Page 34 of Wolf Claimed
“You were there having sex with me as Tiernan fucked me, except you weren’t using your hands and cock.” She stroked his length through his jeans and pulled a possessive growl from him, one that made her entire body quiver. “You were definitely touching me in your mind, weren’t you, Rafe?”
“No.”
“You tell me not to lie to you, but then you lie to me. It’s not right.”
“Fuck.”
“Is that an offer?”
“It’s. . . nothing. I can’t have you, Artemis.”
“But you want me,” she pushed. “This isn’t about Tiernan. Just you and me. Tell me what you want, Rafe.”
With one yank, he pulled her shirt over her head. The heat in Rafe’s eyes made her breath hitch.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he said, his eyes moving over her breasts before locking onto her eyes again.
Being with Rafe felt incredibly right, as right as when she’d been with Tiernan.
Rafe pressed his hips against hers so she could feel his erection. When she stroked him through his jeans, her lower region pulsed with anticipation. Then the image of Tiernan returned. What if she couldn’t bring herself to blood-bond him? Clearly, she had feelings for Rafe. And Maddox. That alone proved she couldn’t commit to Tiernan for a lifetime.
“I don’t want you to kill Tiernan.” She didn’t owe Tiernan the rest of her life, but she cared for him deeply.
Rafe lowered one bra strap and then the other before unclasping her bra and tossing it aside, leaving her half-naked. She wanted him, desperately, but not at the cost of Tiernan’s life.
“You can still blood-bond him if you choose. In fact, I stand behind it.”
“You don’t want me, do you Rafe? Beyond sex, I mean.”
He gripped her chin. “I want you more than you can imagine, but I won’t put down another shifter unless there’s no other choice. Make no mistake about it, Artemis, I will have you. Then you’ll do what your heart commands, even if that means blood-bonding Tiernan. He’s fighting his wolf, but he can’t win, not without you. Our wolves gain too much power as they go feral. That’s why the blood-bond is crucial. Being tied to a female is the only thing that calms the wolf permanently.”
“And if I refuse him because I want to be with you? What then?”
At that moment, she saw something in his eyes. Shame perhaps? He hadn’t talked to her like an equal before, not like this, and she didn’t want to ruin it. She liked this Rafe. The one who wasn’t as judgmental, the one who tried to understand the other side.
“What I want doesn’t matter. I’m the alpha heir of my pack. I can’t blood-bond a human. But if I could, I would take you. You would be a strong partner, a good mother to my heirs, but as an alpha, I must blood-bond a shifter. Alphas don’t have a choice in the matter.”
His tongue flicked her nipple, and before long, he pulled her entire nipple into his mouth, sucking on her. Her pussy throbbed, and she arched her back, pushing into him.
When she sifted her fingers through his hair, he released her breast and looked at her as he subtly scented the air. “You’re unsure.”
“If I were shifter and you could blood-bond me, would you, even at the expense of Tiernan?”
“Yes.”
His frown said he wasn’t proud of it, but he was being truthful with her. And she wanted him. Fuck, she wanted both of them. And Maddox. Why couldn’t she decide between them?
She was overthinking this. She didn’thaveto choose. She hadn’t committed herself to any one of them, and they all knew it.
Rafe deftly stripped her bare—boots, gun, clothes—before removing his clothing, revealing a magnificent body. He was broader than Tiernan, just as beautifully sculpted with muscles that covered his entire body. An alpha in every aspect, especially the way he looked at her. Possessive. And determined.
She felt a gush between her legs as she envisioned him thrusting into her.
“I smell your arousal, Artemis.”
Artemis. He’d settled on a name for her.
“That’s not my name, Rafe. And before you tell me I’m like a goddess again, let’s be real. I’m anything but. I chose that name to appear stronger than I am among a group of human men and male shifters.”
