Chapter Seven

Raul put up a ferocious fight, but strong emotion fueled the beast. His wolf found it ridiculously easy to blast through the rigid barriers Raul maintained to keep Angel from sensing its presence. Even his fear-tinged desperation was no match for the animal’s strength, the man being sabotaged as it was by his own anger.

Raul retained just enough control not to shift, but it was the animal that was clearly in charge. The wolf—its senses sharper, keener—knew something the man didn’t. Their mate wanted him, the animal. She was daring him to hunt her, mate her, claim her. The honeyed scent of her arousal lingered in the air—a siren call he was impatient to answer. For far too long he’d allowed the man to hold him away from their mate, and make no mistake, she was theirs.

He dropped to all fours—still in his man form—and bounded up the stairs in leaps, catching his prey as she cleared the landing. One pounce and he was on her, bringing her down like a wounded antelope. As they fell, Raul wrestled control from his beast, twisted so he landed on bottom, taking the brunt of the impact.

Angel lashed out with her feet, struggling to gain leverage and get away.

“Baby, don’t fight me,” he desperately gritted out of a throat gone wolf.

This close to a full moon, his beast was strong, leaving him fighting on two fronts. All of Angel’s wriggling and squirming was bringing out the wolf in him whose sole purpose at that moment was to subdue and fuck. His human mate couldn’t handle its savage need of her, so Raul fought to control his animal and his mate—a battle he was rapidly losing.

Back off, he ordered his wolf.

Mate wants me, it argued, still trying to surge to the forefront.

She can’t handle you. You’ll hurt her, Raul said.

“Let go!” she demanded, slamming down an elbow. Only his heightened reflexes kept it from nailing him in the face.

Mate, no hurt, his wolf denied savagely.

“Quit. Fighting. Me.” A growl commanded, aimed at the wolf and his mate. Neither party listened.

Angel continued to twist and turn, worming in his embrace as he struggled not to hurt her by gripping her too tight. It was like wrestling an octopus. She was suddenly all arms, legs, and lush, womanly curves. His cock went from semihard to rock-hard so fast he saw spots.

“Omph!” Her knee found ground in his stomach, and taking advantage of his slack grip, she pushed off, launching herself forward so that her crotch landed in his face. Raul got a lungful of her enticing arousal before she vaulted forward another foot, scrambling on her hands and knees to flee.

His brain shifted into gear, coming out of the fog it had been in since he’d discovered her gone. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but Angel wanted him as much as she always had. Now that he was thinking straight, he realized that though she struggled, she hadn’t really put up that much of a fight. His woman knew some lethal moves and had she really wanted free of him, he’d be bloody and bruised right now.

Weeks of abstinence reared up to kick him in the balls. It had been too long since he’d had his mate beneath him. The moment of mental clarity allowed him to gain control of his emotions. As the desire of man and wolf combined, the wolf faltered in its struggle, allowing Raul to temporarily subdue it and focus entirely on his mate.

Raul rolled over, lunged out, and caught Angel by the left foot. Then he steadily reeled her in until he could hook an arm around her waist. He shoved his pelvis into intimate contact with her still-wriggling ass, letting her feel his erection and understand what was coming.

A mini-shudder worked its way through her body, and the autumn-spice scent of her arousal magnified.

“You’re mine,” he told her, voice guttural. “This is mine.” Raul cupped her swollen sex through the damp satiny material of her panties, visible under the black miniskirt hiked high around her thighs.

“Raul!” Not a protest, but a demand for more.

He plunged two thick digits into her passage. Wet, but not wet enough. When aroused, even in human form, he was massive and didn’t want to hurt her. It had been almost three weeks since they’d last made love. Two weeks due to him being on the road and the week before because of the full moon when he hadn’t dared touch her lest his wolf take control.

But for now he, the man, was dominating. It was a tenuous restraint at best. He could feel his wolf, lurking under his skin, watching and waiting for any hint of distraction or weakness on the man’s part. It didn’t understand why Raul wouldn’t share with it the woman who was their life.