Marcus’s shoulders relaxed a little. “I understand. Thank you, Alpha.”
Jericho nodded and left. He had wanted to be harsherwith Marcus Jones because he couldn’t comprehend how a parent could hurt a child. Then he remembered Payton’s plea and decided to let it rest. He’d just gotten his mate back, and he didn’t want to have to explain how her father had gotten a black eye.
Chapter Six
Payton stood in front of Jericho’s door. A pickup truck rested in the driveway, so she assumed he was home. She raised her hand to knock, but her courage fled.
“Stupid,” she muttered under her breath.
Taking a deep breath, she banged on the door, then waited.
“I wondered how long it was going to take you to knock.”
Gasping, Payton spun around, a hand covering her heart. “You scared me!”
“Sorry,” Jericho said, although his tone and saucy grin belied his condolences. “I was out back chopping wood when I heard a car pull up.”
“I had one of the deputies drop me off,” Payton said. “I needed to see you. I hope you don’t mind.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. Come on in.”
As he walked past her into the house, Payton caught the sweet aroma of cedar with a hint of rain mingling with his masculine scent. It went to her head, and all she wanted to do was sniff him, which was very much a wolf thing to do. When she followed him inside, he abruptly turned on her, his nostrils flaring. The next thing she knew, he had pushed her back to the wall, his hands curling around her hips as he surged against her.
“I can smell your arousal,” he said, his voice changing. Deepening.
She gasped as he parted her legs with his knee, sliding between her thighs. His arousal was clearly evident behind his fly as he pressed his hard cock against her pussy.
“I can feel yours,” she whispered.
He ground against her even more. “You know you’re mine, don’t you, Payton? You came here, but you won’t be leaving here.”
His breath brushed across her cheek. His lips hovered over hers.
“You can’t keep me here forever.”
“Oh, yes, I can. I’ll tie you up. Spank that ass.” He chuckled as she undulated against him. “You like that thought, don’t you? My dirty girl. I don’t care that we don’t know each other. Our wolves know each other. The rest will follow.”
He ran a hand up her ribcage, under her t-shirt to cup her breast. Shockwaves ran through her, and she had to bite her lip from crying out as he flicked the pebbled nipple.
“Are you my dirty girl?”
She moaned as he pushed her bra up to pinch the turgid peak. Before she could answer him, he had moved her clothing out of the way, bent his bead, and sucked her nipple into his mouth. He laved the tip with his tongue, sucking and nipping it. Need flooded her body, and fire burned through her veins. It was delicious and hot, and he aroused her like nothing else.
“Tell me you’re mine, Payton,” he said against her skin.
She looked down at the dark head sucking on her tits. Wetness flooded her pussy, and all she wanted to do was bite him and lay her claim to him. The mating bond was impossible to ignore. He glanced up at her, his dark eyes shifting to an amber color as his wolf seeped through.
Slowly, she nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I’m yours.”
The growl that erupted out of him should’ve scared her, but it didn’t. It made her want him even more. She couldn’t deny this. Couldn’t deny him.
“I will never let you go,” he said, although his words were a little garbled through the canines that had extended down. “I will kill anyone who tries to take you from me.”
She bared her neck, and he immediately clamped down on the tender flesh. Her body tightened with equal parts pain and pleasure, and she surged against him. Once he had markedher, he slid his hands down to cup her butt, then lifted her. His muscles bulged as he held her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her back to his bedroom. She didn’t see how his home was decorated, then again, she really didn’t care at that point.
He tossed her onto his bed like she weighed nothing before taking a few steps back to strip. The more his body was revealed, the more she salivated. He was a big man, and Payton knew he would fill her up nice and tight. She wanted every single delicious inch of him stuffed inside her, pounding out his orgasm until his spunk ran down her thighs, the last measure to mark her as his territory. She undressed as well, and the heat had her fighting with her jeans. At that angle, they were tight, and she had to wiggle a little to pull them down. Then her shirt and bra, not caring in the least where they were discarded. She lay there, her legs akimbo, letting him view her semi-naked body.
“Touch yourself, my dirty girl,” he ordered.