Chapter 25 - Hanson

Hanson was entirely unable to relax until Eddie finally left the room. Even with the brother's blessing, it didn't feel as if they were ever going to get along again. Truly, he had no idea how it had come to be like this. Even before Elena had first shown up in Nightstar, Eddie had started to be odd. In fact, it had been since their first dealing with Christopher's pack.

A shiver ran down Hanson's spine. Surely, Eddie couldn't believe he had anything to do with Christopher or his men? Yes, he knew of the guy from the old pack, they had been packmates, but back then it hadn't been a community as it was now. It had practically been a case of every wolf for himself, and he had only ever run into Christopher a handful of times.

"What is the matter?" Elena asked, pulling Hanson onto the bed by his hand. "Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I am," Hanson blurted, sliding onto the bed to wrap his arm around her and pull her close. "It's just, I don't understand why he has such a problem with me."

"I wouldn't take it personally if I were you," Elena said, shrugging her slender shoulders. "Eddie is just Eddie. Anyone would think he was a she-wolf with the way his moods shift."

She laughed at that and when Hanson didn't, she hooked her finger under his chin and forced him to look at her.

"I just…I don't want this to start on the wrong foot," Hanson said, his own shoulders slumping.

Elena cocked her head and furrowed her brow. "Don't you think that ship has sailed?"

At that, Hanson did give a half-laugh. "I guess you're right, but from this point forward, I intend to put only the right foot forward!"

Elena pecked him on the cheek, and when she pulled back again, she was smiling ear to ear. "That is all anyone can ask of you."

Hanson pressed his lips to her head as she laid it upon his chest. Holding her like this, merely being near her, was enough to send a thrill through his entire body. Her closeness relaxed him in a way he had never felt before.

That was, until she pulled her head up again and looked him in the eye as she said, "Can I ask you something?"

Though he knew he might come to regret it, he said, "Anything."

"Before you arrived, Eddie…um…he said something about your having a dark past?" Elena said, and Hanson's entire body stiffened. He knew she had felt it when she added, "I guess that's a yes."

How am I supposed to tell this wonderful woman all of the awful things I have had to do to survive? Hanson thought, bile rising in his throat as he remembered all the beatings he had given, all the money he had practically stolen, all the people whose lives he had failed to save before Jack and the others arrived.

"I'm not proud of it," Hanson said, lowering his gaze, unable to look her in the eye, "But yes."

"What happened?"

That was the worst question of all. Hanson wasn't sure he could put into words all that had happened.

Sucking in a deep breath, he said, "I could try and sugar coat it by saying that everything I did, I did to protect those I cared about, but even that doesn't let me sleep at night." He paused and took another breath before he added, "Back in the old pack, I…I was one of Karl Ryker's…I guess you'd say most trusted. He gave the order, and I did it. I guess you could say I was the lesser of two evils. It was better me than one of the other guys."

Elena's gaze darkened. "What do you mean?"

"If I was ordered to give a beating, I knew when to stop in order not to"—he gulped hard before finishing—"kill anybody. I knew just how far to go to make it look real for Karl's sake but do what I could for whoever the victim was."

Elena cringed at that, and Hanson feared she would never look at him the same again. "If it was so bad, why didn't anybody do anything about it before Jack and the others came to town?"

"From what I've heard from Eddie of your original pack, your alpha wasn't the nicest guy, either," Hanson pointed out, raising his brow. Then, he bit his tongue. Of course he wasn't, the guy had killed her last mate. "Elena, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up."

The pain in her gaze was clear, but she leaned up to him and kissed him gently. "It's all in the past. We have our future to look forward to now."

Relief washed over Hanson in a way he had never felt before. He gripped hold of Elena's face in his hand and held her close, kissing her more passionately until she pulled back just enough to whisper against his lips, "Take me home."

There was nothing that Hanson wanted to do more than that, and so he did. Even at her protests, Hanson picked Elena up from the bed, thanked Layla and Violet on the way out, and carried her all the way up the hill to the manor.

In fact, he didn't let her feet touch the floor once as he carried her right the way up the stairs to his room and laid her down gently on the bed.

"You know, I could have walked," she protested for about the hundredth time even though it was far too late for that.

"You could have, but why would I let you when you are clearly still injured?" Hanson demanded, kicking off his boots to slip onto the bed beside her.

"I'm fine," Elena protested yet again, and Hanson rolled his eyes.

"Of course you are."

"I'm fine," Elena repeated through gritted teeth. She grabbed hold of his face in both her hands then and pulled him close, kissing him before she growled, "And I'll prove it."

Shock rushed through Hanson when she slid her hand down his chest and lower still, gripping his manhood firmly.

"Fuck! Elena, no!" Hanson snapped, grabbing hold of her hand to pull it away. "You're still recovering."

But she continued to rub her body against his, her hand fighting to grip hold of him again.

"Hanson, I need you," she growled, kissing him again. "We almost died last night. I need you right now."

Hanson couldn't exactly argue with that. He released her hand, groaning when she rubbed his cock through his jeans. His own need took over, and in quick succession they stripped each other bare, their lips never separating for more than a couple of seconds at a time.

Lost in the moment, Hanson found himself atop her, his hands on either side of her face as he propped himself up on his elbows.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked through gritted teeth. If she turned him down now, he wasn't sure how he would handle it. "I don't want to hurt you."

Elena gripped hold of his buttocks then and urged him closer. "I'm a big girl. I think I can handle it."

"In that case," Hanson smirked, grabbing her hands to pull them up above her head. "I'm going to take my time with you."

He felt her quiver at his words, and a thrill ran through his own body. Her arousal smelled divine. He needed to taste her. He needed to please her as much as she pleased him. Kissing her gently, he moved his lips from hers, down her throat and onto her breasts. She moaned as he took first one nipple and then the other into his mouth, sucking each gently before he traveled lower still.

"Don't you dare move," he growled up to her as he kissed her sternum, her stomach, her lower abdomen. The smell of her was growing sweeter by the second.

"Hanson, please, I need you inside me," she moaned, never moving, though he could tell from the tension in her body that she was having a hard time of it.

"We almost died last night," he reminded her, using her words against her. "I want to enjoy this."

He reached up and cupped her breast as he placed a kiss upon her inner thigh. Unable to hold back any longer, he dove right in, lapping at her slick, wet folds with the very tip of his tongue.

Teasingly, he moved in circles, tasting every inch of her. She was delicious, sweet and salty and seductive. The scent of her in his nostrils was intoxicating, and he lost himself in the sounds of her moaning. The sound of her fingers gripping hold of the pillow on either side of her head only urged him on further, and soon he felt her thighs tightening around his head. She was close.

Pausing, he whispered against her skin, "That's it. Cum for me, baby."

And she did, she came, moaning even louder than before as her sweet nectar began to flow more freely. But Hanson didn't let up. He continued to lick, suck and nibble gently until she came over and over again.

It was only when she appeared utterly spent that he finally eased off, kissing first one thigh and then the other.

"That's a good girl," he said, kissing her thigh one more time before gliding back atop her.

He was rock-hard now, so hard in fact that it was bordering on painful. Her moaning had enticed him. He wanted to hear more. He needed to hear more. But even more than that, he needed to be inside her, to feel her cumming all over his cock.

"Are you ready for me, baby?" he asked, nuzzling his nose against hers.

She looked up at him with dazed, pleasure-filled eyes and nodded, lifting her head wearily to kiss him. "Please, I need you inside me."

Hanson was more than happy to oblige.

Ever so gently, he slipped himself inside her. She gave a little gasp as he did, and he forced himself still, allowing her body to grow used to his invasion before he started to thrust. It was one hell of a task. She felt so good that he could barely wait.

Gripping her hands once more above her head, he kissed her, making love as if she were the only woman he had ever made love to or ever would again. Putting all the passion he could into every thrust, every kiss, every groan, he made her cum over and over again until she was trembling and frantic beneath him.

"Oh, Hanson, please!" she screamed, her hands flying free of his grip to rake her fingernails down his back. "I need you to—"

But he cut her off as he growled, "Fuck, Elena, I'm going to cum!"

"Yes! Oh, yes, Hanson!" she screamed, and he growled deep in her ear as he spilled his seed deep inside her.