Page 63 of Resisted
I heard her breathing increase as she ran, and I hadn’t dared to even leave the house yet. I held back, letting her get a head start, because I knew if I shifted—no, notif,whenI shifted, those human legs stood absolutely no chance against my speed. She was heading west of the house, and I knew without even looking she was heading for a cluster of thick trees on our property. After the trees came a series of storage sheds and a barn that we’d never once actually used. Hell, we’d never once opened the damn doors since buying this land, though utilizing it was on our list of to-dos.
A twig snapped, and I figured I’d let her go far enough. I walked out the door and slammed it shut behind me. When I stepped onto the grass, it was soft against my bare feet, brushing against the soles, leaving a slight trail of moisture. My senses were heightened when I was ready to hunt, more so than every day, and though the dampness against my skin was slightly annoying, the acknowledgement that I could feel each blade of grass as it rubbed against my skin was a reminder that the predator inside of me never slept.
The moment ended all too soon, and even though I walked causally as a man, my strides were double that of Bella’s short ones. I stepped into the brush and dead leaves that had fallen to the floor below the trees and stopped, inhaling the scent of her. I grasped onto that thread, fighting the rumble in my chest as I followed it deep into the brush. “Bella baby, I’m coming for you.”
I was taunting her, hoping that if I teased her too much, she would give away her location, allowing my wolf to be on her in a second’s time. She didn’t take the bait, which didn’t shock me. It usually took two or three times of poking and prodding her to get her all worked up enough to push back.
“Bella, I think you need to know how embarrassingly gross your fry eating habit is,” I said with a smirk. She was passionate about her fries, and even more passionate about the mayonnaise she ate with them.
I followed the growth of the trees and the faint trail that hadn’t been used in so long, it had become overgrown. In the distance, I could see the weathered boards of the barn and two sheds that flanked it, but I didn’t speed up. It was all about the anticipation, after all.
“Baby, I need to confess—I put the empty milk carton in the fridge when you were making coffee. You remember the time, right? The morning after you lost your dare.”
I knew I had her, only confirmed the moment I heard her shout, “You asshole.” Then she gasped, and the sound of her hands slapping against her lips echoed into the midday sky.
“Too late.”
The words rushed out of me as my wolf took over. Excitement hummed under his skin as he forced his way forward, leaving me no choice but to abandon my clothes as he sought to chase the prey. He knew where to find her—high in a tree behind the barn. The oak tree, if the slightly woody scent mixed with her unique spice was correct.
We bounced in the tree’s direction, and right as we got to the barn, her feet hit the ground. She was on the move, adrenaline seeping out of her pores as she ran toward the tiny stream that edged along our property’s fence. She wouldn’t get there. I would be on her before then, my teeth bared as I urged her to surrender. Still, my wolf slowed, enjoying the hunt, wanting to prolong the search.
I spotted her up ahead, and suddenly, she veered right, heading for a cluster of large rocks in the opposite direction of where I’d thought she was going. She’d almost fooled me. Well, if her scent weren’t so strong. I’d had no choice but to follow its tendrils through the trees. My wolf stopped howling, alerting her, causing her heartbeat to pick up, taking on a frenzy tempo as she tried to find a hiding spot.
She disappeared from view, and we trotted after her. There was no hurry anymore because we knew we had her, and prolonging the anticipation only made the reward that much sweeter. And it would be sweet. Burying my nose in her neck as she offered it in submission would be the most delicious of prizes, even if I had no intention of biting her.
My wolf tensed at that thought. He wanted it. He wanted to bite her. He didn’t understand the ramifications of doing so, of course. He didn’t realize that she didn’t fully belong to us, and to bite her? God, that could ruin her future with any other mates. He only knew what he wanted now, and what my wolf wanted—hell, what I wanted—was Bella. Sweet, delicious, Bella. Pure, innocent Bella. Ours.
Her scent was marked on every tree she passed, more so if she touched it, and my animal’s tongue lolled out, taking a lick of the bark where her tiny hand had no doubt been. The woody flavor did nothing to take away from the droplets of essence she left behind, and he howled again, letting her know he was on to her. The brush grew thicker the closer we got to the rocks, and as a man, it would have been a bit of a struggle, but as an animal, my dexterity had me passing through the brush with ease.
After another howl, a rustle of movement caught my eye. She had climbed up the rock formation, trying to wedge her little body between the stone. I took off in that direction, giving her no warning as I hopped on a rock, then another, using the formation to ping-pong myself to the top and slide into the same crack she’d been hiding in. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me, and she scooted back, sucking in a breath and holding it as she tried to fit her body through the narrow passage and out to the other side.
She could not make it.
Yet she managed. Her whole body stumbled out sideways, and she fell to the stone before crawling away from my prowling figure. When she got her footing, she ran across the stone surface and leaped onto the stone to the left. I followed, and when she looked back, her eyes meeting mine, she knew she wouldn’t get away. Still, that didn’t stop her.
She leaped from the stone onto the ground, but before she could run, my wolf was on her, flying through air, landing right behind her. He nudged her hard enough to make her stumble but softly enough to do no harm. She caught her footing, her body working as hard as it could to run, while my animal acted like he was just going for an afternoon stroll.
He wanted her. He wanted her so badly that his mouth was salivating as he watched her run. He howled again, letting her know with complete certainty that she was his and he would prove it. If he didn’t prove it, I sure as fuck would.
Her body lithely leaped over a fallen log, and the delay was enough. My wolf sped around her, cutting off her path, preventing her from leaving. She held out her hand. “Don’t get closer.”
She couldn’t possibly fear me. I knew that for a fact. She’d grown up surrounded by puppy piles and shifter runs. My wolf stepped closer, nudging her leg with his snout.
“I will not submit to you, Vincent.” She took another step back, forgetting the log was behind her, and she went down, stumbling backwards in an uncoordinated display of flailing limbs.
Always one to take advantage of the perfect opportunity, we jumped on top of her when she landed, caging her body in with our paws on each side of her. We bared our teeth in her face, though the rumble that we released had no real threat behind it. She struggled underneath us, trying to wiggle free, unwilling to admit that it was too late for her. We had her pinned, caged, encompassed. She pushed at my limbs, her fingers feeling amazing as they brushed my fur.
“I will not submit, Vincent.” No? I doubted that was the truth. She had no real choice but to submit to me. Still, I had to up my game. I let my tongue out, using it to lick her from her chin to her nose. She squealed, “You’re fucking disgusting, Vince.”
I froze for a moment, and she had to. There was no way she’d missed the feral flash in my eyes at the use of my nickname. Never in all her years had she shortened my name, and fuck, the man and the animal both approved. We licked her again, just to hear the sweet melody of her squeal. She pushed at me again, but I wouldn’t give up until she submitted. We both knew that. Silas’ sibling be damn, I was too far gone to let her slip away.
I fought my wolf for control as he continued to assault her, licking her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her lips, until finally, my bones contorted and my wolf retreated, and in his place, it was just me, the man, straddling her hips. My palms traveled up her arms and grabbed her wrists. “Your neck, Bella.”
“Absolutely not!” She glanced down for a second before her eyes bounced up. “This is so inappropriate.”
“Did you like what you saw?” I bent down and kissed her nose, her check, her forehead, not once touching her mouth. “If you just submitted, I would be on my way.”
“I said I never would submit to you,Vincent.” She put extra emphasis on my name, and for a moment, it reminded me of the bratty teen I’d wanted to place over my knee and paddle. I still wanted to paddle her, only now with a completely different intent.