12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Quinn

I'd never admit it to him, but seeing Lachlan go all alpha growly had been hot as fuck.

"So," Lachlan said, once we were outside. "That was your ex?"

I snorted. "Yeah, he's a great guy."

"Seems like it." We grinned at each other before we broke into peals of laughter. "This is a great first date."

"Well, I mean you did demand I fuck you," he reminded me, with a smirk. "I'm not really gonna complain. Your place or mine? I mean if you still want that. No pressure."

I stared at him for a minute, my blood turning hot. I'd meant it when I'd told him to fuck me. I'd enjoyed our conversation at dinner, and the way he'd handled Leo had been a total fucking turn-on. I liked him babbling a little, not so sure of himself.

"Mine?"

He shrugged. "I'm good with either. You okay to drive, and I follow, or do you want me to drive us? "

"You can follow. I'm annoyed, but not surprised by anything that happened in there. Just thinking about what he tried to do pisses me off."

We were walking towards our cars, and Lachlan reached out and snagged my hand. My hands were fairly large, my fingers long and thin, but my hand felt small in his. I wasn't usually a hand holder, but I seemed to be breaking all the rules I had, where this alpha was concerned. I found it easy to relax with him, and I was beginning to like him, which surprised me.

It scared the absolute fuck out of me.

"Did he seriously try to sell your bakery without your knowledge?" Lachlan's voice broke into my thoughts. "And he made a copy of your keys?"

"He did. I found him in the bakery on a Sunday. We're closed, but I stopped by to do some admin stuff. Imagine my surprise to find my ‘boyfriend' in my kitchen, with a realtor and potential buyer. He'd had a key made, along with one to my house, without my knowledge. A part of me had never fully trusted him. I just told myself I was being crazy since I'd never tried to actually have a boyfriend before. Guess I was right not to trust him, since he was cheating on me on top of everything else. Or, cheating on the other guy with me? It makes my head hurt trying to puzzle that one out."

"What a dick." Lachlan's voice was fierce, and a thrill shot up my spine at it. I'd never had anyone defend me as he had. He'd laid his claim to me, in front of an entire restaurant full of people. I should be lighting him up, chewing his ass from one side to the other. Instead, I felt like a peacock preening.

"Yeah." I agreed. We stopped at my Honda Civic, and when I unlocked it with my fob, he held my door open, until I was seated and buckled in.

Lachlan leaned down, his voice rough. "I need to confess something to you. "

My stomach flipped. I'd had enough surprises for one evening. I didn't need any soul-searching confessions tonight. "What is it?"

"Your ass in those pants is driving me mad. I've wanted to eat you out since I got here. We missed dessert, and I need something sweet."

My mind blanked for a second. All I registered was the wolfish grin on Lachlan's gorgeous face, as he shut my door. I flipped the heat from hot to cold, despite the cold temperatures outside, and let it blow on my overheated face. Of all the things I'd expected to come out of his mouth, that wasn't even in the top one hundred. But I was one hundred percent on board with his idea.

We made it to my place in record time, my foot pressing down harder on the gas pedal than normal. I'd left a light on in my living room, so I wouldn't walk into a dark house, and the porch light was casting a warm glow across my yard. I parked in my garage, then walked out to my driveway, before lowering the door. I waited for Lachlan to park in my drive and exit his SUV. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, as we made our way up the sidewalk and onto the porch.

"Your house is cute," he whispered in my ear, as I opened my front door and the heat from inside wrapped around us. I had a small, cute, two-bedroom bungalow, with an attached garage, and a decent sized backyard.

"I like it." We tossed our coats on the couch, and without preamble, our lips were devouring each other.

I walked backward, pulling Lachlan with me. Through the living room, past the kitchen, down the hallway, into the master bedroom. I broke away from him long enough to turn on one of the small bedside lights. I wanted to see him. I didn't want darkness.

His blue eyes were blazing intently on me, his gaze barely registering his surroundings. He tugged at the top button of my shirt, sliding it through the hole, then did the rest, until my shirt was hanging open. At least he hadn't ripped it, since this was one of my favorite shirts. I shoved it down and off my arms, my breathing fast and my chest heaving.

He leaned down, his teeth scraping over one of my nipples, and I nearly howled. Holy fuck, when had my nipples become so sensitive? He smiled against my skin, his teeth scraping and pulling, until the nub was pointed, and he pulled it into his hot mouth.

My knees buckled and he caught me with a strong arm around my waist. My back arched over his arm, pulling away from his teeth, wanting more but overly sensitive at the same time. He moved to my other nipple, and I closed my eyes against the onslaught of sensations, and just let myself feel.

Cool air ran over my thighs, as my slacks pooled around my ankles. When had Lachlan done that? He released my nipple, scraping his teeth down one side of my long neck. I arched into his mouth, wanting. More of something . More teeth. More pressure. Just more .

His sharp teeth nipped at my mating gland, and I didn't tense. A part of me screamed for him to sink down on it, to bite me, to mate me. To make me his. To claim me. Another part wanted to jerk my head away, in protest and horror. I honestly didn't know what I wanted him to do.

Lachlan picked me up and lightly tossed me onto my bed, and I landed on my stomach. Before I could flip myself over, his teeth were scraping over my cotton-clad ass. Big hands squeezed the mounds, massaging and pulling at them. My boxer briefs were pulled down to mid-thigh, and my cheeks were parted, cool air fluttering over my hole. It was a vulnerable position, and I was completely at his mercy. My hole gushed slick, wanting to be filled.

By him. His fingers, his tongue, his cock. His knot.

"You have the prettiest hole." His words were guttural and made my face heat in a rare blush. "So pink, and tight and perfect." I couldn't remember anyone ever taking the time to admire my hole before .

He tossed my briefs off, and I spread my legs, pushing my ass up higher towards him. He tongued my balls and I shuddered. His tongue, wet and hot, licked at my crease, sliding over my hole, and I purred. A loud purr rumbled from deep inside me. I couldn't recall a time I had purred when I wasn't shifted.

Then I couldn't think at all.

Lachlan chuckled against my ass cheek, the sound vibrating across my skin. I reached an arm out and snagged a pillow, pushing it under my hips, forcing my ass closer to his face. I could feel his hot breath ghosting over my rosebud.

Lachlan lapped at me, the sensitive nerves bursting to life before his tongue breached me completely. I screamed into the pillow as he fucked me with his tongue, making incoherent noises I'd never heard myself make before.

He'd come up for air every few minutes, and his words fell over my skin in breathless pants. "So good." "Fuck you taste so good." "I could eat you forever." "Gonna make you cum with just my tongue."

His tongue plunged back into me, and my mind whited out. I was floating, every muscle in my body relaxed, my brain mush. I made sounds like a wounded animal, shoving my ass into his face, demanding more.

More. More. I wanted to come, and I never wanted this delicious torture to end.

Helpless to stop it, I shot thick ropes of cum onto the bedspread beneath me. His tongue lapped at me, poking in and out, making me a mewling mess. I'd come without him touching my cock.

I felt him grin against one plump ass cheek, nipping it lightly. I lay on the bed, a sweaty, panting mess, loudly gulping in oxygen, trying to remember my name .

When my breathing had slowed to an almost normal range, he flipped me over, his blue eyes intent, pupils blown. Standing, he stripped his clothes off, while all I could do was watch. There was something dirty and primal, being naked with him still completely dressed.

I wanted this man like I'd never wanted anyone. Ever. My whole body felt boneless, yet my cells were jumping with electricity.

I wanted him .

This alpha.

I wanted him to be my alpha.

I wanted to be his. Completely.

Mate , my cat nudged me.

Naked, Lachlan slid his long, heavy, hairy body over mine. My brain had started to function once more, and I rolled us, pushing until he was flat on his back. I sat up on him, my thighs straddling his. His big, thick cock nestled in my sopping ass crack. I circled his wrists, pulling his arms over his head. I put pressure on them, forcing them down into the pillow, gauging his reaction. Fire flared in his blue depths. His cock jumped, throbbing against me, his leaking pre-cum puddling between us.

I bent my head, my lips near his ear, barely nipping the lobe. "You like that? You like being under me? You like my hands holding you down? Because I like it."

His cock jumped again, his lids falling half-closed over his eyes, the tendons of his neck tight. His mouth let out the dirtiest moan I'd ever heard, and the sound went straight to my cock, until it was standing at attention.

"I want to tie you up," I whispered in his ear, sucking his ear lobe hard. Might as well put my cards on the table. I'd rather he ended things now than once I got attached .

"Fuck, yes," he gasped, his hands reaching out to grab the slats of the headboard without being told, and holding on tightly. "Do it. I want it. That. Yes."

Well, maybe Lachlan wasn't nearly as vanilla as he thought.

I reached over and opened my nightstand drawer, taking out the silk ropes I kept in there. They were gray and were just wide bands of soft material, but they got the job done. Not that I'd had much chance to use them. Leo had let me tie him once, before declaring he didn't like not "being in charge".

I brushed the material over Lachlan's chest, letting it slide over his skin. His eyes closed, his breathing harsh in the room. I bound him to the headboard, making sure it wasn't too tight.

"Open your eyes," I ordered, and he slow blinked at me. "See this knot? You pull hard on this, and it will release your wrists. You say yellow, we slow whatever we're doing, and talk about what you're feeling. You say red and everything stops, I untie you, no questions asked. Understand?"

He nodded, his pupils blown, bucking his hips up against me. If anything, his dick had gotten harder while I'd tied his arms above his head. He was leaking like a faucet, his cock twitching.

"Green," he garbled. "So fucking green."

I grinned. Vanilla, my ass. This man had kinks he didn't even know he had. It was going to be fun exploring them with him.

I moved my pert ass over his cock, rubbing against it. Sliding from the wetness pooled between us, my slick and his pre-cum. My mouth watered at the feel of it. I don't know what it was about pre-cum, but fuck, it turned me on. I loved it. The way it dripped, the way it tasted, salty and a little bitter. The powerful feeling it gave me, knowing I'd made him leak all over himself.

"Condom?" He groaned as silky skin met silky skin .

"I'm on birth control." I reminded him. "And we can't get STDs." That was one bonus of being a shifter. "I want to feel you. All of you. Your hot spunk painting my insides, and your knot."

I'd never gone bare with anyone, but this man was making me break all my self-imposed rules. I couldn't stand the thought of anything coming between us.

I'd never wanted a knot before, from anyone. I refused to let Leo knot me. There was something too intimate in the act for me. Plus, the whole ‘may cause babies' thing, was a turnoff, even though I was on birth control. I'd always lived with the motto of better safe than sorry. But one taste of Lachlan's knot filling me, stretching me, locking me to him, and it was all I wanted now.

I thought about it at the most bizarre times during the days, and more than once I'd had to lock myself in the bathroom at the bakery and try to quietly take care of my hard-on.

I sat up fully, straddling him, then raised up and reached behind me, encircling his cock. I lowered myself until his fat head was nudging my hole. I sank down on him, taking every thick inch of him at once. I didn't want to be bothered with prep. I was burning from the inside out and I needed him. I wanted to feel him, I wanted the burn from the stretch, the slight sting of pain that was oh so good.

He moaned, a sound from deep in his throat, and I moaned with him. Fuck he was big. I loved how his thick cock stretched me, the stinging burn perfect. Those moans that kept spilling from his mouth, raspy and deep. God, I was drunk on them. Each time he made the dirty sounds, it ramped my desire up higher. I made him make those sounds. I wanted to make him sound like that all the time .

Lachlan had his head thrown back, neck tight, arms pulling the ropes tightly. Muscles flexed beneath me, sweat beaded his skin. He was primal in his need, breath-stealing with his sheer beauty.

"You feel so good in my ass," I groaned, letting myself adjust to him. I was so full. I could feel him everywhere. "So big, stretching me so wide. I'm going to feel you into next week."

"Your ass is so tight, baby," he whispered, eyes slit in the glow of the lamp. "So hot around me. Like hot lava around my cock."

I'd never liked pet names, but falling from his lips they made me feel cherished. I moved then, raising myself up and sliding down on his length. His hips thrust up, as mine slid down. A few more of that, and then I shifted, moving the angle of his cock inside me, and he nailed my prostate straight on.

My vision whited out, and I saw stars. I rode him, his hips bucking wildly beneath me. I braced my hands on his broad chest, my fingers tangling in his thick, silky chest hair, holding on for dear life.

"Fuck!" I shouted. "Right there!"

My thighs were clenched tight around him, my muscles straining as I bounced myself on him, hard and fast. His hands were flexing, and I reached up and pulled on the knot, freeing him myself. I wanted his hands on me. I needed those big hands on me, grabbing me, bruising me.

Marking me as his.

He grabbed me around my waist, using hands and bulging biceps, to bounce me up and down on his cock to the rhythm he set. I didn't care who was leading this show any longer. I hung on and enjoyed the ride. My spine tingled, my ass filled with him, my prostate getting pegged on every thrust.

"Gonna come!" I screamed. His hand wrapped around my dripping cock. Pumping me, once, twice. I sprayed all over his chest and beyond, for the second time that night. My cum dripped off his chin onto his chest, and I leaned down and licked it, swallowing my own release.

Lachlan shoved me down on his cock with a bruising force, hard, holding me there. I felt his knot swell. He moved me up, down, up, like a rag doll. His knot caught my rim, locking us together. He shuddered beneath me, and let out a deep, raw groan. My insides filled with his blazing spunk.

I collapsed on his chest, my legs trembling, not caring that I was laying in the mess I'd made on him. I barely felt him gently push my legs down, so I was stretched out on top of him, locked with him.

His big hands massaged my shoulders, down my spine, over my ass, and up again. Our breathing was harsh, filling the room with the only sound. Both of us gulped in air, until our breathing quieted, evened out, and we both fell asleep, Lachlan still inside me.

I don't know how much time had passed when I woke up, but I was being petted, long fingers stroking through my silky fur. It made me arch my back, and a purr rumbled from my throat.

What the fuck?

I knew before I opened my eyes that I had shifted in my sleep. I couldn't remember the last time that had happened. It hadn't ever happened when I'd been sleeping next to someone. I had only ever shifted in my sleep when I was completely relaxed and comfortable in my surroundings.

Lachlan's hand was lightly stroking my black fur. I instantly shifted back into human form and saw that he was sound asleep. He'd been stroking me in his sleep, his lips turned up in a small smile. I had liked him petting me. I take that back. I loved it.

It scared the hell out of me. I felt like my world had been turned upside down, from the minute our hands had touched, and sparks had flown. This man was making me want things I'd never let myself want before .

I didn't believe in the whole fated mates thing, but something had happened between us from that first touch that I couldn't deny. His scent, his touch, just him being near me, made me feel alive. Made me feel, for the first time, that maybe I'd been missing something I hadn't known was missing. Making me feel like he was that missing piece.

It was as if something had shifted in me that day, all my pieces just seemed to fit , and my brain had whispered, "Oh, it's you. There you are."

I didn't have time for any of this nonsense, and I didn't want it. I needed to just nip this in the bud before this craziness went any farther. Before one of us got hurt.

Before you get hurt , I told myself, sighing.

I glanced at the clock. Two a.m. I had no idea what time we had fallen asleep, but he needed to go. Letting him stay the night was a bad idea. He'd think we were dating or something. One date did not a mate make. Letting any of this continue was a bad idea.

I wasn't what he wanted in a mate. I knew that.

He wanted a partner that I just couldn't be. He wanted the stay-at-home omega, and the have-all-the-babies omega. That wasn't ever going to be me, and there wasn't anything Fate could do to make me change my mind. Not even shoving a six-foot-five, mouth-wateringly sexy wolf in my lap, who ate ass like a God.

The sex was fantastic, and we'd had a good time at dinner before Leo had shown his face. I was starting to like Lachlan, at least the glimpses I saw of him. When he allowed himself to let himself just be himself. He was funny, sweet, and fierce when he'd needed to be. Protective , my cat whispered. But it wouldn't end well, and I knew it.

I wasn't going to change my mind on the things I wanted and didn't want. If I wasn't willing to change, I couldn't very well expect someone else to change either. Nope, I needed to remember my rules – the ones I'd had before Leo, and the ones I'd made after – and stick to them.

I slid out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweats from the floor near my dresser. Sliding them on, I took a moment to just gaze at the picture Lachlan made. Holy Fuck, Lachlan Sinclair was naked in my bed. He'd let me tie his hands to the bed, and he'd liked it. Scratch that, he had loved it. He was on his back now, one arm thrown over his forehead. The sheet was pushed down to that mouthwatering vee, and I could just see the beginning of his springy, dark curls poking out.

There was so much tanned, toned skin. His body was corded with beautiful muscles, and his stomach was a work of art. And that cock of his. That thing was magnificent. His face was soft in sleep, relaxed. He was one of the most stunning creatures I'd ever seen.

Desire swirled in my gut, and my cock plumped up. Heat rushed through my body, and I felt myself grow damp with slick. Yep, he had to go. Now.

Moving to his side of the bed, I poked at his arm with a finger. "Hey."

Nothing. Not a twitch from him.

Poke, poke.

"Hey." Louder this time.

He moved a little, stretching and grumbling.

A hard poke to his chest.

"Time to go."

He blinked owlishly at me, squinting, his hair a dark mess on his head. "What? What time is it?"

"Time for you to go." I reached down and thrust his shirt at his chest, snapping my fingers. "Chop chop."

He glared at me, sitting up. "What the fuck, Quinn? "

He ran his hands through his hair, making the short strands stick straight up. I grabbed one of his socks, and his pants and thrust them at him. "It's late, I'm good, and it's time for you to go."

He stared at me hard, while I busied myself looking for his briefs and missing sock. Fuck all if I knew where they were.

"Are you kidding me right now?" he growled.

I stood up from where I'd been crouched, peering under the bed. "No, I'm not kidding. I need some sleep."

"We were sleeping before you poked me awake." Sure, hit me with logic. I knew I was being anything but logical right now, but I didn't care.

I could not let this go on any further.

"Look I need to get up in a couple of hours, and I've got things to do, so…." I made a shooing motion at him, the universal sign for let's get a move on.

He rubbed a hand over his face, scrubbing hard. "I thought we'd get up later, have a shower, some breakfast, maybe spend some more time together. Get to know each other more."

I snorted. "Yeah, none of that is happening. I mean, all of it is happening, but not with you. Not today. Time to go."

He tossed the sheet aside angrily, and yanked his pants on, shoving his legs in with jerky movements. "You're being an asshole right now."

I shrugged. "I am kind of an asshole." I wasn't going to disagree with him. He was right.

He stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt. "You're not though. I don't know what this is." He waved a hand between us. "But it's not who you are."

"It's exactly who I am," I bit out. "Better you see that now, before this…thing…goes any farther. We are not suitable, not really."

He stomped out, without looking back. The force with which my front door slammed made me flinch. I sank down into the bed, wrapping myself in the sheets that smelled like us. That smelled like him. Something pierced my chest, some emotion I couldn't name, making me ache.

"Ugh!" I shouted into the darkness, slamming my fists into the mattress, shaking it. Causing our mingled scents to swirl in the air. "What the fuck was that , Quinn?"

Why did I feel like complete shit right now? Yes, Lachlan was mad, but there was no way I could miss the hurt shining in his blue eyes either. My stomach churned with it. Everything in me wanted to run out into my driveway after him. To call him and beg him to come back, and wrap me up in his arms, and stroke my skin again. To make me feel small and safe, and wanted .

All of these feelings were foreign to me, new and unexpected and terrifyingly real. It was confusing as hell, and I knew I was acting like a crazy person.

"You are acting like a crazy person, Quinn Rafferty," I whispered in the darkness of my bedroom. "A complete psycho." I swallowed around the bile that threatened to come up from my stomach and moaned into my pillow. All these emotions, and feelings were making me an anxiety-riddled, stressed-out mess.

I hardly ever brought a random hook up to my place, so I was never bothered by telling them it was time to leave. Lachlan leaving felt so different. Empty, and like I was missing a part of myself. Like he was the missing puzzle piece I hadn't even known I was missing.

The wounds Leo had left me with were still raw, and I didn't know if I had the strength to go through any of it again. His betrayal had stung, but for all the wrong reasons. My instincts had been spot on with him, and I should have listened to my gut. For a minute, I'd wanted a taste of what I saw others have, to maybe settle down and make a life with someone. But Leo hadn't really wanted me, he'd wanted what he thought I would have in my bank account in a few months. It all had left me with a bad taste in my mouth, trust issues, and self-doubt.

My brain wasn't wired the same as most omegas. I'd never had a desire to settle down with an alpha, to have babies, to give so much of myself to another person. I didn't even like to cuddle or hold hands, or any of that mushy shit.

I was the worst omega in history, and I was okay with that. Until Lachlan had burst into my life. Making me want things, knowing I was so far from what he wanted.

I sighed, flopping on my pillow like a fish thrown to the shore. Resisting the urge to reach over and snag the pillow Lachlan had been using, just to fall asleep with his scent in my nose.

I wouldn't do it. Who did that? Who sniffed the sheets after you'd fucked someone?

Apparently, I did.

I grabbed the pillow he had used, and brought it to my face, inhaling his scent. The smell of him filled my senses, citrus and musk and a scent that was all him . It immediately cured the churning in my stomach, filling me with a sense of warmth, and rightness . I wasn't washing these sheets for a week. I wanted to come home and roll around in the smell of him until it faded to nothing. A fission of need snaked down my belly, shooting straight to my cock. Blood rushed to it, plumping, and hardening it.

I stroked my hard cock, my hand running up my length, then down. Adding a twist to the head, on the upward slide. I closed my eyes, head turned into the pillow, breathing in his scent, remembering his hands on me. The words he had whispered against my skin. His tongue touching me in my most intimate place, his cock filling me, his knot stretching me .

Locking us as one.

I came hard, my breathing harsh in the quiet of the room, scalding ropes of cum covering my belly. I lay panting, drifting in the bliss for a minute, before wiping my hand on the sheet, and falling into a dreamless sleep.

The blaring of my alarm clock had me groaning. I was supposed to be at Gigi's in an hour.

It was our Sunday thing, as she called it. It was really me showing up with a boatload of her favorite cookies, while she held court in the main rec building of her retirement community.

I could complain all I wanted, but I did love spending a couple of hours each week in my grandmother's company. She was a cool old lady, feisty as hell, and I adored her with every cell of my body.

I just wanted to keep dozing, though. Basking in the scents of Lachlan, and me, mixed together. Next week was going to be beyond busy for the bakery, and I was still groggy and nursing a slight headache.

But I knew Gigi would be on the phone, calling me if I didn't arrive on time. If I was even ten minutes late, she was calling me. I groaned, stretching my aching limbs. I could spare a couple of hours for her. It would probably do me good anyway. She and her gaggle of girls, as they liked to be called, were a hoot to hang with. They always had me laughing and blushing, and I always left there with a smile on my face.

I had just thrown on a pair of raggedy sweats, after a quick shower to wash off all the dried cum from my hair and body, when someone decided it was a good idea to pound on my front door. It sounded like a damn swat team was on my front porch. Annoyed, I yanked my door open.

Lachlan standing there, holding a big white bakery box, was the last thing I'd expected to see.