He bit her earlobe. “I’m going to come inside you, Riley. Come until you’re dripping with me. But first I want to hear you scream and feel you come around me. Make that happen for me.” Pounding into her, he slipped his hand around her and plucked at her clit. “Come.”

The growled word vibrated with a pure male power that sent Riley tumbling hard into a vicious orgasm—it wrenched a scream from her throat and threw Tao over the edge. An agonizing pleasure flooded every part of her and stole every bit of her strength, leaving her body weak and quaking. She would have sunk into the mattress like a limp ragdoll if she could have moved, but Tao’s body still held hers in place.

After a few moments, he pressed a kiss between her shoulder blades and pulled out of her. “Don’t move.”

She would have—okay, she might have—obeyed that order if she’d had the strength to control her body. Instead she slumped onto her stomach, breathing hard. She sensed him leaving the room, but she couldn’t open her eyes to see what he was doing. Moments later he reappeared, and then a wet cloth was dabbing her back. She frowned. Why the hell would he be cleaning her—?

Oh yeah. Clearly some of his blood had seeped from his chest onto her back. She still could not believe she’d branded him. Flushing red, she said, “I really am sorry about that.”

“Don’t be.”

Her eyes flipped open at his nonchalant response. “Don’t be? Those marks are deep, Tao. They won’t fade.”

“I know that.” Lying on his side, he dragged her to him so her back was against his front.

“You should be pissed.”

“Well, I’m not.” He kissed her shoulder. “Now sleep.”

“Sleep?” Was he for real?

“You’re tired, so sleep.”

She would have argued with him further, but she was tired. More importantly, she was sleepy. So she let the subject go and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, they could deal with it tomorrow.

CHAPTER NINE

Before Tao even opened his eyes, he knew he was alone. He reached out with his enhanced hearing, listening for any movements in the bathroom. There were none, but Riley’s scent was strong enough in the air to suggest that she hadn’t been gone long.

He inhaled deeply, taking that scent inside him. It shot right to his cock, and he almost groaned. It was a sincere shame she wasn’t right there beside him—he could have rolled her onto her back and driven himself deep inside her.

After edging out of bed, he washed and dressed in a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans before heading downstairs. There were no sounds coming from inside the cabin, so he guessed she was either out on the porch or lying on the sun lounger. But when he slipped out the patio door a few minutes later with a cup of coffee in hand, it was to find no sign of her.

Hearing a distinct prruk-prruk call, he looked up to see a very familiar raven soaring above the trees. The metallic glint of her feathers shone in the sunlight, making them seem alternately blue and purple.

His wolf pushed against his skin, wanting out, wanting to play with the pretty raven. Instead Tao leaned against the porch post and watched as she performed a series of carefree, acrobatic flying maneuvers. As she flew, her wings made a sound that was much like silk rustling. She was so incredibly agile and beautiful, much like Riley herself. It was surprisingly relaxing to just watch her flutter around.

After a minute or so, she swept down and perched on the wooden porch rail. Head cocked, she blinked at him. Those dark-brown eyes held a surprising amount of intelligence and curiosity. The raven had come close to him before, but never this close—she seemed to prefer dropping worms on his head.

“Don’t bite me with that big beak.” Slowly he reached out and lightly skimmed a finger over her long wings. The feathers were softer than he’d expected.

Her body dipped low, making her large, slightly curved bill lift. It made him think of a wolf getting ready to pounce. She let out a toc-toc-toc sound.

“I don’t know what that means.”

She edged along the rail, moving closer to him. Swift as lightning, she snapped her beak around the cell phone sticking out of his pocket and was gone in a rustle of wings.

“Hey, give it back!”

She didn’t. Instead she circled him low enough that he could almost touch her. Again and again she did it—taunting him. He jumped up to grab her tail and almost had her. She settled on a tree branch, dangling the phone toward the ground . . . and that was when he realized there was a huge rock at the base of the tree.

“Don’t you dare!” But she would dare. The raven could be a little devil at times. He balanced his cup on the wooden rail and stalked over to the tree. “Give it back.” He held out his hand, repeating, “Give it back.” But of course she didn’t. “Riley, tell your damn raven to hand it over.”

The raven soared out of the tree and landed on the porch swing, where she dumped his phone. Her throat feathers puffed up and a deep croak seemed to rattle out of her. It sounded like a complaint—possibly that he was no fun—but Tao couldn’t be sure.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, snatching his phone just as she flew off. Instead of heading back to the trees, she retreated into the house. A few moments later, Riley came out in one of his flannel shirts. “I don’t think your raven likes me much,” he said.

“Actually, she thinks you’re freaking hilarious.”

Leaning his back against the porch post, he curled an arm around her and drew her against him. “Hilarious?”

“She likes to play, and she thinks it’s funny when you moan and whine.”

Affronted, he frowned. “Dominant male wolves do not whine.”

“You do.”

“Whatever.”

“If you want the truth, she’s becoming worryingly attached to you. You should probably run while you still can.” Her raven didn’t get attached to people easily. When she did, she held on tight. It took a lot to make her let go.

He snorted, sliding his hand under her shirt to cup her delightfully bare ass. “You think my wolf’s any less attached to you? He hasn’t given me a minute’s peace since he caught your scent. Even at the beginning, before you managed to charm him, he wanted you.” Tao licked at the mark on her neck. “All he’s done is hound me to take you. It’s not easy to not be at peace with your inner animal. This is the most relaxed he’s been in a while, even though you’re in danger and he hates it.”