Terr5tory (15 page)

Chapter 25

“Eleanor.” His tone was soft but commanding.  He entered the cabin, kicking the door closed behind him with one boot.  He didn’t bother with lights, he didn’t need to.  Eleanor’s wolf was close to the surface and so was his, they could see each other clearly in the dark. 

He watched her back into a corner as she shook her head.  “Why are you here, Delano?”

Oh, how he’d missed hearing his name on her lips.  He stalked her with painstaking leisure as his hands began to slowly undo the buttons of his shirt.

“Y-you didn’t want me, remember?”  Her eyes were locked on his fingers as they worked. 

“Didn’t say that, Eleanor.”

“You and I were just…” her words died off before she started again.  “It was to save my life.  It didn’t mean anything!  You said so yourself.”  She threw his own words back at him. “‘What happened between us was
nothing
!’ 
You
said that!”

He froze as realization hit hard. 
That’s why she ran? 
Finally, he understood. 
All of this over a fucking miscommunication! 

He allowed his wolf, who was so near to the surface and dancing with giddy anticipation, seep into his voice so it came out low and guttural, almost inhuman.  “That mark on your neck says otherwise.” 

He watched her lift delicate fingers to his mark on her throat.  It meant she was his, and though when he’d given it, claiming her hadn’t been his intention, apparently his wolf knew the truth of it.  The moment he laid eyes on Eleanor Harwood he’d wanted her, and not just to fuck.  He wanted her to belong to him, and now she would.  Hell, she already did, she just didn’t know it yet.  She would.

He stripped off his shirt and saw panic flare to life in her eyes as she frantically studied the room.  She was looking for a way out.  “Don’t even think about it,
mate
.”  His hands dropped to the button of his jeans and he fingered it open even as he toed off his boots. 

“Why are you doing this?” Eleanor’s tone was nearly hysterical.  Her eyes glistened with emotion and she pleaded, “Delano…
please?
”

His heart softened.  He didn’t want to scare his mate and he didn’t want her ever thinking that he’d harm her.  “I’m going to claim you, Eleanor, because you
are
mine!  Although I admit, I’m slightly wounded by your clear displeasure at the prospect.”

He was naked now, standing before her in his glorious Alpha prime.  Savagely hewn muscle corded the length of his body and couldn’t disguise the lethal beast who stirred within.  Eleanor drug her eyes up, fighting to focus on his even as her mouth watered and her sex creamed at the sight of him.  Her wolf wanted to be claimed and it stirred and whined within, not understanding why the woman was so at odds with the prospect.  Clearly, Delano didn’t understand either.

“I don’t want to be claimed out of pity.  Out of obligation over the fact that you did me a favor and saved my life and it resulted in a child.”  Her eyes turned imploring and she held out her hands as she stepped closer. “You don’t have to do this.  You can go back, forget you ever found me.”  She pointed to the door “Their numbers are down here.  They need females.  There are men here who’d actually want m…”  She didn’t get to finish.  A deafening roar was the only warning she got before Delano lunged.

Crushed in his embrace, Eleanor struggled.  A whimpered, “NO!” escaped her lips as Delano shredded her clothing.

She’d dressed to impress suitors and her lovely dress was no match for her angry Alpha.  The delicate material was gone in seconds and her lacey panties and bra were no different.  She slapped at his chest and pushed at him, but he only growled as he pulled her tighter in a firm yet gently grip.  He held her until exhaustion extinguished her fight.  She was breathing hard and sweat slicked her warm body as she went lax in his arms.

“Easy, lovely,” he murmured in her ear, burying his nose in her hair.

Beneath her hands, she could feel his heart racing as hard as her own.  He snuffed loudly near her ear.  His wolf was scenting her, taking her in, ensuring she carried no other male’s scent.  It was the first part of a claiming.  The wolf would scent his female and once done, she’d be imprinted in his mind forever.  No amount of distance or time could make him forget her unique scent.  He’d recognize it anywhere, he’d crave it, just as he had the past few weeks.

His hands cupped her face and he slid his nose down her throat as his warm, hard body pressed against her own.  She could feel his erection throbbing against her tummy and it had her own sex pulsing with the need to be filled.  Her nearness to him was forcing her into heat.  She didn’t think it was possible while she was with child, but apparently nature knew when a mating needed to be completed.

Delano’s nose brushed across the bite mark on her throat and he growled as he licked at it.  The action had her channel seizing painfully.  She ached to be filled by him. 
Only
him.

When he lowered his nose down to her collarbone and moved lower, she gripped his shoulders, attempting to force him back.  He snarled in response, but she didn’t have the strength to keep him from burying his face between her breasts as he continued to scent her.  He turned his head and brushed his nose against one hardened nipple.  When his teeth captured the rosy peak, Eleanor cried out, her back bowed as she arched into him.  She shoved at him weakly, slowly losing her resolve. 

Apparently, he’d had enough of her attempts at refusal.  He worked with unbelievable speed to capture her wrists and force them behind her back where he held both of her wrists captive with one large hand.  The other slid to her hip where it clung to her as he dropped to a knee. 

Eleanor whimpered with need as she wriggled in his hold.

Looking up, Delano’s amber eyes locked on hers and he growled a warning for her to be still.

His nose brushed over the smooth plane of her abdomen and dipped into her navel.  Then he slid lower. 

She tried to move, but the hand on her hip forced her back into the wall and he crawled on his knees, following the scent of his mate.

Once the scenting was complete, there’d be no going back. Delano would associate her as his forever.

“Delano!” Her words were a breathy plea. “
D-Don’t
!”

Ignoring her warning, he nuzzled his forehead against her belly as pride filled him.  Soon, she’d begin to swell with his child.  Already, a slight bump gave testament to the fact that she was his and that she’d bear his young.  His mate, his child,
his
family. 
HIS! 
“One moment, lovely, and you’ll be begging.”

He buried his nose in the curls at the apex of her thighs.  She smelled like heaven, like home, like his!  He brushed his nose lower, forcing her legs apart to press his nose between her folds, drawing some of her nectar up onto her clit with the bridge of his nose.  He brushed his face back and forth and smiled when she jerked with a gasp.  She was close to coming.  He could smell it, he could feel it.  Her body was humming with the need for release.  Cream glistened on her inner thighs showing that, despite her protests, her body was ready for him.  Again he dipped his nose pulling more cunt honey up onto her clit and into her curls, where he turned to rub his cheek and jaw against her.  His wolf wanted to roll in her heat and coat itself with the scent of his mate.

Above him, Eleanor was whimpering, her body writhing.  She wanted more, she
needed
more.  Her body wanted him inside her, driving into her, bathing her womb with her Alpha’s release…with her
mate’s
seed.

Gripping a creamy thigh with his free hand, Delano forced her legs apart, noting how they trembled.  He knew he should move this to a bed, but his wolf wouldn’t be denied a second longer and for once he agreed with the beast. 

His lips parted and his tongue sluiced through her wet folds, as he inhaled and savored the taste of her. 
Fuuuuck! 

He moaned and her hips rolled as if of their own volition.  He did it again and growled in satisfaction at the sheer glorious taste of her. 
My cream, my pussy, my MATE! 
He speared his tongue into her and that was all it took. Eleanor came apart, her release coating her mate’s tongue as she imprinted him with her most intimate scent.  A scent that from this day forward only he would know. 

Lapping at her, he released her hands, knowing she wouldn’t deny him now.  When both her hands speared into his hair to fist his head in place, he smiled as he continued to lick her.  He was relentless as he drew out her orgasm and feasted on the fruits of his labor, but it wasn’t enough.  He felt her body shudder and he knew what she needed.  He needed the same. 

“Delano?” The plea was there.

Abruptly, he jerked his head from her hands and stood to stalk to the table with a determined fluidity that spoke of the animal within.  He swept one arm across the top, sending the vase of flowers, and table settings crashing to the floor.  Turning, he caught Eleanor’s arm and jerked her to him.  Strong hands gripped her hips and lifted her onto the table.  Forcing her back, he imposed himself between her thighs and lined his cock up with her pussy.  Both of them were breathing erratically.  Eleanor arched her back in sultry invitation as she let her legs fall open wider.

Pressing just the head of his thick erection against her wet slit, it took every ounce of Delano’s strength to keep his hips from thrusting into her.  His wolf’s eyes found hers and he demanded, “Eleanor?”

She knew what he wanted to hear.  He wanted her submission, her acceptance of what was about to happen.  He wouldn’t claim her without it. 

Perfect teeth worried at her bottom lip as she tried to consider the consequences.  Could she mate a wolf, an Alpha, that didn’t truly want her?  To her shock, her wolf surged forth and turned her head.  Naked and spread out on the table before him like a damn feast, she was exposing her throat….
submitting
to her dominant.

“Say it!” he commanded, in a tone so harsh and guttural that she knew he was hanging on by a mere thread.  He wanted both Eleanor’s and her wolf’s submission.  Whether she said it or not, she knew there was no going back now, not for either of them.

Looking back at him she was blinded by emotion as tears flooded her eyes.  She wanted him.  She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life, and if this was the only way…so be it!

The three words that followed sealed her fate.  “I.  Am… 
Yours
.”

A triumphant growl filled the room and Delano’s body surged forth as if it had been held back by some invisible cord. 

He drove in to the hilt and Eleanor cried out at the bliss of it.  Her body clamped onto him and savored each inch as he began to pound into her.  The table rocked beneath them, screeching on the floor as the sounds of wet sex, slapping skin, his growls, and her cries, filled the room. 

Too close, and wanting to be claimed, Eleanor’s body seized as orgasm rocketed through her a second time.  She cried out Delano’s name and her nails raked his forearms where they were clamped on her hips, holding her in place, forcing her to take his sexual punishment.  Her orgasm didn’t abate.  Instead, it seemed to heighten with each thrust of his hips, each drive of his cock into the depths of her.  Another, sharper orgasm hit and her pussy convulsed around the velvety length of him, seeking his seed to sate her body’s thirst for him, but Delano wasn’t finished.  His hips worked faster in a near frenzy and one hand left her hip to find her jaw.  He forced her head to the side exposing her neck even as he used impossible strength to lift her off the table.  Her legs wrapped around him as he thrust up into her, her sweat-dampened breasts bouncing against his chest.  His thrusts grew shorter and quicker until his teeth found the mark on her throat and he bit down with one final thrust.  Eleanor screamed as her body clamped hard onto him, his release pulsing into her, sending ribbons of ecstasy unfurling within her as he drank in the blood from her throat and shot his seed deep inside her.  She was his!  Claimed, scented, fucked, and branded.  There’d be no going back, not for either of them.   Not that he wanted to.  No, he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life, and now he had her. 

Eleanor was barely aware of her body going lax in her mate’s arms as replete exhaustion claimed her.

Chapter 26

Eleanor’s eyes flitted open and her surroundings were familiar, yet not.  Inhaling, she drew in the most glorious scent in the world.  It smelled like midnight, and summer, and hers!  Rolling to her side she lifted a hand to her lips to hide her smile.  She was in her room…
Delano’s
room back at the compound.  She was home, and she was claimed.

Sitting, she found that Delano was gone and his absence was disappointing.  The stress of the past few days had been hell and while he had claimed her, they still needed to talk.

Eyeing the window, she wondered how long she’d slept.  It was dusk and the low sun cast long shadows across the room.

Climbing from the bed, she took her time showering in her old shower. 
Oh, how I’ve missed you!
  When she’d given Delano the master suite she’d been relegated to sharing the only other bathroom with everyone else, and it had sucked.

Showered, dressed, and nervous as hell, she was a little reluctant to leave the room.  Lots could have happened since they arrived back in their territory.  Delano could have changed his mind, hell, he could have left.  One thing was for certain, she’d never know until she faced him.

Smoothing a hand over her belly, Eleanor found that her protective instincts were already kicking in.  “No matter what happens, baby, I won’t let you be hurt.”  No, if Delano decided he didn’t want them, she’d raise their child on her own and she had every confidence she’d do a damn fine job.

Exiting the room, she let her senses take in the house.  It smelled of steak and bread.  Descending the steps, she noted that things were extremely tidy.  In her absence she thought the pack would regress to their lazy ways, but it appeared that Delano had a firm hand on keeping the pack on their tasks.

At the landing she heard voices in the kitchen and followed the sound.

“ELEANOR!”

Parker was the first to race to her and wrap his arms around her. 

“Hey, bubba!”  She smiled, and hugged him back.  “Miss me?”

“YES!”

She felt her heart squeeze and guilt bite at the tremble in the boy’s voice.

“I missed you too.”  She hugged him tightly. “So, so much.”  Pulling back, she beamed down at him.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he professed, his eyes shimmering with tears of happiness. He hugged her one more time before releasing her and stepping back.

The rest of the pack had gathered close and she scanned them as Riss wrapped her arms around her sister. 

“Don’t ever do that again!” Riss hissed, but her words held no venom.  Eleanor could scent her sister’s relief and was surprised that Riss was so happy to have her back.

“No more running,” Eleanor promised.

The rest of the pack welcomed her back and, after her last hug, she pulled back to eye the pack.  “Where are May and June?”

“Gone.” 

Her eyes snapped to Delano as he entered the room.  The mere sight of him had her mouth watering and her body preparing itself for its mate. His nostrils flared and he smiled knowingly before continuing.  “I’ve sent them to Joley.”

“Already?”

Delano shrugged.  “No sense in delaying the inevitable.”

Eleanor glanced around the room again before her brows drew down.  “Bose?”

“He’s gone too.”

She shook her head in confusion, wanting and needing to draw out the conversation.  It wasn’t lost on her that Delano had entered the room, yet hadn’t come to her.  No, he was still across the room, leaning casually against the door frame.   She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, what he was feeling, and the longer he stayed away from her the more she began to worry that he’d changed his mind.

“Took care of him the moment I returned from the fight in the forest.  After getting you settled,” he amended.  Eleanor nodded, not really listening as she planned how to play her next move.  Did she just carry on like she hadn’t left?  She knew for a fact that the rest of the pack could smell Delano on her.  They knew that they’d mated.

“Found the males that attacked you as well.”  He continued.  “Once word spread about the use of lust tranqs, every Alpha in the State took their packs to task to find the perpetrators.  They were hand delivered and dealt with justly.”

She nodded absently.

“No sense in delaying the inevitable.”

Delano’s words drew her eyes up.  She hadn’t even realized she’d been staring off, deep in thought.

Dropping his arms, he stalked toward her and with each step closer, her heart beat harder and her breathing grew slower. 

“I had prepared myself for an existence comprised solely of duty and my responsibilities as Alpha.”  He stopped directly in front of her, his eyes pinning her in place.  “I wasn’t prepared for what you’d bring me.  I wasn’t prepared for you.”

Eleanor swallowed hard.  Had she somehow ruined his plans?  Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she swallowed hard. “If I…”

He didn’t let her finish. Strong hands forced her arms apart and he pulled her hard into him.  “I didn’t know what it was,” he murmured into her hair.  “It was so fucking foreign that it’s taken me all this time to place what it is you’ve given me.”

Pulling back she eyed him warily, waiting.  His jaw clenched and his expression was so serious that she was afraid to hear what he was about to say.  When his eyes shimmered with emotion she tried to pull back, but he held firm.

His eyes searched hers for long moments before he whispered, “
Joy
.” 

Her breath left her in a surprised yet relieved exhalation. 

“I hadn’t even known it could exist for me, Eleanor.  I’d given up hope.  I thought it was a myth.  Something meant for others.”  One strong hand lifted to caress her cheek. “Until you.”  He dropped to a knee in front of her, claiming both her hands in his.  It was unheard of for an Alpha to kneel before anyone, even his mate.  As if reading her thoughts he offered, “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, wouldn’t give to you.”  He bowed his head and her shoulders shook as she began to silently weep.  Delano took her hands and buried them in his hair.  “I vow to make your happiness my life’s goal, Eleanor.  Will you have me?”

Her knees buckled, but Delano’s head snapped up and he caught her just in time to lower her onto his knee.  His hand smoothed over her jaw and a thumb brushed at the tears that streaked her cheeks.  “Eleanor?” Concern laced his voice.

Reaching up, she brushed her fingertips across his lips, her eyes searching his for the truth. 
Could he truly mean it?

He must have known what she was looking for because his expression hardened into a steely resolve.  “With or without the words, you are mine!”

She smiled through her tears.  She’d been wondering when his Alpha genes would make an appearance.  It hadn’t taken long.  She nodded.

“Say it,” he demanded on a growl.

“Yes.”

He waited.

“Yes, I’ll have you, Delano.  You are my mate, and I am yours.”

His eyes lowered to her belly and she chuffed a laugh, placing a slender hand over her abdomen and amending.  “
We
are yours.” 

His lips crushed to hers and he kissed her passionately as Riss screeched giddily and the rest of the pack clapped.  Parker fist punched the air and hissed, “YESSSSSSS!”

Delano pulled back, lust-filled eyes locking with hers.  “EVERYONE OUT,” he commanded, and Eleanor smiled.

THE END… ;o)

Ahhwooooooooooo!