Mate Set (Mating Heat Book 1) Read online

  Grady could fight. She could see he had both the attackers well under his control. Her relief was instant when she knew he’d be fine. She eyed the downed man on the ground who’d hit the wall to note he still wasn’t moving. The guy under the trashcan grunted, cursed while slowly shoving garbage off with one hand while gripping the back of his bleeding head where Mika had nailed him with the board. He looked done in.

  Finally, Mika turned and fled, running for all she was worth toward the main street. Bartock was pretty dead at ten at night so it wasn’t a surprise that she didn’t see anyone as she turned the corner and sprinted down the sidewalk. Her little house was three blocks away. She ran a bit before her burning side made her slow down. She was never going to go out at night again. No damn way. If she wanted chocolate, she’d call Uncle Omar to go get it for her or she’d be smart enough to buy it before dark.

  She was breathing hard and walking when she heard a sound behind her that made her spin around. Shock coursed through her when she saw the man who had saved her coming down the sidewalk. She froze as Grady advanced on her, his long legs quickly eating up the sidewalk between them. Even though his head was down and his sweater was gone, she knew it was him. He now wore a black tank top that was torn open over his stomach. His head lifted as he came within ten feet of her, pausing where he stood to stare.

  She’d never seen such dark eyes before. He was attractive but not handsome in the way she usually liked men to be. He was still damn good-looking in a purely male sense. Masculine fit him perfectly as a description. His hair was black, shaggy, and wild looking. He had long black eyelashes and his dark, intense gaze peered out at her from beneath them.

  Fear crept up her spine. No one’s eyes should be that black, and they didn’t look human. The fight he’d just been in had probably helped that look along, she realized.

  Why is he here? She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer. They stared at each other.

  The man moved first by taking a step toward her, and then another. Mika stood frozen. If she tried to run away from him, his instincts would demand he chase her. She was all up on her werewolf facts, since Uncle Omar had pounded them into her head from the time she was five years old and realized the “doggy” that sometimes played with her was really Uncle Omar. She’d accidentally witnessed him changing so he’d had to tell her the truth. Sometimes a big dog wasn’t what it appeared to be.

  She was alarmed by how tall Grady was when he stopped just feet away to stare down at her. At five feet four, Mika had never felt shorter in her life as she looked up a good foot into the man’s face. She had never considered herself really tiny before but she felt that way at that moment. The man dwarfed her.

  “Thanks for saving me back there,” she said softly.

  His eerie black eyes blinked and she couldn’t distinguish the pupil from the iris. The lighting on the residential street was a lot better than it had been in that alley, so she was getting a good look at him this time. His full lips parted, his breathing slowed only nominally as his tongue ran across his lower lip.

  “You know what we are. You owe me.”

  “Owe you?” She hated the way her voice shook. Uncle Omar hadn’t mentioned that tidbit to her, what it meant when you owed something to a werewolf. She wasn’t sure she was going to appreciate finding out the meaning either.

  “Don’t scream and don’t fight me.” His tone was commanding.

  “Shit,” she breathed out. There was no way that statement, coming from this big guy, was good news.

  His hands rose slowly and he gripped her arms over her elbows. His touch was gentle as his fingers curled around her and he backed her off the sidewalk, maneuvering them between two houses. A wood fence stopped her when her back brushed it. The streetlights didn’t reach between the houses so she stood there with him in the dim light.

  “Don’t talk. I’m not going to hurt you.” He had a husky, deep voice.

  “I—”

  “Shush,” he whispered.

  Her heart hammered as her lips sealed together. She had a pretty good idea why a man would back her into a dark area between two houses and tell her to be quiet. Her gaze raked up and down his body, verifying again that he was a big bastard, and it sent fear inching up her spine. She tried to think of something that would keep her calm, since fear wasn’t her friend when she was being touched by a werewolf. She didn’t want him to scent anything that would turn him on.

  One of his hands released her arm so he could reach between them. Mika could hardly make out anything in the shadows but nothing was wrong with her hearing. She heard a zipper—his, not hers, since he hadn’t touched her pants.

  “No,” she said softly. “Please.”

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered. “I helped you and now you’re going to help me. Hold very still. I promise you’re safe with me.”

  She wanted to run. A scream would be great too, she thought. She held still though and kept her lips locked together while her heart thundered in her chest.

  The man leaned down to nuzzle the side of her face by brushing his scratchy, short whiskers lightly against her skin. His touch was too gentle to be painful, though he needed a shave. He lowered his face more and then his mouth brushed her throat.

  Mika tensed, stunned. The man wasn’t attacking her, just touching her with his face and mouth. He inhaled deeply as a soft growl came from his lips against her skin. She was grateful for the fence behind her that held her up when her knees started to shake. She took a deep breath, inhaling a soft, masculine scent that reminded her of the woodsy outdoors.

  “Easy,” he rasped against her neck. “Quiet.”

  Her vision adjusted to the darkness. The big warm hand on her arm tightened as he lifted his head, tilting it all the way back. She looked down his body and shock tore through her at seeing Grady’s open jeans, hard flesh protruding from the hand he had wrapped around a major hard-on.

  His hand released her arm so he could grip the bottom of her shirt and his head lowered again. Mika tore her focus from the hand on his cock and up to his face. His dark gaze locked with hers as he softly growled.

  “Turn and lower your pants now.”

  She was frozen.

  “Now,” he rasped. “I won’t enter you. I’m highly aroused, and this isn’t going to hurt you at all. Do it.”

  She got one word out. “No.”

  Another soft growl came from him. “I’m really turned on. I just want to touch you while I calm down.”

  Her gaze dropped to his hand wrapped around the distinctive shape of his cock. “That’s not going to calm you down. That’s going to make this situation worse.”

  “You know what I am and you know about our kind. Didn’t the male you’ve been with explain that the only way to calm a were in a highly agitated state is to get him off?” His voice was a soft rumble. “I just want to touch you, and I need to smell you.”

  “So inhale.” She realized he thought she knew about werewolves by dating one. She didn’t correct him, doubting that he’d care since the others hadn’t.

  “Not the kind of scent I need to get me off. I said I’m not going to hurt you or enter you. I saved your life. Can’t you do this for me?”

  Shit! He had saved her, she reasoned, and he didn’t have to get her permission. He was big enough to make her do whatever he wanted but he was asking instead. Damn!

  She turned and her hands shook as she unfastened her jeans to slide them down her thighs. He wasn’t hurting her and she knew that she couldn’t get away from him. At least there weren’t four of him. She hesitated and then lowered her panties until they bunched around her knees.

  “You better not be lying to me. If you hurt me―”

  “I won’t.” His voice was even deeper than it had been.

  He moved restlessly against her. She tensed, waiting for his next move. She hoped he was telling her the truth but half expected him to have lied—that he would force his way into her body. He was br
eathing heavier now, faster, but so was she as adrenaline zipped through her body.

  “Spread your thighs more.”

  She shifted her legs apart as far as her jeans would allow. One of his hands gripped her hip and then slid over her stomach. She tensed and then gasped as his hand dove lower and cupped her mound. His body moved in closer, until his chest was against her back as he leaned into her but kept his hips back. She could feel his really warm skin since her shirt was torn open there, leaving her bare. The man had to have a lot of body heat to put off that kind of warmth.

  His hand shifted and she gasped as his fingers explored her sex.

  “Easy. You’ll enjoy this,” he softly growled at her.

  He lowered his face and inhaled deeply against her neck. She jumped a little when he licked under her ear and that lick turned into an open-mouthed kiss. Sharp teeth raked her sensitive skin but it didn’t hurt and he wasn’t biting. All she could smell was wood from the fence and the masculine scent of the man behind her, surrounding her with his larger body. His fingers ran along her slit and she squeezed her eyes closed. She was embarrassed by the fact that she was wet. His fingers rubbed in that proof between her legs. Proof that he was affecting her. He growled a little deeper.

  Shock assailed her as his fingertip drew circles around her clit. Worse, the pleasure was intense, raw, and he didn’t let up. She opened her hands on the fence and pressed her forehead against the cool wood. Grady’s finger rubbed her clit back and forth, changing the motion while he applied a little more pressure. A moan tore from Mika. Ecstasy was in the man’s fingertip.

  “You smell so good I want to fuck you with my tongue and have you ride my face. I bet you taste better than you smell,” he rasped against her throat.

  Mika hated how his words made her body respond. She was turned on and if he kept rubbing her clit, she knew she was going to come. She bit her lip and fought the next moan. She couldn’t stop her hips from moving though. She tried to resist the urge but her body wasn’t listening. She bucked her hips against that thick digit that was tormenting her.

  “That’s it, babe,” he breathed against her skin. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

  He moved his hand a little and one of his thick fingers plunged into her pussy.

  She moaned. There was no stopping the sound that pushed past her lips. He didn’t enter her far, probably couldn’t because he was still rubbing her clit with that hand, but he was knuckle-deep, sliding in and out of her. She knew she was really creaming with need now, soaked.

  “Come for me,” he growled.

  Mika threw her head back into his chest, turned her face against his neck; the scent of him with her nose against his skin was all she could focus on. That and what his hand was doing to her. He was damn good with his hand—too damn good—and was playing with her perfectly.

  Her hips bucked, straining against his hand and fingers. She tensed and then cried out softly as she did exactly what the man demanded of her. The climax hit her hard and fast as pleasure tore through her.

  His breathing increased and then he stiffened behind her, the chest against her back going taut. His body was rock solid and then wetness spread across the inside of her thighs. She realized then that he’d been masturbating while touching her. He groaned as that warm wetness splashed repeatedly on her skin as he kept coming on her thighs.

  His finger eased out of her pussy and he jerked his hand from between her legs. She turned her head away from his neck as he straightened and she opened her eyes. She had to tilt her head to look up at him. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted. She watched as he lifted the hand that had just given her the best climax of her life and licked the finger that had been inside her. His mouth closed over his third finger and he sucked on it as a low growl tore from his throat.

  He yanked his finger from between his lips the second his eyes snapped open. Mika stared into black eyes when he looked down at her, their gazes locking for a long moment. He moved back, not touching her anymore, and reached for the front of his jeans. She was too stunned to move even as she felt the wetness on her thighs cooling from the night air.

  “You do taste better. Get dressed,” he ordered softly.

  She didn’t need to be told twice, his words knocking her out of her stunned stupor. She reached down and just yanked up her panties and pants. She felt his release smear on her thighs as she got her pants up. The man zipped his jeans while he watched her with that intensely dark stare.

  “Get your ass home and don’t come out after dark for the next few weeks. You don’t know what kind of danger lurks out here. Whoever you used to date didn’t give you enough information. You’re not safe right now out on your own.”

  She slowly turned to face him after she’d closed her pants. She just stared up at him, speechless.

  He sighed. One hand lifted as though he was going to caress her cheek, but he let it drop back to his side.

  “Once you’re home, shower and wash your clothes to remove my scent. Do not take any more night walks, little one. Got it? It’s mating season for my kind and all the single males are roaming, looking for a piece of ass. They just want to get laid and won’t care if you’re human or not. My scent will keep them away from you.”

  His words astonished her. “You did that to mark me?”

  She saw his lips twitch into a small smile and then the emotion was gone in a blink of his eyes. “Would you have preferred I pissed on you?”

  Her mouth opened and then slammed closed. “Maybe.”

  He did smile then. “It wouldn’t have made you come. Now go home. I have shit to do and I don’t have time to get you there safely myself. I also don’t think it’s a good idea if I know where you live. You’re too damn tempting. I might not be around to save you next time, so be good and stay inside at night from now on.”

  He spun and walked away. Mika watched the tall man walk back to the sidewalk, turn left, and move quickly back toward the way he’d come. She leaned against the fence for long moments, trying to let her body calm after what he’d done to her. She took a few deep breaths.

  “Son of a bitch,” she breathed. She didn’t even know what to think.

  Mika forced herself to move, stomping away from the wall and heading toward her house. With every step, she got a little more pissed off. The man had marked her, touched her, terrified her, and worse, made her come. She stopped and shook her head. That was the first time she’d gotten off without batteries in six months.

  She suddenly smiled. It had been pretty great. The man had talented fingers and he was very sexy. She started walking again. Her night had gone from a nightmare to naughty mild sex with a hot stranger. It could have been a worse night.

  She was almost home when she saw two men walk out from between some bushes. She froze and fear was instant as she stared. They were in their early twenties. One of them, dressed in sweats and a tank top, walked toward her. Neither of them wore shoes, which alerted her that they were likely wolves. She met the man’s gaze as he approached and saw a hungry, wild look. He inhaled, obviously sniffing her, and she saw disappointment cross his features. He frowned, shot her glare, and spun around to sulk away.

  “She’s taken,” he growled to his friend.

  She stood there watching both men disappear back into the bushes. Then she jogged the rest of the way home. She locked the door behind her and leaned against it.

  “Why do I even come here?”

  The house didn’t answer her.

  Chapter Two

  Minnie had worked and lived with Uncle Omar for twenty years and was a keg of high energy. Her six-foot-two frame was rail thin and it had never ceased to amaze Mika that the woman was involved with her uncle. Uncle Omar was shorter, rounder, and so mellow he rarely got excited. Currently, Minnie was in a highly agitated state.

  “That poor woman,” Minnie raged. “Can you imagine? She’s mated to that asshole now. Mated! He just grabbed her and bit into her.”

  Uncle Omar sigh
ed. “She knew better than to be out at night. Everyone knows it’s that time of year. If she wasn’t looking for a mate, she shouldn’t have been running around last night.” He sipped his coffee and frowned at Minnie.

  Minnie glared back at him. “She wanted to get laid, not waylaid. He didn’t just fuck her. He bit and claimed her while doing it.”

  Uncle Omar shot Mika a weak smile. “Sorry. You’re lost, aren’t you? You have that dazed look on your face.”

  Mika arched her eyebrow. “A little. You never explained this.”

  Minnie slammed the rolls on the dining room table and sat down in a huff. “It’s mating season. The moon does this thing…well, never mind that. The point is that every year for a few weeks the men get hornier than shit, and it started three days ago. It’s nature’s way of making sure those horndogs might create a pup or two to keep us in future generations. Most men have the sense to just get laid as much as possible— wearing condoms—just for the fun of it all. But last night one of them bit a friend of mine. He didn’t just fuck her, the way Mother Nature howled at him to do. He bit her during the sex.” Minnie shot Omar a look. “Did you explain to her the details of matings?”

  Mika shook her head, answering before her uncle could. “I thought I knew it all. He’s always warned me about how dangerous men can be.”

  Minnie sipped her coffee. Mika didn’t think Minnie should drink caffeine but she wisely didn’t mention that to the hyper woman. She looked ready to explode as she ran her fingers through her dark hair and shook her head.

  “Your uncle and I live together, and we’re a couple, but we aren’t mated. I don’t want to be mated. I was mated when I was younger and it sucked.” Minnie’s gaze locked on Mika. “Being mated pretty much makes you a damn slave that a man thinks he owns lock, stock, and barrel. He orders you around and treats you like property because you’re his. It’s in their damn blood when they mate to take it to the extreme. We have sex,” Minnie pointed at herself and then Omar, “and he can bite me all he wants, but no glove, no love. That’s our motto. We use condoms. It takes more than a bite alone to make a mate. You must have a mix of sperm and saliva at the same time to mate, while partially shifted.”