She gave him a gentle but self-satisfied smile. “It’s too late, Nick. I’ve claimed you. It’s done.” She didn’t think she’d heard of a submissive wolf being the first one out of a pair of mates to lay claim. The idea of that made her smile widen. Oh yeah, not only had she claimed a dominant alpha male before he’d claimed her, but she was now going to totally seduce that alpha male. This was a story to pass down to the grandkids—when they were old enough to hear it, obviously. Taryn was going to love it.

“It means nothing if I don’t accept that claim. And I don’t. Do you hear me?” Nick went nose to nose with her. “I don’t want you.” His wolf took a swipe at him for that. Nick didn’t blame him.

“Yes, you do,” she softly insisted, sliding her hands over his tense shoulders. “The truth is that the one misguided here is you. I claimed you for the right reasons. You’re trying to push me away for all the wrong ones.” She clenched her inner muscles around him, satisfied by his thick groan. “You want this, Nick. Stop fighting it.”

“Shay.”

It was a tortured plea that made her chest ache. “We’ll find a way to stop what’s happening to you. There are other healers out there. But you have to be prepared to battle it instead of rolling over onto your back and accepting it. Some dominant male you are.”

He growled. “Taunting me?” Even his wolf didn’t like that.

“Just pointing out a fact. No dominant male—especially a born alpha—would give up like this. But you are; you’re doing it. If you’re a dominant male, act like it.”

“I’m not going to fall for that.” Not when it concerned her well-being.

“And I’m not going to fall for your attempts at making me hate you.”

He shrugged. “Stalemate.” She squirmed slightly and, Christ, it was like his brain shut down for a second. Then a rush of her cream bathed his cock, wrenching a guttural groan from him. When she went to squirm again, he tightened his grip on her hips and warned her with a look. “Don’t f**king move.” He was too close to losing it.

“I can’t help it.” She truly couldn’t. Figuring some dirty talk would help, she said, “I need you, Nick. I need you to claim me.”

So did he; he felt like he’d go out of his goddamn mind if he didn’t.

“Please, Nick.” Oh, he appeared to like the begging. Ha. “Please, I need to come.”

His eyes flared at her. “You should have thought about that before.”

She raised a daring brow. “Then punish me.”

“Dammit, Shay.”

Seeing how well her efforts were working, she smiled inwardly. “Shall I lick you clean when you’re done?” His c**k jerked inside her, and his hand abruptly collared her throat.

“Don’t think I won’t make you. They’re brave words, baby, but I don’t think you could back them up.”

“Is that one of the plans you said you had for my mouth?”

Nick squeezed his eyes shut, cursing. The sly little bitch was good at this, pushing all the right buttons.

“We’ll fight it, Nick.”

The sensitivity in her voice made him open his eyes; ones full of determination and arousal were staring back at him. “You’re stronger than anyone I know.”

Seeing that the fight had almost gone out of him, she pressed in a whimper, “Come on, Nick. Fuck me. Do it like you own me.”

“I do own you,” he said through clenched teeth, feeling his control slipping away, feeling her pulling him into a place where there was only Shaya and the need to claim. His wolf was urging him to give her what she wanted, to make it clear to her once and for all that she belonged to him and ensure that she could never dispute it again. Never had Nick been balanced so precariously on the edge of his control. When she drew his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it eagerly, it naturally had him remembering her sensual lips around his cock. Shit.

“Prove it.”

“You know what will happen if I do.” He’d claim her and she’d be tied to someone who—

He groaned as she again squirmed. More of his control slipped away.

“I don’t care, I want this. I want you to claim me. Now, Nick, I need to come. Please.”

With his mate’s gaze holding his, offering everything she had and everything she was, the will to fight this any longer left him. His worries and his reservations left him. All that mattered was Shaya and finally claiming what was his.

Growling, Nick slammed his mouth down on hers, eating at it, plundering it with his tongue. She went pliant under the assault, making him growl approvingly into her mouth. Pulling back, he bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. “How bad do you want to come?”

Relief and triumph surged through Shaya, invigorating her. The uncertainty and anxiety had disappeared from his eyes; there was now only pure male need blazing at her. It thrilled her wolf just as much as it did Shaya. “Bad.” She gasped as he cocked his hips, giving her a shallow thrust.

Extending his claws, Nick easily stripped her of her top and bra. “I’m going to f**k you hard, Shay.” He rotated his hips, putting pressure on her clit until she whimpered. With one hand still gripping her hip, he let his free hand roam over her body. “But you’re not going to come.” He clutched her ass and shifted her angle, flexing his c**k inside her and making her gasp. “You’re going to fight it until I say you can come.”

Oh that so wouldn’t be possible, not while she was hanging on the edge. Not while the need to be claimed was like a fever in her blood. “Nick—”

“You taunted me, baby,” he reminded her, pinching her nipple just right until she released that amazing moan. “You can’t taunt me and expect to get away with it. And you tried to take the dominant role here too, didn’t you? Tut, tut, tut. You knew I wouldn’t like that, you know I like to have the control. To make matters worse, you lied to me.”

“I didn’t—”

He cut her off with a hard, punishing thrust. “Oh, you did. You told me you wanted a hug. But you wanted to get close enough to claim me, didn’t you? You tricked me.” He shook his head in reprimand, thumbing her clit once. “I can’t have that.”

Seeing his eyes blazing with resolve and heat, Shaya knew that this mating was going to be every bit as rough and hard and explosive as the claiming between true mates was reported to be. It would be no-holds-barred. The idea excited and unnerved her in equal measures.