Chapter 11

Trying not to catch the policemen’s attention, Devlyn eased his way across the dance floor and reached for Bella’s wrist. He attempted not to make a scene and quickly said to Alfred and Bella, “The policemen from the hospital incident are here. Got to go.”

Bella’s peach skin blanched and her eyes turned nearly black.

Alfred motioned for Ross and Nicol to watch their backs.

“Tomorrow, the ice-cream shop,” Devlyn said to Alfred. Then he pulled Bella toward the rear of the establishment, not waiting for him to respond.

When they reached the back door, Alfred followed on their heels. “Tomorrow night.” He looked at Bella with such longing—his dark eyes clouded over as if he were totally moonstruck—that Devlyn could have slugged him.

Devlyn yanked Bella out of the building, ran down a street parallel to their vehicle, and then dashed in front of the shops lining the street. Once at the SUV, Bella finally took a breath.

He hurried her into the car, jumped into the driver’s seat, and they were off. Driving down the main road, he headed in the opposite direction of her home, just in case anyone tried to follow them. “Are you all right, Bella?”

She nodded, her hands trembling to fasten her seat belt. “Did…did you find out anything from the reds about the murderer?”

He snorted. The notion that they stirred up a hornet’s nest came to mind. “Only that Volan had arrived, and the reds all want me dead.”

She ran her hand over his thigh and immediately he became aroused. “We can’t let that happen.”

He chuckled. “I don’t intend to.” He could handle any red. Even the three at once, as long as Bella wasn’t there to worry about.

The farther away they got from the club, the calmer she seemed.

“Both Ross and Nicol intend to become the pack leader so they could have me. Now that they know Volan is the gray leader who’s after me, they might attempt to gang up on him.” Her voice still sounded strained, and he figured she’d balk about becoming his mate while Volan still lived, but he had every intention of persuading her again.

“Better him than me.” He glanced at Bella, whose lips rose in a small smile. It wasn’t a pack leader kind of comment to make, but she seemed to sense that he was joking.

Doubling back, he headed for her place.

“I told them I lived in an apartment. Just sort of let it slip naturally so they wouldn’t be on to us,” she said; her voice seemed more even now. “Even so, they probably figure I live in Portland, not Tigard.”

“Good. If they speak to Volan, maybe they’ll let him know this, too.” He was glad he hadn’t said anything about her house to the reds and ruined her ploy.

“I was wondering,” Bella said, sliding her hand up and down his thigh in a slow, sensual caress, forcing his blood to pump faster, “if you’d cooled down too much since the dance club. We might put some slow music on at home and warm things up. I was thinking about your comment concerning dancing…au naturel.”

Reaching over, he slid his hand down her dress. With little effort, his fingers slipped down the lace cupping one of her breasts, exposing one already hardened nipple. Rubbing his thumb over the protruding nub, he smiled when she moaned in ecstasy. “I’d say we’re heating up just fine.” He grinned at her to see the devilishly wicked smile on her lips. “Bad Bella.”

“Hmm, don’t take any more detours on the way home, unless you want to park out here somewhere.”

He raised his brows at her suggestion. When she’d torn into the club and said she’d wanted to mate with him, he considered she’d done so only to get him away from Volan. Hell, whatever her reasons, if she said yes, he was game. “I would park somewhere out here, only zoo man Thompson, Volan, or the reds might catch up to us.”

She growled low with amusement. “Here I thought you were my wild wolf companion, afraid of nothing.”

“I’m not afraid of anything. Well, except that I won’t risk your safety, no matter how much I desire to have you.”

She began to unbutton his shirt. “Speed it up, stud, while I’m still hot. You’re going much too slow.”

He’d show her slow, when he had her naked body pinned beneath his…slow and hard.

When they pulled into Bella’s housing development, they kept a lookout for any cars parked in the street that appeared suspicious. Not seeing anything to concern them, he drove into her garage and shut the door.

Now that everything appeared safe, Bella wanted Devlyn—before anything else prevented them from finishing the moves they had started on the dance floor. Volan was dead, but she didn’t want to think about that. The police had no idea where she lived, and even the pain in the back of her head had nearly subsided. No one would stop her from having her mate.

Immediately, she unfastened her seat belt and grabbed Devlyn’s.

Chuckling, he pulled his seat belt free. “I thought we were going to play some slow music and work up the—”

Tugging at his shirt, she yanked it free from his trousers. She had no intention of wasting any more precious time to set the mood right. “The loud music from the club’s still ringing in my ears. I don’t need it to get me in the mood. Do you?”

His low sensual laugh pushed her to work faster. Their lips touched with heated passion when his fingers struggled with her buttons and she worked on his belt.

“Hmm, fewer clothes next time, stud.”

“I’d have to say the same for you, Bella honey.” Devlyn unfastened her bra and slid the straps down her arms, kissing her skin from her shoulder to her fingertips.

They moved to the middle bench seat, where there was no console to hamper their progress. The soft velour fabric against her bare back sent a tingling through her body while he knelt between her legs. For a moment, he looked her over, his eyes smoky with blinding desire. “The thought of the reds touching you…”

“But only your touch drives me wild.” She ran her hands down his naked thighs, the well-developed quadriceps tightening with her stroke. Already he was fully aroused and her eyes shifted from his washboard stomach to the full erection readied for her.

He tangled his fingers in the short curls between her legs, and a smile curved his lips upward. “Been ready a while, eh, Bella?” His voice was husky, filled with wolf-size craving.

“I told you I wanted you some time ago.” She moved her hand to touch him, but he shifted out of reach.

“You touch me, and I’ll never make it.”

She growled. “You’ll have to learn better control, my mate.”

“Not with the way you arouse me, Bella. Maybe not until we’re both old and gray.”

She chuckled. “No way am I waiting to touch you until we’re old and gray.”

Bella’s skin was velvet against Devlyn’s mouth and tasted sweet and wild. He nestled his lips against her abdomen. Almost with a purring catlike quality, she growled softly.

Threading her fingers through his hair, she arched her pelvis toward him. She was ready to mate and she’d chosen him over anyone else…over both the gray and red pack leaders, human males, everyone.

Leaning his naked body against hers, he enjoyed her soft curves, fitting nicely against his hard muscles. She mewed her satisfaction. He growled his.

He wanted to take it slow, to enjoy every inch of her and to prove to her she’d made the right choice. Still, her touch heated a fire in his belly that couldn’t be quenched until he had his fill of her and she of him. Taking it unhurriedly would test his resolve more than anything else he had ever done.

He cupped the swell of her breast, the dark nipple taut. When he licked the tip, she closed her eyes, stopped breathing, and stilled her fingers that were buried in his hair. “Breathe, honey.”

She chuckled. “Quit talking and get to business.”

“Pleasure, woman.”

“Hmm, you don’t have to tell me.” Her fingers massaged his back muscles, kneading and stroking.

Shifting his body higher, he moved his mouth over her heated skin, across the collarbone, higher, to the hollow of her throat.

“Oh, Devlyn,” she said, her voice washing over him like a heated spring, filling the emptiness. She arched her body against his, parting her legs, urging him on. Offering herself to him like a siren of the sea.

Brushing his mouth up her neck with whisper-soft kisses, he tangled his fingers in her long hair, squeezing the soft locks in his hands, thankful the redheaded goddess was no longer his fantasy, but tangibly real. Again she pushed her pelvis against his erection, making it clear she ached to have him fill her. Her hands slid down his back and cupped his buttocks, prodding him to enter her.

Making love to her felt more than right. She was feral and willing and throbbing with life. And she was his.

He nipped her chin and then conquered her mouth. Instantly, she flicked her tongue at his lips, teasing him. Catching her tongue, he sucked fervently, making her smile. Again she lifted her hips off the seat, pressing hard against him.

A groan issued from deep within his throat. He continued his slow pace to pleasure his mate, but Bella wasn’t cooperating. Sliding his hands up her velvet-soft belly, he cupped her breasts, weighing each bountiful marvel. She marked his neck with her teeth. Another surge of craving crashed over him, titillating him as he attempted to use a slow touch. “You’re beautiful,” he said—but inwardly, not just outwardly, the most beautiful creature of their kind; fun, loyal, and full of heart.

“Quit torturing me,” she breathed heavily against his mouth.

It was his turn to smile. “I haven’t even begun.”

Bella frowned at Devlyn, her blood already so hot she felt her car’s heater was on the fritz and they were now in a sauna. His arousal pulsing against her waist and the ache between her legs was driving her mad. “Devlyn, I swear…”

He covered her mouth with his and with long, hard strokes, thrust his tongue deep inside. Hurry up! she wanted to scream at him.

His fingers slid down her abdomen and then massaged her deeply, as if preparing her for his penetration, which she’d been damned ready for ever since she spied him at the zoo.

Again she arched against him, trying to force him to hurry. He throbbed against her and she fought biting him again to get him to oblige. “Devlyn,” she whimpered, bringing a devilish smile to his lips.

She growled in response. Two could play at this game. She attempted to work her hand between their moist bodies to his thickened length, but as soon as her fingers reached his navel, he grabbed her wrist, kissed her hand, and shook his head.

“Devlyn,” she groaned, the pleasurable ache of his actions killing her.

“If you touch me…” His words trailed off and he worked his hand lower, tangling his fingers in her short curly hairs for a moment, and then dipped even lower.

But she didn’t want his fingers. She wanted his…

“Oh,” she moaned against his mouth when he kissed her hard and stroked her sensitive nub.

“Breathe, Bella,” he said, his tone of voice amused.

But she couldn’t breathe and still concentrate on the sensual strokes that filled her with a longing to reach…a peak of ecstasy that waited at the top, willing her onward.

Never had she thought being with him could feel like this. From their early days of nuzzling and playing, of nipping and biting, of his pinning her down, of her tackling him back…none of that had prepared her for the earth-shattering feelings he now stoked deep inside of her.

“Oh, Devlyn,” she whispered against his mouth, loving the way he touched her, cared for her, wanted to make the sexual experience last for her. He’d searched for her for years—not to return her to Volan, but to have her like this.

His accomplished strokes sent streaks of pleasure rippling through her like electricity zinging through hot wires, running to the source but not quite tapping into it.

She murmured his name, half pleading with him to finish her off, half wanting it never to end. His actions stimulated every sexual nerve pathway at once and she moaned with deep satisfaction. Scaling the peak, her body trembled with spent passion, contractions rippling through her in an unending stream.

His eyes clouded over as he slowly bore into her. She hadn’t expected him to be so large, or that she’d be so small. But every bit of him felt so good. Entering her gradually, he stretched her to the limit, penetrating her inch by inch.

“Breathe, Bella,” he whispered against her ear, sending a trickle of heat down her spine. “Relax, or I’ll never make it to your special chambers.”

She breathed deeply, unclenching her pelvic muscles. He kissed her lips. “Much, much better.”

Before she could prepare herself, he thrust deep, breaking the membrane. She gasped, unable to contain her surprise at the sting that followed, like a hornet’s hot poker thrust into the skin.

“Are you all…”

She covered his lips with hers and thrust her tongue deep inside his mouth. With her arms secure around his back, she pushed her pelvis higher. No words now. She wanted his seed, his babies, all of him. No going back.

Rocking the SUV back and forth simulated a boat on stormy seas, their heated breaths fogging the vehicle’s windows.

His Bella. She was saccharine and tangy, the old Bella, playful and ornery, and the new Bella, just as fiery, just as fun, but filling a burning need now that Devlyn couldn’t have fulfilled when they were young. How he loved her, from her long shiny red curls to her perfectly trimmed toenails. Every inch of her soft, curvy, warm, and needy body.

Although he still longed to make it last, her hands stroked his back to the base of his spine, drawing him to the peak. Her tongue tangled with his, teasing and sucking. The way her body moved against his, deepening his thrusts, pushed him to the top before he could control himself.

His seed exploded deep inside her, and she spoke his name in a sultry, exhaustive way against his mouth, her body trembling with renewed orgasmic pleasure.

“Oh, Devlyn,” she moaned, her hands shifting from his hair to his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin, her body milking him of every last seed.

“I wanted you, Bella, always have,” he said and then encircled her nipple with his lips and sucked.

She ran her fingers through his hair. “I guess you kind of figured I had—”

Lifting his head, he raised his brows. “Loved me?”

“Had the hots for you. Couldn’t help myself. Once you kissed me—”

“I knew you’d never been kissed like that since.”

“You made it pretty hard for the competition, stud.”

Nestling his face against her cheek, he hoped beyond hope he’d not hurt her too much. He’d wanted the experience to be the most pleasurable one she’d ever had. Then, he wished to repeat the encounter until they were old and gray. He settled on top of her, their bodies warm and wet and tired. But alive. He’d never been so loved, so cared for, so desired. He loved every bit of her, the wild side and the tame. The cautious and the adventurous. For choosing him, when she could have had so many others. “Are you all right—”

“Considering we’re trying to catch a red lupus garou killer and Volan will want to murder us both for what we’ve just done…yeah, I’m all right.”

He ran his fingers over her abdomen in a sensual caress, sparking a surge of renewed interest. “I didn’t hurt you too much?”

Realizing his sole concern rested on how he’d made her feel, not about other world events, Bella smiled. How could she have not recognized how wonderful he’d make her feel? How sensitive he could be?

She quickly squashed that reasoning. The dread of losing him in a confrontation with Volan had been all that had weakened her resolve to have Devlyn. She gritted her teeth, unable to shake the concern that Devlyn might still learn how someone had shot Volan and he died, the only way he could, from silver bullets. Well, snapping his neck would work, too, or drowning, but no way could she have killed him in either manner.

Taking a deep breath, she assured herself Devlyn would think the reds took care of Volan, not her. Nothing could have stopped her from taking the relationship she had with Devlyn to the max. They’d been destined to be together from the moment he’d saved her from the wildfire.

She kissed his lips and then sucked on his lower one and released.

“I always dreamed I’d have you for my own. But the dreams could never be this real, or this satisfying,” Devlyn said.

“Hmm, did you dream of making love to me when I was gone?”

“You wouldn’t believe how many times I thought I had you within my grasp, only to find my sheets wet, and no Bella.”

She laughed. “Well, the vehicle’s seat is wet this time, but you’ve got me to blame for it now.”

“I didn’t hurt you too much?” Devlyn repeated, his fingers stroking the curve of her hip with a much too sensual touch.

Already she greedily yearned to have him fill her again. “Only pleasure.” She wondered why she’d ever thought a human could ever be better than the lupus garou who loved her so tenderly.

He studied her face and gathered her in his arms. “Good. I was afraid when you wouldn’t breathe, I’d hurt you too much.”

“Are all grays so…big?”

He chuckled under his breath.

She licked his salty chest, ready to show him how bad she could really be. How would it be to ride him this time? With her handling the joystick? How would it be to set the pace, to be in charge? Could the big bad gray handle the red’s test?

“You’re not finished, are you?” She raised a brow in challenge.

He slid his hand down her thigh. “Does my mate want more?”

“All you can give me.”

“Let’s go inside. Turn on some music, dance au naturel, and take it from there.”

They carried their clothes into the house. As soon as they reached the living room, a solid rapping on the front door nearly gave her a heart attack.

The dreaded image came to mind of police officers standing on her front porch with warrants for her and Devlyn’s arrest…