Wolf Born by Ann Gimpel Read Free Book Online Page A

she’d taken a different path. She hadn’t given up on sex—until she’d met Devon, she’d made a living working as a sex surrogate. But she had given up on finding a shifter mate. Like most of them did, he supposed. It was rare to find your mated one. The only reason they hadn’t died out entirely was they’d taken to breeding with humans. Of course, it produced diluted blood, but so long as a child was at least 50 percent, they’d still be able to bond with their animal and shift.
    His mind wandered to the mating ceremony he’d performed for Kate and Devon after breakfast at the safe house just that morning. They’d looked so happy, and they’d positively reeked of morning sex. Max wished them well, yet jealousy stabbed. They had what every shifter wanted—the special one destined to bond with them throughout time. There was a second part to the mating ceremony that had yet to come. He’d watch them couple in their mountain lion form. While they were joined, he’d mark them with the mating stone a second time.
    Max snorted. He couldn’t believe the mating ceremony had been less than twenty-four hours ago. It seemed he’d lived through several lifetimes since then. He was glad his wolf wasn’t nattering about finding them a shifter mate. It didn’t help matters. Max wanted a mate, but it wasn’t as if there were a store he could go to and select one. Shifters being under a death sentence didn’t help. Most potential mates were probably in deep hiding. With his wolf’s help, he could sniff out who had shifter blood, but knew better than to bring the topic up publicly. He’d been shocked when Audrey spilled the secret about her mixed blood at dinner. No one ever talked about things like that.
    Audrey . As if thinking about her drew her near, her scent, all honey and musk, rose out of his memory and enveloped him. His cock twitched. In seconds, it curved against his belly, as hard as it ever got. Before he was even aware what he was doing, his hand snugged around his shaft. He wanted to come. Needed to. Wouldn’t be able to sleep without release.
    Since when do I need an excuse to jack off?
    Max stroked his erection. He closed his eyes and imagined Audrey’s tawny skin and multi-colored eyes. All that glorious hair fell to her waist. Peeking out from behind its thick curtain were generous breasts. In his mind, he licked and tongued them into stiff peaks. Her back arched, and he could almost hear her little, panting moans as she begged him to fuck her, to sink his full length inside her hot wetness. She pressed a hand between their bodies and took hold of him. In his fantasy, it was her hand stroking his hard-on, urging him onward.
    He pushed her down onto a softly-carpeted floor. Her arms twined around him, nails digging into his shoulders. About the time he sank into her glistening mound surrounded by red-blonde curls, his cock jerked in his hand. Hot semen splattered his chest and stomach. The harsh sound of his breathing was loud in his ears. He gulped air; there wasn’t enough in the room.
    When his heartbeat steadied, he got up and found his way to the bathroom. He glanced at the sunken marble tub and shower with its sunflower head. Both would wake him up. He settled for a warm washcloth and cleaned the evidence of his passion from his body. He was still hard. Max knew he could come again, but he wanted the real thing, goddammit. Not his hand married to his rich imagination.
    This time when he lay down, the mountains on the wall opposite the bed comforted him. “If worse comes to worst,” he murmured just before he fell asleep, “I can go home. Lots of places to hide myself there for a decade or two. By the time I surface, maybe the world will have changed.”
    “You’re not going to do that. We stand and fight our battles.”
    Max groaned. “I need sleep,” he told the wolf.
    “We don’t need to run away to Russia. We need Audrey.”
    Max felt his lips tug into a smile just before darkness