Claimed (Blood Ties Book 6)

I hated this. Hated the way his arms were stretched high over his head, the muscles taut and the tendons strained. But it was the wide leather shackle wrapped over the already bruised, raw skin that was too much. My trapped breath burned as I focused on the buckle in front of me.

“Tighter,” he demanded, his voice a low, savage snarl.

My fingers trembled so hard I stopped. “I can’t.” I sat back on my heels next to him on the bed. “I’m sorry. I thought I could do this, but I can’t.”

He said nothing for a moment, just lowered his gaze. “I understand.”

I shook my head, jerking my gaze to his. “I can’t hurt you. It’s just not in me and this…this is hurting you.” I reached out, stroking his cheek. “You’ve been through too much already.”

A vein at his temple pulsed. He was sweating in January. But it was the flinch of agony I focused on. There was no ending for him, was there? No going back to the man he’d been. He was trapped in this tortured existence that occupied somewhere I couldn’t reach in his beautiful mind.

“I have to leave,” he finally whispered. “It’s not safe here.”

“What?” I murmured. “No.”

He met my stare, his helplessness was a void, a gaping, desolate hole inside him. “I can’t put you in danger. And me being here is exactly what that will do. The doc…the doc wants me admitted for some kind of psych workup. I’m going to find a place that’s as far from here as I can and I’m going to go.”

The room spun, taking my stomach with it. “No.” I shook my head. “No, Colt. I won’t let that happen. I can’t let that happen.”

Colt lowered his free arm, reaching for the one already trussed against the steel frame of the bed. “It’s the only way.”

“I’ll do it.” I grabbed his wrist, stopping him as he tugged at the bonds. “I’ll fucking strap you to this bed and draw the beast to the surface. I’ll make him a deal he can’t refuse. I’ll give him what he wants.”

He met my gaze. “Are you sure?”

“No,” I answered. “But we’ve run out of options, haven’t we?”

There was a savagery underneath the empty stare as he nodded. A beast that hovered too close to the surface, darkening his already deep blue eyes, until they were almost black. It was that beast I focused on now. That beast which made me lift his free hand to the railing on the bed. The thick leather strap hung loose, waiting for me to restrain the man I loved like a damn animal.

A low, throaty rumble came as I leaned across him. Colt dropped his head, pressed his face against my underarm, and inhaled. I tried to focus, cinching the strap softly.

“Tighter,” Colt urged, his tone throatier, not sounding like him at all.

I yanked harder, making my body jerk. His face nuzzled my breast, softly at first, then insistent, until his mouth sought my nipple.

“No.” He jerked away, shaking his head, trying to stop himself from being like that. “Gotta stay in control, gotta make him understand.”

But as I pulled away, I saw it was too late. The bulge in his gray sweatpants told me that. Hard, straining, his cock tented the fleece. I couldn’t stop myself from touching it.

He jerked his head up, and that desperate animal warning came. “Wildcat.”

Shadows moved in, making his cheeks look sunken and his eyes hollow. He was changing right before me. The Colt I knew slipped away second after second.

“Please,” he growled.

My gaze was captured by the predator. By the way he tilted his head, animalistic eyes regarding me like prey. But I wasn’t prey. I was someone he needed to obey. Because I had something he wanted.

My heart hammered as I slowly slid from the bed. His nostrils flared, his calculating eyes tracking my every move with ravenous hunger. The first time I’d seen him like this, I was terrified. The second…when he’d fucked me, I was frozen for most of the time…but here—I glanced at his hands straining against the bonds—here I could explore this bestial side of him.

“Do you know who I am?” I asked as I slowly kicked off my boots.

He didn’t answer, just watched me.

“Tell me.”

“Wildcat,” the beast growled.

“That’s right.” I grabbed my shirt and tugged it over my head.

He stiffened, drawing in a sharp breath as he stared at my body. Scenting the air.

“You and I are going to come to an agreement, aren’t we?” I reached around, grasped the clasp of my bra, and unhooked it. “Beast.”

He jerked his head upwards, that savage glare meeting my eyes.

“Aren’t we?” I demanded. There was a twitch in his lip, a curling. The beast was used to getting his own way, until now, that was. Now, he’d learn that you only get when I gave it, or else. I slid my bra down just a little.

“Yes.” The word rumbled like a warning.

But it was a start. “Good,” I murmured, slowly lowering my hands.

His brow creased as he licked his lips. “Closer,” he urged.

Goosebumps coursed through me. I did as he demanded. “Is this what you want?” I asked, cupping my breast until I moaned. I still ached from last night. But it was an ache I was learning to like. “Your teeth marked me last night.”

He yanked the bindings desperately, as that ravenous rumble came once more.

“Stop.”

He flinched, freezing instantly.

“That’s better,” I crooned, taking a step closer. “You want me, and I want Colt.” I grazed a finger along his cheek, meeting that stare which wasn’t quite sane. “So, we’re going to try this carefully. You bite me and it’s over, you hurt me and it’s done. Do you understand?”

There was a second before he nodded.

“Good.” I lifted my leg and climbed onto the bed.

Thump.

The bindings slapped against steel as he jerked forward. But I ignored it, rising upwards to lean closer, so close he could—

He jerked his head to the side and latched on to my nipple. But there were no teeth this time. I closed my eyes, stolen by the warmth of his mouth. It looked like the beast was learning.

“That’s the way.” I lowered my hands to his shoulders.

Tight muscles, trembling with the strain as he nuzzled and licked, drawing my nipple into his mouth. He wanted me…Jesus, he wanted me. Pain pinched, wrenching me away from the moment. I looked down, finding my nipple pinned.

“Hey!” I snarled.

He snapped his gaze up.

“Less teeth.”

He said nothing, just held my stare and gently licked.

I gave into that sensation. “That’s better,” I moaned.

He licked more, then eagerly turned his head to seek my other breast.

“That’s so much better. Good, beast.”

He purred. That deep rumble vibrated in the back of his throat. “More,” he urged. “I want to move down, want you on my face.”

I pressed harder, listening to that bestial rumble turn dangerous.

“Wildcat, I need.”

Hard breaths consumed me. I pulled away, trying to focus. “Are you sure that’s not going to tip you over?”

He yanked the bindings. “I’m about ten seconds away from tearing these straps and destroying the entire fucking room to taste you. You decide.”

My heart stuttered. I looked at the strained leather straps, then back down at him. “Okay.”

I eased back, watching him shift his ass down, his gaze lowering to my jeans. “Take them off.”

I unbuttoned my jeans, knowing once I did this there was no coming back. Only the alternative was no Colt, and that I refused to accept. I tugged the zipper and pushed them low, taking my panties with them. That bestial keening sound grew louder as they fell to the floor.

He shifted his ass lower, his focus on me as he slid lower on the bed, as far as he could go, at least. I still wasn’t sure about this, not with his arms stretched so high. I met his gaze. “If you want to do that, I’d need to loosen the straps. Are you going to behave if I did that?”

His answer was a panicked nod of his head. I wasn’t so sure about this…not with the gleam in his eyes. Still, all I could think about was him leaving. That was what drew me to climb back onto the bed and straddle him once more.

He kept my gaze as I worked the bindings, leaving his hand to fall to the pillow before securing it once more. He didn’t move, just watched me until I finished the second one. But this wasn’t Colt. The moment I bet that menacing stare, I knew.

That bloodcurdling rumble resounded in his chest as he shifted down under me until his head lay flat. “Now,” he demanded, looking down at my body until his gaze stopped at the juncture between my thighs.

I shivered under that predatory gleam, my voice trembling as I whispered, “Don’t…don’t hurt me.”

He scowled, his nostrils flaring, before he shifted right under me. That carnal stare stayed as he lifted his head, pressed his face against my crease, and licked.

Soft. Careful.

My breath caught as he moved deeper, holding my focus. My pulse raced, just from staring into this male’s eyes. He wasn’t Colt, and yet he was. He was a part of him that had been hurt so badly, he’d shattered. He was still the man I loved, still the man I wanted.

“Jesus,” I whispered as he sucked, drawing my clit gently into his mouth.

That throaty growl came once more, pulsing in the back of his throat, sending vibrations against my body. Heat flared, making me slam my hand against the bed. My hips thrust on their own. That sensation was fucking…delicious.

“More.” I was the one who demanded this time. “More.”

The beast complied, dipping his head until that feral sound sent vibrations through my core. My orgasm slammed into me, rising from nowhere. I dropped my hand, slid it behind his head, and thrust against his mouth.

Sparks erupted.

Blinding, until I unleashed a growl of my own.

One that echoed underneath me.

He dragged that savage part of my nature to the surface, forcing it upwards with every lick. I clenched my jaw and gripped his head as I ground myself against him as I came crashing down. Hard breaths burned like fire as my pussy pulsed and pulsed and pulsed.

It wasn’t the beast that was consumed with the frenzy…and it wasn’t the beast whose lips curled. It was me. That hunger consumed me. I pushed away, my legs trembling as I moved down. I was the one who held his gaze now as I tugged the waistband of his sweats.

“Is this what you want?” I forced through bared teeth.

He gave a slow nod, his cock bouncing free as I yanked. Fuck, he was hard. The head was flushed, the eye beading. I watched that bead well with every pulse of that thick vein as I settled over him, then dropped hard. That enormous length drove all the way inside, making me throw my head back and moan. “You will not hurt me, do you understand?” I didn’t wait for him to answer as I ground my hips, riding that delicious feeling. “You will give my Colt back to me.”

I opened my eyes and looked down, finding that bestial stare fixed on me.

A hard thrust and he yanked his head upwards, snapping the leather taut. The movement was so fast I didn’t have time to react. But he didn’t hurt me…just thrust underneath me, driving himself deeper as our bodies collided. The hunger in his glare now was something else. Something that looked like desperation…something that could look like love.

“Wildcat,” the beast grunted as his cock twitched. “Mine.”

I ground my body down hard, consumed by that wave as it rose again. My body clenched as I clamped down on what I needed. “Yes,” I whispered, giving in. “Yes.”