It was there.
So close.
It was burning around her, filling her senses, drawing her closer. He fucked her harder, faster, his hands tightening on her hips until finally, with a scream of suddenly ecstatic fear, she felt it possess her.
Brutal, searing explosions began erupting through her body. Kita felt herself jerk beneath him, heard her strangled scream as her nails clawed at the blankets beneath her.
Her pussy throbbed, tightened, quivered with the sudden upheaval tearing through it. She heard him give a desperate, animalistic growl before burying his cock deep and hard inside her just as that final blaze of ecstasy tore through her mind.
She was aware of nothing but the sharp, all-consuming pleasure and Creed’s arms surrounding her. Knew nothing but the brutal, enveloping heat that radiated in a conflagration of building explosions that finally left her shuddering, limp in his arms as they both collapsed to the bed.
It was exhausting.
It drained her to the point that she wondered if she would ever have the strength or the will to pull herself from him. It bound her to him, even more so than she’d realized she already was.
It was the reason she had run.
This was the reason she had made that desperate, racing escape from her father’s home.
Not just because her father had betrayed her.
Not just because she didn’t know if she could trust him any longer.
Because she hadn’t known if she could trust herself. If she could keep from begging, just as she had ended up begging, for this.
For Creed Raines to tear through her senses, to burn past her reservations, and to steal the heart she knew, in that instant, she had saved for him.
SEVEN
Creed was in hell. Agony. His cock was so damned hard it felt as though it would split open. His balls were drawn beneath the heavy length of his shaft, and he swore his blood was on fire as it pumped through his body.
His release had drained him dry at first, rocking through his body and filling the condom. The lack of sensation against the underside, where the mating barb should have emerged, had kept that final release from triggering, though.
He knew the basics of mating heat. He and several other covert enforcers had been given only the sketchiest information just before leaving Sanctuary a year before.
He’d known, though, instinctually, of the mating heat; all Breeds did. It was the scent the mates shared, the sense of bonding that was a scent all its own. And the love.
The animal inside Creed had acknowledged it, and a part of him had longed for it since the first day he’d sensed it just after he’d arrived at Sanctuary.
The labs he’d been in hadn’t been as monstrous as most. Once rescues had begun, the scientists, soldiers, and trainers there had worked with the Breeds to see to their safe release and transport to Sanctuary.
Not all the labs involved with the Genetics Council had subscribed to their methods of cruelty.
Lying in the bed with his own mate, Creed had come to understand why the mated Breeds he’d talked to had told him it was something that couldn’t be denied.
The urge to mark her, to bite her delicate skin just above her shoulder and allow the mating hormone into her system there, the need to kiss her, to spill inside her, it was all part of the bonding and all a part of the overwhelming heat tearing through his senses now.
The agony was nothing compared to the sense of satisfaction and completion, though, as he sat, fully dressed, in the sheltered backyard of the small house Kita owned, holding her against him.
The overlarge lounger was thickly padded and wide enough to allow for both his much larger body and that of the woman stretched out between his spread thighs, her back against his chest, the long waves of her sunlit dark blonde hair cascading over his arm.
They had been there for hours, simply watching the sun rise until it was now beginning to warm the mountains that surrounded them and peek its golden trails of light into the shadowed grotto she’d created for a back deck.
“When did you buy the house?” he asked as she snuggled closer, the quilt he’d wrapped around her earlier falling off one bare shoulder before he tucked it back.
She was nice and warm, content and languorous as she lay against him.
“A few years ago.” She sighed. “It took forever to figure out how to hide the purchase. My name isn’t associated with it anywhere other than a paper signed between myself and a lawyer in Charleston. That seemed the simplest way.”
“Why did you need it?”
She was right. Despite the thorough investigation the Breeds had done on her, this property hadn’t come to light. They’d checked every friend, schoolmate, and even enemies she had, prying into every nook and cranny of her life to find even the smallest detail about her. And still, this had escaped them.
“I don’t know why it was so important at the time.” The note of bemusement in her voice couldn’t be hidden, nor could the fact that now she wondered if she had somehow sensed what was coming.
The fact was, Creed was gaining a sense that Kita had known for years that her father was involved in something he shouldn’t have been. Likely, from the first release of the news that the Breeds existed, Kita had been picking up on her father’s subversion.
She was an intuitive little thing, there was no doubt. He imagined that once she got to know him well, there would be very little he could pull off without her sensing it.
“Tell me about you instead,” she demanded softly. “All we’ve talked about the last four days has been me. I want to know more about you.”
“Like what?” He stared into the fenced backyard wishing he could put off any questions about himself. He wouldn’t lie to her, but he knew, at times, the truth was tricky.
“Like, what’s it like at Sanctuary?” She tilted her head back against his arm as she shifted around to stare up at him. “I’ve read it’s like an armed camp, and then reports it’s one big orgy.” She gave a low, light laugh. “Beth is certain it’s the orgy. Though, if it is, she just lost her bet with Stacey.”
Stacey was one of the girlfriends that came to the house often. A redheaded spitfire with more courage than good sense sometimes. Beth, on the other hand, was normally practical, though easygoing.
“And what does Stacey say it is?” he asked.
The amusement slowly filtered from her eyes. “An armed camp,” she said sadly. “A place filled with tension and combat-ready at all times.”
It was interesting to hear the two had bet at opposite ends of their character spectrum.
“Then they both lost.” He gave her a smile he hoped would comfort the distress he saw in her gaze. It was one of the things he loved about her, he realized. Her compassion. A compassion neither her father nor her uncle possessed.
“Sanctuary is always prepared, it’s secured. We have teams of enforcers that are constantly on guard, but, for the most part, it’s more like a large community.”
“Until it’s attacked,” she guessed.
Creed gave a short nod. “Until it’s attacked. But we’re trained for this Kita. We know how to react, and we know how to fight back.”
“And those you’ve brought in who don’t know how to fight?” she asked softly. “Your wives? What do they do, Creed?”
Did she want to be a Breed wife? There was a flash of hope and concern in her gaze, as though she had given the question a lot of thought but needed more in-depth information.
“They’re protected,” he promised her. “Every Breed in Sanctuary, whether it be male or female, feline, wolf, or coyote, dedicates his life to protecting the wives and children if an attack is launched.” He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek as his thumb caressed her lower lip. “Love is something we dare never take for granted, Kita. Even those who haven’t yet felt the fire of that emotion know that they long for it. They would give their lives to ensure that a Breed mate is completely protected.”