Scent of Salvation

Chapter Thirty-Two

The rabbits Sorin caught were young. They had enough meat to make a meal for him and Susan.

He and Susan had made camp outside the Temple, their trip over the mountain uneventful. The pot over the fire and the blankets Susan carried were their only gear, the sky their roof and the ground their bed.

She lay on her back, staring at the bright stars through the forest canopy. “That the constellations are the same gives me a small measure of comfort. Technically I’m still home.”

Dropping their dinner by the fire, he stayed in feral form. Easier to protect her this way.

She turned her head toward him and her eyes went wide. She pointed to her mouth. “You have some blood on your—muzzle.”

The firelight tossed red highlights in her hair as she lay on her side, her dress clinging to her hips. He couldn’t wait to slip it off again. He licked his chops. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Her voice grew faint.

“Can you skin the rabbits while I clean up in the stream?” He tossed some wood on the fire. It wouldn’t take long to roast them. He would find some branches to make spits after washing.

“Okay.” She dangled the dagger he handed her between two fingers and stared at their meal as if they were children.

“Susan?”

“Don’t ask me to skin Thumper.” She blinked repeatedly, tears sparkling on her lashes.

Tilting his ears forward, he removed the dagger from her weak grasp. Why was she so upset? “I’ll do it. That’s fine.”

She wiped her eyes. “We don’t normally hunt for our food. We raise animals on farms, and I buy my meat already processed.” Fiddling with the hem of her dress, she kept her gaze averted.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He rubbed his face against her hair.

“It’s going to be hard getting used to living so differently.” She sniffed and held up a large lump in her hand. “I did find six potatoes where you told me to dig.”

He lifted her chin. “See, you’re learning already.” They would have their interesting issues but it could all work out. Now he knew not to ask her to skin animals. He chuckled and took the rabbits from her sight.

“I’ve never eaten rabbit before,” she called out.

Yes, she had. She just hadn’t known rabbit was in the stew she’d eaten a few nights ago. “You’ll love them. I wish I had more spices.” He made quick work of the pair and laid the pelts out to dry. They’d make nice moccasins for a pup.

He shifted to civil form and returned to the fire. “Place the potatoes close to the embers.” He spitted the Thumpers, as Susan called them, with sticks, then set them over the flames.

Color returned to her cheeks, and she set a smile on her face. “I want you to know how much I appreciate your patience.”

The kilt he found in the cave fit his waist and he settled on the blankets, then pulled her into his arms. “I wish I’d seen your world so I can understand what you need.” With a stick, he pushed a young potato closer to the heat.

She glared at him.

“Don’t give me that look. It will take longer to cook if the potatoes are too far from the heat.”

Laughing, she hugged him close. “I doubt you’d have liked my world. There’s very little wilderness where I lived, and the smells probably would have killed you.”

“A little stink wouldn’t defeat me.” Sorin snorted.

Susan couldn’t picture him being happy surrounded by exhaust from cars and the general pollution of the planet. If anything, he’d be miserable in a city. Not that they ever had to worry about such a scenario. DOUG was gone. No machine, no portal.

Or at least there shouldn’t be, but something was forcing those weak gates to flicker open. Maybe a residual effect from the blast? Maybe she’d torn an opening through the dimensional wall?

The warmth from her shifter and the light show from the flames made her eyelids grow heavy. “I doubt anything could defeat you.” She cringed a little inside. Did she really just say that? How besotted of her.

“There’s so much I don’t know about you.” He stroked her hair.

She’d purr if she could. “Hmm? Ask away.”

Twiddling with the ends of a strand, he remained quiet. The pregnant silence grew until he sighed. “How do humans mate?”

Her lethargy vanished. “Would you like another demonstration? I thought we covered the basics last night.”

He laughed, a clear and loud sound. “Not sex. I mean, how do they bond, make a lasting relationship? An exclusive one.”

“Oh.” She joined him in laughing. “They get married. They proclaim their love for each other in front of witnesses. A ceremony of sorts.” Reluctant to leave his arms, she sat up straighter and withdrew so she could gaze into his face. “Do shifters do something similar?”

“No. Once the couple decides to be exclusive their scents mix as they share the same bed on a regular basis.” He stroked her cheek. “It’s quite obvious to everyone else that it’s a mating.”

Susan swallowed. “So when we return—the pack will know we’re sleeping together.” Then Lailanie could gut her. Yay.

“Yes.” His brow wrinkled. “We’ll deal with my pack when the time comes. No one will stops us from being together.”

His pack.

She kept the smile plastered on her face. No matter how much he loved her, she’d always be an outsider. The human. He’d fight her battles, protect and shield her from Eorthe, and she’d die inside a little each time.

His expression softened. “I hurt your feelings again.”

“No.” She shook her head and busied her hands by turning hot potatoes.

“I can smell your lie.” He nuzzled her cheek. “Susan, talk to me.”

She tossed her stick in the fire, and embers floated into the night sky. “That’s not fair. You can smell everything I feel, and I-I’m incompetent.”

“Not everything. Not the important things like love.” His whispered words sent a flood of warmth through her.

She blinked at him through the flickers of firelight.

“You saved lives where I was powerless. That’s not useless. I think you’re too hard on yourself.” He leaned toward her. “I want to mark you. I’ll kill any male who even presumes to sniff around you.”

“You’ve given me one.” She held up her hand where he’d placed his scent.

“That was only temporary and has been washed off.” He scooted closer, their noses almost bumping. “I want them to see how much you mean to me.” He caressed the skin along her neck. “I want to bite you right about here, where everyone can see.”

A lump formed in Susan’s throat. Things had become serious fast. Sorin was the kind of male who went after what he wanted. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Hell, she didn’t want to deny him. “This makes things more permanent between us?”

“Yes.”

“What happens when you get bored of me and start sniffing at other females?”

He laughed right in her face. “You’d serve my balls for dinner and the pack would relish them. I can’t ever see myself becoming bored.” Sorin’s grin faded. “I would never hurt you purposely. I don’t make half-hearted decisions but…” He undid the bow tying her dress closed. “I can mark you somewhere less obvious—a place only you and I will know about until you’re ready to be more public, my love.”

My love?

She launched her body at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on his mouth. Her momentum tumbled him back. Could he really be falling in love with her?

The impact made him gasp but he didn’t hesitate in pulling her closer.

Taking her time, she stroked his face, tracing the scars on his cheek, and deepened the kiss. How could she have doubts after all they’d been through? Breaking away, she straddled him and yanked her dress over her head. “I just can’t keep my clothes on when you’re around.”

“That’s a problem I hope we never solve.” He ran his hands from her hips, up over her breasts, and back down again. “You’re so beautiful.”

She tugged at the clasps of his kilt. “What’s the freaking combination number for this thing?” His hard cock pressed between her thighs. She craved him, wanted him inside her body, but on her terms.

The last few days had been a whirlwind of events out of her control. That stopped now. The clasp came undone and she grinned in triumph, then peeled the kilt off his hips.

Sorin lay back, arms out to his sides as she leaned over him.

“I’m going to make you howl,” she whispered.

“You made me howl last night.”

She squirmed at the memory. He really had howled, and she’d loved it. “I’m going to do it again.”

“Have mercy,” he whispered, his voice gone husky and deep. It made something inside her do a backward somersault, sending a hard shiver down her spine.

She leaned in for a kiss; however when he rose to accept it, she bypassed his lush lips. With the tip of her tongue, she traced a path from his ear, along his neck, and paused over his chest. She swirled it around his nipple until he arched his back.

He growled. The masculine sound just made her wetter. “Teasing is a dangerous game to play.”

She bit his nipple, smug with the hiss that escaped between his teeth. “You’re a dangerous male. Is there anything I can do to you that would be considered safe?”

Hunger, intense and hot, was in his gaze. She didn’t need to have shifter senses to know he wanted to make her his meal. Unyielding hands grasped her hips as Sorin rocked his cock against her pussy.

Denying his access, she sat up. “No touchy, touchy.” She shook her finger at him.

He chuckled, dark and insidious. “Will you stop me?”

She weaved her fingers through his and easily pried them from her flesh. She didn’t doubt he allowed her to do this. She didn’t have delusions about her strength. He could take her any way he wanted, when he wanted. She couldn’t stop him. She wouldn’t want to.

With a small struggle, she set his hands by his head, never releasing his gaze. “I’m going to ride you.” She gave him a small peck on the mouth, then licked along his bottom lip, teasing the scar that pulled it into a perpetual frown.

The sensuous ache only deepened as he stared at her. He placed his hands behind his head. “Make me howl then. I dare you.”

She grinned with a silent promise. Reaching between her legs, she grasped his hard cock with a firm grip and stroked. She ran her nipples over his chest as she leaned forward, arched her back slightly and moaned.

His eyes fluttered shut.

“You’re cheating,” she whispered close to his ear. His cock felt so heavy and thick in her hand. She remembered how much he stretched her pussy. The ache, the pleasure. Could she fit him in her throat? He hadn’t let her get that far last night.

She crawled until she sat between his legs, still stroking him as he rocked his hips. Veins bulged around the hard, flushed rod. Pearled fluid beaded on the tip and she licked it.

“Yes.” Sorin reached for her but stopped and returned his hands behind his head with a frustrated snarl.

Slipping his cock inside her mouth, she took her time running her tongue over him, enjoying the sensation. She pressed him deeper and deeper into her throat with each languid thrust.

Sorin’s chest heaved in labored breaths as he made encouraging noises. His cock spasmed. “Please, yes…” Sorin thrust it farther with a gentle hip motion.

The plea was what she wanted to hear. She slipped him out of her mouth and straddled his hips once more.

“You’d best fuck me soon because I’m not waiting much longer.” He bit out his words.

“Patience.” She rubbed her wet pussy along his length and coaxed him to her entry, letting the tip poke in and out.

Sorin arched his back, baring his teeth, sharp canines glistening in the firelight—the feral part of his soul becoming part of his civil form.

Susan didn’t know how she’d ever tame him.

She didn’t really want to.

With a sharp thrust, he pushed inside her, sending a wave of pleasure over her body. “Oh, yes.” Bending forward, she licked the sweat beading on his chest, her true goal coming closer. “You cheated again.” She nipped his nipple.

“Ouch.” He flinched and chuckled.

“Bad wolf.”

He propped his weight on one elbow, leaning up. “I’m going to show you just how bad I can—”

“Shh.” She pressed her finger against his lips at the same time as she let him sink his cock all the way inside her. “Not tonight.”

Gasping for breath, he returned to his back, a promise of retribution sparking in his gaze. She hoped he remembered that pledge.

She pumped her hips, setting an easy rhythm. The control empowered her. Gave her a confidence she’d never experienced in the bedroom. She thrust against him, never breaking his intense gaze.

“Sit higher.” The sinful tenor of his voice coated her like an erotic fantasy. “I want to watch your breasts.”

Her womb clutched at the thought and she did as he asked. Adding a bounce to her motion, she watched his gaze slide lower and hungrier.

A low growl rumbled inside his chest. She sensed it with her hands more than her ears.

“Touch yourself.”

She treaded in new territory. No one had ever wanted to watch before. She ran her hand over her torso. Her over-sensitive skin electrified. She added her other hand, stroking and caressing. Cupping her breasts, she fondled the smooth flesh.

Sorin groaned and thrust with more urgency.

She pinched her nipples, letting the slight pain mingle with the bliss he gave her. It built. Higher and higher. She tugged. Harder and harder. Arching back, she clenched around his thick cock, milking him.

“Oh please…” Sorin grasped her hips and overrode her pace. Driving inside, he thrust hard, guiding her body to ride him deep. He growled and snapped at the air, digging his fingers into her flesh. “Fuck me. Oh yes.”

She let go and rode the power, the passion. She’d driven him wild.

He sat, clutching her, and bit right where her clavicle met her shoulder. A feral growl emitted from his throat while he pushed so deep inside against her womb.

Crying out, she let him support her body as wave upon wave crashed down upon her. Drowning in the ecstasy, she couldn’t surface. Her mind went white with the release. It took her to the brink and dropped her back into her body where Sorin held her, whispering sweet sounds of satisfaction in her ear.

With his head resting back on the blankets and his eyes fluttering closed, he rubbed her thighs. “Oh, my Susan. You can tease me like that anytime.”

She collapsed on his chest, her limbs lifeless. “Not tonight.”

“No.” He laughed. “Not tonight.”

She sighed and breathed. The only two things she could still manage to do. Something sizzled on the fire, and she rolled her head with great effort. “I think dinner is ready.”