Wolf's Hunger (Alpha's Hunger Book 1) Read online

  Okay, Wolfe. I suppose I’ll give you a few bonus points for stroking my ego.

  But only a few.

  The inside of the plane was amazing, all exotic wood and leather finishes. Everything was sleek, glossy white, modern shades of light gray and silver. A long couch sat along the left side, a bedroom with what looked like a king-sized bed on the right side towards the tail. Luxurious armchairs with seat belts hugged the walls, offering excellent views out the windows.

  “I could get used to this,” I said, my mood improving with each second that I spent perusing the interior.

  “Good. I like to think it will entice you to spend more time in my company.”

  I seated myself in one of the armchairs and, after he’d stowed our bags, Tristan tucked himself in next to me. “We’ll be taking off in a minute. When we’re at altitude, we can have the run of the place,” he said, a suggestive look in his eye. “We’ll be able to make ourselves more comfortable, so to speak.”

  “You mean we can crawl into the giant bed back there and get it on?” I asked cheekily, nodding towards the tail.

  “No,” he replied, not seeming to get the joke. “No beds for us, not yet. Not until you know what I need you to know.”

  “Ah, right. The big reveal. I don’t suppose there’s any chance that you’ll just tell me this deep, dark secret that you’re keeping from me, is there?”

  “It would be better if I showed you, Ariana. Sometimes words aren’t quite enough to explain complicated matters.”

  “All right, then,” I sighed. There was no denying it; we were playing entirely by his rules now.

  When the plane began to roll away from the hangar a few seconds later, I grabbed the armrests, my fingernails digging in hard to the soft leather.

  “You’re not a good flyer,” Tristan said softly. It wasn’t a question.

  “No. I’m a terrified flyer, actually,” I told him. “But still excited to be heading somewhere that isn’t here.”

  He offered me his hand. I pulled mine away from the leather rest and took hold.

  “You’ll be all right as long as you’re with me,” he said. “Do you hear me? I’ll never let any harm come to you—not so long as you’re next to me.”

  I nodded and managed a withering smile. Something told me it was true. Tristan was probably an excellent bodyguard.

  Too bad it was my heart, rather than my body, that I was worried about.

  Chapter 13

  We’d been in the air for half an hour when Tristan undid his seatbelt and invited me to join him on the leather couch.

  I followed, seating myself and watching as he opened a refrigerated compartment that contained a bottle of wine and two glasses.

  "Riesling okay?" he asked.

  "Fine," I said. What did I care? I was on a private jet with Tristan Wolfe, flying to some unknown destination where we'd probably spend the entire weekend locked in some kind of seriously erotic naked pretzel formation. I might walk away sore and self-loathing at the end of it, but somehow, I was feeling pretty okay about that.

  At least for now.

  He poured us each a glass, his incredible eyes watching me closely as I took my first sip.

  "Those lips of yours destroy me, you know," he said, his silken voice gliding sensually over my skin.

  Reaching his free hand out when I’d moved my glass away, he slipped his thumb gently over my lower lip. I trembled at the eroticism of his touch, a deep, devastating craving setting into my core.

  "You have pretty nice lips yourself, Wolfe," I told him, moving my gaze away in an attempt at self-preservation. Sometimes, looking at him felt like staring directly into the sun. I could only take it for so long before I started feeling like I'd burn up.

  "Do I?" he asked. I could hear the smile in his voice.

  "You know you do. Don't be coy about it."

  "I don't know anything, Ariana. I suppose you might say that I don't see myself as others do."

  "Is that right?" I asked, laying my glass on a small table to the left of the couch. I rose to my feet, slipped in front of him and pinned his knees between my own, taking the glass from his hand and setting it next to mine. "In that case, let me tell you a few things about yourself."

  I pushed myself forward and pressed down, my knees landing on the couch cushions to either side of him until I straddled his lap, pulling myself closer and closer. I could feel the bulge in his jeans pressing against my sex now, my skirt all but hiked up to my waist.

  We were so close to what I wanted, yet so far away. Sexual frustration seemed to be the flavor of the month for the two of us.

  My eyes met his again, the immediate, unrelenting scorch of heat setting into the place between my legs, taking over my voice, my mind…my everything.

  "For starters," I said quietly, "You have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen."

  "Thank you." His expression was serious. Almost stern, like he wanted to reprimand me for pointing out his attractiveness. Part of me wished he would. A spanking from his hand would have been quite something.

  "What else?" he asked, tucking a strand of my hair behind my right ear.

  "Your body," I added, my voice betraying my desire, "though it's not like I've seen it naked, so I can't really say for sure just how fantastic it is."

  "You will see every inch of me very soon, if all goes well." I watched his lips utter the words, my breath held tight inside my chest. The way he mouthed "well" was almost enough to bring me to orgasm.

  "Good," I said, slipping my hand down his chest and stomach, my fingers stopping only when they reached the button on his jeans. "And something is telling me that what's hidden in here is pretty spectacular, too."

  "Oh?" he asked, his stern expression changing to a self-satisfied grin. "Is it, maybe, the fact that you've made me hard as iron just now, pushing that sweet, succulent pussy of yours into me to remind me of the one thing I desire most?"

  "Mmmmaybe," I whispered, leaning forward and biting his lower lip. It wasn't quite a kiss...not yet...but it was close.

  Pulling myself backwards, I slipped down onto my knees on the soft carpet and stared up into those fierce eyes of his. I half expected him to protest, to grab my hand when I reached for the front of his jeans again, but he didn't. Instead, he leaned back and intertwined his fingers behind his head, apparently perfectly happy to accept whatever it was that I was about to do to him.

  When I'd popped the button open and unzipped his fly, I peeled the denim away enough to see the swollen crown of his cock displaying itself enticingly, jutting out above the waistband of his boxers.

  I held back an excited gasp. Good lord. His size was going to be a challenge, even for my mouth. If we ever had sex, he'd probably stretch me to my max and then some.

  The thought of it made me want to purr with desire.

  I leaned forward and licked away a drop of clear liquid, then sucked ever so gently on the tip, teasing him with the promise of more. He pushed his hips upward, moaning as I pulled his jeans and shorts down and took him in deeper, drawing his length into my mouth until he all but touched the back of my throat.

  The sensation made me want to pull up my skirt and straddle him all over again.

  Fuuuuck.

  I didn't want to wait until we landed, or until he revealed whatever secret he was holding so close to his chest. Didn't want to wait another minute to have him inside me.

  But I would, because that was our agreement. Because we were playing by his rules.

  Even if it destroyed me now.

  Teasing him with another lick and a shy glance, I breathed, "My oh my, what a big cock you have, Mr. Wolfe."

  "All the better to fuck your mouth with, my dear," he replied, his voice a deep, needful growl.

  "Why do I suddenly feel like I should be wearing a little red hood?" I asked as I massaged his slick shaft slowly with my fingers, offering the occasional stroke of my tongue as though he were the most delicious lollipop I'd ever encountered.

&n
bsp; "I'd love to see you in that hood and nothing else, truth be told," he said, reaching forward, pinching my sensitive nipples through my clothing. "You're so lovely when you're almost naked, I can only imagine how much better you'd be with nothing on whatsoever."

  "All good things to those who wait," I said before taking him in my mouth again.

  With both hands wrapped around him, I stroked him all the way down to the base, milking him gently, my lips tight around his shaft. I could feel the gentle pulses that threatened his pending explosion of pleasure, which only made me want it all the more.

  "Too good, Ariana," he said softly.

  "Too good for what?" I asked, pulling free for a moment.

  "You know what. You want me to come in your mouth, don't you? Tell me you want it."

  I nodded. "Yes, I want it," I moaned before taking him in again.

  He rolled his hips into me once, then again, then faster, until he was taking my mouth hard, his body savage, demanding, greedy for the pleasure that I was giving him. I felt him tense…and then, a rush of searing heat hit the back of my throat.

  He didn't make a sound when it happened. Just grabbed my hair and wrapped his fingers up in it, pushing himself deep inside as his hot seed coated my tongue.

  Good boy, I wanted to say. Oh, such a good boy to give me what I needed so badly.

  "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" I asked, licking him clean.

  "Not hard?"

  "Okay, yes, I take it back. It was very, very hard. Not to mention huge.“

  He chuckled. “As for your question, no, it wasn't difficult to come for you. But fuck, I wanted to do that inside your pussy," he told me, his voice breathless.

  "I want that too," I said. "More than you know, Tristan. I want a lot of things from you, for the record.”

  I lay one final kiss on his shaft, stood up, and looked down at him. His cock was still ramrod straight, hard as a steel, begging for more. I was fully clothed, and he was vulnerable, half-naked on the couch before me.

  I’d taken over the position of power. But when I looked down at him, he pulled his eyes away, like he was avoiding the intimacy of my gaze. Avoiding any acknowledgment of the temporary hierarchy between us.

  Once again, he’d stripped away the advantage that I’d gained.

  "Tell me what I am to you," I said, my voice weak with need.

  He looked up at me, but didn't speak.

  "Tell me what this is. This thing between us," I added, the words straining to let themselves escape my body. "Am I just a fun game that lasts a few days until you get bored?"

  He shook his head. "You're no game. Not to me. Not to my..." He cut himself off before he could complete the thought. "Not to me," he repeated.

  "Then what am I, Tristan? I think I need to know, before whatever's about to happen this weekend happens. I need to know how far away I should lock up my heart before I give my body to you completely."

  "I'm not sure what to tell you, Ariana," he said, pulling his hips up to yank his boxers and jeans over his naked hips.

  "Yeah? Well, I'm not sure isn't necessarily something I want to get too deeply involved with," I told him, pulling back, my self-preservation instinct kicking in. I could all but feel my heart hardening in defense, ready to pull itself away from any fantasies about an actual life with this man.

  "Don't be like that," he said. "Don't make this difficult."

  I let out a laugh. "You think I'm the one making this difficult?" I asked. "Look, I'm happy to suck you off. Hell, I was very happy with what you did to me yesterday. But I need to know if it's dangerous to fall in love with you. I need to know if you're going to hurt me, because my heart's not something I give away to just anyone."

  His eyes moved up my body and landed on mine with all the focus of a laser burning into my mind. There it was again, the sun blazing in all its glory, masking itself behind the façade of that gorgeous face of his.

  "Of course it's dangerous to fall in love with me," he growled. "Everything about me is dangerous. And if all goes well, tonight, you’ll find out why.”

  Chapter 14

  An hour or so after our mini-altercation, I felt the plane begin its descent. I’d been staring out the window for some time, sitting on the opposite side of the plane from the man who drove me insane, who was bringing me to God knows where, when my eyes caught sight of snow-capped mountains.

  “We’re heading to the Rockies?” I asked, turning to him. He was leafing through a magazine of some sort, focused, apparently not at all concerned that we’d just driven a big wedge into the middle of our budding ultra-dysfunctional relationship.

  “Yes,” he said. “Do you like mountains?”

  I nodded. “Always have. My parents used to take my sister and me climbing, when we were very young. Well, hiking, really. We didn’t exactly use ropes and crampons. Still, I got a taste for it.”

  “I’m glad to know that you’ll feel more or less at home,” he replied.

  “Yes, I think I will.” I pulled my gaze to the outside again, quietly enthralled to know we were landing in the midst of peaks and valleys. “Where are we, exactly?”

  “Headed to my chalet,” he said. “It’s not too far from Breckenridge, Colorado. But not too close, either.”

  “So you’re saying we’ll be alone?”

  Tristan chuckled. “Not entirely.” He rose to his feet and came to sit next to me. The air changed immediately, his warmth engulfing me. I was grateful for it; I’d been feeling chilly ever since he’d used the word danger. “Kara will be with us,” he said. “Rather, she’ll be in the house. But don’t worry; it’s a large place. She won’t disturb us unless I request her presence.”

  I wasn’t entirely surprised to hear it, though it wasn’t the best news I could have hoped for, either. “She’s a strange one, isn’t she?” I asked. “I can’t quite figure her out. She looks young, but something about her feels…I don’t know, mature in a way that I wouldn’t expect.”

  “I suppose she is a little strange. But aren’t we all?” he replied, taking my hand. He pulled it to his lips and kissed it, and in spite of a flurry of conflicted feelings, I let him. The truth was, for all he confused, perplexed, confounded and maddened me, I liked these little moments of affection. They seemed to be the most real thing about him. I couldn’t imagine him kissing the hand of a supermodel or showing her these little intimate sides of himself. I told myself that these precious moments were just for me.

  But maybe I was just deluded.

  “So what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” I asked, twisting my wrist to look at my watch.

  “Perhaps a little time in the hot tub, to relax,” he said. “Early dinner. After that, when night has fallen, I’d like to show you a little more of myself.”

  I couldn’t control the smile that slipped over my lips. “You mean more than I saw a little while ago?”

  “I’m not talking about nudity just now,” he said. “I want you to see what it is that makes me tick, so that you can decide how you want to proceed.”

  “Um, okay,” I laughed. “This sounds a lot like a business transaction. Like you’re trying to get me to buy a slightly used car and you’re wondering if I’m going to ask you to throw in the rust-proofing for free.”

  “More than slightly used,” he said softly. I looked into his eyes, trying to make sense of his expression, but he was unreadable.

  “I’m intrigued,” I said. “But I’ll admit that I’m also slightly terrified.”

  “Probably a healthy reaction.”

  When the plane’s wheels set down I grabbed Tristan’s leg and squeezed. He put an arm around me and pulled me in, kissing the top of my head. There it was again. A protective, intimate gesture that made me almost feel like half a couple. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a partner.

  It was a fleeting sensation, one that I didn’t dare grab hold of. Best to let it wash over me and leave me, so I didn’t grow too attached to the idea. Tristan’s c
apacity to make me feel special was his most addictive quality, and the one that rendered me on edge, frightened for my own well-being.

  All my life I’d wanted to be loved.

  The problem was, I couldn’t imagine the man sitting next to me ever truly loving anyone.

  The car that took us to our destination was a Land Rover, driven by Kara herself. By now I was getting used to the idea that she was some inexplicable, immovable part of Tristan’s world. In the last few hours she’d begun to feel less like a threat to my relationship with him, and more like an appendage, something that simply existed in his outer atmosphere. He showed no signs of attraction to her; they addressed one another professionally, more like associates than potential lovers.

  It was almost as though neither of them saw the other for what they were—two of the most beautiful people I’d ever set eyes on.

  Lucky for me.

  In the back seat, I kept to my side, and Tristan to his, his eyes scanning the outdoors like a hunter looking for prey. I turned to watch him on occasion, curious as to what he was searching for—but apparently not curious enough to ask. When my eyes found themselves staring ahead at the rear view mirror, Kara would look at me with a questioning glance, and I’d go back to staring out the window.

  Our driver didn’t speak. Maybe it was Tristan who’d told her not to; maybe she simply had nothing to say. Either way, I was grateful for the silence. It gave me time to assess my confusion, to tell myself that this weekend’s only purpose was to satisfy my own curiosity and maybe to enjoy some amazing sex. Nothing more.

  I reminded myself that I wasn’t to have any more thoughts of love or affection, that I wasn’t to get hooked on the idea of Tristan being a permanent part of my life. I’d return to New York tomorrow night exactly the same as I’d left it: single-ish and prospect-free. I’d tell Marcus something about whatever stupid things had happened over the course of the weekend, we’d share a beer, have a laugh, and I’d head back to work Monday to prep for the opening of our show.