The Council Ch. 03

Cedar was stunned by his rule, stunned and concerned. No lies? She couldn't agree to that but if she didn't agree he would get up and leave. She would lose him in a heartbeat.

She knew Alexei wasn't a naturally trusting man, that he held himself aloof from most people, rarely allowing anyone close to him. Probably his brother and Demetri Bozic were the only two people who he completely trusted. His no lies rule told her so much in those two simple words. He wanted to trust her but was afraid to, hence the need to have that as his rule, so he could start to let her get close.

And she couldn't agree to it.

Alexei tried to read the expression on her face but it was carefully guarded, a slight tightening of her lips the only sign that she was thinking about something very carefully. He was fighting down a deep frown as she didn't automatically agree to his rule. She was incapable of agreeing to it? She was incapable of being truthful with him?

Just the thought made him angry. Angry and a little hurt. He wanted to trust Cedar but he was nowhere near that stage yet. He knew practically nothing about her as a person and he didn't trust easily. It was what had kept him alive so long, his natural distrust of people. He rose from the sofa, putting his wine glass on her low coffee table.

"Honesty shouldn't be such a hard concept to deal with," he said coldly, raking his eyes over her face. "If you can't agree to the rule then the game ends here, Cedar." He was disappointed in her, disappointed that his first impressions of her could be so wrong.

"I didn't say I wouldn't agree to it, Alexei," she answered slowly with a little frown marring her forehead. "But I have a condition first."

If anything, her response infuriated him more. What conditions could apply to honesty? Either you were honest or you were dishonest, there was no grey area in between. Not in his mind anyway. "No conditions," he answered with a dark scowl turning to head out the front door.

Cedar's heart began to thump rapidly in her chest as he started retreating from her, starting running from her as fast as his long legs could carry him. "Alexei, wait," she called softly, not hearing the almost whispered plea in her voice but he did. He halted at the front door without turning around, waiting tensely to hear what she had to say.

"I can't do anything that will hurt my pack, Alexei, my family," she said quietly. "You could ask me anything about them and I would have to answer truthfully if I agree to your request. What's to say you won't ask me something that would enable you or some of your kind to hurt them?"

Her words shocked him. They shocked him because he hadn't considered that he could be putting her in such an awkward position with his rule. The fact that he hadn't factored in how lucrative it could be to have such control over a Beta in a Were pack stunned him. It proved just how much she addled his thinking.

But what shocked him the most was the fact that she didn't trust him either. He had just assumed that she automatically would because he was her mate. He had thought it would be an automatic thing for her. He didn't like the fact that she didn't trust him. It gnawed at him like an unbearable itch he couldn't scratch.

He turned slowly to regard her thoughtfully for a long moment. "My rule works both ways, Cedar," he finally answered carefully. "I expect no lies from you and I will give you no lies in return. So when I give you this one condition you will know I will hold to my end of it. I will not ask anything about pack life which is detrimental to your people. If you feel something I ask borders on that, you may refuse to answer and I will accept that. Is this condition acceptable?"

"Agreed," she answered instantly, her beautiful face showing a small flicker of relief. He didn't know if she was relieved because she could keep her pack safe or relieved because he wasn't going to leave.

He was supposed to be teaching her a lesson. It had been the thought in his mind when he started this little game with her but she looked oddly vulnerable at the moment, not as arrogant and sure of herself and he was fighting the urge to cross the room and just hold her, to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be just fine.

It was a foreign feeling for him. Tenderness was not something he experienced very often in his life but at this moment he was feeling tenderness for the beautiful wolf before him.

He smiled slowly and shook away the feeling. She seeped far too easily under his guard. He would need to remember that so he could stay one step ahead of her. If he didn't, she would win the game and he didn't like to lose. "So we have our rules," he sighed softly, moving back into the room, slowly taking off his leather jacket and tossing it on one of the chairs. He sat back down, his eyes intent on hers.

"Mr Tall, Blond and Handsome. Were you going to invite him inside if I hadn't been here?" He was surprised when the question came out of his mouth. He had no idea that his irritation at seeing her with the other man had been festering inside him. He had been so intent on laying the ground work for their game that it had slipped his mind.

A smile curved over her luscious lips as she hopped down from her stool and made her way over to the sofa, choosing to sit on the opposite end of it and put her wine glass down on the coffee table. Cerulean blue eyes met his. "Yes."

His nostrils flared with anger and he had to force himself to stay where he was and not react to the instant rage that clouded his mind.

"But not in the way you're thinking, Alexei," she laughed softly. "James is a work colleague. I have a file he needs for tomorrow morning, which is why he accompanied me home in the cab. He was going to come in and get it because I'm on leave tomorrow. I had to send him away because I scented you close and didn't want him to be accidentally hurt in any way. So now I have to go into work in the morning to give him the file."

He slowly relaxed seeing no sign of deception on her face. A work colleague he could cope with. He would be able to contain his need to go looking for the man and let him know in no uncertain terms that she was off limits to him.

"Maybe we need another rule each?" he suggested dryly. "I don't share my toys, Cedar. I never have. If you don't believe me just have a little chat with Andrei."

She laughed softly again, her eyes sparkling with humour. "You never did strike me as the sharing type," she agreed. "I don't think I need any clarification from Andrei on that point. A joint rule, Alexei, because I don't share either." There was a hard, possessive edge to her tone which his feral side approved of immensely.

She really was breathtaking. He was hard and aching for her despite the weariness he felt. She did make his weariness worse with having to be so mentally alert when all he wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep. But her scent was teasing him mercilessly. She was so close to him. All he had to do was move a little closer and they would be touching, his hands on her soft, creamy skin.

He had only touched her once before and that simple touch had been enough to almost drive him insane with need. His eyes travelled to the graceful curve of her neck. He could still remember what it felt like to hold her fragile neck in his hands, the bolt of pure electricity which had travelled from her skin to his hand and made him want her more than he already had.

"Do we need to go through the whole chase thing?" he asked, his voice dropping to a low, husky sound.

Her soft tinkling laughter greeted his question and his eyes moved to her face to watch the amusement dance across her perfect features. Excitement flashed in her eyes as she tilted her head to the side. "You've already proved yourself to my wolf, Alexei," she sighed softly. "You saved my family, my pack. And I don't want my house wrecked. I like it just the way it is."

She had barely finished speaking when he was moving towards her, no longer able to stay away from her. He needed to taste her, to touch her, to give into the insatiable hunger she created inside him. Her eyes widened fractionally as he moved so quickly and then he was reaching for her, pulling her into his arms and lowering his head to capture her soft lips.

A muffled groan escaped him as their mouths touched for the first time. It was a light kiss, a soft brushing of lips which did not reflect his need to completely devour the woman in his arms. He wanted to taste her first, savour this first melding of their lips so he could file the memory away and pull it back out time and time again when they were apart from each other.

She tasted amazing, sweet and spicy with a hint of the wine they had been drinking. Her lips were so soft against his, parting to allow his tongue to dip deep inside to lap leisurely against hers. It had to be the gentlest, sweetest kiss he had ever had and it made him breathless, setting his heart racing.

He groaned again and deepened the kiss, pressing her soft curves against his chest as he ravished her lips with a hunger that surpassed anything he could remember feeling before. She was intoxicating and he couldn't get enough of her mouth, of the way her tongue chased his aggressively back into his mouth as she raised herself onto her knees and threaded her hands into his hair.

Cedar thought her heart might actually explode it was racing so fast as her mate devoured her lips as if he were starving for her touch. She had waited so long for him; she wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, that Alexei really was crushing her tightly to his chest, his hot mouth sliding endlessly against hers in the most passionate kiss she'd ever experienced. Her hands stroked down his neck, a deep moan escaping her as she touched his hot skin and felt the hard muscles underneath.

Her kiss faltered slightly as she felt the tenseness in his neck and shoulders, her hands gently gliding over his silk shirt in almost an exploratory fashion. He seemed to sense her hesitancy and pulled back to look quizzically at her.

"When did you get back?" she asked curiously, her fingers going to his shirt and slowly unbuttoning it to reveal his wide, muscular chest. She couldn't stop her hands from trailing lightly over him to brush gently against his nipples as he sucked in a deep breath.

"A few hours ago," he answered, his voice low and husky as she continued to stroke lightly down to his rib cage.

"Turn around," she ordered softly and he frowned and let out a low growl, obviously not wanting to do as she asked. She met his intense gaze as her hands moved back up his body to slowly ease the shirt from his back. "You're stiff," she sighed with a little smile curving her lips at the slightly sardonic look he gave her.

"You're going in the wrong direction to determine that," he remarked drolly but he did as she asked, turning and presenting his back to her. He held his breath as her delicate little fingers trailed through his long, thick hair slowly before she brushed it gently over his shoulders. Her touch was so light, so tender that it made his breath hitch in his throat and his cock throb painfully in his jeans. It was the least sexual thing any woman had ever done to him and yet it was the most erotic thing he could remember.

"Lie down," she commanded and he was automatically doing it without thinking about what he was doing. He was face down on the sofa with her straddling his thighs before he realised she was ordering him about and he was meekly allowing her to. He stiffened and started to rise but she pressed firmly into his shoulder blades and it felt so damned good that he groaned instead and allowed her to continue her ministrations.

Slowly her hands kneaded his shoulders and roamed down his back. When she came to a tense muscle her touch became firmer as she worked out the kinks and then she would gentle her stroking and lean forward and press her lips against the spot she had just loosened.

Alexei sighed in pleasure and closed his eyes. Allowing his wolf to have her way every now and then was not necessarily a bad thing. And what she was doing for the tension in his body felt pretty amazing. It was as if she was stroking all the weariness from his body with her deft little touch.

Cedar continued to stroke Alexei's back and shoulder, thrilling at the feel of his hot skin underneath her fingers, shivering as he uttered low growls almost unconsciously. He was so foolish her vampire. He should have waited until tomorrow to come looking for her if he was only just back from Ecuador. She would probably have been annoyed that he hadn't come looking for her straight away but she would have lived with it, knowing that he needed to rest.

Her lips quirked in a little smile as she felt him slip completely into sleep, all the tension leaving his body as he surrendered to the need to rest. She leaned forward and kissed the back of his neck gently before she eased off his body and knelt beside the sofa. She stared into his sleeping face which was partially covered by his hair. He was the most beautiful specimen of a man she had ever seen and he was all hers.

With another smile, Cedar rose and padded lightly up the stairs to her bedroom. She dug out a blanket and headed back downstairs, covering the exhausted vampire before brushing his hair back from his face so she could brush his cheek lightly with her lips.

"Goodnight, Alexei," she whispered softly, holding her breath when he stirred slightly at the sound of her voice. He settled back down and she turned and headed back upstairs.

Typical man! Turns up at her door, issues his silly ultimatums and then passes out just when things are getting interesting. She rolled her eyes as she stripped off her clothes and climbed naked into bed. So, Alexei thought this was all a game, did he? She chuckled lightly as she settled down to go to sleep. If he honestly thought that then he was in serious danger of losing the game before it had even begun. Despite his dire warnings, and fierce expression he had caved like a baby and fallen asleep in her domain. Alexei Romanov was half way to defeat and he didn't even know it.

Alexei woke up after sleeping for a couple of hours. He felt rested, warm and extremely comfortable apart from the fact that he still had his boots and jeans on. The room was dark but his enhanced sight could see everything as if it was daylight. He was still at Cedar's house but he was alone in the room.

Christ, he'd fallen asleep? He'd been kissing his wolf, revelling at finally having her in his arms and he'd gone and fallen asleep on her? He knew he was tired after the flight but how he could have passed out on Cedar was beyond him. If she hadn't been running her hands all over his back sleep would have been the farthest thing from his mind.

His lips twitched in a rueful little smile. He wondered if she had been pissed when he passed out. Or maybe she had been disappointed? She had been into his kisses, the scent of her arousal making him dizzy it had been so overpowering. He sighed and sat up trying to make up his mind what he wanted to do. He could get dressed and go home or he could go find his sexy wolf and find out if she was a grouch if she was woken up when it was still early.

He scented the air deeply, her sweet fragrance assaulting his nostrils. His body hardened instantly and he groaned softly. He had his boots and jeans off in an instant. He wasn't willing to wait any longer to be with her. A year was more than enough to wait. Silently he sped up the stairs, following her scent until he came to her bedroom.

Cedar was fast asleep in the middle of a large king sized bed. Her curls were tangled around her head, her breathing deep and even. She looked angelic as she slept, completely vulnerable. Alexei knew she was anything but. If he startled her too much there was a chance she would shift and attack him. His lips twitched and his eyes began to glitter fiercely. Now that would be interesting. Maybe he should startle her to see what happened?

He stalked to the bed slowly, his heart picking up a beat the closer he got to it. By the time he reached the side he'd changed his mind. She had said earlier she didn't want her house wrecked. That probably went doubly so for her bed. He eased back the covers and slid gently in beside her, curling his big body against her back and wrapping his arms around her to pull her tightly against him. His breath hissed out loudly as her skin connected with his, making his body throb painfully hard. Fuck, she felt so good.

She murmured in her sleep, a breathy whisper escaping her lips. "Alexei."

His heart faltered slightly as he sucked in a deep breath, listening to see if she would say anything else. She didn't and he slowly let out the breath he was holding. Was she dreaming of him? Was that why she said his name? Or did she just know instinctively that it was he who was invading her bed and pressing his aching body against hers?

Alexei had come to her bed with the express intention of waking her up and satisfying the itch that both of them were so desperate to scratch. But seeing her so relaxed, so trusting of having him in her domain, he suddenly didn't have the heart to disturb her rest. She had said she had the day off work tomorrow or today to be more precise. He had nothing planned either so he would have all day to learn every single inch of Cedar Alexander's sexy body, and he would use every precious second of that time.

Smiling softly, Alexei gently turned Cedar in his arms and positioned them so she was resting her head against his chest with his arms securely around her. He closed his eyes, surprised to find that his weariness was back again almost instantly. He snorted slightly, his chest rumbling quietly in a rueful laugh.

This had to be the first time ever that Alexei Romanov had ever actually 'slept' with a woman. It was a novel concept for him and yet a strangely appealing one with the wolf in his arms. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the gentle rhythm of Cedar's breathing until he drifted back to sleep.

He came awake again to the sensation of lips travelling slowly over his chest, a wet tongue lapping lightly against his right nipple. His body was alert instantly, his hands threading in the soft curls that was fanning over his chest. He growled and pulled Cedar's face to his, crushing her lips ruthlessly under his hungry mouth, dragging her bodily on top of him so he could press his hard cock against her soft body.

He had no idea how long he had slept for and he didn't really care. It was morning and Cedar's body was pressing against his and he was determined that he was going to have her as he'd planned to have her the night before and hadn't quite managed to.

There would be no interruptions, no falling asleep again, no conversations about it. They were going to have sex. Hot, hard, lustful sex which would have them both struggling to breathe at the end of it. From the way Cedar was kissing him back it appeared she had the same idea too which was fortunate for her because he wouldn't be taking no for an answer. He refused to be denied any longer.

Cedar moaned as Alexei took her breath away with a series of long, drugging kisses. She had been surprised to wake up and find him not only in her bed, but her body draped over his and his arms wrapped tightly around her. She had expected him to either still be sleeping on the sofa or to have left during the night. Not that she was complaining. Her wolf was growling loudly, desire coursing through her body as his hard naked body brushed against hers deliciously.

He rolled deftly and flipped her onto her back, his lips never leaving hers as he nudged a powerful thigh between her legs and rubbed against her scalding heat. She was so wet, so hot, her juices instantly soaking his thigh as he pushed the sheet back to free their bodies from it. Her scent immediately filled the room, the heady scent of a woman in heat, desperate for her man to claim her body.