Page 16 of Wolf Claimed
“Tiernan,” he said, but didn’t elaborate.
As much as she cared about Tiernan, Alyssa had an intense desire to get to know Rafe better. Having feelings for more than one guy at a time wasn’t normal, yet she’d given herself to both of them in a heated and passionate threesome last week. She’d sworn she wouldn’t let that happen again. Yet just twenty-four hours ago, she’d gotten aroused when Rafe watched her and Tiernan having sex at the boathouse. Worse, she’d enticed him to join them. Even now, all she could think about was him thrusting into her while she licked Tiernan’s cock.
What the hell was happening to her?
“I don’t want to talk about Tiernan right now,” she said, again caught by Rafe’s intense green eyes. That stare pulled her in, tempted her to throw caution and sanity to the wind and follow her primal urges to lay claim to the shifter. To both shifters.
Rafe’s frown deepened. “We don’t always get what we want.”
“Meaning what? We’re going to talk about him because you say so?”
“Yes. I give orders. They’re obeyed.”
She snapped her fingers. “Just like that, huh?”
“More or less.”
“Is that what you want from me? From Tiernan and Maddox? Pure obedience?”
“A pack can only have one alpha.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not in a pack then.”
“You are in one. My pack. At least my team as long as we’re in this program together.”
“Officially, I’m part of your team, but frankly, Rafe, it doesn’t feel like it. You went out of your way to exclude me from the op taking down the drug runners.”
“And it didn’t work. You didn’t follow orders.” He held up a hand before she could speak. “Yes, you saved our asses, but it proves my point. You don’t take orders well.”
“Not always,” she agreed. “That’s sort of why I’m here. I questioned orders one too many times.” She looked away from him.
He gripped her chin, turning her to face him again. Green eyes bore into her. “Don’t lie to me, Artemis. You can lie to the others, but not me, not your team. Survival depends on trust, and I can’t trust shifters who lie to me.”
“I’m not a shifter,” she said, having trouble pushing the words out.
“You know what I mean. Shifter, human; it doesn’t matter. You’re a part of my team, which means I won’t tolerate any lies.”
“Or disobedience, Alpha? I never pledged anything to you.”
He stepped in closer, so close that she could smell that male musk, and her nipples stiffened in response. She had to hold it together, or she’d lose all the ground she’d gained thus far.
“I never asked for a loyalty pledge, but you’re starting to make me reconsider.”
She didn’t know why she’d turned oppositional to him suddenly. She respected the male and his ability to stay calm and fair, especially in a crisis. But following him blindly felt wrong. She wanted him to see her as an equal.
She lifted up on her toes and kissed him. Damned if she knew why. She would have loved to say she wanted to throw Rafe off his game, but the truth was, she just didn’t know. Now that her lips were pressing against his, tasting the inside of his lower lip as he parted for her, she didn’t really care why.
Rafe tasted savory, earthy, like rosemary and mushrooms in a decadent quiche, an indulgence she couldn’t afford. Letting herself get wild with him while she still had Tiernan’s proposal weighing on her wasn’t smart.
Rafe’s hand cupped the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. He pressed her against the wall, rubbing his hard length against her throbbing center.
“I can’t do this,” she said as her lips left his. She placed her hand against his chest, wishing she could convince herself to push him away before she kissed him again. Her entire body was wound up from Tiernan, and now Rafe.
Years of going without the opposite sex and it had all caught up to her. Probably the effect of all that male testosterone around her. She’d never been interested in two. . .fuck, three guys at once. If anyone found out. . .
She glanced right and left.
“We’re alone,” he confirmed, as if reading her mind. “The rest are inside for the briefing.”
