His wolf really liked hers. Trey inhaled deeply, taking that exotic scent into his lungs. “My wolf’s riding me hard. He wants to complete the claiming.” Grinding against her, he spoke into her ear, “And I need to be inside your hot little body.”

It was true that the mating technically wouldn’t be complete without them consummating it, but as it wasn’t a mating in the truest sense Taryn had figured that the drive to have sex wouldn’t be as strong. Instead, her wolf and her body were craving that completeness.

Trey slipped his hand under her dress and boldly cupped her. “This is where I’ll be very, very soon, Taryn,” he promised – more like threatened. “Inside you, filling you with my cum, and making you scream.”

“I’ve met guys like you before. They talk the talk but, well…talking doesn’t exactly get people to orgasm, does it?”

Trey smiled wickedly. “When I f**k you Taryn – and make no mistake about it, baby, I will f**k you – the only talking you’ll be doing is begging me to let you come. And don’t doubt that I’ll make you come. Not just the once. You’ll come over and over again, until I decide you’ve had enough. Until I decide that I’ve had enough.”

“Hmm. That’s all very fascinating, but you’re forgetting one very important thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“My guess, Tarzan, is that you’re very used to Janes; you don’t just want total obedience, you expect it. I’m not sure you’d know what to do with a woman who would bite you, scratch you, and curse you to hell and back if she wasn’t getting her own way. You want my submission, you’re going to have to battle for it.”

He hadn’t thought he could get any harder. She was right in her assumption that he was only used to submissive women; females were too cautious around him to fight him for dominance. He didn’t crave submission, but he liked it. And he sure as shit liked the thought of Taryn, his mate, submitting to him. The idea of having to fight for and earn the right to her submission…Fuck. “I’ll look forward to the upcoming battle.”

“And just so you know in advance, big boy, I never beg.” All alphas had a big thing for begging, especially when it came to their mates, and Taryn needed him to know that it wouldn’t be happening. “Don’t take that as a challenge, because it’s genuinely not meant as one. It’s just something I never do.”

Trey didn’t have to ask to understand why. It was because that would mean she had completely surrendered, given her complete submission, and Taryn wasn’t prepared to do that for anyone. He understood that need to not be totally vulnerable to another person. “Now that we’ve cleared that up” – he curled both arms around her, resting his hands on her ass – “I’ll ask…do you think we’re fooling anybody?”

“I think most of them are having a little trouble accepting that I’d been wrong about Joey, but they can’t deny to themselves what they’ve just seen.” Or what they thought they saw. She realized now that if they hadn’t done things this way, no one would have bought it. “I don’t think any of them believe this is some kind of prearranged thing. More like they’re wondering if it’s out-of-control-lust or something.”

He nodded. “They might be able to think of a reason why you would lie about being mated, but they won’t be able to come up with a reason why I would.”

As his head tipped to the side and his eyes turned wolf, Taryn gasped. His gaze was glued to her shoulder and she knew exactly what it was that had his wolf fighting to surface. She had to refrain from flinching as he released a menacing growl. If she, the female his wolf saw as his, showed any fear of him it would offend and aggravate him. He was already very much on edge right now.

Knowing what the animal wanted and needed, she said, “Go on.” He didn’t hesitate. Just bent his head and bit down hard over Roscoe’s mark, sucking and licking the skin to replace it with his own mark. When he lifted his head again it was Trey looking back at her. Apparently his wolf was satisfied enough that he was willing to retreat.

Trey wasn’t surprised by his wolf’s jealous reaction to the sight of the fading bite from the other wolf’s teeth on Taryn’s flesh, but he was surprised that she had accommodated his wolf’s basic need to replace the mark with his own. By abruptly more or less chomping on her shoulder, he had done what Roscoe had.

“You didn’t struggle,” he said, knowing he sounded a little mystified. He wouldn’t have expected for Taryn, a latent wolf, to understand how difficult it could be to reign in the animal’s instinct when the beast lived so close to the surface as Trey’s did.

She sighed. “You and I aren’t really all that different when it comes to our wolves. My wolf constantly reaches for the surface, because she has no understanding of why she’s trapped. Being trapped frustrates her and all that frustration fuels her spirit, making her brash and testing. And that brash, testy spirit then constantly rides me, trying to force her urges or needs on me – it’s really her only way of surfacing. So I understand more than you might think about how it is for you to have your wolf so close. Not that I’ll always placate him – it’s probably best you understand that now. But both she and I know when to push and when to yield.”

That was something that only a true alpha could do. Trey found that he respected Taryn Warner, and that wasn’t something he could say for a lot of people. “It wouldn’t be much fun if you placated me or my wolf all the time.” His head whipped round when one of the females spoke.

“Taryn, do you think we could just talk alone for a second?”

Taryn guessed that Shaya thought she might think more clearly if she was away from Trey. She had been about to respond when Richie tapped Shaya on the shoulder.

“Getting in between mates isn’t a good idea,” he told Shaya. “Especially when they’ve only just claimed each other.”

“But they can’t be -” She stopped mid-sentence and Taryn knew why. Her dad had arrived.

As soon as Lance Warner spotted her he strolled toward her, clenching his fists. His eyes darted from her to Trey. “What the hell is this?” Then he saw the mark on her neck and his eyes bulged.

“I’ve found my mate,” she declared in a steady voice.

“Your mate?” he repeated tonelessly. “What the hell are you talking about, girl?”