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  She could feel his stare even though she wasn’t looking at him and barely stopped herself from shifting on her feet. The urge to run coursed strongly through her body.

  When he finally spoke, she was so surprised her eyes met his.

  “Very well then. Now I believe your sister in downstairs about to have a fit with us up here arguing so I suggest we finish this another time.”

  Marissa nodded, relieved he would leave now. Maybe he was just as unsettled as she was.

  Gage took his leave without another word to her. Marissa sat on her bed and thought about what had just taken place. She looked up at a sound in the hall, she saw Elizabeth standing at the entrance of her guestroom with wide eyes and a frown.

  “Don’t start,” Marissa warned her sister.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “Gage is a nice man and a good Alpha.”

  Marissa smiled even though she felt her face wanted to crack. “I’m sure he is,” she lied.

  Chapter Two

  Gage wasn’t surprised at the knock on his office door, though it did annoy him. Logan opened the door and walked in without hesitation. He grinned at Gage as he sat and lounged on the couch.

  “What?” Gage asked, not in the mood for any more games tonight.

  “Sam said he ran into you after you met with the Boyd woman.” Logan paused for dramatic effect. It was something Gage usually found amusing. Tonight wasn’t one of those times. “He said you seemed agitated.”

  Gage snorted in response. “I am not agitated.”

  Logan nodded, his expression growing serious. “No, I didn’t think so. If you were agitated, you might be pacing your office liked a caged…wolf.”

  Gage didn’t miss the twitch in Logan’s lips. His second kept the smile from his face this time, but barely. “I am not pacing.”

  “No. Absolutely no pacing going on here.” Logan agreed too easily, proving that he was finding too much humour with his Alpha.

  “I have had enough with foolish talk for one night, so knock it off.” Gage barely kept the growl out of his voice.

  Logan’s blue eyes sparkled. “Things didn’t go so well with Elizabeth’s sister, I take it?”

  Gage snorted again and went back to pacing. “She’s rude, stubborn, and…”

  “Beautiful?”

  Gage swirled around. “How do you know she’s beautiful?”

  To Logan’s benefit, he kept a straight face. Logan only gave a careless shrug. “A lot of the men were quite impressed with her.”

  “She is not here to be hit on by every available male in the territory,” he said strongly. Too strongly even to his own ears.

  “Well, since she was raised in a Pack, I don’t think we should have too much trouble with her,” Logan predicted. No doubt trying to be helpful.

  Gage didn’t respond.

  “Being raised in a Pack she already knows most rules and our laws,” Logan continued.

  “Oh, she knows the rules all right. Knows how to ignore them.”

  Logan nodded as if he understood. “It’s not the first time you have encountered a rogue or undisciplined wolf. What makes her different?”

  That question was what was bothering Gage. “I don’t know, but get me everything you can on her.”

  Logan stood and left Gage once again alone in his office.

  “Let’s see what secrets you have, Marissa Boyd,” he said quietly.

  ****

  After dinner, Marissa claimed being tired from her trip and locked herself in her room. Elizabeth’s future mate had joined them for dinner and Marissa had to admit she liked him even more than she thought she would.

  It was obvious that he only had eyes for Elizabeth. He had kept looking at her with stars in his eyes. Marissa didn’t miss the subtle touches that passed between the two of them either.

  Marissa was thrilled for her sister, but there was just a hint of jealousy down deep. She tried to push it away, but it was there—just as it had always been.

  Deciding a bath would soothe her, Marissa filled the tub with hot water and relaxed into the marble enclosure. Her sister’s house was nice. It wasn’t too fancy but very homey. She thought it matched her sister just as this territory seemed to match her.

  Marissa sighed, thinking about the territory. She had been shocked when the Alpha Gage hadn’t demanded she leave. She had been rude to him. She didn’t know of any other Alpha who wouldn’t have punished her.

  And he would have had every right. She was his guest and was expected to follow his rules. It might have been more complicated if she had a Pack Alpha standing for her, but she had no one. She didn’t have anyone in her corner and help her smooth things over with him.

  Thinking about Gage had her temperature rising. Oh, he was a good-looking man, although there was more to him than just that. There was power there—that was unmistakable—but she sensed something different in him then her old Alpha. Even though they had argued, she didn’t have the same fear of his power as she did others in his position. It was like she could feel the compassion inside him for others. That could only lead to trouble.

  She’d given her heart once to a wolf, and it had ended badly. Very badly. She wouldn’t repeat that mistake. Although the Alpha was tempting. So very tempting that Marissa found herself rubbing her breasts thinking about him.

  This wasn’t a normal reaction for her. She could always resist her urges. The wolf inside her might not like it, but she could do it. Her only fear was that Gage could push past her defences and make her vulnerable.

  As she dipped a hand under the water and rubbed the ache between her legs, she made a vow to herself right then and there. She would never be vulnerable again. Even if it left her sexually frustrated.

  She let her fingers rub over the swollen folds of her sex before dipping inside. The pressure of two fingers entering felt so good. With her other hand, she pulled and pinched her nipple. The slight pain added to her arousal.

  As she closed her eyes, it was Gage’s face that popped into her head. What would he do if he walked in and saw her touching herself?

  Weres were very sexual, and Marissa had stronger urges than most women she knew. Her friends back home were fully human so they wouldn’t understand the burning she constantly felt.

  Would Gage drop to his knees beside her? Place his hand with hers? Pump his thick fingers inside her?

  Marissa let out a low long moan at the thought. Her fingers moved easily between the folds of her core, building the release she needed. She wondered what he looked like without his clothes. His tanned arms had been revealed earlier. Even with his clothes, she could tell he was built. She’d bet he had a wonderful body.

  Fingers moving faster, Marissa lifted her hips as she finally reached her climax. Biting her lip, she came slowly but fully with thoughts of Gage teasing her.

  ****

  Gage stared at the information in front of him. “They just let her go?” he asked, looking over to Logan.

  The other man glanced up from the pages he was reading. “Apparently.”

  Gage shook his head. “Something’s wrong here. They didn’t even try to keep track of her.”

  Logan placed the papers he had in his hands on the sofa next to him. “This is not telling us anything. It leads to more questions than answers. You need to talk to this girl again.”

  Gage nodded as he looked past Logan to the window in his office. Thoughts of Marissa Boyd had kept him up last night. The full moon was only six nights away, and every wolf got distracted as it came closer, but he was more than just distracted by this woman. If the hard-on he was sporting was any indication, he needed to do more with her than just talk. It’d been years since he’d felt this hot for any woman.

  “Alpha?”

  Snapping his head up, he didn’t miss the amusement all over Logan’s face. “I’ll go talk to her.”

  “Elizabeth should still be teaching, so you should have all morning alone…so you can talk privately.”

  Gage barely con
tained his groan. Not only had he been hard since first seeing this woman, but it seemed his Beta was determined to get him together with her.

  “I’m just going over to talk to her,” Gage stood, stretching his back from sitting too long at his desk.

  “Of course, Alpha,” Logan agreed, not bothering to hide his huge grin as he left Gage’s office.

  If he didn’t satisfy himself with Marissa, maybe he would come back to the house and take Logan down a few notches. That wouldn’t take care of the most pressing problem but it might make him feel better.

  He had a feeling that any amount of time spent with Marissa was going to test his control.

  Marissa stood on her sister’s back porch, looking out at the woods that surrounded the house. It was so beautiful here.

  She remembered a time when she hated having to be around crowds. In the time since she’d left her Pack, she had gotten used to people and the noise. What she had once hated now served the purpose of keeping her from having to admit that she’d never have what her sister did.

  They used to stay up late talking in the room they shared about the perfect place to make a home. This territory was everything they’d wanted growing up and Elizabeth had finally found it.

  Back then, Marissa still had hope that one day the Pack would accept her. She no longer carried that hope. It had been replaced by the bitterness that she didn’t belong anywhere. Even as the wind called for the wolf to run, she couldn’t.

  The thick green grass cushioned her bare feet as she stepped onto it. The wolf inside moved restlessly to be let out. Her skin prickled and she shivered. The wolf needed to be released. Normally she would do this with sex, but this was not the place. It was going to be a painful and agonising week.

  Moving farther away from the porch towards the edge of the trees, Marissa felt her wolf jump inside her skin. God, how she wished she could shift. Could let the wolf completely free like it wanted, like it needed.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t shift and no one had figured out how or why this happened to some. Her DNA was not like her sister’s or a mortal human’s. She was caught somewhere in the middle.

  Resigned and unhappy, she turned back towards the house and stopped short when she noticed the man who stood on porch watching her. Her wolf growled its approval, demanding she take this available male.

  Gage watched as Marissa’s eyes widened. She licked her lips, and his cock jumped in his jeans. He’d been surprised to find her staring into woods like she was ready to go running. He didn’t know much about non-shifters. They were not common. Only a handful of them existed. But the intensity of her stare was like that before a shift.

  He quickly covered the distance between them. Marissa didn’t move away from him when he reached her. Her green eyes had started to glow.

  “The wild calls to you?”

  She nodded and licked her lips again.

  “How does it make you feel? Not being able to shift?” He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to reach the woman, and the wolf, under the skin.

  She looked so sad he wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay.

  She cleared her throat twice before speaking. “Trapped.”

  She had started shaking and he reached for her. “Does it hurt?” He couldn’t imagine how it would feel for his wolf to be trapped.

  When she only shrugged a shoulder, he continued, “What can I do?”

  Her gaze met his before dropping to his lips. When she sucked her bottom lip, he felt the last thread of his resolve slipping. Yanking her to him, he took control of her mouth. She didn’t fight him, but opened immediately. He plunged his tongue inside, dominating the kiss. Her low moan only drove him on farther, harder. With one hand wrapped in her hair, holding her head still, he used the other to bring their bodies closer.

  Her lips moved against his. Her hands clawed at the shirt on his back. Knowing she was as out of control as he was amazing.

  It seemed there was much more to this woman than he had thought. With one kiss he was afraid he had become addicted. She tasted like heaven.

  She yanked at the soft black shirt he wore.

  He moved his mouth to her neck where he nibbled the sensitive flesh.

  “Yes,” she encouraged. “Yes.” Kneading the muscles on his back. Dragging her nails down painfully.

  Gage hissed before lifting her so she could wrap her arms and legs around him, letting her rub against the steel rod hidden by jeans.

  “Please.” She rubbed herself harder against him. “Please.”

  Gage knew he should stop the mating before it went too far, but he didn’t. It wasn’t his wolf in control, but the man. And the man wanted this woman under him naked, bucking, begging, and the wolf was urging him on.

  “Oh God. I’m burning for you. Please.” Marissa’s mouth was everywhere on him. He could swear he felt her canines lengthen as she licked and sucked his neck.

  Hitching her higher around his waist, he walked deeper into the trees. They would give him plenty of cover as he took this woman.

  Chapter Three

  Marissa felt her back meet the grass as Gage laid her down. His weight quickly covered her, sending electric currents through her body.

  His eyes met hers briefly before he reclaimed her mouth. This kiss wasn’t as forceful as the last, but more coaxing. As if he was trying to get her body to trust his. Her body didn’t care about trust—it just wanted him hard and fast.

  When his mouth started to trail down, she took the opportunity to pull off his torn shirt. She yanked the remaining material from his body. He sat up between her legs and she felt his gaze burn into her as he slowly lifted the T-shirt she had dressed in earlier. He had more control, more patience than she did, and when Marissa raised her hand to help, he slapped it away.

  “Mine,” he growled at her.

  Marissa tried to close her legs in hope of relieving the ache between them, but he only spread his knees wider moving her legs with him. If she had been naked, she would have been spread out wide for him. The way she wanted to be.

  “Gage. Now. Please now.”

  He bent his head and smiled at her. “Giving the Alpha orders, little one?” He ran his tongue over the silky cup of her bra. “You shall be punished for that.”

  When he licked one hard nipple through the silk, Marissa’s body jerked. “Oh please.”

  Running his teeth over the opening clasp of her bra, he chuckled. “You will beg, little one. Before I am finished, you will beg.” He used his teeth to tear open her bra.

  Marissa thought she might explode right there when his hot moist mouth covered her nipple. She lifted her hands to the back of his head to hold him to her. Her body screamed for more.

  Without removing his mouth, he grabbed her hands and placed them over her head. “Keep your hands there,” he told her before moving to the other breast and nipple.

  Marissa tried—she really did—but when his body started moving down hers, her hands automatically to his shoulders. Gage growled and nipped at her wrist. The sharp pain had her gasping and arching into him at the same time. He placed her hands back over her head and gave her a stern look, before trailing his tongue down her body.

  Liquid fire slid over her, around her, and in her. Marissa desperately tried to grab onto anything to keep her hands still. Clawing at the grass and dirt, she dug her hands in, trying to anchor herself. She’d never felt this hot, this needy. He was torturing her.

  Skipping the cotton shorts she wore, Gage slowly brought one of her legs up and ran his tongue behind her knee. Her moans told him what she liked. He followed the path from her knee to the edge of her shorts.

  “Yes. Yes,” she repeated over and over, her head moving from side to side.

  Gage slowly started to peel the shorts off. The crotch was wet and he paused to smell.

  “Little wolf is dripping for me,” he said, his husky voice in contrast to his slow exploration. He wanted her, she kne
w that. But he was taking his sweet time.

  “Yes. Yes, I am,” she admitted.

  He pulled her shorts all the way off and threw them behind him. With a gentle touch, he ran one finger over the crotch of silk panties. The only barrier left on her. “Wet. So wet and hot.”

  Leaning over, he closed his mouth over the silk and sucked. Then, with a quick yank, removed them.

  “Oh. God. Oh. Please.” Marissa moved her legs together to hold him in place.

  Pressing both hands on her thighs, he opened them back up. “Do you not have any control over your body?” he teased. “Hold still.”

  Hold still? Was he joking? She was going to go insane.

  He pulled away from her enough for her to see him.

  “Don’t stop!” she demanded, desperate to feel him inside her.

  Lifting that elegant eyebrow, Gage gave her an annoyed look. “Orders again? You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

  Before she could respond, Marissa found herself flipped and on all fours. She dug her hands and knees into the ground. “Yes. I mean, no. I mean…please just take me.”

  Marissa felt his arousal through his rough jean material as he leaned his body over hers. “Is this what you want?”

  “Yes. Oh please, yes.”

  Gage’s hand left her, and he released himself from the confines of his jeans. He ran his hands down her flank and over her curves, pressing his naked body against hers. Marissa almost yowled in pleasure.

  Marissa arched for him. If she could just get him inside… She started to reach back with one hand.

  “No. Don’t move,” he ordered.

  She screamed in frustration, but he only laughed at her.

  “No control.” Placing a kiss in the small of her back, he pulled away again.

  Marissa turned her head to complain and was shocked by the feel of his hand on her ass.