20. Kezia

Cannon tooka step back from me, and I stopped myself from reaching out to grab him. Pull him closer. Biting the inside of my cheek, I watched him warily as he took another step back.

"You're going the wrong way," I joked. "I think you need to be closer, right? To do this?"

"You want me to fuck you here and now?" Green eyes full of heat and passion watched me. The only emotion on his face was in his eyes as he watched me doubt myself. With a snort, Cannon looked away from me. "That's what I thought."

Turning, he walked away from me.

"Yes!" My heart was beating out of my chest. Dear Luna, what was happening right now? Rubbing my chest, hoping to ease my racing heart, I took a step towards him, and Cannon didn't move. "I do." Swallowing hard, I reached for him tentatively. "We've been skirting around it. You want me, I know you do." Pointing over my shoulder, I gestured to the rock face he'd just held me against. "You said you were sure…" Forcing myself to remain calm, I watched him watch me. "But you doubt me. You doubt that I'm sure, right?"

Cannon moved a few steps toward me. "Kezia…"

"Were you testing me?" I asked quietly. "Did you think I would run screaming?" I waved my hands by my face like a woman panicking as I rolled my eyes.

He snorted out a laugh at my teasing tone. "I didn't expect you to say…what you said," he admitted. He looked like he was struggling to find the right words. "Confirmation that you felt the attraction too, without your heat riding your senses, was what I was seeking. Not an invite to lie down and fuck you."

"Oh." My throat was so dry. He looked like a god standing there. His dark hair, chiseled features, and deep green eyes saw past every defense I had and saw everything that I tried to hide.

I didn't need a heat to know I was attracted to him. I didn't need a mate bond to want him. My nerves were strung too tight, but I knew what I desired. "Who said anything about lying down?"

The distance between us was closed quickly, and he was in front of me, his nostrils flared once, no doubt scenting my need. Cannon's hand rested lightly between my breasts, and with a gentle push, he walked me back a few paces to the rock face once more. He surrounded me. With the warmth radiating from him and just his sheer size, it was as if I was enclosed. Once more in a cage with him, but this confinement I didn't want free from.

"Cannon?"

The alpha moved even closer to me. There was no part of my body I couldn't feel him touching. My breath was coming in ragged gasps, my heart was thumping, and I knew I needed to calm down because the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was scared.

Cannon's head lowered, and his hand cupped my face, the other above me, his palm flat against the rock, holding his body slightly from mine. He tilted my head so he could speak in my ear.

"Do you want me to fuck you, Kezia?" he asked me, his tone low, the need in his voice evident. "Here? Now?" A sharp bite to my earlobe made me jump, and his dark chuckle did something wicked inside me. "You want it right now, don't you?" He drew back a little, his eyes searching mine for any doubts.

"I do."

His lips were just out of reach—if I stretched, I could reach him—but the way the alpha was looking at me held me in place, and I suddenly realized Cannon was holding onto his control as much as I was.

Maybe more.

The feeling empowered me. Any nerves I had left were gone. The alpha wanted me, and he was scared to let go. Reaching out, I caught his belt and pulled him impossibly closer so that he was pinning me in place. Keeping eye contact, I slipped my hand under his shirt and let my fingers stroke lightly over his abs. The ridged bumps made my fingers dip into the grooves of his body as I relished the feel of the smooth hard muscle beneath my touch.

Suddenly, his hand flattened over mine, stopping my upward journey, the shirt material the only thing that separated us.

His mouth moved to mine, almost touching, but not quite. He was so close to me that I could almost taste him. I yearned to taste him.

"We do this," he whispered, his lips against mine, "we could seal the bond."

We could?

"But I'm not in heat."

"But you are my mate."

We could seal the bond. We could be stuck with each other, for the rest of our lives. Wolves lived long fucking lives. I would be his and he would be mine.

Forever.

Shit.

Cannon held my stare, and all I could feel was our beating hearts, hammering in our chests, and I knew it didn't matter. He was as far gone as I was.

"This isn't a trick?" I asked him stupidly. "To bond me to you?"

"You're already mine, pup."

My tummy flipped over itself.

His tongue flicked out to wet his bottom lip, and I followed the movement before raising my eyes to meet his.

I don't know who moved first. Me or him. Cannon's hands were on me, pulling at my clothes as I tugged at his with equal desperation. He leaned back, his shirt pulled up and discarded to the side, and then he was pressing me back against the hard rock.

Hands cupped my ass, and he lifted me off the ground, my legs wrapping around his waist in a move that was becoming familiar to us both. How many times had we been in this position now? Him taking over and me hitched around his hips, urging him to take control. I felt his cock press against me, right where I needed to feel him, and his hips ground against me once, causing my nails to dig into his smooth taut back.

He drew back again, hooded eyes searching mine, checking I was okay. I was more than okay. Heat raced through my veins but not the heat I was used to. The uncontrollable desire that rode my sense of self wasn't there.

I was in control. Cannon's mouth moved over my neck.

Fuck. I was not in control.

Not at all.

But this wasn't the same heat as before. The mindless need to be consumed by him.

This was much worse.

This was desire.

Longing.

His mouth covered mine and I kissed him back as he took ownership of my mouth. My fingers curled into his thick dark hair, and I felt his hands at my waist, pulling at my leggings. Cannon stepped back to allow room for my legs to unhook from his waist, and he watched as I hastily pushed my leggings down, stepping out of them, kicking them out of the way.

His gaze flicked between my panties and my eyes once before the alpha gripped the material and tugged them free. The sting of pain as the material was ripped from me was gone the second he cupped me, his finger sliding over my wetness.

"Fuck," he hissed against my mouth.

Tilting my head back, I groaned when his large finger slipped inside as his thumb circled my clit once, causing me to whimper.

His jeans were rough against my skin, and I wanted them gone. Popping open his button, I popped the others free, my hand sliding in the opening, finding him bare and harder than the rock behind me.

Teeth bit my shoulder as I took hold of him and pulled him out. "Kezia," he mumbled as I began to slowly work his length. The longing in his voice caused me to squeeze him slightly, and he jerked his hips forward, making my hand move quicker.

"You want me to move faster?" I whispered against his shoulder. I didn't wait for an answer, picking up speed and then slowing down.

"Fuck!" Cannon grabbed my hips suddenly, breaking free from my grasp and dropping to his knees. His mouth was on me. Licking and sucking, he worked two fingers inside me, hearing me gasp as I felt a stretch while he worked his tongue over me.

My hands were once more in his hair, holding his head to my body as he coaxed me towards an orgasm.

"Cannon…" My grip got tighter, and then I was screaming out his name as my body released waves of pleasure as I hit the peak.

Cannon moved up my body slowly, soft kisses peppered my skin, little teasing nips and bites of my flesh until his mouth was once more kissing me, letting me taste myself on his lips, while fingers stroked soothing circles between my legs.

"I need to fuck you," he spoke against my lips. "I need inside you. Tell me if you don't want it."

My eyes flew open as he pulled away slightly. I saw the raw hunger and I felt his desire in every cell of my body. "Don't stop now," I panted, pulling him closer by tightening my legs around him. "Not when it's getting good."

Cannon smiled against my mouth. "Getting good? It wasn't already good?"

"Meh," I teased, suddenly gasping when I felt the head of his cock at my entrance. "Cannon?" I heard the quiver of my voice.

"I'll take it slow," he assured me. "Yes?"

My body had tensed though. I'd never had sex, but I knew it could hurt, and Cannon was big and thick, and I had a sudden irrational thought that he wouldn't fit. Deft fingers dipped inside me, stroking, stretching, curling inwards at a spot that made me moan.

"Kezia?"

"I want you." My hips were rolling against his hand. "I want to feel you." I bit his neck, my tongue moving against his artery, feeling his pulse racing like my heart. "Please, don't stop."

The stretch wasn't the same as his fingers; it burned more than a little, but our simultaneous groans echoed around us as he slid inside me slowly. Inch by inch, he took me, his breathing shallow while my panting got louder.

"Fucking hell, Kezia." His head was buried in the crook of my neck. "Fucking hell," he repeated as he held still, his grip on my ass tightening. "You okay?"

I felt like I'd been impaled but in the best possible way as my body stretched around his cock. Cannon began to move slowly, and I was pretty sure my brain shut down as fireworks of pleasure set off all over my body. I couldn't focus on anything, pleasure was everywhere, even the stinging stretch as my body adjusted to the feel of all of him, paled into insignificance as I felt my whole being come alive.

"Luna," I groaned. "Holy Goddess, I never knew it could be this." I breathed him in as he moved slightly faster, my hands curling around his forearms, holding on and pulling him tighter towards me, feeling myself take more of him.

"Okay?" Cannon asked me, his voice deep and gruff, and somehow that made me want even more of him. Widening my legs more, I felt him reach deeper, and both of us moaned in appreciation.

"More than okay," I told him, my mouth taking his.

Everywhere was him. My sense of smell, touch, taste, everything. Cannon began to move faster, and I felt my body coil in anticipation. "Oh fuck."

My hips moved against his, and Cannon's hands gripped me tightly as he began to really drive into me.

"I can't hold on," I whimpered, and then my body spasmed as I yelled out in the clearing when my orgasm exploded deep within me. My toes curled, my back arched, and my nails drew blood as I rode out my climax.

"Fuck!" Cannon thrust deep inside me, and with a groan and a curse, his body jerked inside me, reaching his own release.

With his forehead pressed against mine, we both panted, desperate to breathe.

"We need to do that again," I said breathlessly.

Cannon huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, we do. Soon."

Cannon moved back, pulling out of me, and I whimpered at the loss. He helped me stand on the ground, holding onto me when my shaking legs threatened to fold underneath me. Carefully he eased us both to the ground, curling around me as we regained our composure.

When we had recovered, he moved away from me, picked up his shirt off the ground, and handed it to me after helping me to my feet. "You can use this to clean up."

Taking it, I glanced down at his cock, about to ask him what he would use, but the words died on my tongue when I saw the trace of blood. A stark reminder I was no longer a virgin—as if I needed a reminder. My heart was still pounding within me from what we'd done.

Cannon looked down and then back up at me, moving towards me, reaching me, and folding me gently into his embrace. "It's natural," he soothed me. "Absolutely natural." He looked down at me. "You good?"

"Yeah." I shook my head to clear it. "I didn't expect to see it," I admitted and felt his lips as he pressed a kiss to my temple. I raised the T-shirt he gave me. "You want it first?" I asked, embarrassment flooding my cheeks.

"You go," he told me, moving away and picking up clothes. "We won't need these when we shift."

"We're heading back now?" Uncertainty hovering within me, as he got ready to leave.

He glanced at me. "You want to stay?" He looked around, then back at me, almost sheepishly. "We're quite exposed here." Cannon straightened as he watched me. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yup." I glanced at my naked body and the shirt in my hands. "Can you turn around?"

His grin was wicked, and my tummy flipped at the gleam in his eyes. "Don't tell me you're shy?" he teased. I liked this side of him. The playfulness.

"And if I was?" My smile widened as he caged me in once more.

"Then I'd need to rectify that," he told me, ducking down and kissing along my collarbone.

Smoothing my hands over his shoulders, I noticed the marks on his skin. "I think I marked you." Once more, embarrassment flushed my cheeks.

Cannon turned his head to look at the scratches on his skin. "They'll heal," he told me with a carefree shrug. His hand caught the nape of my neck, moving my head back to look up at him. "You want to stay here, or do you want to run and get back to the house?" His smile was wicked.

It wasn't even a question. "House."

"Me too." He kissed the tip of my nose. "Let's stretch our legs."