Taking a deep breath, Trey scrubbed at his eyes. He hadn’t had to open them to know what was disturbing his wolf. Taryn’s exotic scent had instantly shot up his nostrils, but it was too faint. Which meant that she wasn’t there.

As his lids flipped open, his eyes confirmed it. The rest of his senses told him she wasn’t in the en-suite bathroom, which meant that she had woken before him and snuck out of the room – there had to have been sneaking and creeping involved or else he would have easily woken. Unlike Taryn, he was a light sleeper.

Never since the morning after the anniversary of her mom’s birthday had Taryn left the room before him. They always had a little play in the mornings before going for breakfast together. It seemed that she was establishing a distance between them, and apparently it wasn’t just going to be an emotional one.

Well f**k that!

Yeah he had messed up. Yeah he had said shit he shouldn’t have. And yeah he had hurt her. But he was still her mate and if she had just given him five minutes of her time she would know that he was sorry. Okay, maybe she would never have mated with him if it wasn’t for their deal, but their mating had created a connection between them. It was a connection that wouldn’t allow for distances – something that he had discovered the hard way. So now his wolf was highly agitated and fighting for control of the situation. His wolf wanted to hunt her down and show her just what he thought of this distance she wanted.

In fact, Trey didn’t think that was such a bad idea at all.

Within minutes he was washed, dressed and storming his way through the tunnels. He found the little witch in the kitchen sitting on the counter, nibbling on a slice of toast while reading a magazine. She didn’t even look up as he entered. He noticed she was alone and wondered if the others had scarpered, suspecting this might happen.

In three long strides he was in front of her, placing a hand on the counter either side of her to cage her in. Slowly she raised her head and arched a brow questioningly, as if she couldn’t possibly imagine what his problem was.

“You weren’t there when I woke up.” The words rumbled out of him.

“True. And?” Taryn hadn’t actually expected him to react so badly. She had considered that his wolf might feel cheated out of what had become his morning ritual and maybe she’d end up with a nipped lip – that seemed to be his favorite thing to do when she had annoyed him – but it wasn’t his wolf looking back at her. It was Trey. With his mouth a harsh line and his eyes smouldering, he looked incensed, determined, and pretty damn horny. Her traitorous body responded to that lust. There was something else there too…if she didn’t know any better she’d have thought it was hurt.

“I like making you come in the morning, hearing you moan, having your taste on my tongue. This morning, you weren’t there.”

“Huh. Well my aim in life isn’t to please you so…”

He placed his face closer to hers. “Spread your legs.”

Her stomach clenched. “What?”

“I want my morning taste of you. So spread your legs like a good girl.”

“Not a chance, a**hole.”

The fire in her eyes had his already hard c*ck aching painfully. “Don’t talk about a**holes unless you want me to f**k yours. You know exactly what my problem is so stop playing dumb. You snuck out of my arms and out of our bed – snuck being the key word. Believe me when I tell you that it’s in your best interests to not push me any further because I’m seriously pissed off.”

She cocked her head. “Do I get extra points if I fake giving a shit?”

Growling, Trey tangled his hand in her hair and mashed his lips to hers, thrusting his tongue inside and exploring her mouth. It was a hard, possessive, punishing kiss, but of course his little mate wasn’t prepared to take that punishment. She bit his tongue and pulled away.

“Go force your will on someone who’ll bow down at the wonder that is you.”

Out of patience, Trey gripped her ass and tugged her to the edge of the counter as he boldly cupped her and leaned forward to lick over his mark. As always, she shuddered. “That’s it, baby, relax for me. That’s my good girl.” He unsnapped the top button of her jeans and went for her zip. Shocking him to complete stillness, a slice of toast was slapped onto his face.

Before he could react, Taryn had slipped off the counter, ducked under his arm and was running out the door. Bitch. Amusement and anger warred within him for supremacy. He chased after her through the tunnels, out the main door, down the narrow flights of stairs and into the forest. He was stunned by just how much distance she had been able to place between them. Christ, she was fast. And so unbelievably agile.

Knowing she was nearing a pond and would soon need to turn left, Trey detoured through the trees and came at her from the front, springing in front of her. She froze and smirked smugly, further inciting his wolf. He was insisting that Trey take her, take her now. Liking that idea, Trey stripped off his clothes, holding her gaze the entire time.

Helpless to the effect the na**d body of her mate had on her, Taryn licked her lips as she ran her gaze along Trey. He was so gloriously male. His form seemed designed to seduce, seemed created especially to deliver raw, carnal pleasure. And Taryn was eager for it. Eager to feel that long, thick shaft tunneling in and out of her. A wave of savage need had her stomach clenching and her body quivering. Afraid that she would end up giving him exactly what that hard-on said he wanted, she backed away. His cautioning growl made her halt.

“Is this your new thing, Taryn – putting space between us?” He shook his head, tsking. “It won’t work. We’re mates.”

“Wrong. We might have mated, but we didn’t do it because we chose each other and wanted to have that bond. We came together for a deal. That makes it an arrangement, not a mating.”

“I don’t much care what you want to call it, Taryn. The point is that because I’ve claimed you we have a connection you can’t ignore, that neither of us can ignore.”

“And this connection means I’m supposed to give you whatever you want?” She snorted derisively. “Well f**k you.”

“I know you’re upset with me, baby, but did you give me a chance to apologize? Or did you try to freeze me out again?”

It startled her that he sounded genuinely hurt by that. In fact, he looked it too. “Who said I was upset?”

“If you’re not upset then prove it. Come here so I can give you what both of us want. I can smell your arousal, Taryn.” He fisted his cock. “You want this.”

He was right, the bastard. She couldn’t help being annoyed with her body – it didn’t care that he had hurt her. No, it was responding to him as it always did – like the goddamn hussy Greta described! Even now as she was considering a good place to bury his body she couldn’t move her eyes from the sight of him stroking himself.

Not trusting that she could keep resisting him, she snarled and sprung upwards, grabbing onto the branch above her head. She hauled herself up and stood perfectly balanced. He didn’t look impressed.

“Get your pretty little ass down here now and I might not spank it.”

She snorted. “You say that as if you think I’d let you spank me.”

“Now, Taryn,” he drawled.

Instead she shot him a challenging look. As she expected, he began climbing his way up the tree, reaching for her. She sprang to the next tree, then swung from that tree to the next, and the next, and the next before finally jumping to the ground and dashing away. She could hear him hot on her heels but she didn’t once look back.

Moments later a set of powerful arms locked around her and tackled her to the ground. At the last second he spun, taking the brunt of the fall, before then rolling her onto her stomach.

“Caught. Trapped. And soon to be mounted.”

Taryn struggled. “Oh I don’t think so!” He grunted as she reared back and slammed her elbow into his ribs. Although she managed to scramble from beneath him, he grabbed her feet and dragged her back to him.

“Tricky little bitch,” he said with a smile. “My tricky little bitch.”

“No.”

He draped himself over her and placed his mouth at her ear. “Oh yes, baby, your ass is definitely mine. And if you keep struggling I swear I’ll f**k it.”

Instantly she stilled, but then as she felt his arrogant smile at her neck a surge of anger hit her. She sank her hand into the soil and hurled a handful of it at his face. He coughed and spat, cursing. As the pressure of his body left her, she managed to crawl from beneath him and was almost on her feet when he again clamped his arms around her and pinned her to the ground.

Harder than he’d ever been in his life, Trey tore her jeans from her body and then gripped her arms and locked them behind her back, trapping them there with one hand. He curled his other arm around her waist and pulled her ass in the air. “God, you’ve no idea how hot you look right now. Totally submissive.” Without any preamble, he plunged two fingers inside her. “You’re so wet for me. See, baby, your body knows it belongs to me.”

She hated herself for the moan that escaped her. Not prepared to let him win, she continued struggling but then stopped and gasped in outrage when he spanked her ass. What pissed her off even more was that she liked it. “You do that again and you’ll find out what your right testicle tastes like!” She fought against his hold but he didn’t even loosen it.

“You don’t really want to get away, Taryn. What you want is me inside you.”

Again, he was right. “Goddamn caveman bastard!”

Aligning his c*ck to her entrance he told her, “I’m going to f**k you. Because I can, because you belong to me, because this body is mine to f**k whenever I want.” And then he slammed into her and she cried out. He groaned as her muscles clamped down on him like a vise. She was so hot and tight and felt as good around him as she always did. Having given her a moment to adjust, Trey blanketed her body with his and grazed his teeth over the mark on her neck. “I’m going to f**k you hard and deep now, Taryn. Fuck you until you’re dripping with my cum. And you’re going to take it like a good girl.”

“You cock-smoking shitfaced motherfucking piece of monkey shit,” she growled, squirming again as she tried to free herself only to have him lock his teeth on her shoulder in warning. He rested more of his weight on her then, pinning her still.

“You know I won’t force you, baby. I’d never hurt you. If you want me to stop” – he began to slowly drag his c*ck out of her body, wanting her to feel every inch of him – “all you have to do is say so.” He paused when there was only the head of his c*ck lodged inside her. “Is that what you want? Do you want me to stop?” When she only growled, he smiled, adding, “Or do you want me to f**k you until you come so hard it hurts?” He gave a very slow yet deep thrust, loving the long-drawn-out groan that escaped her. “Shall I stop?”

“Just do it!”

“Do what, baby? Stop, or f**k you? Be very clear.”

“Fuck me!”

“Whatever you want.” He closed his teeth over her nape and rammed his c*ck into her, growling.

Taryn decided it was very possible that Trey could f**k her into unconsciousness. He was pounding into her at a frenzied pace, like f**king her was the last thing he would do before he died. Pinned as she was, all she could do was take everything he had to give. It should have infuriated her that his huge powerful body was like a cage around her, leaving her unable to move. But, strangely, she found that she kind of liked it. It was sheer male domination, but it wasn’t threatening or painful.

Her wolf approved of her male’s dominance, believed him to be worthy of her surrender. The pleasure had swept Taryn under and she couldn’t even find it in herself to care that she was still hurt by his words or that her heart was a mess. Her body was winding tighter and tighter, making her moan and groan and whimper.

A voice inside Trey whispered that he was being too rough, but he was too far gone to heed it. Lust had consumed his blood. She had consumed his blood. Every sound she made had his body burning hotter and hotter, had him heading closer and closer to his cl**ax. He could already feel the telling tingle in his spine but no way would he come until she had found her own release.

Just then a hint of a familiar scent drifted to him and he almost smiled. Tao was obviously on a run in his wolf form and had wandered close. Trey removed his teeth from her nape and whispered in Taryn’s ear loud enough for only her to hear. “You know Tao’s out there, don’t you? I’m glad he’s watching. I want him to see my c*ck thrusting in and out of you, owning you. I want him to remember that it’s me who f**ks you – not him, not anyone else.”

“No one owns me,” Taryn somehow managed to growl even as she was still moaning and whimpering. She flexed the hands he had pinned behind her back, clawing his stomach in retaliation.

He groaned. “Yeah, baby, scratch me. You know I like it. Do you know what else I like? Feeling your hot little pu**y squeeze my c*ck while you come all over me. Make that happen for me, Taryn. I want it, now.” With that he upped the speed of his thrusts and sank his teeth over his mark. Instantly she screamed and her muscles bitingly clamped down on his cock, milking him as he growled her name and exploded inside her. Completely sated, he released her arms and they both sank down to the ground, him still atop her and still inside her.

“I swear to God I’m going to rip your spine out of your ass,” she panted. “As soon as I can move, I’m going to do it.”