Fated Legacy Complete Collection

Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

I f she was going to pull this off, she needed to get a tighter grip on her emotions and her hormones. Right now, the latter were singing through her veins and complaining to her that it had been a long time since she’d felt a man’s hard cock thrusting inside her. More than that, they reminded her she’d never felt an alpha male wolf’s knot breeching her and locking her in his embrace.

She turned on the shower, adjusting the water so it was the perfect temperature. The last time she could remember getting under hot, pelting water and masturbating had been in New Orleans, and it had helped drive the tension from her body. This morning would be the same. This time, however, she knew what it felt like to have Jed’s hands on her body, even if they were over the fine silk nightgown she’d been wearing.

Slipping out of the garment, she entered the shower and moved under the rainfall showerhead. Perfection. She wished she’d taken him up on his offer to help her shower and dress… No, she didn’t want that. She had been the sycophant of some ancient evil; she would not surrender her freedom to her passionate nature. She would tamp it down, bottle it up, and do what she knew she needed to do.

Jed would have to find another. She was damaged goods. That thing had used her, been inside her. He would be better off with someone who hadn’t been tainted by evil. It would be easy for him, he was Damian Steele’s son and heir. She-wolves everywhere were probably drooling over the thought of being taken to mate by him. He was the stuff of which all she-wolves were supposed to dream.

There had been a time when she was one of them, but that was before the Darkness had claimed her. It had seen something in her that made it believe it could bend her to its will. Jed had praised her for being strong enough to withstand it, but he had no way of knowing how close she’d come to ripping out that Hunter’s throat and drinking down his life force, fueling the malevolence that had been inside her. If Jed hadn’t come along, Kat feared what she might have done.

If only it hadn’t happened. But it had. Wishing it hadn’t didn’t change the facts, and it had left her damaged in a way no one would ever understand. She closed her eyes, fighting back the tears and allowing her hand to roam over her body, imagining one last time, she promised herself, that it was his hand instead.

Kat loved the feel of his hands—the strength in them, the calluses from hard work, the way they could be so tender. He would never know that she, more than anyone else, knew he had saved her. Now she had to save him from her. She brought both hands up to cup her breasts, flicking her thumbs across her nipples before rolling them between her fingers, pinching and tugging.

She felt the rush of cool air as the shower door opened and closed.

“Mind explaining to me what you think you’re doing?” he growled in a mixture of annoyance and lust.

She fought the urge to be embarrassed and decided instead on outrage.

“What are you doing in here?” she snarled.

“I might ask you the same question. In case you missed my directive of not wearing panties anymore, let me remind you I’m in control of when and how you get fondled and fucked and I’m telling you right now, keep your hands off my property.”

“I am not yours, Jed. Get out!”

He shook his head. “I was standing there in the bedroom, listening to the shower run, knowing you were naked and thinking about that kiss.”

“It was just a kiss, Jed. That’s it.”

“No. You wanted to provoke me, but I’m not sure why.”

She shrugged. “Simple curiosity—nothing more.”

“It was a damn sight more than that and you know it.” Jed reached up and brushed away the single tear that had gotten past her iron control. “Talk to me, Kat. Whatever it is…”

She shook her head. “Fool,” she said with icy resolve. “Male wolves are so quickly undone by a single tear.”

“True enough, but that’s not why I’m here. Tell me why you’re trying so hard not to cry.”

His hands reached out to grab her by the hips and pull her in. His hard cock nudged her belly, pulsing with life and all that could be between them, but she knew that could never happen, no matter how much she wanted it. She could not let him claim her, not in any way, shape, or form. She didn’t believe she would survive her upcoming confrontation with the Darkness, which meant if he truly claimed her as his fated mate, his destiny would be doomed, and he would die within six months. He deserved better. She would set him free.

“Get out, Jed. I was curious. The kiss wasn’t all that special. If you’re going to shower, I’ll get out and get dressed,” she said as she tried to push past him.

It never occurred to her that trying to put distance between them when she was naked and he was aroused was a bad idea, but in the years to come he would ensure she never forgot. Fisting her hair, he drew her into the back corner of the shower and pressed down. She flung out her hands, grabbing the built-in bench as he bent her over.

The first realization that he meant to spank her was the sound of his hand connecting with her ass with a loud smack that seemed to echo within the shower enclosure. Pain and heat flared out across her backside—not just where the swat had landed, but through all her nerve endings. It was followed immediately by a strong sense arousal racing along those same synapses. It had been years since she’d been disciplined, and nothing in those spankings as a young she-wolf had prepared her for the feeling of desire that sparked now through her entire body. Fast and hard he rained hellfire on her behind.

She couldn’t control the tears that now threatened to fall as Jed spanked her. Gradually, the swats became slower and were followed by his hand resting where it had struck, holding in the heat. It made her acutely aware that she was the fated mate to an alpha wolf who had every right to claim her and seemed intent on doing so. Kat chewed her bottom lip to try and keep control, but he wasn’t having it. Over and over his hand struck until she began to cry.

He hauled her up, kissing her tears away and pulling her against his body. His cock was hard and seemingly as needy as her pussy. They seemed to pulse in time with each other. He kissed her mouth, her eyes, the tip of her nose, and back again to her mouth. She tried to hold herself apart from him but failed.

Standing on her toes, she pressed herself into his body, fusing her mouth to his as she ran her tongue along his lower lip. He tugged her head back and followed her jawline with his kisses and nuzzled down the column of her neck. He nipped the space between the hollow of her throat and the clavicle—the place she knew he wanted to sink his teeth, leaving an alpha’s claiming mark behind.

Pressing her back against the wall, he knelt down, bringing his face level with her breasts and their pebbled nipples. Smiling, he whispered, “Mine. And you don’t play with them unless I say you can.”

He swirled his tongue around a stiffened peak before nipping it as well. Heat and the slightest bite of pain sizzled along her skin in a direct line to her clit and pussy. She could feel her sheath responding, getting soft and slippery in anticipation of his possession. He sucked the other nipple into his mouth, laving it with affection, before giving it the edge of his teeth.

“Are you wet, Kat?”

“Of course I am, we’re standing in a shower.”

He bit down and she hissed.

“Brat,” he murmured before trailing his mouth down the centerline of her body.

His tongue swirled around her navel and he began nipping his way down to her engorged clit. He parted the petals of her sex, exposing the swollen nub and allowing the water from one of the shower jets to pelt against it. She moaned in need and desire.

Jed worked his way back up her body, grasping her punished backside and lifted her off her feet. He pressed her back against the shower wall, using it for leverage. As soon as he had her in position, he maneuvered himself between her legs and let her slide down the wall until she was impaled on his throbbing cock.

She’d been wet and ready, but he was enormous, and he filled her in a way she’d never experienced before. She gasped as her legs wrapped around his waist. She clutched at his shoulders, holding him close as her nipples grazed his chest, increasing their sensitivity tenfold.

“God, you feel good,” he purred as he ground himself against her, hitting her clit as he began to thrust deeply.

He pounded into her, his cock rubbing her most sensitive spot as she clung to him. Over and over, he drove the base of his cock to the opening of her sheath. Then he pulled almost all the way out before surging in again and again. Jed pummeled her pussy, hard and fast and she felt her control slip as he ripped it away from her. Her pussy gripped him tightly as her orgasm came with such force that she cried out. Pleasure flooded her system and his arms tightened around her. He gave a final hard thrust as his cock swelled and his warmth filled her. He too, had found his release.

J ed held her close, his forehead leaning against hers as he allowed himself to slip from her body.

When he’d first lowered her onto his staff, he had been engulfed by the feeling of how right it was to have her. Dominance and love had threatened to overwhelm him, but he’d known she wasn’t ready for that yet. When he’d come inside her, a deep sense of peace settled on him. It was like nothing he’d felt before. From that moment, he knew that he would claim her and make her see he’d been right all along, whatever it took.

Kat squirmed only for a moment and then succumbed to his embrace. He looked down at her. Her head had fallen forward and was resting on his shoulder. The only thing keeping her on her feet was his strength. She would need to learn to trust that he had her—that he would always have her. She was the single most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Long black hair, olive skin, and a lush, ripe figure he knew he would enjoy for the rest of his days.

He couldn’t imagine what she must have gone through. He had hoped she’d perhaps existed in a fugue state while she had carried the Darkness. But he knew now that wasn’t true. She had faced pure evil, coexisted with it, and then beat it at its own game.

“That’s my good mate,” he crooned to her. He turned around so she was facing the wall so he could spoon her. “Talk to me, Kat.”

She shook her head. “You won’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“No. Let me go,” she said, struggling to break his hold.

“Never, my mate,” he growled seductively. “Never.”