As she sprinted through the underbrush, leaping over fallen branches and craggy bushes, her thoughts strayed back to Ren. She hated that now when she most wanted to free her mind and body of all human emotion, his image flashed behind her eyes. She hoped speed and endurance would wipe her mind clear.
She ran faster, harder, pushing her wolf body to its limits. By the time she made it through the trees to the clearing, her heart thumped so fast she was panting with the exertion.
But still his image remained.
She huffed once, then twice, and a heady scent caught her attention. She inhaled deeply. A shiver raced down the length of her body and her hackles rose. She wasn’t alone. Another wolf was prowling nearby.
And by the scent of him, he was no ordinary animal.
She turned just in time to see Ren leap out of the trees and into the clearing a few yards from where she stood. He was majestic in lycan form. His fur was a deep rich sable color and his body was long and lean, but she knew underneath all that lustrous fur would be ropey powerful muscles. He was as striking a wolf as he was a man.
He approached her, though cautiously. Trembling, she waited for him to near. When he was within a few feet, Mahina started to growl. She wanted him to know she wasn’t happy that he’d followed her. Despite her anger, pleasure at his arrival made her insides warm and her muscles tingle. It was harder as a wolf to deny him. Her desire was too primitive to keep at bay for long.
So instead of succumbing to desire as he appeared to expect by the way he sniffed at her neck, Mahina nipped him with the tips of her sharp teeth. He jumped back. She growled again, warning him away, but Ren was stubborn. He came closer to her again, but this time his head dipped a little in submission.
Although she appreciated the gesture, she didn’t want to be seduced by his advances. She turned and bounded back into the trees. She ran away just as she had earlier in the gym.
And like last time, Ren followed her.
Her escape quickly turned into a game of chase. Mahina was quick and agile, especially able to maneuver around trees and through thick underbrush. But Ren kept up to her. At one point, she knew he could’ve overrun her, but he chose to stay behind. Near enough that she was fully aware of his presence but far enough to respect her space.
Mahina found the gesture odd, especially from a wolf. As a man she might’ve expected it, but in animal form it was so much harder to keep their instincts at bay. The need to feed, to mate, constantly swirled in a lycan’s gut. She found the primary urges difficult to ignore. How could Ren be so in control of himself?
After another circle through the trees and out again into the clearing, Mahina gave in to the needs pouring through her body. She’d gone too long without giving in to them, without loosening up, on so many levels. She’d not felt secure enough to let go. Until now.
Finding a clear spot in the grass, she nestled down onto her belly and shifted back to human form.
It was just as painful going back to human form as it was becoming a wolf. By the time she was finished, sweat soaked her skin and slick tendrils of hair stuck to her forehead. Sighing, she wiped at them just as Ren nestled in beside her and shifted back.
Fascinated, she watched him change. She’d seen others in her pack shift back and forth, but never had she been this close. Shifting took a lot of energy and strength and the lycan was at his or her most vulnerable. Anything could happen during a shift, and shifting lycans could do nothing to protect themselves. Ren had given Mahina the gift of ultimate trust.
When he was finished, he lay in the fetal position on his side. His long lean form was slick with perspiration. Shivers racked his body. His short dark hair stuck up at wild angles. Teeth chattering, Ren regarded her, a look of longing in his striking blue eyes.
She crouched next to him, her arms lying protectively around her legs, partially for security and partially for warmth. Clouds had rolled in since they’d been playing tag in the trees. The smell of rain was present in the cool air.
“Do you want to lie on me to get me warm?” He smiled.
“Suck it up. It’s not that cold out here.”
He set his hand onto her foot. “Then why are you shivering?”
She shrugged, but made no move to remove his hand from her foot. She actually liked his touch. It gave her a sense of comfort. Something she hadn’t realized she needed.
“Why did you follow me?”
“Because you needed me to.”
She eyed him, but had no retort. He was right. In a way she did need him. Right here. Right now. Where no one was looking. In a place just for the two of them. A place she didn’t need to be Captain Mahina Garner, the tough, jaded no-nonsense lycan with nerves of steel. She could be just Mahina, a woman with needs and hungers.
And she hungered for Ren.
Chapter Four
Ren noticed the change in Mahina. It was subtle, but he sensed it. Her guard had dropped, allowing him in. And he was damn well going to take the opportunity she afforded him. He’d been waiting months for her to see him as a man, someone she could find solace with, and not as a fellow police officer, someone she just worked with.
Their kiss in the bar still haunted him. The memory plagued him at night with erotic dreams that went unfulfilled. He kicked himself for being such a coward. He supposed he feared her rejection.
Sitting up, he moved his hand up her leg, tracing his fingers over the hard muscles of her calf. She quivered under his touch. Her response created an intense heat inside his body, made him want to caress her more. He wanted to see the pleasure on her face as he touched her.
He covered her hand that was wrapped protectively over her knees and met her gaze.
“Did you mean what you said back in the gym? About wanting me?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he replied, his breath coming out in puffs of steam. He squeezed her hand to make his point.
“Why? I’m not the most appealing woman.”
He smiled then. It was just like Mahina to downplay her looks. She was so busy being the tough-as-nails woman in charge that she didn’t realize she was extremely attractive. That men actually stopped in their tracks to look at her. She was always so focused on whatever she was doing that she never noticed their reactions. He knew she hadn’t known about his attraction to her.
She had the most expressive eyes he’d ever seen. He could read every emotion in their golden depths. He especially enjoyed them when anger sparked there. He’d imagine what all that energy and spirit would be like in bed. He knew she’d be just as fierce at sex as she was with everything else she did.
Right now her eyes were dark with desire. He grew hard while he gazed at her, taking in every slope and rise of her sublime lithe body. A woman couldn’t move the way Mahina did and not be exquisitely built.
“I knew you’d be beautiful na**d.”
She laughed. “You don’t need to charm me. I’ve already decided to have sex with you.”
“Well, that was easy.” Smiling, he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.
Her eyes narrowed, and he heard a change in her breathing pattern. “Easy? I’m afraid that’s not in my vocabulary.”
She moved like lightning, and pinned him to the ground, her muscular legs straddling his stomach, her hands pushing on his shoulders.
He liked her on top. She looked like a warrior queen besting an enemy. Her wavy, lustrous hair flowed around her like a dark cloud, the ends lifting in the breeze. The expression on her face was one of predatory fierceness as she gazed down at him, her lips parted in desire.
He loved her dominant position because it also afforded him an amazing view of her beautiful body and allowed ample room to touch and caress her. Skimming his fingers up along her rib cage, Ren reveled in every quiver of her muscles, every catch of her breath. When he filled his palms with her firm br**sts, he was rewarded with her moan of pleasure.
“Damn, you feel good.” He flicked his thumbs over her taut ni**les.
As her eyelids fluttered closed, she let her head fall back and pushed her br**sts farther into his hands. While he continued to pluck her ni**les, she ground her pelvis onto his. He could feel the warm moisture of her against his skin. She was ready for him and he was eager to take her. His iron-hard c*ck throbbed, fervently urging him to find bliss in her wet center.
“I want you so badly,” he growled, finding it difficult to control himself when all he really wanted to do was plunge into her and ride her hard until the sun came up.
She fell forward, her hair becoming a dark curtain around her face. “Too much talking,” she said, a quiver in her voice that told him she, too, was struggling to maintain restraint.
He moved one hand down, slowly brushing his fingers against her hard abs to her navel. With one finger he traced the outline of her belly button, then moved even lower still to the dark tuft of hair between her legs. Without pause, Ren slid his fingers into her moist center. She was hot and wet, like liquid silk in his hand.
He knew she’d be fierce during sex, raw and passionate and unbridled. He bit down on his lip to stop from digging his fingers into her h*ps and lifting her to settle her onto him. It was difficult to give her control of the situation, but he sensed that this was what she needed to get a sense of control back into her life. To help her forget that she’d almost died today.
Sex was the great celebrator. And he really wanted to celebrate. Now. Until the sun glowed over them both with its hot rays.
Sliding his fingers over her slick core, he found her sensitive nub and began to circle it with one tip. Ren gasped when she dug her nails into his shoulders and hung on as he took her up. He loved the look on her face while he manipulated her sensitive nerves. A combination of delirium and delicious agony. She alternated between grimacing and panting as he pressed harder.
With his other hand still on her breast, he pulled her down to him, running his tongue over one tight nipple and then the other, until finally he settled himself at one and suckled her hard. She let out a breathy moan, raking her nails over his shoulders and down his chest.
He winced as the pain surged through him, but it quickly turned to pleasure. He loved when a woman got aggressive. He reveled in it. Especially knowing that he’d heal in a matter of hours. The red marks across his body would be well worth it in the end when he was sated, slaking his hard, pulse-pounding desire for her.