Page 20 of Clawless

I shivered. “Okay. Then tell me what I can do.”

“Give me your hand.” I hesitated for only a moment, but instead of pulling me to my feet, he pressed his thumb deep into the ball of my palm. He worked it round, making a deep well in my flesh, and I felt my toes curl in their ridiculous heels. Maybe they were jealous. I’d heard people talk of foot rubs before, but this was the first time anyone had ever tried to massage the tension out of my hand. “You pissed me off, Vail. Not just with the Wolf Fire, but the next day. Disappearing like that. If Wentworth hadn’t told me he took you home, my wolf would’ve torn the school apart looking for you.” I gasped, both at the lie and the feel of his thumb digging in. I knew I should tell him the truth, that it was Trey and the Black Den Pack who took me off campus, but his touch now bordered on pain. I was on the verge of pulling away when he said, “But you’ve said you’re sorry. And now I’m your alpha, I’m always going to know where you are.”

“What?” I scrubbed my other hand against my forehead. “You mean the tracker?”

“Alphas don’t need a tracking device to help them locate their wolves.” He pressed my palm down on his thigh, pinning it to his warm flesh while he tapped his chest. “I’ll feel you. In here. Now and always.”

What the hell? “You mean like a bond of some kind?”

He smirked, and taking my other hand, starting the pleasure-torture all over again. “Yeah. A bond. And since you’re an omega, I’m going to have to convince my wolf you’re not vulnerable. He needs to trust you’re not going to disappear again. We’ll know if you try to run, but as much as I’d like to, I can’t ride your ass all day. There could be a window of opportunity. A slight chance for some asshole to sneak through and snatch you up.”

I shuddered at the memory of the Black Denners chasing me through the snow. “It won’t happen.” I gasped as his thumb went extra deep. “I promise.”

He clicked his tongue, watching as my fingers trembled under his treatment. “Trust is tricky, Vail. You can’t just slap a plaster on it and make it all better.” He paused and stared down at the scar on my wrist. His claiming mark had been there before I went to the lab and it was forcibly stripped away. All that remained was a pale scab, and he frowned as his thumb feathered over it. “I’m going to need to do something more permanent.”

My heart fluttered. He’d barely known me when he first claimed me, but we’d planned to renew the bond on the night of the Hunter Moon Formal. But everything then went sideways. I grimaced at the memory. If I was being honest with myself, one of the hardest things I’d had to come to grips with back in the Horn was the loss of that bond. I wanted to be Jasper’s and I wanted him to be mine. I forced the words out before I could stop myself. “Are you going to claim me, Jasper?”

Something that bordered on pain tugged at the corner of his mouth. “That’s not as simple as it used to be. I have to talk to others before I do anything like that.”

I felt my cheeks heat, the little sip of champagne a painful bubble in my chest. “Of course. You’re Clan Alpha now.”

He nodded slowly. “And there’s still that matter of trust.”

I bit my lip. He’d already told me that words weren’t enough. I needed to show him. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

Sixteen – Vail

He drew me to my feet, and without a word, led me into the bedroom.

It was as opulent as the rest of the suite, and dominated by an enormous bed with a dark gold spread. Lamps glowed on the matching nightstands, and more of the Huntington cityscape twinkled through the large window. Music was being played through hidden speakers; something soft and seductive, that went perfectly with the lush furnishings. Jasper was a silent presence behind me as I took it all in. And even though it was as warm as the room with the fireplace, I shivered, my gaze drifting back to the bed.

Jasper and I had shared a room in the rose cottage. He’d brought me there straight after the lab nightmare, and I hadn’t complained. Everything about my new accommodation had been so much better than the Dud Dorm, with the exception of my friend, Marnie. But it had also let me see another side to Jasper. He’d been protective of me – something my life had been desperately lacking – and I’d learned he was so much more than the cocky alphason with the sunshine smile. At first, the bed we’d shared had just been a safe place to recover. A retreat in the middle of the campus, with the added bonus of the hot alpha shifter who was never far away. Most of the time, I’d ended up sleeping with Jasper in his wolf form, and I’d grown to love my furry bed companion. But there’d been other times where it was just me and Jasper the man. And I’d come to crave his touch in a way that almost scared me. But the crazy thing was, by the time the Hunter Moon Formal came around, I knew he needed me as badly as I needed him.

I bit my lip, dizzy with memories. We’d fooled around in that rose cottage bed. A lot. And in the mineral pool, in empty classrooms, and anywhere we could snatch a moment together alone. He was experienced, like all shifters, but he’d been my first boyfriend. The girls had told me a claiming bond was a serious relationship in the wolf world, and I’d planned to sleep with Jasper as soon as he marked me again. Not that I was particularly precious about my virginity; I just knew it would be another bond tying us together. Proof that I trusted him, with both my body and my heart.

Which made this so much sadder, especially when he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me with his alpha gold eyes. But instead of undressing, he pulled me down onto his lap. I went awkwardly, so tense he could probably feel every clenched muscle in my body, but then his arm slipped around my back. Its familiar weight settled some of my jitters and I sank into him a little. When I turned my head, I realized we were eye-to-eye. Gold to green; mine hesitant, while his were filled with purpose. And when he spoke, his voice sounded more wolf than man. “Do you belong to me, Vail?”

Did I? I wanted to; that hadn’t changed. But in the last few weeks I’d felt all the threads tying me to others unravel – Driftwood, Darkness, my dad… How could I belong to anyone, if I didn’t understand who I was? “Yes.” My voice was unwavering, despite that tender ache inside me. “I’m yours, Jasper.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, brushing his lips against my temple. “Then I need to get Marshall’s fucking glow off you.”

I made to climb off his lap. If Jasper needed me to scrub Reed’s healing treatment away, a shower was an easy solution. But he held me still, the arm at my back pulling tight. “Not like that,” he said and taking my left hand, he raised it to his mouth and stuck my pointer finger between his lips. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this to me, but it felt just as mind-blowing as he sucked it deeper, not stopping until the whole digit was trapped inside his mouth. Delicious tingles shot through me as his tongue flicked and tugged, his teeth gently scraping the sensitive pad. When he increased the suction, it went straight to the pit of my belly. I squirmed on his lap, but he just held me tighter. Finally, he let my finger slip from his warm lips and told me, “Wipe your forehead. Use my… what did you call it? Alpha voodoo?”

I gave a shaky laugh, but he wasn’t smiling, so I gingerly rubbed my wet finger over the memory of Reed’s touch. He frowned as he watched me, then said, “Other hand.” I held it up, a bit ashamed at how eagerly I offered it, but he just told me, “Don’t move. Except for cleaning yourself up.”

I nodded, and he began sucking on my other hand, only this time it was two fingers he drew between his lips. I couldn’t stop them curling inside the warmth of his mouth, chasing the soft pressure of his tongue. My whole body jerked as he bit down on the knuckles. Not hard, but a kind of warning. My fingers popped out of his mouth, which was frowning now. “Don’t move also means keeping your eyes open. I want you watching me, Vail.”

Had I closed my eyes? My mind was a lusty fog, so maybe they’d rolled back in my head of their own accord. All I knew was he was taking more of my fingers into his mouth, and my forehead was damp with his alpha voodoo. I felt a flash of shame as I remembered how Reed’s treatment had made my legs tremble. But this was on a whole other scale. I could feel the shudders right down to my core. Maybe Clan Alphas had super spit. Or maybe it was just Jasper’s scent, lathered on my skin. Because the longer he held me still and sucked on my fingers, the more it felt like my body was being claimed.

I cried out when his other hand dropped to my lap, his thumb brushing over the hot juncture of my thighs. It passed back and forth, before making slow circles against my mound, the silky fabric of my dress twisting under his touch. It wasn’t enough, barely a tiny pressure to match the heat burning at my core. But it was delicious, and I jerked my hips up as he stopped sucking my fingers. I tried to catch his lips, but he began pressing kisses to the skin along my collarbones. Gripping the front of his shirt, I pressed my panting mouth to the hot column of his neck. As my lips latched on and sucked, I ground down onto his lap. I felt the bulge of his reaction under my ass and squirmed harder, trying to chase this new pleasure. But he pulled back, his hands gripping my wrists. “You need to understand how it is between us now, Vail. This isn’t give and take anymore.”

As I panted my frustration into his face, he lifted me off his lap and gently placed me on the bed. I marveled at the strength it took to move me so easily, my hands clutching at the muscles of his forearms. But he shook his head, his eyes hooded when my nails dug into his silky skin under his tattoo. “You don’t get to mark me up, either. That’s not an omega’s place. Do you understand?”

I nodded, a little embarrassed by the half-moons I’d left on his skin. I tucked my nails inside my fists. “Are there any more rules I need to know?”

He quirked a brow at me, not at all amused. “You wear what I want you to wear, for starters.”

I was tempted to roll my eyes at that. But he just waited until I nodded again, then got to his feet, one knee braced on the bed. He was as still as a statue as he watched me draw the zipper down with trembling fingers. The silk dress came off with little more than a shimmy of my hips, the thick column of his neck pulsing as he looked me over in my lacy underwear. When I began to reach for the strap of my heel, he covered his hand with mine. “You can leave those.”

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