Half-breed’s Bargain by Samantha Wolfe
12
VAN
My feet feel like lead as I force myself to walk away from my bedroom, my body aching for the woman inside and my dick so hard it hurts. It was the purest kind of torture holding her in the car on the drive here. It was all I could do to keep my aura from reaching for hers while I held her, the need to comfort her overwhelming. It broke my heart to see what pretending to be that monster did to her afterwards. I know it was necessary, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about asking her to do it. I should stay and apologize. I should stay and tell her about the ring that Buckley no longer has, thanks to me, and that I delivered it to Móira myself. But I’m not ready to confess to her I’m Móira’s pawn and not my own man. She had the courage and the means to break free, and I’m ashamed to admit that I have neither.
I reach the top of the steps and pause, fighting the urge to go back to her as I stare down the hall toward my bedroom. A few soft moans float down the hall from Ethan and Mercer’s room. The two of them have always been loud and enthusiastic lovers, and it’s never bothered me before, but right now it’s only reminding me of what I can’t have. I snarl in frustration, then stomp down the stairs to get away from the sound of them enjoying their connection.
I go to the kitchen and slip off my jacket and tie, then hang them on a chair. Then I pull my Colt out of my shoulder holster and set it on the counter before slipping off my shoes and socks. I grab a bottle of scotch and a glass from the cupboards, then pad barefoot through the house to a set of doors that lead out onto the large, empty patio. I stop in the center and lower myself to sit cross-legged on the cracked and uneven concrete. I pour a few fingers of scotch into the glass and set the bottle down in front of me. Then I sip my drink and take in the trees and the night sky above as I try to settle my overheated body down, but it does me no good. I can’t get Harlow out of my mind or my dick to stand down. How could I? Our souls are already connected and our bodies understandingly long to do the same.
I sit like that for a while until the bottle is a lot emptier and the need to go back upstairs to join Harlow hasn’t lessened a bit. I can’t even take the edge off with the scotch since my metabolism doesn’t allow me to get drunk. Eventually, I hear the side door to the kitchen open, followed by Ethan and Mercer’s low voices that quickly fade away. A few moments after that, movement catches my eyes to my right. I glance over to see two enormous wolves round the corner of the house, one black as pitch with glowing jade eyes and the other a ghostly white with sapphire eyes. The two of them trot across the lawn, their bodies touching from shoulder to hip and their steps in perfect sync, before they melt into the trees and disappear.
I set the glass on the concrete next to me, then stare after them and try to distract myself by wondering what it’s like to be a true werewolf. To shift and run beneath the moon and stars. To feel the earth beneath my paws and the night wind in my nose, only focusing on the moment and reveling in the joy of the hunt. If only I had that kind of escape, but I never will. I’m a half-breed mongrel who doesn’t fit in either world of the two halves that make me whole. I wonder if Harlow feels the same way, and my brief distraction ends and I’m once again longing for her. I shake my head and stand up, planning on heading inside to find a project to work on that won’t disturb Harlow as a diversion, when I hear her terrified scream coming from inside the house.
I whirl and race inside, hurrying across the house to the stairs and climbing them two steps at a time to get to her. I run down the hall to my room, then fling the door open just in time for Harlow to scream again from my bed. I close the door behind me and stride to the bedside to find her thrashing around under the blankets with her eyes closed, still asleep. She’s having a nightmare. I reach down to touch her arm, but the contact only makes things worse.
“No!” she cries out as she lashes out at me with a flailing arm. “Don’t touch me.”
“Harlow,” I croon and grab her wrist, but she yanks it from my grasp and I dodge the next swing she sends my way.
“Please don’t,” she says, her voice desperate and pitiful. “Please. No.”
Then she lets out a deep guttural sob and curls in on herself as more of them rack her entire body. And I can’t take it anymore. I can’t just stand here and watch her suffer when I can do something about it. With a deep exhale, I release the iron grip I’ve been holding on my aura and let it reach out to her. The instant our auras touch her shaking sobs ease a bit, and she doesn’t flinch when I touch her shoulder and roll her onto her back, revealing her tear-streaked face. The maelstrom of pain, anger, and sorrow she’s experiencing makes me gasp in reaction. It’s no wonder she’s bawling her eyes out right now.
“Wake up, Harlow,” I murmur as I lean closer, moving my hand to cradle her cheek as I caress her aura with mine to soothe her. “You’re okay. You’re safe here with me.”
Her eyes flutter open and she focuses on my face. “Van?” she asks with a confused furrow of her dark brows, her voice frail like I’ve never heard before.
I nod. “It’s me, querida.”
Relief sweeps across her features at my words, but it dwindles away as her eyes widen in horror and I sense her shame rising to replace it.
“None of that now,” I say with an arched brow. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Having nightmares doesn’t make you weak. Believe me, I know.”
“It’s not the nightmares I’m ashamed of,” she answers as she averts her gaze from mine, her voice brittle and so unlike her.
I don’t ask her to clarify her statement because I already know what she’s talking about. “Being victimized wasn’t your fault either.”
She looks away with a pained expression. “It feels that way,” she says. “I remember everything I did back then. Every fucking detail.” Her voice breaks at the end and more tears leak from her eyes.
“But that wasn’t you,” I say as I swipe a stray tear from her cheek with my thumb. “He forced you to do those things.”
“But… but I enjoyed it,” she confesses in an almost inaudible whisper, still not looking at me. She squeezes her eyes closed and the tears flow heavier than before. Her aura pulls away from mine, trying to shut me out, but I’m not having it.
“Look at me, Harlow,” I tell her, and when she refuses to do as I say, I take her chin in my hand and turn her face back to mine. “Open your eyes,” I say, and this time she obeys. “Don’t you think a mage as powerful as Viktor Bravas could be responsible for that too?”
Her eyes widen in surprise. So she didn’t. No wonder it’s tearing her up inside.
“What better way to keep you complacent and agreeable than to make you think you enjoyed it?” I continue. “My assumption is he was afraid of you and did whatever he could to prevent you from fighting his hold on you.” I snort out a bitter laugh. “He was too much of a coward to do his own dirty work and used you to do it instead.” I arch a brow at her. “And none of it was your fault.”
She sucks in a deep breath, then exhales with a long sigh. “I want to believe you,” she murmurs as her gaze drifts down to my mouth, then darkens with sudden desire I can feel through our still connected auras.
My eyes flick down to her lips as an answering lust surges up inside me. I breathe in and catch the musky scent of her rising arousal, and my groin tightens. Harlow moans and I focus on her eyes again. I fall into their gorgeous blue depths and lose every single thought in my head, leaving only lust and need behind with no coherent reason left to deny either. Her lips part in an unspoken invitation, and I can’t do anything but accept and lean down to press my mouth to hers.
My kiss is hard and demanding as I twine my tongue with hers, her heady flavor exploding across my taste buds. So sweet and delicious. She kisses me back with equal fervor, moaning into my mouth and clutching at my hair with desperate yanking fingers that hurt so good. Dios mío, I need more of her. I need everything.
I break the kiss and fling the blankets away from Harlow’s body, revealing that she’s only wearing a T-shirt and lace panties. With a low growl, I grip the hem of her shirt and push it off to uncover her breasts and flat stomach. I toss it aside and stare down at her body. Fuck me, she’s gorgeous, every fucking inch of her. Her breasts are the perfect handful with hard little pink nipples that make my mouth water. I can’t resist and lean down to capture her right nipple between my lips, sucking so hard that Harlow arches up off the bed with a loud gasp as her hands tighten in my hair. I kiss and nip and generally abuse the little nub as Harlow’s aura sings with pleasure. I switch to the other nipple and do the same until she calls out my name in a plea for mercy, but I have none now that I have her all to myself. I bite down even harder, making her squirm beneath me, then spread more around the circumference of her breast, leaving teeth marks as I do. I grip her hips tight to keep her still and trail more bites down her belly, marveling at the taut muscles beneath her soft ivory skin. I reach the flare of her hips and breathe in her arousal, so close to the source, and lose what little composure I have for a moment. A low growl rumbles up out of me as I take the front hem of her lace panties between my teeth and grip the sides with my fingers. Then I tear them from her body with a satisfying ripping sound and gasp when I find her pussy is shaved bare. I look up in awe to find her smirking down at me with lust burning in her eyes.
“Do you like what you see?” she asks as she cups her breasts in her hands.
“Hands off,” I command as I toss the tattered pieces of lace aside. “Those are mine to pleasure.”
Wickedness sparkles in her eyes. “What will you do to me if I don’t do what I’m told?” she asks, her fingers plucking at her nipples to taunt me.
I decide to show her instead of answer her. I grab her and manhandle her across my lap with her ass in the air. Then I smack her right ass cheek so hard she squeals, and the skin under my palm turns bright pink. Her left cheek gets the same treatment, eliciting yet another yelp from her. I don’t even have to worry whether she liked it, because her aura lit up with each swat, telling me she loved it.
“This is what happens to bad girls who don’t do what they’re told,” I say through gritted teeth as I spank her in earnest, peppering every inch of her sweet ass with each word until her skin is bright fucking red. When I’m finished, her hips are mindlessly thrusting against my lap and her arousal permeates the surrounding air. Then I whip her up and around until she’s lying on her back again and wrap my hand around her throat, squeezing with just enough pressure to make her go limp. “Do you understand, querida?”
“Yes,” she whimpers with her eyes glazed over and glittering with desire, her earlier distress long forgotten now. It’s exactly my plan, and I grin in satisfaction.
“Good girl,” I murmur, then kiss her again.
This kiss is even more intense than the last, deep and drugging and oh so good. It’s as if we’re melding into one being of pure pleasure and desire. Our hands are all over each other, mine on her glorious bare skin and hers pulling at my clothes with needy impatient noises that make my dick even harder. She unbuttons my shirt and I pull away just long enough to remove it before I’m kissing her again. Her warm, soft skin feels like heaven against my bare chest, the hard little points of her nipples rubbing so sweetly against me. It goes on and on like this until I somehow end up with my hips between her thighs and I’m grinding against her center. I can feel her growing wetness through the fabric of my slacks and slide a hand down to glide my fingers over her soft folds. Dios mío, she feels good between her thighs, soaking wet and so very warm. I tease her entrance for a few moments and swallow down her sweet, needy noises as I continue kissing her. I move on to her clit and swirl a fingertip over it, inflaming her desire until she’s bucking against my hand and teetering on the edge of an orgasm. And that’s when I pull my hand away and revel in her moan of frustration.
“You’ll come when I decide you will,” I say, then nip at her lower lip once before leaning back to grin at her dazed expression.
I lift my hand to my nose and breathe in her nectar. She smells divine. My tongue darts out for a taste of her honey sweet perfection, and I need more of it. I slide off the side of the bed to my knees and drag Harlow with me until her hips reach the edge of the mattress. She spreads her legs wide without being asked, and I gaze down at her pussy. Dios mío, it’s perfect too.
Unable to help myself, I drag my tongue up her slit, humming in appreciation as her essence explodes across my taste buds. Her flavor is even better straight from the source. It’s so good I think I could live off of it and never hunger for anything else to sustain me. I pull back to gape in awe at her petal-soft lips and the swollen nub of her beautiful little clit.
“Harlow,” I say with reverence in my voice as I look up to meet her heavy-lidded eyes.
“Van,” she says, her voice quaking. “More.”
I nod in agreement, in a lust-drunk haze myself now and not caring at all that I’m letting her call the shots as I lean down to drink in more of her. I kiss and lick every inch of her pussy, circling around her clit to tease and taunt her. She tries to wriggle around to get my tongue where she wants it, but I hold her down with a firm grip on her hips, enjoying the sting of her fingers pulling at my hair in desperation.
I torment her for several more moments until I can’t wait any longer myself, then wrap my lips around her clit and suck for all I’m worth. She comes an instant later, arching up off the mattress and screaming at the top of her lungs for a very different reason now. I sink my teeth into the hard little nub and catapult her pleasure to an even higher level. She convulses beneath me, her scream rising in intensity right along with her aura. I don’t relent until she collapses into a limp heap on the bed, gasping for air and trembling with aftershocks every few seconds.
Without thinking, I rise to my feet and unfasten the fly of my pants, then reach inside for my aching, hard dick. I pull it out and bring the tip to her sex, then glide it over her wetness, shaking with anticipation. I’m just about to press inside her welcoming body when I gain enough coherent thought to realize what I’m doing. I flinch away from her with a gasp and retreat a few steps.
“We can’t,” I say in a harsh voice. “We… we shouldn’t…” I trail off and run my hands through my hair as I shoot a pained glance at Harlow, my dick still hanging out, hard and aching with need.
Harlow meets my eyes with a sad expression she tries to mask with a smirk that can’t hide it since her aura is an open book to me right now.
“I know,” she says, then looks down at my cock with a hungry glint in her eyes. “But I can still help you out with that.”
She twists around until she’s on her stomach with her head near the edge of the mattress, her eyes fixed on my cock. Then she looks up at me again, licking her lips in a lewd way I can’t resist. I nod in agreement despite my better judgment. I step closer to her again until the head of my erection is mere inches from her eager lips. Her tongue flicks out to lick the tip and my breath stutters at how good just that feels. She leans closer and presses a wet kiss to the same spot before her tongue comes out to swirl around the head and my knees wobble. Dios mío. At this rate, I’ll be embarrassing myself like a teenage boy before she barely gets started.
“Mmm, you taste good,” she says with a pleased expression. She looks up at me with a wicked smirk. “Do you want more? Or should I stop?”
“Don’t you dare stop,” I growl at her. “Or I’ll turn your ass red again.”
She tilts her head with a thoughtful expression. No doubt another spanking won’t deter her at all, considering her reaction to the first one, but I’m done playing around. I’m still struggling with the urge to flip her over and thrust myself deep into her pussy. I’ve never felt so eager to fuck someone in my life. It feels as if some wild, sex-starved beast is ready to tear right out of me, and it’s all I can do to hold it back. I’m teetering on the edge, and I’m going to give in if I don’t regain control.
I shoot my right hand out and snag the thick hair at the back of her head with my fingers. I tighten my grip until her face grows slack with pleasure. “Open now,” I tell her with gritted teeth and a hard stare.
Harlow opens her mouth wide and I slowly press inside. Her soft warmth envelopes me, and it’s so fucking good I almost come on the spot. I hit the back of her throat and still as I fight down my threatening orgasm. All the while Harlow watches me, both her eyes and her aura bright with triumphant pleasure. She knows exactly what she’s doing to me and relishes it as much as I do. I get a hold of myself and pull back, then thrust back in and groan at how good it feels. I pull out again and this time Harlow slithers her tongue along the underside of my cock as I do. Lightning bolts of pleasure jolt through me at the sensation.
“Just like that, querida,” I say in a gruff voice as I loosen my grip on her hair.
This time, she takes the lead and engulfs me in her sweet mouth. Then she taunts and tortures me with her tongue, lips, and teeth until I can’t take it anymore. I add another hand to my grip on her hair and still her movements, then push in all the way to the back of her throat, making her gag around the head of my dick. I do it again, watching her joyous watering eyes as I do. I smile down at her in approval, then fuck her mouth in earnest. Pleasure shoots down every limb in my body with every thrust, rising higher and higher until my head falls back with a loud groan. All the while, Harlow moans happily around my cock, her tongue doing unbelievable things to me as I move in and out of her mouth. I close my eyes and take it in, moving faster and faster until electricity shoots up my spine, a harbinger of my orgasm. I thrust into Harlow’s mouth, once, twice, then on the third I press in deep and still as my release hits me hard.
“Harlow!” I shout as my cock erupts in her mouth.
Sweet ecstasy washes over me unlike anything I’ve ever felt during an orgasm before. It pulses through me, whiting out my vision as I cry out in an animalistic voice that I don’t even recognize as mine. It goes on and on as Harlow swallows down everything I give her, my head swimming and my legs turning to jelly beneath me. She moans around my cock, our connected auras pulling her body along into its own release right along with me. It’s all I can do to stay upright as I ride it out to the end, my heart pounding and my breaths sawing roughly in and out of my lungs. I’m completely spent when it finally ebbs, and I collapse onto the bed next to Harlow. We end up lying side by side in silence as we recover.
Eventually, I sit up, needing to get out of here before I give in to my already hardening dick and fuck her into the mattress until we both pass out from the pleasure. I can’t bring myself to regret what we just did, but I’m not foolish enough to tempt myself further by staying here any longer.
“Don’t go,” Harlow murmurs, and I look over to meet her soft dreamy eyes. She looks wrung dry, her slack features and limp body telling me how much our shared orgasm affected her.
“It’s not a good idea,” I say, despite my urge to pull her into my arms and hold her for the rest of the night.
“Stay,” she says with a pained expression. “At least until I fall asleep.” She doesn’t say please, but I can see it in her pleading eyes. I imagine she fears another nightmare, and I don’t want that to happen either.
I nod and lay back down, taking a moment to fasten my fly over yet another erection as a safety measure, in case I’m tempted by her alluring body again. Harlow scoots closer and curls up against my side, with her head on my chest and my arm around her shoulders. She drapes an arm and leg over me and wriggles in even closer, and everywhere our skin touches feels electrified and hyper-aware. She sighs and nuzzles her face against my bare skin.
“Thank you,” she murmurs, her voice so quiet that only my preternatural hearing could have made it out.
“You’re welcome, querida,” I whisper back, with my lips brushing against the silky strands of her golden hair.
Then I lie there in the darkness breathing in her sweet jasmine and orange scent mixed with the musk of sex as her breathing slows and evens out. I know the instant she slips into slumber, and I wait a little longer to make sure she’s far enough under that I won’t disturb her, then carefully and reluctantly disentangle myself from her embrace. I pull the blankets up over her, then gather up my shirt and stare down at her as I put it on.
Every cell in my body urges me to stay, but I ignore it and withdraw my aura from Harlow’s with regret. It’s safer and far better for her if I keep my distance from here on out, no matter how much my heart longs for the exact opposite. With a fortifying breath, I force my feet to carry me away from the woman who part of me already thinks of as mine, silently cursing my mother for ruining everything that could have happened inside this room tonight. And for fucking up everything outside of it, too.