Page 36 of An Uncertain Claim

Chapter Seventeen

Peyton

It was hard to remember why I was irritated with Nathan when he was grinding into my center and his velvet tongue tangled with mine. The only thought I hung onto was that I definitely preferred sex to whatever we’d been talking about. My panther didn’t care what I was feeling, she was consumed by the need and aggression she felt from Nathan and his wolf. She hummed in anticipation, the sound vibrating over my nerve endings and strengthening my craving.

A few seconds later, he tore his mouth away and I went flying, only to land on his big bed and bounce a couple of times. Nathan was so freaking huge that even though I was in the middle of the bed, he didn’t have to reach far to unsnap my jeans and yank them—and my panties—off. He ripped off his shirt and shucked his pants before climbing on the bed. I watched his long, thick shaft bob stiffly and the burn of desire spread like wildfire through my body. He crawled over me on his hands and knees, staring at me with so much hunger that my center flooded with another wave of arousal, and I shivered in anticipation of being devoured.

Nathan straddled my legs on his knees and sat back before cupping my slightly rounded stomach with both hands. A thread of softness entered his molten silver eyes as they roamed over the place where our baby was growing, and my panther purred in appreciation of his sweet gesture toward our cub. Then his eyes darkened with a deeper hunger and a splash of arrogance, mostly likely brought on by the animalistic pride at having sowed his seed and knocked up his “mate,” or the person he thought was his mate. My panther liked this reaction too. I didn’t disagree.

Nathan’s palms glided up my skin and under my shirt to cup my breasts. He gently squeezed and I nearly came off the bed at the acute sensations it evoked. A wicked, smug grin split his face. “Your breasts are growing too,” he said, his tone suggestive and…dirty. “And they’re more sensitive, aren’t they?” He shoved up my shirt and yanked down the cups of my bra, immediately pinching my nipples and making me cry out as my back involuntarily arched.

“Holy crap,” I whispered in shock. I’d nearly come from that one small touch.Pregnancy hormones…damn.Although there was something else there, something magnifying my need for Nathan. As if our connection were growing, rather than waning as I’d expected it to.

“Definitely more sensitive.” Nathan chuckled as he bent over and sucked one hard peak into his mouth while his fingers continued to toy with the other.

“Nathan!” I shouted, my hips bucking up in search of relief.

“Mmm,” he hummed around the bud, sending streaks of ecstasy straight to my core. It popped from his mouth, and he murmured, “The sounds you make are sexy as fuck, baby.” He latched onto the other breast, and I nearly cried at the acute sensations, the pleasure so intense it was a little painful.

After torturing me for another few minutes, he released my nipple and I gulped in oxygen, my chest heaving as my body vibrated with tension. He slowly drew my shirt over my head and removed my bra. “So fucking beautiful,” he crooned as his eyes drank up every inch of my exposed skin.

“Nathan,” I whimpered as I shifted restlessly. “It…damn…it actually hurts. I didn’t expect the pregnancy hormones to be this strong.”

He licked his lips and his molten silver orbs rose to my face. Fire raged in his eyes, but they also glinted with steel determination. “Don’t pretend this is all about the pregnancy, Peyton. From what I know of the mating process, the attraction between us will only continue to grow and intensify as we go through the mating stages. For true mates, it’s even stronger.”

He had to be mistaken. Sure, I’d accepted his mark, technically putting us in the first stage of mating, but it was easily broken as long as we didn’t take it further. Which was why I hadn’t become a part of the pack web. The only other explanation was the pregnancy. “But—”

“Quiet,” Nathan snarled. “Open your mind to possibilities, Peyton. Did it ever occur to you that you might be wrong?”

My brain short-circuited when his gaze slid down to my center and he licked his lips, making my heart beat so hard it pulsed in my core. Rising onto his knees, he put one between my legs, nudging them apart. I hesitated—because I couldn’t just submit without a fight. Where was the fun in that?—and his eyes jumped to mine. They burned with warning, and I shivered, torn between the desire to find out how he would punish me and the need to do whatever it took to get to satisfaction as fast as possible.

Without breaking our stare, he placed his hands on the insides of my thighs. I tensed, but he was stronger than me, so he slowly drew them apart. He moved to kneel between my legs, then pushed them wide until I winced at the slight pain. A dangerous smile curled his lips and his pupils changed shape, leaving me staring at his wolf. He bent down suddenly and licked up my slit, making sure to run the rough pad of his tongue over the bundle of nerves at the top.

“Holy shit!” I yelped as an orgasm rushed to the surface. Then I hissed and scored the tips of my claws over Nathan’s shoulders because the asshole backed off before it crested.

He rose to his knees again and a single eyebrow lifted, the silver irises once again belonging to Nathan. “Behave.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I threatened, digging my nails into his hard flesh. My panther hissed in annoyance from being teased.

He smiled again, but there was a sinister quality to it that zipped along my skin with the sharpness of a razor. His hands dropped onto the mattress either side of my head and he hovered over me, the move meant to intimidate and put me in my place. “You’re welcome to try, kitty cat.”

Even my cat—who generally melted in Nathan’s presence—raised her hackles at the challenge issued in such a patronizing tone. Her slight irritation grew to anger, and she hissed and spit. But before I could make a move, he captured my wrists, bringing them together over my head. He shackled them in one hand and leaned toward the bedside table. I turned my head to see him retrieve something from the drawer. “What are you—no fucking way!” As soon as I saw the silky ties, I began to fight against him with all my strength. My wildcat hissed and spit, just as angry as me about the audacity of Nathan thinking he could tie us up. He’d either forgotten or chose to ignore how much we hated tethers, cages, and anything that kept us bound.

Claws emerged and I gnashed my extended eye teeth at the arm holding my wrists, but no matter how hard I struggled and even when I managed to scrape the underside of his arms with a razor-sharp fang, he didn’t even flinch.

“Don’t you dare, Nathan!” I screamed as I twisted and bucked. My cat was just as pissed and she surged to the surface, intent on freeing us, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he ended up with more permanent scars. I pushed her back, although I was seriously tempted to let her handle Nathan.

“Be still,” he growled, but I just glowered back and continued my attempts to free myself. He obviously saw the murderous glint of my panther’s golden irises because he raised an eyebrow and grunted, “Control your wildcat, baby. If you stop struggling, she’ll back off.” I was about to tell him to fuck off and shift when he pushed his knee into the apex of my thighs, making me gasp and moan. I tried to close my legs around him in an attempt to demand he stay there and give me relief. His eyes narrowed as he dropped the restraints next to my head, then he moved his knee away and his free hand collared my throat. A whimper threatened to escape, so I firmly pressed my lips together. It didn’t matter, we both knew I was desperate. “Do you want more?” he asked in a low tone as he brushed my hair off my face before whispering a kiss over my lips.

I hesitated, but he’d managed to put me in such a needy state that I was ready to give him almost anything to get what I wanted. “Peyton?” His fingers curled around my throat.

“Yessss,” I sibilated through clenched teeth.

“Be good and I’ll give you everything you want, baby.”

My cat and I weighed our options and decided that satisfaction was worth more than fighting him now.I can kick his ass later.So I nodded, but he waited a few seconds before removing his hand from my neck—a reminder of who was in charge. No, he hadn’t forgotten my aversion to being tied down—literally and figuratively. He was making a point, though I wasn’t wholly sure of what it was yet.

It took great effort to let him wrap the silk around my wrists, shackling them together above my head. I had an even more difficult time convincing my panther to chill out. She was freaking the fuck out in my head.

---