Chapter 17

Harlow

Nine lovers.

Perhaps I didn't feel quite so bad about my current predicament.

Once again seated on the cliff side, I lay back in the grass and closed my eyes against the sun's warmth. I never spent much time outside the city as a kid, and there was a part of me that wondered what it would have been like to grow up in a coven like this. Melisande had problems here, sure, but her community was there for her. She had so much love and support from the people around her… Was that something I could have?

My head spun, the same troubles circling my mind like they were working shifts tormenting me: the quest, my family's apparent curse, Ranto and the mate bond, Kylen…

A shadow passed across my sunlight, stealing the warmth from my face before Melisande's diary was tugged from my hand.

"Hey!" I rolled to my feet and scowled at Bruin. "Give that back."

He studied the cover of the book like it held some kind of secret. Maybe the asshole didn't know how to read. Using his distraction, I surged forward, intent on retrieving it, but he simply held it above his head like a schoolyard bully.

"Come and get it."

Despite our height difference, I tried to reach his hand and achieved little more than putting a nasty smile on his face. My chest bumped into his as I pulled on his arm, pointedly ignoring the flex of his mouth-watering biceps. Losing patience, I planted both hands on his pecs and pushed. Frustration filled me when he barely took a half step back, but then his hand shot out, wrapping tightly around my throat as he pulled me into a punishing kiss.

Fuck. Him.

Ripping my mouth from his, I reared back and slapped him across the cheek. Then, like I couldn't stop myself, I gripped his jaw and drew him into a kiss that was all teeth and tongue.

Responding to my violence with the same energy, he palmed my ass and encouraged me to wrap my legs around his hips. I felt possessed. Like someone else was driving my body as I fought him for control.

"I hate you," I growled into his mouth as I rubbed against him like a bitch in heat, unable to get the leverage I needed.

"I'll see you dead, but not before I take all your pleasure. This little pussy is weeping just for me. How much does that fact make you burn?"

Without warning, he dropped my legs and carried us both down to the grass.

"I bet you won't even put up a fight while I fuck you right out here in the open. You want the others to see how you melt for the big, bad biker. How well you're going to ride my cock. Don't you, witch?"

I growled at him, desperate for him to shut up despite the way his words made my head light and my panties drenched.

"Are you going to shut the fuck up and follow through? Or are you all talk? I'm more than happy to give your mouth something to do, although I'm sure your little biker tongue can't do to me what Ranto did last night."

At the mention of his competition, Bruin scowled, reaching for my t-shirt and whipping it over my head before I could protest. Not that I was in the mood to do more than goad him.

"I'll show you what this biker tongue can do." He lowered his head and bit my nipple through the lace of my bra, pulling off quickly with a suspicious look in his eye. Using both hands, he slid the straps off my shoulders and sucked a breath in through his teeth at the sight of my nipples, complete with titanium bars through the tip of each one.

"Fuck me," he groaned, attacking first one, then the other with his tongue.

"Kinky, but I was hoping it would be the other way around, at least for today."

"I swear to God, if I wasn't so intent on getting you on my cock, I'd gag you with it. You'd look so pretty with tears in your eyes while you silently begged me for air."

I flipped him off, and he bit down hard on my nipple in retaliation.

"Hurry up and get your pants off. Hopefully, you're big enough that I can ride you reverse cowgirl, so I don't have to look at your face."

I stripped naked as he sneered down at me before following my lead. It was a power trip to be so horrible to him, and I hated to admit that seeing his reaction was doing it for me. I rose to my knees, ready to take over the next part of the proceedings, but he flipped me back beneath him and pinned me with his hips.

"One small problem with that, Sparky. There's no way you're taking charge here." He lowered his lips until they brushed against the shell of my ear. "And when you come harder than you ever have in your life, it'll be my name on your lips and no doubt left in your mind that I'm the one inside you."

I shivered as he moved between my legs, notching his head at my entrance before he paused.

"Are you on birth control?"

I'd been on the pill for years, but it didn't stop me asking, "What if I said I wasn't?"

His grin was downright wicked as he rocked his hips, sliding his length through my arousal.

"Then it's lucky you won't live long enough to worry about motherhood."

Before I could curse him out, he thrust into me in one long stroke, and I lost all sense of reason. It was the only explanation for why I raked my fingernails down his back, letting out a scream that could have been heard from the other side of town.

Bruin set a hard pace, sliding almost all the way out before pounding into me while I hooked my heels around his ass and encouraged him to go harder.

"Is that all you've got?" I gritted between my teeth as he hit a spot so deep inside me it bordered on painful. His smirk was devastating as he lowered his head, pulling hard on my nipple piercing with his teeth.

"Fuck!" I screamed, enjoying the bite of pain as he released his hold and reached between us to rub my clit.

"I'm close, and there's no way in hell I'm going without you. Now tell me what you need to get there."

"More," I whimpered, having no clue what I meant by it. But Bruin seemed to.

He bit down on my clavicle, sucking hard. "You're wearing my mark now. Everyone will see it and know what a dirty little whore you've been for the man who is going to kill you. Your mutt will know that you may be his mate, but you'll always belong to me."

I hated the words, but my body seemed to disagree as overwhelming pleasure exploded through me. A keening cry left my lips as my back bowed, and I dug my nails deep into his shoulders to ground myself. With a deep grunt, Bruin stilled above me, his breath stuttering as he followed me into bliss. As awareness returned, I felt the itch of the grass beneath me, and the weight of a man I was supposed to hate above. A slippery stickiness slid down my leg from the place we remained joined.

What had I just done?

I'd heard of hate sex before, but this was ridiculous. And worse than the knowledge that I shouldn't have done what we just did was the sense of rightness that settled in my bones. My power buzzed contentedly beneath my skin, stronger at all the points our bodies touched, like a dog waiting for its master's attention. As my brain started to work overtime with all the new anxieties that came with hooking up with another man, Bruin's phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"Don't you need to get that?" I didn't even care if it was his MC telling him to end me. It would give me the excuse to get away from him and process what just happened.

"Not even a little bit." His voice was muffled from where he lay half smothered in my boobs.

When he showed no sign of moving, I slid out from under him, grimacing at the mess he'd left between my thighs, and began to dress.

A small chuckle burst out of Bruin where he lay motionless on the grass, and it wasn't until I lost patience and kicked him that he slowly turned over, revealing a huge grin splitting his face. The expression startled me, seeing this always-surly guy grinning. Not smirking, not sarcastic, but genuinely amused.

"What?" I asked, fidgeting with my shirt.

"You have a hate kink."

I huffed, rolling my eyes as I finished straightening my clothing.

"No, no. I'm here for it. Honestly, it was fucking beautiful seeing you come undone like that. In fact, I can't wait to do it again."

I wanted to face palm. Maybe find a time machine and go back to tell my past self it wasn't worth the hassle. Instead, I retrieved Melisande's journal from the ground and straightened to my full height.

"That is never happening again."

His sliced eyebrow rose as I turned on my heel, heading back toward town. I pretended not to hear his parting comment. "We both know that's a lie."

It was totally a lie.

Dammit.