Winter Wolves Series
Dark Wolf Chapter 11

Venus jumped when she heard her phone's notification and sat up from the bed. She picked up the phone and saw that the text message was from Damian. She let out a sigh and swiped her screen, opening up the app.

"I am so sorry," the text read. She scrunched her eyebrows together and dialed his number.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," she said when he answered.

"I never wanted you to see me like that."

"Your wolf is part of who you are," she said.

He was quiet for several long moments, and she checked the phone, thinking the call had dropped.

"It is. That's the problem. My wolf is cursed and that's what you saw."

"I know who you are."

"I can't ask you to accept me. I am no good for you."

"That's up to me to decide."

"I don't want to hurt you or scare you. It's the worst thing I could imagine."

"I admit I was scared."

"I can't ever let that happen again."

"It won't," she said, but she didn't know how that was possible unless she let him claim her to break the curse.

Seeing him shift into a wolf, seeing the crazed violence in his eyes, it had made her think twice about what a relationship with him would be like.

If he were a human man, there's no way that she would consider a lifelong commitment after two dates. But Damian was a shifter and shifter commitments were something completely different than what was found in the human world. "I want to see you," she said. "I want to know that you're okay."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said.

"Why not?" she asked. "Don't you have any potion?"

"I do, but I am still ashamed that you saw an uncontrolled shift."

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of. Can you get a ride over to my hotel room?" she asked.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and he sighed. "Yes. I'll come over."

"Good. Then we can talk this through. There are things that I need to understand."

"I'll be there in half an hour, if that's okay." "I'll be here."

She hung up the phone and bit her l!p before standing up to pace the room. Venus had no idea what she was doing. She'd never been in a real relationship with a man. She was still under the thumb of her mother. She didn't even have control of her own life. Everything felt so fraught and impossible, but she wasn't going to let go of this chance to be loved and the promise that she saw in Damian's eyes. She had to know if it was worth it. She had to know if it was the real thing.

Half an hour later, there was a gentle tapping at her door, and she slowly swung it open. Damian stood sheepishly on the other side holding a bouquet of daffodils. The yellow blooms smelled exquisite, and she inhaled them as he offered them to her. "These are lovely, thank you so much," she said, stepping back to invite him inside.

"I wasn't sure what you would like. I thought maybe I should get something more stately or exotic, but for some reason these simple spring flowers are what called to me."

"They're perfect. I love them," she said, putting them in the hotel room ice bucket. She filled it with water and set it on the small table near the window. They sat across from each other, staring into each other's eyes.

"I don't really know how this is supposed to go," she said, looking at her clasped hands.

"That makes two of us."

She laughed, looking up at him. "I can't imagine you did a lot of dating seventy-five years ago out in the rural wilds of central Alaska."

"No. Not at all."

"How much experience do you have?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. He let out a sigh and sat back on his chair, looking out the window.

"Not much," he said, finally looking back at her. "What about you?"

"I haven't had much experience either." She laughed nervously. "Have you ever... You know...?"

"Have I ever made love to a woman?" he asked, filling in the blank for her. She slowly nodded, her eyes never leaving his. He gritted his teeth and frowned.

"No," he finally said. "Have you ever? I'm sure you have."

"I haven't."

"Not even once?"

"Not even once. My mother never approved of me dating. No one was ever good enough. Mostly no one was ever rich enough. She didn't want me to be with anyone who had less than a hundred million dollars' net worth." "That takes me off the table then," he said darkly.

"My mother doesn't run my life," she snapped with more vehemence than she'd meant to.

"That's good. I'm glad."

"It's time for me to stand up for her," she said. "I'm not going to be her tool for wealth and fame anymore."

"You never should have been. No one should ever have treated you that way. You are a special human being with feelings and desires and talents of your own. You should always get to decide who and what you want to be."

"I want to be with you, Damian," she said, reaching out to take his hand. They had their hands clasped across the table and he stared at them, his lips trembling.

"I want you more than anything else in the world. I want to care for you and protect you and keep you safe from harm. But I'm afraid that harm might be me."

"But once we're mated, the curse will be broken," she said.

"So it would seem," he said. "But the curse is deeper than seventy-five years in animal form. I don't know if I will ever fully heal from what has been done and who I've become."

"You are a good man. Despite everything."

"I just wish there was more time. I don't want you to rush into anything. I want you to be sure."

"I want to be sure too. And I feel surer with every passing moment."

She gripped his hand more tightly and stood from her chair, pulling him up to his feet. She fell into his arms, and he embraced her against his ch3st, gently stroking the back of her neck and caressing her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"You are a sweet, gentle man. I've been around a lot of bad people in my life-selfish, toxic people. You're not one of them." She looked up at him and could see tears forming in his eyes. His emotions were so raw and close to the surface it made her heart break. She cupped his cheek and gently pressed her lips against his.

"All I want is to take care of you," he said. "To love you and cherish you for the rest of my life."

"I know. I can feel it. I don't care that I've only known you for a short time. Everything in me tells me that this is it. We are meant to be. That you are the man who will give me everything I've ever wanted."

"I am just a refugee living in someone else's house. I have very little to offer."

"You have yourself. And that's all that matters."

He held her close and kissed her deeply, both of them tasting and feeling deeper into each other's souls. He inhaled sharply through his nose and his tongue slid between her lips.

A flood of desire washed through her, and she moaned at the taste of him. His hands slid down her back and cupped her a*s, pulling her more tightly against him. She could feel his body respond to the feeling of her softness. She groaned and wrapped her arms around him.

"I

I want you. I want to feel you," he said with a low growl.

"I want you too. I want you to be my first, my everything."

"I can't claim you today. Not yet," he said, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I understand, but let's have this moment. Let's explore each other and learn what it means to make love."

Damian growled and lifted her off her feet, pulling her legs up around his wa!st as he carried her across the room and laid her on the bed. She felt his erection hard against the softness of her s*x.

It was a completely foreign experience, but it filled her with such longing and desire that she could barely breathe from the excitement. He kissed her mouth and her face, his hands roaming her body and caressing her curves. She ran her fingers through his long hair and whispered his name over and over.

"I love you, Venus. I love you more than I've ever loved anything."

Her mouth dropped open, speechless as his k!sses trailed down her body. He lifted her shirt and kissed her stomach and then over her ch3st. He pulled down the cup of her br*a and flicked his tongue over her bre*ast.

Her entire body shuddered with arousal as he svcked the dark brown n!pple into his mouth. She gripped his hair and gasped, her s*x flooded with heat, and she wrapped her legs around his wa!st.

"Are you okay?" he asked, whispering in her ear.

"Yes. Don't stop."

He slipped her out of her shirt and br*a and planted kisses over her breasts, gently squeezing one while he svcked on the other.

"You are so beautiful. So perfect."

Venus had heard the words a million times before, but coming from Damian it meant something completely different. He loved her and she believed him. She was beginning to feel that she loved him too.

It shook her to her very foundation. She wanted to see him, to touch him, feel him closer-as close as any two people could be. She gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. She gazed at his beautiful, perfect body and ran her hands over his ch3st. She leaned up on her elbows and licked his ch3st, flicking his n!pple with her tongue. He growled and kissed her. She slid her hands into his wa!stband. She wanted him. She wanted him inside her.

As if reading her mind, Damian str!pped them both down to their underwear, slowly pulling the last silky bit of fabric down her legs. He spread her thighs and inhaled her s*x, looking up into her eyes.

"Are you sure this is okay?" he asked with a growl as he licked the inside of her thigh. She dripped with longing and quivered. She needed him to touch her more than she'd ever needed anything in her life. "Yes. I want you to kiss me. Down there."

"Oh, God, yes," he said in a reverent breath as his tongue slid up the inside of her leg. He placed his lips gently on her outer folds and her entire body spasmed with the contact. She mewled and pulled him closer against her. His tongue slid between her lips and made contact with her cl!t.

"Oh my God, Damian."

"I want to give you pleasure," he said. "I want you to feel how much I love you."

She was dumbstruck and unable to respond as his tongue licked her cl!t with just the right amount of pressure. Her !ipples were tight as bullets as his tongue waggled on her s*x. "Don't stop, don't stop," she ground out.