A Little Taste of Red Page 5

  “I hope you can.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dalenna rushed out of the room and right into Lance. “Thank God you’re back. Get Thomas and get in here. It’s bad and Twila can’t hold her down by herself without hurting her more.”

  Lance’s heart rate skyrocketed as he drew closer to the back room and for a moment, he thought he might faint. Tinsel’s natural scent saturated the air of the house, lingering with a weight that seemed almost physical. He wondered how Thomas had managed to stay sane. Obviously his brother was a stronger and more disciplined Alpha than Lance had given him credit for. The overwhelming fragrance had probably been another reason for young Jacob’s escape as well.

  He opened his mouth for a cleansing breath and found the aroma so strong, it coated his tongue like a bite of the finest dark chocolate. As he swallowed, the taste lingered until he craved more and he knew the real thing would be even sweeter. It was then that he realized he’d lied to his brother outside about his strong constitution. Lance knew he wasn’t strong enough to control his attraction to Tinsel and even if he was, he didn’t think he’d want to.

  He wasn’t allowed to wallow in his fear long as his brother stepped up and pushed him into the room, following right on his heels. He gasped as he caught sight of Tinsel. She was in a complete frenzy, clawing at the covers and trying to throw herself off the bed as Twila struggled to restrain her. It wasn’t a strength issue. Though she was petite, Twila was ten times stronger than Tinsel because of her werewolf blood. The young nurse gave her patient leeway because she didn’t want to hurt her anymore than she already had been.

  Lance dove for the bedside, landing hard on his knees beside his future mate. The wild glaze cleared from her eyes when she recognized Lance’s presence. She lunged upwards with the last of her energy, latching onto Lance’s arm with a powerful grip that belied her frail condition. Lance reached over immediately, picking her up and pulling her into his lap in an eminently protective gesture of a husband defending his wife. She stilled immediately, her eyes focusing on his face with relief even as she continued to cry.

  “I heard what they want to do to me. They want to cut off my leg. Don’t let them do it. I’d rather die.”

  His body went rigid as he held her close, stroking her hair and trying to calm her as well as his own raging urges. Up close, her scent was intoxicating. She was fertile, of that he had no doubt, and he was hanging onto his control by a dangling thread. Whatever he was going to do to convince Tinsel to accept him had to be done urgently. Lance didn’t believe in rape, but the fragrance of a female in estrus was a willing signal to the wolf in him.

  He glanced around the room, watching everyone as they stared back at him with worry plainly etched on their faces. When he spoke, his voice was deeper and rougher than normal. “Tinsel and I need a few minutes to talk...alone.”

  Thomas paused as he eyed his brother and then nodded his approval. The family followed Thomas out into the hall, leaving Lance holding Tinsel and fighting the urge to lick and taste every inch of her small, lithe body. He wasn’t sure if the idea had come from the man in him or the wolf. The fact that both halves found the idea of sex extremely appealing at the moment didn’t bode well for Lance’s willpower. He’d been so scared that Tinsel might have developed an infection or had some horrid reaction to the Green Dragon that he’d thought about biting her first and then talking to her about it later. He’d been relieved to find that her hysteria was strictly due to overhearing Twila and Dalenna discussing her leg, but that one moment of respite he’d allowed himself had shattered the last of his inhibitions about pushing Tinsel away from his world.

  Chapter Fifteen

  He whispered softly into Tinsel’s hair. “What if told you I could make you better without letting them take your leg?”

  She gazed up at him, hiccupping from the intensity of her sobs. “How?”

  His words were clipped and fast. “I need you to hear me out. No interruptions and no questions until I’m done, okay?”

  “I’ll try, but I don’t feel so good.”

  He nodded. “Some of that is probably the drugs working their way out of your system. I’m sorry about that.”

  She sucked in a breath as he moved her out of his lap and sat down on the bed beside her. “I’m not. I couldn’t stand the pain anymore, though everything after drinking that vile green concoction is a blur.”

  Lance stiffened, willing himself to relax, but it was too late. Tinsel noticed his reaction.

  “Did something happen?”

  He had no clue how to respond to her, so he lied. “You were just really out of it. No big deal.” He paused a moment to fortify himself and pressed on before he lost his nerve. “There’s a way to heal your leg. The cure works almost instantly, but there are side effects to it, rather serious ones, and I need you to understand what will happen if you agree to it.”

  Tinsel listened intensely. Her face was scrunched up in pain, but she was trying her best to hide it while Lance explained her options. “It’s actually a virus that attacks the body’s cells, changing them in a way that speeds healing. It also makes you stronger, more resilient to injury, and elevates all your other senses. You’d be more than human if you accept the cure.”

  He paused to allow Tinsel to speak, knowing their time was limited.

  “Is it safe? You said it was a virus and you mentioned side effects, but everything so far has been positive. What aren’t you telling me?”

  Lance sighed, standing up and walking towards the closed door. “I don’t know any easy way to tell you this. I’m not good with words.” He started pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed. “You have to know by now I wouldn’t hurt you.” He stopped to grab the foot rail, gripping the wood so hard it creaked. “Please don’t be afraid. I’m doing my best to stay away from you, but it isn’t working.”

  Tinsel watched in awe as the man she’d come to think of as her savior began to hyperventilate. His chest rose and fell rapidly and his knuckles went white from his death grip on the railing. A fine sheet of sweat covered his chest and she watched in fascination as a drop of water rolled down his skin to disappear into the unfastened waistband of his jeans. She inadvertently licked her lips and Lance groaned.

  “God, you’re killing me. I want...”

  “What do you want?”

  He swallowed hard. “You. I want you.”

  Tinsel felt absolutely giddy and she knew she couldn’t blame it on the medicine she’d taken earlier. Something major was about to happen; she could feel it in the air. She should have tried to stop herself, but she couldn’t help it. The man in front of her was so stunning that teasing him was as intoxicating as forbidden fruit. She knew what he was hinting at and the thought of sex with Lance was enough to make all the pain in her leg disappear. He wasn’t the Nancy boy type she normally dated. He was the total male. Big, strong, and virile. She knew a night with him would change her forever, but she didn’t realize how accurate her opinion really was.

  He unzipped his jeans, pushing them down in a swift motion. Tinsel gasped as she noticed his lack of underwear and the manly equipment his motions had revealed. He was huge. His cock jutted proudly out from between his legs, like a soldier standing at full attention. His shaft was long and thick, the head full and round and dark as a plum just begging to be tasted. She had the sudden urge to drop to her knees and suck him until he came. It was a wicked thought that shocked her and made her wet all at the same time. Lance’s entire body was the dream of every woman, a dark pleasure brought to life and designed to be explored.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lance locked his legs in an effort to keep himself standing as a wave of Tinsel’s need washed over him. He could smell her rapidly rising arousal and the scent snapped the final strands of his leash on the beast. He kicked off his pants and gave into the wolf, flowing from his human to his animal form in a flash. He stalked around to the side of the bed, keeping his gaze focused intently on the flo
or and praying for a positive outcome. In his current state, he wasn’t sure how he’d handle things if she reacted badly.

  A sudden squeal from Tinsel had his ears flattening against his head and his stomach rolling in defeat. He knew he’d failed. Thomas would rush in any minute to take away his mate. He could fight his brother and given Thomas’ age, he’d probably win, but he couldn’t doom Dalenna and the children to a life without a provider and an eternity of despair. He’d stand by Tinsel’s side and take her punishment with her, knowing the wolf inside him would die of grief anyway. He raised his head, howling out a mournful tune of loss along the way until he caught site of Tinsel’s shimmering eyes.

  She’d scooted to the edge of the bed, a look of total shock and delight painted across her face. He sat down hard on his hindquarters, ignoring the feeling of his furry ass slamming against the wood floor. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He wasn’t. Sure enough, Tinsel looked happy, eager even, to see him as an animal. He didn’t question the action, just accepted it for the miracle it was. When she tentatively reached out a hand, he moved towards her without hesitation. She smiled at his action, an honest to God grin on her face that had Lance licking her wrist with glee.

  She patted his head lightly and when he made no move to attack, she grew bolder, burying her hands in his fur and the thick ruff around his neck. Lance gloried in the attention, thanking the powers above for such an amazing female.

  “You’re a werewolf?” The question was spoken in awe and Lance nodded as well as a wolf could before letting himself change back to his human shape so he could talk.

  “Yes. You mean you know about us? How? Aren’t you afraid of me now?”

  Tinsel tapped the side of her head with one finger. “I’m a nerd. I love to read. Somehow I always wished you were real, that things like you existed.” She paused for a moment to think over what he’d asked. “Why? Is there a reason I should be scared?”

  Lance rushed to reassure her. “No! No reason at all. I thought you knew that by now. I like you, I want to take care of you. I can heal your leg if you’ll let me.”

  “You mean by making me a werewolf, too?”

  Lance’s voice was as calm and neutral as he could make it under the circumstances. “Yes.”

  “You’d have to bite me, right?”

  Lance could only nod.

  “Do you want to bite me?”

  Lance swayed as the erotic image of his teeth clamped onto Tinsel’s throat assaulted him. He imagined her healed and well, posed on all fours on the bed. He pictured himself draped across her back as he plunged his cock and his teeth inside her simultaneously. “Oh, God.”

  “So you don’t want to bite me?”

  Lance shook his head as his eyes remained shut. “No! I mean yes!” He nodded rapidly while trying to calm his racing pulse. ‘Yes, I want to mark you. You have no idea how badly.” Lance’s eyes opened to find Tinsel slowly stroking her neck.

  “Would you do it here?”

  Lance could only stare as she moved her hand away from her collarbone to the upper part of her chest where her torn sweater revealed the upper swell of her breasts and the hint of a lacy black bra beneath. She molded one thoughtfully in her palm.

  “Or maybe here?”

  Her voice had deepened to an intensely seductive tone and her eyes were clouded with desire. Her hand wandered even lower, pausing to ruck up the front of her shirt to expose the soft, pale skin of her flat belly. She was still nude from the waist down where Dalenna had stripped her earlier except for a small pair of satin panties. She halted with her hand just below her belly button, toying with the indentation before rubbing her fingers across the waistband of her underwear.

  “I bet you’d like to bite me here.”

  Once more Tinsel let her arm roam downward. She raised her good leg and let it drop outward until she was splayed open. The silk undies were the only thing separating Lance from where he really wanted to be and he stepped forward involuntarily with the intent to tear the offending garment off. He stopped himself mid-motion as he realized his intentions, but the urge to mate was growing stronger by the second and he wasn’t going to be able to control himself much longer.

  “Stop! You have no idea what you’re playing with.”

  Tinsel just grinned as she continued to stroke the smooth skin of her inner thigh. “I think I do.” She smiled coyly. “I’m not normally like this, you know. I don’t usually try to seduce strange men I’ve just met. I’m no virgin, but I’m not in the habit of sleeping around either.”

  Lance gritted his teeth so hard they clacked together. “That’s good because from now on if any other man lays his hands on you, I’ll kill him.”

  Lance groaned aloud when his words only seemed to arouse her more. His cock jerked, thumping against his belly in an insistent demand for attention. He was so swollen, it was almost painful as he wrapped his hand around his throbbing shaft. He squeezed himself tightly just above his balls, trying to keep himself from erupting before he and Tinsel even got started.

  He bent down until his face hovered mere inches above Tinsel’s. His eye color had changed from its previous marine color to a glowing golden yellow. “I’m going to fix your leg first and then I’m going to fuck you. I can’t wait any longer.”

  Tinsel flung her head back on a moan. “Yes. Please.”

  Lance sucked in a lungful of her glorious scent, letting the raging lust inside him build even further. He moved cautiously to his knees, tracing his fingers from her ankle up to the top of her right leg where he collided with the satin edge of her panties. It took him a moment to tear his eyes away from the silk-covered delight, but he had to be sure of Tinsel’s feelings before he went any further.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tinsel winced when Lance ripped her panties to shreds, but then his fingers started dancing over her hot flesh and she forgot about any complaints she might have had. Tinsel decided then and there that Lance had the most skilled hands of any man on the planet. Within minutes, he had her pleading for release.

  “Oh, God! Oh, Lance! Please let me come, please!”

  Lance thought the sight of Tinsel begging for orgasm was the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Her one good leg was hanging over the side of the bed, kicking the frame with wild abandon and allowing him a close personal view of the paradise he was exploring with his fingers. Moisture gleamed on his hand and he had the sudden urge to lick it off. “I’ve got to taste you. I can’t help myself.”

  He pulled himself up and forward slightly, rearranging his lower body so that it hung off the lower end of the bed instead of pushing down on top of Tinsel. He lowered his head slowly and she screamed at the first touch of his tongue.

  Lance learned quickly what she liked by the way she panted and moaned. Long, slow licks brought him little squeals of enjoyment, while rapid licks against her clitoris made her scream. As his pace sped up, so did Tinsel’s breathing until he worried about her hyperventilating. He moved his free hand to her belly, pressing down lightly to hold her in place for his assault. He sped up the motion of his fingers inside her in blatant imitation of what he planned to do to her later with his cock.

  Tinsel wailed as Lance brought her to a shuddering, screaming climax. He continued to suck and lick at her swollen lips as she cried out his name and flooded his face and hands with her desire. He brought her down slowly while he lapped up her juice, only to push her back over the edge again.

  He growled against her most intimate flesh as his mate found completion. His inner beast was clamoring to mark Tinsel’s flesh until his skin was actually crawling with the urge to change again. He forced himself to stay human just a little while longer, the thought of mounting Tinsel in animal form forever embedded in his brain. With shaking hands, he turned his head and let his animal side emerge just slightly. He was determined to make his bite as painless as possible and in the current situation, he thought he had a pretty good chance.<
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  He felt his face shift enough to accommodate his newly elongated teeth. He used his thumb to give Tinsel’s clit a sturdy tap and when she shot off into orbit once more, he sank his canines into her upper thigh. He felt the flesh give until he drew blood and found that the taste was just as sweet as the cream he’d recently swallowed.

  Tinsel came down and Lance was still bent over her thigh, licking just above her knee with determination. He pulled back and noticed when Tinsel caught site of blood on his lips before he cleaned the evidence away with his tongue.

  The thought should have made her blush, but Lance chose that moment to drape his entire body over hers and make love to her. He sheathed himself inside her in one thrust. He wanted to take his time, but he was too far gone for restraint. Tinsel didn’t seem to mind, though, as she wrapped both her legs around his lower body and held on for the ride. He was pounding her into the mattress, the entire bed shaking with his effort. He hoped Thomas had cleared out the house, otherwise he’d have some uncomfortable questions to endure from the children.

  Lance was nearing the point of no return. He didn’t need breeding permission from his Alpha because Thomas already had an heir, but he hadn’t asked Tinsel what she thought about kids. If he didn’t want to fill his new wife with a baby, he knew he needed to pull out soon before they got locked together and he had no choice in the matter.

  He gave one last lunge, sorry he hadn’t been able to bring Tinsel one more time before pulling out. He quickly settled himself over her stomach, using his hand to finish when Tinsel did the unexpected and grabbed his cock, milking him with her own fingers. Her touch was the final straw and he exploded against her belly, covering her in his seed and his scent and effectively marking her as his mate forever.

  He started to get up for a towel to clean them both off when Tinsel gasped. He watched with pride as she realized her leg injury, along with her other cuts and bruises, had completely vanished. The quick way their race healed was always an astonishing sight and Tinsel was almost giddy with the discovery. Lance couldn’t bear to walk away from the glorious sight his mate made, so he finally just used his discarded shirt to wipe her off. He sat back down and pulled her close, basking in the afterglow and feeling complete for the first time in his life. The happy moment was short-lived however.