Unleashed: The Cursed Trilogy, Book Two Read online

  I continue slow, careful steps, and the view of a campfire comes into my peripheral. It’s on the left side of the house, and there are blankets laid out near the fire. I veer that direction in hopes of finding Killian, so he can help this wolf.

  The fire is a comforting warmth on this cool night. I put my hands out over it and look at the fur blankets on the ground. They’re neatly placed and don’t look like they’ve been sat on. Scanning the area, I search for the mystery man who owns this home.

  “Killian!”

  No one responds except the wolf, which is much closer. The howl sends a shiver down my back, and I step nearer to the fire. A short distance from where I’m standing, the wolf walks a circle around me and the campfire. Is he scared of it? I hope so, because his massive size is much more intimidating at this distance.

  The wolf moves in closer, and the hair on the back of my neck rises. Apparently, the fire doesn’t scare him. Giant paws leave imprints in the grassy dirt as he stalks closer. Fear knots in my stomach as the red-orange glow swirls in my palms. The wolf snarls, his lip revealing fangs. I extinguish the magic, and he stops growling.

  Got it, no fire magic.

  The wolf pads over to the fur blankets and lies on them, his head and neck raised as he watches me. So much for his wounded leg. I’m beginning to think this wolf belongs to Killian as a pet. He looks far too much at home, lying on those blankets by the fire.

  “Hi, wolf, you’re very pretty.”

  The wolf pins its amber gaze on me, then lowers its head on its paws.

  “I’m guessing you belong to the owner here.”

  The wolf’s ears twitch as though he’s listening.

  “Can I pet you?”

  The wolf stands from the blankets, and I stiffen as he pads the few feet to me. With his head reaching my waist, he puts his snout out first and sniffs me. I remain still. His snout taps my legs, then travels farther up to my crotch, where he lingers.

  “Hey, that’s enough of that.”

  His lip rises, emitting a low growl.

  “Don’t make me use my magic.”

  The wolf comes forward, pushing his body against me, rubbing along my body. He does it again, going the opposite direction, making me step backward to keep my balance. Feeling comfortable, I lower my hand to his back, and he goes still, allowing me to pet him. I stroke his long, thick fur, then travel up to behind his ears. His back leg starts kicking, and I laugh.

  “Like that, do ya?”

  Squatting down, I use both hands to give him a good rub behind the ears. His leg kicks some more, then he suddenly shifts his weight forward, knocking me back. I land on my elbows and ass on the grassy dirt.

  “Hey!”

  The wolf is quick on his feet, looming over me, but he isn’t threatening. I wiggle backward as he steps forward again, then places a paw on my stomach and gives a low growl.

  Shit.

  A turquoise glow fills my palms, and he comes forward, his jaw over my face as he stares down at me, growling. I relinquish the magic, and he stops growling. I put my arm up and try to push him back, but he doesn’t budge.

  “I won’t use my magic, but you need to move back.”

  I try to push him again and notice a glimmer in his eyes. The long snout pointed at me shortens, his ears shrink, and his fur fades to tan skin. Right before my eyes, the wolf turns to man. I suck in a breath at the muscled, naked body of a ruggedly handsome man on all fours above me. Glancing down, my cheeks flush. His long, thick penis is erect and pointed right at my crotch.

  “Hello, sweetheart, I’ve waited a long time for you.”

  His smooth baritone is a caress across my skin, and my body is humming with an unusual desire.

  “Killian?”

  “Yes, and you’re Selene, my stunning mate.”

  “Mate?”

  Killian’s messy auburn hair falls into his amber eyes.

  “Yes, sweetheart. You’re my mate. I knew it the moment I saw you. I could feel it in every part of me.”

  “I can see that,” I quip.

  Killian laughs, the deep guttural rumble matching the ruggedness of his strong jaw, short beard, and large, muscled frame. Not all of him is rugged-looking, though. He has a scattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose beneath his sparkling amber eyes, and it gives him an added touch of character, intertwined with his manliness.

  “You like what you see, then?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Sweetheart, I know you do. I can smell your arousal.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “It’s an advantage. I’ll always know when you want me, as you do now.”

  He hasn’t touched me, still holding himself up on his hands and knees, but his eyes are stripping me bare.

  “All right, yes, I’m very attracted to you.”

  “Touch me, Selene. I’m restraining as much as I can from taking you.”

  My eyes widen. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re my mate, and my wolf is demanding I claim you.”

  The thought of him claiming me has goosebumps rushing over my arms and a new ache developing between my legs.

  Killian closes his eyes and tilts his head, breathing in a deep breath.

  “Sweetheart, your arousal is far too tempting.” His eyes open, and a bronze glow glimmers in his amber eyes. Bending, he smothers my lips with a raw passion that takes my body through a new rush of sensations. My palms settle on his hard biceps as he wraps a hand around my neck and pulls my shirt up. Calloused fingers trail across my stomach, then tug at the button of my shorts. It pops free, and he easily slides the zipper down while sending vibrations of pleasure through my body as his lips claim mine. Sliding a finger into me has me inhaling a breath against his lips. With just the slightest touch and thrust into me, my arousal rages for more of him.

  “Sweetheart, you’re soft as silk and smell better than the woods after it rains.”

  “You smell delicious. I don’t know what it is.”

  My hands caress his muscles and into his hair. I can’t get enough of him.

  “It’s my pheromones. It’s like an aphrodisiac for you.”

  I tug at his hair as his kisses travel down the column of my neck, and he adds another finger, thrusting them against my G-spot. Sucking in a breath, I inhale more of his incredible scent. It’s the only thing I can smell, and I want to keep breathing it in like a freshly washed blanket out of the dryer.

  “Don’t stop touching me. You feel incredible.”

  “I don’t plan to. I’m going to claim you, Selene, long into the night.”

  He pulls back from me, and I rise up, longing to keep the connection. The corner of his full lips curve as he pushes me onto my back. With his hands on my shorts, he tears the fabric in two, easily removing them from my body. I release a shocked breath, and he grins.

  “I need you now.”

  Tearing my shirt and bra from my chest, I’m laid bare for him as he trails a hungry gaze up and down my body.

  “Your body is beautiful. Nearly as beautiful as the arousal I see in your striking blue eyes.”

  My hand wraps around his neck, yanking him back to me.

  “Fuck me, Killian.”

  “With pleasure.”

  With one hard thrust, he enters me. My legs wrap around his ass as he puts his chest to mine, holding me tight to him as he grinds his hips into me, pounding my ass against my torn clothes and the ground beneath us. His hypnotic scent envelopes my senses as a new humming sensation courses through my body.

  Sweat dampens my skin, and his, as he takes me hard, a low growl escaping his chest. Pulling out, he turns me over with ease, then slams into me, a deeper growl escaping him. My fingers dig into the dirt as my body rocks forward and back, pleasure rising so steeply, I teeter on the edge of sanity.

  “You feel… so… damn good.”

  The sound of us coming together echoes into the night, as do the pleasured moans and growls we release. Holding onto my shoulders,
he uses them as leverage as he takes me from a different angle. The humming pleasure in my body turns to a numbing vibration as he fucks me harder.

  “Mine,” he growls out like a fevered beast.

  Letting go of my shoulders, he puts his chest to my back. The pressure of fangs bite into my flesh, but not deep enough to cry out. His hands overlap mine, holding me pinned beneath him. Vehemently he thrusts, ravaging my body, claiming it as a burst of radiant, golden-bronze light expands around us. Explosive energy whips through my body, my orgasm releasing so aggressively, I pinch my eyes closed through the intense wave of pleasure. Behind me, he groans deeply, his thrusts slowing.

  The pressure of his weight eases off my body, then his strong hand caresses down my back, massaging my muscles. Tender kisses are placed on my shoulder where he bit me.

  “You’re the one I’ve been waiting for.”

  Sitting on his legs, he pulls me into his arms. I sit on his lap as he tenderly kisses along my neck and shoulder. Large palms cup my breasts, massaging them in his hands, the pleasure enhancing my lingering arousal.

  “I want to know you, Killian.”

  “You will, sweetheart. Now that we’ve bonded our magic and as mates, you’ll never be far from me.”

  “What does it mean to be mated?”

  “It’s a bond as deep as our magic, something you’ll feel at your core and only feel it for me.”

  “The other guys are going to be jealous of that.”

  “It’s why I was chosen to bond with you last. I, of course, wanted to be first. They wanted a chance to develop a deep bond with you before we mated.”

  “That’s understandable. It was nice of you to allow it.”

  Killian’s laugh vibrates from his chest to my back. “I didn’t allow it. I was outvoted.”

  “Oh.”

  He caresses my arm, side, and down my thigh. The energy between us pushes and pulls between my skin and his fingers. It’s an interesting and new feeling. I like it.

  “When Griffin called and told me we’d be bonding sooner than expected, you can’t imagine the joy I felt. My wolf has been longing for its mate all of my adult life.”

  “Have you been with other women?”

  “Will you feel better knowing the answer?”

  Jealousy strikes, coiling in my chest.

  “No, probably not.”

  “All right.” He kisses my shoulder, where my skin is tender from his bite. “Let’s go inside. We can take a bath together. I’ll wash you.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Putting a hand under my legs and the other around my back, he stands with me in his arms. He carries me through the threshold of his house and into the large bathroom with a jacuzzi tub.

  Setting me down, he puts a finger under my chin, bringing me to his lips as he caresses between my legs.

  “I want you again already.”

  “Get the warm water going, and you can.”

  With a salacious grin, he turns toward the tub, and I admire the wolf tattoo on his back. My fingers trail over the realistic detail of its face and the moon behind it. His muscles twitch, goosebumps rising on his skin.

  “Are you a wolf shifter?”

  “Yes. Before my magic began fading, I could shift any time, then after a while, I could only shift during full moons like tonight.”

  “Why only full moons?”

  “Under the magic of the full moon.”

  “Oh.”

  Killian puts a hand into the water to check its temperature, then takes my hand and helps me into the tub. Climbing in behind me, he pulls me to his hard chest, breathing me in.

  “I like having my scent all over you.”

  His fingers delve into my opening, and I suck in a pleasured breath.

  “Do you want washed or fucked first, sweetheart?”

  “Fucked first.”

  He nestles his face into my neck as he thrusts in and out of my pussy.

  “I already adore you.”

  Lifting my hips, he slides me over his thick erection, and I gasp as he fills me whole.

  “I know I’m big.”

  “It feels really good.”

  “Is that what that gasp was?” He smiles against my ear.

  “Yes.”

  Tucking his hands under my knees, he thrusts his hips up, fucking me from beneath.

  “I’m worried I’m going to fuck you raw with how much I want to be inside this pussy.”

  The deep rasp of his voice and the pleasure of his cock sliding in and out of me has me moaning, an orgasm already building. His thrusts come harder, and the water splashes over the edge onto the floor, but neither of us cares as we climb with the rising pleasure. With my hands gripping the tub edge and wall, I cry out through another explosive orgasm. Moments later, he groans through his, then slows his thrusts, easing his arms out from under my knees.

  Licking the shell of my ear, he bites, scraping his fangs along my skin, and goosebumps pebble on my arms. Curiously, I turn around to see his fangs out and his eyes bright amber with golden-bronze glimmering in them. Damp, auburn hair hangs messily over his forehead and into his eyes. Running my fingers through it, I caress his head, admiring the man and beast.

  “You’re sexy. Beastly and sexy.”

  Killian smirks, his full cheeks accentuating his freckles. Following the trail of his fingers with his gaze, he rubs up my side, cups my chin, and brings me to him for a long, smoldering kiss.

  “You’re better than I imagined. More beautiful than any woman I’ve seen before. And fucking you, sweetheart, feels as good as running free in the woods.”

  Moving my legs, I straddle him. “You’re as good with words as you are at sex.”

  “I mean every word.”

  Sturdy hands rub my back before molding me to his chest as he clears my mind and warms my sex with his breathtaking kiss.

  “Killian,” I look into his adoring eyes. “I can already tell I’m going to fall hard for you.”

  “I hope so.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  SELENE

  Sometime in the middle of the night, Killian slips out of the bed we’re sharing in the loft. He tries to be quiet, but he’s too big to tiptoe. I sit up, holding the sheet to my chest, and watch him. He clearly senses I’m awake and looks over his shoulder at me. As he comes to my side of the bed, I drop the sheet, and his smile widens as his amber eyes fall to my chest.

  “I need to run in my wolf form. Would you like to come with me?”

  “Is your wolf strong enough to carry me?”

  “Yes.”

  My mouth curls. “I’d love to join you.”

  “Put on jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, so the trees don’t scratch you.”

  Leaving the bed, I rummage through my bag for the right clothes while Killian leans against the railing, fully nude, watching me dress with hunger in his eyes.

  “I’m glad you’re coming with me.”

  “I am too. I’m excited.”

  “It’s going to be a rush for both of us.”

  Taking my hand, he leads me down the stairs and out the door. Letting go, he shifts into his wolf form, clearing the steps, landing on all four paws in the grass. Giddy, I take a couple steps down, and he steps onto the one below me, so I can climb onto his back. When I do, I gather his hair to hold on. My grip gets a bit tighter when he takes off toward the woods. The only light we have is the moonlight casting silver beams through the trees. He keeps to the light, the paws of his feet pounding the ground as he sniffs the air. He avoids branches that would knock me off, which slows him at times. When we’re clear, he picks up his pace. As he runs faster, the pounding of his paws come down harder, sending vibrations through me. His magic is growing stronger, I can feel it. It’s coursing through him into me.

  We come out of the thick woods into a clearing. There’s a cliff ahead, and he slows, then stops well before it. The spot he’s chosen is stunning, the moon high above the trees, shining bright in a cloudless sky, stars
glimmering in the darkness above as the moonlight illuminates the mountains and the valley below.

  “This is beautiful.”

  Climbing off Killian’s furry back, I walk near the edge. Behind me, he shifts into man.

  “This is the place where I like to come in my wolf form. It soothes my beast.”

  Arms folding around me, I angle my chin to take his kiss.

  “It means a lot that you brought me here.”

  “I’m all in, Selene. It’s why I wanted to share it with you.”

  “How do you feel about sharing me with four other men?”

  “I’ve accepted it, but I’m hoping you’ll want a lot of time alone with me.”

  “I know I will.”

  Moving my hair off my shoulder, he rests his chin there.

  “Griffin told me you didn’t bond with Phoenix. I want to hear what happened from you.”

  The memory tightens my muscles, and noticing, Killian rubs my back, easing the tension.

  “Phoenix was having a vampire party. Somehow, the Holy Accolades knew about it. They slaughtered every vampire there and nearly killed Phoenix. He was badly wounded when I got there. When I tried to help him, he forced himself on me, feeding from me as if he didn’t care if he drained me. Emeric showed up and stopped him.”

  “I can hear the pain in your voice. You’re disappointed in him.”

  “Do you know Phoenix?”

  “I do. I went to university with him and the others.”

  “What do you think of him?”

  “He hasn’t changed since then.”

  “Then I’m right to be disappointed.”

  “Perhaps.” He turns me to face him, caressing his hand across my cheek. “But people can be motivated to change for the right reason.”

  “You think I’m that reason? That I can change him?”

  “He’d be a fool not to.”

  Glancing down, I bite my lip at the sight of his erection. I put my fist around it, stroking him, and a deep rumble escapes his chest. His mouth closing over mine, his hands lift my shirt off as I continue stroking him.

  “I like that you’re always naked. It’s easy access.”

  “You need to stop wearing clothes when we’re together. I’m at a disadvantage.”