
She put her hand up. “Relax. She just verbally warned me that you are her territory.”
“She shouldn’t have told you that,” he muttered.
“No. You should have. Let me in. We need to talk, Micah.”
Having her cross the threshold into his home was dangerous. He knew that, and yet he couldn’t say no. As she stepped in, the atmosphere was suddenly charged with energy. Every step she took, every action of her body, it suddenly meant something.
She sensed the shift and clasped her hands nervously. “Micah, how did you know what had happened. Were you following me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I would never do that.”
“Okay.” Her eyes searched him. “Then how? How were you there at the right time?”
“I didn’t plan the attack,” he growled. “I would never hurt you.”
“That never crossed my mind. I’ve thought of a million things, that was never one of them.”
“You called me,” he said simply. It was easier to lie than to admit the truth.
She closed her eyes briefly. “Dr. Gratsky gave me my phone. I checked it. I didn’t call you. I tried to find my phone, but I couldn’t. And then I tried to crawl to the house, but I passed out from the blood loss. There was no way you would have gotten there in time had I called you after that point anyways. Just tell me the truth.”
He crossed the room in an effort to put some distance between them. “It’s not that easy, Stacey.”
“None of this is easy, Micah. I met you a week ago, and now I’m about to join your pack. Something happened between point A and point B, and everyone seems to know but me.”
Micah ran his hands through his hair. She was asking him for an answer he wasn’t sure he was ready to give her just yet. It would only bring on more questions. “It’s not important.”
“Damn it, Micah!” she swore angrily. He jumped at the frustrations behind her voice. Alarmed, he saw her eyes filling with tears. “My entre life has changed. If I’m going to be a part of this pack, then I need to know my place in it. Maybe it’s not important to you. Maybe you did it just to see what would happen, but if you did, I need to know. I need to know why this is happening.”
In a flash, he’d crossed the room, but she backed out of his reach. “Stacey,” he said desperately. “Do you really think I’d be so callous?”
She wiped away the tears. “I don’t know what to think. You’re so wrapped in enigma. I can’t read you. I can’t understand you.”
“I felt you dying,” he said quietly. “I felt the blade enter you, and I knew you were going to die.”
She stared at him. “Why would you feel that?”
“I don’t know. But what I do know is that someone is trying to kill you. And I don’t know if it’s because of me or because of something else, but I can’t lose you, Stacey. That’s the one thing I do know. I need you,” he said harshly.
In two steps, she was in his arms. He bent his head to possess her mouth, and she tangled her fingers in his hair. This beautiful woman had ensnared him, and now he needed to show her just how much she meant to him.
***
Before, she felt like she was in control, but tonight, with everything raging inside her, she was borderline wild. She clutched as his shirt desperate to not let him get away this time.
He growled as she ripped at his buttons. She needed to feel his naked skin her fingers. She needed to rake her nails across him and mark him for good. She didn’t give a damn about pack law. Micah Gordon belonged to her.
Micah released her just long enough to rip his shirt off. She felt his muscles rippled under her touch, and she was vaguely aware that he was tugging her own shirt off. Obligingly, she lifted her arms. As the cool air rushed to her skin, she shivered and pulled her closer She needed his heat.
His hands raced over her skin, and he thumbed her nipples through the thin fabric of the bra. She inhaled sharply. Her body was already on the edge, and he threatened to push her over.
Deftly, he unsnapped her bra and filled her palms with her heavy breasts. “So perfect,” he murmured. “I love everything about you.”
Stacey flushed with pleasure. She was usually self-conscious about her body, but under his gaze, she was a goddess. “More,” she begged. “I need more.”
“We have all night,” he said, but her hands grappled with his belt. “Easy, love.”
“I can’t wait,” she whimpered. “I need you now.”
He pushed her back, and she felt her body slam into the wall. He was on his knees and tugging at her pants. Soon, only the thin layer of black panties separated them. He smiled mischievously as he tugged at them. “Sexy,” he whispered.
“It’ll be sexier if you take them off,” she gasped.
Instead, he slid his finger under the material and stroked her skin to the cleft of her ass. Without warning, he grasped the material and tugged. She cried out with the lace scraped over her protruding nub. “Micah!”
“It drives me crazy when you say my name,” he growled and ripped her panties down. She shivered, exposed to his wandering eye, but there was nothing but desire in them. He reached up and stroked a thumb across her slit. “So wet,” he murmured. “So responsive to my touch.”
She closed her eyes. Every touch sent her spinning, but he still wouldn’t give her want she wanted. She opened her legs wider, and he only chuckled. “Is there something you need?” he asked silkily.
“Yes,” she begged. “Touch me.”
“Is that all you want?”
She bent her head and stared at him. “Taste me. Make me come.”
“It would be my pleasure,” he whispered, and suddenly, she felt a finger plunge inside her. She knocked her head back on the wall and closed her eyes. He ran his finger over that secret spot inside her, and her legs trembled. Even before his tongue touched her, she knew it wouldn’t take long.
Over and over again, he swirled his tongue. The muscles in her body strained for release, but still, he backed off whenever she got close. Finally, she twisted her hands in his hair and nearly wept in frustration. And when he raked his teeth over her, she screamed as she convulsed.
When it was over, she began to slide boneless to the floor, but he was already catching her. Swinging her up, he carried her to the bed.
She heard the sound of his belt buckle and opened her eyes to stare at him. He stood, naked and erect, at the edge of his bed, and her breath caught. Never in her life had she ever seen anything so beautiful. “Mine,” he growled before covering her body with his.
He leaned down and nipped at her nipple, and already she felt herself growing wet again. She lifted his head to kiss him, and as she felt his erection trail up her thighs, she reached down to grasp him. As she squeezed and pumped her hands, he hissed. “If you don’t stop, I won’t last,” he murmured.
She smiled wickedly. “But I’ve already had my pleasure,” she cooed.
“Once is not enough. I want to see you come over and over again,” he whispered as he licked the side of her neck. She thought of him pleasuring her again and again, and her legs reached up and circled him.
“You like that idea,” he said with a smile as he nudged at her entrance.
“Oh yes,” she breathed. “You have no idea how good you make me feel.”
He moaned as he entered her. “I have somewhat of an idea. God, you’re so tight,” he hissed through is teeth.
She opened her mouth in a silent scream as he filled her. “You’re so big,” she moaned. “More. Give me more.”
He lifted his body, and she looked down to watch him slid even more into her. The sight was so erotic that she clenched her muscles around him, and he grunted. “Fuck.”
She gripped his shoulder, dug her nails in, and suddenly, he slammed all the way into her. She cried out when he reached a place inside her that she didn’t even know existed.
“Shit, did I hurt you?” he asked as he froze.
“Don’t you dare stop,” she moaned. “Please, don’t.”
Laughing hoarsely, he slid out and pumped his hips again. He was tentative at first, and finally, when she couldn’t take the torment anymore, she reached up and sank her teeth into his flesh.
Roaring, he pulled her knees up and began to pound her. She gripped the sheet in an attempt to hold on, but the ride was more than she could bear. She didn’t know if a minute or an hour had passed, but suddenly, she felt her body flying. As the orgasm hit her, she threw her head back and screamed. Her body convulsed around him.
“Stacey,” he cried out as he bucked, arched his back, and emptied himself inside her.