Page 125 of Black Willow Witch
Emberlyn felt herself go rigid. ‘The Reeds? What did they want?’
He hesitated a beat. ‘For me to let you go.’
Annoyance made her jaw clench. ‘They actually asked that of you?’
He gave a sharp nod, his own irritation clear in his hard expression. ‘They still consider you to be Michael’s mate. They believe that you still love him; that you’d reclaim him if he came back. And they don’t acknowledge that I have any rights to you.’
‘Theyseriouslysaid that?’ Ballsy. It wasn’t a wise idea to try to come between an Alpha wolf and anything he considered his. To take it a step further and imply he had no claim to what he felt he owned?Shewouldn’t advise it, and there wasn’t much that Emberlyn would shy away from doing. ‘What did you say?’
‘In so many words . . . I told them that they can believe whatever they like, but the reality is that you’re mine now, not his.’
Good answer.
The hand that had been tossed over her shoulder shifted to palm her nape. ‘They may not let it drop – in their mind, they’redoing this for their son. They won’t pay me a second visit, though. They’ll try their luck with you. If that happens,you call me. You could handle it on your own, I get that. But you don’t have to, baby.’ He nuzzled her face. ‘You don’t gotta do anything alone anymore – you have me now.’
Swallowing hard, she fisted the bottom of his tee. ‘Fine. Butyouhave to callmeif they try again to convince you to let me go. I’m not upset that you didn’t do it this time – you had no idea when they turned up at your house that they would ask that of you. But now you do. So if they do it again, you call me. And if they try it with me, I’ll call you. Deal?’
He touched the tip of his nose to hers in that way he sometimes did. ‘Deal,’ he said, hesitant. ‘But I won’t lie – I’d rather take care of this shit myself so you don’t have to.’
‘Why should you get to have all the fun?’
Humor flickered in his gaze, but it gradually faded as his expression shifted into something more serious. ‘What would you do if Michael came back?’
Emberlyn leaned back slightly. ‘You don’t think I’d do as his parents said and go reclaim him, do you?’
‘Not at all. But I wondered if you’d want to be there for him while he recovered, because I know you unnecessarily feel partly responsible for him losing control and turning Rabid.’
‘I feel some guilt, yes, but I wouldn’t feel inclined to help him through it. That might sound cold, but it’s like with you and CeCe. You cared for her a lot, but she did something that changed things for you. Michael’s betrayal, the way he blew it off like it was nothing and expected me to just let it go . . . I couldn’t see him the same way after that. It felt like he was this completely different person to me. So no, I wouldn’t want to be at his side during his recovery. My place isn’tathis side.’ It was that simple.
Staring into her eyes, Ripper breezed his thumb down her throat. ‘All right.’
‘Now, can we move onto a lighter subject?’ Because she didn’t want thoughts of Michael zipping around his head.
‘I was actually gonna suggest we get the fuck out of here. You game?’
Her body lit up because she knew what was coming. ‘Totally game.’
Two steps. They got two steps into the manor before he was on her.
Ripper yanked her close and brought his mouth down hard on hers. The sexualclickwas instantaneous. It struck as abruptly and hotly as a bolt of lightning, sending lust roaring through him. A lust that fisted his cock, pumped through his blood and gnawed at his control.
He backed her into the wall, still gorging on her mouth, stroking his hands over her. The kiss was wild – tongues licking, breaths clashing, teeth clicking.
She grabbed onto his shoulders and moaned. He swallowed the sound with a guttural growl, feeling very . . . primitive. That two people had questioned his claim to her still grated on his every possessive instinct. A need to reinstate that claim misted his vision; made his touch rougher, his kiss deeper, his nips harder.
The kiss went on and on, until his lips throbbed and his lungs burned for air. Drawing back, he yanked down the side zipper of her dress, shoved its straps over her shoulders and let it puddle at her feet. Her bra went next, and then he caught her nipple with his lips; sucked as much of her breast into his mouth as he could take.
Fingers delved into his hair and tugged as her body arched into his. ‘Ripper.’ The wealth of need woven through his name made his cock throb.
He grazed the tight bud with his teeth and then rolled it around his mouth. ‘What do you want? Be specific.’
‘Why? You’re gonna do whatever you want anyway.’
His baby wasn’t wrong.
Ripper shoved his hand into her underwear and cupped her; felt how warm and damp she was. He spoke into her ear. ‘Look what you’ve done. Your panties are all wet.’
‘That’s onyou. I’m just an innocent bystander.’
