“Nope what?” Okay so she might have wailed that last bit.

He laughed, the dog. Or the wolf. Whatever. He was purposely teasing her.

“Are you going to make me beg?”

He looked up, over the line of her body, gaze locked on hers as he licked slow and then fast and then slow again. “Maybe. Are you too proud to beg, Michelle?”

She shook her head. “No. Nope. Nope. I’m begging you. Please, please, please make me come.”

“I like that.” He continued that slow torture, and she pounded the mattress and jerked at how strong she was. He laughed again. “I should have warned you. You’re a lot stronger now.”

“Get back to work!”

He totally did. This time his pressure was harder, his licks faster as he slid one finger and then another up into her, turning his wrist until he found a spot so unbearably sweet inside her that she nearly jumped up off the bed.

And then he sucked her clit between his lips and let go. And again. And one more time until her pleasure burst through her, filling her up so there was nothing but sensation and her orgasm racing through her veins.

“Just so you know, I’m absolutely sexually satisfied,” she mumbled, opening her eyes as he moved to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around him.

“I aim to please.”

“You get a gold star. If I could move I’d do a little cheer.”

He gave her such a grin. “Yeah? Well my birthday is coming up.”

“I can’t possibly get my ass in my old stuff, but as it happens the internet loves a slutty cheerleader costume so I’m sure I can get a replacement. Been a while since I’ve bounced knowing you watched me cheer.”

“Best part of my Friday nights, I gotta say.” Then he did some fancy-pants move and slid into her in one hard thrust.

“Damn, you are all about the sex moves. It’s a good thing I stuck around to benefit from your skills. However, I was going to suck your cock and you got in the way of that.”

“Beautiful, there will always be another opportunity for you to suck my dick. Right now I want to be in you.”

When he was dirty like that it turned her insides all gooey.

Her hands on his back caught the tension in his muscles. “Let go. You’re holding back.”

“I shouldn’t be doing this at all! You nearly died, damn it, woman!”

“But I didn’t die. You saved me. You brought me here and you made the decisions that saved my life and I am here. Here wrapped around you. Here. So when I tell you to let go, it’s not because I’m being a martyr, it’s because I am fine and I want it hard.”

He sighed and kissed her deeply until she melted into his touch. Then he sped up and she didn’t just allow it. She reveled in it. She loved how he looked at her with his wolf shining in his eyes.

He thrust deep and hard like it was the only thing he could do. Like he couldn’t resist and she loved it. Loved that he needed her so much.

“I love you,” he said, leaning his forehead to hers. “Don’t leave me. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “I love you too.”

When he came he pressed inside, his fingertips digging into her hips hard to hold her still.

She drifted off that way, safe in his arms. Loved.

Chapter Seventeen

Ten days later…

Josh watched as she came back, Tracy at her side. His chocolate wolf, he liked to call his mate, approached and stretched as she took her human skin again. He handed her a sweater, which she put on before getting back into her panties, jeans and shoes and socks.

Tracy and Pam had been teaching Michelle to track as a wolf, and she’d been using her unique talent with magick to attempt to locate the mages. They’d hit many dead-ends but something very bad had appeared on the horizon.

The witches were keeping it close to the vest, but something they called the Magister was responsible for the disappearances. Only they didn’t know how to stop it yet. Or even what it truly was aside from a whispered nightmare from legends older than recorded history.

The wolves had upped their patrols, and everyone in a pack, jamboree or pride checked in at least twice a day with their leadership. Michelle had been working with the witches and Pacific to liaise between and keep everyone in Portland prepared.

Back in Boston, they spoke to Akio nearly daily about what was happening as the wolves at National worked with the cats and one of the very few witch clans on the Eastern seaboard.

Big, bad things hung over them, and there was a weight in the air as they did what they could to prepare, but knew it would be bad when it finally came down.

Michelle had clicked with the pack when she’d come back newly turned. Tracy had taken her under her wing as she now shared Josh’s rank.

Even better was just how adept she was at the job. Her training as a police officer had prepared her, and she had a natural gift for investigation and most definitely protection.

Plus it enabled them to work together, which meant he got to keep an eye on her. And that they could sneak off here and there to run home and get down.

As if she knew what he was thinking about, she looked up from where she’d been poring over a map with Pam and caught his gaze with a smile.

He’d nearly lost her. It was so close he still woke up in a cold sweat some nights just remembering it. But she was stronger now that she had a wolf. Faster. Better able to protect and defend herself.

It had brought them closer, even as he still had trouble letting her out of his sight for very long. She got that and did what she could to stay in sight or close by. She hadn’t been home, though she and her mother had spoken—briefly—on the phone. They’d had a wake for Allie just a few days earlier, and he’d gone with her to Roseburg where they’d packed up her apartment and moved all the rest of her belongings up to Portland.

She checked in on Kathy daily, but she was forging a new life, one with Josh at her side. It wasn’t always safe, but she was loved and she filled his life in a way he’d never thought possible.

So when the shit finally hit the proverbial fan, when this Magister thing everyone spoke about in hushed voices finally made its move, he’d protect her with everything he had and they’d survive because there was no other choice.

About the Author

To learn more about Lauren Dane, please visit www.laurendane.com. Send an email to Lauren at [email protected] or find her at twitter @LaurenDane.

A whole world exists…beneath the skin.

Beneath the Skin

© 2012 Lauren Dane

De La Vega Cats, Book 3

Gibson de La Vega is the Bringer, one of the Alpha’s right-hand cats. It is his job to mete out justice and defend the law that holds their jamboree together.

After a contentious meeting with another jamboree, he’s shot—Mia stumbles onto the scene and saves his life. He’s immediately drawn to the female who dug three silver bullets from his body. Even after he discovers she’s a Porter, a family his own harmed grievously half a century before.

Mia has enough in her life. She’s recovering from a vicious hate crime—an attack using silver has affected her ability to do what she loves most. The last thing she needs is a bossy alpha cat like Gibson. A de La Vega no less.

Despite the myriad reasons to stay away, even as they continue to hunt down the would-be killers, their attraction deepens into something else entirely.

The answers they find bring that threat far closer to home than anyone could have imagined and it’ll be up to Gibson to end the mess once and for all. And up to Mia to stand at his side, even as he risks his life…

Warning: A super hot alpha male with a gruff façade, and an uppity female who’s not buying it. Some violence. Some red-hot sex. Bad words. Lots of fun.