CHAPTER 26

I was exhausted by the time we returned to the manse, and I had agreed to go to the manse, when Anthony had asked, because I was really trying to be reasonable. He had silently brooded, over what I didn't know, the rest of the trip.

My hip was burning, the muscles screaming at their misuse I limped through the empty foyer and straight up the stairs to my room.

Another reason I hadn't gone home; a long hot shower sounded like heaven and the old apartment pipes just couldn't keep up. That, and there was the whole shared bathroom thing. Nobody liked a bathroom hog.

I stripped as soon as I entered the attached bathroom stepping into the marble shower. It had two massaging shower heads and I aimed one straight at my hip. The wound had closed over this morning, but the muscles had had to completely regenerate it was lumpy and looked like something had taken a bite out of my flesh, which I supposed it had, in a way.

The hot water soothed it though, enough that I had to work myself around to getting out. I wrapped a huge fluffy towel around myself and went to dig through my new backpack.

I didn't make it across the room. I stepped a foot out of bathroom onto carpet and then I was crushed against the wall, Anthony's ripped chest against me, his face inches from mine.

"Never do that again," he growled.

I blinked at him in surprise, taking in the anger and worry.

"I didn't know where you were, I thought...Jesus, anything could have happened to you, your leg..."

"Is mostly healed," I told him. "I'm sorry you worried, but what did you think I did before...you took the alpha position?" I had almost said before Rob died.

A muscle in his cheek twitched.

"I would have had you protected then, too. But he forbade it. It's worse now though, you don't understand. Taking alpha...it strains every instinct, I'm driven to protect everyone, to keep the pack safe, to kill every threat. It eats at me and consumes every thought...I don't know how Rob did it." He shook his head, beside me on the wall his hands trembled.

Poor Anthony. I hadn't considered the transition to alpha would be so difficult. I supposed it wasn't that much different from my own wolf gaining new powers, she needed time to adjust to them and practice figuring them out. And I hadn't helped him at all.

"I'm sorry," I told him, reaching out a hand to cup his cheek, "I didn't know you were fighting so much."

He looked at me with a helpless expression, his pupils dilated, his breathing heavy.

Then his mouth crashed into mine. Not the gentle kiss he'd given me days ago, this kiss was hard and punishing. I kissed him back, unleashing my own uncertainty and fear, all of my pent up frustrations.

His body ground into mine, the friction creating delicious pulls of longing deep within me. His hands found my shoulders and then travelled toward my chest, releasing my towel it only hung between us because he had me pinned.

He ground against me some more, his erection solid through the jeans he'd changed into. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he picked me up, turning toward the bed.

I groaned when he deepened the kiss, his tongue brushing against mine, he nipped at my lower lip and sucked it into his mouth.

Then we were falling onto the bed, him on top of me. He lifted himself enough to pull the towel out from between us and hissed a breath through his teeth.

"Fuck, Raven," he cursed his eyes tracking down my body. "I've tried, but I can't wait any more."

Then he was everywhere, nipping at my jawline, suckling a breast. His fingers found my curls and he started rubbing in circles just where I needed him. I groaned and threw my head back as his mouth worked lower. He crawled down my body licking, dragging teeth. His fingers pumped into me, once twice, and then they were gone, replaced by his mouth.

I nearly came off the bed when he shoved his tongue inside and then dragged it up over the sensitive little nub. He repeated the action, that warmth that was building inside me growing, rising higher, until I was burning with it.

The first orgasm rocked me out of nowhere. I cried out and his mouth worked harder, licking, circling until my muscles went languid beneath him. He pulled back and stood at the end of the bed, looking at me splayed before him, eyes dark with desire and masculine satisfaction.

Slowly, his hands moved downward, his fingers flicked the button on his jeans and it popped open. I'm not sure why that was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen. He removed the remainder of his clothes and crawled up the bed toward me.

"You're beautiful," he told me, cupping a breast. His mouth descended on mine again and I met him eagerly, the heat already building again. He nudged my knees apart and climbed between them, positioning himself. Then he slid inside. I was so wet, so prepared for him he slid all the way to the base in one smooth movement.

He took a moment there, fully seated, and then began to pump his rhythm rapidly moving from controlled smooth movements to frantically fucking, driving me higher and higher. He groaned at the same time my second orgasm broke, pushing deeper and satisfying that need my body had to be entirely full. He caught my desperate gasps with his kiss, pushing in deeper, holding me while I convulsed around him.

When we broke apart at last I nearly wept with how good it felt. He collapsed onto the bed beside me and we lay there, facing the ceiling.

Our breaths had evened out, sleep crowding the edges of my awareness when I could speak at last.

"Anthony?"

He raised his head and looked at me. He looked better, like all the worries had been wiped from his mind for a bit.

"Why did Rob forbid you from me?"

He thought about that.

"I don't think he wanted you to feel pressured to accept the pack. He wanted the choice to be yours."

I was still working my mind around the Rob I thought I had known and the Rob it appeared he truly was.

"And what about you?"

He leaned over me, his blue eyes serious.

"I will do whatever it takes to keep you."