A Howl In The Night by Lorelei Sutton (life books to read .txt) 📕

He rips off my other sleeve, then looks at me. I lose myself within his bright eyes, drunk on the pleasure I am now experiencing. "Did he touch you... here?" He lets one finger linger on my other arm. I nod quickly, urgently.

His kisses deepen as they cover my slender arm, and his breath begins to get even more agitated. A growl rumbles in his throat, almost like a wolf, and he holds the neck of my hospital gown and rips it. He flings it off me as if it nothing, and then his breath catches as he surveys me. "You are so beautiful," he whispers, and I am speechless. This tenderness is so intoxicating that I nearly drown within it.

His attention immediately snaps to my mating mark by my neck, and his head dips towards it. A small cry escapes me as he kisses the mark, which starts to glow and send waves of pleasure through my form.

His kisses are deepening to the point where I can barely stand it. "Please... Xavier, please," I beg, causing his eyes to light on fire. His hands are roaming over the edges of my body, and he kisses my collarbone.

With a hungry expression, he lifts the folds of my tank top, pushing it upwards so it exposed my stomach. His gaze darkens as he surveys the mark near my hip. "Did he touch you... there?" He gestures towards the mark. I just looked at him for a moment, then nodded. He immediately kisses my stomach, every one of his kisses surrounding  the mark but none of them touching it. "This is the one part of you that belongs to him," he angrily states, "but nothing else will."

His hands run over my hips and his lips soon join in. There is a fire that consumes both of us, overwhelming our bodies, hearts, and reason. He is so careful with me, his caution almost annoying to me in some way. "Xavier," I whisper again, closing my eyes. When I open them again he is by my feet, holding one of my legs as he hastens to cover it in kisses. It is a wonderfully distracting feeling, but soon I am drawn to the fact that I somehow want more.

"I'm sure he touched you here," he points at each one of my toes, and casts me a glance so deep that it gives me the shivers. I'm pretty sure he didn't, but I nod anyway. Just as I expected, each one of his kisses make me yearn for more.

He stops for a minute, looking at me as he is lifting his head. I pout a little, annoyed both by the lack of kisses and by the idiot he has turned me into. I barely even recognize this side of me, this strange part of my being that aches for Xavier in ways that I don't even know of. However, I can't help myself, and I turn towards him and reach with one hand. He takes it, and suddenly he is almost on top of me before I realized he moved.

It is now that I notice his hunger that has intensified by so much since this whole thing started. He wants the same thing I want, and something tells me he knows exactly what that is.

His face is inches from mine, and both of his hands cup my face. "Did he kiss you here?" He looks at my eyes, and doesn't wait for a response as he kisses my eyelids, then my cheeks and nose. My lips burn, but he never touches them. With a smile his mouth reaches my ear and teeth nibble the edge with a gentleness that surprises me. Finally, he returns to my face, looking at my lips the same way that I'm looking at him. We are both so close... so incredibly close.

"Did he kiss you here?" We both know what he is talking about this time.

I stare at him for a minute, dazed by his closeness, and softly murmur, "no, Xavier."

"Good." He nods in satisfaction. "Then I will be the first and only one to taste this delicious part of you. To finally bond with you."

Excitement builds up as I eagerly close my eyes and tilt my face forward. His lips descend upon mine...

THUMP, THUMP!

We are both jolted out of our own world as a furious hand raps upon the heavy, soundproof doors. "Griffin," I mutter. Words can not describe how angry I feel at this moment. I feel... cheated.

"Act asleep," he whispers urgently, grabbing the fragments of my dress and throwing it in the garbage chute. He sweeps the covers over me and walks calmly to the door, opening it slowly.

Griffin is obviously furious, so I force my eyes to close and steady my breathing from a hundred miles per hour to a normal rate. "What do you want Griffin?" Xavier asks calmly.

"What did you do to her?" He yells.

"Calm down, Griffin. Don't be loud, she's sleeping."

There is silence for a minute, probably because he is trying to calm down. "Do you really have to lock the door?" He finally asks.

"Well, I'm imagine if someone like you barged in here without the door locked, she would have woken up easily. And she needs rest." His voice lowers, "Griffin, she's sleeping. How could I have done anything to her?"

"It is always folly to underestimate someone, and it certainly will be the death of me to underestimate you," he replies slowly. "Just know this. Even if she does not now, she will belong to me. And when that time comes, I would prefer it if you stayed away from her."

"If she ever does 'belong to you'," Xavier laughs, "I will do as you say."

There is silence, then loud footsteps. The door swings to a shut, and Xavier moves to my side. "I am obviously not welcome here," Xavier chuckles as he reaches my side, stroking my hair lightly.

It is time for me to stop acting like an idiot and start acting like the woman I am. I search within my brain for something to say. Something that will make him just as crazy as he makes me. Wow. This is difficult.

"You are always welcome right here," I pat the place next to me, then nearly kick myself. I am so bad at this.

Nevertheless, I still notice the hunger entering his gaze. It diminishes slightly as he laughs. "You are so funny, Mona. You make it so hard for me to resist you."

"You don't need to resist, Xavier," I whisper, looking into his eyes, "you really don't."

He stares at me for a moment, stone-faced. "Mona, that's not fair. You aren't supposed to say that."

"I can say what I want to say." I touch his face, slowly lowering it to mine as I finger one of his azure locks. My fingers dance across his face eagerly.

"I have a lot of things to teach you," he laughs, "but looks like you have already mastered how to tempt a man." He smiles again, then suddenly delves towards me. Our lips meet in a startling union that shocks me to the bone. His kiss deepens and I respond almost violently, touching his face and hair. For some reason, I cant get enough of him in these few moments, and he is calmly dealing with me as if I am a child. He is the one who eventually breaks away from me, grinning widely. I have never known of such satisfaction and pleasure in my entire life, which I guess isn't saying too much.

If I knew his kisses were this good, I would have bonded with him earlier.

"Good bye, Mona. There will be more later." He winks at me, then leaves the room quietly. For many minutes after I am still holding two fingers to my lips, completely and utterly shocked by the wonderful feelings racing through my body and the tingle of his lips still dancing upon mine.

* * *

It is time for me to appear before the Council, and I am ashamed to admit that I am frightened. I have the feeling that this is the time that they will deliver my fate. Throughout this last week, I have been allowed time to recuperate in my room, and I have not seen any of the pack members or Griffin since the last time Xavier visited me.

I am perplexed at this disease I am catching. My skin still shivers at even the thought of his name, and even today I have been shamefully dreaming about him. I feel like even the sight of him will cause me to throw myself at his feet, begging once more for his touch. I have degraded myself by thinking about a man like him in this manner. I deserve the worst of tortures for acting like the worst of women.

I have heard of them; those women who lust for a man's touch, who would die for their chosen man. They always suffer from carrying this type of sickness, although they always claim that they are better because of it. I have never understood these women and children my age who profess to truly be in love, because it seems like a troublesome emotion that everyone would do better without. Of course, except when you are trying to heal a Shifter.

And now I have been reduced to this. I feel like saying a line from old-century poetry.

It has to be because of the bonding. Why the crap did I let him kiss me?

"Woe is me!" I exclaim dramatically, falling upon the bed. After a second of recollection, I jump back to my feet as if shocked by lightning. It is true—I really do have this disease—and even a touch upon the bed that both Xavier and I were in brings a wave of emotions that I would rather forget. I feel dizzy, sinking to my knees.

"Xavier, what have you done to me..." I moan softly, putting my head in my hands. I am corrupted forever as a result of just one of Xavier's touches.

A knock on the door interrupts my regretful thinking. Straightening to my feet, I hesitantly walk over to the door. Creaking it open, I soon am confronted with Griffin's enchanting face. Guilty attraction tugs at me, although it is slightly different from the need that washes over me whenever I think of Xavier. Smiling brightly, he reaches for my hand.

"I'm here to escort you to the meeting room," he says, looking devilishly handsome in dark pants and a black button down shirt. My hand burns in his grasp as he reaches and places a delicate kiss upon it. He really is sweet. I would be better off dreaming about someone like him.

For some reason, my hand burns in a bad way, almost as if to leave a black mark on my skin that will not disappear. I frown, rubbing at the spot as we walk into the hallway.

"I'm... sorry for blowing up on Xavier while you were recovering. I'm an awful person," he says sadly. I smile in response.

"I was never mad at you," I acknowledge softly.

"I was just extremely jealous, Mona." He looks at me, eyes of worry. "I lost you once... and I don't ever want to let go again." He seems so sincere that I can't help but believe him.

"Were you completely serious about everything you said the day I met with the Council?" I ask him honestly, surprised to find that I am not even frustrated at him. I feel like I should be mad, but the emotion doesn't come as I reach for it.

"That is exactly how it happened," he answers me with a little laugh. His auburn hair glows in the light from the gigantic windows stretching from wall to wall. Silence reigns for several minutes. It feels