Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

S omehow he managed to walk with his cock lodged deep inside her as she clung to him, barely able to think and completely incapable of coherent speech. He made his way inside to the dry sink and eased her off his staff and onto the counter, sitting so her legs dangled over the edge with Rémy still between them. Again, she pushed ineffectively at his chest.

" Non , chére. You stay where I put you. I want to take care of your throat."

His mentioning her neck seemed to make the whole thing worse. He'd inflicted an alpha's mark upon her throat and regardless of what happened she would bear it for the rest of her life. It was not what she wanted. While her ability to speak wasn't yet restored, she could at least growl at him, which she did.

"Enough," he said, nuzzling her. "It is done, and I won't even make you thank me for it."

"Thank you? For what? You followed me and took me against my will. How did you even find me?"

"I searched for you as I would for any quarry. When we spotted this hidden canyon, I thought it might be your sanctuary. We flew overhead and I was able to spot your cabin and then saw your horse. Early this morning before the sun had kissed the sky, I parachuted in and claimed what was mine."

"But I'm not yours. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"My claiming mark on your neck says otherwise. Now sit still while I put a bandage on it."

"What makes you think I have bandages here?"

"Because you are far too intelligent to stay this far from the ranch and not have a first aid kit. Also because the box is staring me in the face from that handy shelf over there. I like your place, by the way. Should we tell your father this is where we plan to live?"

Something about the sincerity of his tone made her stop and search his face, searching for what she wasn't sure—truth, love, teasing?

"You would live here?" she asked incredulously, afraid to believe there might be a chance for them.

If he could understand the importance of this place to her, there might be cause to fan the spark of hope that came into being. Pieces of a puzzle that had eluded her for a long time began to fall into place. Had Rémy only come back to protect his family, or had he come for her? Did he really believe they could make a future together?

"I would, if that would make you happy. I'd like to make a few improvements, but that would give me something to do after we deal with the Darkness."

"I would have been back in time for the full moon. You didn't have to come looking for me just to make sure I'd return."

"I never thought otherwise, nor did anyone else. Piper, I wish there had been enough time to court you properly, to convince you that I didn't just come back to fight the Darkness. But that time was denied to us." He grinned as he shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "I'm not sure it would have worked anyway. You are a strong, proud, and stubborn she-wolf and I am not so stupid as to think one spectacular claiming..."

"If you do say so yourself," she interrupted.

"And so does everything about the way you responded to it. Look, I know there are things we need to talk about. I know I need to prove to you that I know that the decision I made back then was the wrong one. My one and only excuse was that I thought I was doing the best thing for you. I grew up around you, Piper. I know what Wolf Meadow means to you."

"So what's changed?" she asked, trying to quell the forlorn note in her voice.

Rémy grinned. "Everything. For one, I got my head out of my ass and realized the single most important thing to me is you."

"But how long will that last? What if you change your mind yet again?" The words were out before she could stop them and now she couldn't call them back.

He sighed, leaning his forehead into hers. "My sweet mate. I'm so sorry. This will last forever, ma chére . We are fated mates and I plan to spend all the time I have left being with you."

So there it was. Maybe Skylar had been right all along. Maybe, just maybe, Rémy really did care for her and knew how badly he'd hurt her. But could she trust him? Did she dare listen to the stirring of her heart and the calling from the depths of her soul?

Deciding, she nodded once. "When do we go back?"

"Back?" he asked, puzzled.

"To wherever it is you're… we're stationed. That's the right term, isn't it?"

"If I were still in the Navy, it would be."

"You're not just home on leave?" she asked incredulously.

"No. It was time for me to reenlist, and I chose not to."

Her eyes softened and she realized his confession really did change everything. "I have so many questions."

"And I'll answer them all, but I need to get a bandage on your neck, and I need to eat before I settle down to make a serious meal of your pussy."

She could feel the heat rising up in her cheeks. "I'm not a very good cook."

"I know. According to Travis, you burn water. He says no one makes better desserts than you, but if I have to depend on you to feed me, I'll starve."

Piper smiled ruefully, "He's probably not wrong."

His fingers moved gently against the fresh wound, cleansing, and then bandaging it. Piper closed her eyes and reveled in his simple touch. Rémy was home. He wasn't leaving and he had claimed her. She knew he should have asked for her consent and knew she shouldn't give over to him so easily. But she also knew she didn't care.

"So if you're not in the Navy anymore, what are your plans?"

"Aside from claiming you and defeating the Darkness, I don't really have much figured out yet. I thought we could do that together, although your father did make me an interesting proposal which I think we should consider."

"Beware of my father bearing gifts. He tends to have ulterior motives for most things."

Rémy shrugged. "It's the way of most alphas. They're always looking to be three steps ahead of everyone else. Did you forget who my sire is? No one is more Machiavellian than him."

"What's my father's proposal?"

"That you remain at Wolf Meadow."

"No," she snarled, catching him off balance and shoving him backward. "Damn it, Rémy. You just said we'd be together and already you're planning to leave me."

She was so hurt and angry at him, but more at herself for having dropped her guard and believing him when he'd said the things she'd so desperately wanted to hear. It took her a moment to realize he was simply standing there watching her, doing nothing. Rémy Gautier was not a wolf who stood idly by allowing someone to rail at him, fated mate or not.

Realizing she might well have missed something and that perhaps she had overreacted, she reined in her temper. "That's not what you meant, is it?"

" Non, chére, it is not. What do you say to me when you fly off the handle and lash out at me for something I haven't done?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Yes, and you ask me to discipline you so that you may atone for your baseless accusations and to help you to do better next time."

"I'm going to get spanked a lot, aren't I?"

Rémy nodded. "Most likely, but this time if you apologize and come kiss me, I might be persuaded to sit you in my lap and explain it to you while I play with your pussy instead."

Piper slid off the edge of the dry sink, wincing as its rough texture rasped over her backside. The pain didn't stop her from launching herself into his arms and fusing her mouth to his. She probably should have been soft and gentle, sweet and submissive, but it wasn't in her nature. She was under no illusion that she would submit to this man, but at the same time Rémy was no fool. He knew he was getting a tough-as-nails cowgirl. What she wanted him to also know was that she needed him, far more than she had ever let anyone know or even admitted to herself. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body into his as tightly as she could.

His arms went around her, one hand reaching down to the backs of her thighs so he could grasp them and lift her up. She softened and wrapped her legs around his waist. She'd played at being submissive with other men, but it had all been an act. She'd known all along that there was only one man to whom she'd truly submit, and he was holding her in his arms. She needed to submit to him because he already dominated her every thought and emotion. She needed to be important to him and for him to want to dominate her because they were fated mates and that was the way it was among their kind.

Laughing, he backed toward the bed and sat down on it, shifting her so that she was ensconced on his lap. "You have a most delightful way of apologizing, mate." His hand drifted between her legs, and they parted for him without resistance.

"Care to share my father's proposal now? And maybe lead with the fact that you're planning for us to be together. I may need to hear that frequently."

"I'll tell you as often as you need to hear it until it takes up residence in your soul and you know it to be true. I had your father's blessing to claim you as mine, but before you fly off the handle at him, you should know I told him it wouldn't matter if he didn't give it to me because nothing would stop me."

"And you're still breathing—impressive."

He chuckled. "Brat. Your father isn't a fool. Wolf Meadow has three looming problems—an alpha she-wolf who's not inclined to give over to anyone who isn't her fated mate, said she-wolf runs the day-to-day operation of the ranch, and he has no one to succeed him as alpha. Turns out, it wasn't as much of an issue as he thought."

His finger parted her labia and traced the line of her sex between slit and clit. Piper shivered in his lap.

"How so? All those things are true."

"It wasn't until said she-wolf's fated mate came to his senses as he was being tortured and said she-wolf appeared to him in a vision and told him she was waiting."

"The scars on your back—someone tortured you? Let's find them and kill them."

"My bloodthirsty mate, you are my match and equal in so many ways. Yes, the ones on my back are from being tortured. The ones on the soles of my feet are worse."

"Rémy."

"Shh, Piper. It's over and I am holding you naked in my lap as your pussy gets wetter and softer in preparation for me. Aren't you at all curious as to the solution to all your father's woes?"

"You," she said softly, snuggling closer to him. "You are my fated mate and the one wolf I will give myself to. You who knows what the ranch means to me. And you who is an alpha without a pack. You are the answer to my father's concerns. We're not going anywhere, are we Rémy?"

"We need to go back to Rivière Du Loup and defeat the Darkness."

Piper's features darkened. "I'm worried about my parents."

"No need, they will stand as backup. It is you and I, chére, who will join to form the dire wolf of your family's legends. Together our strength and cunning will put an end to this thing."

"You told my dad he was too old… and he let you live?" she teased.

"You are really a glorious brat, did you know that? I think Travis might be right. Having you and my sister Skylar related to one another is not a good thing. You were enough of a bad influence on each other as friends; I'm not sure wolfen society will survive you being family. He'll have to leave her."

She laughed and then gasped as his finger penetrated her core and curled upward as he pulled it back out.

"So wet," he crooned, the sound of his voice making her pussy weep with need even more.

Rémy did more for her with a single word than the physical presence of all the other men in her past combined. He leaned his head down, sucking one tight nipple into his mouth. At the same time he reached up to roll the other between his forefinger and thumb, giving it a quick tweak before skimming down her torso, over her belly, and ending back between her thighs.

"Rémy," she moaned as he began to play with her.

He seemed intent on making her climax again. Rémy liked to make her climax. But she liked to make him do it too. She'd already learned that she wasn't fully satisfied until she felt him spill himself in her. She felt her body further soften and she shifted in his lap, giving him better access.

"Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" he purred.

She nodded. "You're going to forgive me for losing my temper earlier."

"I am? I'm fairly sure I was planning to spank that pretty ass for that outburst."

"No, Rémy. It still hurts from earlier and that hard knot forming at the base of your cock tells me you're far more interested in knotting and tying me to you."

"And you think I'm incapable of doing both?"

"No, my beloved, I think you love me and will show your poor, sweet submissive she-wolf some mercy because you know she is truly contrite for her behavior, and you are a magnanimous and loving mate."

He threw back his head and laughed. "You may be right about that. Would you have me knot and tie you for the first time in our little love nest?"

"I figure it beats the hell out of having you do this when you have me pinned to a metal wall."

Rémy stood, easily lifting her in his arms. She'd never felt dainty or overly feminine because she was tall and strong. But Rémy made her feel delicate and cherished. He turned around and laid her in the middle of the bed, his eyes locked with hers.

"Now, ma chére, we will make our bonding complete. And when we return to Rivière Du Loup, you will take your vows to me in front of our families and the New Orleans pack."

"Rémy, sweetheart?" His eyebrows quirked up. "Shut up and knot me, will you?"