27. Celina

TWENTY-SEVEN

CELINA

Miles's hands roved all over my body. Every touch was electric. My own fingers traced lines across the muscles of his body. Our kisses were more urgent than ever before. Both of us knew what was happening, and we were both on the precipice, ready to crash over the edge.

Without warning, Miles scooped me into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me to the bedroom. He continued to kiss me, and my clit rubbed against the muscles of his stomach as he walked. I sighed into his mouth, the pleasure, a small sample of what was to come.

Treating me like I was weightless, he laid me on the bed and kissed my throat, moving down my body inch by inch. My breathing came in quick pants as his lips brushed across the mound of my breasts. Once I felt the slippery wetness of his tongue sliding across my nipple, I gasped and pressed my hips into his thigh, desperate for more. I'd never been so horny in my life.

I wanted him.

I needed him.

As he sucked at my nipple, sending waves of pleasure across my body and a tingle of heat down to my pussy, I reached down and took his throbbing cock in my hand. Miles grunted and looked up at me. We locked eyes all while he continued to lick and gently bite my nipple, and I stroked him. It was the most erotic few seconds of my life. My pussy was literally dripping wet.

Miles raised himself up and slid close to me, kneeling right between my legs, the thick heaviness of his cock resting in the cleft between my thigh and hips. My hands were shaking, and he caressed the skin on my stomach and breasts.

"Are you ready?" he whispered.

I nodded quickly, not trusting myself to speak. I swallowed to ease the dryness in my throat. I kept my gaze glued to him, and what he was doing. I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. So many years of waiting and wanting, all culminating in this moment. I was exhilarated, excited, and ready to explode.

He took hold of his cock and moved it downward. I held my breath as he slid the head back and forth across my clit. My eyes rolled back in my head. "Fuck," I hissed.

He teased me like that for what felt like an eternity, getting me close to coming before he even started. Static pleasure buzzed at the edges of my mind. Then, with no more warning, he slid his full length inside me. I raised myself up on my elbows, my jaw dropping open, my stomach muscles clenching. It was the most amazing sensation I'd ever experienced.

Looking down and seeing him buried inside me like that made my mind reel. Miles started slowly, moving in and out of me. I collapsed back on the bed, waves of ecstasy flowing up my body.

"Are you okay?" Miles whispered.

"Yes, oh fuck, yes," I whispered with a smile. Then I put my hands on his chest, wanting to feel him as he made love to me.

"Do you want me to move faster? I don't want to hurt you."

I nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. As fast as you want," I panted.

He took the cue and began thrusting into me. A groan escaped my lips. Every movement felt better than the last. It was everything I'd dreamed it would be, but better. I wrapped my hands behind his neck and pulled Miles down, kissing him hungrily. My nipples brushed his chest muscles, adding to the pleasure between my legs.

Miles's breathing quickened. He grunted, and his skin was glistening with sweat. He was getting close. So was I. That familiar sensation of climbing a mountain, the peak within, washed over me. My body tightened, preparing. I moved my hips in time with his. I wanted to come with him.

"Claim me," I whimpered.

His lips brushed my ear. "I'm going to come."

Hearing the words was enough. Knowing my body was giving him that much pleasure pushed me over the edge. An explosion of agonizingly intense rapture swept through me. I pulled him close, my mouth open in a silent scream, my nails digging into his back. Fireworks seemed to burst behind my eyelids. Then I felt his teeth pierce my flesh between my collar bone and shoulder. Miles shuddered and thrust his hips into me harder. I could feel his cock throb as he came. Somehow, the pain from the bite increased the pleasure from my own orgasm. I cried out, thrusting my hips against him as I came a second time.

Finally, both of us spent, we held each other. Miles rocked gently inside me, riding out the end of his orgasm. I lay there in his arms, gasping, staring at the ceiling, and grinning like a madwoman. Until I felt the next sensation. Warmth radiated from the bite across my body, and I suddenly felt like I wasn't alone with Miles. I glanced around the room but saw no one.

"Miles?"

He sat up, hearing the fear in my voice. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

I caressed his face. "No, no, no, it was amazing. So amazing. It's only, I think something else is happening."

"Oh shit? Are you serious?"

I nodded. "I feel like…there's something inside me."

He smiled at me. "It's okay. It's fine. It won't hurt you. Come on."

We got up, cleaned off, then got dressed. Every minute that went by, my body felt like it was seething with newfound energy. I sat on the couch and held my head in my hands. I didn't feel bad, but I was definitely experiencing something weird. I was even getting flashes of emotions that I knew weren't entirely mine. It wasn't really the way I'd thought this would go. I'd sort of imagined snuggling with Miles and drifting off to sleep in his arms.

"All right, let's go," Miles said, grabbing our coats.

I glanced up. "Go where?"

He laid my coat on my legs and knelt in front of me. He took my hand and looked me in the eyes, smiling. "Let's go meet your wolf."

Once he said it, I knew he was right. My eyes widened as the thought finally sunk in. It was really happening. I was…becoming something else. The fear and exhilaration of losing my virginity was nothing compared to this. I was changing from a human to a being that, until a few weeks ago, I'd believed only existed in books.

I stood and followed Miles out the door without another word. He led me down to his truck and drove us out to the countryside. I breathed deeply as I sat in the passenger seat, my body caught in some strange combination of panic, fear, and excitement. Miles drove with his left hand and used his right to hold my hand. I tried to focus on the sensation of his skin on mine, but things were getting intense. By the time he pulled into a field on the outskirts of the park, I was on the verge of a full-blown anxiety attack.

Once the truck was in park, I opened the door and stepped out. The frigid winter air felt amazing, and it was then that I realized my skin was hot. I suppressed the urge to strip my clothes off and feel the breeze on my body. Instead, I walked out into the brown grass of the winter meadow and paced back and forth, breathing deeply.

Miles jogged over to me once he was out of the car. "It's okay, Celina. I know it's strange."

I looked at him and laughed. I didn't like the sound of the laugh. It was brittle, like I was on the edge of going crazy. "You can say that again. I…it's there inside me, getting stronger every second."

He nodded. "It's like it's being born. As anxious as you feel, it's feeling the same thing. Try to connect with it. Don't fight it or push it away, that will just freak you both out more. Calm down and make contact."

I released a shuddering breath and closed my eyes, trying to do what he said. I visualized my mind reaching out––tendrils of thought and emotion––toward the creature that was being born inside me. Tentatively, I felt it. My wolf was reaching toward me as well. Our minds and spirits intertwined, and things started to feel more…right. Before I even realized it, my breathing had calmed, and I was feeling more myself, though still markedly different.

"Better?" Miles asked.

I nodded, smiling hesitantly. I didn't trust myself to speak yet. I opened my eyes and was surprised to find that the colors of the valley were brighter, more pronounced, and I could have sworn that I could hear and smell more than I had before I'd closed my eyes. Was I already changing?

Miles stepped closer and took my hands. "You need to shift. Visualize yourself as the wolf. Relax and let go. You are one being, but when you shift, you have to give yourself over to the wolf."

I tried what he said, but it was difficult. I'd always been so insulated from the world. I'd spent my whole life being tense and on edge, terrified to do what he'd just said. Letting go wasn't easy. As several minutes went by, the wolf got more anxious to come out.

Miles reached up and stroked my cheek. "Let go, Celina. You can do this. You can do anything."

I looked into his eyes, and I believed him. He was telling the truth. He knew what I was capable of. I took one last deep breath and relaxed. A wave of heat cascaded across my body—not unpleasant—and then an instant of dizziness. I closed my eyes and felt my body changing. I tried to tense, afraid of what was happening, but I'd already crossed the point of no return. The wolf surged forward and altered my body. I'd been so scared that it would hurt, but all I experienced was a release of tension so great that I almost sobbed. When I opened my eyes again, Miles was kneeling beside me, running his fingers through my fur.

I looked down at myself and saw my body was that of a wolf. It was real. I'd changed. I was a shifter. I tried to laugh, but all I did was yip out a weird little bark.

"I'm so proud of you," Miles said. "Do you want to go for a run?"

I nodded and pawed at his chest. Miles grinned and shifted. His change was much more fluid and quicker than mine. I was sure I'd get the hang of it before long. He nodded his shaggy head and nuzzled my face. I sprinted across the clearing and back again, until I joined him. We ran and played in the grass. I'd been a child the last time I played like that. Miles nudged me, licked my face, and ran toward the tree line. I followed, feeling more free than I'd ever felt in my life.

A couple hours later, we got back to the apartment. Between the sex, the shift, and the run, I was more exhausted than I'd ever been in my whole life. I got out of his truck and was having a hard time even keeping my eyes open.

Miles came around the front of the truck and put an arm around me. "Tired?"

"Bone-tired." I sighed.

He nodded. "It'll be like that the first few times you shift. It's a lot for your body. It's sort of like exercise. It gets easier after a while."

I stopped in my tracks, grabbing Miles's arm and putting my other hand on my stomach. I looked at him. "Do you feel that?" I asked. It was like an ache in my body but somehow emanating from ahead of us.

"What do you…" Before he could finish, his nose flared, and he sniffed. Recognition flashed in his eyes. He growled low in his chest and turned.

I looked to where he was staring. From behind the stairwell, Felicity emerged. I'd never noticed it before, but now? I could almost see a sinister aura emanating off her. I still wasn't great with scents yet, but something about her smelled…bad. My wolf knew she wasn't what she said she was. Now I could see why Miles had always acted so strange around her.

Felicity walked toward us, a look of disgust and derision on her face as she looked back and forth between us. "Celina, I really hoped I still had time to talk to you before this dog mounted you. I guess I underestimated him." She shook her head slowly. "I can see how you are with him now. You're tainted, aren't you? Did you let this animal shove his filthy inhuman cock inside you?" She tilted her head and locked her eyes on mine. "I truly did want to spare you from the same fate he'll suffer."

"Why are you here?" Miles growled.

Ignoring him, Felicity went on. "I'm being honest when I say that. I hated Emily from the start. Why did the curse have to harm innocent women? I even argued against it to my—to our leader. Now it's too late, because I can basically smell the dog on you, Celina. You're my enemy now."

Miles pointed at her. "Your leader? You mean your father, Mariana? Is Antonio here, too?"

There was only a moment of surprise in her eyes before the sanctimonious smile returned. "It's good you know the truth. It lets you know that I really am untouchable. You can't fight us. My father would burn this town to the ground if anything happened to me. We've been playing it easy with you. If you touch me? None of you are safe, and that includes your loved ones." Felicity leaned toward Miles and pouted her lips. "Does that make you mad, little wolfy?"

Felicity's smile slid away as she looked at something behind us. I could sense a presence, and turned to see the same man that had been in the restaurant—Felicity's supposed bodyguard.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Felicity spat.

He shrugged. "Orders from the boss."

"I'm handling this," Felicity growled.

"You aren't handling shit."

Rage washed over Felicity's face. "How. Fucking. Dare. You?"

I couldn't help but feel awkward. Being stuck between two people having an argument was bad enough, but it was much worse when both people wanted to kill you and your new boyfriend. I glanced back and forth as she spat insults. It was a little like watching a tennis game.

The bodyguard pointed at her. "You're a public figure. Before you pushed the old man to put you to work, all you did was strut that ass around and have your picture taken at parties and suck movie-star dick. For whatever reason, Antonio doesn't want the girl touched. The same rule he'd had for April Knight. Ryland couldn't stop thinking with his dick, so that got fucked. My job is to make sure you don't fuck things up like he did."

Felicity's face was nearly crimson now. I could tell she wasn't used to anyone talking to her the way this man was. "Listen, you little fuck?—"

He held up a hand, cutting her off. "I came into that café to tell this bitch"—he pointed at me, and I suddenly understood why Felicity seemed to hate him so much—"to get her ass out of town. That was supposed to be your job, which you obviously failed at." He looked at Miles and me and shook his head. "As can be seen by the happy couple here." He pointed at me again. "The boss still doesn't want any harm to come to you, but he's not going to protect a shifter. Get the fuck out of town. You stay? You're as good as dead. You leave? You buy yourself time. One day we'll kill all of you, but maybe you'll get lucky and live out your days. Either way, you've got a target on your back."

Miles snarled at him, growling in a rage I'd never seen before. The bodyguard ignored Miles and turned to go. He called back over his shoulder to Felicity. "Mariana, your assignment is done. Let's get you home."

"Fuck you!" Felicity screamed. As angry as she was, she still followed him. She shoved past the two of us and stomped toward the man.

Something about the guy seemed off to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe a new sense that came with being a shifter that I hadn't mastered yet, but there was definitely something about the guy that seemed weird. We watched the two walk away. I didn't relax until I saw them drive away in a dark blue sedan. I glanced over at Miles and saw he was still staring after them, stiff as a board, fists clenched, and a confused look on his face.

"Did you feel something weird coming from that dude?" he asked.

I nodded. "I kinda thought it was just me."

"Things at the café happened too fast the other day, and I thought I noticed it then, but I wasn't sure. Then everything happened. But...no…that can't be."

"What? What is it?"

He shook his head and furrowed his brow. "I'm not certain, but I think that bodyguard might be a shifter."