Page 30 of Fighting Furry

CHAPTER FIVE

“Come on, princess. Rise and shine.” Axel slapped my bare ass. Hard. I screeched, rolled over, and glared at him. He grinned back. “We should get on the road.”

I groaned. “I hate you.”

His grin widened. “I hate you, too.”

I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed, the sheet pooling around my waist. “What happened to middle of the night sex?”

He shrugged. “Guess you slept through it. We should get packing, though, if we're going to get back to Mule Creek before dark.”

A wave of sadness washed over me. I'd been doing a decent job not thinking about leaving LA forever, about the end of my career, but Axel was all chipper and happy, and it was beyond obnoxious. “What's the rush?”

He glanced over my shoulder at the wall, avoiding my eyes, a sure sign he was about to feed me a bullshit line and one more reason I couldn't trust or get too close to him. Not that I wanted to, anyway. “Why stay here?” he asked. “There's nothing left here for you.” He turned away from me as he said the words, nonchalant. It wasn't his life being trashed.

I jumped out of bed, naked, and shoved him. He flew through the open bedroom doorway and landed face-down on the hallway floor. I looked at my hand. It didn't look any different, but wow…Just wow. I mean I knew I could punch through a tree, but I'd been putting all my strength into it. Had I gotten stronger over night?

While I was contemplating that, Axel charged back through the doorway and tackled me to the bed. He straddled my hips and pinned my wrists over my head, both in one of his obnoxiously large hands. “What the hell was that for?”

He had the start of a knot swelling on his forehead and I felt a teensy bit bad. I hadn't wanted to hurt him. “You were being bossy.”

“I was being rational,” he said. “I know it's not a concept you're familiar with.”

“Fuck you. Forgive me if I'm a tiny bit emotional about leaving the city I love, the career I adore, and my very best friend to go live in the middle of fucking nowhere with a bossy, insensitive, asshole alpha.”

He bent his head and licked my cheek. He licked one side and then the other, licking away my tears.

“That is disgusting,” I said. “You are disgusting.” I was lying through my teeth. There was something incredibly sweet about the gesture, in a bizarre wolfy way that I apparently now liked, but I'd be damned if I admitted it to him.

He leaned back and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his hard body and tanned skin. He dropped back down and pressed his bare chest to my bare chest. It was comforting and I hated it. “If you need more time to tie up loose ends and say goodbye, we can take an extra day, but I really do need to get back to the pack.”

There was nothing I needed to do. Shelly was the only one who even knew I was back in LA. My coaches didn't expect me to return to my fighting career. No one would miss me, and that made me even sadder. Axel wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, like he could sense my sadness. It felt good. It felt better than just about anything I'd ever felt before. Possibly better than sex. I had to make it stop, had to remind Axel there was nothing between us.

I lifted my head and nipped his bottom lip. He glared at me, like he knew what I was up to, but when I kissed him, he kissed me back. When I pushed at him, he lifted his body and let me take off his pants. When I slid down the bed, took him in my mouth, and swirled my tongue around his shaft, he didn't stop me. He held himself up over me and stayed perfectly still, letting me take the lead. He was not silent, though, and the sounds he made, deep groans and growls, turned me on as much as what I was doing to him. It was so sexy to hear and feel him losing control. And then he did lose control thrusting a bit as he climaxed. I crawled back up his body and grinned at him, feeling quite proud of myself.

He was panting, his arms shaking as he held himself up, but he recovered quickly. He slid down my body and returned the favor in such a complete way that he was ready to go again by the time I'd gone over the edge. He slid into me and it felt so good, so right, I almost pushed him away just out of habit. I'd started this sexapade to escape intimacy, but I somehow felt closer to him instead.

He paused, sensing my discomfort and it hurt, it physically hurt, to consider not finishing what we'd started. It was too late, I was hooked on him. “Don't you dare stop.”

He didn't move. He studied my face and…Was he sniffing the air? He bent and kissed me until I forgot what I'd been so worried about and only then did he move inside me again. He brought me to climax, but he pulled out before he reached his own release. I thought something was wrong, but he put his hands on my hips and urged me to flip over. I was up for anything at that point, so I rolled over onto all fours. This time, he entered me fast and hard and he hit that magic spot that sent pleasure coursing through me. I pushed back against him as he pounded into me, and it felt so good I thought I was going to go blind from pleasure.

He roared as he reached his climax and the sound, the knowledge of his pleasure, sent me flying over the edge again. I dropped flat to the mattress and he dropped down next to me.

“We can leave today,” I said, once I'd caught my breath. It really didn't make sense to draw out my leaving. “But we can't do this anymore. Once we're back with the pack, we need to be totally platonic. I don't want anyone getting any ideas about us.” When I said anyone, I meant me, because I was having ideas and I didn't like them.

“Of course,” he said. “I appreciate your willingness to leave today.”

He sounded not the least bit disappointed that he wouldn't be having sex with me again. His response did not annoy me. Not even a little bit. It was good we were on the same page.

We got up. I showered while he made breakfast, and he left to trade his sports car for a truck while I packed.

He returned an hour later, his eyes a bit wild. “I think we've got a problem,” he said, slamming the door behind him as though the hounds of hell were on his tail.

“What's the problem?”

“There was a small crowd outside the hotel when I left. When I got back, there were more of them. People with cameras. They followed me into the garage and two of them tried to follow me onto the elevator. They were asking about your injuries.”

I dropped my head into my hands. I wasn't a huge celebrity by any means. I was a fighter, but I'd also had a cameo in a movie and been in the music video of a hugely popular pop star. I'd also been in a few commercials. People recognized me, but I didn't typically have to worry about reporters or paparazzi. They were usually after bigger stars.

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