Charlie's arms tightened ever so slightly around Anna as she shifted in the bed, nuzzling her head against his chest. Her breathing was even and he could see her eyes dancing behind her closed lids as she dreamt. His fingers trailed lightly up and down her back, counting each rib in her slight frame as his fingertips passed over them. He pressed his lips to her forehead, letting his nose brush against her hairline and inhaled her scent deeply.
A gentle knock on his door caused him to sigh heavily and close his eyes, hoping whoever it was would just go away. A second set of knocks resounded from the hard wood of the door and Charlie gently eased himself out of the bed, pulling the covers around Anna's shoulders before moving to the door. His bare feet moved over the floor silently and he slowly pulled the door open, casting his eyes over his shoulder to be sure he wasn't disturbing Anna.
He stepped into the hallway and gently pulled the door closed, turning to face the man in the hallway, his father. Charlie crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the door and let his head fall back with a heavy sigh.
"How is she," his father asked and turned to lean against the wall beside Charlie, also crossing his arms over his chest.
"Exhausted, as far as I can tell," Charlie replied with a slight shrug of his shoulder and lifted his head from the door. "She's strong, dad, but...today was-," he continued but his father cut him off.
"Today was a lot," he finished his son's thought with a slight nod of his head. "I saw her...when she was running from the house. She looked...terrified," his father said in a hushed tone and Charlie looked over to him.
"I should've been here," Charlie said through clenched teeth and let his head drop back against the door again. "She shouldn't have had to go through that alone," he spoke again and closed his eyes tightly, not wanting the images his father had just planted into his head to play on repeat.
"You can't hold her hand through everything, Charlie. Some things...she'll have to get through on her own," his father said and earned a low growl from his son. "I have a feeling...this was one of those things," he continued and Charlie felt his father's hand squeeze his shoulder briefly. "And as much as you'll hate it...this won't be the last," he father stated and released his shoulder.
The older man pushed away from the wall and headed down the hallway away from Charlie's room. Charlie watched his back for several long seconds, a small smile playing on his lips before turning around and walking back into his bedroom.
He slid back under the blanket and pulled Anna back into his body, her back against his chest and her hips flush with his. His fingers moved in small, ticklish circles over her hip bone and his nose brushed along the hairline behind her ear, inhaling her lavender scent deeply and closing his eyes. His bicep flexed as he lifted his forearm and played with the length of her blonde hair with his fingertips.
He stilled when Anna moved in his arms, rolling over to face him and wrapping an arm around his waist. Her head tucked into the crook of his neck and one of her legs slid between his, her calf hooking behind his and pulled herself closer to him. He felt her chest move against him as she inhaled deeply and felt her lips curl into a smile against his neck.
"You smell like cinnamon," she spoke softly, her voice muffled and scratchy from sleep. Her nose brushed the skin along his neck and up to the soft spot below his ear, pulling a soft rumble from his chest.
Charlie turned his head to accommodate her movements and let his fingers lightly trail back and forth over the curve of her hip. He pulled a sharp breath through clenched teeth when he felt her teeth nip at his earlobe and with a great degree of effort, pulled away from her mouth's torment. He could read the confusion in her eyes and pressed his forehead to hers after placing a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose.
"Baby, you need rest. Nivara and your wolf took a lot out of you," he all but whispered to her as he brushed his nose against hers. She pulled her forehead away from his and shook her head slowly with a small smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. Charlie's eyes closed when she pressed her lips to his, the smile never leaving her.
"No, Charlie, they didn't. I feel...incredible," she said in a soft tone, her lips grazing over his as she spoke. Her gentle kisses moved away from the corner of his mouth and over his jaw. "I feel...," she continued but he heard her pause as she pulled her leg out from between his and her hands moved up his bare chest slowly to feed her fingers into his messy hair. Her lips pressed to his once more and he growled low in his chest as her tongue moved across his bottom lip. "I feel perfect," she whispered against his lips and she slid her tongue against his. "I don't need rest, Charlie. I need you," she continued on a whisper and Charlie felt any lasting resistance, though it was minimal at best, completely disappear.
His fingers moved away from her hip and around the curve of her behind, pulling her hips more flush to his own. He pressed his lips to hers hard and took his time exploring every inch of her mouth with his tongue slowly. His other arm curled around her back and pulled her bare breasts firmly against his chest. He flattened his palm between her shoulder blades as his kiss continued. Pulling his mouth away from hers to take a breath, he brought his hand back to her hip and using a gentle pressure, rolled her body away from him.
He quickly moved her hair away from her neck and set his teeth gently into the skin below her ear. His hand trailed down her side and rounded the curve of her hip, not stopping until his fingers reached her knee. The other curled around her throat and tilted her head more to the side as his lips moved down to the curve of her neck. He felt her tremble against him and growled softly into her neck, letting his fingers move up her inner thigh.
"Is this what you need, baby," he spoke on a low growl into her ear as his fingers dug into the flesh of her thigh and lifted her leg just slightly. He pressed the hardness still contained in his pajama pants against her behind and slid his fingers down her thigh to her hot, wet folds. He cupped his hand around her and ground the heel of his hand against her, pressing soft kisses below her ear.
"Yes," he heard her say though her quiet moans. Her hips moved in rhythm with his hand and when her back arched, Charlie groaned against her neck as she pushed more into his hardness.
"And this," he asked softly in her ear as he released his hold on her throat and squeezed her breast tightly, her n****e firmly between his index and middle fingers. He heard her gasp softly and pulled his hand away to lightly brush the palm of his hand over the tip of her hard n****e in small circles.
"Maybe...this," he said and curled his middle finger into her folds, lightly flicking over her sensitive bundle of nerves. He felt her body jerk at the contact and she moaned more loudly, turning her face into the pillow. He moved his hand away from her breast and back up to her throat, turning her face to look over her shoulder at him.
"I want to hear you," he said and pressed two fingers into her folds. "Every whimper," he continued and curled his fingers inside of her drawing a small moan from her parted lips. "Every moan," he said and began moving his fingers in and out and eased in a third. Her mouth dropped open more as she panted but she closed her mouth and dug her teeth into her bottom lip. "And if you try to hold back," he spoke and after using his thumb to release her bottom lip, he pressed his lips hard to hers. "I'll have you screaming my name so loudly...that the entire pack will hear...and they'll know that you're mine," he completed the statement and watched as the corner of her mouth pulled up into a smirk.
"I am yours," he heard her whisper and his growl echoed through the dark room around them. He pulled his fingers from within her and pushed down the front of his pajama pants, driving his length into her folds from behind. He lifted her leg further and hooked her knee behind his thigh, opening her more to push into her deeper. She moaned loudly and arched her back, meeting his thrusts with her hips.
He took hold of her throat with his hand and squeezed lightly as his hips pushed their rhythm faster and he lightly nipped at the side of her neck, keeping control of his wolf's desire to mark her now that she'd declared herself as his. He had already decided that he'd have to discuss that with her later. He growled at even the thought of his canines digging into her neck and pulled his face away before the temptation became too great.
He pulled his length out of her and shifted her leg off of his. He pushed his pajama pants further down before kicking them the rest of the way off. He rolled Anna to her back and settled his hips between her thighs, sliding his shaft back into her with ease. He growled as her tight walls surrounded him once more and watched as she arched her back up from the bed. He wrapped an arm around her back and began to piston his hips at a slow pace as he pulled one of her hard n*****s between his teeth.
His other hand found the back of her knee and drew her leg more to the side and higher, opening her more to his thrusts. He heard his name roll off of her tongue and the sound alone had him driving into her harder. His scalp tingled as she raked her hands through his hair and pulled his face back up to hers, pressing her lips to his and kissing him deeply.
Charlie panted her name repeatedly after her lips had moved away from his and moved to his neck, sucking hard on his skin and pulling a deep groan from his chest. He heard her growl and pushed his hips faster as he felt her body begin to tremble beneath him. He closed his eyes tightly, feeling his own release nearing and pushed his hand between their bodies, his thumb stroking her nub fast and hard. Stars burst behind his closed lids when he felt her canines sink deep into the flesh above his collar bone, pushing his length fully into her and feeling himself pulse within her. Her body quaked with his and he felt Anna release her teeth from his neck as she cried out loudly with her climax.
He pressed his forehead to hers and felt the drops of blood from his neck sliding slowly toward his collarbone. He pulled his length from within her and rolled onto his back, using his arm behind her back to pull her onto his chest.
"Anna," he called softly to her and used his finger to lift her chin to look him in the eyes. "Do you...um...understand...what you just did," he asked in a gentle tone and watched her sapphire eyes search his for a moment before shaking her head. He sighed lightly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You marked me...as yours," he explained and watched her brows pull together slightly, her eyes moving the trails of blood starting to pool together in the contours of his throat.