Free Dangerous by D.L. Jackson Page B

small wound, a symbol of his devotion. His loyalty. Liv arched up and came. Xan returned to licking her, tasting her cream, devouring her need. As she cried and came again, he slid up her body and pressed the head of his cock against her pussy. “You belong to me, Coyote.”
    “Yes.”
    Xan drove inside her, busting her barrier, taking the gift she offered. She squeezed against him, pulsing around his cock, oblivious to the pain, and like the animal she claimed, didn’t want to stop. “More.”
    “Greedy, Coyote.” Xan stilled. “You’ll be sore. We need to take it easy.”
    She grabbed his hair on either side of his head and forced him to look her in the eyes. Her lip curled, and she snarled. “More.”
    What his mate wanted, his mate got. Xander pounded into her, taking her over the precipice one more time before her swelled inside her and came. Liv locked on with all her limbs and held him to her, hanging on with all she had. He kissed her and nipped her neck, pressed his lips to her ear. “I love you, Liv.”
    “I know.”
    They made love through the night, and as dawn peeked through the pink floral curtains, Xan rolled to his side and tucked her against him. “You will never have to be afraid again, Liv. I’ll protect you.”
    She snuggled in, and soon her breathing evened out as she slept. He stroked her hair and inhaled. His. He’d finally come home, and for the longest time since he could remember, everything felt right. Xan closed his eyes and slept like a stone. The nightmares never came.
     

Chapter Six
     
    He woke up several hours later to orange blossoms and clove filling his nostrils. He reached over and patted cold, empty mattress. The slight scent of panic-laced pheromones. Confusion? Over what they’d done, over who they were to each other? Did his mate have day-after regrets? His wolf snarled, and Xan fisted the blankets, fighting the urge to leap out of bed and retrieve the mate who’d abandoned him.
    Liv needed space. He should learn a little self-control, something he found almost impossible around her. He closed his eyes and listened for sounds in the house to signal she hadn’t left him. Clunks came from the living room. Xan growled low in his throat, his hackles rising. She cleaned his mess. Again.
    He’d laid a lot on her the night before, and she still had a good deal of it to process. Stop it. She’s not going anywhere. Don’t piss her off. He reached for the remote, fighting his wolf’s desire to retrieve his female. He’d need to tamp down on his aggressive nature. Liv didn’t know her animal, didn’t understand the primitive natures driving her to act the way she did, but she would subconsciously follow her instincts. And it should be good enough for him.
    Mating took sometimes days to complete, and separation could be almost unbearable. During mating, the males tended to be even more possessive and dangerous. Not something he wanted her to see or feel coming from him again. She couldn’t know all the intricacies that went along with the bond. He’d need to learn a little patience and control his beast—give her space when she needed it, pull her close when she didn’t. Her coyote remained shy and a flight risk.
    Watching television should help him get his mind off his distant mate. Xan flipped through the news channels. The distraction would help. Sports, car show, cooking…a massacre outside a small Wyoming town . Whoa, back up there. He’d seen villages like the newscaster described.
    In Africa.
    Fuuuck.
     
    “Police and FBI are on the scene of a grisly slaughter this morning. We don’t have any hard facts yet, but from the body bags we’ve seen come out of the ranch, we’ve counted at least twenty-two dead. An eyewitness from the town, a cook who works at the ranch, discovered the bodies around four this morning. We have been told she suffered a heart attack. She has been taken to Evans Point Community Hospital at this time, and no word on her condition has