Opening the door at the opposite side of the room, she found herself in the most amazing en-suite bathroom. She very much liked the look of the all-glass corner shower, but the masterpiece was the square, spacious bath. It was so humungous you needed to climb a few steps before you could get into it. Unfortunately she didn’t have time for a leisurely soak, so corner shower it was.

A thought struck Taryn as she entered the shower…It was well known that mates found it uncomfortable to be apart for the first few months. Would that apply to her and Trey or would they be spared that because they weren’t true mates? She suspected that, in any case, things would always be more trying for her and Trey due to how both their wolves constantly reached for the surface.

If it was going to be really uncomfortable then that could prove a problem. Although she hadn’t known Trey for very long, she had picked up that he wasn’t a touchy-feely person. For shifters, touch was a need. It was as basic as eating and breathing. But Trey didn’t seem to experience that craving, or had conditioned himself to ignore it somehow. Yes, he had slid his hands all over her at the club, but that had been for the purpose of their ‘true mate’ act. The second they were in the Toyota he had released her and he hadn’t touched her since. He always seemed to sit apart or stand apart from the others. If this continued while they were mated, it would be damn hard for their wolves.

As she stepped out of the corner shower she wrapped a thick white towel around herself and went back into the bedroom, all the while ignoring the way her stomach was clenching at the mere thought of having Trey inside her. Not Trey as her mate, but Trey as the man who had an overwhelming effect on her body merely by looking at her.

It was no wonder that he had always reeled in females with little effort. Not that there would be any more reeling. A split second later she realized just how much possessiveness had been in that one thought, and she had to roll her eyes.

Hearing a low growl, Taryn slowly turned her head. Closing the bedroom door was Trey, staring at her with such heat in his eyes that she sucked in a breath.

“You have tattoos,” he all but growled. Trey had never really thought of them as sexual but the sight of them on Taryn’s body had his c*ck throbbing. He couldn’t decide which he liked best, the anklet or the howling wolf on her shoulder.

She grinned wickedly. “So I do.”

All Trey wanted right then was to trace both with his tongue, but he doubted he’d have the self-restraint to take things nice and slow when his lust for her was like a fever in his blood. His wolf was eager to come inside her – another way to mark his mate. But both he and his wolf knew that this was about more than just consummating the claiming. Taryn needed to acknowledge, accept, and admit that she was his mate.

They weren’t mates of the soul or even the heart – both of which made it possible for it to be temporary – but she had to understand that this didn’t make the mating any less real. They were still mates in the physical sense which meant that she still belonged to him. If he didn’t make her understand and admit it, this would never work. He wouldn’t have her always throwing in his face that he wasn’t her true mate, implying that he didn’t have any rights to her. She was his now. Or at least for a short while anyway.

“Lose the towel,” he ordered. Not many people would dare to ignore an order from him, but of course Taryn did. “Lose the towel,” he repeated. But she only smiled.

“Honestly, does that usually work?” She could understand if it did. Hell, that implacable, uncompromising tone had very nearly worked on her. She was just so damned horny and her wolf craved his possession, but even her wolf knew he had to prove he was worthy of her surrender.

“I know you’re an alpha, Taryn, but I think you might be forgetting that so am I. Believe me when I say that I will have your submission.”

“Unleash the beast if you want. I’ll try not to laugh, I promise.”

His wolf stretched within him, ready and content to catch and subdue his little mate. “Don’t make me chase you, baby. Don’t make me have to spank that ass.” Not that that would be such a bad thing. “Come. Here.”

“Yeah, well, ordinarily I would but it’s been such a long day and -” Abruptly he dived at her but she swiftly and skilfully dodged him and managed to place a good distance between them.

“You want this, Taryn.” He grinned as her gaze zoomed in on his hands as he unsnapped the buttons of his fly. His painfully hard c*ck sprang out and she licked her bottom lip. He groaned then shoved down his jeans and stepped out of them. “I can smell your arousal,” he added as he unbuttoned his shirt and had her backing up toward the bed.

“If you say so.” Her aloofness might have been more convincing if her voice hadn’t been so hoarse with lust. In her defence, his body was unbelievable. All muscle and sinew and power, but not in that over-the-top way were veins were popping out or anything. No, it was all sleek, smoothly shaped muscle made all the more better by that golden tan. Her wolf was growling her approval, wanting Taryn to lick a path along that golden skin from the column of his throat to the base of that thick, long cock. It wasn’t such a bad idea.

“I can sense how hard your wolf’s riding you.”

“Jealous that she is and you’re not?” Again he rushed at her but again she dodged him, jumping onto the large bed and then running across it to land nimbly on the other side.

His expression was castigating as he stood on the opposite side of the bed. “You’re denying me what’s mine. That hot little body is mine now.”

“You really believe that? Ah, bless your little heart.” His long arm shot out and his hand snagged the end of the towel, whipping it away. Bastard.

As his gaze caressed her na**d body and took in all that flawless creamy skin, Trey actually felt like he’d been poleaxed. Although she was slender, she wasn’t skinny or fragile looking. She was lithe and sinuous with gently and perfectly curved hips, shapely toned legs, and a gorgeous set of br**sts. He’d always gone for voluptuous women, but it became clear to him now that he had seriously underestimated the appeal of small br**sts. Taryn’s were high, plump, and perfectly rounded, calling his name. His mouth watered as he caught sight of her completely bald pu**y. “Mine.”

“I’m afraid not, big boy.”

He leapt across the bed and grabbed her arm but she expertly twisted out of his hold and backed away. “You can keep running from me but it won’t change anything.”

“I belong to no one but myself.”

“That mark right there – my mark – says different.”

“I’m your mate,” she allowed, “but I don’t belong to you or anyone else. Well, actually, if you want to get technical about it, I’m not actually your mate yet,” she added with a smile.

“Oh you will be very soon, baby, once I shove my c*ck inside you.” He charged at her with renewed vigour, catching her just as she turned, and crammed her against the wall, her back to his chest.

Taryn struggled and twisted but his body was like a cage around her. “Move you son of a -” Then abruptly he plunged a long finger inside her, addressing that aching emptiness, and she practically liquefied against the wall, moaning.

“That’s it, baby, be still for me.” He kept his thrusts shallow and leisurely, licking his claiming mark and liking her answering tremor. “Feel good?”

“It’s alright, I guess.”

He had to smile. “It’s alright, huh?” She cried out as he plunged another finger inside her. “You’re so tight,” he groaned. “Tight. Hot. Wet. Mine.”

“Wrong.”

“Well, baby, while I’m finger-fucking you against this wall and you’re moaning like crazy it sure feels like I own you.”

“Never in a million years, a**hole,” she growled.

“Asshole…Now you’re just giving me ideas.” He withdrew his fingers and moved one to the puckered hole at the back, circling it teasingly. “One day, I’m going to f**k this gorgeous ass.”

“I’m curious, do you retreat into your fantasy world often?” Catching him off-guard, she sharply jammed her elbow into his ribs, making him jerk back just enough for her to duck out under his arm. Sometimes it was good to be small and slim.

To her frustration she had only gotten a few steps when a strong arm looped around her and he tackled her to the ground. Then she was flipped onto her back and Trey’s mouth closed over her nipple and sucked hard. “Oh God,” she breathed. Moaning, she cradled his head and scrunched his hair in her hands. Each tug on her nipple sent sparks of pleasure shooting to her clit, making her writhe and squirm beneath him.

It was official that Trey had been mistaken to overlook small br**sts. Or maybe it was just that this was his mate that had him unable to release the taut nipple. As he moulded and squeezed her other breast he groaned at how perfectly it fit in his hand. His wolf was growling, urging Trey to take her, to make sure she knew who she belonged to.

Abruptly he meshed his lips with hers, forcing his tongue inside to glide against her own. “I’m going to f**k you now,” he rumbled. “I’m going to f**k this body that now belongs to me. Mine,” he growled, punctuating it with a bite to her lower lip.

As Taryn met his gaze she saw hunger, anticipation and determination, and there was something else – possessiveness. “No.” She dealt him a harsh blow to the chest which had him jerking into an upright position. Quickly she flipped to her stomach and was almost fully on her feet when he gripped her by the h*ps and yanked her down onto his lap. He growled something that sounded like ‘Got you’ and then impaled her on his cock. The pleasure/pain of it had her back arching as she cried out.

Trey groaned as her inner muscles clamped down on him. “Take all of it, Taryn,” he demanded through his teeth. He slowly lifted her until only the head of his c*ck was inside her and then slammed her down onto him. “All of it.” He raised her again, enjoying the feel of her juices coating his cock, and then he impaled her to the core, seating himself to the balls. “Oh f**k yeah.” His wolf howled inside his head, loving that he was finally inside Taryn, filling her, stretching her. She was so tight and hot around him that he was close to coming already. As he gave her a moment to adjust to his invasion, he nibbled at her spine and then pulled her back against his chest so he could graze his teeth over his claiming mark. “You okay?”

Okay? She was absolutely freaking amazing. The pressure of his size stretching her stung and burned, but it was a delicious pain and she was revelling in it. She gasped as he suddenly lifted her again. The movement was slow, forcing her to feel every inch of him dragging against her sensitive inner walls. Something between a moan and a whimper escaped her throat.

“Shhhh,” he soothed. “Such a good girl taking all of my cock,” he praised as he once again slowly impaled her on him. Twice more he did it, loving her drawn-out moans and the way she squirmed restlessly. “Are you going to tell me no again?” She shook her head, moaning. This time he lifted her fully off him, then rose to his feet and propped her up on her hands and knees on the bed. “I need it hard and fast, Taryn. Can you take it?”

“Do it.”

“Good girl.” Gripping her hips, he rammed into her so hard she fell forward so that she was resting on her elbows. That was even better.

Taryn cried out as he began mercilessly pounding into her with deep, dazing strokes that were zapping her with bliss. Nothing should feel this good, she was sure of it. It had definitely never felt this good before, but she’d known it would be this way and it had scared her. Now, though, as he tunnelled in and out of her reaching depths that had until now been untouched, there was no fear, only sheer and utter carnal bliss.

As Trey gazed down at all that creamy skin of her back, that unmarked creamy skin, he had the urge to bend down and sink his teeth into wherever he could reach. He closed his eyes against the impulse. He wouldn’t mark her again, he told himself. He’d f**k her and ensure she knew that she was his, but he wouldn’t mark her again. Twice already he had marked her when the one claiming bite was all they needed. He didn’t need to possessively mark her up with claws and teeth to leave his brand all over her the way his wolf wanted him to. The way Trey the man wanted to.

“Do you like that? Does it feel good having my c*ck inside you?” Her response was a feverish moan that was a clear yes. “That’s a very good thing because I’m going to be in here often. Taking what’s mine.”

“Not yours,” she growled.

His next thrust was extra hard – a warning, a punishment. “Keep growling at me, keep telling me you’re not mine, I dare you.”

“I’m not yours.” She reached back with one arm and grazed his chest with her claws. Not enough to leave a permanent mark, just enough to caution him. She growled when she felt the slash of claws along the flesh of her lower back – these were deeper, would mark. “Don’t you dare brand me, you son of a bitch.” She gasped as a hand came down sharply on her ass and then his hand knotted in her hair and he dragged her up so her back was arched against his chest.

“I’ll mark you wherever I want,” he growled into her ear, still ruthlessly hammering into her. Abruptly he sank his teeth into her nape and his wolf growled his approval. “You’re my mate, Taryn, say it.”

She snapped her teeth at him, missing his jaw by mere inches. “Fuck you!”

Again Trey spanked her ass hard. “Let’s try that again, shall we. Whose mate are you, Taryn? Who do you belong to?”