Chapter twenty six

The rain had fnally stopped, and dawn was near. Annie listened to the birds twittering, an ache of sweet exhaustion pervading her body, and tried tO think of a way to extricate herself from Jacob's arms without waking him. It was a considerable challenge. His muscula arm was clasped around her waist; his hand splayed possessively across her belly and the tips of  his long fingers tangled intimately into the hair between her legs. One long, sinewy leg was fhirmly wedged between her thighs. And he was so warm, It was hard to get up the nerve to break the seal and let cold air rush between them. She wiggled experimentally..

Jacob sighed and pulled her tighter against him, fitting her back-side against his belly. Nature called, however, so Annie gritted her teeth and flung back the warm, soft sleeping bag

His arm clamped around her, as rigid as steel. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Her muscles jerked, and she schooled her face to calmness before twisting in his arms to look at him. "I have to pee," she said quietly.

He propped himself onto his elbow, frowning. "Don't go far."

"I won't," she promised, grabbing the only garment in the tent-the damp flannel shirt'they had dried themselves with the evening before. She draped it over herself and crept out of the tent, teeth chattering.

The bathroom were on the far side of the deserted campgroun and the shirt only reached to midnight, so she fished a pack of Kleenex out of the glove compartment in the pickup and headed straight into the forest. It was shadowy and fragrant, lambent with the subtle, pearly glow that preceded dawn. The world looked ditterent. Everything inside her was shaken up, intensely alive.

She took care of her business behind a bush, and when she straightened up, she found herselt looking into the eyes of a young male deer, no more than fifteen feet away. He gazed at her for a moment, apparently unafraid, and then bounded away with a casual grace that left her breathless.

His beauty made her think ot the doe at the pool the day before, which triggered an avalanche of images and feelings.

When Jacob had finally dozed off, holding her tightly against his chest, she had been unable to sleep. There was a quiet earthquake taking place inside her mind and her heart. Last night's shining seed of awareness had sprouted and grown over the night, and there was no longer any doubt. She was in love with him. It was a disaster, but it was too late for damage control. It had probably been too late from the first rst moment he kissed her. Her wolf had been more than alive and happy, but only kept quiet and afraid to react.

"Annie? Jacob's voice was sharp with impatience.

She jumped, startled out of her reverie. "I'm over here," she called back, hurrying back to the campsite.

It wasn't that she was afraid of him, she told herself stoutly, analyzing the jagged burst of adrenaline his voice had triggered. He was a force to be reckoned with, that was all: and after last night, she could hardly be blamed tor taking him very seriously. And as shaken apart and fluttery as She felt, she didn't have the nerve to oppose him.

She found him in front of the tent, button his jeans.

His eyes snapped with noyance. "You took long enough," he muttered. 

"I Saw another deer," she offered.

His eyes slid down, staring at her naked legs. She quivered as if his gaze were a licking tongue of heat against her

skin. That shirt is damp, he said. "Get into something warm."

Annie rummaged through the backpack in the cab of the.truck and dug out the last of her clean clothes. A wrinkled

cotton blouse, the faded jeans she had been reluctant to wear because they fit so tightly, her final pair of clean.panties. She had to find a laundromat. Her clothes needed a wash, and so did she, after last night. Her thoughts flashed.longingly to the hot mineral pool as she pulled on her

clothes.

Jacob was wringing out their sodden clothes, draping them across the picnic table. "I need a bath," she said

"Want to go up to the pool?"

He looked thoughtful, then nodded.

The pool was crystal clear, ruffled by an occasional breeze and wreathed with tiny wisps of steam.

Annie pulled off her clothes and tied her hair into a loose knot atop her

head, careful not to look at Jacob as she climbed in and let.the water close around her like a hot, tender caress. She watched Jacob as he stripped, wondering if he would be-

yes, he was. Of course he was. Armed and ready, as always.

The man was a veritable sex machine. It was ridiculous, after all they had been through together, that something so

silly could still make her blush.

Jacob settled himself comfortably next to her. Annie leaned her head back against his arm and relaxed; as much as a girl could with a magnificent hard-on right at herelbow. They watched the clouds scudding across the sky, pushed by some high, faraway wind. Three stars still

gleamed like solitary jewels against the deep, glowing blue Over the rim of the canyon the sky was lightening.

Jacob's arm shifted, and when she looked up, he was staring at her neck, he kissed her, happy that was she had finally his.

He moved to inspect her better, examining the marks of his fingers from when he had pulled her out of the pool the day before. There was a smaller, matching bruise on her other arm, and he made a soft, incoherent noise in his throat and kissed both of them: hot, tender kisses that made  her throat swell and her eyes fill with startled tears.

His inspections continues down her arms, finding every little bruise and mark. The scrapes and scratches she'd gotten camping and gathering firewood, the little burn on her knuckle from her camp stove. Various and sundry mosquito bites. He urged her onto her feet and continued his search.

There were little bruises on her hips from when he had held.her at the picnic table, and she stroked his dark hair with a

sigh of pleasure as he kissed and tongued them in sweet,.silent apology. He set her on the edge of the pool, drew her

legs out of the water one by one and covered them with kisses, finding every little hurt: the nick where she had cut

herself shaving, the faded bruise from a briefcase that had.banged her shin on the Staten Island Ferry almost two weeks ago, all the tiny, long-forgotten scars from her haphazard, misspent childhood back in Payton.

He missed nothing. She would never have dreamed that the hollows of her ankles were an erogenous zone, or that there was so much exquisite sensation in her toes.

He stood up, his penis jutting out eagerly, and splashed steaming hot water from his cupped hands onto the flat Lock at the water's edge. He gestured to it.

"Lie down on the rock, the way you did yesterday."

Annie watched the water trickle down the lean, muscled Contours of his body. "You're giving lots of orders," She.said, but the words were robbed of their tartness by the way her breath hitched  in her lungs.

Jacob grabbed her by the waist and lifted her easily. Her backside made a little slapping noise as he deposited her on the wet stone.

"Pretty please," he said in a steely voice 

He trapped her eyes in his; he trapped the very air in her lungs, and She wondered frantically how did it. With a touch, a kiss, With the timbre of his voce, he reduced her to quivering mush. He made her want to fling open every door, give him everything she had to give.

His power was terrifying. but still she lay back on the tilted rock, breathless with excitement, and spread her legs for him without being asked.

He ran his hands hungrily over her wet, steaming body until they closed over her vulva. She reached down, traping his hands.

"I'm sore from last night," she murmured

with a flash of uncertainty.

"I'll be gentle," he assured her, coaxing her thighs wider

And he was gentle, exquisitely gentle, but something had changed, and it took many delirious, writhing moments betore she could identify it. When he first seduced her, he had coaxed, persuaded, courted her. Now he was claiming her.

She felt the arrogant, possessive authority with which he handled her body, but she was in no position to protest as his tongue swirled sensuously, teasing and laving her,  flicking tenderly across her clitoris. He held her trembling body

still with masterful strength, and she let her head fall back,

staring into the sky. The clouds had turned a startling, wild-rose pink, the world was a wild contrast of dark and light,

heat and cold, and her body was at the center of it all, moving helplessly against the wild magic of his sensual mouth.

She sobbed with the unbearable perfection of it as he pushed her gently over the crest, just as the last, faint burning star in the sky was swallowed up by the pale blue of morning.

He gathered her into his arms and lowered her body gently back down into the water, cradling her in his strong arms until the tremors melted away.

She clung to him for a long time, her face hidden against his neck, before venturing

ing to look up.

He shifted her body to face him. " Tell me something  Annie."

"What?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck

"Your ex. Did he hurt you?"

She stiffened. The tone in his voice put her feminine instincts on full alert.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just answer the question,"

He stared into her eyes, and the truth tumbled right out, as it always did when he demanded it.

"Nothing really too awful," she said a little too quickly.  "Just........ ugly. He called me names a lot. And he, um, he got me fired from my job,"

"I see." He waited patiently for her to continue.

Annie took a deep breath, and pushed on. "Then it started to escalate, pushing and shoving, wild threats . He slapped me once. that was when I decided not to hang around and see how bad it could get."

He studied her face, as if trying to read between her words.

"It's all over now, Jacob, she insisted in a forceful voice.

Jacob splashed his face and smoothed back his hair. "If he hurt you, I'm ripping him to pieces," he said with appalling calmness.

"No way," she gasped. "Let him be. I don't want anything to do with him. Case closed, page turned, game over Got it, Jacob?"

He tucked a damp lock of her hair gently behind her ear and smiled mercilessly. "Let's get going," he said in a matter-of-fact voice. But he never let he go free, he must pay with his blood. 

She Stared at him in blank dismay. "Jacob, please don't........"

Water sloshed and cascaded down his powerful body as he stood up. "Come on, Annie. Get a move on. I'm hungry,"  he pick his phone,Sending his guards message on what to do immediately, he was mercilessly with anyone that mess with his own family.