Page 110 of Callen's Captive
“I’m testing a few of the older teens on the outer perimeter. Jason’s easily distracted so I’m keeping him closer to the camp, but Valerie’s taking to it like a dream. Endless energy like her dad and good instincts, too. Jason’s been relying on his eyesight more than scent which worries me. I think we may have to consider a different task for him.”
“Long as it’s not sewing. That can drive a person to drink, not that there’s any alcohol here,” Kate said from behind. Talk about relying on sight alone, he hadn’t caught her scent. Maybe Jason wasn’t the problem, just the shifter training him.
“Slide over, bear,” Kate said, nudging him with her hip.
“Bear?” Frank said, clearly holding back a laugh. “Hey, Callen, did you forget to tell your mate that we’rewolfshifters?”
Callen glared at Frank, not for the shifter comment, but for pointing out that he and Kate were mated. Callen didn’t need any overt reminders to throw Kate into a downward spiral, not when she was making an effort to be near him.
Frank caught his stare, but he had always been hard to intimidate, even before he went to prison. “You’re awfully touchy for a guy who just blood-bonded. You need that mating run, I suppose.”
“Leave him alone,” Damien said.
Callen would thank Damien later, but right now he couldn’t take his eyes off of Kate, especially with her thigh pressing against his, warming him, reminding him how her thighs had wrapped around him, kept him locked to her. Every part of him was on fire, ready and eager to pull her into his embrace and claim her again, nice and slow like the first time.
As the conversation continued, with Damien and Frank trading ideas over how to spirit the virus away from Drake, Kate’s left hand slid to Callen’s lower back. He thought she was stretching until her hand gently cupped his ass. From that point on, Callen missed everything Damien and Frank were saying, and said yes to some question that made everyone laugh. He didn’t care. This was his mate and damn the rest of them, he wasn’t going to sit here fighting a hard-on when his mate was putting her hand on his ass.
“Excuse me,” he said, getting up and walking away.
When she didn’t follow, he felt the bond inside him shudder with pain. He wasn’t sure what she wanted from him lately, to touch or to leave her alone, but he’d had enough. He strode back to her, ready to say just that.
She’d thrown a mask up to hide her feelings from him, but the bond had made it clear she felt overwhelmed by this place, the pack, everything. She was drowning out here, and she was screaming for help, only she didn’t know how to tell him that. Her hopes, her needs, even her insecurities, were rushing along the bond, vying for attention, for support. . . for an outlet. Without a word, Callen scooped Kate up in his arms and carried her away from the others.
Behind him, he heard Tess say, “It’s about time.”
* * *
KATE
“I don’t think I can make it here, Callen,” she said as he carried her away from the campfire. She didn’t know where they were going, but he smelled really nice, and her pussy was throbbing. She slipped her hand into his shirt. So warm and smooth.
“Keep touching me like that and I’ll take you right here, in the open.”
The idea had merit.
“Two damn weeks, Kate. I think we’ve punished each other enough. When will you understand we’re better together?”
He set her down on her feet outside a tent. Well, that cleared things up a bit. “Make up sex?”
“We’re past make-up sex. This is ‘I’m going to fuck my very hot mate’ sex.”
Her thighs clenched, and the way he grinned, she was sure he knew she was already wet. “You think sex will make me forget that I’m here, in the woods?”
“No, but it will help take off the edge.” His hand slid down her side over her hip while he gave her that smoldering look that said more than his words. Except his hand didn’t move lower; it didn’t move at all. Was he waiting for her to say or do something? He got her all hot and bothered and now nothing?
She unbuttoned her jeans and lifted a brow. There, consent given. . . The next move was his.
His mouth captured hers with a fierceness she hadn’t expected, like a man who had been denied water for weeks, months, and planned on taking his fill. His hand slipped into her jeans into her panties, taking a firm hold of her.
She couldn’t have possibly heard him say ‘mine’, not with his tongue dancing with hers. But she was sure she’d heard it—or maybe felt it? She couldn’t ponder how she knew the sentiment, only that she had. Two of his fingers circled her clit, bringing on a rush of heat and making her part for him so easily.
She broke the kiss as his fingers entered her. They weren’t going to make it inside the tent at this rate, and quite frankly she didn’t care. There was something raw and primal in the way he stared at her as his fingers pumped in and out of her, as the heel of his hand pressed against her clit. The edginess he’d described before had nothing on this rising need within her.
“Tell me you want me, Kate,” he said as a third finger entered her, and he began pumping harder. She grabbed hold of his forearms to steady herself.
There she stood in the middle of the woods, with trees around her and Callen’s fingers in her, building a fire in her so fast she wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle the fall. His thumb pressed against her clit and she catapulted over that cliff. His mouth captured hers, muffling her scream as she rode the wave shaking, but held up by Callen. He’d always hold her, keep her from falling. She knew that in her soul.
With one swift motion, he brought her inside the tent and laid her out on the sleeping bag and stripped her jeans from her. As he stood over her, he dragged his shirt up over that finely chiseled chest of his, shucking it off to the side. He unbuttoned the top of his jeans, showing a hint of dark hair as he slowly lowered the zipper. Taut muscled flexed, reminding her of his power. He peeled back the front of his jeans, exposing the hard bulge she had seen pressing against the fabric.
