Page 3 of Cruel Mate

“You,” Sandy whimpered and just like that she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes in order to press her mouth to his.

He let her, allowing his hands to drop to her buttocks. Pulling her close, he kissed her hard. Whatever she wanted, she’d get. He was in no mood for thinking. He’d done enough of that out on the last mission. At least if he buried himself deep inside Sandy, he would be able to forget everything for a night or two.

The exhaustion of being away from home so long hadn’t yet been fixed by a long sleep, and he knew that as soon as it was, he would be thrown right back into the responsibilities of being beta. But for tonight, he could pretend he was just a single wolf with a more than willing partner, which it was abundantly clear that Sandy was. She was practically trembling with desperation as she gripped hold of the buckle of his belt and started to tug.

When she struggled, Zander helped her with it before reaching for the hem of her dress. This was sure to be fun. It had been a while since he’d done anything out in the open. The thrill of fucking in the woods wasn’t lost on him, even after having done it a hundred times before.

He was a werewolf, after all; fucking beneath the full moon was practically a rite of passage.

When Sandy dropped down to kneel before him, Zander was practically giddy with excitement. What man didn’t love being treated like a god, having his cock worshipped by a woman on her knees?

He growled low in his throat to show his pleasure, meeting Sandy’s gaze unflinchingly as she unbuttoned his jeans and started to glide them down around his ankles.

Fuck, this is one great homecoming! He thought. It most definitely hadn’t been like this when he had returned to Blackwell Falls to collect what remained of his things after he had been dismissed from active duty. If it had been, he might have thought twice about leaving for Jack’s new pack.

He was loyal to his best friend, but he might have thought about it. It was hard to think about anything with a woman’s mouth around your manhood.

But he never quite made it into Sandy’s mouth.

His cock was rock-hard. That wasn’t the problem.

Sandy’s hands gripped his thighs, her nails clawing his flesh. That only made him harder—that wasn’t the problem, either.

And yet, just as Sandy was about to grip hold of him, just as she neared to taste the tip of him, he stiffened.

A gentle breeze had kicked up, carrying with it a scent, one that he couldn’t ignore no matter the situation. It had happened before. He had walked through town a couple of times and caught that very same scent. It was a she-wolf, sweet and powerful, seductive and infuriating, wild and intriguing.

He knew all too well who it belonged to. He was alert to it the second he scented it. As was his wolf, clawing at his insides with desperation.

“What’s the matter?” Sandy asked, leaning back, her hands easing the pressure on his thighs as if she had sensed that something was wrong. “Don’t you want me to?”

Fuck! She looked up at him with big round brown puppy dog eyes. He wanted so desperately to nod, to just let her get on with it and hopefully lose the sensation of tightness in his chest that the scent had brought with it.

And yet, he couldn’t stop himself from gripping hold of Sandy’s upper arms to drag her to her feet. “Not tonight.”

Sandy scowled. The hurt in her gaze was evident. And though Zander felt guilty, it wasn’t enough for him to go through with it. The chance of a thoughtless night buried inside another warm she-wolf was gone. He was too distracted now.

His face was hot as he ran his fingers through his hair and said, “You should go back to the bonfire. Maybe one of the other guys can show you a good time.”

Sandy blushed at that and shook her head. “I don’t want any of the other guys. I want you. Did I do something wrong?”

The whine in her tone was infuriating. He wished he could just give her what she wanted so he wouldn’t have to explain. Hell, he couldn’t even explain what had come over him to himself. It didn’t make any sense. He’d never stopped in the middle of the act before, especially when it came to getting his cock sucked.

This was more than a little embarrassing.

“It’s not you,” he assured her, feeling like that asshole, using such a dumb line. He decided it best not to finish it. “I’m just exhausted from traveling. Maybe another time, okay?”

Sandy stumbled backwards, pulling the hem of her dress down until the material was stretched tight. She was clearly self-conscious now, and Zander hated himself for it. Sure, he would sleep with any woman who was willing, but he always showed them the respect they deserved.

“Hey,” he said, hoping that his voice sounded as cheery as he had meant for it to. “Cheer up.”

He gripped hold of her chin and forced her to look up at him.

Her eyes twinkled with hope as he looked into them, and again, he felt sick with the fact that he had just turned down a good time for perhaps the very first time in his life.

That scent! It wafted into his nostrils again, driving him wild. And he knew that if he didn’t get away from Sandy soon, he might well do irreparable damage to her feelings.

It was best he got whatever the hell this was figured out before doing anything else.

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