Alpha Defender Read online

  She was a proud, strong female, and it only strengthened his resolve to have her for a mate.

  “I’ll be damned if I stay here now. Not even one more second with you, mongrel—”

  He pulled her chin forward and sealed his lips over hers in a firm kiss, stifling her weak struggle and wrapping a hand around her waist to pull her small body tight up against his. She pushed on his chest, and he nearly let go, but then she sighed and relaxed into the hold. Giving up, it seemed.

  He slipped his tongue between her parted lips and explored the sweet depths within, loving the feel of her soft body against his. This was right, this was good, this was…

  Pain erupted through him as she brought her knee up between his legs. He pulled them together quickly enough to block most of the blow, but it was still jarring. He put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from him.

  She was flushed, red and extremely mad, angrily wiping his kiss from her lips. “How dare you? I’ve had some impertinent wolves in my day, males who didn’t care if I was male or female as long as I was beautiful, but none dared take the liberty you just—”

  With a light shove to her shoulder, he sent her sprawling onto the soft bed behind her. She let out an angry gasp and started to get up but he put out a finger and pressed it against her breastbone, stopping her with a startled squeak. She scooted back against the headboard and he stood back at the foot of the bed with his arms folded.

  His groin ached slightly but if he’d had anything less than incredible reflexes, he’d have been unmanned. How dare she? She was enjoying that kiss and she knew it.

  “Liberties?” he scoffed. “Taking? I’d say you were giving, Princess.”

  She let out another offended hiss. “Giving? That’s why I was struggling?”

  “I thought you said you could take care of yourself,” he said sardonically. “I thought you could handle any male who underestimated you.” He smirked. “I guess not.”

  She took a deep breath, pursing her lips angrily as she adjusted her clothing from being pressed up against him. “You caught me off guard.” She gestured to him, his height, whatever she meant by that. “There’s just… a lot going on. And, well, most people wouldn’t dare.”

  He remembered her earlier words and his gut twisted angrily in response. “But some have?”

  She flushed slightly and looked away. “I took care of them.”

  He came around the side of the bed and sat on it. He reached up to touch her hair. It was short, just brushing the tops of her ears and curling down to her collar. So soft, so silky. It caught the early morning light and shone like champagne. “If you mated me, I would take care of all of them. I’d protect you with my life.”

  She gave him a glare. “And who would protect me from you?”

  “You wouldn’t want to be protected from me,” he said, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss beneath her ear. The soft little lobe teased him and he caught it in his mouth. She let out a little gasp as he sucked it gently and then released it with a little nip.

  “Don’t do that,” she said. But she didn’t move out of the way. “I can’t think.”

  He pressed her back down against the bed. “Then don’t. Sometimes the best things happen when you aren’t thinking.”

  She seemed to buy into that, leaning back to give him access to her slender neck so he could place kisses along it. He could take it more slowly with her, if that’s what she’d wanted. But he could have sworn he felt her heat when he’d dragged her up against him and taken her mouth in a dominant kiss.

  Most alpha females liked a dominant male. Especially now that males didn’t fight as often for their favors physically, it was a way to display strength and ability as a protector.

  And Thor knew she couldn’t do better than him in that area.

  She bit her lip and let out a troubled breath. “I can’t. We shouldn’t.”

  He kissed her lips again, deeply, and she groaned and opened for him. When he pulled back, she was looking at him with such star-crossed innocence that he realized a possibility he hadn’t before.

  “Was that your first kiss?” he asked.

  She flushed deeply. “No.”

  It made him angry. He didn’t know why, it just did. “Oh.”

  “But the rest…” She gestured to her neck, her ear. “That’s new. I’m not sure how I feel about it.” She sat forward and he instinctively reached for her to hold her against him.

  It was a kind of tenderness that was totally new to him, but rose naturally in response to the overwhelmed feelings radiating from her. He wanted to keep everything away from her. Wanted to keep her safe until she relaxed and could focus on nothing else but him making love to her.

  He hadn’t realized how much desire for her was being held back by her former disguise. Now that he was seeing through that, it was nearly impossible to be the logical wolf he knew he needed to be for his pack.

  He wasn’t afraid to take on the Tribunal. But his pack was still recovering and rebuilding after the wreckage his uncle had caused. And Matt would put all of that at risk.

  He could feel her trembling in his arms. He tried to pull back to look down at her but she growled and stayed glued to his chest.

  His eyes widened in wonder. If someone had told him he’d be holding Matt right now, after kissing her, he’d have fainted from shock. Instead, it felt so right. Well, except for the part where she was crying.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” he said, stroking her back. She was so thin. He wondered if they could fatten her up a little now that she was here. She’d probably had to stay thin as part of hiding as a male. Male shifters rarely had any fat on them. Alpha females, however, were often lush and curvy.

  “It’s not okay,” she said. “What we just did, that felt wonderful. I mean, yes, I hated it at first because I didn’t choose it, but once you were gentle, I couldn’t be distracted by fighting you, and it felt amazing.” Her voice broke, but she pressed on. “And I’m just so damn angry that that’s what he’s been keeping from me all these years. I just feel so damn robbed and lost, and I feel powerless to do anything about it. How do you take that stuff back?”

  Anger surged at him but he pushed it away because she needed him. It no longer mattered that she’d called him names. That had just given him the impetus to do what he’d been wanting to do for a long time. Take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.

  But right now, he just wanted to give comfort. He cupped her face in both hands, surprised that he could want to be so gentle, and brought her in for another soft kiss. He pulled back, leaving her staring at him in confusion, her lips slightly parted.

  “That,” he said, wiping a tear off her cheek, “is how you take it back.”

  She blinked and then came forward to take his lips roughly in an awkward kiss. She was inexperienced, that much was obvious. Her tongue battled for entrance to his mouth in an aggressive way he’d never experienced from a female.

  Nothing about it felt smooth or practiced. But somehow, it still felt freaking great.

  4

  She kissed him roughly, surprised at the need in her own body, at how much feeling she had pent up inside her that seemed to be exploding out all at once the more she touched his incredible body.

  So long she’d wanted males, so long they had been off limits. The secret had been more important, her father’s wishes, her father’s plans.

  Now he could go screw himself, and she could screw Thor, if she wanted to.

  Though she’d tried to be a man for a very long time, she was becoming aware that there was actually a very hungry woman underneath.

  She growled and used all of her strength to flip their positions on the bed. His surprise made him easy to move, and she shoved his shoulders hard and rolled on top of him to pin him down. Not that her weight could do much, but judging by the shocked arousal on his face, he wasn’t going to object.

  Damn, she loved this feeling. Her small hips settled over his powerful abdomen. She could
feel the ridges of his six-pack, feel the wolf in her taking over, the powerful alpha female who had always wanted to be free. She nuzzled at his neck and then reached for his waistband.

  He let out a muffled grunt and put a hand out to stop her, but she flicked it aside and he sighed.

  “Wait, Matt.”

  “Lacey,” she said. “Matt is my middle name. My first name is Lacey.”

  “Lacey,” he said, putting a hand up to touch her hair. “That’s a perfect name.”

  She flicked her gaze up at him, irritated that things were slowing down. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe because there’s something delicate about you.”

  “I’ll show you delicate,” she growled, struggling against his hand to pull down his pajama pants.

  He let out a frustrated breath and caught both of her wrists in his easily. She growled and tried to pull away but the grip was like iron. “Hold on, don’t do something you’ll regret,” he said.

  “I won’t regret this. Who knows when they’ll come for me? I want to live for right now. I don’t know what will happen in any moment after. For once, I just want to live.”

  He hesitated, holding her and looking her over as he made his decision. She prayed inwardly that he didn’t resist her. A wall inside her had broken and she needed whatever was behind it to flow out. And she needed to do it with him.

  “You said you’d show me how to take it back,” she said, slowing her breathing to try and sound calm and reasoned. “You kissed me.”

  He blinked. Those warm amber eyes could be so mysterious sometimes. “I did.”

  “Do more,” she said, struggling to get her hands free so she could put them on him again. “Let me do more.”

  He grinned, finally making his choice. He shook his head and used her trapped hands to pull her off him and then rolled so that she was beneath him and he was on top. “I’m afraid I very much like to be the one doing. So if you want what I have to offer, sit back and relax.”

  She snorted. “So cheesy. So you’re going to go all alpha on me after all? So—” She gasped as a loud tearing sound interrupted her mocking of him. She looked down to see the soft jersey pants she’d been wearing shredded in two and tossed to the side. She was bared to him in her panties, and curled up slightly in shock. He moved a hand to her hips, keeping her beneath him, under his control. The air in the room moved over the exposed flesh of her legs and she bit her lip as his hand ran over the soft skin.

  “My pants,” she said.

  “You need new ones anyway. We’ll need to get new everything.” He reached for her shirt and lifted it over her head, then leaned forward and pulled down the edge of the loosened bandages with his teeth, lightly grazing the flesh beneath. She’d never been touched there and she flushed and arched against the foreign sensation.

  “You smell amazing,” he said. “Like wildflowers, but bitter, and cold. Let me warm you.”

  She sighed as he gently pressed the coverings aside and lightly covered each breast with his hands, kneading the flesh gently and bringing blood back into them where they’d been trapped. She looked down to see the marks of her bindings. She was so used to them, but seeing the rage in his eyes as he tilted his head and stared at them, she realized how bad they really were.

  “Your father is a monster,” he said. He cupped her gently and rubbed a thumb over the top of one nipple, making her gasp. “This must have hurt, every single time you did it. Every day of your life. Not to mention the danger he put you in. Unprotected.”

  He continued to softly torture her breasts with both hands, bringing them to life. She writhed slightly, unable to believe this was happening to her.

  “I don’t need to be protected,” she replied breathlessly.

  “You do now,” he said. “I’m never letting you go back there.”

  “You barely know me,” she said. “All we’ve done is fight.”

  “You helped me,” he said, laving her nipple with his mouth. The warm, slightly rough texture made her buck up off the mattress and he caught her with one hand on her back but kept his mouth on her breast, gently sucking and swirling his tongue around the point that was becoming an agonized center of desire.

  “I had to,” she said. “I couldn’t—”

  “Shh,” he said. “Just focus on me, what I’m doing to you.” He slid a hand between her legs. “Making you wet. Making you want me.”

  His low voice was hypnotic. Was this really the man she’d argued with? Had that just been her way of avoiding the attraction she’d never be able to act on? It was confusing, but right now her body and her wolf ruled the situation. Her wolf had been trapped too long, and now she was running full speed through the forest, toward freedom, and she wouldn’t be stopped.

  “Mmm. You feel amazing,” he said, sliding a hand underneath to touch her intimately. She bit her lip as a flash of pleasure moved through her, heating her and making her shake with his touch. He rubbed over the place just above her center that was aching for release, pressed slightly down on it, and she squeaked in surprise. She tried to squirm away from the sensation, but she was glad when he used a strong hand to stop her, to keep her grounded. He hooked a hand under the waistband as if to pull off her underwear and she put her hands up to her face, embarrassed.

  He paused, and she lowered her hands to look at him.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked. “I don’t want to do anything you don’t want.”

  “No,” she grated out. “It’s just confusing. And slightly embarrassing. I mean, so much attention to a part of me that wasn’t supposed to exist.”

  “Oh, it was supposed to exist,” he said, leaning down to place a soft kiss just above the top of her panties. “It was supposed to exist for me.” She loved the feel of his rough breath, those hard lips. If only he’d move a little lower.

  No, that was too intimate, too soon. She squirmed against the lust raging inside her, begging her to come to life and take everything he could give. To take him inside her, unsheathed.

  The thought was a mad one, but she didn’t care, not as long as the euphoria surging through her didn’t stop.

  He planted his hands on either side of her head and looked down at her. “I can take it slow.”

  “I don’t know if I can,” she said.

  “You’re so innocent,” he said, pushing hair off her forehead, where it was dampened with sweat. Her heartbeat thrummed rapidly because he was close. “I don’t want to take advantage.”

  “I’m inexperienced, but that doesn’t mean I’m innocent. I know I want your cock, deep inside me, taking me hard, right now.”

  “But you flush when I want to bare you naked.”

  She felt herself flushing deeper. “Don’t mock me.”

  “I’m not. I just want this to be good for you. Not tainted by embarrassment.”

  “Then make it good,” she said mockingly. “You’re an alpha male, aren’t you?”

  His face tightened and he nodded. The heat was still there in his eyes, but it was colder. “It takes two to tango.”

  She gritted her teeth, pressing her legs together at the ache that wouldn’t seem to go away. “If you don’t want me…”

  “Oh hell no,” he said, cupping her breasts in his hands and bringing them together as he stroked. Fire surged again inside her. “I want you right now. Right here. But I want all of you, and I want you to be able to say you were ready.”

  “I’m ready,” she said.

  “To be mated?” he asked.

  She tried to sit up at that. “No.”

  “I thought not. So rules?” he asked.

  “Anything but that,” she said. “You should know how to avoid it.” Unprotected intercourse would mate them, anything else was safe.

  His expression darkened slightly. “I do. But do I want to?”

  She bit her lip, and his eyes caught the movement and followed it hungrily. She could feel his want for her. Feel the animals between them engaged in a dance
for dominance, a curious parry of wills to see if they were a match.

  She wasn’t sure. Was he?

  “Don’t make this so serious,” she said. “Just give me what I want.”

  “So, you want me to know what you want better than you do?”

  She blinked. That was actually a perfect description of what she wanted. “Yes.”

  “Fine,” he said, lowering his mouth to place a wicked kiss on each of her nipples. “I’ll do my best.”

  5

  He kissed up to her neck, experimenting to find the places she liked best. She curled deliciously at nearly every spot he touched. Her body was pliant and responsive in his hands, like she was made for him, waiting for him. She made the wolf in him howl, made the man in him feel like he was about to come home.

  She looked up at him with those bratty eyes and told him exactly what she wanted, while telling him nothing at all. She was a total mystery, but she was his mystery. His alone. And now that she was here, he was never going to let her go. His wolf surged under his skin, wanting to take control. Wanting to dominate and overpower, but he forced himself to take it slow.

  He kissed the back side of her neck as she turned to the side and she let out an electric gasp. His eyes widened and he ran a hand down her side, grazing her spine. She writhed, looking at him with wide eyes, and he grinned. He flipped her over so that she was facing away from him, underneath him on the bed, her smooth, gorgeous back and neck in front of him.

  He lowered his head to kiss up her spine and she lifted her ass in the air in invitation. He grinned and leaned over her, putting a hand between her legs to feel her as he kissed that spot on the back of her neck that made her gasp and moan with ecstasy. Ecstasy that was heightened as his hand found a rhythm between her legs, stroking her soft, wet velvet in time with her little moans as he kissed her neck, bit lightly along the back of her shoulders, laved with his tongue all along her sensitive back.