Deadly Sins Ch. 02: Lust

She should go back inside Orgasm and demand Thane let her use his phone. It was the least he could do considering he'd been instrumental in arranging the meeting between Cullen and Nicki which led to their subsequent disappearance.

But she wouldn't. The man had snarled at her to get away from him and get away she would. Frigid temperatures be damned, she wasn't laying down her pride for anyone.

Even if she did end up with freezer burned butt cheeks. This was what she deserved for agreeing to not only come out with Nicki and Alexis in the first place, but also letting the two pick her outfit.

Rayn sighed, thinking of the well known Proverbs verse:Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall.

A mighty tumble was apparently in her near future. Only the knowledge that Thane's tumble would be farther, harder, and with any luck, more painful, assuaged her.

Not wanting to chance catching a heel on the loose gravel of the deteriorated sidewalk, Rayn started walking up the center of the street. The closest business still open would be the Kroger's at the juncture of Parsons and Livingston Avenues. They would have a payphone she could use to call her sister so she could rip her a new one.

Rayn didn't plan to rip into Nicki because she had left her with no way home. And not because she'd convinced Rayn wearing summertime clothes in the dead of winter was okay. Not even because she'd persuaded Rayn to lock her purse in the trunk while handing over her keys for safekeeping (because, as Nicki put it, "It's a travesty to ruin such a cute outfit with that hideously outdated piece of crap.").

She was going to rip Nicki a new one because she had been the one to pick out the four inch black stilettos Rayn was now being forced to walk half an hour in.

As headlights approached, Rayn edged to the side of the street, trying to get out of the way. But the closer the vehicle got, the more it slowed, until finally it stopped right next to her.

Great. Just what she needed, a SUV no doubt filled with drunkards. Because no evening on the town was complete until you could say you'd been sexually harassed by walking, talking Crown Royal soaked testosterone.

The passenger window rolled down, revealing Cael. "Get in."

An unexpected pang of disappointment rolled through Rayn. If anyone came to get her, it should've been...she squashed the emotion. "I'm good."

"Either you get in." Cael shifted the vehicle into park. "Or I get out and put you in. Your choice, sweetheart."

"My choice, huh? Then I choose to keep enjoying my midnight walk."

"I'll bet you're enjoying it all right. It's-" he glanced at the dashboard "-twenty degrees and you've been out here for ten minutes. You might last another five minutes, maybe ten, so why don't you just make it easy on yourself and get in?"

"I'll pass."

"Make it easy on me then. I don't particularly care to have my head bashed for manhandling Thane's woman."

Thane's woman?That just had to be the most charming Neanderthalish possessive she'd heard in a long while.

Too bad, she was a modern woman.

Infusing her words with saccharine sweetness, Rayn said, "The woman you're looking for is walking in the opposite direction." She jerked her thumb behind her. "Can't miss her. She's the one dressed in animal furs with a huge bump on her forehead from Thane's club. Better hurry, I think she's planning to retire to their cave for the night."

Cael muttered something vulgar about sinful females and major disasters. "Look, Rayn, all I'm offering is a ride to your sister's so you can retrieve your keys. No big deal."

Rayn contemplated the offer. Krogers was still twenty minutes away by foot, twenty five in her ridiculously high heels, plus it would be another twenty before Nicki showed up to meet her.

By car, she would get the chance to tear into Nicki's ass ten times faster.

She regarded Cael for a moment, realizing for the first time the man was just as mouthwatering as Thane, Cullen and the man Alexis had hooked up with. With his icy blue eyes, buzz cut brown hair and strong angular features, he could've been a model for Calvin Klein. Except he wasn't wafer thin and emaciated.

Hand on the door handle, Rayn asked, "Why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

*****

Thane watched the gentle sway of lush hips as the woman walked away after granting him access to the interior of the house. He winked as she cast a look over her shoulder to make sure she still held his notice.

This was a game of theirs. A game they'd been playing for the past year.

Blond hair, blue eyed, fair of skin, this was the woman he'd been considering taking as a mate, regardless it had been plain to them both his werewolf would never bond with her. Amina's granddaughter. She was everything a man desired in a mate right down to her beauty and subservience.

She paled in comparison to Rayn. In more ways than one.

"Follow me, my lord," her soft voice drifted to him, her slight accent pleasing to the ear.

Doing as bid, Thane deliberated on how so much had changed. And in such a short amount of time.

At the beginning of his evening, the idea of taking Katya as a mate had been acceptable. Now it was out of the question.

His wolf would never allow it to happen.

"Where's your grandmother, Kat?" he asked, settling on the longer of the two couches which occupied the room she'd led him to.

"You know grandmamma. She felt it best we spend a few moments together first." Retrieving a bottle from a wine cabinet, she removed the cork and filled a flute half full with a deep purple liquid. She placed the glass in his hand. "She'll be down shortly."

Though he wasn't really in the mood for it, Thane had to respect Amina's temerity. She was determined to have Thane and Katya mated soon with a pup born each year thereafter.

He took a sip of the expensive wine, then set the glass onto a nearby table and tugged Katya down to his lap. She giggled as he burrowed his nose into the hollow of her neck, swiping his tongue playfully along the pale column.

Unsurprisingly, his wolf was noticeably absent.

"Thane, I didn't know you were here," Amina exclaimed, striding into the room, her gaze full of mischief. Though she'd definitely been sleep when he had called, she was immaculately coifed with not one gray hair out of place. "Katya, why didn't you come get me?"

"Cause you told me not to," came the cheeky response.

"Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?" A throaty chuckle filled the air.

"You're incorrigible, Amina." Thane helped Katya to her feet. "Give us a few moments. I need to speak to your grandmother in private."

No sooner had Katya shut the door, than Amina sighed dejectedly. "I know why you're here. I'm never going to get my wish, am I?"

Thane mulled over the question, before answering. "She's young, she's beautiful. She'll be mated and giving you great-grandchildren before you know it." He smiled before adding, "Mayhap even sooner if you stay out of it."

"All those years of running off those randy puppies for naught. I warned each and every last one of them the Alpha would have their heads for sniffing around his female."

"But she's not for me, Amina," he said gently. "She never was."

"I know, Thane. I know." She sighed again. "But enough of this old lady's nonsense, I want to know about the woman who did manage the formidable task of lassoing the mighty Thane Wulff."

Picking up his glass, Thane swirled the liquid around in circles, appreciating the opaque color and rich, nutty aroma. "How did-"

"I've known you since you were a child. I can sense the difference in you. Your wolf is unsettled, unhappy, whereas before he was just-"

"Lonely." Thane drained his glass.

"When will the mating ceremony take place?" Amina asked.

"Couldn't tell ya. Not anytime soon."

Amina started, the expression on her smooth face indicating her incredulity. "Your wolf has staked his claim, Thane. You have to mate this woman now or else he'll drive you crazy. And you'll drive the pack crazy."

"There's a..." Thane cast around his mind for the appropriate word to describe his situation. "Complication."

"Is she from a rival pack? Not interested? Already mated?" Thane shook his head in response to each question. "A vampire? Demon?"

"She's human."

"Not unheard of. Bring her here and we'll slowly introduce her to our ways. I'll oversee her acclimation."

"There's more."

"Like?"

"She's lust."

"Lusty is good. It'll keep things lively, if you know what I mean." Amina waggled her eyebrows.

"That it will," Thane agreed. "But when I say she's lust,I mean she's lust."

"She's..." Amina's face paled as the magnitude of his words hit home. Her hand fluttered to her throat to nervously finger the diamond pendant which hung there from a necklace. "You're right, Thane, that is a complication. One hell of a complication, actually. Has her...has she reached her majority yet?"

"No. But it's coming. Soon." Thane closed his eyes, remembering Rayn's potent flavor. Opening them again, he continued, "I need your help, Amina. I need to know how I can save her."

She didn't speak for several long minutes. "You know the answer."

"But what I don't know is the alternative."

"How do you know there is one?"

Thane's hand unconsciously tightened on the flute until it shattered. Brushing the glass to the floor, he smiled grimly. "Because I refuse to accept the death of my mate."

"Hold on to that stubbornness, Thane. You're going to need it where you're headed." Amina's hand dropped from her throat. "But before we even get that far, you need to be relaxed."

Walking to the door, Amina disappeared through it briefly. When she returned, it was with Katya in tow her pale blue eyes immediately landing on his lap. "Katya, see to our Alpha's needs."

Although his wolf was not interested in the relief Katya's pink lips could bring, the man in him was. Strategically speaking, he needed this relief. It would alleviate his stress and help him remain clear headed.

Shit. He wished it was Rayn doling out this pleasure.

But that would come all in good time. For now, he would take what release he could get.

"Call me when you two are done," Amina bade, closing the door.

Thane allowed Katya to pull him to his feet and lead him to a seat free of dangerous shards. As soon as he sat down, she dropped to her knees between his legs, reaching for his belt.

Thane placed his hand upon hers, stilling her motions. "If you don't want to...?"

"I want nothing more." She opened his pants, freeing his erection. "As always, it is an honor to pleasure you."

As Alpha, he could suck and fuck any unmated female in his pack. And though he'd sampled quite a few of the lovelies, he'd been with Katya more than any other.

But...things were different now. And he needed to make sure she understood.

"Kat-"

"If you're getting ready to tell me you've found your mate, I know. I knew when I first laid eyes on you tonight." Before her hot, wet mouth engulfed his cock, she added, "And I still want to do this for you."

Thane tangled his hands in the blond locks which draped his lap, using his grasp to guide her head up and down his shaft. The feel of his cock hitting the back of her throat was incredibly gratifying. "Fuck, Kat, I love your mouth."

But how would Rayn feel about his cock being shoved down another woman's throat?

Probably wouldn't give a shit considering she didn't know him. Yet. But the thought of another man's mouth touching her in like fashion was enough to deflate his ardor sure as a push pin put to a balloon.

"My lord?" Katya formed the question around his flaccid member.

Thaned tamped down the murderous rage he'd unwittingly conjured. He removed himself from her mouth and straightened his clothes. "Go get Amina."

Just as surely as Rayn was his, he was hers.

No woman would ever touch him again but her. And no man would ever touch her again but him.

Lest that man desired to be dismembered...starting with his cock.