Chapter 31

He was in so far over his head he couldn’t even see the surface anymore. All he could see was Ruby and her bright eyes and sinfully red lips. Lips that would soon be wrapped around his cock if he didn’t stop her, if he didn’t tell her no.

She held his gaze, searching and uncertain. And that look, the fact that she didn’t know how bad he wanted her, it was what broke him. He wanted her more than he wanted his next sunrise, more than his next race through the woods, more than any part of his own worthless life. Wanting Ruby made existing possible. For centuries he’d only been living a half life and he was only now realizing it.

Ruby still toyed with the button of his jeans, her fingers slipping beneath the fabric, sending heat sizzling up his spine.

“Rafe?” she asked, still questioning, still uncertain, and it was his fault. His fault that she didn’t know the truth. His fault for wanting her and pushing her away at the same time in some misplaced act of protection.

“Yes,” he growled. “Wrap those ruby red lips around my dick like I’ve been dreaming about.”

A slow smile bloomed on Ruby’s face. “You have?”

He huffed. “Fuck, yes.” He leaned against the side of the truck bed, lifted his hips and pulled the jeans and boxer briefs off and tossed them to the side. “Come here.” His voice was barely human anymore, enough to scare away most people, but Ruby crawled in closer until she was kneeling between his thighs.

“I’ve wanted those lips on me since the first day I saw you. That damn red paint, Ruby, it’s like a fucking beacon.” He ran his hands over her hips and up to her tits, palming one and then the other. He rolled the nipple between his fingers and gave it a squeeze. Ruby whimpered and pressed her thighs together.

“What else did you want?” she asked, her voice a breathy whisper.

He couldn’t help his smile, even as he dug himself deeper into whatever this was, even as he remembered that this woman was his Mate and he still didn’t know what to do about that.

“I wanted everything, too. I wanted all of you. God, I still do.”

She leaned in to kiss him at the same time as she gripped his cock in her fist. He groaned into her mouth and he felt her smile against him. And that smile. It was a victory. It was evidence that he’d done one fucking thing right in his life.

And then her hands were on his chest, his thighs, her fingers digging into his flesh as she took him into her mouth one slow inch at a time. He pushed her hair from her face and wrapped it around his fist, not wanting to miss a second of the obscene view. Those lips framed his cock perfectly. He tugged her hair just a little and she purred, the vibration nearly killing him. Of course she would like it a little rough, his brave girl who ventured into dark woods, who dreamt of dangerous strangers.

He tugged again, moving her how he wanted her, thrusting a little deeper with each stroke of her mouth. She squeezed her thighs together and pressed her sharp little finger nails into his legs, and let him fuck her mouth.

She was so good, so perfect, her mouth so fucking warm and tight and wet. It wouldn’t take long. Already the orgasm was building, pleasure radiating out to his toes.

He let her go, let her come up for air, her hair cascading over her shoulder. She held the base of his cock in one hand and licked around the head, her lipstick smudged on her swollen lips.

“God, that’s so good,” he murmured, feeling all his senses, all his thoughts scatter to the night and join the constellations. He should be keeping her at bay but all he could do was be so damn grateful that the universe had sent him the perfect Mate.

“I want you to come in my mouth,” she said between tortuous swirls of her tongue.

“Yes,” he growled, unable to say anything else. Yes. Yes to this. Yes to anything this woman wanted. Yes to everything.

His hands were in her hair again and her mouth was moving, taking him in, all of him. Up and down until it was too much, the heat, the pleasure, the frisson of tension up his spine. He came hard with ragged breaths and Ruby’s lips around him and only the night sky to witness the moment he came apart completely and was pieced back together by the look in Ruby’s eyes when she sat up and smiled at him.

* * *

Ruby slept like some kind of deranged starfish. She currently had half her body draped over Rafe’s torso and the other half spread across seventy-five percent of the truck bed. Or that was Rafe’s best guess anyway. He was crammed into the remaining space and it couldn’t be more than a quarter of the truck. She’d also stolen all the blankets even though her limbs stuck out of them at precarious angles. And she snored.

Rafe was tired, cold, and achy and yet couldn’t seem to wipe the idiotic grin off his face.

Someday, he was sure he would complain about her nocturnal acrobatics and nighttime cover hogging…

Wait. Someday? One amazing night and what? He thought Ruby would be dying to tie herself to him forever? He scrubbed his free hand—the other one was trapped somewhere beneath Ruby—down his face, trying in vain to think straight.

He needed to tell Ruby about the Mate bond. He nearly had last night; he should have. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn’t know nearly enough. What it meant, or how to navigate it, especially for a human.

Ruby stirred and her cinnamon scent wrapped around him. Instead of choking him, now it warmed him, pulling him closer. He knew she was his Mate like he knew when he needed to hunt. Instinctually and without a doubt. Everything he’d felt about her made sense now. Why he couldn’t leave her alone, why he felt compelled to protect her. Why he found her so damn sexy. She was his and he was hers.

But as far as what happened next, he was embarrassingly underprepared. Damn his father and his “mating for strength” ideology. Rafe didn’t know a single Mate-bonded pair. His pack didn’t operate that way. His father scoffed at any mention of it.

There had been wolves through the years that had left the pack, gone off on their own. And now Rafe wondered how many had left to be with their true Mate. Now that he’d met Ruby, he couldn’t imagine being forced to mate with someone else if you knew who your true Mate was. It would be torture.

He didn’t even know if sex was the only way to secure the bond. He thought he was being safe by not fucking her, but every moment with her felt like a claiming. Every story he shared with her, every smile she gave him, every touch, every bit of trust she put in him. She had claimed his heart the first time she spoke his name, the first time she sought him out in the dark.

He had to tell Ruby. He had to tell her right now. He attempted to free his arm and Ruby groaned, face down in her pillow.

“Too early,” she mumbled. “Go away.”

“Ruby.” He rolled onto his side and pulled her closer using his trapped arm to reel her in. “Wake up.” He kissed along her nose and she scrunched it up.

“No,” she grumbled. “Too early.” She didn’t open her eyes as she pushed the hair from her face.

“Are you always like this in the morning?” he asked, unable to stop his foolish heart from imagining more mornings like this with Ruby grumpy and him slowly waking her. He could think of so many interesting ways to wake her.

“I work nights. I’m practically nocturnal,” she muttered, cracking open one eye. “You know I don’t wake up before noon. And it’s too bright out here.” She squeezed the eye shut again.

“We need to get an early start if we’re going to make it there and back today.”

Ruby groaned again, but Rafe ran a hand over her still naked hip and around to grab her ass, turning Ruby’s groan into a squeal. He pulled her closer, so warm and pliant in the morning. He’d already forgotten what he needed to tell her. He let himself forget. Why waste this moment by freaking her out?

He kissed down her neck, lingering over her racing pulse. She squirmed against him. “What happened to getting an early start?” she laughed as he continued his journey to her breasts, kissing and licking each one.

“I mean, we could spare a few minutes,” he said grinning up at her. She smiled back, her eyes bright like the sun.

“No way, wolf-man. We have your asshole brother to question.” She snatched up the blankets and scootched to a seat, leaving Rafe lying naked by himself. He didn’t care. Her stare kept him warm.

He pushed himself up and dug around for his jeans from last night. He tugged them on, letting Ruby watch him with hungry eyes. Maybe it was finally time for him to have what he wanted. Maybe fate would be on his side this time. Thinking it felt like a jinx. He nearly leaned over the side of the truck to knock on a tree trunk.

What if telling Ruby about the Mate bond ruined everything? Theo was right, he’d go full howling-at-the-moon mad. Just because Ruby had been understanding about everything he’d told her so far did not mean she’d be cool with this sudden and intense escalation of their relationship.

He needed to figure out why wolves were stalking Ruby and her sister. Once Ruby was safe, then he could worry about what fate had in store for him. There was no use in sharing his suspicions about their Mate bond yet. Not if Ruby was still in danger. Not if her sister was still having violent visions about wolves.

First he needed to get to the bottom of the attack. Then he would deal with the rest. One life-altering crisis at a time.

“What’s for breakfast?” Ruby asked, still watching him from her seat.

He hopped down from the bed, happy for the distraction, and walked to the front of the truck. He grabbed the bag he’d put in the back seat last night.

“Gert sent us home with pie.”

“Pie!” Ruby’s face lit up as she grabbed the bag. She was still wrapped in blankets, her bare arms a teasing reminder of all the skin beneath her covers. “Apple and blueberry! Gert is officially my new favorite person,” she said, pulling the containers from the bag along with plastic forks and napkins. She laid it all in front of her like a picnic.

Rafe leaned against the side of the truck, his forearms resting on the side of the bed. “Favorite person, huh? After last night, I’m a little insulted.”

Ruby smiled. “Oh don’t be a sore loser, Rafe. You’re a close second.”

He laughed, loud and unexpected. It felt good. It felt like cracking open. Ruby giggled too and handed him a fork.

“Pass the blueberry.”

Ruby leaned forward to pass him the container and he pressed a kiss to her apple-flavored lips. Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’re awfully affectionate this morning, Rafe.”

“Yes.” He watched her, wanting her reaction, needing to know if she still wanted him or if she’d satisfied her curiosity. “I’ll stop, if you want me to.”

“No.” Ruby”s answer was quick and Rafe bit down on a smile. “Don’t stop. I like it.” She took a bit of pie, licking the crumbs off her lips. Her tongue traced slowly around those full lips and Rafe’s human brain shut off. Fuck it. He should tell her. Tell her and then claim her. He should fuck her until she understood that she was made for him and he was made for her. Until nothing else mattered.

“Does this mean you’re done running away from me?” she asked, interrupting his insane werewolf instincts.

He coughed. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Still not convinced I’m good for you.”

Then those lips tipped into a sinful grin. “Oh Rafe, you must know by now that I don’t want things that are good for me.”